Fishing Booths and Fishing Strategies in Medieval Iceland: an Archaeofauna from the of Akurvík,North-West Iceland

Abstract

Excavations in 1990 in North-West Iceland documented a stratified series of small turf structures and associated midden deposits at the eroding beach at Akurvík which date from the 11th–13th to the 15th–16th centuries AD. The site reflects a long series of small discontinuous occupations, probably associated with seasonal fishing. The shell sand matrix had allowed excellent organic preservation and an archaeofauna of over 100,000 identifiable fragments was recovered. The collections are dominated by fish, mainly Atlantic cod, but substantial amounts of whale bone suggest extensive exploitation of strandings or active whaling. This paper briefly summarizes the excavation results, presents a zooarchaeological analysis of the two largest radiocarbon dated contexts, and places the Akurvík collections in the wider context of intra-Icelandic and inter-regional trade in preserved fish. Analysis of the Akurvík collection and comparison with other Icelandic collections from both inland and coastal sites dating from 9th to 19th centuries AD both reinforces evidence for an early, pre-Hanseatic internal Icelandic fish trade and supports historical documentation of Icelandic participation in the growing international fish trade of the late Middle Ages.     

The Journey of Kalidas Datta and the Construction of Regional History in Pre- and Post-Independent Bengal,India

Abstract

Through the work of amateur archaeologist Kalidas Datta, this paper explores an alternative view of archaeology in India. Datta's writings, produced between the late 1920s and the early 1960s, reconstruct the regional history of the Sundarbans, a region lying in the south 24 Parganas, West Bengal, in eastern India. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw the crystallization of a nationalist reaction against British colonial rule. Datta's publications, produced outside the institutional structure of the Archaeological Survey of India, the University of Calcutta, and the local societies dedicated to promoting Bengali history and archaeology, can be used to reveal how a geographical region was transformed into a cultural entity in pre- and post-independent Bengal. This paper explores whether this transformation led to the formation of a distinct regional identity and to what extent this regional identity was important when considering the professional institutional efforts to create an overarching Bengali history and identity. These queries are situated in the backdrop of early twentieth-century developments in the intellectual milieu of Bengal. Although framed in regional terms, these developments have wider implications for understanding Indian nationhood, during a period when nation states in much of Asia and the Middle East were emerging.     

Weaving a New Fabric of Natural History

Abstract

Natural history offers an interestingly rich mix of traditional and modern ways of organizing data, information, and knowledge. The Linnaean tradition still defines the basis of how taxonomic knowledge of organisms is organized, while at the same time complementary perspectives on databases and ontologies are developed and implemented, to provide enhanced access to natural history collection data to researchers in taxonomy and biodiversity. Some of this knowledge enrichment may even be automated, and bootstrapped from basic object metadata. This metadata is largely composed of natural language text, which is generally more noisy and ambiguous than numeric data. In this contribution, we present two methods for the automated discovery of metadata from textual object databases: first, the automatic detection of new metadata in existing free-text database columns, and second, the discovery of new ontological relations between metadata elements.     

THE HISTORY OF THE BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY PROJECT IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY,AND APPLYING NUCLEAR METHODS TO THE FINE ARTS

This paper traces the events leading up to the formation of a project in 1954, in the Chemistry Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory, dedicated to the application of those new developments that were rapidly transforming postwar nuclear science to the parallel humanistic disciplines of archaeology and the fine arts. The further evolution of this effort involved the enlightened support of the Department of Energy (then AEC and ERDA) coupled with the lively interests of the archaeological, fine‐arts and art‐historical communities, their professional academics and the many graduate and undergraduate students who participated in the Brookhaven project. But more than new scientific methodologies, concepts and instrumentation were deployed. What developed was a large‐scale, truly interdisciplinary effort, where scholars of the humanities and sciences worked side by side in a remarkable way, each led by the other, to the mutual benefit and increase of their knowledge and understanding. A paradigm of co‐operation between arts and sciences was initiated: this paper presents a record of the process and its outcome, a novel blending of science and humanism that is very much taken for granted by research workers today.     

Cultural Heritage and Communities Coexisting: Public Archaeology in Cambodia, 1999–2009

Abstract

This paper outlines the background, planning and execution of a programme of public education around the archaeological site of Banteay Kdei in Cambodia. This was aimed at interesting and involving local communities in the research carried out at the site, and providing opportunities for further engagement. The programme was conducted within the established Japanese model of gensetsu, organized educational visits to working archaeological sites. The paper discusses the practicalities of establishing gensetsu at Banteay Kdei, including bureaucratic and practical obstacles, and the rewards of working with local schools.     

The Impact of the Franco-Prussian War on Veterans: The Company-Level Career Patterns of the French Army 1870–1895

Abstract

The German Army generally failed to capitalize on early developments in mechanization and armoured vehicles during the second half of the First World War. This article argues that, while the German military was certainly not technophobic nor resistant to change, the developments in 'machine warfare' were fundamentally inimical to the dominant cultural assumptions held by German officers concerning the nature of war, and that this goes a long way in explaining the decision not to mass-produce armoured vehicles.     

Imperial Nationality Policy and the Russian Version of the History of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

Abstract

This article analyses how changes in Russian nationality policy after the 1830–31 Uprising in Poland and Lithuania led to the initiative of an historical project that sought to prove the Russian nature of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It focuses on the tender organized by the Ministry of Education in the 1830s for the publication of a history textbook, which was to form the canon of Russian interpretations of the history of the Grand Duchy. The most important creator of this narrative was Nikolai Ustrialov. According to Ustrialov, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was just as much a Russian state as the Grand Duchy of Moscow, with the sole caveat that the tiny Lithuanian nation had played a part in creating it. Territorial rivalry between these two states was a mere ‘family quarrel’ over which dynasty would prevail. The supremacy of the Lithuanian dynasty did not mean the victory of an alien power since the Lithuanian princes were closely related to Russian princes and moreover, a considerable number of them belonged to the Eastern (Orthodox) Church. Russians could regard therefore them as their own. The last part of this article is devoted to the changes in nationality policy after the 1863–64 Uprising and the requirement for a new interpretation of the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.     

CONIFEROUS WOOD PULP IN TRADITIONAL KOREAN PAPER BETWEEN THE 15TH AND 18TH CENTURIES ad*

One hundred and sixty‐nine fibre samples from books in the Korean collection and 68 samples from books in the Japanese collection at the British Library were analysed. A further 15 samples of Korean paper from a private collection were also examined. The analysis confirmed that most of the papers contained mulberry species (Moraceae family) as the main papermaking material, and other materials, such as hemp, rice straw and reed, which have been commonly known as supplements to traditional Korean papermaking. However, 15 Korean papers and one Japanese paper dating between ad 1498 and 1798 appeared to include coniferous wood fibres. This substantial find supports a previous single find of a coniferous wood fibre in Korean paper. The dates of most of these papers containing wood fibres precede the use of wood pulps in European paper.     

方国瑜先生与彝族史研究

方国瑜先生是中国西南民族史研究的拓荒者和奠基人。自 1 93 4年秋开始收集资料 ,到 1 984年《彝族史稿》公开出版 ,在长达半个世纪的时间里 ,方先生“筚路蓝缕 ,以启山林” ,在资料的搜集、整理 ,族别史研究的理论指导 ,彝族史研究的框架体系 ,彝族史上的重大问题如族源、叟人、爨部、乌蛮、南诏等方面做出了开创性的贡献 ,为彝族史学科的建立和发展奠定了坚实的基础。同时 ,方先生提出的理论体系和对重大问题的讨论 ,在中国民族史研究上 ,具有普遍性的理论指导意义     

The Internationalism of German Castle Research: Bodo Ebhardt,His European Network,and the Construction of 'Castle Knowledge'

Abstract

Recent monographs and articles emphasize the strong impact of nationalism and racist thinking on archaeology. In contrast to the treatments which focus on single nation states and on archaeology as a politically legitimate science, this paper explores the tension between internationalism and racist premises in German castle research, and how it manifests itself in the construction of knowledge about medieval castles across national borders. I will focus on Bodo Ebhardt, Germany's most famous and influential castle researcher of the first half of the 20th century. The analysis of his scientific work, and of his personal contact with other European researchers as well as with German politicians and patrons, will shed light on the changes and continuities in his network, and in particular on his construction of the past that was influenced by the formation of this network, which, in turn, affected his assessment of medieval castles.