Now and Then1

Abstract: Antipode was launched into the firmament of the 1970s. We might reflect upon how well the journal and its contributors fully appreciated the historical gravity and weight of what was surrounding the project to create “a radical journal of geography”. What sort of radicalism was on offer? The language was “social relevance” from “a radical (Left) political viewpoint”. In writing to celebrate Antipode's birthday, this time in another, and similar, firmament there is still the need to confront the challenge of radicalism and its meanings. Whether we agree with Perry Anderson that the last vestiges of the 1960s have been finally swept away, that the “fluent vision” of the Right has no equivalent on the Left and that embedded liberalism is now as remote as “Arian bishops”, where do radical alternatives stand in relation to the fractured hegemony of neoliberalism? At the very least the need for alternatives is more pressing than ever. David Harvey has proposed rethinking the idea of “the right to the city”. But what other rights might we rethink? I reflect upon this question by returning to the 1960s and 1970s and Marxist debates over the law, and by thinking about the possibilities offered by this Polanyian moment.     

STATE INTERVENTION IN LANDSCAPE PRODUCTION: THE WHEATLAND RIOT AND THE CALIFORNIA COMMISSION OF IMMIGRATION AND HOUSING*

The role of the state in landscape production has been little theorized in geography. In this paper, I examine the role played by state institutions in determining landscape morphology by focusing on the activities of the California Commission of Immigration and Housing as it attempted to mitigate the conditions that led to the violent Wheatland “riot” of 1913. This rebellion by radicalized migratory workers was central to the creation of the abundant agricultural landscape of California in the years before the United States entered World War I. By telling the story of Wheatland and the state responses it induced, I hope to move discussions of landscape geography beyond both traditional concerns with landscape as a reflection of “culture” and contemporary concerns with metaphors of landscape as text.     

An iconographic exploration of the “rattlesnake” gorgets of eastern Tennessee

ABSTRACT

Compared to other gorget styles and themes made during the Mississippian period, the so-called rattlesnake gorgets of eastern Tennessee have been found in fairly large numbers. Stylistically, Muller assigned these gorgets to the temporally related Lick Creek and Citico styles, while Crawford’s recent work has argued for substyles within. While their style has been studied extensively, the idea that these gorgets depict rattlesnakes generally has been accepted without further consideration. In this paper, we present the results of a systematic iconographic study of rattlesnake gorgets. Ultimately, we conclude that the image’s original referent is not just a snake but instead is intended to be a model of the cosmos at night.     

Malocclusion and methodology: The problem and relevance of recording dental malalignment in archaeology

The study of incorrectly positioned teeth has a long history, especially in relation to human groups and domestic dogs. Dental and orthodontic specialists have been particularly concerned to establish ways of recording and comparing such anomalies. However, Colyer and others have established that anomalous dental positioning occurs in a wide variety of species, and might at times even have had adaptive advantage. In the case of dogs, some modern varieties clearly have severe malocclusion problems, while others are little affected. Because it has been suggested that early domesticated dogs already display some degree of dental crowding or malpositioning, it seems important to consider the methodology for recording such anomalies. It is suggested that a quick and easy method of recording and comparing tooth positioning is by angular measurements (preferably taken on standard photographs of occlusal views). In the British archaeological dog samples selected, it was found that tooth malpositioning (and thus malocclusion of upper and lower dentitions) was only slight, compared to the overall occurrence of such anomalies in modern dogs. It is suggested that this kind of simple procedure may be of value in the investigation of secular trends in the frequency of malpositioning and malocclusion of dogs, if not other species, through time.     

The Western Ledge Reef wreck: a preliminary report on investigation of the remains of a 16th-century shipwreck in Bermuda

In September 1988 archaeologists and students from the Program in Maritime History and Underwater Research at East Carolina University (PMHUR) identified the remains of an early shipwreck during a survey of the Western Ledge Reefs carried out for the Bermuda Maritime Museum (BMM). Structural material exposed at the wreck site proved to be a section of lower hull containing the keel, hull planking, frames, and a portion of the keelson that included a mast-step. In order to recover the archaeological record preserved at the site, the BMM applied for, and received, a licence from the Receiver of Wreck. As work at the site intensified, a prior claim to the wreck was discovered. Discovery of that claim ultimately led to a co-operative agreement between Brian Malpas, Donald Canton and the BMM that permitted on-site investigation to continue. During 1989 and 1990, the site was excavated by the Museum's underwater archaeological staff, the staffand students of the PMHUR and volunteers. In 1990, a comprehensive in situ map of the hull remains was completed and in accordance with the terms of an agreement between Malpas and Canton and the BMM, a team of archaeologists, students and volunteers raised the remains of the Western Ledge shipwreck in August 1991. Each recovered element of the wreck was transported to storage facilities at the museum and catalogued, cleaned, recorded and documented using techniques developed to record the Red Bay galleon. That work was completed in the autumn of 1991 and on 31st October 1991 the wreck structure was donated to the museum for study and possible display.