COMMUTING IN SMALL AND MIDDLE-SIZE TOWNS OF SOVIET GEORGIA

The author takes issue with the view expressed by M. I. Artamonov, an archeologist, that an ethnos, or ethnic group, represents a social state rather than a process. In the author's view, ethnos IS a vast system in constant development, which tends to be stabilized by endogamy and undermined by exogamy. An ethnic hierarchy is proposed to illustrate the process of ethnogenesis. It ranges from the lowest order of ethnic grouping, a consortium, through subethnos, ethnos and superethnos to mankind as a whole. Each order in the hierarchy is distinguished by particular forms of associations, trends of development and culminating phases. The concept of ethnos as an ongoing process is illustrated with reference to ethnic change in ancient China and in the Ottoman empire.     

CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS IN THE CONSTRUCTIVE GEOGRAPHY OF LARGE CITIES

The increasing impact of urbanization on the natural environment and physical constraints on city planning in the various natural zones of the USSR call for a program of research that would bring to bear the tools of the various geographical disciplines on the problem and might give rise to a distinctive geography of city planning. Geomorphology might be concerned with a variety of caving and slumping processes typical of large cities; climatology with the impact of cities on the microclimate of an area; hydrology with watertable changes and water-management problems, and biogeography with the distinctive plant and animal life of large cities and urban agglomerations. More complex, integrated research in both physical and economic geography would deal with the choice of suitable sites for new cities, particularly in extreme types of environment; with predictive aspects of the impact of urbanization, and the functional structure of cities. A number of cities and parts of cities with different layouts and different environmental settings should be designated as experimental study areas for geographical research of a more systematic character.     

DENDROCHRONOLOGICAL DATING OF THE CHIEF JOHN ROSS HOUSE,ROSSVILLE, GEORGIA

Abstract

The Chief John Ross House is a two-story oak (Quercus spp.) and eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) log structure located in downtown Rossville, Georgia. The log structure was reportedly built in 1797 by John McDonald, grandfather of Chief John Ross, for his Cherokee bride. This construction date first emerged in the 1950s, when efforts were underway to save the structure. Historical documents, however, indicate that the structure did not exist until 1816. Ross lived at the structure until 1828, when he was elected the last principal chief of the Cherokee before the tribe’s forced removal during the Trail of Tears. Using dendroarchaeological techniques, 28 archaeological (increment) cores were removed from the oak portion of the structure in 2007 to verify the construction date. Cores were processed and dated using the white oak (Quercus alba L.) Piney Creek Pocket Wilderness, Tennessee chronology. Of the 28 cores, 22 (from 19 trees) yielded cutting dates clustered around the winter of 1816–17, indicating the structure likely was not built by McDonald. This construction date does, however, make it possible for Chief John Ross himself to have been the builder. This correction to history should increase public attention and preservation efforts at the structure.     

PROBLEMS OF PASSENGER MOBILITY AND ROAD TRANSPORT IN THE SOUTHERN FAR EAST REGION

Dimensions of the road transport problem in the southern Far East Economic Region (Primorskiy Kray, Amur Oblast, and Khabarovsk Kray) are outlined and some of its social and economic impacts described (for example, the inadequate levels of services provision addressed in the preceding paper). Road connectivity and passenger mobility trends are analyzed before coverage shifts to more specific challenges confronting planners: the need to (a) separate inter-city from intra-city flows in cities along major transport corridors, (b) improve road surfaces, (c) reduce travel times and regulate seasonal fluctuations in service, and (d) provide a more favorable environment for growing private automobile use (translated by H. L. Haslett, Leamington Spa, UK).     

A NEW LOOK AT KINCAID: MAGNETIC SURVEY OF A LARGE MISSISSIPPIAN TOWN

Abstract

Despite extensive work by the University of Chicago in 1934–44, Kincaid has remained one of the least understood of the large mid-South Mississippian mound complexes. Between 2003 and 2009, large-scale magnetic gradient survey was done on 33.6 ha of the site, roughly half of the total site area and 65 percent of the larger and more accessible Massac County portion. The survey was highly successful, revealing large numbers of cultural features, including palisades, structures, pit features, and midden areas. This paper presents the preliminary results of the geophysical survey, complemented by small-scale groundtruthing excavations. Together these have significantly expanded and refined our understanding of this large prehistoric town. Kincaid is clearly much larger than once thought, both in terms of total site area and area of habitation. The site also exhibits much greater internal complexity, as evidenced by internal palisades and numerous small mounds and earthen platforms.     

THE INDUSTRIAL RESTRUCTURING OF SOUTH WALES: THE CAREER OF A STATE MANAGED REGION

This paper examines the causes of the current economic crisis in the industrial region of South Wales. The authors maintain that past as well as current government policies have played a major role in bringing about the crisis by contributing to the vulnerability of communities in South Wales. The authors review the history of the policies which have contributed to the current steel and coal crises. They then provide a brief discussion of current legislative policies designed to combat the crises. Finally, they critique alternative strategies: continued monetarism; a return To Keynesian/‘corporatist’ policies; and the radical restructuring demanded by an ‘Alternative Economic Strategy’ (AES).     

ANALYSIS OF SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS IN A MOUNTAIN REGION

In a continuing study of settlement systems using space imagery and aerial photography, systems of settlement and central places are analyzed on the basis of the intensity of transport movements between places. Central places are assigned to different categories according to the patterns of transport linkages in their tributary areas. Relationships between the maximum extent of zones of influence and the population of central places are discussed. The concept of developmental phase of a settlement system is introduced. For previous articles by the author, see S.G., Jan. 1975 and Oct. 1976. [The study area, though not identified, is in the Altay Mountains.]     

ANALYSIS OF FIRST MILLENNIUM bc GLASS VESSELS AND BEADS FROM THE PICHVNARI NECROPOLIS,GEORGIA*

The Pichvnari necropolis on the Black Sea coast of Georgia lies in an area known in the late first millennium as ‘Colchis’, on part of the trade route leading to the Orient. The burials of the necropolis date to the late fifth century bc and frequently contain grave goods, including extremely well‐preserved polychrome glass beads and core‐formed vessels. This paper presents a study of these vessels both stylistically and archaeologically and using SEM–WDS and LA–ICPMS. It reveals that the vessels have compositional differences that may point to multiple manufacturing sites. One of the vessels appears stylistically unique and may exhibit one of the earliest uses of manganese as a decolorizer. Major and minor element data for the vessels suggest that they may belong to the same ‘Levantine’ group as many Roman glass objects, suggesting that a source of sand on the coast of the Levant could have been used in their production. The beads clearly show glass with both natron‐ and plant ash‐based flux with distinct rare earth compositions, showing multiple sites of production, some of which were probably either in the Middle East or the Indian subcontinent.     

INTRAURBAN MORTALITY VARIATION and INCOME DISPARITY: A CASE STUDY OF HAMILTON-WENTWORTH REGION

This paper characterizes and explains mortality variation among census tracts of Hamilton-Wentworth Region, Ontario, during 1980–82. Analysis is based on the age-specific death rate of the 55 to 64 age group, computed for each sex by categories of major cause. Mosk and lohansson's (1986) four stages of mortality/income relationship and Omran's (1977) theory of epide-miological transition provide context for understanding mortality variations. Logit models and the maximum quasi-likelihood estimation method allow for statistical inference. Research findings show that spatial patterns of mortality are more fragmented and less explainable for females than for males; that mortality is dependent (1) negatively on median family income and the percentage of individuals who are married and (2) positively on unemployment rate and the percentages of individuals who are single, widowed, and divorced or separated; among socioeconomic variables derived from the 1981 census, median family income is the most powerful explanator of intraurban mortality variation and, in this context, other explanatory variables are not statistically significant; and, in terms of the theoretical frameworks of Mosk and johansson (1986) and Omran (1977), mortality patterns for females are shown to have progressed further than for males. Cet essai caractérise et explique les variations de mortalité apparues en étudiant les tracts de recensement de la Région d'Hamilton-Wentworth, Ontario, en 1980–82. L'analyse est basée sur le taux de mortalité spécifique au groupe des 55 à 64 ans, en prenant en considération les deux sexes et les différentes catégories de cause majeure de mortalité. La relation mortalité/revenu en 4 étapes de Mosk et Johansson offre un contexte permettant de mieux comprendre les variations de mortalité. Les modeles Logit et la méthode d'estimation de quasi-probabilité permettent de considérer une inférence statistique. On a trouvé tout d'abord, que les modèles spatiaux de mortalité sontplus fragmentés et moins expliquables pour les femmes que pour les hommes; ensuite, sur la base d'une série d'analyses bi-variées, la mortalité prouve dépendre (1) négativement du revenu familial moyen et du pourcentage d'individus mariés et (2) positivement d'un taux de chomage et de pourcentages d'individus célibataires, veufs, divorcés et séparés; troisièmement, parmi toutes les variables socio-économiques dérivées du rencensementde 1981, le revenu familial moyen est la variable expliquant le mieux les variations de mortalité intra-urbaine et, dans ce même contexte, les autres variables explicatives ne sont pas suffisamment significatives sur le plan des statistiques; et (4) en termes des cadres théoriques de Mosk et lohansson et Omran, cette étude démontre que les modèles de mortalité ont progressé davantage pour les femmes que pour les hommes.     

TSONGO,A SMALL LAKE IN NORTH TIBET

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has the most lakes of any area in China. The total surface area of the modern plateau lakes accounts for 52 percent of the total surface area of lakes in China. There are countless smaller lakes around the Serling Tso, which somehow unexpectedly became the biggest lake in Tibet after the sudden rise of the water level in 2004. One of them, Tsongo, has a shoreline shaped like a dancing fairy with curvy lines,