Botanical Remains from the Baumer Component at Kincaid Mounds

The Baumer construct defines the Early and Middle Woodland periods in the lower Ohio Valley in the confluence region of the Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland Rivers. Originally defined by University of Chicago investigations in the 1930s, Baumer remains a poorly understood cultural unit. This paper reports the botanical and environmental data from Baumer features excavated in recent work at Kincaid Mounds. These data demonstrate a stable plant food regime highlighted by a major emphasis on nut harvests as well as the cultivation of Eastern Complex seed crops. The Kincaid data show that Baumer and related Crab Orchard groups inhabiting large stream floodplains are more strongly committed to horticulture than their relatives living in small interior stream drainages in southern Illinois. Maize was also recovered but it is clearly of Mississippian origin.     

Photographic methods to detect colourants in archaeological textiles

Protocols for photography of archaeological textiles to detect components of differing chemistry that are indicative of colourants were developed. Parameters of light source, camera distance, filter type, film type, film speed, and aperture size were evaluated for visible, UV-reflectance, UV-fluorescence, and infrared photography. Using these techniques facilitates selective sampling for further analysis that maximizes critical data acquisition while minimizing destruction of the artefact. Hence, forensic photography of archaeological perishable materials should be regarded as a precursor to destructive analytical methods.     

REVIEW

In the Realm of the Diamond Queen. By Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing. Princeton N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1993. Pp xvi + 350. Price US$49.95 (hard) $14.95 (soft).     

Exhibiting eugenics: response and resistance to a hidden history

Human Plants, Human Harvest: The Hidden History of California Eugenics is the first-ever exhibition on the history of eugenics in California. The disappearance of this history for half a century, and the consequent absence of a "collective menory", were the primary factors determining the exhibit's sttrcture and content. Responses to the exhibit confirmed that most visitors "never knew" about this history. The exhibit is described in some detail, with selected imagery from the exhibit reproduced. After the initial exhibition, responses of other museums and foundation officials revealed a continuing resistance to this history being publicly displayed, though the sources of resistance varied.     

Land Reform and Farm Restructuring in the Kyrgyz Republic

Two land tenure specialists chronicle initiatives in land reform and farm restructuring in the Kyrgyz Republic from 1991 to the present. A brief review of the legal basis for reforms to date is outlined and compared against progress in land reform and farm restructuring on the ground. Specific attention is devoted to regional variation in progress in farm restructuring, the impact of the reforms on farm size, farm labor requirements, and rural-to-urban migration. 1 figure, 9 tables, 10 references.     

Women's paid work and moral economies of care

Female labour force participation has been increasing in recent decades, in part encouraged by state policies to raise the employment rate to encourage economic competitiveness and combat social exclusion. Social provision for care, however, has lagged behind this increase, creating practical and moral dilemmas for individuals and for society, facing parents with complex choices about how to combine work and care. In this paper, we draw on a qualitative study in London to explore the extent to which the large-scale entry of women into waged work is altering women's understandings of their duties and responsibilities to care for others. We conclude that their decisions are influenced by class position, entrenched gender inequalities in the labour market, varying abilities to pay for care and complex gendered understandings of caring responsibilities.