Awake anon the tales of valour: the career of a war memorial in St. Catharines,Ontario

Memorials cultivate a common understanding of the past that is communicated through the celebration of select people, places or events. Because memorials are located in public space and crafted from time‐defeating materials, the process of commemoration is inherently political. Scholars have studied this process to discover the agendas that inform the ideological content of memorials, but rarely how this content is received by its audience. This question is especially pertinent when memorials outlast the generation and the ideology that created them. This study attempts an answer by exploring the career of one memorial: the monument in St. Catharines, Ontario, dedicated to Private Alexander Watson, a casualty of the Battle of Batoche (1885). It finds that the monument's significance was transformed by political, cultural and historiographical shifts. While its local audience has forgotten its specific message, its generic intent to honour fallen soldiers is still recognized.     

Spatial‐temporal patterns of snow cover in western Canada

Snow cover is often measured as snow‐water equivalent (SWE), which refers to the amount of water stored in a snow pack that would be available upon melting. Snow cover and SWE represent a source of local snow‐melt release, and are sensitive to regional and global atmospheric circulation, and changes in climate. Monitoring SWE using satellite‐based passive microwave radiometry has provided nearly three decades of continuous data for North America. The availability of spatially and temporally extensive SWE data enables a better understanding of the nature of space‐time trends in snow cover, changes in these trends and linking these trends to underlying landscape and terrain characteristics. To address these interests, we quantify the spatial pattern of SWE by applying a local measure of spatial autocorrelation to 25 years of mean February SWE derived from passive microwave retrievals. Using a method for characterizing the temporal trends in the spatial pattern of SWE, temporal trends and variability in spatial autocorrelation are quantified. Results indicate that within the Canadian Prairies, extreme values of SWE are becoming more spatially coherent, with potential impacts on water availability, and hazards such as flooding. These results also highlight the need for Canadian ecological management units that consider winter conditions.     

Resisting RAMSI: Intervention,Identity and Symbolism in Solomon Islands

ABSTRACT The Australian‐led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) continues to enjoy high levels of approval amongst Solomon Islanders. However, this approval belies the existence of a minority, but nevertheless important, dissenting perspective, one which has mostly emanated from Malaitan quarters. How are we to interpret Malaitan expressions of opposition to RAMSI? While these dissenting voices can, in part, be seen through a lens of legal and economic rationality, Malaitan opposition to RAMSI must be properly located within a deeper tradition of Malaitan resistance to the imposition of alien and centralised authority. Malaitans have responded to the RAMSI intervention by invoking kastom as a symbol of difference, unity and resistance, just as they have done in the past. It is argued that resistance to RAMSI must be (re)interpreted as having fundamentally cultural and historical underpinnings. Resisting RAMSI is as much about asserting culture and identity as it is about money and power. This argument is drawn out through an historically contextualised analysis of contemporary articulations of Malaitan resistance. The voices examined come from the public statements of prominent Malaitans, the published manifesto of the Malaita Ma'asina Forum, and interviews with former members of the Malaita Eagle Force.     

The Chemists' Style of Thinking

Der Denkstil der Chemiker. Der Aufsatz diskutiert die Tragfähigkeit des Begriffes “Denkstil”, wie er von Alistair Crombie eingeführt und Ian Hacking aufgegriffen wurde, für das Verständnis dessen, wie das Fach Chemie historisch seine Identität ausgeprägt hat. Obwohl weder Crombie noch Hacking den Begriff “Denkstil” in Bezug auf einzelne Disziplinen verwendet haben, erscheint im Fall der Chemie seine Anwendung besonders vielversprechend, weil er hier hilft, ein zentrales Problem zu thematisieren – nämlich die Frage, wie es Chemikern trotz wechselnder Gegenstandsbereiche und theoretischer Umbrüche gelang, eine eigenständige und stabile Identität auszubilden. Nach einer Einführung in den Begriff “Denkstil”, argumentiert der Aufsatz, dass die Beständigkeit der Chemie als eines Faches wesentlich in ihren Laborpraktiken gründet, die ihrerseits wiederum die spezifische Art der Fragen bestimmten, die Chemiker in ihren Forschungen stellten bzw. die Form der Antworten, nach denen sie suchten. Folgende Merkmale kennzeichnen diesen “chemischen Denkstil” (1) eine spezifische, im Herstellen begründete Form des Wissens, (2) die Befassung mit einzelnen Stoffen und Materialien statt mit Materie im Allgemeinen und (3) eine Beobachtung von Natur besonders im Hinblick auf Transformationsprozesse. The Chemists' Style of Thinking. This paper discusses the relevance of the notion of “styles of scientific thinking” introduced by Alistair Crombie and revisited by Ian Hacking, for understanding how chemistry shaped its identity. Although neither Crombie nor Hacking applied this notion to individual disciplines, it seems appropriate to use it in the case of chemistry because it helps to address a puzzling issue: how did chemists manage to shape an identity of their own, despite shifting territories and theoretical transformations? Following a presentation of the notion of style, I will argue that the stable identity of chemistry is rooted in laboratory practices, which determined the specific questions that chemists put to nature as well as the answers to their questions. The “chemical style of thinking” is characterized by i) a specific way of knowing through making, ii) the concern with individual materials rather than matter in general and iii) a specific commitment to nature.     

北周墓出土彩绘陶器的加固与保护

陕西省考古研究所在西安咸阳国际机场二期建设中抢救性发掘了三座大型高等级北周时期墓葬,出土了数百件精美彩陶俑,形象十分逼真生动。由于彩陶器出土提取于淤泥之中,为了及时有效的保护好这批文物,考古队在第一时间内将出土陶器全部运回所内文保室进行抢救性保护。此次保护的主要任务和难点是,在最佳时间实现土层与彩绘层的成功分离,逐渐降低饱水彩陶器的含水率,使其最终在大气中趋于稳定,最后及时加固和封护彩绘层并采用适合该陶质强度的粘接剂进行粘接复原。经过十年来的时间证明,此次实施的保护方案正确,保护措施得当,保护结果令人满意。     

彩绘陶质文物修复保护操作流程规范化研究

彩绘陶器文物反应了中国历史上各朝各代不同艺术风格和技术特点,我国出土彩绘陶质类文物较为丰富,但保护修复操作基本不够完备。本文通过对彩绘陶质文物保护修复操作流程的规范化研究,目的建立统一、明确的操作规范,使得文物得到切实的保护,最大程度的减缓或降低文物的衰变速度,延长其寿命,保护其历史、艺术、科学价值。     

高句丽好太王碑拓本的分期与编年方法

流传至今的高句丽好太王碑拓本总数不少于100种。除原碑以外,上述这些拓本构成今天好太王碑文研究的最主要的研究资料。传世的各种好太王碑拓本是在不同历史时期制作的,由于拓本上大多缺少题跋或有关拓本制作年代的记载,许多拓本的收藏者无法判断自己的拓本是属于哪一时期的拓本。这直接影响着此碑释文的研究,同时也影响了人们对拓本的性质和拓本价值的判断。在好太王碑拓本的编年研究中,石灰补字拓本的编年是最为困难的。本文将以数十种传世的好太王碑拓本为资料,对拓本的分期和编年方法问题做一番探讨,并力图采用一种新的更为接近真实的拓本编年方法。     

一门馆藏明天启四年红夷大炮的探讨

泉州海外交通史博物馆藏的一门明天启四年红夷大炮是我国保存下来的最早自铸的红夷大炮之一.为了对其铭文、长度、重量、铸造地点和工艺作深入探讨,采用金相显微镜、Vario El元素分析仪、电感耦合等离子体发射(ICP-AES)检测手段,对此炮进行了金相和成分分析.结果表明,泉州明天启四年红夷大炮为灰口铁铸造,其锈蚀程度较轻的原因需结合保存环境和材质本身进行深入研究.     

Post‐Depositional Elemental Alterations in Pottery: Neutron Activation Analyses of Surface and Core Samples*

From 38 sherds with ‘corroded’ surfaces, two samples per sherd were examined using Neutron Activation Analysis, one from the surface and one from the core of each sherd, in order to analyse post‐depositional alterations of minor and trace elements. The most striking effect was that a leaching of Ca could be found at the surface. Another group of elements that is severely affected are the alkali metals, with Cs and Rb showing the strongest changes. A third conspicuous group of elements are the Rare Earth Elements. Finally, the effect of such alterations on a statistical data evaluation to classify pottery according to provenance is investigated.     

Coloured Prints of the 16th Century: Non‐Destructive Analyses on Coloured Engravings from Albrecht DÜrer and Contemporary Artists

Qualitative investigations of pigments and dyes using micro X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry (micro‐XRF) and visible spectrophotometry (VIS) are suitable non‐destructive methods for the characterization of different colorants in art objects. In this study, several rare coloured engravings from the work of Albrecht Dürer—and, in addition, from the work of Cornelis Cort, Servatius Raeven and Johannes Sadeler—were investigated. The analyses result in specific palettes of colours that were used by different artists or in different workshops for the coloration of engraved images. Starting from these different palettes, it is possible to distinguish coeval colorations that were added in the 16th century from those that were carried out at a later date (e.g., the 19th century).