The Banality of Gilding: Innocuous Materiality and Transatlantic Consumption in the Gilded Age

This paper examines Gilded Age affluence by focusing on apparently inconsequential decorative goods and assessing how such goods were part of shared transatlantic patterns that reached beyond the Gilded Age and the confines of urban America. The paper focuses on figurines recovered from nineteenth-century sites in London and underscores how the American Gilded Age amplified many early nineteenth-century material patterns and ideological practices that were well-established in the United Kingdom and continued after the height of Gilded Age affluence. This study examines the symbolism of such aesthetically eclectic goods and focuses on the socially grounded imagination that was invested in them borrowing from dominant ideologies and idiosyncratic personal experiences alike.     

The Anarchism of the Occupy Movement

Occupy has been criticised for a lack of organisation and ideological direction, its persistent failure to articulate practical reforms and its anarchism. Occupy's extensive influence calls for scholarly analysis of its underlying ideas and its praxis. This article develops a conceptual understanding of the movement and argues that the criticisms above overlook both how the movement's participants rationalise its praxis and the consistently anarchist forms of this praxis. The article draws on recent scholarship that distinguishes between ideological anarchism and anarchical forms of praxis inspired by anarchist principles. It argues that Occupy's praxis is anarchical. Though not ideologically anarchist, Occupy expresses a commitment to anarchist ideals. The article develops a particular conception of anarchism and in this context, discusses Occupy's anti-capitalist position, reflected in its catchcry ‘we are the 99 per cent’. It concludes by explicating the anarchical elements of Occupy's praxis.

占领运动被批评缺少组织和思想方向,总是提不出实际改革的诉求,再就是无政府主义。占领运动的广泛影响需要对其背后的思想和实践进行学术分析。本文作者从观念上对占领运动有所理解,认为那些批评忽视了运动的参与者其实是在使其实践,使其无政府形态的实践理性化。本文根据近年的学术研究,对思想上的无政府主义和无政府主义原则所启发的无政府式实践做了区分。作者认为占领运动的实践是无政府的,思想上却不是无政府的。但尽管思想上不是无政府,占领运动却表达了无政府的理想。本文提出了一种独特的无政府主义概念,并藉此讨论了占领运动反资本主义的立场,反思了“我们是百分之九十九”的口号。本文最后阐述了占领运动实践的无政府主义元素。     

Assessment of Multi-Wythe Stone Masonry Subjected to Seismic Hazards

Heritage stone buildings are typically vulnerable to seismic events. Results of an experimental program were analyzed to evaluate the shear strength and intrinsic damping of stone masonry representative of the West Block of the Canadian Parliamentary Precinct in Ottawa. Eight representative wall specimens with different rehabilitation schemes had been tested under different static and dynamic loadings. Each wall had wythes of sandstone and limestone connected by a rubble core. The results show the shear strength of the walls could be predicted accurately and that no strengthening scheme was particularly beneficial. The effective viscous damping ratios varied between 7 and 9%.     

An estimator for bidirectional (naviform) blade productivity in the Near Eastern Pre-Pottery Neolithic B

A method is presented for calculating the blade productivity of bidirectional (naviform) blade cores, a hallmark of Near Eastern Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) chipped stone tool assemblages. This approach involves estimating the volume of the core that furnished serial blades, together with the mean volume of a typical targeted blade blank. Simple computation of the volume of a wedge in both instances provides an estimate of the number of targeted blades that were produced in an average single reduction sequence. The method is checked against two replicated bidirectional blade reduction sequences, and a refitted bidirectional blade core from the site of Kfar HaHoresh, Israel. Finally, a case study from Kfar HaHoresh is presented in order to illustrate the application of the method, which may have ramifications concerning the evaluation of incipient craft specialization in the region.     

Traffic volume and highway permeability for a mammalian community in the Canadian Rocky Mountains

We examined whether highway traffic volume changed the rates of movement (habitat permeability) for ten mammalian species in the central Canadian Rocky Mountains. Winter track count data were collected on four highways of varying traffic volume: the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) (14,000 annual average daily traffic [AADT]) and 1A Highway (3,000 AADT) in Banff National Park and the Highway 40 (5,000 AADT) and Smith Dorrien Trail in Kananaskis Country (2,000 AADT). Permeability represented the ratio of road crossing tracks/km to tracks/km on transects adjacent to roads. We compared permeability at the community level and for carnivore and ungulate guilds, using a Kruskal–Wallis H -test. Traffic volume significantly reduced habitat permeability for the community ( P  < 0.05). Pair-wise Kruskal–Wallis tests showed that habitat permeability was significantly reduced for carnivores at high traffic volume ( P  = 0.008) and for ungulates at very high traffic volume ( P  < 0.043). Cross-referencing with winter traffic counts, we found movement was impaired for carnivores when traffic ranged from 300 to 500 vehicles per day (VPD) and for ungulates between 500 and 5,000 VPD. Our results indicated that the TCH requires mitigation to restore habitat permeability for all species and yielded strong evidence that the Highway 40 is a priority for mitigation.     

'Ruling Theories Linger': Questioning the Identity of the Beaufort Inlet Shipwreck

From 1996 investigators of the Beaufort Inlet shipwreck, off North Carolina, USA, have suggested that the remains are those of the Queen Anne's Revenge , flagship of the pirate Blackbeard. Analysis of the published material, however, indicates that no concrete evidence has yet been found to support this identification and, moreover, shows a strong tendency towards Ruling Theory, whereby researchers seem to shape evidence to fit a pre-conceived identification. This article uses the Beaufort Inlet shipwreck as a case study in the dangers of Ruling Theory and how it can compromise scholarly objectivity, and thwart the generation of useful research questions. It also seeks to demonstrate the benefits of a clear, objective research design for project investigation and management.
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society