The exploitation of marine resources at Saruq al‐Hadid: Insights into the movement of people and resources in Bronze and Iron Age south‐eastern Arabia

Marine resources were an integral and consistent component of subsistence strategies employed in south‐eastern Arabia throughout late prehistory. Of particular interest is the movement of these resources from the coast to interior sites and the implications of this movement for transhumance and trade in the region during this period. Marine species were frequently identified in the faunal assemblage from the inland site of Saruq al‐Hadid, dating from the Bronze Age to Early Iron Age (c.2000–c.800 BCE). This included marine fish species, along with two cormorant species (Phalacrocorax sp.) and several fragments of dugong (Dugong dugon). Twenty‐seven families of marine shell were also identified in the remains recovered from the site. The presence of these remains at this inland site demonstrates that resources were frequently moved from the coast to the interior throughout Saruq al‐Hadid’s occupation, indicative of their enduring significance in subsistence strategies employed at the site. This paper presents the results of zooarchaeological analysis of these remains and discusses the significance of their presence at Saruq al‐Hadid, with reference to subsistence, craft production and intra‐regional exchange during the Bronze and Iron Ages.     

The fish of Lake Titicaca: implications for archaeology and changing ecology through stable isotope analysis

Research on past human diets in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin has directed us to investigate the carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of an important dietary element, fish. By completing a range of analyses on modern and archaeological fish remains, we contribute to two related issues regarding the application of stable isotope analysis of archaeological fish remains and in turn their place within human diet. The first issue is the potential carbon and nitrogen isotope values of prehistoric fish (and how these would impact human dietary isotopic data), and the second is the observed changes in the fish isotopes through time. Out of this work we provide quantitative isotope relationships between fish tissues with and without lipid extraction, and a qualitative analysis of the isotopic relationships between fish tissues, allowing archaeologists to understand these relationships and how these values can be applied in future research. We test a mathematical lipid normalization equation to examine whether future researchers will need to perform lipid extraction procedures for Lake Titicaca fish. We also analyze a number of aquatic plants to better understand the range of isotopic signatures of the Lake Titicaca ecosystem. We use these data to better understand prehistoric human diet and the role that fish may have played in the past as well as potential changes in local lake ecology through time.     

Islam in China: From Silk Road to Separatism

Islam came to China via the Silk Road, the great trading route beginning in the ancient Chinese capital of Xian. Islam flourished during the brutal but religiously tolerant Mongol Yuan dynasty. Harsh repressive measures were employed against the rebellious Muslims of the Qing dynasty. Islam has survived the tumultuous 20^th century and has experienced a revival in the new millennium. Following a brief historical overview, including some of China's relevant history of insurrection, rebellion and reforms, the nature of the Muslim community in China, along with pressing contemporary issues, will be outlined and discussed.     

The Australian Assistance Plan and the Canadian Connection: Origins and Legacies

Within the context of the war on poverty and an acknowledgement of the wider global phenomenon of a ‘post-industrial society’, the Australian Labor Party under Gough Whitlam sought out a range of reforming and innovative social policy programs. This article explores the origins of one such program, the Australian Assistance Plan (AAP), and its connections, similarities and differences to the Canada Assistance Plan. Drawing on extensive archival and oral history sources, it offers a comparative analysis of both national programs, then outlines how international social planning and community development ideas, especially from Canada, infused the AAP and its predecessor, the Geelong Experiment.     

Reviews

The Economy of Islamic Iran: Between State and Market , Thierry Coville, ed., Tehran: Institut Français de Rechere en Iran, 1994, 275 pp.

A Century of Revolution: Social Movements in Iran , Social Movements, Protest, and Contention Series, vol. 2, John Foran, ed., Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994, 263 pp., incl. Select Bibliography, Index, $19.95 (paper).

Sutra and Other Stories , Simin Daneshvar, trans. Hasan Javadi and Amin Neshati, Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers, 1994, 189 pp.

The Making of Exile Cultures: Iranian Television in Los Angeles , Hamid Naficy, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993, 283 pp., $44.95 (hard), $18.95 (paper).

Nomads in Archaeology , Roger Cribb, New Studies in Archaeology, Cambridge University Press, 1991, xiv + 253 pp., $69.95 (originally $54.50).

Twenty‐Three Years: A Study of the Prophetic Career of Mohammad ,^cAli Dashti, trans. F. R. C. Bagley, Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Publishers, 1994, xviii + 228 pp. (first published London: George Allen & Unwin, 1985 in hardcover).

Politische und kulturelle Auswirkungen des Auslandstudiums auf die iranische Gesellschaft im 19. Jahrhundert. Unter Berücksichtigung der iranischen Stipendiaten in Westeuropa (1812–1857) , Farideh Jeddi, Frankfurt a/M‐New York, 1992, 276 pp.

Class, Politics, and Ideology in the Iranian Revolution , Mansoor Moaddel, New York: Columbia University Press, 1993, x + 346 pp.

Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of ^cA'isha bint Abi Bakr , D. A. Spellberg, New York: Columbia University Press, 1994.

Crisis and Consolidation in the Formative Period of Shi^cite Islam: Abū Ja^cfar ibn Qiba al‐Razi and his Contribution to Imamite Shi^cite Thought , Hossein Modarressi, Princeton: The Darwin Press, 1993, vii‐viii + 280 pp., incl. Bibliography, $35.00 (hardcover).

Persian Studies in North America: Studies in Honor of Mohammad Ali Jazayery , Mehdi Marashi, ed., Bethesda, Md.: Iranbooks, 1994, xx + 422 + 107 pp.

Fihrist‐i asnad‐i qadim‐i vizarat‐i umūr‐i kharijah: dawran‐i Qajariyah, 1124–1316 , Tehran: Institute for Political and International Studies, 1371 Sh./1992, xiii + 598 pp., 4,500 rials.

Islamic Development Policy: The Agrarian Question in Iran , Asghar Schi‐razi, trans. P. J. Ziess‐Lawrence, Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1993.

Politische Parteien und Bevölkerung in Iran: die Hezb‐e Demokrat‐e Iran und ihr Führer Qavamo s‐Saltana , Ralph Kauz, Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1995, III + 322 pp.

A History of the Armenian People , vol. 2: 1500 to the Present , George A. Bournoutian, Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Publishers, 1994, xviii + 237 pp.

The History of al‐Tabari (Ta'rikh al‐msul wa³l‐mulūk), vol. XXXI: The War between Brothers , Bibliotheca Persica, trans, and annot. Michael Fish‐bein, Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1992.     

The black death in Aragon, 1348–1351

Comparative neglect of the effects of the Black Death in Aragon makes a collection of documents published in 1956 by Dr López de Meneses particularly valuable. Over half the documents, mostly dating between 1348 and 1351, describe the disruption and disorder which occurred in the administrative and economic spheres, and it is on these that this study will focus.King Pedro IV showed flexibility and pragmatism in his treatment of the crisis, but normal administrative processes were only slowly restored, and people took full advantage of the shortage of officials and the loss and discontinuity of legal records. Economically, the royal treasury suffered an almost immediate drop in income. The king could not grant financial aid to his subjects, but lessened taxes and tributes, and frequently interceded on behalf of the Jews. The king also issued useless price and wage controls.The documents shed little light on the problem of mortality dates, but they vividly illustrate the confusion, fraud, and lawlessness which occurred in the aftermath of the plague. There is no indication that the epidemic caused changes in the fundamental character of any Aragonese institution, or that the king's activities were paralyzed by the crisis. Though grave, the damages of this first plague were not irreparable.     

The Writing on the Wall: The Concealed Communities of the East Yorkshire Horselads

This paper examines the graffiti found within late 19th and early 20th century farm buildings in the Wolds of East Yorkshire. It suggests that the graffiti were created by a group of young men at the bottom of the social hierarchy—the horselads—and was one of the ways in which they constructed a distinctive sense of communal identity, at a particular stage in their lives. Whilst it tells us much about changing agricultural regimes and social structures, it also informs us about experiences and attitudes often hidden from official histories and biographies. In this way, the graffiti are argued to inform our understanding, not only of a concealed community, but also about their hidden history.     

Rethinking public participation in the smart city

In efforts to become “smart cities,” local governments are adopting various technologies that promise opportunities for increasing participation by expanding access to public comment and deliberation. Scholars and practitioners encounter the problem, however, of defining publics—demarcating who might participate through technology-enhanced public engagement. We explore two case studies in the city of Calgary that employ technologies to enhance public engagement. We analyzed the cases considering both the definition of publics and the level of citizen participation in areas of participatory budgeting and secondary suites. Our findings suggest that engaging the public is not a straightforward process, and that technology-enhanced public engagement can often reduce participation towards tokenism. City councillors and planners need to critically confront claims that smart cities necessarily enhance participation. Moving beyond tokenism requires understanding “public” as a plural category. Municipal governments should seek to proactively engage citizens and communities utilizing helpful resources including, but not limited to, digital tools and smart technologies. This would allow planners to keep a “finger on the pulse” of publics' concerns, better identifying and addressing issues of equity and social justice. It is also important to consider how marginalized publics can best be recognized in order to bring their concerns to the fore in decision-making processes.     

Deliberative democracy and the Tasmanian forest peace process

Decades of contention regarding Tasmania's forests have been accompanied by several attempts for peace. Most recently the ‘forest peace process’ culminated in the 2012 Tasmanian Forest Agreement (TFA). We evaluate the peace process that led to the TFA, and its subsequent dismantling, from the perspective of deliberative democracy, which promises to achieve democratically legitimate outcomes in the toughest conflicts. Using normative criteria to evaluate the deliberative democratic quality of the process, our analysis shows that trades-offs were needed, and not all normative criteria could be achieved equally and simultaneously. Despite its shortcomings, and short-lived life, the peace process illustrates the possibility of achieving meta-consensus in deep value conflicts, and the crucial role of this consensus for sustaining deliberation.