Analysis of Construction Timber in Rural Austria: Wooden Log Walls

House-building with wood has a long tradition in Austria. In this study, 47 houses from the Austrian Alps and the alpine foothills were analyzed. Dendrochronology was used to date the houses and to extract further information as construction phases within one building and time needed for harvesting. The construction dates range between 1452 and 1934. The focus was set on log constructions and in particular on wooden log walls. All wooden walls were made of softwood, clearly dominated by Norway spruce (Picea abies). A remarkable decline in the utilization of spruce wood as construction timber was found during the 19th century, which might be due to the high charcoal production at that time. By analyzing age, wood species, time of harvesting and way of processing, knowledge about wood utilization and historical forest management can be regained. Furthermore, some social and economical background of the farmers can be lifted. Technical dates as wall thickness and total wood volume required to build a residential building is provided.     

Toward a Collective Historical Archaeology

In this paper, I begin with ideas of difference and try to weave together aspects of our disciplinary structure, contemporary theoretical critique, and research agendas to show how our emphasis on difference, multiplicity, and individual identity makes it difficult to comprehend all that we share and constrains our political action to only local concerns. Instead, the kind of archaeological research that I envision focuses on commonalities through questions of labor, class and capitalism geared toward developing an understanding of all that we as people share.     

‘Born in an atomic test tube’: landscapes of cyclonic development at Uranium City,Saskatchewan

Drawing together insights from neo‐Innisian geography and environmental history, this paper explores the landscape and environmental changes engendered by ‘cyclonic’ patterns of development associated with uranium production at Uranium City, Saskatchewan. Strong postwar demand for uranium led to the establishment and rapid expansion of Uranium City on the north shore of Lake Athabasca as a ‘yellowcake town’, dedicated to producing uranium oxide concentrate to supply federal government contracts with the US military. In spite of optimistic assessments for the region's industrial future, the new settlement remained inherently unstable, tied to shifting institutional arrangements and external markets, and haunted by the spectre of resource depletion. The planning and development of the townsite at Uranium City reflected both neocolonial desires to open the north to Euro‐Canadian settlement and efforts by the state to buffer the stormy effects of resource dependency. Ultimately, however, quixotic government efforts to implant an outpost of industrial modernity in the Athabasca Region failed to forestall the inevitable winds of change, which left in their wake destructive legacies of social dislocation and environmental degradation, already evident with the near‐collapse of the uranium export market by the early 1960s.     

SUBJECTIVITY AS A NON-TEXTUAL STANDARD OF INTERPRETATION IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Contemporary caution against anachronism in intellectual history, and the currently momentous theoretical emphasis on subjectivity in the philosophy of mind, are two prevailing conditions that set puzzling constraints for studies in the history of philosophical psychology. The former urges against assuming ideas, motives, and concepts that are alien to the historical intellectual setting under study, and combined with the latter suggests caution in relying on our intuitions regarding subjectivity due to the historically contingent characterizations it has attained in contemporary philosophy of mind. In the face of these conditions, our paper raises a question of what we call non-textual (as opposed to contextual) standards of interpretation of historical texts, and proceeds to explore subjectivity as such a standard. Non-textual standards are defined as (heuristic) postulations of features of the world or our experience of it that we must suppose to be immune to historical variation in order to understand a historical text. Although the postulation of such standards is often so obvious that the fact of our doing so is not noticed at all, we argue that the problems in certain special cases, such as that of subjectivity, force us to pay attention to the methodological questions involved. Taking into account both recent methodological discussion and the problems inherent in two de facto denials of the relevance of subjectivity for historical theories, we argue that there are good grounds for the adoption of subjectivity as a nontextual standard for historical work in philosophical psychology.     

Auf der Suche nach der Politik in der Wissensproduktion: Plädoyer für eine historisch‐politische Epistemologie

In Search of Politics in Knowledge Production. A Plea for a Historical‐Political Epistemology. Knowledge production has an intrinsic political dimension. Starting from this presupposition, it is argued that the systematic integration of and reflection on the political dimension is necessary for an adequate understanding of historical processes of knowledge production in the sciences. The consecutive plea for a historical‐political epistemology proceeds in two steps: First, it is illustrated that in a number of recent historical science study cases, the political dimension is frequently marginal, or even absent. After a short discussion of previous theoretical concepts to describe the impact of politics for the production of scientific knowledge, an approach is sketched which builds on Hans‐Jörg Rheinberger's historical epistemology and Bruno Latour's symmetrical anthropology. It is argued that in addition to Rheinberger's program to describe epistemic systems, the political dimension is intrinsic to three stages of the process of data production: First to an initial phase which consists in the arrangement socio‐technical configurations to produce new evidence. Here, factors such as the culturally shaped perception and evaluation of ?relevant”? problems, as well as the perception of career resources have to be taken into account. Second, the political dimension is relevant in view of the continuous re‐adjustments of the configuration of epistemic systems, e. g. towards newly available financial, technical, or intellectual resources and ?relevant”? challenges from outside the system. Thirdly, the data produced and represented by epistemic systems – “evidence” – are yet in need of interpretation. This process is in itself imbued with continuously shifting mechanisms of selecting and creating hierarchies amongst the pool of available data.     

近代江门的侨资房地产业及其对城市建筑景观的影响（1862—1949年）

论文从区域历史地理学的研究视角出发,通过对相关地方档案、方志等资料的整理分析,对近代华侨投资江门房地产业的阶段性特征、华侨投资江门房地产业的类别差异作了初步研究,并在此基础上分析了侨资房地产业的发展对江门城市建筑景观变迁的影响。得出结论：华侨投资江门房地产业有着鲜明的阶段特征。1919年之后的侨资房地产业不断发展,抗战前达到投资的黄金时期,并呈现出商业化的趋势,商住混合型的骑楼得到大规模建设,发展到纯商业性的酒楼及戏院的出现。抗战后的侨资房地产业虽没有此前繁荣,但带有恢复性建设的特点。伴随着侨资房地产业发展的同时,中西文化在侨资这一媒介作用下共同被融入到房地产建设当中,使近代江门城市的建筑景观呈现出丰富特征。     

史学话语权与20世纪的中国民族史学——兼说10卷本《中国史学思想通史》

20世纪中国社会发生变动,受到西方学术思潮的影响,中国史学进入到近代化时期.西方学术话语处在强势地位,在这样的大背景下,近代史学理论、思想的争论,基本是按照西方的史学理论的热点而展开,也随着西方史学理论的热点的变动而变动.这对扩大研究视野、深化相关的史学认识有一定的意义,但另一面是,民族史学的重要思想失去应有的地位.传统民族史学思想、理论具有重要的价值,是西方史学理论不能完全替代的;民族史学话语权的失落,对于中国史学发展是不利的.进入到21世纪,史学理论发展不能忽视中国民族史学思想的研究".认真总结民族史学思想遗产,对于当代史学具有重大的意义,是振兴民族史学的重要工作,也是民族史学走向世界的基本要求.     

Historical Ship Graffiti on the Walls of San Juan's Spanish Defence System: an Interim Report

This project intends to document graffiti identified on the walls of the defence system of San Juan, Puerto Rico, in a collaborative effort between the author and the National Park Service. The initial proposal envisaged a maximum of 8 or 9 ship drawings previously identified by the Park's personnel. Fieldwork has hugely expanded that number—so far over 400. Preliminary evaluation of the ship-types identified suggests the presence of a visual representation of ship-type evolution, at least from the 18th to the first half of the 20th centuries.
© 2006 The Author     

历史性的地理陈述与阅读

我们基本上是通过对文本或文献的阅读,才可能重构关于历史时期的地理景观和地理知识,才可能理解历史时期地理景观与地理知识对于古人和今人的意义。因此本文考察了历史文本或文献中地理陈述与地理景观和地理知识之间的各种关系,以及当前对这些地理陈述的不同阅读方法。