Grassroots Ecologies of Value: Environmental Conflict and Social Reproduction in Southern Italy

In this article I examine socio-environmental conflicts through the category of value. Drawing from a single case study, an industrial city in southern Italy, I address the revaluation projects underpinning the conflict around socio-ecological arrangements that are considered unfair, unsustainable and detrimental to life. Focusing on the trajectory of local environmentalism and the specific case of a women group, the article shows how the intensification of the socio-ecological crisis prompted the shift of environmental conflicts from the sphere of production to the broader relations of social reproduction. I propose to analyse this shift through the concept of grassroots ecologies of value, which outlines a framework for thinking about how people deal with the socio-environmental contradictions in which they live, and their struggles for dignity and worth.     

Industrial Policy in the 21st Century

Industrial policy is back at the centre stage of policy debate, while the world is undergoing dramatic transformations. This article contributes to the debate by developing a new theory of industrial policy, incorporating some issues that have been neglected so far and taking into account the recent changes in economic reality. The authors explore how the incorporation of some of the neglected issues — commitments under uncertainty, learning in production, macroeconomic management (especially demand management), and conflict management — changes the theory. They then examine how the theory of industrial policy should be modified in light of recent changes in economic reality: the rise of the global value chain, financialization and new imperialism. This contribution aims at promoting a pragmatic approach to industrial policy and pointing to new areas for policy intervention in a changing world.     

Site formation processes in relation to surface bone assemblages in the Fuegian steppe (Tierra del Fuego,Argentina)

The archaeological record of the northern steppe in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina) is characterized by the occurrence of concentrations of archaeological material at the ground surface, coming from gullies and deflation hollows related to shallow lake coastal environments. This particular distribution becomes a challenge concerning the study of site formation processes, particularly in relation to the burial and exhumation of archaeological materials. Bone assemblages coming from three archaeological contexts (Tres Marías, Amalia 4 and Arturo 1) are analysed here, pointing to the features, damage and stability or movements that reveal their taphonomic histories. Geomorphological landscapes vary from each site, being represented by deflation hollows close to shallow lakes as well as gullies originating from the coast itself. The faunal assemblages are mostly dominated by Lama guanicoe bones. Variability in taxonomic composition, weathering profiles, mobility and stability of materials, as well as evidence of anthropic modifications, among other records, demonstrate the existence of different depositional events. The high variability observed suggests that several pre- and post-depositional processes were involved; thus, it results in complex taphonomic histories and low integrity that make their interpretation difficult in terms of human activities.     

Aroche (Huelva,Andalucía): a new Neolithic axehead of Alpine jade in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula

The discovery of a Neolithic Alpine jade axehead in Aroche, in the southwest of Spain, revives the question of long-distance exchange between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe. This polished blade belongs to a typological model quite characteristic of Alpine production during the second half of the 5th millennium B.C. Different mineralogical approaches (macroscopic features examination, specific gravity, direct XRD, non-destructive μXRF spectroscopy, optical stereomicroscopy, magnetic susceptibility determination and microprobe analysis) have identified the rock as an omphacitic jadeitite (mixed jade) with some tiny garnets and a weak retromorphosis. This analysis and the comparison of the rock structure with the referential JADE of Alpine natural jade samples, as well as the extraction modalities and shaping of the axe, provide strong arguments to assign the Aroche axe to a production of Mont Viso: the origin of thousands of axes that circulated in Europe between Ireland and Sicily. The Aroche axe, discovered not far from the variscite mines of Encinasola, could be considered as part of a possible exchange system between the Iberian Peninsula and the Gulf of Morbihan, in Brittany.     

Pottery Production in the Buddhist Communities in Central Asia: The Kushan‐Sassanian Pottery Workshop of Kara Tepe (Termez,Uzbekistan)

We present the first full archaeometrical study of Kushan‐Sassanian pottery from the Buddhist monastic complexes at Kara Tepe (Termez, Uzbekistan), recovered both in the pottery workshop and in the monastery, using a combination of analytical methods (XRF, XRD, SEM–EDS and OM). The study allowed the identification of the reference group, the correspondent fabric, the raw materials used for its productions, some of the technological processes involved in manufacture and several weathering processes. All the results confirm that the kiln was supplying the religious community of the monastery with pottery, made using local raw materials, and highlight the possibility that the kiln could have supplied the nearby monastic complexes, where no kilns have been found. Further archaeological evidence indicates the existence of specialized potters working itinerantly at the broader Bactrian area.     

Lagostomus maximus (Desmarest) (Rodentia,Chinchillidae), the extant plains vizcacha in the Late Pleistocene of Uruguay

Ubilla, M. & Rinderknecht, A., April 2016. Lagostomus maximus (Desmarest) (Rodentia, Chinchillidae), the extant plains vizcacha in the Late Pleistocene of Uruguay. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

The extant plains vizcacha, Lagostomus maximus, is described from the Late Pleistocene (Dolores Formation) of Uruguay based on an almost complete articulated skeleton. It is compared with the nominally extinct Pleistocene species of the genus. An AMS ¹⁴C taxon-age is determined for L. maximus at 11 879 ± 95 years BP (cal. BP 13 898–13 941). Lagostomus maximus is absent from modern mammal communities in Uruguay, and no Holocene evidence is available. Because L. maximus exhibits remarkable sexual and ontogenetic dimorphism, we examined a range of juvenile, sub-adult and adult male and female specimens. It is not possible to differentiate the articulated Pleistocene fossil from sub-adult specimens of L. maximus based on this sample. Moreover, the skull characteristics, including a broad vertical ramus of the zygomatic arch, semi-circular temporal crest and short robust sagittal crest, most closely resemble extant female individuals. Molar size is non-predictive for ontogenetic stage or body mass because it reaches stability during early adulthood. Other fragmentary skull remains are herein assigned to L. sp. cf. L. maximus. Lagostomus cavifrons from the Pleistocene of Argentina is considered synonymous with L. maximus. Its character states concur with the range of intraspecific variability and it has been established on a young adult or adult male individual. Likewise, the other Argentinean Pleistocene species based on incomplete mandibles, L. angustidens, L. striatus, L. heterogenidens, L. egenus, L. minimus and L. debilis, concur with ontogenetic morphs and are here assigned to Lagostomus sp. The ecological preferences of extant L. maximus infer open arid or semi-arid landscapes for the latest Pleistocene of southern Uruguay. This hypothesis is reinforced by the coeval presence of Microcavia, Galea and small camelids in the same strata. The Last Glacial Maximum likely promoted this environmental setting. Latest Pleistocene or early Holocene climatic change might have facilitated local extinctions and/or range shifts among this mammal fauna.

Martín Ubilla [martinubilla@gmail.com], Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la Republica, Iguá 4225, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay; Andrés Rinderknecht [apaleorinder@yahoo.com], Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Paleontología, 11000, Montevideo, Uruguay.     

The Squatters' Movement in Europe: A Durable Struggle for Social Autonomy in Urban Politics

Squatting empty properties for living or to develop public activities has lasted in European cities for more than three decades. Although local and national contexts differ significantly, there are also some general trends and patterns that deserve careful attention. When squatting occasionally appears in public debates, controversy is generated and many gaps open between academic, social and political perceptions. In this article I use evidence from several European cities to argue that the squatters' movement has produced an original impact in urban politics. The main feature of this impact has been to generate a relatively wide autonomous and mainly non‐institutional mode of citizen participation, protest and self‐management. How has this been possible? Which are the specific contributions made by this urban movement? These are questions that both scholars and activists continuously claim to be relevant, so that this research attempts to offer some general answers based on detailed comparisons and experiences.     

A graph-based analysis for generating geographical context from a historical cadastre in Spain (17th and 18th centuries)

Abstract

The cabreves are notarial documents prepared between the 13th and 19th centuries in the Catalan and Valencian regions of Spain. These historical records were published before the first cadastral maps and contain geographical information that could help spatially reconstruct historical landscapes. However, these documents have not been used to their full potential mainly because of their semi-structured and complex nature. In this article, we propose a new graph-based interactive methodology for partially reconstructing historical landscapes. We have successfully applied this methodology for reconstructing the historical landscape of the Barony of Sella in the 18th century and the methodology has also helped us locate “El Poblet,” a previously unknown archeological site abandoned after the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609.     

Is X-ray diffraction able to distinguish between animal and human bones?

The possibility of determining the human or animal origin of bones from the lattice parameters of their inorganic bioapatite phase, when subjected to a high temperature treatment using the powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, has been explored on a wide number of specimens. Forty-two animal bones were treated in a furnace at 1100 °C for 36 min and compared to 53 cremated human bones from a range of ancient necropolises. The X-ray diffraction patterns of bioapatite were simulated using both monoclinic P21/b and hexagonal P63/m structures to verify any occurrence of phase transformation and any difference in the lattice parameters due to the model. It was determined that the differences between the a-axis and c-axis of the monoclinic and hexagonal lattice were unimportant. Some outlying values were revealed to be caused by the presence of chlorine ions diffused into the apatite structure increasing its average unit cell values. Nevertheless, our results clearly show that in terms of lattice parameters the variability of human specimens are completely overlapped by the non-human variability making the use of XRD in order to distinguish animal from human bones questionable.     

Sr/Sr variability in Puerto Rico: geological complexity and the study of paleomobility

The temptation to use biogeochemical techniques to resolve issues of paleomigration is evident and well intentioned. Knowledge of radiogenic strontium isotope baselines in a region of interest is a sine qua non of such archaeological studies of paleomobility. Here, we present the first detailed study of baseline ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values for the island of Puerto Rico. The high degree of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr variability present in this corpus of modern Puerto Rican bedrock and terrestrial malacological samples (0.70406–0.70909) is a testament to the complex geology of that island. This diversity of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values makes parsing issues of origin a difficult and highly contingent task. Given these complexities, regional studies seeking to assess paleomigration by such isotopic means should proceed with a great deal of caution.