From the modern to the archaeological: starch grains from millets and their wild relatives in China

Starch grains from 31 modern samples of millets derived from the seeds of 7 species within the genus Setaria and 2 species within the genus Panicum were analyzed to determine diagnostic morphological characteristics. Ancient starch grains recovered from a sample of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) excavated from the Cishan site (10.0-7.6 cal yr BP) in the North China Plain were then subjected to the same analyses to determine the differences in morphologies, if any, between modern and ancient samples. The data indicate that morphological features, and particularly surface and fissure features, will allow for solid identifications of ancient millet starches, while size classes will be helpful, but will not be dependable taxonomic indicators.     

Small Islands and Marginality: Santa Barbara Island and its Role in the Prehistory of California’s Channel Islands

As the smallest of California’s Channel Islands, Santa Barbara Island has received limited attention from archaeologists. A United States National Park Service project designed to assess its 19 known sites evolved into an island-wide survey that increased the number to 63 sites that date between 4000 and 600 years ago. Most are small shell and lithic scatters, although some are larger shell middens with greater faunal and artifact diversity. Their constituents and geographic distribution indicate that the island not only served as a stopover during inter-island travel but was occupied for longer periods to target local resources such as marine mammal rookeries. Our research presents an opportunity to evaluate the significance of this island to prehistoric communities throughout the archipelago. On a broader level, it provides insights into the important roles that small islands have played in prehistoric lifeways as well as perceptions of marginality.     

UNDERSTANDING THE UNIQUE IMPACTS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH VARIABLES*

ABSTRACT The paper uses a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for a small city to examine how expansions in export and local sectors, changes in total factor productivity (TFP), and growth in population impact an economy. We examine the effects of each source of growth and find that the level and distribution of economic activity vary considerably. We also evaluate each source of growth in the context of a variety of policy metrics, which provide guidelines to policy makers, including the types of firms to be recruited in specific regions.     

The Adaptative Nature of Neoliberalism at the Local Scale: Fifteen Years of City Improvement Districts in Cape Town and Johannesburg

Abstract: By unravelling the adoption and adaptation of the North American Business Improvement District (BID) model in South African cities, this paper considers the way neoliberal principles are making their way in the post‐apartheid context. Drawing on a comparative approach of BIDs in Johannesburg and Cape Town, we analyse the tensions and conflicts surrounding their implementation and unpack the resilience of this model. As unexpected as this resilience might be in such a context, that is, far away from the heartland of neoliberalism, we argue that this resilience is linked to the permeability of the local contexts and to the plasticity of the model itself at the city and neighbourhood levels, reflecting a capacity to adapt to inherited regulatory frameworks, patterns of territorial development and embedded socio‐political alliances of the local terrains, as well as an ability to accommodate post‐apartheid issues through the crafting of what we refer to as “local Third Ways”.     

Experiments with Lithic Tools: Understanding Starch Residues from Crop Harvesting

Stone knives were used widely in Neolithic East Asia, presumably in the harvesting of grain crops, but their function has not been clearly understood due to the lack of study of residues from these tools. To address this issue, starch grain analysis was employed to study the residues on the surface of ancient stone knives and large amounts of starches were recovered. The sources of these starches, however, were not well understood, because harvesting of crops involves the cutting of stems rather than direct contact with starchy seeds. To determine whether harvesting could deposit these types of residues, we designed a simulation experiment using stone flakes to harvest ears of wheat, rice and foxtail millet, then analysed the residues on both the flakes and in the plant tissues. A large number of starch grains were found in the stems, including both typical morphotypes from seeds and newly described types that occur only in stems, which can be used as indicators of harvesting. Our study demonstrates that starch grains from residues on the surfaces of archaeological stone knives can indicate not only that the tools were used to harvest ears, but also the type of crops harvested.     

Reviews

Art and Power. Europe under the dictators, 1930–45 Hayward Gallery, London, 26 October, 1995–21 January 1996; Centro de Cultura Contemporània, Barcelona, 26 February‐6 May 1996; Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, 7 June‐20 August 1996.

Richard Bessel (ed.), Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996, 256 pp., ISBN 0–521–47129x hbk, £35.00,0–521–477115 pbk, £ 12.95.

Alexander J. de Grand, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, The ‘Fascist Style of Rule’, Routledge, London, 1995, 128 pp., ISBN 0–451–105986 pbk, £ 7.99.

R.J.B. Bosworth, Italy and the Wider World 1860–1960, Routledge, London, 1996, 252pp., ISBN 0–415–134773–3, hbk, £40.

Philip V. Cannistraro and Brian R. Sullivan, Il Duce's Other Woman, William Morrow and Co. Inc., New York, 1993, 685 pp., ISBN 0–688–06299–7, pbk, $25.00.

Lino Del Fra, Sciara Sciat. Genocidio nell'oasi. L'esercito italiano a Tripoli, Datanews, Rome, 1995,103 pp., ISBN 88–7981–051–0,15,000 Lire.

Angelo Del Boca, I gas di Mussolini, Il fascismo e la guerra d'Etiopia, Editori Riuniti, Roma, 1996,190 pp., ISBN 88–359–4091–5,15,000 Lire.

Giovanni De Luna, Donne in oggetto. L'antifascismo nella società italiana, 1922–1939, Bollati Boringhieri, Turin, 1995, 435 pp., ISBN 88–339–0932–8, hbk, 50,000 Lire.

Roberto Franzosi, The Puzzle of Strikes. Class and State Strategies in Postwar Italy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995, pp.502, ISBN 0–521–45287–2 hbk, £.40.00.

Adriano and Luca Sofri (eds), Si allontanarono alla spicciolata. Le carte riservate di polizia su Lotta Continua, Sellerio Editorio, Palermo, 1996, pp.183, ISBN 88–389–1228–9, hbk, 15,000 Lire.

Stephen Gundle and Simon Parker (eds), The New Italian Republic. From the Fall of the Berlin Wall to Berlusconi, Routledge, London, 1996, 352 pp., ISBN 0415 12161 2 hbk, £45.00, ISBN 0 415 12162 0 pbk, £14.99.

Marco Innocenti, L'Italia del dopoguerra 1946–1960. Come eravamo negli anni dal boogie‐woogie alia dolce vita, Mursia, Milan, 1995, pp.238, ISBN 88–425–1911–1 pbk, 28,000 Lire.

Richard S. Katz and Piero Ignazi (eds), Italian Politics. The Year of the Tycoon, Istituto Cattaneo/Westview Press, Oxford and Boulder, Co., 1996, 261 pp., ISBN 0–8133–8972–0 hbk, £37.00,0–8133–2976–0 pbk, £13.50.

Gian Enrico Rusconi, Resistenza e postfascismo, Il Mulino, Bologna, 1995, 207 pp., ISBN 88–15–04850–2, pbk, 18,000 Lire.

Giulio Sapelli, Southern Europe since 1945: Tradition and Modernity in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey, translated by Ann Fuller, Longman, London, 1995, 251 pp., ISBN 0–582–07064–3 hbk, £35.00, 0–582–07065–1 pbk, £14.99.

Frank M. Snowden, Naples in the Time of Cholera, 1884–1911, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995, 478 pp., ISBN 0–521–48310–7 hbk, £40.00.

Lucio Sponza and Diego Zancani (compilers), World Bibliographical Series: Volume 30: Italy, Clio Press, Oxford and Santa Barbara, Ca., 1995, xxi + 417 pp., ISBN 0–903450–44–5 hbk, £67.50.

Storia dell'Italia repubblicana. Volume seconda, La. trasformazione dell'Italia: sviluppo e squilibri. I. Politica, economia, società, Einaudi, Turin, 1995, pp.897, ISBN 88–06–1365–6 hbk, 130,000 Lire.

Carlo Tullio‐Altan; Ethnos e civiltà. Identiche etniche e valori democratici, Feltrinelli, Milan, 1995, 181 pp., ISBN 88–07–10193–9 pbk, 30,000 Lire.

Perry R. Willson, The Clockwork Factory: Women and Work in Fascist Italy, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993, 291 pp., ISBN 0–19–822732–9 hbk, £35.00.