Mountain anthropology and mountain anthropologists: The comparative study of populations at high elevations

Baker, Paul, and Corneille Jest, eds. L'Homme et Son Environnement à Haute Altitude: Environmental and Human Population Problems at High Altitude. Cahiers Népalais. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1981. 163 pp. including plates and bibliography. n.p.

Cook, David Noble. The People of the Colca Valley: A Population Study. Dellplain Latin American Studies No. 9. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1982. xx+101 pp. including bibliography and index. $15.50 cloth.

Poffenberger, Mark. Patterns of Change in the Nepal Himalaya. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1980. v+116 pp. including maps, bibliography, and index. $20.00 cloth.

Millones, Luis, and Hiroyasu Tomoeda, eds. El Hombre y Su Ambiente en los Andes Centrales. Senri Ethnological Studies No. 10. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology, 1982. v + 307pp. including plates, maps, and bibliography, n.p.

Lehmann, David, ed. Ecology and Exchange in the Andes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. v + 245 pp. including bibliography, glossary, and subject and author indices. $47.50 cloth.

Skar, Harold A. The Warm Valley People: Duality and Land Reform among the Quechua Indians of Highland Peru. Oslo Studies in Social Anthropology No. 2. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1982. v + 350 pp. including plates, appendices, bibliography, index, and glossary. n.p.     

Human bioarchaeology: Group identity and individual life histories – Introduction

The approach of individual life histories has been facilitated by a rapid growth in the area of bio- and archaeological sciences, and in human osteology. Concurrent improvements to radiocarbon dating and focus on high resolution paleoenvironmental reconstructions have moved the new research to the annual or decadal scale of analysis. Together, this new approach allows us: (1) to reconstruct long segments of individual life histories from birth to death; (2) to assess variation in prehistoric human behaviour; and (3) to place this behaviour in the context of dynamic interactions with the natural environment. The emphasis on individuals rather than groups or cultures feeds naturally into the modern scientific-evolutionary archaeology, a school of thought which focuses on mechanisms generating human cultural diversity. While it is the populations that evolve, it is the variation generated at the individual level that is necessary to set this process in motion. To an evolutionary archaeologist and anthropologist it is the behavioural variability that is of primary research interest. Hence the paramount importance of documenting and understanding what people do on a daily basis and how they differ from each other in their needs, preferences, choices, decisions, and strategies developed and employed to satisfy them.     

On Behavioral Depression in White-tailed Deer

Behavioral depression is a decline in prey availability because of enhanced alert response, movement away from areas, increased social behavior, and other responses to predators. This form of resource depression is an alternative hypothesis to be contrasted to over-exploitation that potentially explains a decrease in hunting efficiency over time should the zooarchaeologist observe a decline in the relative abundance of remains of high-rank prey. Gregarious ungulates, such as many North American cervids, may exhibit such behavioral responses under predation. The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), one of the most common high-rank prey animals from Holocene archaeological sites in eastern North America, is less gregarious, more r-selected, and exhibits greater home-range fidelity than other cervids. As a result, whitetails are less likely to exhibit behavioral depression than other North American ungulates, which may explain their common occurrence in Holocene archaeological faunas, such as that from the Eagle??s Ridge site in southeast Texas where resource depression appears to have occurred from 4,500 to 1,500?years ago. The behavioral ecology of ungulate species should be considered on a case-by-case basis to develop testable hypotheses about prehistoric human predation.     

Muslims in Britain and France

Andrew, D., Mists of Regret: Culture and Sensibility in Classic French Film (Princeton Paperbacks, 1995), xv + 409pp., £19.95, ISBN 0 691 00883 3

Barou, J., and Prado, P., Les Anglais dans nos campagnes (L'Harmattan, 1995), 238pp., 140F., ISBN 2 7384 3352 9

Blanchot, M., The Writing of the Disaster, trans. Ann Smock, new edn. (University of Nebraska Press, [1986] 1995), 153pp., £11.00, ISBN 0 8032 6120 9

Brami, J., Cottentenet‐Hage, M., and Verdaguer, P., eds., Regards sur la France des armies 1980 ‐ Le Roman (Anma Libri, 1994), 260pp., ISBN 0 915838 96 6

Brewer, M.M., Claude Simon: Narrativities Without Narrative (University of Nebraska Press, 1995), 183pp., $38.50, ISBN 0 8032 1261 5

Carroll, D., French Literary Fascism: Nationalism, Anti‐Semitism and the Ideology of Culture (Princeton University Press, 1995), 300pp., £24.95, ISBN 0 691 03723 X

Charle, C., A Social History of France in the Nineteenth Century trans. Mirian Kochan, (Berg, 1994), x + 314pp., hbk, ISBN 0 85496 906 2, pbk, ISBN 0 85496 913 6

Cordelier, S., Poisson, E. et al., L'État de la France 1995–96 (La Découverte, 1995), 635pp., 159F., ISBN 2 7071 2447 8

Crisp, C., The Classic French Cinema 1930–1960 (Indiana University Press, 1994), 485pp., £50.00, ISBN 0 2533 1550 6

Crozier, M., La Crise de l'Intelligence (Interéditions, 1995), 200pp., 110F., ISBN 2 7296 0567 3

Debré, M., Combattre Toujours: Mémoires, 1969–1993 (Albin Michel, 1994), 333pp., 150F., ISBN 2 226 07536 4

Dieudonné, P., ed., Villes reconstruites du dessin au iestin (L'Harmattan, 1994), vol. 1, 382pp., 190F., ISBN 2 7384 2605 0, vol. 2, 384pp., 190F., ISBN 2 7384 2606 9

Domenach, N., and Szarfan, M., De si bons amis (Plon, 1994), 454pp., 110F., ISBN 2 259 18018 3

Duchene, F.L., Jean Monnet: the First Statesman of Interdependence (W. W. Norton, 1994), 410pp., £22.00, ISBN 0 393 03497 6

Dutton, D., ed., Statecraft and Diplomacy in the Twentieth Century (Liverpool University Press, 1995), 180pp., £15.05, ISBN 0 85323 379 9

Eck, J.‐F., La France dans la nouvelle economic mondiale (PUF, 1994), 312pp., 150F., ISBN 2 13 046092 5

Forest, P., Histoire de Tel Quel, 1960–82 (Seuil, 1995), 655pp., 180F., ISBN 2 02 017346 8

Gardies, A., L'Espace au cinéma (Meridiens Klincksieck, 1993)

Gregg, J., Maurice Blanchot and the Literature of Transgression (Princeton University Press, 1994), 241pp., £25.00, ISBN 0 691 03329 3

Habert, P., Perrineau, P., and Ysmal, C., eds., Le Vote Sanction: Les élections législatives des 21 et 28 mars 1993 (Départment des études politiques du Figaro et Presses de la Fondation nationale des sciences politiques, 1993), 347pp., 150F., ISBN 2 7246 0634 5

Kessler, M.‐C., Les Grands corps de l'état (Presses Universitaires de France, 1994), 128pp., 36F., ISBN 2 13 046502 1

Kramer, S.P., Does France Still Count? The French Role in the New Europe (Praeger, 1994), 113pp., £11.95, ‘Washington Papers’ series ISBN 0 275 95061 1.

Lallement, M., ed., Travail et emploi: le temps de métamorphoses (L'Harmattan, 1995), 283pp., 150F., ISBN 2 7384 2559 3

Le Crom, J.‐P., Syndicate nous voilal Vichy et le corporatisme (Les Editions Ouvrières, 1995), 410pp., 190F., ISBN 2 7082 3123 5

Lefait, P., Quatre Ministres etpuis s'en vont (Editions de l'Atelier, 1995), 310pp., 120F., ISBN 2 7082 3105 7

Lepetit, B. et al., Atlas de la Révolution française, vol. 8, Population (Editions EHESS, 1995), 92pp., 120F., ISBN 2 7132 1189 1

Manent, P., An Intellectual History of Liberalism, trans. Rebecca Balinski (Princeton University Press, 1994), pp. 128, £16.95, ISBN 0 691 03437 0

Martelli, R., Le rouge et le bleu. Essai sur le communisme français (Editions de l'Atelier, 1995), 286pp., 120F., ISBN 2 7082 3119 7

Mélenchon, J.‐L., Rocard, le rendezvous manqué (Ramsay, 1994), 237pp., 110F..ISBN2 84114 053 9

Minc, A., La France ie l'an 2000 (Odile Jacob/Documentation Française), 321pp., 60F., ISBN 2 7381 0281 6

Osen, J., Royalist Political Thought during the French Revolution (Greenwood Press, 1995), 154pp., £49.50, ISBN 0 313 29441 0

Outram, D., The Enlightenment (Cambridge University Press, 1995), 141pp., £27.95 hbk, ISBN 0 521 41522 5, £9.96 pbk, ISBN 0 521 42534

Phillips, P., Republican France: Divided Loyalties (Greenwood, 1993), xxiii + 168pp., $49.95, ISBN 0 313 27503 3

Platten, D., Djian: 37° 2 le matin (University of Glasgow French &; German Publications, 1995), 92pp., £3.95, ISBN 085261 368 7

Proudhon, P.‐J., What is Property? (CUP, 1994), 227pp., £55 hbk, £12.95 pbk.

Roberts, M., Civilization Without Sexes: Reconstructing Gender in Postwar France 1917–1927 (University of Chicago Press, 1994), 337pp., £15.25, ISBN 0 226 72122 1

Rosanvallon, P., La nouvelle question sociale (Seuil, 1995), 223pp., 95F., ISBN 2 02 022030

Royal, S., Pays, paysans, pay sages. La reconciliation est‐elle possible? (Laffont, 1993), 228pp., 89F., ISBN 2 221 07046 1

Suleiman, E., Les Ressorts cachés de la réussite française (Seuil, 1995), 377pp., 130F., ISBN 2 02 021841 0

Tindall, G., Célestine. Voices from a French Village (Sinclair‐Stevenson, 1995), ix + 286pp., £17.99, ISBN 1 85619 534 1

Tricot, B., Mémoires (Quai Voltaire, 1994), 503pp., 148F., ISBN 2 87653 209 3

Veillon, D., Vivre et Survivre en France 1939–1947 (Editions Payot, 1995), 371pp., 145F., ISBN 2 228 88875 3

Vigato, J.‐C., L‘Architecture Régionalize. France 1890–1950 (Norma, 1994), 392pp., 160F., ISBN 2 9092832 11 9

Wagstaff, P., ed., Regionalism in Europe (Intellect, 1994), 120pp., £14.95, ISBN 1 871516 84 6

Walker, D.H., Outrage and Insight: Modern French Writers and the ’Fait Divers’ (Berg, 1995), 281pp., £39.95, ISBN 0 85946 780 X

Wilson, H.S., African Decolonisation (Edward Arnold, 1994), 222pp., £12.99, ISBN 0 340 55929 2     

Life Is Beautiful : four riddles,three answers

Four riddles occur in the dialogue of Roberto Benigni's 1998 film, La vita è bella ( Life Is Beautiful ). Solutions to the first three are provided almost as soon as they are uttered, but a fourth riddle, spoken at the film's climax, remains unanswered. Exploring possible meanings of the fourth riddle illuminates the film's meaning. Although the riddles may seem to be relatively unimportant bantering between two of the major characters (Guido, the Italian Jew, and Captain Lessing, a German Nazi officer and physician), they are critical to the unfolding of the plot and significant in the portrayal of the two characters who employ them. Most importantly, they act as condensed expressions of the film's themes, complementing and giving deep texture to its narrative expression of the same ideas. Through the riddles and other folk and children's genres - such as game and folktale - La vita è bella asserts not only that art helps us survive, but that the humblest art is the daily weapon against the most formidable attacks on the human spirit.     

Use of space in a Neolithic village in Greece (Makri): phytolith analysis and comparison of phytolith assemblages from an ethnographic setting in the same area

Phytolith analyses were conducted in a Pottery Neolithic village (Makri) of Northern Greece in order to reconstruct aspects of past human activities as a function of both space and time. The analyses of phytolith assemblages were based on a reference collection of modern plant phytoliths (Tsartsidou et al., 2007), as well as an ethnographic study in an agropastoral community (Sarakini) in the same area that showed that many phytolith assemblages are characteristic of the activities carried out in different locations within and around the village (Tsartsidou et al., 2008). The same approach was used for studying the phytolith assemblages in the Neolithic village of Makri, namely measuring phytolith concentrations, diversities of phytolith assemblages relative to control samples collected from samples outside the village and detailed analysis of various phytolith morphotypes. At Makri samples from floors and various constructions (i.e. pit, platforms) were analysed, as well as sediments from an open area inside the village. The results show that Neolithic Makri was a society with a mixed agricultural and pastoral economy. Wheat and barley were cultivated for food and fodder and free-range animals were raised in a village inhabited year round. Indoor areas were not clearly differentiated from outdoor areas inside the village. The phytolith assemblages in only one series of floors produced at a specific location over an extended period of time reflected the use of that space for cereal storage or food processing. The phytolith assemblages from all the other floors examined did not reflect the local activities, but rather the constructional materials used for producing the floors.     

The contents of unusual cone-shaped vessels (cornets) from the Chalcolithic of the southern Levant

Cornets are cone-shaped ceramic vessels, characteristic of the Chalcolithic period (ca. 4700–3700 BC) in Israel and Jordan. Their contents and use are unknown. Gas chromatography with flame ionization and mass-selective detection, showed that extracts of cornets from five different sites with different related activities (domestic, habitation cave and a cultic complex) all contain the same assemblage of mainly n-alkanes adsorbed within their walls. This assemblage differs from those found in other types of ceramic vessels from the same sites, as well as from the residues found within the associated sediments. The assemblage of odd and even-numbered n-alkanes found in the cornets is almost identical to that found in the residues of beeswax heated on modern ceramic fragments, as well as in a beehive from the Iron Age IIA strata at Tel Rehov, Israel. Thus the cornets are most likely to have contained beeswax. The presence of beeswax in the cornets contributes to our understanding of the Chalcolithic period; a time when secondary products such as milk, olive oil and wine are thought to have come into use.