Providing Cultural Context for ‘Sacrifice of the Social Outcasts’

In ‘Sacrifice of the Social Outcasts’, C.L. Kieffer proposes that the disabled formed a socially marginal group that might have been preferentially targeted for human sacrifice in ancient Maya society. Extensive ethnohistoric and iconographic evidence exists that the disabled and deformed held high status in pre‐contact Mesoamerica precisely because of their physical disabilities and played well‐defined social roles. Several incidences of the sacrifice of these individuals are produced, but they are associated with extraordinary events. The actual cultural context suggests that the sacrifice of a disabled individual may have larger social implications. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Metallurgical findings from a Viking Age chieftain’s farm in Iceland

The metalworking, metal import, and use of metal in medieval Iceland is still little understood. When the Scandinavian settlers colonized Iceland in the 9th c. AD, the island was found to contain no useful metal deposits save for bog iron, and the deforestation that followed the settlement resulted in a scarcity of wood. Only in the last decades have archaeological excavations begun to unravel how the first Icelanders dealt with this lack of resources. This paper presents the metallurgical findings from a Viking Age chieftain's farmstead at Hrísbrú in the Mosfell valley, located just outside Iceland’s present-day capital Reykjavik. The excavated metal objects had all been crafted with good workmanship employing technology similar to that used in mainland Scandinavia. However, most excavated metal finds show evidence of re-use, which together with the second-grade metal in some of the objects indicates a shortage of raw material that prompted the Icelandic colonizers to improvise and make do with whatever material was at hand.     

Introductory Remarks

The author introduces the articles in this special issue of the journal, which draw on historical and architectural data to interpret the past and focus on French identity in the New World. The introduction stresses the importance of interdisciplinary studies to historical archaeological interpretation.     

Strategic spatial planning and contested ruralities: Insights from the republic of Ireland

Since the publication of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), a growing body of literature has emerged related to European spatial planning. Much of this literature is focused on the influence of the ESDP on city regions and urban policy in individual member states. Much less attention has been paid thus far to the influence of the ESDP on the formulation of spatial strategies and plans for rural areas. Within this context, this paper aims to explore the formulation of a national framework for spatial development in the Republic of Ireland, and in particular to examine the expression given to rural development and planning issues. This paper reviews the extent that the Irish National Spatial Strategy can provide a basis for a spatially defined (rather than sectoral based) rural policy by examining the policy construction of rurality and how this will impact on three aspects of rural planning policy: the conceptualization of the urban–rural relationship; managing rural settlements; and rural development. The paper concludes by developing wider lessons from the Irish example in the application of the European Union discourse of spatial planning to rural regions, and the difficulties associated with developing and implementing spatial policies in a deeply contested rural arena.     

Reviews and book notes

Henderson, Paul, Parliament and Politics in Australia, Heinemann Educational Australia, Melbourne, 1978, pp. 260 + vii. $5.95.

Charles P. Ridley, China's Scientific Policies: Implications for International Cooperation, AEI—Hoover Policy Studies 1976, pp. 92. US$3.00.

Peter Wilenski, The Delivery of Health Services in the: People's Republic of China, International Development Research Centre, published ANU Press 1977, pp. 59. $4.50.

Stephen Andors, China's Industrial Revolution, New York, Pantheon Books; London, Martin Robertson & Co., 1977.

Taketsugu Tsurutani, Political Change in Japan, New York, Longman (aDavid McKay), 1977. £12.50 cloth, $6.95 paper.

P. R. Chippendale and Paula V. Wilkes, Accountability in Education, University of Queensland Press, 1977, pp. 205. $13.50.

G. Duncan (ed.), Critical Essays in Australian Politics, Melbourne, Edward Arnold, 1978, pp. 252. $11.50.

P. J. Vatikiotis, Nasser and His Generation, Croom Helm Ltd., August, 1978. $32.95.

Theodore Zeldin, France 1848–1945, Vol. II, Intellect, Taste and Anxiety, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1977.

David Kemp, Society and Electoral Behaviour in Australia, St Lucia, Queensland University Press, 1978.

Colin Tatz, Race Politics in Australia; Aborigines Politics and Law, Armidale, The University of New England Publishing Unit, 1979, pp. vi + 118. $1.75 paper.     

Tomorrow’s Country: Practice-oriented principles for Indigenous cultural fire research in south-east Australia

First Nations peoples are revitalising diverse cultural fire practices and knowledge. Institutional and societal recognition of these practices is growing. Yet there has been little academic research on these fire practices in south-east Australia, let alone research led by Aboriginal people. We are a group of Indigenous and settler academics, practitioners, and experts focused on cultural fire management in the Victorian Loddon Mallee region. Using interviews and workshops, we facilitated knowledge sharing and discussion. In this paper, we describe three practice-oriented principles to develop and maintain collaborations across Aboriginal groups, researchers, and government in the Indigenous-led revitalisation of fire on Country: relationships (creating reciprocity and trust), Country (working with place and people), and power (acknowledging structures and values). Collaborations based on these principles will be unique to each temporal, social, cultural, and geographic context. Considering our findings, we acknowledge the challenges that exist and the opportunities that emerge to constructively hold space to grow genuinely collaborative research that creates change. We suggest that the principles we identify can be applied by anyone wanting to form genuine collaborations around the world as the need for social–ecological justice grows.