"SCENOPHOBIA", GEOGRAPHY AND THE AESTHETIC POLITICS OF LANDSCAPE

Recent critiques of the nature–culture dualism, influenced by diverse theoretical stances, have effectively destabilized the “naturalness” of nature and highlighted its pervasive and intricate sociality. Yet the practical, ethical and political effects of this theoretical turn are open to question. In particular, the emphasis on the sociality of nature has not led to reinvigorated environmental or landscape politics. Meanwhile, the need for such politics has if anything increased, as evident when ongoing and, arguably, accelerating landscape transformations are taken into account. These concerns are illustrated in the paper with an example from Iceland. In its uninhabited central highland, serious battles are now being fought over landscape values. Capital and state have joined forces in an investment‐driven scramble for hydropower and geothermal resources to facilitate heavy industry, irrevocably transforming landscapes in the process. Dissonant voices arguing for caution and conservation have been sidelined or silenced by the power(ful) alliance. The author argues for renewed attention to the aesthetic, including the visual, if responsible politics of landscape are to be achieved. Aesthetic appreciation is an important part of the everyday experiences of most people. Yet, enthusiastic as they have been in deconstructing conventional narratives of nature, geographers have been rather timid when it comes to analysing aesthetic values of landscape and their significance, let alone in suggesting progressive landscape politics. A political geography of landscape is needed which takes aesthetics seriously, and which acknowledges the merit of engagement and enchantment.     

Dental wash: a problematic method for extracting microfossils from teeth

A variety of microfossils, originating from plant foods, become trapped in the dental calculus matrix. Processing of dental calculus allows extraction of these microfossils. The resulting data can be used to reconstruct diet at the individual and population levels as the identification of microfossils like starch grains and phytoliths to the generic level, and sometimes to the species level, is possible. However, in some archaeological sites, dental calculus deposits do not preserve well enough to be processed. To prevent the loss of information in such cases, we present a technique, called “dental wash”. It permits extracting microfossils from cryptic dental calculus deposits. In the two experimental archaeological cases presented herein we identified phytoliths, starch grains as well as a diatom fragment with this method, whereas in a control sample no microfossils were found. Moderate damage to the teeth was detected when they were already friable due to poor preservation. Minor damage to the surface of well-preserved teeth was observed. This indicates that the proposed method is efficient in recovering microfossils, but unacceptable because of damage to teeth. If the method can be refined, it will expand the potential of dental calculus analysis to a greater range of archeological sites.     

The Preservation and Interpretation of δ34S Values in Charred Archaeobotanical Remains

The measurement of sulphur isotope (δ³⁴S) values in charred plant remains has the potential to inform understanding of the spatial configuration and ecology of crop production. We investigated the effects of charring, manuring, oxidation and anaerobic soil conditions on modern cereal grain/pulse seed δ³⁴S values, and assessed the effect of chemical pre‐treatment on charred modern and archaeobotanical grain/seed δ³⁴S values. We used these results to interpret δ³⁴S values in archaeobotanical material from Neolithic Çatalhöyük. Our results suggest that δ³⁴S values can be reliably preserved in charred grain/seeds but are subject to influence by anaerobic soil conditions, the effect depending on the timing of flooding in relation to S assimilation.