Harmony and Melody in Discourse on European Cohesion

From a corpus constituted by the five Cohesion Reports written by the European Commission, the article, using the methods of textual analysis, highlights the production of a European discourse on the territories participating to a process of institutionalization. Thus, starting from various authors analyses who validate the idea of institutionalization, the authors propose here to further explore this idea, using a method based on a lexical analysis software. The aim is then, on the one hand, to assess the extent to which the discourse of the Commission has elements of stability to justify the idea of institutionalization or, in the other hand, the elements of change over time that could compromise the very idea of institutionalization. The authors present the following results: the Commission discourse has important features of stability. Nevertheless, beyond this finding, there are changes at work. Their expression is rendered possible by the polysemy of the notions mobilized, and they are driven partly by a “rational” representation, but above all by the interplay of the succession of tensions and mind-shaping contexts in the construction of Europe.     

A tale of two sites: Functional site differentiation and lithic technology during the Late Pithouse period in the Mimbres area of Southwestern New Mexico

The raw materials from which stone tools are made can provide considerable information relevant to behavioral variation within a prehistoric population. By examining the stone used for tools from two different types of Late Pithouse period (A.D. 550-1000) residential sites from the Mimbres Mogollon area of Southwestern New Mexico, this paper illustrates how understanding the lithic landscape of a region provides a means to assess behavioral variation in stone procurement practices. The analysis indicates that the differences in mobility and economic pursuits between longer-term residential sites containing pit structures and a shorter-term seasonal residential site with ephemeral architecture structured the raw material procurement practices of site’s occupants. Pit structure sites were focused on agricultural pursuits and used a technology that centered on the production of informal tools fashioned from locally available raw materials. The seasonal residential site focused on wild resources and evidenced greater reliance on formal tool production using raw materials acquired from beyond the immediate vicinity of the site. Despite increasing sedentism and agricultural dependence of the region’s population, some portion of the population exercised seasonal mobility strategies and associated technological and behavioral practices more typical of hunting and gathering populations, suggesting a diverse socio-economic system within the region.     

Anthropological neurology: symptoms and their meanings according to Joseph Prick (1909-1978)

This article describes the life and work of the Dutch neurologist Joseph Prick (1909-1978) and his idea of an anthropological neurology. According to Prick, neurological symptoms should not only be explained from an underlying physico-chemical substrate but also be regarded as meaningful. We present an outline of the historical and philosophical context of his ideas with a focus on the theory of the human body by the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961) and the concept of anthropology-based medicine developed by Frederik Buytendijk (1887-1974). We give an overview of anthropological neurology as a clinical practice and finally we discuss the value of Prick's approach for clinical neurology today.     

A Day’s Excursion among the Churches of South-East Norfolk

It will be proposed that the common utilitarian or functional explanation for the deposition of currency bars is too simple and should be amended to allow greater emphasis on the social context of the acts of production and deposition. Research indicates that currency bars—both as single finds and as hoards—occur in a limited range of archaeological contexts. It would appear that the act of deposition occurred under strict control and that the majority of currency bars were deposited as part of acts of ritual. The archaeological contexts of the three major types of currency bar are considered. All three types of currency bar—spit-shaped, sword-shaped, and plough-share—occur in similar contexts. Two major types of context are identified and in turn these define at least two distinct regions in the distribution of the bars. One zone is characterized by the deposition of the bars in varying sized hoards, but almost always in close relationship to a hill-fort rampart or a settlement boundary ditch. This may relate to rituals which defined the boundary of the settlement area of the family or community group. The analysis raises questions concerning the social and ritual significance of the boundaries which surrounded iron age hill forts and settlements. In contrast, a second zone is characterized by the deposition of currency bars in a range of natural locations (including bogs, rivers, caves, and rocky outcrops) which constitute the more standard contexts of ritual deposition for the British Bronze Age and Iron Age. These contexts may relate to rituals that defined boundaries at a range of scales; from those between social groups to tribal boundaries and even the boundaries of Britain.     

Early farming in Europe 1

Barker, Graeme. Prehistoric Farming in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. xviii + 327 pp. including illustrations, bibliography, and site and general indices. $44.50 cloth, $14.95 paper.

Whittle, Alasdair. Neolithic Europe: A Survey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. xiv + 363 pp. including illustrations, select bibliography, and index. $44.50 cloth, $17.95 paper.     

Drugs of the future; drugs of the past

Medical Botany: Plants Affecting Man's Health. Walter H. Lewis and Memory P.F. Elvin‐Lewis. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1977. xv ‐ 515 pp. Index, illustrations. $29.50