FIXED‐FREQUENCY RADIO‐WAVE IMAGING OF SUBSURFACE ARCHAEOLOGICAL FEATURES: A MINIMALLY INVASIVE TECHNIQUE FOR STUDYING ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES*

In memoriam Tony Clark Sadly, this research marked the last field visit to the test site that the authors were able to share with their colleague Tony Clark. His enthusiasm, experience and encouragement inspired us to complete this project that, to many, must have appeared as grown men at play in a sand pit. A new approach to subsurface exploration has been developed, based on fixed‐frequency radio‐wave illumination from a buried transmitter. Data are collected from a buried, continuous wave source with a phase‐coherent surface‐scanning receiver and recorded in a digital archive from which images of the archaeological features are subsequently produced. An important feature of this approach is the opportunity to separate the data collection and archive functions, which form an uncompromised record of the site, from the more subjective image formation function. This paper reports the results of a feasibility assessment programme and discusses the future application of the method to real archaeological sites.     

“To Prostitute Morality,Libel Religion,and Undermine Government”: Blasphemy and the Strange Persistence of Providence in Britain since the Seventeenth Century

This article looks at the long term history of blasphemy in Britain and its relationship to the phenomenon of providence from the seventeenth century through to the twentieth. This, it is suggested, has substantially dominated the appearance of blasphemy accusation and public concern linked to the moral security of the realm. Using sermons and didactic writing from the seventeenth century, the article demonstrates how conceptions of providence and blasphemy were linked to produce a forceful culture which protected rulers against challenges to the community. Using demonstrations of public opinion the article shows how in the twentieth century the providential fear of misfortune as a result of blasphemy became linked with issues of national safety and prosperity. The article concludes by suggesting that the link between blasphemy and providence enabled both to remain credible into the twentieth century and beyond, undermining many of the linear models of both secularization and the growth of rationality.     

Anti‐Providentialism as Blasphemy in Late Stuart England: A Case Study of “the Stage Debate”*

This article develops a cultural history of blasphemy as representation by exploring the nexus between conceptions and perceived manifestations of blasphemy in a theological context. Specifically it uses a case study of “the stage debate”, a controversy about the viability of the theatre in England at the turn of the eighteenth century, to argue that contemporary perceptions of anti‐providentialism informed a sense of practical blasphemy that was commensurate with the Thomistic conception of blasphemy as aggravated unbelief. This interpretation illuminates the theological sensitivity of contemporary godly critics to perceived instances of anti‐providentialism and their belief in the actual diabolism of the theatre.     

SOCIAL UPGRADING IN SIX CANADIAN INNER CITIES

This paper examines social upgrading in the inner neighbourhoods of six major Canadian cities between 1971 and 1981. The extent of social status change is assessed, and hypotheses are considered to account for neighbourhoods likely to experience social upgrading. Maps of status change are discussed and suggest further general principles. These are assessed in a correlation analysis where the dependent variable is an index of social status change for each inner city tract. Most of the independent variables show significant associations; the most consistent correlation is with proximity to an existing elite area. Implications of these findings for models of neighbourhood transition are considered.
Cet article examine le phénomène du renouveau social à I'intérieur des secteurs d'habitation de six grandes villes canadiennes entre 1971 et 1981. Le changement de statut social fait I'objet d'une évaluation dans son étendue, et des hypothèses sont formulées pour rendre compte des quartiers qui ont de grandes chances de connaître un phénomène de renouveau social. La carto-graphie des changements de statut social permet de dé-gagerde nouveaux éléments d'explication. La vérification des hypothèses est faite au moyen d'une analyse corrélative où la variable dépendante est un in-dice du changement de statut social survenu en chaque division des secteurs couverts. La plupart des variables indépendantes montrent des associations significatives; la corrélation la plus marquée a rapport à la proximité d'un secteur où réside l'élite. La signification de ces ré-sultats pour la formulation de modéles de quartiers en transition retient notre attention.     

ANALYSIS and PREDICTION OF ABNORMALLY COLD SPELLS IN SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN

The risk of departures of daily minimum temperatures at some prescribed level below the daily average can be estimated by the use of a combined deterministic/stochastic model. From a regional perspective the coefficients and parameters of the model are point observations containing information pertaining to both regional trends and local environmental conditions. Trend surface analyses, using latitude, longitude, and elevation, provide a means of identifying the relative importance of regional and local effects on cold spell risks. The derived surfaces indicate that the deterministic components filter out the regional characteristics and that the parameters of the stochastic model are more sensitive to local changes in elevation. The efficacy of the technique is illustrated by the prediction of cold spell risks at six test sites. Le risque d'écarts des températures journalières mini-males par rapport à un niveau prédéterminé se situant en-dessous de la moyenne journalière peut se mesurer au moyen d'un modèle à la fois déterministe et stochas-tique. Au plan régional, les coefficients et les paramètres du modèle sont des observ ations ponctuelles qui renfer-ment des informations se rapportant à la fois à des tendances régionales et à des conditions locales de I'envi-ronnement. Les analyses de tendance en surface, au moyen de latitude, longitude et altitude, constitutent une façon d'identifier l'importance relative des effets ré-gionaux et locaux sur les risques de vagues de froid. Les surfaces qui en dérivent révèlent que les composantes déterministes font ressortir les particolarités régionales et que les paramètres du modèle stochastique sont davan-tage sensibles aux changements locaux d'élévation. Des prévisions du risque de vague de froid, testées en six endroits, montrent I'efficacité de la technique.