ROCK PHYSICS AND THE NEOLITHIC AXE TRADE IN GREAT BRITAIN*

This paper is concerned with the products of a number of Neolithic quarries in highland Britain. It investigates the claim that the scale of axe distribution was partly the result of social factors which resulted in these artefacts gaining an added value in areas remote from their sources. One case study considers the sequence of production in Cumbria, in relation to the tensile strength of the rock quarried in different parts of the region. It shows that these considerations had only a limited influence over the choice of stone source and the scale on which it was worked. A second study compares the tensile strength of the main raw materials used for making non-flint axes with the extent to which these sources were actually exploited. Again there is only a limited relationship between the two, suggesting that social factors may indeed have been important.     

Analysis of the Gulf of Mexico’s Veracruz-Havana Route of La Flota de la Nueva España

During colonial times, an active maritime trade existed between Spain and the New World, with convoys sailing annually to and from Mexico and returning via Havana, Cuba, after wintering in America. A database constructed from secondary and open sources revealed that Spanish vessels were sailing over open waters along a northern path near Louisiana and a southern path across the central Gulf of Mexico. These routes were traversed in about one month and scheduling for the convoy was based on an understanding of the Americas’ meteorological and oceanographic climate. However, other factors may also have been involved in the directional layout of the routes. Today these ancient routes crisscross planning areas for oil and gas lease sales in the US Exclusive Economic Zone and the information presented in this article may aid in identifying areas where historic shipwrecks may lie. Maps and documents found during this study helped piece together the evolution of our understanding of the Gulf of Mexico surface circulation and how this knowledge influenced sailing during colonial times.     

The survival of PCR-amplifiable DNA in cow leather

We have investigated the survival of PCR-amplifiable mitochondrial and nuclear DNA in a small number of modern and medieval bovine leather samples. The results of this preliminary investigation demonstrate that, while no nuclear DNA can be PCR-amplified from any of the specimens, mitochondrial DNA can be amplified from all samples. To investigate this contrasting pattern of DNA survival further, we have vegetable-tanned cow skin in our own laboratory, and directly assayed the survival of PCR-amplifiable mitochondrial and nuclear DNA at each step of the process. The results indicate that nuclear DNA is reduced to sub-amplifiable levels as a result of the tanning baths, whereas amplifiable mitochondrial DNA survives the complete process. Our results suggest that old and archaeological bovine leather may represent a useful source of genetic information, although this information will most likely be limited to that which can be gained from mitochondrial DNA.     

Urban Planning System in Contemporary Spain

This work analyses the main Spanish legislative and urban planning instruments, highlighting some of the most important structural problems of the current Spanish urban realities. The survey on legislation runs from the first Land Use Act of 1956 to the decentralization of the administration and the culmination of the transfer processes to the respective Spanish regions. Later, we study the complete well-structured hierarchy of urban planning instruments in use at present. Finally, we analyse how these and other factors have an influence on the capacity to control housing prices and on a lack of sustainability characterized by the excessive urbanizing use of the land.     

The governance bank

While the cancellation of a number of high‐profile loans because of corruption concerns has made headline news, the World Bank's principal approach to poorly governed countries is lending in order to support reforms. Although designed to be an apolitical technocratic development financier, increasingly the Bank has focused its attention and resources on promoting good governance in its borrowers. Bank lawyers and presidents have attempted to hive of apolitical aspects of governance by arguing a distinction between the rule of law and the political character of government, but this distinction is illusory. The Bank's inability to address the political embeddedness of poor governance in neo‐patrimonial governments skews risk assessments and impedes the formation of effective strategies. Reform of the charter would not eliminate the Bank's bureaucratic and political constraints.