Soil mark studies near Winchester,Hampshire

The fate of artifacts incorporated into the ploughsoil as a result of plough damage is considered in terms of two soil mark sites near Winchester, Hampshire. Ploughsoil and subsoil analyses indicate that dispersal of soil material, as a result of ploughing, is limited at the present time and under mould board ploughing techniques. The origin of soil marks underlain only by bedrock is also considered and evidence indicates that such soil marks may appear as groundsurface expressions of ditches which have been removed by plough damage where dispersal of ploughsoil is minimal. Such soil marks may be only short lived if plough depth continues to increase.     

Beyond Kuznets: Inequality and the size and distribution of cities

As countries develop the percentage of population living in urban areas tends to increase. As this happens, inequality is expected first to increase and then to decline in what is known as the Kuznets inverted‐U. But the literature has not paid much attention to differences in the absolute size of cities potentially affecting economy‐wide inequality. Building on insights from the urban economics literature, this paper studies the relationship between the size and distribution of cities and income inequality at country level. Results show that beyond Kuznets’ hypothesis there is a U‐shaped relationship between average city size and inequality; inequality first falls and then increases with average city size. This result is robust to a long list of controls, different estimation techniques, and identification strategies.     

Field Methods for the Analysis of Mud Brick Architecture

Recent research into mud brick architecture have established that the simple mud brick is a potential source of cultural information and can provide information about chronology, technology, identity, labor, resources, and environmental conditions. Some analytical techniques for the analysis of sun-dried mud bricks are dependent on the exportation of archaeological samples to foreign laboratories. Some countries severely restrict (or prohibit) the export or removal of archaeological materials making it essential to conduct analysis while in the field. This paper demonstrates the successful use of in-field procedures using a range of portable equipment to quantify basic mud brick characteristics, including particle size distribution through wet sieving, RGB color, magnetic susceptibility, and acid digestion to quantify calcium carbonate. Field and laboratory methods were compared on a single data set, specifically the assemblage from the Neolithic Anatolian site of Çatalhöyük. The results confirmed the accuracy of these methods and provide effective field techniques for mud brick analysis. This article provides an overview of recent research highlighting the importance of mud brick studies and provides procedures for in-field analysis of materials.     

Integrating Geomorphological Assessments and Oral Histories in Catchment Management: Implications for the Mulgrave River,Northeastern Australia

The dramatic decline in the integrity of Australian river systems in recent decades has seen the development of landcare and catchment management groups across the continent as the main facilitators of river rehabilitation works. There is growing concern for the need to develop adaptive management frameworks that assist informed decision making through the integration of social and geomorphological knowledge into catchment planning. In the Mulgrave River Catchment of northeastern Queensland, difficult management decisions have to be made with limited access to knowledge of natural processes and baseline geomorphological data. To date management decisions have been based almost exclusively on oral histories that state that point bars are accreting and the river is becoming shallower due to bank erosion. As a result bank stabilisation and removal of sand from within the channel have been recommended in the absence of any geomorphological assessments. This study compares oral histories of river bank erosion in the Mulgrave River with geomorphic evidence to highlight the need for integrated landscape scenario planning. The results of grain size analysis of bank and bed material from 27 locations, involving 47 samples, suggest that bank erosion cannot be delivering sediments to point bars. Furthermore, qualitative analysis of historic parish maps and aerial photographs shows that there has only been moderate bank erosion at three locations along the Mulgrave River since European settlement. The study demonstrates the important role that geomorphological investigations have for catchment management and the need for management frameworks that integrate geomorphological processes and landholder priorities for sustainable river management.     

The Road Not Taken. Effects of residential mobility on local electoral turnout

Although the effects of population stability on electoral turnout rates are relatively well-known, the role of the characteristics of hosting cities in this relationship are largely unexplored. This paper analyzes the moderating effect of city size on the relationship between residential mobility and electoral turnout. Residential mobility is known to depress civic engagement and political participation at the local level. We argue that this relationship is moderated by the characteristics of hosting cities, approached through city size. The main argument is that smaller cities offer better chances to newcomers to reconnect to the political process. Working with census data from more than 5500 different municipalities, we find that city size has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between residential mobility and turnout. On the one hand, residential mobility and city size do have separate negative effects on turnout, but on the other, the expected negative effects of mobility on turnout are actually stronger in larger than in smaller municipalities. Results indicate, therefore, that smaller communities not only provide more favorable conditions for political participation to their life-long residents, but they also seem to offer newcomers better chances to reconnect to the political process than larger cities.     

Phenology of Six Ficus L., Moraceae,Species and its Effects on Pollinator Survival,in Brisbane,Queensland, Australia

The biogeography and historical distribution of various plants often depend as much on the environmental tolerance of their pollinators as they do on the tolerance of the plant. A four year, phenological study of 35 trees from six Ficus species was carried out in Brisbane's Central Business District. The presence of syconia (figs) and their sexual phases was recorded monthly for each tree. All six species bore ‘female’ phase syconia randomly in any month. The presence of ‘male’ phase syconia was seasonal for Ficus benjamina, Ficus microcarpa and Ficus virens. It was less seasonal for Ficus obliqua and Ficus rubiginosa. Ficus macrophylla exhibited aseasonal distribution of ‘male’ phase syconia. Symbiont pollinator wasp mortality was the cause of the skew in the seasonal distribution of ‘male’ phase syconia. Ficus benjamina, F. microcarpa and F. virens seldom had ‘male’ and ‘female’ phase syconia concurrently on an individual tree, while F. macrophylla and F. obliqua often did. Ficus rubiginosa was intermediate between the two groups. Intra‐tree overlap of syconia in both sexual phases permits short dispersal flights by pollinators and is advantageous to their survival during the cooler months. The pollinators of F. benjamina, F. microcarpa and F. virens, historically tropical and tropical/subtropical species, are unlikely to establish in temperate areas due to high winter mortality rates. The other three Ficus species historically occurred in temperate climates and the pollinators of two, F. macrophylla and F. rubiginosa, are extending their range into temperate Australia and New Zealand. The pollination biology of Ficus spp. will thus be a determining factor in whether a species is able to naturalise or become invasive in a location that experiences a particular climate, or if it is safe to use as a horticultural amenity species.     

Foreign banks' attraction to the financial centre Frankfurt--an inverted 'U'-shaped relationship

This article traces the location of foreign banks in Germanyfrom 1949 to 2006. As suggested by New Economic Geography models,we find an inverted ‘U’-shaped concentration offoreign banks in Germany. Only after a competition between severalcities, Frankfurt has emerged as the pre-eminent financial centre,triggered by the ‘historical event’ of setting upthe German central bank in Frankfurt. After a strong increase,Frankfurt's share in the location of foreign banks in Germanydecreases slowly but significantly since the mid-1980s. We concludethat there will be a lesser role in Europe for second-tier financialcentres in the future.     

Terminal Pleistocene Later Stone Age Human Remains from the Mlambalasi Rock Shelter,Iringa Region,Southern Tanzania

This paper introduces research at the Mlambalasi rock shelter in the Iringa Region of southern Tanzania. The deposits are composed of a historic and Iron Age occupation, a microlithic Holocene Later Stone Age (LSA), and then a macrolithic Late Pleistocene LSA. Middle Stone Age deposits are also present on the slope in front of the rock shelter. Excavations in A.D. 2002, 2006, and 2010 yielded fragmentary human remains as well as pottery, iron, stone tools, faunal bone, and glass and ostrich eggshell beads. Among the human remains, four individuals are present: two adults and a juvenile were found in the same LSA context, and another adult associated with the Iron Age/historic period. The most complete skeleton is an adult of indeterminate sex that was found in situ in an LSA deposit. Charcoal in proximity to the bone was AMS radiocarbon dated to 12,925 cal BC (OxA‐24620), which is consistent with radiocarbon dates on giant land snail shells from above and below the remains. The skeleton exhibits a series of pathological changes such as extensive dental wear and carious lesions, as well as damage most likely caused by termites, post‐mortem. The most striking aspect of this individual is its small size; stature and body mass estimations place it in the range of historic Khoesan from southern Africa. Consequently, this research adds to the discourse regarding the existence of small‐bodied people in the East African LSA. Findings from this new skeletal sample will contribute to studies of human biology and variation in Africa during the terminal Pleistocene and Holocene. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

环南海国家及地区人口城市化特征与空间格局演变

环南海国家及地区既是海上丝绸之路建设发展的重要地带枢纽,也是进行国际合作的重要平台,由于区域内自然条件、社会经济基础和城市发展阶段等存在不同,其内部城市化过程与城市体系格局存在较大差异。本文基于1960—2020年环南海地区国家和主要城市层面等多尺度的人口数据,利用城市首位度指数与城市空间基尼系数两个指标,结合核密度等空间分析方法,对环南海国家及地区的人口城市化与空间格局的时空演化特征进行实证研究。研究表明：第一,环南海国家及地区大部分进入城市化发展后期,但区域内部城市化发展出现较大差异,越南、柬埔寨的城市化落后于其他国家（地区）;第二,区域内城市体系空间结构以强单中心结构为主,双（多）中心结构的国家及地区较少,城市体系内部发展不平衡,城市规模分布以首位分布居多;第三,主要城市人口空间集聚现象显著,且还有进一步集聚发展的倾向。本研究揭示了环南海国家及地区的城市发展过程和分布规律,对推进“21世纪海上丝绸之路”南海航线建设和中国—东盟自由贸易区建设具有重要的科学意义。     

Sex differences in musculoskeletal stress markers: Problems with activity pattern reconstructions

This study examined six musculoskeletal stress marker (MSM) scores that showed reverse sex differences in the previously published research. MSM scores often differ by sex within a population. Most often females have lower MSM scores than do males; however, reverse sex differences do occur. If reverse sex differences are culturally specific, then these MSM scores are more likely caused by activity patterns than biology. Yet, if the same MSM scores show reverse trends in multiple populations, then perhaps these reversals may be the result of biological sex differences, such as hormonal differences and body size, or methodological reasons, such as MSM location. In the current study, deltoideus, pronator quadratus and trapezius MSM scores were significantly more pronounced in males in the California Amerind population examined. Most MSM scores examined significantly correlated with body size and age. With articular size and age controls, only the pronator quadratus and trapezius continued to display significant sex differences. Males had greater MSM pronator quadratus and trapezius scores than did females. The lack of sex differences in four out of six MSM scores may relate to the confounding factor of body size. Thus, it is suggested that some reverse sex differences in the published literature may not relate to activity patterns whereas other MSM sites show more promise. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.