Traditional post-harvest processing to make quinoa grains (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Chenopodium quinoa</Emphasis> var. <Emphasis Type="Italic">quinoa</Emphasis>) apt for consumption in Northern Lipez (Potosí, Bolivia): ethnoarchaeological and archaeobotanical analyses

The aim of this paper is to generate information to assist in the archaeobotanical recognition of post-harvest processing activities related with different enhancement and consumption patterns of quinoa in the Central Andes. Enhancement of the grains involves what local people call “mejorado de los granos”. Their main purpose is to reduce as far as possible the presence of saponins, a toxic metabolite, in the grain. Ethnobotanical data were recorded in the village of Villa Candelaria (Southern Bolivian highlands) through the application of standard ethnographic techniques. The types of grain enhancement vary depending on the meal that people want to prepare. We registered three different quinoa enhancements based on intended consumption, (1) as a whole seed, (2) in soups or (3) as pitu (a kind of toasted refined flour). Laboratory analysis aimed at identifying distinctive features of grains in different processing stages, as well as evaluating the effects of charring. For both desiccated and charred remains, quinoa processed for pitu can be distinguished from that for whole seed/soup. As a case study, archaeological grains of the pre-Inka site of Churupata, located 3 km from Villa Candelaria, were interpreted as quinoa prepared for consumption as whole seed/soup.     

Middle Ordovician brachiopods from the Stairway Sandstone,Amadeus Basin,central Australia

Jakobsen, K.G., Brock, G.A, Nielsen, A.T., Topper, T.P. & Harper, D.A.T., 2013. Middle Ordovician brachiopods from the Stairway Sandstone, Amadeus Basin, central Australia. Alcheringa. ISSN 0311–5518.

Middle Ordovician brachiopod faunas from the Amadeus Basin, central Australia are poorly known. The Darriwilian Stairway Sandstone was sampled stratigraphically for macrofossils in order to provide new information on marine benthic diversity in this clastic-dominated, shallow-water palaeoenvironment along the margin of northeastern Gondwana. The brachiopods from the Stairway Sandstone are of low diversity and represent ca 9% of the entire shelly fauna. Five brachiopod taxa are described from the Stairway Sandstone; all are endemic to the Amadeus Basin at species level. Two new species, Amadeuphyla joanae gen. et sp. nov. and Paralenorthis luritjaorum sp. nov., are described. Unweighted cladistic analysis based on 20 characters places the new genus Amadeuphyla within the Taffinae.

Kristian G. Jakobsen [kgjakobsen@snm.ku.dk] Geological Museum, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5–7, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark & Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, New South Wales 2109, Australia. Glenn A. Brock [glenn.brock@mq.edu.au] Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, New South Wales 2109, Australia. Arne T. Nielsen [arnet@snm.ku.dk] Geological Museum, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5–7, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark. Timothy P. Topper [timothy.topper@snm.ku.dk] Geological Museum, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5–7, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark. David A. T. Harper [david.harper@durham.ac.uk] Geological Museum, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5–7, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark & Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham, UK. Received 14.6.2013; revised 25.9.2013; accepted 8.10.2013.     

Book reviews

D. J. Shepherd: Funerary Ritual and Symbolism. An Interdisciplinary Interpretation of Burial Practices in Late Iron Age Finland. BAR International Series 808. Oxford. 1999. ISBN 1 84171 113 6. 133 pages, 19 maps.

Vladimir N. Bulatov, Russkij Sever, Vols. 1–3. Archangel 1997–99. Izdatel'stvo Pomorskogo Universiteta. 352+352+336 pages.     

First dendroarchaeological dates of prehistoric contexts in South America: chullpas in the Central Andes

Despite the existence of long-lived tree species with excellent tree-ring characteristics, the use of dendrochronological techniques for dating archaeological contexts has been very limited in South America. Recent research in the Bolivian Altiplano of the Central Andes has yielded a network of Polylepis tarapacana chronologies that goes back to the 13th century. This species was regularly used by local populations since pre-Columbian times as raw material for beams, lintels, hooks and other architectural features in houses, storage chambers, and sepulchers. The aim of this study is to argue in favor of the potential of P. tarapacana for providing high resolution dates of significant archaeological events during the pre-Columbian era. The chronology of chullpas (burial towers and storage chambers) in the southern Andean Altiplano is used as a case study. Growth rings from P. tarapacana have provided several centennial-length dendrochronological records including a reference regional chronology covering the last 786 years in the Central Andean highlands. Based on this long reference chronology calendar years were assigned to woody pieces from pre-Hispanic chullpas. Dendroarchaeological results are consistent with contextual evidence and most radiocarbon dates from woody samples and related archaeological items. Our results indicate that P. tarapacana has a high potential for providing annually-resolved tree-ring dates for archaeological contexts in the Altiplano since the early 13th century.     

Book reviews

Plans, Pragmatism and People: the Legacy of Soviet Planning for Today's Cities. R. Antony French. London, UCL Press, 1995, 233 pp. US$19.95 pb, ISBN 0 82296 106 7

The Politics of Decentralisation: Revitalising Local Democracy. D. Burns, R. Hambleton and P. Hoggett. London, Macmillan, 1994, xvi + 304 pp., £12.50 pb, ISBN 0 333 52164 1

Environmentally Sustainable Business: a Local and Regional Perspective. P. Roberts. London, Paul Chapman, 1995, 271 pp., £16.95, ISBN 1 85396 240 6

International Perspectives in Urban Studies 3. Ronan Paddison, John Money and Bill Lever (Eds). London, Jessica Kingsley, 1995, 284 pp., US$37.50 pb, ISBN 1 85302 311 6

British Planning Policy in Transition: Planning in the Major Years. M. Tewdwr‐Jones (Ed.). London, UCL Press, 1996, 262pp., £14.95 pb, ISBN 1 85728 422 4, £40.00 hb, ISBN 1 85728 421 6     

Workfare in Ohio

The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on the welfare debate in two ways: (a) to provide new evidence on the effectiveness of long-term workfare programs; and (b) to examine in what contexts the programs were most effective. The study examines welfare trends between 1981 and 1990 for counties in Ohio. A quasiexperimenlal design is used to compare 26 counties that experimented with workfare with Ohio's remaining counties. The findings indicate that workfare lowered caseloads significantly, particularly for the two-parent (AFDC-U) population. The findings also indicate that the effectiveness of the program increased in counties with lower unemployment rates and smaller urban populations. The programs appeared to be more effective in more conservative counties, but these findings are mixed.     

What Is Our Real Concern with Real Inequality?

In this article, I offer an account of when and why inequality is problematic. I build this account upon the central elements of the sufficiency view—that justice is concerned with eliminating noncomparative deficiencies rather than comparative inequalities. The account that I develop here is concerned with an inequality if, and only if, it involves an instance of noncomparative deficiency; either material or social. I then conduct an analysis of suggested reasons to care about inequality identified in recent studies of the politics of inequality, and I argue that the sufficiency account can explain the reasons that empiricists give for their concern with inequality. Upon that analysis, I conclude that we have strong reasons to be concerned with inequalities, but that these reasons stem from our acceptance of the sufficiency view rather than from an intrinsic worry with inequality.     

HOBY — AN EXCEPTIONAL EARLY ROMAN IRON AGE SITE IN THE WESTERN BALTIC REGION

Hoby on the island of Lolland in the western part of the Baltic Sea is strategically located in a coastal landscape offering abundant resources. In 1920, one of the most richly furnished so‐called “Lübsow type” graves dating to the first century AD was discovered at Hoby. The settlement associated with the grave was recognised in 1999. Excavations of the settlement between 2001 and 2016 have confirmed the central role of Hoby in the Iron Age society. The research has focused on the Iron Age population and the infrastructure on Lolland. The Iron Age open cultural landscape encompassed numerous settlements, richly furnished burials and fortifications, and has produced unique metal finds. The article presents a summary of investigation results.