British Policy Towards Military Cooperation with the Republic of South Africa, 1961–1975

The early 1960s were a turbulent time in South Africa; the Sharpeville Massacre provoked condemnation from the international community, which, with the acceleration of decolonisation, was turning increasingly against Pretoria. The decision to withdraw its re-application to the Commonwealth in October 1960 further isolated South Africa. Despite this, UK–South African military cooperation remained largely unaffected until the pivotal Simonstown Agreement's termination in 1975. This article explores this relationship and explains why British policy-makers consistently maintained links with an overtly racist regime. UK–South African military cooperation was persistently controversial and engendered frequent criticism from African members of the Commonwealth and from campaigning groups such as the Anti-Apartheid Movement, whose membership included Labour ministers. Concurrently, Pretoria was viewed as an important Cold War ally, particularly in the context of the build-up of Soviet naval incursions into the Indian Ocean from 1968 onwards. This article will analyse how British officials attempted to navigate its military relations with South Africa under such heated circumstances.     

The Wadi al‐Hijr (Sultanate of Oman) in the third millennium BC

In 2010–11 a pedestrian survey of the western end of Wadi al‐Hijr in northern Oman identified 1507 archaeological features in a 124 km² area. Data were collected on each feature's architectural characteristics, associated artefact assemblages, topographic and environmental locations, condition of remains, and relations to other archaeological features. The majority of datable features belong to the third millennium BC and divide unequally between the Hafit and Umm an‐Nar periods. While the majority of these third‐millennium BC features were tombs, other feature types were identified, including towers, settlements, quarries, dams, enclosures, and possible platforms. Third‐millennium BC features were organised into clusters and ranged considerably in size, from a few features to several hundred. All of the clusters established during the Hafit period were maintained in the Umm an‐Nar period, suggesting a continuity throughout the third millennium. Some preliminary hypotheses regarding settlement patterns are suggested.     

Coles Creek fauna procurement strategies: subsistence diversity among late prehistoric hunter-gatherer-horticulturalists in the Lower Mississippi Valley

In the late 1980s, a collaborative effort between Harvard University’s Lower Mississippi Survey and Tulane University’s Center for Archaeology launched a study examining the causes and consequences of subsistence change in the Lower Mississippi Valley. The Osceola Project contributed the first formal study of late prehistoric faunal remains within the Alluvial Plain, becoming the standard against which all subsequent Coles Creek faunal assemblages have been measured. Recent evidence recovered from three sites located in the Eastern Uplands presented the opportunity to compare and contrast vertebrate subsistence in these two distinct physiographic regions. We hypothesize that a clear distinction exists between lowland and upland Coles Creek procurement strategies. This article evaluates this claim by examining species diversity, spatial patterns, and temporal trends evident within an eight-site sample. The results suggest that the primary factor influencing Coles Creek fauna procurement was the immediate environment, and that the composition of Late Woodland period diets may be a reflection of efficiency of effort rather than food access or scarcity.     

Analysis of Heavy Metals in Smoke Deposits in the Limewash of the Royal Artillery Factory of Seville (17th Century): Contributions to the Location of the Furnaces

The Royal Artillery Factory of Seville in Spain originated from pre‐existing private bronze foundries dating from the 16th century. The paper analyses the stratigraphy of wall cladding in the areas traditionally known as the ‘Old Foundry’ and the ‘New Foundry’, through its characterization by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometry (SEM‐EDX), micro‐X‐ray fluorescence (μ‐XRF) and micro‐X‐ray diffraction (μ‐XRD), in order to analyse the metal deposits that have accumulated since the 17th century. The data obtained allowed the verification of the available historiographical information and the location of the original bronze smelting furnaces. The analysis of patinas deposited on the overlapping layers of lime also confirmed that neither the raw materials nor the composition of the alloys used presented any substantial changes.     

Quantifying artefacts over time: Interval estimation of a Poisson distribution using the Jeffreys prior

This paper presents a new method for estimating the amount of an artefact class in use at a given moment in the past from a random assemblage of archaeological finds. The method is based on the use of simulation, since an analytical solution is computationally impractical. Estimating the number of artefacts in use at any time t is shown to follow a Poisson distribution, which allows for credible intervals to be established using the Jeffreys prior. This estimator works from minimal assumptions about the dating and duration of finds, as well as the intensity of collection, and is applied to coinage from four Roman‐period sites excavated by the Roman Peasant Project (2009–14). The result provides an estimation of the abundance of material according to an interval of certainty.     

Orientation of the Romanesque churches in the region of Val d’Aran,Spain (11th–13th centuries)

This study examines an ensemble of Romanesque churches in the region of Val d’Aran in the Spanish Pyrenees, built between the 11th and 13th centuries. Seven topographical studies performed between 2014 and 2015 examined these churches systematically using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) as a data‐acquisition technique. The data obtained allowed for a geometrically accurate analysis of the orientation of these churches based on four Romanesque liturgies: Gemma animae (c.1120), by Honorius of Autun; Rationale divinorum officiorum (c.1150), by Jean Beleth; Mitralis de Officio (1190), by Sicard, Bishop of Cremona; and Prochiron, vulgo rationale divinorum officiorum (1291), by Guillaume Durand.     

NMR as a new tool for cultural heritage application: The provenance of ancient white marbles

Identifying the origin of marble used in antiquity brings back to light details of the economic, social and political organization of classical societies, and characterizing in depth the chemistry of marble is key to discovering its provenance. Beyond X‐ray diffraction, which could reveal the presence of discriminant secondary crystalline phases and the quantification of accessory minerals combined with a multivariate analysis approach, solid‐state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) enables one to recognize the local structure arrangement of both crystalline and amorphous materials by looking at one or more selected atoms. In present paper targets the ¹³C nuclide, and thus the major component of marble, calcium carbonate. Whatever their geological origin, marbles ¹³C‐NMR spectra present only one resonance corresponding to the carboxyl function whose intensity and line width vary from one marble to another. If the variation of the NMR signal intensity observed is the result of great T1 variations (from 220 to 5300 s) and is linked to iron content, the line width reflects defects in the calcite crystal in which calcium has been replaced by another element such as magnesium, aluminium or strontium. The specific profile of the NMR signal has been used successfully to help determine the origin of some archaeological items.