Michael Drayton’s Poly-Olbion: maritime England and the free seas debates

ABSTRACT

Attending to Poly-Olbion’s river dynamics, I argue that, implicitly opposing natural, inevitable unionization, Drayton demonstrates through visual and poetic means that any viable empire is forged by deliberate local choices about conjunction and affiliation. Further, I show that by reconfiguring Saxton’s maps, rejecting politically defined boundaries and perceptions, and situating three major rivers as the organizing features of the landscape and the empire, Drayton ultimately defines Britain as inherently and universally maritime. Moreover, linking Poly-Olbion to mare clausum and mare liberum debates, I reveal that Drayton situates the flow of self-aware rivers into the sea as an extension of Britain beyond its land boundaries. He thereby suggests that the eventual mixing of British waters with the larger oceans establishes the basis of Britain’s local and global maritime rights, linking regional autonomy and conjunction by choice with claims to both local offshore dominion and global freedom of navigation and trade.     

Invasive cordgrass (Spartina spp.) in south‐eastern Australia induces island formation,salt marsh development,and carbon storage

Invasive vegetation species can lead to major changes in the geomorphology of coastal systems. Within temperate estuaries in the southern hemisphere, especially Australia and New Zealand, the cordgrass Spartina spp. has become established. These species are highly invasive, and their prolific growth leads to the development of supratidal environments in formerly intertidal and subtidal environments. Here, we quantified the impact of Spartina invasion on the geomorphology and sequestration capacity of carbon in the sediments of Anderson Inlet, Victoria, Australia. Spartina was first introduced to the area in the 1930s to aid in land reclamation and control coastal erosion associated with coastal development. We found that Spartina now dominates the intertidal areas of the Inlet and promotes accretion (18 mm/year) causing the formation of over 108 ha of supratidal islands over the past 100 years. These newly formed islands are calculated to potentially contain over 5.5 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent carbon. Future management of the inlet and other Spartina‐dominated environments within Australian presents a dilemma for resource managers; on the one hand, Spartina is highly invasive and can outcompete native tidal marshes, thereby warranting its eradication, but on the other hand it is likely more resilient to rising sea levels and has the potential for carbon sequestration. Whether or not the potential advantages outweigh the significant habitat change that is anticipated, any management strategies will likely require additional research into costs and benefits of all ecosystem services provided by Spartina including in relation to nutrient cycling, shoreline stabilisation, and biodiversity as well as in response to the longevity of carbon found within the sediments.     

甲午战争前后东亚海权与海防的较量及其影响

一场甲午战争,使东亚海权格局剧变,由此构成中日两国命运变化的历史拐点。战前,中日两国面对西方殖民扩张的相同遭遇,展开了近30年的海军现代化建设,并在互为敌手的竞争中日益凸显于以英国为主导的东亚海权格局之中。然而,不同的战略选择决定了不同的命运,甲午战争用血与火诠释了海权与海防的本质区别及其决定性影响。正因为战败后的中国已完全置身于东亚海权格局之外,再次陷入有海无防的境地,导致海权得以坐大的日本推行"大陆政策"更加有恃无恐,在列强瓜分中国的狂潮中走上独霸东亚之路。     

Maritime Culture in the Netherlands: accessing the late medieval maritime cultural landscapes of the north‐eastern Zuiderzee

This paper examines the theory and practice of the maritime cultural landscape in general, and projects the theoretical concepts and aspects involved on the highly dynamic late medieval north‐eastern Zuiderzee region in the Netherlands. The cultivation of land and marine erosion (floods and rising sea level) are considered as the main factors that caused the transformation of the physical landscape of this region from peatlands with freshwater basins into a tidal lagoon. As a consequence, multiple settlements drowned, large areas of land submerged, and culture and the landscape gradually became more maritime, giving the research area a cultural identity and dimension.     

The Making of Tupaia’s Map: A Story of the Extent and Mastery of Polynesian Navigation,Competing Systems of Wayfinding on James Cook’s Endeavour,and the Invention of an Ingenious Cartographic System

Tupaia’s Map is one of the most famous and enigmatic artefacts to emerge from the early encounters between Europeans and Pacific Islanders. It was drawn by Tupaia, an arioi priest, chiefly advisor and master navigator from Ra‘iātea in the Leeward Society Islands in collaboration with various members of the crew of James Cook’s Endeavour, in two distinct moments of mapmaking and three draft stages between August 1769 and February 1770. To this day, the identity of many islands on the chart, and the logic of their arrangement have posed a riddle to researchers. Drawing in part on archival material hitherto overlooked, in this long essay we propose a new understanding of the chart’s cartographic logic, offer a detailed reconstruction of its genesis, and thus for the first time present a comprehensive reading of Tupaia’s Map. The chart not only underscores the extent and mastery of Polynesian navigation, it is also a remarkable feat of translation between two very different wayfinding systems and their respective representational models.     

Nitrogen isotopes and the trophic level of humans in archaeology

Human and domesticate animal bone collagen δ¹⁵N values in prehistory differ generally by 3‰ or more from Neolithic to post- Roman times in Northwest Europe, leading to an assumed dietary animal protein fraction of 60–80% using a standard interpretation of δ¹⁵N values. We examine the assumptions on which this model rests and the limitations of our knowledge in the analysis of δ¹⁵N values in archaeology. We have developed a set of models which, with small changes made in assumptions (on the order of 1‰), can produce substantially lower estimates of the dietary animal protein fraction for given δ¹⁵N values. We consider the implications of various dietary animal protein fractions on agricultural carrying capacities and human population densities in prehistory.     

华沙渠道与中美关系解冻:华盛顿决策内幕

在冷战的国际大背景下,尼克松政府对苏实施的“缓和”战略使得华盛顿打出“中国牌”,致力于改善同北京的关系。而1969年3月中苏边界武装冲突则为美提供了一个契机。在寻求同中国对话的渠道上,华盛顿首先想到的是华沙渠道,即第135次和136次中美大使级会谈,并为此做了充分的准备。尽管史实证明:华沙渠道的进展不像华盛顿期望的那样顺利,但基本上完成了预期的任务:表达了改善对华关系的愿望,并阐明了不会同苏联合作主宰东亚事务的立场。在华沙渠道完成了既定任务之后,华盛顿又将同北京的联络转为巴基斯坦渠道。     

从官品到俸秩:关于唐五代县之等第的考察

唐代县的等第,以户口、官品、俸秩、迁转次序等不同的标准看,有四等、五等、六等、七等、八等、十等诸说。从历时性而言,县等是不断增多的,由前期的六等逐渐发展到后期的十等,只是天宝时曾一度事实上取消下县,稍显波折。而望、紧、次赤、次畿县的出现,均与户口多寡无直接关系,更多地体现出“资地美恶”的特征。其中“次赤县”的问题尤其复杂,因其牵涉“赤县”的广义和狭义问题,综合分析,次赤县制度在传世文献中出现,不晚于唐德宗初年,很可能最迟代宗初期已经产生。而代宗末年至德宗前期形成的俸秩,对唐后期乃至五代的县之等第,也有新的影响。五代皆以户口多少定县的等第,只是不同王朝有不同的标准,繁简不一。通观唐五代县之等第,总体上呈现出从官品本位到以俸秩为准的演变路径。     

远古时期三峡地区长江洪、枯水位的考古研究(距今约15万年～1万年)

通过对三峡地区长江沿岸的考古发掘,发现了远古时期人类居住遗址的所处位置、海拔高度,尤其是遗址地层堆积中往往还叠压有洪水过后的淤积,根据这些洪水淤沙层的位置以及其上、下堆积层中包含物的年代,我们可推测出远古时期三峡地区长江发生洪水的大致年代,洪水水位的海拔高度,看看那时的河床究竟是比现在高、还是低,从而为当今人们治理长江、开发长江提供科学的证据。