Grave‐goods from the long chamber tomb “Dibba 76/1” (Fujairah,UAE): a first inventory

The aim of this paper is to present the rich set of finds collected inside the grave Dibba 76/1, in the Emirate of Fujairah, during a season of rescue excavation conducted under the direction of S. Ali Hassan in 1994. The recovered grave‐goods include pottery, soft‐stone vessels, metal finds, personal ornaments, coins, and other items. Although comparable with other corpuses of material excavated in south‐eastern Arabia, the material of Dibba 76/1 stands out for the inner variety of the different artefacts’ classes and their remarkable chronological heterogeneity. The study of the grave‐goods suggests that Dibba 76/1 was reused over several centuries, showing a strong continuity in the funerary destination of this specific place from the end of the Wadi Suq period (2000–1600 BC) to the first phases of the late pre‐Islamic period (250 BC–AD 400), and the full integration of the area of Dibba in the succession of the various cultural facies known during this long time span.     

Probable persistence of the remains of a Rouget-Neumann sheath into the canalicular system of ancient human bone

Examining histological sections obtained from human bones from Iron Age archaeological excavations (about third to fifth century BC , Alfedena and Sulmona, central Italy), the authors show the presence of an amorphous, afibrillary substance inside the osseous canaliculus in decalcified sections. This substance has shown unusual chromaffinity to staining using the Schmorl method with thionine and phosphowolframic acid. It is probably formed by acid mucopolysaccharides obtained from a transitory betametachromasia with toluidine blue staining at neutral pH. This metachromasia persists after digestion in bacterial collagenesis, but disappears after digestion in bovine testicular jaluronidasis. These reactions indicate that the endocanalicular substance may represent well-kept remains of a Rouget-Neumann sheath, which surrounds cytoplasmic extensions of osteocytes.     

Water and power in South Arabia: the excavation of “Monumental Building 1” (MB1) at Sumhuram (Sultanate of Oman)

The ancient port city of Sumhuram (Dhofar Governorate, Sultanate of Oman) has been the focus of over 20 years of research by the Italian Mission to Oman (IMTO), University of Pisa, in collaboration with the Office of the Adviser to His Majesty the Sultan for Cultural Affairs (Muscat-Salalah, Sultanate of Oman). Excavation has revealed most of the town layout, leading to the identification of several buildings, alleyways, squares and workshops, among which two massive buildings stand out, significantly named by the excavators as “Monumental Building” 1 and 2 (MB1 and MB2). This paper presents the results of the excavation inside MB1, characterised by the presence of the only well discovered within the city walls, which was previously interpreted alternatively as a palace or as a temple. The architectural development of the building, its distinctive features, the archaeological material discovered inside it, and its chronology will be discussed. These results highlight the absence of fitting parallels from other ancient South Arabian towns. Overall, it is clear that access to, management of, and control over the water supply of the town represented a key asset which justified the huge investment in workforce and building materials that is reflected in the monumental architecture of this edifice.     

The City Evita Built. Cinematic Childhood and Peronism in Luis César Amadori’s Soñemos (1951)

This article examines the under-studied film productions known in Peronist Argentina as “docudramas”. Placing documentary elements within a fictional plot, docudramas marked a significant change in the state propaganda machine and were used as a new vehicle to influence social habits. I focus particularly on Soñemos [Let’s Dream], a short film directed in 1951 by Luis César Amadori to showcase urban reforms. Through an analysis of Amadori’s docudrama in regard to its representation of the Children’s City built by the Eva Perón Foundation, I discuss relationships between entertainment, the constitution of a political hegemony, and modernisation. With film techniques such as the dissolve, Soñemos depicts the Children’s City as an enterprise capable of delivering material happiness and amplifies the narrative of a fairy tale come true promised by Evita’s social service programmes. Ultimately, the docudrama affirms the central role played by the state in the definition of the “right to a home” – from supportive benefactor to constitutive replacement.     

Review

Voyaging through the contemporary Pacific Edited by David Hanlon and Geoffrey M. White Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2000. Pp.xii + 443 Price: US$26.95 (pb); US$90.00 (cl)