Unfastening Israel's Future from the Occupation: Israeli Plans for Partial Annexation of West Bank Territory

Israeli plans to partially annex West Bank territory have mainly been perceived as frustrating the two-state solution, and as putting Palestine/Israel on a path leading to the one-state alternative. This paper analyses partial annexation plans without assuming that the future of Palestine/Israel would necessarily abide by either statist resolution. It argues that by ostensibly distancing Israel's hold of the West Bank from an identifiable configuration of a belligerent occupation, partial annexation is offered to Jewish Israelis as a path for detaching the futurity of the two nations, and as a trajectory for normalising the Israeli state, without having to make what much of this public would see as painful concessions. It further explores settlers’ objections to such plans, claiming that even a partial incorporation of West Bank territory into formal Israel is expected to erode the exclusivity of Jewish domination which Israel has been upholding in its settler-colonial frontier.     

The emergence of agropastoralism: Accelerated ecocultural change on the Andean altiplano, ∼3540–3120 cal BP

In the fourth millennium BP, there were major environmental and cultural changes on the Andean altiplano of South America, but the chronology remains vague. A recent synthesis describes a slow, gradual transition from hunting and gathering to agropastoralism. This proposal is tested by refining the date of the onset of more humid and stable conditions, around 3550 cal BP, based on a Bayesian model of 26 dates from Lake Wiñaymarka and an updated calculation of the lacustrine offset. This is compared to Bayesian models of 191 dates from 20 archaeological sites, which incorporate a number of recently processed radiocarbon dates. A synthesis is presented of 15 full coverage surveys, a summed probability distribution, and a Bayesian model of the transition to ceramics, which together support a scenario of a very rapid demographic increase. Fourteen models from archaeological sites are cross-referenced in a composite model, which identifies a brief, altiplano-wide emergence of agropastoralism with starting and ending boundaries of 3540 and 3120 cal BP, respectively. This starting boundary correlates strongly with the onset of improving environmental conditions, indicating synchronous cultural and environmental change. The suite of accelerating cultural changes included a marked reduction in mobility, a demographic surge, increased subsistence diversity, the adoption of ceramics, farming and the integration of camelid herding into a remarkably resilient economic strategy still in use today. This is a highly relevant but yet to be used comparative case study for the variable tempos of ‘big histories’, and ecocultural interactions that generate rapid, emergent episodes of wide-spread and enduring cultural change.     

Construction Features of Doel 1, a 14th‐Century Cog found in Flanders

In 2000, a well‐preserved, c.21 m‐long shipwreck, Doel 1, was found upside‐down in a silted‐up creek near the river Scheldt (Belgium). An interdisciplinary research project was initiated, including 3D registration of all timbers, wood species identification, dendrochronology and archaeobotanical analysis of the caulking material. Doel 1, of which 70% is preserved, displays the construction features of a cog. Unseasoned wood was used and dated by dendrochronology to AD 1325/26. Remarkable features include the symmetrical layout of the bottom planks, the atypical arrangement of the frames to the fore, and evidence of partial dissassembly of the ship after intensive use.     

14C and Maya Long Count Dates: Using Bayesian Modelling to Develop Robust Site Chronologies

Bayesian statistics has now demonstrated its strong utility in archaeology, specifically through software that conditions radiocarbon data. Only recently has this technology been applied within Maya archaeology, however, in part because the Maya calendar provides a much greater resolution in dating archaeological events than is possible with radiocarbon data. The Long Count in particular allows for the assignment of some events relative to each other, accurate to the day. In this paper, a new approach is presented to incorporate robust records of both in the same Bayesian analysis through the OxCal software. The results do call for a reconsideration of the earliest radiocarbon studies in the Maya area from the 1960s, as well as the latest attempts to corroborate the currently popular calendar correlation known as the GMT. This new study demonstrates the value of the approach and corroborates the 1σ accuracy of the GMT, while at the same time opening up the possibility of revision by 20 or more years.     

The supermarket revolution in developing countries: tidal wave or tough competitive struggle?

An extensive literature on the transformation of food retailingin developing countries by the expansion of supermarkets hashighlighted the implications of the concentration of food valuechains for the continued incorporation of small farmers in freshproduce supply. A critical examination of this literature showsthat extent of the transformation of retailing, and also offood production as a consequence of it, is overestimated, particularlyfor fresh produce. The future landscape of food retailing willbe more varied than the supermarket revolution hypothesis predicts.     

14C测定判别武王克商年代范围始末

武王克商年代是我国古代编年中的一个关键点,近年来^14C测定技术有了重要发展,我国^14C测年界在此基础上探讨了^14C方法应用于商周历史纪年的希望。1996年夏商周断代工程正式立项,利用^14C测定判别武王克商年代范围的任务得以实施。1998年初两个常规^14C实验室以3‰测定精度,前后开始对陕西丰镐遗址出土样品^14C测定,并于1998年10月6－7日先后公布了^14C数据,提出武王克商代范围应判别在公元前1050－1020年间。1998年下半年AMS室开始测定。三室测定数据对比结果基本相合,利用殷墟,琉璃河等遗址出土的样品系列作^14C测定得出的结果,与上述年代范围一致。1998年11月30日公布了天计算结果,与测定结果不谋而合,经多方面反复验证,历时近二年,都无法动摇已有的判别结果,具有较高的可信度。     

建国初期的冀朝鼎

新中国诞生后,百废待兴。冀朝鼎在帝国主义实施禁运和经济封锁的困难面前,积极探索中国外经贸的新体制,加强外汇管理,以灵活的外交,与11个国家签定了外贸协定,还成功地与日本、英国等未建交国家进行“民间贸易”．打破西方列强的孤立政策．开创了中国对外交往与贸易的新局面。     

Cosmopolitan translation and patriotic sensibilities in German garden art

ABSTRACT

My focus in this article is on a small group of German theorists, designers and patrons who thought extensively about the relationship between national identity and garden design: Christian Hirschfeld, Prince Franz von Anhalt-Dessau and his wife Luise, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Prince Pückler. These garden enthusiasts knew one another through personal contact or their writings, and they responded to and developed their ideas in relation to the newly framed creative enterprise in German lands of “garden-landscape-art”. What they shared was a conviction that garden forms affect feelings, with the role of the garden artist to determine paths that would alter and diversify the visitor’s experience of place. This essay explores how spontaneous emotions, elicited by movement through the garden, were linked with a growing sense of patriotism that contrasted with cosmopolitan judgments in the writings of Hirschfeld, Pückler, and Goethe.     

Cleft Lip Case in a Middle Bronze Age Young Man from Altai,Russia

Oral cleft (OC) is a common congenital anomaly in humans, which occurs in approximately one per 700 live births. However, cleft skulls are found relatively seldom in archaeological specimens, especially for the bc period. Mortality of infants with OC was apparently high because of breastfeeding difficulties and culturally sanctioned rejection of them in the past. This paper presents one of the most ancient cases of OC in Eurasia. The finding comes from the Middle Bronze Age pastoralists' cemetery in Altai, Russia. The skeletal remains have been radiocarbon dated to 1883–1665 cal bc . Cranial and dental measurements, computed tomography and radiography have been used to examine this malformation. The facial sculpting reconstruction has been performed to visualise the ante mortem appearance of the cleft face. Besides, δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N isotope analysis was used for a comparative study of the diet of the cleft individual. It has been established that a young man from Altai was affected by complete bilateral cleft lip and alveolus, which is a very rare form of typical OC. This defect is associated with dental anomalies such as hypodontia, microdontia, and ectopia as well as with dysmorphology of the facial complex outside the cleft area, including mild hypertelorism, hypoplasia of nasal bones and antheroposterior maxillary deficiency. Furthermore, aplasia of the frontal sinuses and the sacral spina bifida occulta have been observed. These findings are consistent with clinical data indicating strong correlation between development of a major defect and multiple minor anomalies. The results of the study also suggest that there was tolerant attitude towards the facial deformities among the ancient Altai pastoralists. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.