Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) Teeth from a Female Burial in Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov,Northwestern Russia (c. 6200 cal BC) – Local Rarities or Transported Goods?

Tooth pendants of European elk, Eurasian beaver and brown bear are the most common artefact type in graves at Late Mesolithic Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov on Lake Onega, northwestern Russia. In one burial of a 20-35-year-old woman, 18 fragments of wild boar tooth pendants from at least five individuals were found. Wild boar was not a regular part of local fauna in the Mesolithic, and if these wild boars were hunted locally, they were very unusual game. These wild boar tooth pendants may also represent imported goods that came to Onega from a more southern area via exchange. It is also possible that the woman was not local but came from a region where wild boars were abundant and common game for Mesolithic people.     

A regionalisation or long-distance trade? Transformations and shifts in the role of Tana in the Black Sea trade in the first half of the fifteenth century

Abstract

The Italian trading stations in Tana were important in the long-distance trade system of the Italian maritime republics Venice and Genoa. The deeds of two Venetian notaries who worked there during the 1430s, Nicolo de Varsis and Benedetto de Smeritis, are an important source for tracing the transformation of the issues and directions of Italian trade in the Black Sea region, a trade which was recovering from the crisis of the fourteenth century. Notwithstanding the Venetian-Genoese struggle and previous crisis events, this recovery made the economic conditions favourable. Although some scholars see a regionalisation of trade in fifteenth century, the source evidence challenges this interpretation. Westerners began to import Italian, Flemish and English textiles to the Eastern markets, and the local goods (fish, caviar) were widely exported to Europe – even to the markets of Flanders. Finally, the slave trade was intensive. My main argument here is that though there were considerable transformations in the Italian trade, there was no real regionalisation of trade, which retained its long-distance character.     

Market size,occupational self‐selection,sorting, and income inequality

We develop a monopolistic competition model with heterogeneous agents who self‐select into occupations (entrepreneurs and workers) depending on innate ability. The effect of market size on the equilibrium occupational structure crucially hinges on properties of the lower tier utility function—its scale elasticity and relative love‐for‐variety. When combined with the underlying ability distribution, the share of entrepreneurs and income inequality can increase or decrease with market size. When extended to allow for the endogenous sorting of mobile agents between cities, numerical examples suggest that sorting may increase inequality within and between cities.     

Circles of Verse

It is well known that Yijing symbolism was woven into alchemy. But Zhang Boduan's Wuzhen pian (an exposition of neidan in verse) also has numerical structures linked to that symbolism embedded within its structure. That presents opportunities to learn more about Daoist texts’ conveyance of meaning via esoteric symbolic interpretation. In addition, the commentator Yu Yan (1258–1314), perhaps inspired to combine jindan with Cheng–Zhu thought by Zhou Dunyi's Taijitu shuo (itself originating from the Daoist Chen Tuan) and possibly Tantric Buddhist dhāra?ī and ma??ala, developed graphic illustrations (tu) of alchemical practice that influenced late-imperial Daoist works like the Xingming guizhi.     

Obsidian provenance for prehistoric complexes in the Amur River basin (Russian Far East)

The sources of high quality volcanic glass (obsidian) for archaeological complexes in the Amur River basin of the Russian Far East have been established, based on geochemical analyses by neutron activation and X-ray fluorescence of both ‘geological’ (primary sources) and ‘archaeological’ (artifacts from the Neolithic and Early Iron Age cultural complexes) specimens. A major obsidian source identified as the Obluchie Plateau, located in the middle course of the Amur River, was found to be responsible for supplying the entire middle and lower parts of the Amur River basin during prehistory. The source has been carefully studied and sampled for the first time. Minor use of three other sources was established for the lower part of the Amur River basin. Obsidian from the Basaltic Plateau source, located in the neighboring Primorye (Maritime) Province, was found at two sites of the Initial Neolithic (dated to ca. 11,000–12,500 BP). At two other sites from the same time period, obsidian from a still unknown source called “Samarga” was established. At the Suchu Island site of the Early Neolithic (dated to ca. 7200–8600 BP), obsidian from the ‘remote’ source of Shirataki (Shirataki-A sub-source) on Hokkaido Island (Japan) was identified. The range of obsidian transport in the Amur River basin was from 50 to 750 km within the basin, and from 550 to 850 km in relation to the ‘remote’ sources at the Basaltic Plateau and Shirataki-A located outside the Amur River valley. The long-distance transport/exchange of obsidian in the Amur River basin in prehistory has now been securely established.     

Buried in a Head: African and Asian Parallels to Aesop’s Fable

There is a strange story among the fables ascribed to Aesop. It was preserved by Aristophanes and tells about the lark, who was born before the creation of the earth and had to bury her dead father in her own head. This article investigates Indian, Arabic, and North and West African parallels to this story. The analysed texts share several specific details, and the motif ‘buried in a head’ lying at the base of them is found worldwide only in a few areas of Eurasia and Africa; so there is most likely a historical connection between the examples.     

China’s new Eurasian ambitions: the environmental risks of the Silk Road Economic Belt

China is moving ahead with the Silk Road Economic Belt, an ambitious infrastructure development agenda with the distinct promise of regional and sub-regional economic development. However, the initiative will create new environmental risks across the entire Eurasian continent, especially in countries with predominately poor records of environmental governance, including the former Soviet republics and Russia. Concurrently, on the domestic front, the Chinese Government has launched a new policy paradigm, “ecological civilization,” to dramatically improve environmental regulations, reduce pollution, and transform industries by adopting new green technologies and higher environmental standards. But does China’s intention to go through a “green shift” domestically resonate with these new transborder infrastructure development mega-projects? This paper will attempt to answer this question by juxtaposing China’s new domestic policy paradigm with environmental standards currently proposed in its global outreach projects focusing on China-northern Eurasia and China-Russia, including trade exchanges in natural resources.     

Overview of Contributions in Geographical Analysis: Waldo Tobler

The academic contributions of Waldo Tobler are noteworthy and significant, spanning essentially all disciplines that involve the study of geographic phenomena. While much attention has been given to his observations of the first law of geography, there is much more substance to his larger body of research. It is especially fitting that this commemorative special issue is appearing in Geographical Analysis as Tobler published extensively in the journal, beginning in the first volume in 1969 up to volume 42 in 2010, making important contributions to quantitative theoretical geography. His research helped to build and sustain the journal, laying the foundation for what is the premier quantitative geography outlet today. This article reviews his publication activity in Geographical Analysis.