Ritual and Politics: An Examination of the 1072 Primal Ancestor Debate in the Northern Song

In considering the vital role played by imperial rites in claiming political legitimacy and maintaining social stability, Chinese emperors endeavored to present themselves as the perfect model for their subjects in terms of ritual performance. Focusing on a Northern Song (960–1127) ritual debate over the placement of imperial ancestors’ spirit tablets and ancestral chambers, especially that of the Primal Ancestor, this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of discussions on ancestral rituals and how they were intensified during the implementation of Wang Anshi’s New Policies. More importantly, this study reveals the differences between Song scholar-officials’ political positions and intellectual interests, thus providing a new interpretation of Song factionalism from the perspective of ritual politics.     

Diet,social differentiation and cultural change in Roman Britain: new isotopic evidence from Gloucestershire

This study uses stable isotope analyses (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) of human bone collagen to reconstruct the diet of three Romano-British (first to early fifth century AD) populations from Gloucestershire in South West England. Gloucestershire was an important part of Roman Britain with two major administrative centres at Gloucester (Glevum) and Cirencester (Corinium) and numerous smaller settlements and farmsteads. To investigate potential dietary differences between the rural and urban populations of Roman Gloucestershire, we compared human bone collagen stable isotope values from 32 individuals from urban Gloucester with those of 46 individuals from two rural cemeteries at Horcott Quarry and Cotswold Community, respectively. Seven individuals from urban Gloucester were buried in a mass grave; all others were buried in single inhumations. Results show small but significant differences in stable isotope ratios between the urban and rural populations which indicate that the urban population might have consumed slightly more marine and/or freshwater resources than the people living in the rural communities. We interpret this difference as a direct reflection of Rome’s influence on Gloucester’s population and the town’s economic status. Subtle differences in stable isotope ratios were also observed at the site level, as burial practice does correlate with diet in some cases. Overall, the results from this study demonstrate that diet, as reconstructed through stable isotope analysis, is a very sensitive, if settlement-specific, indicator of social differentiation and culture change.     

Interpreting Past Human Diets Using Stable Isotope Mixing Models—Best Practices for Data Acquisition

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory - Using stable isotope mixing models (SIMMs) to quantify past diets is becoming increasingly common in archaeology. This study highlights important...     

HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS AND THE DEMAND FOR LOCAL LAND USE REGULATION

Residents pay into Homeowners Associations (HOAs) to exert greater control over service provision, their properties and those of their neighbors. HOAs enforce restrictions governing land use within their boundaries, but theory is ambiguous about their impact on public land use. By combining two novel data sets on Florida HOAs and municipal regulations, we examine how HOAs affect public land use regimes for 232 cities. We find that the prevalence of HOAs is positively associated with a propensity for regulation, as are newer and bigger HOAs. Also, HOAs are positively associated with land use techniques that direct development through incentives, rather than mandates.     

The politics of wetlandscape: fishery heritage and natural conservation in Hong Kong

The north‐western part of Hong Kong is a marsh with traditional freshwater fish farming; however, this brackish area has been agriculturally diversified to include cultivation of red rice, reeds, shrimp and fish, and has only largely concentrated on freshwater fish farming starting from the 1960s. By looking into the geographical and social changes that have taken place in the brackish area, I will explain how the coastal landscape was changed in the 1910s through the introduction of large‐scale rice production in Tin Shui Wai which has turned into a high‐density residential new town, and the wetland conservation of Mai Po marshes. This article aims at understanding the meanings of intangible as well as agricultural/fishery heritage and the local politics among indigenous communities, conservation groups, the government and developers in post‐handover Hong Kong society. Inland freshwater pond cultivation was actually a major industry in the 1970s since it supplied most of the freshwater fish for the local market. Nowadays, the industry is shrinking because of lack of manpower and high operation costs compared to the mainland. With various kinds of social, economic and physical pressures, the local communities which are located at the buffer areas of the wetland in Mai Po are actually facing the tremendous dangers of losing those fishponds; most importantly, the fishponds have been serving not only as mitigation zone and source of a traditional local food but also as a major food supplier for migratory birds, adding to the conservation value of the Mai Po marshes and Inner Deep Bay in Hong Kong at large.     

我国内地旅游网站的可用性研究——基于对海口市网民的调查

目前国内很多针对旅游网站的研究大多是关注旅游网站的功能,网站可用性方面的研究很大程度上被忽视了。本文对此进行了探索性研究：通过采用修正的启发式评价方法,定义了用户对网站评价的基准,对489份基于5大类24个指标的调查问卷进行了分析和讨论,发现了我国内地旅游网站在可用性如内容服务形式、整体结构设计等方面存在的问题,同时给出了解决这些问题的建议和措施。     

Interpreting Past Human Diets Using Stable Isotope Mixing Models

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory - Palaeodietary reconstruction using stable isotope analysis is becoming increasingly common, as is the practice of using mixing models to quantify...