Moving Mountains: Community and Resistance in the Isle of Harris, Scotland, and Cape Breton, Canada

Drawing on poststructuralist political ecology, the narratives of two struggles about siting a superquarry are examined to elucidate the complex articulations of community, nature, resistance and identity in play in public debates. Focusing on the discursive formulations of the quarry in the expert language, as well as in the arguments of both local proponents and opponents of the quarries, shows the importance of ontological categories in "environmental" siting disputes. In Harris, these themes rearticulate the histories of dispossession, crofting and religion, as well as complex layers of geographical identity in the various claims to community. In Cape Breton, the rethinking of aboriginal Mi'kmaq identity was stimulated by revived interest in the religious traditions linked to the sacred site near the proposed quarry. In light of these findings, the complexity and active rearticulation of local "community" as political resistance are emphasised and the difficulties of thinking about sustainability highlighted.     

Phylogeographic analysis of barley DNA as evidence for the spread of Neolithic agriculture through Europe

Results of analyses of the photoperiod response gene (PPD-H1) and simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in modern landraces of cultivated barley were used as evidence for the mechanism of agricultural spread in Neolithic Europe. In particular, we explored the usefulness of considering adaptive genes as indicators of past selective pressures acting on crops, during their spread through Europe. In some areas, such as the Alpine region, Britain and Scandinavia, we have evidence to suggest that the adaptation of crops to certain climatic conditions may have contributed to the timing of agricultural spread. At the northern fringes of Europe, and in higher altitude locations in central Europe, the introduction of more suitably adapted cereals may have facilitated successful agriculture to trigger agricultural expansion. This research opens up the possibility of investigating other genetic adaptations to climate, which would permit a fuller evaluation of the relative contributions of climate/crop and forager/farmer interactions in the process of agricultural spread.     

Fashionability: Abraham Moon and the Creation of British Cloth for the Global Market

Abstract

An early nineteenth-century pink silk crepe gown adorned with thousands of faux pearls was one of the highlights of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Autumn 2010 exhibit Fashioning Fashion. During conservation treatment, the faux pearls were examined in detail in order to inform conservation decision-making and a curious manufacturing method was found, namely a practice developed in the seventeenth century by a French rosary maker: delicate and hollow glass beads were filled with a slurry of material derived from fish scales and gelatin or sturgeon glue. This information supported treatment decisions for the piece and is shared here to disseminate information on the history and manufacture of faux pearls and to inform collections care approaches for costume decorated with these extraordinary and fragile beads. This approach demonstrates how detailed examination of an object can act as the catalyst for exploring the history of manufacturing technology as well as deepening understanding of dress history.     

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.     

Dawkins and the labor tradition: Instrumentalism and centralism in federal ALP higher education policy 1942–88

As Commonwealth Minister for Employment, Education and Training, John Dawkins has overturned prevailing methods of funding, organization and control of Australian higher education. By making funds dependent upon agreements to pursue national priorities, the Labor minister has also appeared to threaten the dominant objectives and philosophies of higher education. Recent policies (1987–88) have also been regarded as a betrayal of traditional ALP values. This paper argues that such an interpretation misrepresents the history of federal Labor policies in higher education and Dawkins' place within it Tertiary education has usually assumed prominence in the face of either actual or perceived national crises. When in office Labor has usually promoted instru‐mentalism of both an egalitarian and economic kind, and brought about an increasing centralization of Commonwealth control. Federal ALP MPs have also been ambivalent on the values of liberal education and academic freedom. On these grounds, the Dawkins policies represent more of a continuity with, than a departure from, ALP tradition. Any explanation of the Minister's political success must take into account this federal Labor heritage in higher education.     

Subsistence and the isotopic signature of herding in the Bronze Age Hexi Corridor,NW Gansu,China

Dietary patterns at two Bronze Age sites in the Hexi Corridor are investigated by the analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in faunal bone collagen. The findings are compared with archaeobotanical remains from one of the sites which include high proportions of millet (Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica) as well as the western derived cereals wheat (Triticum aestivum), barley (Hordeum vulgare) and oat (Avena sativa). The isotopic data indicate domestic omnivores (Canis and Sus) had diets dominated by millet. Minimally offset δ¹⁵N values between herbivore and omnivore fauna suggest low consumption of animal protein by omnivores. Diets of herded animal (Bos and Caprinae) included only low proportions of C4 foods, suggesting that these animals were not regularly foddered with millet plants, and that their grazing areas were mostly beyond the agricultural zone. The wide range in δ¹⁵N values amongst herbivore fauna (4.1‰–11.8‰) suggests grazing occurred in a variety of ecological zones, and this would be consistent with the occurrence of long-distance transport of livestock in the region.