Interpretive field geomorphology as cognitive,social, embodied and affective epistemic practice

This article examines the epistemic practices of interpretive field geomorphology—that is, the in-the-moment act of “seeing the landscape” geomorphologically. Drawing on the philosophical works of Wittgenstein and Merleau-Ponty, it aims to bring to light the complex, multi-dimensional, knowledge-producing process of field observation and interpretation. Methodologically the study is based on geomorphologists' accounts of their fieldwork, gathered through questionnaire and interviews. By paying attention to what geomorphologists say they are doing in the field, interpretive field geomorphology is articulated as a combined cognitive, social, embodied, and affective experience through which understanding is arrived at. The paper thus sheds light on one part of what Brierley et al. call “the dark art” of geomorphological interpretation, and draws out implications in terms of researcher positionality, researcher training, and offering an epistemic justification for field-based pedagogies.     

Operationalizing a contested concept: indicators of territorial cohesion

European territorial policies increasingly refer to broad goals such as sustainability, well-being and cohesion. For their operationalization as political goals, there is a need to create indicators. But how can an indicator be meaningful in relation to a complex concept that is not well defined? If the creation of an indicator is primarily aimed at quantifying a concept and making it more operational, in the case of a contested concept (such as territorial cohesion), the process of building indicators also helps stabilize it, allowing a potential decontestation. A participatory constructivist approach – as used by the ESPON project Indicators for Territorial Cohesion (INTERCO) – is considered to be the most suitable for building indicators of contested concepts. While ensuring computability of the indicators, it allows more flexibility and reconciles the different meanings of the concept in order to stabilize it. Ultimately, the validity of indicators of contested concepts lies in pragmatic criteria: usability, usefulness and use.     

The 9th‐Century‐AD Belitung Wreck,Indonesia: analysis of a resin lump

The 9th‐century‐AD Belitung wreck was discovered in 1998 in the Java Sea. Construction techniques rapidly confirmed that it was unlike any known Chinese or Southeast Asian vessel. The uncertainty about its origins was resolved in 2008 by timber identifications: it was constructed in the Middle East (probably Oman or Yemen). This paper, on the characterization of a dammar resin lump collected in the vicinity of the wreck, supplies additional evidence confirming the probable re‐stitching of the vessel somewhere in Asia. © 2010 The Authors     

Taxonomic characterisation of fresh Dipterocarpaceae resins by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS): providing clues for identification of unknown archaeological resins

Plant and particularly non-wood forest products have played an important role in the evolution of human cultures all over the world, as source of food but also of raw substances fulfilling material, spiritual, and medicinal requirements. Plant exudates and particularly dammar resins (Dipterocarpaceae family) were widely used in the past in Asia notably as waterproofing and caulking materials. This study focuses on the GC–MS chemical characterisation of freshly collected dammars and establishes new molecular parameters enabling discrimination between dammars and other types of plant resin, whatever their botanical origin. Such analyses provide clues for a precise identification (taxonomy, occurrence of other material in addition to the resin, alteration state) of unknown resinous material discovered in archaeological contexts. The value of our approach is illustrated by the taxonomic characterisation of two samples collected in jars from the Brunei wreck and a Chinese junk lost more than 40 km off the Sultanate of Brunei during the end of the fifteenth century or the early beginning of the sixteenth century.     

To the rhythm of shopping—on synchronisation in urban landscapes of consumption

This paper contributes to the ongoing reappraisal of the 'publicness' of public space, a project begun in relation to many different spaces and from a variety of perspectives. The research presented here examines the major motivations and debates leading up to the creation and consequent opening of two of Liverpool's most prominent urban parks, Sefton Park and Stanley Park, in the late 1860s and early 1870s. Evidence is taken from the Minutes of various Town Council Meetings and Sub-Committee Meetings as well as from Liverpool's news media of the period (1858–1872). Attention is therefore focused on the contests and debates that are connected to official action and policies, highlighting the differing values which were seen to attach to the public space of urban parks in Liverpool and the roles it was believed they could play. There are obvious inequalities in the provision of public space in Liverpool in the nineteenth century, illustrating how the city built class parks. Interlocking systems of oppression of gender, class and ethnicity meant that accessibility to Liverpool's urban parks was, and still is, subject to the complex ways in which these worked together. Indeed there are many parallels between the nineteenthcentury urban experience and ongoing contemporary debates regarding public space and its accessibility. Cet article ajoute aux discussions courantes visant à réexaminer la notion de 'public' en ce qui àtrait à l'espace publique, un projet relié à différents espaces et différentes perspectives. Les recherches ici présentées examinent les motivations principales et les débats qui ont menéàla création et ouverture de deux des plus importants parcs urbains de Liverpool, les parcs Sefton et Stanley, à la fin des années 1860 et début des années 1870. Le matériel àl'appui est tiré des notes de réunions des Conseil and Sous-Conseil Municipaux et des médias de Liverpool de l'époque (1858–1872). La discussion porte principalement sur les conflits et débats rattachés aux actions et politiques officielles, mettant l'emphase sur les valeurs divergentes associées à l'espace urbain de Liverpool et au rôle que cet espace devrait jouer. Il est évident qu'il existe des inégalités marquées dans la distribution de l'espace publique à Liverpool au dix-neuvième siècle et ceci démontre que la ville a bâti des parcs destinés à certaines classes. Des systèmes d'oppression inter-reli´s axés sur la classe, le sexe et l'ethnicitédémontrent que l'accès aux parcs urbains de Liverpool était, et est toujours, sujet à l'imbrication complexe de ces éléments. Este papel contribuye a la continuada nueva apreciación de la 'naturaleza pública' del espacio público, un proyecto iniciado con relación a muchos espacios diferentes y desde una variedad de perspectivas. La investigación que presentamos aquí examina los principales motivaciones y debates que llevaron a la creación y consecuente inauguración de dos de los parques urbanos más importantes de Liverpool; el parque Sefton y el parque Stanley, a finales de los años 60 y a principios de los años 70 del siglo diezinueve. Las pruebas vienen de las actas de varias Reuniones del Consejo Municipal, de reuniones de la subcomisión y también de la prensa de Liverpool de la época (1858–1872). Por lo tanto el enfoque es sobre las contiendas y debates, unidos a acción oficial y políticas, que destacan los diferentes valores atribuidos al espacio público de los parques urbanos de Liverpool y los papeles que se creía que tenían. Hay desigualdades muy evidentes en la provisión de espacio público en Liverpool en el siglo diezinueve, lo cual demuestra que construyeron parques distintos para las distintas clases sociales en la ciudad. Los intertejidos sistemas de opresión de género, clase y etnicidad hacían que el acceso a los parques urbanos de Liverpool fuera, y siga siendo, sujeto al complejo funcionamiento de éstos en conjunto.     

Catholic-Confucian Mortuary Practices in a Rural Manchurian Cemetery

Historical Archaeology - Catholic missionaries were active among rural populations in Manchuria, in northeast China, around the turn of the 20th century. Their presence influenced everything from...     

Ethnography of ideology

Altorki, Soraya. Women in Saudi Arabia: Ideology and Behavior Among the Elite. New York: Columbia University Press. 1986. xii + 183 pp. including glossary, bibliography, and index. $30.00 cloth.

Caplan, Patricia. Class and Gender in India: Women and Their Organizations in a South Indian City. New York: Tavistock Publications. 1985. xiii + 258 pp. including glossary, references, name index, and subject index. $35.00 cloth; $16.95 paper.

Rosendahl, Mona. Conflict and Compliance: Class Consciousness Among Swedish Workers. Stockholm Studies in Social Anthropology. 1985. × + 203 pp. including illustrations, appendices, notes, glossary, references, and index, n.p.     

Review article: Parents and Children in the Early Middle Ages

Books reviewed in this article:
Katrien Heene, The Legacy of Paradise. Marriage, Motherhood and Women in Carolingian Edifying Literature
Marcelle Thiébaux (ed), Dhuoda, Handbook for her Warrior Son. Liber Manualis
Sally Crawford, Childhood in Anglo-Saxon England     

A new protocol for radiocarbon dating of hair and keratin type samples—application to an Andean mummy from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris

The protocol of preparation of keratinized samples (e.g. hair, furs …) for radiocarbon dating that we have developed is based on the selective extraction of keratin from the bulk part of the shaft (cortex). The aim of this method is to eliminate the cuticle which could contain exogenous carbon from external contaminations. The total treatment takes place as follows: a washing/dry cleaning, a soft treatment with diluted acidic and basic solutions (acid/alkali/acid method) similar to the protocol used for vegetal samples, extraction of keratin by reduction using dithiothreitol and precipitation with sodium deoxycholate and trichloroacetic acid. This method was applied on a hair sample from an Andean mummy, conserved in the collections of the Anthropology Laboratory of the National Museum of Natural History (Musée de l’Homme) in Paris, France. The results of two runs reveal that the mummy is dated to a period between the eleventh century and the first half of the twelfth century. It therefore belongs to the Late Intermediate period (900–1450?ad). The combination of historical research, the study of the body by computed tomography and the analysis of mineral deposits on the surface of the body provides clues to identify the geographical origin of the mummy. These investigations led to determine that the mummy comes from the region of Tarapacá in Chile and belongs to the cultural complex Pica-Tarapacá.