Economic Geographic Relations in the Post-Soviet Republics

A senior American economic geographer examines a broad array of geographical factors affecting economic relations among the Soviet successor states (particularly Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan) and relations among their constituent regions. Special attention is devoted to legacies of unequal resource endowment and infrastructure development from the Soviet period (e.g., monopolization and spatial concentration of production capacity, “trunklining” of distribution nets) and other factors perpetuating dependency relationships in post-Soviet economic space. 3 tables, 66 references.     

Oxygen isotope analysis of California mussel shells: seasonality and human sedentism at an 8,200-year-old shell midden on Santa Rosa Island,California

To evaluate coastal settlement and land use strategies among maritime hunter-gatherers, we analyzed oxygen isotope (δ¹⁸O) data from 131 marine carbonate samples from 21 California mussel (Mytilus californianus) shells obtained from a large ～8,200-year-old shell midden (CA-SRI-666) on California’s Santa Rosa Island. Seasonal distributions of the isotopic data were assigned using a paleo-sea surface temperature model created by comparing modern sea surface temperatures (SST) to a fully profiled ～8,200-year-old shell. For 20 additional shells, we used two sampling strategies to compare season-of-harvest inferences and explore whether the Early Holocene site occupants were sedentary. Estimated season-of-harvest differed by 35 % between the two sampling methods, corroborating recent isotope analysis of an 8,800-year-old shell midden on San Miguel Island. Shellfish appear to have been collected year-round at CA-SRI-666 from intertidal or subtidal water temperatures similar to modern SST in the vicinity of eastern Santa Rosa Island. The isotope results are consistent with other evidence from CA-SRI-666 that suggest that the site served as a residential base for relatively sedentary maritime people.     

PANEL ON NATIONALISM IN THE USSR: ENVIRONMENTAL AND TERRITORIAL ASPECTS

A panel of geographers, demographers, and political scientists discusses a broad range of issues related to the resurgence of nationalism in the USSR and its relationship to environmental protest and territorial disputes: the emergence of nationality politics; differential rates of nationality population growth and urbanization; various conceptions of (and levels of autonomy within) ethnic homelands; the spatial pattern of actual and potential territorial claims; linkages between environmentalism and nationalism (with an emphasis on the Baltic and Central Asian republics); parallels and differences between the USSR and other countries; and consequences of efforts to implement republic-level economic autonomy and khozraschet.     

Gender,Retail Employment and the Clothing Commodity Chain

This article analyzes the conditions of employment in fashion retailing, arguing that fashion retailing constitutes a distinct sector of retailing. The fashion commodity chain is characterized by a unique spatiality and temporality and as a result, female retail workers share much in common with women situated at production, advertising and consumption sites in the chain. Given that many of the issues women confront at different sites are similar, the sector is amenable to organizing across the chain.     

Postclassic Maya slips and paints and their relationship to socio-political groups in El Petén,Guatemala

LA-ICP-MS analysis of the chemical composition of the exterior slips and red and black pigments used for painted decoration of the three Postclassic Maya slipped ceramic wares suggests that the Itzá and Kowoj used different pigments for exterior slips and decorative motifs. Additionally, different slips and paints were used depending on vessel form and decorative program (red, black, or red-and-black painting or incising). When examined with previous ceramic paste chemical analyses, the data aid in better understanding the changing socio-political alliances and dominance relations in central Petén at the eve of Spanish contact.