The Cradle of Thought: Growth,Learning, Play and Attachment in Neanderthal Children

Childhood is a core stage in development, essential in the acquisition of social, practical and cultural skills. However, this area receives limited attention in archaeological debate, especially in early prehistory. We here consider Neanderthal childhood, exploring the experience of Neanderthal children using biological, cultural and social evidence. We conclude that Neanderthal childhood experience was subtly different from that of their modern human counterparts, orientated around a greater focus on social relationships within their group. Neanderthal children, as reflected in the burial record, may have played a particularly significant role in their society, especially in the domain of symbolic expression. A consideration of childhood informs broader debates surrounding the subtle differences between Neanderthals and modern humans.     

Changing Patterns of Fiscal Interdependence: Social Financing and Expenditure in Belarus'

An American economist stationed in the former USSR, based on interviews and data gathering at different levels of the territorial-administrative hierarchy, examines the evolution of processes of budget formation and still pervasive income redistribution in Belarus'. Considerable attention is devoted to the functioning of mechanisms of allocating and redistributing expenditures and collecting revenues among urban rayons in Minsk city and among oblast-level units in Belarus'. A particular focus is documentation of the devolution of responsibility for social spending from the central government to local levels of authority, as well as mechanisms through which local governments attempt to respond to pressing human needs. 8 tables, 8 references.     

Nuclear Economies and Local Supply Chains in Peripheral Areas: The Case of West Cumbria

The aim of this paper is to fill the gap in data relating to local supply chains in the proximity of nuclear sites by investigating the site of Sellafield in West Cumbria, UK. Using information obtained from invoice data provided by Sellafield Ltd, the site-licenced company, and from primary research, the authors explore the relevance of nuclear procurement within the area, by evaluating levels of economic leakage and seepage resulting from suppliers’ subcontracting and work carried out locally. The study shows that the presence of a nuclear site has a crucial role for the surrounding area and for its economy. The results indicate a significant level of financial retention in the area with regard to work carried out in-house and local subcontracting at a first tier. In particular, the results identify cash flows related to second-tier suppliers located in West Cumbria, demonstrating that about a third of the total work carried out or subcontracted at the nuclear site stays in the area. These findings underline the significant impact of Sellafield on the West Cumbria economy and, more generally, provide an overview of the importance of nuclear sites for local supply chains in peripheral and remote areas.     

The Oral History Project: Connecting Students to Their Community, Grades 4-8

The Oral History Project describes a middle school project thatbegan with a statewide effort to improve students’ languagearts achievement scores. Pennsylvania educators proposed anintegrative instructional model that would involve adolescentsin intergenerational interviews. Teachers implemented the modelin a variety of settings. This book represents Pennsylvaniaeducators’ attempt to share the integrative intergenerationalinterview model with others. Donald Graves, a nationally known expert in language arts educationand author of the Foreword, asserts the instructional modelrepresented in The