The exploitation of marine resources at Saruq al‐Hadid: Insights into the movement of people and resources in Bronze and Iron Age south‐eastern Arabia

Marine resources were an integral and consistent component of subsistence strategies employed in south‐eastern Arabia throughout late prehistory. Of particular interest is the movement of these resources from the coast to interior sites and the implications of this movement for transhumance and trade in the region during this period. Marine species were frequently identified in the faunal assemblage from the inland site of Saruq al‐Hadid, dating from the Bronze Age to Early Iron Age (c.2000–c.800 BCE). This included marine fish species, along with two cormorant species (Phalacrocorax sp.) and several fragments of dugong (Dugong dugon). Twenty‐seven families of marine shell were also identified in the remains recovered from the site. The presence of these remains at this inland site demonstrates that resources were frequently moved from the coast to the interior throughout Saruq al‐Hadid’s occupation, indicative of their enduring significance in subsistence strategies employed at the site. This paper presents the results of zooarchaeological analysis of these remains and discusses the significance of their presence at Saruq al‐Hadid, with reference to subsistence, craft production and intra‐regional exchange during the Bronze and Iron Ages.     

Measuring Complex State Policies: Pitfalls and Considerations,with an Application to Race and Welfare Policy

Welfare policy is multidimensional because of the political compromises, competing goals, and federalist structure underpinning it. This complexity has hindered measurement and, therefore, the comparability of research on race and welfare policy. This paper describes a measurement strategy that is transparent, replicable, and attuned to matching the assumptions of statistical models to the policy process. We demonstrate that this strategy leads to more nuanced conclusions regarding the relationship between minority caseloads and the flexibility of state welfare policies. The strategy and recommendations are adaptable to research agendas that scholars bring to the comparative study of welfare in the U.S. states, countries, or other units—and to other complex policies enacted in federal systems.     

THERMAL ALTERATIONS IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL BONES*

Archaeological bones, found close to Mexico City (Tlatelcomila), with alterations due to probable thermal exposure attributed to a possible case of cannibalism, have been characterized by XRD, SAXS and SEM. It is shown how these non‐destructive techniques, which are not conventionally used in archaeological research, may provide useful information. The deterioration degree of the bone structure is quantified through parameters such as gyration radius or fractal dimension. As some of the reported modifications could be attributed to diagenesis, a discussion is presented in terms of bone crystallinity and ionic exchange. Furthermore, the hydroxyapatite crystallite size increased depending on colour: this feature is not explained by diagenesis—it can only be attributed to temperature. We conclude that the samples were thermally treated. Indeed, thermal treatment alters the structure and morphology of bone at a very fine level (microscopic and nanometric), while morphology follows the structural modifications. It is determined that the studied human bones were treated at three different temperatures close to 100, 250 and 600°C. Therefore, they were either boiled (barbacoa) or grilled.     

Not a right but a public function: the debate in the French National Assembly over the 1872 law on jury formation

Because of the highly politicized nature of the French judicialsystem in the nineteenth century, laws governing the selectionof jurors were often the subject of strong political debate.There were repeated controversies over which citizens shouldbe jurors and which authorities should draw up the annual jurylists from which the trial panels were drawn. Perhaps no eventbetter reflected the nature of the controversy than the debatewhich occurred in the National Assembly in 1872, when the conservativegovernment proposed an act which gave the judiciary power torevise the annual jury lists drawn up by elected officials.However, liberal deputies opposed the act because they maintainedit gave too much power to a conservative judiciary in determiningwhich citizens should be jurors. The debate in fact went tothe heart of the nineteenth-century struggle between the Rightand Left.     

重商观念与晚清利权意识的演进

在近代中国,利权概念的核心内涵是经济主权,是对经济独立权的诉求。利权意识在20世纪初年的变化加重了晚清重商观念内在矛盾。利权意识的强化虽显示了晚清经济民族主义的勃发,但也展现了重商观念存在着偏差和不成熟的成分。