Paleoclimates and the emergence of fortifications in the tropical Pacific islands

Paleoclimatic data from the tropical Pacific islands are compared to archaeological evidence for fortification construction in the Holocene. The results suggest that in some regions, people constructed more fortifications during periods that match the chronology for the Little Ice Age (AD 1450–1850) in the Northern Hemisphere. Periods of storminess and drought associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation have less temporal correlation with the emergence of fortifications in the Pacific, but significant spatial correlation with the most severe conditions associated with this cycle. These temporal and spatial correlations require additional study to investigate possible causal relationships.     

Contextualising the AIDS epidemic in the South Pacific: orthodoxies,estimates and evidence

There is a growing consensus that HIV/AIDS is a ‘time bomb’ ticking in the South Pacific. This may, in fact, be the case. However, there are at least two major problems with this approach. First, analysis of the implications of the epidemic is based on supposedly concrete links between the epidemic and social, economic and political outcomes. Many of these apparent links have not been established (because the data is not available for the South Pacific). As such, much of the method for analysing the ramifications of the epidemic is borrowed from elsewhere, notably Africa, and the strength of these links is beginning to unravel. Second, research on the vectors of the epidemic that informs this consensus is only as good as the data that it relies on. There are major testing and surveillance gaps in the South Pacific that mean projections are often based on patchy and incomplete data. This can dramatically skew priorities. Reflecting on these problems is important because of the clear ramifications they pose for the development of good public policy in, and toward, the South Pacific.     

Settlement and Subsistence in the Remote Western Pacific: Archaeological and Radiocarbon Data from Alamagan,Northern Mariana Islands

Small, remote islands were marginal environments for prehistoric human populations. We report archaeological and radiocarbon data from Alamagan, a small and isolated island in the northern part of the Mariana Islands archipelago. Challenging environmental conditions, including rugged terrain, active or recent volcanism, and uncertain freshwater availability posed significant challenges for permanent settlement throughout the Northern Islands. The Alamagan archaeological investigations documented 14 megalithic domestic structures, or latte sets, as well as isolated and non-portable Latte Period artifacts, and one historical site. Test excavations were undertaken at two of the latte features. These investigations add to a growing body of data suggesting colonization of the Northern Islands during the middle part of the Latte Period (probably during the late a.d. 1200s or early 1300s). We consider the implications of these data for the study of human adaptations to marginal insular environments in the Pacific.     

War in the feudal zone: state failure and the abandonment of anthropological research in Mexico and Central America

We analysed the extent to which violent, organised crime has disrupted anthropological research in Mexico and Central America by conducting a survey of anthropologists who work in the region. We found that although anthropologists will continue research in regions they perceive to have the socio-economic characteristics of a failed state they are far less inclined to work in areas that they perceive as excessively violent. We continue with examination of the state failure and feudalisation that are affecting the region. We conclude that in the feudal zones, the state has lost its comparative advantage in the use of force and that state intrusion into these areas increases armed collective violence in a manner similar to that described in the literature on warfare in tribal zones.     

Java's forgotten pearls: the history and disappearance of pearl fishing in the Segara Anakan lagoon, South Java, Indonesia

Pearls have been a valued resource in most cultures that had access to them. A number of historically important pearling grounds were situated in the waters around today's Indonesia. One of these areas, now largely forgotten, was the Segara Anakan lagoon in South Java. In the seventeenth century, Dutch colonists exploited the lagoon's pearls. Afterwards, the lagoon's oysters were locally exploited as a food item until the late 1970s. While the pearl fishery attracted considerable attention in the colonial literature, its disappearance, by contrast, went largely undocumented. Nowadays, the oysters no longer are found in the lagoon as a result of extensive sedimentation processes. Their former existence is only preserved in the memory of local people. This article examines the history and fate of the pearls of Segara Anakan, providing an example of a formerly valued species whose existence simply became forgotten outside the area.     

Resource Intensification and Resource Depression in the Pacific Northwest of North America: A Zooarchaeological Review

In the Pacific Northwest of North America, researchers routinely suggest changes in human use of animals explain hunter-gatherer organizational changes and development of cultural complexity. For example, most models developed to explain developing cultural complexity invoke salmon in some fashion. Yet until recently, fish remains were not carefully studied and more generally, zooarchaeological evidence has not been systematically used to test models of culture change. This study reviews the 10,000-year-old faunal record in the Pacific Northwest to test predictions drawn from models of resource intensification, resource depression and hunter-gatherer organizational strategies. The records from two subareas, the South-Central Northwest Coast (Puget Sound/Gulf of Georgia) and the Northern Columbia Plateau, are examined in detail, representing 63 archaeological sites. While minor changes in animal use are evident, the overall record is characterized by stability rather than change.     

留英学生与五四新文化运动——以《太平洋》杂志为中心

五四时期留英学生的思想活动鲜见论者讨论.本文以留英学生1917年初创刊于上海的<太平洋>杂志为中心,讨论其同人群体及其文化思想和教育主张.作为留英学界的一股知识力量,<太平洋>同人所提供的新思想观念,对于五四新文化运动具有积极推动和引导作用,这与以<新青年>作为运动的指导力量并无二致.但<太平洋>的思想背景有着浓厚的英伦调和主义色彩.     

阐释南北关系的一个视角——读狄宇宙《古代中国与其强邻：东亚历史上游牧力量的兴起》

该文是对美国学者狄宇宙所著《古代中国与其强邻：东亚历史上游牧力量的兴起》进行的延展性评论。作者认为狄宇宙此作从游牧一般性的起源关注中国北方游牧势力的兴起,由此引生出南北互动关系的讨论,是从中原以外的视角作出的有益尝试,呈现给中国学术界以新的意义,特别是其揭示游牧社会与农业社会互动所凸显的方法论意义,更值得中国学者在阅览的基础上去体验与分享。该文又对书中有关长城的描写并结合长城的地理分区谈了自己的想法,认为其逻辑关系应当是：生态环境决定文化和生活方式,文化和生活方式则决定族属划分,国家政治体由民族群体所建构,长城是（王朝、国家等）政治体军事攻防的产物,与民族（族群）、生活方式、自然环境并不产生直接关联。     

建国初经济工作中的一项重大举措--陈云指导下的系列专业会议

建国初,陈云领导的中财委策划并指导召开了各项专业会议,这是新中国成立初期财政经济工作中的一件大事.各项专业会议研究了新中国经济工作的战略布局,确定了新中国经济恢复与发展的蓝图,并将<共同纲领>在财政经济工作方面规定的各项方针政策具体化.     

Civic Sacrament and Social Imaginaries in Transition: The Case of the South African Churches and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Abstract

This article reflects on a seminal moment within South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC): the appearance of the African Initiated Churches (AICs) before the Commission in 1997. It demonstrates how this moment brought into relief divergent contestations of the public within South African Christianity in three ways: first, by situating the TRC within the liturgical performance of a reimagined South African nationality, making it a "civic sacrament" of reconciliation; second, by highlighting the formative role churches themselves played within this liturgy, deploying theological language to create a healed, secular body politic; third, by displaying the different social imaginary of the AICs—a social imaginary which interrupted the TRC's liturgical recreation of time and space, as well as challenging the historical relations between church and state in South Africa. The paper concludes with the question posed in this "interruption," a question that challenges the broader church with regard to fulfillment of the liturgy not in the secular nation-state, but in that City which is to come.     

Christianity and Justice in the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission: A Case Study in Religious Conflict Resolution

Abstract

Historically, international conflict resolution theorists have largely adopted the position that organized religion is an instigator of violence. As a result, these theories have tended to exclude religion as a force for peacebuilding. Recently, however, scholars have suggested that religion can contribute constructively to a theory of conflict resolution. Their general thesis is that, if religion played a significant part in people's lives, and if religion played a part in fuelling the conflict, then when resolving the conflict, religion must be at least taken into account. An example of a conflict resolution process in which religion, specifically Christianity, played a central role was South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). In dialogue with leading critics of the TRC process, particularly Richard Wilson, this article examines the ambiguous role that Christianity played in influencing concepts of justice in the TRC.     

Dietary patterns during the late prehistoric/historic period in Cikobia island (Fiji): insights from stable isotopes and dental pathologies

The dietary patterns of eight adults and one child interred in the Korotuku burial mound (Cikobia, northern Fiji), dated from the late prehistoric/historic period (around AD 1850), have been investigated using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures and dental and oral pathologies. Bone collagen isotopic compositions showed that (1) males and females had similar diets in terms of terrestrial C₃ resources and marine fish components and proportions; (2) the proportion of marine fish comprised around 25% of the protein fraction of the diet, and the proportion of vegetal food was high; and (3) one canid that was also studied had a different diet, probably rich in shellfish. Oral and dental examinations of the humans evidenced (1) a low level of dental macrowear, (2) a high rate of carious lesions—interproximal and cervical—of about 15%, and (3) a low amount of abscessing, as well as the presence of alveolar bone recession and calculus in most of the adults. This evidence suggests a diet relying mainly on vegetal food with very limited shellfish consumption. When viewed in the light of ethnohistoric information, this pattern suggests a particular sociocultural behaviour, including food selection, since the analyses of the canid remains indicate that more diversified food resources were available than those consumed by the humans. Overall observations suggest that the deceased in the Korotuku burial mound might be members of an elite living on the island, thus pointing to possible social stratification in the late prehistoric/historic Cikobia community.     

唐宋民间医疗活动中灸疗法的浮沉——一项技术抉择的时代背景分析

The changing status of moxibustion therapy in folk medicine from the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty is a reflection of the distribution situation of popular medical resources during these periods. As a feasible therapy with a large popularity, moxibustion played a crucial role in the Tang Dynasty. The Song Dynasty saw some social development as well, because it was an active state power and social force in medical activities. Therefore, people at the lower class gradually benefited from decoction and acupuncture treatments, and the status of the moxibustion therapy began to decline. The changing status of moxibustion therapy in different dynasties embodies the changes in technology and the quality of life. Translated by Chen Cheng from Tsinghua daxue xuebao 清华大学学报 (Journal of Tsinghua University), 2006, (1): 62–74     

原始农耕信仰与祖先英雄崇拜的现代展演——湖南新晃侗族傩戏“咚咚推”调查

有"中国戏剧的活化石"之称的傩戏"咚咚推"保存了侗族先民遗留下来的多种傩戏剧目,向世人展现了侗族人民各种繁复有序和神秘有趣的习俗,是侗族先民原始农耕信仰的现代展演;"咚咚推"以盘古大王和飞山大王为傩神,除了在表演时对傩神举行各种请、迎、会、送的舞祭仪式外,演出的剧目也表现了作为移民后代的天井寨人为增强家族凝聚力而保持的祖先英雄崇拜。"咚咚推"作为天井寨人独有的一种戏剧形式,为研究南方民族在迁徙过程中的文化传承与文化交融提供了极为难得而生动的活动文本。     

"一个中国":中国共产党对台方针政策不变的原则--写在《反分裂国家法》颁布一周年之际

新中国成立以来,中国共产党的对台方针政策虽然经历了从"解放台湾"到"一纲四目"乃至"一国两制"的演变,但坚持一个中国、维护祖国统一、捍卫国家主权和领土完整,是其不变的原则.中共十六大以来,中共新一代领导集体在坚持原则的同时,寄希望于台湾人民,处理两岸关系更趋务实灵活,进一步加强了其在两岸关系基本格局中的战略主导地位.     

An empirical test of the relative frequency of bipolar reduction in Beds VI,V, and III at Mumba Rockshelter,Tanzania: implications for the East African Middle to Late Stone Age transition

Mumba Rockshelter, Tanzania, is the only East African site spanning a continuous record of more than 100,000 years, including the Middle Stone Age (MSA) to Late Stone Age (LSA) Transition. Rather than examine the presence or absence of traditional markers of “behavioral modernity”, we have endeavored here to respond to the calls of Shea (2011) and Basell (2008) by examining the proportional similarity of a trait present throughout the MSA–LSA sequence at Mumba Rockshelter: the bipolar technique of lithic reduction. We use a quantified, experimentally derived proxy to track the relative amount of bipolar percussion among Mumba's Beds VI, V, and III, namely, waste shatter. Our examination of Mehlman's previously unanalyzed collections from Mumba demonstrates that in terms of bipolar production Bed V is statistically indistinguishable from the Late Stone Age (LSA) Bed III, but significantly different from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) Bed VI. Given that Bed V dates to 56.9 ± 4.8 − 49.1 ± 4.3 ka cal BP, this result is consistent with other evidence that the origins of the LSA in East Africa began well before 40 kya, and that Mumba Bed V represents one of the earliest manifestations of the LSA in East Africa. We conclude with a discussion of factors that may have influenced the increased dependence of bipolar production at the site.