Introduction and Historical Context to the Archaeology of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Almshouses

This introduction discusses both the western cultural context of, and research issues behind, the following three articles on institutions founded to house the poor in Holland, England, and their American colonies. It also discusses the connections between this volume on colonial-era institutions for the poor and the previous volume on nineteenth century asylums and prisons.     

Evolution and politics: The naturalistic,ethical and spiritual bases of evolutionary arguments

Naturalistic evolution, refined and propagated by Darwin and explored in its social implications by Spencer, proved to be unacceptable to many theorists as a criterion of ethical and political conduct. It is contended that a second variation of evolutionary theory self‐consciously severed the connection between nature and ethics, while a third attempted to synthesise these antithetical theories. Each conception of evolution was capable of generating a variety of political conclusions, none of which were logically necessary. It was the tendency in the third, however, to personify the state and endow it with moral agency, which provided the justification for greater state intervention in the promotion of social and educational reforms.     

Architectural rumors: unrealized megaprojects in Baku,Azerbaijan and their politico-economic uses

This article examines the agency of unrealized megaprojects in bolstering economic activity, legitimizing political regimes, and expanding designer’s portfolios. It argues that such proposals serve as a form of “Architectural Rumor,” providing politico-economic agency despite ultimate project infeasibility. Specifically, it looks at two case studies of proposed yet unrealized island megaprojects in the city of Baku, Azerbaijan: the 2009 Zira Island Master Plan and the 2010 Khazar Islands Plan. Spectacular urban design and architecture have long served as catalysts for development, investment attraction, and real estate speculation. As cities compete with one another to lure capital and boost their global status, many design proposals have become increasingly expensive, ostentatious, and technologically sophisticated. The high-risk financial nature of grand urban design proposals and their frequent associations with displacement or environmental destruction suggests that the megaproject model is becoming flawed. At the same time, there remain advantages for clients and politicians to proposing designs that are more spectacular than feasible. Using a mixed-methods approach, four key arenas in which unrealized proposals circulate are described. The various benefits and detriments of such an approach to architectural commodification are also discussed, foregrounding the broader societal costs.     

Preserving the Global Nuclear Order: The Trident Agreements and the Arms Control Debate, 1977–1982

ABSTRACT

The Trident negotiations were a pivotal moment in establishing the US–UK nuclear relationship as an accepted element of the global nuclear order. The Trident agreements marked the first supply of a US delivery system to the UK since the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the development of Superpower arms control. In turn, the development of these agendas in the international sphere influenced Anglo-American discussions on the replacement to Polaris. The Carter White House procrastinated on the provision of Trident due in part to their concerns over the political ramifications for their wider non-proliferation and arms control goals. However, fortuitously for the UK's nuclear programme, US–UK discussions on the replacement to Polaris coalesced with the reorientation of US foreign policy towards containment of the Soviet Union under Jimmy Carter and then Ronald Reagan – enabling the finalisation of the sale of Trident to the UK. As such, the status of the US–UK nuclear relationship as a broadly accepted element of the global nuclear order is a legacy of the ‘long 1970s’ alongside the early Cold War.     

A new Miocene carnivorous marsupial,Barinya kutjamarpensis (Dasyuromorphia), from central Australia

Binfield, P., Archer, M., Hand, S.J., Black, K.H., Myers, T.J., Gillespie, A.K. & Arena, D.A., June 2016. A new Miocene carnivorous marsupial, Barinya kutjamarpensis (Dasyuromorphia), from central Australia. Alcheringa 41, xx–xx. ISSN 0311-5518.

A new dasyuromorphian, Barinya kutjamarpensis sp. nov., is described on the basis of a partial dentary recovered from the Miocene Wipajiri Formation of northern South Australia. Although about the same size as the only other species of this genus, B. wangala from the Miocene faunal assemblages of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland, it has significant differences in morphology including a very reduced talonid on M₄ and proportionately wider molars. Based on the structural differences and the more extensive wear on its teeth, the central Australian species might have consumed harder or more abrasive prey in a more silt-rich environment than its congener, which hunted in the wet early to middle Miocene forests of Riversleigh.

Pippa Binfield [pippa.binfield@outlook.com], Michael Archer [m.archer@unsw.edu.au], Suzanne J. Hand [s.hand@unsw.edu.au], Karen H. Black [k.black@unsw.edu.au], Troy J. Myers [t.myers@unsw.edu.au] Anna K. Gillespie [a.gillespie@unsw.edu.au] and Derrick A. Arena [rick@sitc.net.au], PANGEA Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales 2052, Sydney, Australia.     

Introduction to the Historical Archaeology of Powered Cultural Landscapes

This article starts by defining the term “powered cultural landscapes” and then provides a brief history of research on this topic in historical archaeology, starting with the settlement pattern paradigm that did not use the word “landscape,” and progressing to the landscape paradigm and the subsequent increasing use of the word “power” in cultural landscape research. Topics of research initially addressed landscape power dynamics between classes, followed by racial, ethnic, and finally gender power dynamics. Frameworks for analyzing power dynamics have progressed from the Marxian domination and resistance framework for class and racial power dynamics, followed by feminist analyses of male domination, to the recent development of a feminist inclusive heterarchical model of power dynamics.     

Play Nice or Pick a Fight? Cooperation as an Interest Group Strategy at Implementation

The open, multilevel nature of U.S. policymaking enables interest group activity throughout the policy process. At policy implementation, groups attempt to secure benefits or ameliorate legislated effects by devising cooperative or conflictual strategies to influence outcomes, especially when agency officials have discretion to design rules and negotiate agreements. Investigating group “street‐level” activity with respect to the Endangered Species Act, this research finds that policy context and resources shape the degree of information and access available to groups, which influences the strategies groups adopt. Groups with access and specialized information will attempt to change or influence policy outcomes cooperatively. Groups with limited technical information are more likely to fight implementation.     

Assessing the reliability of criteria used to identify mandibles and mandibular teeth in sheep, Ovis, and goats, Capra

Criteria developed to distinguish between the mandibles and mandibular teeth of sheep and goats are evaluated using modern specimens from the collections of the National Museum of Natural History and the Field Museum of Natural History. Certain teeth prove to be quite reliable in this regard (dP3, P3, P4). Other dental elements, however, are not reliable and should not be used in dental based identifications of these closely related species (dP4, M1, and mandibular bones). Overall, the identification of sheep dentition using these criteria is more reliable than it is for goats. However, the generally greater likelihood of incorrect identification of goat teeth and mandibles means that specimens identified as sheep are likely to contain high proportion of misidentified goats. Both the proportion of remains that can only be classified as ‘Ovis-Capra’ and the proportion of incorrectly identified teeth and mandibular bones varies with age, with identifications of younger and older animals less reliable than those of animals in the 1.5–6 year age range. Reliability of identifications increases when more criteria and more elements are used. Identifications based on whole mandibles with complete tooth rows are quite reliable. However, the proportion of specimens likely to be classified as ‘Ovis-Capra’ also increases in whole mandible identifications, especially in goats. Systematic differences in the proportions of indeterminate and incorrect identifications have a significant impact on species-level dentition-based harvest profiles. Recommendations are made for the use of dentition and long bone based harvest profiles in the study of sheep and goat exploitation strategies.