Probable human hair found in a fossil hyaena coprolite from Gladysvale cave,South Africa

Until now, the oldest known human hair was from a 9000-year-old South American mummy. Here we report fossil hairs of probable human origin that exceed that age by about 200,000 years. The hairs have been discovered in a brown hyaena (Parahyaena brunnea) coprolite from Gladysvale cave in South Africa. The coprolite is part of a hyaena latrine preserved in calcified cave sediment dated between 195,000 and 257,000 years ago. This find supports the hypothesis that hyaenas accumulated some of the early hominin remains found in cave sites, and provides a new source of information on Pleistocene mammals in the Sterkfontein Valley.     

An evaluation of the site specificity of soil elemental signatures for identifying and interpreting former functional areas

Soil multi-element analysis is now a routine technique employed to help answer questions about space use and function in and around archaeological sites. The pattern of enhancement of certain elements, including P, Pb, Ca, Zn, and Cu, has been shown by numerous studies to correlate closely with the archaeological and historical record. Interpretation of these soil signatures, however, has generally been more problematic. One approach to the problem has been the use of ethnographic or “known” sites to guide interpretation, but how confidently can results from one site be extrapolated to another? This study of abandoned farms tests the site specificity of soil multi-element signatures of past space use through the use of discriminant models. Data analysis suggests that one to one comparisons of similar sites are much less accurate (38% accuracy) than comparisons based on a wider range of sites (59.3% accuracy), even when the latter have contrasting geology. The results highlight the importance of individual anthropogenic practices during occupation and abandonment in the development of diagnostic soil geochemical signatures.     

A Framework for Exploring Urban Retail Discontinuities. 探索城市零售业不连续性的框架

A key area in the analysis of urban structural evolution is identifying discontinuities. Effective analysis could improve long‐term forecasting and provide a better understanding of how to steer an urban system toward a desirable future state. We use a simple aggregate retail model to demonstrate an algorithm for identifying discontinuities in model parameter space. Explorations of retailing in both Greater London and South Yorkshire in the United Kingdom illustrate how understanding a system's potential for discontinuity can provide insights for both policy makers and retail businesses. The Harris and Wilson model, described in the section so‐named, is used as a simple archetype to illustrate the new framework. This model can be developed in a straightforward way to incorporate further refinement. In “ Executing the model and visualizing the results ,” we describe a single model run and in “ Investigating discontinuities ,” we explain our framework for detecting and analyzing discontinuities. “ Identifying discontinuities in the London retail system ” shows the results of applying this methodology to the Greater London retail system, and in “ Practical applications ,” we explore the policy applications for this technique as related to the decline of town centers in the South Yorkshire retail system. Some concluding comments are offered in “ Conclusions .”     

Resource nationalism or resource liberalism? Explaining Australia's approach to Chinese investment in its minerals sector

Since 2005, a burgeoning wave of Chinese investments has set off a new ‘minerals boom’ in the Australian iron ore and coal mining sectors. While normally a welcome development, the state-owned and strategic nature of the investors has raised concerns in Australia about how these should be regulated. As a result, in February 2008 the Australian government declared an intention to more closely screen foreign direct investment (FDI) from state-owned sources, which both supporters and detractors alike have claimed is evidence of ‘resource nationalism’ in Australia's approach towards its trade and investment relationships with China. This article challenges this understanding through an examination of the characteristics of Chinese mining FDI, the dilemmas these present to the Australian government, and the relatively restrained nature of its response. Through this, Australia's FDI policy is explained as a defensive move against the potential for strategic behaviour by Chinese investors resulting from their state ownership, rather than any national program to subject minerals trade and investment to political control. On this basis, the article argues that Australian government policy instead evidences a ‘resource liberalism’ approach, which intends to ensure that the governance of Australia's minerals trade and investment with China remain market-based processes.     

Resisting the New South: Commercial crisis and decline in New Orleans, 1865-85

This essay argues that white New Orleanians' obsessions with race, sectional politics, and the 'Lost Cause' mythology played a significant role in retarding the Crescent City's economic growth during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age. Because they resisted efforts to recruit northern capital until after their city had fallen irrevocably behind their 'New South' counterparts, New Orleans civil leaders and businessmen exacerbated the severe structural challenges their city faced from the rise of railroads and other market transformations.     

Coire a’ Cheud‐chnoic,the ‘hummocky moraine’ of Glen Torridon

EUROPE

France; A Geographical Survey. By P. Pinchemel, translated by C. Trollope and A. J. Hunt. 454 pp. Illustrations, Tables, Bibliography. Bell, London, 1969. 100s.

Italy. By George Kish. 8 × 5 1/4. 125 pp. 12 figures and index. Van Nostrand, New York, 1969. $1.lb95.

AFRICA

A Historical Geography of Ghana. By Kwamima B. Dickson. 15#lb5 × 23.lb5 cms. xiv + 379 pp., 58 maps and diagrams, 7 tables, appendices, bibliography, index. Cambridge U.P., London, 1969. 150s.

The Soil Resources of Tropical Africa. Edited by R. P. Moss. 8 1/2 × 5 1/2. Cambridge University Press, 1968. £2.

ASIA

Afghanistan. By Ludolph Fischer. Geomedical Monograph Series No. 2, 12 × 8 1/2. Text (German and English), 16 plates and 10 maps. Springer‐Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg and New York, 1968. DM48, $12.lb00.

GEOLOGY AND GEOMORPHOLOGY

Readings in the Earth Sciences, Vols. 1 and 2. 11 1/4 × 8 1/2 Published W. H. Freeman, San Francisco, 1969. 94s. each.

Fife and Angus Geology. By A. R. MacGregor. 266 pp. Blackwood, Edinburgh and London, 1968. 21s.

METEOROLOGY

Essentials of Meteorology. By D. H. McIntosh and A. S. Thorn. 8 1/2 × 5 1/2. xv + 239 pp., numerous illustrations, answers to problems. Taylor and Francis, London. 20s.

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

Industrial Britain: The North West. By David M. Smith. 10 × 6 1/4, 271 pp., 36 figures, 31 plates, bibliography and statistical appendix. David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1969. 95s.

Industrial Demand for Water: A study of South East England. By Judith Anne Rees. 8 1/2 × 5 1/2 L.S.E. Research Monographs 3, xiv + 194 pp., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1969, London. 65s.

CARTOGRAPHY AND MAPS

The Antonine Wall. Ordnance Survey 2 1/2 Inch Map. 1969. 11s.

Maps and Air Photographs. By G. C. Dickinson. 10 × 17 1/2. xiv + 286 pp. Edward Arnold, London, 1969. 45s.

Atlas Four. 10 1/2 × 8 1/2. 115pages, + index 60 pages. Collins/Longmans, 1969. 15s.

EDUCATIONAL

Learning Through the Environment. By Muriel F. S. Hopkins. 7 3/4 × 5 1/8. 151 pages, 26 figures. Longmans, London. 1969. 15s.

Investigating Geography. By J. Philip Dodd. 9 3/4 × 7 1/4. 214 pp., 192 figures. Heinemann, London, 1969. 15s.

The London Regional Geographies. Book 3: Asia. By Leonard Hadlow and Reginald Abbott. 8 1/2 × 5 1/2. 294 pp., 145 figs. U. of London Press, 1969. 18s.

A Geography of Manufacturing. By H. R. Jarrett. 8 3/4 × 5 3/4. xvii + 349 pp. 67 illustrations. Macdonald &; Evans, 1969, London. 35s.

The Mediterranean Lands. By J. Brannigan and H. R. Jarrett. The New Certificate Geography Series: Advanced Level. 9 × 5l. xiv + 620, 150 illustrations. Macdonald and Evans Ltd., 1969. 38s.