A Declaration of the Responsibilities of Present Generations Toward Past Generations

Historians study the living and the dead. If we can identify the rights of the living and their responsibilities to the dead, we may be able to formulate a solid ethical infrastructure for historians. A short and generally accepted answer to the question of what the rights of the living are can be found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The central idea of human rights is that the living possess dignity and therefore deserve respect. In addition, the living believe that the dead also have dignity and thus deserve respect too. When human beings die, I argue, some human traces survive and mark the dead with symbolic value. The dead are less than human beings, but still reminiscent of them, and they are more than bodies or objects. This invites us to speak about the dead in a language of posthumous dignity and respect, and about the living, therefore, as having some definable core responsibilities to the dead. I argue further that these responsibilities are universal. In a Declaration of the Responsibilities of Present Generations toward Past Generations, then, I attempt to cover the whole area. I identify and comment on four body‐ and property‐related responsibilities (body, funeral, burial, and will), three personality‐related responsibilities (identity, image, and speech), one general responsibility (heritage), and two consequential rights (memory and history). I then discuss modalities of non‐compliance, identifying more than forty types of failures to fulfill responsibilities toward past generations. I conclude that the cardinal principle of any code of ethics for historians should be to respect the dignity of the living and the dead whom they study.     

Erosion and Nutrient Loss on Sloping Land under Intense Cultivation in Southern Vietnam

To help improve the well‐being of the local people, a joint Vietnamese‐UK team set out to establish a way of estimating soil and nutrient losses under different land management scenarios, using field data extrapolated through remote sensing and GIS, to obtain catchment‐wide estimates of the impact of land cover change. Immigration from remote provinces to the Dong Phu District of Binh Phuóc Province, about 120 km north of Ho Chi Minh City, has led to disruption of soil surface stability on easily eroded clayey sandstones, creating rapid nutrient depletion that affects crop yields and siltation in the channel of the Rach Rat river downstream. The poor farmers of the areas see crop yields drop dramatically after two or three years of cultivation due to the fertility decline. Soil loss varies dramatically between wet season and dry season and with ground cover. Erosion bridge measurements showed a mean loss of 85.2 t ha^?1 y^?1 under cassava saplings with cashew nuts, 43.3 t ha^?1 y^?1 on uncultivated land and 41.7 t ha^?1 y^?1 under mature cassava. The rates of erosion were higher than those reported in many other parts of Vietnam, reflecting the high erodibility of the friable sandy soils on the steep side‐slopes of the Rach Rat catchment. However, although the actual measurements provide better soil loss data than estimates based on the parameters of soil loss equations, a large number of measurement sites is needed to provide adequate coverage of the crop and slope combinations in this dissected terrain for good prediction using GIS and remote sensing.     

Sustainability Science Partnerships in Concept and in Practice: a Guide to a New Curriculum from a European Perspective

This paper makes the case for advancing sustainability science partnerships (SSPs) both within universities and through innovative means of integrating universities with external public‐private and civil sectors. It links the basic principles of sustainable development with an emerging science of cooperative learning that connects researchers to a wide range of partners. SSPs are specifically designed to be transformational through becoming active agents for societal change. Universities play a special role here because they can act both as communication networks and as laboratories for developing the capability to design and manage SSPs in the creative transition to sustainability. It is gratifying to note that these ideas are beginning to emerge in a number of universities, with European examples being highlighted in this paper. Further steps towards introducing full‐blooded SSPs across the university spectrum are suggested.     

DETERMINATION OF PIGMENTS AND BINDERS IN POMPEIAN WALL PAINTINGS USING SYNCHROTRON RADIATION – HIGH‐RESOLUTION X‐RAY POWDER DIFFRACTION AND CONVENTIONAL SPECTROSCOPY – CHROMATOGRAPHY

The employment of synchrotron techniques complemented by conventional laboratory systems has allowed us to deepen and improve our knowledge of Roman wall painting procedures. The palette identified in wall paintings from Pompeii and Herculaneum from the second century bc includes goethite, hematite, cinnabar, glauconite, Egyptian blue, and other components such as calcite and aragonite. Proof of the use of organic binders is provided by FTIR and PY–GC/MS. Therefore, the possibility of the use of ‘a secco’ techniques cannot be ruled out. Pigments in wall paintings are usually found in small percentages and conventional X‐ray diffractometers do not detect them. Synchrotron radiation – high‐resolution X‐ray powder diffraction has allowed identification with only a few micrograms of sample.     

COMPOSITIONAL VARIATION IN ROMAN COLOURLESS GLASS OBJECTS FROM THE BOCHOLTZ BURIAL (THE NETHERLANDS)*

We investigated the major and trace element composition and Pb and Sr isotope characteristics of a series of about 20 colourless glass objects from a single high‐status Roman burial from the Netherlands (Bocholtz). The major elements show a relatively homogeneous group, with one outlier. This is corroborated by the Sr isotopes. Based on the Sb and Pb content, three major groups can be discerned, with two other outliers. This grouping is corroborated by the contents of the trace elements Bi, Sn, Ag, As and Mo, and by variations in lead isotopic ratios. On the basis of these results, we conclude that the glass of all objects was probably made with sand and lime from the same source. The variation in trace elements and lead isotope composition is most likely the result of variations in the composition of the sulphidic antimony ore(s) that were used to decolourize the glass. The composition of the Bocholtz glass is compared with that of other Roman glass, and implications for production models, trade and use of colourless glass objects are discussed. On the basis of isotopic and major element variation, we conclude that the antimony ore presumably originated from different mines.     

LEAD ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS OF COPPER ORES FROM THE SIERRA EL ARAMO (ASTURIAS,SPAIN)*

This study presents the first ever lead isotope ratio data for copper ore samples (malachite and azurite) from the Sierra El Aramo (Asturias, northwestern Spain). The aim of this study was to supplement information in the existing reference database on the lead isotopic composition of Spanish ores. The Sierra El Aramo is particularly important because, while no data for the Asturian ores have been published so far, this northern province of Spain has played a significant role in terms of copper exploitation and metallurgy since the Copper Age.     

SYNCHROTRON FTIR MICRO‐SPECTROSCOPY APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF POLISHED SERPENTINITE ARTEFACTS: A NON‐DESTRUCTIVE ANALYTICAL APPROACH

In prehistory, serpentinite was one of the most frequently used raw materials to produce polished stone artefacts. Several conventional analytical techniques can be applied to identify the serpentine minerals, but their application generally requires a powdered sample. This implies that the artefacts to be analysed must be damaged, and the possibility of analysing a mixture of different serpentine polytypes is high. The use of spatially resolved techniques is therefore a necessity to overcome this problem. Several thin sections of serpentinitic rocks and prehistoric axes have been analysed by synchrotron radiation Fourier transform infrared micro‐spectroscopy. The spectra were acquired directly on specific points of polished stone artefacts and this allowed the recognition of the different polytypes of serpentine minerals without causing any damage to the objects. The results show the infrared micro‐spectroscopy technique to be a useful tool for the characterization of archaeological lithic material.     

NEUTRON TOMOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF INCISIONS ON PREHISTORIC STONE SLABS: A CASE STUDY FROM WONDERWERK CAVE,SOUTH AFRICA*

This study presents the application of neutron tomography to the analysis of ironstone slabs found in a late Earlier Stone Age context (Fauresmith industry) at the back of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. These slabs have markings on the surface that might be anthropogenic, and thus significant to understanding the emergence of human symbolic behaviour. Neutron tomography proved to be an effective tool for distinguishing surface incisions from lines that are the expression of internal fissures in the rock.