Eco‐urbanism and the Eco‐city,or, Denying the Right to the City?

This paper critically analyses the construction of eco‐cities as technological fixes to concerns over climate change, Peak Oil, and other scenarios in the transition towards “green capitalism”. It argues for a critical engagement with new‐build eco‐city projects, first by highlighting the inequalities which mean that eco‐cities will not benefit those who will be most impacted by climate change: the citizens of the world's least wealthy states. Second, the paper investigates the foundation of eco‐city projects on notions of crisis and scarcity. Third, there is a need to critically interrogate the mechanisms through which new eco‐cities are built, including the land market, reclamation, dispossession and “green grabbing”. Lastly, a sustained focus is needed on the multiplication of workers’ geographies in and around these “emerald cities”, especially the ordinary urban spaces and lives of the temporary settlements housing the millions of workers who move from one new project to another.     

Khmer sandstone quarries of Kulen Mountain and Koh Ker: a petrographic and geochemical study

Sandstone from several ancient quarries and natural outcrops located at the eastern foothill of Kulen Mountain and in Koh Ker, northern Cambodia, has been characterized by means of petrographic analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and geochemical analysis. The samples have been collected during a series of field surveys organized jointly by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA). The data show how the sandstone quarried from these sites is characterized by an overall petrographic and geochemical homogeneity, and is consistent with the upper terms of the Lower–Middle Jurassic Terrain Rouge Formation.     

Landschaft,pueblo and altepetl: a consideration of landscape in sixteenth-century Central Mexico

In 1521, the Spanish conquistadors defeated the Nahuas of Central Mexico. Spain was ruled at the time by the House of Habsburg, and its administrators became familiar with the German concept of Landschaft. By 1570, they used this concept to prepare and launch a survey of the indigenous communities which called themselves—and their lands—altepetl. The purpose of this paper is to show to what extent the terms Landschaft and altepetl are equivalent since modern scholars have described both as organized “communities” subject to a customary “law” and possessing a specific piece of “land”. The main obstacle for this comparison is that in the sixteenth century the Spaniards did not have a word equivalent to landscape, and they used words like pueblo, pago and pintura instead, depending on the context. This paper describes the general characteristics of the altepetl in Central Mexico and focuses on its representation by analysing some maps made after the conquest in the area of Cholula, current State of Puebla. The comparison of Landschaft, pueblo and altepetl in historical context is pertinent for cultural geographers since it was during the sixteenth century that the concept of landscape, as we know it today, was taking shape.     

A Risk Assessment for Cultural Heritage in Southern Iraq: Framing Drivers,Threats and Actions Affecting Archaeological Sites

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes a classification of the risks threatening archaeological sites in southern Iraq and suggests some possible remediation to better preserve them. This has been possible thanks to a research methodology that combines remote sensing and ground control on a sample of 558 sites documented by the Iraqi-Italian QADIS survey project. A three-tier typological framework has been created illustrating the risks jeopardising the cultural heritage of the region. This research showed that the most impacting risks are the ones caused by agricultural activity, despite current narratives which mainly focus on looting and violent destruction. To get at the root of the problem, current laws protecting cultural heritage in Iraq are analysed, as well as how the cultural authorities are organised on the ground. Improving the organisation of the SBAH, engaging the local communities towards the issue of sites’ protection and introducing preventive archaeology are among the solutions proposed.     

Crop Fertility Conditions in North-Eastern Gaul During the La Tène and Roman Periods: A Combined Stable Isotope Analysis of Archaeobotanical and Archaeozoological Remains

ABSTRACT

Considerable archaeobotanical datasets describe cereal cultivation in north-eastern France, from the Iron Age to the Roman period. This study aims to complement these by using stable isotope analysis on charred cereal grains. Soil fertility was investigated through δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C analyses of 1480 charred cereal grains, dated from the Late La Tène to the Late Antiquity periods. In the Île-de-France, charred grain Δ¹³C values suggested good hydric conditions, with drier episodes in the 1st and 3rd century AD; while in Champagne, the lower Δ¹³C values for spelt reflect the lower water holding capacity of the chalky soils. A wide range of cereal δ¹⁵N values (0.8–8.7‰) implies a wide range of soil fertility conditions. Jouars-Pontchartrain and Palaiseau (Île-de-France) yielded the highest cereal δ¹⁵N values, whereas Acy-Romance (Champagne) delivered among the lowest. From these three sites, the δ¹⁵N values of red deer bone collagen were used to estimate the reference δ¹⁵N values for unmanured plants. Unlike in Acy-Romance, there were significant differences in Palaiseau and Jouars-Pontchartrain, indicating that the cultivated cereals inherited their high δ¹⁵N values from manured soil. At Jouars-Pontchartrain, the δ¹⁵N value (almost 9‰) suggested a high trophic level manuring source, possibly from pig and/or human faeces.