bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Transparency and Digital Government
Authors: Margetts Helen
Published: February 2012

Digital government refers to the use by government of information and communication technology, including the Internet, both internally and to interact with citizens, businesses, and other governments. This chapter briefly outlines the development of digital government. It suggests three key ways in which digital government could be more transparent than government of the ‘pre-digital’ era and three ways in which it might become less transparent. The chapter goes on to identify some ways in which these ‘barriers’ to transparency might be overcome, such as the use of electronic tools like search engines and software. Finally, it discusses the strong variations in the potential for digitally aided transparency across countries, within countries, and within groups of Internet users and non-users. Some non-democratic states have resisted the potential of e-government to promote transparency, and have been more interested in trying to restrict usage of the Internet within their boundaries. This chapter investigates some of these variations in digitally aided transparency.
Central Asia: West and East
Authors: BOARDMAN JOHN
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses the interest of the west in the history of Central Asia. It explains that central Asia has been studied by many western scholars and explorers, including British archaeologist Aurel Stein and traveller Sir John de Maundeville. Central Asia figured prominently in the days of political concerns about the safety of British India in the nineteenth century and this generated the interest of scholars. Today, the boom in Central Asian studies is further encouraged by the presence in Britain of those who have worked in this field and the source of many new publications on both prehistoric and historic periods.
Nomads and the Shaping of Central Asia: from the Early Iron Age to the Kushan period
Authors: RAPIN CLAUDE
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the role of the nomads in shaping the history of Central Asia during the period from the early Iron Age to the rule of the Kushan Empire. This study is based on the archaeological and chronological framework provided for the middle Zerafshan Valley by the site of Koktepe. The findings suggest that the nomads are a constant factor in the history of the steppe belt and of all the adjacent southern lands, and that they may have played an important role in the renewal of cultures and in the development of international trade.
Nomad Migration in Central Asia
Authors: ABDULLAEV KAZIM
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the ethnic and cultural identities and migration routes of nomadic tribes in Central Asia. It explains that the migration of Central Asian nomads, particularly into Transoxiana, can be divided into two categories. One is the long trans-regional route ascribable to the migration of the Yuezhi tribe from the valley of Gansu to the territory north of the Oxus River, and the other is the local migration attributed to the tribes such as the Dahae, Sakaraules, and Appasiakes. The chapter suggests that the events which determined nomad migration are connected with the history of the northern and western borders of Han China in the second century BC.
Bactria, Land of a Thousand Cities
Authors: LERICHE PIERRE
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the history of the establishment of cities in Bactria. It explains that the creation of cities in Bactria is represented by Ai Khanum for the Hellenistic period and Termez for the Great Kushans. These two exceptional cities were deliberately created to integrate an ancient centre and they assumed the role of capital for a new age. The chapter suggests that their establishment was significantly influenced by political power and that they negatively affected other towns.
Termez in Antiquity
Authors: LERICHE PIERRE , PIDAEV SHAKIR
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses the latest developments in the work concerning the first periods of the existence of the ancient city of Termez. It explains the history of Temez in antiquity and during the medieval period, based on written sources. The chapter describes the site of ancient Termez as consisting of four distinct elements: the citadel or kokendoz, the medieval lower town or shahristan, the fortified suburbs or rabats, and an area covered by archaeological remains.
Gorgân and Dehistan: The North-East Frontier of the Iranian Empire
Authors: LECOMTE OLIVIER
Published: February 2012

This chapter describes the Gorgân and Dehistan areas of the Vehrkana or Hyrcania, the north-east frontier of the Iranian empire. The plain of Gorgân constitutes its southern part while the plain of Misrian, or Dehistan, its northern part. The chapter explains that the plain of Gorgân was occupied earlier than the plain of Misrian to the north because of its favourable hydrological resources, and describes the settlements in these two areas.
Some Questions Regarding the Numismatics of Pre-Islamic Merv
Authors: SMIRNOVA NATASHA
Published: February 2012

This chapter aims to address questions concerning the numismatics of pre-Islamic Merv. Most of the coins from ancient Merv were excavated by the South Turkmenistan Archaeological Multi-disciplinary Expedition (YuTAKE) between 1992 and 2000, but there is not a single reliable coin of the fourth century BC. The Sasanian coinage of the fourth and fifth centuries AD is well represented by coin finds from the city sites of Merv, but there are no registered coins of Ardashir II.
Monetary Circulation in Ancient Tokharistan
Authors: RTVELADZE EDVARD
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the archaeological evidence concerning the monetary circulation in ancient Tokharistan. The findings describe the highly complex and uninterrupted development of monetary relations in Tokharistan in the Classical period, during which the coin assemblage changed. This era included periods of advance and decline, with the periods of decline occurring after the fall of the great ancient kingdoms of the Graeco-Bactrians and the Kushans.
A Tower of Silence of the Sasanian Period at Bandiyan: Some observations about Dakhmas in Zoroastrian Religion
Authors: RAHBAR MEHDI
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses some observations about dakhmas in Zoroastrianism during the Sasanian period in Bandiyan based on 1994 archaeological excavations. On the basis of the evidence gathered, it can be concluded that every religion, including Zoroastrianism, has undergone changes due to social and political pressures. The chapter argues that the unusual and unexpected range of buildings discovered at Bandiyan are of exceptional importance and have opened a new chapter in the religious architecture of the Sasanian period.
The ‘Scandal’ of Women’s Pensions in Britain: How Did It Come About?
Authors: Thane Pat
Published: February 2012

In 2005, just 19 per cent of women pensioners in Britain were entitled to the full basic state pension (itself insufficient to live on without a supplement) compared with 92 per cent of men. The current problems of poverty among older women are not new. The difficulties for women of providing for their old age have been known for more than a century and have never gone away, but they have been evaded by successive governments, not least because they are hard to solve without considerable public expense. The two main ‘pillars’ of the British pension system throughout the past century were state and occupational pensions, both of which have failed most older women. Younger women now spend longer periods in paid work than earlier age cohorts and average female earnings have risen, but a gender gap in work opportunities and pay, and in capacity to save, remains. This chapter discusses the first British pensions, pensions between the wars, William Beveridge's views on women's pensions, and pensions and social change after World War II.
Occupational Pensions and the Search for Security
Authors: Whiteside Noel
Published: February 2012

Occupational pensions, linking previous earnings to pensioner income, have long been understood as an essential supplement to a state pension in retirement, particularly in Britain where state provision as of right is the lowest in the western world. Since World War II, policy initiatives in Britain have made sporadic efforts to increase the coverage of occupational or personal pension supplements. The Turner Commission's proposals represent the most recent in a long line of reports and recommendations designed to achieve this end. In 1942, William Beveridge noted that insecure employment or reduced earnings damages the commitment of the poorest to long-term savings and raises the cost of collecting voluntary contributions. Britain has made little progress for over half a century. This chapter makes a short evaluation of the role occupational (or earnings-related) pension provision has made to policy during this period, contrasting the British experience with those of other countries in continental Europe and Scandinavia. It also addresses the issue of pension security and whether past and present policy strategies in Britain have paid it sufficient regard.
Financing UK Pensions
Authors: Hills John
Published: February 2012

A key feature of the pension challenges currently facing Britain is the decline of the system of occupational pensions, particularly the decline of defined-benefit pensions. Here, it is often argued that the villain has been the government (in fact a succession of governments). In this view, over the past decades successive governments have delivered a catalogue of regulation and legislation that, though often well intentioned, has ultimately worked to the detriment of occupational pension provision. Alternatively, one might argue that we could have seen it all coming. It is important that future policy should be set up in a way that is sustainable and robust enough to cope with the huge uncertainty around the increase in life expectancy which we are hoping for. This chapter examines why, and when, things began to go wrong with the financing of British pensions.
Pension Reforms in Southern Europe: The Italian Experience
Authors: Ferrera Maurizio
Published: February 2012

The pension systems of Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece are organized according to the Bismarckian blueprint: ‘corporatist’ schemes of compulsory insurance covering different occupational groups, with different regulations. Historically, Italy pioneered developments by introducing compulsory pension insurance in 1919. Portugal and Greece followed suit in the mid-1930s, while in Spain fully fledged compulsory pension insurance arrived in 1947. Between the 1950s and 1980s, the pension systems in Southern Europe were significantly expanded in terms of coverage and improved in terms of benefits. This chapter discusses the trajectory of pension reform in Italy, the largest country in Southern Europe. It describes the main pension reforms of the first pillar; the efforts for promoting the development of a second, funded pillar; and recent developments under the administration of Silvio Berlusconi. The chapter also examines the gradual transformation of the ‘end-of-contract-payment’ (TFR) scheme.
The Legacy of Apartheid: Racial Inequalities in the New South Africa
Authors: TREIMAN DONALD J.
Published: February 2012

In South Africa, 350 years of apartheid practice and fifty years of concerted apartheid policy have created racial inequalities in socio-economic position larger than in any other nation in the world. Whites, who constitute 11 percent of the population, enjoy levels of education, occupational status, and income similar and in many respects superior to those of the industrially developed nations of Europe and the British diaspora. Within the white population, however, there is a sharp distinction between the one-third of English origin and the two-thirds of Afrikaner origin. Despite apartheid policies explicitly designed to improve the lot of Afrikaners at the expense of non-whites, the historical difference between the two groups continues to be seen in socio-economic differences at the end of the twentieth century. Ethnic penalties are especially large for people with lower levels of education. Racial differences in income are large, even among the well educated and those working in similar occupations.
The Life and Travels of Xavier Marmier (1808-1892)
Authors: Mercer Wendy S
Published: February 2012

This is the first critical biography of Xavier Marmier. The celebrity of Marmier was such that his death made headline news in most major newspapers in France. Marmier earned his reputation by being a traveller, travel writer, translator, literary critic, comparatist, journalist, novelist, poet, lecturer, linguist, ethnologist, social historian, and latterly as an outspoken member of the Académie Française. His work had a great deal of influence, both direct and indirect, on literary and intellectual developments in France, and also had a significant impact in a number of the countries he visited. Although his name still figures in studies of comparative literature or the history of travel writing, Marmier's innovations have gradually been eclipsed by his successors in various fields, resulting in the neglect of his overall achievements. Marmier's numerous and diverse achievements are assessed in their intellectual and historical context, and within the framework of his colourful and somewhat controversial private life. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of the history of nineteenth-century French literature and intellectual life, the history of literary criticism, travel writing, the introduction of foreign literature to France, and those with an interest in the intellectual, social, and cultural history of the regions Marmier visited.
Sweden II (1838): Norway, Lapland, and the Northern Star
Authors: Mercer Wendy S.
Published: February 2012

The departure of Marmier and Gyldenstolpe from Stockholm to join La Recherche at Trondheim marked the beginning of the 1838 expedition of the Commission du Nord, and Marmier was appointed to write the official report. This part of his journey is described in some detail in the Relation du voyage of the official publication, which is full of historical data about the sites described, details of local customs, folklore, climate, population, political organisation, public institutions, statistics, different modes of transport, local curiosities, monuments, and various other information. This chapter notes the apparent ease with which Marmier seems to make the transition from life in presumably fairly luxurious and sophisticated circles at court, or intellectual circles in Uppsala, to contact with some of the least privileged in that society. He seems to have made friends on his travels at all social levels; he recorded those contacts in his official reports.
Into Hostile Territory: Holland and Russia (1840–2)
Authors: Mercer Wendy S.
Published: February 2012

Only a few months after his return from Spitzbergen, Marmier's next journey took him to Holland on a mission for Charles de Rémusat, who at that time was Ministre de l'Intérieur. The mandate from Rémusat was in fact a pretext to allow Marmier to complete his studies on the northern countries, and also to write a book on Dutch literature. The resulting volume of Marmier's Lettres sur la Hollande was dedicated to Rémusat. Early in 1842 Marmier left Paris again, this time heading for Russia, Finland, and Poland. His impressions were recorded in a series of outspoken and highly controversial articles in the Revue des Deux Mondes that were then published in book form under the title Lettres sur la Russie, la Finlande et la Pologne.
From the Doubs to the Desert (1843–6)
Authors: Mercer Wendy S.
Published: February 2012

The first section of this chapter describes Xavier Marmier's marriage to Françoise Eugénie Pourchet. The civil ceremony took place in the town hall of Pontarlier on 8 May 1843. Unfortunately, the marriage ended in the tragic deaths of both mother and child, shortly after the birth on 17 April 1844 at their Paris home in the rue Saint–Thomas d'Aquin. The child died first during the labour. The second section describes Marmier's journey from the Rhine to the Nile. The third section describes his mission in Algeria. On 22 June 1846, Le Moniteur Universel announced that Marmier would be departing the following day for Port-Vendres, where he would meet up with the Ministre de l'Instruction publique, Salvandy, whom he was to accompany, with Salvandy's family, on a ministerial mission to Algeria.
The Last Years (1880–92)
Authors: Mercer Wendy S.
Published: February 2012

Marmier was now over 70 years old, and the coming decade saw him limiting his activities to the Parisian sphere. He had naturally experienced a decline in his physical vigour, although his mind remained active and his general state of health permitted him to pursue many of his former interests. Marmier maintained a steady flow of publications and settled into a new routine centred principally on his sessions at the Bibliothèque Sainte–Geneviève on Saturdays, and his Thursday meetings at the Académie française, which he attended assiduously right up to the end of his life. He died on 11 October 1892. Almost all the obituaries mentioned his travels, his role in introducing foreign literature to France, his membership of the Académie française, and his personal qualities.
The Literary Representation of the Czechoslovak ‘Legions’ in Russia
Authors: Pynsent Robert B.
Published: February 2012

This chapter focuses on the role of the legionaries in creating the state of Czechoslovakia. It shows how the legionaries and their activities, while often romanticised, dramatised and vulgarised, were awkwardly harnessed to the needs of the new establishment. They could be cast in the mould of earlier Czech heroics, especially those of the Hussite warriors; they regularly served as avengers of the great defeat on the White Mountain in 1620. Yet their deeds proved hard to reconcile with the peaceable and democratic traditions which many Czechs also prided themselves upon. The legionaries, especially those in Russia, were, according to the propaganda, meant to be pictures of moral idealism and a foundation stone in the creation of the Czechoslovak Republic. Indeed, the legions had made the liberation of the Czechoslovaks from Austria-Hungary possible. This chapter looks at some of the motifs of legionary literature, paying particular attention to the works of Josef Kopta and Rudolf Medek. It examines the portrayal of Jews, for the works of Medek and Kopta provide an exemplary crop of Czech inter-war anti-Semitism.
Economic Nationalism in the Sudetenland, 1918–1938
Authors: Albrecht Catherine
Published: February 2012

Industrialisation had created a segmented social structure among Germans in north and west Bohemia. The most important industrial sectors in the Sudetenland exhibited a bimodal distribution of firms, with a large number of small producers and a few large producers, each of which employed roughly an equal proportion of workers. Economic nationalism among German Bohemians was motivated primarily by the need to defend their status against Czech competition. This chapter explores how the advent of Czechoslovakia affected the long-standing economic competition between Czechs and Germans in Bohemia, which had a major ideological dimension. Already before 1918, it had yielded protectionist associations on both sides. The Czech ones now went on the offensive, pressing for national values to be implemented in the economic domain, especially through nostrification of those of the country's assets held in ‘foreign’ hands and through preference to Czech suppliers in such sectors as military contracts. Their formerly dominant German equivalents were forced onto the defensive, while the Czechoslovak government tried to manoeuvre between the two.
William Brian Reddaway 1913–2002
Authors: SINGH AJIT
Published: February 2012

Professor W. B. Reddaway, invariably known to friends and colleagues as Brian Reddaway, was an exceptional economist who had a huge influence on how economics in Cambridge has been taught and researched. He held leadership positions in the Faculty of Economics and Politics at Cambridge for twenty-five years, between 1955 and 1980. For nearly the first fifteen years, Reddaway was Director of the Department of Applied Economics (DAE). In 1969, almost at the end of his tenure as DAE Director, he was elected to succeed James Meade in the Chair of Political Economy, the senior chair in economics in Cambridge. Reddaway held this chair until 1980, when he formally retired. He continued his association with the Faculty for many years after this, doing occasional lecture courses, or one-off lectures: he positively loved lecturing on applied economic subjects and helping younger colleagues with their research.
Glanmor Williams 1920–2005
Authors: JENKINS GERAINT H.
Published: February 2012

Glanmor Williams, by dint of intellectual brilliance, far-sighted vision, and exceptional personal charm, achieved towering eminence in the field of Welsh historical studies. Few Welsh scholars in the modern era have served their profession, university, and country as admirably as him, and the flourishing condition of Welsh historical studies during the last half century is in considerable measure attributable to his influence. Yet, in spite of his unrivalled standing as a Welsh historian and the weight of honours he accumulated over the years, Williams remained unspoilt by his academic successes and public achievements.
Practical Issues in United Kingdom Monetary Policy, 2000–2005
Authors: NICKELL STEPHEN
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses some of the topics the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee has spent a lot of time on. It first examines the rapid rise in household debt and its implications for monetary policy. The next section looks at the role of asset prices in monetary policy, with particular reference to the recent UK housing boom. Finally, the chapter discusses the implications of the switch in the inflation target at the end of 2003.
Mutualities and Obligations: Changing Social Relationships in Early Modern England
Authors: WRIGHTSON KEITH
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses a theme for a variety of relationships of mutuality and obligation in early modern England. Relationships of mutual obligation are discussed, and are described as being ‘the most fundamental of all the bonds in medieval society’. Sometime between the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries however, these bonds went through a fundamental change, via a process of erosion and dissolution. The chapter examines these processes of change, concluding with an attempt to characterise the overall process of change.
Ecclesiastical History
Authors: Henry Mayr-Harting
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the study of ecclesiastical history in Great Britain. It explains that the various departments of ecclesiastical history have tended to be under the umbrella of Theology rather than of History and that in Anglican terms the subject has tended to mean Early Church, Reformation and Nineteenth Century. Medieval ecclesiastical history, therefore, has no established position. Some of the most notable British works on medieval ecclesiastical history include Medieval Political Theory in the West by A.J. Carlyle and Westminster Abbey and Its Estates in the Middle Ages by Barbara Harvey.
Economic History
Authors: Dyer Christopher
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines British research and publications concerning medieval economic history. It shows that the study of medieval economy and society helps to unify a number of areas of research and has developed an important position as a hub with links to many other disciplines. It explores the evolving interpretations of the medieval economy and society that have had a strong influence on the academic community and which have played their part in bringing about a shift in attitudes towards the past in general and the middle ages in particular.
Byzantine Scholarship: Twelfth-Century Constantinople, Twentieth-Century Britain
Authors: Mullett Margaret
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines twentieth century Byzantine studies in Great Britain. It explains that British Byzantinists have been negatively affected by the restructuring of university departments, increasing educational emphasis on vocational subjects, and declining academic salaries. In the British context Byzantine studies could clearly be described as a small subject with disproportionate international influence and it is not clear whether they would ever regain the authority and influence in the academic establishment that they had in 1903.
Middle English Literature
Authors: Gray Douglas
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the history and developments in the study of middle English literature in Great Britain during the twentieth century. At the beginning of the twentieth century the newly founded British Academy contained a group of Fellows who had made distinguished contributions to the study of early English language and literature. They include W.W. Skeat, Sir Israel Gollancz and Sir James Murray. However, most of the century's outstanding work was done by people who were not Fellows. Despite this the Academy can still be proud of the contribution of its Fellows to the century's achievements and in the nurturing of a new generation of scholars who will continue the work.
Artefacts, Sites and Landscapes: Archaeology and Medieval Studies
Authors: Gerrard Christopher , Rippon Stephen
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the role of archaeology in medieval studies in Great Britain. Medieval archaeology has changed beyond all recognition during the twentieth century, emerging from what was little more than an antiquarian pastime to become a respected academic discipline. It has also great potential for growth, for new methods are constantly being developed, bold conservation and restoration projects under way, and major discoveries continue to be made.
Medieval Thought
Authors: Luscombe David
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines contributions made by Fellows of the British Academy in the past century to the study of medieval thought. It explains that medieval thought is a lost term used to refer to the period between Late Antiquity and the Reformation of the sixteenth century, and a range of intellectual endeavour that embraces the arts of the trivium and the quadrivium, as well as the other branches of philosophy. It suggests that the British academic contribution to the study of medieval thought has been substantial but not very distinctive.
Metrics
Authors: Duffell Martin J.
Published: February 2012

This chapter examines the history and developments in British study of medieval metrics during the twentieth century. It explains that the contribution of British scholars to medieval metrics has been minor partly because British culture prefers empirical observation to abstract systems. In the second half of the century several British scholars made substantial contributions to historical metrics. They include Geoffrey Leech in his linguistic guide to poetics, W. Sidney Allen in his reconstruction of Classical Latin phonology and Nigel Fabb in his study of form and literary theory.
Epilogue
Authors: Deyermond Alan
Published: February 2012

This chapter comments on the accomplishments and future prospects of medieval studies in Great Britain. It highlights the intellectual power, range and originality of British medievalists of the twentieth century and stresses the need to expand the scope of medieval studies to include other fields such as comparative literary studies. It also discusses the problems of British medieval studies including the compartmentalization of medievalist institutions and the publication of medievalist monograph series devoted to history, or to language and literature, or to other narrower areas.
Socialism, Sex, and the Culture of Aestheticism in Britain, 1880-1914
Authors: Livesey Ruth
Published: February 2012

This book brings to life the growth of the socialist movement among men and women artists and writers in late nineteenth-century Britain. For these campaigners, socialism was inseparable from a desire for a new beauty of life; beauty that also, for many, required them to reject the sexual conventions of the Victorian era. From the early 1880s and well into the twentieth century, the efforts of these writers and activists existed in critical tension with other contemporary developments in literary culture. This book maps the ongoing dialogue between socialist writers like William Morris, decadent aesthetes such as Oscar Wilde and defining figures of early modernism including Virginia Woolf and Roger Fry. The book concludes that socialist writers developed a distinct political aesthetic in which the love of beauty was to act as a force for revolutionary change. The book draws on archival research and extensive study of socialist periodicals, together with readings of works by writers including Morris, Wilde, Schreiner, George Bernard Shaw, Isabella Ford, Carpenter, Alfred Orage, Woolf and Fry. The book uncovers the lasting influence of socialist writers of the 1880s on the emergence of British literary modernism and by tracing the lives of neglected writers and activists such as Clementina Black and Dollie Radford, it provides a vivid evocation of an era in which revolution seemed imminent and the arts were a vital route to that future.
Socialism, Masculinity, and the ‘Faddist’ Sage: Edward Carpenter and George Bernard Shaw
Authors: Livesey Ruth
Published: February 2012

Schreiner's good friend Edward Carpenter was her chief source of news about the socialist movement during her self-imposed exiles on the continent throughout the later 1880s. Carpenter sought to reshape masculinity and civilization through sexual desire itself. This chapter examines how the fads of vegetarianism, Jaegerism, and sandal wearing came to be associated with socialism in the last decades of the nineteenth century. It argues that for Carpenter and George Bernard Shaw, these ascetic regimes provided a means of investigating and reforming conventional ideals of masculinity. Both writers represent such fads as bodily labour and discipline, thus overcoming the opposition between the man of letters and the manly labourer. While Carpenter's theory of Lamarckian biological idealism concluded that such practices would result in species change and a socialist utopia of liberated sexual bodies, Shaw's regime aimed to supplement the necessary redistribution of capital.
The Magistrate’s Comments on Receiving; the Complaint *
Authors: Liang Linxia
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses the various comments a magistrate may make in receiving a complaint. These comments are considered to be the magistrate's response to the petition or complaint. Comments of rejection and acceptance are first discussed, followed by the magistrate's role in making comments.
Conclusion: Delivering Justice and the Absence of Litigation
Authors: Liang Linxia
Published: February 2012

This concluding chapter discusses how one can view the performance of the magistrate in delivering justice in the Qing litigation culture. The study concludes that land, debt, and marriage disputes were solved fairly and efficiently by the Qing magistrate, in accordance with the law. The Confucian ideal world of an absence of litigation or ‘no litigation’ and the recommendation of ‘anti-litigation’ shows why the magistrate took so much trouble in trying to make the parties accept the decision willingly. It also was able to persuade people through anti-litigation education.
Anthropological Knowledge, Secrecy and Bolivip, Papua New Guinea
Authors: Crook Tony
Published: February 2012

What is the nature of knowledge? Anthropology imagines it possible to divide or separate social and analytical relations, whereby knowledge travels between persons as a thing. And yet, Bolivip imagines knowledge as the bodily resources or parts of a person that can be extended or combined with others. This methodological exchange is modelled on a moment from Bolivip – an exchange of skin whereby knowledge is returned in respect of prior nurture and care given, and two people become encompassed by one skin. The Min area of Papua New Guinea has proven to be one of the most enigmatic cultures in anthropological experience. But rather than accept this resistance to analysis as a problem of Melanesian secrecy, this book suggests that archaic notions of anthropological knowledge have been the problem all along. Taking up the ‘Min problem’ head on, it suggests a solution to the impasse. The argument works through alternating chapters: an imagistic ethnography of Bolivip describes how arboreal and horticultural metaphors motivate the growth of persons and plants by circulating bodily resources through others. Knowledge here comes from those who contribute to conception, and is withheld until a person is capable of bearing it. These images are used to provide new readings of classic Melanesianist texts – Mead, Bateson, and Fortune – substituting theoretical ideas for intimate relations; Weiner and Strathern's own experiments with anthropology modelled on Melanesia; and Barth's reading of secrecy amongst the Min.
Setting the Scene: A Brief Outline of Histories of Israel
Authors: ROGERSON J. W.
Published: February 2012

This chapter presents a brief outline of the history of ancient Israel, starting with Humphrey Prideaux's The Old and New Testament connected, in the History of the Jews, and neighbouring nations; from the declensions of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah to the time of Christ. The book's purpose, as the word ‘Connection’ indicates, was to set Old Testament history in the context of the history of the ancient Near East. Other similar works include Johann Gottfried Herder's Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit of 1784–1791, an interesting feature of which was a ‘secular’ account of the reason for the downfall of Judah in the sixth century; Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette's Beiträge; Heinrich Ewald's History of Israel, which argued that the Pentateuch and Joshua had reached their final form by way of at least six redactional processes; and Julius Wellhausen's Israelitische und Jüdische Geschichte of 1894 and Israelitisch-jüdische Religion of 1905; Albrecht Alt's Der Gott der Väter; and the writings of Martin Noth.
Goths in the Roman Balkans c.350–500
Authors: HEATHER P.
Published: February 2012

This chapter focuses on four main chronological periods: the era prior to the arrival of the Huns, when the Goths were settled beyond the Danube; a first major phase of Gothic intrusion into the Balkans from 376 to the definitive departure of Alaric's Goths for Italy (407–408); the Hunnic era down to the late 460s; and, finally, from the arrival of the Amal-led Goths in Macedonia (473) until the departure of Theoderic the Amal for Italy (488–489). In each of these periods, the rhythm of relations between the Goths and the institutions of the Roman Empire as well as the population of the Balkans varied substantially, although some common themes and threads of development emerge. In each of them, it is also important to make a conceptual distinction between the Romanness generated by and for the central Roman state, and the Romanness of the provincial Roman populations of the Balkans.
Dichin (Bulgaria): Interpreting the Ceramic Evidence in its Wider Context
Authors: SWAN VIVIEN G.
Published: February 2012

In the Dichin (north central Bulgaria) store-buildings destroyed in about the 480s, the large quantities of imported Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea amphorae typify late Roman military supply (annona) to the forts of the lower Danube limes. A dearth of amphorae at Dichin for most of the sixth century is linked ultimately to alterations in trading patterns in the Mediterranean as a whole. A slight increase in amphorae shortly before the final destruction of c.580 reflects a significant recasting of supply sources. The few imported red-slipped wares are mostly late fifth century and of Pontic origin. During the sixth century, modifications in the local coarse pottery reflect cultural changes in the region — the decline of Romanized eating practices and the impact of the barbarian social traditions. The wider significance of ‘foederati ware’ for the Germanic settlement of the region and its influence on the technology of indigenous ceramics production are also explored.
Ephesus in the Late Roman and Early Byzantine Period: Changes in its Urban Character from the Third to the Seventh Century ad
Authors: LADSTÄTTER S. , PÜLZ A.
Published: February 2012

The third century marked a profound change in the urban landscape of Ephesus and proved to exert a profound influence on the city's later development. There is conclusive evidence for catastrophic disasters when the city was afflicted by a series of earthquakes which led to a temporary downturn in its economic circumstances. These destructive earthquakes not only had long-term consequences for the city's appearance, but also affected the very foundations of urbanism. This chapter traces the history of Metropolis Asiae after the earthquakes of the third and fourth centuries. The archaeological evidence proves that rebuilding took place and within public areas, such as agorae or buildings along the roads and included fountains and baths. The work was not limited only to the reconstruction of buildings but efforts were made to restore the splendid appearance of the city, reflecting the restoration of its high urban status and commercial importance. This chapter also describes the city's numerous churches that graphically attest to the growing importance of Christianity as the state religion.
The Fortresses of Thrace and Dacia in the Early Byzantine Period
Authors: DINCHEV V.
Published: February 2012

During the early Byzantine period (395–610), a large number of non-urban sites, recorded in ancient sources, are known to have existed in the dioceses of Thrace and Dacia. Contemporary sources suggest that they all possessed fortifications. Amongst the fortified settlements of the early Byzantine period, there were two main groups which can be identified. The first group includes the quasi-urban centres with an intramural area of more than one hectare and the second includes fortified villages, with an intramural area of less than one hectare. This chapter describes the different kinds of fortresses which existed in the dioceses of Thrace and Dacia from AD 395 to 610. It examines the character of the fortresses and internal structures and identifies different types. Finally, it addresses the functions of these sites, especially their role in the defensive system which protected the eastern Balkans during the early Byzantine period.
Extensive Field Survey in North Central Bulgaria
Authors: TSUROV I.
Published: February 2012

The Roman city of Nicopolis ad Istrum and its territory lie in north central Bulgaria. Although the exact extent of the ancient city's territorial jurisdiction is unknown, in general terms the location of its fertile heartland is readily identifiable. The hinterland of the city was within the Roman province of Thrace from the foundation of Nicopolis c.AD 108 down to c.AD 193 when it was transferred to the province of Moesia Inferior. It comprised three distinct regions with different geographical characteristics. The southern part included the upland slopes of the Turnovo hills. The middle region, where the city was located, included the river valleys of the Rositsa and part of the Yantra while the third formed part of the agriculturally fertile light soils of the Danube basin. Within this area, survey has identified more than 300 settlements, dating from the first to the sixth centuries AD, all of which have been recorded as part of the national programme for the identification and description of ancient settlements.
Site-Specific Field Survey: the Methodology
Authors: POULTER A. G.
Published: February 2012

A field survey was undertaken to understand the date and character of villas and villages within the territory of the ancient town of Nicopolis ad Istrum in Bulgaria. The principal aim was to discover whether there had been a major dislocation in the traditional Roman settlement pattern which might explain the radical changes that affected the layout, function and economy of the city during the late fifth and sixth centuries AD. The work was principally directed towards villas because, as in other provinces, it was the villa-owning class which supported the city financially and, as the ruling elite, was responsible for urban administration; numerous second- to third-century tombstones from the city's territory, evidently set up on villa estates, record the role played by the landed class in the organization of Nicopolis, either as members of the assembly (bouleutes), or as magistrates. This chapter describes the survey methodology, developed for the Transition to Late Antiquity. It originated in a surprisingly successful survey which discovered a new early Byzantine ‘city’ in north-eastern Greece.
Marxist Historiography Today
Authors: Hobsbawm Eric
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses Marxist historiography in the present times. In the interpretation of the world nowadays, there has been a rise in the so-called anti-Rankean reaction in history, of which Marxism is an important but not always fully acknowledged element. This movement challenged the positivist belief that the objective structure of reality was self-explanatory, and that all that was needed was to apply the methodology of science to it and explain why things happened the way they did. This movement also brought together history with the social sciences, therefore turning it into part of a generalizing discipline capable of explaining transformations of human society in the course of its past. This new perspective on the past is a return to ‘total history’, in which the focus is not merely on the ‘history of everything’ but history as an indivisible web wherein all human activities are interconnected.
The Main Results of the Excavations at Olbia in the Past Three Decades
Authors: KRYZHITSKIY S. D.
Published: February 2012

In the 1790s, the location of Olbia was established, and since 1901 systematic excavations have been made by three successive generations of scholars. The first of these scholars was Pharmakovskiy and his school in 1901–1926. The second scholars to make excavations in Olbia were under the leadership of Slavin, Levi and Karasev. The third generation who took over the excavations from 1972 was headed by Kryzhitskiy from 1972–1995 and Krapivina from 1995. This chapter focuses on the contributions made by the third generation of scholars that made excavations in the Olbia region. The excavations made in this period were governed by three aims: the study of the historico-archaelogical stratigraphy and topography of cultural levels in the various parts of the city including the underwater area beneath the Bug estuary; an emphasis on the least-studied phases of the city's existence, particularly the cultural levels of the archaic period and the early centuries AD; and the rescue and conservation of the coastal portion of the city. The excavations generated important results such as the discovery of the temenos wall, altars, the temple of Apollo Ietros, Hellenistic period citadels and dwellings, and defensive walls belonging to the fifth century. In addition to these excavations and discoveries, the teams headed by Kryzhitskiy and Krapivina made extensive studies on the lower Bug estuary and Olbia's chora.
Criteria for the Presence of Barbarians in the Population of Early Olbia
Authors: KRYZHITSKIY S. D.
Published: February 2012

Historians of the ancient states of the north coast of the Black Sea were often faced by the challenge on how to estimate the presence of barbarians in the populations of early communities. Although it is generally understood that there was indeed a presence of barbarians in the early Mediterranean communities, the problem is there is no systematic means to gain material remains that may shed light on the numbers and social-ethnic characteristics of such non-Greek components. Although attempts have been made to generalize the existence of barbarians through archaeological evidence, such methods have failed due to lack of firm methodology. This chapter examines cities wherein the barbarian cultural level cannot be clearly established. It focuses on the two aspects of the issue of barbarian presence in Olbia. It examines the artefacts and assemblages, and how much materials can attest the presence of such ethnicities in Olbia. This qualitative approach examines the presence of dug-out dwelling places, handmade potteries, burial practices, jewellery and prosopography. The second aspect uses a quantitative approach which examines the statistics and percentages of particular ethnicities in Olbia. In these considerations and examinations, no objective criteria that would establish the number of barbarians in Olbia have been established. Although specific cultural features may be connected with the barbarians, they are otherwise represented slightly and in a fragmented fashion which nullifies the argument that Olbia contained substantial barbarian social stratum.
Contacts between Greeks and Non-Greeks on the Lower Bug in the Sixth and Fifth Centuries bc
Authors: BUYSKIKH S. B.
Published: February 2012

The region of the lower Bug is a special place among the areas of Greek settlement on the north coast of the Black Sea. In the seventh century BC, this region expanded and was integrated into the sphere of Greek culture. The lower Bug of Olbia posited a significant mark in the history of the whole Pontic basin. This chapter does not present a review of the extensive literatures on Greek-native contacts on the north coast of the Black Sea, rather it discusses the issue of Greek-native relationships during the settlement period, specifically in the establishment of the Olbian state. It aims to refute Solovyov' observations and interpretations of the ancient Olbia and Greek civilization in this region wherein he contended that the dug-out dwellings and the potteries of the Olbian region were predominantly the result of native ingenuity. In this chapter, the text looks to evidence by focusing on only two kinds of material, namely dwelling-types and potteries. Such studies that were limited to such artefacts lead to a skewed, partial, and unsupported account which caused misleading accounts and depictions of the nature of Greek and Non-Greek relationships on the ancient lower Bug and on the period where contacts between Greek colonists and barbarians were dominant.
Greater Olbia: Ethnic, Religious, Economic, and Political Interactions in the Region of Olbia, c.600-100 bc
Authors: BRAUND DAVID
Published: February 2012

This chapter discusses the ethnic, religious, economic and political interactions of Olbia with other communities during the 600–100 century BC. It focuses on the various relationship of the Greater Olbia with both Greeks and non-Greeks. Greater Olbia pertains to Olbia's mini-empire in the northwest Black Sea and spans across the estuary of the lower Bug, the lower Dnieper, the north-west Crimea, the outer estuary of Dnepier or Hylaea, the Berezan, the island of Lueke, and the settlements along Dniester. Greater Olbia was largely dependent on the maintenance of broadly symbiotic relationships with non-Greeks. These relationships and interactions with other non-Greek communities are reflected in the existence of a rich mix of traditional Greek and barbarian names in the personal names of Greeks. However distinct and Greek the Olbiopolitans may have perceived themselves, they were subjected to extensive cultural osmosis between Greeks and non-Greeks in and around the city. This osmosis and symbiosis can be seen in the religion, the pottery, the names and other aspects of the Olbiopolitan living such as the observation of Dio Chrysostom where he made note of a young Olbiopolitan cavalryman in a garb of a barbarian yet with his head full of Achilles.