Community and conservation land ownership in highland Scotland: A common focus in a changing context

Legislation on the topic of land reform will enter statute during the lifetime of the first administration of the Scottish Parliament. It is thus timely to review types of land ownership that have evolved in Scotland in the recent past. This paper briefly reviews the context of the current land reform debate. It considers the characteristics of community and conservation ownership, exemplified in case studies of the North Assynt Estate (owned and run by the Assynt Crofters Trust) and the Sandwood Estate (owned by the John Muir Trust). Positive and negative aspects of these two management structures are illustrated and a convergence in management approaches, towards a focus on community interest and involvement, is demonstrated. The emergence of a social sector in land ownership is considered.     

Local area farming Plans — a common reality for farmers and conservationists in the Scottish Highlands?

This paper supports the need for new policy developments to produce farm conservation plans specific to local areas. It explores attitudes to land management for conservation and economic goals, and presents views of fanners and local conservationists, who are directly involved in agri‐environmental and farm woodland schemes, in three regions of the Highlands of Scotland. It reviews the current state of Scottish agri‐environmental schemes, and presents results of on‐farm workshops conducted with farmers and conservationists and discusses common management plan approaches for environmental action. It concludes that farmers and conservationists are already considering the advantages of local area planning at a local area level and agree that there should be focus on addressing local site specific issues which take into account both the whole farm and its wider environment.     

Books received in 1972

GREAT BRITAIN

Patterns of Highland Development. By David Turnock, 8.9 × 6.3, xiii + 272 pages, 32 figures, 32 plates. Macmillan, London, 1970. £8.

Soil Survey of Scotland, Bulletin No. 1: The Soils of Candacraig and Glenbuchat. By R. E. F. Heslop and C. J. Brown. 9 1/2 × 6, 116 pp., 13 tables, 3 maps (2 loose, folded), appendices, references, Index. Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen, 1969.

Southwest England. By A. H. Shorter, W. L. D. Ravenhill and K. J. Gregory. 15.5 × 23.5 cm. xii + 340 pp., 95 maps and diagrams, 3 tables, 55 plates, 1 folded map, selected references, index. Nelson, London, 1969. £5.25.

Land and Leisure. By J. Allan Patmore. 8 3/4 × 5 3/4, 322 pp., 26 plates, 84 illustrations and maps. David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1970. £4.20.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

The Value of Weather. By W. J. Maunder. 9×5 3/4, 388 pp. Methuen, London. £3.75; also University Paperback. £2.00.

The Periglacial Environment. By Troy L. Péivé. McGill‐Queen's University Press, 1969. £11.25.

Glacier Surveys in British Columbia: Vol. 1 English System; Vol. 2 Metric System. By I. A. Reid and J. Shastal. Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Canada, Report series No. 10. 1968.

Coasts and Beaches. By J. A. Steers. 7×4 1/2. 136 pp. Illustrated. (Contemporary Science Paperback). Oliver &; Boyd,. Edinburgh, 1969. 37 1/2p.

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Urban Analysis. A Study of City Structure with Special Reference to Sunderland. By B. T. Robson. Cambridge Geographical Studies, No. 1. 9 1/4 × 6 1/4. 302 pp. Maps and Tables. Bibliography. Cambridge U.P., London, 1969. £4.00

The Harsh Lands. By David Grieg. 8 3/4 × 5 3/4, 321 pp., 24 figures, 30 tables. Macmillan, London, 1970. £3.50. Paperback, £1.75.

ATLASES AND MAPS

The National Atlas of Disease Mortality in the United Kingdom. Revised and extended edition. By G. Melvyn Howe on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society. 11 1/4 × 8 3/4, 197 pp. Nelson, London. £5.25.

Maps for Books and Theses. By A. G. Hodgkiss. 8 3/4 × 5 1/2, 267 pp., 8 plates, 88 illustrations. David &; Charles, Newton Abbot, 1970. £2.75.

>EDUCATION

Landscape Studies—An Introduction to Geomorphology. By K. E. Sawyer. 10 3/4 × 8 1/2, x + 148 pp., 28 map extracts, 52 photographs, 124 field sketches, sketches, diagrams. Edward Arnold, London, 1970. £200.

Water for Power and Irrigation. By J. M. Pritchard. 9 3/4 × 6, 36 pp., 18 maps, diagrams. Dent, London, 1970. 30p.

Britain and World Trade. C. W. Park. 8 1/2 × 5 1/2, 176 pp., 46 diagrams and maps, 10 plates, tables, index. English Universities Press, London. 65p.

Ethiopia in Pictures. By Alfred Allotey Acquaye. Iraq in pictures. By Jon A. Teta. Visual , Geography Series. 10i x 6|, 64 pp. The Oak Tree Press Ltd., 1970. 95p.

World Population and Food Supply. J. H. Lowry. 9 3/4 × 7 3/8, 112 pp., charts, tables, diagrams, maps, plates. E. Arnold &; Sons Ltd. 1970. £1.00.

Landscape Studies Series. (7 titles). Edited by W. K. Birrell. 7 × 9 1/2. approx. 50 pp. Jacaranda Press, 1969. 49p.each.

Jackdaw Publications. No. 76 Volcanoes, by G. Jefferies. No. 77 The Motor Industry by G. Jefferies. No. 79 Dairy Farming by J. L. Jones. Folder 9 × 13 1/2. Jonathan Cape, 1969. 60p.each.

Field Studies for Schools. Volume 4. Field Excursions in North Wales. Edited by F. E. Clegg. 7 1/4 × 4 1/4, 174 pp., 8 plates, 25 maps and diagrams. Rivingtons, London, 1969. 90p.

Field Studies for Schools. Volume 3. Field Excursions in Eastern Scotland. Edited by R. B.. Salmon. 7 1/4 × 4 3/4, 8 plates, 18 maps and diagrams. Rivingtons, London, 1969. 90p.

Modern Geography Series, Book VIII, Africa: By A. W. Coysh and M. E. Tomlinson. 7 3/4 × 5 1/4, 226 pp., plates, maps and diagrams. University Tutorial Press, London, 1970. 67 1/2p.

Mauritius: A Geographical Survey. By T. Ramdin. 9 3/4 × 7 1/2. 64 pp. 7 full page maps in colour. Many photographs and sketch‐maps. Examination questions and bibliography. University Tutorial Press, London, 1969. 45p.

New Secondary Geographies: ‘Asia and North America’. By R. A. Beddis. 192 pp., 6 3/8 × 8 3/8 University of London Press. 90p.

Focal Points in Geography: ‘Asia and North America’. By R. A. Beddis. 9 3/4 × 7 3/8, 80 pp. University of London Press. 65p.

Europe in Maps. By R. Knowles and P. W. R. Stowe. 96 pp., 19 maps, 22 photographs, 23 figures. Longmans, London, 1969. £1.50.

Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. By H. Tolley and K. Orrell. 9 3/4 × 7 1/2. 96 pp., 94 figs. Geography of the British Isles Series. Cambridge U.P., London, 1970.65p.

Basic Geography. By D. C. Money. 10 × 7 1/2, 162 pp. University Tutorial Press, London, 1970. £1.10.

The Earth's Surface. By D. C. Money. 7 1/2 × 10, 168 pp. Evans Bros., London, 1970. £1.25. These two books by Mr. Money overlap in subject matter but the scope and treatment are rather different.     

An example of a severe neck injury with survival seen in a Bronze Age burial

We present a paleopathological analysis of an adult male from the Bronze Age site of Motilla del Azuer (Daimiel, Ciudad Real) from the Spanish region of La Mancha. The hyoid bone from this individual exhibits a healed fracture. This is an exceptional archaeological find. This injury is extremely rare apart from hanging and strangulation, and it is even rarer since the individual survived this injury to his neck. This injury was probably produced by a direct impact to the neck. This event could have been the result of an accident or that of intentional aggression. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Taphonomic evidence of a human skeleton gnawed by termites in a Moche‐civilisation grave at Huaca de la Luna,Peru

A human skeleton from a Moche grave at Huaca de la Luna, Trujillo, Peru, shows evidence of taphonomic bone modification due to subterranean termite activity. Information related to the occasional osteophagous diet of termites on mammal and human remains is reviewed and detailed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Illustrations and the genesis of Barrett and Yonge's "Collins pocket guide to the sea shore" (1958)

Twenty nine items of correspondence from the mid-1950s discovered recently in the archives of the University Marine Biological Station Millport, and others made available by one of the illustrators and a referee, shed unique light on the publishing history of "Collins pocket guide to the sea shore". This handbook, generally regarded as a classic of its genre, marked a huge step forwards in 1958; providing generations of students with an authoritative, concise, affordable, well illustrated text with which to identify common organisms found between the tidemarks from around the coasts of the British Isles. The crucial role played by a select band of illustrators in making this publication the success it eventually became, is highlighted herein. The difficulties of accomplishing this production within commercial strictures, and generally as a sideline to the main employment of the participants, are revealed. Such stresses were not helped by changing demands on the illustrators made by the authors and by the publishers.     

Chihr de l’encens (Yémen)

Frankincense burners found in al‐Shihr’s excavations in Yemen, a frankincense harbour during the Islamic period, represent a rare corpus of this type, which is an indication of both specific use and goods from South Arabia. Although associated with the pre‐Islamic South Arabian kingdoms, the frankincense burner evolved throughout the Islamic period. This is proved by the long chronological sequence of the al‐Shihr site (780–1996). Texts quoting the presence of frankincense, its use and its trade in al‐Shihr are cited in this article to support the reputation of this harbour‐town, which is part of the maritime trade networks of medieval Islam. The aim of this article is to create a renewal of interest in future archaeological research about this object, which is so often neglected in spite of its importance as a testimony of the customs and exchanges that are deeply rooted in Arabian civilisation.     

Some types of vertebral pathologies in the Argar Culture (Bronze Age,SE Spain)

A collection of 1825 vertebrae belonging to 105 individuals from several Argaric Culture sites (Bronze Age, SE of Spain) were studied. Several pathologies that could provide information about activity patterns were analysed, including spondylolysis, compression fractures and Schmorl's nodes. Spondylolysis appears exclusively in men. Compression fractures seem to be more related to age (osteoporosis) and are more frequent in women, but without statistical significance. Schmorl's nodes affect a large number of the individuals studied, with a slight predominance in men; there are no differences by age. The results obtained were compared with the available archaeological and anthropological information, which shows a clear division of activities by sex in the Argaric population. The validity of studying these pathologies as activity patterns is discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.