Upper Ordovician Phacopida (Trilobita) from Tasmania

Eastonian trilobite faunas of the Gordon Group in Tasmania include the new species Ceraurinella oepiki, Erratencrinurus trippi, and Pliomerina trisulcata, as well as a reedocalymeninid probably allied to Sarrabesia Hammann & Leone, 1997. Ceraurinella and Erratencrinurus have not previously been reported from Australia, the former being predominantly Laurentian but also known from NE China, the Himalaya, and Vietnam, and the latter mostly Baltic/Laurentian. Peri-Gondwanan species of Ceraurinella appear to form a clade, within which Tasmanian and Indian (central Himalayan) taxa are closest relatives.     

From Alliance to Tutelage: A Historical Analysis of Manchu-Mongol Relations before the Qing Conquest

Before 1644, the Manchu rulers pursued a deliberate policy of alliances with the southern (later “Inner”) Mongol tribes. In the 1630s the system of treaties and alliances gave way to the creation of the League-Banner system, the jasaq system, and the Lifan Yuan. The new territorial and political organization meant that the southern Mongols, while retaining a degree of autonomy, became subjects of the Qing dynasty. This essay explores the historical circumstances of the transformation of the relationship between Manchus and Mongols from partnership to subordination. It also aims to explain the political principles deployed by the Manchus in the redefinition of their relationship with the Mongol elites. More specifically, the essay proposes that the new forms of administration of Inner Mongolia stemmed from a condition of “tutelage.” Tutelage was not simply imposed by the Manchus upon their erstwhile allies, but actively sought by Mongol aristocrats in the context of the intra-Mongol wars carried out by the Čaqar leader Ligdan Khan.     

Remote sensing techniques for reconstructing a vast Neolithic settlement in Southern Italy

The combined application of remote sensing techniques is often the most effective way for deepening the knowledge on very large archaeological sites (several hectares). In particular, geophysics and aerial photography could yield very detailed information on buried structures not only outlining their location but also, in many cases, defining their planimetry. Moreover, the accurate geocoding of different data sets and the use of GIS for their integration allow to extract the most comprehensive information from a combined study.     

The cultural construction of Italy in Albania and vice versa: Migration dynamics,strategies of resistance and politics of mutual self-definition across colonialism and post-colonialism

This article analyses the shifting ways in which Italy has been strategically represented in Albania during the different key passages of the latter's relatively recent history as a sovereign independent state. As a parallel narrative, the article also examines the way Albania has been equally strategically represented in Italy before and during the two periods in which Italy has been militarily involved in Albania, and the way this has been consistent with an attempt to elaborate and sustain a politically strategic definition of Italian identity and culture. The history of the asymmetrical relationship between Albania and Italy is deeply embedded in the social, cultural and political environments that are on the two shores of the Adriatic Sea. The cultural construction of Albania in Italy and vice versa of Italy in Albania should be linked to seemingly independent instances of domestic reforms. The dynamics of projective identification or dis-identification stemming from these instances should be seen as intertwined within two parallel processes of mutual definition encompassing both the colonial and the postcolonial relations between and within the two countries.