Home thoughts of abroad: Ohthere’s Voyage in its Anglo‐Saxon context

The Old English text known as Ohthere’s Voyage is regarded as a key source for Norwegian history. Consequently, the context of its composition and inclusion in the Old English Orosius has often been overlooked. This article demonstrates that the text cannot be separated from the processes that shaped it during its early transmission. Continental geographical traditions of the peoples of the north governed the preconceptions of Ohthere’s audience. Furthermore, the individual who included the account in the Orosius edited the latter text to anticipate it and tailored the sailor’s account to support the West Saxon ideological underpinnings of its new context.     

Excavation on Nimowa Island,Louisiade Archipelago,Papua New Guinea: Insights Into Cultural Practices and the Development of Exchange Networks in the Southern Massim Region

Small-scale excavation was undertaken at the Malakai site on the small island of Nimowa, located in the Louisiade Archipelago, Massim region, Papua New Guinea. This is the first excavation to be reported in detail from the archipelago, with the Malakai site providing insight into cultural practices on the island and pottery exchange in the southern Massim region. A stratified deposit was revealed with dense cultural material, first inhabited from 1350 to 1290 cal. BP, with a subsequent period of settlement within the last 460–300 cal. years. Pottery, shell, and stone artifacts were recovered, as well as human skeletal remains in a primary burial context, which contributes to understanding regional patterns of prehistoric mortuary activity. It is argued that Nimowa was already part of an exchange network that encompassed many of the southern Massim islands when the Malakai site was first occupied. There is increased diversity in the number of vessel forms in later prehistory, but with remarkable continuity in the decorative motifs over time, suggesting some degree of regional social cohesion in the southern Massim. It appears that the northern Massim islands were not a major supplier of pottery to Nimowa. The implications for the prehistory of the wider region are subsequently discussed.     

The Challenge to ‘Informal’ Empire: Argentina,Chile and British Policy-Makers in the Immediate Aftermath of the First World War

From the late nineteenth century, both Argentina and Chile were integral parts of Britain’s ‘informal’ empire in Latin America. It has been suggested by historians that this ‘informal empire’ came to an end around the mid-twentieth century. By analysing contemporary sources from within the British government and the findings of later economic historians, it is the purpose of this article to contest this viewpoint. It will instead argue that the end of ‘informal’ empire in these countries was a direct consequence of the First World War, and that the decline in British influence in the region was registered by British policy-makers much earlier than has previously been argued.     

Khirbat al‐Mana‘iyya: an early Islamic‐period copper‐smelting site in south‐eastern Wadi ‘Araba,Jordan

Recent excavations in south‐eastern Wadi ‘Araba in Jordan have revealed the first early Islamic‐period copper‐smelting site known in the eastern side of the valley, which extends south of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of ‘Aqaba. Five test pits were excavated in 2012 at Khirbat al–Mana‘iyya, a prominent copper‐smelting camp in south‐eastern Wadi ‘Araba, Jordan. The results of these excavations demonstrate that the site was primarily active in the seventh–ninth century AD. Its distance from the copper sources of south‐west ‘Araba suggests that its location was chosen based on proximity to wood and water resources, rather than copper ore deposits. The discovery that the site dates to the early Islamic period has implications for previous and future work in south‐east ‘Araba. In particular, it challenges the common—until now—view of the region as virtually devoid of settlement during this period.