Combined Pb–Sr isotopic analysis in provenancing late Roman iron raw materials in the territory of Sagalassos (SW Turkey)

In early Roman times, iron was likely supplied to the city of Sagalassos through the smelting of close-by hematite ores. In the early Byzantine period, magnetite–titanite placer sands in some instances could have been exploited for its iron. For the intermediate late Roman period, however, the source of the locally used iron was unknown. Pb and Sr isotopic analyses of iron ores from the area of Camoluk, just south of the territory of Sagalassos, and of late Roman iron artefacts from the antique city itself, reveal a very close resemblance. This makes the use of the Camoluk ores to supply Sagalassos with raw iron in the late Roman period likely. It is also shown that combined Pb and Sr isotopic analyses provides a powerful tool to distinguish chronological groups of iron provenance and a technique that can determine the nature and source of iron raw materials used.     

The Reagan Presidency and the Reagan Experiment

Fred I. Greenstein, ed., The Reagan Presidency: An Early Assessment. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983. Pp. 196. $7.95 softbound. John L. Palmer and Isabel V. Sawhill, eds., The Reagan Experiment: An Examination of Economic and Social Policies under the Reagan Administration. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute Press, 1982. Pp. xvii, 523. $29.95 hardbound; $12.95 softbound.     

New data on the singularly rare ‘cockroachoids’ from Xiaheyan (Pennsylvanian; Ningxia,China)

Wei, D.D., Béthoux, O., Guo, Y.X., Schneider, J.W. & Ren D., 2013. New data on the singularly rare ‘cockroachoids’ from Xiaheyan (Pennsylvanian; Ningxia, China). Alcheringa 37, 547–557. ISSN 0311-5518.

Additional material of stem-Dictyoptera, or ‘cockroachoids’, is described from the Early Pennsylvanian Xiaheyan locality (Zhongwei City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China). New specimens belonging to Qilianiblatta namurensis Zhang et al., 2012 Zhang, Z., Schneider, J.W. & Hong, Y., 2012. The most ancient roach (Blattida): A new genus and species from the earliest Late Carboniferous (Namurian) of China, with discussion on the phylomorphogeny of early blattids. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 11, 27–40.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] are described, as are several specimens belonging to a new species (viz., Kinklidoblatta youhei sp. nov.). Three further specimens might represent additional species, to be better documented before they could be formally named. The occurrence of a ‘vannus’ in forewings of K. youhei sp. nov. is demonstrated, and discussed in the light of data on extant Dictyoptera. The low abundance and comparatively low diversity of the group in the locality is challenging, and might be a consequence of taphonomic bias.

Dandan Wei [weidandanok@126.com], Yinxia Guo [kuaile422@163.com] and Dong Ren [rendong@mail.cnu.edu.cn], College of Life Science, Capital Normal University, 105 Xisanhuanbeilu, Haidian District, Beijing 100048, PR China; Olivier Béthoux [obethoux@mnhn.fr], CR2P UMR 7207, MNHN, UPMC, CNRS, eight rue Buffon, CP38, F-75005, Paris, France; Jörg W. Schneider [joerg.schneider@geo.tu-freiberg.de], Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, Institute of Geology, Department of Palaeontology, Bernhard-von-Cotta Str. 2, D-09596 Freiberg, Germany. Received 22.3.2013; revised 17.5.2013; accepted 23.5.2013.     

The new mimics? Cross-cultural learning in Salvador da Bahia,Brazil

The city of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil attracts considerable numbers of visitors who spend time there in order to participate in local cultural practices, particularly percussion music, capoeira and African–Brazilian dance. This paper investigates the extent of their engagement with those practices and with the wider cultural context. It was found that such participatory cross-cultural learning, adoption and travel can be split into categories and differs markedly from conventional tourism. Theorisations of cultural interaction have frequently concentrated on colonialism or migration, where acculturation is a by-product of political, economic and even military shifts. The concept of “mimicry” as used in postcolonial theory is evoked here and considered in relation to the processes studied. One of the main differences is that the subjects voluntarily expose themselves to a measure of culture shock. Furthermore, the adoption takes place against the predominant global flow of cultural influence from the “West” to the rest. Apart from certain factors which make Bahian culture accessible and attractive, motivating factors for this voluntary movement and orientation are the perception of particular aspects of that culture as “authentic other”, as well as a weakened attachment to place, specifically to Western community and cultural origins.