Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Ancient Maya Wood Selection and Forest Exploitation at the Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize

The discovery of ancient wood, preserved below the seafloor in a shallow mangrove lagoon in Paynes Creek National Park, Belize, provides the opportunity to study human-environment interaction for an aspect of society that can rarely be glimpsed. Taxonomic identification of construction wood and charcoal at Early Classic (A.D. 300-600) Chan B’i, and Late Classic (A.D. 600-900) Atz’aam Na, are reported and discussed to assess forest exploitation strategies and species selection over time. Principles of optimal foraging are applied to interpret the specific contexts of human behavior in wood selection. Insights from the Annales School of French Structural History and the temporal framework of Fernand Braudel are employed to discuss the particulars of wood selection at Paynes Creek in relation to broader socio-environmental processes and structures. Black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) dominates the Early Classic construction wood assemblage. Charcoal at Chan’ Bi demonstrates a preference for four species, two mangrove and two broadleaf. The Late Classic construction wood is characterized by greater variability than the Early Classic, and an absence of mangrove species. When considered in the environmental context, identified species conform to principles of optimal foraging, with efficiency a primary concern in foraging behavior. The change in the wood assemblage over time suggests overexploitation of forest resources, resulting in deforestation of the local landscape. Land use and deforestation are linked to the wider social context in which growing inland populations created increased demand for salt, putting greater pressure on the forest resources exploited by the Paynes Creek salt works for fuel and timber

In the nation's interest: a critical discourse analysis of the issue of national security in the U.S. presidential debates of 1960 and 2000

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura Correspondente.Months of intense political campaigning in U.S. general election years culminate in a series of live, televised debates between the major contenders for the presidency which are produced to both inform and entertain consumers in the private domain. However, scant attention has been paid to analysis of the texts which are generated by these discursive events utilizing the approaches to media discourse advanced over the past two decades by systemic linguistics and critical discourse analysts in Europe, Australia and South America. In this contrastive analysis, the four U.S. Presidential Debates which premiered in 1960 are compared to the three debates of the most recent series of 2000 with the dual objectives of investigating how genres and discourses are drawn upon, and how shifting language and discursive practices in the media could serve as indicators of social and cultural change in the U.S. since the advent of these institutionalized events. Transcripts of the two debate series were downloaded from the home page of the Commission on Presidential Debates and a 30,000-word compilation of extracts related to the issue of national security priorities in the interview segments of the debate programming were tabulated as 3,500 clauses. The material and relational processes which constitute over 70% of the clauses are the focal point of the transitivity-based text analysis, as well as the positive and negative polarizations of the participants as depicted as in-groups and out-groups at the level of clause as representation. The results suggest that the militarized discourses of Communist containment and nuclear deterrence of the Cold War era which permeate the transcripts of the 1960 debate series have been supplanted by the discourses of despotism and nation building in the 2000 series, while traces of their successive forms of knowledge, the discourses of terrorism and preemptive warfare, also were evidenced in the texts and offer opportunities for future research endeavors in critical discourse analysis of media texts

Competitive Strategies between Formula 1 Manufacturers in the Global Mass-Market for Road Cars

This paper employs qualitative secondary source analysis to examine competitive strategies between those road car manufacturers that are also Formula 1 engine manufacturers. Particular emphasis is placed on Porter's (1980) generic strategies, the resource-based view, and the role of corporate culture and brand reputation. The external market in which these firms compete is examined. Then the internal, historical strategic development of each of the firms is reviewed. This allows future strategic recommendations to be proposed for each firm. Findings stress the importance of responding to the need for low emissions vehicles, the external threat of the large Asia-Pacific firms, and the importance of fostering a company's brand reputation

What does the evidence tell us about ‘thinking and working politically’ in development assistance?

This article provides a critical review of the evidence on ‘thinking and working politically’ (TWP) in development. Scholars and practitioners have increasingly recognised that development is a fundamentally political process, and there are concerted efforts underway to develop more politically-informed and adaptive ways of thinking and working in providing development assistance. However, while there are interesting and engaging case studies in the emerging, largely practitioner-based literature, these do not yet constitute a strong evidence base that shows these efforts can be clearly linked to more effective aid programming. Much of the evidence used so far to support these approaches is anecdotal, does not meet high standards for a robust body of evidence, is not comparative and draws on a small number of self-selected, relatively well-known success stories written primarily by programme insiders. The article discusses the factors identified in the TWP literature that are said to enable politically-informed programmes to increase aid effectiveness. It then looks at the state of the evidence on TWP in three areas: political context, sector, and organisation. The aim is to show where research efforts have been targeted so far and to provide guidance on where the field might focus next. In the final section, the article outlines some ways of testing the core assumptions of the TWP agenda more thoroughly, to provide a clearer sense of the contribution it can make to aid effectiveness

Refining the Chronology and Occupation Dynamics of the Mound Villages of South-Eastern Acre, Brazil

This paper summarises recent test excavations at five Mound Village sites in the south-eastern sector of Acre state, Brazil, including Caboquinho, Boa Esperança, Tocantins, Dos Circulos IV and V. Radiocarbon dates obtained from the excavation of this site refine the chronology of this archaeological tradition. To improve the chronologies of the mound villages in Acre for which radiocarbon dates were available, we modelled them using Bayesian statistics. We conducted the analysis in ChronoModel, which is better suited for regional models. Bayesian modelling of new radiocarbon dates from basal contexts of nine sites in the region establish the beginning of this archaeological tradition at ~ AD 952-1216.  Nine dates from ten construction phases at the Caboquinho site establish the longest sequence from ~ AD 1169-1309 to colonial times. The stratigraphy of the test units reported in this study confirms previous results indicating that mounds are the result of alternating construction and occupation episodes. Dates from the Dos Circulos IV Rectangular Mound Village ~ AD 1367-1451 indicates that Rectangular Villages are broadly contemporaneous with Circular Mound Villages. Single dates from three superimposed villages at Dos Circulos V suggest the succession of village construction. Overall, these preliminary results make a contribution to a better understanding of the timing of emergence and demise of Mound Village construction

Optical and UV Light Curves of the Accretion Disk Corona Source 4U 1822-371

The eclipsing low-mass X-ray binary 4U is the prototypical accretion disk corona (ADC) system. We have obtained new time-resolved UV spectrograms of 4U with the Hubble Space Telescope and new V- and J-band light curves with the 1.3-m SMARTS telescope at CTIO. We present an updated ephemeris for the times of the optical/UV eclipses. Model light curves do not give acceptable fits to the UV eclipses unless the models include an optically-thick ADC.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, from A Population Explosion: The Nature and Evolution of X-ray Binaries in Diverse Environment

Artists on the edge of the world : an integrated approach to the study of Magdalenian engraved stone plaquettes from Jersey (Channel Islands)

Excavations at Les Varines were funded by Jersey Heritage through the States of Jersey Tourism Development Fund (https://www.gov.je/Leisure/Events/TourismDevelopmentFundTDF/pages/abouttdf.aspx) in 2013-15 and in 2017 (BS received the funding), by the British Museum research fund in 2016-18 (https://www.britishmuseum.org/research) (Grant nos EC164/EC208) (BS received the funding), in 2016 by British Academy (https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk) small grant SG152868 (CC received the funding) and Society of Antiquaries (https://www.sal.org.uk/) Research Grants R121086 in 2017 and BH181355 in 2018 (CC received the funding). Funding from the Universities of Manchester, Southampton and UCL supported student training at the excavation. Silvia Bello’s work was part of the ‘Human Behaviour in 3D’ Project funded by the Calleva Foundation. Beccy Scott’s work was also supported by the Calleva foundation (Pathways to Ancient Britain project).The Upper Palaeolithic is characterised by the appearance of iconographic expressions most often depicting animals, including anthropomorphic forms, and geometric signs. The Late Upper Palaeolithic Magdalenian saw a flourishing of such depictions, encompassing cave art, engraving of stone, bone and antler blanks and decoration of tools and weapons. Though Magdalenian settlement exists as far northwest as Britain, there is a limited range of art known from this region, possibly associated with only fleeting occupation of Britain during this period. Stone plaquettes, flat fragments of stone engraved on at least one surface, have been found in large quantities at numerous sites spanning the temporal and geographical spread of the Magdalenian, but they have been absent so far from the archaeological record of the British Isles. Between 2015 and 2018, ten fragments of stone plaquettes extensively engraved with abstract designs were uncovered at the Magdalenian site of Les Varines, Jersey, Channel Islands. In this paper, we report detailed analyses of these finds, which provide new evidence for technologies of abstract mark-making, and their significance within the lives of people on the edge of the Magdalenian world. These engraved stone fragments represent important, rare evidence of artistic expression in what is the far northern and western range of the Magdalenian and add new insight to the wider significance of dynamic practices of artistic expression during the Upper Palaeolithic.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Political strategies of external support for democratization

Political strategies of external support to democratization are contrasted and critically examined in respect of the United States and European Union. The analysis begins by defining its terms of reference and addresses the question of what it means to have a strategy. The account briefly notes the goals lying behind democratization support and their relationship with the wider foreign policy process, before considering what a successful strategy would look like and how that relates to the selection of candidates. The literature's attempts to identify strategy and its recommendations for better strategies are compared and assessed. Overall, the article argues that the question of political strategies of external support for democratization raises several distinct but related issues including the who?, what?, why?, and how? On one level, strategic choices can be expected to echo the comparative advantage of the "supporter." On a different level, the strategies cannot be divorced from the larger foreign policy framework. While it is correct to say that any sound strategy for support should be grounded in a theoretical understanding of democratization, the literature on strategies reveals something even more fundamental: divergent views about the nature of politics itself. The recommendations there certainly pinpoint weaknesses in the actual strategies of the United States and Europe but they have their own limitations too. In particular, in a world of increasing multi-level governance strategies for supporting democratization should go beyond preoccupation with just an "outside-in" approach