Condemned to metallum? The origin and role of 4th–6th century A.D. Phaeno mining campresidents using multiple chemical techniques

The Byzantine period (4th–7th centuries A.D.) site of Khirbet Faynan (Phaeno) was a state-run mining camp described in ancient sources as a destination for Christian martyrs and others prosecuted by the administration who were condemned to the mines (damnatio ad metallum). However, other evidence suggests that Phaeno had a much broader role and population in antiquity than that described by ancient writers. Here, strontium and oxygen isotope data on the level of migration into Phaeno were compared with elemental data on lead and copper skeletal levels to illuminate the varied exposure of local vs. non-local individuals to contaminated environments (presumably from working in mining and smelting operations). Dental enamel ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ¹⁸O data from 31 individuals excavated from the Southern Cemetery identified one individual born in a region with different strontium isotope values in the bedrock yet similar oxygen isotope signatures as Faynan. Most of the primarily locally-derived Faynan residents displayed skeletal copper and lead levels exceeding those seen in comparative samples, confirming that growing up and residing in the polluted environment of Faynan led to notable bioaccumulation of heavy metals and its resulting health effects. In addition, ten individuals had extremely elevated lead and copper levels in their skeleton resulting from more intensive exposure to contaminated environments, possibly through smelting and mining activities. These data confirm the relatively localized nature of this imperial operation and that this predominantly locally-derived population had different activities that put them ask varied risk for contamination by heavy metals.     

Examining histology to identify burned bone

Early research suggests that examination of the microscopic internal structure is a valid method for distinguishing burned from unburned bone in the archaeological record. This study compares burned and unburned modern bones with archaeological bones from Sibudu Cave (ca. 60,000 years ago) and Cave of Hearths (over 200,000 years ago) to more fully describe the heat-induced histological changes to bone. We also explore the effects of diagenesis on those changes to determine if histological evidence of burning preserves through fossilisation and diagenetic processes and can be successfully used to identify ancient burning. Application of this technique can help in addressing various issues, including the origins of controlled use of fire and understanding animal butchery and disposal.     

The “Innocent and Touching Custom” of maidens' garlands: A field report

Aspects of garlanding as a popular custom have received little attention in folkloristic scholarship. Funeral garlanding, particularly the creation of flower-decked shrines to commemorate victims of accidents, as in the case of Diana, Pricess of Wales, has also been explored. This paper deals with another manifestation of mortuary garlanding—the custom of making maidens' garlands for deceased young female virgins. The history, distribution, construction and meaning of these funeral mementoes are dealt with, and detailed fieldwork on maidens' garlands conducted at five churches in Shropshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire from 1990 to 2002, including photographic documentation, is reported in detail.     

Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism

This article sheds light on the period of revolutionary turbulence by demonstrating how the concept of revolution was introduced in the Finnish print culture through foreign news reports during the early nineteenth century. The examination draws on the use of multilingual digital newspaper collections provided by the National Library of Finland. By combining key word searches to a close reading of newspaper texts, the article explores the ways in which different revolutionary movements were present in the Finnish newspapers during the early decades of the nineteenth century. The article proposes that the role of foreign news flow was crucial in the process of shaping the understanding of revolution in Finland.     

Borderwork in Indigenous South‐Eastern Australia1

ABSTRACT This article provides some reflections on borderwork derived from social anthropological research with Indigenous people in south‐eastern Australia (S.E. Australia). In post‐settler states, borderwork traverses a range of fields—employment, health, education and politics. It engages both Indigenous and the non‐Indigenous who grapple with the issues associated with socially and culturally liminal spaces. Borderwork provides a focus on the way boundaries are continually constructed as well as dismantled and reconstructed as a result of historical, political and social change. The article draws upon the work of Bourdieu (2000) to interrogate the ‘naturalisation’ of conditions that give rise to particular interpretive frameworks and the specific relations of power that legitimate one interpretive framework over others. ‘First Nations people are border workers by the nature of their aboriginal claims and their persisting marginalization…’ (Celia Haig‐Brown, 1992:230)     

Engaging with place: artists,site-specificity and the Hebden Bridge Sculpture Trail

This paper traces the creative processes employed by artists participating in the 2004 Hebden Bridge Sculpture Trail and examines relationships between place, art and site-specificity. The Trail is a popular, temporary annual local arts event that invites international artists, students and community art groups to create and exhibit site-sensitive sculpture within Hardcastle Crags in Yorkshire, England. We consider some of the multiple ways in which artists mediate relationships between ‘site’ and artwork. We connect geographical concepts of place that highlight location, locale and sense of place, with mobile understandings of site as porous and flowing. The paper positions geographical research of art, opening out art and site in a non-urban environment through comparative discussion of concepts of ‘place’ and three ‘paradigms’ in site-specific art (phenomenological, social/institutional and discursive, Kwon 2002 Kwon, M. 2002. One Place After Another: Site-specific Art and Locational Identity, Cambridge MA: MIT Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Three elements of site-specificity – histories, natures, interactions – are then explored through fourteen artists' creative practices and our documentation of the installation of their artwork in the Trail. We highlight the juxtaposition of ‘sites’ within the Trail, the over-lapping of ‘paradigms’ within individual artworks, and transitory aspects of ‘site’ to suggest that ‘time’ holds great significance in understanding site-specificity, place and art outdoors.