A Study of the Centuries-Long Reliance on Local Ceramics in Jerash Through Full Quantification and Simulation

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory - The Danish-German Jerash Northwest Quarter Project revealed a robust and striking pattern of the extreme dominance (>99%) of locally produced...     

Squaring the Shield: William Ridgeway's Two Models of Early Greece

From the early 1880s the Cambridge-trained classicist William Ridgeway had applied cutting-edge anthropological theory to his reading of ancient Greek literature in order to develop an evolutionary account of the continuous development of early Greek social institutions. Then, at the turn of the century, he began to argue that archaeological evidence demonstrated that the Achaean warriors described by Homer were in origin Germanic tribesmen from north of the Alps who had but recently conquered Mycenaean Greece. The present paper inquires as to how Ridgeway reconciled these seemingly opposed visions of early Greek society. A fairly comprehensive survey of his writings leads to the suggestion that, in Ridgeway's opinion, Achaean invasion had left little lasting impact upon most early Greek social institutions, but that it had been responsible for a fundamental shift from matriarchy to patriarchy, and that this shift was the key to the subsequent greatness of Greek—and so ultimately Western—civilisation.     

Paleodiet in northern Chile through the Holocene: extremely heavy δN values in dental calculus suggest a guano-derived signature?

Dental calculus extracted from the teeth of 28 prehistoric human skeletons from coastal and valley archaeological sites in northern Chile that date from the Archaic period (∼2300 BC) to the Late Intermediate period (AD 1476) was analyzed for stable isotope (δ¹⁵N, δ¹³C) compositions. δ¹⁵N compositions were extremely heavy (+17.8 to +33.1‰), but comparable to some studies using conventional human biomaterials (hair, nail, muscle) at other prehistoric sites in northern Chile. There was a negative correlation between δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C for coastal sites, but a positive correlation for valley sites. Results for the valley sites point to a diet that was influenced by marine resources throughout all time periods. The unusually heavy δ¹⁵N values for the coastal sites require a dietary component with a δ¹⁵N composition significantly heavier than that of marine resources. The hyper-aridity at the study area (mean annual rainfall of 0.5–0.6 mm/year) is a likely contributing factor to the production of heavy δ¹⁵N values, but is unlikely to account for the heaviest δ¹⁵N values (>+30‰). One possible explanation for the heaviest δ¹⁵N values is that dietary components were impacted by isotopically-heavy guano, which is abundant in the region. Guano may have been used as a fertilizer during crop cultivation at the onset of the Formative period, continuing through the Historic period after Spanish contact. The indirect impact of guano from abundant bird habitats in the region may have influenced wild foodstuffs harvested throughout the pre-agricultural period. Results provide support for the utility of dental calculus as a proxy for obtaining stable carbon and nitrogen isotope signatures for use in paleodietary studies.     

Pterygotid eurypterid chelicera from the Lower Devonian of Victoria

A single eurypterid (Arthropoda: Chelicerata) chelicera, assigned to Acutiramus sp. cf. A. bohemicus, is described from the Wilson Creek Shale, Turtons Creek inlier, north of Foster, Victoria, Australia. The specimen comprises the proximal portion of both rami. This pterygotid chelicera supports an Early Devonian (?Lochkovian) age for the stratum at this locality, by comparison with occurrences of A. bohemicus from the Czech Republic and closely related species in northern Gondwana.     

The mosque in the suburbs: Negotiating religion and ethnicity in South London

The geography of religi on for UK residents of South Asian origin is inexorably linked to the politics of the built environment. In particular, the siting, or expansion, of places of worship for minority-religious groups has often been bound up with the negotiation and contestation of the politics of identity. In this paper we explore the historical unfolding of a complex politics of identity and difference across one particular site of religious worship. The building in question is the London Fazl Mosque, London's first mosque. The paper focuses on two periods in the architectural, social and religious life of the site: its initial planning, opening and use in the London suburbs of the 1920s; and the community's more recent--and ultimately unsuccessful--attempts to extend the mosque in the 1990s. Across these two periods we draw out the ways in which notions of similarity and difference were employed by mosque-users, other local residents, the press and local and central government bodies in their discourse relating to the mosque. In particular we are concerned with how the mosque has meant different things to different religious, ethnic and social groups across the period under study, and how the mosque's relative ability to conform to associative aesthetic valuations throughout its history effectively sanctioned as well as condemned building works. Pour les résidents du Royaume-Uni d'origine sudasiatique, la géographie de la religion est inexorablement liée à l'environnement architectural. En particulier, le choix de sites ou l'expansion de lieux de culte pour les groupes religieux minoritaires ont souvent été reliés à des débats identitaires. Dans cet article, nous explorons l'évolution historique d'un jeu complexe de politiques de l'identité et de la différence par le biais d'un édifice religieux. Le site en question est la mosquée Fazl, la première ayant été bâtie à Londres. L'article se concentre sur deux périodes de la vie architecturale, sociale et religieuse de ce site: sa planification initiale, son ouverture, et son utilisation dans la banlieue de Londres pendant les années 1920, ainsi que les efforts plus récents--éventuellement sans succès--d'agrandir la mosquée pendant les années 1990. À travers ces deux périodes, nous exposons comment des notions de similaritéet de différence ont été mises de l'avant par les usagers du lieu, les autres résidents du quartier, la presse et les institutions gouvernementales centrales et locales dans leurs discours respectifs sur la mosquée. Nous cherchons en particulier à dégager comment la mosquée acquière une signification différente selon chaque religion, ethnie ou groupe social impliqué pendant la période sous étude. Nous cherchons aussi à dégager comment la capacité relative de la mosquée à se conformer à des valeurs esthé tiques associatives au cours de son histoire a servi à supporter de même qu'à condamner les travaux de construction. La geografía de la religio´n para los habitantes del Reino Unido naturales de Asia Sudoriental es inexorablemente vinculada a la política del entorno construído. En particular, la ubicación, o la expansión de los edificios de culto para los grupos de religiones minoritarios muchas veces ha estado estrechamente vinculado con la negociación y la contestación de la política de identidad. En este papel, examinamos el desarollo histórico de la compleja política de identidad y diferencia en un sitio de culto determinado. El edificio en cuestión es la mezquita Fazl, la primera mesquita de Londres. El papel enfoca a dos períodos en la vida arquitectural, social y religiosa del sitio: su planificación, inauguración y empleo iniciales en el barrio londinense en los años 20: y los intentos más recientes de la comunidad de ampliar la mezquita en los años 90, los cuales no resultaron exitosos. Através de estos dos períodos destacamos las maneras en que las nociones de semejanza y diferencia fueron empleadas por las personas que frecuentaban la mezquita, otros residentes locales, la prensa y cuerpos de los gobiernos local y central en sus discursos sobre la mezquita. En particular nos interesa lo que significaba la mezquita para los diferentes grupos religiosos, étnicos y sociales en las épocas bajo investigación y como la manera en que la mezquita cuadraba con las valuaciones estéticas asociativas durante toda su historia efectivamente sancionaba, tanto como condenaba, su construcción.