The Oldest Culture-Circles in Asia

The following essay is divided into three parts. In the first part, evidences are presented to show that, as a result of modern etymological researches, the traditional interpretation of as “what a man becomes after his death” can no longer be accepted as representing the primitive meaning of this character. In the second part, further evidences, both documentary and palaeographic, are adduced to show that was very probably the name given to some simian or anthropoid animal; and that its current significations of ghost, sprite, devil, etc. are but later modifications of this primitive notion. In the last part, the author makes a tentative classification of characters and terms which are the graphic, semantic or phonetic cognates of in the light of the above conclusions.     

Australian Cenozoic Bryozoa, 2: Free-living Cheilostomata of the Eocene St. Vincent Basin,S.A., including Bonellina gen. nov

Schmidt, R., March 2007. Australian Cenozoic Bryozoa, 2: Free-living Cheilostomata of the Eocene St. Vincent Basin, S.A., including Bonellina gen. nov. Alcheringa 31, 67-84. ISSN 0311-5518.

Free-living bryozoans are diverse in the Eocene sediments of the St. Vincent Basin, South Australia. They include Bonellina pentagonalis gen. et sp. nov., Otionellina sp. cf. O. exigua (Tenison Woods), Otionellina sp. cf. O. cupola (Tenison Woods), Tubiporella magna (Tenison Woods), Celleporaria nummularia (Tenison Woods), and an indeterminate species only found as moulds. This diversity and abundance is highest in the sediments representing the initial transgressive marine facies, where they occur in ‘sand fauna’ bryozoan assemblages (e.g. with Melicerita and Siphonicytara). Free-living bryozoans decrease up-section and are absent from latest Eocene sediments, indicating a significant environmental shift.

Rolf Schmidt [rschmid@museum.vic.gov.au], Museum Victoria, Melbourne, Vic 3001, Australia; received 18.3.2005, revised 14.12.2005.     

Will Historical Archaeology Escape Its Western Prejudices to Become Relevant to Africa?

A major problem facing North American approaches to historical archaeology is the exclusionary manner in which the discipline is defined. By confining historical archaeology to the era of capitalism and colonialism, we declare that the indigenous histories of many areas of the globe are of no interest to such an intellectual agenda. If we practice an historical archaeology that only valorizes the colonial experience, then what happens to history making that engaged cultures in the pre-capitalist and pre-modern era? Such approaches separate the histories of people in Africa from those of the West, and, is in effect, academic apartheid. To remedy this disjuncture, we interrogate how historical archaeology may escape the bounds of implicit racism in its denial of historicity before literacy. We suggest that breaking the chains of exclusion is the only way to realize an inclusive archaeology sensitive to all history making projects.     

Awestische wortstudien

Ohne Zusammenfassung