Differential diagnosis of a prehistoric biological object from the Koster (Illinois) Site

This paper details the differential diagnosis of a biological artifact recovered from a burial within the Koster Middle Archaic site in Illinois. The burial was excavated from the Middle Archaic 3, Helton Phase component (∼5800–4900 BP). The artifact was a calcified nodule of unequivocal biological origin recovered from the pelvic region of an adult (50+ years) female. Morphological and radiographic analysis of the object resulted in the consideration of 19 possible diagnoses; all but four could be eliminated. Possible interpretations of the object as a lithopaedion, calcified lymph node, amputated ovary or simple ovarian cyst are examined in detail. Of these, calcified lymph node or amputated ovary remain most probable. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lobbying Reform and Nonprofit Organizations: policy Images and Constituent Policy

This article explores the interaction of politics and policy through the case of the "Istook Amendment"–proposals made primarily during the 104th Congress that were designed to change policies concerning the permissible lobbying and political advocacy activities of nonprofit organizations (NPOs). It discusses elements that contributed to a shift in the policy image of NPOs, how this shift opened an opportunity for dramatic policy change, and offers possible explanations for why such change failed to be enacted. Conceptually, lobbying reform is treated both as an example of constituent policy and as a device to explore the political dynamics of this type of policy.     

The Transition to History in Southeast Asia: An Introduction

Studies of the transition from prehistory to history in Southeast Asia have traditionally relied primarily on documentary sources, which tend to emphasize foreign influences, rather than on the archaeological record, which suggests a series of indigenous developments. The papers in this journal issue and the next discuss strategies for using both documentary and archaeological evidence to study the transition to history and the emergence of early states in the region. These papers investigate how political units were structured and integrated in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South China, and illustrate how historical and archaeological data can cross-check each other to inform on Southeast Asian sociopolitical and economic developments during the early historic period.     

(Re)Writing With the Feet: The Flâneur as Urban Cartographer in Alicia Scherson’s Film Play (Chile, 2005)

This article approaches Chilean filmmaker Alicia Scherson’s first feature-length film, Play (2005), from the perspectives of mobility and social cartography in relation to the spatial practices of the main characters. Through the paradigmatic figure of the flâneur, the article explores the representative function of both the characters’ and the camera’s drifting itineraries across the city, as they subtly perform a peripatetic cartography of present-day Santiago. The diegetic threads that are spun by the characters progressively interlace to weave an urban text which lays bare – as they are transgressed – a series of frontiers that cut across the cityscape. The film maps out two very different human geographies of post-dictatorship Chile, a lived urban space that reveals the stark social divide propping up the nation’s neoliberal economic structure. Scherson’s roving camera engages in a politics of perception which invites the spectator to view the city differently, thus exploring the possibility of upsetting this divide.