An Angel on the Wind: How Heroic Policy Narratives Shape Policy Realities

Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) is a new and maturing theory of the policy process that takes a systematic, scientific approach to understanding the social construction of policy realities. As such, NPF serves as a bridge between postpositivists, who assert that public policymaking is contextualized through narratives and social construction, and positivists, who contend that legitimacy is grounded in falsifiable claims. The central questions of NPF are: What is the empirical role of policy narratives in the policy process and do policy narratives influence policy outcomes? First, the contributions of NPF scholarship at three levels of analysis—micro, meso, and macro—are examined. Next, necessary conditions of a policy narrative are specified, accompanied by detailed discussion of the narrative components: narrative elements, narrative strategies, and policy beliefs. Finally, an empirical illustration of NPF—a case study of Cape Wind's proposal to install wind turbines off Nantucket—is presented. Although intercoalitional differences have long been studied in the NPF scholarship, this is the first study to examine intracoalitional cohesion or the extent to which a coalition tells the same story across narrative elements, narrative strategies, and policy beliefs. NPF is a new approach to the study of the policy process that offers empirical pathways to better speculating the role of narrative in the policy process.     

Parameters in the use of pXRF for archaeological site prospection: a case study at the Reaume Fort Site,Central Minnesota

Field portable/hand-held x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analyzers have been characterized as potentially useful for archaeological site prospection, but little has been published on the parameters of their use in this manner. The purpose of this study is to explore whether the variability of surface geochemistry as characterized with a pXRF analyzer corresponds with subsurface archaeological features at a site subsequently excavated, and what conditions influence the success of this endeavor, including feature depths, soil moisture, and sample processing. A 520 m² within-site area was systematically surveyed on a 2 m interval, within which several types of archaeological features were excavated (chimney bases, wall trenches, and a bonebed of faunal waste), taking readings in situ and collecting samples for ex situ testing (undried, dried but not powdered, and dried/powdered). The four different tests of each grid location, analyzed through univariate and multivariate tests, showed that the pXRF surface data does correspond with some types of subsurface features when those features are very shallow (within 5 cm of surface level) and are associated with clayey fills. Further, the data from the subsurface samples provides excellent distinction of feature fills from other sediments, regardless of sample preparation. In situ surface survey with pXRF analyzers may however be adequate for sites with a thorough baseline geochemical database.     

UNESCO World Heritage Site of Lenggong Valley,Malaysia: A Review of its Contemporary Heritage Management

This article reviews contemporary heritage management through a systematically coded content analysis at one of Malaysia’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley (AHLV). It evaluates the competency of the preliminary Conservation Management Plan (CMP) of AHLV by looking at the accuracy of five distinctive dimensions of the CMP in conveying the information about the sites and management objectives: the legislation related to the heritage conservation and management; the action and implementation of the management strategies; the level of stakeholder’s participation; and, finally, how the CMP integrates local values and ideas into management planning. The results show that contemporary heritage management planning at Lenggong Valley tends to prioritize the conservation of the archaeological values of the sites over other values (i.e. social, historical, and aesthetic values), and that planning has largely been in the hands of governmental agencies with limited involvement from local communities in the decision-making process.     

Champaner‐Pavagadh Archaeological Park: A Design Approach

Champaner‐Pavagadh, like many other heritage sites in India, is both an historic and ethnographic landscape. It possesses a unique status as a medieval city—Champaner—frozen in time, more or less protected by its sudden abandonment 450 years ago. At the same time, it is a living sacred site—Pavagadh Hill—visited annually by millions, with a resident population. Efforts are underway to declare the hill and the remains of the medieval city at its foot an archaeological park, which will ensure protection and conservation of cultural and natural resources. The challenge in designing the site as an archaeological park lies in articulating the pastoral image conjured up by the term in a manner that does not belie complex issues of land ownership, varied use, and ecological integrity of the site. Working landscapes—farms, flower fields, orchards, and nurseries—can be employed as a landscape‐design typology to ensure sustainability and to preserve and frame sightlines to monuments. Garden archaeology is necessary to uncover the symbiotic relationship between buildings and gardens of medieval Champaner.     

The Challenges of Managing an Archaeological Heritage Site in a Declining Economy: The Case of Khami World Heritage Site in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This paper explores the case of the Khami archaeological site, whose degradation by the local communities in recent years was as a result of socio-economic problems caused by the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy combined with the inability of the Zimbabwean government to support the site. We argue that the negative attitude by the local communities towards the management of cultural heritage sites is embedded in the colonial history of the country, and has been driven by the socio-economic difficulties emanating from the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy in recent years. We begin by explaining the history of Khami, its architecture, and the local communities residing around it. We then show and assert that the subsequent degradation of Khami and the landscape around it by the local communities is linked to the socio-economic problems of the country and poverty, which emanated from the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy. In the end, we contend that the economic constraints are part of the reasons why the local communities have from time to time failed to respect the importance of protecting cultural heritage sites in the country.     

ON THE RESOLUTION OF H/V MEASUREMENTS TO DETERMINE SEDIMENT THICKNESS,A CASE STUDY ACROSS A NORMAL FAULT IN THE LOWER RHINE EMBAYMENT,GERMANY

In recent years, H/V measurements have been increasingly used to map the thickness of sediment fill in sedimentary basins in the context of seismic hazard assessment. This parameter is believed to be an important proxy for the site effects in sedimentary basins (e.g. in the Los Angeles basin). Here we present the results of a test using this approach across an active normal fault in a structurally well known situation. Measurements on a 50 km long profile with 1 km station spacing clearly show a change in the frequency of the fundamental peak of H/V ratios with increasing thickness of the sediment layer in the eastern part of the Lower Rhine Embayment. Subsequently, a section of 10 km length across the Erft-Sprung system, a normal fault with ca. 750 m vertical offset, was measured with a station distance of 100 m. Frequencies of the first and second peaks and the first trough in the H/V spectra are used in a simple resonance model to estimate depths of the bedrock. While the frequency of the first peak shows a large scatter for sediment depths larger than ca. 500 m, the frequency of the first trough follows the changing thickness of the sediments across the fault. The lateral resolution is in the range of the station distance of 100 m. A power law for the depth dependence of the S-wave velocity derived from down hole measurements in an earlier study [Budny, 1984] and power laws inverted from dispersion analysis of micro array measurements [Scherbaum et aL, 2002] agree with the results from the H/V ratios of this study.     

从突破部族社会桎梏的意义去认识周初变革——兼谈五种社会形态问题

周初的政治变革,打破了殷商时期以血缘纽带为依托的族邦方国结构,使中国历史从此走上了一条崭新的发展道路。它使生活于广大地域的人们开始突破狭小的、具有极强稳定性的族邦结构社会的桎梏,而形成了一种以语言文字、道德伦理和风俗习惯等文化认同为纽带的、强固紧密的精神凝聚力量,从而具有了不断向更高社会阶段发展的现实基础。     

江苏昆山市绰墩遗址发掘报告

江苏昆山绰墩遗址的发掘和调查,揭示出其内涵包括马家浜文化、崧泽文化、良渚文化。马桥文化,并清理崧泽文化墓葬27座、灰坑1座,良渚文化残房基1座、灰坑4个、灰沟2条,出土陶、石、玉、骨器150件左右。     

考古学次生堆积的研究与探索

一、问题的提出 随着当代考古学的目标从器物描述扩展到对人类行为的信息提炼,对考古遗址中文化堆积改造和遗址形成过程的了解,便成为田野工作的一项重要方面。虽然,对过去社会文化和人类活动的了解取决于考古学家对遗址的仔细发掘和采样,但是发掘和采样在多大程度上反映了历史的真实面貌,则是一个很大的未知数。因为,考古遗址从形成开始,不但受到人类活动的改造,而且在使用时和废弃后的漫长岁月里,还会被堆积后的自然和人类动力破坏得面目全非。所以,如果要科学地认识考古学文化,仔细分辨人类和自然对考古遗址的改造和扰动就必…     

21世纪经济地域景观形态研究

知识经济是21世纪的主导经济。新经济的出现必然会给人类的产业活动带来深远的影响。作为经济活动载体的经济地域必将伴随着这种影响发生深刻的"变革"。最终引起经济地域景观形态的全新变化。一方面表现为经济地域空间结构(即其核心、外围、网络及三者组合关系)将发生根本性的变化;另一方面,经济地域空间结构的变化将使得经济地域的外观形态以全新的面貌展现给世人。本文在明确经济地域景观形态基本内涵的基础上,对知识经济带来的经济地域景观要素及其组合关系的新变化作了较系统地阐述。进而对知识经济时代经济地域的景观形态作了定性、定量的展望。