Isotopic Reconstruction of the Late Longshan Period (ca. 4200–3900 BP) Dietary Complexity before the Onset of State‐Level Societies at the Wadian Site in the Ying River Valley,Central Plains,China

During the late Longshan period (ca. 4200–3900 BP) settlements on the Central Plains of China underwent a diversification in food production technologies, which set the stage for rapid economic and social development. The introduction of novel domesticates such as rice, wheat, cattle, and sheep not only provided more food choices, but also changed ideas concerning land use, farming techniques, and the use and mobilization of large scale labor forces. To better understand the contribution that these new dietary items and practices made to shaping the late Longshan period societies, a stable isotope ratio study of humans (n = 12) and animals (n = 42) was conducted at the late Longshan period site of Wadian. The human δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values are clustered into two distinct groups. One group of nine individuals (δ¹³C = −9.9 ± 0.7‰; δ¹⁵N = 7.5 ± 0.5‰) had a predominately C₄ diet based on millet grains with little protein input from the domestic animals. The other group of three individuals (δ¹³C = −14.3 ± 0.8‰; δ¹⁵N = 10.2 ± 0.3‰) had a mixed C₃/C₄ diet of millets and rice and were consuming sheep and cattle. The animals also displayed dietary diversity with the pigs (δ¹³C = −11.3 ± 2.5‰; δ¹⁵N = 6.9 ± 1.0‰, n = 10) and dogs (δ¹³C = −10.1 ± 1.0‰; δ¹⁵N = 7.2 ± 1.1‰, n = 7) having mostly a C₄ plant based diet (millets). In contrast, the cattle (δ¹³C = −12.8 ± 2.1‰; δ¹⁵N = 7.6 ± 0.7‰, n = 9), sheep (δ¹³C = −16.7 ± 0.9‰; δ¹⁵N = 7.6 ± 0.1‰, n = 2), and cervids (δ¹³C = −20.8 ± 0.9‰; δ¹⁵N = 5.0 ± 1.2‰, n = 10) had diets with a greater contribution from C₃ sources such as rice and wild plants. The discovery that humans and animals had different subsistence patterns indicates dietary complexity at Wadian and that rice agriculture, and cattle and sheep husbandry practices were already an important part of the local economy by the late Longshan period in the southern region of the Central Plains of China. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Scurvy‐related Morbidity and Death among Christopher Columbus' Crew at La Isabela,the First European Town in the New World (1494–1498): An Assessment of the Skeletal and Historical Information

This article explores the living conditions and specifically the possible etiologies of subperiosteal reactions among those seafarers who did not survive Christopher Columbus' second voyage to the Americas and died at La Isabela, the first permanent European settlement in the New World, which is located in the present‐day Dominican Republic. The town was founded in 1494 by Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) and occupied for only 4 years. This study analyses the macroscopic and histological evidence of the skeletal series excavated from this contact cemetery, which is presently curated at the Museo del Hombre Dominicano. Twenty of the 27 systematically scored individuals reveal subperiosteal bone accretions, and in at least 15 individuals, these accretions appear bilaterally. The morphology, distribution and healing stages of the majority of these lesions provide new, direct evidence suggesting severe adult scurvy, a condition caused by sustained vitamin C deprivation, which was common among seafarers before the 18th century. The historical context surrounding the individuals' death at the European contact settlement and the conditions and duration of Christopher Columbus' second transatlantic voyage to the New World represent key elements in the interpretation of these lesions. In this case, the evidence also corroborates the known failure of Columbus' crew to exploit the locally available foods rich in vitamin C. Scurvy probably contributed significantly to the outbreak of sickness and collective death within the first months of La Isabela's settlement, an aspect that inflects the current discussion about the degree of virulence of New World infections that decimated the European newcomers, who we conclude to have been already debilitated and exhausted by scurvy and general malnutrition. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF MODERN TIMES: DIFFERENT CONCEPTS OF TIME AND THE MODERNIST PERSPECTIVE

Given World and Time is a collection of essays that summarizes much of the recent work on the theory of time, including cultural, political, and social conceptualizations of temporality. The grounding narrative of this collection, roughly stated, leads from the German and German‐Jewish ideas of a temporality of crisis developed in the 1920s, to the French poststructuralism of the 1960s and 1970s, and concludes with the American syntheses of the 1980s and 1990s. Methodologically, the book weaves together different historical narratives with a new emphasis on their temporal dimension, all seen from the perspective of critical theory and recent cultural critique. However, it is interesting to point out that the majority of the articles do not challenge the classic critical tools of modernism, in spite of the frequent reference to poststructuralist critique. The volume editor has also not acknowledged more recent work that treats similar topics and themes through the application of a radical political critique, most significantly the work associated with biopolitics and the so‐called theological turn.     

Strontium and stable isotope evidence for diet and mobility in Roman Gloucester,UK

This paper presents the results of a multi-isotopic (oxygen, strontium, carbon and nitrogen isotopes) investigation of population and dietary diversity in Roman Gloucester, focusing on individuals found in a late 2nd century AD mass burial pit at London Road, and comparing them to those found in the nearby cemetery. There were no statistical differences in isotopic composition between mass grave and cemetery burials, suggesting, in agreement with the osteological evidence, that the mass burial was the result of a catastrophic event, probably an epidemic disease. Strontium and oxygen isotope analysis demonstrated considerable diversity in the origins of the Gloucester population, with evidence for both UK and non-UK individuals. Diet was predominately terrestrial and similar to that of other Romano-British populations. Elevated δ¹³C_dentine ratios in some individuals are correlated with raised δ¹⁸O_p values and are therefore probably due to childhoods spent in warmer climates, rather than dietary variation.     

‘A room of one's own’: the meaning of spatial autonomy for unmarried women in neoliberal South Korea

This article explores the experiences of single South Korean women in their late twenties to late thirties in their pursuit of an independent living space. Looking at the struggles of these women to acquire ‘a room of one's own’, I first argue that the process of their spatial independence reveals the problematic inherent in South Korea's heterosexually marriage-centered housing and loan-lending structure. Further, rather than simply portraying these women as victims of the structure, I argue that the dominant interpretation of spatial independence of single women inadvertently buttresses the ideal selfhood of the neoliberal labor market. Applying Foucault's theorization of the technologies of the self that are instrumental to liberal governmentality, and Marxist theories of labor and finance capital in late capitalism, this ethnographic study engages in a broad discussion of changes in subjectivity and structure that take place under conditions of neoliberalism. In contributing to discussions of neoliberalism, I show that a progressive liberal ethos is not innocent of the development of neoliberalism.     

东龙山遗址夏代早期文化的~(14)C-AMS年代学研究

文明起源是世界范围内的重大学术课题,夏、商、周三代是中国文明起源研究的关键阶段之一,但传世文献的确切记载只能上推到841BC.为此,国家设立重大科研项目--"夏商周断代工程",以期解决841 BC以前的夏、商、周三代纪年断代问题.     

Remembering an Industrial Landscape

Abandoned industrial factories and decaying communities have become a common sight in many places throughout the western world. Since the beginning of the postindustrial age communities have needed to make decisions about how to deal with these industrial landscapes. The celebration and interpretation of these places become important in a region's heritage. The struggle between labor and capital to control the meaning of the past is ongoing. Often, when under the control of government agencies, the story of labor is overshadowed by the benefits of industrial and engineering feats. Working-class histories, which are readily available for public interpretation, are omitted or downplayed in an industrial site's official memory.Virginius Island, located in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, is one example where a working-class history is available for public interpretation, although the park continues to promote industrial heritage over working-class heritage. While archaeological investigations over the past several decades on the island have mainly focused on recovering signatures of its industry, recent work has explored the lives of the workers and their families who toiled in this industrial community. The latest effort to stabilize above-ground ruins that continues into the early twenty-first century has concentrated exclusively on the industrial sites. The interpretation of the island and the development of trails have made many of the industrial ruins accessible to the public. Today the National Park Service spends considerable time protecting, stabilizing, and interpreting the industrial sites on the park's landscape. It is obvious that the histories fading from the official memory are those that belong to the craft-oriented and working-class community.     

Domestic destinies: colonial spatialities,Australian film and feminist cultural memory work

Elsa and Charles Chauvel's 1955 film Jedda was the first Australian feature film to cast Aboriginal actors in lead roles. The film was also unusual in the context of Australian film of the time for its rural domestic setting. Because the film explored the experiences of its lead character – Jedda – as an Aboriginal child adopted by a white woman, it is also one of the few films of the period to deal with colonial legacies in its attention to policies and practices of assimilation. The twin processes of racialisation and gendering of space in Jedda have been responded to by Tracey Moffatt in her surrealist short film Night Cries. This article uses the notion of intimate geographies to examine the production of relationships of power within domestic space that both films explore. The temporal and spatial practices deployed by the female figures within each film make visible a set of possible transformations of, as well as continuities within, enduring colonial power relations. Moffatt's retelling and respatialising of the Jedda narrative, however, is ultimately understood as a specifically feminist practice of cultural memory work, suggesting that struggles over memory are also struggles over place.     

THE SCIENTIFIC IDENTIFICATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL JET-LIKE ARTEFACTS

Jet has been widely used in the past for jewellery but was just one of a range of black lithic materials employed. When worked into small objects these materials can be visually indistinguishable, yet discrimination is important because of the restricted occurrence of jet. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is a rapid non-destructive discriminatory technique, but not all samples are clearly classified, and inhomogeneity may pose problems. A reassessment of the use of XRF is reported. Other techniques considered include electron spin resonance, infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy and X-radiography. These were tested on geological materials to define an effective methodology for archaeological material. The recommended approach is a combination of XRF and X-radiography, although preliminary Fourier transform infrared results showed promise. The X-ray techniques were tested on Romano-British assemblages from Catterick and Stanwick.     

Isotopic Determination of Seasonality in Diet and Death from Nubian Mummy Hair

Sections of human hair from naturally desiccated Sudanese Nubian mummies representing X-Group (AD 350-550) and Christian (AD 550-1300) periods in the Wadi Halfa area have been analysed for their isotope ratios. Because the carbon in hair represents food intake over the growth period of this tissue, analysis comparing segments taken next to the scalp with those further along the shaft can indicate diet just prior to death as well as any recent shift in food consumption. Modern populations in this area practise seasonal crop scheduling which involves the cultivation of C₃ plants (wheat, barley and most fruits and vegetables) in the winter and the hardier C₄ plants (sorghum and millet) in the summer. Shifting isotopic values along the length of hair strands of the ancient inhabitants of this area demonstrate that this practice has its roots at least as far back as the Initial Phase of Intensive Agriculture. The most common season of death appears to have been summer, the time of greatest climatic, nutritional and physiological stress for both ancient and modern inhabitants.