The Highgate Cemetery Vampire Hunt: The Anglo-American Connection in Satanic Cult Lore

The purpose of this paper is the study and analysis of a fairly widespread false idea. I mean to take seriously one of these shreds of lore that are by and large known to everyone, and try to understand the traits that make it seductive and convincing. It seems to me that the main problem set by false ideas is that they are rooted in the collective consciousness.

The false idea chosen as an example asserts that the image of the murderer is retained on a victim's retina after death and can be retrieved through photography. In tribute to Edgar Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart, I have chosen to designate this assertion as “The Tell-Tale Eye.” Our journey through this false idea will lead us towards a legend built around a technical process, that of photography, but also towards the seductiveness of a magical thought, in which it is the victim's own body that accuses the murderer.     

The DEEPSAL Project: Using the Past for Local Community Futures in Jordan

ABSTRACT

The Deep Past as a Social Asset in the Levant (DEEPSAL) project, conducted in 2015–16 by the Council for British Research in the Levant, examined two communities in southern Jordan, Beidha and Basta, who live near significant Neolithic archaeological sites. The project collected information on the communities’ current socioeconomic conditions, their relationship with local cultural heritage and how that cultural heritage currently benefits or hinders them. The information was used to inform nascent strategies to utilize the sites sustainably as development assets and suggest alternative strategies as necessary. The results showed that a tourism-based strategy is suitable for Beidha but there was a need to focus on basic business skills. For Basta a tourism-based strategy is currently unsuitable, and efforts should rather focus on supporting educational activities. The results of the project are presented here within the context of archaeology’s increasing interest to use archaeological resource to benefit local communities, and outlines lessons for that effort.     

Book reviews

VIETNAMESE ANTI‐COLONIALISM. David G. Marr. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1972. 0–520–0813–3. xix, 322 pp. $US11.95.

SUKARNO: A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY. J. D. Legge. Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, 1972. 0–7139–0244–2. 431 pp. $10.50.

THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES 1781–1826. SCHEMER OR REFORMER? Syed Hussein Alatas. Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1971. 0–207–12282–2. 64 pp. $1.50 hard cover, $1.00 paper.

THE BUDGET AND THE PLAN IN CHINA: CENTRAL‐LOCAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS (A.N.U. Contemporary China Papers, No. 3). Audrey Donnithorne. Canberra, 1972. $1.00.

REPORT FROM PEKING: OBSERVATIONS OF A WESTERN DIPLOMAT ON THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION. D. W. Fokkema. Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1971. 0–207–123497. $4.95.

SIR GEORGE SANSOM AND JAPAN. A MEMOIR. Katherine Sansom. The Diplomatic Press, Tallahassee, Florida, 1972. 183 pp. $US15.00.

ALLIANCE IN DECLINE: A STUDY IN ANGLO‐JAPANESE RELATIONS 1908–23. Ian Nish. Athlone, London, 1972. 0485–13133–1. 424 pp. £7.50 (stg.).

PARTNERS IN PEACE: A STUDY IN INDO‐SOVIET RELATIONS. K. Neelkant. Vikas Publishing House, Delhi, 1972. 7069–0218–1. 192 pp.

INDO‐PAKISTAN RELATIONS (1960–65). Dinesh Chandra Jha. Bharati Bhawan, Patna, 1972. 418 pp. Rs.30.00.

THE LATIN AMERICANS. Victor Alba. Praeger, New York, 1969. 392 pp. $US3.95 paper.

CONSTRAINTS AND ADJUSTMENTS IN BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY. Michael Leifer (ed.). Allen & Unwin, London, 1972. 0–04–327039–5. 210 pp. £2.90 (stg.) paper, £5.00 (stg.) hard cover.

BILLION DOLLAR QUESTIONS: ECONOMIC ISSUES IN AUSTRALIA. J. O. N. Perkins. Sun Books, Melbourne, 1972. 0–7251–0147–4. 199 pp. $2.50 paper.

SECRECY. POLITICAL CENSORSHIP IN AUSTRALIA. Jim Spigelman. Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1972. 0–207–12543–0. 194 pp. $2.50 paper.

NEW ZEALAND AND JAPAN 1900–1941. M. P. Lissington. Government Printer (A. R. Shearer), Wellington, 1972. 206 pp. $NZ5.75.

NEW ZEALAND AND THE UNITED STATES: 1840–1944. M. P. Lissington. A. R. Shearer, Government Printer, Wellington, New Zealand, 1972. 114 pp. $NZ3.00.

SOUTHERN AFRICA IN PERSPECTIVE. ESSAYS IN REGIONAL POLITICS. Christian P. Potholm and Richard Dale (eds.). The Free Press, U.S.A. 1972. xiii, 418 pp. $14.25.

SOUTH AFRICA — SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES. Heribert Adam (ed.). Oxford University Press, London, 1971. 340 pp. $10.90.

THE COMMISSARIAT OF ENLIGHTENMENT. SOVIET ORGANIZATION OF THE ARTS AND EDUCATION UNDER LUNACHARSKY, OCTOBER 1917–1921. Sheila Fitzpatrick. Cambridge University Press, 1970, 521–07919–5. xxii, 380 pp. $13.20.

MILITARY MEN. Ward Just. Michael Joseph, London, 1970. 256 pp. $6.80.

NUKLEARE MITWIRKUNG: DEE BUNDESREPUBLEK DEUTSCHLAND IN DER ATLANTISCHEN ALLIANZ 1954–1970. Dieter Mahncke. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York, 1972. 3–11–0018209. xvi, 274 pp.

WESTEUROPAISCHE VERTEIDIGUNGSKOOPERATION. Karl Carstens and Dieter Mahncke (eds.). Munich, R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1972. 3–486–43731–3. 256 pp.     

World War II Underwater Cultural Heritage Sites in Truk Lagoon: Considering a Case for World Heritage Listing

This paper explores a number of issues in regard to the world heritage listing of the World War II underwater cultural heritage sites located in Truk Lagoon. The destruction of the Japanese Naval Base at Truk was an important event in the American strategy to end World War II and it had a profound effect on the indigenous inhabitants. Divers from all over the world visit Truk Lagoon to dive the 50 shipwrecks and numerous aircraft. The paper investigates the significance of the sites in accordance with the criteria for world heritage listing, and in context with Pacific Island Nations requirements.
© 2004 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

Some pig! Exchanging NFTs for the perspective of regeneration

There are a thousand more silly ideas for every utopian blockchain project to heal the planet, foster financial justice, transform cultural production or democratize practically anything and everything. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are one of them. The funny thing is that the more you pick at them, the more they harmonize with certain longstanding anthropological arguments. Non-fungibility lurks in the anthropological imagination of non-capitalist economies. This article uses the common law of fungibility to explore the elevation of the very idea of non-fungibility presumed in many NFTs. This idea might have more in common with saints’ incorruptible flesh or the Crown Jewels than the standard fictions of capitalist finance. They cut social ties by insisting on their singularity and immutability. In doing so, they crowd out other blockchain conversations about regeneration and ways to reckon the debts we owe any number of possible futures.