Ecological constraints on the first prehistoric farmers in Europe

The Neolithic Revolution, which witnessed the transformation of hunter–gatherer groups into farming communities, is traditionally viewed as the event that allowed human groups to create systems of production that, in the long run, led to present-day societies. Despite the large corpus of research focused on the mechanisms and outcomes of the Neolithic transition, relatively little effort has been devoted to evaluating whether particular production-oriented adaptations could be integrated into a broad range of ecological conditions, and if specific cultural traditions differed ecologically. In order to investigate whether the differences between the adaptations and geographic distributions of three major Early Neolithic archaeological cultures are related to the exploitation of different suites of environmental conditions, we apply genetic algorithm and maximum entropy ecological niche modeling techniques to reconstruct and compare the ecological niches within which three principal Neolithic cultures (Impressed Ware, Cardial Ware, and Linearbandkeramik) spread across Europe between ca. 8000 and 7000 cal yr BP. Results show that these cultures occupied mutually exclusive suites of environmental conditions and, thus, were adapted to distinct and essentially non-overlapping ecological niches. We argue that the historical processes behind the Neolithization of Europe were influenced by environmental factors predisposing occupation of regions most suited to specific cultural adaptations.     

Moyens Techniques et Reproduction Sonore

Sans résumé Philippe Despoix enseigne la littérature comparée à l’université de Montréal où il dirige le Centre canadien d’études allemandes et européennes. Ses recherches portent sur la fonction des médias techniques dans les processus mémoriels et de transferts interculturels. Il a notamment publié éthiques du désenchantement (Paris, L’Harmattan, 1995) et Le Monde mesuré (Genève, Droz, 2005). Nicolas Donin est chercheur en musicologie à l’Ircam, où il dirige l’équipe ?Analyse des pratiques musicales?. Ses travaux portent sur les œuvres, les pratiques et esthétiques musicales savantes. Il a notamment codirigé, avec Bernard Stiegler, Révolutions industrielles de la musique, numéro spécial des Cahiers de médiologie (n^o 18, 2004). L’Analyse musicale, une pratique et son histoire, ouvrage réalisé en collaboration avec Rémy Campos, est à para?tre (Genève, Conservatoire de Genève/Droz).     

Le Poète Évêque, Le Moine, Le Financier et L’Académicien

This article aims to analyze together several kinds of XVII ^th century correspondence which usually are studied separately: business letters, devotional letters, «literary» letters sent and received within a network of friends. In order to understand a strategy of epistolary writing, these letters and the various forms of their publication including scribal publication are here considered as tools used within the social world. This strategy implies, for every writer, an effort to gain social recognition for excellence in the art of writing. Literary institutions are indeed involved here, but put to use to further careers and various other operations. We see, for example, a conflict within a religious order settled, a man of letters recognized in the eyes of the law, a pious individual making his way in society, and the shaping of a bishop’s career grounded on influential social circles. These case studies allow us to grasp how social networks function, and to understand the specific role played by men of letters.     

Imperial Realism: Post-War IR Theory and Decolonisation

The paper reviews the record of realism in IR theory in relation to the process of decolonisation. It argues that despite being traditionally set against imperial adventures and opposed to the kind of idealism in which they are usually coated, realism was remarkably silent about decolonisation, at a time when most commentators thought that the emergence of newly independent countries was a more portentous event than even the cold war. It explains this silence by the structure of the post-war debate on decolonisation, largely monopolised by modernisation theorists and often confined to the precincts of international organisations, but also by the fact that IR theory had built-in arguments against the unlimited extension of sovereignty that allowed its practitioners to advocate a pragmatic support for imperial powers and reproducing classical tropes of imperial thought.     

Variability in Wood-Frame Building Damage using Broad-Band Synthetic Ground Motions: A Comparative Numerical Study with Recorded Motions

Earthquake damage to light-frame wood buildings is a major concern for North America because of the volume of this construction type. In order to estimate wood building damage using synthetic ground motions, we need to verify the ability of synthetically generated ground motions to simulate realistic damage for this structure type. Through a calibrated damage potential indicator, four different synthetic ground motion models are compared with the historically recorded ground motions at corresponding sites. We conclude that damage for sites farther from the fault (>20 km) is under-predicted on average and damage at closer sites is sometimes over-predicted.     

The Artist and the Archaeologist: A Presentation in Memory of Christopher and Sonia Hawkes

The paper is an adapted version of a talk given in December 2001 at the Institute of Archaeology in Beaumont Street in dedication of a plaque and the lithograph 'Landscape of the Megaliths' by Paul Nash to the memory of the late Professor Christopher Hawkes, the founder of the Institute and first professor of European Archaeology from 1946 to 1972, and Sonia Chadwick Hawkes, Lecturer in Anglo–Saxon Archaeology from 1973 to 1994, by Christopher's son.