Stable isotopic analysis of prehistoric human diet in the Mariana Islands, western Pacific

Stable isotopic analyses of human and faunal bones provide a valuable means to differentiate marine and terrestrial food use in prehistoric tropical island environments (Keegan and DeNiro 1988; McGovern-Wilson and Quinn 1996; Ambrose et al. 1997). Because stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values in bone collagen are quantitatively related to the isotopic composition of ingested foods (Schoeninger and Moore 1992; Pate 1994), isotopic analyses of archaeological human bone may provide quantitative information about past diet that enhances qualitative data derived from artefacts and floral and faunal remains

The Beaked Adze in the Western Pacific: Implications for Social Identification and Late Prehistoric Interaction

Recent investigations of interactions in the western Pacific have focused on post-settlement contact between Micronesia and Melanesia. In the process they have largely overlooked the importance of the beaked adze, an unique adze form with a pointed cutting edge. The few dated contexts suggest that the presence of beaked adzes in the western Pacific did not occur until the last 500-700 years, spreading rapidly across Micronesia and islands along the northern fringe of Melanesia. Using ethnographic and archaeological sources, a distinct, albeit limited, pattern of occurrence, provenance and chronology of beaked adzes is emerging in the western Pacific. Their rarity, workmanship and specific provenances suggest that at least among many of the Caroline and Marshall Islands they have served as symbols of prestige and social identity. Less is known about their function amongst the Polynesian Outliers although an ethnographic account indicate beaked adzes functioned as both tools and ceremonial objects. Using oral histories to provide a cultural context, it is argued here this artifact requires more detailed attention and analysis

Outcome Evaluation: United Nations Development Programme Support to Strengthening and Further Expansion of the Mine Action Capacity in Azerbaijan Project

The Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) is a success story and is one of only five such agencies with comparable success. If the main stakeholders maintain their current support and approach to it, that success should continue. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) approach to the project with ANAMA has proven to be a large part of this success and although its impact is now less – given the increasing strength of ANAMA – its role is still very important. All the Outcomes and Outputs assessed by this evaluation have been met

Dalton Mobility in the Tennessee River Valley: An Assessment of Raw Material Use and Tool Curation

Previous research in the Southeast has demonstrated that Dalton groups underwent a process of settling in to the landscape. This has been demonstrated through the identification of raw materials used for the production of Dalton hafted bifaces. A preference for locally available raw materials has been noted in previous studies, a departure from Clovis groups who routinely made use of non-local cherts. This trend has been well established outside of the Tennessee River Valley; however, little research has been done concerning the settling in of Dalton groups in this region. In order to test the hypothesis that Dalton groups in the Lower and Central Tennessee River Valley were also settling in, 187 Dalton points were analyzed for raw material type and amount of curation. All analyzed samples were originally collected by avocational archaeologists and subsequently donated to the McClung Museum of Natural and Cultural History. The collections used (Ernest J. Sims, Smeltzer, Cambron/Hulse) all possess exceptional spatial data with site-specific locational information. Results of this study are consistent with the trends previously identified, demonstrating that Dalton groups in the Lower and Central Tennessee River Valley were settling in

The Land Question in Amazonia: Cadastral Knowledge and Ignorance in Brazil’s Tenure Regularization Program

In the Brazilian Amazon, a quest˜ao fundi´aria (the land question) has been asked and answered in a variety of ways since the region was opened up tolarge-scale migration and development projects in the 1960s. The question of who is entitled to land and under what conditions is at the heart ofmost debates concerning the region’s future, but recent attempts to reform and simplify rural land tenure in Amazonia confront a history of contradictory land-use policies and a legacy of impunity. In response to economic and demographic pressures, the Brazilian state aims to combat the illicit occupation, sale, and transformation of lands. This article presents an ethnographic approach to the land question in Amazonia by studying the knowledgemaking practices associated with the Programa Terra Legal (Legal Land Program), Brazil’s effort to create a cadastral registry for rural holdings in the region. It argues that tenure regularization dedicated to securing smallholders’ rights and to instituting environmental regulations is being used by rural elites as a mechanism to accumulate land and power. By showing how a reform program gets remade in the thrall of local interests and vernacular dispositions of property, this article reveals how knowledge both illuminates and obscures subjects of governance

What are the experiential and phenomenological processes over time involved in the recovery from violence against women?’

This study introduces an epistemological and methodological framework based on the foundations of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith 1996), rooted in hermeneutic phenomenology, as a means to disclose the experiential and phenomenological processes over time involved in adult women recovering from violence. It has a relational element where the researcher adopts a dual role of practitioner-researcher, using the key Rogerian (1951) principles of non-judgmental positive regard, empathy, and congruence. This was considered a prerequisite due to the traumatic nature of the experiences the participants had been exposed to, and the aim to explore their recovery processes without causing them further harm. The existentials described by Van Manen (1997) of lived body, lived time, lived space and lived relations, enables an understanding of the individual experiences, but also an appreciation of the phenomenon of recovery. Bringing recovery from violence into focus in this way, enables a fresh perspective on recovery, and a consideration of how others may respond to this knowledge. In this study, six adult female participants were purposively selected and invited to share their experiences of their recovery journeys to date. Interviews were carried out weekly for up to six months, but with the option of continuing up to 12 months if the woman chose. Sessions typically came to a natural conclusion when the woman moved on from the refuge. The participants’ accounts provided insights into the embodied experience of recovery, how they experienced time and space, and the significance of relationships, including the research relationship. The participants moved at their own pace from experiencing the body as threat, to experiencing the body as strength. Some of the processes involved in this included: managing fragmentation and destruction of the self; managing power and control; negotiating negative emotion; creating thinking space; finding positive emotion, and the emergence of positive activities and agentic functioning. The embodied experience of recovery overlapped with the existentials of lived time, lived, space and lived relations. Trauma was noticed to have a pervasive effect over time; time was experienced as waiting, but also as a need to persevere. There was a move towards taking ownership of time where new beginnings could be made. Space was experienced as solitary and threatening during the violence, and continuing after the abuse had ceased. Over time, participants were able to enjoy and create a positive space which contributed to positive emotion. There were perspectives on historical rejecting relationships, including overt rejection, perceived rejection, and absence of relationships, and the negative impact this had on the women’s identity. The benefit of supportive and enabling relationships was acknowledged by all participants. The research relationship was experienced positively by all the participants, with two women noting it was their first experience of an enabling relationship. Four women acknowledged a positive change in their sense of identity over time. Recovery was conceptualised as involving multiple areas, including: a spiritual relationship; facing and accepting the past, and creating a sense of meaning; knowing joy and happiness; engaging in positive friendships, as well as intimate and sexual relations; engaging in meaningful activities; having clear boundaries; being able to manage emotion; feeling safe; and being independent. Participants unanimously found the research relationship helpful, with an emphasis placed on the researcher being genuine and having depth of understanding, listening, and placing a value on the participant, being caring and taking time, and holding and accepting everything brought to the encounter. It is suggested that the importance of the spiritual, as well as the nature of the therapeutic relationship, should be given high consideration when engaging with women with similar presentations. This may have clinical significance when considering service design for women who have experienced chronic violence from childhood into adulthood

Some Aspects of Soil Moisture in the Forest

By determining the moisture content of carefully selected soil samples taken at various depths down to three feet, the moisture content of soils in the forest and in the open have been compared. The soils investigated were similar in their mechanical properties. Part I is an investigation of the effect of forest cover on the amount of water in the soil over the growing season and its availability. Part II is an investigation of the effect of root competition on the available water supply of forest soils

Chinese Immigrants in Porfirian Mexico: A Preliminary Study of Settlement, Economic Activity and Anti-Chinese Sentiment

On May 14, 1911 the revolutionary forces of Francisco Madero attacked the northern city of Torreon in the state of Coahuila, Mexico. The following morning, they victoriously entered the town. With the soldiers came about 4,000 individuals from towns and villages throughout the region. They and the soldiers soon began a plundering of the city that particularly targeted Chinese immigrants. By the end of the day, 303 Chinese and five Japanese lay dead; Chinese financial losses were estimated at over one million dollars. While the magnitude of the attack may have been an anomaly, the targeting of the Chinese was not. Chinese immigrants were repeatedly persecuted and killed, their businesses ransacked, and communities threatened throughout the course of the Mexican revolution. Attacks against the Chinese continued even after the cessation of hostilities and end of the revolution in 1920. Legislation restricted Chinese immigration, prohibited marriages between Chinese and Mexicans, and segregated Chinese communities into ghettos. Extreme cases of persecution in the northern state of Sonora predicated their expulsion from that state in 1931. The history of the Chinese in Mexico is relatively unknown. Attention to foreign immigrants and populations in Mexico has focused primarily upon North American and European companies and diplomats, due in part to the economic nationalism that capped and followed the revolution. However, although the imperialist undertakings of North Americans and Europeans spurred resentment against foreign influence and calls to economic nationalism during the revolutionary and post-revolutionary period, they infrequently fell victim to the violence the Chinese experienced