Waging war in the fourteenth century

The papers in this special issue exemplify how, through the study of sources beyond the chronicles which have tended to dominate historical writing about fourteenth-century military history in western Europe, we can advance our knowledge on how war was waged by the English — and on some occasions by their enemies too.     

Political theory and postmodernism

Based on Max Weber's concept of Kulturnation and Hans Blumenberg's project of metaphorology, this essay argues that modern nations follow distinct cultural programmes that are inherent to their national ideas. Each national idea is propagated by a particular biopolitical metaphor, which performs a transfer from practical or scientific ideas about how nature structures and organises life to cultural ideas about how human lives should be socially and politically organised. The essay examines the emergence of the principal metaphors of grafting in England (Great Britain), of regeneration and elective affinities in France, and of organic self-generation in Prussia (Germany). The fact that each nation claims for its particular national idea the status of a universal principle constitutes the intrinsic paradox of nationalism.     

The French Communist Party within the Left and alternative movements

French Communism once dominated the Left of the Left and assimilated within itself most of the ‘alternative’ political movements. However, the decline of Communism has created a space on the extreme Left that has been exploited by a myriad of small movements. These have occupied a political territory that the Communists would like to claim for their own, but they are unable to reclaim their once hegemonic position and find themselves a junior partner in many of the transactions on the extreme Left. Communist decline and their inability to find a way out of their impasse are connected with the same thing–their rigidity. However, if Communism changes it will cease to be Communist and the indications are, given Communist history and politics, that it is not capable of making the changes.     

Fracture‐focused fluid flow in an acid and redox‐influenced system: diagenetic controls on cement mineralogy and geomorphology in the Navajo Sandstone

Differential cement mineralogy is influenced by depositional textures, structural deformation, pore fluid chemistry, and ultimately influences landscape evolution by introducing heterogeneities in erodibility. In Southern Utah, the region West of the Kaibab uplift known as Mollies Nipple (Mollies) in Grand Staircase‐Escalante National Monument exhibits a complex history of fluid–sediment interactions, which has resulted in a localized zone of anomalous diagenetic iron sulfate (jarosite) mineralogy in a well‐exposed dune–interdune deposit within the Navajo Sandstone. Mineralogy and geochemistry of cements within this region are examined using reflectance and imaging spectroscopy, field investigations, microscopy, and whole‐rock geochemical analyses. These data show that the in‐situ jarosite cement is localized to a plane along the highest ridge of the butte, providing an armor along with other secondary cements, which controls the butte's geomorphic evolution. The jarosite cement is associated with other mineralogies suggesting that the sulfate was one of the latest fluid‐related precipitates in the paragenetic sequence. It was preceded by a regional bleaching event, precipitation of clay cements, some localized concretionary iron oxide precipitation, and formation of deformation bands. At least one generation of dense iron oxide mineralization is associated with cataclastic brittle deformation predating the sulfate precipitation. Trace element geochemistry of cements shows certain metal oxide populations associated with extremely high (>2000 ppm) arsenic values. We interpret the combination of spatial mineral distribution, observed paragenetic sequence, and trace element geochemistry to suggest this region experienced acid sulfate diagenesis along fracture‐controlled fluid conduits related to weathering of proximal, unidentified, sulfides, or H₂S associated with deep source beds. Jarosite is highly soluble, and its presence suggests that abundant fluid flow has not occurred in this region since its formation. This terminal cement‐forming event must have occurred prior to sandstone exhumation and erosion to form the current extreme landscape at Mollies. This site exhibits the influence that fluid geochemistry, sedimentary mineralogy, and structural fabric have on geomorphic evolution.     

Using Multibeam Echo‐Sounder Data to Identify Shipwreck Sites: archaeological assessment of the Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey data

This paper describes Phase 1 of the project ‘Archaeological Applications of the Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey (JIBS) Data’, analysing bathymetric and backscatter data derived from multibeam surveys off the north coast of Ireland. In particular, the usability of the data for shipwreck detection, identification and site characterization is explored. In Phase 1, the data was screened for anomalous sea‐bed features, which were subsequently described, catalogued and categorized according to their archaeological potential and cross‐referenced against existing records. A planned second phase of this project will examine each anomaly in greater detail together with the local and regional hydrodynamic conditions. © 2010 The Authors