Competing Traditions and the Birth of Texts

Doctor Ingrid Hjelm's new book, Jerusalem's Rise to Sovereignty: Zion and Gerizim in Competition. Ingrid Hjelm . T&T Clark International, New York: 2004, raises a number of interesting issues concerning the relationship between the Samaritans and the inhabitants of Judea during the Hasmonean period. Though her intention is to demonstrate the conflict origins of the literature treasured by those respective communities, and the divergent paths taken by those tradents, her ideas have further reaching implications for interpretation of the Hebrew Bible and the dates to be assigned to those materials. This essay probes Hjelm's new book, enquiring after its wider implications, especially for those interested in the rise of Biblical texts.     

Antiracist memories: The case of 17 October 1961 in historical perspective

This article examines the causes and subsequent cover-up of the massacre of Algerians by French security forces on 17 October 1961, and assesses the place and symbolic importance the memory of this massacre has come to occupy within Algerian immigrant communities and antiracist groups since the 1970s. These groups have actively campaigned for official recognition of the extent of and responsibility for the massacre. Finally, the article reflects on the way in which the 17 October massacre is often discussed in relation to Vichy, and the ambivalent conclusions which can be drawn from this in relation to France's coming-to-terms with its colonial past.     

Shoes,lies and videotape: Corruption and the French state

The frequency of corruption scandals in contemporary France is linked to various institutional and political factors. Recent affairs have highlighted the personal transgressions of the perpetrators while anti-corruption legislation has distinguished between corruption for private and public ends. But in the Elf, party-financing and contaminated blood scandals corruption may be seen as intrinsic to the interaction between political and economic elites. Above all, recent scandals, and the mixed record of attempts to deal with them, highlight the social fracture between elites and society at large, whose alienation from mainstream institutions intensifies as the affairs continue.     

Women and politeness: A new perspective on language and society

Robin Lakoff. Language and Woman's Place. New York, Evanston, San Francisco and London: Harper Colophon Books, Harper & Row Publishers, 1975. 85 pp. Bibliography. $2.25 (paper).     

DNA analysis in charred grains of naked wheat from several archaeological sites in Spain

In the present work we attempt to recover endogenous ancient DNA from cereal grains preserved under different conditions: charred, partially charred and waterlogged. A total of 126 grains from naked wheat and 18 from barley from different sites on the Eastern Iberian Peninsula ranging from the beginning of agriculture in the region to the turn of the Common Era, were studied. Two different extraction protocols were used, a standard phenol–chloroform method and a silica-based DNA extraction procedure implemented for artificially charred seeds. Amplifications were directed to three markers: the large subunit of ribulose 1,5 biphosphate carboxylase (rbcL) and the microsatellite WCT12 in the chloroplast genome and the x and y subunits of the high molecular weight glutenin gene (Glu-1) in the nucleus. The first two were used to assess the preservation status of the samples, while with the third we tried to identify the wheat grains at species level. It was possible to obtain eleven positive amplifications in 8 partially charred seeds but only two amplifications of the Glu-1 gene from a single sample of the Early Bronze age were genome-specific. Different contamination sources were identified and reported. Cloning and alignment of sequenced clones showed a correspondence of the amplified fragment to modern wheat D genome haplotypes. This result suggests that the sample corresponds to hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), thus being the first ancient DNA evidence to date for the cultivation of hexaploid wheat in the prehistoric agriculture of the Iberian Peninsula. Moreover, obtained results highlight contamination problems associated to the study of ancient archaeobotanical charred seeds suggest that the combination of a silica-based extraction method together with the amplification of specific targets is a good strategy for recovering endogenous ancient DNA from this kind of material.     

A Shooting Incident at Insein Prison,Burma, in 1947

On 9 February 1947, a detachment of armed police was called into the Insein Central Gaol in the northern suburbs of Rangoon to quell a serious disturbance. The police fired into the rioting prison wards, killing four inmates—a further prisoner died of heart failure—and wounding three others. The inspector-general of prisons, Burma, the superintendent of the Insein Gaol, and the district superintendent of police were subsequently suspended from duty. This paper examines the background to the Insein Gaol shootings, the incident itself, the government-ordered enquiry into the shootings, the government's response to the enquiry's report, and the final fate of the three senior prison and police officials. The paper sets the Insein prison shootings, in all their aspects, in the context of the fierce struggle between the Burmese nationalists and a weakening British administration in the final months of colonial rule.     

The Lead Ingots from the Wreck of the Zuiddorp (1712), Western Australia: a report on their provenance and manufacture

The Dutch United East India Company ship Zuiddorp vanished on its way to Batavia in 1712 – its last port of call was the Cape of Good Hope. After its wreck was found on the Western Australian coast, archaeological investigations resulted in the retrieval of 21 lead ingots. Recent study of this artefact assemblage, comprising both great pigs and pieces, suggests that they were of north English origin. Historical records indicate that the Dutch procured large quantities of lead from English sources and maritime trade links between English and Dutch ports were well established at the beginning of the 18th century. © 2012 The Authors