A Roman Skeleton with Possible Treponematosis in the North‐East of the Iberian Peninsula: A Morphological and Radiological Study

The main goal of this paper is to describe and discuss pathological lesions observed in a Roman skeleton (between 2^nd and 3^rd century AD) from the north‐east region of the Iberian Peninsula (St Nicasi 18–24 site. Gavà, Barcelona), which may be compatible with treponematosis. Most of the skeleton, with the exception of the neurocranium, was recovered. Only the left tibia was affected, whereas the rest of the recovered skeletal remains were unaffected. Macroscopic examination revealed a male individual between 25 and 30 years of age at death with a sabre‐shaped left tibia. The proximal half of the diaphysis was pitted and the bone overall enlarged. The surface of the tibia showed occasional vascular impressions where, in some instances, small raised plaques of new bone appeared to bridge over them, specifically in the most affected area of the proximal half of the tibia. No destructive lesions were observed. Radiographic examination and gross inspection at the cross section of the tibia showed encroachment into the medullary cavity of coarse cancellous bone and cancellization of the cortex. The observed lesions indicate that the tibia was affected by a chronic infectious disease. Differential diagnoses were considered, and these included other infectious diseases, fibrous dysplasia, Paget's disease, chronic varicose ulcers affecting bone and trauma, with the conclusion that the disease affecting the tibia could have been treponematosis. This could be significant in the history of the treponematoses being one of the oldest examples of treponematosis in pre‐Columbian Europe. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

I Quindici Giorni di Scanzano: identity and social protest in the New South

Abstract

This paper examines the dramatic events of ‘I Quindici Giorni di Scanzano’, the vast popular uprising in Basilicata in November 2003 that thwarted a government decree to create a consolidated national nuclear waste dump at Scanzano Jonico. The struggle cut across lines of locality, age, social class and political affiliation, mobilizing the populace with various symbols, including references to brigandage, postwar struggles for land, and the Madonna of Loreto. Solidarity for the protest came from all quarters of the South, especially the neighboring regions of Apulia and Calabria. Although government representatives and some of the media portrayed the Lucanians in recognizably anti-Southern tropes of ‘uncivicness’, this paper argues that this remarkable moment in Basilicata's history created a new sense of public identity and action that in many ways reflected recent intellectual discourses on the South.     

Compare and contrast: understanding Irish migration to Britain in a wider context

This article explores the potential for comparative research across different migrant groups. Research on migration is often weakened by the marked tendency to use a single ethnic/national group as the unit of analysis. Analysing migration from the experiences of a particular ethnic group may exaggerate ethnic exceptionalism and understate the extent to which experiences are shared across different migrant groups. My recent experiences on a range of research projects with diverse migrants to London made me think about similarities with the Irish, but each in different ways. However, there is a dearth of comparative analysis in relation to the Irish experience in Britain. On the one hand, there are many studies of Irish migrants, but these tend to focus solely on the Irish or else examine the relationship between Irish migrants and the ‘native’ British population. There has been little work on how the Irish relate to other migrant groups within British society. On the other hand, studies of other migrant communities rarely refer to the Irish as a comparative group. The article explores the reasons for the dearth of comparative work involving Irish migrants in Britain. In so doing, it considers some of the benefits and challenges of going beyond the ‘ethnic lens’. What would be gained but also lost by viewing Irish migration to Britain through a more comparative perspective? I explore how such comparative analysis might contribute, firstly, to a wider understanding of migration processes, experiences and inter-migrant relations, and, secondly, to a fuller appreciation of varied dimensions of migratory experiences in Britain. These issues are considered through a comparison of Polish and Irish migration to Britain.     

Book reviews

D. J. Shepherd: Funerary Ritual and Symbolism. An Interdisciplinary Interpretation of Burial Practices in Late Iron Age Finland. BAR International Series 808. Oxford. 1999. ISBN 1 84171 113 6. 133 pages, 19 maps.

Vladimir N. Bulatov, Russkij Sever, Vols. 1–3. Archangel 1997–99. Izdatel'stvo Pomorskogo Universiteta. 352+352+336 pages.     

Commerce and trade in Viking Age Norway. Exchange of products or organized transactions?

In this paper the difficulties of distinguishing between commerce in the sense of exchange of products (i.e. more locally organized trade between neighbours/districts) and trade carried out as the main occupation for certain people, are discussed. These are questions very closely connected with the urbanization process of Norway. With the material from Kaupang (Skiringssal) as a point of departure, the author discusses two ways of finding out what type of trade was carried out in Viking Age Norway: A) One may look for the same combination of names found at Kaupang in other places. These seem to reveal ‘town‐making’ features. B) Ask whether any of the still existing medieval towns in Norway have had a pre‐urban stage. At the end of the paper the author discusses the possibilities of tracing different commodities which were traded over the different ports or market‐places.     

A Pirate's Life for me: The Maritime Culture of the Sea Peoples

An anthropological approach to a culture extrapolates social structures, traditions, and general organizing principles of that culture from the careful observation of patterns of behaviour as described in case studies. In the absence of a living culture to record, archaeologists extrapolate this information from behaviour reconstructed from spatially determined patterns in the deposition of material remains and from patterns found in the general organizing principles of historically documented cultures, using arguments based on analogy. This contribution builds on our previous research on the “Sea Peoples” as a piratical culture in order to apply an anthropological approach to understanding the cultural identities of the various tribal groups involved in maritime activities at the end of the Bronze Age who are popularly known as the “Sea Peoples”, and place this within the broader context of the current discussions on the transition between the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in the Mediterranean.