Snow-Cover Dynamics as one of the Factors of Formation of Landscapes of the Moscow Region

The author analyzes the landscape-forming role of the snow cover by distinguishing four snow-cover periods in the winter season and investigating snow-accumulation conditions under various meteorological, relief and vegetation situations. The effect of the snow cover on ground frost, the wintering of plants and animals, the amount of surface runoff and soil erosion in the spring is analyzed for various combinations of conditions in each period.     

The Lhalu Clan and the Lhalu Wooded park

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Spatial Shifts in the Population of Moscow Region

An American geographer and senior Russian demographer/migration specialist examine spatial shifts in the distribution of population within Moscow city and Moscow Oblast in response to major social and economic changes occurring in the aftermath of the USSR's disintegration. This second installment (for the first, see Ioffe and Zayonchkovskaya, 2010) in a three-part study devoted to exploring the consequences and spatial manifestations of Russia's shrinking population is focused on the one relatively small part of that country that is expected to experience population growth over the next one and one-half decades (albeit strictly due to in-migration rather than natural increase). Particular attention is devoted to the effects of emerging real estate and land markets during the post-Soviet period, on the restructuring of the regional settlement system focused on the Russian capital, as well as the insights to be derived (based on a case study) from investigating processes of spatial population shifts at multiple scales.     

The Role of Metallurgy in Transforming Global Forests.

Forest degradation—both past and present—has been a significant research focus of many disciplines in recent decades, and it is an area in which the multidisciplinarity and long-term perspectives of archaeological endeavour has the potential to make a particularly valuable contribution. One of the past craft activities that has long been linked to significant socio-economic change and associated accelerations in forest cover reduction and environmental decline is the intensification of early iron production—an industry reliant on the consumption of charcoal as fuel for much of its history. However, the impact of iron production on the transformation of woodlands is dependent on a suite of interrelated factors—climatic, ecological, technological and cultural—only some of which have so far been adequately scrutinised. This paper explores the theoretical context that links iron production with deforestation in academic and popular cultures, examining the role that archaeology can play in investigating this association, before reviewing recent methodological approaches that aim to interrogate the relationship between metallurgy and the environment in archaeological settings.     

The Heat Balance and Radiation Regime of Corn Crops

The authors derive the components of the radiation balance of a corn crop either by direct observation or by computational methods. These components include the heat circulating in the soil and in the corn plant cover, and the turbulent heat exchange between the corn crop and the atmosphere.     

Landscapes of the Battle of the Bulge: WW2 Field Fortifications in the Ardennes Forests of Belgium

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a reconnaissance survey of battlefield archaeological features that are associated with the early stages of the German Ardennes offensive in December 1944, and which have been well-preserved in the post-war forests in the St. Vith–Schöenberg area of eastern Belgium. Field survey of the location, plan-form dimensions, (unexcavated) surface relief and orientation of forest-floor earthworks over a total area of ca. 1.4 km² has recorded 116 discrete and well preserved features that have been provisionally assigned to a threefold typology encompassing large emplacements, rectilinear entrenchments and circular and sub-circular entrenchments/shell craters. The form and disposition of these remains are considered in the context of field fortification doctrine, documented accounts of combat in the area and the terrain and landscape setting. It is to be hoped that the work will stimulate a wider awareness of the value of recording and managing the region's WW2 battlefield heritage in the face of future development pressures, and especially the immediate threat posed by mechanised forestry operations.     

广东侨乡聚落的景观特点及其遗产价值

广东侨乡聚落景观是 19世纪中期与西方开通之后逐步形成的。华侨的勤劳不仅带来了侨乡经济的繁荣 ,而且带来了侨乡思想观念的变化 ,建筑形式的刷新就是这种变化的写照。广东五邑等地侨乡出现的风格独特的碉楼民居、骑楼商业街、公共建筑及私家园林等 ,在中国传统建筑的基础上 ,大胆引进西方建筑元素和手法 ,创造出一组组式样独特的“另类”建筑景观 ,使历来沉稳、厚重的中国传统建筑增添了不少活泼、升腾之感 ,从而丰富了聚落天际线。这种侨乡聚落景观的形成 ,成为一种特定时代的特殊的历史见证 ,是一笔重要的历史文化遗产 ,应予积极保护     

The Role of Economic Sectors in the Formation of Regional Production Complexes

A variety of approaches used in Soviet economic geography to define and measure the productive specialization of an economic region are reviewed. In the author's view, a regional activity qualifies as regional specialization if it helps shape the basic character of the regional economy. It is not sufficient for a regional activity merely to represent a major portion of a particular national sector of the economy. For example, the asbestos industry in the Urals represents the major portion of Soviet asbestos output, but asbestos does not shape the basic character of the Urals economy and is therefore not a principal specialization sector. Regional specialization derives from relationships among the various sectors of the regional economy, not from the significance of any particular commodity. A classification of economic sectors is proposed as an aid in analyzing the functioning of a regional economy: (1) the principal specialization sectors; (2) basic raw-material sectors; (3) associated sectors using the wastes and by-products of the principal sectors; (4) complementary specialization sectors, such as asbestos in the Urals; (5) auxiliary sectors, such as metallurgical fluxes for the iron and steel industry; (6) service sectors, including utilities, transportation, construction, trade; (7) local sectors, working for local consumption.     

The Significance and Role of Sectoral-Production Complexes in the Formation and Evolution of Economic Regions

Soviet economic regionalization has traditionally focused on the concept of the areal-production complex (or territorial-production complex), representing the aggregate of economic activities within a particular area. These complexes may range in scale from a local group of interrelated activities all the way to the national economic complex of the USSR. A Soviet economic geographer specializing in the Northern Caucasus now introduces the concept of the “sectoral-production complex” as a subdivision of the areal complex. The sectoral complex contains one or more sectors of production that are linked by a common resource base and common economic relations; for example, the agricultural complex, comprising farming and agricultural processing, rests on agricultural resources; the metallurgy and machine-building complex, combining metallurgy and metal fabrication, rests on a common ore-resource base. According to the author, the concept of a sectoral-production complex must be differentiated from N. N. Kolosovskiy's concept of “energy-and-production cycles” [see Journal of Regional Science, 3 (1961), pp. 1–25] on the ground that Kolosovskiy's cycles are based on a common basic technology, while the sectoral complex involves common resources and economic relations.     

《晋书·载记》的正统观及其成因

《晋书》以"载记"之体记述十六国史,融伪史入正史,蕴涵着史家对十六国历史的肯定。它以东晋为正统,这一书法的形成,与其史料来源大有关系。唐初所存的十六国史,不少出于南北朝史官之手,尤其是《十六国春秋》和《三十国春秋》,皆黜十六国为僭伪,但同时又在书法上肯定其历史地位,其褒贬对《晋书·载记》正统观的形成都产生了重大影响。另外,《晋书》不以前凉、西凉二政权入"载记",其理据颇可怀疑,但它打破了正统与僭伪的界限,折射出南北统一、民族融合后的历史心理。     

Pathways to Social Complexity and State Formation in the Southern Zambezian Region

Theorists have put forth various anthropological perspectives on the variables leading to social complexity and the emergence of state-level polities. This paper incorporates data from the Zambezian region of Southern Africa in order to contribute to the literature on social evolutionary theory. It traces the cultural trajectories of communities that flourished during the region’s Iron Age within the Shashi-Limpopo Basin, leading to the emergence of the Great Zimbabwe polity. In examining the archaeological record, the authors discuss the emergence of state-like societies, offering a review of current interpretations and explanations for the emergent complexity. Les théoriciens ont émis plusieurs points de vue anthropologiques sur les variables qui conduisent à la complexité sociale et à l’émergence des états. Cet article est une contribution à la littérature sur la théorie de l’évolution des sociétés réalisée à partir des données de la région du Zambèze au sud de l’Afrique. Il retrace les trajectoires culturelles de communautés qui sont apparues au cours de l’age du fer dans le Bassin du Shashi-Limpopo et qui ont conduit à l’émergence de l’état du Grand Zimbabwe. En s’appuyant sur les données archéologiques, les auteurs discutent l’émergence de sociétés-états, offrant une revue des dernières interprétations et explications au sujet des complexités émergentes.     

博物馆在非物质文化遗产保护中所承担的角色——以新疆地区为例

进入21世纪,文化遗产保护已经全面的提上日程,尤其是对非物质文化遗产的保护更是迫在眉睫。新疆作为少数民族聚居区,蕴涵着大量的非物质文化遗产。和全国大部分地区一样,新疆地区也由于种种原因,不少特色的文化资源遭到不同程度的破坏,大量珍贵的民族民间特色文化形态流失或濒临灭绝,许多民间传统技艺后继乏人等情况。在这样的情况下新疆地区的博物馆将如何扮演＂非物质文化遗产保护使者＂的角色是大众所关注的。本文将从非物质文化遗产的角度,论述新疆地区的博物馆在非物质文化遗产保护中如何扮演好＂非物质文化遗产保护使者＂的角色。     

Regional Peculiarities in the Formation of Industrial Nodes in the Middle Ob' Region

Limiting environmental conditions in the construction of industrial nodes in the new oil district of the Middle Ob' are the rigorous climate, extensive swamp cover and absence of ground transportation. These adverse factors are compensated to some extent by the shallow depth of oil deposits, favorable geology and the availability of groundwater that can be injected to maintain oil-reservoir pressures. The basic problems in the development of the oil district are the shortage of housing, services and local foodproducts and consumer goods as well as the high cost of construction of transport routes. Greater investment in services is urged to help reduce the high turnover of labor as migrants are reluctant to settle permanently in the region.     

The Moscow Colloquium on Electroencephalography of Higher Nervous Activity and its impact on international brain research

Late 1950s was a period of recognition of Russian neurophysiology by international neuroscience community and vice versa. This process of "opening windows in both directions" might be illustrated by the story of The Moscow Colloquium on Electroencephalography of Higher Nervous Activity. The Colloquium took place on October 6-11, 1958 at the House of Scientists in Moscow. It was organized by the Academy of Sciences of the USSR under the initiative of the Institute for Higher Nervous Activity and focused on (a) EEG correlates of cortical excitation and inhibition; (b) electrophysiological study of different brain structures and their role in conditioned reflexes; and (c) EEG of higher nervous activity in humans. At the final session it was suggested to launch an International Year for the Study of the Brain and to ask UNESCO for international coordination of brain research. This resulted into the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) founded in 1960. This article is based on unpublished records of international contacts of Soviet neurophysiologists and organization of the Moscow Colloquium from the Archive of Russian Academy of Science (ARAN), reports in Soviet periodicals, publications in obscure Festschriften, etc.     

The Concept of Landscape and Landscapes of Different Orders

The paper is an expanded version of a Lomonosov lecture given April 12, 1956, in the Earth Science Museum of Moscow University. Yefremov criticizes the confusion derived from the dual meaning of “landscape” as used by Soviet geographers: (1) landscape as an areal unit of varying taxonomic rank constituting a complex of all components that interact within the earth's surficial sphere (or landscape sphere), and (2) landscape as an indivisible basic areal unit, or “molecule,” or “cell” of physical geography. Yefremov defends the first and assails the second point of view.     

The Study of the Heat and Moisture Balance of the Ukraine as a Basis for Measures to Raise the Productivity of Agriculture

The paper discusses the availability of data for calculating the heat balance and the moisture balance for the territory of the Ukraine. The problem of determining total evaporation, evaporation from the surface of the soil and transpiration of agricultural crops is treated in detail. The authors discuss practical applications of heat and moisture balance work, including the setting of irrigation norms, the study of the regimes of stream reservoirs, swamp drainage and the study of the effect of tree plantings on the microclimate of sheltered fields.     

The Heat and Water Balance of the Earth's Surface,the General Theory of Physical Geography and the Problem of the Transformation of Nature

Two Soviet specialists in the geography of the United States analyze regional shifts in terms of the three major regions distinguished by Soviet geographers: North, South, West. The article, written before the 1960 census, is based largely on the Statistical Abstract of the United States for 1959 and earlier years as well as Current Population Reports. Problems of urban growth are also discussed, including traffic problems and population shifts to the suburbs.     

Institutional Arrangements and Political Mobilization in the New Italian Regionalism: The Role of Spatial Policies in the Piedmont Region

The paper focuses on the resurgence of the regions as protagonists of the process of the state rescaling in many European countries. In the EU countries this process can be seen as a result of a mix of economic and institutional factors, which have been producing an increasing competition between the central governments and the regional authorities. The rise of the multi-level governance and of the so-called Euroregionalism has reinforced the role of the regional scale in the territorial development: on one hand, with new actors like agencies and organizations engaged in the economic development (FDI attraction, place marketing, innovation and learning), on the other hand by the resurgence of “old” actors, such as the regions, in many cases empowered by processes of institutional devolution. The literature has investigated this re-composition of the political space with regard to the “hollowing out” and the “rescaling” of the state. On the base of these theoretical underpinnings, we discuss some empirical evidence from the Italian experience, in order to show whether and how the regional structures are not only “spaces for policies”, but also “spaces for politics”. Over the last decade, the changes in legal framework, the external inputs from supranational levels of government—the European Commission—and the re-territorialization processes have introduced many elements of innovation in the role of the regions. By illustrating the case of the Piedmont Region, we try to demonstrate that the transition towards the region as an active space of politics can be mediated by the sphere of the policies, especially the spatial ones.     

Status and Role of Formation Theory in Contemporary Archaeological Practice

Since Binford appropriated the term “middle-range theory,” it has signified the process of reasoning from the extant material record to the cultural past. Merton's sociological concept of middle-range theory is relevant to archaeology, but does not mean what Binford denoted by it. More accurately, Binford's domain should be called “formation theory.” By whatever name used, archaeologists differ greatly in our views of its role and status. Somehow, formation theory has come to be viewed as method but not theory, and as intrinsic to materialism, but irrelevant if not antithetical to other ontologies. Yet it is as critical to the contextual understanding of the past sought by many archaeologists today—a role that, among others, belies formation theory's marginal status in academic practice.