New Beginnings: Towards a National Folklore Survey

The study of folklore in England stands at a crossroads. Is it content with its current activities and achievements, or should it make a determined effort to move forward? A subject pioneered in this country, which gave it its name and early academic reputation, seems in danger of losing momentum. Its mission lacks a common purpose, and tends to be fragmented, and the discipline as a whole has largely been ineffectual in asserting its social and cultural importance. One way to redress these shortcomings is for the leading organizations concerned to undertake a comprehensive survey of the rich variety of traditions in our present-day multicultural society. This will generate a new impetus in efforts to document these aspects of English cultural heritage.     

Comparative policy agendas: a review essay

ABSTRACT

The two books that are investigated in this review essay consider new ways to explain policy processes by focusing on a spectrum of methodological approaches, theories, time periods and political systems. The first book examined investigates policy change in Australia and considers for the first time how relevant the Policy Agendas Project (PAP) is for the Australian political system. A recent contribution to the Comparative Agendas Project (CAP), the second book reviewed is a collection of comparative studies applying different methodologies and theories to analyse CAP datasets with the view to exploring how policy changes in a variety of political systems. Together these books showcase the best of PAP/CAP’s qualities to provide a common platform for cross-comparative policy change studies and standalone country-specific studies. These books are also an indispensable resource for Australian political scientists interested in the unique policy change dynamics in Australia.     

莱夷玉文化板块探析——胶县三里河大汶口文化玉器解读

胶县三里河大汶口文化玉器有璇玑形玉环(玉圆孔边刃三牙器)、玉镞(包括方、圆两种锥形器和四式玉镞)、钏、耳坠、管、环以及鞍形饰、马蹄形饰共35件。玉圆孔边刃三牙器应为女巫事神的玉神器,玉镞中的12件用作尸主口中之唅(琀),体现了鬼神食玉的原始巫教理念。由于三里河大汶口文化遗址和墓葬的地理位置靠山面海,不可避免带有海洋性文化的特点,玉圆孔边刃三牙器就是海洋性玉文化的的象征和例证。距今4500年前后,女巫以玉圆孔边刃三牙器事神,标志着其原始宗教仍处于女巫事神的早期阶段,远远落后于东北夷、东夷两大玉文化男巫为教主的阶段。大汶口文化始于公元前4300年,到公元前2500年前后发展为山东龙山文化。该文化处于北夷、南越两大玉文化板块之间,昊夷玉文化板块之东,故厘定为莱夷玉文化板块。三里河大汶口文化玉器中的玉圆孔边刃器的出现,是莱夷玉文化板块即胶东半岛玉文化板块的标志和结晶,而胶县三里河一带也就是两个玉文化板块的碰撞带和撞击点。     

When Survey Goes East: Field Survey Methodologies and Analytical Frameworks in a Central Asian Context

This paper investigates the applicability and transferability of conventional frameworks of archaeological survey in the context of marginal alluvial environments, particularly the unique inland deltas of Central Asia. These dynamic and visually obstructed landscapes pose unique challenges not only to survey methodologies but also to theory and interpretation. Here, an exploratory approach to data analysis is used that applies three distinct yet integrated methodologies: visibility analysis, multi-scalar spatial analysis and directional (anisotropic) statistics. This approach thereby moves beyond many of the existing conceptual constraints about how we understand surface distributions in arid alluvial landscapes and ultimately identifies both transferable analytical methods and new fieldwork agendas that are relevant to a wide range of survey projects.     

Recent Technology Imports into India: Results of a Survey

This paper analyses the results of a survey of twenty-four recent cases of technology imports into India. Over the last thirty years, large firms in Indian industry have come under increasing competitive pressure from small firms which pay lower wages and which are also favoured by government policy. Most small firms obtain technology through informal channels within the country. But some import technology; and larger firms import it in their defence against competition from small firms. Larger firms, with a history and a reputation, have better access to technology from abroad; smaller firms often go through an extensive search before they find a willing technology supplier. Irrespective of size, firms that import technology within their own specialization are observed to put more effort into technology choice, absorption and adaptation. Indian policies of across-the-board import substitution, by promoting diversification into new products developed abroad, tend to discourage specialization and hence to encourage technology imports and to work against technology absorption and innovation.     

Community as a Policy Instrument: A Comparative Analysis

Over recent decades. "community" has been a powerful theme in social policy development not only in the United States but elsewhere in North America and Europe as well. Existing analyses of the concept, however, tended to approach it more from philosophical and sociological perspectives than from the standpoint of policy analysis. This article examines the uses of community as a policy instrument, considering its diverse applications us policy objective, policy means, and policy rhetoric. A cross-section of major community-oriented policies in the United States and Quebec is analyzed, providing a basis file policy-level, regime-level, and political culture comparison. Identifying the key components that community policies may incorporate, we propose a schema for systematically describing deferent types of interventions. Finally. we review the difficulties encountered in implementing policies with a community orientation and the need to avoid simplistic judgments of success and failure.     

Bison Bone Fragmentation and Survivorship: a Comparative Method

Zooarchaeologists usually describe a bone fragment as a particular portion or segment using terminology based on skeletal orientation (e.g. proximal, anterior, lateral). A more precise understanding of bone fragmentation can be achieved by naming portions for discrete anatomical features and defined zones. Since the anatomical features are the diagnostic criteria for identifying and orienting bones, each specimen normally has at least one such portion, and a complete element contains all of them. This recording method facilitates study of the relationship between survivorship and volume density, and it enhances inter-site comparisons. The method employs the minimum number of elements (MNE) and minimum animal units (MAU) across a site-wide aggregate. Although illustrated here with an analysis of bison bones, the method can be adapted for the study of other taxa as well as for inter-species comparisons.     

评《古文字构形学》

The present paper is a review of the Morphology of Ancient Chinese Writing by LiuZhao and at the same time puts forward some ideas on theoretical problems of the morphology of ancientChinese writing.Firstly,the theoretical research on Chinese characters should be based upon thedeep-going study of Chinese characters themselves,and a good grounding in the basic skill for decipheringancient characters constitutes the necessary precondition of constructing theories on ancient writing.Secondly,theoretical st...     

Public Acceptance of Roof Insulation for New Homes: a Queensland Survey

Thermal insulation is an energy conserving technology widely applicable to the domestic sector, but with comparatively low levels of use in Queensland households. The degree of public acceptance of roof I ceiling insulation was explored through a telephone survey of householders arranging to build a new home. Sixty-eight per cent of householders decided on roof insulation, mainly for reasons of thermal comfort. Non-adopters had reservations primarily associated with the initial cost of insulation or the need for it. Socio-economic characteristics explained few acceptance differentials. The compulsory use of roof insulation in new homes, coupled with an appropriate education campaign, may be the most important promotional strategy.     

超越形态学:列维--斯特劳斯与民间故事分析

在我们周围被发现的、令人尴尬的智力差异背后有一种黑格尔主义的残余,它依然在强迫我们去探索某种潜在的整一性或单一的时代精神.这种倾向在近年来没有其他地方比试图从大量的、非常独特的智力条件中,"发现"(创造)某种单一的结构主义方面更为明显.为了界定某个"结构主义者"的研究领域,人们可以引证许多这样的尝试,但在民俗学界早期努力创造的广义方法论中,最值得注意的可能是阿兰·邓迪斯的方法论.他在1964年的<北美印第安人民间故事形态>一文中,提出了对结构主义的早期看法,赋予了弗拉迪米尔·普洛普、克劳德·列维-斯特劳斯及其追随者的著作以"结构"的特征,并将它们与不同学科门类的广泛领域联系起来:     

彩绘漆盘的考古发掘现场保护

为了在考环境监测开始,古发掘现场保护一件刚刚发现的胎体完全腐朽仅以土质为支撑的彩绘漆盘,从发掘现场的通过对该彩绘漆盘临时性保湿、整体提取以及提取后的一系列保护处理,最终成功地完成了该漆盘的考古发掘现场保护,使漆盘完好的保存了下来。     

Sindhi Folklore: An Introductory Survey

The following notes are all based on newspaper and magazine reports from the last third of the nineteenth century. These are ephemeral pieces that have been overlooked by folklorists, but which give some precious glimpses of the last generations of fairy belief in the West Riding.     

Brick Kilns: An Illustrated Survey

Abstract

Norton Mill, largely demolished during this century, was thought to have occupied its site continuously since the twelfth century and road construction offered the opportunity to test this view through excavation. A complex building chronology was revealed.     

Earth Sciences Comparative Matrix: A Comparative Method for Geoheritage Assessment

Geological heritage is insufficiently recognised in Australia; it should be considered in its own right, not as an addendum to other heritage values. The lack of a suitable robust and repeatable methodology has seriously constrained the assessment of geological sites suitable for the National Heritage List (NHL). A desktop assessment of Australian desert landscapes required intrinsic natural values of a diverse group of sites, spread over a vast area, to be assessed against NHL criteria. The Earth Sciences Comparative Matrix (ESCoM) was developed for this study. In the ESCoM, sites are grouped in process themes. Each is assessed against NHL criteria then compared with other similar places, according to degree of unusualness, integrity, and authenticity. A site scoring well across multiple themes has increased heritage significance. The overall values of a site are quantified, leading to a qualitative judgement on whether it achieves the threshold of outstanding heritage value. Examples of assessment using this method are given. In this methodology, significance determination is based on rigorous comparisons of specific values. It is semi‐quantitative, repeatable, and robust. It differs from other geoheritage assessment methods in its combination of process‐based groupings (facilitating the separation of site type from heritage criteria), matrix structure (minimising complexities of scale or diversity), and use of numerical rankings as an aid in decision‐making. While the study for which ESCoM was developed was focused on landforms, it can be used for other types of geoheritage (e.g. fossils, tectonic processes), with modification of matrix theme headings.