Unsafe drinking water quality in remote Western Australian Aboriginal communities

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is important in the fields of public health and health geography because of its heavy burden on the health system and high cost of treatment in its advanced stages. The causes of CKD are associated with diabetes and hypertension, but in some parts of the world, the disease occurs in the absence of these factors. Researchers identify this condition as CKD of “unknown” causes (CKDu). CKDu is a multi‐factored health problem and one suspected causal factor is contaminated drinking water. The disease occurs globally but is found in particularly high concentrations among people of certain ethnic and disadvantaged social groups living in very different locations around the world. CKD has become endemic in Western Australia where hospital admissions for Aboriginal people requiring renal dialysis or treatment for diabetes are much higher than for the general population. The possible proportions of CKDu cases among the CKD patients are unknown. This study examines the drinking water quality among communities such as these. Water chemistry analysis in these areas indicates that the nitrate and uranium content greatly exceed officially recommended levels. Most of these communities rely on raw groundwater to supply their domestic needs, and it is very likely that the people are unwittingly ingesting high levels of nitrates and uranium, probably including uranyl nitrates. Very few such remote communities have access to treated drinking water, and cost‐effective water treatment systems are required to provide potable water at the local scale.     

Home and beyond in Aotearoa: the affective dimensions of migration for South African migrants

The integration of immigrants into local labour markets is a key focus of contemporary migration scholarship in Aotearoa New Zealand. While acknowledging the importance of these economic aspects of migrant settlement, in this article we examine instead how new arrivals from South Africa actively reconstitute a feeling of home and belonging post-migration. Drawing on the concept of affect, we illustrate the ways in which the experience of migration and settlement is embodied, situated and relational. We do this by examining the affective dimensions of home-making, both within and beyond the physical boundaries of a chosen dwelling and its location. Memory bridges all these experiences of transition, suffusing migrants' lives as they understand, frame and negotiate their affective present within the context of their affective past. Our focus renders visible important aspects of the migrant experience, and contributes to a more holistic understanding of why migrants come, how they settle and what encourages them to remain.     

Changes in crop cultivation during the last five centuries before the Roman conquest: archaeobotanical investigation in the Clermont-Ferrand basin,Massif Central,France

For several decades, a growing number of protohistoric sites in Auvergne (Massif Central, France)—mostly excavated through preventive archaeology—have been subject to the collection of archaeobotanical analysis. This study presents the archaeobotanical results from ten La Tène sites dating from the last five centuries before the Roman conquest. In addition to providing an inventory of taxa, this paper concerns crops and crop cultivation methods. These results are interpreted in a wider context, dealing with crop husbandry, arable farming, storage and consumption practices. The sites are located in the Limagne plain within a 50-km radius around the city of Clermont-Ferrand. A total of 23,579 carpological remains were identified from 163 sediment samples totalizing a volume of 1096 l. Comparable to other sites in Gaul, the spectrum of cereals and pulses is restricted. Spelt (Triticum spelta), einkorn (Triticum monococcum) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica) are disappearing or becoming rare. A better control of agricultural techniques and increased yields is supposed during the ca. five centuries of the La Tène period. Mixed cultivation is hereby replaced by the sowing of monocrops. At the beginning of this period, farming systems are dominated by a polyculture of cereals and pulses. They become more specialized during the last two centuries before the Roman conquest; diversity of cereals and pulses is decreased.     

'Figure it out!' Psychological Perspectives on Perception of Migration Period Animal Art

In this article we explore some perceptual-psychological and semiotic aspects of the Migration Period 'animal art'from the northern Germanic cultural area. Primarily, it is suggested that this art, which has been described as using symmetry and 'split representations', is laden with 'ambiguous figures' (including 'embedded figures' and 'reversible figures'). The ambiguous quality of the art is suggested to be presenton a perceptual level, but also on a compositional (structural) and iconographic level. Psychological (and neurological) processes involved in the perception of ambiguous figures and their effects are presented: Gestalt formation, unconscious processing, subliminal perception, motivated perception, and changed states of consciousness. It is suggested that this art instigated,or at least referred to such processes. In addit ion,on a semiot iclevel, t heart is suggested to contain information-condensation ('hyper-texts'), cryptic information, and to have had other semiotic functions.     

The MSA sequence of Diepkloof and the history of southern African Late Pleistocene populations

This paper presents the first multidisciplinary synthesis of the Middle Stone Age sequence of Diepkloof Rock Shelter (South Africa). We explore the main cultural changes that characterized southern African hunter–gatherer societies from OIS 5 to the beginning of OIS 3. We discuss the tempo of these changes, test the current interpretative hypotheses and explore an empirical model to explain the early appearance of symbolic marking within the Pleistocene hunter–gather societies of southern Africa.