Grain Markets,Free Trade and the Bourbon Reforms: The Real Pragmática of 1765 in New Spain

The Real Pragmática of 1765 of Free Grain Trade was one of the most influential events in eighteenth century Spanish political and economic history? But was it influential in the Americas? Despite the abundant scholarship on the Bourbon reforms, we do not know much about the application of the Pragmática or more broadly about policies that affected domestic grain trade in the Americas. In this article I argue that the Pragmática was influential in increasing the participation of the viceroy in matters of wholesale and regional grain trade. Such changes in policies as applied in New Spain involved both pragmatism and a centralization of power, rather than a dogmatic support for free trade policies or a staunch support of traditional doctrines. In this I believe that New Spain did not differ from contemporary Western European countries, in which free trade was constantly being negotiated between different actors and authorities of various levels.     

‘Es honor de su nación’: Legal Rhetoric,Ethnic Alliances and the Opening of an Indigenous Convent in Colonial Oaxaca

This article examines the manner in which the caciques (noble Indians) and principales (Indian notables) from the Oaxaca region in New Spain adopted a ‘legal rhetoric’ in their quest to open a convent for noble Indian women during the eighteenth century. Through a close reading of the legal documentation produced in the petition for the convent for indigenous women in Antequera, I find that the caciques strategically used the same laws that had placed them in a subordinated place in the social hierarchy of the colony in order to negotiate certain rights and privileges. Aware of their belonging to the legally determined category of ‘Indians,’ indigenous peoples from the Valley of Oaxaca appealed specifically to the laws that had granted them a special judicial place in the colonial scheme. By referencing the Recopilación de las leyes de las Indias and several royal decrees (cédulas), the caciques appealed to colonial officials at a key historical moment, when Bourbon reforms sought to modernize all institutions, including the Catholic Church.     

A Microfacies Toolkit for Revealing Linkages Between Cultural Discontinuities and Exceptional Geogenic Events: the Tell Da’de Case Study (NE Syria)

High-resolution multi-archive studies have been promoted to reveal abrupt discontinuities that would express rapid social reactions (days to decades) to sudden exceptional geogenic phenomena (climatic, volcanic, tectonic, geomorphic, or cosmic). We expose here how we have adopted this approach for examining the causal linkages between a series of cultural discontinuities encountered through the cultural deposits of Da’de (Syria) and cosmic airbursts. Cosmic events, known to be rare, erratic, and unpredictable, are traced by exceptional debris that formed from aerosols when violently compressed during entry through the earth atmosphere of hypervelocity cosmic collider. They consist of singular organo-mineral materials in the form of volatile-rich hydrocarbon fuel with resistant metal-rich carbonaceous composites and colorful polymers. The archaeological sequence comprises Da’de phases 0 to III that represent a nearly continuous accumulation for 1,000 years during the Pre-pottery Neolithic period (ca. 9,900–8,900 years bp) and two short-term occupation phases during the pre-Halaf (Da’de IV) and early Bronze Age periods (Da’de V). Study of the exceptional debris in virgin soils and occupation deposits at Da’de has allowed to distinguish an intact debris assemblage that pulverized at the ground following an airburst (type 1 natural singular signal) with the ones that have been processed by humans (type 2 anthropic singular signal). Type 1 singular organo-mineral materials were found intact at the contact of the virgin soil with the earliest Pre-pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) occupation layers (Da’de phase 0, area [SB]), at the top part of the virgin soil with the PPNA occupation layers (Da’de phase Ia, area [B]) and just under the lower slabs of the EB III/IV burials (Da’de phase V, area [SB]). This has allowed to establish a strict contemporaneity between cosmic airbursts and remarkable historical events: initial settlement at phase 0, establishment of the magnificent communal building at phase 1, EBIII/IV cemetery after a long period of abandonment. Evidence for the collection of the singular materials (type 2) and meticulous processing of the related hydrocarbon fuel in occupation floors, earthen construction, coloring materials, and objects have been traced from the initial settlement (phase 0) through the successive cultural periods. This correlation has revealed a long-lasting transmission of the value of memorial natural resources which were only available from time to time in the surroundings. The close timing between changes in the use of the singular organo-mineral materials (preparation techniques, types of by-products) and cultural phases has enabled us to identify social discontinuities which correlate to distinctive geogenic events and search of the related exceptional resources. Based on the long-term record from Da’de, cosmic airbursts are suggested to be considered as a new class of dual-discontinuous signal of historical dimension, which have led to sudden (days to months) geogenic shifts in the availability of singular fuel resources and, simultaneously, to rapid cultural responses in their exploitation and use, depending on reactivity of local landscapes to the induced changes at short time scales (decades).     

‘The labour market under the iron fist of the state’: the Franco dictatorship in the mirror of Hitler,Mussolini and Stalin

This article focuses on the idea that intervention in the labour market through the suspension of labour rights and freedoms, fear and a fall in purchasing power all played a key role in achieving political and economic objectives in the regimes of Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin. However, in each of these cases, the success of this policy was not as had been expected. These European experiences were essential for the configuration of the labour framework in the Franco dictatorship. The iron-fisted control of the labour market came to Spain through legal texts and institutions that were in many cases a blatant copy of those applied in Italy and Germany. In spite of the ideological distance between them, we can also find some common traits with Stalin's labour policies. The results obtained were even worse for Spain, and the negative effects on the economy were more serious, due to the greater longevity of the Spanish dictatorship.     

“Buying out of the Matter”: Australia's Role in Restitution for Templer Property in Israel

A pietist, Lutheran group, the Templers settled in Palestine in the 1860s, but maintained their German citizenship and established the first Nazi Party branch outside of Germany. At the outbreak of World War II they were interned by the British in Palestine, and about one third were deported to Australia. In April 1948 the remaining Templers were evacuated and many also chose to settle in Australia. The Australian government, which wanted to use the proceeds from the sale of the Templers' property to assist in their resettlement, successfully persuaded Germany to include this restitution as part of the Claims Agreement signed in September 1952. It took a further decade of negotiation before a final settlement was agreed to.     

Fichte and the German Idiom: the Metaphysics of the Addresses to the German Nation

This article argues against the dominant Anglophone and Francophone interpretation of Fichte, which reads him as advancing either a form of ethnic or cultural nationalism. It claims that what is missing from the current reception of Fichte is the essentially philosophical and cosmopolitan character of his nationalism – the fact that the Addresses to the German Nation uses non‐empirical and cosmopolitical concepts to develop and articulate its nationalistic viewpoint. It therefore claims that the notion of a national philosophical idiom that the Addresses present, far from being a screen for its nationalism, is its driving engine. It does this by considering the problems of translating the German locution ist unsers Geschlechts. Consequently, it is claimed that the cosmo‐nationalism of Fichte is not reducible to a set of claims regarding ethnicity or even the empirical world, even if a discourse on the organismic, on what counts as life, irreducibly haunts the Addresses.     

STRUCTURAL CONTROL ALGORITHMS IN EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT DESIGN

The dynamic finite element equations of a two-dimensional structure made of axial-flexural frame elements with tendon-driven actuators have been derived. A critical review of classical optimal control theory is made with respect to its application to the control of structure under seismic excitations. Seven control algorithms, including two newly proposed algorithms, have been described, investigated and discussed. The need of an optimal observer, Kalman filter, is discussed. The validity of separation theorem applicable to the optimal stochastic control of structure for earthquake resistance is shown. How the control system perform under the circumstances of actuator saturation is also shown. Several numerical examples are worked out to demonstrate and compare the efficiency and limitations of those control algorithms.     

ATTENUATION RELATIONSHIP FOR LOW MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKES USING STANDARD SEISMOMETRIC RECORDS

Northwestern Italian weak-motion data were used to study attenuation characteristics of horizontal peak ground acceleration (PGA) and horizontal peak ground velocity (PGV) from earthquakes of local magnitudes (M _l ) up to 5.1. Data have been provided by the RSNI (Regional seismic network of Northwestern Italy) and RSLG (Regional seismic network of Lunigiana-Garfagnana) waveform database. The database consists of more than 14000 horizontal components recorded in the period 1999-2002 by both broadband and enlarged band seismometers. The accuracy of the procedure used to extract PGA values from the velocity recordings was verified comparing observed and derived PGA values at station STV2, which was equipped with both a temporary K2 Kinemctrtcs accelerometer and Guralp CMG40 broadband sensor. The attenuation of both peak ground acceleration and peak ground velocity was found to be logarithmically distributed with a strong attenuation for low distances (less than 50 km) and low M _l values (<3.0). The resulting equations are:

Log(PGA)=?3.19+0.87M?0.042M ²?1.92 Log(R)+0.249S,

Log(PGA)=?4.23+0.76M?0.018M²?1.56 Log(R)+0.230S,

where PGA is expressed in g, PGV is expressed in m/s, M is local magnitude, R is the hypocentral distance in kilometers and S is a dummy variable assuming values of 0 and 1 for rock and soil respectively. For increasing distance and magnitude, both PGA and PGV values show a linear distribution. The validity range of the obtained attenuation relationships is 0–200 km for distances and M _l up to 4.5. Sensitivity studies performed by analysis of residuals, showed that predicted PGA and PGV values are stable with respect to reasonable variations of the model and distances providing the data. Comparisons with attenuation relationships proposed for Italian region, derived from strong motion records, are also presented.     

A Fast and Efficient Simulation of the Far-Fault and Near-Fault Earthquake Ground Motions Associated with the June 17 and 21, 2000, Earthquakes in South Iceland

The two M_w 6.5 earthquakes on June 17 and 21, 2000, respectively, in the populated South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ) significantly augmented the Icelandic database of strong ground motions, and several strong velocity pulses were recorded at near-fault sites. The strong motions are interpreted via the Specific Barrier Model (SBM) and a mathematical model of near-fault velocity pulses. The data indicates self-similar source scaling and significantly greater attenuation of seismic waves than in other interplate regions. Through inversion of the data a new attenuation function for the SISZ has been adopted, which results in unbiased simulations. For the first time, the characteristics of the recorded near-fault pulses have been identified and compared to the worldwide database of such records. The SBM and the near-fault pulse model combine naturally in a fast and efficient synthesis of realistic, broad-band strong ground motions in the far-fault and near-fault region. Such simulations are showcased for the June 2000 earthquakes and indicate that the modeling approach adopted in this study is an effective tool for the estimation of realistic earthquake ground motions in the SISZ.     

Raman Spectroscopic Analysis of Ancient Egyptian Pigments

The application of FT‐Raman spectroscopy and visible Raman microscopy to the non‐destructive analysis of pigment specimens excavated from Tell el Amarna by Flinders Petrie in the 1890s has provided information about the chemical composition of the materials used by XVIIIth Dynasty artists in the New Kingdom at the time of King Akhenaten, c. 1340 bc. Comparison of the Raman spectra of the samples labelled ‘red and yellow ochre’ with documented, archival material from geological collections provided a clear indication of the materials used in the iron(III) oxide/hydroxide system, including α‐hematite, goethite, maghemite, magnetite and lepidocrocite. The yellow–orange specimen labelled ‘realgar’ proved to be a mixture of realgar and pararealgar; since the specimen had been sheltered from light since its excavation, this could indicate that the ancient Egyptian artists recognized the colour variation and may have used this to effect in their decorations. A specimen of yellow ochre contained goethite, α‐FeO.OH, with particles of crystalline, highly ordered graphite; in contrast, the red ochre specimens contained amorphous carbon particles.