Loose Howe; A North Yorkshire Log Coffin Boat Burial(s) Revisited

In 1937 a large barrow in north‐east Yorkshire was excavated by Mrs H. W. and Dr F. Elgee. A primary deposit comprising a ‘canoe’‐shaped log coffin and what were described as two ‘log boats’ or ‘canoes’ was uncovered beneath the mound. The burial did not survive; however, the ‘canoe’‐shaped coffin was found to contain an Early Bronze Age Merthyr Mawr‐type dagger, flints and some hazelnuts. Subsequently, a cremation was inserted into the top of the mound. This was accompanied by a Camerton‐Snowshill‐type dagger, a stone battle axe, a copper alloy pin, an accessory vessel and fragments from a Collared Urn. As part of a log coffin radiocarbon‐dating project, one of the hazelnuts was radiocarbon‐dated to 2008–1772 cal BC (95.4%) and a fragment of cremated bone from the secondary burial was dated to 1890–1741 cal BC (93.2%). This paper discusses the dating results and reconsiders the interpretation of the log coffin as a boat.     

Middle power strategic choices and horizontal security cooperation: the 2009 Australia-South Korea security cooperation agreement

ABSTRACT

This article examines why Asia-Pacific middle powers cooperate with each other on security issues. The article challenges the assumption that middle powers are primarily influenced by great-power structural factors in their security relations with each other. It argues that the dominant structural explanations of security cooperation between secondary states—balancing against the rise of China, responding to burden-sharing pressure from the United States, or hedging during a period of great power transition—have not been sufficiently tested. Using the 2009 Australia-South Korea security cooperation agreement as a representative example of middle power security cooperation, it finds that inter-personal leadership preferences played a key intervening role in filtering existing structural incentives into actual policy cooperation. It shows how congruence in leadership preferences shapes when and with whom middle powers are likely to cooperate on security issues. The article opens up the research agenda on middle powers by examining how they approach security relations in bilateral and horizontal contexts with each other.