Lagos leprosarium (Portugal): evidences of disease

In 2009, an archaeological intervention in the Valle da Gafaria (Lagos, Portugal) allowed the excavation of part of a leprosarium and an associated necropolis (15th–17th centuries). The individuals recovered were buried directly in the soil, in positions and orientations discordant to the prevailing Christian rules. The sample is made up of eleven adult individuals of both sexes.     

Inferences from the human skeletal material of the Early Iron Age cemetery at Agios Dimitrios,Fthiotis, Central Greece

The Geometric cemetery of Agios Dimitrios (850–740 B.C.) yielded a human osteological sample, with an MNI of 51 and equal numbers of males and females and adults and subadults. This site is of significant archaeological importance, as it provides information on human health status, diet, and activity patterns as well as mortuary behavior for a little studied time period. The results, including a) stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic data suggesting a C₃ low-protein plant diet, b) relatively high infant mortality, c) low stature estimates, d) significant prevalence of possible anemic conditions, and e) high dental infection and loss rates, all point to a rapidly increasing, stressed, and relatively malnourished population which did not exploit nearby marine resources, experienced suboptimal living conditions, and could not reach its biological potential. Furthermore, the study of this group provides evidence of equal burial treatment of all age and sex categories, no dietary differences in terms of sex and status, and no sex differentiation in pathological conditions.     

The role of arsenic in Chalcolithic copper artefacts – insights from Vila Nova de São Pedro (Portugal)

The Castro of Vila Nova de São Pedro (VNSP) is an emblematic settlement located at Azambuja, Portuguese Estremadura. It was occupied during the third and second millennia BC, predominantly during the Chalcolithic period. A diversified collection of 53 copper-based artefacts (most part in a fragmentary condition), belonging to an extensive metallic collection recovered during excavations carried out in VNSP, was studied using micro-EDXRF spectrometry, optical microscopy and SEM-EDS. Additionally, Vickers microhardness measurements were performed to establish the effectiveness of the thermomechanical treatment in the hardness of the artefacts. Results show that the Largo do Carmo, artefact collection is mainly composed of copper or arsenical copper, being 37% of the artefacts made of copper alloyed with arsenic (As > 2%). A statistically significant association was found between copper alloyed with arsenic and artefacts classified as tools/weapons (arrowheads, daggers and knives). In several cases, the presence of arsenic rich phases in the microstructure, resulting from an inverse segregation phenomenon, shows no evidence of chemical homogeneity control during the artefact manufacture. Microstructural analyses also show that the majority of this group (73%) was shaped with forging plus annealing operation cycles and 23% of the artefacts received a final cold hammering after the forging and annealing. An association between the presence of a final forging treatment and artefacts presenting higher arsenic contents was also identified. Nevertheless, no direct correlation was found between the arsenic content of the alloy and its hardness. Also no direct correlation was found between the hardness and a final forging operation. However, it was observed that a harder forging was applied to the cutting edge of the artefacts and consequently a high hardness in this area was obtained despite the arsenic content of the alloy. Concerning arsenical copper alloys, all evidences point out that the potential for obtaining a harder material was not recognized by the ancient metallurgists and the selection of the alloy was possibly made based on colour.     

Chronicle

Concepts in the history of cartography, a review and a perspective. By M. J. Blakemore and J. B. Harley. Cartographica, volume 17, number 4, winter 1980, monograph 26. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1980. Pp. 120.

Understanding maps: a systematic history of their use and development. By A. G. Hodgkiss. Folkestone: Dawson, 1981. Pp. 209.

La carte, image des civilizations. By George Kish. Paris: Seuil. Pp. 287.

Cartes et figures de la terre. Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou, 1980. Pp. 480.

The mapmakers. Byjohn Noble Wilford. London: Junction Books, 1981. Pp. xi+169.

Papers of the Nordenskiöld seminar on the history of cartography and the maintenance of cartographic archives, Espoo (Finland), September 12–15, 1979. Edited by Kerkko Hakulinen and Arvo Peltonen. Helsinki: Nordenskiöld‐samfundet, 1981. Pp. 246.

Looking at old maps. By John Booth. Westbury, Wiltshire: Cambridge House Books, 1979. Pp. xiii + 167.

The map librarian in the modem world: essays in honour of Walter W. Ristow. Edited by Helen Wallis and Lothar Zögner. Presented by the IFLA Section of Geography and Map Libraries. München, New York, London, Paris: K. G. Saur, 1979. Pp. 295.

Somerset maps: Day &; Masters 1782, Greenwood 1822. Introduction by J. B. Harley and R. W. Dunning. Taunton: Somerset Record Society, 1981. Pp. 37 with facsimiles in 15 sheets.

The ‘Rhinebeck’ panorama of London. Introduction by Ralph Hyde. London: London Topographical Society, Publication No. 125, 1981. Pp. 6, pl. 4.

A history of the Ordnance Survey. Edited by W. A. Seymour. Folkestone: Dawson, 1980. Pp. 359.

Wall‐maps of the 16th and 17th centuries. 3: The world map of 1611 by Pieter van den Keere. Edited by Gunther Schilder and James Welu. Amsterdam: Nico Israel, 1980. Pp. 25, pl. 12.

Johann Baptista Homann, die Homännischen Erben, Matthäus Seutter und ihre Landkarten. Beiträge zur Geschichte der Kartographie. By C. Sandler. Amsterdam: Meridian Publishing, 1979. Pp. 152.

Alte Pläne von Stadt und Festung Saarlouis. By Fritz Hellwig. Saarbrücken: Saarbrücker Druckerei und Verlag, 1980. Pp. xxxix + 120.

Monumenta cartografica. Dudavar Eröditési Térképe 1749. Budapest: Zrinye Katonai Kiadó, 1980. Pp. 10.

Atlanti Napoletani del diciannovesimo secolo. By Vladimiro Valerio. Naples: Luigi Regina, 1980. Pp. 114.

Chung‐kuo ti‐t'u‐hsueh shih [History of cartography of China]. By Ch'en Cheng‐siang. Hong Kong: Shang‐wu Yin‐shu Kuan, 1979. Pp. 96.

Indianische Karlen Nordamerikas: Beiträge zur historischen Kartographie vom 16. bis zum 19. Jahrhundert. By Rainer Vollmar. Berlin: Deitrich Reimer Verlag, 1981. Pp. 179.

Fire insurance maps in the Library of Congress. Plans of North American cities and towns produced by the Sanbom Map Company. A checklist compiled by the Reference and Bibliography Section, Geography and Map Division. Washington: Library of Congress, 1981. Pp. xiv + 773.

The cartography of Northern Virginia: facsimile reproductions of maps dating from 1608 to 1915. Selected and introduced by Richard W. Stephenson. Fairfax County, Virginia: Office of Comprehensive Planning, 1981. Pp. 144.

The Northpart of America. By Coolie Verner and Basil Stuart‐Stubbs. Toronto: Academic Press Canada Limited, 1979. Pp. xi + 292.

The maps of Canada: a guide to official Canadian maps, charts, atlases and gazetteers. By N. L. Nicholson and L. M. Sebert. Folkestone: Dawson; Hamden, Conn. : Archon, 1981. Pp. x + 251.

Das Geheimnis des Drachenschwanzes. Die Kenntnis Amerikas vor Kolumbus. By Paul Gallez. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1980. Pp. 184.     

On children's independent mobility: the interplay of demographic,environmental, and psychosocial factors

In the past 50 years, a marked reduction has occurred in European and North American children's freedom of movement and outdoor play. Using a structural equation model, the present study investigates the interaction between personal, environmental, and psychosocial factors that affect children's independent mobility. The study involved 313 mothers of 8–10-year-old Italian children. The results supported the hypothesized model: the age of the child, the maternal perception of social danger, and positive potentiality of outdoor autonomy were the most influential variables on children's independent mobility, measured as an index. Further, the maternal perceptions mediated the influence of the other demographic, psychosocial, and environmental variables on independent mobility.     

A review of Australasian ichthyosaurs

Ichthyosaur fossils have been recorded from four landmasses in the Australasian region—Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Timor—and occur in all three systems of the Mesozoic. Most of the remains are non-diagnostic, but at least three genera have been identified: Mixosaurus, from the Middle Triassic of Timor; Shonisaurus, from the Upper Triassic of New Caledonia; and Platypterygius, from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia and New Zealand. Of these, Platypterygius contains the only material that can be diagnosed to species level. However, current taxonomy of the specimens is controversial, with two synonyms, P. australis and P. longmani, persisting in the literature. An examination of cranial traits in the ‘quasi-holotype’ of P. australis vs P. longmani demonstrates that they represent the same taxon. Thus, P. longmani should be regarded as the junior synonym. A neotype is also here designated for P. australis to replace the original, which is presumed lost.     

Book reviews

RODERICK STACKELBERG. Idealism Debased: From Völkisch Ideology to National Socialism. Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University Press, 1981. Pp. XIII, 202, 3 plates. $18 (US). Reviewed by Lawrence D. Stokes

JEROME CH'EN. China and the West: Society and Culture 1815–1937. Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press. Pp. 488. $25.90 (Can.) Reviewed by David P. Barrett

FREDERICK W. MARKS ill. Velvet on Iron: The Diplomacy of Theodore Roosevelt. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1979. Pp. xiv, 247. $15.00 (US). Reviewed by Raymond A. Esthus

CRAIG L. SYMONDS. Navalists and Antinavalists: The Naval Policy Debate in the United States, 1785–1827. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1980. Pp. 252. $17.50 (US). Reviewed by Reginald C. Stuart

BERNARD RANSOM, Connolly's Marxism, London: Pluto, 1980. Pp. 126. Reviewed by Desmond Bowen

THOMAS A. BAILEY and PAUL B. RYAN, Hitler vs. Roosevelt: The Undeclared War. London: Collier Macmillan, 1979. Pp. 302. £7.45. Reviewed by Ronald W. Pruessen

M.A. HICKS, False, Fleeting, Perjur'd Clarence; George, Duke of Clarence, 1449–1478. Gloucester: Alan Sutton, and Atlantic Highlands, NJ. Humanities Press, 1980. Pp. 270. $22.00 (US). Reviewed by Robert Tittler

MURIEL ATKIN, Russia and Iran, 1780–1828. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1980. Pp. xii, 216. $20 (US). Reviewed by M.E. Yapp

J.K. FEDOROWICZ. England's Baltic Trade in the Early Seventeenth Century: A Study in Anglo-Polish Commerical Diplomacy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980. Pp. XIII, 334. $35 (US). Reviewed by David S. Macmillan

MICHAEL CROWDER. Colonial West Africa: Collected Essays. London: Frank Cass, 1978. Pp. 341. $28.50 (US). Reviewed by John Flint

PETER GRAF KIELMANSEGG. Deutschland und der erste Weltkrieg. 2. Auflage. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1980. Pp. XI, 755. Reviewed by Henry Cord Meyer

PIOTR S. WANDYCZ. The United States and Poland. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Pp. XVI, 465. $28.50 (US). Reviewed by Stanislaw Bobr-Tylingo

FREDERICK COOPER. From Slaves to Squatters: Plantation Labor and Agriculture in Zanzibar and Colonial Kenya, 1890–7925. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980. Pp. xi, 328. $25 (US). Reviewed by Mike Mason

DONALD E. QUELLER. Medieval Diplomacy and the Fourth Crusade. London: Variorum Reprints, 1980. Pp. 322. £22. Reviewed by Bernice M. Kacznski

CHRISTINE MOSS HELMS. The Cohesion of Saudi Arabia: Evolution of Political Identity. London: Croom Helm, &; Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981. Pp. 313. $25.00 (US). Reviewed by Ray L. Cleveland

CHRISTOPHER H.D. HOWARD, editor. The Diary of Edward Goschen, 1900–1914. London: Royal Historical Society (Camden Fourth Series, Vol. 25), 1980. Pp. xn, 315. £10. Reviewed by Briton C. Busch     

Urban Planning in Italy: The Future of Urban General Plan and Governance

This article aims to highlight and, whenever possible, demonstrate that the urban general plan is still the instrument of the utmost importance to trigger and steer urban transformations. Within the current Italian context, the article examines the characteristics, contradictions, weaknesses and opportunities of urban planning set of rules and practices and tries to propose concrete answers to questions and issues strictly connected that affect the municipality's urban planning: how to manage and govern a contemporary metropolis or city agglomeration, the concerns associated with overlapping jurisdictions and different rules for various hierarchical administrative levels, the costs of social and common services, the need to include in the urban plan the possible use of European Union Structural Funds, the real estate market affecting new development and urban regeneration programmes and investments. All these aspects should be included in a unifying and strong planning instrument, the urban plan, which could address and steer effectively the urban planning policies and their governance.