Edwardian Conservatism and the Constitution: The Thought of Lord Hugh Cecil

This article presents an analysis of the political thought of Lord Hugh Cecil. It argues that in order to understand Cecil's thought it is necessary to emphasize the role of the constitution in his thinking. There are three reasons for this. First, his opposition to Chamberlain's tariff reform campaign was rooted in a view of the detrimental effects the policy would have on politics, evidence for which Cecil saw in the tactics used by the tariff reformers. Second, because his opposition to the Parliament Bill and to the home rule proposals, which lay behind the removal of the house of lords' veto, was similarly rooted in what he saw as the unconstitutional nature of these measures. Third, because Cecil was an active proponent of constitutional reforms that were designed to ensure that the second chamber could still exercise a restraining influence on government and so stand up for the interests of what he saw as the moderate majority of the people.     

Doing Business: Chinese and European Socioeconomic Relations in Early Cooktown

This paper is an historical archaeological examination of the socioeconomic relations of the Chinese and European communities of Cooktown in north Queensland during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It looks at the social landscape and production, exchange and consumption of material culture to show that the Chinese were not a disengaged group, as depicted in conventional understandings of colonial life, but integral to the town’s socioeconomic fabric. This close relationship arose out of a process of negotiation between Chinese and Europeans which responded to the strengths, weaknesses and resources of their individual business networks, and the particular conditions of Cooktown’s frontier environment.     

Palynological and temporal inference in the context of prehistory,with special reference to the evidence from lake and peat deposits

There is an increasing use of palynological data to infer prehistoric agricultural activity. The uncritical acceptance of the technique of pollen analysis by archaeologists and palynologists is questioned. Attention is focussed upon the nature of clearance activity and problems of its inference from pollen spectra; the spatial distribution of palaeoenvironmental sites; and the proximity of such sites to those of prehistoric activity. The resolution apparent in peat and lake sediment pollen profiles together with problems of dating and temporal inference, are examined. In response to a perceived lack of formalization in palynological research, some simple models of clearance activity are presented. The complexity involved in environmental reconstruction is emphasized by reference to the use of supplementary data to augment the orthodox pollen record.     

Cesium magnetometer surveys at a Pithouse Site near Silver City,New Mexico

The La Gila Encantada Site is located on an isolated ridge top north of Silver City, New Mexico in an area defined culturally as the Mimbres Mogollon region. The 180 m × 80 m (14400 m²) sized site was originally recorded as a dense scatter of ceramics, lithics, and ground stone along with a number of surface depressions that appear to represent pithouses. Cesium magnetometer surveys were conducted to identify hearths, pithouse boundaries, and activity areas outside of pithouses in support of archaeological investigations, and to test this instrument's ability to image these features. This paper presents a characterization of the magnetic signature of a pithouse as a magnetic high in the center caused by the central hearth, low magnetic variability along the floor of the house, and then increased magnetic variability at the pithouse boundary. This characterization was successfully confirmed for three pithouses using cesium magnetometery and archaeological excavation.     

Craft Production, Exchange, and Political Power in the Pre-Incaic Andes

This article explores the relationship between craft production, exchange, and power in the pre-Incaic Andes, with a focus on recent archaeological evidence from Chavín, Nasca, Tiwanaku, Wari, and Moche. I argue that craft production and exchange in concert with materialized ideologies played vital roles in the development of political power in the Andes. In later state societies, craft production, exchange, and materialization were critical in maintaining and legitimizing established political power.     

Book reviews

The Regions and the New Europe: Patterns in Core and Periphery Development. Martin Rhodes (Ed.). Manchester and New York Manchester University Press, 1995, xiv + 359 pp, £45.00 hb, ISBN 0 7190 4251 8

Kurswechsel in der Industrie: Lean Production in Baden‐Wurttemberg (Change of Course in Industry). Hans‐Joachim Braczyk and Gerd Schienstock (Eds). Stuttgart, Berlin, Koln: Verlag W. Kohlhammer, 1996, 356pp, DM98.00 (£43.00), ISBN 3 17 014004 3

Regions and Environment in Transition: in Search of New Solutions. Markku Sotarauta and Jarmo Vehmas (Eds). Tampere: University of Tampere, Department of Regional Studies, Research Reports, Series A 16, 1995, 232 pp, 90 FIM, £12.42, ECU15.52, ISBN 951 44 3804 3 (Obtainable from University of Tampere/Sales office, PO Box 617, FIN‐33101 Tampere, Finland, Tel. + 358 31 215 6055, Fax. +358 31 215 7150.)

Postmodern Semiotics: Material Culture and the Forms of Postmodern Life. M. Gottdiener. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1995, 262 pp, £13.99 pb, £45.00 hb, ISBN 0 631 19215 8 pb/O 631 19216 6 hb

Urban Policy in Britain: the City, the State and the Market. Rob Atkinson and Graham Moon. London: Macmillan Press, 1994, 306 pp, £13.50 phi£40.00 hb, ISBN 0 333 56747 1 pb/0333 567463 hb     

The International Air Linkages of Australian Cities, 1985–1996

International air linkages are one of the important features differentiating the development of metropolitan areas, as the location of many activities now requires frequent and diverse international contacts. This paper explores the consequences of this for Australia by tracing the changes in international airline linkages over the past decade. In that time, the geography of the nation's air linkages have shifted in favour of the Asian nations to our north, reflecting the shifts in trade and immigration. Some cities have felt more of that change, with Cairns and Brisbane especially prominent due to their roles as gateways for the tourist industry. However, these shifts have yet to weaken the diversity of contacts in Melbourne and Sydney, indicating that the underlying geography of business still has a strong influence on the international contacts made from each city.     

The Effect of Federal Wilderness on County Growth in the Intermountain Western United States

A consistent theme in the debate over federally-owned wilderness areas in the intermountain western United States is that local economies may be adversely affected by such a designation. Yet empirical evidence of this negative effect is rarely offered. This paper finds, for a sample of 250 nonurban counties in the eight states of the intermountain west, no evidence that the existence of federal wilderness is directly or indirectly associated with either population-density or total-employment-density growth between 1980 and 1990. This empirical finding is based on a disequilibrium model of population and employment growth. Furthermore, much of the economic concern over wilderness designation centers on its perceived effect on resource-based industries. Yet, this study finds no empirical evidence that county-level resource-based employment is adversely affected by the existence of federal wilderness.