Motivation and Scale: a Method of Identifying Land Speculators in Upper Canada

Land speculation played a major role in the settlement of Ontario. Its impact has been discussed in great detail but there always remained the problem of identifying individual speculators. Previous studies have identified land speculators solely on the basis of the amount of land held. This paper presents an alternative method of identifying speculators by calling attention to the motivations behind speculation and manifestations of these motivations as inferred in landholding behaviour. In addition, a typology of speculators is presented. Elizabethtown Township provides the setting for an application of the proposed method and a brief analysis of the speculative patterns that emerge.
Les achats speculatifs des terrains, ayant joué un rôle majeur dans la colonisation de l'Ontario, ont souvent été examinés en détail: le probléme de l'identité des speculateurs est pourtant resté sans solution. Dans des études déjà parues, ceux-ci ont été discernés en ne tenant compte que de la superficie des terrains qu'ils detenaient. Cet essai presente une autre méthode pour identifier les spéculateurs en examinant les mobiles de la spéculation tels qu'ils sont révéles par la conduite de Tacheteur: nous avons aussi formulé une typologie des spéculateurs. Nous avons appliqué la méthode proposée à la ville d'Elizabethtown pour analyser brièvement les mouvements spéculatifs qui s'y présentent.     

The Study of Archaeological Floors: Methodological Proposal for the Analysis of Anthropogenic Residues by Spot Tests,ICP-OES,and GC-MS

The identification of chemical activity residues on archaeological surfaces requires the analysis of large numbers of samples, which can be costly and time consuming. Researchers wishing to apply sediment chemistry often are confronted with a dilemma of which technique to use and how to accommodate sediment chemistry into their budget. We propose an approach to the identification of chemical activity residues in which semiquantitative spot tests, which are cheap, quick, and easy to apply, are employed as an initial phase of analysis in order to leverage the results of more time-consuming and costly instrumental techniques. Three examples that pair spot tests with gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry analysis show that spot tests successfully identify areas of interest. This approach can save both time and research funds.