LOCAL CHALLENGES TO GLOBAL AGENDAS: CONSERVATION,ECONOMIC LIBERALIZATION AND THE PASTORALISTS' RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN TANZANIA

Since the mid-1980s, “democratization” and structural adjustment, have been transforming domestic political economies throughout sub-Saharan Africa. In Tanzania, these processes could significantly alter the terrain in the conflict between local land rights and state wildlife conservation. The situation has become increasingly complex as the parties involved - land-holders, state and international conservation agencies - are joined by land rights political organizations, domestic conservation groups and foreign capital. The paper focuses on struggles over land and resource rights, specifically on new forms of grassroots political action which has emerged on the question of wildlife conservation in national parks. At the same time, tourism is expanding with an influx of foreign capital. The paper explores the implications of the interactions between these forces.     

Critical reassessment of putative Acheulean Porosphaera globularis beads

Excavations at Acheulean sites in northern Europe at the end of the 19th century have yielded fossil sponges belonging to the Late Cretaceous species Porosphaera globularis. The spherical morphology of these fossils, their small size, and the presence of a natural complete perforation in their center have led some archaeologists to interpret them as the oldest known beads. Others argue that the presence of these fossils at archaeological sites is due to natural processes. Re-examination of material collected during the 19th century has recently revived the bead interpretation. We tested the bead hypothesis by analyzing 13 samples of Porosphaera from nine sites in Britain and France. We conducted morphometric and microscopic analyses on specimens recovered from archaeological sites (n = 349), a natural geological sample, which was collected directly from Cretaceous strata (n = 352), and a sample from a Bronze Age burial (n = 43). Reappraisal of contextual data shows that the association of these finds with Acheulean artifacts is uncertain. Our results show that archaeological specimens are significantly different in size and perforation pattern from those of the natural geological sample. This may be due to size-sorting caused by sedimentary processes, size-selection by Palaeolithic people or by 19th century collectors. Modifications of the fossils' natural shape were detected on a few specimens in the form of localized abrasions and microchipping along the hole margins. A single specimen displays a facet close to the hole produced by grinding. The surfaces of these features exhibit a hue lighter than that observed on the remainder of the specimens indicating that they may be recent in origin and due to post-excavation and preservation treatment. However, this seems contradicted, for some specimens from Bedford, by the fact that according to Smith, W.G. [1884. On a Palaeolithic floor at North-East London. Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 13, 357–384] the specimens bearing microchipping and abrasions were found by him and “not touched or manipulated by the workmen”. We conclude that new excavations of these sites, involving systematic screening of sediments, are needed in order to attempt to solve the Porosphaera “mystery”.     

Lightening Europe: Establishing the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF)

The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) was the first collaborative synchrotron radiation facility in Europe. This article chronicles and analyzes decisive events during ESRF’s foundation phase from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s and sheds light on the politics that mattered for its realization as a scientific collaboration in Europe. As part of a broader effort to chronicle the history of the ESRF, this article contributes to an enriched understanding of intergovernmental scientific cooperation in Europe in the second half of the twentieth century by drawing on so far unexplored material from the French National Archives and the German National Archive.     

Obsidian hydration dating on the South Coast of Peru

We compare over 230 obsidian hydration readings from 30 individual site components from the Southern Nasca Region (SNR) with independent age estimates based on radiocarbon dates and temporally diagnostic artifacts. Although there are problems with small sample sizes, and readings must be adjusted for elevation, a very strong relationship accounting for nearly 90% of the total variation in the data set is found. This suggests that obsidian hydration dating (OHD) works in the SNR and is a viable means of independently estimating age. Residual values from our regression suggest that hydration age estimates are usually within 15% of the radiocarbon estimates. Finally, we present an equation other scholars can use to estimate age for Quispisisa obsidian in the SNR.     

Circulation as a Visual Practice**

This special issue looks at some of the ways that images are adopted, co-opted, and adapted in the life sciences and beyond. It brings together papers that investigate the role of visualization in scientific knowledge-production with contributions that focus on the distribution and dissemination of knowledge to a broader audience. A commentary provides a critical perspective. In this editorial we introduce circulation as a practice to better understand scientific images. Along two themes, we highlight connections across the papers. First, the social life of scientific representation follows the contexts, settings, and spaces through which images circulate. Second, authorship, expertise, and trust inform the capacity and the failure of images to circulate. Altogether, this volume raises a set of new questions about circulation as practice in the historiography of images in the life sciences.