Testing recipes: an experimental approach to paint production processes in Levantine rock art (Spain)

Over more than a century, several proposals have been made on the composition and technical features of the pictorial recipes used by Levantine prehistoric painters. In this paper all these proposals are surveyed and tested through systematic experiments to determine the technical affordance of pigments and binders in different pictorial recipes. Experimental results were then used as independent analytical parameters employed as diagnostic criteria to systematically study an archaeological sample of nine sites located in the Maestrazgo region (Spain) and their surroundings. Results reveal that out of 112 experimental recipes, only 16 afforded the production of paintings technically similar to Levantine rock art.     

A spotted hyaena den in the Middle Palaeolithic of Grotta Paglicci (Gargano promontory,Apulia, Southern Italy)

The Palaeolithic sequence of Grotta Paglicci (Gargano promontory, Apulia, Southern Italy) is one of the most important in the Mediterranean area: It comprises the whole Upper Palaeolithic cultural sequence known for the region, as well as Early Middle Palaeolithic and Lower Palaeolithic levels. These earlier phases are best represented in a collapsed room located outside the present-day cave (the so called “external rock shelter”). In this area, a new excavation, started in 2004, brought to light Middle Palaeolithic animal remains associated with evidence of spotted hyaena (SU 64 and 53). The spatial distribution analysis of remains from SU 53 revealed the presence of a bone accumulation area and a wider dispersal of hyaena coprolites. Three main ungulate species (aurochs, fallow deer and red deer) as well as carnivores (spotted hyaena, wolf, fox, wild cat and lynx) and lagomorphs have been identified. The majority of aurochs remains are located in the main accumulation; among these specimens, a complete metatarsal connected with three tarsal bones has been found; a talus and a complete tibia, probably belonging to the same limb, have also been identified. The multidisciplinary study carried out in this paper highlights a specific bone accumulation and scattering pattern in a spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) den. In addition, taphonomy of lagomorph remains indicates the presence of other depositional agents.     

Conflictividad capitular y poderes locales en el Cabildo de Manila (1690–1697)

La mayoría de especialistas en la historia de la iglesia de las Filipinas reconocen el gobierno del arzobispo de Manila, fray Felipe Pardo (1677–1689), como uno de los más conflictivos de la historia del archipiélago. Sin embargo, poco o muy poco se ha escrito sobre las actividades políticas y económicas de sus capitulares, particularmente en lo que se refiere a los períodos de sedes vacantes. Frente a la imagen monolítica y triunfante que la historiografía modernista ha proporcionado del discurso tridentino, lo cierto es que hubo grietas, divergencias y conflictos derivados de su confrontación con la realidad local. Los prebendados no constituían un grupo socialmente homogéneo, sino caracterizado por intereses, identidades y lealtades móviles que dependían de contextos políticos y económicos. En este ensayo vamos a analizar las políticas civiles y eclesiásticas de los prebendados del cabildo catedralicio, haciendo especial énfasis en la conflictividad capitular que siguió a la muerte del arzobispo Pardo (1689) hasta finales del siglo XVII.     

URBAN‐TO‐RURAL POPULATION GROWTH LINKAGES: EVIDENCE FROM OECD TL3 REGIONS*

The objective of this paper is to understand, from an international comparative perspective, how population growth in rural regions is affected by the relationship with their nearby urban centers. By means of a cross‐sectional analysis on OECD small regions (Territorial Level 3), the paper distinguishes spread effects—positive spillovers arising from urban growth—from the net effect of distance to nonrural places. The results show that spread effects outweigh backwash effects, so that rural regions benefit from growth in urban places. A rural region's distance from urban and intermediate regions has a negative effect on its population growth rate. Nevertheless, both the strength of this effect and the growth spillovers decline with distance, and this occurs relatively faster in Europe. The results further suggest that proximity to large urban areas has a higher positive influence than proximity to intermediate areas, but only outside Europe.     

Microstoria,Pacific History,and the Question of Scale: Two or Three Things That We Should Know About Them

This article is prompted by the recent debate on the so-called crisis in the humanities, and the related call for historians to change direction by returning to history of the longue durée. While pointing out that the ‘crisis’ is more influenced by the changing political economy of the tertiary education sector than by specific historiographical practices, I suggest that small-scale analysis remains compatible with global history approaches. Articulating a parallel examination of Pacific historiography and the Italian variant of microhistory, the article argues that the latter provides fertile stimuli for Pacific history. In particular, I maintain that integrating social analysis can serve to counterbalance the over-emphasis on cultural aspects found in much Pacific historiography.     

Delocalization,Humanitarianism, and Human Rights: The Mediterranean Border Between Exclusion and Inclusion

By reflecting on both the exclusionary and the inclusionary role of humanitarian migration and border management in the Central Mediterranean, this paper explores the relationship of humanitarianism with the delocalization of the EU border and with human rights. First, the paper analyses the role of human rights in the institutional humanitarian discourse about migration and border management at the Mediterranean EU border. The paper then analyses the Italian operation Mare Nostrum and, more generally, Italian humanitarianized border management in the Central Mediterranean. In doing this, it shows that humanitarianism contributes to the discursive legitimation and spatial delocalization of exclusionary policies and practices. Moreover, humanitarianism contributes to a symbolically and legally subordinate inclusion of migrants in the European space. While such humanitarian inclusion can be more inclusive than what human rights would require, it is posited as an act of grace rather than an enhancement of human rights. In both its exclusionary and inclusionary dimension, humanitarianism transcends and expands territorial boundaries by outsourcing responsibilities and enhancing delocalized border management.