Using ancient DNA identification and osteometric measures of archaeological Pacific salmon vertebrae for reconstructing salmon fisheries and site seasonality at Dionisio Point,British Columbia

Determining the diversity of salmon species represented in archaeological contexts is critical to understanding patterns of salmon harvesting and consumption, storage practices and seasonal patterns of resource exploitation by precontact peoples of the Northwest Coast. We present species determinations generated for salmon vertebrae from the Dionisio Point site (DgRv-003) in coastal southwestern British Columbia, a well-preserved village site that dates to between 1500 and 1300 cal BP. Molecular species identification was possible for 70 Pacific salmonid vertebral elements recovered from one excavated plankhouse at the site. Coupled with osteometric measures, we determine that residents of the plankhouse fished primarily for chum, sockeye and pink salmon, with a lesser emphasis on chinook, coho and steelhead. These results indicate a diverse fishery that likely occurred between July and December, suggesting a mid summer through winter season of occupation for the village.     

Foreign Policy and an American Christian Democratic Party

This article explores the implications of the Judeo-Christian tradition's influence on the United States for the foreign policy of an American Christian Democratic Party. If there were to be such a party in the United States, it would not have to create a new set of ideas and principles out of whole cloth. In fact, an articulation of an American Christian Democratic foreign policy would largely consist of an effort of resourcement, rediscovering and applying anew foundational principles at the core of the American experiment. This article develops this insight in two main foreign policy areas: national security and economic.     

Anti-corruption campaigns in thirteenth-century Europe

The thirteenth century in France saw the initiation of a series of reforms intended to define, identify and root out corruption in government. The principal architect of the campaign was King Louis IX (1226–70), ably supported by a coterie of special officials. Inspired in part by his desire to purify his kingdom in the long preparation for the crusade of 1270, he also drew on longstanding precedents in French administrative history. The campaign on the whole was quite successful. What is also remarkable is that, generated partly from the unique circumstances of individual polities and partly from circumstances, like crusading fervour, which were widely shared, other anti-corruption campaigns were mounted, also with some success. The slogans and practices of anti-corruption campaigns came to be identified intimately with good government, indeed, with the very right to exercise political authority and power. The thirteenth century thus appears to be a foundational moment in the constitution of the ideology and practices of the state.     

Broken Windows Policing and Constructions of Space and Crime: Flatbush,Brooklyn

While broken windows policing has triggered explosive debates about law enforcement and racism across US cities, it has maintained considerable support by racialized urbanites. Focusing on Flatbush, Brooklyn, this paper seeks to understand the striking resilience of broken windows in inner‐city contexts. It uses Laclau and Mouffe's discourse theory to analyze dialogue at Precinct Community Council meetings and interviews with attendees. The paper makes the case that the New York Police Department normalizes broken windows through discursive constructions of social space and crime that naturalize the precinct scale, produce spatial meanings, and cast social difference in the mold of broken windows theory. The article illustrates beyond the politics of racialized fearmongering, the normalization of broken windows also occurs through this meticulous production of geographic knowledge. It also emphasizes that deconstructing the way the police portray space and crime provides signposts for substantive reform to broken windows.     

Climate and visitation to Utah's ‘Mighty 5’ national parks

ABSTRACT

The relationship between climate and visitation to managed natural areas has been analyzed at a variety of different spatial scales. We expand upon our existing knowledge on this topic by: (1) determining how a wide range of climate variables affect visitation across a regional tourism system; and (2) identifying which variables affect visitation system-wide and which variables only affect visitation at specific parks. Our analysis focuses on five national parks located in southern Utah (USA) commonly referred to as ‘the Mighty 5’. We found monthly average daily maximum temperatures were the best predictor of system-wide visitation, suggesting average daily maximum temperatures play a more direct role in tourists’ travel decisions relative to other climate variables, including other derivations of temperature. We also found declines in monthly park visitation for three parks (Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef) once average daily maximum temperatures exceed 25 C. For Bryce Canyon and Zion however, monthly visitation continued to increase well above this threshold. The geophysical characteristics of these parks appear to mediate the relationship between average daily maximum temperature and visitation. The commonly found ‘inverted U-shape’ relationship between temperature and visitation should not be seen as a universal maxim. We also found precipitation to be a poor predictor of system-wide visitation, but a significant factor shaping the travel decisions of visitors to Bryce Canyon, the only park to offer snow-based outdoor recreation opportunities. Future research should not disregard the possibility of precipitation being a significant factor shaping visitors’ travel decisions. By conducting our analyses at two distinct scales, we have found there is a difference between the individual climate variables that are regionally-significant drivers of visitation and those that are locally-significant drivers of visitation. Scale matters in analyses of the relationship between climate and visitation.