The prehistory of the Austronesian-speaking peoples: A view from language

Prior to the European colonial expansions of the past several centuries the Austronesian (AN) language family had the greatest geographical extent of any on earth, including in its territory areas that had never previously been settled. Although predominantly distributed in a tropical or subtropical environment, AN-speaking peoples exhibit a wide range of physical types, material cultures, and types of social and political organization. This paper addresses ways in which linguistic comparison can contribute toward answering such questions as the following: Where was the AN homeland? What was the nature of early AN material culture, social and political organization? What can we infer about early AN pathology? How did early AN speakers view the spirit world? It concludes with a discussion of culture loss, many examples of which can be inferred both from the Pacific and from insular Southeast Asia.     

Investigating foetal and perinatal mortality in prehistoric skeletal samples: a case study from a 3000-year-old Pacific Island cemetery site

The Teouma skeletal sample from Vanuatu represents one of the few truly colonising populations in the Pacific Islands. Therefore, investigating the factors that may have affected foetal/infant mortality in this population is potentially important for understanding the success of settlement in this region of the world. We investigate whether stable isotope analyses of carbon and nitrogen in conjunction with skeletal ageing techniques, can aid in identifying whether the subadults from Teouma died before or after birth in an attempt to understand the potential threats to foetal and infant survival. Multiple skeletal ageing methods using diaphyseal lengths were used to age the young subadults (n = 7). Using regression-based skeletal ageing methods, four of the individuals were aged at around full-term gestation (37–42 weeks gestation), while the remaining three individuals died preterm. The isotope analyses did not assist in identifying the individuals that survived post-birth because none of the subadults displayed the 2–3‰ trophic increase in δ¹⁵N values expected for a breastfed infant, probably as a result of their young age. However, all of the foetal/perinatal individuals exhibited higher δ¹⁵N values in their bone collagen compared with the adult females of the sample, with two of the individuals demonstrating unusually high δ¹⁵N values. The δ¹³C values of the foetuses/perinates did not exhibit the same variation. We explore a number of possible explanations for this elevation of perinatal/foetal δ¹⁵N values and tentatively suggest that this is a result of in utero stress as a consequence of chronic maternal ill-health. The osteological and palaeodemographic evidence supports the assertion that females, foetuses and perinates were susceptible to environmental stress within this colonising population, resulting in early death of the perinatal individuals in addition to early terminations of pregnancy or premature birth possibly caused by infectious and/or metabolic diseases.     

Humans,climate or introduced rats – which is to blame for the woodland destruction on prehistoric Rapa Nui (Easter Island)?

When the first Polynesian settlers arrived on Rapa Nui, about 70% of the island was covered with dense woodland in which Jubaea palms dominated. Our investigations of extended soil profiles provide evidence that more than 16 million palm trees grew on the island. Nearly all palms were removed by the 16th century. Teeth marks on nutshells of the Jubaea palms from the 13th or 14th centuries attest to the activity of Pacific rats (Rattus exulans) on Rapa Nui, which were probably imported there by the first Polynesians settlers. Did the rats perhaps prevent the germination of palm seeds and thus the regeneration of the dense palm woodland of Rapa Nui?     

Contextualising the AIDS epidemic in the South Pacific: orthodoxies,estimates and evidence

There is a growing consensus that HIV/AIDS is a ‘time bomb’ ticking in the South Pacific. This may, in fact, be the case. However, there are at least two major problems with this approach. First, analysis of the implications of the epidemic is based on supposedly concrete links between the epidemic and social, economic and political outcomes. Many of these apparent links have not been established (because the data is not available for the South Pacific). As such, much of the method for analysing the ramifications of the epidemic is borrowed from elsewhere, notably Africa, and the strength of these links is beginning to unravel. Second, research on the vectors of the epidemic that informs this consensus is only as good as the data that it relies on. There are major testing and surveillance gaps in the South Pacific that mean projections are often based on patchy and incomplete data. This can dramatically skew priorities. Reflecting on these problems is important because of the clear ramifications they pose for the development of good public policy in, and toward, the South Pacific.     

走近“文化遗产学”:问题与对策——贺云翱教授专访

近年来文化遗产学的学科建设颇为学术界关注。南京大学贺云翱教授认为:虽然文化遗产事业因为兴起时间及学科建设时间短暂、实践积累不足、原有学科存在一定的阻碍作用等原因,学术界不可避免地会对学科建设产生一些疑虑,但文化遗产学具有强烈的现代性、社会性、跨学科等特点,与考古学、文物学及博物馆学等相近学科有明显的差异,其学科建设具备符合国家现代化建设和中国国情发展需求的优势以及应对全球化的对策优势,教育主管部门、国家有关部委和高校应紧密结合,高校、科研机构与博物馆等应通力合作,充分借鉴先进国家特别是日韩等邻国的经验并勇于建设和创新,学术刊物积极发挥引领与平台作用,共同推进文化遗产学学科建设;并且,随着文化遗产学进入教育部学科名录,成熟的文化遗产学的大学科体系的建设将会得到有效推动。     

浅谈初中英语教学中的学生自主学习

自学能力的培养对学生获得知识、获得其它能力的发展有促进和加速作用。在中学阶段培养学生英语自学能力是非常重要的,这需要教师在教学过程中对学生进行有计划、分层次的训练,激发学生的求知欲,使自学成为他们内在的需要,使学生从苦学到乐学,从学会到会学,他们才能真正获得适应社会需要的学习能力。     

A Review of Cultural Heritage Education in Turkish Schools (1962–2011)

Abstract

Cultural heritage preservation has formed a key component of Turkish Social Studies instruction since the curriculum first was introduced in the 1960s. In this article, we trace changes over time in the way cultural heritage has been presented to students in Turkey. For this study, Turkish Social Studies textbooks for fourth through seventh graders (ages 9–10 to 12–13) published from 1974 to 2011 were examined, including both their texts and illustrations concerning cultural heritage and the closely related topic of tourism. Over nearly four decades, the textbook presentation of cultural heritage has shifte­d from a national focus to a focus on world cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. The textbooks illustrate the high value placed on monuments and artwork that demonstrate the accomplishments and progress of Anatolian civilizations, specifically, the Seljuk and Ottoman Turks. Notably, the textbooks emphasize the economic value of monuments and sites for tourism revenues.     

Changes in Japanese strategy in 1939–1940 and the internationalization of the Sino–Japanese War

In the early stage of the Sino–Japanese War, Japan was trying hard to limit the conflict to within a scope where it could be resolved bilaterally between only the two nations involved. However, her actual behavior was in stark contrast to her wishful desire to be at peace with the United States, pushing the latter step by step instead in the direction of aiding China and thwarting Japan. Caught in a dilemma created as the United States abrogated the American–Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, and faced with the changes in the European situation, Japan’s policy makers were eventually pushed by their obsession with the “New East Asian Order” and by their yearning for the “Extended New East Asian Order” which was to include Southeast Asia, deciding to steer the Sino–Japanese War in the direction of “international resolution,” which was just an alternate route to the same goal sought by China. Subsequently, not only did Japan refuse to withdraw from China, she actually took one step further in an expansion southwards, trying to kill several birds with one stone. The war thus spilled over from China to encompass a much greater area. In this process, Japan’s diplomatic corps was often several steps ahead of the military, reflecting the carefully considered background in Japanese policymaking.     

2000年中国的美国问题研究定量分析

通过对2000年中国的4594篇美国问题文章的定量分析,可以发现该年度中国的美国问题研究有七个方面的特点：全方位研究态势进一步发展;经济、政治、文化为三大研究热点;军事研究凸现;教育研究引人注目,历史和社会研究相对薄弱;普及文章独占鳌头,学术文章和译文比例减小：中美关系占有重要地位,借鉴性文章也大幅度增加;某些课题研究亟待充实。但同时也存在着若干明显的不足。今后中国的美国问题研究,应重视普及工作,坚持实事求是的思想路线,重视跟踪考察和理论创新,全方位、多侧面地关注美国问题,加强学术评论,完善学术规范,加快信息库建设,从而提高中国的美国问题研究的学术水平。