Why Russian Peasants Remain in Collective Farms: A Household Perspective on Agricultural Restructuring

This paper seeks to understand what motivates collective farm employees-share-holders to remain in collective structures rather than exercise their legally sanctioned right to leave with land and property shares. On the basis of a 1999 survey of 181 collective farm households and analysis of regional agricultural policies in Leningrad and Saratov oblasts, the paper examines divergent overt and covert benefits that employees derive from association with market-oriented versus less reformed collective agricultural producers. The paper relates the structure of employee incentives to regional-level agricultural policies and to the divergent effects these policies have on the depth and pattern of structural transformations of agricultural production. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O18, Q10, Q15. 5 figures, 15 tables, 38 references.     

A Trip to the Mountains: Travel and Social Relations in the Catskill Mountains of New York

The Catskill Mountains in upstate New York have been a tourist destination since the early nineteenth century. At a superficial level, the history of Catskill tourism follows a basic trajectory from elite destination in the nineteenth century to more inclusive tourist area in the twentieth century. This trajectory incorporates a “trickle down” theory of tourism and leisure that masks the complexity of changes in social relations. Jewish tourism in the Catskills evidences how class, ethnic, and gender relations intertwined in the creation of a specific place—the Borscht Belt. Archaeology in the Borscht Belt places tourism within larger capitalist relations in America and complicates concepts of tourism as consumption and leisure.     

Free trade, feudal remnants and international equilibrium in Gaetano Filangieri's Science of Legislation

In his main work, The Science of Legislation (1780–1783), the Neapolitan Gaetano Filangieri proposed a set of extensive political and cultural reforms. These reforms were necessary to free eighteenth-century societies from the remnants of feudal institutions that obstructed international peace and economic growth. Filangieri's ideas were shaped by the international political climate between the seven Years’ War and the eve of the French Revolution. Reinterpreting Montesquieu and Genovesi through the influences of French radical and Enlightenment thought (Helvétius, Raynal, l’Encyclopédie), as well as the economics of Hume, Verri and the Physiocrats, he concluded that European modernity was inherently contradictory.From this perspective Filangieri set out to force a clean break between the technical horizons of mercantilism and enlightened absolutism and a society based on civil rights, a fair distribution of wealth and resources, and free trade. Proper ‘scientific’ knowledge of the rules and principles of legislation would allow governments to balance out the natural and cultural factors that characterise individual states, and to identify the appropriate model for social and economic development. If all states acted on their proper interest, international free trade and peaceful competition between states would emerge and the potential for general economic growth be materialised. Thus, the natural equilibrium and ‘universal consensus’ among nations could be restored.     

The origin of the ancient Egyptian drink Shedeh revealed using LC/MS/MS

Ancient Egyptians were buried with the most precious food and drink as sustenance for their afterlife. One of these was Shedeh, the most valued and appreciated beverage in ancient Egypt. The botanic origin of Shedeh remains unclear as no mention of its raw material has survived. Some scholars have proposed that Shedeh was a pomegranate wine, while others, a grape wine. Presented here is the first ever analytical evidence of Shedeh's origin through the analysis of a sample of a residue from an extraordinarily well preserved Shedeh amphora from King Tutankhamun's collection. The previously developed LC/MS/MS wine markers method for archaeological samples was used and our results reveal Shedeh had a red grape origin.     

Absolute chronology of fluvial events in the Upper Dnieper River system and its palaeogeographic implications

A set of 121 radiocarbon and OSL dates has been compiled from the Upper Dnieper River and tributary valleys, Western European Russia. Each date was attributed according to geomorphic/sedimentological events and classes of fluvial activity. Summed probability density functions for each class were used to establish phases of increasing and reducing fluvial activity. The oldest detected reduction of fluvial activity was probably due to glacial damming at LGM. Within the Holocene three palaeohydrological epochs of millennial-scale were found: (1) high activity at 12,000–8,000 cal BP marked by large river palaeochannels; (2) low activity at 8,000–3,000 cal BP marked by formation of zonal-type soils on -floodplains; short episodes of high floods occurred between 6,500—4,400 cal BP; (3) contrasting hydrological oscillations since 3,000 cal BP with periods of high floods between 3,000–2,300 (2,000) and 900–100 cal BP separated by long interval of low floods 2,300 (2,000)-900 cal BP when floodplains were not inundated — zonal-type soils were developing and permanent settlements existed on floodplains. In the last millennium, four centennial-scale intervals were found: high flooding intervals are mid-11–mid-15^th century and mid-17–mid-20^th century. Intervals of flood activity similar to the present-day were: mid-15–mid-17^th century and since mid-19^th century till present. In the context of palaeohydrological changes, discussed are selected palaeogeographic issues such as: position of the glacial boundary at LGM, role of changing amounts of river runoff in the Black Sea level changes, floodplain occupation by Early Medieval population.     

Effectiveness of Phosphocitrate as Salt Crystallization Inhibitor in Porous Materials: Case Study of the Roman Mosaic of Orpheus and the Beasts (Perugia,Italy)

Salt crystallization in porous materials constitutes one of the major causes of decay of buildings/archaeological sites in a wide range of environments. Desalination is among the most common methodologies of conservative treatment for salt decay. However, classic desalination techniques might be not suitable for long-term conservation. During the past decade interest has been an increasing towards crystallization inhibitors as a new means of controlling crystallization damage. This study deals with the first in-field application of an environment-friendly inhibitor system— phosphocitrate (PC). In particular, the case study of the Roman mosaic of Orpheus and the Beasts in Perugia (Italy) is presented. The inhibitor is completely soluble in water or alcohol, non-toxic, and easy to apply, thus enabling its use in accordance with the volatile organic compounds emission control and safety during the conservation works. Relevant samples from control and treated mosaic areas were collected and analyzed comparatively by means of Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectrometry to study the potential of the inhibitor system in preventing/controlling salt damage in such archaeological site.     

Comparing expeditious procedures for the seismic vulnerability assessment on the European territorial context: reliability,feasibility, cost,and time consumption

ABSTRACT

The definition of strategies for the preservation and protection of cultural heritage is a topical issue, especially in view of the increasing relevance of the theme of seismic risk mitigation and reduction.

The prediction of the impact an earthquake could have on existing buildings requires the knowledge of their dynamic behaviour. The procedure to be adopted for this purpose is quite complex and onerous in terms of costs, time, and implementation, especially when the study concerns territorial areas rather than single buildings. The definition of methodologies aimed at respecting the principles of economic sustainability and preserving human life and architectural heritage is of paramount importance to assess seismic vulnerability using available resources. Rapid methods for the seismic vulnerability assessment, aimed at defining buildings vulnerability and intervention priority lists, must be implemented to guarantee the preservation of historical centers.

This article describes the application to some case studies of different methods aimed at creating fragility curves for the vulnerability assessment on the European territorial context. The comparison between a deterministic approach and a new probabilistic one is performed for all case studies, to define the most suitable methodology in terms of reliability and savings in cost and time.