British sofas and global toxic flows

Invisible and volatile, persistent and accumulating in the environment, toxic organic substances like Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are used in furniture and electrical appliances. They spread around the world through commodity production and consumption, second-hand and waste trade, and air and sea currents, as well as in the bodies of migratory animals. Absorbed by and accumulated in living beings, they may interfere with metabolism and behaviour, and damage genetic material. Their flows connect British sofas to African recycling workshops to Chinese metal traders, and tropical waste dumps to arctic seabirds. They are the kind of material that the anthropology of the Anthropocene may attach itself to in seeking critical engagement with scientists, activists, regulators, and producers and consumers.     

The Anthropogenic Use of Firewood During the European Middle Pleistocene: Charcoal Evidence from Levels XIII and XI of Bolomor Cave,Eastern Iberia (230–160 ka)

Human control of fire is a widely debated issue in the field of Palaeolithic archaeology, since it involved significant technological innovations for human subsistence. Although fire evidence has been the subject of intense debate regarding its natural or anthropogenic nature, most authors agree that combustion structures represent the most direct evidence of human control of fire. Wood charcoal fragments from these contexts represent the fuel remains that result from humans’ collection of firewood, which means they can reveal significant behavioural and palaeoenvironmental information relevant to our understanding of Middle Palaeolithic societies. In this work, we present anthracological data derived from combustion structure 2 (level XIII, ca. 230?ka, MIS 7) and combustion structure 4 (level XI, ca. 160?ka, MIS 6) from Bolomor Cave, which are chronologically among the earliest combustion structures found in Europe. The present work discusses how the presence of black pine and / or scots pine in both levels sheds light on the characterisation of the local landscape. Additional analyses focussing on the pre- and post-depositional processes affecting charcoal preservation point to biodegradation patterns. The aim of this work is to provide the first discussion concerning the anthracological data derived from Bolomor Cave in order to contribute to the general debate regarding the use of fire during the European Middle Pleistocene.     

Intertextual geopolitics and La Carte et le territoire: a cautionary tale for UNESCO and the repas gastronomique des Français?

ABSTRACT

La Carte et le territoire features a France in decline, saved, entre autres, by attracting foreign tourists with ‘heritagised’ French food. Eight days after the novel won the 2010 Prix Goncourt, the repas gastronomique des Français was inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list (ICH). Considering Houellebecq’s use of tropes of culinary heritage alongside the French ICH bid reveals parallels in their manipulation of culinary heritage to create globally marketable products. Yet the motivations and ramifications of the ‘gastrodiplomacy’ in the novel and in the French state’s arguably neo-imperialist initiative differ tellingly. Houellebecq’s novel brings into cautionary focus how responding to perceived geopolitical imperatives by creating narratives of cultural heritage can instead eradicate the conditions of renewal upon which it depends and limit cultural diversity. The instrumentalisation of food heritage by a global corporation, national government and UNESCO—an ostensibly benign supranational institution—risks creating new conditions of global competition. However, comparing the novel and the narratives surrounding the repas gastronomique des Français nonetheless suggests that representations of food—like language—can exceed authorial intention, and the gastronomic miscegenation that is strategically missing from Houellebecq’s novel and elided in the ICH bid may yet continue to feed French food heritage.     

Herbivorous livestock dung: formation,taphonomy, methods for identification,and archaeological significance

Herbivore livestock dung has been identified in archaeological sites around the world. Focusing on dung from the ubiquitous Old World herbivorous domesticates – sheep, goats and cattle – this review deals with the materials found within dung that have relevance to archaeology. The natural and anthropogenic/cultural taphonomic processes that affect the preservation and identification of livestock dung, and the archaeological information that can be extracted through detailed studies of the context and content of identified livestock dung in archaeological sites is modeled and discussed.     

Peers,Politics and the Price of Pepper: Skinner v. the East India Company

The case of Thomas Skinner v. the East India Company brought parliament to a standstill in 1668 in a confrontation between the Houses over their respective privileges that lasted nearly two years. There is no doubt that the case was exploited for political advantage by presbyterians anxious to block the passage of a new conventicles act, but that is far from being the whole story.  This article examines for the first time the details of the case and reliability of Skinner's claims against the East India Company.  It reveals that Thomas Skinner was somewhat of an obsessive fantasist who, far from being a presbyterian sympathiser, was close to the household of James, duke of York. At one stage his daughter was even reputed to be the mother of the ‘pretended’ prince of Wales. It concludes that Skinner was himself an unscrupulous opportunist, eager to exploit political and commercial uncertainty for private gain.     

Hiding to eat: the role of carnivores in the early Middle Pleistocene from the TD8 level of Gran Dolina (Sierra de Atapuerca,Burgos, Spain)

Damage generated by large and small carnivores is common in many Middle Pleistocene sites. However, identifying the predator that produces the faunal accumulations is often a difficult task. In order to recognize the main type of carnivore that acts on a faunal assemblage, a combination of several characteristics should be taken into account: taxonomic and skeletal element representation, age profiles, carnivore damage (location, frequencies and dimensions of tooth-marks, bone breakage and digested bones), degree of fragmentation and frequencies of coprolites. But, adding environmental characteristics and the ethology of non-human predators/scavengers is also important. All these aspects are applied to the faunal assemblage from the TD8 level of the Gran Dolina site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). Paleomagnetic data combined with ESR and U-series place the TD8 level at the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene, specifically circa 700 kyr ago. The TD8 level contains a large faunal accumulation primarily composed of ungulate skeletal elements, and to a lesser extent carnivore remains. This assemblage is characterized by an overrepresentation of fallow deer (Dama vallonetensis), a skeletal profile biased towards cranial remains and limb bones, diversity of ages at death, a high proportion of carnivore damage and tooth-marks of large size, and an absence of human activity. According to these data, the accumulation seems to have been produced primarily by large carnivores, possibly hyenas. This observation does not rule out the possible occasional activity by other carnivores. Nevertheless, the characteristics of the TD8 assemblage do not correlate entirely with those traditionally used to define carnivore dens. In TD8, there are (1) no immature carnivore remains (remains of just one young Mosbach wolf); (2) scarce traces related to the end stages of consumption and some anatomical connexions; (3) few coprolites; (4) high proportion of adult ungulates and; (5) high quantities of whole bones and epiphyses. From this perspective, the TD8 faunal assemblage seems to correspond to a succession of carnivore occupations that allows the development of a suite of features to identify the activities of several species of predators that may have used the cave in different ways and durations. This study aims to emphasize the importance of these analyzes in order to know the behaviour of different non-human predators/scavengers in the European Middle Pleistocene sites.     

The 9th century BCE destruction layer at Tell es-Safi/Gath,Israel: integrating macro- and microarchaeology

Destruction events in multi-period sites are valuable marker horizons that represent time-synchronous events across the site and sometimes between sites. Destruction layers often preserve rich finds that provide insights into site use. Here we use both macro- and microarchaeological methods to study a destruction event from the late 9th century at Tell es-Safi/Gath in Israel. A major conflagration at this specific location resulted in the consolidation of parts of the roof construction materials, thus enabling us to differentiate between roof, walls and floor materials. We could reconstruct the events which lead to the formation of an approximately 80 cm thick layer. The base of this layer that overlies the floor surface is a thin charred organic material-rich ash layer. As the clays in this layer were not altered by heat and the ceramics still have preserved residues, we conclude that the ash was produced elsewhere and was redistributed to this location. Ceramics that are associated with burnt roof sediments do not have preserved residues. We also estimate the time that each of the accumulation events might have taken, and conclude that this accumulation occurred over decades. The architecture and artifacts found within and beneath the destruction do not allow us to unequivocally identify the function of this area prior to destruction. We do however identify an unusual bin and associated stone pavement, and a corner rich in artifacts, phytoliths and charred organic material. We also show that a wall was built of fired mud bricks; a most unusual occurrence for this time period in the Levant. This study demonstrates well the usefulness of an integrated macro- and microarchaeological approach to understanding the archaeological record, as well as the benefits of using an on-site laboratory.     

'Our son Obama': The US presidential election in Western Kenya

Writing from the city of Kisumu located 60 kilometres from the birthplace of Barack Obama's father, the authors describe the Obama-mania gripping Kenya and follow Kenyans' debates, both light-hearted and serious, concerning Obama's kinship ties to Kenya and the expectations these raise. They argue that Kenyan's hopes and fears surrounding the US elections should be understood in the context of the contested December 2007 Kenyan elections and the violence that shook Kenyan society in their aftermath; and they trace some of the faultines of race and class that came to the surface during the hightened emotions surrounding the US election and Obama's victory.