Managing a Monitor — the Case of HMVS Cerberus in Port Phillip Bay: Integration of Corrosion Measurements with Site Management Strategies

Abstract

The hull of the former HMVS Cerberus (1926) collapsed two metres during gales in December 1993, leaving the vessel half-submerged. Sunk as a breakwater in 1926, the vessel is one of the few remaining and accessible twin-turret Monitor-style warships from the 1870s. This paper presents the complex history of attempts to stabilize the site and to preserve the wreck. A series of in situ corrosion studies of corrosion potentials, pH, and residual metal thickness have provided a special insight into the processes of decay and have paved the way for future site stabilization. Removal of the four 16-tonne 10 inch Armstrong rifled muzzle loading guns and their in situ treatment alongside the wreck have assisted in relieving some of the stress on the remaining structure. The paper reports on correlations between the corrosion rate and the formation of concretions and how to determine the end point of an in situ treatment for cannon.     

An Analytical Methodology for the Study of the Corrosion of Ferrous Archaeological Remains in Soils

Abstract

In the context of the cultural heritage, a methodology based on ?eld and laboratory approaches is developed for studying the long-term corrosion of iron. Moreover it has been adapted to the study of archaeological artefacts buried in anoxic soils in the speci?c case of in situ preservation. The environmental parameters are determined on the archaeological sites and artefacts are collected and characterized using complementary multi-scale techniques. Moreover, laboratory experiments are performed to locate the reaction sites inside the corrosion layer and to identify its electronic properties. The results allow estimation of a low corrosion rate for iron buried in an anoxic soil (under 2 μm/year) and the proposal of a mechanism based on a decoupling of the anodic and the cathodic sites. Then a diagnosis of the alteration state of the samples is established.     

H. L. Hunley Revealed: documentation,deconcretion, and recent developments in the investigation of an American Civil War submarine from 1864

Since 2014, the conservation staff at Clemson University's Warren Lasch Conservation Center in Charleston, South Carolina have been removing the concretion from the hull of H. L. Hunley, an American Civil War submarine lost 1864. In parallel, the archaeological team has been documenting the condition of the hull, the concretion layers, and the hull features revealed by the deconcretion process. This involved photography, direct measurements, and 3D scanning. This article will discuss the strategy for recording the concretion, the techniques used to document the newly revealed hull and its unique features, and the preliminary analysis of their archaeological significance.     

Beached Shipwrecks from Channel Islands National Park,California

Abstract

Three shipwreck sites of the 19th century in Channel Islands National Park, California form case studies in evaluating the contribution of beached shipwrecks to maritime and historical archaeology. Two of the sites are consistent with the historically-documented Pacific coast lumber schooners J. M. Colman and Dora Bluhm, but the archaeological record is sparse. Material remains are compared to primary documents, such as original 19th-century construction contracts and insurance classifications, to make a case for the beached shipwreck scatters belonging to these ships. A third site, Comet, presents the other end of the spectrum; its remains have been conclusively identified by historical photographs and the site is a partially-intact hull embedded in the beach sand. This site was also recorded in detail and the formation processes of all three sites were examined to aid in archaeological interpretation.     

Everyday Life in Byzantium: Some Problems of Aproach

Abstract

In 1554 a Franciscan friar of Angoulěme, André Thevet, published at Lyons his Cosmographie de Levant. The author had recently returned from a three year journey to Constantinople and the Holy Land, and the Cosmographie was the first of a number of geographical works.     

Assessing the influence of agrochemicals on the rate of copper corrosion in the vadose zone of arable land Part 1: field experiments

Abstract

Part of a project that has attempted to answer the question ‘does the application of agrochemicals accelerate the corrosion of metals in the top 50cm of the soil? ’ is reported. We have approached the question by a combination of field-based experiments (on two sites), establishing laboratory microcosms (one involving simple aqueous systems and the other a series of simulated burial experiments) and by using geochemical modelling techniques to understand the processes involved. Two different experimental approaches in the field are documented — one using in situ monitoring of corrosion potentials and the other assessing the degree of induced corrosion using image analysis on recovered samples. The first was carried out on arable land close to the University of Bradford to which we applied different fertilizer regimes. The second was established on land owned by the University of Newcastle at Palace Leas, Morpeth, Northumberland, which has a documented field management regime extending back over one hundred years. We focus here on a sub-set of the data relating to the behaviour of the thinnest samples of copper in each case. There does seem to be some evidence of an effect resulting from the applied fertilizer, but the data are sometimes contradictory. We suggest a number of improvements for future field experiments that monitor in situ corrosion in the vadose zone.     

Dimensional variations of Roman masonry subjected to wetting-drying cycles

Abstract

Many Roman monuments made of opus caementicium are subjected to wetting and drying phenomena caused by water or/and humidity from the ground. The action of water impregnation on the hypothetical dimensional changes in this Roman concrete has not been considered in the literature and no experimental data are available.

The purpose of this work was the evaluation of the effect of wetting and drying cycles in a number of cores taken from an ancient Roman monument (Domus Tiberiana in the Palatine, Rome). The concrete samples were made of a pozzolanic mortar with large pieces of tuff, marble and bricks.

In spite of some differences in their composition, the behaviour of the cores was similar and, generally, quite constant during the experimental cycles. On the average, the length variation was about 3–4%,or 3–4mm for each metre and, when related to high structural walls and monuments, the possible dimensional changes were quite impressive.     

A mid-18th-century mikveh unearthed in the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam

Abstract

In 2006 archaeological research was conducted in the New Synagogue, part of Amsterdam's Ashkenazi Synagogue complex, built between 1671 and 1752, which now houses the Jewish Historical Museum. The most remarkable find was a mid-18th-century mikveh or ritual bath, used for ceremonial purification by immersion; such baths played a key role in Jewish life. The excavated example was well preserved and retained its water supply and heating system. Although it served in a specific Jewish ritual context, the structure followed the everyday construction principles of Amsterdam builders.     

A Minimum-Impact Method for Measuring Corrosion Rate of Steel-Hulled Shipwrecks in Seawater

Current research on USS Arizona is focused on a minimum-impact technique for calculating corrosion rate of the battleship's steel hull by analysing physical and chemical properties of marine encrustation covering the exposed hull. An equation is derived that allows concretion thickness, density, and total iron content to be used to calculate corrosion rate of steel hull plate.
© 2006 The Authors     

An Archaeological Survey and Watching Brief at Garston Lock,Kennet and Avon Canal

Abstract

Restoration work at the turf-sided Garston Lock by British Waterways in 1993–4, as part of the reopening of the Kennet and Avon Canal, is described. The discovery of a timber head apron of the mid-eighteenth century has provided additional detail on the construction of turf-sided locks at this time. This apron, comprising a base plate, plank floor and side walls as well as a mitre cill, was abandoned when the lock was shortened. Comparisons have been made with a lock of similar construction and date at Monkey Marsh, Thatcham. Garston lock was subsequently rebuilt, possibly c 1854, to the specifications of John Rennie for locks elsewhere on the Kennet and Avon Canal. The turf sides were retained but were reveted with slate, a unique feature for locks on this canal.     

Reindeer antlers and what they can tell us about the reindeer population

The form and size of reindeer antlers are due to the animals’ age, genetic constitution, and nutritional condition.

The antlers are shed once a year at different seasons depending on the animals’ age, sex, and, for females, whether they are pregnant or not.

Finds of subfossil antler‐fragments from Heisantj?nn and Sumtangen on Hardangervidda show that the hunting has taken place early in the autumn and that is has been selective for the males.

This article is based on studies of the reindeer, Rangifier tarandus L. on Hardangervidda today, and on a subfossil bone material.     

The Technology of Submarine Design A Historical Survey 1905–1945

Abstract

The general principles of submarine design are outlined, and the close interaction between operational requirements and technical solutions is illustrated. These solutions involve an exceptional range of physical and social sciences. The engineering development of submarines between 1905 and 1945 is described, and it is shown how steady improvement was made and special requirements met. The main theme follows British developments, but frequent comparisons are made with the best designs from other countries.     

‘The Conscience of the Community’: the Au Vaine of Rarotonga

ABSTRACT

The Au Vaine (‘several women’ in Cook Islands Māori), grassroots women’s committees, worked to promote agricultural efforts and food security in Rarotonga during the 1920s and 1930s. A unique organization, the Au Vaine actively encouraged the growing of commercial crops alongside subsistence plantings at a time when women were being pushed towards the home and hearth, and men pulled to wage labour jobs. These women illustrate the powerful and often unheard voices Pacific women retained throughout this period, as well as the critical role of food in Pacific history. In this article I examine the context within which the Au Vaine emerged, discuss what distinguished them from other women’s committees in Polynesia, highlight their purpose and impact on Cook Islands foodways, and explore some of the reasons they declined by the 1940s.     

Parties,Gender Quotas and Candidate Selection in France

Almanach des Français, 2 vols (Encyclopaedia Universalis, 1994), 319pp. and 316pp., 544F.

Charmasson T., Lelorrain, A.‐M. and Sonnet, M., Chronologie de l'histoire de France (PUF, 1994), 876pp., 179F., ISBN 2 13 046139 5

Conseil national de la vie associative, Les Associations à l'épreuve de la décen‐ . tralisation: Bilan 1991–1992 (La Documentation Française, 1993), 245pp., 145F., ISBN 2 11 002974 9

Council of Europe, Population: French‐English glossary (Strasbourg, 1994), 500pp., 224F., ISBN 92 871 2506 6

Delporte, C., Histoire du journalisme et des journalistes en France (PUF, 1995), 127pp., 40F., pbk, ‘Que sais‐je?’

Deutschland‐Frankreich. Internationale Beziehungen und gegenseitige Verflechtung. Bine Bibliographie 1983–1990 ‐ France‐Allemagne. Relations internationales et interdépendances bilatérales. Une bibliographie 1983–1990 (Saur, München, 1994), 422pp., 148 DM.

Durant, S., Palais des Machines (Phaidon, 1995), 60pp., £19.95

Forrest, A., The French Revolution (Blackwell, 1995), 191pp., £6.99 pbk, and £25 hbk, ISBN 0 631 18351 5; 0 631 18107 5

Girault, R., and Bossuat, G., eds., Europe brisée, Europe retrouvée (Publications de la Sorbonne, 1994), 431pp., 180F., ISBN 2 85944 255 3

Greenfeld, L., Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity (Harvard University Press, 1992), 581pp., ISBN 0 674 60318 4

Hall, P., Hayward, J. and Machin, H., eds., Developments in French Politics (Macmillan, 1994), 340pp., £12.99, ISBN 0 333 61563 8

Hemtnings, F., The Theatre Industry in Nineteenth‐Century France (Cambridge University Press, 1993), xiv + 319pp., £35, ISBN 0 521 44142 0

Jordi, J.‐J., De l'exode à l'exil: Rapatriés et Pieds‐Noirs en France (L'Harmattan, 1993), 253pp., 140F., ISBN 2 7384 2305 1

Lamoureux, C., La Grande Parade du catch (Presses Universitaires de Mirail, 1993), 368pp., 175F., ISBN 2 85816 207 7

Makward, C., and Miller, J., eds., Plays by French and Francophone Women: A Critical Anthology (University of Michigan Press, 1995), 345pp., £15.20, ISBN 0 472 08258 2

Rebérioux, M., Jaurès, la parole et l'acte (Gallimard, 1994), 160pp., pbk

Schifres, A., Les Hexagons (Laffont, 1994), 494pp., 149F.

Tandem: Franco‐British arts review (Institut français du Royaume‐Uni), to be published three times a year (first issue: January‐August 1995)

Wieviorka, O., and Prochasson, C., eds., La France du XX^e siècle. Documents d'histoire (Seuil, 1994), 745pp., pbk, ISBN 2 02 013224 9     

Lowland Floodplain Responses to Extreme Flood Events: Long-Term Studies and Short-Term Microbial Community Response to Water Environment Impacts

Abstract

Targeted studies of waterlogged burial environments allow researchers to gain holistic insights into the physico-chemical and biological condition of wetlands that have the potential to contain organic remains of both anthropogenic and biogenic origin. Recent research has shown that microbial community diversity and functioning are intimately linked to physical and chemical parameters, such that environmental perturbations may have the potential to enhance the effectiveness of microbial communities in the degradation process. Our studies have shown that, as a consequence of the 2007 floods which impacted upon many British lowland rivers, a rapid microbial response to environmental perturbations can be demonstrated within the wetland deposits being monitored. As such, a quantification of the latent functionality of micro-organisms in a soil profile may be of fundamental importance for our understanding of potential in situ degradation processes; and, as a consequence, the likelihood for the biodegradation of sensitive archaeo-organic remains; a factor which is of primary importance for both ongoing and future mitigation strategies, and attempts at managing the cultural resource of wetlands.

This paper will present a consideration of the effectiveness of a long-term research project in a lowland wetland at Newington, Nottinghamshire, England, studied between 2004 and 2008; and evaluate the efficacy of this study in relation to the significant impacts that occurred as a result of the severe floods in 2007. We conclude that the data generated after the floods necessitated a total re-evaluation of the first approximately two years of environmental monitoring, and that the impacts throughout the sediment profile continued for some time after the initial flood event. These observations potentially have far-reaching implications for future in situ monitoring as disruptions to weather patterns influence the various environmental impacts on the wetland resource.     

Honours for Glasgow staff

Political Geography of the Twentieth Century: A Global Analysis. Edited by Peter Taylor, 245 x 184 mm, xiii + 269 pp, Belhaven, London, 1993, pbk ISBN 1–85293–1973, £12.95.

Environmental Management in the Soviet Union. By Philip R. Pryde, 228 x 153 mm, xiii + 314 pp, Cambridge University Press, 1991, pbk ISBN 0–521–40905–5, £10.95.

Green Development: Environment und Sustainahility in the Third World. By W.M. Adams, 216 X 138 mm, 273 pp, Routledge, London, 1992, pbk, ISBN 0–415–08050–9, £12.99.

Debt and Development. By Stuart Corbridge, 230 x 153 mm, 231 pp, Blackwell, Oxford, 1993, hbk ISBN 0–631179046, £35.00, pbk ISBN 0–631181383, £10.99.

Contemporary Rural Systems in Transition: Vol. 1 Agriculture and Environment, Vol. 2 Economy and Society. Edited by I.R. Bowler, C.R. Bryant and M.D. Nellis, 240 x 160 mm, viii + 277 and xx + 314 pp, Wallingford, CAB International, 1992, hbk, ISBN 0–85198–813‐X (two‐volume set), £70.00.

Controlling Tropical Deforestation. By Alan Grainger, 232 x 152 mm, 310 pp, Earthscan, London, 1993, pbk, ISBN 1–85383–142–5, £14.95.

Deforestation in the Postwar Philippines. By David M. Kummer, 228 x 152 mm, xvii + 178 pp, University of Chicago Press (Geography Research Paper 234), Chicago and London, 1992, pbk, ISBN 0–226–46169–6, £13.50.

Nineteenth‐Century Cape Breton — A Historical Geography. By Stephen J. Hornsby, 230 x 153 mm, 304 pp, McGill‐Queen's University Press, Montreal and Kingston, 1992, hbk, ISBN 0–7735–0889–9, £33.95.

Challenge of the Natural Environment. By B.J. Knapp, S.R.J. Ross, and D. McCrae, 236 x 135 mm, 272 pp, Longman, Harlow, 1989, pbk, ISBN 0–582–35597–4, £9.99.     

Population change in an urban system — the examples of the republic of Ireland and Scotland

State of the Scottish Environment 1991. By T.C.D. Dargie and D.J. Briggs, 296 × 210 mm, 73 pp, Scottish Wildlife and Countryside Link, Perth, 1992, pbk, ISBN 0–9518582–0–3, £5.00.

Ice Age Earth. By Alastair G. Dawson, 233 × 155 mm, xx + 293 pp, Routledge, London and New York, 1991, pbk, ISBN 0–415–01567–7, £17.99.

Fundamentals of Weather and Climate. By Robin McIlveen, 246 × 190 mm, 497 pp, Chapman and Hall, London, 1992, pbk, ISBN 0–442–31476–0, £19.95.

Environmental Hazards: Assessing Risk and Reducing Disaster. By Keith Smith, 233 × 155 mm, xx + 324 pp, Routledge, London and New York, 1991, pbk, ISBN 0–415–01217, £16.99.

Global Shift: the Internationalization of Economic Activity (Second edition). By Peter Dicken, 244 × 172 mm, xv + 492 pp, Paul Chapman, London, 1992, pbk, ISBN 1–85396–142–6, £15.95.

Geographic Information Systems: Developments and Applications. Edited by L. Worrall, 238 × 155 mm, 244pp, London, Belhaven, 1991, hbk, ISBN 1–85293–1620, £45.00.

Grieve on Geddes. By Robert Grieve, 208 × 148 mm, iv + 53 pp, Sir Patrick Geddes Memorial Trust, Edinburgh, 1992, pbk, no ISBN, £5.00.

The Changing Scottish Landscape 1500–1800. By Ian and Kathleen Whyte, 233 × 155 mm, 251 pp, Routledge, London, 1991, hbk, ISBN 0–415–02992–9, £40.00.     

Some Evidence for Seasonality amongst Later Stone Age Hunter-gatherers in Southern Africa

Abstract

The Later Stone Age (LSA) period in Southern Africa is characterised by a succession of cultural traditions. The LSA hunter-gatherer populations were ancestral to the present-day San. They moved around in small bands, within a semi-fixed territory visiting open air and shelter sites to coincide with available resources.

The hunter-gatherers filled every niche in the environment, including the high mountains, deserts and semi-deserts, bush savanna and grass lands. They were well aware of the food sources available in their territories during the course of a year and utilized these opportunities. As winters in southern Africa are relatively mild, and most regions have foods available throughout the year, seasonality is difficult to demonstrate.

In only a few instances there is some evidence for seasonal use or seasonality. Age profiles of seals at Elands Bay Cave suggest short occupation periods during late winter and early spring. In the high mountains of South Africa and Lesotho, where winters are cold and frost and snow common, the faunal and floral remains suggest occupation during late spring, summer and early autumn. Abbot's Cave in the semi-arid central Karoo was used as a hunting lodge during September, relating to the lambing season and migratory behaviour of springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis).     

New Mills in Bowden Middlecale: Domestic Textiles in the Rural Economy before the Industrial Revolution and the Change to Factory Cotton

Abstract

The year 1996 is being celebrated as Visual Arts Year in the North of England. From 21 September 1996, an Exhibition ‘People and Patterns’ at The John and Josephine Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, will describe the local carpet industry, which supplied the London and provincial trade for many years during the nineteenth century. The Exhibition closes on 5 January 1997     

Book reviews

Advielle, V., Histoire de Gracchus Babeuf et du babouvisme (2 vols) (Editions de CTHS, 1990) 322, 264pp., 100F. per volume, ISBN 2 7355 0205 8 and 2 7355 0206 6

Ageron, C.‐R. and Michel, M., eds., L'Afrique noire française: l'heure des Indépendances (CNRS Editions, 1992), 729pp., 360F., ISBN 2 222 04712 9

Aldridge, M. and Hewitt, N., eds., Controlling broadcasting. Access policy and practice in North America and Europe (Manchester University Press, 1994), xvi+264pp., £41

Ben Jelloun, T., L'Homme rompu (Seuil, 1994), 223pp., 95F.

Buller, H. and Hoggart, K., International counterurbanization. British migrants in rural France (Aldershot, Avebury, 1994), 144pp., ISBN 1 85628 508 1

Buton, P., Les Lendemains qui déchantent. Le Parti Communiste Français a la Liberation (Presses de la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, 1993), 345pp., 180F., ISBN 2 7246 0636 1

Cayrol, R., Le Grand malentendu (Seuil, 1994), 186pp., 110F., ISBN 2 02 021064 9

Chateaubriand, Grands écrits politiques, ed. J.‐P. Clement, Imprimerie Nationale, 1993, 2 vols, 796pp., (170F. each), ISBN 2 081264 8

Coffineau, M., Les lois Auroux, dix ans après (La Documentation Française, 1993), 181pp., 95F., ISBN 2 11 002980 3

Conte, A., L'Epopée coloniale de la France (Pion, 1992), 545pp., 145F., ISBN 2 259 02536 6

Coward, D., ed., Pagnol: La gloire de mon père; Le château de ma mère (Grant and Cutler, 1992), 96pp., £4.50, ISBN 0 7293 0347 0

Deligeorges, S. and Deschamps, J., Lyon (Hazan, 1993), 200pp., 245F., ISBN 2 8025 339 1

Dobson, A., Jean‐Paul Sartre and the Politics of Reason: A Theory of History (CUP, 1993), xii+199pp., £30.00

Fallaize, E., French Women's Writing: Recent Fiction (Macmillan, 1993), 182pp., £35 hbk, ISBN 0 333 49004 5 and £11.99 pbk, ISBN 0 333 49005 3

Gervereau, L. and Prochasson, C., L'Affaire Dreyfus et le tournant du siècle (1894–1910) (BDIC, 1994), 287pp., 600 illustrations, 285F., ISBN 2 901658 26 1

Gratton, J., and Le Juez, B., Modern French short fiction (Manchester University Press, 1994), 204pp., £29.99 hbk, ISBN 0 7190 4210 0 and £7.99 pbk, ISBN 0 7190 4211 9

Groux, G., and Lévy, C., La possession ouvrière: du taudis à la propriété (XIXe‐XXe siècle) (Editions Ouvrières, 1993), 247pp., 140F., ISBN 2 7082 3019 0

Günther, R., Duras: ‘Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein’ and ‘L'Amant’ (Grant &; Cutler, 1993), 87pp., £4.50, Critical Guides to French Texts, 99, ISBN 84 599 3330 X

Haegel, F., Un Maire à Paris: Mise en seine d'un nouveau rôle politique (Presses de la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, 1994), 261pp., 200F.

Harvey, R., Search for a Father: Sartre, Paternity and the Question of Ethics (University of Michigan Press, 1991), 217pp., $36.50 hbk

Hirschhorn, M., L'ère des enseignants (PUF, 1993), 301pp., 168F., ISBN 2 13 045336 8

Kettle, M., De Gaulle and Algeria, 1940–1960 (Quartet, 1993), 666pp., £45, ISBN 0 7043 7023 9

Le Pors, A., Pendent la mue, le serpent est aveugle (Albin Michel, 1993), 264pp., 98F., ISBN 2 226 06735 3

Lewis, G., The French Revolution. Rethinking the Debate (Routledge, 1993), 131pp., £5.99

Michel, M., L'aménagement régional en France. Du territoire aux territoires (Masson, 1994), 236pp., 125F., ISBN 2 225 84417 8

Nicault, C., La France et le sionisme 1897–1948 (Calmann‐Lévy, 1992), 319pp., 160F., ISBN 2 7021 1962 X

The Oxford‐Hachette French Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 1994), 2016pp., £19.95, ISBN 0 19 864195 8

Rebérioux, M., and Candar, G., eds., Jaurès et les intellectuels (Editions de l'Atelier/Editions Ouvrières, 1994), 326pp., 150F.

Richardson, M., Georges Bataille (Routledge, 1994), 148pp., £11.99., ISBN 0 415 09842 4. Georges Bataille. The Absence of Myth. Writings on Surrealism, translated and introduced by Michael Richardson (Verso, 1994), 211pp., £18.95, ISBN 0 86091 419 4

Rigoulet, P., Les Enfants de l'épuration (Plon, 1993), 533pp., 145F., ISBN 2 259 02467 X

Schmidt, N., Victor Schoelcher et l'abolition de l'esclavage (Fayard, 1994), 440pp., 150F.

Schneidermann, D., Arrêts sur images (Fayard, 1994), 240pp., 89F.

Stone, A., The Birth of Judicial Politics in France: the Constitutional Council in Comparative Perspective (Oxford University Press, 1992), 312pp., £35, ISBN 0 19 507034 8

Trochet, J.‐R., Aux origines de la France rurale: outils, pays et paysages (CNRS, 1993), 168pp., 220F, ISBN 2 271 05097 9

Varda, A., Varda par Agnès (Cahiers du Cinéma, 1994), 286pp., 250F., ISBN 286642 145 0

Villa, P., Une analyse macro‐économique de la France au XXe siècle (CNRS Editions, 1994), 409pp., 380F.

Windebank, J., The Informal Economy in France (Avebury, 1991), 244pp., £32.50, ISBN 1 85628 191 4