Identifying Domination and Resistance Through the Spatial Organization of Poonindie Mission,South Australia

One of the spaces where the interactions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups during the period of contact and cross-cultural interaction took place around the world, was at missions. In Australia, missions were founded, rearranged and closed down over a period of time in which the attitudes of Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups and official Government policy towards contact relationships were continually changing. By analyzing the use of these contested spaces at Australian Missions by both groups, archaeologists can begin to understand how the new relationships between these groups were negotiated, contested and played out over time. This paper analyses the use of space, using the theoretical frameworks of the archaeologies of capitalism, at Poonindie Mission in South Australia, which was established by the Anglican Church with support from the colonial government and operated between 1850 and 1896.     

Hydrology of the combination irrigation system in the Wadi Faynan, Jordan

The field system of the Wadi Faynan in southern Jordan was fed by an ancient combination irrigation system that incorporated runoff farming and diversion irrigation techniques. The hydraulic characteristics of this system were most probably designed to take advantage of the confluence of three tributary streams. A theoretical model of discharge produced by runoff is based on contemporary ground conditions and historic climate reconstructions. The design principles of the main hydraulic features are examined and velocity and discharge measurements in principal conveyance irrigation channels are reconstructed. The design of this hydraulic system took into account the environmental constraints and opportunities of the area and maximized different sources of water in the catchment using various techniques of water collection.     

Uranium-series age estimates for rock art in southwest China

We report the first uranium-series age estimates for rock art in China. Calcite bracketing a paint layer was used to constrain the age of a naturalistic outline hunter-gatherer painting in the Jinsha River area of northwest Yunnan Province (southwest China). The rock paintings in this region are unique in style and content compared with other bodies of rock art in China, which are dominated by Neolithic subject matter. The minimum and maximum ages were determined using isochron techniques on multiple samples of calcite from above and beneath the paint layer. A large painted deer head was dated to between 5738 and 2050 years. This painting and underlying flowstone are superimposed on older paintings that suggest the older paintings are at least 3400 years old, if not older than 5738 years. The results indicate for the first time that Jinsha River rock art is older than other forms of rock art in the region and show that rock art likely extends back to at least the transition from the Palaeolithic to Neolithic in this part of China.     

Studies in sociolinguistics

William Labov. Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular. Conduct and Communication No. 3. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972. xxiv + 412 pp. Figures, tables, bibliography, and index. $6.95 (paper).

William Labov. Sociolinguistic Patterns. Conduct and Communication No. 4. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972. xviii + 344 pp. Figures, tables, biliography, and index. $5.95 (paper).     

Trauma in the Crusader period city of Caesarea: a major port in the medieval eastern Mediterranean

Caesarea is the first fortified city to undergo palaeopathological analysis of its Crusader period inhabitants. This study of the 12th and 13th century population aims to determine the major types of trauma present, whether from weapon injuries or accidents. Since the Crusades were known for the significant number of battles and raids that took place, weapon injuries were expected to be common. Thirteen cases of trauma are described and a highly unexpected pattern has come to light. These cases do not include one single example of weapon‐related trauma. Every fracture is of a type expected from accidents or interpersonal violence without weapons. Possible explanations include the location of the city deep within Frankish territory and the robust city walls giving effective protection to the inhabitants, and also that the population were involved in activities that left them prone to accidents but not weapon injuries. The other important finding from this study was that the cases of lower limb long bone spiral fractures had healed in a near‐anatomical alignment. This is not what we would expect, as a proportion of these injuries would normally have been unstable and tend to heal poorly aligned. The good position could have resulted from surgeons' use of splints to immobilise the bones while they healed. This suggestion is supported by laws of the kingdom of Jerusalem, which stated that surgeons were to be punished if they allowed such fractures to heal at an angle. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.