“Solidarity is our weapon”: Social Mobilisation in Scotland in the Contest of the Post‐Political Condition

The consensual climate of the post‐political order has been recently disrupted in Europe. The mass protests staged in different European countries and the resurgences of the extreme parties in response to the multiple European crises witness the “cracks” in consensual politics. While much of the scholarly attention has been drawn onto the socio‐political implications of large‐scale upraises, the contribution of bottom‐up sub‐national groups to the “return of the political” has been under‐researched. Therefore, this article focuses on sub‐national grassroots groups as instances of the “properly political” (Swyngedouw 2009, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 33[3]:601–620). It is contended that these groups, by putting in place acts of solidarity, are “agonistic” political forms, containing in nuce the potential to counteract the post‐political order and to shape a new politics. To interrogate this argument, the article reports the findings of a case study analysis involving four grassroots groups based in Scotland.     

Insights into Past Ritual Practice at Yikpabongo, Northern Region, Ghana

Varied interpretations have been provided for the figurine mound sites located in Koma Land and in the Mogduri District, Northern Region, Ghana, including that they represent burial mounds or shrines. In particular, the producers or affiliates of the mounds are unknown, as the traditions of the present inhabitants of the archaeological region dissociate themselves from the mounds. Current excavations of the mounds have provided considerable contextual information, leading the excavation team to hypothesise that the mounds are best understood within a shrine context and that the figurines, possibly representing ancestors or other beings, were used in ceremonies aimed at communicating with the supernatural world for healing or other purposes. This article presents the current understanding of these mound sites with particular reference to the 2010 and 2011 excavation seasons and the ethnography of existing groups in the area. Possible future avenues of enquiry are also discussed.     

Carcass damage and digested bone from mountain lions (Felis concolor): implications for carcass persistence on landscapes as a function of prey age

This actualistic study examines the taphonomic signatures of modern free-ranging mountain lions (Felis concolor) on prey skeletal remains left at kill sites and digested bone fragments in the lions’ scats. Conducted in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico (U.S.A.), the study and its outcomes are relevant to models of carcass persistence and scavenging opportunities on ancient landscapes. Mountain lions in the study area ingested disproportionate quantities of bone from very young prey. This tendency holds true irrespective of prey body size. The results meanwhile confirm a relatively mild pattern of damage to adult deer carcasses. Digestive erosion of the surfaces of bones that passed through the gut was relatively severe, but many of these bone and tooth specimens retained identifiable features. It is clear that the mountain lions quickly remove the carcasses of very young prey from the pool of potentially scavenge-able resources. The non-linear relation between bone destruction from feeding by the cats and the skeletal maturity of prey also has consequences for prey mortality patterns, specifically a bias against the representation of very young individuals. This effect is not sufficient, however, to produce a global bias to prime-adult prey because older juveniles are much less affected.     

Tourism in changing natural environments

ABSTRACT

Natural environments and the human interactions that occur within, are continuously changing and evolving. However, increasingly, the impacts of climate change, natural and man-made disasters, economic instability, and other macro-environmental factors, have profound implications on local and global economies, fragile ecosystems, and human cultures and livelihoods. In response, tourism within these natural environments is also changing and evolving rapidly in both developed and developing regions. While at times this is spurred by new opportunities, it is often also the result of resource and user-conflicts and changing environmental circumstances. The articles in this special issue examine the numerous ways in which changes in the natural environment impact tourism, and how the tourism industry is responding and adapting to such changes. Detailed case study examination of human interactions within what are often fragile ecosystems can provide us with important insight on social and ecosystem resiliency, innovation and adaptation, and factors that drive tourism success. This was the focus of a session at the inaugural Tourism Naturally Conference, held in Alghero, Italy, 2–5 October 2016, and formed the basis for this collection of articles. From these contributions, what is evident is that while adaptation can be passive in nature, it can, and should ideally be much more proactive, with individuals and organizations seeking improved knowledge and learning. Such actions will contribute to greater resilience within the tourism industry, whether in response to climate change and its subsequent impacts, or an increasing scarcity of the natural resources upon which tourism relies.     

Gazelle bone marrow yields and Epipalaeolithic carcass exploitation strategies in the southern Levant

We measure the bone marrow yields of mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella) carcasses to reconstruct gazelle exploitation strategies during the Epipalaeolithic periods in the southern Levant. We present experimentally derived data on the bone marrow content of seven fresh gazelle carcasses, determine the range of marrow yields among individuals of different sexes and seasons of death, and compare the new data to gazelle skeletal element abundances from five Epipalaeolithic assemblages from Israel. We found extensive variation in marrow fat content among individual gazelles. Animals with the highest marrow yields were killed in the spring while animals killed in the early autumn had lower fat contents. Nevertheless, our results suggest that gazelle marrow provided a reliable, albeit small fat resource for prehistoric foragers in all seasons. Strong relationships between bone fragmentation and marrow content demonstrate that Epipalaeolithic people preferentially processed bones with high marrow yields.