The Preservation and Interpretation of δ34S Values in Charred Archaeobotanical Remains

The measurement of sulphur isotope (δ³⁴S) values in charred plant remains has the potential to inform understanding of the spatial configuration and ecology of crop production. We investigated the effects of charring, manuring, oxidation and anaerobic soil conditions on modern cereal grain/pulse seed δ³⁴S values, and assessed the effect of chemical pre‐treatment on charred modern and archaeobotanical grain/seed δ³⁴S values. We used these results to interpret δ³⁴S values in archaeobotanical material from Neolithic Çatalhöyük. Our results suggest that δ³⁴S values can be reliably preserved in charred grain/seeds but are subject to influence by anaerobic soil conditions, the effect depending on the timing of flooding in relation to S assimilation.     

Poromoi Tamu and the Case of the Drowning Village: History, Lost Places and the Stories We Tell

Archaeological excavations at an ancestral village site within rainforest in Papua New Guinea has revealed buried cultural evidence that can be explained in a number of ways. While interpretations based on Western archaeological methods suggest regional landscape dynamics informed by geomorphological processes, Indigenous Rumu oral traditions suggest an interpretation of the site’s stratigraphy based on the workings of spiritual forces. The role of story-telling and new information in site interpretation and understanding is explored in light of these different yet complementary accounts.     

Reviews

THE PAPUA‐NEW GUINEA ELECTIONS 1964. David Bettism, Colin Hughes and Paul van der Veur (eds.) Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1965. Pp. xi + 545. $A 9.00.

SEARCH FOR NEW GUINEA'S BOUNDARIES: FROM TORRES STRAIT TO THE PACIFIC. Paul van der Veur. Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1966. Pp. xii + 178. $A 6.30.

DOCUMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE ON NEW GUINEA'S BOUNDARIES. Paul van der Veur. Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1966. Pp. 212. $A 3.90.

BURMA: FROM KINGDOM TO INDEPENDENCE. Frank N. Trager. London, Pall Mall Press, 1966. Pp. xiii + 455. $A 10.90.

THE POLITICS OF THE THIRD WORLD. J. D. B. Miller. London, Oxford University Press for the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1966. Pp. xiv + 126. $A2.15.

IRONIES OF HISTORY, ESSAYS IN CONTEMPORARY COMMUNISM. Isaac Deutscher. Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. vii + 278. $A 5.80.

SOVIET AFFAIRS NUMBER FOUR. St. Antony's Papers No. 19. Michael Kaser (ed.). Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. 156. $A5.10.

A DECADE OF COMMONWEALTH 1955–1964. W. B. Hamilton, Kenneth Robinson and C. D. W. Goodwin (eds.). Durham, N.C., Duke University Press, 1966. Pp. xx + 567. (US) $12.50.

THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE‐COMMONWEALTH. Robin W. Winks (ed.). Durham N.C., Duke University Press, 1966. Pp. xiv + 596. (US) $12.50.

TEST BAN AND DISARMAMENT: THE PATH OF NEGOTIATION. Arthur H. Dean. New York, Harper and Row, 1966. Pp. xiii + 153. (U.S.) $3.50.

DETERRENCE AND THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE. Albert Legault. Toronto, Canadian Institute of International Affairs, 1966. Pp. xv + 103. $2.00 (Canadian).

STRATEGIC POWER AND SOVIET FOREIGN POLICY. Arnold L. Horelick and Myron Rush. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1966. Pp. xii + 225. (U.S.) $5.95.

NEW FEDERATIONS: EXPERIMENTS IN THE COMMONWEALTH. R. L. Watts. Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1966. Pp. xii + 417 + Maps. $A 10.90.     

WEST EDMONTON MALL: ENTREPRENEURIAL INNOVATION AND CONSUMER RESPONSE

West Edmonton Mall was developed and has maintained its position as Edmonton's primary focus of retailing, recreational, and leisure activity through innovative entrepreneurial skills and extensive promotions. These are viewed as necessarily concomitant to the size, location, and functional complexity of the mall relative to the size of the Edmonton market and the remainder of the city's retail structure. One strategy was to dominate the market by tempting consumers with the rewards of a complete shopping environment within the confines of one, carefully orchestrated retail complex. The success of this approach is evaluated through an examination of the entrepreneurial behaviour of the developer (Triple Five) in relation to the consumer spatial preferences of a sample of Edmontonians. From this evidence it is suggested that the mall's retail importance may not be as pervasive locally as is commonly thought. Consumer mobility and the intrinsic character of the retail structure are reasons suggested for this, both of which require further investigation and elaboration.     

Settlement Reorganisation and the Rebirth of the Ottoman Empire: Bayesian Modelling Narrows Dates for Post-Medieval Occupation at Kaman-Kalehöyük,Kırşehir Province,Turkey

The Ottoman reoccupation of the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük (K?r?ehir Province, Turkey) apparently occurred sometime during the fifteenth century CE, a time of massive territorial and administrative transformation in the Empire. A rich suite of archaeobotanical material recovered from the site offers a potentially invaluable source of information on Ottoman-era Anatolian agroeconomy, especially since historiographic research on the topic has uniformly ignored archaeological perspectives. Here we present results of a multi-proxy analysis aimed at establishing an absolute multiphasic chronology for Kaman-Kalehöyük’s Ottoman occupation, founded upon Bayesian statistical modelling of high-precision radiocarbon dates from cereal remains. We use the new chronology to position Kaman-Kalehöyük’s resettlement within a historical context, allowing a new perspective on settlement responses to large-scale Ottoman sociopolitical change in Anatolia.