COMPOSITIONAL VARIABILITY IN COLOURLESS ROMAN VESSEL GLASS

A statistical re-analysis is undertaken of 118 inductively coupled plasma spectrometry analyses of Romano-British glass specimens found in excavations at Colchester. There are four vessel types present, some of which are associated with chronologically distinct periods. Previous research has suggested little difference in the mean composition of different types. The present paper shows that there are interesting differences in the variation of compositions within types, with some showing much greater compositional stability then others. Some possible models to explain this phenomenon are discussed.     

The Changing Value of Australian Tropical Rivers

Until recently the objectives of tropical river management were narrowly construed: the development imperative drove resource policy. During recent decades, community attitudes to river and water management have changed considerably and the national program of water reform, the National Water Initiative, is accelerating alterations to the way that water is used, managed and priced. A broader range of values and imperatives is now influencing water resource management policy. Not least is the concern over the ecological impacts and economic inefficiencies of the large‐scale hydrological schemes that once excited the public's imagination. This paper reports on a recent study of social and economic values of tropical rivers conducted by the authors for an Australian statutory research and development corporation. The study shows that the values associated with tropical rivers have changed and diversified over time with growing societal awareness of the contribution made by unregulated, healthy river systems to human wellbeing and cultural identity. As a consequence of substantial social change, tropical river management must now contend with a more complex array of societal values and water management objectives.     

Ethnic Emancipation and Urban Land Claims: Disenfranchisement of the Ga of Accra,Ghana

Several Sub‐Saharan African countries have experienced an upsurge of land claims by various ethnic groups whose lands were acquired by both the colonial and the post‐colonial State through compulsory acquisition. Ethnicity has been used as the basis of emancipating some ethnic groups from perceived disenfranchisement and impoverishment caused by the State acquiring their land. In some cases such land claims result in violence that threatens the social fabric of these countries. An urban example of such a land claim has been made by the GaDangme Council (GDC) in Ghana. This paper assesses the land claim by GDC and argues that its claim of disenfranchisement is more a perception than reality. The paper also investigates why GDC perceives the Ga ethnic group as impoverished and disenfranchised. It concludes by providing structural and pragmatic ways for solving problems centred on Ga land acquisition by the State. Resolving the Ga case may provide lessons for other countries experiencing similar problems.     

COAL AND CREMATION AT THE TSCHUDI BURN,CHAN CHAN,NORTHERN PERU*

Analyses of a 20–30 cm thick, completely combusted ash at the 25 × 70 m Tschudi burn at Chan Chan, northern Perú, contain 52–55 wt% SiO₂, 180–210 ppm zirconium and are consistent with coal ash. Soil geochemistry across the burn showed elevated calcium and phosphorus content, possible evidence for reported human cremation. A calcined, 5 g, 4.5 cm skull fragment recovered from the burn was confirmed as human by protein radioimmunoassay (pRIA). X‐ray diffraction showed that the bone had been heated to 520°C. The burn took place c. ad 1312–1438 based on interpretation of a ¹⁴C date on carbonized plant tinder.     

‘Would I were in an alehouse in London!’: a finds assemblage sealed by the Great Fire from Rood Lane,City of London

During the development project at 20 Fenchurch Street in the City of London, archaeological excavations were undertaken adjacent to Rood Lane. This uncovered part of a 16th- to mid 17th-century brick built cellar which had collapsed sealing in situ pottery, glass, clay tobacco pipes and a stove tile, an event interpreted as the result of the Great Fire of London in 1666. The composition of this artefact assemblage suggests it was derived from a property used to providing large-scale entertainment, with a high proportion of the material associated with drinking. This article situates this group within the context of other similarly dated victualling establishments from the City of London.     

Saynes Mill: excavation of a tide mill on the River Lea,London

Excavations at 150 Stratford High Street, London E15, found evidence for Saynes Mill, a tide powered grain mill of medieval origin, converted in 1745–62 into a pumping station for the West Ham Water Company with an engine installed by John Smeaton. The large-scale reconstruction meant that there was limited survival of earlier buildings, but many later structures survived almost intact and stretches of the quays that flanked the Waterworks River were also recorded. The excavated remains of both the buildings and revetments spanned the period from the late 15th to the late 19th centuries.