Determination of the parameters of the Guildhall amphitheatre ellipse in London

The paper presents an algorithm for computing the parameters of an ellipse that fits, in a least-squares sense, the surveyed remains of Roman amphitheatre arena walls. The algorithm is validated using ideal data and the near complete remains of the amphitheatre at Sarmizegetusa in Romania. The technique is then applied to the partial remains of the amphitheatre at the Guildhall in the City of London, in the UK, which cover only the Eastern end of the monument. The underlying mathematical model and method of solution is presented. The method was developed with a view to determining firstly whether or not an ellipse is a feasible model for the actual constructed curve geometry, and secondly, where the Western end of the Guildhall amphitheatre might be located. One single ellipse was found to fit the Guildhall remains, with measurement residuals at the level of 30 mm in the eastings and 26 mm in the northings. The ellipse had a semi-major axis of 28.345 m and a semi-minor axis of 22.775 m. The issues of alternative geometries and the practicalities of their use in construction are considered.     

Ethinicity and Identity in the Archaeological Record (Reconstruction of an Excavation Completed in 1937 on a Chickasaw Village Site in Northeast Mississippi)

This article presents the restitution of an operation of excavation carried out in 1937 by Moreau Chambers on the site of a Chickasaw village. The objective of my research is to carry out a new analysis of the documents of the old excavations, to answer the interrogations concerning the way of life of Chickasaw at the beginning of the historical period and to reconstitute a site plan for this Chickasaw village. This operation included/understood also the handing-over of repatriated bodies. I also discuss the way in which my implication in this project interacted with my identity as a Chickasaw woman. The restitution of the operation of excavation, repatriation, and associated research contributed to show to the Chickasaw people the ways in which the law can help them. I finish this article by discussing the implications on the long term of the operation of Chambers for the modern archaeologists, the Chickasaw people, and Chickasaw who are themselves archaeologists.     

Metrical discrimination between mandibular first and second molars in domestic cattle

The difficulty of distinguishing between loose first and second mandibular molars of domestic cattle (BOS taurus) from archaeological sites is well known. This paper proposes cervical length as a discriminatory measurement. The possibility that cervical measurements of first and second mandibular molars may be sexually dimorphic is also explored.     

Theoretical change and therapeutic innovation in the treatment of syphilis in mid-nineteenth-century France

This article examines changes in the treatment of venereal disease in mid-nineteenth-century France in light of theoretical developments in the understanding of these diseases. It focuses on three theories of venereal disease: the orthodox theory of the "unity" of gonorrhea and syphilis; the physiological theory of Fran?ois Broussais, which essentially denied the actual existence of such a disease; and Philippe Ricord's new doctrine of venereal disease, a theory that is often credited with having established the distinction between syphilis and gonorrhea. The argument is that theoretical considerations played a major role in the evaluation of the relative merits of these theories and that any understanding of the appeal of Ricord's new doctrine must consider not only its pathological claims but its therapeutic implications as well. This was not, however, simply an instance of theory applied. These two aspects of Ricord's new doctrine, its pathology and its therapeutics, were inextricably bound up with one another, so that judgment of the one necessarily entailed judgment of the other. The argument is that therapeutic practice should not be seen simply as a downwind consequence of changes in the theoretical understanding of disease, but rather as an integral part of the process of change. These were the kinds of developments that led doctors to believe that French medicine was making very real progress at mid-century.     

WHY ARE URBAN TRAVEL TIMES SO STABLE?

Personal travel time in U.S. urban areas has been stable, clashing with the assertion that urban sprawl greatly lengthens travel. Average commute time rises by 7.7 percent with each cross‐sectional doubling of Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) jobs. Using the RELU‐TRAN structural computable general equilibrium model of the Chicago MSA, we simulate the equilibrium effects of a 24 percent population increase projected from 2000 to 2030 by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. If no new road capacity is added, then congestion per mile increases. Although the urbanized land area increases by 19 percent, indicating sprawl, the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per car‐trip decreases by 1.31 percent and the VMT per car‐trip to work decreases by 2.78 percent. Car travel time increases by only 6.25 percent and commuting time by only 4.54 percent, from 30.3 minutes in 2000 to 31.7 in 2030 or 3.4 seconds per year. We further explore the effects of new road capacity, gasoline prices, public transit speed, fuel economy gains, limits on suburban construction, and importantly, the cross‐elasticity of public transit use with respect to car times. The availability of public transportation, economizing on nonwork travel, and land use adjustments that increase job‐residence proximity keep times stable.     

THE URBAN–RURAL GAP IN UNIVERSITY ATTENDANCE: DETERMINANTS OF UNIVERSITY PARTICIPATION AMONG CANADIAN YOUTH

Based on existing work, there are clear differences in the incidence of degree holders across the urban–rural hierarchy in favor of large urban areas. In large part, this gradient can be traced to the higher probability of obtaining a degree among residents of larger urban centers. Utilizing data from the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS), this paper explores factors that may account for university participation among Canadian youth. It asks whether this difference is due to local access to universities, family characteristics (e.g., parental income, education, and immigrant status), and local labor market characteristics that may increase the incentive for urban youth to attend university.     

Embodied experiences in international volunteering: power-body relations and performative ontologies

In this paper we debate the interpretation of embodied experience on international volunteering placements. Drawing on six in-depth interviews with volunteers recently returned from Northern Thailand, we document the affects and emotions that play a key role in the formation of volunteer–host relations. We then present two interpretations of the data, conceptualising power-body relations in two different ways: from power’s affective and emotional literacy, to the body’s autonomous capacities. With these two interpretations at hand we then consider the performative nature of academic labour and make the case, following the work of feminist geographers J.K. Gibson-Graham, for a research praxis that does not set limits on subjectivity but rather excavates – and writes into being – the possible. We therefore argue for a conceptualisation and interpretation of embodied experience in volunteering as a site of potential transformation and transcendence of the inequalities that otherwise set the conditions of the volunteer–host encounter.     

Creative geographies of ceramic artists: knowledges and experiences of landscape,practices of art and skill

This paper argues for a conception of art as an embodied and creative material practice. It draws on research conducted with seven professional ceramic artists who deal with landscape in their work to explore their processes of art-making through interview and (filmed) observation. It demonstrates the distributed range of embodied and relational more-than-artistic practices which inform how landscape is encountered, known and ultimately represented. It argues that artists’ self-expression in art is based upon material, social and political knowledges which interweave in artists’ lives. By studying ceramicists’ making this paper demonstrates both the non-conscious skill and the conscious technical knowledge needed to make art. It shows chance to have a triple role in practices of making, as something to work alongside, to work against and to draw on as a creative resource. This paper both argues for and demonstrates the value of an approach to art-making that frames it as a complex of both conscious, socio-cultural, technical knowledges and non-conscious skills which together (in)form works of (ceramic) art.