Third-Millenniurn and Later Pottery From Abu Dhabi Airport

Surface pottery collected from a site on Abu Dhabi airport indicated sporadic occupation from the Hafit period, c. 3100–2700 BC, with maximum settlement in the second half of the third millennium BC. The ceramics, which could be related both to the coastal Umm an-Nar culture and to the sequence established at Hili 8 in Period II, included wares of probably Mesopotamian and Eastern Arabian origin. The site was unused throughout most of the second millennium BC and the Iron Age but pottery of first century BC-second century AD date suggested that it may have served as a point of entry or transit at that time, the first to be recognised in the coastal area of Abu Dhabi.     

Mission without end? Peacekeeping in the African political marketplace

Since the mid-1990s the UN, in tandem with major western powers, has embarked upon an ambitious effort of peace support operations in Africa. The results of what we may call the 'Annan experiment' are not yet in. But there are good reasons to fear that, in many African countries, such peace operations have defend normative outcomes that are beyond realistic expectation, so that they can never hope to 'succeed'. This article examines the political and economic functioning of fragile African states using the lens of a 'political marketplace' in which local elites seek to obtain the highest reward for their loyalty, over short time horizons, within patrimonial systems. In such systems, political institutions are incapable of managing confect, which means that standard peacemaking efforts and peacekeeping operations do not align with domestic possibilities for settlement. To the contrary, external engagements can so distort domestic political markets that they obstruct national political bargaining and result in an open-ended commitment to peacekeeping in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.     

逆光摄影

漫步于乡间小径或钢筋丛林,不管烈日当头或是夕阳西下,旅途中,只要有一抹光线迎向你,按下快门,此刻的心绪便跃然纸上。逆光,是上天赐予的诸多光线形式中的神来之笔,它能让天地绚丽,又能让万物充满神秘之惑。     

Stress‐induced temperature variations in groundwater of the Monferrato area (north‐western Italy)

Although characterized by low seismicity, the Monferrato area of north‐western Italy was affected by earthquakes, of magnitude M5.1 and M4.8, in 2000 and 2001. At the same time, marked changes were recorded in water temperature and chemistry in several wells within the epicentral area. In May 2004, an automatic network for the continuous monitoring of groundwater was installed in selected wells to study the phenomenon. Here, we report on data collected during a 3‐year period of groundwater monitoring. During the first year, episodes of water heating (by up to 20°C) were observed in one monitored well. The temporal analysis of the seismic activity recorded in the area revealed as almost all seismic events occurred during the period of elevated water temperatures. The similar timing of earthquakes and groundwater‐temperature anomalies suggests that both may be triggered by the same processes acting in the crust.