PRE‐CHRISTIAN OFFERINGS FROM GULDHULLET NEAR SMØRENGE ON BORNHOLM,DENMARK

As a result of metal detector surveys over several years, a unique find of gold figurines and gold foil figures from the 6^th century AD has come to light at a locality known as Guldhullet (‘the gold hole’). Geomagnetic surveys and a subsequent excavation in 2017 revealed a large number of ‘cooking pits’ close to the present‐day damp area where the finds were made. The pits are roughly contemporary with the gold finds, which suggests that the location was both a sacrificial site and an important communal meeting place.     

Reviews

NEW GUINEA: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS. Peter Hastings. Melbourne, Cheshire, 1969. For the Australian Institute of International Affairs. Pp. 320. $4.95 (hardcover), $3.50 (paperback).

THE EAGLE AND THE LOTUS. J. F. Cairns. Melbourne, Lansdowne Press, 1969. Pp. 240. $4.95 (hardcover), $2.50 (paperback).

INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY. R. H. Snape. Melbourne, Longmans, 1969. Pp. vi + 122. $2.50.

THE STERLING AREA, THE COMMONWEALTH AND WORLD ECONOMIC GROWTH. J. O. N. Perkins. Occasional Papers II. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1967. Pp. 120. 17s 6d (U.K.).

NORFOLK ISLAND: AN OUTLINE OF ITS HISTORY 1774–1968. Merval Hoare. St Lucia, University of Queensland Press, 1969. Pp. 173. $3.95.

BEYOND THE URALS. Violet Conolly. London, Oxford University Press, 1967. Pp. xx + 420. $11.60.

AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA. R. T. Shand (ed.). Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1969. Pp. 360. $8.50.

JAPAN'S FIRST GENERAL ELECTION, 1890. R. H. P. Mason. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1969. Pp. vii + 254. 42/‐ (U.K.).

KOREA AND THE POLITICS OF IMPERIALISM. C. I. Eugene Kim and Han‐Kyo Kim. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1967. Pp. x + 260. $7.00 (U.S.).

THE RUSSO‐CHINESE WAR. George Alexander Lensen. Tallahassee, The Diplomatic Press, 1967. Pp. 315. $15.00 (U.S.).

THE INDIAN NATIONAL ARMY: SECOND FRONT OF THE INDIAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT. K. K. Ghosh. Meerut, Meenakshi Prakashan, 1969. Pp. xxi + 351. Rs (Indian) 30.

BRITAIN AND THE PERSIAN GULF, 1894–1914. Briton Cooper Busch. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1968. Pp. XVI + 432. $8.75.

ZAMBIA: INDEPENDENCE AND BEYOND. THE SPEECHES OF KENNETH KAUNDA. Colin Legum (ed.) London, Nelson, 1966. Pp. xiii + 265. 35/‐ (U.K.).

THE EISENHOWER PRESIDENCY AND AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY. David B. Capitanchik. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969. Pp. xi + 80. £1 (U.K.).

AUSSENPOLITIK IN ADENAUERS KANZLERDEMOKRATTE. A. Baring. Munich, Forschungsinstitut der Deutschen Gesellschaft fur Auswärtige Politik, R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1969. Pp. VII + 492.     

Existentialist manifesto or conservative political science? Problems in interpreting Raymond Aron's Introduction à la philosophie de l'histoire

Raymond Aron's Introduction à la philosophie de l'histoire is often held to be a paradigmatic book because of either its rejection of positivism in the social sciences, or its anticipation of existentialism in philosophy. The common denominator in these paradigmatic interpretations of the work is its use of various German philosophical influences that, though relatively obscure in France at the time of its first publication in 1938, became prominent features of the postwar Parisian intellectual landscape. During the Cold War, however, Aron was not only a peripheral figure within the Parisian intelligentsia, but also one of its harshest critics. The apparent mismatch between the paradigmatic status claimed for the Introduction as the first French existentialist book and Aron's subsequent critical position towards the leading figures of existentialism in France forms the starting point for a critical re-examination of the book and its paradigmatic interpretations. After seeking an explanation for these interpretations of the Introduction in deeper trends of generational thought, this article suggests that the history of the idea of intellectual engagement offers a more useful angle from which to approach this challenging book.     

Falling off the Map: South Africa,Antarctica and Empire,c. 1919–59

During the first half of the twentieth century, despatches about the coldest corner of the British Empire were circulated to three, sometimes four, of its southern neighbours under the British crown: Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Falklands. Of these four, South Africa seemed the least interested in Antarctica, despite the keen interest of some influential individuals and a strategy of bringing Antarctica into the imperial fold through British dominions that were proximate to Antarctica. In this context, we ask how South Africa viewed itself in relation to the Antarctic to the south and the British metropole to the north. We discuss the key activities that connected South Africa to Antarctica—whaling and weather forecasting. Moreover, we consider some of the enterprising plans for a South African National Antarctic expedition, and what these plans reveal of South Africa's perception of itself as a southern country. This article interlinks with a growing scholarship that is critical of treating Antarctic history as politically and culturally isolated, including showing how the relatively simple natural and political ecology of the Antarctic can throw into relief multiple national and international concerns.