bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Software systems for Computational Morphology—An Overview
Authors: Eeg-Olofsson Mats
Published: December 2008

Representative sets of software systems for computational morphology are evaluated as candiates for a general morphological program module in the context of computer-aided word class tagging. They are considered as both programming tools and representations of linguistic Knowledge. The systems, which are found to be relatively neutral with respect to linguistic theory, can be grouped into a general-purpose and a special-purpose type. Pattern matching in them is described as a high-level feature applied to the computational treatment of phenomena characteristic of morphological analysis: lexical lookup, morphotactics, and morphophonemic alternation. The systems are found to perform similarly in simple applications, but significantly differently in more complicated ones where integrated and well-structured solutions are sought.
Acquisition of Inflectional Marking: A Case Study of Finnish
Authors: Niemi Jussi , Niemi Sinikka
Published: December 2008

Longitudinal acquisition studies of inflectional paradigms of Finish have shown, for example, that certain type of stem confusions predominate in the errors during the first few years of language acquisition. The present study focused upon the development of the (possible) base forms in verbs and nominals (i.e. nouns, adjectives, numerals and pronouns) of Finnish in the speech of the authors' son between ages 1.5 and 5.6. Various factors are discussed that appear to account for most of the errors in a satisfactory manner, e.g., frequency of a related form in caretaker speech, the degree of isomorphy (or transparency) found in the inflection as well as the role of the self-directed speech of the child.
Enda
Authors: Rögnvaldsson Eiríkur
Published: December 2008

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the behavior of the Icelandic conjunction enda. It turns out to be possible to explain all the puzzling facts about this conjunction by reinterpreting the traditional division between coordination and subordination by breaking it up into two binary features, [±CO] and [±SUB]. Furthermore, it is argued that this approach gives support for the analysis of Icelandic sentence structure proposed in Rögnvaldsson (1984) and elaborated in Thráinsson (1984, 1986).
Pronoun Resolution in Unrestricted Text
Authors: Fraurud Kari
Published: December 2008

Quantitative and qualitative studies of referential relations in unrestricted natural text are necessary both for a better theoretical understanding of referential processes, and for the development of empirically well-founded algorithms for anaphora resolution in the framework of natural language processing (NLP) systems. The aim of the study reported in this paper was to provide preliminary empirical data on anaphoric pronouns in Swedish. The relation between the pronoun and its antecedent was studied for 600 pronouns in three different types of unrestricted written Swedish text, and a simple pronoun resolution algorithm was tested on the sample.
A Multilevel Natural Language Processing Model
Authors: Jäppinen H. , Honkela T. , Hyötyniemi H. , Lehtola A.
Published: December 2008

In this paper we describe a multilevel model for natural language processing. The distinct computational strata are motivated by invariant linguistic properties which are progressively uncovered from utterances. We examine each level in detail. The processes are morphological analysis, dependency parsing, logico-semantic analysis and query adaptation. Both linguistic and computational aspects are discussed. In addition to theory, we consider certain engineering viewpoints important and discuss them briefly.
Repair in Second-Language Instruction
Authors: Juvonen Päivi
Published: December 2008

The present paper deals with the study of repair patterns. Repair, seen as some type of intrinsic trouble manifested by some party during interaction, has here been studied in an institutional setting, the second-language class-room. The repair sequences have been studied relative to the activity type in which the participants are involved. The results show the following: first, that the activity type has an impact on the repair pattern; and secondly, both quantitative and qualitative differences in repair patterns are found when compared with non-educational and foreign-language-teaching settings.
Computational Tools for Analysing Talk
Authors: Plunkett Kim
Published: December 2008

The Child Language Data Exchange System — CHILDES — is the largest child language archive in the world. The archive includes a wide range of languages covering both normal and abnormal populations. The database is freely accessible to the research community and the user is supported with guidelines for carrying out transcription work and software packages for the automatic analysis of transcriptions. The article provides a brief overview of the CHAT transcription notation and the CLAN programs that can be used to analyse transcripts written in CHAT format. Current drawbacks of the CHILDES system are discussed and some pointers to future developments higlighted.
Clitics and the Completedness Parameter
Authors: Dimitrova-Vulchanova Mila , Hellan Lars
Published: December 2008

This paper analyses phenomena of argument reduction with dative and reflexive clitics, as well as clitic doubling, in Bulgarian, arguing that both types of phenomena reflect values of what we call the Completedness Parameter, a cross-linguistically attested parameter involving a combination of diathesis and aspectual properties. For the representation of values relevant to this parameter, we introduce the construct of a (propositional) GESTALT, understood as follows: the gestalt of a sentence S is a conceptual model of the “situation-in-the-world” referred to by S, reflecting the perspective on this situation imposed by S, and aspectual and other properties induced by S.
Clausal Structure and a Tier for Grammatical Marking in American Sign Language
Authors: Aarons Debra , Bahan Benjamin , Kegl Judy , Neidle Carol
Published: December 2008

Grammatical information in ASL can systematically be marked on the face. Such nonmanual marking extends over the c-command domain of the trigger, and therefore provides information about the hierarchical organization of the language. Consistent with evidence available from the distribution of non-manual markings—as illustrated with respect to wh-marking and negation—a basic clausal structure for ASL is proposed. Furthermore, we suggest, contrary to generally accepted claims about ASL, that both Tense and Agreement are structurally present in all ASL main clauses. This analysis allows for a uniform account of the licensing of null subjects in ASL. Evidence in favor of this analysis, and against a dual licensing mechanism (as proposed in Kegl, 1985, and Lillo-Martin, 1986, 1991b), is presented.
Point of View in Danish Sign Language
Authors: Engberg-Pedersen Eliabeth
Published: December 2008

One way of expressing a particular point of view depends on deixis; the sender ‘lends’ his means of expressing his own point of view to another referent. In Danish Sign Language there are three such basically deictic means of expressing a particular point of view, namely shifted reference, shifted attribution of expressive elements, and shifted locus. Eveathough especially the last two phenomena may seem special to sign languages, they have clear functional parallels in spoken languages.
Expressions of Distance and Theory of Theta-roles
Authors: Gunnarson Kjell-Åke
Published: December 2008

Expressions of distance, likefar (away) from the village and 10km from the village, display various syntactic structures. On the basis of Swedish and French data, it is shown that, when such structures appear as locative predicates, certain properties of their heads become problematic, given the requirements of the GB theory of theta-roles. In order to solve these problems, two essential proposals are made: (a) An external θ-role may be used up in the process of establishing a position by means of a path. (b) The subject argument of NP-(copula)-XP may receive an external θ-role of non-lexical origin. Addressing questions of a contrastive nature, the present paper suggests that directive prepositions may assign an external θ-role in Germanic but not in Romance languages.
On the Difference between Explicatures and Implicatures in Relevance Theory
Authors: Kandolf Cindy
Published: December 2008

Section 1 is a general introduction to the theories discussed in the paper, primarily Sperber and Wilson's relevance theory, with its distinction between “implicature” and “explicature”, and Grice's theory of conversational principles and implicature. Section 2 discusses specific types of implicatures that must be approached in a different manner that the implicatures most commonly discussed in the literature. It is argued that some of these implicatures are hard to explain in the context of relevance theory. To this group of implicatures belong those arising from communicating information by repeating information already known to the listener, and from communicating information and humor by ironic understatement. Section 3 examines the division between explicatures and implicatures. Specifically, the definition of this division is dependent on Sperber and Wilson's assumptions about the division between a person's mental lexicon and his encyclopedic knowledge of the world. However, it is shown that the latter division is both philosophically and practically troublesome. Section 4 asks whether it is even possible to define the division between lexical and general knowledge. The conclusion of the present paper is that it is not.
Phonological Deviations in Norwegian Conduction Aphasia: Testing a Model of Non-linear Phonology
Authors: Moen Inger
Published: December 2008

The present study is an analysis of phonologically deviant words in the speech of a group of Norwegin patients suffering from conduction aphasia. The analysis shows that these deviations are not randomly distributed. Their distribution is such that it supports phonological thories which posit hierarchiacal structures both below and above the level of the segment. The deviations can be accounted for within a phonological theory which assumes that a word's lexical phonological representation contains a phonemic level where each phoneme consists of a set of articulatory features which are hierarchically organized with respect to each other, and which also assumes that the phonological representation contains information about the syllable structure of the word.
On Agrammatism and Telegram Style: An Exemplifying Discussion of Swedish Data
Authors: Ahlsén Elisabeth
Published: December 2008

The characterization of agrammatic speech as telegram style is discussed in relation to an exemplifying comparison of linguistic structures and determining activity factors in a Swedish database of agrammatic speech and simulated telegrams. The strong claim that telegram style is a specific register that is also used by agrammatic aphasics does not find support in the data. Features of agrammatic speech that can be in line with a more vague and metaphorical use of the term telegram style are pointed out.
On the Lexical Distribution of Agent-preserving and Object-preserving Transitivity Alternations
Authors: Kazenin Konstantin I.
Published: December 2008

This article gives a cognitively based account of polysemous transitivity alternations, which are Agent-preserving with some verbs and Object-preserving with others. The data from three languages – Asiatic Eskimo, Boumaa Fijian and Bambara – are presented. It is argued that the mechanism of the distribution of the meanings of these TAs is semantic in nature and does not depend upon the coding technique used by a language.
Multifunctionality and Morphology in Tokelau and English
Authors: Vonen Arnfinn M.
Published: December 2008

Some structural similarities between English and the Polynesian language Tokelau are investigated, especially regarding the multifunctionality of linguistic forms. Observations are made with respect to the relative distribution of overt processes and conversion, and it is argued that conversion should be regarded as a negatively defined cover notion for all cross-categorial lexical processes that do not involve formal modification of the input. The similarities with respect to the inventory and patterning of word-formational processes are motivated by certain similarities in the morphological type of the two languages.
The Structure of Riau Indonesian
Authors: Gil David
Published: December 2008

This article is concerned with the basic syntactic and semantic structure of Riau Indonesian, a hitherto undescribed dialect differing in many respects from standard Indonesian and Malay. Riau Indonesian appears to exhibit an abundance of zero-markings of various kinds, in which a wide variety of syntactic constructions and semantic categories lack overt morphosyntactic expression. Two alternative descriptions are provided: an “easy” description, couched in traditional grammatical terminology and a Eurocentric perspective, and a “simple” description, positing a single open syntactic category, and unconstrained rules of semantic interpretation. The latter, simple description, is argued to be superior.
Grammatical Relations in Tariana
Authors: Aikhenvald Alexandra Y.
Published: December 2008

This article deals with the marking of grammatical relations in Tariana, North-Arawakan, and how this marking interrelates with topicality, definiteness and other discourse characteristics of nominal constituents. The following four case-marking systems are distinguished in Tariana: (i) a subject vs object case system, used with personal pronouns with animate reference; (ii) a case system characterized by an enclitic -nuku for marking topicalized and referential non-subjects, used with all types of nominal constituents; (iii) an ergative case-marking used with all types of nominal constituents under emphasis in A function, the ergative case marker being the same as instrumental; (iv) a system of peripheral cases – locative and instrumental, used with all types of nominal constituents, but obligatory only with pronouns. The overt case-marking in Tariana is related to such parameters as topicality, definiteness and emphasis, and consequently is dependent on the structure of discourse. I will argue that the unusual case-marking patterns in Tariana corroborate cross-linguistic generalizations on a dependency between case-marking and topical properties of NPs in languages with an opposition between marked and unmarked case forms.
Swedish Double Determination in a European Typological Perspective
Authors: Börjars Kersti
Published: December 2008

This article discusses a phenomenon which has been referred to as ‘double determination’, ‘double definiteness’, or in the Scandinavian tradition ‘over-definiteness’. In this article, I define double determination and double definiteness, so that a distinction is made between the two terms. I use ‘double determination’ when both elements can function independently as semantic determiners. ‘Double definiteness’, on the other hand, is a form of agreement. A number of Swedish constructions are then examined which are plausible candidates for double determination. It is shown that only some of these are genuine cases of double determination, the others are more accurately described as double definiteness. In the cases of double determination, the determination is represented once as a syntactic element and once as a morphological element. The second part of this article focuses on this ‘morphological determiner’, referred to as def. The Swedish morphological determiner is compared with those of the other Scandinavian languages and the languages of the Balkans. It is shown that in languages which have an element like the Swedish def there is considerable variation in how this element functions within the language and in its status with respect to double determination and double definiteness.
The Inter-Nordic Study of Language Acquisition
Authors: Strömqvist Sven , Ragnarsdóttir Hrafnhildur , Engstrand Olle , Jonsdóttir Helga , Lanza Elizabeth , Leiwo Matti , Nordqvist Åsa , Peters Ann , Plunkett Kim , Richtoff Ulla , Simonsen Hanne G. , Toivainen Jorma , Toivainen Kirsti
Published: December 2008

The typological variation between the Nordic languages offers a “natural laboratory” for the cross-linguistic study of first language acquisition. Based on an on-going inter-Nordic project, the present article discusses research designs for the exploration of this laboratory together with pilot analyses of acquisition data across Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish. On the basis of evidence from longitudinal case studies, from narrative tasks, and from morphological and phonetic experiments, the project aims at producing an integrated picture of the development of grammatical morphology and its interaction with (a) the semantic domains of spatial and temporal relations and (b) the prosodic domains of tonal word accents and duration. In the present article the focus is on spatial relations and prosody. Comparisons of developmental data between languages that show considerable typological differences (Finnish vs Icelandic vs the Mainland Scandinavian languages) allow us to establish broad cross-linguistic commonalities in acquisition structure. It is shown that, across all five languages, very similar relational concepts are encoded by the first grammatical morphemes emerging in the field of spatial relations. The impact of linguistic details on acquisition structure can be explored with greater precision through comparisons between languages that show minimal typological differences (the internal differences between the Mainland Scandinavian languages: Danish vs Norwegian vs Swedish). Here, the early development of the Verb + particle construction in two Danish and two Swedish children is analysed. Language-specific effects on acquisition structure of syntactical and prosodic traits are demonstrated. Further, language-specific effects on the development of verb argument structure in spatial descriptions are discussed.
Linguistic Selection: An Utterance-based Evolutionary Theory of Language Change
Authors: Croft William
Published: December 2008

Hull (1988) uses recent developments in the theory of biological evolution, in particular rigorous application of the population theory of species, a consistently phylogenetic approach to evolutionary taxonomy and a proposed resolution of the dispute over which levels natural selection operates, to propose a general analysis of selection processes which he then applies to conceptual change in science. Hull's model of selection is applied to language change. It is argued that the utterance plays the central role in linguistic selection, and causal mechanisms by which linguistic selection – language change – occurs are proposed. The final sections consider the possibility that selection occurs also at higher levels of linguistic organization, and suggest how language contact may be accounted for in terms of phylogenetic reticulation.
Forms of Language Contact in the Area of the Hanseatic League: Dialect Contact Phenomena and Semicommunication
Authors: Braunmüller Kurt
Published: December 2008

This paper first briefly outlines the general political, economic, cultural and linguistic situation in the era of the Hanseatic League. Then the dichotomy ‘language contact’ vs ‘dialect contact’ is discussed in detail. The main focus lies, however, on a thorough investigation of various forms of bilingualism and especially on the concept of semi-communication. It is shown that this concept (roughly, the way Scandinavians today communicate with each other by means of their vernaculars) has played an important role in most linguistic contacts in the area of the Hansa. Several pragmatic and semiotic conditions as well as communicational maxims are presented, together with some interlinguistic rules of thumb. The paper concludes with a summary of the main characteristics of the various language contacts to be observed during the age of the Hansa and of the typological consequences for the modern Scandinavian languages.
Planning Emergency Manoeuvres
Authors: Szlapczynski Rafal
Published: December 2008

The paper addresses the issue of planning emergency manoeuvres and re-planning ship trajectories in case of unpredicted target behaviour. It introduces two methods. The first is responsible for monitoring other ships parameters, estimating the probability of illegal target behaviour and re-planning own trajectory in case of unpredicted events. The second is a visualization tool that enables the navigator to assess collision risk in an encounter situation and choose a collision avoidance manoeuvre if necessary. This tool is based on the Collision Threat Parameters Area display and offers new features: fuzzy sectors of forbidden speed and course values and the possibility to use any given ship domain. Both methods are fast enough to be applied in the real-time decision-support system.
Optical Matrix Device: Technical Aspects of a New Tool for the Detection and Recording of Small Nocturnal Aerial Targets
Authors: Vorotkov Michael , Sinelschikova Alexandra , Griffiths Martin
Published: December 2008

The detection of flying targets in the night sky has provided interest for bird migration research over many years with methods largely dependent on moon watching or the use of radar and infrared camera. These methods lack the versatility of the system described in this paper which detects and automatically records aerial targets in the night sky of a size greater than 5 cm and at a distance of 100 to 1000 metres from the observer. The principle design features are first, an optical device for receiving images of targets on two high-sensitivity CCD matrices when illuminated by white light from searchlight beams and secondly, instantaneous parallactic electronic computation enabling the distance from device to target to be accurately measured, and sequential images of each target to be recorded to computer. The device has been tested on targets during the main seasonal nocturnal migration of birds and provides accurate image details of important target flight parameters including: altitude, linear size (wing span and body length), direction of flight (ground track), orientation of the body axis – heading, ground speed, wing-beat frequency, number of wing-beats in each series of beats, duration of the pause between each series of wing-beats, and type of flight trajectory. There are also the potential practical applications for aviation bird-strike at night as well as the remote monitoring of insects, bats and other targets of natural and artificial origin.
Modelling Group Navigation: Dominance and Democracy in Homing Pigeons
Authors: Freeman Robin , Biro Dora
Published: December 2008

During group navigation the information shared by group members may be complex, heterogeneous and may vary over time. Nevertheless, modelling approaches have demonstrated that even relatively simple interactions between individuals can produce complex collective outcomes. In such models each individual follows the same simple set of local rules, giving rise to differential outcomes of the navigational decision-making process depending on various parameters. However, inherent heterogeneity within groups means that some group members may emerge as more influential than others in navigational tasks and this underlying social structure may affect the ability of the group at large. Here, we present our preliminary modelling of group navigation specifically developed to include internal group structure. Building on existing models and recent experimental results we examine the role of individual influence on group navigation and its effects on group navigational ability.
Cognitive Changes and the Emergence of Modern Humans in Europe
Authors: Mellars Paul
Published: December 2008

Explicitly symbolic behaviour is usually seen as the hallmark of the behavioural transition from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. It is suggested here that this new symbolic component is reflected not only in art and personal ornamentation, but also in the design and form of stone tools, and perhaps also in features such as the organization of living structures. All these new features could be argued to reflect the emergence of typically Upper Palaeolithic ‘culture’ and technology. Whether these features can be correlated directly with the transition from archaic to modern skeletal forms remains more problematic; and whether the changes need reflect any significant shift in the neurological capacities for behaviour and cognition is equally controversial.
Of Priestesses, Princes and Poor Relations: The Dead in the Royal Cemetery of Ur
Authors: Pollock Susan
Published: December 2008

Archaeological discoveries of dead individuals, usually in the form of burials, have frequently captured the imaginations of public and professional audiences alike. In addition to the allure of exotic artefacts and seemingly bizarre funeral rites, burials offer rich possibilities for investigating myriad aspects of past social, cultural and even individual life. This discussion focuses on one of the more renowned archaeological excavations of an ancient cemetery, the Royal Cemetery of Ur. Consideration of who was and who was not buried in the cemetery suggests that cemetery burial was the prerogative of those people who were closely attached to ‘public’ institutions. This leads to a number of observations on Sumerian treatment of the dead and attitudes toward death, as these can be approached from archaeological and textual sources.
Rural Ritual in Bronze Age Crete: The Peak Sanctuary at Atsipadhes
Authors: Peatfield Alan
Published: December 2008

The Minoan mountain peak sanctuary of Atsipadhes Korakias (Rethymnon, Crete) was excavated by the author in 1989. This article presents the first published account of that excavation and addresses its contribution to broader issues, methodological and interpretative, of Cretan Bronze Age religion. The spatial distribution of over 7500 finds was recorded, enabling the detailed reconstruction of the use and function of the sanctuary. This reconstruction is compared with other approaches to the identification of prehistoric cult places in Greece. Of the other excavated peak sanctuaries, the best known are élite sanctuaries associated with palatial centres; Atsipadhes Korakias is a poor, rural sanctuary, and offers a counterbalanced perspective on Minoan peak sanctuaries.
The Powerful Dead: Archaeological Relationships between the Living and the Dead
Authors: Pearson Mike Parker
Published: December 2008

The dead, collectively or individually, are sometimes powerful forces in human society. At other times they fade into relative insignificance. How archaeologists recover such ideological changes has repercussions for their interpretation of social organization and social change. Interpretations of status, gender, and ranking from funerary deposits are to a large extent dependent on archaeologists' abilities to interpret initially the relationship that the living construct with the dead. This contextual analysis of the Danish Iron Age uses studies of landscape and topography, and contrasts in material culture to situate the changing placement of the dead in society. Their increasing incorporation into the world of the living in the pre-Roman Iron Age indicates a growing concern with lineage and individual status. Later on, within the hierarchical ordering of Roman Iron Age society, the dead retained their significance for the living but in certain regions this was expressed in terms of their communality rather than status differences.
Technology and Society during the Middle Pleistocene: Hominid Group Size, Social Learning and Industrial Variability
Authors: Mithen Steven
Published: December 2008

A model is developed for the relationship between the tool behaviour and social behaviour ofHomo erectus.This explores the role of social learning as the link between social organization and techniques—the methods used to manufacture stone tools. Predictions are made as to how techniques should vary with increasing group size and these are evaluated through a case study from the Middle Pleistocene of southeast England. The case study suggests that inter-assemblage variability in the Lower Palaeolithic can partly be attributed to different relative intensities of individual and social learning arising from varying hominid group size and social interaction in open and closed (i.e. wooded) environments. As such, the paper seeks to integrate material from three fields—comparative socioecology, primate social learning and Palaeolithic archaeology—to explore the relationship between society and technology.
Huitzilopochtli's Conquest: Aztec Ideology in the Archaeological Record
Authors: Brumfiel Elizabeth M.
Published: December 2008

This article was presented as the third David Clarke Memorial Lecture at Peterhouse College, Cambridge University, 1997. It examines the role of religious ideology in the Aztec state. Ideology is often regarded as a means of easing tension between a dominant and a subordinate group. Ideology, however, might also serve as a mechanism for achieving unity within the dominant group so that it can control subordinates through direct coercion. State-sponsored religion occupied a prominent position in Aztec culture. But, did tribute-paying commoners accept the state's religious rationale for warfare, conquest, and sacrifice? Or was the message primarily directed to higher-status elites? Archaeological material from the Aztec Great Temple and from village sites in the Aztec hinterland are used to assess the role ofrelgion in Aztec political life.
Differential Raw Material Use in the Middle Pleistocene of Spain: Evidence from Sierra de Atapuerca, Torralba, Ambrona and Aridos
Authors: Martinez Marina Mosquera
Published: December 2008

This article reviews the evidence for planning behaviour in Middle Pleistocene hominids. It documents the way in which raw material procurement and tool production were structured during the Middle Pleistocene occupations of the Spanish sites of Sierra de Atapuerca, Torralba, Ambrona and Aridos. Differences in the use of raw materials for different kinds of tool or end-product allow inferences to be drawn about pre-Neanderthal intentionality and cognitive ability. The overall pattern of technological behaviour demonstrated by this study is far removed from the purely ‘opportunistic’ and can reasonably be described as involving both forethought and planning. The work is presented from a techno-economic perspective based on the differential use of raw material types present in the lithic assemblages of these sites, and the proximity of sources of these raw materials in the surrounding landscape.
Interpreting the Meaning of East Baltic Neolithic Symbols
Authors: Antanaitis Indre R.
Published: December 2008

Three sets of symbolic material from sites of the East Baltic Neolithic non-Corded Ware culture c. 6500–3500 bp are presented and compared in order to interpret certain aspects of the ideology of these prehistoric communities, specifically as it relates to their faunal environment and gender distinctions. Approaches taken consist of: 1) statistical analysis of a data base of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic symbols, and grave good inventories as they relate to gender; 2) comparison of frequencies of faunal types represented in the economy and in zoomorphic symbols; and 3) a cross-cultural comparison of contexts of the most frequently occurring Neolithic animal symbols in East Baltic historic mythology, folkore, and ethnography. It is hoped that the results of these multiple and varied approaches can serve as a middle ground between vague abstract theorizing about Neolithic ideology on the one hand, and a wealth of infrequently addressed symbolic material on the other.
Mode 3 Technologies and the Evolution of Modern Humans
Authors: Foley Robert , Lahr Marta Mirazón
Published: December 2008

The origins and evolution of modern humans has been the dominant interest in palaeoanthropology for the last decade, and much archaeological interpretation has been structured around the various issues associated with whether humans have a recent African origin or a more ancient one. While the archaeological record has been used to support or refute various aspects of the theories, and to provide a behavioural framework for different biological models, there has been little attempt to employ the evidence of stone tool technology to unravel phylogenetic relationships. Here we examine the evidence that the evolution of modern humans is integrally related to the development of the Upper Palaeolithic and similar technologies, and conclude that there is only a weak relationship. In contrast there is a strong association between the evolution and spread of modern humans and Grahame Clark's Mode 3 technologies (the Middle Stone Age/Palaeolithic). The implications of this for the evolution of Neanderthals, the multiple pattern of human dispersals, and the nature of cognitive evolution, are considered.
Culture in Early Aboriginal Australia
Authors: Flood Josephine
Published: December 2008

On the basis of recent archaeological evidence it seems that humans first entered the Australian continent about 60,000 years ago. These first ocean-going mariners had a high level of technological and economic skill, and had spread right across Australia into a wide variety of environments by about 35,000 years ago. Pigment showing clear signs of use occurs in almost all Australia's oldest known occupation sites, and evidence of self-awareness such as necklaces and beads has been found in several Pleistocene rock shelters. Rituals were carried out in connection with disposal of the dead, for at Lake Mungo there is a 25,000-year-old cremation, and ochre was scattered onto the corpse in a 30,000-year-old inhumation. Complex symbolic behaviour is attested at least 40,000 years ago by petroglyphs in the Olary district, and other evidence suggests a similar antiquity for rock paintings. The special focus of this article is cognitive archaeology, the study of past ways of thought as derived from material remains, particularly the development of early Australian artistic systems.
Recent Studies on Palaeolithic Art
Authors: Clottes Jean
Published: December 2008

We print here the text of the Sixth McDonald Lecture, which Dr Jean Clottes delivered in Cambridge in November 1995. Dr Clottes is well-known as a leading figure in the study of Palaeolithic art, and has been closely involved with the recent discoveries at the Grotte Cosquer and Grotte Chauvet. In this article he discusses the key trends and advances in this field.
An Alternative Interpretation for the Material Imagery of the Yarmukian, a Neolithic Culture of the Sixth Millennium BC in the Southern Levant
Authors: Gopher Avi , Orrelle Estelle
Published: December 2008

This study describes material imagery portraying anthropomorphic subjects executed in stone and clay which appear on sites of the Yarmukian culture in the Southern Levant during the sixth millennium BC. Speculations are made and interpretations offered for the incised stone and clay images of persons and genitals as artefacts recording encoded information. It is suggested that some kinds of imagery are associated with age and reproductive status and relate to gender categorization, and yet other kinds could be related to socio-political discussion.
On the Nature of Transitions: the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic and the Neolithic Revolution
Authors: Bar-Yosef Ofer
Published: December 2008

This article discusses two major revolutions in the history of humankind, namely, the Neolithic and the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic revolutions. The course of the first one is used as a general analogy to study the second, and the older one. This approach puts aside the issue of biological differences among the human fossils, and concentrates solely on the cultural and technological innovations. It also demonstrates the issues that are common-place to the study of the transition from foraging to cultivation and animal husbandry can be employed as an overarching model for the study of the transition from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic. The advantage of this approach is that it focuses on the core areas where each of these revolutions began, the ensuing dispersals and their geographic contexts.
Ethnic Identity in Greek Antiquity
Authors: Hall Jonathan M.
Published: December 2008

How should archaeologists approach ethnicity? This concept, which has such wide currency in social and anthropological studies, remains elusive when we seek to apply it to the archaeological past. The importance of ethnicity in our late twentieth-century world can easily lead us to believe that it must long have been a key element in human relations and awareness. The practice of defining oneself and one's group by contrast and opposition to other individuals and other groups, from the family level upwards, appears a basic feature of human behaviour. Ethnicity is a part of this social logic, though ethnic groups, and ethnicity itself, are notoriously difficult to define.

Can we identify and distinguish ethnic groupings in the archaeological record? Had one posed that question earlier this century the answer would have no doubt have made immediate reference to the ‘culture-people hypothesis’; the idea that archaeological assemblages may be combined into ‘cultures’ defined by recurring features, be they metalwork, ceramic forms and decoration, or lithic technology. Each culture so defined might be equated (hypothetically at least) with a former people. Ethnographic studies, however, have long shown that these equations are overly simplistic. Phenomena such as the ‘Beaker culture’ are no longer assumed to be the material expression of a single ethnic group.

Where historical evidence is available, it may be able to overcome some of the difficulties and examine just how a historical ethnic group — as perceived and defined by its own members — relates to a body of archaeological material. Jonathan Hall's study of ethnic identity in ancient Greece provides an excellent example of just such an approach. It also raises broader issues concerning the definition of ethnicity and its recognition in the archaeological record. Hall himself takes the view that ethnicity depends on what people say, not what they do; hence material culture alone, without supporting literary evidence, is an insufficient basis for the investigation of ethnic identity in past societies. To accept that view is to rule out the study of ethnicity for the greater part of the human past; we may suspect that ethnic groups played a part, but be unable to identify any surviving cultural parameters. Against such a pessimistic assessment, however, there is the contrary argument, that ethnicity may be expressed as well in material culture as in words. Should that be the case, archaeology may indeed be well equipped to open a window on past ethnicity, whether or not there are relevant contemporary texts.

We begin this review feature in our usual way, with a summary by Jonathan Hall of the arguments set out in his book. Five commentators then take up the theme, raising comments and criticisms to which Hall responds in a closing reply.
Ceremonial Centres from the Cayapas (Esmeraldas, Ecuador) to Chillicothe (Ohio, USA)
Authors: DeBoer Warren R.
Published: December 2008

Although they are some of the most impressive archaeological monuments in North America, the geometric earthworks of Ohio Hopewell remain poorly understood. By incorporating multiple lines of ethnographic and archaeological evidence an interpretation of the meanings congealed in these ancient earthworks can be offered.
Towards a New Understanding of the Child: Catholic Mobilisation and Modern Pedagogy in Spain, 1900–1936
Authors: KÖSSLER TILL
Published: December 2008

Despite its importance, historical scholarship has largely ignored Catholic education as a historical force. This article argues that a closer look at Catholic education in Spain in the first decades of the twentieth century can widen our understanding of educational modernity and at the same time help us to grasp better the specificity and contradictions of religious political mobilisation in Europe. Catholic pedagogues and schools responded to the increasing politicisation of education, the changing demands of upper- and middle-class parents and challenges posed by the new psychological and pedagogical knowledge with fundamental changes in their educational practices. The article identifies the main developments in this contradictory shift, concluding that, first, it is highly misleading simply to identify the ‘new pedagogy’ of the early twentieth century with liberal democracy. This questions a sterile dichotomy of collectivism versus individualism in analysing social movements in the twentieth century. Second, the case study points to both the power and the inherent limits of Catholic mobilisation.
In the Interests of Justice? Grass-roots Prosecution and Collaboration in Francoist Military Trials, 1939–1945
Authors: ANDERSON PETER
Published: December 2008

In 1939 Francoists won the Spanish Civil War, but continued to prosecute hundreds of thousands from the defeated Republican side in summary military tribunals that imposed either the death sentence or jail terms of up to thirty years. Historians have paid much attention to the outcomes of these trials and stressed the institutional power of the courts within the emerging Francoist state. By contrast, this article, through a study of court documents, examines how the Francoist authorities devolved much of the prosecution process to the municipal level. Here they came to rely on their grass-roots supporters to identify, classify, provide testimony against and convict Republicans.
International Challenges and National Allegiances: British and West German Trade Union Politics at Ford, 1967–1973
Authors: FETZER THOMAS
Published: December 2008

This article contributes to the recent transnational turn in labour history with a case study of West German and British trade union politics at Ford between 1967 and 1973. It demonstrates that international economic interdependence became a major concern for organised labour in both countries because of the emergence in 1967 of the Ford of Europe holding company. Paradoxically, however, this was accompanied by the accentuation of national allegiances and action frameworks, in particular with regard to the framing of labour market interests and industrial relations policies. These processes played out differently in the two countries, not only because national contexts were different but also because the new international challenges interacted with national contexts in specific ways.
Antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic bacteria: lessons learned from host-specific pathogens
Authors: Wassenaar Trudy M. , Silley Peter
Published: December 2008

The relative contribution of veterinary and human clinical treatments to the selection of antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic pathogens remains controversial. In this review, we consider bacterial pathogens that differ in host specificity and address their resistance profiles: pathogens that only occur in the human host, pathogens that are specific to particular food-producing animals and pathogens that occur in both host types. Compared with those pathogens restricted to a single animal host, pathogens found in both human and animal hosts appear to have higher incidences of resistance. However, the most urgent and severe resistance problems occur with pathogens exclusively infecting humans. Differences exist in the available genetic repertoire of a bacterial species and these are reflected in the observed resistance patterns; it is important to note that different bacterial species do not automatically result in similarly resistant populations when they undergo comparable selection in different host species. Thus, within a bacterial species, prevalence of resistance can differ between populations isolated from different hosts. For some species, fluctuations in dominant subpopulations, for instance particular serotypes, can be the most important factor determining resistance. The frequently expressed opinion that veterinary use of antimicrobials is at the heart of many resistance problems may be an oversimplification of the complex forces at play.
Antimicrobial resistance in selected bacteria from poultry
Authors: Gyles Carlton L.
Published: December 2008

This paper reviews the present state of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the zoonotic bacteriaSalmonella,Campylobacter jejuniandCampylobacter coli, and inEscherichia colifrom chickens and turkeys. ForSalmonella, the frequencies and patterns of AMR vary depending on time, region, serovar, the particular farm, layers versus broilers, and the antimicrobial agent. There is usually a higher frequency of AMR inSalmonellafrom turkeys compared withSalmonellafrom chickens. Clonal and horizontal transmission of AMR occur and there is concern about the spread of transmissible plasmids that encode extended spectrum cephalosporinases. Resistance to fluoroquinolones is generally low. ForCampylobacter, resistance to tetracycline is usually at moderate to high frequency, resistance to quinolones/fluoroquinolones varies from low to high, and resistance to macrolides is usually low. There are high levels of fluoroquinolone resistance in some countries. Avian pathogenicE. coliare often highly resistant, especially to tetracycline, streptomycin, and sulfonamides. Plasmid-mediated resistance is common. High levels of resistance to ciprofloxacin have been reported from China. CommensalE. colifrom poultry have similar patterns of resistance but at lower frequencies. Integron associated resistance occurs commonly inSalmonellaandE. colibut has not been detected inCampylobacter.
Antimicrobial resistance: its emergence and transmission
Authors: Boerlin Patrick , Reid-Smith Richard J.
Published: December 2008

New concepts have emerged in the past few years that help us to better understand the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). These include, among others, the discovery of the mutator state and the concept of mutant selection window for resistances emerging primarily through mutations in existing genes. Our understanding of horizontal gene transfer has also evolved significantly in the past few years, and important new mechanisms of AMR transfer have been discovered, including, among others, integrative conjugative elements and ISCR(insertionsequences withcommonregions) elements. Simultaneously, large-scale studies have helped us to start comprehending the immense and yet untapped reservoir of both AMR genes and mobile genetic elements present in the environment. Finally, new PCR- and DNA sequencing-based techniques are being developed that will allow us to better understand the epidemiology of classical vectors of AMR genes, such as plasmids, and to monitor them in a more global and systematic way.