Queering disasters: on the need to account for LGBTI experiences in natural disaster contexts

This article seeks a queering of research and policy in relation to natural disasters, their human impacts, management and response. The human impacts of natural disasters vary across different social groups. We contend that one group largely absent from scholarly and policy agendas is sexual and gender minorities, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual and intersex (LGBTI) populations. To demonstrate that these minorities have particular experiences that need to be addressed, we critically review five case studies that comprise the limited scholarly and policy research on LGBTI populations in disasters to date. Building on this, we offer some specific ways forward for queer disaster research that accounts for the vulnerabilities, needs and resilient capacities of LGBTI populations. In doing so, we recognise and urge researchers, policy-makers and aid agencies to acknowledge that LGBTI populations are not homogeneous and have different needs wrought by intersections of socio-economic resources, gender, race/ethnicity, age and regional or national location.     

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.     

On pottery change and northern Iroquoian origins: An assessment from the Finger Lakes region of central New York

Pots as tools is a concept that has been widely accepted and developed since Braun’s classic 1983 publication. However, in northeastern North America archaeologists continue to use pottery primarily as an aid to culture history and research problems based thereon. In central New York State it has been postulated that a change in pottery forming technique heralds the onset of Iroquoian pottery traditions at around AD 1000. Empirical data on pottery forming and two other pottery traits do not support this postulation. Rather the trends in these traits are consistent with social learning theory and changes in mobility and population aggregation. Following Engelbrecht (1999, 2003) we suggest that a more fruitful approach to understanding the evolution of northern Iroquoian groups is to be found in ethnogenesis theory as described by Moore (1994, 2001).     

Resources and spatial analysis at actual Nenets campsites: Ethnoarchaeological implications

The aim of this paper is to present and discuss empirical evidence on the dynamics of occupation and site formation processes from contemporary mobile campsites in Northwest Siberia. The questions posed are derived generally from archaeological studies of Upper Paleolithic record in Europe. We document the active Nenets summer camps at lakes and the abandoned winter and spring camps in the open tundra and the forest tundra. Analysis of the floral and zoological resources shows that plant resources and fish are available predominantly in the summer while reindeer are abundant in these regions in fall and winter when they return from summer pastures further north. When natural resources are not available, groups supplement with food purchased at shops. Within these living camps, “structures évidentes” and “structures latentes” of classical French paleoethnology cannot be distinguished as clearly as at Upper Paleolithic sites: and architectural remains, ash from hearths, and other objects may be removed from the central areas towards the site peripheries. However the investigated camps preserve a discrete structure with interior living areas (including children’s playgrounds), exterior areas with evidence of reindeer carcass processing, woodworking, and other activities, peripheral toss zones, and dispersed activity remains in the surrounding landscape.     

Description,significance and frequency of the acetabular crease of the hip bone

The acetabular crease is a linear indentation located in the antero‐superior quadrant of the surface of the acetabulum at the level of the Byers Feature 17. Considered by palaeoanthropologists as a discrete trait, it has received scarce attention and the mechanisms underlying its formation and variations according to sex and age remain largely unclear. The purpose of this study, carried out on a large sample from a historic population in France, was to (i) analyse variations according to side, sex and estimated age at death; (ii) assess diachronic variations; and (iii) compare prevalence in various prehistoric and historic populations. Hip bones from a total of 425 subjects of both sexes and all ages were studied. Specimens were from two French historic samples dating from the 11th to 13th centuries and 16th to 17th centuries. The proportion of subjects that died young was higher in the 11th to 13th century group, but the prevalence of the acetabular crease was comparable between the two groups regardless of site or laterality (unilateral or bilateral). No sexual dimorphism or correlation with age was noted at either period. The acetabular crease appears to be a stable anatomical trait throughout adult life, with no predominant side and no correlation with sex. The significantly higher prevalence of the acetabular crease in some historic French samples and in prehistoric native Canadian populations could be linked to greater biomechanical stress during childhood in rural medieval populations and in the prehistoric period. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deserving to Whom? Investigating Heterogeneity in the Impact of Social Constructions of Target Populations on Support for Affirmative Action

The social construction of target populations has emerged as an influential framework for understanding the public policy process. In particular, target populations have been shown to shape the allocation of benefits and burdens by political elites. However, existing studies focus on the elite level, which overlooks whether public preferences are aligned with the allocation of policy benefits and burdens by political elites. Moreover, many studies treat social constructions as homogenous, which this paper calls into question. Using a nation‐wide survey experiment, I investigate variation in public support for affirmative action policies with randomly assigned target populations. The findings indicate that the public formulates policy preferences on the basis of perceived deservingness of target groups similar to political elites. In addition, the findings uncover heterogeneity in the effect of targeting on public opinion based on ideology and racial/ethnic group identity.     

Etruscan biology: the Tarquinian population,seventh to second century BC (Southern Etruria,Italy)

The aim of this study was the anthropological analysis of an ancient Etruscan population from Tarquinia (Viterbo, Latium, Italy). The chronological period is the seventh to second century BC. Nine discrete traits were scored. The results show the complex situation of the Etruscan sample compared to some coeval Mediterranean populations. A strong endogamy probably existed within the upper levels of the Tarquinian society, and there was probably a biological continuity with the present Tuscans. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The east African Neolithic: An alternative view

The East African Neolithic has been attributed to the migration of food- producing populations from the Sudan and Ethiopia. The migrants are thought to have entered the region via northern Kenya. Attempts have been made not only to reconstruct the routes taken by those migrants, but also to establish their linguistic and/or ethnic identity. These attempts have treated Neolithic pottery wares as discrete cultural entities and correlated them with specific linguistic and/or ethnic groups. The main problem with this approach is that it minimizes the contribution that contact and exchange or trade may have made to culture change. It also denies the groups concerned the dynamism that appears to have characterized their relationships with each other and with their environment. The present paper offers an alternative interpretation of the Neolithic phenomenon. The similarities and differences in material culture, like the ones that have been used to define the pottery wares in question, are reflections of the dynamic relationships that existed between the people responsible for its production and consumption. Production and consumption of the wares could have taken place among individuals living in a given area or among different villages or communities living as far apart as the Central Rift and the Lake Victoria basin.

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Résumé Le néolithique de l'Est de l'Afrique a été attribué à des migrations de populations productrices de nourriture en provenance du Soudan et d'Ethiopie. On pense que ces migrations ont pénétré dans la région via le Nord du Kenya. Des tentatives ont été faites, non seulement pour reconstruire les routes empruntées par ces migrants, mais aussi pour établier leur identité linguistique et/ou ethnique. Ces tentatives ont utilisé les différents groupes de poterie néolithiques comme autant d'entités culturelles discrètes et les ont mises en relation avec des groupes linguistiques ou ethniques spécifiques. Le problème principal avec cette approche est qu'elle minimise la contribution que les contacts, les échanges ou le commerce ont pu avoid sur le changement culturel. Elle ne prend pas non plus en compte le dynamisme qui semble avoir caractérisé leurs relations entre elles et avec leur environnement. Le présent article tente d'offrir une interprétation alternative au phénomène néolithique. Ceci est réalisé en utilisant un modèle interprétatif que reconnaît que les humains ont des capacitiés intellectuelles et technologiques multiples et que les décisions et actions individuelles sont reflétées par les restes matériels des sociétés auxquels appartiennent les individus. Par conséquent, les similarités et les différences dans la culture matérielle comme celles qui ont été utilisées pour définir les groupes de poterie dont il est question sont le reflect de relations dynamiques qui existaient entre les peuples responsables de sa production et de sa consommation. La production et la consommation de ces groupes peuvent s'êtres produites parmi des individus vivant dans une région donnée ou parmi différents villages ou communautés vivant aussi éloignées l'une de l'autre que le Rift Central et le bassin du Lac Victoria.