Detecting Late Holocene cultural landscape modifications using LiDAR imagery in the Boreal Forest,Susitna Valley,Southcentral Alaska

The subarctic boreal forest, or taiga, is the largest biome in the world but has received minimal archaeological research because of its remoteness and difficult working conditions. In Southcentral Alaska the most common archaeological sites are surface manifestations of proto-historic semi-subterranean caches once used for food storage and living structures. However, in dense summer vegetation, these small-scale features are difficult to locate without high intensity pedestrian survey. To test the usefulness of LiDAR data for archaeological prospection in the taiga, we compare LiDAR imagery to the known distribution of small-scale semi-subterranean cultural features. The use of LiDAR, when complemented with Sky-View Factor, has proven valuable in identifying relatively small semi-subterranean features though it does not replace on-the-ground investigation. Nevertheless, the application of LiDAR to locate low density and small-scale cultural features is widely applicable across the subarctic in densely vegetated contexts and may assist in significantly expanding our current knowledge of land-use patterns and site distributions in logistically challenging places.     

Graphical Inference in Geographical Research

Graphical inference, a process refined by Buja et al., can be a useful tool for geographers as it provides a visual and spatial method to test null hypotheses. The core idea is to generate sample datasets from a null hypothesis to visually compare with the actual dataset. The comparison is performed from a line‐up of graphs where a single graph of the actual data is hidden among multiple graphs of sample data. If the real data is discernible, the null hypothesis can be rejected. Here, we illustrate the utility of graphical inference using examples from climatology, biogeography, and health geography. The examples include inferences about location of the mean, change across space and time, and clustering. We show that graphical inference is a useful technique to answer a broad range of common questions in geographical datasets. This approach is needed to avoid the common pitfalls of “straw man” hypotheses and “p‐hacking” as datasets become increasingly larger and more complex.     

Geoengineering: re-making climate for profit or humanitarian intervention?

Climate engineering, or geoengineering, refers to large-scale climate interventions to lower the earth's temperature, either by blocking incoming sunlight or removing carbon dioxide from the biosphere. Regarded as ‘technofixes’ by critics, these strategies have evoked concern that they would extend the shelf life of fossil-fuel driven socio-ecological systems for far longer than they otherwise would, or should, endure. A critical reading views geoengineering as a class project that is designed to keep the climate system stable enough for existing production systems to continue operating. This article first examines these concerns, and then goes on to envision a regime driven by humanitarian agendas and concern for vulnerable populations, implemented through international development and aid institutions. The motivations of those who fund research and implement geoengineering techniques are important, as the rationale for developing geoengineering strategies will determine which techniques are pursued, and hence which ecologies are produced. The logic that shapes the geoengineering research process could potentially influence social ecologies centuries from now.     

Baudelaire's “Teacher”: Joseph de Maistre and Le Spleen de Paris

For a total of twenty years (1856–76), Gustave Flaubert corresponded with a woman whom he would never meet and who had first written to him to express her admiration for his novel, Madame Bovary. These forty-five letters are among the most fascinating and important that he was to write, reflecting on his life, on art and esthetics, and on his determined dedication to the practice of writing. The letters to Marie-Sophie Leroyer de Chantepie occupy a central role in Flaubert's Correspondence, between the long series of letters he wrote to two other women, Louise Colet and George Sand. They are all dominated by the idea of the centrality of art, literature, and the activity of writing, and of the subordinate status of all other experiences and interests.     

The Achill Yawl: vernacular boats in historical context on Achill Island,Ireland

Achill yawls, originally introduced to Ireland as ships' boats aboard Norwegian merchantmen, developed into distinct working vessels along Achill Island's shores during the 19th century. These boats were subsequently modified for recreational racing in the mid‐20th century. Despite changes to their design, they are often nostalgically viewed as traditional symbols of an Achill islander identity, though their popularity may have been prompted by late‐19th‐century British legislation. The authors take an ethnographic approach in interpreting Achill yawls over time, contextualizing their social functions through an exploration of primary historical and photographic archives, extant vessels, and interviews with Achill islanders. © 2010 The Authors     

Annotated Bibliography: Children's Folklore Review

The Fisher King in the Grail. Romances. By W. A. Nitze. (Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, xxiv. 3.) By Alfred Nutt.

Folklore and Folk-Stories of Walks. By Marie Trevelyan. With an Introduction by E. Sidney Hartland. Elliot Stock, 1909. Fcap. 4to, pp. xiv+350. By Charlotte S. Burne.

Native Life in East Africa. The Results of an Ethnological Research Expedition. By Dr. Karl Weule. Trans, by Alice Werner. Sir Isaac Pitman &; Sons, 1909. Ryl. 8vo. pp. xxiv +431. Maps and Ill. By E. Sidney Hartland.

Folklore of the Santal Parganas. Trans, by Cecil Henry Bompas, Indian Civil Service. Nutt, 1909. 8vo, pp. 483. By W. Crooke.

Myths and Legends of the New York State Iroquois. By Harriet Maxwell Converse. Edited and annotated by A. C. Parker. Education Department Bulletin, No. 437. Albany, N.Y., 1908. (New York State Museum Bulletin, 125.) 8vo, pp. 195. By A. C. Haddon.