#spanishrevolution (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

The article reports on the street protests that took over Spanish cities earlier in May and June. The protests have been explained as a response on the part of new media democratic networks to the governance of the economic crises by corrupt political and financial classes. We offer here a tentative chronology of the events, and essay instead an argument about a revitalised municipalist tradition, that sees in the plaza the centrepiece of new forms of do‐it‐yourself political action.     

Osteological and paleodietary investigation of burials from Cova de la Pastora,Alicante, Spain

We present results of osteological and isotopic analyses of human remains from Cova de la Pastora (Alcoi, Alicante, Spain) and discuss the implications in light of a new sequence of radiocarbon dates indicating that the cave was used as a burial site in the Late Neolithic (ca. 3800–3000 cal BC), Chalcolithic (ca. 3000–2500 cal BC), Bell Beaker Transition (Horizonte Campaniforme Transicional - HCT; ca. 2500–2200 cal BC) and the Bronze Age (ca. 2200–1500 cal BC). Similarities in stable isotopic values of C and N indicate little variation in subsistence between men and women, and a similar nutritional base from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age. This pattern of stability is augmented by evidence of trauma and disease found on numerous skulls in the collection. Since no clear associations of specific grave goods with certain individuals based on sex or age could be determined, the only suggestion of social inequality lies in the burial practice itself, where certain individuals were interred in caves while others were not.     

Testing Transferability: Quantitative Evaluation of Labor Market Area Definition Methods in Three Contrasting Countries

Sub-national economic policies increasingly use labor market areas (LMAs) rather than administrative areas for analysis and implementation. How a set of LMAs was defined influences the results of such analyses, and so accurate policy delivery needs appropriately defined LMAs. Multinational bodies need comparable LMA definitions in many countries, calling for a definition method that is transferable across national boundaries. This article applies quantitative metrics to evaluate LMAs defined in three contrasting countries by three methods that represent the main methodological approaches. The deductive approach—based on a center and hinterland—is too inflexible to deal with differing geographical circumstances and cannot cope with statistical zones that are very small, or do not respect settlement structure. The alternative inductive methods tested define appropriate LMAs in each country, with the newer method performing slightly better in statistical terms. The article also exemplifies the usefulness of the metrics for comparisons of alternative regionalizations.     

Promoting tourism through the EU LEADER programme: understanding Local Action Group governance

ABSTRACT

For many European rural areas, the rural development programmes based on the LEADER approach constitute the main policy for promoting tourism. Going a step further than a rural development programme, LEADER represents an ideal method for overcoming some of the challenges involved in rural tourism development, such as the integration of tourism supply through public-private organizations or the coordination of multi-level policies. Despite its potential, there are difficulties involved in putting this approach into practice. This article aims to provide in-depth understanding of the challenges faced by some managers responsible for developing tourism strategies through the LEADER approach. To do this, semi-structured in-depth interviews have been held with Local Action Groups managers from Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). The main findings reveal that the actions of regional governments lead to the limitation and strangulation of the principle of subsidiarity according with the LAG manager? opinion.     

Assessment Techniques for Studying the Effects of Fire on Stone Materials: A Literature Review

ABSTRACT

Fire is one of the most severe threats to stone applied in civil engineering and architecture. In most cases, its effects are irreversible and have long-lasting repercussions. In addition to aesthetic alterations, fire can also induce important mineral-chemical, physical, and mechanical changes in stone. Research concerning the effects of fire on stone materials in recent decades has been providing valuable knowledge to inform present and future conservation and restoration actions. In this literature review, the properties and techniques used for studying the effects of fire on stone materials are appraised, summarized, and compiled. A comprehensive and practical overview of those effects is also given. Open porosity and P-wave ultrasonic velocity are the physical and mechanical properties that have been studied most. Other frequently researched areas include chemical-mineralogical changes, color, density, water absorption, uniaxial compressive strength, and modulus of elasticity are also very frequently investigated.     

Open Warfare or the Odd Skirmish? Bell Beaker Violence in the North‐Eastern Iberian Peninsula

Archaeological examples of violence in prehistory have increased in recent years. The evidence, methodology employed and interpretation of the data have been diverse, but in each case the myth of the ‘peaceful past’ is questioned. This work provides new data on the issue from the north‐eastern Iberian Peninsula, associated with the Bell Beaker culture (c.2800–2350 cal BC). Material from two megalithic tombs, Can Gol I and Can Gol II (Barcelona Province), in particular a set of flint arrowheads, has been revisited. Use‐wear analysis on the arrowheads confirmed the presence of impact fractures. This indicates that the arrowheads were not funerary offerings, but that they entered the graves lodged in the bodies of the deceased. The data from the only site with evidence of massive death by violence in the neighbouring region (Costa de Can Martorell) reinforce the hypothesis of episodes of conflict and violence during prehistory. However, the interpretation of the nature of such violence remains open to debate: was it an act of warfare or an occasional skirmish? And is the image of the Bell Beaker warrior identified in other European contexts also applicable to this area?     

PROJECTIONS OF RACE,NATURE, AND ETHNOGRAPHIC CHILDHOOD IN EARLY EDUCATIONAL CINEMA AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CANADA

In this article, we examine depictions of race, nature, and childhood in Harlan Ingersoll Smith's early ethnographic films at the National Museum of Canada. Created in the 1920s for a children's education programme, Smith's films construct ethnographic portraits of different Indigenous peoples in Western Canada. We demonstrate how museum education appropriated Indigeneity as a discursive resource to immerse viewing children in particular narratives of Canadian national heritage and development. The films worked through a complex double movement, bringing children in the Ottawa museum audience into association with Indigenous children based on shared experience as children while simultaneously differentiating Indigenous peoples as Other. The films inculcated white youth at the museum in a romanticized connection to Canada's prehistory through knowledge of the nation's Indigenous peoples as well as nature. In the films, the position of Indigeneity within the future remained ambiguous (traditional practices sometimes disappearing, sometimes enduring). Yet, despite Smith's uncertainty about colonial beliefs in the disappearance of Indigeneity, his films nonetheless presented the teleological development of the settler nation as certain. Our article highlights how thinking about children, as audience for and thematic focus of these films, extends discussions of the geographies of film, of children, and of settler colonial nationalism.