Ethnography In/Of/As Open Systems1

Afton, Jean, David Fridtjof Halaas and Andrew E. Masich. Cheyenne Dog Soldiers: A Ledgerbook History of Coups and Combat. Niwot: The University Press of Colorado, 1987. xxxii + 400 pp. including illustrations, appendices, notes, glossary, bibliography and index. $49.95 cloth.

Berlo, Janet C., ed. Plains Indian Drawings, 1865–1935: Pages from a Visual History. New York: Henry N. Abrams, 1997. 240 pp. including illustrations, bibliography and index. $60 cloth.     

Wheat in ancient Korea: a size comparison of carbonized kernels

Archaeobotanical research over the past decades has revealed that bread wheat of a compact form, called “Ezo wheat” in Japan, was present in the Far East Asian region (Primorye in the Russian Far East, the Korean peninsula, and the Japanese archipelago) during the early stage of wheat cultivation. In response to the previous observations, carbonized wheat grains from the sites in the southern part of the Korean peninsula were measured and their sizes were compared across these sites and with other sites in East Asia. The examination indicates that grains dated over the period of AD 100–600 were considerably smaller than the modern specimens but were plumper than the previously reported Ezo wheat. The new data sets suggest that wheat with plumper kernels was introduced to the region no later than the Three-Kingdoms period (ca. AD 300–668) and continued to be cultivated until the Joseon period (1392–1910).     

Slag as evidence for early iron production in arctic Norway

Physical, structural and chemical analyses were made on slag remains obtained from three sites in Iron Age arctic Norway. Scanning electron microscopy and x‐ray microanalysis were employed to confirm that the slag can only be a result of iron production. Although a distinction between slag produced by smithing and smelting proved difficult, consideration of the processes and the resources available support the assumption that both were practiced at the sites. The results provide firm evidence of iron production in the region of Norway north of the 69th parallel, by at least the sixth century AD.     

Towards an ‘optics of power’: technologies of surveillance and discipline and case-loading midwifery practice in New Zealand

Midwives in New Zealand achieved professional autonomy in 1990 with an amendment to the Nurses Act 1977. Predicated on a natural approach to childbirth it was envisaged that midwifery would counter the trend of increasing medicalisation of childbirth. Some 20 years later, we continue to be concerned by increasing rates of intervention in childbirth including caesarean section operations. Midwifery practice is no longer supervised in a hierarchical arrangement with the obstetrician at its peak, however, we suggest that new and more subtle disciplinary mechanisms have come to the fore post-1990. Drawing on Foucault's concepts of the ‘medical gaze’ and the ‘panopticon’ we describe the ways in which midwifery practice (and through them the bodies of childbearing women) continues to be disciplined to conform to obstetric norms.     

Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis cases found in Joseon Dynasty Human Sample Collection of Korea

Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is a disorder showing hyperostosis of the spinal column and ossification of extraspinal ligaments or tendons. The prevalence of DISH has been found to be higher in historic peoples of the upper‐ and ruling classes, and in fact was closely correlative with nutritional and high‐caloric diets. DISH is also known to be a function of genetic factors; as such, there have been very few cases of DISH found among the specimens of Asian skeletal collections. In our osteoarchaeological study on the Joseon Dynasty Human Sample Collection (JDHSC), we found four DISH instances among the 96 cases (4.17%) we examined. This prevalence is not so different from those discovered in already‐published studies on collections in Europe and other regions. However, as already stated, it must be considered that most of the JDHSC individuals we examined were remains of people from the highest social classes of 16th–18th century Joseon society. Therefore, when collections from medieval European monastic sites, the appropriate control from well‐fed populations, were used for comparison, the prevalence of DISH was found to be far lower among the JDHSC. Reports on DISH from examinations of collections in Asian countries have been spotty, leaving gaps in the social‐strata spectrum. Further researches into the prevalence of DISH among the different social strata of ancient or medieval Asian peoples are still required. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Popular consent and foreign policy choices: war against the Philippines and covert action in Chile

It is usually assumed that US policy makers need to generate popular consent in order to undertake regime change against another state. This article explores the ways in which contextual factors such as the joint democracy effect, popular values and public moods influenced efforts by elites in the United States to generate popular consent for regime change in the Philippines and Chile. Against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, the United States undertook covert action in Chile due to public recognition of the target state's democratic credentials and a public mood opposed to further military ventures. In contrast, the absence of a strong joint democracy effect, a national mood infused with romantic nationalism qua militarism and social Darwinism facilitated efforts by US elites to generate consent for the invasion and occupation of the Philippines. Subsequently, this article contributes to understandings of the domestic-level factors that influence foreign policy decisions.