Paleodiet reconstruction of Bronze Age Siberians from the mortuary site of Khuzhir-Nuge XIV,Lake Baikal

Paleodiet reconstruction using stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen was carried out on individuals from the Bronze Age cemetery, Khuzhir-Nuge XIV on the western shore of Lake Baikal, Russian Federation. The cemetery contained 79 graves with 89 individuals and was in use between approximately 2700 and 2000 cal. B.C. with the exception of one burial, dated to around 4000 B.C. Archaeological and ethnographic evidence indicates that hunting and fishing were the main subsistence activities while gathering was less important. δ¹³C from collagen and carbonate apatite was analysed, along with δ¹⁵N from collagen. Bone mineral preservation was evaluated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N of collagen are positively correlated and reflect varying reliance on terrestrial mammals, fish, and seals from Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal biota exhibit considerable variation in δ¹³C at the base of the food web thus; there is variation in human δ¹³C (−20.1‰ to −16.2‰) despite the fact that there are no C₄ plants in the region. δ¹⁵N results (range 10.3‰–16.5‰) indicate that fish, and possibly seals, made up some of the diet for everyone, but in varying amounts relative to terrestrial herbivores. δ¹³C from carbonate is not correlated with δ¹³C from collagen, a situation that has been found in remains from other coastal sites. A mixed diet from both terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems is the most likely explanation. Analysis of mortuary variables within the cemetery reveals three distinct clusters of graves with variations in burial treatment among the clusters. δ¹⁵N values are significantly different among these clusters, suggesting an association between diet and mortuary customs.     

Middle Eastern Minorities and Diasporas: Moshe Mo'az and Gabriel Sheffer,eds.

Book reviewed in this article: Muslim Minorities in the West: Visible and Invisible: Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and Jane I. Smith, eds.     

Pronounced bilateral asymmetry of the complete upper extremity: a case from the early Neolithic Baikal,Siberia

An adult male skeleton from the early Neolithic cemetery of Shamanka II on the south coast of Lake Baikal (Siberia, Russia) presents one of most striking examples of upper limb bilateral asymmetry documented without obvious indicators of skeletal pathology or trauma to the afflicted arm. The condition is noteworthy not only for its severity, with asymmetry values as high as 89.5%, but also for its involvement of the whole upper extremity, from clavicle to manual phalanges. The lack of any demonstrable hypertrophy on the unaffected left arm, and the clear evidence of extensive hypotrophy/atrophy on the right, leave little doubt that this asymmetry has a pathological or traumatic basis rather than a functional (activity‐induced) one. It most likely reflects paralysis or paresis of the entire right arm resulting from complete brachial palsy incurred prior to the attainment of skeletal maturity in that limb. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Individual Accessibility Revisited: Implications for Geographical Analysis in the Twenty‐first Century

Analytical methods for evaluating accessibility have been based on a spatial logic through which the impedance of distance shapes mobility and urban form through processes of locational and travel decision making. These methods are not suitable for understanding individual experiences because of recent changes in the processes underlying contemporary urbanism and the increasing importance of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in people's daily lives. In this paper we argue that analysis of individual accessibility can no longer ignore the complexities and opportunities brought forth by these changes. Further, we argue that the effect of distance on the spatial structure of contemporary cities and human spatial behavior has become much more complicated than what has been conceived in conventional urban models and concepts of accessibility. We suggest that the methods and measures formulated around the mid‐twentieth century are becoming increasingly inadequate for grappling with the complex relationships among urban form, mobility, and individual accessibility. We consider some new possibilities for modeling individual accessibility and their implications for geographical analysis in the twenty‐first century.     

Book reviews

H.E. Chehabi and Alfred Stepan (eds). Politics, Society and Democracy. Boulder: Westview Press, 1995. xxii + 414 pp. $US64.95.

Ronald Rogowski (ed.). Comparative Politics and the International Political Economy Vols I & II. Hants: Edward Elgar, 1995. xxi + 992 pp. £170.00 (cloth).

Martin Wight. International Theory: The Three Traditions. Edited by Gabriele Wight and Brian Porter. London: Leicester University Press, 1994. xxvii + 286 pp. No price given.

Martin Shaw. Global Society and International Relations. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1994. vii + 197 pp. £UK39.50 (cloth). £UK11.95 (paper).

Alvin and Heidi Toffler. War and Anti‐War: Survival at the Dawn of the 21st Century. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1993. xiii + 302 pp. $US22.95 (paper).

Coral Bell (ed.). The United Nations and Crisis Management: Six Studies. Canberra: Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 1994. 144 pp. $17.50 (paper).

Kevin Dements and Christine Wilson (eds). UN Peacekeeping at the Crossroads. Canberra: Peace Research Centre, Australian National University, 1994. xi + 176 pp. $15.00 (paper).

Rosemary Righter. Utopia Lost—The United Nations and World Order. New York: The Twentieth Century Fund Press, 1995. x + 421 pp. $US29.95 (cloth).

Kevin Clements and Robin Ward (eds). Building International Community: Co‐operating for Peace Case Studies. St Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1994. xiv + 354 pp. $19.95 (paper).

International Commission on Peace and Food. Uncommon Opportunities—An Agenda for Peace and Equitable Development. London: Zed Books, 1994. xiii + 210 pp. $19.95 (paper), $55.00 (cloth).

Jonathan Dean. Ending Europe's War: The Continuing Search for Peace and Security. New York: Twentieth Century Fund Press, 1994. xv + 439 pp. $US34.95 (cloth).

G. Wyn Rees (ed.). International Politics in Europe: The New Agenda. London: Routledge, 1993. viii + 191 pp. $32.95 (paper).

Hugh Miall (ed.). Minority Rights in Europe: The Scope for a Transnational Regime. London: Pinter, 1994. 120 pp. No price given.

Geoffrey Ponton. The Soviet Era: Soviet Politics from Lenin to Yeltsin. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1994. viii + 293 pp. $39.95 (paper).

Russell Trood and Deborah McNamara (eds). The Asia‐Australia Survey 1994. South Melbourne: Macmillan, 1994. xi + 340 pp. $79.95 (cloth).

Sheldon W. Simon (ed.). East Asian Security in the Post‐Cold War Era. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 1993. x + 230 pp. No price given.

Robert S. McNamara (with Brian Van DeMark). In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. New York: Random House, 1995. xviii + 414 pp. $US27.50 (cloth).

Donald Kirk. Korean Dynasty. Hyundai and Chung Ju Yung. Hong Kong: Asia 2000/Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 1994. 383 pp. $US25.00 (paper), $US65.00 (cloth).

Pradeep Taneja. Hong Kong and Australia: Towards 1997 and Beyond. Australia‐Asia Papers, Number 70. CSAAR, Brisbane: Griffith University, 1994. 40 pp. $8.00.

Ming K. Chan (ed.). Precarious Balance: Hong Kong Between China and Britain 1842–1992. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 1994. xi + 235 pp. $US22.00 (paper), $US55.00 (cloth).

Shinya Sugiyama and Milagros C. Guerrero (eds). International Commercial Rivalry in Southeast Asia in the Interwar Period. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale Center for International and Area Studies, 1994. ix + 222 pp. No price given.

Sarvepalli Gopal (ed.). Anatomy of a Confrontation: Ayodhya and the Rise of Communal Politics in India. London: Zed Books, 1994. viii + 240 pp. £9.95 (paper), £29.95 (cloth).

Richard Evans. Deng Xiaoping and the Making of Modern China. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1993. x + 339 pp. $39.95 (cloth).

Virginia Matheson Hooker (ed.). Culture and Society in New Order Indonesia. Kuala Lumpur Oxford University Press, 1993. xxiii + 302 pp. $49.95 (cloth).

Howard Dick, James Fox and Jamie Mackie (eds). Balanced Development: East Java in the New Order. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1993. xxi + 367 pp. $64.95 (cloth).

Young Whan Kihl (ed.). Korea and the World: Beyond the Cold War. Boulder Colorado: Westview Press, 1994. xii + 371 pp. $21.95 (paper), $64.00 (cloth).

Christopher Tremewan. The Political Economy of Social Control in Singapore. New York: St Martin's Press, 1994. 252 pp. $88.00.

Francis T. Seow. To Catch a Tartar: A Dissident in Lee Kuan Yew's Prison. Monograph 42, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Southeast Asian Studies, 1994. xxxiii + 293 pp. $50.00.

Anthony Milner. The Invention of Politics in Colonial Malaya: Contesting Nationalism and the Expansion of the Public Sphere. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. vii + 328 pp. $75.00 (cloth).

David McKnight. Australia's Spies and Their Secrets. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1994. xvii + 350 pp. $24.95 (paper).

Fiona Capp. Writers Defiled: Security Surveillance of Australian Authors and Intellectuals 1920–1960. Ringwood, Victoria: McPhee Gribble, 1993. 239 pp. No price given.

Errol Hodge. Radio Wars. Truth, Propaganda and the Struggle for Radio Australia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. 336 pp. $75.00 (cloth), $29.95 (paper).

Joan Beaumont (ed.). Australia's War 1914–18. St. Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1995. xxii + 195 pp. $19.95 (paper).

Peter Jennings. Searching for Insecurity: Why the ‘Secure Australia Project’ is Wrong About Defence. West Perth: Institute of Public Affairs, 1994. vi + 68 pp. $14.00 (paper).

Bjorn Hagelin. Arm in Arm: Swedish‐Australian Military Trade and Cooperation. Canberra: Peace Research Centre Monograph No.15, Australian National University, 1994. x + 164 pp. $15.00.