Oldowan reduction sequences: methodological considerations

Transport of resources is a major feature of Oldowan hominin technological adaptations. Comparisons between different Oldowan localities often employ measures of transport that are based on artefact attributes as proxies for the intensity of raw material utilization. The Technological Flake Category system [Toth, N., 1985. Oldowan reassessed: a close look at early stone artifacts, Journal of Archaeological Science 12, pp. 101–120] has been used extensively to infer the relative intensity of lithic reduction within Oldowan assemblages. Here we use a large experimental sample to test the relationship between a flake's stage in a reduction sequence and various quantitative attributes. We demonstrate how many previously described attributes are affected by initial core size. We then develop a multiple linear regression model that incorporates several variables to predict the placement of a flake within a generalized reduction sequence. The model is then applied to Oldowan assemblages in the Koobi Fora Formation which explores the strengths and weaknesses of different methods of investigating reduction intensity on an assemblage level.     

Reviews

THE MAKING OP FOREIGN POLICY: AN ANALYSIS OF DECISION‐MAKING. Joseph Frankel London, Oxford University Press, 1963. Pp. xi, 231. Australian price 57/9d.

THE UNITED NATIONS RECONSIDERED. Raymond A. Moore, Jr. (Ed.). University of South Carolina Press, 1963. Pp. xii + 158.

ARMED FORCES IN PEACE TIME: BRITAIN, 1918–1940, A CASE STUDY. Robin Higham. London, G. T. Foulis, 1962. Pp. xi + 332. Stg. £3/3/‐.

ECONOMIC SYSTEMS OF THE COMMONWEALTH. Calvin B. Hoover (ed.). Cambridge University Press for Duke University Press, 1963. Pp. x + 538. Stg. 37/6.

SPEARHEADS OF DEMOCRACY: LABOR IN THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. George C. Lodge. For the Council on Foreign Relations. New York, Harper & Row, 1962. $4.50.

POLITICS IN SOUTHERN ASIA. Saul Rose (ed.). London, Macmillan, 1963. Pp. 386. Australian price 52/‐.

CAMBODIA AND NEUTRALITY. Michael Leifer. 1962. Pp. 51.

DOCUMENTS ON THE AUGUST 1945 REVOLUTION IN VIETNAM: trans. C. Kiriloff; edit. Rima Rathausky. 1963. Pp. 70.

THE COLOMBO PLAN: SOME POLITICAL ASPECTS. L. P. Singh. 1963. Pp. 57.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE SETTLEMENT OF THE LAOTION QUESTION 1961–62. George Modelski. 1962. Pp. 156.

ARGENTINA. George Pendle. For the Royal Institute of International Affairs. London, Oxford University Press, 1963. Third edition. Pp. xii + 211. Price in Australia 41/6d.

BRITISH GUIANA. Raymond T. Smith. For the Royal Institute of International Affairs. London, Oxford University Press, 1962. Pp. viii + 218. Price in Australia 41/6d.

VENEZUELA. Edwin Lieuwen. For the Royal Institute of International Affairs. London, Oxford University Press, 1961. Pp. x + 193. Price in Australia 41/6d.

EXCESS AND RESTRAINT. Ronald M. Berndt. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1963. $8.95.     

Fragmentation regimes of Canada's forests

Canada is a large nation, approximately 1 billion hectares in size, and until recently, no national assessment of forest fragmentation had been undertaken. To assess national level biodiversity and ecosystem condition, national drivers of forest fragmentation are identified as being either primarily natural (e.g., resulting from wildfires, water features, or topography), or primarily anthropogenic (e.g., resulting from urbanization or roads and associated activities such as forest harvesting and oil and gas exploration). The relative importance of each of these fragmentation drivers within Canada's ten forested ecozones, which occupy approximately 650 million ha, is assessed using ecozone summaries and standard scores. Forest pattern metrics were generated from a Landsat‐derived land cover product and fragmentation drivers were characterized using available national datasets. Through this analysis, we combine and portray the relative importance of forest patches with spatial layers indicative of natural and anthropogenically induced conditions as driving various fragmentation regimes over the forested area of Canada. The forest fragmentation in Canada can be characterized primarily by natural drivers, whereas fragmentation regimes attributable to anthropogenic drivers are typically regionally located and related to industrial activities and access (i.e., roads). We identify three scenarios in our results that characterize forest fragmentation in Canada: ecozones with similar forest patterns but different drivers; ecozones with similar patterns and drivers; and finally, ecozones with both different patterns and different drivers. Our findings indicate that national assessments of forest fragmentation should account for both natural (and inherent) and anthropogenic sources of fragmentation.     

Unsafe drinking water quality in remote Western Australian Aboriginal communities

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is important in the fields of public health and health geography because of its heavy burden on the health system and high cost of treatment in its advanced stages. The causes of CKD are associated with diabetes and hypertension, but in some parts of the world, the disease occurs in the absence of these factors. Researchers identify this condition as CKD of “unknown” causes (CKDu). CKDu is a multi‐factored health problem and one suspected causal factor is contaminated drinking water. The disease occurs globally but is found in particularly high concentrations among people of certain ethnic and disadvantaged social groups living in very different locations around the world. CKD has become endemic in Western Australia where hospital admissions for Aboriginal people requiring renal dialysis or treatment for diabetes are much higher than for the general population. The possible proportions of CKDu cases among the CKD patients are unknown. This study examines the drinking water quality among communities such as these. Water chemistry analysis in these areas indicates that the nitrate and uranium content greatly exceed officially recommended levels. Most of these communities rely on raw groundwater to supply their domestic needs, and it is very likely that the people are unwittingly ingesting high levels of nitrates and uranium, probably including uranyl nitrates. Very few such remote communities have access to treated drinking water, and cost‐effective water treatment systems are required to provide potable water at the local scale.