The Journey of Infertility from Private Sphere to Public Domain: From Cosmetic Surgery to Disability

This study explores the process by which the treatment of infertility, which has been in the hands of the private sector, has been taken over by the state as a matter of public health. It argues that this shift stems from the pro-natalist policies of the state to help increase the population. Infertility treatment, using assisted reproductive technologies and its legitimization by the Islamic jurists, is used as a lens through which to examine the state's body politic. The frequent reversals of policies, since the late nineteenth century to the present, are shown to be directly linked with the nation-building goals of the state, expecting the citizens to readjust their reproductive behavior to meet the state’s policies.     

Upper Paleolithic Net-Hunting, Small Prey Exploitation, and Women's Work Effort: A View from the Ethnographic and Ethnoarchaeological Record of the Congo Basin

Recent interest in Upper Paleolithic small prey acquisition focuses on the significance of fiber-based hunting technologies. Some researchers believe the advent of these technologies and presence of small faunas reflect efficient communal net-hunts driven by women's labor. We evaluate different small prey hunting techniques, using ethnographic data from foragers in the Congo Basin. These and other ethnographic data suggest that net-hunting is a high risk endeavor that often has high opportunity costs. We argue that the high costs associated with net-hunting have profound implications for human technological choice, and we evaluate the circumstances that would favor the use of different small prey hunting technologies in the Upper Paleolithic.     

清代江南地区学术研究兴盛与私家藏书发达之关系初探

本较为系统、全面地论述了清代江南地区学术发展与私家藏书之间的互为因果、互相促进的互动关系。前半部分论述了清代江南地区学术尤其是朴学的昌盛,从很大程度上促进了私家藏书的兴旺：后半部分论述了私家藏书之兴盛,反过来又促进了清代江南地区学术尤其是朴学的发展。     

Chiefdoms and the emergence of private property in land

A prevailing characteristic of complex, stratified societies is unequal access to critical resources, and in most cases land is the most fundamental of those resources. Gaining an understanding how relations to land are transformed is viewed as integral to revealing the origins of social inequality. Recent scholarship has proposed an evolution of property rights in land from open access to private property, the latter condition having been attributed to nation states. However, some scholars have concluded from their examinations of Early Medieval Irish texts that land within Irish chiefdoms was regarded as a commodity. The analysis carried out in this paper reveals that in Early Medieval Ireland some land could be considered to be private property, but the holding and transfer of land was restricted to chieftains and their dependents, the lands of commoners being held communally. The closest counterpart to this mode of land ownership is the form of feudalism proposed for the Classic and Post-Classic Maya.     

日本泉屋博古馆所见先秦私文书(三)--春秋战国青铜私文书的衰落

日本泉屋博古馆展藏的春秋战国青铜铭文器明显少于西周,从著录的全文集里看,春秋战国的青铜铭文器数、字数及内容,与西周相比也骤然减少。其原因是奴隶制度的代表制如分封制、宗法制、礼制等,到了春秋战国时期逐步走向衰落,家庭或家族的铸器铸铭之风,也必然要随其走向衰落,这是青铜私文书衰落的一个原因;另外,代替青铜私文书载体的其他材料如铁、竹木、玉石的大量使用,是青铜私文书衰落的另一个原因。总之,从先秦青铜私文书的发展变化中可以看出,任何一种社会文化的发生与发展都与其政治制度的兴起、鼎盛、衰落有紧密的联系,是社会事物发展变化的必然结果。     

Toy Story: Homophily,Transmission and the Use of Simple Simulation Models for Assessing Variability in the Archaeological Record

The interpretation of spatial and temporal patterns in the archaeological record remains a long-standing issue in the discipline. Amongst many methods and interpretations, modelling of ‘biased transmission’ has proved a successful strategy to tackle this problem. Here, we investigate a type of biased transmission, homophily, that is the tendency of individuals to associate and bond with similar others. In contrast to other social sciences, homophily remains underused in archaeology. In order to fill this gap, we develop six distinct variants of a well-established modelling framework borrowed from social science, Axelrod’s Cultural Dissemination Model. These so-called toy models are abstract models used for theory-building and aim at exploring the interplay between homophily and various factors (e.g. addition of spatial features such as mountains and coastlines, diffusion of innovations and population spread). The relevance and implications of each ‘toy model’ for archaeological reasoning are then discussed.     

Increased Sedentism in the Central Oases of the Egyptian Western Desert in the Early to Mid-Holocene: Evidence from the Peripheries

Two locations adjacent to the great central oases of the Egyptian Western Desert experienced an unusual period of sedentism in the early to mid-Holocene. Around the Southeast Basin near Dakhleh Oasis and in the Wadi el-Midauwara above Kharga, areas sharing close cultural ties, groups of slab structure sites attest to increased sedentism spanning 2,500 years. Kharga seems to have been settled fairly continuously through the two and a half millennia, but little is known of subsistence practices in this location. Dakhleh experienced two episodes of increased sedentism. Early Holocene Masara groups occupied a well-watered location within a generally dry desert. In the wetter mid-Holocene, Bashendi settlers in large stone-built sites hunted, collected wild cereals, and may have kept herds. As the desert dried after 5300 BC, the settlers switched to a life of mobile forager-herders.

Evidence from the Yana Palaeolithic site,Arctic Siberia,yields clues to the riddle of mammoth hunting

It has become commonplace to talk about humans hunting mammoths, and overhunting is thought to have been one of the causes of the mammoth extinction. However, definite evidence of mammoth kills by humans remains surprisingly scarce. Here we show convincing evidence of mammoth hunting in the Siberian Arctic between 29 000 and 27 000 ¹⁴C years BP. Our data set, from the Yana Upper Palaeolithic site (Siberian Arctic), includes the following: fragments of lithic points and ivory shaft embedded in two mammoth scapulae; two identical holes made by projectiles in a mammoth scapula and a pelvic bone; mammoth tongue bones found in the cultural layer far away from the main mammoth bone accumulation, indicating the consumption of fresh mammoth meat; and a narrow mammoth bone size distribution, implying hunting selection based on animal size. The data suggest that Palaeolithic Yana humans hunted mammoths sporadically, presumably when ivory was needed for making tools. Such non-intensive hunting practiced by humans over millennia would not be fatal to a sustainable mammoth population.     

Establishing the Public Sphere and Abolishing the Private Domain: The Rise of a Doctrine and Its Social Significance in the Spring and Autumn Period

The dominant views regarding the concepts of “the public” (gong) and “the private” (si) took shape in the Spring and Autumn period and matured in the succeeding years of the Warring States period. This paper is an attempt to trace both the growth of the vocabulary containing “gong” and “si” and the development of philosophical views regarding issues that center on the relation between the individual and the larger social/communal/political body, of which that individual is a member; it also touches on issues related to the proper handling of public affairs and the relation between state, sovereign, and the individual. The era is often characterized as “The Contention of the Hundred Schools of Thought,” notwithstanding it ended with but one view that is universally accepted by thinkers of diverse persuasion, namely, si is the source of all social evil and, therefore, should be condemned. This is the doctrine known as ligong miesi (abolishing si so gong may be established), which contributed to the orthodox for that era and the millennium to come. By extolling gong and condemning si, it painted a portrait of the pair as two irreconcilable norms or forces in social and political life; it provided a justification for the then emerging new social arrangement and ways of distribution of power and resources, and it also led to acute conflicts between the sovereign and the state, the ruled and the ruler, the state and the subject, as well as the public sphere and the private domain. Translated from Nankai Journal, Vols. 4, 5, 2004     

Enhancing the mobility of collections and access to cultural heritage: immunity of cultural objects from seizure in Poland

This paper analyses, from the perspective of cultural policy considerations, the legal regime established by the recent Polish law on the immunity from seizure of cultural property on loan (2015). It deals with current trends of international museum exchange and explains the benefits and risks involved in cross-border loans of cultural material. This analysis is carried out by focusing on the actual practice and experiences of Polish museums, national and international regulations in force, and human rights considerations. The authors attempt to situate the Polish model for the protection of foreign cultural property on loan within the broader comparative context of the domestic legislation on museum exchange adopted in selected national jurisdictions. The article also offers a more general cultural policy discussion in the context of international museum exchanges of cultural material. Laws and policies facilitating such exchanges are weighed against other rights and interests encompassed in the protection of cultural heritage and the realisation of all human rights, including cultural rights.     

Hunting strategies in the Late Glacial of northern Europe: A survey of the faunal evidence

Presented here is a general overview of the evidence concerning the procurement strategies in the Late Glacial of northwestern Europe. Their rich faunal assemblages make Stellmoor and Meiendorf, in northern Germany, key sites in this respect. Both may be considered specialized reindeer hunting camps. A survey of the hunting techniques and exploitation patterns reflected by the material from these sites emphasizes the differences between the Hamburgian and the Ahrensburgian economies.     

被遗忘的曼陀罗：唐代初传的金刚界曼陀罗

本文探讨了金刚智、不空师徒初传于唐代的金刚界曼陀罗(即《金刚顶经》所述的金刚界大曼陀罗),作者一反过去成见,试图阐明以拟人化的形式表现的金刚界三十七尊的曼陀罗并非唐代初传期的金刚界曼陀罗,而最可能是由不空的弟子,即惠果等辈于8世纪末或9世纪初所完成的。证诸史料,金刚智、不空忠实于根本经典《金刚顶经》的指示,大日如来的四亲近,即四波罗蜜是以三昧耶形的形式出现。但此种金刚界曼陀罗,在9世纪初的中国似乎被以菩萨形表现的四波罗蜜完全取代,消失于历史洪流之中。反观藏传的金刚界曼陀罗,数百年来波罗蜜形与拟人化的四波罗蜜图像并行不悖,在一定程度上反映了汉藏传法演教历史的歧异。     

Assessing Effectiveness of Veto Threats in the Bush Administration (1989-1993): Preliminary Evidence from Case Studies

Presidents have many tools in the policy-making process. One of the most powerful of these is vetoing legislation. Although presidents can veto legislation at will, the use of the veto is costly as it can be perceived as a sign of weakness. Veto threats may provide the president with a bargaining tool relying on the power of the veto without incurring its costs. This article provides a framework for understanding the use and effectiveness of veto threats. First, the present understanding of the use of veto threats is discussed, including the conditions under which they are most likely to occur and to be effective. Next, we provide a conceptualization of the context in which a veto threat is issued and the result of such a threat. Finally, using the Bush administration (1989-1993), we illustrate two possible results with case studies of civil rights and child care legislation.     

Investigating the potential of micro-focus computed tomography in the study of ancient bone tool function: results from actualistic experiments

Many experiments have sought to recreate the types of damage that would be expected in ancient stone and bone weapon tips. This damage is usually presented as visible fractures or microscopic surface modification. Fatigue tests conducted on bovine bones, however, show the development of internal micro-cracks that result from stress, prior to actual breakage. In this paper I present the results of an experimental investigation of bone points subjected to a variety of activities. I assess the presence of microdamage using micro-focus computed tomography. The results show that two patterns of micro-cracks develop in bone and are best viewed in longitudinal section. Micro-cracks are a cumulative feature dependent on the amount of load applied and the duration of activity. When subjected to high enough loading rates, micro-cracks will merge together to eventually form a fracture. Although further tests are needed to confirm the exact point at which these fatigue fractures begin to form, micro-focus computed tomography has the potential to reveal whether an individual bone point underwent multiple or prolonged impacts and thus to elucidate the probable function/s of ancient pointed bone tools where no visible damage is apparent. Micro-focus computed tomography is a non-destructive and non-invasive procedure and therefore safe to use on archaeological artefacts.     

Introduction to Webs of Memory,Frames of Power: Collective Remembering in the Archaeological Record

Over the past few decades, archaeologists have increasingly viewed collective memory as critical to the establishment and legitimation of power relations. For societies in the past and present, collective memory can be drawn on to clarify group identity, justify or subvert hierarchies, invent traditions, and define behaviors. The contributors to this special issue focus on the process of remembering, how it produced multiple archaeologically visible understandings of the past, and how these viewpoints impacted power-laden social negotiations. To better elucidate this process, this introduction situates the concept of collective remembering within recent materialist frameworks that emphasize the integration of human and nonhuman actors into webs of interaction. We suggest that by viewing collective memory from the standpoint of interactions, multiple viewpoints can be recognized. We argue in turn that accounting for the diverse actors invested in memory production provides archaeologists a means to delineate how the past becomes a site of contested values that social groups are constantly reworking to define membership, justify social hierarchy, and validate resistance.     

Punctuated Equilibrium and the Information Disadvantage of Authoritarianism: Evidence from the People's Republic of China

According to the punctuated equilibrium thesis, government attention allocation alternates between long periods of stasis and dramatic spurts of disequilibrium because democratic institutions enable minority groups to obstruct change. This article presents a critical discrepancy in contemporary China, where punctuated instability is significantly more intense despite a lack of democratic institutions to empower minority obstructionism. Our empirical analysis further reveals that punctuated intensity goes even higher for Chinese regions facing fewer signs of social discontent. We attribute the intensification of punctuated dynamics to an information disadvantage arising from the lack of diverse, independent sources of information under authoritarianism. Our finding contributes to punctuated equilibrium theory by underlining the function of opposition groups not only as obstructionists but also as challengers to policy priorities. By marginalizing these challengers, authoritarian institutions confine attention to known problems, leading to serious delays in the discovery of and adjustment to emerging issues.     

Lost primacy: crime in Italy at the end of the twentieth century

This article attempts to answer four questions. First: has Italy today, or has it had in the last thirty years, rates of theft, robbery and homicide that are higher than those in other western European countries? Second: have crime statistics in Italy followed the same pattern as in other European countries in the same period? Third: have crime statistics become more or less comparable in the western European countries in this period? Fourth: what factors have determined changes in crime rates in Italy in recent decades?     

Congenital Syphilis in the Archaeological Record: Diagnostic Insensitivity of Osseous Lesions

The paucity of convincing evidence for congenital bone lesions of syphilis in the archaeological record led to study of the human remains from the Buffalo site in West Virginia, dated at 550—650 years BP. The diagnosis of syphilis (venereal) in adults was based on previously validated population criteria for the recognition of syphilis and its distinction from among the other treponemal diseases. Among the 151 juveniles (23.3 per cent of the total series), only one had macroscopic evidence of periosteal disease. The low frequency of recognizable osseous stigmata characteristic of congenital syphilis, combined with the conspicuous absence of pathognomonic dental lesions, make such periosteal lesions insufficiently sensitive criteria for the identification of syphilis in the archaeological record. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evidence for glass ‘recycling’ using Pb and Sr isotopic ratios and Sr-mixing lines: the case of early Byzantine Sagalassos

The secondary production (working) of glass from imperial to early Byzantine times has been proven at the ancient city of Sagalassos (SW Turkey) by the existence of glass chunks, fuel ash slag and kiln fragments related to glass processing. It had been previously suggested that local green glass might have been recycled from two other locally found glass types (blue glass vessels and chunks and HIMT glass chunks). This paper provides analytical evidence for the recycling of glass next to the use of imported raw glass. The heterogeneous lead isotopic composition of the green and HIMT vessel glass at Sagalassos, with as end members on the one hand the isotopic composition of local blue glass vessels and chunks and on the other hand that of the HIMT glass chunks, could indicate the production of ‘recycled’ glass, although heterogeneous raw materials could have been used. However, the use of Sr-mixing lines confirms local recycling. It is clear that the Sr in the green and HIMT vessels is a mixture of the Sr in the aforementioned end members. It cannot be proved whether the green ‘recycled’ glass was produced from a mixture of chunks alone, or from a mixture of cullet and chunks. Suggestions are made towards the possible origin of the raw materials for the blue and HIMT glass on the basis of Sr isotopic signatures and absolute Sr contents in the glass.     

Public and Private Lives in Iran: An Introduction to the Archaeology of the 2003 Bam Earthquake

Bam, Iran, was destroyed by a powerful earthquake in December 2003. In what is perhaps Iran’s greatest tragedy in living memory, the majority of the mud brick houses and concrete buildings were completely flattened and more than half of the city’s population was killed. Five years after the disaster, a team of Iranian archaeologists and ethnographers excavated the remains of six houses destroyed in the earthquake. The excavated material culture demonstrates the stark contrasts between the residents’ public lives lived outside of their homes, and their private lives lived inside of their homes.