Holocene prehistory of the northernmost north Pacific

We examine evidence for Holocene contact between Asia and North America across what is now the Bering Strait, emphasizing maritime adaptation. After 10,000 B.P. residual influence of the Siberian Paleolithic is clear, and derivative Americans were moving southward along the open Pacific coast and settling in the eastern Aleutian Islands. By 6000 B.P. maritime adaptation is evident in the Kodiak Island region, and expansion westward brought colonization of the entire Aleutian chain of islands before 3000 B.P. In Asia there was marine subsistence on Hokkaido by 6000 B.P, but in the lower Amur River region, the southern and northern regions of the Okhotsk Sea, the coast of Kamchatka, and the Chukchi Peninsula no major maritime interest can be dated until after 2700 or even 2500 B.P In north Alaska, the mainland was cut off from Siberia by 6000 B.P with the rise of postglacial seas, but contact was reestablished 5000 B.P at the cultural level of the nonmaritime Siberian Neolithic. Pronounced marine orientation appears intrusively in north Alaska somewhat before 3000 B.P, when the only known source for the technology was the region extending from the Gulf of Alaska through the Aleutian Islands. Thereafter developed the maritime culture of the historic Eskimo people.     

Book reviews

Nicholas Tarling: South East Asia: Past and Present, F. W. Cheshire, Melbourne, 1966, pp. 334, $5.55.

W. H. C. Eddy, ed.: Studies In Demoracy, F. W. Cheshire, Melbourne, 1966, pp. 178 + xi, $3.75.

Ruth Knight: Illiberal Liberal, Robert Lowe in New South Wales, 1842–1850, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1966, pp. 299 ‐f ix, $6.00.

B. D. Graham: The Formation of the Australian Country Parties, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1966, pp. 320 ‐f xiv, $6.90.

C. Sanders, ed.: Technical Education for Development, University of Western Australia Press, 1966, pp. 302 ‐f‐ vii.

Cyril Pearl: Wild Men of Sydney, Cheshire‐Lansdowne, pp. 255, $2.50 paper, $4.20 bound.

Bruce Mansfield: Australian Democrat, Sydney University Press, 1965, pp. 322, $3.00.

T. H. Rigby, ed.: Stalin, Great Lives Observed series, Spectrum Books, Prentice‐Hall, N.J., 1966, pp. 182, paperback $1.95, boards $4.95.

D. G. Bettison, C. A. Hughes and P. W. van der Veur, eds.: The Papua‐New Guinea Elections, 1964, The Australian National University, Canberra, 1965, pp. 545, $9.00.

Denis Warner: Reporting South‐East Asia, Angus & Robertson, 1966, pp. 342, $4.50.

Patrick Ford: Cardinal Moran and the A.L.P.—A Study in the Encounter Between Moran and Socialism, 1890–1907, Melbourne University Press, 1966, pp. 319 + xxii, $7.50.     

Timber exploitation during the 5th–3rd millennia BCE at Arslantepe (Malatya,Turkey): environmental constraints and cultural choices

A considerable amount of charcoal remains from the archaeological site of Arslantepe (Eastern Anatolia) has been analysed. The anthracological assemblage comes from seven archaeological periods, ranging from the Late Chalcolithic 1–2 (mid-5th millennium BCE) to the Early Bronze Age III (late 3rd millennium BCE). The woody taxa exploited by the local communities appeared to have only minor changes throughout the investigated periods. For the evaluation of wood use practices, charcoal was chronologically grouped according to depositional context. The categories of depositional context identified differentiate between the uses of wood for structural parts of buildings, object manufacture, fuel, refuse, and wood found in outdoor areas or in burial contexts. Communities at Arslantepe, characterized by different cultural and socio-economic traits, appeared overall to select timber depending on its use: hydrophilous plants prevail in building material, with the exception of the 2900–2500 BCE period when environmental constraints probably motivate the dominance of woodland-steppe plants. The differential occurrence of taxa in the diverse depositional contexts highlighted cases of under/overestimation of remains, in particular in relation to the woods for construction. Finally, taxa have been attributed to different ecological groups. The interpretation of results and the comparison with other available palaeoenvironmental data point out that climatic factors play only a secondary role in the choice of wood exploitation in the area. Human choice may vary even with constant environmental records.     

Biological differences related to cultural variability during the Neolithic in a micro-geographical area of the Iberian Peninsula

This paper presents dental morphological data of Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age populations from the Catalan Pre-Pyrenean area. The Neolithic group, in particular, differs from those of surrounding areas in its funerary culture: the building of cists, which is not present in the Sepulcres de Fossa Culture. A minimum number of 118 individuals from this area were studied for this work, and the data were compared with those of other Iberian and European groups. The results indicate that the two micro-regional groups from the Catalan area (Pre-Pyrenean and Pre-Coastal) were biologically different during the Neolithic and the Chalcolithic, but not in the Bronze Age, when they also appeared to be more homogeneous culturally. In addition, both areas differ biologically from coetaneous Italian groups, although those closer to the coast show slightly smaller differences. Finally, the Bronze Age groups also present fewer differences with regard to the Italian Bronze Age’s group. Therefore, the results suggest that the Catalan Neolithic population had two separate origins, related to cultural patterns, and that differences between the groups decreased within time, probably due to trade-related activities. Moreover, the fact that the difference with Italian populations decreased during the Bronze Age suggests major population movements through the Mediterranean that would affect the biological composition of the human groups.     

New insights into Byzantine glass technology from loose mosaic tesserae from Hierapolis (Turkey): PIXE/PIGE and EPMA analyses

This study focuses on the Byzantine glass tesserae from Hierapolis (Phrygia, central Turkey). Fifty-seven samples of loose tesserae from two sites in the town (the theatre and the church of St. Philip) are analysed by particule-induced X-ray emission and particule-induced gamma ray emission and electron probe X-ray microanalysis to obtain the chemical composition and identify the colourants and opacifiers. The aims are to add new information to the scant knowledge of the Byzantine glassmaking technology, to constrain the chronology of the mosaics and to trace the supply routes of the tesserae. In the destruction layers of the theatre, tesserae produced following the Roman glassmaking technology (natron glass opacified by calcium and lead antimonate) were found. They were made using a Levantine 1 raw glass, generally attributed to the early Byzantine period (fifth to sixth c.). In the church, the samples attest a technological change from Roman tradition, and a complex pattern according to building history (two phases are attested, probably in the sixth and eighth to ninth c.), and a multiplicity of supply. Three glass types and some recipes not attested before in this chronological range for the production of tesserae are documented, such as the use of a local low-chlorine natron glass for the production of black and red tesserae, the blue colouring by a source of cobalt with zinc in a natron glass tessera and the opacification with tin oxide (both in a lead-free and in a high-lead natron glass), as well as with quartz.     

“Situated Bystandership” During and After the Rwandan Genocide

The dominant account of the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath focuses on victims and perpetrators, and rescapés and génocidaires. Less is known about bystanders, mainly Hutu non-perpetrators, who are held collectively responsible for having witnessed violence without trying to stop the killers or help the victims. This article challenges the homogenous portrayal of the unresponsive bystander group, and introduces the novel concept of “situated bystandership” to draw attention to the proximal and representational contexts that shape bystanders’ responses, roles and positions in society. First, to be a “situated bystander” means to resist the pressure to participate in genocidal violence and to belong to a moral order that is distinct from that of the extremists: the moral world of the ordinary, good-hearted people. Second, Rwandans who are “neither pursuing nor being pursued” occupy multiple roles at different points in time. Many are bystanders to specific episodes of violence and their “acts of non-intervention” shape the course of history. Given the pressure to participate in the genocide, the inaction of bystanders could be considered as passive resistance to the ideology of mass killing. Therefore, in a continuum between victims and perpetrators, bystanders might be positioned closer to the victims than the perpetrators. Third, gacaca is a process through which not only is culpability ascertained but individual innocence is also established. This reconfiguration makes it possible to shift the homogenized perception of Hutu non-perpetrators from the position of the morally guilty bystander group towards that of the individual innocent bystander. In contrast to the tendency to essentialize accounts of violence, homogenize groups and reframe controversial stories to fit political strategies, there is value in standing back and identifying the contexts that shape bystanders’ roles, responses and representations. “Situated bystandership” is a lens through which this objective can be achieved.