Shake-Table Tests of Confined-Masonry Rocking Walls with Supplementary Hysteretic Damping

A shake-table investigation is conducted on a 40% scale model frame-wall system to validate the concept of rocking walls as primary seismic systems. The rocking wall concept was implemented on confined masonry walls, but the findings can be extended to any rocking wall system. As the inherent damping of this system is low, a pair of supplemental steel hysteretic energy dissipating dampers is used at the base of the wall. It is concluded that with careful detailing, damage is not only eliminated but the structure re-centers itself following a large earthquake.     

The effect of a top predator on kangaroo abundance in arid Australia and its implications for archaeological faunal assemblages

The dingo has received considerable attention in the Australian archaeological literature as an agent of bone fragmentation and accumulation. Dingoes have also been studied with respect to their commensal relationship with Aboriginal people. Study has not been directed, however, to the meta-role of dingoes as prey regulators that suppress kangaroo abundance, and the subsequent impact on human subsistence that direct competition between dingoes and humans over the same animal resources could have produced. This study presents data gathered in two adjacent cultural landscapes defined by human land use, one with dingoes and one without dingoes – to illustrate the archaeological effect that dingoes may have had on human economic systems by suppressing kangaroo abundance. Live kangaroos and kangaroo skeletal remains were on average 14-fold and 32-fold more abundant in the absence of dingoes, and contemporary commercial kangaroo harvesting and sheep grazing were restricted to areas where dingoes were absent. Given the marked effects that dingoes have on contemporary kangaroo abundance and the human economy, we argue that dingoes likely shaped the human economy in the past through human–dingo competition for the same limited resources. Evidence for competition between humans and dingoes could be investigated in the archaeological record by comparing the relative frequency of prey of different body sizes, as well as the degree of fragmentation of kangaroo skeletal elements, before and after the arrival of dingoes.     

Distinguishing between archaeological sheep and goat bones using a single collagen peptide

We describe a method of isolating and analyzing a single collagen peptide able to distinguish between sheep and goat bone collagen. The 33 amino acid peptide from both sheep and goat collagen was sequenced and shown to differ between the two species at two positions. Analysis of a range of caprines indicated that the sequence changes occurred between the divergence of the Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) and the ibex (Capra ibex) and that the proposed goat marker is diagnostic of all Capra species and breeds. The survival of these markers in archaeological bones was tested using a set of 26 ovicaprid specimens from Domuztepe, a Neolithic site in south central Turkey. These markers were used to test the osteological determination of 24 of the Domuztepe bones, and determine the species for two immature specimens. The collagen-peptide method has advantages over other non-morphological methods of sheep/goat distinction because of the long-term survival of collagen over other biomolecules such as ancient DNA. The results also highlighted the problems in relying upon one morphological criterion, in this case on the distal radius, to distinguish between sheep and goat bones.     

GIS-based modeling of drought and historical population change on the Canadian Prairies

This article describes the development of a GIS-based model of historical drought and population change in western Canada, designed to support qualitative field research into drought adaptation and migration. The model combines digitized census data and recently available modeled historical climate data at a 10 km² grid cell scale and can be used to generate maps of ‘hotspots’ where historical declines in rural populations may be associated with extended periods of heat and lack of precipitation. The results suggest a promising avenue for expanding and refining GIS-based modeling of historical human–climate interactions to support qualitative research and to potentially serve as a stepping stone toward forecasting future risk areas of drought-related migration in continental dryland areas.     

Cattle mobility in prehistoric Britain: strontium isotope analysis of cattle teeth from Durrington Walls (Wiltshire,Britain)

An important role has been envisaged for cattle during the Neolithic period in Britain based on their prominence within the faunal assemblages of the period as a whole. The relative ease with which cattle can be moved over long distances and the requirement to provide ample pastureland leads almost inescapably to the consideration of prehistoric cattle movement. This paper presents the results of an investigation into the mobility of Late Neolithic cattle at the well-known site of Durrington Walls, Wiltshire. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values from cattle (Bos taurus) teeth were compared to local vegetation samples, well established values from archaeological material and to known geological conditions in order to determine whether individual animals were raised in areas with similar geological conditions as those found at the site (i.e. chalkland), and therefore whether the animals were of allochthonous or autochthonous origin. In total, 13 mandibular molars from Durrington Walls were analysed. Two of the animals included in the study were certainly raised under conditions similar to those found in the vicinity of Durrington Walls, but the other 11 provided signatures so distinct from that found locally that they could not have been raised on chalkland. From the results it is suggested that cattle were brought to the site from a variety of grazing areas in different parts of Britain. The implication of these findings is that the movement of cattle was undertaken during the Late Neolithic, and that in a number of cases substantial distances must have been traversed in order for animals to reach the site. In addition, the study provided valuable information for the interpretation of the site, which attracted people from a variety of regions, probably for ceremonial reasons.     

Seismic Response of a Four-Story Miniature Building with Replaceable Plastic Hinges

To emphasize on linear and nonlinear seismic behavior of building systems in education, a four-story miniature moment-resisting frame steel building was designed, built, and tested in a shaking table at the Structures Laboratory of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. A prominent feature of the building is the incorporation of elements designed to form plastic hinges that can be easily replaced after a test with minimum effort and at a very low cost. This model is mainly aimed at education in undergraduate and graduate structural dynamics/earthquake engineering courses and it has also been used to support research. This article describes in detail the main features of the building, its design, and discusses the response of the building to two input ground motions. Because the use of pushover analyses is becoming an industry standard, the some relevant results will be compared with those predicted by such kind of analyses. This article is written in very simple terms and is aimed at the undergraduate and graduate student, at educators in structural design and at structural engineers involved in seismic design of building structures. This article covers many aspects that are seldom highlighted in building behavior to earthquake excitation and that are not always covered in design codes or guidelines.     

Is Australia a middle power? A systemic impact approach

This article examines whether Australia is a middle power. It identifies the three most popular approaches to defining a middle power: by a country's position, behaviour and identity. The article tests each definition against Australia, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each. Highlighting an earlier systemic approach to defining states, an alternative ‘systemic impact’ definition for middle powers is proposed. This approach, it is argued, provides a more comprehensive manner for identifying whether a country like Australia is a middle power, along with the implications for international security.     

Palaeohabitat of first settlement sites 1500–1000 B.C. in Guam,Mariana islands,western Pacific

Based on computer-aided models and geoarchaeological excavations, palaeohabitat renderings can account for ancient site locations and contexts much different from today in terms of sea level, coastal dynamics, slope erosion, nearshore ecosystems, native forests, and other factors. A case study illustrates this research in Guam of the Mariana Islands of the western Pacific, with specific reference to the 1500–1000 B.C. time interval. This time interval includes the oldest known archaeological sites in the Mariana Islands, directly relevant for understanding the context of ancient Austronesian population dispersals in the larger western Pacific region. The results also help toward larger understanding of coastal adaptations in dynamic settings.     

Fish ’n chips: ZooMS peptide mass fingerprinting in a 96 well plate format to identify fish bone fragments

Fish are a large, highly diverse, and anthropologically important group of vertebrates. However, fish bones are underrepresented in the archaeological literature because they are less stable than those of other taxa and identification of bone to species is often difficult or impossible. We explore a new identification system, ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry), which is based upon protein barcoding. As proteins can be cleaved enzymatically and analyzed by mass spectrometry in a repeatable way, protein barcoding is used widely in microbiological contexts for quick and inexpensive protein identification; mass spectra reflect the differences in protein sequence and can therefore be reproducibly linked to a particular protein or protein fragment. ZooMS uses peptide fingerprinting of bone collagen as a method for rapid identification of archaeological bone. This has involved the identification of masses related to peptides of known sequence. For mammals, sufficient sequence information is available for this approach but for groups, such the teleost fish, species are highly diverse and there are few available collagen sequences. Here we report a preliminary investigation into the identification of fish species by peptide mass fingerprinting that does not require sequence information. Collagen mass spectra are used to identify eight species of bony fishes (Osteichthyes) from four orders: Clupeiformes, Salmoniformes, Gadiformes, and Perciformes. The method is applied to both modern and archaeological fish remains and offers the capacity to identify traditionally unidentifiable fish fragments, thus increasing the Number of Identified Specimens (NISP) and providing invaluable information in specialized contexts.     

Internet freedom,human rights and power

Internet freedom is rapidly becoming understood as a normative framework for how the Internet should function and be used globally. Recently declared a human right by the United Nations, it also forms a central pillar of the USA's 21st Century Statecraft foreign policy doctrine. This article argues that although there is a clear human rights agenda present in this policy, there is also a power element which is much less discussed or acknowledged in the vast literature on Internet freedom. Through an exploration of both a short history and some important lessons learned about Internet freedom, this article demonstrates how the US Department of State has adapted to the information age in such a way as to harness individual agency (reconceptualised in policy terms as ‘civilian power’) for the promotion of state power. Although this is by no means as stable or reliable as some more conventional mechanisms, it is an expression of power that meets with few challenges to its legitimacy.