The Colonisation of Palau: preliminary results from Angaur and Ulong

The prehistory of Palau and other parts of western Micronesia has recently become important to debates about the colonisation and pattern of cultural development in the west Pacific. The main reason for this has been the suggestion that the antiquity of human occupation there might be much earlier than has been thought (e.g. Masse 1990), ilnd well before the dispersal of Lapita culture from the Bismarck Archipelago to Samo,1, between 3300 and 2850 BP (Specht and Gosden 1998; Anderson and Clark 1999). Estimates for the settlement of the Marianas now start about -1800 years BP, with Palau occupied at 4500 BP and Yap probably before 3200 BP (Dodson <rnd Intoh 1999; Wickler 2001). These older than anticipated dates (e.g. Milsse 1990) are significant because they coincide approxunately with the spreild of a eolithic cultural complex in island South East Asia chilracterised by use of rice, pig and dog, manufacture of red-slipped or paddle-impressed cernmics, along with other distinctive portable artefacts that do not occur in pre-ceramic assemblc1ges of the region (Bellwood 2001 ). Direct evidence for the earliest settlement of the Marianas, Palau and Y<1p is, however, scarce, and has been largely inferred from the analysis of sediment cores which indicates anthropogenic activity eilrlier than the archaeological record In Palau these include the presence of charcoal particles, pollen from food plants like the giant swamp taro (Cyrtosperma clw111isso11is), and an increase in savannah plants at the expense of forest growth before 4000 BP (Athens and Ward 2001; Welch 2001). While the palaeoenv1ronmental results have furnished useful alternate colonisation chronologies there is a striking absence of early sites that allow us to identify either the origin and pattern of settlement m west Micronesia, or to investigate the colonisers' connection to early Austronesian movements in Island South East Asia and the Lapita dispersal in Near and Remote Oceania. This paper summarises recent investigations undertaken on the islands of Angaur and Ulong (Fig. l) aimed at recovering early cultural materials from Palau's sequence to clarify the archipelago's colonisation history. The earliest securely d,1ted and adequately reported cultural deposits from Palau date to rn. 2300 BP (Welch 2001), and several reasons for an absence of sites older than 2500 BP have been proposed

On The Periphery? Archaeological investigations At Ngelong, Angaur Island, Palau

—Ngelong is an extensive late-prehistoric site situated within the rugged limestone terrain of Angaur Island. Earlier research documented extensive midden and artefact deposits, but only a few stone structures. Recent archaeological work has confirmed the relative absence of built stone features, and obtained new data—including radiocarbon dates and X-Ray Fluorescence results—to evaluate the Ngelong occupation. These indicate the site dates to 450–250 cal. B.P., and overlaps in time with Rock Island villages containing abundant stone work. Compared to several other prehistoric sites in southern Palau, Ngelong is atypical, and appears to represent community occupation of a peripheral socio-economic landscape as a result of warfare, a possibility also found in traditional accounts. While constructed defences indicate the existence of inter-group hostility in the past, it is suggested the outcome of warfare resulted in significant differences between late-prehistoric Palauan communities, which can be identified in the archaeological settlement record

Chemistry on the inside: green chemistry in mesoporous materials

An overview of the rapidly expanding area of tailored mesoporous solids is presented. The synthesis of a wide range of the materials is covered, both inorganically and organically modified. Their applications, in particular those relating to green chemistry, are also highlighted. Finally, potential future directions for these materials are discussed

Developmental Stages of Learning Psychotherapy

The contradictory philosophies of the major schools of psychotherapy present a dizzying array of alternative approaches for the psychiatry resident. The academic efforts that have been made to synthesize differing approaches to psychotherapy have not met with widespread acceptance. Part of the reason why such a synthesis has been slow in coming may be found in the stages of development the practitioner goes through in learning psychotherapy. The concepts of developmental psychology discussed by Chandler (7) in describing the adolescent\u27s confrontation with relativism and epistemological loneliness can help us understand some of the cognitive problems faced by the psychiatry resident. Unfortunately, most residents choose one particular approach to psychotherapy during training, and adhere to that method throughout their professional careers. The philosophical approach of pluralism describes a less limiting solution to the problem of differing world views, and may provide a model for a more integrated approach to psychotherapy

Catalytic performance of carbonaceous materials in the esterification of succinic acid

Mesoporous carbonaceous materials have outstanding potential in many different applications such as adsorption, medicine and catalysis. We have recently reported the synthesis of a new form of mesoporous carbon, named Starbon((R)), obtained after low temperature carbonization of expanded starch. Such starch-derived mesoporous materials have several tunable properties including surface energies (ranging from hydrophilic to hydrophobic surfaces), which can be easily controlled by the degree of carbonization (from 200 to 700 degrees C). Due to the diversity of surface functional groups, Starbons((R)) can be easily chemically modified. Treatment of Starbon((R)) materials with sulfuric acid gave a solid acid that has promising properties as heterogeneous catalyst. Comparative catalytic studies with some other similar commercial carbonaceous materials such as DARCO((R)) and NORIT (R), as well as phosphorous-containing microporous carbons, are reported. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved