Ancient DNA,a Neolithic legging from the Swiss Alps and the early history of goat

Ancient DNA from a Neolithic legging (1st half of the 3rd millennium BC) found at Lenk, Schnidejoch (2750 m a.sl.) in the Swiss Alps has demonstrated, that modern distribution of genetic variation does not reflect past spatio-temporal signatures. The legging was made from the skin of a domestic goat (Capra hircus), belonging to the caprine haplogroup B1, which is marginal in Europe today, but represents a third highly diverse goat haplogroup entering Europe already in the Neolithic. Population expansion of lineage B therefore happened more than 4500 years ago, but their members were at some point almost completely replaced by goats of today's common A and C haplogroups.     

Illustrations of Medieval Manners,Chivalry, and Costume,from Original Documents

In 1994 investigations comprising geophysical and earthwork surveys, together with evaluation excavations were carried out at Hylton Castle, Sunderland. The results confirmed the former presence of buildings east of the gatehouse tower, and contemporary with it. Some evidence for a hitherto unknown sixteenth- or seventeenth- century successor to the castle was discovered on an artificial terrace overlooking the earthworks of an ornamental garden with associated water features.     

Index to Vol IV

At Rockley, Yorkshire (SE338021) there survives the stone stack of a blast furnace which archive sources suggest was built in about 1700 and was used with charcoal until at least 1741. Antiquarian suggestions of a later period of operation using coke have received archaeological support in excavations carried out between 1978 and 1982. These established the layout of the blowing and casting houses, as well as the position of a head race, and of a water wheel of which only fragments survived. Of particular significance was a stone-lined casting pit, inserted into the floor of the casting house. The results of this excavation provide new impetus for research on the adaptation of charcoal blast furnaces for the use of coke.     

A park of the people: the demotion of Platt National Park,Oklahoma

Platt National Park, Oklahoma, was the smallest national park in the United States until it was combined with an adjacent, reservoir-centered recreation site in 1976 to form Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Set aside as Sulphur Springs Reservation by agreement with the Chickasaw Indians in 1902 and designated a national park in 1906, Platt is the only American national park to be demoted since World War II. The story of Platt's creation and demotion reflects the changing mission of the National Park Service (NPS), shifting images of nature and recreation among the American public, and broader social forces that frame park purposes. What started as local boosterism of hydrotherapy in cold mineral springs grew into one of America's most visited national parks by the 1920s. Despite its popularity, Platt lacked both scenic grandeur and political influence; it did not fit prevailing images of wild nature among NPS bureaucrats and the urban elite who formed the core of the environmental movement; it was too small, too humanized, and too ordinary. As images of people embedded in nature have gained wider acceptance in recent decades, would this small, geographically distinctive, and culturally rich “park of the people” have met a similar fate today?     

Consumer city

Urban economics has traditionally viewed cities as having advantagesin production and disadvantages in consumption. We argue thatthe role of urban density in facilitating consumption is extremelyimportant and understudied. As firms become more mobile, thesuccess of cities hinges more and more on cities' role as centresof consumption. Empirically, we find that high amenity citieshave grown faster than low amenity cities. Urban rents havegone up faster than urban wages, suggesting that the demandfor living in cities has risen for reasons beyond rising wages.The rise of reverse commuting suggests the same consumer cityphenomena.l