The Terramare and the surrounding hydraulic structures: a geophysical survey of the Santa Rosa site at Poviglio (Bronze Age,northern Italy)

The Terramara Santa Rosa is a Middle and Late Bronze Age archaeological site located in the Po alluvial plain, northern Italy. It is constituted of two moated villages delimited by earthen ramparts. The peripheral structures of the site are sealed by fine-textured flood plain deposits and they have not been fully explored through excavation due to their large extent. Because the shape of the villages and their relation to moats and the fluvial network are of paramount importance to understanding the landscape management and the use of water resources in the Terramare civilisation, a geophysical survey was planned to extend the results of the existing archaeological excavations to the site scale. A frequency-domain electro-magnetic sounding (FDEM) and electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) covered an area of approximately 26 ha; ERI was conducted for a total length >9000 m. Despite the predominance of electrically conductive fine-textured sediments, electrical resistivity anomalies were observed and they were attributed to subtle lithological differences in the sedimentary context of the alluvial plain. The geophysical interpretation, after the calibration with the excavation data, revealed the structures of the Terramara and of the surrounding hydraulic network, which are not visible at the surface due to flood plain deposits. The Santa Rosa site was founded in a favourable geomorphological position, on the top of a crevasse splay lobe of the adjoining Po palaeo-channel, rising above the surrounding alluvial plain. The Terramara and their surroundings were delineated through an artificial modification of this pre-existing crevasse splay lobe and a well-targeted urban design, with the objective of diverting water, most likely from a palaeo-channel of the Po River, through the digging of peripheral moats used to collect water around the site and to distribute it to the surrounding fields for irrigation. The water management documented by this study in the Terramara Santa Rosa can be considered as paradigmatic for the whole Terramare civilisation, which is therefore responsible of the introduction of the irrigated agriculture into western Europe for the first time.     

Did the Nationalist Government Manipulate the Chinese Bond Market? A Quantitative Perspective on Short-Term Price Fluctuations of Domestic Government Bonds, 1932–1934

Based on a newly constructed set of data, this paper offers a quantitative perspective on the Nationalist Government’s relations with China’s domestic bond markets during the period 1932–34. For all the recent revisionist scholarship on the achievements of Nationalist state-building, the perception of the Nationalist elite as corrupt is still widely accepted. In order to demonstrate the empirical potential of quantitative financial history, this paper tests one particular assertion: that members of the Nationalist elite manipulated the issue price of domestic government bonds in order to enrich themselves and their associates. We test this by calculating two price data correlations: that of a first sample of government bonds, all of them issued before 1932, and that of a second sample of government bonds, which includes bonds issued during the period under review. The price fluctuations of the first sample are correlated with each other to a much higher degree than those of the second sample. This indicates that the prices of bonds in the first sample were reacting similarly to the same range of influences, while the bonds issued during the period under review and included in the second sample were displaying individual price fluctuations. One possible explanation for this is that members of the Nationalist elite enriched themselves or their associates by issuing domestic government bonds at artificially low prices. In sum, the article illustrates both the potential and the limitations of quantitative history: it allows us to test and dismiss a precisely formulated hypothesis about Nationalist corruption, but it is only one possible way in which statistical analysis can be applied and does not cover the whole realm of state practices.     

Beteiligungshaushalte für informelle Siedlungen in Brasilien Das Beispiel Recife

Abstrakt In Brasilien fehlt Wohnraum für 33,9 Millionen Menschen. Landesweit besteht ein Defizit von 7,7 Millionen Wohnungen, davon 5,5 Millionen in den Ballungsr?umen. Arme und einkommensschwache Menschen sind bis heute weitgehend vom formalen Wohnungsmarkt ausgeschlossen. Im brasilianischen Recife wurde vor 19 Jahren ein st?dtisches Gesetz erlassen, das informelle Siedlungen anerkennt und den Bewohnern ein Bleiberecht garantiert. Das PREZEIS, der Plan zur Regulierung der Sonderzonen von besonderem sozialen Interesse, sieht auch einen Beteiligungshaushalt vor, in dem die Bewohner über Ma?nahmen zur Verbesserung ihrer Lebensbedingungen entscheiden. Anhand von drei Siedlungen wird dargestellt, welchen Beitrag das PREZEIS dort in der Vergangenheit leisten konnte und welche Verbesserungen eine Gesetzes?nderung bewirken k?nnte.     

Mapping a Future: Archaeology,Feminism, and Scientific Practice

Drawing on work in science studies, I argue for the importance of fieldwork and research practices when considering the relative significance of feminism within archaeology. Fieldwork, often presented as the unifying hallmark of all of anthropology, has a different resonance in archaeology at the level of material practice and specific techniques. In order to understand the relationship between archaeology and feminism we need to investigate methods, methodology, and interpretations of the material record simultaneously. Examining one practice, that of map making, I suggest venues amenable to feminist insights.     

The role of resident-city identification in building residents’ city commitment

This paper examines how elements of perceived city marketing mix influence residents’ city identification and city commitment. The study also tests the role of resident-city identification in building residents’ city commitment. The research model, along with the hypotheses, are developed from the literature, and tested based on the data collected through a survey on a representative sample (residents of Ljubljana – capital city of Slovenia) of 402 respondents. Among the elements of city marketing mix, ‘City as a management system’ and ‘City as people’ have direct influence on city commitment, while the elements ‘City as people’ and ‘City as physical evidence’ have direct influence on city identification. The partly mediating role of city identification is also revealed between ‘City as people’ and ‘City commitment’. The paper also shows that city identification has the strongest influence on city commitment, as well as that both concepts are distinctive, and not theoretically interchangeable.     

Cooperation differs. Intentions of municipalities towards metropolitan cooperation in post-socialist space – Brno,Czech Republic

The long-term regional policy of metropolitan regions contributes to the socio-economic development of the entire functional region as it prevents the disharmony in the activity of the interested actors. In the Czech environment, metropolitan cooperation has not been institutionalized yet, which is remarkable while its importance is emphasized in many developed countries and the development of metropolitan regions is greatly supported by EU through the tool ITI. Moreover, a fully-fledged expert interdisciplinary discussion on this issue, which would provide valid conclusions for the needs of the planning practice, is developing rather slowly. The presented contribution is filling this research gap by analysing and assessing the potential of municipalities for metropolitan cooperation in post-socialist space (mainly through institutional cooperation), using a relevant literature, assessing the results of a questionnaire survey and empirical experiences from the model territory of Brno metropolitan area (BMA). The results of the research indicate a willingness to set-up more formal institutionalization of metropolitan cooperation. It would be feasible to transfer some competencies to a newly established metropolitan expert platform/agency. However, cooperation is significantly linked to the awareness of its benefits (not only of a financial character) and to the requirement of keeping ‘basic’ self-governing competencies.     

The Role of Pattern‐Welding in Historical Swords—Mechanical Testing of Materials Used in Their Manufacture

Pattern‐welding is a well‐known technique that was widely employed in the manufacture of swords. While the decorative effect of genuine pattern‐welding (employing phosphoric iron) is indisputable, to date its reinforcing effect is rather unclear. In order to understand this issue better, wrought iron, phosphoric iron, steel and various pattern‐welded samples were prepared and mechanically tested, and the results obtained are discussed in detail. Both the mechanical testing and the long‐term metallographic investigation of medieval swords suggest that pattern‐welding does not have any significant positive effect on the mechanical properties of swords and we should consider it a primarily decorative technique.