Nitrogen isotopes and the trophic level of humans in archaeology

Human and domesticate animal bone collagen δ¹⁵N values in prehistory differ generally by 3‰ or more from Neolithic to post- Roman times in Northwest Europe, leading to an assumed dietary animal protein fraction of 60–80% using a standard interpretation of δ¹⁵N values. We examine the assumptions on which this model rests and the limitations of our knowledge in the analysis of δ¹⁵N values in archaeology. We have developed a set of models which, with small changes made in assumptions (on the order of 1‰), can produce substantially lower estimates of the dietary animal protein fraction for given δ¹⁵N values. We consider the implications of various dietary animal protein fractions on agricultural carrying capacities and human population densities in prehistory.     

Transitions in cast iron technology of the nomads in Mongolia

Metallurgical study of seven cast iron artifacts recovered from sites of the former Xiongnu (BC 3rd to AD 1st), Turk (AD 6th to 8th), Khitan (AD 10th to 12th), and Mongolian empires (AD 12th to 15th) shows that the earlier Xiongnu and Turk artifacts were made of cast iron alloys of near eutectic composition. The later Khitan and Mongol objects had greatly reduced carbon content in the range of ultrahigh carbon steel rather than cast iron, and contained more than 0.5 mass % silicon as an alloying element. Inclusions high in sulfur, phosphorus or silicon are also present. These differences suggest that Mongolia experienced a technical transition a few centuries before the establishment of the Mongolian empire, which is in agreement with some written accounts. The microstructures of the cast iron artifacts are compared with the related archaeological and documentary evidence. The results suggest that the use of fossil coal in smelting and the state policy of controlling iron production were the major factors responsible for the transition.     

国家起源的理论

千百年来,国家起源一直是伟大哲学家和思想家们关注的一个话题,从亚里士多德、孟德斯鸠、霍布斯、卢梭、弗格森、孔德到摩尔根、马恩和列宁,都有过经典性的系统论述。时至今日,在新资料、新方法、新技术的支持下,在吸收过去理论成就的基础上,国家起源更成为当今国际学术界的三大课题(人类起源、农业起源和国家文明起源)之一,并且产生了很多既有实证性又有理论性的研究成果。卡内罗在这篇经典文章中,对当今各种理论流派做了比较详细的概括总结。就他自身而言,是持强制论或者说战争论的观点,认为战争是国家兴起的主要动力。他甚至认为,世界各地的历史学和考古学证据都毫无二致地证明战争是早期国家形成的根本原因,战争以这样或那样的形式在国家兴起中起到了决定性作用。当然,他也认为,战争并非国家起源的唯一因素。尽管战争可能是国家兴起的必要条件,但却不是充分条件。国家的兴起还需要一些特殊条件,经过一些具体的过程,例如自然的限制、社会的限制、资源的集中、政治的演化等等。卡内罗的战争论虽然是一家之言,但由于它对历史的继承和现实的尊重而有巨大的合理性,对包括中国在内的国家文明起源研究有重大影响,而且今后仍然有十分积极的意义。本文写作于1970年,从时间上看观点已显陈旧,但是作为国家起源理论的一种重要流派,仍然值得介绍和回顾。     

The ‘arc of instability’ and Australia's strategic policy

The proposition that Australia faces an ‘arc of instability’ to its north has been an important feature of the Australian strategic debate in the early twenty-first century. Prompted by worries in the late 1990s over Indonesia's future and East Timor's uncertain path to independence, the ‘arc’ metaphor also encapsulated growing Australian concerns about the political cohesiveness of Melanesian polities, including Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. While tending to overlook the divergent experiences of countries within its expanding boundaries, the ‘arc’ fed from Australia's historical requirement for a secure archipelagic screen. As such it has became an important weapon in the debate over whether the locus of Australia's strategic priorities should be increasingly global in the ‘war on terror’ period or remain closer to home in the immediate region. The ‘arc of instability’ metaphor was consequently adopted by leading Australian Labor Party politicians to argue that the Howard Coalition government was neglecting South Pacific security challenges. It became less prominent following the Howard government's greater activism in the South Pacific, signalled by Australia's leadership of the East Timor intervention in 2003. But its prominence returned in 2006 with the unrest in both Honiara and Dili. In overall terms, the ‘arc of instability’ discussion has helped direct Australian strategic and political attention to the immediate neighbourhood. But it has not provided specific policy guidance on what should be done to address the instabilities it includes.     

Notes on Contributors

Note

Notes on Contributors     

Publications briefly noted

B. A. HUSSAINMIYA. The Brunei Constitution of 1959: an Inside History. Bandar Seri Begawan: Brunei Press, 2000. xvi, 81 pp. B$8.90, paper.

DAVID E. POLLARD. The Chinese Essay. Hong Kong: Research Centre for Translation, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. US$50.00, hardcover.

EVA HUNG (ed). City Women: contemporary Taiwan Women Writers. Hong Kong: Rendition Paperbacks, 2001. 160 pp. No price given, paper.

P. J. MOORE. A Concise History of Dutch Mauritius, 1598-1710: a Fruitful and Healthy Land. London: Kegan Paul International for the International Institute of Asian Studies, 1998. x, 127 pp. Illustrations. £55.00/US$93.50, hardcover.

HENRY YUHUAI HE. Dictionary of the Political Thought of the People's Republic of China. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2001. 727 pp. US$124.95, hardcover.

WILLIAM DUIKER. Historical Dictionary of Vietnam. Asian/Oceanian Historical Dictionaries No. 27, 2nd edition. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1998. 512 pp. US$68.00, hardcover.

RIZAL SUKMA. Indonesia and China: the Politics of a Troubled Relationship. London: Routledge, 1999. xiv, 224 pp. £55.00, hardcover.

NICHOLAS TARLING (ed). Indonesia after Soeharto. Auckland: New Zealand Asia Institute, 1999. 168 pp. No price given, paper.

ROY DAVIS LINVILLE JUMPER. Orang Asli Now: the Orang Asli in the Malaysian Political World. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1999. US$48.00, hardcover.

LIANG XIAOSHENG. Panic and Deaf: two Modern Satires. Hanming Chen, trans; James O. Belcher, ed. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2001. 157 pp. US$14.95, paper.

LEO DOUW, CEN HUANG and MICHAEL R. GODLEY (eds). Qiaoxiang Ties: interdisciplinary Approaches to ‘Cultural Capitalism’ in South China. London: Kegan Paul International, 1999. 346 pp. No price given, hardcover.

CYRIL BIRCH. Scenes for Mandarins: the Elite Theatre of the Ming. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. xiii, 262 pp. US$20.50, paper.

JI GILES UNGPAKORN. Thailand: class Struggle in an Era of Economic Crisis. Hongkong: Asia Resources Monitor Center; Bangkok: Workers' Democracy Book Club, 1999. 118 pp. Thai baht 150.

JI UNGPAKORN. The Struggle for Democracy and Social Justice in Thailand. Bangkok: Arom Pongpangan Foundation, 1997. 130 pp. Thai baht 150.     

Prelude to the plague: public health and politics at America's Pacific gateway, 1899

San Francisco played a crucial in the formulation of American immigration policy vis-à-vis Asia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. During this period, it was often difficult to differentiate political struggles over the exclusion of Asians from other conflicts. This article examines one such arena: an acrimonious, well-documented argument in 1899 between Federal and various State and local authorities over the arrival of a Japanese passenger liner that may--or may not--have been carrying bubonic plague. Six months later, the plague unquestionably arrived, resulting in the well-known San Francisco plague epidemic of 1900 in which more that 110 people died. Reviewing the 1899 prelude, the public attitudes of the various health authorities, and the way the press reported health issues, collectively give some sense of that historical space where the regulation of public health, politics, and the immigration industry intersected and were fiercely contested.