Representing Structural Change in U.S. Migration Patterns

This paper focuses on the identification of three sets of relationships exhibited by a time series of age-specific national migration rates and multiregional transition probability matrices: the relationship across time for the same age group, as defined by period (temporal) transformation coefficients or matrices; the relationships across age at a particular moment in time, as defined by age transformation coefficients or matrices; and the relationships across time and age, as defined by cohort transformation coefficients or matrices. Given any two of these relationships one can solve for the third. This feature of age-period-cohort relationships has a practical application in the development of improved methods for representing structural change in migration patterns over time and for indirectly estimating migration patterns using inadequate data.     

The Ereğli E Shipwreck,Turkey: an early Hellenistic merchant ship in the Black Sea

A shipwreck from the early 3rd century BC was discovered in the Black Sea's suboxic depths off Ere?li, Turkey, during the 2011 E/V Nautilus expedition. Remote investigation revealed the trawl‐damaged remains of a merchant ship carrying multiple amphora types associated with Aegean and Pontic production areas. Also discovered were elements of the ship's hull that show evidence of both pegged mortise‐and‐tenon and laced construction. The wreck provides crucial archaeological evidence for both maritime connectivity and ship‐construction methods during a period of political and economic transition.     

New evidence of adhesive as hafting material on Middle and Upper Palaeolithic artefacts from Gura Cheii-Râşnov Cave (Romania)

Making use of analytical, chemical and mineralogical methods, this paper focuses on the analysis of inclusions in order to address the question of the provenance of prehistoric artefacts excavated in Gura Cheii-Râ?nov Cave (Romania). The study represents the first discovery of bitumen on lithic tools belonging to the Upper and Middle Palaeolithic in Europe. The material was identified through several analytical procedures, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), and X-ray diffraction (XRD).     

Romania's Roma Population: From Marginality to Social Integration

Abstract

Among several groups vulnerable to discrimination in 21st century Europe, Roma loom large because the poorer, traditionally-minded elements continue to resist integration and remain on the margins of society. Most of the people involved have become EU citizens as a result of recent accession by East Central European countries where marginalisation has been tolerated, with varying degrees of discrimination, ever since the 19th century abolition of feudalism. In the interest of a more inclusive society, Roma are now being encouraged to strive for living standards comparable with those enjoyed by the mainstream population. This paper concentrates on Romania, which has one of the largest Roma communities in Europe. We profile the situation with some reference to regional geographies and previous policy history. We examine the key concepts relevant to marginality, arguing for an element of self-exclusion, because while many Roma elements have been successfully assimilated over the years, a large residual element insists on preserving elements of ‘identity’, implying separation from the mainstream in terms of the modernising ethos and the rule of law. The main thrust of the paper rests with a comprehensive programme to improve the condition of the Roma community as a major element among a number of other factors which are working towards the same objective. We give particular attention to the education programme that is now making significant progress.     

Staging the Transnistrian Identity Within the Heritage of Soviet Holidays

This article focuses on the performance of three national holidays in Transnistria in the context of the ongoing consolidation of Transnistrian society since 1991. Transnistrian leaders play a key role in the construction of a distinct Transnistrian regional identity; hence this paper pays close attention to the speeches of Transnistrian leaders as reported in the mass media. In addition, I also base my conclusions on interviews with the residents of Rybnita. I was able to observe and describe the official commemorations of the anniversary of the October Revolution, May Day and Victory Day, all key Soviet holidays which are still celebrated in Transnistria, mostly by the older generation and members of the Communist Party. The theoretical framework of the article, therefore, relies on a constructivist approach to the nation-building process through the manipulation of public opinion by elites.     

Requiem for the Net Migrant

Despite recent research that has demonstrated the clear superiority of a multiregional perspective in measuring and projecting the dynamics of internal migration flows, many scholars continue to adopt the uniregional perspective that is forced to focus on net migrants, a nonexistent category of individuals. Net migration models are misspecified because the rates that they use confound changing migration propensities with changing population stocks. Moreover, they obscure regularities in age profiles of migration and thereby further misspecify the spatial dynamics generating observed settlement patterns. Thus, the use of the net migration rate as the dependent variable in explanatory models of migration can produce a misspecification of the fundamental relationships that are the subject of inquiry. This paper considers deficiencies of the net migration concept and illustrates them with numerical examples.     

Breaking Away from Revolution

Post-Soviet society again faces certain problems associated with modernization that confronted the Russian Empire in the years before its collapse. An analysis of the choices made in the early twentieth century by P.A. Stolypin reveals alternatives and pitfalls of potential use to contemporary policy makers.