Sustainable Water Management Policy: Lessons from Amsterdam

This article focuses on the identification of critical water policy instruments, and opportunities and barriers to transforming urban water use in a sustainable and efficient direction in Amsterdam (The Netherlands). The main lessons that can be inferred from past and current water policies and management practices in Amsterdam show (1) the relevance of common action for increasing the quality of or general control over water resources when shared interests of different actors using the same water resource are present; (2) that the effectiveness and applicability of water policy instruments are strongly conditional upon receiving the support of both water users and suppliers; (3) that the governance structure of water provision plays a crucial role in increasing the efficiency of water use.     

NATURE AND MICROSTRUCTURE OF GALLIC IMITATIONS OF SIGILLATA SLIPS FROM THE LA GRAUFESENQUE WORKSHOP*

The red glaze (slip) that characterizes the Terra Sigillata potteries greatly contributed to their success during the Roman period. The colour of the slip can in fact be partially explained by the microstructure (crystalline phases, grain sizes) and the physico‐chemistry (composition) of the ceramics. However, the precise process and the diffusion of this technique are still not fully known. In particular, we do not know yet how the production of sigillata took place in the south of Gaul, and the role that was played by the production under Italian influence (pre‐sigillata) preceding the first local sigillata. In this work, a combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X‐ray synchrotron diffraction techniques was used to study the microstructure of pre‐sigillata slips from the main southern Gaul workshop (La Graufesenque), in order to compare their characteristics with those of high‐quality sigillata. These first results seem to indicate that the antique potters chose clays adapted to their firing conditions and to the type of coating that they wanted to make. These productions cannot be described as an initial phase for the later sigillata production and, rather, seem to correspond to the intention of developing a specific type of pottery only inspired by the famous Italian sigillata forms.     

INVESTIGATION ON ROMAN LEAD GLAZE FROM CANOSA: RESULTS OF CHEMICAL ANALYSES*

Five sherds of green glazed pottery excavated at Canosa (Apulia) in Italy have been analysed by scanning electron microscopy. The aim of the investigation was to determine the chemical composition of the glazes and thus obtain information on the methods used in their production. The glazes were all of the high‐lead type, coloured green by the addition of copper. Intermediate layers, observed at the interface between the glaze and body and giving the appearance of an applied white slip, were the result of the crystallization of lead feldspar from the molten glaze. Non‐calcareous clays were used in the production of the pottery bodies. Concentration profiles from the glaze exterior to the body suggested that the glazes were produced by applying a suspension consisting of lead oxide plus silica to the bodies. On the basis of the glaze and body compositions, it is suggested that the Canosa glazed pottery was produced locally.     

NON‐DESTRUCTIVE ANALYTIC METHOD USING XRF FOR DETERMINATION OF PROVENANCE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL OBSIDIANS FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN AREA: A COMPARISON WITH TRADITIONAL XRF METHODS*

A non‐destructive analytical method using wavelength‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (WDXRF) that allows the establishment of the provenance of archaeological obsidians was developed and a comparison with the classical XRF method on powders is discussed. Representative obsidian samples of all the geological outcrops of archaeological interest of the Mediterranean area (Lipari, Pantelleria, Sardinia, Palmarola and the Greek islands of Melos and Gyali), were analysed with the normal procedures used in rock analysis by XRF (crushing, powdering and pelletizing). The non‐destructive XRF analysis was instead conducted on splinters taken from the original geological pieces, with the shape deliberately worked to be similar to the refuse usually found at archaeological sites. Since the analysis was conducted on the raw geological fragment, intensity ratios of the suitably selected chemical elements were used, instead of their absolute concentrations, to avoid surface effects due to the irregular shape. The comparison between concentration ratios (obtained by traditional XRF methods) and the intensity ratios of the selected trace elements (obtained from the non‐destructive methodology) show that the different domains of the chemical composition, corresponding to the geological obsidians of the source areas, are perfectly equivalent. In the same way, together with the geological splinters, complete archaeological obsidians, from Neolithic sites, may be analysed and their provenance may be determined. The proposed non‐destructive method uses the XRF method. Due to its sensitivity, low cost and high speed, it is surely an extremely valid instrument for the attribution of the provenance of the archaeological obsidian from Neolithic sites.     

Using Facebook as a Space for Storytelling in Geographical Research

Geographers have long been alert to the ways space matters to knowledge production and the stories participants choose to share. Despite such understandings, however, geographers remain surprisingly absent from discussions regarding the ways these concerns play out across online spaces. This article reflects on the employment of one online space, Facebook, as a site for storytelling in research exploring return journeys to two Australian festivals – the Big Day Out and Mardi Gras Parade. This article argues that insight over longer temporalities and shifting spatialities afforded through Facebook facilitates heightened understandings of the nuances, repetitions, differences and paradoxes of identities, encounters, and politics. Facebook, therefore, has the potential to allow for different ways of knowing that cannot be ascertained in more orthodox research spaces. Moreover, the slipperiness of conceptualisations of privacy and consent in this space draws attention to the necessity of understanding consent as fluid and ongoing, rather than antecedent to fieldwork commencement. Crucially, however, reconceptualisations of privacy and consent in this space expose potential obstacles university ethics committees may meet in responding to research moving online.     

THE TECHNOLOGICAL AND TYPOLOGICAL BEHAVIOUR OF A NEANDERTHAL GROUP FROM EL SIDRÓN CAVE (ASTURIAS,SPAIN)

This paper presents the first detailed analysis of the lithic industry from El Sidrón Cave. Previously we have published other works concerning Anthropology and Palaeogenetics. The lithic assemblage contains 415 artefacts coming from both unofficial and official excavations and is largely flake‐based. The raw material derives from the immediate cave environment, and is mostly chert, with quartzite in a lesser proportion. To date, 67 artefacts have been refitted, including some tools and cores. The spatial distribution of the refitted lithic artefacts confirms, on the one hand, the unity of the assemblage and, on the other, its secondary context.     

SHAFT‐HOLE AXES FROM CAPUT ADRIAE MADE FROM AMPHIBOLE‐RICH METABASITES: EVIDENCE OF CONNECTIONS BETWEEN NORTHEASTERN ITALY AND CENTRAL EUROPE DURING THE FIFTH MILLENNIUM BC

Here we show the results of a study concerning a small group of shaft‐hole axes found in northeastern Italy, made from amphibole‐rich metabasites, fine‐grained and free of phenoblasts. The main mineral phases are amphibole, ranging from actinolite to hornblende, and plagioclase (An_10–15 and An_70–77). The amphiboles generally show a needle shape and are often radially arranged. Quartz is present in thin veinlets, while ilmenite is widespread in small patches. The petrographic and geochemical features suggest that the axes originate from the southern thermal aureole of Tanvald granite in northern Bohemia. In accordance with this provenance, the typology of the tools shows similarities with the perforated shoe‐last axes spread across Central Europe during the fifth millennium bc and made from similar raw material. For the first time, these axes give evidence of long‐distance (about 800 km) contacts between northeastern Italy and Central Europe during the Neolithic.