Mortimer Wheeler's Theatre of the Past

Abstract

This paper examines the nature of Mortimer Wheeler's work as a public archaeologist, and in particular his efforts to display the archaeological process to interested members of the public. By focusing on the excavations at Maiden Castle, Dorset, from 1934 to 1937 we compare Wheeler's stated philosophy of public archaeology with his practice in the field. At Maiden Castle the theatre of excavation was the centrepiece of a carefully marketed archaeological experience including tours, souvenirs, and a well-developed media strategy. By applying the commodity model of public archaeology as an analytical framework we highlight the sophistication and success of Wheeler's 'theatre of the past'. This analysis lays a foundation for further critical historical studies of both the public understanding of the past, and of Wheeler's life and works.     

Malaysia,Singapore, and the Road to the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), July 1970–November 1971

Abstract

The Five Power Defence Arrangements refl ected a process of often vigorous negotiation designed to maintain a viable Commonwealth defence structure and relationship in the aftermath of Britain's withdrawal of forces from Southeast Asia. This paper demonstrates the internal confl icts that arose in the negotiations, and sets these in the context of tensions between Malaysia and Singapore and the recent military history of the region.     

The Individualist Collaborator: Andy Condron in Korea and China, 1950–62

Abstract

Repatriation of prisoners of war delayed the conclusion of a ceasefire to the Korean War by at least a year. Twenty-three Western POWs opted to remain in mainland China, including Andy Condron, a member of the Royal Marines. The non-repatriates were the focus of intense Cold War speculation, and most ultimately returned quietly to their homelands in subsequent decades. This article suggests that Condron's motivations and actions were specific to him as an individual rather than reflecting some broader ideological position, as has sometimes been assumed.     

German First World War Memorials in Transylvania

Abstract

In 1784 King Stanis?aw August Poniatowski undertook a splendid progress across the south-western parts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The official account of the journey prompts the reflection that even in this linguistically and confessionally mixed part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the precedence over other confessions of the Catholic Church of both rites, Latin and Ruthenian, was axiomatic. By the mid-eighteenth century, about five-sixths of the Commonwealth’s population, the vast majority of the noble citizenry, and the entire legislature were Catholic. However, Catholics of the Latin rite constituted only about half of the population. Most Catholics of the Ruthenian rite (Uniates) were in only nominal obedience to Rome; they were the object of a struggle for the allegiance and salvation of souls, conducted between an advancing Catholic Church and a retreating Orthodox Church. The fault line between Eastern and Western Christendom ran through both the Polish Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; Orthodoxy retained strongholds in both parts of the Commonwealth. However, the position of the ‘Latin’ Church was, in most ways, significantly weaker in the Grand Duchy, where the majority of the inhabitants were Uniates. Adapting recent mutations in ‘confessionalization theory’, this paper first reviews the confessional balance, and the privileges, structures, educational institutions, and missionary work of the Catholic Church (of both rites) in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the second half of the eighteenth century. It then asks how the dramatic events of Stanis?aw August’s reign (1764–95) affected Catholic supremacy. These changes included the enforced removal of the Catholic monopoly of the legislature in 1768, the impact of the first partition of the Commonwealth in 1772, the Orthodox revivals under Bishops Georgii Konisskii and Viktor Sadkovskii, as well as the formulation of new policies intended to promote loyalty to the Commonwealth and social cohesion during the Four Years’ Sejm (1788–92). It concludes that the partial ‘deconfessionalization’ of the polity had (or might have had) a proportionately greater impact on the Grand Duchy of Lithuania than on the Polish Crown.     

Between Vienna,St Petersburg,and Warsaw: August Lobkowitz in Galicia, 1826–32

Abstract

This article analyses the relationships between Austrian imperial bureaucrats and the Polish elites in Habsburg Galicia during the 1820s and 1830s. Its main focus is on Prince August Lobkowitz, who was the governor of Austrian Galicia between 1826 and 1832. Even though he was a representative of the German Habsburg dynasty, with family roots in the Bohemian aristocracy, Lobkowitz switched allegiances in Galicia and declared himself a Pole. Against the instruction of his senior colleagues in Vienna, he supported the idea of an independent Poland as a buffer state between the Habsburg monarchy and the Russian Empire. Between 1828 and 1831, he maintained close contacts with Polish politicians — both in Galicia and in the Russian empire — and promised them Austrian support in the event of a Polish uprising against Russian rule. The article seeks to challenge the historiographical stereotype of a uniform Austrian bureaucracy that enforced its will upon the largely non-German elites in the Habsburg provinces.     

Constructing National Identity: The Image of the Medieval Grand Duchy of Lithuania in Lithuanian Art from the 1920s to the 1990s

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the ways in which the image of the medieval Grand Duchy of Lithuania, intended to awaken the national pride and contribute to the building of the national identity, was constructed by artistic means in the Republic of Lithuania during the 1920s and 1930s. It contains a brief discussion on the genesis of the image of the Grand Duchy, including the selection of appropriate historical heroes and events, and the main aspects of their interpretation. The article analyses some of the most striking and influential examples of the image of medieval Lithuania, such as the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the death of Grand Duke Vytautas the Great in 1930 and art works created for that purpose, the decoration of public buildings (for example, the Museum of War and the Officers’ Club in Kaunas, and Lithuania’s pavilion in the New York World Fair of 1939). It also looks briefly at the dissemination of the image of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in popular culture. The article also touches on isolated efforts by a number of intellectuals to warn of the dangers inherent in the extreme glorification of the past. The image of the medieval Grand Duchy of Lithuania, created in interwar Lithuania, was preserved during the period of Soviet occupation. After the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990, this image had a significant influence on the mentality and culture of Lithuanian society at the turn of the millennium. In this respect the situation in Lithuania could be treated as a case study, for a similar relation to the past can be encountered in other European post-Communist countries faced with the problem of creating a new identity.     

The Use and Deployment of Modern Wood Samples as a Proxy Indicator for Biogeochemical Processes on Archaeological Sites Preserved in situ in a Variety of Environments of Differing Saturation Level

Abstract

In situ preservation of archaeological sites is becoming an ever increasing trend as a means of preserving our cultural heritage. In connection with this the environmental conditions, such as water level, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH and water chemistry, of a site are often monitored. It is generally agreed that a waterlogged and anoxic environment is essential for optimal preservation conditions but the set-up and maintenance of an environmental monitoring programme can be costly.

This paper discusses the design and use of a system whereby modern samples of wood can, with a minimal disturbance of the soil, easily be deployed and retrieved from archaeological sites. The system was deployed in an unsaturated environment, an environment with fluctuating water levels and a fully saturated peat bog. The samples were assessed after two years using microscopic, physical and molecular biological methods, and the types of wood-degrading organisms seen were compared with the results of environmental measurements. Modern wood samples were used, as the microbial ecology of wood-degrading organisms in these different types of environments is relatively well documented. Preliminary conclusions show that the deterioration processes of modern wood samples in these environments act as a good proxy indicator of the environmental conditions and biogeochemical processes ongoing at a site.     

Animal dung from arid environments and archaeobotanical methodologies for its analysis: An example from animal burials of the Predynastic elite cemetery HK6 at Hierakonpolis,Egypt

Abstract

Paraffin flotation has been used extensively in archaeoentomology and paleoentomology in the last four decades but not tested systematically. Its efficiency is here assessed. Eighty-five per cent of the identifiable coleopteran remains were recovered regardless of any variables. Some explanations of the method's variable efficiency given in published literature were tested, namely the experience of the technician, the nature of the residue, and the taxon and body part. Difference in recovery rates between four categories of workers proved significant. Residue type influences the efficiency of the method but the type of sclerite was of little importance in the process. Overall, however, paraffin flotation was shown to be sufficiently efficient and its continued use is recommended.     

Hydrological monitoring of an alluviated landscape in the lower Great Ouse valley at Over,Cambridgeshire: the quarry restoration phase

Abstract

This paper sets out the results of the last phase of the hydrological monitoring programme conducted at the Hanson Over quarry in Cambridgeshire, during the first full year (March 2004 to March 2005) in which the area of the first phase of gravel extraction was reinstated as reed beds under the management of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. It follows on from the studies of the pre-extraction and extraction phases, both published previously in Environmental Archaeology (French et al. 1999; French 2004). It is reassuring to report that the groundwater table in the formerly quarried area and the landscape immediately upstream and downstream has ostensibly been restored to pre-extraction levels, along with a return to previous pH, conductivity, redox and dissolved oxygen values in the groundwater system. Significantly, the continuing gradual fall in groundwater levels observed beyond 500 m from the quarry face for a distance of at least 1·5 km was seen to be arrested, although these had not quite recovered to pre-extraction levels downstream to the northeast. In addition, the soil moisture within the alluvial overburden and the buried palaeosol has also almost returned to pre-extraction levels. This indicates that the clay bunding of the formerly quarried areas acts as an effective barrier against further water abstraction, both inside and outside the sealed area, and allows the natural aquifer to begin to return to its previous levels of influence.

The study dramatically indicates that both the mineral operator, drainage authority and archaeological curator need to collaborate from the outset of any quarrying operation to ensure the continuing maintenance of the groundwater and soil moisture system regardless of how well the combined gravel and water abstraction processes are conducted, and how successful the post-quarry conservation is. As every site's landscape dynamics contribute to its individual hydrological setting, each case is different and requires tailored monitoring programmes to protect the archaeological and palaeo-environmental record from the adverse effects of water abstraction associated with development schemes.     

ADDITIONAL ARCHAEOMAGNETIC DATA ON THE SOUTH-WEST USA MASTER GEOMAGNETIC POLE CURVE*

Archaeomagnetic dating in the American south-west is progressing rapidly in terms of both method and application. Of particular importance has been the creation of a master curve of geomagnetic direction change for the region. However, confirmation, extension and refinement of this curve are always welcome contributions to the technique. So, efforts are under way to accumulate a large body of well-dated virtual geomagnetic pole positions and document these through publication so that the basis for dating samples of unknown age can be evaluated. This article adds 23 new dated pole positions to the list discussed in Eighmy (1991) and reports the results of our experiments with refining the south-west USA master curve, especially the creation of a new south-west master curve, SWCV595.