Taphonomic analysis of rodent bone accumulations produced by Geoffroy's cat (Leopardus geoffroyi, Carnivora,Felidae) in Central Argentina

Rodent prey remains recovered from Geoffroy's cat (Leopardus geoffroyi) scats were analyzed in order to identify taphonomic features produced by this predator. The analysis includes a year-long sampling discriminated by the seasons. Modifications produced by digestion are heavy. Taphonomic variables in samples discriminated by the seasons did not show major differences with respect to the total sample; thus, scats collected in any season clearly show the modifications on the bones of prey rodents made by Geoffroy's cats. The results presented here and its interpretation could be extrapolated to an analysis of zooarchaeological or paleontological assemblages.     

Modern Őmie Women: Virtual Indigeneity and Intimations of Empowerment

The women of ?mie Artists, a cooperative that produces original bark cloth paintings for the global indigenous art market, are described in contemporary ethnographic publications as ranked into a hierarchy of chiefs on the basis of their ‘wisdom’ which is expressed in their paintings. This depiction of the ?mie, who comprise a marginalized population of less than 2000 in Oro Province of Papua New Guinea, is dramatically different from what was known of their culture several decades ago. An assessment of the likelihood of this virtual depiction reflecting the social empowerment of ?mie women is undertaken. Although the impact of missionization and entry into capitalist markets is recognized, it is the interpellation of the art market of the ‘indigenous artist’, working within a traditional mystical tie with the land and the ancestors, which must be seen as precipitating what appears in virtual form an amplification and cultural embellishment of women’s traditional knowledge and practices. This process is foregrounded against the historical change in valuation of women’s cultural contributions by the discipline and the art world.     

Feeding behaviour and taphonomic characterization of non-ingested rabbit remains produced by the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus)

The rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is usually the most abundant taxon found in the Palaeolithic and Epipalaeolithic archaeological sites of southern Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. These accumulations may be the result of different abiotic factors, biotic agents and/or the interaction of both. For these reasons, over the last decades actualistic research has been conducted on different predators of rabbits. Among them, the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is an excellent candidate for study because: 1) its diet is based almost exclusively on this leporids and 2) its historical distribution overlaps with one of the most interesting areas for small game research, the Iberian Peninsula and southern France. Here we present the taphonomical analysis of non-ingested rabbit remains collected from two Iberian lynx captive breeding centers located in southern Spain. Our results show: i) predominance of the distal segment of the appendicular skeleton; ii) variable breakage patterns, with a high proportion of whole bones of the autopodium and heavy breakage of the zeugopodium and stylopodium; iii) rare bone surface modifications. Comparison of these results with those obtained for other terrestrial carnivores, such as the fox, reveals great similarities, the only difference being the more abundant tooth marks present on fox non-ingested rabbit assemblages.     

Revisiting the Epipalaeolithic-Neolithic Transition in the Extreme NW of Africa: The Latest Results of the Chronological Sequence of the Cave of Kaf Taht el-Ghar (Tétouan,Morocco)

African Archaeological Review - This study focuses on the chronostratigraphic sequence of the Cave of Kaf Taht el-Ghar (Dar Ben Karrich, Tétouan, Morocco) excavated in 2012 in the framework of...     

Spaces of Not Belonging: Inclusive Nationalism and Education in Scotland

This study addresses the issue of the role of national identity-making through education and how this positions migrants in the national discourse in Scotland. The issue has been highlighted by the arrival of European Union migrants post-enlargement, whose children are being schooled in Scotland. The study discusses the tensions, particularly in relation to migrant populations, between the policy discourse of inclusive nationalism and emphasis on performance that promotes standardization processes and individual accountability. Giving particular attention to the language regulations and practices in education, this article notes the fact that language creates a barrier to the fair benefits of education for migrant populations. Rather than facilitating migrants' inclusion, language has become a vehicle for assimilating migrants into the dominant social and cultural norms of the host society. The study concludes by reflecting on the notion of inclusive citizenship and the implications of social responsibility to balance the economic benefits of people's mobility with cultural recognition and protection.     

Reproducing,transforming and contesting gender relations and identities through migration and transnational ties

This article contributes to conceptual debates on gender transformations in the context of migration and transnationalism. We do so by discussing developments in gender relations and identities among Polish post-accession migrants in Norway; analysing the intersections of continuities and changes, relationally, as these are produced spatially and temporally. We draw on ethnographic data collected among Polish migrants in the Norwegian cities Oslo and Bergen (2009–2012). Our focus on continuity and change in gender relations and identities, in the context of migration and transnationalism, stems from a realization that migration often leads to assumptions of either radical change, or conservative continuity. Meanwhile through an analytical lens sensitive to relationality and socio-spatial circumstances, we find friction, disagreement, as well as negotiation and resolution, and we argue for the variety of ways in which continuity and change may run parallel, reflective of variations in transnational habitus produced in relation to social class. We pay attention to locations and scales, as salient for how gender relations and identities are reproduced, transformed or contested. The flexible continuum we find reveals diverse strategies of coping with migratory situations, as well as complex interplay between migrants’ agency, existing structures and engendered understandings.     

Fuelling Social Inclusion? Neo‐extractivism,State–Society Relations and Biofuel Policies in Latin America's Southern Cone

Scholarship on neo‐extractivism agrees that this ‘post‐neoliberal’ model of development is founded on an inherent contradiction between the commitment to continue natural resource extraction and the need to legitimize these activities by using their revenues for poverty reduction. Using the cases of the national biofuel policies of the ‘post‐neoliberal’ governments of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, this article enquires why and how these policies emerged, how they were implemented, and how the resulting national experiences exemplify the inherent contradictions embedded in neo‐extractivist policies. Adopting a strategic‐relational approach to analyse state–society interaction, it is argued that the scope of progressive policies is conditioned to a large extent by pre‐existing social structures, institutions and state–society interactions. The article shows how progressive reforms intersect with the prevailing interests of agribusiness and state actors and are recast and used for different ends as these interact with powerful actors such as the multinational soybean complex and agrarian movements. It is suggested that the prevailing over‐emphasis in the neo‐extractivist literature on the politics of domination and contestation overlooks the multiple and complex rural responses of the different progressive governments. It also obscures the possibilities to explore the ruptures and continuities of these countries’ governments with previous models, and therefore fails to recognize state advances.