Revolutionary archaeology in Cuba

The Revolution of 1959 brought forth changes in the mission, theoretical orientation, and organization of archaeology in Cuba and created a role for, and constraints on, the profession that are unique in the Western Hemisphere. This paper draws upon examples from substantive field and laboratory research to examine the methods and theoretical perspectives of Cuban archaeology since the Revolution, focusing on the period from 1962 until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Archaeological practice during the Revolutionary period in Cuba has reflected the aims of the Revolutionary government, the influence of Soviet archaeology, the legacy of pre-Revolutionary approaches in North American archaeology, and the Cuban sense ofpatria.     

The culture history of Madagascar

Madagascar's culture is a unique fusion of elements drawn from the western, northern, and eastern shores of the Indian Ocean, and its past has fascinated many scholars, yet systematic archaeological research is relatively recent on the island. The oldest traces of visitors are from the first century AD. Coastal settlements, with clear evidence of ties to the western Indian Ocean trading network, were established in several places over the next millennium. Important environmental changes of both plant and animal communities are documented over this period, including the extinctions of almost all large animal species. Urban life in Madagascar began with the establishment of the entrepôt of Mahilaka on the northwest coast of the island in the twelfth century. At about the same time, communities with ties to the trade network were established around the island's coasts. From the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, social hierarchies developed in several regions of the island. During the succeeding two centuries, Madagascar saw the development of state polities.     

Alternative notions of sexuality and personhood: the case of Bal Gandharva

This article examines the meteoric rise and enormous popularity of a Marathi stage actor and singer, Bal Gandharva, in early twentieth-century western India. Gandharva was distinctive because he was a male artist who dressed and acted as a woman on stage and was adulated by both women and men for his powerful female roles. The article argues that Gandharva embodied ‘fuzzy’ boundaries between man and woman, drawing from indigenous traditions of gender fluidity. While maintaining strict boundaries between being a man in his personal life and a woman on stage, Gandharva tapped into alternative notions of masculinity. I argue that the adulation he experienced for his acting and singing as a woman points to transgressive possibilities in the otherwise conservative middle-class imagination and challenges what are colonial constructions of hyper-masculinity.     

The Post-Colonial Constitutional Order of the Commonwealth Caribbean: The Endurance of the Crown and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

ABSTRACT

Amongst Britain's former colonies the independent countries of the Commonwealth Caribbean represent something of an anomaly in so far as the majority of them remain constitutional monarchies and continue to retain the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) as their final appellate court, even though the region has had its own final appellate court – the Caribbean Court of Justice – since 2006. This is in marked contrast to Britain's former colonies in Africa and South Asia, the majority of which switched to republicanism soon after independence and at the same time abolished rights of appeal to the JCPC. This paper seeks to uncover the reasons for this anomaly by examining how the path that led to independence was shaped by a particular conception of Dominion status and by the willingness of nationalist leaders to embrace a dual identity: equal parts West Indian nationalist and Empire loyalist. It will also examine the phenomenon of the ‘postcolony’; being the persistence of the colonial order following the acquisition of constitutional independence. The paper has three aims. Firstly, to contribute to a better understanding of the impact of Dominion status and all that it symbolised in a region which is often overlooked in the scholarly literature on this topic. Secondly, better to understand the competing political forces that led three countries in the region to adopt republicanism, but inhibited its adoption elsewhere in the region. Thirdly, and finally, to enhance discussion of the complex nexus between republicanism and the abolition of rights of appeal to the JCPC where political and juridical considerations do not neatly align.     

Gazella (Bovidae,Ruminantia) remains from the Siwalik Group of Pakistan

Khan, M.A., Babar, M.A., Akhtar, M., Iliopoulos, G., Rakha, A. & Noor, T., November 2015. Gazella (Bovidae, Ruminantia) remains from the Siwalik Group of Pakistan. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

New gazelle fossils are described from the Siwalik Group of Pakistan. The material includes horncores, maxilla and mandible fragments, and isolated teeth. The available samples are assigned to three Gazella species: Gazella sp. in the Lower Siwalik Subgroup (ca 14.2–11.2 Ma), and G. lydekkeri and G. superba in the Middle Siwalik Subgroup (ca 10.2–3.4 Ma). Based on a review of the Siwalik Group gazelles, G. padriensis is synonymized with G. lydekkeri. Gazella superba Pilgrim, 1939 sensu stricto is a large form and is a valid species of the genus in the Siwalik Group.

Muhammad Akbar Khan [akbaar111@yahoo.ca], Muhammad Adeeb Babar [babar_fcc2005@yahoo.com], Muhammad Akhtar [drakhtarfdrc@hotmail.com], Allah Rakha [babar.441@googlemail.com], Tuba Noor [akbar.zool@pu.edu.pk], Abu Bakr Fossil Display & Research Centre, Department of Zoology, Quid-e-Azam Campus, Punjab University (54590), Lahore, Pakistan; George Iliopoulos [borelakias@gmail.com], Geology Department of the University of Patras, Patras, Greece.     

Re‐sewing the Sewn: An Ethnographic Record of Repair and Reuse of Sewn‐plank River Boats in Goa,India

The tradition of fastening planked boats using sewing is characteristic of the Indian Ocean region. Despite known disadvantages of sewn boats, including that perishable materials need regular maintenance and repair, operators of boats used in the sand‐mining industry of Goa still see potential in discarded sewn boats. The problems, raw materials used, technology, and process of re‐sewing and repairing these boats to give them a second life are reported and discussed here.     

Nationalism,party political discourse and Scottish independence: comparing discursive visions of Scotland's constitutional status

This article critically examines the predominant narratives which emanated from party political discourse in relation to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Utilising a methodological approach centring on political discourse analysis (Fairclough and Fairclough 2012), this paper analyses party manifestos and constitutional policy documents produced by the three largest political parties represented in the Scottish Parliament, namely, the pro‐independence Scottish National Party, and two pro‐union parties, Scottish Labour and the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. The emergent discourse of each party is interrogated by drawing upon pertinent theoretical concepts from previous academic analyses of Scottish nationalism, with particular attention given to those which have deployed modernist and ethnosymbolist theoretical approaches when analysing the Scottish context. This facilitates a critical reflection on the contrasting and nuanced narratives of the Scottish nation's past and future espoused by each political party vis‐à‐vis modernist and ethnosymbolist theory, illustrating the ways in which contrasting theorisations of nationalism are empirically tangible within political discourse and are thus not simply theoretical abstractions.     

《艾登备忘录》与二战末期英国对藏政策

《艾登备忘录》是英国政府1943年制定的对藏政策。其内容延续了英国一贯主张的“宗主权”理论,并以“西藏自治”来要挟中国政府。古德使团依照此政策在拉萨鼓动西藏自治之后,英国外交部又决定反思其西藏政策,但遭到印度政府和印度事务部的反对。从总体来看,无论《艾登备忘录》的提出,还是英国对藏政策的波动,都是出于英国对华总政策的需要。