Makaynûn and its territory: the formation of an urban centre during the South Arabian period in the Hadramawt

Work at the site of Makaynûn in eastern Hadramawt (Yemen) and surrounding territory has yielded information on ancient settlement patterns in southern Arabia. This small regional centre lay within an area marked out by a network of seasonal flood‐water cultivation systems that irrigated agricultural areas. Each system was associated with one or more villages that were contemporary with the central site. As well as providing a communal refuge, the central site contained religious buildings, dwellings and doubtless the residence of the local elite, within the shelter of a defensive enclosure. This territory was overlain by a symbolic geography defined by the location of the sanctuaries and cemeteries of the Makaynûn community. This model of settlement was repeated all along the valley, where comparable systems were found at the mouths of the main tributary valleys.     

Sagittal Clefting of the Fifth Lumbar Vertebra of a Young Adult Female from Apollonia Pontica,Bulgaria

A rare congenital anomaly in the form of sagittal clefting of the fifth lumbar vertebra was observed in the skeleton of a young adult female excavated from the Greek colonial site of Apollonia Pontica (5th to 3rd centuries BC) on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. No compensatory changes had occurred to the adjacent vertebrae, and no other skeletal anomalies or pathological conditions were observed in the skeleton. This anomaly, the first of its kind documented in ancient Greek remains, was likely asymptomatic and of no clinical significance. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sailing virtual canoes across Oceania: revisiting island accessibility

Understanding sailing conditions is a basic requirement for understanding the two periods of settlement of the distant islands of Oceania, initially from the Bismarck Islands off New Guinea as far as Samoa and later from Samoa throughout East Polynesia. The question of a “navigational threshold” between these two worlds is the focus of this paper. A computer simulation is presented that quantifies the difficulty of sailing virtual canoes in the differing wind conditions in both areas. The model demonstrates substantial differences in ease of voyaging up to and beyond Samoa. That this measure is so markedly different between these two worlds gives support for the hypothesised pause between the discovery and settlement of islands West and East of Samoa.     

An Iron Age II snake cult in the Oman peninsula: evidence from Bithnah (Emirate of Fujairah)

Excavations carried out by the French Archaeological Mission at Bithnah-44/50 (Emirate of Fujairah) have provided new data about Iron Age II cultic practices in the Arabian Peninsula centred on the symbol of the snake. The site includes a public building, various types of shrines, and a central area of offerings where the remains of animal sacrifices were buried in pits. These remains are presented and a preliminary account of the evolution of the site is given on the base of the site's stratigraphy.     

The learner: John Howard's system of national security advice

This article uses an explanatory framework suggested by presidential studies scholars, Charles Walcott and Karen Hult (1995; 2004), to document the forces that have shaped the structures of support to decision-makers in the Australian national security policy domain. It traces the continuities in national security advisory arrangements – the ‘deep structures’ of advice and support to Australian prime ministers and their cabinets. The article focuses especially on the variable of prime ministerial choice. It argues that John Howard is the great learner of Australian politics, who in national security, as elsewhere, has demonstrated a formidable ability to capitalise on his inheritance from his predecessors Future Prime Ministers will continue to need effective advisory structures. Howard's legacy will shape these arrangements into the future.     

The Liberal Paradox and the Politics of Asylum in Australia

This article interprets the politics of asylum in Australia in light of what James Hollifield calls ‘the liberal paradox’; that is, the trend amongst contemporary states towards greater transnational open-ness in the economic arena alongside growing pressure for domestic political closure. It begins with an outline of Australia's recent history of economic reform and of the discourse of globalisation that has been employed to legitimise the changes wrought by this transition. Focusing on the period from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, the article provides an account of anxieties associated with these changes and an analysis of government strategies to secure the support of disaffected sections of the electorate. Asylum policy is analysed in this context. The article shows how the policing of asylum seekers constitutes performances of political closure designed to assuage those made vulnerable by Australia's neoliberal economic trajectory. It argues that these politics of asylum are indicative of the tensions between transnational engagement and territorial closure faced by neoliberal states more generally.     

Reflections on Reflexivity

Three realizations about developing an intercultural code of ethics for WAC that may be useful to the next series of discussions.

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Résumé Trois réflexions au sujet d'un développement des valeurs inter-culturelles pour le CMA qui pourront servir aux séries des discussions qui suivent.

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Resumen Tres reflexiones acerca de desarrollar un código de ética intercultural para WAC que pueda ser útil para la próxima serie de discusiones.