Late medieval copper alloying practices: a view from a Parisian workshop of the 14th century AD

161 late medieval copper-based day-to-day items have been analysed, mostly consisting of small artefacts such as dress fittings. The items were all recently excavated from a 14th century AD metallurgical workshop located in Paris. Eight well-defined copper alloys have been identified that refer to various constraints, the most important one being economics. According to the model proposed, most of the alloys were obtained by dilution of a fresh brass master alloy by scrap metal containing small amounts of zinc, tin and lead. Pure lead was added separately in relatively large quantities, with a limit of 6 wt% Pb marking the boundary between leaded and unleaded alloys. It has been found that the less the cost of the artefact, the more the fresh brass is diluted. For the medium-size castings such as cast vessels, alloys containing large quantities of lead or alloys rich in antimony were used. Such complex alloying strategy pertains more to a small industrial-like plant organisation rather than to craftsman activity, as further supported by a variety of archaeological and historical evidence.     

Music in French geography as space marker and place maker

For several decades, there have been broad research developments on the links between music and geography in the English-speaking world, initially in the USA, then in Europe and also in Asia, the Middle East and Oceania. In the French-speaking world, although developments are more recent, research bringing together music and geography is well developed, too. However, it was not until the end of the last decade that Francophones began to take Anglophone work into account and even this was inconsistent. In Anglophone publications, the work of the Francophones is almost completely absent. With this commentary, a Francophone–Anglophone dialogue could open new perspectives.     

Spreading of Innovative Technical Traits and Cumulative Technical Evolution: Continuity or Discontinuity?

This paper questions the spreading of techniques considered as advantageous when measured in terms of energetic efficiency. A present-day case study, in which techniques do not spread, is used to highlight a transmission model that can be used to understand the spread of technical systems in terms of demic or cultural processes. The model is then applied to the spread of the potter’s wheel in the second and third millennium bc in the southern and northern Levant. Results show that both demic and cultural processes explain how the potter’s wheel became prevalent in the Levant. The selective forces are discussed by comparing the ceramic production contexts. We conclude that technical evolution is regulated by social mutations, i.e., major discontinuities.     

SPATIAL MOBILITY AND RETURNS TO EDUCATION: SOME EVIDENCE FROM A SAMPLE OF FRENCH YOUTH*

ABSTRACT This study re‐evaluates the returns to geographic mobility and to the level of education taking into account the interaction between these two variables, and using the distance covered as a proxy for migration costs. We have at our disposal an original French database that permits precise calculation of the distance between the place of education and the location of first employment. For men, we find decreasing returns to spatial mobility as the distance covered rises and increasing returns to mobility with higher levels of education. The marginal returns to spatial mobility for women are lower across the board.     

L'actualité de l'édit de Nantes

Sans résumé Nous remercions Hubert Bost pour l'aide qu'il nous a accordée dans la préparation de cette bibliographie.