OTTAWA'S TECHNOLOGY-ORIENTED COMPLEX

Development of Ottawa's technology-oriented complex (toc) has incorporated elements of four models of tocs. The federal government's key role has changed as the toc has passed through several phases. The latest phase has involved rapid growth in manufacturing. A 1981 survey reveals the age, ownership, and size of the high-technology firms, identifies the role of the federal presence as a factor stimulating the firms' development, shows purchase and sales patterns and federal contact linkages, and identifies executives' attitudes about the ability of other cities to satisfy their firms' locational requirements.
Le développement du Complexe à technologie de pointe d'Ottawa s'est fondé sur des éléments empruntés à quatre modèles de complexes similaires. Le rle crucial de l'Administration fédérale a changé en fonction des diverses phases du développement de ce Complexe, et la dernière s'est caractérisée par une croissance rapide du secteur de fabrication. Une enquěte effectuée en 1981 aporté sur l'envergure et l'ge des entreprises de pointe de ce Complexe et sur la nature des intérěts prépondérants dans chacune. Elle montre que l'intervention des autorités fédérates a accéléré le dáeveloppement des firmes, met en relief leurs habitudes d'achat et de vente et leurs points de couplage avec l'Administration fédérale et, enfin, décrit comment les cadres dirigeants envisagent les possibilités offertes par d'autres villes pour satisfaire aux besoins de leurs entreprises.     

Probable human hair found in a fossil hyaena coprolite from Gladysvale cave,South Africa

Until now, the oldest known human hair was from a 9000-year-old South American mummy. Here we report fossil hairs of probable human origin that exceed that age by about 200,000 years. The hairs have been discovered in a brown hyaena (Parahyaena brunnea) coprolite from Gladysvale cave in South Africa. The coprolite is part of a hyaena latrine preserved in calcified cave sediment dated between 195,000 and 257,000 years ago. This find supports the hypothesis that hyaenas accumulated some of the early hominin remains found in cave sites, and provides a new source of information on Pleistocene mammals in the Sterkfontein Valley.     

Birdmen, cemís and duhos: material studies and AMS C dating of Pre-Hispanic Caribbean wood sculptures in the British Museum

This paper presents 19 AMS radiocarbon dates from nine pre-Hispanic Caribbean (Taíno/Lucayan) wooden sculptures in the British Museum collections, provenanced to Jamaica, Hispaniola and the Bahamas. Together with strontium isotope results and wood and resin identifications, these data build a material and chronological context for some of the most recognised examples of Taíno art – from duhos (ceremonial seats) and cemís (free standing depictions of deities, ancestors and spirits) to canopied stands used to hold hallucinogenic drugs during the cohoba ceremony. Each sculpture widens our understanding of Caribbean carving traditions, stylistic variation, chronologies and material resource utilisation. A group of three sculptures recovered from Carpenters Mountains, Jamaica, carved by AD 1300 and brought together as a ceremonial ‘set’, each appear to have had their inlays renewed over a century later, suggesting long-term use. Three key examples of the main Caribbean duho categories (high-back, low-back and extended), provide insights into the diversity of styles present in the region post-AD 1100. The British Museum's corpus enables an exploration of regional styles, and potentially the work of individual artists.