Cultural participation in Europe: shared problem or shared problematisation?

Europe has a ‘problem’; it is becoming a ‘less cultural continent’ as fewer Europeans are ‘engaging in cultural activities’. This conclusion has been reached due to the findings of the latest cross national cultural participation survey. This paper questions the existence of this ‘problem’ and instead suggests that there is a shared problematisation across Europe sustained by common discursive archaeology that employs various discursive strands in relation to a dominant institutional discourse. The argument is that the ‘problem’ of ‘non-participation’ legitimates a ‘solution’ that predates its emergence: the state subsidy of arts organisations. The paper recaps the comparable problematisations that the researchers have previously identified in the policy texts of their respective countries. It progresses to consider three distinct but interwoven discursive strands upon which the problem representation in both countries, and potentially across Europe, appears to rely.     

Holocene climatic change and past Irish societal response

The extent to which North Atlantic Holocene climatic perturbations influenced past human societies is an area of considerable uncertainty and fierce debate. Ireland is ideally placed to help resolve this issue, being occupied for over 9000 yr and located on the eastern Atlantic seaboard, a region dominated by westerly airflow. Irish bog and lake tree populations provide unambiguous evidence of major shifts in surface moisture through the Holocene similar to cycles recorded in the marine realm of the North Atlantic, indicating significant changes in the latitude and intensity of zonal atmospheric circulation across the region. To test for human response to these cycles we summed the probabilities of 465 radiocarbon ages obtained from Irish archaeological contexts and observe enhanced archaeological visibility during periods of sustained wet conditions. These results suggest either increasing density of human populations in key, often defensive locations, and/or the development of subsistence strategies to overcome changing conditions, the latter recently proposed as a significant factor in avoiding societal collapse. Regardless, we demonstrate environmental change is a significantly more important factor in influencing human activity in the landscape than has hitherto been acknowledged.     

河南省文物考古研究所建所五十周年回眸

河南省文物考古研究所的前身是河南文物工作队 ,它成立于 1 952年 6月 ,至今已走过了 50个春秋。 50年的开拓进取 ,50年的发展壮大 ,职工队伍由建队时的 2 0余人增至现在的 1 0 5人 ,基础设施从开初的两座二层楼房扩展为一幢五层办公楼、一幢六层库房楼和一幢五层住房楼 ,并拥有现代化的摄录像设备、修复设备、办公通讯和交通工具等。全所设置有第一、二、三研究室、业务科、编辑部、资料室、办公室、计财科、保卫科、老干部科和科技服务部等 1 1个科室 ,在三个研究室下面还有郑州商城、郑州西山、新郑、登封、三门峡、济源等六个工作站 ,承…     

Aspects of gift giving in Denmark in the sixteenth century and the case of the Rose Flower Cup

The concept of an ancient system of gift exchange gradually being replaced by a market economy during the middle ages and early modern period has been rightly challenged by many recent studies. As it will appear from this essay on gift giving at the Danish court of King Frederik II (1559–88), gifts and favours continued to play an important role in the organisation of power and society. Several examples from sixteenth-century Denmark are discussed, including Frederik II's patronage of the astronomer Tycho Brahe. Special emphasis is put on a gift from the Danish noble couple Hans Skovgaard and Anne Parsberg on the occasion of the baptism in 1577 of their godson, the eldest son of Frederik II. Donations at rites of passage like baptism were a convention at the time, yet the huge gilt silver cup known as the ‘Rose Flower’ was more than that. It was an elegant way of reciprocating an earlier, royal wedding gift. At the same time the cup and its symbolism hinted at the ideal of the generous lord, stressing the hospitality and accessibility expected from the king, an ideal as common to king and nobility at the renaissance court of the sixteenth century as it had been in the previous centuries. The more humble gifts mentioned in private account books of the time point to the fact that people did not necessarily give someone a gift to obtain something in return. Sometimes gifts were simply given to sustain the social order of which the donors were a part.     

Wild galliform and gruiform birds (Aves,Galliformes and Gruiformes) in the archaeological record of Bulgaria

A total of 453 bones (294 of galliform and 159 of gruiform birds) from 28 archaeological sites are considered here, 34 per cent of the total ornithoarchaeological wild bird finds collected in Bulgaria so far. They cover a period from the Early Neolithic to the Middle Ages. Eleven species (six galliform and five gruiform), 87.5 and 45.5 per cent, respectively, of the Holocene avifauna of both orders, have been identified. One species, Tetrao tetrix, has totally disappeared and three others, Grus grus, Otis tarda and O. tetrax, now breed beyond the borders of Bulgaria and the Balkans. Some of the sites of the large gamefowl species indicate their wider distribution in the past. Phasianus colchicus is present as early as the Eneolithic period. The wild galliform and gruiform species were important as a source of meat for the local population up to the Middle Ages, in spite of widespread breeding of domestic poultry. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Indentured servitude and convict labour in the Danish-Norwegian West Indies, 1671–1755

The article explores how indentured servitude and the use of convict labour began and evolved in the Danish-Norwegian West Indies in the period 1671–1755. It examines the intentions and realities behind indentured servitude and convict labour on the islands, and compares these with the workings and use of indentured servants in the British West Indies.

Similar to conditions in the British West Indies, the lowest social strata of white society in the Danish-Norwegian West Indies consisted of a small population of convicts and indentured servants. The use of these groups as part of the labour force took place from the onset of colonisation in 1672 until 1755, the period in which the islands were governed by the West Indian and Guinean Company, WIGC (Vestindisk-Guineisk Kompagni). The analysis reveals that the importation and deployment of indentured servants and convicts can be divided into two distinct periods. Until 1700, the objective of the WIGC was to provide cheap labour for the colony. After 1700, however, the aim was to recruit qualified personnel and to secure the planters against slave rebellion by increasing the white Danish population. As convicts provided neither qualifications nor security, convict transportations to the Danish-Norwegian West Indies ceased after 1700. After 1755, when the Danish-Norwegian Crown purchased the colonies from the WIGC, Danish convict labour and indentured servants were no longer imported to the colony. By contrast, in the British West Indies, imports of indentured servants and convicts continued to play a significant role.

The article explores the physical and legal conditions of the indentured servants and convicts, who constituted the lowest social group in white colonial society and were in some respects considered slaves.     

Reviews

Dansk socialhistorie 1‐7 (A social history of Denmark 1—7). København, (1979–82). ISBN 87–01–82331–0. Vol. 1: Jørgen Jensen, Oldtidens samfund. Tiden indtil år 800 (Prehistoric society, before 800 AD) 271 pp. Vol. 2: Niels Lund and Kai Hørby, Samfundet i vikingetid og middelalder 800–1500 (Society in the viking and middle ages 800–1500) 322 pp. Vol. 3: Ladewig Petersen, Fra standssamfund til rangssamfund 1500–1700 (From classes to ranks, 1500–1700). 447 pp. Vol. 4: Hans Chr. Johansen, En samfundsorganisation i opbrud 1700–1870 (A society on the move 1700–1780) 333 pp. Vol. 5: Vagn Dybdahl, Det nye samfund på vej 1871–1913 (The new society in the making 1871–1913) 310 pp. Vol. 6: Svend Aage Hansen and Ingrid Henriksen, Sociale brydninger 1914–39 (Social conflicts 1914–39) 424 pp. Vol. 7: Svend Aage Hansen and Ingrid Henriksen, Velfærdsstaten 1940–78 (The welfare state 1940–78) 399 pp. Register, ved Annegrete Dybdahl (Indices) 106 pp.

Fenger, Ole, Gammeldansk ret. Dansk rets historie i oldtid og middelalder (Old Danish law. The history of prehistoric and medieval Danish law). Århus, (1983). ISBN 87–583–0172–0. 156 pp.

Petersson, Birgit, Den farliga underklassen. Studier i fattigdom och brottslighet i 1800‐tale ts Sverige (The dangerous classes. Studies in poverty and crime in 19th century Sweden). Acta Universitatis Umensis. Umeå Studies in the Humanities 53. Umeå, (1983). ISBN 91–7174–133‐X. 306 pp. English summary.

Brändström, Anders, "De kärlekslösa mödrarna.” Spädbamsdödligheten i Sverige under 1800‐talet med särskild hänsyn till Nedertornea ("The loveless mothers.” Infant mortality in Sweden during the 19th century with special attention to the parish of Nedertorneå). Acta Universitatis Umensis. Umeå Studies in the Humanities 62. Umeå, (1984). ISBN 91–7174–162–3. ix+271 pp. English summary.

Hinkkanen‐Lievoncn, Merja‐Liisa, Britisk Trade and Enterprise in the Baltic States 1919–1925. Studia Historka, 14. Helsinki, (1984). ISBN 951–9254–54–4. 312 pp.

Kero, Reino, Neuvosto‐Karjalaa rakentamassa. Pohjois‐Amerikan suomalaiset tekniikan tuojina 1930‐luvun Neuuosto‐Karjalassa (Building Soviet Karelia. North American Finns as the introducers of new techniques to Soviet Karelia during the 1930's). Historiallisia tutkimuksia 122. (Helsinki, 1983). ISBN 951–92544–44–7. 231 pp. English summary.

Ekholm, Curt, Balt‐ och tyskutlämningen 1945–46. Omståndigheter kring interneringen i läger i Sverige och utlämningen till Sovjetunionen av f.d. tyska krigsdeltagare (The deportation of Baltic and German military internees in 1945–46. Circumstances concerning the internment in camps in Sweden and the deportation of former German soldiers to the Soviet Union).

Part 1. Ankomsten och interneringen (The arrival and the internment). Studia historica upsaliensia 136. (Uppsala, 1984). ISBN 91–554–1533–4. 220 pp. English summary.

Part 2. Utlämningen och efterspelet (The deportation and the sequel). Studia historica Upsaliensia 137. (Uppsala, 1984). ISBN 91–554–1534–2. 440 pp. English summary.     

Archaeology of the Ljubljanica River (Slovenia): early underwater investigations and some current issues

Abundant archaeological evidence and specific geomorphologic features make the upper course of the Ljubljanica River running through Ljubljana Moor (Slovenia) one of the most interesting rivers in Europe. Roman bronze vessels and iron weapons found by chance in the Ljubljanica at Vrhnika, the ancient Nauportus, led the director of the Provincial Museum in Ljubljana, Karel Dežman, to devise a large scale plan for an underwater survey of the riverbed. This, one of the first modern research projects of underwater archaeology was executed in 1884 with the help of divers from the Austro-Hungarian naval base in Pula. Investigations by the Group for Underwater Archaeology and the activities of amateur divers from 1979 onwards revealed distinctly structured distributions of underwater finds on several sites in the upper course of the river indicating possible sacred places with votive offerings and funeral sites, as well as other non-ritual concentrations.     

Clay Plates with Stylized Ornithomorphic Representations from Section Vi of the Gorbunovo Peat Bog*

Clay plates with stylized representations of birds found at Section VI of the Gorbunovo Peat Bog (Trans-Urals) in 1926 and 2009 are described here with regard to technology, typology, function, and age. Similarities with Suzgun and Late Cherkaskul artifacts (13th – 12th centuries BC) point to the date of the plates. Suzgun sanctuaries and Andronovo burial sites suggest that the site with which the plates are associated might be either ritual or memorial.