Medieval Britain and Ireland in 2017

This section of the journal comprises two core sets of reports linked to work in 2017: finds and analyses relating to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and site-specific discoveries and reports in medieval Britain and Ireland (MB&I), with a selection of highlighted projects. For the PAS report, reviews on coin and non-coin finds and on specific research angles are presented. For MB&I, the Society is most grateful to all contributors (of field units, museums, universities, developers, specialist groups and individuals) who have provided reports on finds, excavations, field-surveys and building analyses for 2017. For MB&I, see below for the format and content of the Fieldwork Highlights section and for contact details of the compilers. Annual Specialist Groups Reports appear in the Society’s Newsletter.     

A PRACTICAL MODEL FOR SEISMIC ANALYSIS OF REINFORCED CONCRETE SHEAR WALL BUILDINGS

A simple macro-model for reinforced concrete shear walls is proposed, which consists of spring elements representing flexure and shear behaviour. The model for flexural behaviour is based on section analysis, while the model for shear behaviour is based on key parameters of the flexural behaviour. Four wall test specimens are selected to evaluate the reliability of the model. Modelling parameters for the backbone curves and the hysteretic rules are examined by conducting static and time history analyses, with the hysteretic response of a test specimen compared to that calculated using the proposed model. Results show some differences between measured and calculated shear force versus shear distortion relationships, but the model is acceptable because the differences do not significantly affect calculated global response. Parametric studies are also conducted to examine the influence of modelling parameters on seismic demand and capacity, which are the major design parameters for structural performance evaluation. Differences due to variation in modelling parameters are not significant, further indicating that the proposed model is reasonable.     

Sport,Localism and Social Capital in Rural Western Australia

Whilst there has been some research conducted on the role of sport in Australian rural communities, to date there has been little detailed discussion by social scientists and geographers on the association between sport and social capital. This paper identifies elements of social capital, at a community and regional social scale, which have been expressed through the activities and adaptive strategies of twenty‐five sporting clubs from the wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Most of the adaptive strategies are a direct result of the clubs being exposed to the processes of rural restructuring and include amalgamation and the spatial reorganisation of sporting competition locations. The importance of localism in rural communities is also examined through the issues of trust and distrust within a regional hierarchy context. The paper illustrates how sport is not only an important part of rural life but also an activity which plays an integral role in the formation of bonding and bridging social capital.     

Demographic Change,Differential Ageing,and Public Policy in Rural and Regional Australia: A Three‐State Case Study

This paper takes a differential demographic change in six rural settlement categories within rural and regional Australia as the starting point for the measurement of differential ageing using a Relative Ageing Index which compares ageing in sub‐populations with the national norm. The spatial units employed are 412 rural communities, approximated by social catchments each consisting of a country town and its surrounding dispersed population. The study covers the period from 1981 to 2006 and includes the rural areas of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, excluding major cities, peri‐urban areas, and the remote rangelands. It examines demographic change and differential ageing in a selection of the rural settlement categories recommended for further analysis in the report of the ‘Demographic Change and Liveability Panel’, one of three advisory panels established in 2010 by the then Commonwealth Government seeking to develop a sustainable population strategy for Australia. Ageing profiles are produced for the whole study area, for the individual rural settlement categories, and for the urban and rural components within each category separately. Results show that differential ageing is least advanced in the ‘regional cities’, most advanced in the ‘sea change’, but of most concern in the agriculture‐based rural settlement categories where it exacerbates the effects of overall population decline. In all categories, ageing in the dispersed rural population element exceeded that of the urban component. Results emphasise the vital role of the ‘regional cities’ category in future public policy development supported by ameliorative and collaborative measures for their surrounding agriculture‐based communities.     

Angels,Illusions, Hydras,and Chimeras: Violence and Humanity

Gibson, Kathleen R. and Tim Ingold, eds. Tools, Language and Cognition in Human Evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. xii + 483 pp. including index. $69.95 cloth.

Wallman, Joel. Aping Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. xii + 191 pp. including notes, references, and indices. $44.95 cloth, $14.95 paper.     

The UN Arms Trade Treaty: arms export controls,the human security agenda and the lessons of history

The UN conference to negotiate an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) concluded on 27 July 2012 without reaching consensus on the text of a draft treaty and saw both the US and Russia calling for more time to negotiate. The ATT process marks the latest in a series of attempts to insert human security concerns into arms export controls. The setback in July raises questions about the current level of international support for the human security agenda, as well as the relative power of different actors to shape global governance structures. This article locates the ATT negotiations in the broader history of multilateral efforts to regulate the international arms trade, from the 1890 Brussels Act to post‐Cold War initiatives. The historical record shows that such efforts are more likely to succeed if they are negotiated or imposed by major arms exporters. The introduction of human security concerns, as well as the merging of export control and arms control agendas, went some way towards reversing this trend. In particular, it created a broad international coalition of supportive states and NGOs from the global North and South. Yet disagreements over the purpose of an ATT remained. The draft ATT included human security provisions, but China, Russia, the US and a number of emerging powers ensured that state security considerations remained paramount in decision‐making on arms exports. The US was the first major actor to announce its unwillingness to sign the draft ATT in July 2012 and two alternative interpretations of US actions are considered. The article concludes by considering the options available to supporters of the ATT process following the 2012 conference and examines the notion that the ATT campaign has become an initiative ‘out of its time’, one that might have had success in the 1990s but not in current circumstances.