HIGH‐RESOLUTION (PIXE) ANALYSES OF CARBONATE DEPOSITS IN A ROMAN AQUEDUCT (FRÉJUS,SE FRANCE): IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STUDY OF PALAEOHYDROLOGICAL VARIABILITY AND WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN SOUTHERN GAUL DURING THE ROMAN PERIOD*

Urban water was supplied to the Roman city of Forum Julii (Fréjus, southeastern France) for at least 200 years by a 39.4 km long aqueduct, operating in ad 50. Two perennial springs were successively collected, the Foux and the Siagnole, located at the outlet of Triassic and Jurassic karstic reservoirs, respectively. In this study, we performed high‐resolution PIXE (Particle‐Induced X‐ray Emission) measurements of Ca, Si, Fe and Sr concentrations on selected cross‐sections of laminated carbonate sampled along the sidewalls, before and after the connection of the two collection channels. Seasonal variations of water composition, suspended sediment load and discharge are recorded by alternating clear and dark layers, and can be traced by their Sr and Fe contents. On the basis of an annual bimodal high‐discharge regime for the two karstic reservoirs, the concentration measurements allow the derivation of a chronological record (117.5 years) of water supply and maintenance activities for a part of the operational period of the aqueduct. The water level in the channel was mainly controlled by the extent of carbonate deposition and by dredging, repair and maintenance operations rather than by the past hydrological regime of the two springs.     

Expertise et Construction de la Valeur Artistique (XIVe–XVe siècle)

Working from a body of Tuscan commission contracts from the 14(th) and 15(th) centuries, this article shows how painting was the object of concrete evaluative practices among professional painters before becoming the subject of discussion for scholars and humanists. This study rests on the legal and economic analysis of clauses of expertise by which painters and commissioners submitted the work to other painters in order to guarantee the proper execution of the contract, thus constituting an essential evaluative measure for the economy of painting.     

Parcs nationaux et populations locales dans l’ouest canadien : de l’exclusion à la participation

Canadian national parks are well‐known for protecting natural areas dedicated to ‘the benefit and the enjoyment of the Canadian people’. The history of national parks illustrates the evolution of a concept of nature from functional conservation, such as tourism, to an environmental conception, based on ecosystem protection and biodiversity preservation. Banff, Waterton Lakes and Wood Buffalo National Parks in Alberta, and Kootenay National Park in British Columbia (four of the fourteen parks established before 1930, the year the National Parks Act was passed) have been chosen for this study in order to understand how national parks have dealt with local communities since the beginning of the national park movement, and how these relationships have changed during the last forty years. Inclusion of local communities and collaborative management processes have been well developed in northern Canadian parks since the mid‐eighties. These practices have been considered successful in this region, but the situation is very different in the southern parks, especially those that were created before 1930. However, things have changed since Aboriginal culture and rights have been recognized in judgements rendered by the Supreme Court of Canada and by the Canadian Constitution. In the four parks chosen for this study, involvement of local communities and the development of their participation have been slow. Round tables and participation in the creation of interpretation sites and exhibits of Aboriginal history can be considered a step toward further cooperation.     

Visual culture in Brazil's First Republic (1889–1930): allegories and elite discourse

ABSTRACT. The research on which the present work is based analyses the ornamentation of the façades of major Brazilian public buildings and investigates how that representation contributed to the construction of a visual national identity during Brazil's First Republic (1889–1930). Two government buildings are discussed: Pedro Ernesto Palace, inaugurated in 1923 to house the municipal chamber of Rio de Janeiro, and Tiradentes Palace, erected in the years 1922–26 to house Brazil's Parliament. The article focuses on the allegorical figures ornamenting these two buildings in order to explore contradictory aspects of the discourse they convey. It will be argued that visual culture, more precisely architecture and architectural sculpture, served the elites of this period as a powerful tool for projecting their values and for preventing contradictions within Brazilian society from emerging in visual terms.     

CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF STUCCOS FROM A MEXICAN COLONIAL BUILDING: EL MUSEO DEL CALENDARIO OF QUERETARO*

Restoration requires the use of appropriate characterization methods and suitable new material preparation processes permit the reproduction of the original material to be as similar as possible in order to be an appropriate application method. The combination of these factors will facilitate a good restoration process. Different stuccos were taken from El Museo del Calendario, a building located in Querétaro, Mexico which was built in the 16th century. All the stucco samples were studied using the characterization process which is proposed in this article. The characterization method consisted of the use of analytical techniques, such as X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared and scanning electron microscopy. This characterization method made reproduction of the original material possible. The new material combined with new application techniques developed in situ will result in a high‐quality restoration process.     

IS THE MACROSCOPIC CLASSIFICATION OF FLINT USEFUL? A PETROARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF FLINT RAW MATERIALS FROM THE IBERIAN NEOLITHIC MINE OF CASA MONTERO*

Casa Montero is a mining complex located outside Madrid (Spain), dated from the Early Neolithic (c. 5400–5000 cal bc ). An area of some 4 ha has been investigated and some 4000 shafts recorded, of which 324 have been excavated. The characterization of its raw flint materials and the establishment of its diagnostic features are indispensable in the reconstruction of the distribution of the mine's products beyond the immediate site. This work reports the geological study of the mine's Miocene flint layers and their petrological characterization. Archaeological samples from the mine's shafts were classified according to macroscopic features and petrological characteristics.