Necessary for Life: Studies of Ancient and Modern Grinding Stones in Highland Ethiopia

Ethnoarchaeological research combined with morphological analysis of modern and ancient grinding stones was completed in 2013 and 2014 as part of the Eastern Tigrai Archaeological Project (ETAP), based in the Gulo Makeda region of northern Ethiopia. Research focused on investigating the cultural context of grinding, grinding stone morphology, and use-surface area employing low power use-wear analysis of grinding surfaces. In the Gulo Makeda region today, men manufacture grinding stones and women use them in food processing for many hours per day. While grinding, relationships are formed and maintained with other women, and archaeological evidence suggests that women were grinding together in the past. It was discovered through interviews that distinctive grinding surfaces are preferred for processing different cereals based on grain size. Rough surfaces are used to process larger grains such as imported Near Eastern barley (Hordeum vulgare), wheat (Triticum spp.), maize (Zea mays), and the African domesticate sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), while fine/smooth surfaces are used for smaller, locally domesticated African grains including finger millet (Eleusine coracana) and t’ef (Eragrostis tef). Comparing ethnoarchaeological data with evidence of different use-surfaces on ancient Mezber grinding stones suggests that both locally domesticated and imported grains have been processed in the region for thousands of years. Interpretations are made about the use of grinding stones in the past through analogy, supported by evidence of ancient stone tool morphology and surface wear. The archaeological record at the pre-Aksumite site of Mezber indicates that grinding stone sizes have changed through time, with larger grinding surface areas likely reflecting the need for the production of greater amounts of flour.     

Application of a new typological approach to classifying denticulate and notched tools: the study of two Mousterian lithic assemblages

Identifying tools by means of morphological attributes are widely used in lithic studies to categorize retouched artifacts from different archaeological periods. This procedure has facilitated the exchange of information between separate researchers and has improved the comparison of different assemblages. In these classifications, denticulates and notched tools have been regularly interpreted as analogues and chronologically unvaried in different and vast territories. Based on the definitions developed by Bordes, the denticulate category has become a catchall for any kind of tool bearing concavities. In this paper a new quantitative approach to the classification of denticulates and notched tools is proposed. The new methodology is based on measuring the length of notches and their distribution on the perimeter of the blank. Analyzing the lithic series of the Abric Romaní rock-shelter (Spain) and Grotta Maggiore di San Bernardino (Italy) led to the identification of 11 redundant forms: eight denticulates and three notched tools. Moreover, the application of Kuhn’s Geometric Index of Unifacial Reduction brought local manufacturing trends to light, calling into question the presumed geographical uniformity of these categories of artifacts.     

Making room for rubbers: Gender,technology, and birth control before the pill

Before the Food and Drug Administration approved in 1960 the distribution of oral contraceptives, the most popular form of birth control in the United States was the condom. Scholars have often downplayed men's involvement in the history of birth control, relegating knowledge and use of contraceptive technology to a separate "female domain." This article explores the role of condoms in the evolution of the American birth control business, attitudes toward public health, and everyday sexual behavior, and suggests why the full complexities of the history of birth control are best captured by an approach that is attentive to broad gender dynamics as well as to the diversity of technological change.     

Australian reactions to Britain's declining presence in Southeast Asia, 1955–63

This article examines Australia's long-held doubts about Britain's willingness and ability to maintain a significant military presence in Southeast Asia, where Australia's main strategic interests lay. The article argues that Australian concerns long predated the Wilson government's attempt to disengage from east of Suez in the mid-1960s. In doing so, it shows that the Menzies government had since the mid-1950s become increasingly concerned about Britain's resolve and capacity to station substantial forces in the region. In illustrating the extent to which policy-makers in Canberra became suspicious of British long-term strategic aims in Southeast Asia, this article reveals some interesting aspects of the changing nature of Anglo-Australian relations in the post-war period.     

‘Those European Chicken Littles’: Reagan,NATO, and the Polish Crisis, 1981–2

This article focuses on transatlantic relations in the run-up to and aftermath of the imposition of Martial Law in Poland in December 1981. Through an analysis of British, US, German, and NATO sources, this article highlights the fundamental differences and consequent disagreements that occurred between the Reagan administration and its European allies in 1981–2. It argues that these divergences originated from economic considerations, from a fundamentally discrepant conception of détente on the two sides of the Atlantic, and from the Reagan administration's mismanagement of the crisis. Not only did Reagan disregard NATO's contingency plans dating from 1980 and did not consult the allies, he also designed US sanctions specifically to dash a joint agreement between the Europeans and the Soviet Union for the construction of a pipeline that was to deliver Siberian gas into Western Europe.