The British Late Middle Palaeolithic: An Interpretative Synthesis of Neanderthal Occupation at the Northwestern Edge of the Pleistocene World

The British Middle Palaeolithic is divided into two discrete periods of occupation: the Early Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 9–7, ~330–180 ka BP) and the Late Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 3, ~59–36 ka BP), separated by a long hiatus. Owing to the relative poverty of the record and historical difficulties in dating and correlating archaeological sites, the British Late Middle Palaeolithic has, until recently, received scant attention, and has largely been regarded as the poor man of Europe, especially by British archaeologists. Indeed, there has been more discussion of the absence of humans from Britain than of what they did when they were present. We aim here to redress that situation. Following from recent considerations of the Early Middle Palaeolithic (White et al. in J. Quat. Sci. 21:525–542, 2006; Scott, Becoming Neanderthal, Oxbow, Oxford, 2010), we offer an interpretative synthesis of the British Late Middle Palaeolithic, situating ‘British’ Neanderthals in their chronological, environmental and landscape contexts. We discuss the character of the British record, and offer an account of Neanderthal behaviour, settlement systems and technological practices at the northwestern edge of their known Upper Pleistocene range. We also examine the relationship of the enigmatic Early Upper Palaeolithic leafpoint assemblages to Neanderthals.     

Make,mend and befriend: geographies of austerity,crafting and friendship in contemporary cultures of dressmaking in the UK

Dressmaking is a practice infused with historical significance which in the contemporary context of austerity has renewed social, cultural, economic, political and moral importance. Drawing on writing from across the social sciences we advance a geographical understanding of dressmaking by focusing on the themes of feminism and crafting practices, austerity, fashion and consumption, and friendship and encounters in order to theorise the everyday spatialities of contemporary crafting cultures. In doing so we argue that the recent return to dressmaking cannot be understood as an extension or repetition of historic practices but that contemporary dressmakers are claiming a history and geography of their own. To conclude, we argue that dressmaking and other related fabricultures have much to offer our understanding of austerity, feminism and friendship and thus merit further theoretical and empirical investigation.     

The House of Nassau between France and Independence, 1795–1814: Lesser Powers,Strategies of Conflict Resolution,Dynastic Networks

The historical agency of the small- and medium-sized historical actors, the so-called Lesser Powers, remains much neglected in the historiography of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period. The reason for this is that hitherto historians have failed to develop a historical perspective that does justice to the particularities of Lesser Power agency. This article explores the historical agency of two Lesser Powers, Nassau and the Netherlands, in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic era, though with a particular emphasis on the era of the reconstruction of the post-Napoleonic international order, the years 1812–15. By viewing the agency of these historical actors through the prism of the dynastic network of the House of Nassau, rather than through the prism of its component parts, the Walramian Nassaus of Weilburg, Usingen and Saarbrücken and the Ottonian Nassaus, commonly referred to as the House of Orange-Nassau, the ruling dynasty of the Dutch Republic, this article offers a new approach to researching Lesser Power strategies of international conflict resolution, thereby hopefully contributing to the creation of a much-needed historical narrative of Lesser Powers.     

The Rhetoric of Convention: The Foundational Saul Narratives (1 Samuel 9–11) Reconsidered

Biblical scholars have applied new methodologies to the royal narratives in the Deuteronomistic History (Joshua–Kings) as viable resources for recovering authentic historical information regarding the monarchic cultures of ancient Israel and their impact on the development of Israelite religion. The present study considers anew the narratives regarding Israel's first king, Saul son of Kish. A recurring motif in these narratives is the appeal to socio‐religious convention, which is suggestive of a rhetorical strategy among the authors that sought to situate the Saulide royal lineage in familiar traditions that the institution of kingship was perceived as disrupting.     

Race and Justice in an Australian Court: Prosecuting Homicide in Western Australia, 1830–1954

Contemporary rates of incarceration of Indigenous peoples in Australia are generally seen as quite recent in origin, an unwanted outcome of the emergence of Indigenous people into full citizenship from the 1960s. Yet for only relatively short periods were Indigenous people in Australia excluded from the full implications of the rule of law in its mode of criminal jurisdiction; for the most part, they were considered British subjects. Having been brought into criminal jurisdiction how did they fare? While much can be learned from archival research at the case level, we propose here that qualitative studies are best examined in quantitative context. In this article, the first ever quantitative study of Australian homicide over long periods of time, we consider how criminal justice worked for Indigenous and non-Indigenous defendants, identifying how many defendants in each group were prosecuted, and their varying treatment at trial process, outcome and sentence.     

Political participation in Australia: contingency in the behaviour and attitudes of citizens

This article explores the idea that a citizen's relationship with their polity is contingent on and liable to change under certain conditions. The assessment of the prospects for political reform requires an understanding of the contingent nature of political engagement. Drawing from a survey of a representative sample of Australians three insights emerge. First, although many Australian citizens are not directly engaged in political actions beyond voting most do present a ‘standby’ role that suggests potential to engage. Second, willingness to shift patterns of engagement may depend on general orientations towards the polity and we find extensive evidence of negative understanding of the political system as well as more positive endorsement of representative political practices. Our third finding is that citizens might be prepared to change their relationship with the polity depending on the kind of politics that is offered; hence providing a creative space for political reform.