Australia and the challenges of order-building in the Indian Ocean region

This article considers the regional order-building challenges that Australia presently confronts in the Indian Ocean region (IOR). The author argues that while regional stability within the IOR constitutes an increasingly important Australian security interest, policy makers will struggle to translate the order-building strategies they have previously pursued in East Asia into an Indian Ocean context. In East Asia, Australia has historically pursued a ‘dual track’ order-building strategy centred on its participation in a US-dominated ‘hub and spokes’ alliance system alongside multilateral regional engagement. The absence of an equivalent alliance system or an established tradition of multilateral security diplomacy conversely precludes an extension of this strategy into the IOR. Growing tensions between the USA and China and between China and India, meanwhile, further complicate IOR security dynamics, while underscoring the urgent need for a more coherent approach to regional order-building. With these challenges in mind, the author concludes by proposing a range of bilateral, minilateral and multilateral initiatives that Australia should pursue to stimulate the emergence of a more cooperative IOR security environment.     

The Roman Shipwreck of Antirhodos Island in the Portus Magnus of Alexandria,Egypt

Between 1998 and 1999 three excavation campaigns were undertaken on a shipwreck at the now‐submerged site of the ancient Portus Magnus, off the coast of Alexandria. The site, close to the island of Antirhodos, was identified through geophysical and archaeological surveys carried out by the Institut Européen d’Archéologie Sous‐Marine (IEASM), directed by Franck Goddio. The remains of the ship lie c.5 m deep and are spread over c.350 sqm. No cargo has been found. Artefacts recovered, the details of the ship's architecture and radiocarbon dating all suggest it sunk between the end of the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE. Its dimensions correspond to those of commercial ships of the Roman era. Identification of the wood used contributes significantly to our knowledge of materials used in naval architecture of this period.     

Remnants of Scottish stone architecture in Nova Scotia

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, thousands of Scottish emigrants travelled to Canada. This paper concerns those buildings that were designed and constructed by Scottish settlers, utilising skills and materials transported from their homeland. The research concerns the extent to which buildings of those early generations of settler might still be intact, with specific reference to selected case studies from Nova Scotia. One is faced with still intact examples of Scottish architectural heritage, located thousands of miles from Scotland. This has interesting and important implications for the manner in which we value, care for and understand meaning within the built heritage.     

Restoration Interventions at the Roman Nymphaeum in Amman: Identification and Evaluation

Abstract

Over the last few decades, conservation work has been conducted by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan (DoA) on the Roman Nymphaeum in Amman. This intervention has taken the form of direct and indirect actions. In this article it will be shown that the conservation works concentrated on reinforcing the structure and reconstructing some architectural features of the building, with little consideration of the techniques and materials used. Intervention actions were mostly poor in terms of their scientific approach, and neither proper planning nor a well-defined methodology existed. This study provides a holistic approach for the evaluation of the state of the conservation of the monument in terms of quality and quantity. Thus, the results could be a valuable source for establishing comprehensive risk mitigation for future restoration work and site management. In addition, establishing practical restoration guidelines could help in developing socio-economic benefits for the community through tourism.     

汶川地震导致的古建筑震害

为了解汶川地震造成的古建筑震害及对古建筑的保护,根据古建筑震害资料,通过归纳方法,获得了古建筑不同的震害症状：对木结构而言,主要有地基破坏、柱底侧移、柱身倾斜、节点拔榫、装修开裂、梁架歪闪、瓦件掉落、填充墙破坏等;而砖石及砖木结构由于承重材料的抗拉、压、剪强度相对较差,容易产生倒塌等严重震害。在此基础上,通过勘查分析方法,获得了古建筑产生震害的主要原因：地震力过大、古建筑缺乏及时保养与加固、施工原因及砖石材料本身强度差的原因等。针对不同的震害原因,提出了相应的抗震加固建议。在上述工作基础上,得出如下结论：为提高古建筑的抗震性能,应加强对古建筑的维护与加固,及时清除各种隐患,将地震产生的破坏减小到最轻的程度。     

The Dramatic Abandonment of a Late-Antique Settlement in the South Caucasus: The First Archaeological Findings from Qaratəpə, Bərdə Rayon,Azerbaijan

This paper presents the first results of a new project investigating the provincial structure of the eastern Caucasus region in the late Antique and early Islamic periods. Excavations at the newly discovered rural archaeological site of Qarat?p? have so far revealed two phases of use: a burial ground dating to the 12th century a.d. and an unusually large earthen structure burnt in a catastrophic fire. Owing to the rapid abandonment of this building, whole ceramic and glass vessels were recovered from the fill of one of the rooms. The presence of charred seeds and roof timbers allowed for the acquisition of radiocarbon dates for the construction and abandonment of the building, placing the latter at the end of the 6th century a.d. These findings reveal crucial clues as to the transformation of the rural zone prior to the expansion of Islam, and a unique material assemblage dating from this period.     

Border historicity and ethnographic rupture: Pirates,Korean Kings and borderlanders in transnational Tsushima Island,Japan

Tsushima’s community festival commemorates Tsushima’s admirable borderland diplomacy in the pre-modern East Asian politics. This indigenous historicization in performance, nevertheless, fails to resonate with ethnographic reality: anthropological fieldwork revealed that local culture differs considerably from postcolonial ritual imaginings and historicity, illuminating a discontinuity between the past performed and the present observed. A rupture exists between borderland imagery as a coherent Japanese state boundary and the ethnographic reality of an uneven liminal frontier between Korea and Japan. In order to make sense of the ethnographic ruptures, this article constructs the border-centric ethnohistory through the lens of and experiences of the border, defying a state-centric past. I de-essentialize border-state relationship, accentuating border spontaneity and contingency between and beyond the power of sovereignty – a paradoxical Janus-faced process of contradiction and negotiation. I argue that it is Tsushima’s historical metamorphosis that stands out in history, not its subjugation to the power of either state.     

Arthur's refusal to eat: ritual and control in the romance feast

Arthur's refusal to begin feasting before he has seen a marvel or heard a tale of adventure is a recurring motif in medieval romance. Previous comment on this ritual has suggested that the source for such a taboo on eating may be found in earlier narratives in the Celtic languages. This paper argues that, although the ritual almost certainly originates in pre-chivalric society, romance authors adapted and developed it to reflect the courtly-chivalric preoccupations of their own world. Arthur's ritual gesture may be seen as a means of containing and controlling both interior moral threats and exterior physical peril, and is intimately connected to the courtly conception of the feast. This study draws on the evidence of religious writing and courtesy manuals and explores some highly-developed treatments of the motif in romance in order to suggest that literary engagements with Arthur's refusal to eat have much to say about contemporary ideas of ritual and reality as mediated through the symbolically-charged arena of the medieval feast.     

由儒学神化看《五经》特点

儒学神化是中国思想史上一个独特的历史政治现象,它根源于先汉《五经》,又创造了不同于先汉《五经》的新儒学体系。它依据自身神化的理论需求和《五经》的特点,在神化的过程中,直接吸收了《五经》之一的《春秋》理论,又委婉地排斥了其它四经,完成了儒学在西汉的神化。从儒学神化的发展变化过程来考察儒学《五经》,既能全面考察《五经》的特点,又能全面认清儒学神化与《五经》的关系。