The Congressional Committee Intelligence System: Information,Oversight, and Change

Data from a study of top staffers on congressional committees indicate that Congress is rich in sources of information about the executive branch, and that it exploits these sources surprisingly well. An observer of the contemporary Congress can read Max Weber's classic essay on "bureaucracy" with minimum alarm. Weber's bureaucracy had an "overtowering" position relative to its nominal political masters because of its continuity, expertise, and ability to guard information (secrecy). U.S. congressional committees have built a formidable counter organization. Committee staffers are not mere "dilettantes" who stand opposite administrative "experts." They have a significant level of experience in the areas covered by the agencies they oversee, and well developed communication networks which give them significant opportunities to push aside any veil covering bureaucratic decisions and activities. Moreover, they indicate a surprisingly active approach to keeping track of agency activities, leading one to question the predominance in the contemporary period of the "fire alarm" approach described in the literature. The article develops reasons why an active information seeking style may be more attractive now than in the past and suggests a connection between environmental changes, changes in information seeking behavior, and changes in other aspects of oversight behavior.     

An Early Islamic Inter-Settlement Agroecosystem in the Coastal Sand of the Yavneh Dunefield,Israel

This study examines the remains of an agricultural complex found in the Yavneh coastal dunefield, central Israel. Known as a plot-and-berm agroecosystem, the complex consisted of earthworks in a crisscross pattern of sand berms and sunken agricultural plots that were used for groundwater harvesting. The plots, which provided easy access to the high groundwater table and the berms around them, are overlaid by a gray sand unit covered by pottery sherds and artifacts. This gray sand is more fertile than the underlying sand, suggesting refuse enrichment. Artifactual similarity of the finds to those of inland (Tel) Yavneh suggests that Yavneh was the main source for the refuse additive. Based on artifacts and OSL ages it seems that this agroecosystem was active during the 10th to early 12th centuries a.d. The agroecosystem demonstrates an early example of an Early Islamic agrotechnological attempt in marginal and sandy regions of the Mediterranean basin.     

Italy in the Aftermath of the First World War

France and Italy at the Paris Peace Conference     

Carto‐bibliography on the Web: Links Combining Text and Image

Wolfgang Scharfe, Abriss der Kartographie Brandenburgs, 1771–1821. Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission zu Berlin, de Gruyter Verlag, vol. 35, 1972. pp. 357, 27 maps, appendix with indexes. DM. 84.

H. Sigurdsson, Kortasaga Islands. Reykjavik, 1971. pp. 278, 69 × 42 cm. $ 55.

N. J. W. Thrower, Maps and man. An éxamination of cartography in relation to culture and civilization. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice Hall, Inc., 1972. pp. vii + 184.

L. Stegena, Maps of Hungary by Lazarus Secretarius. Budapest, the Department of Cartography, Roland Eötvös University, 1971. 5 plates, 63 × 48 cm.

W. P. Cumming, R. A. Skelton, and D. B. Quinn, The discovery of North America. London, Elek Books Ltd., 1971. pp. 304, 362 ill. £ 10.

C. Koeman, Atlantes Neerlandici. Volume 4, Celestial and maritime atlases and pilot books. Amsterdam, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1970. pp. xlvi + 519, with plates.

A. Schäfer and H. Weber, Inventar der handgezeichneten Karten und Pläne zur europäischen Kriegsgeschichte des 16.‐19. Jahrhunderts im Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe. Stuttgart, 1971. pp. 350, 8 illustrations. DM 48.

G. Grosjean and M. Cavelti, 500 Jahre schweizer Landkarten. Zürich, Orell Füssli Verlag, 1971. 30 map‐facsimiles, 48.5 × 50 cm., with text, in slip‐case, Sfr. 260.

Capitão‐de‐fragata Max Justo Guedes, Anônimo ‐ Antônio Sanches, c. 1633. Rio de Janeiro, Biblio‐teca Nacional, 1970. pp. 25, 1 coloured and folded map, 37 × 27 cm., monograph.

J. Cortesão, Historia do Brasil nos velhos mapas. Brazilian Foreign Ministry, 2 vols., 1965–1971.

National Maritime Museum, Catalogue of the Library. Volume 3, Parts 1 and 2, Atlases and cartography. London, H.M.S.O., 1971, 2 vols. pp. 1166. £ 14 (for two parts).

E. W. Gilbert, British pioneers in geography. Newton Abbott, Devon. 1972. pp. 271. £ 3.95.

Wilcomb E. Washburn (Editor), Proceedings of the Vinland Map Conference. Chicago, 1971. ('Studies in the history of discoveries’, Monograph Series of the Society for the History of Discoveries.) pp. xvii + 185, illustrations. $ 10.

C. Sanz, Ciento noventa mapas antiguos del mundo de los siglos 1 al 18 que forman parte del proceso cartografico mundial. Madrid. 1970. pp. 150, 190 plates.     

The chalcolithic period in the Levant

The Levant of the fourth millennium B.C. was scattered with numerous small farming communities. The agricultural activities were based on growing barley, wheat, lentils, and fruit trees. This was accompanied by raising sheep-goats, pigs, and cattle and occasionally using marine resources. The architecture and the thick accumulation of debris loaded with pottery refuse indicate that the sites were sedentary and occupied for long periods. The social organization of these communities does not seem to have been very complex. The evidence argues against the existence of hierarchies and high-status social units that had the power to dominate and permanently regulate production and distribution. The evidence of religious activities also indicates that a priesthood, if it existed, was not dominant in the regulation of social and economic activities. The rapid cultural changes in the Levant during the late fourth and early third millennium were probably caused by the impact of the events in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The local modifications were readjustments to the large-scale changes in the Near East which influenced the rural and provincial Levantine Chalcolithic societies.