FURTHER STATISTICAL METHODS FOR THE CALIBRATION OF FLOATING TREE-RING CHRONOLOGIES

This paper describes the application of some further statistical methods for the calibration of floating treering chronologies to data pertaining to the Neolithic settlement at Auvernier. The more general statistical approach utilizes the information contained in the successive time-derivatives as well as the absolute values of the bristlecone pine calibration curve, by fitting polynomial or piecewise polynomial curves, thereby producing better estimates, in general, of the absolute dates of the floating chronologies. Presentation of results in terms of joint confidence regions enables the relevant stratigraphic evidence to be included in the analysis by simple graphical means. In addition, the paper offers a new approach, using only floating tree-ring chronologies, to the testing of Libby's principle of simultaneity.     

A STATISTICAL APPROACH TO THE CALIBRATION OF FLOATING TREE-RING CHRONOLOGIES USING RADIOCARBON DATES

The bristlecone pine tree-ring calibration of radiocarbon dates, while necessitating changes of up to 700 years in Holocene chronology before 1000 b.c. , offers possibilities of very accurate dating when ¹⁴C determinations from floating tree-ring chronologies are utilized. A statistical approach assuming linear regression is developed and used to position the floating tree-ring chronologies at Swiss neolithic sites, using radiocarbon dates published by Ferguson, Huber and Suess and by Suess. The statistical method gives objective estimated dates with estimates of error related, in a consistent and explicit manner, to the inherent inaccuracies of the radiocarbon dates. Most of the method may readily be tested by standard statistical procedures. For the particular cases considered the assumptions of linearity and parallelism are investigated, and the precision of the estimated dates is comparable with that claimed by Suess and his co-workers. A precise calibration is thus possible without utilizing the short-term fluctuations in the Suess calibration curve. The analysis, while avoiding some assumptions of Suess and his collaborators, offers an explicit procedure for establishing controlled teleconnections with the Ferguson dendrochronology, and supports their emphasis on the importance of radiocarbon dates from floating tree-ring sequences for the construction of precise prehistoric chronologies.     

Did Waldegrave Work? The Impact of Open Government upon British History

The Impact of the waldegrave Initiative on Open Government uponBritish History is examined and placed within the wider frameworkof changes in Whitehall, which might be interpreted as a shifttowards transparency, or alternatively towards more sophisticated‘information control’. The areas of intelligencehistory, nuclear history and international history are examinedin detail and used to suggest that while their broad contoursremain largely unchanged, specific subjects that were once inaccessiblecan now be tackled. The mundane nature of some of the materialhitherto withheld for exceptional periods sheds light not onlyon the period that it documents, but also on the absurd andfantastical secrecy of the government in the 1980s, which continuedto keep eighteenth century records under lock and key, claimingtheir continued sensitivity. The workaday world of the DepartmentalRecord Officer is considered and found to be suffering badlyfrom the strains of under-resourcing The significant problemsthat are identified here, it is argued, will be exacerbatedby the arrival of Freedom of Information Legislation     

Social Impact Assessment as ‘Applied Peoples' Geography’

The increasing imposition of requirements for formal impact assessment reports prior to government approval of major industrial developments provides an opportunity for professional geographers to address the research-action agenda outlined by Harvey (1984) in his call for an applied peoples' geography. Using examples from impact studies involving indigenous peoples affected by Australian resource projects, this paper considers the conceptual basis for empowering, participatory and interventionist social impact research which addresses Harvey's concerns.     

CANADIAN ENERGY FUTURES: POLICY SCENARIOS AND PUBLIC PREFERENCES

Alternative Canadian energy futures as articulated by forecasting agencies and as perceived by a sample of the Albertan public are examined. The use of environmental world views as a conceptual framework facilitates the analyses of both the energy scenarios and public perspectives in an analogous manner in order to establish areas of congruence and disagreement.
The results indicate that energy projections were consistent with the forecasting methodology selected, as well as the attitudes, values, and assumptions incorporated into the forecasting models. A relationship between environmental attitudes, energy preferences, and reasons expressed for those preferences was also found amongst the public sample.     

DÉPART: GÉOGRAPHIE et POÉSIE

Soumises à des préventions humanistes et romantiques, la géographie ne voit dans le texte littéraire qu'un réservoir d'images géographiques. Pareille approche impose de sérieuses limites à l'analyse littéraire en géographie: elle interdit pour le moins tout rapport avec le texte poétique moderne. A partir des Illuminations de Rimbaud, première manifestation du non-sens dans la linérature occidentale, il est montre que ce qui est essentiel dans cette poésie, ce n'est pas l'expérience origrnale de la ville qu'elle présente, mais bien le bouleversernentde la fonction textuellequ'elle opère. Du coup, le géographe est amené a s'interroger sur son propre rapport aux textes .
Influenced by romantic and humanistic prejudices, geography has used imaginative literature solely as a source of geographical images. Such an approach puts serious limits on literary analysis in geography. It has prevented geographers from making meaningful contact with modern poetry. From Rimbaud's epoch-making Illuminations, which made a place for nonsense in Western literature, it is shown that significant images (urban motifs) stand on very thin ice in modern poetry, especially when contrasted with the new role that Rimbaud gives the text. Furthermore, it is argued that geographers can take advantage of Rimbaud's joyful play on words by re-examining their own position in relation to texts .