An Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery at Walkington Wold, Yorkshire

This paper presents a re-evaluation of a cemetery excavated over 30 years ago at Walkington Wold in east Yorkshire. The cemetery is characterized by careless burial on diverse alignments, and by the fact that most of the skeletons did not have associated crania. The cemetery has been variously described as being the result of an early post-Roman massacre, as providing evidence for a ‘Celtic’ head cult or as an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery. In order to resolve the matter, radiocarbon dates were acquired and a re-examination of the skeletal remains was undertaken. It was confirmed that the cemetery was an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery, the only known example from northern England, and the site is set into its wider context in the paper

Palaeomagnetic constraints on the evolution of the Caledonian-Appalachian orogen

Late Proterozoic and Palaeozoic (pre-Permian) palaeomagnetic data from all regions involved in, or adjacent to, the Caledonian-Appalachian orogenic belt are reviewed. Between about 1100 and about 800 Ma the Laurentian and Baltic shields were close together, prior to the opening phase of the Caledonian-Appalachian Wilson cycle. The problems of tectonic interpretation of Palaeozoic palaeomagnetic data from within and around the belt derive mostly from differences of typically 10°-20° between the pole positions. These can variously be interpreted in terms of (i) relative displacements between different continents or terranes, (ii) differences in ages of remanence and (iii) aberrations due to inadequacy of data or geomagnetic complexity, and it is not always easy to discriminate between these alternatives. If the Pangaea A2 reassembly of continents around the northern and central Atlantic is taken as the end-product of Caledonian-Appalachian orogenesis, the following conclusions can be drawn: 1. Lower Palaeozoic palaeolatitude differences between the N American and British-Scandinavian margins of the Caledonides are small; hence any convergence must have been mainly E-W. 2. There are additional differences which could be due to major pre-Carboniferous strike-slip (more than 1000 km), although later strike-slip on this scale is no longer considered likely. 3. The Lower Palaeozoic apparent polar wander paths for Northern Scotland and N America disagree on face value, but must be reconciled if their conventionally assumed geographic relation is correct. 4. Lower Old Red Sandstone data from Britain and Norway disagree, but this is more likely to be due to magnetic overprinting in the Norwegian rocks than to remnant oceans between the regions of Old Red Sandstone facies. 5. Armorica seems to have been far to the S, adjacent to Gondwana, in Ordovician time. The latest view is that it collided with Euramerica in early Devonian time to form the Old Red Continent. 6. The timing of Gondwana's collision with the Old Red Continent is controversial; it is within either the late Devonian or the Carboniferous. If it occurred early in that time range, much of Hercynian-Alleghanian orogeny post-dated it

A study exploring learners' informal learning space behaviors, attitudes, and preferences

What makes a successful informal learning space is a topic in need of further research. The body of discourse on informal space design is drawn from learning theory, placemaking and architecture, with a need for understanding of the synergy between the three. Findings from a longitudinal, quantitative and qualitative study at Sheffield Hallam University, explore learners' behaviours, attitudes and preferences towards informal learning spaces in higher education, within and outside of the context of the academic library. The learning spaces study contributes to the discourse on informal learning spaces design by producing a typology of nine learning space preference attributes which address aspects of learning theory, placemaking and architecture. The typology can be used to evaluate existing spaces and inform redevelopment of informal learning spaces in higher education institutions. Implementing the typology will be subject to localised conditions, but at Sheffield Hallam University the key conclusions have included developing a portfolio of discrete, interrelated learning environments, offering spaces with a clear identity and encouraging students to translate their learning preferences into space selection

Cichlid biogeography: comment and review

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72313/1/j.1467-2979.2004.00148.x.pd

Age of the Batoka basalts, norther Zimbabwe, and the duration of Karoo Large Igneous Province magmatism

Analysis of the Bakota basalts exposed in the Zambezi Gorge some 40 km east of Victoria Falls characterizes them as high Fe, moderately high Ti, and low K, P, and Zr tholeiites. The ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar age determinations are tightly clustered at 180-179 Ma. All of the lavas that were samples have normal paleomagnetic polarity, and the corresponding pole position is 63.9°N, 260.6°E, A₉₅ = 14.9°. In South Africa, Lesotho, and Namibia the vast majority of Karoo basalts were extruded at 183 ± 1 Ma with some as young as 179 Ma [Duncan et al., 1997]. Paleomagnetic and geochemical correlation of the ~179 Ma rocks between Zimbabwe and Lebombo supports the conclusion that the age difference is real and hence confirms the estimates of ~ 5 Myr for the duration of emplacement of the Karoo Large Igneous Province.Keywords: Large igneous provinces, Karoo, Geochronology, Paleomagnetis