Steamboat Montana (1879–1884)—Leviathan of the American Plains

Thanks to Hollywood, average Americans would define the history of the opening up of the West in terms of epic pistol duels, vast open plains, and wagon-trains of hopeful immigrants. Large segments of American Western history, however, are still unexamined. These include a fascinating maritime history, a hidden saga of river steam transportation that explains the efficient westward movement of huge numbers of immigrants and vast quantities of supplies. This text outlines the archaeological documentation and analysis of the western river-steamer Montana , of immense proportions and an advanced marine technology far removed from her ocean-going ancestors.
© 2006 The Authors     

Obsidian sources in highland Yemen and their relevance to archaeological research in the Red Sea region

The Red Sea and surrounding area formed through dynamic uplift and rifting of Afro-Arabia, and associated volcanism (both oceanic and continental in character). As a result, volcanic landforms and products are widespread and play a vital role in the natural and cultural landscapes of humans occupying the highlands and lowlands on both sides of the Red Sea. Archaeologists have suggested for some time that Afro-Arabian trade in obsidian had its roots in the prehistoric period and that the region was very likely the source of an abundance of obsidian artefacts found as far afield as Egypt, the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia, and which do not match the well-known Anatolian, Transcaucasian or Mediterranean sources. Nonetheless, the southern Red Sea is one of the few obsidian-rich regions exploited in antiquity that has been barely investigated. In this paper, we highlight new geochemical analyses (carried out by LA-ICP-MS) of obsidian sources in Southern Arabia and beyond, that enhance our knowledge of obsidian exploitation from as early as the Neolithic period, and which enable us to evaluate the role that highland Yemen obsidian sources played in prehistoric long-distance trade. In addition, we present new evidence for explosive volcanic eruptions that likely affected the highland populations of Yemen in the 4th millennium BC.     

高屋建瓴宏观会通--程民生《中国北方经济史》评介

《中国北方经济史》以经济重心的转移为主线,探讨了先秦、秦汉至明清时期中国北方经济的兴衰及经济重心的演变过程。从总体上来说,《中国北方经济史》既是一部运用历史区域经济地理方法对北方经济进行考察的力作,更是经济重心南移问题研究的集大成之作。     

The Later Jefferson and the Problem of Natural Rights

Abstract

The late Jefferson presents a puzzle to scholars. In his last years the author of the Declaration of Independence strongly opposed the Missouri Compromise and set important precedents for the political strategy of the antebellum South. This essay argues that these problematic aspects of Jefferson's career are more closely linked to his natural rights doctrine than is generally recognized and extend tendencies already present in Jefferson's draft of the Declaration. Unlike previous scholars who explain Jefferson's problematic politics by his racism or the inherent selfishness of Lockean natural right, I argue that the core flaw in Jefferson's natural rights doctrine is the encouragement it gives to self-righteousness. Because he responded to the problem of slavery in a spirit of angry self-defense, Jefferson's understanding of natural rights blinded him to the ways in which his actions strengthened slavery and undermined his own most cherished political achievements.     

李仲公与《北伐宣言》

李仲公（1890-1978）,贵阳人,早年毕业于京师国立法政专门学堂,1914年与李大钊一道留学日本早稻田大学,回国后任众议院首席秘书,参与《晨钟报》的创办,担任《国风日报》、《晨钟报》编辑和撰述,参加反袁、护法、护国运动。北伐战争初期,担任国民党中央执行委员会书记长、国民革命军总司令部秘书处长,承担蒋介石的文案工作。蒋介石在北伐初期的重要政论、文告等文字,绝大多数出自李仲公手笔,起草国民革命军出师《北伐宣言》重要文告,李仲公乃被世人誉为北伐“文胆”。     

西汉铜座漆耳杯及相关问题的讨论

南京博物院院藏的一件汉代铜座漆耳杯,风格与蜀汉产品极其相近,由此可见当时各地的文化交流和商品流通之一斑。     

Horses,Hemiones, Hydruntines? Assessing the Reliability of Dental Criteria for Assigning Species to Southwest Asian Equid Remains

Many faunal assemblages across southwest Asia contain the remains of multiple wild equid species, which may reflect individual prehistoric human populations' use of different hunting and/or landscape exploitation strategies. Accurate equid species assignments are therefore important. This paper tests the extent to which zooarchaeologists agree on equid species assignments made using commonly used zooarchaeological dental identification criteria. Seven zooarchaeologists individually use published criteria to assign species to equid teeth from Neolithic Çatalhöyük in central Anatolia, then use Fleiss' kappa to measure our reliability of agreement. We assess our degrees of agreement for species assignments made using scanned images versus actual specimens and for mandibular teeth versus maxillary teeth. Having failed to achieve significant agreement, we conclude that zooarchaeologists should be cautious about species assignments made using these methods. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

吕海寰与清末国防述略

吕海寰曾在甲午战争、日俄战争和英军侵藏等关键时刻,积极参与有关国防的各种活动,针对时局世变与各种具体问题,提出了一系列客观见解和切实可行的办法,体现出强烈的爱国情怀.这样一位在中国近代史上起过重要作用的历史人物一直未能得到学界的重视,这是不应该的.     

陕西富县梨树窑子观音殿石窟调查简报

梨树窑子观音殿石窟形制属于陕北地区的小型单窟,有明确纪年题记,造像组合题材包括自在坐观音像、十六罗汉像以及天王像等,是陕北宋金时期民间开凿的具有代表性的小型洞窟。其自在坐观音像、罗汉像和天王像、老者像均雕在山形龛内,正壁为自在坐观音像、左右两壁为对称的十六尊罗汉像和天王像,已形成北宋时期陕北地区较为固定的石窟造像组合模式,是陕北地区不同于其他地区所独有的造像组合题材,反映了当时民众佛教的信仰情况。梨树窑子观音殿石窟的开凿工匠为史氏,有助于了解陕北地区宋金时期开窟造像匠人史氏雕刻的造像风格和技艺,为研究陕北地区及葫芦河流域的宋金时期佛教的发展以及佛教文化与艺术的传播,提供了珍贵的实物资料。     

清末民初苏州典当业分布初探

本文根据苏州档案馆所藏的档案史料,从历史人文地理的角度,对清末民初苏州典当业的分布,作了较具体而微的探究。研究显示:清末民初苏州的典当业主要集中于北部和西南部中心城区以及阊门一带。从典当业的选址和经营状况来看,典当适合在中心城区和商业文化繁荣的城厢附郭以及周边市镇生存和发展。典当业分布的地理区位,与苏州城市经济及其功能分区息息相关,这反映了传统典当业依附于商业经济发展的“寄生性”。     

Prehistory of Chihuahua and Sonora,Mexico

The North American Southwest includes much of Mexico as well as the southwestern United States. The area north of the international border has been studied intensively and its culture history is widely known; the portion south of the border has usually been ignored. This essay proposes a new term for the entire culture area, Northern Mexico, and provides a summary of local sequences for two states in the region, Chihuahua and Sonora. The general sequence in the U.S. Southwest (Paleo-Indian, Archaic, and Ceramic periods) also holds in northwest Mexico. Preceramic occupations are poorly known. The Ceramic period saw the rise of a number of local cultures, which varied greatly in adaptation and social complexity. The basic culture pattern of Northern Mexico is derived from that of central Mexico, but direct Mesoamerican intervention in the region was apparently limited. While the issue of Mesoamerican-Northern Mexican relationships has dominated scholarly debate for decades, the greater need is to define and explain cultural variability within and between local sequences.     

北宋急脚递的传递方式考

北宋时期,驿传分离,传递公文的事务由递铺承担,分步递、马递与急脚递三种。然而关于急脚递的传递方式是马递还是走传则众说纷纭。本文在有限材料的基础上大胆做一个推测,认为急脚递的传递方式本应乘马,但受马匹来源所限,至中后期以后不得己而采取走传的方式作为补允。     

合作化时期西南地区初级农业生产合作社收益分配探析

初级农业生产合作社的收益分配是全面体现合作社性质和优越性的重要标志。合作化时期,西南地区根据中央有关初级社收益分配的指示精神和多民族地区的实际,坚持少取多分、按劳取酬和民族团结的原则,正确地处理社与社员之间的关系,努力提高劳动分配在初级社收益分配中的比例,推动互助合作运动的进一步发展。土地和劳动分配比例确立过程及其变动趋势决定着初级社生产发展的规模和方向,对于深入认识合作化的进程具有相当重要的意义。     

Commemorating dead ‘men’: gendering the past and present in post-conflict Northern Ireland

War is instrumental in shaping and negotiating gender identities. But what role does peace play in dispelling or affirming the gender order in post-conflict contexts? Building on a burgeoning international literature on representative landscapes and based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Northern Ireland between 2003 and 2006, this article explores the peacetime commemoration of the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ in order to explore the nuances of gender. Tellingly, the memorial landscapes cultivated since the inception of the paramilitary ceasefires in 1994 privilege male interpretations of the past (and, therefore, present). Gender parity, despite being enshrined within the 1998 Belfast Agreement which sought to draw a line under almost three decades of ethno-nationalist violence, remains an elusive utopia, as memorials continue to propagate specific roles for men and women in the ‘national project’. As the masculine ideologies of Irish Nationalism/Republicanism and British Unionism/Loyalism inscribe their respective disputant pasts into the streetscape, the narratives of women have been blurred and disrupted, begging the question: what role can they play in the future?     

Selling Conflict Heritage through Tourism in Peacetime Northern Ireland: Transforming Conflict or Exacerbating Difference?

The paramilitary ceasefires in 1994 and the ensuing peace negotiations brought to a close some three decades of ethno‐nationalist violence in Northern Ireland. The conflict, colloquially termed the Troubles, cost almost 3,700 lives, and bequeathed both a tangible and intangible heritage of division and hurt. This paper considers the commodification of physical conflict ‘heritage’ such as military installations, memorials and street murals through an examination of various tourism initiatives. Such initiatives have been employed by a number of agents ranging from local councils and tourist boards to small community groups and ex‐prisoner organisations. While ‘official’ agencies recognise the economic potential of this form of heritage, community‐based groups often view the sites and symbols of the conflict as vehicles through which to propagate political perspectives. Those sold by the latter, in particular, are often supported by government bodies that fund such forms of tourism under the auspices of ‘conflict transformation’, a strategy that is aimed at transforming the nature of the conflict through fostering self‐understanding within disputant communities. I participated in a number of these tours over the course of six months in 2005/2006.     

走出传统:北洋政府时期的县公署制度

清代州县行政存在组织机构不健全、行政与司法不分和财政家产制等封建性弊病。北洋政府时期,县行政长官任用私人势力履行县政职能的情况开始得到改变,司法与行政开始有所分离,法制化的行政经费制度开始建立。所有这些改革均具有重要意义,标志着中国的县行政制度开始摆脱传统而走向现代。     

Beyond Orange and Green? The awkwardness of negotiating difference in Northern Ireland1

Since the Good Friday Agreement (1988) issues of migration, racism and social difference beyond the ‘two traditions’ have become increasingly prominent in Northern Ireland. This paper investigates the difficulty, the ‘awkwardness’, of multiculturalism and anti-racism as models for negotiating these emerging differences in a society historically grounded in sectarian division. It is argued that multicultural practices, which offer opportunities for the recognition of diverse groups and identities, remain structured by on-going sectarian division in the wider society. Texts produced by anti-racist groups in West Belfast show how racialized ‘Others’ are often incorporated within dominant sectarian narratives. Despite this awkwardness, cultural diversity is fundamentally changing Northern Irish society and helping to denaturalise practices grounded in, and reproductive of sectarianism. In conclusion, it is suggested that Northern Ireland needs an inclusive, polyvocal anti-racism which connects all forms of discrimination, including racism and sectarianism.     

‘Are we wasting our time?’: bushfire practitioners and flammable futures in northern Australia

Humans are ‘fire creatures’ that have used fire for millennia to shape local environments to diverse purposes. Our capacity for combustion has also forced global climatic changes and rendered the planet increasingly flammable, creating the conditions for progressively higher impact bushfires now and into the future. Meanwhile, governments in fire-prone countries such as Australia have continued to allow settlements to be established (and re-established) in wildland–urban interfaces. Like other ‘natural hazards’, bushfire is thereby a social phenomenon bound up with human values, practices and decisions. But, while studies of the social dimensions of ‘natural hazards’ are steadily rising, this scholarship has rarely addressed natural hazard management practitioners directly, precisely those authorised and entrusted to intervene in the distribution of hazard probabilities and consequences. This paper seeks to help remediate this research gap, illustrating how cultural, ecological, economic and political factors thoroughly condition hazard management and modes of intervention. Drawing on a case study in the Northern Territory’s Greater Darwin region, this paper suggests not only that examining such sociocultural realities provides new insights into hazards and their distribution, but also that attention to such issues is crucial to understanding our flammable future in the Anthropocene.