Anthropology and the British Museum: A conversation with John Mack

John Mack is Keeper of Ethnography at the British Museum, and until recently was also Senior Keeper. He curated The Museum of the Mind: Art and Memory in World Cultures as part of the British Museum's 250th anniversary programme. Major changes have taken place at the museum, including the return of the Museum of Mankind to the British Museum's Bloomsbury site. This site will by next year also house the Anthropology Library, one of the largest anthropology libraries in the world, the holdings of which were greatly enhanced by the gift of the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) Library to the British Museum Ethnography Department Library in 1976. John Mack can be contacted at J.Mack@british-museum.ac.uk .     

Scanning electron microscope study of normal vertebrae and ribs from early medieval human skeletons

A method is described for the preparation of vertebral body and rib sections of archaeological context, for scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The specimens included in the present paper are macroscopically normal and are male and female in juvenile and adult age brackets. The changing directionality of trabeculae and the changing ratio of trabecular bone to cancellous space are noted in relation to the age at death.     

Early Balkan Metallurgy: Origins,Evolution and Society, 6200–3700 BC

Journal of World Prehistory - This paper analyses and re-evaluates current explanations and interpretations of the origins, development and societal context of metallurgy in the Balkans (c....     

Tensions between municipal reform and outdated fiscal levers in rural British Columbia

Debates about the future of small municipalities in Canada are set against a backdrop of economic, political, and social restructuring processes that have displaced former state investment policies in favour of neoliberal public policy approaches. Small municipalities struggle with outdated financial and governance structures and a provincial public policy agenda that asks them to become more creative, innovative, and “entrepreneurial” in their approach and responsibilities. Drawing upon key informant interviews with eight case studies in British Columbia, Canada, this research examines the tensions between municipal reforms mandated by the provincial government over the past 30 years and commensurate fiscal levers and capacities in place to address these broadening responsibilities for small municipalities in volatile staples-dependent regions. Our findings demonstrate how successive provincial governments have mobilized New Public Management objectives through a host of legislative and regulatory changes that have increased the responsibilities and requirements on local governments without commensurate fiscal or jurisdictional capacity.