The Sanctity of Burial: Pagan Views, Ancient and Modern

Archaeologists worldwide increasingly engage with calls from indigenous communities for the repatriation and reburial of ancestral remains. In this paper, we present findings from the Sacred Sites, Contested Rights/Rites Project: Contemporary Pagan Engagements with the Past, now in its sixth year. Having examined the diversity of Pagan representations of the past and engagements with monuments, we turn our attention here to calls for respect and reburial with regard to prehistoric remains and associated artefacts held by museums and archaeology departments in Britain. These British Pagans, Druids in particular, are claiming a say in how human remains and associated artefacts are excavated by archaeologists and curated in museum and university collections. We identify Pagans as ‘new-indigenes’, in part due to their drawing on indigenous perspectives elsewhere in their discourse, and we problematise and theorise this discourse. There is no single Pagan voice on the issue. The Council of British Druid Orders’ press release (leaked October 2006) calling for the immediate ‘return’ and reburial of certain pagan remains is proactive in its approach, while Honouring the Ancient Dead (HAD), a British network organisation set up to ensure respect for ancient pagan human remains and related artefacts, has collaborated with the Museums Association in this conference bringing professionals and Pagans into dialogue to explore the ‘philosophy and practice’ surrounding ‘respect for ancient British human remains’. This dialogue, alongside instances of reburial already in action,reflects a diversity of Pagan voices as well as the ways in which heritage managers and museum professionals are reflexively addressing this issue

Historical reports of quolls in Victoria’s south-west

The Eastern Quoll Dasyurus viverrinus is now extinct on mainland Australia, but was once common in southwestern Victoria. It was persecuted by landholders for its predation of poultry, but also suffered dramatic declines in population through an unknown disease from about 140 years ago. Eastern Quolls were also considered significant predators of young European Rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus. The Spot-tailed Quoll D. maculatus was historically widespread though uncommon in south-western Victoria, but now is confined there to only a couple of sites. © 2021, Field Naturalists Club of Victoria. All rights reserved

A GIS Model for Predicting Potential High Risk Areas of West Nile Virus by Identifying Ideal Mosquito Breeding Habitats

West Nile virus has become a major risk to humans since its first appearance in New York City in 1999. Physicians and state health officials are interested in new and more efficient methods for monitoring disease spread and predicting future outbreaks. This study modeled habitat suitability for mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus. Habitat characteristics were used to derive risk maps for the entire state of Mississippi. Statistical significance tests yielded objective evidence for choosing among many habitat variables. Variables that were significantly correlated with diagnosed human cases for 2002 were combined in weighted linear algebraic models using a geographic information system (GIS). Road density, slope, and summer precipitation minus evaporation (P-E) were the most significant variables. GIS-based model results were compared with results from logistic regression models. The algebraic model was preferred when validated by 2003 human cases. If adopted, GIS-based risk models can help guide mosquito control efforts

Henry Watts (1828-1889) : 'The pioneer of freshwater phycology in Victoria'

Henry Watts was a microscopist, botanist, marine biologist and a manufacturer of perfumes made from distilling flowers. Before this latter occupation, he was a bootmaker. The first record we have of Watts was his setting up a bootmaking shop in Warrnambool in 1858 and, in the same year, giving a lecture to the Warrnambool Mechanics Institute on 'The Microscope'