The Early Mesolithic Haverbeck site,Northwest Germany: evidence for Preboreal settlement in the Western and Central European Plain

Archaeological sites dating from the Preboreal are of special interest since they mark the turning point in the transition between the cultures of the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene. In spite of their relevance only few sites in the Western and Central European Plain have become known, thus providing an inhomogeneous basis for further hypotheses. In particular, sites in the widespread aeolian landscapes have been neglected for a long time due to their uncertain genesis, dating problems and obviously insufficient preservation. Our investigations of the Haverbeck site, situated in sandy aeolian substrate, seek to enhance knowledge about the Preboreal Mesolithic. The well-preserved archaeological spatial, technological and functional patterns and the geoarchaeological site formation were studied. Sedimentological and palaeopedological analyses, supported by ¹⁴C and OSL dating results, revealed that artefacts were deposited during the Preboreal on sands which had accumulated during the Younger Dryas and were reactivated in subsequent periods (Atlantic, Subboreal, Subatlantic). In spite of these processes, the artefacts remained unimpaired in their relative horizontal positions, enabling spatial analyses, which show a zonal differentiation and a prevalence of retooling and replacing activities. These results offer an insight into spatial and functional differentiations of the local Early Mesolithic subsistence, evidently including particular places for gathering and processing raw material. A comparison between the microlithic spectrum left behind and the number of points produced as concluded from the microburins indicates a greater typological differentiation than previously assumed for the Early Mesolithic. The remarkable variability of scraper forms obviously intentionally abandoned in a high number and replaced by new tools emphasizes the strong influence of functional elements on the typological assemblage composition. It is suggested that Early Mesolithic assemblages could display rather functional requirements or tasks performed than significant chronological or regional influences.     

The Environmental Status of Hawkesbury River Sediments

The Hawkesbury River of New South Wales, Australia is under increasing environmental stress. Pre-anthropogenic and current levels of heavy metal concentrations have been established for bed sediments between Windsor and Broken Bay. Sediment heavy metal concentrations in the main channel of the Hawkesbury River are close to background, but are substantially elevated in the headwaters of Berowra Creek, Cowan Creek and in southeast Pittwater. The Berowra Waters area and the upper catchment contribute both heavy metals and organochlorines/pesticides to the Berowra estuary. High contaminant levels above and below the Hornsby sewage treatment plant, and above and below the Calna Creek sewage treatment plant, make an assessment of the contribution by these plants difficult. Analyses of oyster tissue from the middle and lower reaches of the estuary indicate that heavy metal contaminants are entering the food chain.     

‘Naturally Fearful’: Emotion,Race and French–Papuan Encounters, 1818–30

This paper traces perceptions of Papuan ‘fearfulness’ in the records of the Freycinet, Duperrey and Dumont d’Urville expeditions. These French scientific expeditions explored Oceania during the period of the Bourbon Restoration in France and stopped at Waigeo Island and Teluk Doreri in West Papua. The paper aims to elucidate not only the nature and significance of perceptions of fearfulness in the Papuan encounters, but also the Indigenous agency, French cultural assumptions and evolving ethnographic practices that complicated and were papered over by emergent ‘racial’ classifications. Despite their acknowledgement of diversity and their increasing familiarity with their hosts, the voyagers presented fearfulness as the Papuans’ most characteristic trait. A hardening of this claim in the published accounts may be attributed partly to the development of a racial classification and distancing from the emotional intensity and complexity of contact, but that in itself leaves unclear what role fearfulness actually played in the encounters.     

Rural-to-urban migration and adolescent delinquent behaviors: evidence from Hunan and Guangdong in China

ABSTRACT

Analyzing data of a merged sample of two Chinese student surveys conducted in two rural counties of Hunan province and in the capital city of Guangdong province, this paper examines the impact of parental migration on rural children’s involvement in delinquent behaviors. We compare delinquency of non-migrant and left-behind children in the countryside, rural-to-urban migrant children, and urban local children. Both rural children left behind by one migrant parent and those left behind by both migrant parents are similar to rural children without parental migration in terms of delinquent involvement. The situation of rural-to-urban migrant children is noticeably worse, as they are more likely to engage in delinquent behaviors than rural children without parental migration. Nevertheless, rural-to-urban migrant children are not more prone to delinquency compared to their urban local peers. We also found an acculturation impact in the study because the odds of engaging in delinquent behaviors first increases and then decreases for rural-to-urban migrant children when they stay longer and learn some local language in the hosting city.     

Book reviews‐Comptes rendus

Peter CRAMER, Baptism and Change in the Early Middle Ages, c.200—c.1150, Cambridge, 1993, xx + 356 p., ISBN 0–521–35163–4.

Olivier GUYOTJEANNIN, Jacques PYCKE et Benoît‐Michel TOCK, Diplomatique médiévale, 442 p. ; Jacques BERLIOZ et collaborateurs, Identifier sources et citations, 336 p., (volumes 1 et 2 de la collection “L'atelier du médiéviste"), Turnhout, Brepols, 1993 et 1994.

Jean‐Claude SCHMITT, Les revenants. Les vivants et les morts dans la société médiévale, Paris, Gallimard, 1994, 306 p.

Guy LOBRICHON, La religion des laïcs en Occident (XIe‐XVe siècles), Paris, Hachette, collection “La vie quotidienne/Civilisation et société”, 1994, 242 p.

Emilio OLMOS HERGUEDAS, La Comunidad de Villa y Tierra de Cuellar a partir de las ordenanzas de 1546, suivi de Apuntes para la historia local de Lastras de Cuellar, Diputacion Provincial de Segovia, Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Segovia, Ayuntamiento de Lastras de Cuellar, Valladolid, 1994.

Claudine FABRE‐VASSAS, La bête singulière. Les juifs, les chrétiens et le cochon, Paris, Gallimard (Bibliothèque des Histoires), 1994, 423 p., ISBN 2–07–073448‐X, 165 FF.

Christine LANGE, La inmigracion francesa en Aragon (siglos XVI y primera mitad del XVII), Saragosse, Institucion Fernando el Catolico, 1993, 189 p.

Francesco MAIELLO, Storia del calendario. La misurazione del tempo, 1450–1800, Turin, Einaudi, Biblioteca di cultura storica 203, 1994, VIII‐235 p., 8 illustrations hors texte. ISBN 88–06–13228–8. 55 000 L.

Exposition L'âme au corps—Arts et sciences, 1793–1993, Paris, Grand Palais, automne 1993.

Olga Semyonova TIAN‐SHANSKAIA, Village Life in Late Tsarist Russia, ed. by David L. RANSEL, translated by David L. Ransel with Michael Levine. Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, 1993, xxx + 175 p.

Alain CORBIN, Les cloches de la terre. Paysage sonore et culture sensible dans les campagnes au XIXe siècle, Paris, Albin Michel, 1994, ISBN 2–226–06752–3, 150 FF.

Feminisms of The Belle Epoque: A Historical and Literary Anthology, edited by Jennifer WAELTI‐WALTERS and Steven C. HAUSE, translated by Jette Kjaer, Lydia Willis, and Jennifer Waelti‐Walters, Lincoln‐London, University of Nebraska Press, 1994, x + 337pp., Pb $ 16.95.

Colloque international “Il regime fascista italiano. Bilancio e prospettive di studio” (Bologna, 24–26 novembre 1993).

Hugh MIALL, Shaping the New Europe, Londres, Pinter Publishers, 1993, 118 p., ISBN 1–85567–119–0, £ 9.95.

Christopher HARVIE, The Rise of Regional Europe, Londres et New York, Routledge, 1994, 92 p., ISBN (M15–09523–9, £ 6.99.

Fragments d'Europe, sous la direction de Michel FOUCHER, Paris, Fayard, 1993.

Pierre CABANES, L'Albanie, le pays des aigles, Aix‐en‐Provence, Edisud, 1994, 160 FF. (Photographies de Paul Lutz).

David LE BRETON, La chair à vif. Usages médicaux et mondains du corps humain, Paris, Métailié, 1993, 336 p.

Peter DINZELB ACHER, ed., Europäische Mentalitätsgeschichte. Hauptthemen in Einzeldarstellungen, Stuttgart, Alfred Kröner Verlag, 1993, xxxvii + 663 p., ISBN 3–520–46901–4, DM 48.