Ear spools,ceramics, and burial mounds from southwest Missouri: Caddoan and Spiro connections on the Northern Frontier

A Caddoan presence in the extreme southwest portion of Missouri was firmly established after investigations were conducted in the upper White River valley in the late 1950s. Later, James Brown exposed the myth that the southwestern Ozarks was a cultural enclave that lagged behind Mississippian developments in other parts of the Trans-Mississippi South. Recent discoveries and reanalysis of artifacts from sites located across much of southwest Missouri suggest that a substantial presence and influence of Caddoan peoples extended far beyond the upper White River valley. This area, referred to here as the Northern Frontier, extends from the lower James River valley on the south to the Osage River on the north. Multiple lines of evidence are presented that suggest this portion of the western Ozarks was within the Caddoan orbit and sphere of influence.     

Patterning and Its Causation in the Pre-Neolithic Colonization of the Mediterranean Islands (Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene)

In 1981 one of us (Cherry) first attempted to identify spatial and temporal patterning in the human colonization of the Mediterranean islands. Since the 1980s, slowly accumulating evidence has suggested that the Mediterranean islands were sporadically inhabited by hunter-gatherers during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. Here we seek to establish whether or not these data exhibit regularity. We suggest that evidence for Upper Palaeolithic to Mesolithic activity, tending to cluster on larger or less remote islands, indicates that while humans were clearly capable of reaching the Mediterranean islands prior to the Neolithic, their general reluctance to do so can be explained in terms of the variable environmental attractiveness of the insular Mediterranean. Tending to be relatively small, dry, and biologically depauperate, the Mediterranean islands were largely inhospitable to mobile groups preferring extensive territories with diverse and robust biotas. Sedentism only became a widely viable strategy in the insular Mediterranean with the development in the Neolithic of what we might regard as “terraforming”—that is, the introduction of cereals, pulses, and ovicaprids, all tolerant of xeric environments.     

Towards Free Trade in the Pacific? The Genesis of the ‘Kava‐Biscuit War’ between Fiji and Vanuatu

Contemporary movements towards trade liberalisation have influenced economic development in Pacific island states, where opportunities for growth have always been restricted. The new free trade, centred on comparative advantage, is especially challenging for countries producing sugar, where diversification is difficult, and for the smallest states where trade options have always been limited. New regional trade agreements have been introduced in the Pacific as a step towards global free trade, but have emphasised trade rivalry and conflict, characterised by the ‘kava‐biscuit war’ between Fiji and Vanuatu, rather than complementary trade and cooperation. Movement towards free trade poses acute problems for island states, yet international agreements have not recognised their particular disadvantages, and continue to stress benefits that are nowhere apparent in the Pacific.     

Survival of a multiple skull trauma: the case of an early neolithic individual from the LBK enclosure at Herxheim (Southwest Germany)

The Early Neolithic enclosure of Herxheim yielded the human remains of more than 450 individuals mainly represented by cranial vaults and numerous fractured cranial and postcranial bones. The skulls were shaped post‐mortem into skull caps by intentional separation of the cranial base and facial bones. One of these calottes revealed four ante‐mortem traumatic lesions and additional cut marks.The defects of this individual were analysed in detail to obtain information on the chronology and consequences of the traumata and manipulations and their probable intention. Four marks could be attributed to at least two violent incidents because of their different stages in the healing process. There is no evidence of cranial surgery, but the individual may have received some medical treatment and social care to survive the injuries without complications. The peri‐mortem cut marks and the post‐mortem intentional shaping of the skull cap, however, can be seen as typical for the treatment of the Herxheim dead and cannot be attributed to violent conflicts. The results support the evidence gained from preliminary examinations of the Herxheim human remains and suggest a more complex view of the final phase of the Linear Pottery Culture (LBK) in southwest Germany. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fact Sheet: The Islands of Sweden

Not many think of Sweden as an island nation, but in fact Sweden has lots of islands. The actual number could be as high as 221 800, or as low as twenty‐four. Which is correct? It all depends on how one defines an ‘island’ and which ‘pieces of land surrounded by water’ are counted and why (or why not). This fact sheet presents a brief overview of the islands of Sweden, including a short discussion of problems met with trying to count and sort them. After trying either to visit, or contact, all possible Swedish islands with a permanent population but without a permanent mainland connection, the author has concluded that Sweden has 401 such islands. Their distribution according to geographical position and number of inhabitants is presented, and differences between Swedish islands and island regions are also briefly discussed.     

Tourism Development in Small Islands Across the World

ABSTRACT This study develops the Tourism Penetration Index and applies it to 51 islands. The results confirm the most penetrated comprise Caribbean, Mediterranean and Northern Pacific islands typified by large resorts, crowding, short stays and the replacement of man‐made attractions for lost amenities. The least penetrated islands comprise mainly Pacific and Indian Ocean destinations characterized by small facilities, long stays, and limited infrastructure. The intermediate islands primarily fall into two groups: Caribbean islands advancing to the high‐density stage, and other destinations experiencing rapid growth and resource conflicts. The study concludes with planning implications and suggestions for further research.     

Agroforestry on an Active Volcanic Small Island in Indonesia: Prospering with Adversity

This paper draws on the literature on agroforestry, disaster risk reduction, and livelihoods of people on small islands as it applies to a community prospering in conditions of adversity in Kinali village on Siau Island, Indonesia. Siau Island produces between one‐third and one‐half of all nutmeg and mace exported from Indonesia. The Kinali community has adopted strategies that enable it to prosper in spite of the risks of living on a small island with an active volcano. The paper charts the sociocultural dynamics of the village and examines how local coping mechanisms based on an agroforestry economy have assisted villagers in dealing with the multiple hazards and constraints arising from the biophysical characteristics of their island. The paper thus contributes to more informed responses to managing volcanic risk.     

Strongly aligned coastal boulders on Ko Larn island (Thailand): a proxy for past typhoon‐driven high‐energy wave events in the Bay of Bangkok

Recent studies of elevated carbonate boulder deposits on several rock islands near Bangkok have indicated that Thailand's capital city may not be as protected from typhoon strikes as previously thought. Here, new evidence is presented for past high‐energy wave (HEW) events in the form of statistically significant patterns of boulder alignment on exposed rocky shorelines of Ko Larn island. The long‐axis orientations of 193 coastal sandstone boulders were analysed across four study sites. Several scenarios for the unimodal, bimodal, and polymodal patterns found can be envisaged. Either the most recent HEW event was the strongest—in which case most clasts were rearranged unimodally (one observation site), or the strongest HEW event was earlier and subsequent weaker ones realigned only smaller boulders to produce bimodal or polymodal patterns (three observation sites). Inferred northeastward or eastward onshore flow directions are consistent with palaeo‐typhoons penetrating into the Bay of Bangkok on northwestward curving tracks. The calculated minimum flow velocities required to transport all sampled boulders are 5.5–7.8 m s^?1, similar to other findings throughout the Asia‐Pacific region. It was observed that the absence of a fitted boulder geomorphology lends credence to the earlier proposed time frame of 150–200 years between typhoon phases in the upper Gulf of Thailand. The current work has provided additional insights into the characteristics of past HEW events that have a possibility of reoccurring again at some time in the future. Our findings continue to raise awareness for a reassessment of the risks of coastal hazards for the Chao Phraya River delta and densely populated Bangkok, for which storm surge modelling should be an urgent priority, so as to give better perceptions on how typhoon‐driven marine incursion would impact the city.     

Critical artistic interventions into the geopolitical spaces of islands

Something about the apparent romanticism of islands prompts creative reflections such as those comprising visual artworks in the Dis-covery exhibition touring Australia for 2 years from 2011. The exhibition forms the basis for this paper, written by its progenitor and curator—an artist, and its essayist—a cultural geographer. The curatorial premise was that islands and island cultures are at risk from global and multinational forces, as well as from amplified local impacts internal to the limits of their boundaries. In turn, the exhibition's aim was to trouble the layered cultural clichés that represent island conditions especially in terms of the romantic. Participating artists—all of whom have lived on islands—were invited to explore how islands and romanticism are both containers for disparate yet overlapping ideas, among them references to imagination, projected desire, unsatisfied longing, rising tides, exoticism, resource mining, militarism and marginalization. Drawing on conversations with the artists, and on their writings and works, this paper captures insightful reflections about islands, arts and the geopolitical imagination; reveals significant artistic interventions into the geopolitical spaces of islands; and underscores the productive relations that derive from critical and creative engagements between geography and art.     

郘亭诗论略

莫友芝,晚清诗坛宋诗派主将,郘亭诗近千首。述怀诗,塑造了一位晚清诗坛上具有进步思想、不慕荣利、不求爵禄的诗人形象;纪游诗,表现了时局的动荡,社会的黑暗,人生的艰辛;赠答诗,表达了朋辈友谊,真挚深诚的感情;山水诗,郘亭诗之精萃,以平淡的情态表现强烈的情感;记实诗,再现了清末社会生活,记载了农民起义的史实。