Pre-flight experiences and migration stories: the accounts of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children

Much work about transnational migration and mobility overlooks the active role of children in such processes and experiences. This paper counters the omission from the literature by exploring the pre-flight experiences and migration stories of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Scotland. In doing so, we demonstrate that unaccompanied minors experience a range of traumatic situations in their countries of origin including, the death or persecution of family members, war, forced recruitment and personal persecution. In their experiences of transnational migration processes, the majority are brought by an agent, with accounts of smuggling and trafficking being minimal.     

Uranium-series dating rock art in East Timor

At many sites throughout the world rock art paintings have been covered by naturally deposited calcite laminations, which we demonstrate can be individually dated by recently improved uranium-series methods. Here we report the application of multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to measure the ages for carbonate coatings that bracket red pigment at Lene Hara cave, East Timor, which could be evidence of human painting. These analyses establish the feasibility of dating milligram samples of finely layered calcite deposits associated with archaeological evidence of human occupation. In addition to confirming an age of less then 6300 years for the visible red paintings on the carbonate surface we also report a substantially older age of 24,000 to 29,300 years for a similar, older red pigment lamination providing possible evidence for an earlier painting episode.     

Greenberg’s self-negation

ABSTRACT

This article explores Clement Greenberg’s idea that abstraction is a form of negation in the context of mid-twentieth century homophobia and Jewish self-hatred. Greenberg presents both as a denial of the self, and so aligns the negation involved in abstraction with the self-liquidation necessary for economic progress in capitalism.     

Stable isotope analysis of 14 individuals from the Mesolithic cemetery of Vasilyevka II,Dnieper Rapids region,Ukraine

Bone collagen extracted from 14 humans from the Mesolithic cemetery of Vasilyevka II was analysed for their δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N ratios. This cemetery is one of only two later Mesolithic cemeteries from the Dnieper Rapids region, being dated to 7300–6220 cal BC on the basis of three radiocarbon determinations. This analysis provides insights into the nature of the diet of the Dnieper populations at the very end of the Mesolithic period, prior to the adoption of pottery in the region, and the assumed shift towards the exploitation of domesticates in the economies of the populations of the Dnieper region, and considers these in relation to broader temporal indicators of diet in the region.     

Trace Metal Distribution Within Marine and Estuarine Sediments of Western Moreton Bay,Queensland, Australia: Relation to Land Use and Setting

This broad‐scale investigation provides an overview of trace metal concentration and distribution within sediments in the subtropical setting of Moreton Bay on the eastern Australian coast. Samples of sediment in one‐metre long PVC cores were collected from the intertidal zone of the western shoreline of the Bay and within its main estuaries. The material is typically silty sand along the Bay shoreline, becoming more clayey within the estuaries. Downcore pH is typically between 7.0 and 8.0, with layers in some cores of pH 6.0 to 7.0. Locally, pH can fall below 5.0 due to pyrite oxidation or exceed 8.0 due to the presence of shell fragments. A comparison with results of similar studies in other highly populated centres in Australia shows that overall the Moreton Bay area sediments have relatively low metal content. Typically, concentrations are two to three times higher in fine‐grained, estuarine sediments than in sandy material along the Bay shoreline. Compared with Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council Guidelines for metal concentrations in sediments, the elements most commonly elevated and warranting further assessment are Ni, Hg, Pb, Zn, and occasionally Cd, As and Cr. The highest metal concentrations are found in estuaries, close to more populated or industrialised areas, notably along the Brisbane River. Overall, the distribution of metals in unconsolidated material is controlled by (a) the heavy metal affinity for Fe‐ and Mn‐rich oxidised sediments, (b) grain size, (c) background concentrations in local rocks, and (d) conditions of weathering and deposition. For example, natural elevation of Fe occurs in marine sediments adjacent to areas of Tertiary basalts and this has produced a relative increase in a number of trace metals in those sediments. Typically, trace metals correlate well with Al, and with Fe and Mn oxyhydroxides. The results of this study show that in the western Moreton Bay region, natural controls have the major influence over metal distribution; although urban and industrial inputs exist, for much of the area they are secondary. The main sources of introduced trace metals are presumed to be light industry (such as maritime and port facilities, petroleum refineries and storage, manufacturing and chemical processes), landfills, agriculture and intensive fertilising (for example, golf courses) as well as the composite effect of urban centres. Overall, higher concentrations of metals are closely related to intense development. If specific locations are targeted for focussed sampling, elevated concentrations of metals are likely to be found locally.