The exploitation and control of woodland and scrubland in the Byzantine world

Abstract

A welcome and necessary aspect of the renewal of studies of the Byzantine economy has been the analysis, sometimes in both the technical and the broader organisational aspects, of the production and redistribution of particular goods. One only has to think of some recent work concerning mining and metallurgy, minting, silk-production, glass-making, potteries, shipping, and salsamenta, to realise the potential significance of such studies, the need for the historical study of all types of economic activity, and how unilluminating has become the incantation of such statements as that the Byzantine economy was ‘overwhelmingly' rural (almost invariably made with reference to the primary products of a narrowly defined agriculture), or that centres of population were ‘characterised by consumption', or even that commercialised redistribution was ‘feeble’ and stagnant in the Early Byzantine period.     

中央财政经济委员会成立始末

中央财政经济委员会从 194 8年 9月中央政治局扩大会议提出逐步统一财经工作 ,到194 9年 3月中共七届二中全会正式决定建立 ,经过筹备 ,于 194 9年 7月 12日正式成立。中央财政经济委员会是由原中央财政经济部与华北财经委员会合并成立的 ,简称“中财委” ,由陈云任主任、薄一波任副主任。中财委成立后在短短两个月内 ,在稳定当时的金融物价、统一财经管理、调整工商业方面做了大量的工作 ,为建国初期财政经济的恢复和发展奠定了一定的基础。 194 9年 10月 2 1日 ,政务院财经委员会在中央财政经济委员会的基础上成立 ,5年后 ,政务院财政经济委员会撤消 ,其职能被国务院相关部委和直属机构所取代。     

国家建委的几上几下

我国国家部委一级的机构变化,频率最快的莫过于1958～1965年国家建委的几上几下。出于第一个五年计划时期大规模基本建设的需要,1954年国家基本建设委员会诞生。陈云任建委主任。时隔三年多,1958年2月11日,一届人大五次会议根据周恩来提出的议案,决定撤销国家建设委员会,其所管理的工作分别由国家计划委员会、国家经济委员会和建筑工程部承接。     

The visibility of past trees and woodland: testing the value of insect remains

The reconstruction of woodland history is important in relation to archaeological, ecological, biogeographical and evolutionary problems, and insect remains are a significant source of relevant information. Fully natural interglacial and Holocene ‘waterlogged’ deposits assumed to have formed in woodland generally contain abundant macrofossils of both plants and insects indicative of trees. In contrast, British archaeological deposits rich in macrofossil remains of trees often lack, or contain very few, tree-associated insects. To cast light on this contradiction, assemblages of insect (Coleoptera and Hemiptera) remains from a range of modern deposits with various spatial relationships to woodland and trees have been analysed. The proportions of tree-associated insects varied greatly. There was a general trend from higher values in woodland and near to isolated trees of species supporting a rich insect fauna, to low or zero values where there were no trees. However, low values sometimes occurred in woods or near trees, so that rarity of tree-associated insects in archaeological deposits does not always carry the implication of a treeless environment. Further investigation is suggested, with emphasis on the importance of identifying isolated trees, scrub and hedges as a resource for humans and wildlife in the past.     

The Joint Polish--German Commission for the Revision of School Textbooks and Polish Views of German History

The Joint Polish–German Commission for the Revision ofSchool Textbooks was set up in 1972, bringing together historiansfrom Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany in view of reopeninga scholarly dialogue after decades of almost complete noncommunication.Until the late 1980s, the commission played a prominent roleas a forum for cross-national discussions on Polish-German Beziehungsgeschichte,and most of the leading Polish experts in German history participatedin its proceedings. For the development of Polish historiographyon Germany the work of the commission seems to have been relevantin at least two respects. The commission's regular conferenceson controversial or methodologically complex issues of Polish-GermanBeziehungsgeschichte contributed, on the one hand, to defininga new agenda for Polish historiography on Germany. The interestin explicitly comparative approaches to German and Polish historyincreased, and the focus shifted from specifically ‘Polishinterests’ in German history to more general issues. Onthe other hand, these conferences provided Polish historianswith the opportunity to make their research more visible toGerman historians (even outside the field of specialised EastEuropeanists)—a fact that encouraged Polish historiographyon Germany to pursue more ambitious tasks.     

河南省文物考古研究所成立中国古代文明研究学术委员会

为配合国家重点科技攻关项目———中华文明探源工程预研究 ,北京大学、中国社会科学院相继成立了古代文明研究中心。河南省为中华文明重要发源地之一 ,一旦古代文明探源工程启动 ,主战场将在河南。为此 ,河南省文物考古研究所决定成立中国古代文明研究学术委员会。所长孙新民任主任 ,副所长秦文生、张志清为副主任 ,张志清兼任秘书长。成员有郝本性、杨育彬、杨肇清、曹桂岑、蔡全法、方燕明、赵清、袁广阔、宋国定、贾连敏。2 0 0 1年 9月 2 0日 ,中国古代文明研究学术委员会在河南省文物考古研究所内召开了第一次会议。会上 ,委员们对目…     

行政效率研究会与抗战前的行政效率运动

隶属于南京国民政府行政院的行政效率研究会是以研究中国行政问题以及如何提高政府行政效率为宗旨的政府机构 ,抗战前的行政效率运动既是它产生的主要背景 ,也得益于它的影响与推动。行政效率研究会的行政研究对抗战前南京国民政府的行政改革起到了一定的作用 ,也促进了行政研究在中国的发展。     

The environment becomes a political issue. Highlights of the Brundtland Commission Report

The Report of the Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment and Development) has been released by the UN. The Report points out that environmental survival requires development and development is only possible if the resources of the global environment are conserved. Although the UN and the World Bank must make commitments to development, each nation must devise its own strategy because development is inextricably linked to political, economic, and social factors such as poverty, overpopulation and the status of women. The Report makes 3 specific recommendations: 1) An independent body should be set up to assess global risks; 2) A universal declaration on environment and development should be made and followed by a convention; and 3) The UN General Assembly should set up a UN Program on Sustainable Development. The highest priority should be given to finding alternatives to nuclear energy as well as making the use of nuclear energy safer. Other major environmental problems include desertification, acid rain, the "greenhouse effect" and its impact on global climate and sea levels, and the destruction of the ozone layer with concomitant increase in cancer.     

The chance for change in the Arab world: Egypt's uprising

As the largest Arab country, Egypt has always played a crucial role in the politics of the Arab world; however, the internal political dynamics of Egypt have until the January 2011 uprising hardly attracted a glance from international observers. This article gives an overview of the political arena and the various political forces at play in post‐Mubarak Egypt. With many unpredictable variables currently at play in Egyptian politics, the result of the elections scheduled for November 2011 will likely surprise many, both within the country and beyond. The article also looks at what impact the political changes in Egypt may have had on the relationship between Egypt and Israel. There have been increasingly frequent demands within Egypt to revise the Camp David accords—but not at the expense of war with Israel. While Israel is unlikely to accept any calls to revise the peace treaty, Arab public opinion has become newly relevant for policy‐makers and Israel will have to make corresponding adjustments to its regional security strategy.     

资源委员会与中国抗战的经济准备

资源委员会是抗战前设立的主要从事国防资源的调查、统计、计划与国防重工业建设的秘密机构 ,它的设立是直接为抗战作准备工作的。以往人们在论述抗战准备时 ,往往将目光集中在军事准备方面 ,然而现代战争与其说是交战双方军事力量的对抗 ,不如说是交战国综合国力的较量。因此 ,本文以资源委员会在抗战前的主要活动为切入点 ,分析、研究资源委员会为抗战所做的经济准备 ,并给予客观公允的评价。一九一八事变后 ,蒋介石一方面采取了“攘外必先安内”的政策 ,另一方面也着手进行抗战的准备工作。 1 932年 1 1月 ,经国民政府秘书兼教育部次长钱…     

Gendered Spaces of Terror and Assault: The Testimonio of REMHI and the Commission for Historical Clarification in Guatemala

On 25 February 1999, Guatemalans received the much anticipated report of the United Nations-sponsored Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH), Memory of Silence, which detailed wartime atrocities and decades-long American support of the Guatemalan army. This document followed the earlier release of the Catholic church's own REMHI report (Recuperation of Historical Memory Inter-diocesan Project), Guatemala: never again . Using the recently released reports and databases of the CEH and REMHI, we explore the significant use of testimonio as a tool of shared witnessing, collective remembrance, and individual recollection of the special brutality directed against Maya women. Through testimonio, the outcomes of visible and invisible terror and violence in Guatemala are articulated as personal, social and geographic spaces of terror, all of which are gendered and racialised. With the civil war officially over, Maya women of Guatemala see the spaces of terror diminish. Given debates over testimonio, however, the grounds for assault and denial remain fertile.     

A method for estimating edge length from flake dimensions: use and implications for technological change in the southern African MSA

This paper presents a method for estimating edge length from flake dimensions. Comparison of estimated values with data from measured flake edges demonstrates the robusticity of the method. Building on the work of Braun (Braun, D.R., 2005. Examining flake production strategies: examples from the Middle Paleolithic of Southwest Asia. Lithic Technology 30, 107–125; Braun, D.R., Harris, J.W.K., 2003. Technological developments in the Oldowan of Koobi Fora: innovative techniques of artifact analysis and new interpretations of Oldowan behavior, in Mora, R., de la Torre, I. (Eds.), Oldowan: Rather More than Smashing Stones. Treballs d’ Arqueologia 9, pp. 132–144) this estimate is used to generate an edge length to mass value for complete flakes—taken to be a proxy for flaking efficiency. It is shown that this value is useful in tracking the onset, variability and decline of a well known technological phase—the Howiesons Poort of South Africa. The results suggest that the Howiesons Poort was a time in which flaking efficiency was emphasised. Furthermore, comparison of upper limits of edge to mass values for different raw materials may provide an insight into changes in raw material selection.     

The archaeology of climate change in the Caribbean

This paper emerges from an attempt to more actively integrate archaeology with ongoing geographical and environmental discussions of human responses to the effects of climate change in the Caribbean. If archaeology is to contribute to the mitigation strategies currently being developed, then robust interpretations are necessary that can be practically integrated with inter-disciplinary action. This paper discusses the methods needed to provide the high-resolution data and interpretations required using archaeological and palaeoenvironmental research from a case study area in northern Cuba. Using data collected from an ongoing collaborative archaeological research project with the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, we evaluate whether it is possible to make useful interpretations of human response to past changes in sea-level, precipitation and hurricane activity. Specifically, the effects of these activities on the changing nature of settlement locations, food procurement strategies and household architecture among pre-Columbian communities are evaluated. Indigenous mitigation strategies are identified and used to inform modern day preparation for the impacts of climate change in the Caribbean.     

活字印刷术推广应用迟缓原因探析

活字印刷术早在十一世纪中期就发明了,经历了整整六七个世纪的发展,在这期间,活字印刷虽然在活字的材料、活字的制作工艺以及活字的存放和排版工艺等方面,都在进行着不断的改进,但其推广运用迟缓,在出版业中所占比例一直很低。活字印刷比雕版印刷要优越得多,却迟迟不能代替雕版印刷。本拟从几个方面来分析造成这一特殊现象的原因。