Pearl fishing in the ancient world: 7500 BP

The oldest pearl in the world was found in the United Arab Emirates and dates from 7500 BP. Gemmologists and jewellers have popularised the idea that the oldest pearl in the world is the 5000‐year‐old Jomon pearl from Japan. Discoveries made on the shores of south‐eastern Arabia show this to be untrue, as the archaeological pearls that have been found are 2500 years older. In this region, pearls still hold an important place. Indeed, today they remain a central, identifying element. The discovery of archaeological pearls demonstrates an ancient fishing tradition that no longer exists today.     

Prehistoric nearshore and littoral fishing in the eastern Tropical Pacific: An ichthyological evaluation

Marine fish bones are abundant components of human food remains at prehistoric sites in the eastern Tropical Pacific. Their quantification and interpretation in terms of human procurement strategies have been hampered by the use of large-meshed sieves and by the obstacles presented to faunal experts by fish taxonomic diversity. Since many important food fish families are speciose, this paper emphasizes the importance of species-level identifications. Making extensive use of Spanish-language articles on fish distribution and ecology, and the commercial and artisanal fisheries literature, it identifies groups of nearshore and littoral fish species that show greater and lesser tolerance for hard substrates (reefs and rocks), estuaries and coastal lagoons, and deeper clearer waters farther offshore. Most of the regional archaeological sites were located near estuarine habitats. The drab-colored fish they attract are generally poorly known. Hence, a particularly detailed analysis is offered of fish behavior within low salinity coastal inlets. Fourteen archaeofaunal fish samples from Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador are evaluated in the light of the environmental information generated by the biological and fisheries surveys. It is concluded that most sites have a broadly estuarine orientation and that the input of hard substrates is everywhere <10%. Two sites, Salango, in Ecuador, and Vidor, in Costa Rica, exploited epipelagic fish that swim in large shoals and deep water demersal predators. Sites situated more than 10 km from the coast exploited a wide variety of marine fish. In Parita Bay, Panama, a comparison of fish faunas from Cerro Mangote (6000 B.P.) and Sitio Sierra (1800 B.P.) elicits the hypothesis that regional fishing strategies shifted between these dates from a shore-based, netless strategy to a more complex one that incorporated fine-meshed gill-nets and watercraft.     

Saami Circular Sacrificial Sites in Northern Coastal Sweden

Abstract

Saami circular sacrificial sites have been known for many years in northern Norway and northern interior Sweden. Oral or written sources regarding their origins are nevertheless lacking outside reindeer-herding areas. These circular features have now been documented in Swedish Bothnian coastal environments together with site complexes at elevations, suggesting that they were used during the Iron Age, medieval and historic periods. It is argued that these coastal features, stone circles or ring-shaped enclosures, are Saami sacrificial sites of the same character as documented in North Norway and in the mountains and the forest lands of northern Sweden.     

Measuring ethnic belonging from within: The case of the Vuotso Saami

Finland anchors its legal definition of Saaminess in the bedrock of language ability either of oneself or of at least one of one's parents or grandparents. The Saami Nordic Council's Tromsø definition (1980) reech?s the official Finnish Statement (1973). Back in the villages, however, the grass‐roots Saami use other criteria when determining who is Saami, “blood”. This paper discusses the discrepancies between official government as well as ethnic political wing statements as to the components of Saami identity and those of foot‐soldier Saami in villages such as Vuotso, Finnish Lapland.     

青海东部绿色明珠 湟水谷地景观画廊——民和“一城两区”建设纪实

七月暑期,登临民和回族土族自治县北山,俯瞰湟水流域尽头,湟水蜿蜒旖旎,田畴万禾青黛,山野处处青翠,两岸绿意尽染。新区旧城依山水而建,各色建筑时尚现代,景观画廊凸显特色,商贸流通日益繁荣,观赏夜景霓虹闪烁处处不夜之城,品味山川尽显大美青海妩媚风光。这,就是青海东部绿色明珠,湟水谷地景观画廊——民和县城川口镇。     

密歇根湖的珍珠马车之岛麦基诺

麦基诺岛上,空气中弥漫着淡淡的马粪味.据说是由于此前马车车夫抱怨岛上的汽车令马匹受到惊吓,造成安全隐患,所以岛上开始禁止任何机动车辆行驶,马车便成为岛上仅存的交通运载工具.车夫们足蹬马靴,身着鲜亮的服装,手中挥舞着马鞭,驾驶着马车来来去去.     

Corporate Social Responsibility,Supply‐chains and Saami Claims: Tracing the Political in the Finnish Forestry Industry

At the heart of debate surrounding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) lies an inherent anxiety over the division of responsibility between states and corporations. Commonly taken for granted is a natural and a priori separation of government and market activities. This paper provides a critique of the conceptual division of responsibility between ‘state’ and ‘market’ actors, and explores the politically ambivalent roles of state financed companies in global CSR dialogues on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. It uses a case concerning logging on Saami reindeer herding territory, and explores a particularly Finnish articulation of CSR and supply‐chain management in the Finnish forestry and paper sector.     

Illegal fishing and Australian security

The security impact of illegal fishing is not well understood. Where illegal fishing is recognised as a security problem, the focus has been on fish as a natural resource, the depletion of which can have impacts on food security, individual livelihoods, and the economic survival of states relying on illegal fishing. We argue that a focus on fish as a natural resource obscures the other security challenges the crime of illegal fishing poses to Australia. As this paper explains, illegal fishing overlaps with drug, human, weapon and other contraband trafficking and smuggling; irregular maritime arrivals; and maritime piracy. In addition, like other easily transported, high value resources, illegal fish can fund insurgencies and other types of political violence. Understanding illegal fishing as a security challenge will improve Australia’s national security policy. First, it acknowledges fish as a vital natural resource, implicated in economic, ecological, and human security; second, it analyses how illegal fishing interlinks with other maritime crimes; third, it challenges the effectiveness of monitoring and enforcement of illegal fishing; fourth, it presents an opportunity for effective regional cooperation; and finally it highlights the benefits of regional cooperation in responding to illegal fishing.     

黑海明珠:索契

<正>在冬奥会之前,绝大多数人对索契的印象只有4个字——度假胜地。没错,正是索契具有美丽的风光景色和著名的滑雪胜地,使得上至俄罗斯总统、总理,下至平民百姓,都喜欢到这里来休息度假。我也被索契的美景深深的吸引着,终于在冬奥会开幕之前走进黑海之滨,一睹索契的"素颜"。     

Fjord fishing in Mesolithic Western Norway

Recent excavations at two rockshelters (Olsteinhelleren and Sævarhelleren) on the Hardanger fjord in Western Norway have provided an unparalleled opportunity to examine the Mesolithic subsistence economy of this region. Thousands of fish remains (as well as numerous mammal and bird bones) have been analysed from these assemblages. Results show that the fishery was dominated by gadids, but labrids and salmonids were also important. Many other fish were present in small quantities, including the first specimen of sturgeon from the Stone Age of Norway. The transition to a more specialised fishery at the younger site, Olsteinhelleren, may be a reflection of a switch to the use of this locality as a logistic camp for the targeting of gadid fish.     

The Neolithic of the eastern Baltic

This survey of the Baltic Neolithic, from Vistula to the Gulf of Finland, highlights the results of research during the last 30 years. The primary Baltic Neolithic is represented by two indigenous cultures, Narva and Nemunas. Their hunting, fishing, and gathering subsistence strategies gradually expanded to include domesticated plants and animals. The Comb-and-Pit Ornamented Pottery, Globular Amphora, Corded Ware, Bay Coast, and Boat-Axe cultures are also described. Within the Baltic Neolithic, I emphasize the origin, technology, economy, settlement, ritual, ethnic origins, and relationships among the various Neolithic populations. There is then a discussion of the origin of the Baltic linguistic group (Latvian, Lithuanian, and Old Prussian); this is associated with the appearance of the Late Neolithic Corded Ware culture, whose people integrated with local populations, leading to the development of the Bay Coast culture. Late Neolithic developments are associated with the Finno-Ugrian linguistic group in the northern Baltic.     

Pearl Millet and Kintampo Subsistence

Subsistence practices of the Kintampo cultural complex of sub-Saharan West Africa are now known to have included pearl millet cultivation, in addition to the utilization of tropical forest margin species such as oil palm. Charred plant remains recovered from the Birimi site, northern Ghana, suggest that the growing of pearl millet, possibly in uniform stands, was occurring amongst northerly Kintampo groups during the fourth millennium bp. The cultivation of this drought-tolerant crop facilitated the establishment of sedentary villages by providing a storable food resource enabling Kintampo people to survive the protracted dry season of the West African savanna.Nous savons maintenant que les pratiques de subsistance du complexe culturel Kintampo de l'Afrique de l'Ouest sub-saharien comprenaient la culture du mil à chandelle ainsi que l'utilisation d'espèces végétales qui poussaient en bordure de la forêt tropicale, comme le palmier à huile. Des restes de plantes carbonisé ont été récupérées du site du Birimi dans le Nord du Ghana; elles suggèrent que la pratique de la culture du mil à chandelle dont les plantations étaient peut-être déjà uniformes, se soit produite parmi les groupes Kintampo du Nord pendant le quatrième millénaire bp. La culture du mil à chandelle tolérait la sécheresse et avait ainsi facilité l'établissement de villages sédentaires car elle fournissait des ressources alimentaires entreposables. Cela permettait aux groupes Kintampo de survivre pendant la longue saison sèche de la savane de l'Afrique de l'Ouest.     

A Pearl of Tibetan Tourism

ＡＰｅａｒｌｏｆＴｉｂｅｔａｎＴｏｕｒｉｓｍＷＡＮＣＤＵＴｏｔｈｅｎｏｒｔｈｏｆｔｈｅｐｉｃｔｕｒｅｓｑｕｅＮｏｒｂｕＬｉｎｇｋａ,ｔｈｅｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｃｅｏｆｔｈｅＤａｌａｉｐｕｒｐｌｅａｎｄｗｈｉｔｅｂｕｉｌｄｉｎｇ．ＩｔｉｓｔｈｅＬｈａｓａＴｉ...     

聚焦崛起中的珍珠城 女摄影家走进蚌埠摄影采风

<正>蚌埠是安徽省第一个建市的地级市,安徽省三大中心城市之一(另两个城市分别为合肥和芜湖)。蚌埠地处中国南北分界线,淮河穿城而过,临近凤阳、南京。由于古代盛产河蚌珍珠,从而得名"珠城"。蚌埠是淮河文化发祥地,悠久的人文历史,丰富的自然资     

珠江三角洲城际间运输联系的特征分析

本文分析了珠江三角洲各主要城市之间客、货流量的空间分布形态,就珠江三角洲的整体交通运输形势而言,占第一位的是广州-东莞-深圳-香港一线。由于其优越的地理位置、悠久历史、社会经济持续高速的发展、最初改革开放的优惠政策、以及由此所形成的目前较为完善的政策体系,使穗港沿线成为珠江三角洲成型的交通运输走廊。同时珠江三角洲地区的空间运输联系具有强烈的广州指向性,目前尚未形成走廊的网络模式,对整体珠三角的发展并非十分有利。     

The Potala Palace: A Pearl on the Plateau

Ｔｈｅ　Ｐｏｔａｌａ　Ｐａｌａｃｅ：　Ａ　Ｐｅａｒｌ　ｏｎ　ｔｈｅ　ＰｌａｔｅａｕＴｈｅＰｏｔａｌａＰａｌａｃｅ：ＡＰｅａｒｌｏｎｔｈｅＰｌａｔｅａｕ￥／／Ｂｕｉｌｔｉｎｔｈｅ７ｔｈｃｅｎｔｕｒｙ,ｔｈｅＰｏｔａｌａＰａｌａｃｅｉｓｍｏｒｅｔｈａｎ１...