From the familiar to the extraordinary: local residents' perceptions of risk when living with nuclear power in the UK

Nearly two decades since the last nuclear power station was built and began operating in the UK, nuclear energy is firmly back on the political agenda domestically and elsewhere in the world. Yet since the 1980s, little research has investigated perceptions of nuclear power in the UK, particularly those of communities living in very close proximity to such facilities. Using biographical narrative interviews (n = 61), we explore how local residents living close to two nuclear power stations in the UK (Bradwell, Essex and Oldbury, South Gloucestershire) have come to view their local facility. We reveal how the power station is constructed through processes of familiarisation and/or the normalisation/normification of risk as part of everyday life; how this ordinariness is juxtaposed with moments of extraordinariness in which, due to direct and mediated events, the power station is reframed as a risk issue; and how risk awareness is associated with moments of anxiety which ebb and flow through our interviewees' lives. We conclude that biographical experiences dynamically unfolding through space and time can be interrupted by risk events (mediated and direct, real and symbolic, nuclear and non-nuclear) to disrupt the usually taken-for-granted ordinariness of a power station's presence in a particular locality. Our findings suggest that those involved in debate about new nuclear build must be sensitive to the heterogeneity of the extraordinary in nuclear affairs and the importance of socio-cultural histories of place.     

A double dog burial from San Nicolas Island, California, USA: osteology, context, and significance

Recent archaeological excavations on San Nicolas Island, located off the coast of southern California, revealed the remains of a double dog burial interred sometime during the 13th and 14th centuries. Two carefully laid to rest and possibly sacrificed juvenile, female domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) between the ages of 1 and 6 months were found within a Native American village. Digestive tract residues include burned and unburned fish and marine mammal bone that suggest scavenging behavior or direct feeding by humans. Breed classifications place it between the Short-Nosed Indian dog and the Plains-Indian dog, likely representing a cross between those and other varieties of North American dogs. Comparisons with other dog burials from archaeological sites across southern California suggest commonalities and possible cultural linkages.     

Heinous spaces,perfidious places: The sinister landscapes of serial killers

This paper explores the internal and external landscapes of serial killers in the USA, offering a spatial perspective derived from contemporary modes of geographic theorizing. It opens by discussing the varying definitions of serial killers and their crimes. Second, it contextualizes serial killers by framing them within a culture that implicitly condones (mostly male) violence. Third, it investigates the motivations and psychological disorders that produce sadistic human beings devoid of empathy, morality or conscience. Fourth, it explores the spatiality of serial killers in six ways, including their changing rural and urban distribution; the highly gendered nature of serial killers, their victims and the spaces they frequent; the topography of race as it shapes their behaviour; the enormous spatial mobility serial killers exhibit; spaces of the body; and landscapes of fear that arise in the wake of their actions. The conclusion emphasizes the spatiality of serial killers as a significant part of their apprehension. Cet article explore les paysages internes et externes des tueurs en série aux Etats-Unis à travers une perspective spatiale dérivée des modes contemporains de théorisation géographique. Il débute par une discussion des différentes définitions des tueurs en série et leur crimes. Deuxièmement, il contextualise les tueurs en série en les situant dans une culture qui ferme généralement les yeux sur la violence, surtout la violence masculine. Troisièmement, l'article explore les motivations et désordres psychologiques qui produisent des êtres sadiques dénués d'empathie ou de conscience morale. Quatrièmement, le meurtre en série est étudié en rapport à l'espace selon les paramètres suivants: les changements dans la distribution rurale et spatiale des tueurs; le genre (masculin/féminin) des tueurs, de leurs victimes et des espaces qu'ils fréquentent; l'influence de la topographie raciale sur leur comportement; la très grande mobilité dans l'espace des tueurs en série; les espaces du corps; et les paysages de la peur qui découlent de leurs actions. La conclusion souligne comment l'utilisation de l'espace par les tueurs en série est un élément important de la peur qu'ils inspirent. Este papel explora los paisajes internos y externos de los asesinos de asesinatos en serie en los Estados Unidos, y ofrece una perspectiva espacial derivada de modos contemporáneos de teorizar de la geografía. Empieza por discutir las varias definiciones de lo que es un asesino de este tipo y sus delitos. Luego, pone en contexto a estos asesinos, colocándolos en un marco dentro de una cultura que, de forma implícita condona la violencia (por la mayor parte masculina). Y después investiga las motivaciones y los problemas psicológicos que producen seres humanos sádicos, carentes de empatía, moralidad o conciencia. Luego explora la espacialidad de los asesinos de seis modos, que incluye su cambiante distribución rural/urbana; lo importante que es gén ero en lo que se refiere a los asesinos de este tipo, a sus víctimas y a los espacios que frecuentan, la topografía de raza y el modo en que moldea su comportamiento; la enorme movilidad espacial exhibida por los asesinos seriales; espacios corporales; y paisajes de miedo de surgen como consecuencia de sus actos. La conclusión destaca la espacialidad de los asesinos que cometen una serie de asesinatos como una parte significativa de su prendimiento.     

Original DocumentsCharter of Hugh of Bayeux to the Church and Canons of St. Mary of Torrington,temp. Henry II

The ‘Northern British Cooking-Pot’ stems from Saxo-Norman antecedents, and is found in two basic light-coloured fabrics, the ‘Gritty Northern’ and the ‘Staxton Ware Type’. From Yorkshire the type spread in the early thirteenth century west over the Pennines to Carlisle and thence to south-west Scotland. Present evidence suggests that while ‘Gritty Northern’ ware traditions may have spread to eastern Scotland by an overland route, there is reason to suppose there was close contact between the potteries of Fife and Angus and those of the Scarborough district in the late thirteenth century. While in Scotland there is a considerable hybridization of forms and fabrics, ‘Gritty Northern’ ware appears predominant north of the Forth, ‘Staxton Type’ ware to the south. In the fourteenth century distinctively Scottish local variants occur. French and Low Countries influences on early Scottish pottery are discussed, a tentative Scottish cooking-pot type-series put forward, and a gazetteer of sites producing rim-sherds given.