After Mining: contrived dereliction, dualistic time and the moment of rupture in the presentation of mining heritage.

Since the early twentieth century, attempts have been made to promote sites relating to mining as industrial heritage. Since the rise of the heritage industry in the 1980s, the number and size of the mining sites being managed and promoted as heritage destinations has dramatically increased across the West. This paper will examine how the strategies for interpreting such sites rely on different temporal constructions. As well as outlining the ‘technological development’ approach and its association with linear time, the paper will unpack the key features of the less understood strategy of ‘contrived dereliction’ and the dualistic temporal framework that it relies on. This argument will reference a range of mining heritage sites visited and researched by the author: Kennecott, Skagway and Dyea in Alaska, Bodie in California and Geevor in Cornwall. The paper will also identify how curators have used the moment of rupture that can feature in dualistic temporal constructions to promote a specific political viewpoint and consider the social consequences of accepting the dualistic temporal construction that underpins contrived dereliction

Exploring Pompeii: discovering hospitality through research synergy

Hospitality research continues to broaden through an ever-increasing dialogue and alignment with a greater number of academic disciplines. This paper demonstrates how an enhanced understanding of hospitality can be achieved through synergy between archaeology, the classics and sociology. It focuses on classical Roman life, in particular Pompeii, to illustrate the potential for research synergy and collaboration, to advance the debate on hospitality research and to encourage divergence in research approaches. It demonstrates evidence of commercial hospitality activities through the excavation hotels, bars and taverns, restaurants and fast food sites. The paper also provides an example of the benefits to be gained from multidisciplinary analysis of hospitality and tourism

The impact of world heritage site designation on local communities - A case study of Ogimachi, Shirakawa-mura, Japan

The paper examines economic, socio-cultural, physical and attitudinal changes in/around World Heritage Site (WHS) Ogimachi since WHS designation from the local communities' standpoint and explores the background of these changes and views. Both positive and negative changes for local communities in/around WHS Ogimachi after WHS listing are identified. There are three main factors behind these changes: the extensive and rapid tourism development after WHS inscription; the high level of appeal of a WHS status for domestic tourists; and local people's attitudes towards conservation of the cultural environment and WHS status. In addition to its conservation plan, WHS Ogimachi must have a comprehensive tourism management plan for its successful future as a place to live, as a WHS and a tourist destination

A new method to determine the diet of pygmy hippopotamus in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire

This research was funded by “Fond des donations” of the University of Neuchâtel and the “Willy Müller Award” of the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire.Diet determination of endangered species is an essential element in defining successful conservation strategies and optimising captive breeding programmes. In this study, we developed a new diet identification system, derived from standard faecal analysis, to determine the diet of an elusive and endangered herbivore, the pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis). We collected faecal samples from 10 free-ranging individuals covering a combined home range area of about 50 km2 in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. In subsequent laboratory analyses, we extracted a large number of leaf epidermis fragments from spatially separated faecal samples and compared them with a reference plant database. Using Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) of epidermis fragments combined with direct visual inspection, we identified the most frequently consumed plant species, which revealed that pygmy hippopotami qualified as intermediate feeders. Their diet was based on at least seven species of monocotyledonae, dicotyledonae and fern groups, with a preference for a small number of other plant species. We evaluate the merit of our method and discuss our findings for developing effective conservation and captive breeding strategies in an endangered species with a wild population of less than 2500 adult individuals.PostprintPeer reviewe