“Marsh fever”—The geography of malaria in England

The marshlands of Kent and Essex had exceptionally high levels of mortality from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. The unhealthiness of the environment aroused frequent comment during this period and it was attributed to an endemic disease known as “marsh fever” or “ague”. Marsh parishes were perceived both as a danger to the local inhabitants and as a deterrent to potential settlers. This paper traces the geography and history of the “marsh fever” in England and shows that the disease was, in fact, plasmodium malaria transmitted by anopheline mosquitoes. Malaria, once indigenous in the coastal marshes of England, had a striking impact on regional patterns of disease and death. The discussion concludes with an examination of the reasons for the clinical disappearance of malaria during the nineteenth century, its reappearance after the First and Second World Wars and the possibility of new outbreaks of malaria in the future.     

Consequences of Displacement after the Gulf Crisis: A Study of the Responses of 207 Displaced Palestinian and Jordanian Workers

Throughout the war period and immediately thereafter, punitive measures were instituted against Jordanian nationals working in the Gulf; hundreds of thousands were dismissed from their jobs without compensation, and many more were expelled from the Gulf, leaving behind personal belongings, as well as bitter memories. The purpose of this study is to: (1) investigate the effects of the Gulf Crisis on the amount of annual contributions to Jordan's economy by Gulf workers; (2) measure the amount of property loss incurred by Gulf workers as a result of the displacement; (3) examine the duration of unemployment caused among the displaced workers; and (4) measure attitudinal changes among the displaced workers regarding their economic future and the future of Jordan's economy.     

Magic,Memory & Mimesis—the “Power” of the Historical Moving Image to Possess?

In 1936 and 1937, Diana and Antoinette Powell-Cotton made a film that purported to show a healing practice involving possession. Over seventy years later, the film produced the start of a possession state in an audience from the same region in which the film was made. This paper uses the explanations given by those in the audience for this near possession to challenge some frequently cited thinking on the mimetic, magical power of film to possess. It offers an alternative approach to the viewing of archive film drawing on a form of mimesis rooted in habitual bodily memory. This mimetic relationship allows for an immanence of past in the present dependent on the past experience of the viewer rather than the power of the image.     

Coarse cloth and clerical tailoring: negotiating Boston-Irish cultural imperatives in the Famine era

Recent calls for updated approaches to the Irish-American historical experience recommend more systematic attention to complexities inherent in Irish immigration and settlement. They also seek further contextualisation of the history of the Irish in the USA within broader North American, transatlantic and global frameworks. The need to review and potentially reappraise longstanding, essentialist perspectives on Irish arrival and assimilation is equally evident. This article expands on foundational narrative histories of the Boston Irish to re-examine Famine-era settlement and contending agendas within spheres of religious affiliation and political activism. The character and evolution of Irish-American ethnic identity, and the tragic imprint of the Famine under consideration here pave the way for new readings of traditional orthodoxies. Collectively, they reveal Boston's Irish historical terrain to be more complex than the record currently suggests.     

Strontium and stable isotope evidence for diet and mobility in Roman Gloucester,UK

This paper presents the results of a multi-isotopic (oxygen, strontium, carbon and nitrogen isotopes) investigation of population and dietary diversity in Roman Gloucester, focusing on individuals found in a late 2nd century AD mass burial pit at London Road, and comparing them to those found in the nearby cemetery. There were no statistical differences in isotopic composition between mass grave and cemetery burials, suggesting, in agreement with the osteological evidence, that the mass burial was the result of a catastrophic event, probably an epidemic disease. Strontium and oxygen isotope analysis demonstrated considerable diversity in the origins of the Gloucester population, with evidence for both UK and non-UK individuals. Diet was predominately terrestrial and similar to that of other Romano-British populations. Elevated δ¹³C_dentine ratios in some individuals are correlated with raised δ¹⁸O_p values and are therefore probably due to childhoods spent in warmer climates, rather than dietary variation.