LABOUR'S GEOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHY'S LABOUR: CALIFORNIA AS AN (ANTI‐) REVOLUTIONARY LANDSCAPE

The California agricultural landscape seemed on the cusp of radical, maybe even revolutionary, change just before World War II. But over the next twenty years, rather than radical change, patterns of capital concentration and labour hyper‐exploitation were entrenched, in large part through growers’ ability to gain control over a programme to import indentured ‘guest workers’ – braceros – from Mexico. By examining how the California landscape did not change we can begin to understand more fully the complex relationship between landscape and revolution, which is what this article seeks to do. In the wake of the analysis made here, speculations are offered on how it behooves contemporary movements (usually urban) – and their theorists – to pay closer attention to the relationship between revolution and landscape.     

On sinking Otavalo man

The human remains from the Otavalo site, Ecuador, are claimed to be of Upper Pleistocene date, but there are reasons to doubt this. Morphological details, radiocarbon evidence and other aspects are considered together. It is suggested that the time has come to remove the skull firmly from the fossil record.     

The Bajada Canals of the Safford Basin,Southeastern Arizona: Excellence in Prehistoric Engineering

A large network of exceptionally well-engineered prehistoric canals has been discovered near Safford, Arizona. Within an area of roughly 450 km², 12 distinct canal systems, comprised of 41 canals, have been identified originating in the bajada of the Pinaleño Mountains. Conveying water from runoff and springs, the longest canal is about 13?km, and the total length of all systems exceeds 125?km. While a few canals may date to ca. a.d. 1100, the vast majority date to between ca. a.d. 1250 and 1450 and appear to be constructed by migrants from northeastern Arizona. These features represent the second largest network of canal systems in the American Southwest, and, while smaller in size and total length than the canal systems of the Phoenix Basin, they exhibit engineering sophistication not found in those systems. These canals have expanded the knowledge of prehistoric water management engineering and agricultural intensification in the American Southwest.