IDENTIFICATION OF POST‐DEPOSITIONAL CHEMICAL ALTERATION OF CERAMICS FROM THE NORTH COAST OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA (SANDUAN PROVINCE) BY TIME‐OF‐FLIGHT–LASER ABLATION–INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA–MASS SPECTROMETRY (TOF–LA–ICP–MS)*

The measured chemical composition of archaeological ceramics can result from a variety of geological, cultural and taphonomic factors. In the present study, we evaluate the likelihood that elevated barium concentrations in ceramics from the archaeological site of Wom/Aiser, located on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea, result from post‐depositional enrichment. Using time‐of‐flight–laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry, we mapped chemical compositional profiles across cut sections of ceramic sherds from four archaeological sites, all previously chemically characterized. We identify the formation of pronounced concentration gradients in samples from Wom/Aiser relative to sherds with low barium concentrations, consistent with post‐burial uptake.     

Style and Subversion: Postwar Poses and the Neo–Edwardian Suit in Mid–Twentieth–Century Britain

This essay examines the emergence of the Neo–Edwardian look in postwar London. It traces a network of styles which took their meanings from the immediate environment and from broader social, economic and cultural trends, and suggests that the arising connections between place, class and gender identities provided an important precedent for the reinvention of London as a centre of fashion innovation in the 1960s. Utilising contemporary sociological accounts and the content of trade periodicals, this reading challenges some of the more reactionary interpretations of Neo–Edwardianism which have dominated the established literature and refocuses the attention of the fashion historian on the sartorial activities of young men.     

Alltagswissen – Körperwissen – Praxiswissen – Fachwissen. Zur Aneignung,Bewertungs‐ und Orientierungslogik von Wissenskulturen

Everyday knowledge – body knowledge – knowledge of experience – specialized knowledge: Acquisition, assessment and the orientation of logic concerning cultures of knowledge. – The essay explores changes in the understanding, legitimisation, and practice of midwifery. It was one of the earliest professional activities for women. During the eighteenth century a new culture of expertise emphasized theoretical knowledge and adherence to medical disciplines over the empirical practice gained by women. This early phase of professionalisation, with its hierarchies and preferred use of medically accredited knowledge, was not, however, solely divided along gender lines. Female professionalism was not just supplanted by male academic medicalisation. New ways of attaining and assessing knowledge, a different perception of how it is organised, and above all, social change created new patterns of understanding. This process achieved a new professional ethos. In pursuing the issue of gender, various examples are chosen to illustrate how changes in scientific knowledge and its relevant application are mediated. The construct of scientific knowledge and how it is used reflects gender relations and power structures. There is not only competition between female and male perceptions of knowledge, but also male stereotyping of female knowledge, in particular male notions of what kind of knowledge is necessary and how this is perceived by women. Karen Offen used the term ‘knowledge wars’ to describe how a monopoly of scientific expertise and relevant knowledge works within the professions.     

LA–ICP–MS,SEM–EDS AND EPMA ANALYSIS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICAN COPPER‐BASED ARTEFACTS: IMPACT OF CORROSION AND HETEROGENEITY ON THE RELIABILITY OF THE LA–ICP–MS COMPOSITIONAL RESULTS*

This study discusses the relevance of compositions obtained using laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA–ICP–MS) for the purpose of identifying the provenance of copper‐based artefacts found in Virginia at Native American sites dated from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Ten artefacts were investigated by scanning electron microscopy – energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM–EDS) to visualize the corrosion and characterize the heterogeneities in the metal and electron probe micro‐analysis (EPMA) to determine separately the compositions of the intact metal and of the corrosion product. It is shown that the corroded surfaces are highly depleted in zinc but that representative concentrations can be determined by sampling the deeper, uncorroded metal. In contrast, lead values are highly variable because of the heterogeneous distribution of this metal within the bulk copper. Despite these problems, brass is easily identifiable and American native copper and European smelted copper can be unambiguously distinguished with LA–ICP–MS on unprepared artefacts using As, Ag, Ni and Sb trace elements.     

Fani Popova–Mutafova

The article explores the life and professional activities of Fanny Popova–Mutafova – the most prominent of the few writers of historical fiction in Bulgaria and one of the most prolific and published Bulgarian women authors of the interwar period. Her life spanned two epochs – the ‘bourgeois’ epoch prior to World War II, and that of the communist regime. While she was celebrated as one of the best and most productive writers and intellectuals in Bulgaria before 1944, the communist regime pronounced her ‘a people’s enemy’, held her responsible for ‘Great–Bulgarian chauvinism and fascism’, banned and destroyed her books and ruined her life. The story of her life is embedded in several decades of Bulgarian intellectual life and, besides giving an idea of a woman writer’s existence there at that time, reveals wider sociopolitical and ideological contexts in which various discourses affecting Bulgarian women were articulated.     

Laboratory taphonomy—material loss and skeletal part profiles: the example of Saint–Germain–la–Rivière (Gironde,France)

Taphonomic studies can allow us to reconstruct the history of faunal assemblages. However, few studies concern themselves with measuring the effect of sampling problems and specific analytical procedures. Zooarchaeological study of the site of Saint–Germain–la–Rivière is instructive in this regard. Taphonomic studies suggest a loss of material during curation and storage. The study showed when unplotted specimens are not taken into account, the skeletal part profiles are modified in a significant way. In level 1, only square M21 can be used for analysis. By contrast, the quantity of specimens from level 3 in squares L21 and L22 rich in shaft fragments is so large compared to the other squares that this level can be studied in its totality.