Local Resources,Global Heritage: An Introduction to the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage

On January 2, 2009, the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage entered into force, setting an international precedent for the protection and preservation of underwater archaeological resources and providing guidelines for site management and responsible investigation. Historically, submerged cultural resources, particularly shipwrecks, have been exploited primarily for their potential monetary value. Over the last 50 years archaeologists have challenged this perception, demonstrating the cultural and scientific value of submerged cultural resources.     

Locating Land Use at Neolithic Çatalhöyük,Turkey: The Implications of 87Sr/86Sr Signatures in Plants and Sheep Tooth Sequences

We evaluate local versus distant land‐use models at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, central Anatolia, using strontium isotope analysis of sheep tooth enamel and charred plant remains. Interpretation of strontium in sheep tooth sequences is constrained by previous oxygen isotope work, which largely excludes summer movement to the mountains but cannot distinguish between herding on the plain and the closest upland‐zone, Neogene limestone terraces. We establish a baseline contrast in modern plant strontium values between the plain and terraces and infer predominant herding on the plain from seven sheep tooth sequences. Archaeobotanical plant strontium values exclude the use of the terraces for cultivation and foraging. Relatively local crop and sheep management, plausibly intensive and integrated to some degree, given limited dry ground, appears likely on the basis of this pilot study.     

Policy Cues and Ideology in Attitudes toward Charter Schools

Charter schools have generated support from politicians in both major American political parties while stimulating intense debate among interest groups. We investigate whether and how public attitudes reflect interest group polarization or politician consensus. Using an original survey, we find that charter school opinions diverge along ideological lines among high‐information respondents. With embedded experiments, we manipulate respondents' information using policy cues tied to opposing sides of the charter debate: We assess whether the role of private companies and nonunion teachers changes support for charter schools. We find that the public responds favorably to some informational cues; conservatives without prior information are especially persuaded by information about nonunion teachers. This explains how polarized opinion can develop even in the absence of strong partisan sorting among top political leaders and clarifies the partisan and ideological context of ongoing education policy debates.     

Idealists,Pragmatists and ‘Simple-Minded’ Scamps: The Tasmanian Mental Deficiency Board and State ‘Care’ in the 1920s

This article uses case files to trace the negotiations that took place in the early 1920s between officials at the Tasmanian Children of the State Department and the Mental Deficiency Board about the training and employment as farm labourers of sixteen boys in state care who were diagnosed as ‘feeble-minded’. It explores the ways in which the boys attempted to improve their work conditions through negotiation and protest, finding that the Department supported them against the Board over the need for fair treatment and wages. Australian studies of children’s protest while in state care have concentrated on girls and do not address intellectual disability or the agency of officials. This investigation addresses that historiographical gap.     

Constitutional Design of the Executive: Vice Presidencies in Comparative Perspective

Given the history of the institution in the U.S., it is perhaps not surprising that few democracies have adopted a vice presidency. But, why do any countries have vice presidencies? What, if any, functions do they fulfill? In this paper we examine constitutional provisions for vice presidencies in 29 presidential democracies throughout the world. Specifically, we examine the extent to which the office of the vice presidency fulfills three possible institutional purposes: succession, legislative, or executive functions. Almost all vice presidencies included in our analysis fulfill the role of successor in the event of a presidential vacancy. Of those that have additional duties, most are assigned executive functions, while a few are assigned legislative functions. On the whole, the paper provides empirical evidence that vice presidencies seem to be marginal institutions.     

Associate editor's editorial

EUROPE

The Political Evolution of the Hungarian Nation. By the Hon. C. M. Knatch‐bull‐Hugessen. 2 vols. London : The National Review Office 1908. Price 15s. net.

The Castles and Keeps of Scotland. By Frank Roy Fraprie. London : George Bell and Sons, 1908. Price 7s. 6d. net.

Along the Rivieras of France and Italy. Written and Illustrated by Gordon Home. London : J. M. Dent and Co. New York : The Macmillan Company, 1908. Price 7s. 6d. net.

ASIA.

From, Damascus to Palmyra. By John Kelman, M.A., D.D. Painted by Margaret Thomas. London : Adam and Charles Black, 1908. Price 20s. net

In Japan: Pilgrimages to the Shrines of Art. By Gaston Migeon. Translated from the French by Florence Simmonds. London: William Heinemann, 1908. Price 6s. net.

A Wandering Student in the Far East. By The Earl of Ronaldshay, M.P. 2 vols. Edinburgh : William Blackwood and Sons, 1908. Price 21s. net.

AFRICA

Tunis, Kairouan, Carthage. By Graham Petrie, R.I. London : W. Heinemann, 1008. Price 16s. net.

The Exploration of Egypt and the Old Testament. By J. Gakrow Duncan, B.D. London : Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier, 1908. Price 5s. net.

AMERICA

The Inner Life of the United States. By Monsignor Count Vay Dk Vaya and Luskod, Apostolic Protonotary. London : John Murray, 1908. Price 12s. net.

Camp Fires on Desert and Lava. By William T. Hornaday. London : T. Werner Laurie, 1908. Price 16s. net.

AUSTRALASIA

The Fijians: A Study of the Decay of Custom. By Basil Thomson. London : William Heinemann, 1908. Price 10s. net.

POLAR

Scottish, National Antarctic Expedition: Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of S.Y. “Scotia.” Vol. iv. Zoology. Part I. Zoological Log. By David W. Wilton, J. H. Harvey Pirie, B.Sc, M.D., and R. N. Rudmose Brown, B.Sc. Thirty‐three Plates and two Maps. Edinburgh : The Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory, 1908. Price 13s.

Zoology. Vol. v. Parts I. to XIII. With Thirty‐six Plates. 1909. Price 23s. 6d.

GENERAL

Practical Geography. Part I. By J. F. Unstead. M.A. Oxford : Clarendon Press. 1908. Price 1s. 6d.

Nautical Charts. By G. R. Putnam, M.S. New York: John Wiley and Sons. London : Chapman and Hall, 1908. Price 8s. 6d. net.