Crop Fertility Conditions in North-Eastern Gaul During the La Tène and Roman Periods: A Combined Stable Isotope Analysis of Archaeobotanical and Archaeozoological Remains

ABSTRACT

Considerable archaeobotanical datasets describe cereal cultivation in north-eastern France, from the Iron Age to the Roman period. This study aims to complement these by using stable isotope analysis on charred cereal grains. Soil fertility was investigated through δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C analyses of 1480 charred cereal grains, dated from the Late La Tène to the Late Antiquity periods. In the Île-de-France, charred grain Δ¹³C values suggested good hydric conditions, with drier episodes in the 1st and 3rd century AD; while in Champagne, the lower Δ¹³C values for spelt reflect the lower water holding capacity of the chalky soils. A wide range of cereal δ¹⁵N values (0.8–8.7‰) implies a wide range of soil fertility conditions. Jouars-Pontchartrain and Palaiseau (Île-de-France) yielded the highest cereal δ¹⁵N values, whereas Acy-Romance (Champagne) delivered among the lowest. From these three sites, the δ¹⁵N values of red deer bone collagen were used to estimate the reference δ¹⁵N values for unmanured plants. Unlike in Acy-Romance, there were significant differences in Palaiseau and Jouars-Pontchartrain, indicating that the cultivated cereals inherited their high δ¹⁵N values from manured soil. At Jouars-Pontchartrain, the δ¹⁵N value (almost 9‰) suggested a high trophic level manuring source, possibly from pig and/or human faeces.     

‘The final decision is with the patient’: reproductive modernity and preferences for non-hormonal and non-biomedical contraceptives among postpartum middle class women in Yogyakarta,Indonesia

In Indonesia fertility has plateaued for more than a decade. Over the same period Indonesian women have increasingly accessed contraception via the private sector. Our qualitative inquiry into the contraceptive preferences of middle class women in urban Yogyakarta revealed limited interest in and intent to use biomedical and hormonal contraceptive methods. Women’s justifications for their contraceptive choices were complex and manifold: most had concerns about safety and the side effects associated with hormonal and biomedical contraceptives; others were ideologically opposed to fertility control. We conclude that contraceptive choices were an embodiment of women’s reproductive modernity, which in turn underpinned their reproductive agency. We also problematise the extent to which women’s contraceptive choices were comprehensively informed. Women’s reproductive modernity was shaped by their socioeconomic status; access to modern communication technologies; understandings of their right to health and contraceptive choice; pious yet pragmatic religious identities; and negotiations within their marital relationships.     

The Implications of Parenting Standards in Child Protection: A Paradox in Disability Policy

Contemporary parenting standards in the field of child protection produce a paradox in disability policy. Focusing on the protections necessary for child safety, child protection workers are apt stereotypically to discount the abilities of parents with disabilities to raise their children. This situation runs a wide spectrum. It includes parents fully capable of parenting with no outside assistance who are nevertheless denied their children on the basis of completely baseless stereotypical assumptions. It includes parents who are mentally fully capable of parenting, but who are denied the necessary personal assistance services to perform the physical tasks of child care. This article, however, focuses on yet another situation: parents with mental, emotional, or cognitive disabilities who, without assistance to perform the cognitive tasks necessary for safely raising children, could neglect their children. It discusses this situation in light of the Americans with Disabilities Act and various state laws that protect the civil rights of persons with disabilities.     

REVIEWS

Middle Wahgi Dictionary. By Evelyn M. Ramsey. Church of the Nazarene, Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea. 1975. 457 pp.     

A preliminary study of patterns of replication in Scoring linear enamel hypoplasias

In order to investigate replicability in scoring linear enamel hypoplasias 59 anterior teeth were evaluated by three observers. Hypoplasias were identified with low-power microscopy and by the unaided eye. Location on the tooth was determined through caliper and micrometer measurement as well as assignment to tooth ‘thirds’. Hypoplasia size was determined through measurement of episode width and comparison with a cast designed to categorize types of hypoplasia severity. Intra-observer analysis showed consistent scoring of about 65 per cent of individual hypoplasias between rounds, with high replicability in episode location, size and severity using all methods tested. Inter-observer error was similarly low for episode size and location, but consistent scoring of individual hypoplasias between observer pairs ranged between 21 and 39 per cent. It is likely that the most important factor in the low level of replicability is the slight size of the majority of hypoplasias involved. Thus, the results suggest that further work should be directed toward developing the minimum threshold for scoring episodes. Other issues include measures to control ‘drift’ in scoring procedures over time, and procedures to score large cervical hypoplasias in canines, which can appear as multiple episodes with magnification. Among the various scoring methods tested, determination of episode location was highly replicable using all three techniques. Episode width was also highly replicable using the micrometer, but the cast association proved less successful.