Evaluating European Regional Innovation Strategies

In this paper we analyse the degree of achievement of the Regional Innovation Strategy goals. This is an European Union Commission policy oriented toward the promotion of regional Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy design through the involvement of regional stakeholders. We analyse two categories of objectives: those dealing with process participation and those dealing with behavioural change. Our results show that the overall achievement of the goals is meaningful: the former have been achieved in a larger extent than the latter ones. However, other aspects such as multidisciplinary, and the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation system have not been so fruitful.     

From Pleistocene Mariners to Complex Hunter-Gatherers: The Archaeology of the California Channel Islands

California’s Channel Islands were home to some of the most distinctive Native American peoples along the Pacific Coast. Never connected to the mainland during the Quaternary, the Channel Islands have an impoverished terrestrial flora and fauna, but some of the richest and most productive marine environments in the Americas, including diverse kelp forest, intertidal, and offshore marine habitats. Native Americans occupied the Channel Islands for roughly 13,000 calendar years until the early nineteenth century, providing one of the longest and best preserved records of maritime hunter-gatherers in the Americas. We provide an overview and analysis of Channel Islands archaeology, from the relatively mobile peoples who colonized the islands during the Late Pleistocene to the complex hunter-gatherers documented by early Spanish explorers. Our analysis demonstrates the importance of Channel Islands archaeology for enhancing knowledge on a number of broad anthropological issues, including coastal and aquatic adaptations, seafaring, cultural complexity, trade and exchange, and ancient human impacts on the environment.     

The uses of soil stabilizing gel media in the conservation of large and small shipwreck artifacts

The recovery of a marine steam engine, which lay for 113 years in the hull of an iron shipwreck, SS Xantho , presented conservators with a big packing/storage problem.
Collecting large quantities of ceramic sherds and glass fragments from shipwreck sites can lead to a compromise situation developing with regard to storage/packing of these materials. Some damage is likely to occur during transit to the conservation laboratory. Similarly, storing artifacts onboard an expedition work boat presents some risks during unsettled sea conditions.
This paper describes the use of two gel media (normally used for agricultural purposes) with respect to their suitability for providing interim storage environments and protection during travel for large (concreted) and small artifacts. The application of Agrosoke and Erosel during field trials on HMS Pandora (1791), the Foam (1893), SS Xantho (1872) and the H.E.I.C. ship Trial (1622) are described with methods of preparation and use. Problems associated with the use of chemical additives are mentioned though conclusions are not drawn for want of further investigation.     

Marine resource intensification in Viking Age Europe: the molluscan evidence from Quoygrew,Orkney

This paper addresses whether molluscan evidence from Orkney can shed light on the hypothesis that there was a trend towards the intensification of marine resource use at the end of the first millennium AD. The stratified middens of Quoygrew, which date from approximately the 10th to the 13th centuries, are shown to contain predominantly limpets, which may have been used for baiting fish. From metrical data it is shown that these limpets reduce in size through time. In order to test whether this observation is related to intensification in exploitation, analysis of limpet shoreline location was carried out. In addition, age data were used to demonstrate a lowering of average age which suggests intensification in gathering rather than environmental influences, particularly during the 11th–12th centuries at this site.