The Development Authority and the formative years of the Israeli land regime

The history of Israel’s land allocation regime is traced from its inception in the formative years (1948–60), focusing on distribution of urban land to private and business entities. Rich archival materials provide documentation regarding the Development Authority (DA), established in 1950, and its practices. The prohibition on selling “national lands,” zealously observed in Israel’s rural regions, was never closely adhered to in urban areas. The DA’s double role, as a major actor in land allocation as well as the institution representing the “rules of the game,” serves as a platform for a preliminary examination into institutional path dependency theories.     

Conflictividad capitular y poderes locales en el Cabildo de Manila (1690–1697)

La mayoría de especialistas en la historia de la iglesia de las Filipinas reconocen el gobierno del arzobispo de Manila, fray Felipe Pardo (1677–1689), como uno de los más conflictivos de la historia del archipiélago. Sin embargo, poco o muy poco se ha escrito sobre las actividades políticas y económicas de sus capitulares, particularmente en lo que se refiere a los períodos de sedes vacantes. Frente a la imagen monolítica y triunfante que la historiografía modernista ha proporcionado del discurso tridentino, lo cierto es que hubo grietas, divergencias y conflictos derivados de su confrontación con la realidad local. Los prebendados no constituían un grupo socialmente homogéneo, sino caracterizado por intereses, identidades y lealtades móviles que dependían de contextos políticos y económicos. En este ensayo vamos a analizar las políticas civiles y eclesiásticas de los prebendados del cabildo catedralicio, haciendo especial énfasis en la conflictividad capitular que siguió a la muerte del arzobispo Pardo (1689) hasta finales del siglo XVII.     

Leftovers: The presence of manufacture-derived aquatic lipids in Alaskan pottery

Lipids preserved within the walls of ancient pottery vessels are routinely analysed to reveal their original contents. The provenience of aquatic lipids in pottery is generally connected to vessel function (e.g., for cooking or storing fish, shellfish and aquatic mammals). However, ethnographic reports from early historic Alaska mention the use of aquatic oils for waterproofing low-fired pottery. Results of lipid residue studies on Alaskan pottery reflect an exclusive function of pottery to process aquatic resources. However, can one be sure these residues are the product of vessel function and not a remnant of the manufacturing process? The study presents the results of an experiment where the preservation of aquatic lipids during the firing process at different temperatures was measured. It was found that nearly all lipids were removed at firing temperatures of ≥ 400°C. Petrographic analysis of Alaskan pottery samples indicates that firing temperatures were generally > 550°C but < 800°C. The contribution of pre-firing manufacture-derived lipids to samples fired at these temperatures may be regarded as negligible. While the possible presence of aquatic lipids from post-firing surface treatments cannot be excluded, such treatments appear unnecessary for well-fired pottery.