Multi-disciplinary research on the past human ecology of the east Arabian coast: excavations at Hamriya and Tell Abraq (Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates)

The results of two seasons of research at Hamriya and Tell Abraq (Sharjah, UAE) by an international team of researchers are presented. The research has revealed extensive evidence for occupation from c. 5000 BC to the recent past adjoining lagoon areas that face the Arabian Gulf. C¹⁴ analysis of shells has contributed to understanding the chronology of settlement and also assisted our understanding of species-specific deviation from the global reservoir effect.     

Book reviews

THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD ARENA: AN ESSAY IN RECENT HISTORY. W. W. Rostow. New York, Harper & Brothers, 1960. Pp. xxii + 568. $8.75.

LORD LOTHIAN (PHILIP KERR) : 1882–1940. J. R. M. Butler. London, Macmillan & Co., 1960. Pp. xiii + 385. Australian price 57/9.

THE SOVIET BLOC: UNITY AND CONFLICT. Zbigniew K. Brzezinski. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1960. Pp. xxii + 470. Australian price 85/3.

THE SOVIET DICTATORSHIP. Herbert McClosky and John E. Turner. N.Y., McGraw Hill Book Company Inc., 1960. Pp. xiv + 657. $7.95.

FRANCE, TROUBLED ALLY: DE GAULLE'S HERITAGE AND PROSPECTS. Edgar S. Furniss. For the Council on Foreign Relations. N.Y., Harper and Brothers, 1960. Pp. xiii + 512. $5.75.

THE NEXT FIFTEEN YEARS. Pierre Mendes‐France. Cambridge University Press, 1960. 3/6.

NATIONALISM AND THE RIGHT WING IN JAPAN. Ivan Morris. Under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. London, Oxford University Press, 1960. Pp. xxviii + 476. Australian price 81/3.

ELECTIONS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. T. E. Smith. With an introduction by B. Keith‐Lucas. London, Macmillan, 1960. Pp. xvii + 272.

THE BELGIAN CONGO. Some Recent Changes. Ruth Slade. For Institute of Race Relations. London, Oxford University Press, 1960. Pp. viii + 55. 3 maps. Australian price 8/6.

RACIAL PROBLEMS IN SOVIET MUSLIM ASIA. Geoffrey Wheeler. For Institute of Race Relations. London, Oxford University Press, 1960. Pp. xii + 66. 2 maps. Australian priee 10/‐.

THE DIPLOMACY OF SOUTH‐EAST ASIA, 1945–1958. Russell H. Fifield. N.Y., Harper and Brothers, 1958. Pp. xiii + 584. $7.50.

POLITICAL FORCES IN PAKISTAN, 1947–1959. Keith B. Callard. N.Y., Institute of Pacific Relations, 1959. Pp. 48. $2.00.     

The “Science” of Policy Development During Administrative Rulemaking

The legitimacy of government agencies rests in part on the premise that public administrators use scientific evidence to make policy decisions. Yet, what happens when there is no consensus in the scientific evidence—i.e., when the science is in conflict? I theorize that scientific conflict yields greater policy change during administrative policymaking. I assess this claim using data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). I identify policy change—what I refer to as “policy development” in this article—between the FDA's draft and final rules with a novel text analysis measure of shifts in regulatory restrictions. I then go on to find that more policy development does occur with scientific conflict. Moreover, using corresponding survey data, I uncover suggestive evidence that one beneficiary of such conflict may be participating interest groups. Groups lobby harder—and attempt to change more of the rule—during conflict, while an in‐survey experiment provides evidence of increased interest group influence on rule content when scientific conflict is high.     

Untangling Palimpsest Landscapes in Conflict Zones: A “Remote Survey” in Spin Boldak,Southeast Afghanistan

Remote survey using high-resolution satellite images allows archaeologists to study ancient landscapes in regions made inaccessible by ongoing conflict as well as in regions located between zones of better archaeological knowledge. Such studies frequently suffer from a lack of chronological information. This paper presents the results of remote landscape survey in the territory of Spin Boldak (“white desert”) in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, and methodological efforts to detangle the chronology of a landscape made inaccessible by conflict. The studied region crosscuts several environmental zones (desert, alluvial plain, river, and hills) and lies within an important corridor of movement toward mountain passes on the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. Morphological comparisons of surveyed sites to better-documented examples and synthesis of data from a variety of sources allow us to draw chronological and taphonomic conclusions about three types of documented sites: fortified enclosures, caravanserai, and mobile pastoral camps. These methods provide time depth to our understanding of the remotely-mapped landscape and allow us to consider Spin Boldak as a place shaped by local and regional historical processes rather than merely as a timeless thoroughfare between more intensively inhabited locales.     

Effect of heat treatment on siliceous rocks used in prehistoric lithic technology

Stone tool manufacture by many prehistoric and recent societies was characterized by deliberate heating of fine grained siliceous rocks to improve their flaking properties. Extensive mechanical testing of heated and unheated cryptocrystalline and macrocrystalline quartz lithologies has shown that thermal treatment causes a consistent marked reduction in fracture toughness. This mechanical property can be used as an objective measurement of the flaking qualities of stone materials, and a reliable criterion for the recognition of intentionally heated artefacts in the archaeological record. X-ray diffraction studies and scanning electron microscopy have demonstrated that the change in fracture toughness with heating is the result of recrystallization. The poorly ordered, strongly interlocking cryptocrystalline fabric of the unheated samples becomes more equigranular and better crystallized with thermal treatment. As a consequence, fractures propagate more readily in heated samples, accounting for their better flaking properties.     

‘I couldn't hold the whole thing’: the role of gender,individualisation and risk in shaping fertility preferences in Taiwan

Taiwan has one of the lowest fertility rates in Asia. High direct and indirect costs of childbearing have been identified as key drivers behind this at the macro-level, but little is known about the mechanism of these influences at the individual-level. In 32 qualitative interviews with parents in Taipei, we sought to explore the salient factors for couples in their decisions about having further children. We identified a tension between gendered expectations of childcare responsibilities and women's desire to ‘build a life of one's own’ – a life with options and the freedom to pursue career and social aspirations. Based on our grounded analysis, we reflect on the high relevance of individualisation, risk society and incomplete gender revolution theories for understanding why many couples – and women in particular – choose to cease childbearing at parity one.