What is on the craftsmen’s menu? Plant consumption at Datrana,a 5000-year-old lithic blade workshop in North Gujarat,India

The exploitation of lithic resources was an important aspect of prehistoric resource exploitation strategies and adaptation. Research has mostly focused on technological and spatial aspects of lithic factory sites, often overlooking how these sites were integrated within local socioecological dynamics in terms of food acquisition and consumption. The aim of this paper is to study plant consumption at Datrana, a 5000-year-old lithic blade workshop in North Gujarat, India, in order to understand its occupants’ subsistence strategies. The results of archaeobotanical, mineralogical and soil pH analyses show that the occupants of this factory site were consuming local crops but not processing them, suggesting that either (a) food was being processed in other areas of the site or (b) it was acquired in a ‘ready-to-consume’ state from local food-producing communities. This study highlights the integration of a lithic factory site within its surrounding cultural and natural landscape, offering an example of how the inhabitants of a workshop interacted with local communities to acquire food resources.     

Suburban growth and land actors along by‐pass roads in Norway

It has been argued that by‐pass roads lead to suburban growth and that the construction of such roads will prompt the planning of industrial and other commercial developments, on the part of the local municipal government. This case study of five by‐pass roads shows that a significant, but limited suburban growth takes place along these roads. Actors who promote development have a greater effect on the planning process than those who resist land development. One exception is the regional authorities who can object to a local plan. The study also shows that most of the local development plans are submitted for approval by the local authorities themselves, either independently or jointly with private developers.     

Decentralization, democratization, and health: the Philippine experiment

In 1991, the Philippines joined a growing list of countries that reformed health planning through decentralization. Reformers viewed decentralization as a tool that would solve multiple problems, leading to more meaningful democracy and more effective health planning. Today, nearly two decades after the passage of decentralization legislation, questions about the effectiveness of the reforms persist. Inadequate financing, inequity, and a lack of meaningful participation remain challenges, in many ways mirroring broader weaknesses of Philippine democracy. These concerns pose questions regarding the nature of contemporary decentralization, democratization, and health planning and whether these three strategies are indeed mutually enforcing.