A Tamed Brown Bear (Ursus arctosL.) of the Late Mesolithic from La Grande-Rivoire (Isère, France)?

A pair of mandibular rami from a brown bear (Ursus arctosL.) was found at the rock shelter of the Grande-Rivoire in the Castelnovian level. Both exhibit a peculiar deformation affecting the bone between the first and second molars and the roots of these teeth.The perfect symmetry of this deformation, the absence of pathological features, and the misplacement of the teeth suggest that a thong had been placed around the mandible while the animal was young; the mandible then grew around the thong.The interest of this find is that it both demonstrates the taming of a bear and the complexity of the relationships between humans and animals during the late Mesolithic.     

Plant Based Subsistence Strategy of the Medieval Ishmaelite (12th–13th c.) Population in the Carpathian Basin (NE-Hungary)

During the excavation carried out at the outskirts of Hajdúböszörmény (NE-Hungary) in 2011, the remains of a 12–13th century settlement were brought to light. Linguistic and historical research has previously presumed that one of the main centres of medieval Hungary’s Muslim (Ishmaelites) population is located in the northern-eastern part of the Great Hungarian Plain. At Hajdúböszörmény–Téglagyár ‘2’ archaeological site several household units were systematically sampled for archaeobotanical analysis. The recovered ceramics differ from the known ceramic production of the Árpád Age, whereas significant differences were detected in the zooarchaeological assemblage, too. The archaeobotanical record, representing 23 features, consists of 2679 items of charred macro-botanical remains that belong to 54 taxa. The record is predominated by the presence of cereals among which rye (Secale cereale L. subsp. cereale) and common barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) are the most frequent. Besides the dominance of cereals, pulses and vegetables, as well as gathered fruit remains were identified. By the comparison of results to other Árpád Age sites, we assume that the revealed ethno-archaeobotanical information identifies a population that used similar plant resources, but in a different way and strategy than the known Christian population of the Carpathian Basin.     

Technological and Cultural Change Among the Last Hunter-Gatherers of the Maghreb: The Capsian (10,000–6000 B.P.)

This paper focuses on the controversy surrounding the chronological interpretation of two subdivisions of a North African Epipaleolithic culture: Typical Capsian and Upper Capsian. Although originally defined as two evolutionary phases on the basis of stratigraphy, since the development of absolute dating methods they have been considered as contemporaneous. A new approach to the lithic technology of collections from the classic sites of Bortal Fakher, El-Mekta, Relilaï, and Aïn Dokkara allows us to redefine the industry and the traditional chronology. A wide-reaching comparison including major Capsian sites, and based on cultural attribution, chronology, and lithic technology, supports our preliminary results. Around 8000 B.P., a technological change occurred, corresponding with an environmental shift, and calls into question the contemporaneity of Typical and Upper Capsian. The causes, mechanisms, and implications of this technological change are integrated into a broader discussion leading to more questions about the way of life of the makers of the Capsian, their cultural evolution, and their persistence as hunter-gatherers in a Neolithic world.     

Champions of the Movement or Fair‐weather Heroes? Individualization and the (A)politics of Local Food

We ask to what degree consumers who act out movement practices (eg local food consumption) may do so without regard for larger environmental and social justice implications, and how focus on individual concerns reflects the partial (but increasing) neoliberalization and depoliticization of the alternative food movement. Coupling narratives from five citizen‐consumers with analysis of organizational discourse from a major food movement organization in Massachusetts’ Pioneer Valley, we examine the interplay of individual and collective identity to point to places where modified discourse and movement tactics may produce more fruitful outcomes (eg greater community food security). Ultimately, we argue that individualistic interpretations of alternative food are reinforced by organizational campaigns that shape collective identity, casting “buying local” as a heroic act, thereby re‐casting others as anti‐heroes. Counteracting individualization with a new politics of possibility should be prioritized, as citizen‐consumers will inevitably determine future landscapes of food, environmental sustainability and social justice.     

How many Gs are there in ‘global governance’ after the crisis? The perspectives of the ‘marginal majority’ of the world's states

The G20 summit has recently emerged as the dominant agency of global governance. It claims that its economic weight and broad membership give it a high degree of legitimacy and influence over the management of the global economy and financial system. But the G20 still excludes from membership some 150 other countries, all of which have interests at stake within the contours of contemporary global governance. In the financial arena these excluded countries contributed significantly to the alternative agenda for dealing with the global financial crisis proposed by the United Nations conference that met in June 2009. In the trade arena they engaged extensively in a variety of coalitions within the World Trade Organization during the so‐called Doha Round and played a part in preventing a deal emerging that was unsatisfactory from their perspective. Questions are raised about the legitimacy of the G20 by the active presence of so many other country voices outside its remit and it can be expected that the excluded ‘G150’ will increasingly explore different ways to engage with the members of the G20 over the next few years.     

High-Altitude Agro-Pastoralism in the Kyrgyz Tien Shan: New Excavations of the Chap Farmstead (1065–825 cal b.c.)

ABSTRACT

The highlands of Central Asia posed considerable challenges to early agriculturalists, yet the processes of human subsistence strategies there remain poorly understood. In this paper, we present results from the excavation of the Chap in Kyrgyzstan. The recovery of a rich macrobotanical assemblage consisting of several crop species and crop processing debris, together with skeletal remains of pastoral livestock, indicate a localized agro-pastoral complex at 2000 masl dating to 1065–825 cal b.c. Aerial photogrammetry, magnetometry, and topographic modeling reveal local irrigation systems, while stone artifacts are linked with cultivation and crop processing. Furthermore, the ceramic assemblage reveals a local production tradition and stylistic similarities with communities of neighboring regions. Overall, data from Chap contribute to a new understanding of human ecology and agricultural development in the mountains of Central Asia, suggesting that domesticated plants and animals were integral for the intensive occupation of high-elevation valleys in Central Asia.     

Is “Threat” in the Eye of the Researcher? Theory and Measurement in the Study of State‐Level Immigration Policymaking

This study initiates a methodological critique of the state‐level immigration policy literature through the lens of the racial threat and group power perspectives. First, I highlight the conceptual problems related to the application of such theories to legislature‐level data analysis. Next, I demonstrate the methodological and analytical problems that raise concerns about ad hoc theorizing in this field. Using counts of hostile and welcoming immigration legislation (2005–2011), I demonstrate that outgroup size measures correlate positively with both dependent variables while measures of population growth rate yield null results unless used on their own. These results suggest that the use of legislature‐level models with demographic indicators does not allow us to gain a clear understanding of whether and how population dynamics influence immigration policymaking. Based on these findings, I recommend that when using demographic indicators as key explanatory variables, researchers provide evidence of result consistency across multiple model specifications and also test the models with both hostile and inclusive policy variables. Such protocols would help avoid ad hoc theorizing.     

‘Saving the Solomons’: a New Geopolitics in the ‘Arc of Instability’?

The recent crisis in the Solomon Islands is reviewed in the context of historical and regional antecedents. In the past two decades political and ethnic disputes have flared in several parts of Melanesia and nearby parts of the ‘arc of instability’. Tensions and violence in the Solomon Islands, based on social, economic and political issues, exemplify regional development concerns. The collapse of the economy and civil order resulted in the Solomon Islands being characterised as a ‘failed State’. Localised warfare brought external military intervention, with a regional assistance mission led by Australia, which paralleled other involvement in the region. Involvement has emphasised renewed Australian interest in the region, in the light of global geopolitical shifts, and a more controversial approach to regional security and development.     

Deterritorialising the nation? Internet and the politics of the Greek‐American diaspora

In this article, analysis focuses on the websites of Greek‐American diaspora organisations. The aim is to study these media outlets on two levels: (1) with regard to their communication function(s), in order to understand the spectrum of usages they offer to their visitors; and (2) with regard to the way they signify identity specificity at the crossroads of a parallel ethnic or national adherence. The low interactivity constitutes one of the general features of the media analysed. The persistence of the nation as the framework to apprehend collective belonging and the interaction with the ‘other’ is another recurrent and important element. The ‘identity specificity’ of the Greek diaspora community is not presented in articulation to the host society, but in terms of a continuous attachment to a ‘mother‐nation’, as a historic and cultural entity. The nationhood claimed and promoted in this manner is ethnic and cultural, and it espouses the form of an ecumenical and transcendent Hellenism.     

Considering the effects of the Byzantine–Islamic transition: Umayyad glass tesserae and vessels from the <Emphasis Type="Italic">qasr</Emphasis> of Khirbet al-Mafjar (Jericho,Palestine)

The paper reports and discusses data obtained by archaeological and archaeometric studies of glass vessels and tesserae from the qasr of Khirbet al-Mafjar (near Jericho, Palestine). Archaeological contextualisation of the site and chrono-typological study of glass vessels were associated to EPMA and LA–ICP–MS analyses, performed to characterise the composition of the glassy matrix (major and minor components as well as trace elements). Analyses allowed achieving meaningful and intriguing results, which gain insights into the production and consumption of glass vessels and tesserae in the near East during the Umayyad period (seventh–eighth centuries). Within the analysed samples, both an Egyptian and a Levantine manufacture have been identified: such data provide evidence of a double supply of glass from Egypt and the Syro-Palestinian coast in the Umayyad period occurring not only in the glassware manufacture but also in the production of base glass intended to be used in the manufacture of mosaic tesserae. Thus, the achieved results represent the first material evidence of a non-exclusive gathering of glass tesserae from Byzantium and the Byzantines in the manufacture of early Islamic mosaics.     

The dynamics of mangrove ecosystems,changes in sea level and the strategies of Neolithic settlements along the coast of Oman (6000–3000 cal. BC)

This paper focus on the Holocene palaeogeography of the Ja'alan coast from the 6th to the 4th millennium cal. BC, integrating the dynamics of mangroves, lagoons, khors-estuaries and deltas, with sea-level change and the evidence from Neolithic shell middens. The distribution and maturation of mangrove ecosystems along the Arabian coasts has varied considerably, affected by physical forces such as sea-level changes, climate, tidal amplitude and duration as well as the quantity of fresh water inflow associated with the monsoon systems along the Arabian coast. Palaeo-mangroves and lagoons, today replaced by large sabkhas, appear to be correlated to mid-Holocene fossil deltas and estuaries that currently function episodically, depending on the rhythm of winter rains. All these parameters have determined and impacted the location of settlement networks and the economic strategies of the first Arabian farmers along the eastern Arabian coast. The mid-Holocene sea-level highstand stability (5th millennium BC) can be considered to be an optimum period for mangrove development and can be correlated with Neolithic sites around the mangroves. The decline of mangroves since 3000/2500 cal. BC and further degradation is mainly attributed to the prevailing arid climate that reduced summer monsoon effects in the tropical area by favouring the extension of sabkhas. We discuss these aspects based on new archaeological surveys, excavations and geoarchaeological studies.     

Beyond ‘the toad beneath the harrow’: geographies of ecological science, 1959–1965

This paper traces the distinctive shifts in ecology and conservation in Britain during the late 1950s and 1960s. These were the last six years of the Nature Conservancy, the state research council responsible for ecological research, the conservation of nature, and for providing expert advice. Drawing on work in science studies and the geography of science, the paper addresses the changing spatialities of official ecological knowledge and the ordering of nature in this period of British modernity. The paper examines the Conservancy's construction of the form and relationship of research to practice: the connections between local spaces of research – the laboratory and the nature reserve – to the ‘right’ government of land and management of resources more universally. This putative ‘single great mission’ is traced through examination of the politics and practices of doing ecological research at the time, including the creation of a new Experimental Station, the growth of ecology as public discourse, and, importantly, government reviews of science. The paper concludes by considering how this mission was tempered and reconfigured by institutional change.     

Cultural Changes in Funeral Rites During the Neolithic in the Northeast of the Iberian Peninsula? The Cave of Pantà de Foix (Barcelona)

During the third millennia bc , there is a change in the funerary patterns of the populations in Catalonia. This novelty usually has been usually related to a change in the economical source of the human groups that become less sedentary as the stockbreeding becomes more important. In the present study, we analyse this change, reflected in the mortuary practices, by the study of diet and health markers such as caries, dental calculus or enamel hypoplasias and of biological affinities based on dental non‐metric traits. It has been included a total amount of 317 permanent teeth from Cova del Pantà de Foix sites, a sepulchral cave found at the south‐west of the city of Barcelona and dates from the third millennia bc . The 74.2% of them present dental calculus deposits, which are usually related to a high protein intake. Nevertheless, the high prevalence of carious lesions (15.3% of the teeth) suggests that the main dietary contribution comes from carbohydrates. Furthermore, when this group is compared with one from the Middle Neolithic Age, which presents a lower calculus prevalence, no biological differences are observed. This lack of differences among these groups denote that the origin of the high amount of calculus deposit is environmental, which is consistent with the elevated observation of hypoplasias of the crown enamel. The absence of dietary, biological and economical differences indicates that the population substrate during the Neolithic in Catalonia is the same and that the transition in the funerary rite is related to a substantial change only regarding to mortuary practices. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mapping Qijiaping: New Work on the Type-Site of the Qijia Culture (2300–1500 B.C.) in Gansu Province,China

Recent work at the Qijia Culture type-site of Qijiaping in the Tao River valley of Gansu Province, China, has shed light on the complex nature of this early Bronze Age site. Situated at the intersection between the mixed pastoralists of eastern central Asia and the agriculturalists of China’s northern Central Plain, Qijia peoples absorbed, evolved, and transmitted products and technologies that shaped cultural developments in both directions. The Tao River Archaeological Project (TRAP) used a combination of surface survey, geophysics, digital mapping, and targeted excavation to expand our understanding of the multicomponent nature of Qijiaping. This included identifying potential habitation, mortuary, and production locales; examining site-wide ceramic use; mapping anomalies through geophysics; and further exploring these through targeted excavations. The results have expanded our knowledge of the site structure of Qijiaping and its place in the wider Qijia interaction sphere, while also confirming the usefulness of this methodology.     

A Waste of Space? Towards a Critique of the Social Production of Space…

This paper outlines a framework for a critique of Henri Lefebvre's notion of the social production of space, undertaken around five intersecting themes: language and meaning, the separation of space and time, the processes of production and construction, empowerment and value, and space and place.     

In the shadow of Prague Castle? The earliest history of Vyšehrad Castle (c.950–1070)

There is no doubt that from the beginnings of the early Czech state, Prague Castle has constituted the state's main political, residential and ceremonial centre. After the mid‐tenth century, however, another castle in its vicinity was founded at Vy?ehrad. Surprisingly, the twelfth‐century reports portray the latter castle as a location of residential and political significance comparable to the former. Such a situation has no parallel in the continental Europe of that period. Based on an investigation of archaeological and written sources, this article argues that Vy?ehrad is likely to have acquired such a position shortly after its foundation and that since the very beginnings, it functioned as a kind of shadow ruling centre used in particular by those members of the ruling dynasty who challenged the actual power constellations or even the traditional political conventions.