The 9th‐Century‐AD Belitung Wreck,Indonesia: analysis of a resin lump

The 9th‐century‐AD Belitung wreck was discovered in 1998 in the Java Sea. Construction techniques rapidly confirmed that it was unlike any known Chinese or Southeast Asian vessel. The uncertainty about its origins was resolved in 2008 by timber identifications: it was constructed in the Middle East (probably Oman or Yemen). This paper, on the characterization of a dammar resin lump collected in the vicinity of the wreck, supplies additional evidence confirming the probable re‐stitching of the vessel somewhere in Asia. © 2010 The Authors     

Taxonomic characterisation of fresh Dipterocarpaceae resins by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS): providing clues for identification of unknown archaeological resins

Plant and particularly non-wood forest products have played an important role in the evolution of human cultures all over the world, as source of food but also of raw substances fulfilling material, spiritual, and medicinal requirements. Plant exudates and particularly dammar resins (Dipterocarpaceae family) were widely used in the past in Asia notably as waterproofing and caulking materials. This study focuses on the GC–MS chemical characterisation of freshly collected dammars and establishes new molecular parameters enabling discrimination between dammars and other types of plant resin, whatever their botanical origin. Such analyses provide clues for a precise identification (taxonomy, occurrence of other material in addition to the resin, alteration state) of unknown resinous material discovered in archaeological contexts. The value of our approach is illustrated by the taxonomic characterisation of two samples collected in jars from the Brunei wreck and a Chinese junk lost more than 40 km off the Sultanate of Brunei during the end of the fifteenth century or the early beginning of the sixteenth century.     

The rise of cultural landscapes

The new interest in cultural landscapes is forcing a reappraisal of concepts of countryside heritage. First the traditional split between cultural and natural values is challenged. Second, modern landscape studies emphasise the subjectivity of landscape assessment, and this is subverting the former tendency to aspire to objectivity in evaluation. The acceptance of ‘associative’ value in landscape is an indicator of this. Modern landscape studies also emphasise the interrelationships between processes and aspects of value, and this is encouraging specialists to communicate across disciplinary frontiers. The desire by ecologists in the mid‐1980s to have cultural landscapes inscribed on the World Heritage list caused a re‐assessment of the World Heritage Criteria, and an initiative by ICOMOS brought this process to a conclusion in 1992. However the reappraisal of concepts of countryside value imply that there are many other philosophical and practical matters still to be resolved.     

Thermoluminescence dates for the Middle Palaeolithic site of Chez-Pinaud Jonzac (France)

Thermoluminescence dating of heated flint artefacts from the Middle Palaeolithic sequence of Chez-Pinaud Jonzac (France) places an assemblage of Quina type Mousterian into MIS 4, while the overlying assemblage of Denticulate Mousterian which is followed by two layers with Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition are all assigned to MIS 3. TL dating is used to verify the mixed nature of deposits from which diagnostic Middle as well as Upper Palaeolithic tools were recovered. The TL ages are significantly different for samples from this layer and broadly agree with the archaeological attributions. While the study is generally limited by the low number of heated samples available, a correlation with a generalized chronostratigraphic sequence is possible by including proxy data from the faunal remains associated with the lithic assemblages in question. The Quina Mousterian in southwestern France, therefore, can be placed by chronometric dating methods in MIS 4 to MIS 3.     

Fides apprehensiva: John bunyan et l’autobiographie puritaine

The puritan narrative of whichGrace abounding to the chief of sinners is one of the landmarks is representative of the new understanding of the inner life of the believer who in the process of conversion comes to be transfigured by the slow appropriation of the deeds of Christ wherein salvation is to be found. It is usually said that the puritan and more generally the protestant world outlook allowed the rise of individualism in modern Europe, but one should not forget that the individualconfession of faith is expressed from the vantage-point of a believing community, from aconfession of faith which stands as itsIdealtypus. This paper intends to study the enunciation ofGrace abounding in the triangular interplay between self as it is being converted to Christ, believing community, and Christ as the ultimate referent.     

Reviews

CHANGING PERSPECTIVES IN BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY. Kenneth Younger. Chatham House Essays: 7. London, Oxford University Press, 1964. Pp. 139. 15/9.

BRITISH EMIGRATION TO AUSTRALIA. R. T. Appleyard. Australian National University, Canberra, 1964. Pp. xiii + 255. £2/17/6.

BRITAIN AND THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY 1955–1963. Miriam Camps. London, Oxford University Press, 1964. Pp. x + 547. £A4.14.6.

INTERNAL WAR. Harry Eckstein (ed.). Glencoe, The Free Press, 1964. Pp. 339. $6.50.

MODERN GUERRILLA WARFARE. Franklin Mark Osanka (ed.). Glencoe, The Free Press, 1962. Pp. xxii + 519, bibliog.

MALAYSIA. K. G. Tregonning. Cheshire for the Australian Institute of International Affairs, 1964. Pp. 98. 13/6.

MALAYSIA; A SURVEY. Wang Gungwu (ed.). Melbourne, F. W. Cheshire, 1964. Pp. 466. £5.

SINGAPORE AND MALAYSIA. Milton E. Osborne. Data Paper: Number 53, Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, 1964. Pp. 115. $2.50.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN UNIVERSITY. A COMPARATIVE ACCOUNT OF SOME DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS. T. H. Silcock. Durham, North Carolina, Duke University Press, 1964. Pp. xiii + 194. $6.

CHINA. K. S. Latourette. New Jersey, Prentice‐Hall, 1964. Pp. viii + 152. $1.95.

MODERN CHINA. Edited by A. Feuerwerker. New Jersey, Prentice‐Hall, 1964. Pp. vi + 186. $1.95.

CEYLON. S. Arasaratnam. New Jersey, Prentice‐Hall, 1964. Pp. vi + 182. $1.95.

TRADITIONAL INDIA. Edited by O. L. Chavarria‐Aguilar. New Jersey, Prentice‐Hall, 1964. Pp. vi + 153. $1.95.

DEFIANCE IN MANCHURIA: THE MAKING OF JAPANESE FOREIGN POLICY, 1931–1932. Ogata Sadako. Berkeley and Los Angeles, Calif., 1964. Pp. xvi + 259, bibliog. $5, Aust. 65/6.

THE MILITARY AND SOCIETY IN LATIN AMERICA. John J. Johnson. Stanford University Press, California, 1964. x + 308 pp. $7.00.