Geographical Imaginations of 'New Asia-Singapore'

‘Geographical imaginations’ constitute an important aspect in geographic research, enriching our understanding of places and societies as well as the contested meanings people have towards spaces. The marketing and development of tourist destinations offers a fertile ground for the exercise of geographical imagination. This paper explores how tourism marketing distils the essence of a place, and ‘imagines’ an identity that is attractive to tourists and residents alike. Such spatial identities, however, are seldom hegemonic and are often highly contested. Using the case of the ‘New Asia-Singapore’ (NAS) campaign launched by the Singapore Tourism Board, we explore the geographical imaginations involved in tourism marketing, and its consequent effects on people and place. Specifically we discuss the role and rationale of tourism planners in formulating the NAS campaign; the actions of tourism entrepreneurs in creating NAS commodities; and the reactions from tourists and local residents towards the NAS images. We argue that the nexus of policy intent, entrepreneurial actions and popular opinions yields invaluable insights into the highly contested processes of tourism development and identity formation.     

The iron anchors from the Tantura F shipwreck: typological and metallurgical analyses

The Tantura F shipwreck was discovered in 1995 in Dor (Tantura) lagoon, about 70 m offshore. It was a coaster that plied the Levant coast during the local early Islamic period. Among the finds exposed in the wreck site were two iron anchors of the T-shaped type. This type of anchor, dated to between the second half of the fourth and the thirteenth centuries AD, is found throughout the Mediterranean. The anchors were analyzed by typological and archaeometallurgical methods, including radiography, metallographic cross-sections, microhardness tests, SEM/EDS analysis and Optical Emisson Spectroscopy (OES) analysis. Light microscopy revealed heterogeneous microstructure consisting of ferrite, Widmanstätten ferrite-pearlite or pearlite, which is typical of wrought iron made by bloomery. The metallographic and microhardness results revealed that decarburization had occurred, probably during the final hot-working process. The OES analysis, supported by SEM/EDS data, showed that the anchors are similar in composition. Soda-blast cleaning followed by chemical etching revealed the forge-welding lines, clarifying the manufacturing process, which is similar in the two anchors. Thus, it is likely that both anchors belonged to the same ship and, hence, were in situ. This information extends the limited knowledge of technologies and materials used, specifically for the development of metallurgy in the Eastern Mediterranean during the early Islamic period, and enlarges the database of the typology of anchors of that period.     

Folded wheel-made oil lamps,standing pit burial caves and Judaean ethnic identity in the Hasmonean period

ABSTRACT

Two distinct archaeological phenomena appeared between the middle of the second century BCE and the middle of the first century: the Hasmonean folded wheel-made lamp and the standing pit burial cave. Following an examination of their dating, distribution, and social significance we suggest that this material culture was characteristic of the Jews in Judaea during this time and that it reflects the creation of an ethnic identity. The fact that the Hasmonean folded wheel-made lamp and the standing pit burial cave were typical of Jews in Judea indicates that they were ethnic features of Jewish society. By these means the Jews emphasized their dissimilarity from the rest of the population. The archaic appearance of the lamps and the burial caves, which replicates the cultural characteristics of the Kingdom of Judah during the monarchic/first Temple period, indicates that Jewish society in the Hasmonean period sought to legitimize its existence through the use of its former culture and memory.     

Isotopic Evidence for Camelid Husbandry During the Formative Period at the Pacopampa Site,Peru

ABSTRACT

Camelids were domesticated in the Andean highlands, such as in the puna habitat, and dispersed into lowland areas and the northern Central Andes. As camelids domesticated in a particular region would have had a greater economic benefit than visiting- or hunted wild camelids, it is important to reconstruct the dispersal of camelid husbandry from its initial site throughout the ancient Andean civilisation. We carried out multi-isotope analyses of animal remains recovered from the Pacopampa site to investigate the nature of camelid pastoralism and utilisation. Strontium and oxygen isotope ratios from tooth enamel suggested that camelids in the early Late Formative Period (800–500 BC) were born near the site and remained in the same habitat for up to three years. Although corresponding data for the Middle Formative Period (1200–800 BC) were not available, carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were statistically different from those of the Late Formative Period, supporting the possibility that the camelids inhabited the highland plateau like puna. It is inferred that in the northern highlands camelids were initially rare and regarded as either tribute or ritual animals, or they were used as pack animals. Camelid husbandry using maize as fodder began during the Late Formative Period at Pacopampa.     

A rock magnetic record of Pleistocene rainfall variations at the Palaeolithic site of Attirampakkam,Southeastern India

Attirampakkam, an open-air stratified Palaeolithic site in southeastern India is the focus of ongoing studies to investigate the nature of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic occupation in relation to changing Pleistocene environments. The paucity of faunal or palaeobotanical remains at the site required the use of rock magnetic properties (χ_lf, χ_fd, χ_fd %, χ_ARM, SIRM, χ_ARM/SIRM, SIRM/χ_lf, χ_ARM/χ_lf, χ_ARM/χ_fd, S-ratio, HIRM and HIRM/IRM_300mT) as proxies for deciphering the palaeoenvironments and palaeoclimates of the region. Rock magnetic data from stratified deposits within excavated trenches show that the bulk of the sedimentation was intermittent with no subaerial exposure of sediments for long periods, and points to fluctuating wetter and drier climates associated with the Acheulian to Late Middle Palaeolithic levels. There is a general trend towards a wetter climate from Layer 5 upwards. Layer 7 offers evidence of bacterial magnetite (χ_ARM/χ_lf > 40 and χ_ARM/χ_fd > 1000), suggesting the onset of micro-anaerobic environments as a result of floods. Greigite is indicated in Layer 5 (SIRM/χ_lf > 30 × 10³ A m^?1), which indicates a reducing environment. Layer 2 represents an arid climate (higher proportion of haematite and a coarser magnetic grain size). Layer 1a again is indicative of an arid climate (presence of calcrete, magnetically “hard” minerals and coarser magnetic grain size). Results indicate that the southeast coast of India experienced a mostly dry tropical climate during the Pleistocene. The detected occurrence of a few notably more arid intervals did not disrupt occupation of the site by successive groups of hominins.