The magnetic sourcing of obsidian samples from Mediterranean and near Eastern sources

The magnetic properties of obsidians are examined for their potential in sourcing obsidian artifacts. The three simplest to determine magnetic parameters—initial intensity of magnetization, saturation magnetization and low field susceptibility—are found to be effective discriminants of many Mediterranean, Central European and near Eastern sources. Although the between-source precision is not as good as geochemical analyses of minor and rare-earth elements, the technique demonstrated the existence of new sources that were subsequently confirmed by minor element analyses. Unfortunately some key sources do not appear to be readily distinguishable on these three simple magnetic parameters alone, although more sophisticated magnetic analyses may prove diagnostic. Despite this, it would appear that effective discrimination can be made in many cases, occasionally with more precision than minor element analyses. This technique therefore offers, as a minimum, a preliminary sourcing tool for use in many areas of the world, thus reducing the number of expensive geochemical analyses. Furthermore, its very low cost, non-destructive nature and speed open the possibility of quantitative evaluation of trade routes based on obsidian distributions, particularly as versions of the equipment are now suitable for use in the field.     

The shaping of time in action: Guatemalan divination reconsidered

Barbara Tedlock. Time and the Highland Maya. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press; 1982. 304pp. $27.50.     

The Anglo-Norman succession debate of II26: Prelude to Stephen's anarchy

On 1 January 1127 Henry 1 made his magnates and prelates swear to accept his daughter Maud as heiress to England and Normandy. In the months prior to the oathtaking, certain identifiable curiales ～ Robert earl of Gloucester, Brian fitz Count, and David king of Scots - seem to have been supporting Maud's candidacy. Others, including Roger bishop of Salisbury and his kinsmen, appear to have opposed her and perhaps to have supported Henry's nephew, William Clito, as heir.The factions resurfaced at Henry's death in December 1135. William Clito having died in the meantime, Roger of Salisbury became one of Stephen of Blois' earliest and strongest supporters. Maud's former friends, Robert of Gloucester and Brian fitz Count, were temporarily immobilized by a violent break between Henry and Maud in the closing months of Henry's reign, but they, along with King David, subsequently became Maud's most active and consistent champions.The two factions differed neither in socioeconomic background nor in ideology. It was not a question of old baronial families on one side and newly-risen curiales on the other, but simply of differing personal allegiances originating in the divisions among Henry's courtiers in 1126.     

Contesting Marshall Sahlins on Kinship

In a recent two‐part article on the nature of kinship, Marshall Sahlins maintains that performative criteria for kin‐reckoning are at least as salient as procreative ones, and that, at conception, an individual is endowed with a wide circle of kin, including the ancestral dead. For both reasons, he argues, there is no warrant for granting privileged status to what anthropologists have called ‘primary’ kinship. The contentions here are that performative criteria are modeled upon procreative ones; that ties to ancestral figures are seen as antithetical to procreative ties; and that, therefore, all kinship constructs are derived from nuclear family relationships. Evidence in support of these contentions is provided from the Mae Enga, Fiji, the Trobriands, and Aboriginal Australia.