REVIEWS

Reason and Passion. Representations of gender in a Malay society. By Michael G. Peletz . Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. Pp. xiii + 402.     

Modern and early-middle Holocene shells of the freshwater mollusc Unio, from Çatalhöyük in the Konya Basin, Turkey: preliminary palaeoclimatic implications from molluscan isotope data

Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in the shells of the freshwater Unio mollusc yield information on the isotopic composition of the water in which the shell was formed, which in turn relates to climatic conditions prevailing during the bivalves’ life span. Here we analysed shells from one modern Unio, from a modern lake shore in Anatolia, and 4 subfossil Unio shells from Çatalhöyük (dated between 7200 BC and 5000 BC, Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods). Sequential carbon and oxygen isotope analysis along the surface of the shells provides information on seasonal or shorter-term variability of lake waters during the lifetime of the organisms. δ¹⁸O values of the modern shell are consistent with it being collected from a dammed portion of the Seyhan River that does not undergo intensive summer evaporation. This is in contrast to many of the surface water bodies in Anatolia which suffer extensive evaporation in the arid summers. δ¹⁸O values of the subfossil shells from the Çatalhöyük middens indicate that the bivalves came from lakes which evaporated extensively during the summer months but were replenished by high winter rainfall, suggesting that the subfossil shells lived in relatively small lakes or ponds. Stable isotope analysis along the growth of freshwater bivalves is one of the few methods for investigating seasonal water fluctuations in the past. These results may alter current interpretations on the environment of Çatalhöyük during the Neolithic, although more work is needed to confirm these initial findings.     

Marsone, Pierre, The Steppe and the Empire: The Formation of the Khitan [Liao] dynasty-4th-10th Centuries [History]

Conventional treatments of Chinese history include a "Liao/Khitan dynasty" existing on the northern frontier from 907 to 1125,ruled by the ethnically distinctive Khitan (Qidan) people.As Pierre Marsone points out in the foreword to La Steppe et l'Empire,in many histories discussion of this polity is absent or perfunctory.Indeed the work to which Marsone's title alludes,the classic 1938 L'Empire des steppes by René Grousset,presented a comprehensive history of steppe empires yet spared only a few pages of its bulk for the Khitan state.Such neglect obstructs historians' understanding of long-term trends.The Chinese world had seen powerful empires with some degree of "foreignness" before,but this was a new kind of entity that proved immune to the accustomed methods of Chinese policy.Too powerful to play off against other states,with an administration too systematized to succumb to personal politics,the Liao/Khitan empire became such a fixation of Northern Song (960-1127) policymakers that the political history of the latter cannot be effectively told without frequent reference to the former,and it is no coincidence that the two Asian superpowers collapsed nearly simultaneously.In turn,the Liao/Khitan empire set the precedent for the stable hybrid bureaucratic states that were so important in later Chinese history.Marsone's work makes the valuable contribution of clarifying how this empire came into being.The resulting account is an invaluable corrective to dynastically delimited narratives in which the Liao empire appears in the tenth century as an abrupt and novel development,epitomizing the Great Man model of history in the form of its founder,Yelü Abaoji.     

Two Pagan Studies: Pater's ‘Denys L'Auxerrois’ and ‘Apollo in Picardy’

AMAPA STORYTELLERS. By STANLEY L. ROBE. — THE KLABAUTERMANN OF THE NORTHERN SEAS. An Analysis of the protective Spirit of Ships and Sailors in the Context of popular Belief, Christian Legend and Indo-European Mythology. By R. J. Buss, Folklore Studies, Vols. 24 and 25. University of California Press, Berkeley. 1972, 1973. Pp. xiv, 108, 1 plate; pp. x, 138. Reviewed by Ellen Ettlinger.

FOLKLORE AND THE SEA. By HORACE BECK. Published for the Marine Historical Association, Incorporated, by Western University Press, Middletown, Connecticut, 1973. Pp. 463, 21 plates. Reviewed by J. D. A. WIDDOWSON.

BALTIC LITERATURE AND LINGUISTICS. Edited by A. ZIEDONIS, J. PUHVEL, R. SILBAJORIS and M. VALGEMÄE. Publications of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies, 4. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 1973. Pp. 252. Reviewed by H. R. Ellis Davidson.

HAMLET'S MILL. By GIORGIO DE SANTILLANA and HERTHA VON DECHEND. Gambit Inc., Boston, 1969. Pp. 506, 1 plate and 40 illustrations and diagrams. $10.00. Reviewed by H. R. ELLIS DAVIDSON.

BÄUERLICHE DENKWEISE IN WIRTSCHAFT UND HAUSHALT. Eine ethnographische Untersuchung über das ungarische Dorf Atány. By E. FÉL and T. HOFER. Verlag Otto Schwartz &; Co, Göttingen, 1972. Pp. xviii, 551. Plates 139, 63 text ill. and II statistical tabulations. Reviewed by Ellen Ettlinger.

DIE JENSEITSBRÜCKE IM MITTELALTER. By PETER DINZELBACHER. Disserationen der Universität Wien vol. 104. Verband der wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaften Österreichs, Vienna, 1973. Pp. 258. Reviewed by Ellen Ettlinger.

DIE GABEN DER BRAUT BEI DEN FINNEN UND ESTEN. Vol. I–II. By MAIJA-LIISA HEIKINMÄKI. Kansatieteellinen Arkisto, Nr. 21, 22. Helsinki, 1970, 1971. Pp. 268, 163. Reviewed by BÉLA GUNDA.     

Reproducibility and Replicability in Geographical Analysis

The scientific method is predicated on the assumption that research designs and results can be reproduced and replicated. However, recent findings in some disciplines suggest that many studies fail to reach this standard, moving issues surrounding reproducibility and replicability forward into the research agenda of those fields. While the topic has yet to become a point of controversy in geography, the intricacies of geographic phenomena and spatial data analysis make the field vulnerable to criticism. This commentary discusses how uncertainties related to the conception, measurement, analysis, and communication of geographic analyses contribute to difficulties in the reproduction and replication of geographic research. Investigating how these uncertainties collectively impact the reproducibility and replicability of spatial data analyses should be a critical focus of future Geographical Analysis research. A call to action for geographers to improve the reproducibility and replicability of their work and specific recommendations on how Geographical Analysis might facilitate this process conclude the commentary.     

Children as community planners: embodied activities,visual-spatial thinking,and a re-imagined community

ABSTRACT

This qualitative research endeavor explored the role of embodiment as a pathway to visual-spatial thinking. The researchers relied on an interdisciplinary approach using geography and theater rooted in kinesthetic and empathetic embodied activities to facilitate visual-spatial thinking within the context of a community redevelopment project. The participants consisted of 14 elementary and middle school aged girls attending a Girls Inc. program within a low-income housing community. The researchers situated the findings using McCormack’s ([1998. Visual/Spatial Thinking: An Essential Element of Elementary School Science. Washington, DC: Council for Elementary School Science]; [2011. “Don’t Verbalize, Visualize!” NSTA WebNews Digest. Accessed June 15, 2016. http://www.nsta.org/publications/news/story.aspx?id=58298]) visual-spatial thinking typology and theories of embodiment. The findings revealed that the girls exhibited three types of visual-spatial thinking, which ranged from foundational to highly advanced ways of thinking about space, to include visual-spatial perception, memory, and creative thinking. The results also illustrate that embodied activities that engage sensorimotor functions through an interdisciplinary approach, can facilitate visual-spatial thinking.     

Beyond perception: Spatial analysis of detached ADU potential on residential lots in Windsor,Ontario

This paper analyzes the spatial potential of detached additional dwelling units (ADUs) in Windsor, Ontario. A new GIS model, which integrates various geoprocessing commands in ArcGIS 10.8.1, is developed to calculate whether the minimum allowable size of a detached ADU can fit within the total buildable area of a residential property, based on the setbacks, the lot coverage requirements, and other factors (such as parking and flood plain areas). The model uses publicly sourced data that were obtained from the City of Windsor's Open Data Portal. More specifically, individual residential parcels and associated building footprints along with street centerlines are used as inputs to the model. The outputs are then categorized into three types (suitable, potentially suitable, and not suitable) to demonstrate where detached ADUs can be built in compliance with the local zoning bylaws, on both an individual lot basis and at an aggregate level. The conducted analysis reveals the potential of existing residential neighbourhoods in a mid-size city, and has many implications for homeowners, policymakers, and researchers with respect to increasing housing supply within current Canadian municipalities.