APPLICATIONS OF PETROGRAPHY AND ELECTRON MICROPROBE ANALYSIS TO THE STUDY OF INDIAN STONE SCULPTURE*

Examples of research on ancient Indian stone artefacts utilizing petrographic examination coupled with qualitative and quantitative electron beam microprobe analysis of specific minerals are described. Types of artefacts discussed include Gandharan schist sculptures. Pala dynasty phyllite and schist objects from eastern India, Hoysala sculptures from Karnataka state (southern India), and sandstone objects from northern India. In spite of the rich history of stone sculpture in the Indian subcontinent, characterization studies to date have been limited in scope, typically involving unprovenanced artefacts. The examples described point to areas in which more extensive research could produce useful information for the provenancing of artefacts.     

GREENSTONE AXES FROM EASTERN CENTRAL SWEDEN: A TECHNOLOGICAL-PETROLOGICAL APPROACH*

Thin-section study of Mesolithic-Neolithic axes from five sites in eastern central Sweden and of dolerites occurring in the vicinity showed that the axes were almost definitely produced from local material. Knapping experiments were carried out on blanks from two of these local dolerite varieties and on control material from Delaware, New Jersey, to produce thin-butted axes. These showed that the unconventional shape of the Swedish preforms is mainly, if not completely, determined by the intrinsic properties of the rock and not by local or regional cultural differences or bad craftsmanship. A number of features were observed in thin-section, such as a relatively coarse grain size, veining and small cracks, which may lead to the inferior knapping qualities of the Swedish dolerites.     

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF A BOG BODY ADIPOCERE

Chemical analyses were carried out on adipocere obtained from a bog body recovered from a peat bog at Meenybradden, County Donegal, Ireland. Chromatographic (thin-layer chromatography and gas chromatography) and mass spectrometric analyses, combined with microanalytical chemical transformations, have yielded detailed compositional information. An absence of intact triacylglycerols, diacylglycerols and monoacylglycerols indicates that hydrolysis is complete. Consequently the adipocere is composed mainly of fatty carboxylic acids. The high proportion of palmitic and stearic acids, together with depleted oleic acid content, indicates that extensive reduction and, possibly, β-oxidation have occurred during burial in the peat bog. Hydration of the double-bond in oleic acid has also occurred, as is shown by the formation of 10-hydroxystearic acid. The monoenoic fatty carboxylic acids that are present, composed mainly of C₁₈ and C₁₆ compounds, comprise a mixture of positional isomers. The results are compared and contrasted with those obtained from previous studies of the lipid composition of other adipoceres and cadavers of archaeological interest.     

Diversity in Peasant Economic Behavior: Transmigrant Households in South Sumatra,Indonesia

An important facet of peasant economics is the diversification of household labor among farm and off-farm activities. Using a sample of South Sumatran transmigrant households the diversification of household labor among various remunerative activities was analyzed. Employment diversity was related to three sets of theoretically based factors: demographic, human capital, and agricultural. Results from a discriminant analysis model reveal that the demographic set of variables is most powerful in distinguishing households with different levels of employment diversity. The ratio of consumers to workers in a household is particularly important. However, measures of entrepreneurship and on-farm agricultural intensity are also useful in explaining diversity behavior. Throughout our analysis we find evidence that the role of the spouse as an income producer is especially critical in the household employment diversification process.     

The makers of British towns: architects, builders and property owners, c.1850–1939

This paper examines the individuals and bodies engaged in the development of British towns and cities between the mid-nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth century. Particular attention is given to the supplanting of local owners, architects and builders by external firms and the extent to which activity was concentrated among fewer firms over time. Previous findings are re-examined and synthesized, and the results of new research are presented. A major source of information is building applications submitted to local authorities. The most important changes took place in the two decades following the First World War. Having had a major role in the nineteenth century, especially as providers of capital, private individuals ceased to have a significant place in urban development by the 1930s, other than in their role as owner-occupiers and owners of potential development land. Responsibility for the establishment of institutional sites rested with a variety of individuals and organizations in the nineteenth century, but became much more concentrated in the hands of local authorities in the inter-war period. Significant numbers of non-local architects were engaged in the design of public buildings as early as the middle of the nineteenth century, but building work of all kinds was still being undertaken almost entirely by local builders even in the 1930s. The large-scale introduction of non-local architects in the inter-war years was related to the influx of non-local owners. On the whole, local influences declined sooner in towns close to major cities.