Book reviews

Converging Cultures: Art and Identity in Spanish America. Edited by DIANA FANE. Brooklyn: Brooklyn Museum, 1996. Pp. 320.

New World Orders: Casta Painting and Colonial Latin America. By ILONA KATZEW, Curator. New York: Americas Society Art Gallery, 1996. Pp. 144.

Iglesia, Estado y economía. Sighs XVI al XIX. Edited by MARIA DEL PILAR MARTINEZ LOPEZ‐CANO. Mexico: UNAM/Instituto José María Luis Mora, 1995 Pp. 314.

El crédito a largo plazo en el siglo XVI. Ciudad de México (1550–1620). By MARIA DEL PILAR MARTINEZ LOPEZ‐CANO. Mexico: UNAM, 1995. Pp. 208.

The Darker Side of the Renaissance: Literacy, Territoriality, and Colonization. By WALTER D. MIGNOLO. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1995. Pp. xxii, 426.

Entre la retórica y la insurgencia: las ideas y los movimientos sociales en los Andes, Siglo XVIII. Compilado por CHARLES WALKER. Cuzco: Centra “Bartolomé de Las Casas”, 1996. Pp. 362.

Saberes andinos. Ciencia y tecnología en Bolivia, Ecuador y Perú. Editado por MARCOS CUETO. Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 1995. Pp. 215.     

Radiometric dates and micromorphological evidence for synchronous domestic activity and sheep penning in a Neolithic cave: Cueva de El Toro (Málaga,Antequera, Spain)

We present radiocarbon dates and preliminary micromorphological information from the Neolithic cave site of Cueva del Toro (Antequera, Málaga, Spain). This site has yielded a rich early and late Neolithic archaeological record. The late Neolithic assemblage reflects specialized handcraft activity including in situ ceramic manufacture, textile production, and food processing along with sheep and goat penning, suggesting that the cave occupants and their domestic animals shared the same living space. Until now, dating of the stratigraphic sequence was incomplete, and the function of the combustion activities carried out at the cave remained unclear. New absolute dates from the main late Neolithic domestic activity area, corresponding to the most intense Neolithic occupation of the cave, allow us to place the entire sequence between 5320 and 5170 BP (or 4250–3950 to 2σ Cal BC). Micromorphological results show that many combustion features from this site represent recurrently burnt episodes on sheep/goat stabling deposits all along the sequence, corroborating human-goat/sheep cohabitation. This practice had not been previously documented in southern Spain for such early dates. Our results exemplify the importance of characterizing archaeological deposits at a microstratigraphic scale of observation.     

A Context for Concealment: The Historical Archaeology of Folk Ritual and Superstition in Australia

Are there traditions of folk ritual practice in Australian historical contexts, and are they observable in the archaeological record? Studies from the US and UK have documented a range of practices suggesting the persistence of British and European traditions of folk magic well into the twentieth century and previous historical work has identified numerous examples of ritual concealments in Australian buildings. In examining over 4,500 Australian historical archaeological sources, however, we found very few examples of possible folk ritual practices. This raises the question of why such practices are not being captured by current archaeological recording methods. As counterpoint, a general model is constructed from US, UK and Australian work that raises intriguing possibilities for the situating of superstitious behavior in Australian historical archaeology, including the contexts in which people might be more prone to practise such behaviors and how they might be materially identifiable.     

Producer Services, Economic Geography, and Services Tradability

We investigate how the incorporation of producer services linkages affects the outcome of an economic geography model. We specify the production of manufactures such that a variety of producer services is needed to transform tradable unfinished goods into final consumption goods. We find that service linkages promote the concentration of economic activity in a single region, but whether full concentration is achieved depends on the costs and mode of services trade. Applying the model to a multiregion world shows that incorporating producer services may also give rise to regions that specialize in different economic activities.     

Chile 1997-1998: The Revenge of Incomplete Democratization

The author seeks to analyse the repercussions and consequences of the Pinochet affair for Chilean domestic politics. He explains how the legacy of seventeen years of authoritarian rule has shaped the deep divisions within Chilean society regarding the prosecution of the Chilean former dictator in the London courts. Chile is an incomplete democracy and Pinochetism is very much alive in Chile today.
The author is very critical of the role played by the current Chilean government and political class, for their behaviour during the affair. In granting a special mission to the General which gave him immunity and later supported his legal case after initial hesitation, the government has shown confusion that has not advanced the case for full democratization and justice in Chile. The ambiguous behaviour of the political class during the episode has discredited its prestige in the eyes of public opinion. Chilean society, according to the author, has missed an opportunity to advance justice and the dignity of the country.     

Taxonomic, anatomical, and spatio-temporal variations in the stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of plants from an African savanna

Stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope ratios are commonly used to reconstruct palaeodiets and palaeoenvironments. The method is based on our knowledge of isotopic patterns in plants, which are subject to taxonomic and environmental variability. While previous researchers have addressed isotopic variability amongst plants, no studies have looked extensively at a broad suite of taxa over multiple temporal scales from within the savanna biome so as to provide baseline data for palaeodietary and palaeoenvironmental studies. Here we document variations in the isotopic compositions of plants collected over two years from the Kruger National Park, South Africa, with respect to species and anatomical differences, and the influences of geological substrate and spatio-temporal shifts in climate. Results show that environmentally-induced carbon isotopic variations in plants within this region are generally smaller than 2‰, which is lower than what has been previously reported for plants compared across multiple habitat-types. These data suggest that δ¹³C differences of 2‰ or more (or 1‰ if the diet is predominantly C₄) between animals from a given area reliably indicate real dietary differences. Plant δ¹⁵N values vary greatly between different microhabitats (by up to 4‰), responding to a range of environmental influences that may, in turn, significantly influence variation in animal δ¹⁵N values.     

Optimal Allocation of Land between Productive Use and Recreational Use

Abstract This paper is an inquiry into the optimal allocation of time and natural areas to recreational uses, which have the feature of being a pure and continuous public good. We address this issue with a comprehensive approach. A static rational general equilibrium framework is developed in which heterogeneous agents allocate land and time endowments between alternative uses. This modeling has important advantages. First, Pareto‐optimal and voluntary‐contribution equilibrium allocations are obtained in a unified set‐up. Second, the suboptimality result of the decentralized equilibrium, the free‐rider problem on the provision of this nonexcludable public good, and different mechanisms to return the economy to its first‐best are analyzed. Finally, a methodological critique is made of some empirical literature, and it is suggested that our theoretical microeconomic‐based structure seems to be a suitable starting point for empirical research.