Going green: Sustainable development as a model of socio‐economic development in European post‐communist countries

The aim of the article is to present a conception of eco‐development as a model for the shaping of a broadly understood lifeworld. It seems to be especially promising in the new social reality of the post‐Communist states, where the lifeworlds have deteriorated badly, both at each spatial level as well as in its biophysical, psycho‐social and technical‐production aspects. First, an interaction model of a lifeworld is presented, followed by a conception of eco‐development with its basic, i.e. social, economic and technological, determinants. The article closes with a list of arguments for eco‐development as both an effective and humanist conception of socio‐economic development in its spatial dimension.     

Dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating of the medieval stronghold in Ujście (Poland)

In 2008, the archaeological museum in Piła carried out excavations in the site No. 5 in Ujście upon the river Noteć (Poland), at the Rybacka Street and in the Old Market Square. In 12 archaeological excavations and 4 surveys abundant wooden structures were discovered, from which about 800 samples were taken, mainly of pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and oakwood (Quercus sp.). The studies were aimed at absolute dating of wood with the dendrochronological method, the wiggle matching fitting curves method, as well as anatomical determination of wood. Absolute dating of the oakwood from the Rybacka Street allowed to distinguish the oldest fortifications of the stronghold from the ninth century, and also intensive introduction of wood in the years 980–1080 AD, whereas analysis of wood from the Old Market (survey IV) allowed to distinguish eight structural levels, from the 1530s until the 970s. On the basis of the pine wood 227-year-long local chronology 2U_02A was produced, dated with the wiggle-matching method for the period 860–1080 (±10) cal. AD. Most of the pine samples proved to represent wood introduced in the 990s and 1040s (±10) cal. AD, and also some repairs in the years 1000–1030 and 1050–1070 (±10) cal. AD.     

Progress in the holocene chrono-climatostratigraphy of Polish territory

The Holocene delivers a unique possibility to establish climatic stratigraphic boundaries based on detailed chronostratigraphy reflected in various facies of continental sediments, in their lithological parameters and organic remains. These sediments are dated by the ¹⁴C method in the case of organic remains, by counting annual laminations in lacustrine facies, and by dendrochronological method in the case of fluvial sediments. The existence of well dated profiles enables to reconstruct various climatic parameters like amplitudes of seasonal temperatures, types and frequency of extreme rainfalls and floods and, finally, to distinguish rare rapid changes and most frequent gradual ones. This reconstruction is based on the analogous effects of various types of present-day rainfalls. The current authors present a critical review of existing chronostratigraphic divisions starting from simple millennial division by Mangerud based on Scandinavian palynological stratigraphy of peat-bogs and Starkel’s concept based on fluctuations in rainfall and runoff regime reflected in fluvial and other facies of continental deposits. In the last decades, the calibration of ¹⁴C dates allowed a new approach to be used for the construction of the probability distribution function of these dates in various facies or types of sediments, which formed a background for distinguishing and correlating climatic phases and defining boundaries between them. These approaches have been creating new opportunities for revision of the existing chronostratigraphy. The aim of this paper is to present a revised version of chronostratigraphic division based on climatic fluctuations reflected in various facies of sediments on the territory of Poland and discuss their correlation with other European regions and global climatic changes.     

Le matérialisme historique et l'historiographie des pays d'Europe centrale et de l'est

Le matérialisme historique a connu un certain succès dans la Pologne des années trente, mais sa domination intellectuelle après‐guerre résulte de pressions gouvernementales. Les institutions étrangères à l'idéologie marxiste furent fermées ; l'enseignement, la recherche, l'édition passèrent entre les mains des historiens marxistes ; une histoire fondée sur l'étude des moyens de production, des masses, de la lutte des classes fut privilégiée au détriment de l'histoire culturelle et politique. Tandis que des historiens poursuivaient des recherches dans cette perspective, E. Rostworowski publia en 1978 la première oeuvre importante distincte du matérialisme historique, ouvrant la voie à de nouvelles approches.     

The transition to farming in Eastern and Northern Europe

This paper presents a general survey of the transition to farming in Eastern and Northern Europe, approached within the framework of the availability model and treated from the perspective of local (Mesolithic) hunting and gathering communities. We argue that in Eastern and Northern Europe, the transition to farming was a slow process, which occurred through the adoption of exogenous cultigens and domesticates by the local hunter-gatherer populations, who may have been already engaged in some form of husbandry of the local resources. Contact and exchange with the Neolithic and later Bronze Age of Central Europe had a profound and prolonged influence on the process of the adoption of farming in Eastern and Northern Europe. During the slow process of transition, mixed hunting-farming societies emerged, which could be regarded as having a characteristic social and economic organization of their own (i.e., neither Mesolithic nor Neolithic). In conclusion, we argue for continuity in population and in social and economic traditions from the hunter-gatherer past until recent antiquity and, in some areas, into the historical period.     

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Is there a way out?

The blame for the inability to put an end to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians must be shared by all parties. In Israel, Ehud Barak's attempts were courageous but he never established trust with the Palestinians. The policy of the Sharon government, based only on response to violence by force, also failed. Although he did not mastermind the Second Intifada, Arafat's attitude towards the Palestinian militant armed groups was always ambiguous and he lost any credit even among the Israeli peace camp. The Arab countries never gave more than a formal support to the Palestinians and abstained from arguing in favour of coexistence with the Israelis. The Americans, with Clinton, seriously tried their best but lacked some long-term perspective and, with George W. Bush, aligned themselves with the most radical Israeli position. Europe did support the Palestinian economy but was too divided to influence dramatically the negotiations and did not invest enough into peace-building among the peoples of the region. The only way out of the quagmire is to follow the roadmap established by the international community, represented by the 'Quartet' (the UN, the USA, Russia and the European Union) for an end both to terrorism and occupation, and towards negotiations on the establishment of a democratic and viable Palestinian State.     

Predicting the Past — Materiality of Nazi and Post-Nazi Camps: A Norwegian Perspective

Archaeological investigations at sites of genocides, oppressions, and imprisonment have, during the last few decades, become a growing field within studies of the contemporary past. This research includes surveys and excavations of Nazi camps, including the iconic sites of the Holocaust, concentration camps as well as POW camps and prisons of the Nazi regime in Germany and in occupied Europe. The present paper evaluates theoretical frameworks for approaches to materiality, social memories, and dissimilation aspects of such sites and relates diverse theoretical approaches to the results of archaeological investigations of Falstad Camp in central Norway.     

Oleneostrovski mogilnik: Reconstructing the social and economic organization of prehistoric foragers in Northern Russia

Oleneostrovski mogilnik (Red Deer Island cemetery) in Karelia, USSR, is the largest known Mesolithic-age cemetery in the Boreal zone, containing the remains of at least 170 individual interments. An analysis of mortuary patterning, demographic structure, and regional interaction was performed in order to elucidate the nature of Boreal zone forager society during the late Mesolithic. These analyses suggest that the society which produced Oleneostrovski mogilnik was larger and more internally differentiated than previously believed, with a complex system of social differentiation that included hereditary social positions and economic ranking. It also participated in an extensive regional exchange network which moved exotic goods and raw materials over considerable distances. It is concluded that the climax of forager occupation in the Boreal zone occurred during late Mesolithic times, with a maximum density of population and maximum social complexity, and that more recent hunter-fisher-gatherer occupations represent only a pale reflection of this peak.