Reviews

THE MODERN WORLD: A HISTORY OF OUR TIME. Vol. I. Gordon Greenwood. Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1963. 791 pp. 63s.

THE COMMONWEALTH AND SUEZ. A DOCUMENTARY SURVEY. Selected, edited and with commentaries by James Eayrs. London, Oxford University Press, 1964. Pp. xxiv + 483. Australian price 95/‐.

THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY. A VOLUME OF READINGS. H. W. Arndt and W. M. Corden (eds.). Melbourne, F. W. Cheshire, 1963. Australian price 30/‐.

POLAND, BRIDGE FOR THE ABYSS? AN INTERPRETATION OF DEVELOPMENTS IN POST‐WAR POLAND. Richard Hiscocks. London, Oxford University Press, 1963. viii, 359 pp. Map. Australian price 65/‐.

NEW NATIONS IN A DIVIDED WORLD. THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF AFRO‐ASIAN STATES. Kurt London (ed.). London, Praeger, 1963. Pp. 350. Sterling 45/‐ (cloth), 16/‐ (paper).

NEW GUINEA'S FIRST NATIONAL ELECTION. Edited by Murray C. Groves. A Symposium reprinted from the Journal of the Polynesian Society, Volume 73, No. 2, June 1964. Price 5/‐ (N.Z.).

RELIGION AND POLITICS IN RURAL CENTRAL JAVA. Robert R. Jay. Cultural Report Series No. 12, Southeast Asia Studies, Yale University. 1963.

GOVERNMENT, POLITICS, AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE IN LAOS. A STUDY OF TRADITION AND INNOVATION. Joel M. Halpern. Monograph Series No. 4. Southeast Asia Studies, Yale University. 1964. Pp. ix + 199, map, 15 tables.

HRAF handbook on Laos (Laos: its people, its society, its culture ed. F. M. LeBar and A. Suddard. HRAF Press, New Haven, 1960) to which Dr Halpern was a contributor.     

Monitoring Saline Discharge Areas: Farrell Flat,a Case Study

By monitoring saline groundwater discharge areas, an indication of the extent of dryland salinisation processes occurring in an area may be determined. Processed remotely sensed data (SPOT MS and aerial photography) has been analysed within a geographic information system database to identify the dynamic relationship between changing vegetation cover and increasing salt levels on a saline groundwater discharge area. Temporal analysis of this database was conducted for a saline discharge area on a wheat/sheep property in South Australia from the period 1966 to 1990. The results provide a directional and quantitative assessment of the change in salt affected areas during the study period. Information of this type benefits land managers at the regional scale by quantifying salinisation trends.     

Changes in the Ice Boundary of the Vestfold Hills,East Antarctica, 1947 to 1990

The position of the ice boundary around the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica (68°30'S, 78°00'E) was observed using a 43 year record of aerial photography from 1947 to 1990. The southern boundary, formed by Sørsdal Glacier, showed two main areas of ice retreat and no areas of advance. Stagnation and retreat of this boundary is interpreted to be contraction to former limits following the Chelnok Glaciation which occurred 7lt; 700 years BP. The eastern or continental ice sheet boundary showed five sites of rapid, localised incision and downwasting around supraglacial gullies. While no area of continental ice was noted to advance, continued accumulation and firnification of wind-drifted snow in the proglacial zone of the ice sheet in the southeastern corner of the hills may signify a locally positive ice mass balance. Until ice mass balance studies are carried out in the ablation zone surrounding the hills, evidence concerning whether the ice sheet boundary is retreating, stable or advancing will remain equivocal.     

IRON IN ANCIENT COPPER

Analysis of early copper-base artifacts invariably reveals traces of iron. Iron enters the copper during the smelting process and the level of iron in the metalwork is an indication of the smelting technology. In areas such as Western Europe where prehistoric slag heaps are absent even in the proximity of undoubted ancient mines, the iron content is low reinforcing the link between smelting technology and iron content. Very occasionally the iron content was deliberately encouraged and alloys containing between 30% and 50% of iron in copper were made, mainly for use in currency. These alloys are without modern parallel and their metallography and method of production are considered in some detail here.