Lithic Economy and Specialized Activities Among the Iberomaurusian Populations of Tamar Hat Rockshelter (Northeastern Algeria)

Tamar Hat rockshelter (Béjaïa, northeastern Algeria) has yielded a lithic assemblage showing general characteristics of an Iberomaurusian Early Late Stone Age nature. Specific “becs,” which we shall call “becs of Tamar Hat,” appear as an important component of the assemblage in the upper occupations, which occurred at the end of Late Glacial Maximum. These becs, from a technological point of view and especially by their shaping processes, constitute a reliable reference collection, though showing morphological variability resulting in part to the reduction process. The use-wear analysis conducted, based on a microscopic examination validated by experimentation, testifies the becs would have functioned for engraving hard bone, such as those of deer. Other scars observed on the sharp edge and lower face near the active portion of the tool are caused by hafting. Hence, the results of the technological and functional analyses of the becs from Tamar Hat reveal the presence of specialized activities in the upper occupations, related to the animal bone processing. These results are supported by the archaeozoological study, which confirms that the site functioned as a seasonal habitat, where Megacerin deer was exploited in the upper occupations for utilitarian, non-food purposes. The emergence of the use of the becs of Tamar Hat is synchronous with the end of the Upper Paleolithic, prior to the expansion of bec use in the Upper Magdalenian of Europe, where technical and stylistic convergences were observed. This raises the question of the emergence of these lithic implements in North Africa and the possible spread of similar industries elsewhere.     

Competition and Efficiency in a Spatial Setting

In this paper our primary concern is with a spatial model of competing firms in a regional industry. The firms are producing for an extraregional market and are located so as to gain exclusive access to a dispersed raw-material input. After outlining the form of the industry long-run average cost curve, we specify the equilibrium outcome, both for the individual firm and the regional industry. We demonstrate that the industry long-run supply curve does not coincide with the industry long-run average cost curve. We further show that the outcome in the spatial model results from the separation of firms, each firm having its own domain, part or all of which becomes its supply area.     

The Neoclassical Economic Base Multiplier

In this paper we derive an analytical expression for the regional neoclassical economic base marginal employment multiplier. The model that we adopt is a variant of the 1-2-3 general equilibrium model used in trade analysis. Its specific neoclassical characteristics are that laborsupply is a positive function of the real consumption wage and that factor and product demands are price sensitive. We calculate the employment multipliers associated with both a demand and supply stimulus to the basic sector. We demonstrate that it is possible for the marginal economic base multiplier to take any positive or negative value. However, the value of the marginalmultiplier is likely to approximate the value of the conventional average multiplier the closer production and utility functions are to Cobb-Douglas specifications and the more elastic is the labor supply function.     

Substantiating the cohesion of the post-cold war US–Japan alliance

Notwithstanding current disarray, the post-cold war US–Japan alliance has enjoyed its most cohesive status in its history. Japan altered its passive cold war alliance policy and became a more active and equal partner with the United States. Even though there exist many explanations of what has caused this cohesiveness, there is hardly any attempt to substantiate the level of alliance cohesion itself. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate the cohesion of this alliance by employing concrete operational indicators: homogeneity in goals, threat perception, strategic compatibility and command structure. By investigating how these operational indicators have changed over time, the author proves substantially that the post-cold war US–Japan alliance has developed more cohesively.     

Interpretation of archaeological small-scale features in spectral images

The paper's focus is the use of spectral images for the distinction of small archaeological anomalies on the basis of the authors work. Special attention is given to the ground truthing perspective in the discussion of a number of cases from Norway. Different approaches to pattern-recognition are considered in the light of the increasing availability of hyperspectral images that are difficult to analyse using visual inspection alone.