Timber exploitation during the 5th–3rd millennia BCE at Arslantepe (Malatya,Turkey): environmental constraints and cultural choices

A considerable amount of charcoal remains from the archaeological site of Arslantepe (Eastern Anatolia) has been analysed. The anthracological assemblage comes from seven archaeological periods, ranging from the Late Chalcolithic 1–2 (mid-5th millennium BCE) to the Early Bronze Age III (late 3rd millennium BCE). The woody taxa exploited by the local communities appeared to have only minor changes throughout the investigated periods. For the evaluation of wood use practices, charcoal was chronologically grouped according to depositional context. The categories of depositional context identified differentiate between the uses of wood for structural parts of buildings, object manufacture, fuel, refuse, and wood found in outdoor areas or in burial contexts. Communities at Arslantepe, characterized by different cultural and socio-economic traits, appeared overall to select timber depending on its use: hydrophilous plants prevail in building material, with the exception of the 2900–2500 BCE period when environmental constraints probably motivate the dominance of woodland-steppe plants. The differential occurrence of taxa in the diverse depositional contexts highlighted cases of under/overestimation of remains, in particular in relation to the woods for construction. Finally, taxa have been attributed to different ecological groups. The interpretation of results and the comparison with other available palaeoenvironmental data point out that climatic factors play only a secondary role in the choice of wood exploitation in the area. Human choice may vary even with constant environmental records.     

Small angle neutron scattering study of ancient pottery from Syracuse (Sicily,Southern Italy)

This paper is focused on a spectroscopic study of some pottery shards from an archaeological site in Syracuse (Sicily, Southern Italy), dating back to the Hellenistic–Roman period. Structural characterization was performed at different scales of observation, i.e. from macroscopic to mesoscopic. The main goal was to point out the potentiality of the small angle neutron scattering (SANS) technique as a non-invasive analytical tool in archaeometry, also in conjunction with other, more usual, methodologies. Correlation of experimental data, i.e. macroscopic typology and texture, obtained from petrographic analysis, and radius of gyration and fractal dimension of the interfaces of the mesoscopic aggregates obtained using SANS, together with mineralogical X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, allowed hypotheses to be made on the production technology of the investigated samples.     

Nowtopia: Strategic Exodus?

Abstract: Nowtopia identifies a new basis for a shared experience of class. Specifically, the exodus from wage labor on one side, and the embrace of meaningful, freely chosen and “free” (unpaid) work on the other. A product of three decades of decomposition of the working class, nowtopians are different from “drop‐outs” in general, or surplus populations that constitute the necessary “outside” to capital, in their conscious withdrawal from capitalist culture and concerted rejection of the value form. In emergent convivial “nowtopian” communities, largely grounded in unpaid practical work which creatively meets needs such as transportation (the bicycling subculture), food (urban gardening/agriculture), and communication (open‐source communities), we see a gradual reversal of the extreme atomization of modern life. While facing the threat of corruption via re‐integration into the system, this constellation of practices, if taken together, is an elaborate, decentralized, uncoordinated collective research and development effort exploring a potentially post‐capitalist, post‐petroleum future.     

International cooperation and the inclusion of persons with disabilities: the Italian system

Two key themes emerging from recent studies on disability are the shift in the conception of persons with disabilities, expressed in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), from objects to subjects of policies concerning them and the recognition of the close interconnections between disability and poverty. Both themes have clear implications for international development cooperation. It is essential that the high number of persons with disabilities in developing countries is recognised and that the programmes implemented by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including those in emergencies and disasters, are made fully inclusive of them. Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) programmes are important in achieving inclusiveness and fulfilling the rights of persons with disabilities. Italian NGOs such as AIFO (Associazione Italiana Amici di Raoul Follereau) have played an important role in helping launch CBR, most notably in Mongolia. Two sets of research data published in 2008 have measured the impact of Italian action on disability in international development cooperation. The reports on the one hand reveal inadequate levels of funding in general, and funding by banks and private companies in particular, and insufficient involvement of disabled persons' organisations, but on the other suggest that Italy's domestic experience of advanced disability legislation can be productively applied in international contexts to include and empower persons with disabilities.     

Explorations towards Intercultural Accounts of Socio‐Cultural Reproduction and Change

This paper is an attempt to develop the notion of the ‘intercultural’ suggested in Caging the Rainbow (Merlan 1998), a book which dealt with the situation of Aboriginal people in a north Australian town. I explore possible implications for this notion of work done in the name of structural history; of some of the ideas of Pierre Bourdieu; and of V.N. Voloshinov (and/or M.M. Bakhtin). All these approaches were developed against the background of structuralism, and all struggle with problems of conceptualizing process and the dynamics of interaction. I suggest that especially Voloshinovian notions of the fundamentally dialogical aspects of interaction offer some interesting perspectives for our treatment of central issues of difference, boundedness and change.     

Nation and reproduction: immigrants and their children in population discourse in Italy

Italian society is undergoing significant demographic changes: on one hand, the widespread decrease in birth rates and extended life expectancies lead to a substantial aging of the population; on the other hand, rising immigration rates constitute an important factor behind the renewal and growth of young population segments. According to conventional disciplinary divisions, such changes are the established domain of demography; however, it mainly draws on ethno‐national categories to investigate them. In reference to the Italian context, this article specifically highlights the way national demography employs forecasts and value judgments derived from a qualitative and selective definition of population to address the marked increase in children born to foreign parents. By examining the reproductive behaviours of migrants in Italy, the article thus offers a wide‐ranging reflection on the social boundaries that shape the formation of an ‘other’ generation.