Hunting Societies Research Articles

Rethinking Wear Rate Analysis: a New Dentin Exposure Proxy and its Applications to Ancient Chinese Populations

Assessing age through dentin exposure often leads to underestimated age due to assumptions of constant molar wear rate. New methods for age-related dentin exposure accrual could facilitate cross-population comparisons independent of dietary habits and sociocultural strategies. We analyzed 3D dentin exposure surfaces in four Chinese archaeological samples to reveal variations in dentin exposure rates linked to socioeconomic practices. Linear regression models of dentin exposure areas across molar rows showed significant correlations, with the first molars exhibiting steeper slopes and smaller intercepts compared to the second molars, which had intermediate values, and the third molars showing the highest intercepts and lowest slopes. The first molar contributed most to overall dentin exposure in the molar quadrant, while the second molar wore faster post-eruption. Among populations, Banlashan, predominantly agriculturalist; Houtaomuga, focused on fishing; and Jiayi, a nomadic hunting society, displayed similar wear rate patterns. In contrast, Dunping, a Bronze Age nomadic settlement situated on a high-altitude plateau, exhibited distinctively lower wear rates. These observed dentin exposure rates aligned with ecological and dietary constraints, enabling interpopulation comparisons using the proposed 3D dentin exposure proxy. Moreover, the statistical model allows for comparing wear rates across populations relative to dietary habits and potentially estimating age at death for isolated archaeological specimens, whether humans or animals. The precision of this physiological age estimation depends on the regression models used, necessitating further research with specimens of known age at death.

저승여행신화의 인정-협상 코드 <차사본풀이>계 서사무가 연구

It is insisted that Chasabonpuri may have been inspired by the story of Kimchi, who served as the Jeju judge in the 17th century, or the story of Heungdeokhyeongam. However, considering that the basic motif of Chasabonpuri, which is the confrontation between this world’s judge and the underworld judge, already existed during the Tang Song Dynasty, and that there was also an oral tradition in which General Gang Gam-chan, not Heungdeokhyeongam, appeared as the solver, the formation of this shamanic myth can be traced back to before Goryeo. To understand Chasabonpuri, one should consider the narrative, and not the Kimchi judge as the motif. It is necessary to pay attention to the long history of an in-depth narrative present in Chasabonpuri, spanning from a hunting society to an agricultural and pastoral society, and from Sumerian to Tamra-Jeju mythology. The in-depth narrative involves a journey to the underworld that originates from the vision of the world of death, and the driving force that makes the protagonist's journey to the underworld possible is the gift-negotiation code. According to this code, Inanna hung herself on a peg as a gift, and consequently, Dumuzi and her sister Geshtinanna negotiated a 6-months-long cycle between this world and the next. Nishan Shaman, who is said to be the ancestor of Manchurian shamans, also enters the underworld to pick up Seorgudai Piyanggu, and using various gifts, he pleads with King Yeomra and his messenger Mongoldai Nakchu to extend Piyanggu's life. In Korean shamanic mythology, which continues from Jimgajegut to Chasabonpuri, a district magistrate in this world negotiates with King Yeomra of the underworld using gifts to save the dead from a short life. Despite detailed differences in cultural conditions and narrative composition, there is a gift-negotiation code deeply integrated in these myths. This gift-negotiation code originated from the ritual gift exchange between humans and animals in early hunting societies. Hunters offered gifts and negotiated with the gods because the animal's owner would not release the game unless gifts are offered. This gift is not a calculated act of exchange but is based on unlimited reciprocity. The gift-negotiation code repeated from the Inanna myth to the Ganglimchasa myth indicates that the rules of a hunting society based on unlimited reciprocity continue in current shaman mythology through narrative transformation.

РОЛЬ ОБЩЕСТВЕННЫХ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЙ ОХОТНИКОВ И РЫБОЛОВОВ В ИСТОЩЕНИИ БИОРАЗНООБРАЗИЯ (НА ПРИМЕРЕ УСОЛЬСКОГО РАЙОННОГО ОХОТОБЩЕСТВА ИРКУТСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ)

The article discusses real events related to the primary hunting community and the shadow features of hunting activities on the example of the Usolsky regional hunting society (hereinafter – Usolsky RO IOOOiR), which is a direct tenant of a forest plot in the forest fund of the Irkutsk region. It is shown that each hunter is not just a person engaged in amateur hunting, but a separate entity that fulfills the terms of the lease agreement and uses hunting resources, as well as a participant in security and biotechnical measures on the territory of hunting grounds attached to the hunting society. Also, an analysis is made of a number of economic features inherent in the Usolsky hunting society. The purpose and objectives of the research of the author and at the same time the chairman of the primary hunting collective are to determine the importance of public organizations of hunters and fishermen, as well as to present the economic inexpediency of hunting communities in fixed (leased) territories (on the example of the Usolsky RO IOOOiR of the Irkutsk region). The final results of the economic activity of any hunting community depend on the size and quality characteristics of the hunting grounds.

The game/s that men play: Male bonding in the Swedish business elite 1890–1960

During the first half of the twentieth century, the industrial success of Sweden opened up for an exclusive lifestyle among the business elite. Drawing on how a hunting club constructed and reproduced male fantasies, the article deals with male bonding in relation to generation change. By examining the sources such as correspondence and notes from a hunting society dominated by businessmen, the article highlights male performance of gender in a historical context. The article argues that male bonding can result in inequalities among different generations of men, since tension might occur if the homosocial space is based on hierarchies.

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ ЧИСЛЕННОСТИ КРУПНЫХ ОХОТНИЧЬИХ ЖИВОТНЫХ НА МАЛЫХ ТЕРРИТОРИЯХ

In order to solve a complex of acute problems and move towards sustainable development of the hunting economy in Russia, it is necessary to improve the accuracy and objectivity of data on the number of game animals. Existing methods of counting the number are based on direct recalculation or analysis of certain indirect evidence of their vital activity. Technologies of predictive analytics and analysis of big data obtained as a result of animal counts (both traditional and digital methods) can potentially lead to new data on daily routes, activity, distribution of animals depending on the characteristics of the territory, which will significantly increase the accuracy of counts in further. Studies of the number of game animals in small areas were carried out in January-February 2019 and 2020. Using the method of digital accounting, the number of game animals in the territories of the Kemerovo regional public organization "Hunting Society "Muryukskoye"" (JSC "Hunting Society "Muryukskoye"" and hunting farms "Taydonskoye" and LLC "Hunting farm "Shestakovskoye"" was analyzed. An underestimated declared according to the results of winter route counts of the number of most species of game animals in the Muryukskoye Hunting Society and the Taydonskoye hunting farm. It was found in Shestakovskoye Hunting Farm LLC that the results for ungulates and wild boar, which the farm specializes in breeding, have a fairly high accuracy However, for those species that Shestakovskoye Hunting Farm LLC does not specialize in, the accuracy of accounting is lower. The identified underestimation of some predatory animals can lead to risks for populations of many species.

Normative Legal Acts of the Far Eastern Republic (1920–1922) Regulating the Rules of Hunting and Fishing Activities of the Population

The article is devoted to the study of the history of the development of regulatory legal acts of hunting and hunting legislation of the Far Eastern Republic. The basic provisions and statutes issued by the Ministries of Agriculture and National Economy are considered: “Regulations on the production of hunting”, “Brief temporary charter for the organization of commercial hunting and fish artels and societies” and “Draft temporary charter for the organization of folk hunting and fishing societies of correct hunting”. Historical-genetic, historical-comparative, concrete-historical and formal-legal methods of scientific cognition are applied. With their help, the problems of determining the fishing and non-commercial areas, the use of permitted and prohibited hunting methods, the duration of the fishing season and the reasons for the introduction of certain restrictions are analyzed. Further, the author examines the development of the pre-revolutionary practice of sampling a state ticket allowing the right to hunt, regulation of the activities of cooperative communities of hunters and an experimental system of punishment, which provided not only administrative but also criminal liability for violation of hunting rules and poaching. A significant part of the innovations was perceived by the citizens of the republic as an encroachment on personal rights, since, by tradition, all commercial resources in Siberia and the East were mined without any serious restrictions and control from the state until 1917. The previous state of affairs during the period under review remained exclusively for those groups of the population that were entirely dependent on hunting and fishing products. All other social categories of the Far Eastern Republic were required to comply with the new rules,register and pay tax for the right to use the state-fishing regalia. The effectiveness of the measures introduced left much to be desired, since the control bodies did not have a real opportunity to effectively suppress violations of the fishing legislation. Keywords: Far Eastern Republic, charter, draft, hunting license, hunting ticket, poaching, punishment

Polowania w Karpatach Wschodnich w świetle relacji zamieszczanych na łamach czasopisma „Łowiec”

Hunting in the Eastern Carpathians in the light of the reports published in the magazine “Łowiec”
 “Łowiec” (“Hunter”), the monthly magazine of the Galician Hunting Society issued since 1878, regularly published texts on hunting in the Eastern Carpathians. The hunting appeal of the region was raised by the relatively large brown bear population. The magazine published both longer articles by famous writers and journalists as well as short letters and reports by often anonymous correspondents.

Oral health and diet of a young Late Pleistocene woman from Quintana Roo, Mexico.

To increase understanding of the subsistence practices of the first Americans through analysis of the near-complete dentition of a young woman dating to the terminal Pleistocene of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. The skeleton is that of "Naia" a 15 to 17-year-old female from the submerged natural trap of Hoyo Negro found in association with remains of numerous extinct species of megafauna. Superbly preserved remains included the skull with 28 teeth, which are analyzed for evidence of caries, periodontal disease, wear patterns, and malocclusion. Naia exhibits a high frequency of dental caries, along with aggressive periodontal disease that threatened all her teeth, particularly her incisors. Dental attrition was extremely light for a hunter-gatherer, reaching to four on the Molnar scale on only one tooth. Lack of wear is associated with severe mandibular retrognathia, and low masticatory forces. Naia's dental condition is compared with that of other northern Paleoamericans, mostly females, dating before 11,000 cal BP. These exhibit a high degree of variability in both caries and tooth wear. All, however, exhibit rapid anterior wear owing to technological use of the front teeth. Naia exhibits the highest rate of caries, similar to that of the earliest South Americans, and one of the lowest rates of attrition. This demonstrates that she had a nonabrasive diet that was at least seasonally rich in carbohydrates. This does not mean her diet was low in meat, however, because similarly light dental attrition is seen in the Arch Lake female, a Paleoamerican from a big-game hunting society.

Non-Human Whalers in Nuu-chah-nulth Art and Ritual: Reappraising Orca in Archaeological Context

Whaling was a central aspect of Nuu-chah-nulth, Ditidaht and Makah culture on the northwest coast of North America. Not only was it economically important, it was vital to chiefly prestige. Art and ceremonial life were dominated by themes related to whaling. Thunderbird, the great supernatural whaler, was the source of hereditary prerogatives held by chiefs, including names, dances, regalia and rights to display images of thunderbird and whale. This paper argues that human observations of predatory behaviour by orcas (or killer whales) led to these animals also being perceived as non-human whalers from which chiefly prerogatives could be obtained. Wolves, the main figures in Nuu-chah-nulth ceremonial life, had the power to transform into orcas, explaining their frequent presence in the art with thunderbirds and whales. This paper presents archaeological evidence for orca in the context of whaling and offers interpretations based on the extensive ethnographic and oral historical records. It also places perceptions of animals, the role of the hunter's wife and beliefs about orca in a broader context involving hunting societies in northwestern North America.

Влодзимеж Дзедушицький и его вклад в развитие естественных исследований в Украине в XIX в.

On the basis of the analysis of literary sources the contribution of the Polish scientist Wlodzimierz Dzieduszycki (1825-1899) to the development of natural sciences research was considered. His role in the making of the local lore movement in Ukraine was found out. The biographical data and creative achievement of the Polish researcher were analyzed. The scientific achievement of the Polish scientist is noted for its scientific quality and purposefulness.
 The article is noted for topicality for the needs of modern historiography, it returns to the present society the forgotten figure of the Polish scientist V. Dzieduszycki and rejects the inherent ideological obsession of Soviet historiography in describing of this figure. The mastering of the creative heritage of Polish historiography will undoubtedly contribute to the advancement of Ukrainian historical science, as the scientist has shown himself as an outstanding personality of Ukrainian natural science and its history.
 The main attention is paid to the creative and social activities of the Polish scientist, the value of his natural, museum, and journalistic works for the development of science and Ukrainian studies.
 The preconditions of creation of the first private natural museum by the Polish researcher in Lviv are examined, the exhibits and library stocks, their nomenclature and condition, the correspondence of the development of contemporary scientific natural opinion, and also the influence of the museum on the social life of the region are outlined. He was one of the first who was able to express the unbreakable link between man and nature through the museum expedition and guessed the coming era of biosphere thinking without mistakes.
 The Polish scientist was also engaged in organization of local and international exhibitions. In addition to his natural activities, he was a patron. He sponsored the talented scholars and researchers from small Galician towns and villages. V. Dzieduszycki admired the hunting. It was revealed in his participation in many societies, whose activities were associated with the preservation and increase of the Galician fauna. He becomes the main founder of the Galician Hunting Society, which in 1876 began its activity in Lviv.

HUNTERS’ SELF-PRESENTATION (BASED ON GERMAN HUNTERS’ WEB-SITES)

The article deals with different ways of self-presentation of German hunters social group on the websites. The aim of the social groups self-presentation is creating of positive group image in the society realized in the virtual space through public service self-advertisement. The self-presentation of social group is regarded in a close relation to self-definition. The presentational element of discourse shows itself in the accounts of social group on the web sites. This element called presentems is realized in different text types, in different presentational entities on different levels. The effective self-presentation of the social group in the virtual space is achieved due to variability and volume of content, availability, regular updating.According to my research results, the German hunters society consolidates representatives of different ages, professions, social groups. The need of self-presentation consists in necessity of reconsideration of the social role and social tasks of the group, of its popularization in the society, of social groups viability achievement and creation of culture-significant reputation of the hunt as a form of activity and a cultural phenomenon. The hunting society regards itself as a group of nature lovers and considers environment-oriented projects to be essential. The author analyses different text types, which contain different volume of the self-presentational elements. She regards direct and indirect ways of self-presentation and describes the instruments of public service self-advertisement. The social group realizes the direct self-presentation in legal texts proclaiming juristic principles and basic philosophical concepts of the group and in statistics of modern hunters. The indirect self-presentation is realized in texts relating to news, in scientific, pedagogic, domain-specific, culture-historical texts. The positive image of the group is achieved due to positive semantics of lexical-semiotic presentems. The main strategy consists in attractive behavior that shows selection and grouping of materials placing an emphasis on modern values.

STATE REGULATION OF FOX EXTRACTION IN GALICIA IN 16TH TILL EARLY 20TH CENTURIES: HISTORICAL ASPECT

The article analyzes the state regulation of the fox extraction in Galicia from the 16th to the beginning of the 20th century: the methods and terms of extraction, the regulation of the number, the authority of the hunting service in obtaining foxes, and the trade in fur. It has been carried out a comparative analysis of the legal mechanism of regulation the fox population, and the competence of the bodies of state executive power and local self-government bodies. It describes the customary rules and internal rules for hunting on fox in some hunting societies. The economic factors that influenced to the state regulation of the number of foxes were identified, making it possible not only of rational use of the resource for obtaining valuable fur, but also for increasing the number of game, especially the hares. Factors influencing on population size, including political influences and military events, were established. The features of state regulation the fox extraction in the investigated period are described. On the basis of comparative analysis, it was described the fox extraction of the AustroHungarian monarchy, Halychyna in the context of the counties, the Second Polish Commonwealth, it was described the specifics of organization the hunting for fox among the hunting elite, in particular the emperor of Austro-Hungarian, Franz Josef I and emperor of Germany, Wilhelm II.
 It is noted that according to the right of the predators, the owner of the hunting grounds on which they are located is the property of the owner. Based on these principles, the owner of the hunting grounds was required to destroy predators, as predators are not only harmful to hunting game, but also for domestic animals. The legislation of the Polish kingdom, which regulated the destruction of predators, determined that predators should be destroyed without taking into account the extraction time, and it is permitted to use different means and tools for this, but only to those who have the right to hunt. The predators were bear, badger, wolf, fox, lynx, wild cat, otter, marten, trich, ermine.

STATE REGULATION OF FOX EXTRACTION IN GALICIA IN 16TH TILL EARLY 20TH CENTURIES: HISTORICAL ASPECT

The article analyzes the state regulation of the fox extraction in Galicia from the 16th to the beginning of the 20th century: the methods and terms of extraction, the regulation of the number, the authority of the hunting service in obtaining foxes, and the trade in fur. It has been carried out a comparative analysis of the legal mechanism of regulation the fox population, and the com- petence of the bodies of state executive power and local self-government bodies. It describes the customary rules and internal rules for hunting on fox in some hunting societies. The economic factors that influenced to the state regulation of the number of foxes were identified, making it possible not only of rational use of the resource for obtaining valuable fur, but also for increasing the number of game, especially the hares. Factors influencing on population size, including political influences and military events, were established. The features of state regulation the fox extraction in the investigated period are described. On the basis of comparative analysis, it was described the fox extraction of the Austro- Hungarian monarchy, Halychyna in the context of the counties, the Second Polish Commonwealth, it was described the specifics of organization the hunting for fox among the hunting elite, in particular the emperor of Austro-Hungarian, Franz Josef I and emperor of Germany, Wilhelm II.It is noted that according to the right of the predators, the owner of the hunt- ing grounds on which they are located is the property of the owner. Based on these principles, the owner of the hunting grounds was required to destroy preda- tors, as predators are not only harmful to hunting game, but also for domestic animals. The legislation of the Polish kingdom, which regulated the destruction of predators, determined that predators should be destroyed without taking into account the extraction time, and it is permitted to use different means and tools for this, but only to those who have the right to hunt. The predators were bear, badger, wolf, fox, lynx, wild cat, otter, marten, trich, ermine.

What's your point? Flexible projectile weapon system in the Central European Final Palaeolithic. The case of Swiderian points

This paper seeks to provide an interpretation of Final Palaeolithic Swiderian points variability based on the concept of flexible projectile weapon systems. The paper focuses on aspects of performance characteristics of Swiderian points and their function as elements of projectile weapons. The sample of 294 Swiderian points from 12 Polish and one Ukrainian site was incorporated in the study.The applied research methodology combines a use wear analysis, observation of diagnostic impact fractures (DIF's), analysis of quantitative ballistic features, such as the tip cross-sectional area (TCSA), and geometric-morphometric analysis of points outline shape along with ethnographic analogies. The combination of these methods allows a more comprehensive understanding of lithic points function within particular projectile weapon systems.The study has revealed that the duality in the morphology and the design of Swiderian points most likely corresponds to a phenomenon, which is frequently observed in the construction of projectiles in traditional hunting societies and which derives from the so called “mass/velocity relationship”. This phenomenon is here referred to as “flexible projectile weapon systems”.

The impact of modernization on hunting ethics: Emerging taboos among contemporary Swedish hunters

ABSTRACTThis study examines how processes of modernization affect hunting ethics, including commodification, cosmopolitanism, demographic shifts, technological innovation, and invasive species. The impact of such change processes has been documented in indigenous hunting societies, but not in postindustrial Western hunting communities. Instead, wildlife ethics are often seen as a private matter or a static inheritance from past generations, and not as researchable from a perspective of change. The underexposure of research on ethics in this context is explained as taking place within a framework of ethical subjectivism to the detriment of opening up ethics to a needed conversation as the context for hunting changes in modernity. This study uncovers the hunting ethics of contemporary Swedish hunters in response to modernization and reveals new lines of moral demarcation and emerging taboos for right and wrong hunting. It concludes by considering the virtue of hunting taboos for wildlife conservation.

Is Homosexuality more Prevalent in Agropastoral than in Hunting and Gathering Societies? Evidence from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample

A small but important portion of the population is attracted to individuals of the same sex. This phenomenon raises the question, why selection forces have allowed such dispositions to exist in the population. The weak selection pressures hypothesis, argues that same-sex attraction has been the result of weak selection pressures during the period of human evolution. Such pressures were predominantly the consequence of arranged marriage in which individuals, irrespectively of their attractions, are mated to opposite-sex partners. Arranged marriage is more common in societies which base their subsistence on agriculture and animal husbandry than in societies which base their subsistence on hunting and gathering. Accordingly, it is predicted that homosexuality would be more prevalent in the former than in the latter societies. Using anthropological evidence from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample, the present study finds support for this hypothesis. The evolutionary implications of this evidence are further discussed.

First record of Cervus elaphus at eastern Sierra Nevada

119 During routes walked on December 27th 2013 and July 6th 2014 along two areas of the foothills of Sierra Nevada mountain known as Barranco Carretero and Penon de Carroquero, both in the municipality of Abla (Almeria), we observed a group of 6 individuals first (37° 7’ 49” N, 2° 46’ 47” W) and one isolated specimen later (37° 7’ 24” N, 2° 47’ 6” W), of red deer (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758; Fig. 1). Red deer were at a height above sea level of 1,022 and 1,231 m, respectively. Numerous deer latrines and tracks were also found on the areas. Both observations were within the 10 km UTM grid 30SWG10 (Fig. 1), where the species had not been previously recorded (Carranza, 2007). These deer must have naturally reached Sierra Nevada, after an introduction that occurred in the 1980s by the hunting society “La Perdiz” of Baza, in the mountain with the same name (Ruiz et al. 1988), and subsequent expansion by the Baza and Filabres mountains (Granados et al. 2001). These authors had cited the species in the 10 km UTM grids located just northern of the one reported in this note. The area presents abandoned almond crops, pine plantations (Pinus pinaster), and scattered well developed and numerous regenerations of oaks (Quercus ilex). The authors frequently visit the area, so presence of deer there is not old, probably not more than one or two years ago. In fact, on April 23th 2011 one of the authors saw and photographed two adult female deer in the area known as Las Juntas (37° 8’ 59” N, 2° 45’ 6’’ W), in the municipality of Abla as well (Fig. 1), at the confluence of Nacimiento and Los Santos rivers. This area belongs to the 10 km UTM grid 30SWG21, and is located just 2.8 km from the northeast corner of the 30SWG10. This area could be the natural way for deer from Filabres mountain colonizing Sierra Nevada, since it is a point where the foothills of the two mountain ranges get close together, with natural vegetation in the edges of both mentioned riverbanks, and these rivers also provide a natural understep on the A-92 highway that might be a barrier between Filabres and Sierra Nevada mountains. First record of Cervus elaphus at eastern Sierra Nevada

Hunter-gatherers on the best-seller list: Steven Pinker and the “Bellicose School's” treatment of forager violence

Purpose– The question of violence in hunter-gatherer society has animated philosophical debates since at least the seventeenth century. Steven Pinker has sought to affirm that civilization, is superior to the state of humanity during its long history of hunting and gathering. The purpose of this paper is to draw upon a series of recent studies that assert a baseline of primordial violence by hunters and gatherers. In challenging this position the author draws on four decades of ethnographic and historical research on hunting and gathering peoples.Design/methodology/approach– At the empirical heart of this question is the evidence pro- and con- for high rates of violent death in pre-farming human populations. The author evaluates the ethnographic and historical evidence for warfare in recorded hunting and gathering societies, and the archaeological evidence for warfare in pre-history prior to the advent of agriculture.Findings– The view of Steven Pinker and others of high rates of lethal violence in hunters and gatherers is not sustained. In contrast to early farmers, their foraging precursors lived more lightly on the land and had other ways of resolving conflict. With little or no fixed property they could easily disperse to diffuse conflict. The evidence points to markedly lower levels of violence for foragers compared to post-Neolithic societies.Research limitations/implications– This conclusion raises serious caveats about the grand evolutionary theory asserted by Steven Pinker, Richard Wrangham and others. Instead of being “killer apes” in the Pleistocene and Holocene, the evidence indicates that early humans lived as relatively peaceful hunter-gathers for some 7,000 generations, from the emergence of Homo sapiens up until the invention of agriculture. Therefore there is a major gap between the purported violence of the chimp-like ancestors and the documented violence of post-Neolithic humanity.Originality/value– This is a critical analysis of published claims by authors who contend that ancient and recent hunter-gatherers typically committed high levels of violent acts. It reveals a number of serious flaws in their arguments and use of data.

Using Historical Materials to Teach Representations of Disability: A First World War Case Study

Using Historical Materials to Teach Representations of DisabilityA First World War Case Study Emmeline Burdett (bio) Thinking critically about disability involves recognizing that the idea of disability as an “individual tragedy” for the disabled person is entirely insufficient and unhelpful. This traditional approach encourages the idea that the disabled person’s social circumstances are irrelevant. Disability studies instead views disability as something which takes place within a societal context rather than in a vacuum. As Hugh Gregory Gallagher writes, “There can be no doubt that the way a society perceives and deals with a handicap is a major factor in determining just how disabling – in a real sense – the handicap will be” (25). Gallagher gives a number of examples of how societal perceptions of disability work in practice. He writes: A condition such as poor eyesight is largely a trivial matter in a society where eyeglasses are readily available. In an aboriginal hunting society, poor eyesight is a calamity. In traditional Inuit society, the insight of a schizoid personality is often valued; in modern America it is often feared. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was accustomed to a life of valets and chauffeurs found his paraplegia a less disabling condition than would a poor man who was similarly paralyzed. (25) Gallagher’s examples are instructive and provocative, introducing as they do the idea that disability is not an unchanging condition, but one that has differing effects in different circumstances. This idea is of fundamental importance to disability studies. It also opens the door to an appreciation that there is another level to what the disability studies academic Donna Reeve has termed “psycho-emotional disablism.” Reeve defines this as behavior on the part of others which constitutes a “barrier to being” for a disabled person. Reeve contrasts this with “barriers to doing,” which are restrictions on a disabled person’s freedom of movement caused by living in an inaccessible structural environment – although it should not be forgotten that this kind of spatial apartheid often also has adverse psychological effects. According to Reeve, “barriers to being” may include such things as “When a disabled child is not invited to a family wedding because they might be ‘disruptive’” or “Being subjected to jokes or stares from strangers because someone walks differently or uses a wheelchair” (Reeve 123). [End Page 179] Reeve writes that the internalization of the acceptability of this rude and hurtful behavior may be particularly problematic for people who become disabled. This is because someone who acquires an impairment may, potentially, have lived for years or decades unaware of the existence of this kind of prejudice, or may – before being on the receiving end – have assumed that it is just something that a disabled person has to accept. One way to help students think about these issues is through novels. With the recent commemorations marking the centenary of the First World War (which began in 1914), Louisa Young’s 2011 novel My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You provides a useful way in to a discussion of these issues, not because it offers a disability studies-friendly portrayal of impairment, but because prior knowledge of disability studies can help students analyze the book critically, and instructors can suggest areas of research about aspects of disabled ex-soldiers’ lives which Louisa Young herself seems not to have considered.1 I came across My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You through a book group at London Metropolitan Archives (lma), in Clerkenwell, in London. Because the group meets at an archive, the archivist who runs the group always brings documents that relate to the novel we are discussing. On this occasion, she had two scrapbooks: one from the Queen’s Hospital, Sidcup, which pioneered techniques of facial reconstruction. Louisa Young’s character Riley Purefoy is treated there after the lower half of his face was badly damaged by a bomb blast. A second scrapbook came from its sister hospital in Roehampton, where soldiers with wounded limbs received treatment in the form of prosthetic limbs, and rehabilitation. The newspaper clippings in these scrapbooks demonstrate striking differences between the ways in which men at the two hospitals were portrayed in the press (Burdett). While men at...

Using paleolimnology to track the impacts of early Arctic peoples on freshwater ecosystems from southern Baffin Island, Nunavut

Paleolimnological approaches can be used to determine the ways in which past Arctic peoples have affected the ecosystems in which they live, and simultaneously to reconstruct the climate and other aspects of the environment that may have influenced local populations. Here we analyze sediment cores from seven ponds on the south-western coast of Baffin Island, Nunavut, in order to assess the impacts of early Arctic peoples on freshwater ecosystems. Prior to the historic Inuit occupation, the study area was extensively inhabited by Thule culture Inuit (ca 1200–1600 AD) and by an earlier Arctic group, the Dorset culture Palaeo-Eskimos (ca 500 BC–1500 AD) and their predecessors from as early as 2500 BC. The study ponds were selected to cover a gradient of the intensity of human activity in their catchments. The ecological impacts of early hunting societies can be detected using paleolimnology because the butchering of marine mammals released nutrients that eutrophied nearby ponds and left distinct geochemical signals in the sediments. The degree of eutrophication in the small freshwater ponds depended on the length of the occupation, as well as the amount and type of marine mammals taken as primary prey items (eg, whales, walrus, or seals). All sediment cores were AMS 14C dated to establish their chronologies, and analyzed for diatoms and stable isotopes of nitrogen (δ15N). Both diatoms and sedimentary δ15N have been previously demonstrated to respond sensitively to nutrient enrichment from Inuit whalers. Our δ15N and diatom data record nutrient enrichment in lakes surrounded by either long-term Thule or Dorset settlements. The Dorset sites that were the locations of periodic seasonal gatherings did not register any evidence of eutrophication in the nearby ponds, reflecting the shorter, less intensive nature of these occupations. Similarly, nearby control ponds with no evidence of significant human activity in their catchments showed little-to-no changes in δ15N profiles and diatom assemblages. Due to slow rates of decomposition, nutrients from butchered marine animal bones continue to influence the freshwater sites into which they drain, as evidenced by higher than typical nutrient and production-related water chemistry variables.