A Model for Paleoamerican Coastal Zone Preference for the Atlantic Slope of Eastern North America Since the Last Glacial Maximum

Paleoamerican colonization models have emphasized the importance of coastal zones for provisioning hunter gatherers with a diverse range of subsistence resources. This article expands on recent research by Lowery et al. 2012, and presents a model to explain the distribution of Clovis points across the Atlantic slope of Eastern North America. Marine transgression since the last glaciation has submerged large tracts of the Atlantic continental shelf. Global bathymetric data was used to estimate the Clovis age shoreline from Delaware to Florida. Clovis biface data for modern coastal areas, obtained from the Paleoindian database of the Americas, was compared to the slope of the paleo-shoreline to predict coastal zone preference. Results indicate a relationship between point distribution and coastal zone type. Areas where major rivers with high-quality tool-stone intersect broad coastal zones served important roles to Clovis subsistence adaptations. The potential exists for early Paleoamerican sites along the continental shelf submerged beneath 55–75 m of the Atlantic Ocean. Modern coastal regions with high densities of Clovis points may serve as analogues for identifying earlier sites that have been submerged as a result of marine transgression.     

Archbishop Scrope's Manifesto of 1405: ‘naïve nonsense’ or reflections of political reality?

In 1405 Richard Scrope, archbishop of York, rebelled against Henry IV and was executed. He has been seen by historians as being easily led into rebelling against the king by other rebels and also as rather a fool. Although it survives in no contemporary copy, a Manifesto containing 10 charges against Henry's government was attributed to the archbishop by contemporaries. Contemporary chroniclers and historians alike have disparaged this document as having little to do with political reality and as such reflects the simple-mindedness of its author; Archbishop Scrope. This article discusses six of the charges (grouped in pairs) contained in various versions of the Manifesto that centre on Henry IV's alleged abuses of government, specifically: 1 and 2) that the king had oppressively taxed both his lay and clerical subjects; 3 and 4) that the king had replaced experienced government officials with new men who had lined their pockets and that the king had subverted the appointment to the office of sheriff; finally 5 and 6) that he subverted the selection process for knights of the shire and subverted their rights to ‘act freely’ in parliament. The article demonstrates that the archbishop's charges were not ‘naïve nonsense’ but reflected political reality and resonated with those who read them.     

Fluvial Geomorphology and River Management

Australian river landscapes offer many challenges for management. Much Australian river research is novel, but practical concerns have always had an influence on the research agenda. Australia’s distinctive contributions to fluvial geomorphology include recognition of the great age of many fluvially eroded landscapes; understanding complex levee, terrace and valley fill sequences; analysing the impacts of rare major floods; interpreting the effects of impoundment, mining and urbanisation; and understanding the great anastomosing inland river systems. River restoration is now a major theme in the literature of river engineering, fluvial geomorphology and landscape design. Great achievements are occurring in geo‐ecological river management and engineering. Changing people’s thinking is becoming at least as important as gaining new scientific knowledge. The existing understanding needs to be more widely shared and enhanced by greater involvement with Asian countries where river management issues daily affect the lives of millions of people.     

Bone chemistry and the reconstruction of diet: Strontium discrimination in white-tailed deer

Studies of the relationship between the strontium content of human bone and past diet are still in an experimental stage. Because of the low frequency of carnivore remains at most archaeological sites and the absence of information on local strontium levels, it has been difficult to (1) estimate dietary intake for a prehistoric population, and (2) to compare prehistoric populations from spatially disparate areas. However, examination of strontium/calcium ratios in a modern herbivore may help to alleviate these problems. Bones from modern white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were compared with deer diet in Wisconsin. An observed ratio between deer bone and diet in terms of a strontium/calcium index was calculated at 0204, which compares favourably with observed ratios reported for other mammals. Prehistoric white-tailed deer are used in the analysis of two Late Archaic sites in the midwestern U.S.A. The strontium levels in deer can be used as a baseline for comparison between sites. The prehistoric subsistence patterns are generally comparable, with hunting accounting for the bulk of the diet.     

Book reviews

Brian Girvin (ed.). The Transformation of Contemporary Conservatism. London: Sage Publications, 1988. 232pp. $10.95.

Ingrid Detter DeLupis. The Law of War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. xx + 411pp. $54.00.

Martin Shaw (ed.). War, State and Society. London: Macmillan, 1984. viii + 266pp. No price given.

Denis de Rougemont (translated by Anthony J.C. Kerr). The Future is Within Us. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1983. v + 244pp. No price given.

David Goldsworthy (ed.). Development Studies In Australia: Themes and Issues. Melbourne: Monash University, Development Studies Centre, Monograph No. 1, 1988. 203pp. $10.00.

Martin Walker. The Waking Giant: The Soviet Union Under Gorbachev. London: Abacus Books, 1987. xxvii + 315pp. $16.95.

Andrew Farran. Changing Directions in the Soviet Union?: Perestroika, Glasnost ... and Australia ?with particular reference to the Soviet Far East. Canberra: The Australian Institute of International Affairs, 1988. iv + 24pp. $6.00.

Eberhard Kolb (translated by P.S. Falla). The Weimar Republic. London: Unwin Hyman, 1988. xi + 237pp. $27.95.

Ian S. Lustick. For the Land and the Lord: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1988. xi + 244pp. $11.95

Michael Mandelbaum. Israel and the Occupied Territories: A Personal Report on the Uprising. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1988. 20pp. No price given.

Robert A. Scalapino and Masataka Kosaka. Peace, Politics and Economics in Asia. London and Washington: Pergamon‐Brassey's, 1988. xiv + 209pp. No price given.

Hal Hill. Foreign Investment and Industrialisation in Indonesia. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1988. xxi + 179pp. No price given.

Chelvadurai Manogaran. Ethnic Conflict and Reconcilitation in Sri Lanka. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987. xiv + 232pp. $US22.00.

C.K. Brown (ed.). Rural Development in Ghana. Accra: Ghana Universities Press, 1986. xii + 325pp. No price given.

Helen Fraser. New Caledonia: Anti‐Colonialism in a Pacific Territory. Peace Research Centre Monograph No. 2, Australian National University, 1988. 88pp. $10.00.

Susan K. Purcell (ed.). Mexico in Transition: Implications for U.S. Policy. Essays from Both Sides of the Border. New York: The Council on Foreign Relations, 1988. viii + 156pp. $US9.95.

James Ferguson, Papa Doc. Baby Doc: Haiti and the Duvaliers. Oxford, Basil Blackwell Inc., 1987. xi + 164pp. $39.95.     

BODYSCAPE: THE BODY-LANDSCAPE METAPHOR

The metaphorical use of body imagery in relation to landscape is fundamental in the Western world. The Renaissance metaphor that understood the earth to be modelled on the human body has generally been regarded as a one-way relation, 'landscape as body. It finds its expression in generic landscape naming. In imaginative literature at least, the reverse relation, 'body as landscape,' is of frequent occurrence and continues well into the machine age. The body in question is generally female, and the culmination of the 'body as landscape' metaphor is pornotopia.
L'utilisation de la métaphore reliant I'image du corps à celle du paysage est fondamentale dans notre culture occidental. Durant la Renaissance, on s'accordait sur le fait que la terre était modelée sur le corps humain; la métaphore symbolisait done une relation unidirectionel-le: 'paysage, image du corps. Cette idée est exprimée dans les noms génériques des paysages. Dans la litérature, au contraire, e'est la relatio inverse, 'corps, image du paysage,' qui a été souvent utilisée, persistant long-temps dans I'ère de la machine. En général, s'agit du corps féminin et le point culminant de la métaphore 'corps, image du paysage' est de la 'pornotopie.     

INSCAPE: LANDSCAPES OF THE MIND IN THE CANADIAN AND MEXICAN NOVELS OF MALCOLM LOWRY

Positive 'sense of place' in the regional novel is a frequent geographical theme, but the multivalent nature of the novelist's inscape, or landscape of the mind, has been neglected. Malcolm Lowry's positive evaluation of British Columbia and negative view of Mexico generate a polarity that inform all his later works. His portrayal of basic landscape elements such as seacoast, interior, house, garden, forest, mountain, and cavern is explored in terms of this eutopia.dystopia antinomy. The valency attached to these landscape elements is directly related to locale: for Lowry British Columbia is home, a Dantesque Paradise, while Mexico is away, an Inferno.