Rethinking “Peasant Consciousness” in Colonial Egypt: An Exploration of the Performance of Folksongs by Upper Egyptian Agricultural Workers on the Archaeological Excavation Sites of Karnak and Dendera at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (1885–1914)

This paper aims to rethink “peasant consciousness” in colonial Egypt, through a study of the performance of folksongs by Upper Egyptian agricultural workers on the archaeological excavation sites of Karnak and Dendera at the turn of the twentieth century (1885–1914). Mainly based on a historical‐anthropological analysis of songs collected between 1900 and 1914 by the French archaeologists Maspéro and Legrain, this essay proposes a new understanding of subaltern consciousnesses as fragmented objects constructed through a dialectical relationship of power and resistance as performed by the various actors present on the scene. Drawing its inspiration from the work of contemporary ethnomusicologists (Finnegan 1977 Finnegan, R. 1977. Oral Poetry: Its Nature, Significance, and Social Context, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  [Google Scholar], 1992 Finnegan, R. 1992. Oral Traditions and the Verbal Arts: A Guide to Research Practices, London; New York: Routledge. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Slyomovics 1987 Slyomovics, S. 1987. The Merchant of Art: An Egyptian Hilali Oral Epic Poet in Performance, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.  [Google Scholar]) and relying on the framework shaped by their use of oral‐formulaic and speech‐act theories, this study conceives of the performance, reception and collection of the songs as a crucial locus of encounter, interaction and negotiation between the local landless peasants employed as daily workers on the excavation sites, and the colonial administrators of the Antiquities Service during the key period of transition from corvée to contract labour.     

On the impossibility of invariant repetition: ritual,tradition and creativity among Sri Lankan ritual specialists

This article sets out to explore the strategic creativity that underlies supposedly invariant ritual performance. The ethnographic focus is on a group of Sri Lankan ritual specialists and the way they present the past in terms of mythical, historical and genealogical relationships that give power and legitimacy to their performances of healing rituals in the present. The analysis brings together local notions of “tradition” with ideas of performance and embodiment. The conclusion takes up the idea that, far from being the dead weight of tradition, invariance is a performative illusion of considerable ingenuity and persuasive power. Indeed, it is a fundamental means whereby the authority and power of ritual is maximized in performance.     

Wine and Speed: The Post-Soviet Holidays in the Republic of Moldova (2001–2009)

In the context of the forceful dispute over national identity in Moldova, the Communist government of 2001–2009 aimed to articulate a project of “Moldovan identity” which was raised to the level of a state ideology. In the spirit of Soviet propaganda, this project was implemented through public holidays and celebrations. The following analysis examines two case studies—the Wine Festival and the Independence Cup—by discerning the performative practices designed as part of the nation-building project in Moldova between 2005 and 2009. Organized at the official level, but with the strong assistance of mass media, these public events were intended to win the support and attention of Moldovan society by employing rituals and performances similar to those of the Soviet period. The paper addresses the characteristics and mechanisms of these performative practices, and considers why this nation-building project did not achieve its goals, but instead caused tension and disputes. One of the main aims is to understand how the Communist government sought to redefine “the Moldovan nation”.     

Directional layouts in central lowland Maya settlement

This paper suggests the existence of non-random, directional patterns in the location of housemounds across the Late Classic Maya settlement landscape at Baking Pot, Belize, and then explores the wider implications of this patterning in the central Maya lowlands. It introduces an anisotropic method – based on nearest neighbour bearings and successive grid offsets – in order to explore possible rectilinear organisation in settlement layouts despite the presence of uneven and irregular patterns of archaeological dating and recovery. The results suggest a grid-like distribution of houseplots and, by implication, also a set of routes running throughout the housemound landscape and local Maya neighbourhoods during the site's Late and Terminal Classic history. Furthermore, different possible alignments in different parts of the site are tentatively regarded as an indication of shifting orientations to localised grids, following the shift in alignment of monumental architecture, as the settlement landscape expanded over time. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings with respect to the broader interpretation of Maya settlement patterns.     

Development of Probabilistic Framework for Performance-Based Seismic Assessment of Structures Considering Residual Deformations

Recently, the importance of considering residual (permanent) deformations in the performance assessment of structures has been recognized. Advanced structural systems with re-centering properties as those based on unbonded post-tensioning tendons are capable of controlling or completely eliminating residual deformations. However, for more traditional systems, which count for the vast majority of buildings, residual deformations are currently considered an unavoidable result of structural inelastic response under severe seismic shaking.

In this article, a probabilistic framework for a performance-based seismic assessment of structures considering residual deformations is proposed. The development of a probabilistic formulation of a combined three-dimensional performance matrix, where maximum and residual deformations are combined to define the performance level corresponding to various damage states for a given seismic intensity levels, is first presented. Combined fragility curves expressing the probability of exceedence of performance levels defined by pairs of maximum-residual deformations are then derived using bivariate probability distributions. The significance of evaluating and accounting for residual deformations within a Performance-based Earthquake Engineering (PBEE) approach is further confirmed via numerical examples on the response of Single Degree of Freedom (SDOF) systems, with different hysteretic behavior, under a selected suite of earthquake records. Joined fragility curves corresponding to various performance levels, defined as a combination of maximum and residual response parameters, are derived while investigating the effects of hysteretic systems and strength ratios. It is observed that stiffness degrading Takeda systems result in lower residual deformations than elasto-plastic systems and show lower probability of exceeding a jointed maximum-residual performance level. For a chosen performance level, Takeda systems with higher strength ratios show better performance, particularly with lower intensity of excitations.     

Gay Games: Performing 'community' out from the closet of the locker room

Matters of community, performativity, bodies, space, belonging, oppression, resistance and their relationship to culture are explored in this paper within the context of Sydney's 2002 Gay Games. I begin the paper considering how the everyday meaning and practices of sports produce spaces that are oppressive to many gay men. I then introduce the Gay Games as a site of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, and intersex resistance, established to rupture stereotypes of heteronormativity in sports. Drawing upon my own research of Sydney's Gay Games I next explore how willingness to participate amongst self-identifying gay men depends upon how they understood their performance within the context of the event. I conclude the paper by arguing that willingness to participate in Sydney's Gay Games illustrates fundamental issues about the connectedness of bodies and space through the discursive body as space and the material body in space.     

Models of settlement hierarchy based on partial evidence

The modelling of past settlement and landscape structure from incomplete evidence is a well-established archaeological agenda. This paper highlights a model of spatial interaction and settlement evolution that has long been popular in urban geography and which was first applied to model historical settlement hierarchies some twenty-five years ago, but whose use since then for archaeological purposes has been very limited. Via a case study from Bronze Age Crete, we extend the analytical range of this model by suggesting ways in which it can (a) remain effective in the presence of missing data, (b) be given a stronger grounding in the physical landscape, and/or (c) be used to consider the evolutionary trajectory of settlements and physical routes over time.     

Sealing,whaling and caribou revisited: additional insights from the skeletal isotope chemistry of eastern Arctic foragers

Research reported here is the second phase of a bone collagen stable isotope and radiocarbon study of eastern Arctic diets. Seventy-five directly dated burials from the Native Point Sadlermiut mortuary collection and two Thule sites, Kamarvik and Silumiut in northwest Hudson Bay, were added to an existing data set of 81 individuals. Thule foragers dated to a 2σ range of AD 1047–1700 and subsisted on diets comprised of ca. 80% marine taxa, primarily ringed seal and bowhead whale. The Native Point Sadlermiut dated later in time, AD 1289–1896, and relied more heavily on high tropic level marine taxa, ringed seal and seabirds. Three dietary trends are apparent coincident with Neo-Boreal cooling (AD 1400). In addition, both Thule sites were abandoned at commencement of the Little Ice Age (AD 1600), which coincides with European contact, raising intriguing questions about the effects of climate change on high latitude foraging strategies and the possibility that epidemic disease was introduced in the Hudson Bay region as early as 1613.     

古代青铜器修复钎焊用钎剂与钎料的改性研究

锡铅钎料和氯化锌钎剂的烙铁钎焊是传统的工艺方法。由于氯化锌钎剂中含有大量的氯离子,对青铜物的长期保存带来不利的影响。本工作通过对钎剂筛选和复配及钎料的选择,研制了针对青铜物修复钎焊用新型无氯钎剂和含银钎料匹配,并在8种古青铜模拟试样上进行一系列性能测试,结果表明新型无氯钎剂和含银钎料匹配有良好的工艺性、抗腐蚀性、可获得高强度的钎缝。新型无氯钎剂和含银钎料匹配在青铜物修复中应用结果表明,新型无氯钎剂和含银钎料有较好的钎焊工艺,钎焊接头饱满光亮,对于不同时期及不同合金的青铜物具有很好的钎焊性,钎焊后青铜物存放半年,钎焊接头依然保持光亮,焊缝周围没有出现锈蚀物和氧化现象。用新型无氯钎剂替代传统氯化锌钎剂,并且和含银钎料匹配进行古青铜的钎焊是可行的,改良后的钎剂进行青铜物修复过程符合物保护原则,避免了钎剂在钎焊过程中产生的气体对操作人员身体健康的影响。