Iron age occupation in the Méma region,Mali

The recent archaeological campaign (regional site survey and excavations at the mound complex of Akumbu) has demonstrated that the Méma, a dry Sahelian region with a scattered population, was intensively occupied during the Iron Age. This intense occupation, certainly associated with better environmental conditions, extends back to the Late Stone Age. During the regional survey more than 100 Iron Age sites and nearly 30 Late Stone Age sites were identified; their size, surface material and features, and location on geomorphological zones were recorded. A series of radiocarbon dates spanning the fourth to fourteenth centuries ad obtained from the excavations at the Iron Age mound complex of Akumbu and a preliminary analysis of the pottery from both the excavations and the survey permitted the determination of a broad chronology of occupation. Numerous slag heaps (associated with smelting furnace remains) found during the survey and imported goods uncovered during the excavations at Akumbu indicate that both iron production and long-distance trade played an important role in the Méma economy.

---

Résumé Une campagne archéologique (reconnaissance et fouilles) exécutée en 1989–1990 a montré que le Méma, une région sahelienne de grande sécheresse à population actuellement éparse, était intensément peuplé pendant la période de l'Age du Fer. Cette intense occupation, certainement liée à de meilleures conditions climatiques, semble remonter à la période du néolithique. Au cours de la reconnaissance, conduite à l'échelle régionale, plus d'une centaine de sites datant de l'Age du Fer et environ une trentaine de sites néolithiques furent identifiés, enregistrés et décrits en termes de leurs dimensions, matériels et caractéristiques de surface, et environnement. Une série de datations au radiocarbone, obtenue lors de la fouille sur le complexe de buttes d'habitat de Akumbu, dans la partie ouest du Méma, indique une occupation s'étendant du quatrième siècle au quatorzième siècle de notre ère. La découverte d'imposants amas de scories, associés à des restes de hauts fourneaux, et objets exotiques trouvés lors des fouilles à Akumbu, attestent que la production de fer et le commerce à longue distance jouaient tous les deux un important rôle dans l'économie du Méma.

     

CANADA-JAPAN COAL TRADE: AN ALTERNATIVE FORM OF THE STAPLE PRODUCTION MODEL

The Innis model of staple production has been used as the framework for evaluating many Canadian resource trades. This paper argues that Japanese resource trade differs from that with Europe or the United States and that the distinct set of institutional arrangements governing Japanese resource trade requires the modification of the Innis model to recognize this new form of Canadian staple production and trade. The one billion dollars per annum Canada-Japan coal trade provides a detailed case study of the institutional complexity of Japanese resource trade, as revealed through corporate strategies, trade intermediaries, equity investment, loan arrangements, export contracts, and public infrastructure. Minority Japanese investments in joint ventures replace the dominant role of foreign capital in earlier versions of the staples model. The role of finance capital is highlighted by Japanese loans typically exceeding equity investments in size. The high transaction cost of negotiating hundreds of contracts is reduced through the use of sogo shosha (Japanese general trading companies) as intermediaries. Unequal relations are demonstrated by the greater risk borne by local investors as private firms provide equity and public institutions invest in infrastructure. The Quintette mine in northeast British Columbia highlights these risks. Overall, the complexity of the Japanese supply system reduces the bargaining power of any single supplier. However, the stability promoted by the security objectives of the Japanese supply system leads to long-term trading relations that can provide corporate cash flows and maintain community viability during cyclical downturns in the industry. Le modele d'lnnis sur la production des matieres premiéres a servi a analyser les effets du commerce des ressources naturelles au Canada. Le texte maintient que les echanges de ressources naturelles avec lelapon different de ceux qui lient le Canada aux Etats-Unis et à l'Europe, et que la particularité des structures servant à administrer le commerce avec le Japon nécessite une modification du modele d'lnnis vouéà l'analyse des effets de ce commerce. Le texte se penche sur le commerce du charbon entre le Canada et le Japon, dont la valeuratteint 7 milliard$ parannée. Cette étude de cas va permettre de saisir la complexité institutionnelle des échanges ayant trait aux ressources naturelles avec le Japon, perceptible dans les stratégies des corporations, la présence d'intermédiaires, les investissements, les modalités de prêts, les contrats d'exportation et les infrastructures. Les investissements minoritaires des japonais dans des entreprises conjointes remplacent le rôle dominant des investisseurs étrangers caractéristique des modeles antérieurs d'extraction des matieres premieres. Le rôle accru du capital financier est souligné par les prêts des japonais qui exddent habituellement leur achat d'actions. Les hauts cocits transactionnels lie's à la négociation de centaines de contrats est réduit par l'intermédiaire de sogo shosha (compagnies japonaises se spkcialisant dans les échanges entre corporations). Nous constatons l'exis- tence de rapports inégaux olj le gros des risques est assumé par les investisseurs locaux et les agences gou- vernementales qui assurent la mise en place d'infrastructures. La mine Quintette dans le nord-est de la Colombie-Britannique illustre bien ces risques. La complexité du systeme d'approvisionnement japonais réduit les atouts dans les négociations des fournisseurs pris individuellement. It demeure que la stabilité, qui découle des objectifs d'approvisionnement a long terme des japonais, permet d'établir des rapports d'échange durables qui garantissent aux entreprises des revenus persistants ainsi que la prospérité des localites olj se trouvent les opérations d'extraction. Ces localités se trouvent alors soustraites aux effets des cycles économiques.     

Current issues in Chinese Neolithic archaeology

Every year archaeologists in China discover numerous rich sites demonstrating significant regional variability in Neolithic cultures, primarily from about 6500 B.C. to 1900 B.C. This paper discusses a topic not covered in detail in current or forthcoming publications, the origins and development of agricultural systems. Recent fieldwork in both northern and southern China suggests that initial steps toward settled agricultural villages began circa 11,000 B.P. I review evidence for the cultivation of millet, rice, and other plants as well as animal husbandry in different regions of China. There are several later Neolithic sites in northern China with evidence for rice cultivation. I suggest how future research projects can investigate regional variation and change over time in subsistence and settlement during the Neolithic Period.     

Petrographic and Geochemical Investigations on the Pottery Production from Arslantepe–Malatya (Eastern Anatolia) from the Fourth to the Second Millennium BCE: Technological Continuity,Innovation and Cultural Change

The petrographic and geochemical analyses of 130 Late Chalcolithic 3 (LC3, 3800 bce ) to Early Bronze Age IIIB (EBAIIIB, 2000 bce ) ceramics from Arslantepe and the Malatya Plain in the Eastern Anatolian Upper Euphrates have identified critical differences in raw material procurement and paste preparation, reflecting typological, chronological and cultural changes. Based on these differences, distinct modes of production that correspond to phases reflecting significant social, economic and political changes were recognized. In particular, the interruption of the centralization process and the establishment of mobile groups during EBAI (3000–2900 bce ) were accompanied by the exploitation of new sources.     

Large Kombewa flake production in north Oman

In this paper we present the results of surveys carried out in February 2016 along a palaeo‐drainage system near the village of Bisyah. We report first on the geological prospection, which was our main goal, and then present our discovery of the only known localities in north Oman of large Kombewa flake production (>10 cm up to 20 cm). Among the scatter of artefacts, we found cores and large Kombewa flakes with two opposed bulbs of percussion, a technology that had not been known in this region until now. In spite of the local features, the typo‐technological traits of the artefacts suggest that at least part of them resemble in some way the Acheulean techno‐complex, but there are still many questions remaining on the age of these artefacts.     

Fucking geographers! Or the epistemological consequences of neglecting the lusty researcher’s body

This article investigates the dichotomy within research on sexuality between the desiring body of the informant on the one hand and the non-desiring body of the researcher on the other. Despite earlier calls to acknowledge and include the eroticisms of the researcher, accounts where the desiring researcher’s body is a central focus remain exceptions to the rule. The main goal of this intervention is to investigate why the absence of the lusty researcher’s body seems to endure. I will first explore some of the reasons researchers might feel inhibited to self-disclose their desires, to continue with uncovering some of the techniques used to sustain the cover of the asexual, disembodied researcher. Afterwards, I will discuss my own experiences as a (junior) researcher in the field, mainly my own discomfort and embarrassment to be perceived as a desiring woman-researcher, and trace how this has informed my own research trajectory. I conclude by suggesting that writing down our negotiations between the validity of our research versus how much we are willing to self-disclose might be a first step towards an improved inclusion of lust and desire in sex research.     

Sustainable management of metallurgical forest on Mont Lozère (France) during the Early Middle Ages

Mont Lozère, located in the French Massif Central region, provides an exceptional context in which to research the impact that charcoal production and metallurgy had on woodlands, along with the role that these activities played in changing the mountain landscape. This study provides an insight into the land use, forest management methods and metallurgical practices in the area during the Middle Ages (11th to 15th centuries). Medieval charcoal burning platforms, archaeological remains that have often been neglected in the past as a source of historical information, along with nearby smelting sites, were identified, sampled and analysed. In this paper, spatial analyses, radiocarbon dating and anthracological and dendro-anthracological studies have been combined in a unique manner. The results reveal that charcoal burners practiced beech coppicing, where the species and diameter of wood used remained the same over a period of four centuries. It is proposed that this form of metallurgical forest management be considered an early example of a sustainable utilisation of natural resources.     

Faults and fault properties in hydrocarbon flow models

The petroleum industry uses subsurface flow models for two principal purposes: to model the flow of hydrocarbons into traps over geological time, and to simulate the production of hydrocarbon from reservoirs over periods of decades or less. Faults, which are three-dimensional volumes, are approximated in both modelling applications as planar membranes onto which predictions of the most important fault-related flow properties are mapped. Faults in porous clastic reservoirs are generally baffles or barriers to flow and the relevant flow properties are therefore very different to those which are important in conductive fracture flow systems. A critical review and discussion is offered on the work-flows used to predict and model capillary threshold pressure for exploration fault seal analysis and fault transmissibility multipliers for production simulation, and of the data from which the predictions derive. New flow simulation models confirm that failure of intra-reservoir sealing faults can occur during a reservoir depressurization via a water-drive mechanism, but contrary to anecdotal reports, published examples of production-induced seal failure are elusive. Ignoring the three-dimensional structure of fault zones can sometimes have a significant influence on production-related flow, and a series of models illustrating flow associated with relay zones are discussed.     

New radiometric ages for the Fauresmith industry from Kathu Pan,southern Africa: Implications for the Earlier to Middle Stone Age transition

The Fauresmith lithic industry of South Africa has been described as transitional between the Earlier and Middle Stone Age. However, radiometric ages for this industry are inadequate. Here we present a minimum OSL age of 464 ± 47 kyr and a combined U-series–ESR age of 542₋₁₀₇⁺¹⁴⁰ kyr for an in situ Fauresmith assemblage, and three OSL ages for overlying Middle and Later Stone Age strata, from the site of Kathu Pan 1 (Northern Cape Province, South Africa). These ages are discussed in relation to the available lithostratigraphy, faunal and lithic assemblages from this site. The results indicate that the Kathu Pan 1 Fauresmith assemblage predates transitional industries from other parts of Africa e.g. Sangoan, as well as the end of the Acheulean in southern Africa. The presence of blades, in the dated Fauresmith assemblages from Kathu Pan 1 generally considered a feature of modern human behaviour ( McBrearty and Brooks, 2000, The revolution that wasn't: a new interpretation of the origin of modern human behavior, J. Human Evolution 39, 453–563),-provides evidence supporting the position that blade production in southern Africa predated the Middle Stone Age and the advent of modern Homo sapiens.