Northern French Research Articles

Head valley study under forest and in cultivated area: example in the northern French Central Massif

Des analyses morphométrique et sédimentologique permettent d’étudier la morphologie des têtes de vallon dans le Bocage bourbonnais, région de transition entre le socle du Massif central et la couverture sédimentaire du Bassin parisien, qui juxtapose des espaces forestiers et des milieux cultivés. Le début de l’incision, qui dépend principalement de la pente avant incision et de la surface de l’impluvium, présente des formes différentes selon la lithologie et l’occupation du sol. Des vallons colluviaux en berceau existent entre le début de l’incision et le début de l’écoulement intermittent dans les secteurs cultivés, alors qu’en forêt, l’incision en V et l’écoulement intermittent coïncident le plus souvent. En milieu forestier, les incisions survenues lors de défrichements restent bien conservées et l’érosion continue à se produire après de fortes pluies de saison froide ou à la faveur d’aménagements mal conçus, comme des fossés de drainage acheminant les eaux directement à l’amont des têtes de ravins.

A spatio-temporal modelling framework for assessing the fluctuations of avalanche occurrence resulting from climate change: application to 60 years of data in the northern French Alps

Based on a previous township-scale model, a spatio-temporal framework is proposed to study the fluctuations of avalanche occurrence possibly resulting from climate change. The regional annual component is isolated from the total variability using a two-factor nonlinear analysis of variance. Moreover, relying on a Conditional AutoRegressive sub-model for the spatial effects, the structured time trend is distinguished from the random noise with different time series sub-models including autocorrelative, periodic and change-point models. The hierarchical structure obtained takes into account the uncertainty related to the estimation of the annual component for the quantification of the time trend. Bayesian inference is performed using Monte Carlo simulations. This allows a comparison of the different time series models and the prediction of future activity in an explicit unsteady context. Application to the northern French Alps illustrates the information provided by the model’s different components, mainly the spatial and temporal terms as well as the spatio-temporal fluctuation of the relative risk. For instance, it shows no strong modifications in mean avalanche activity or in the number of winters of low or high activity over the last 60 years. This suggests that climate change has recently had little impact on the avalanching rhythm in this region. However, significant temporal patterns are highlighted: a complex combination of abrupt changes and pseudo-periodic cycles of approximately 15 years. For anticipating the future response of snow avalanches to climate change, correlating them with fluctuations of the constraining climatic factors is now necessary.

Characteristics of the MIS 5 pollen record from Lathuile Gare, 456 m a.s.l., at the SW border of the Lac d’Annecy (northern French Alps)

The layers studied, parts of banquettes, consist of limnic clayey-silty fine sediments with some intercalated horizons of shaly coal and lacustrine mud flow rubble. In the lower part of the record the Bornette interglacial has been established. This is characterised by high values of Corylus and a significant presence of Quercus and Hedera in addition to a wide-spread presence of Buxus,Ulmus and Carpinus. A linkage of this interglacial to the Eemian (MIS 5e) can be considered an applicable hypothesis. Quantitatively, however, Alnus and Picea exceed all these thermophytics. However the lower part of Lathuile Gare is also characterised by palynological duplications untypical of the Eemian, for example two distinct peaks of Corylus linked to a significant decline in Picea in PZ 3 and 5 and higher values of Abies and Picea in PZ 4 and 6. Possibly these duplications can be explained by a rapid sub-aquatic flow causing a doubling of the beds. In the upper part of the Lathuile Gare record two mean climatic recession periods in the lowest and the second uppermost section (PZ 9 and 15) were detected with increased values of NAP and Pinus in PZ 9 and decreased proportions of Picea in PZ 15. They represent the Chaperon b interstadial and the Lathuile stadial correlated hypothetically with the St. Germain Ib (MIS 5c2) and the Melisey II (MIS 5b) stadial. The enclosed middle part, the Chaparon c interstadial, revealing similarities with the St. Germain Ic (MIS 5c1), is dominated by Picea and Pinus. Only a few thermophilous taxa occur in the middle of this interstadial in PZ 11.

Ground-penetrating radar surveys on rock glaciers in the Vanoise Massif (Northern French Alps): methodological issues

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) coupled with surface morphology analysis was used to depict the stratigraphic features and the architecture of rock glaciers in the Vanoise Massif, northern French Alps. GPR data were collected using a PulseEKKO 100 unit with 50 MHz antennas, then processed and interpreted. Two longitudinal GPR profiles acquired on the Planette and Sachette rock glaciers, respectively, are presented as examples. The interpretation of the GPR data is based on the differential application of several standard gain functions (constant gain, automatic gain control) on the GPR profiles in order to enhance the images and to discriminate reflection events. On the whole, the stratigraphy of the rock glaciers appears complex with prominent internal boundaries that often correlate with geomorphological surface boundaries. The architecture of the Planette and Sachette rock glaciers is therefore multi-unit, which calls into question their sequential way of deposition.

Sermons, Exegesis, and Performance: The Laon Ordo Prophetarum and the Meaning of Advent

Of the four texts that Karl Young presents as Procession of plays in The Drama of the Medieval Church, the example from the northern French cathedral town of is distinctive. (1) The play impressed Young because it has a wealth of rubrics indicating impersonation, thereby qualifying it, in his estimation, as a genuine drama: (2) Nebuchadnezzar, for example, is to carry himself haughtily (superbo incessu), while the Erythraean Sibyl is to act insane or crazed (insanienti simillima). (3) Even for a modern reader the play is striking in comparison to other Prophets Plays: the dramatis personae necessary for performance, as well as the clothing they should wear and attributes they should carry, are summarized at the beginning of the text, rather than being introduced with the entrance of each character. (4) The level of detail provided is impressive: Isaiah, for example, should wear a dalmatic with a red stole hanging vertically in the middle in the front and behind (stola rubea per medium verticis ante et retro dependens), Moses is to carry the tablets of the Law (tabulas legis ferens), and John the Baptist wears a hair shirt and has long hair (pilosa veste et longis capillis; 145). This degree of detail, along with the convenient summary of all the required sartorial and iconographic symbolism at the beginning of the text, makes evident that the composer and redactor intended the text to be performed--it was not, for example, meant merely to be recited, or even simply read to oneself. Indeed, while many clerical communities had their own Prophets Plays based on the same Advent sermon, the Ordo Prophetarum is distinctive in its intentionality: it made manifest the community's own understanding of the meaning of Advent, a meaning that accreted gradually during the weeks leading up to Christmas as the scriptural and homiletic readings proclaimed during the liturgy fused with the interpretive understanding of those readings. Such complex exegetical intertextuality was to be expected from the cathedral community. In the High Middle Ages, the town of was not only the seat of an influential diocese and site of a royal residence, but it was also home to a prestigious cathedral school that drew students from all over Europe. (5) The school became famous under the guidance of its master Anselm who, along with his brother Ralph and their associates and successors, compiled the famous Glossa ordinaria, the text of the Bible accompanied by interlinear and marginal commentary culled from centuries of authoritative writers. (6) Students from all over Europe, including many of the most influential ecclesiastics of the succeeding generation, streamed to to study with Anselm; there were so many, in fact, that Bernard of Pisa famously asserted that it was nearly impossible for them to find lodging in the small town. (7) By the time the Ordo Prophetarum was copied at the end of the twelfth century, the Glossa ordinaria had for decades been the sine qua non of textbooks for the study of the Bible. The identity of the cathedral community would have been intimately tied up with its school's teaching and the understanding that Scripture was inherently enigmatic, containing hidden meanings and truths, and that any of its apparent contradictions could be reconciled and harmonized through assiduous study. (8) In this way, to be a canon at was to acknowledge the necessity of understanding Scripture in its four exegetical senses--the literal or historical, the allegorical or typological, the tropological, and the anagogical. These exegetical tenets were the foundation of the canons' understanding of Advent, and they are fully integrated into--and fully evident in--the drama that the community created and preserved. The Ordo Prophetarum appears in Laon, Bibliotheque municipale, MS 263 (hereafter Laon 263), a codex compiled by Laon's cathedral community in the last quarter of the twelfth century. …

The role of biotic interactions in altering tree seedling responses to an extreme climatic event

AbstractQuestions: We addressed two poorly understood aspects of plant response to climate change: the impact of extreme climatic events and the mediating role of biotic interactions, through a study of heatwave effects on tree seedling survival rates and ability of the tree canopy to alter seedling responses.Location: Mountain belt of the northern French Alps (Maurienne Valley).Methods: The survival rates of two seedling cohorts from four tree species (Abies alba, Acer pseudoplatanus, Fraxinus excelsior and Picea abies) were measured during both the 2003 European heatwave and an average summer (2004) in deciduous broadleaf mountain forests. Seedlings were transplanted into two soil moisture conditions, and in experimental gaps or under the tree canopy.Results: The heatwave strongly decreased tree seedling survival rates, while there was an important species‐specific mediating role of biotic interactions. In the wettest conditions, the tree canopy strongly increased survival of Abies, buffering the negative impact of the heatwave. In contrast, in the driest conditions, the tree canopy decreased survival of Picea and Acer, amplifying the negative impact of the heatwave. We found evidence of increasing soil water stress in the understorey of the driest community, but further studies including vapour pressure deficit measurements are needed to elucidate the driving mechanism of facilitation.Conclusions: The high species specificity of the mediating role of biotic interactions and its variation along stress gradients leads to questions on our ability to predict large‐scale responses of species to climate changes.

EMP-monazite age controls on P-T paths of garnet metapelites in the Variscan inverted metamorphic sequence of La Sioule, French Massif Central

AbstractIn the La Sioule region (northern French Massif Central), a Variscan inverted metamorphic sequence is made up by high-grade Upper Gneiss (UGU) and Lower Gneiss Units (LGU) which overlie amphibolite-facies micaschists of a Parautochthonous Unit (PAU). Growth-zoned garnets crystallized in gneisses and micaschists and display different Mg-Fe-Mn-Ca evolution trends in the metamorphic units. Microstructurally-controlled geothermobarometry based on cation exchange and net transfer reactions was used to reconstruct syndeformational prograde P-T paths. The P-T paths do not pass eclogite-facies conditions. Different metamorphic peak temperatures confirm the individual character of the evolution in each of the units. EMP-monazite dating (CHIME method) was used to evaluate the age of the P-T-evolution in the garnet-bearing samples. Monazite ages compiled from numerous matrix grains range between 327 and 343 Ma in single samples. Unimodal distributions of ages signalize only slightly younger (320–330 Ma) monazites in the UGU as in the LGU and PAU (330–340 Ma). The inverted metamorphic stratigraphy can be explained by contractional crustal tectonics. In a northern structural domain this involved a top-to-WNW shearing followed by a first thrusting event at the end of garnet growth in UGU and PAU. In a southern domain, the nappe pile was overprinted by a second event with top-to-SE shearing at low pressures. The bulk of monazites should postdate garnet crystallization and the first thrusting event observed in UGU and PAU. At best the ~340 Ma monazites in the LGU to the south may have crystallized during the second tectonic event. The bulk monazite crystallization appears to be related to a Late-Visean thermal event when the three units were already juxtaposed in a nappe pile. In consequence, metapelite garnet and monazite crystallization in the La Sioule series belong to a Late Devonian – Early Carboniferous prograde-retrograde metamorphism. This metamorphic evolution appears as a second metamorphic cycle subsequent to the Silurian – Early Devonian HP and HT events within the complex frame of the Variscan orogeny in the French Massif Central.

Evidence of two contrasting brown trout Salmo trutta populations spatially separated in the River Borne (France) and shift in management towards conservation of the native lineage

A multidisciplinary study was made of brown trout Salmo trutta in the Borne River, a typical fast-flowing mountain stream in the Northern French Alps, in the geographical range of the Mediterranean lineages (ML). Information on (1) the proportion of stocked fluoro-marked fish in the angling harvest, (2) the introgression of introduced DNA microsatellite alleles into the native gene pool and (3) the demography of the population in situ in autumn revealed two contrasting populations separated by a physical barrier to upstream migration. A native S. trutta population (c. 10 000 adults) lives downstream of the barrier and is characterized by a large frequency of ML alleles (82-97%) and high densities (43-55 fish 100 m(-2)). This population is maintained predominantly by natural recruitment of juveniles (51-82%). In contrast, the upstream population is characterized by a large frequency of Atlantic lineage (AL) alleles (78-100%) and low densities (1-2 fish 100 m(-2)) and appears to be maintained by restocking (90-100%). The origins of these sharply contrasting populations appear to reflect isolation by an impassable barrier, catastrophic flooding, a downstream gradient in water quality, stocking and fishing pressure. The native downstream population has been resilient to large sudden floods and to intensive stockings of domesticated AL fish. The results of this study justify a shift in management towards conservation and rehabilitation of the native population.

Assessing the dominance of Phleum pratense cv. climax, a species commonly used for ski trail restoration

AbstractQuestions: (1) Are some species used for ski trail restoration too dominant to allow native species to re‐establish? (2) What plant traits can be used to predict which species are good competitors? We tested the hypothesis that limited native species establishment on ski trails is caused by (1) the dominance of Phleum pratense cv. climax (PPC) and (2) the asymmetry of competitive interactions.Location: Sub‐alpine area in the northern French Alps.Methods: PPC was cultivated outdoors over 2 years with 15 alpine species in a systematic design with high‐ and low‐nutrient soil conditions. For each species relative survival, competitive performance and relationships with plant traits were measured.Results: PPC exerted strong dominance on most of its neighbouring species. Survival performance of Anthyllis vulneraria, Luzula sudetica and Lotus alpinus were dramatically reduced. Results of above‐ground competition showed that species were trapped in asymmetric competition. Festuca rubra, Trifolium repens, Alchemilla xanthochlora, Trifolium pratense and Plantago alpina best counteracted PPC. Below‐ground competition was more symmetric, particularly at the high nutrient level. Plant traits such as biomass, canopy size and specific leaf area were positively correlated with competitive performance of the species.Conclusion: The study has implications for the management of restored ski trails since PPC may hinder the establishment of native sub‐alpine species. Consequently, recommendations should focus on (1) maintaining a low proportion or decreasing the proportion of PPC seeds in the revegetation mix and (2) reducing soil fertilization. Plant traits and competition experiments can help to predict changes in restored grasslands.

Isotopic (S, Sr, Sm/Nd, D, Pb) evidences for multiple sources in the Early Jurassic Chaillac F-Ba ore deposit (Indre, France)

AbstractDuring the earliest Jurassic, a widespread hydrothermal event occurred in western Europe producing large veins and stratiform F-Ba-Pb-Zn ore deposits. Previous work argued about genetic processes involving circulation of mineralising brines. Two main alternative genetic models are proposed. The first one proposes a convection of brines through the crust to produce ore deposits, the second an early infiltration of brine in the basement followed by expulsion during Mesozoic extension. In the northern French Massif Central, new data on the F-Ba Chaillac deposit suggest that the genesis of these mineralising brines requires a new discussion.Located in the northern French Massif Central, the Chaillac barite and fluorite ore deposit is an exceptional site where a stratiform deposit is rooted onto a vein. The ore deposition is split in two stages: 1) precipitation of green and purple fluorite within the vein (Fg-p stage), with associated fluid inclusions indicating 135°C for deposition from a low salinity fluid, and 2) yellow fluorite and barite stage (Fy-Ba) filling the vein and forming the stratiform deposit. Fluid inclusions depict a mineralising brine at 110°C. The 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd isotopic ratios measured in the fluorite are compared to those of French Massif Central rocks. The ratios in green and purple fluorite are similar to those of monzogranite and granodiorite of the basement; those measured in yellow fluorite involve the granulites and other metamorphic rocks of the basement. Measurements of the Sr isotopic ratio and δ34SCDT in barite and δD in fluorite fluid inclusions suggest a deposition process by the mixing of a hydrothermal fluid with meteoric water.At the scale of the northern Massif Central district, the successive hydrothermal fluid salinities are highly contrasted as in Chaillac deposit. We propose that the two types of hydrothermal fluids have been produced by the boiling of a single fluid at depth.

Late-Holocene summer temperature reconstruction from chironomid assemblages of Lake Anterne, northern French Alps

We present a chironomid-based reconstruction of late-Holocene temperature from Lake Anterne (2060 m a.s.l.) in the northern French Alps. Chironomid assemblages were studied in 49 samples along an 8 m long sediment core covering the last 1800 years. July air temperatures were inferred using an inference model based on the distribution of chironomid assemblages in 100 Swiss lakes. The transfer function has a leave-one-out cross-validated coefficient of determination ( r ) of 0.88, a root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 1.40°C. Despite possible biases induced by methodological aspects and the ecological complexity of the chironomid response to both climate and environmental changes, the concordance of the Lake Anterne temperature reconstruction with other Alpine records suggests that the transfer function has successfully reconstructed past summer temperature during the last two millennia. The twentieth century is the only section of the record which shows a poor agreement with other climate reconstructions and the distinct warming found in most instrumental records for this period is not apparent in the Lake Anterne record. Stocking of the lake with fish from the early twentieth century onwards was found to be a possible cause of changes in the chironomid fauna and subsequent distortion in the inferred climate signal. Evidence was found of a cold phase at Lake Anterne between AD 400 and 680, a warm episode between AD 680 and 1350, and another cold phase between AD 1350 and 1900. These events were possibly correlated to the so-called `Dark Age Cold Period' (DACP), the `Mediaeval Warm Period' (MWP) and the `Little Ice Age' (LIA). The chironomid-based inference model reconstructed a July air temperature decrease of c. 0.7°C for the DACP and 1.3°C for the LIA compared with the temperature prevailing during the MWP.

THE CREATION GROVE IN THE "COSMOGRAPHIA" OF BERNARD SILVESTRIS

The twelfth-century Cosmographia of Bernard Sil ves tris is an allegorical treatise on the formation of the cosmos and man by a family of goddess figures, whose creative activities are narrated across alternating chapters of verse and prose. The form and content of the work are primarily indebted to ancient literary and philosophical sources, especially to Plato's Timaeus and the tradition of Latin Platonism represented by Calcidius, Macrobius, and Martianus Capella.1 However, embedded in Bernard's sweeping philosophical reflections on matter and time, and his mythographic narration of the goddesses on their celestial journeys, are a handful of allusions to biblical and Christian history and theology, totalling around fifteen in number.As with Boethius' Consolatio Philosophiae, which also contains a small number of biblical echoes, there has been some debate about the significance of these allusions to revelation in what is otherwise a thoroughly philosophical and literary exposition of creation.2 At one extreme it has been argued, by Etienne Gilson in 1928, that these biblical and theological allusions indicate the true Christian meaning of the Cosmographia. Pointing to certain verbal and structural parallels with the Book of Genesis, Gilson argued that the Cosmographia was simply an elaborate literary exercise in hexameral commentary. The pagan sources of the work should not deceive the reader, as they had some previous critics, into thinking that the Cosmographia was theologically unorthodox. Rather, according to Gilson, Bernard Sil ves tris was following the precedent set by patristic commentators of employing pagan cosmology to elucidate the creation story of Genesis.3 Like Friedrich Klingner's Christianizing interpretation of the Consolatio Philosophiae from the same decade, this reading of the Cosmographia has won little support.4 Whilst conceding the presence of the biblical material, subsequent criticism has downplayed its importance. Ernst Robert Curtius, for example, argued that Bernard 'represents a pagan humanism which eliminates everything Christian except for a few ultimate essentials'.4 In the same spirit, Brian Stock devoted only a few lines of his study of the Cosmographia to the biblical references, commenting that 'they are few in number, indicating that Bernard was simply fonder of the classics'.6 Likewise, Barbara Newman has written that the Cosmographia 'includes a few biblical allusions, but chiefly as historical asides,' and that they 'seem little more than decorative'.7Against this critical tradition the present article offers a reassessment of the biblical allusions in the Cosmographia, reading them in the context of a wider interpretation of the work as a whole. This will not involve a return to the totalizing Christian interpretation of Gilson, but rather an attempt to understand these allusions within certain established literary and theological traditions, and in relation to specific areas of contemporary scholarship within the northern French schools in which Bernard worked. Many of the biblical and theological themes of the Cosmographia could be adduced in support of the wider interpretation advanced at the end of this article. However, the focus here will be on the most complex and imaginative of Bernard's elaborations on a biblical theme, namely his two descriptions of the grove in which man is created.8Two descriptions of the creation groveThe first description is found in the catalogue poem of 'Megacosmus', the first of the two books of the Cosmographia. Following the opening chapters of the work, in which Noys, the Mind of God, separates the elements from primal chaos, the catalogue poem enumerates the created order, from the celestial hierarchy and the fixed stars down to the flora and fauna of earth. Into the catalogue Bernard weaves elements of geography and history, sometimes arranging the material in an order progressing from east to west, and across the three providential timescales: ante legem, sub lege, and sub gratia. …

Collusion et anticipation: une analyse empirique sur un cas historique

This empirical analysis focuses on the impact of the economic cycle on firms' ability to sustain cooperative behavior within an explicit cartel agreement that existed during the interwar period in the Northern French coalfields. The basic model is based on Bresnahan (1982) and adapted to the coal industry. In order to identify the degree of oligopoly, we first assume the independence of marginal cost with respect to the basin's production and second, we study the case of a marginal cost depending on the basin's production.

Plant economy during the Neolithic in a mountain context: the case of “Le Chenet des Pierres” in the French Alps (Bozel-Savoie, France)

The analyses of archaeobotanical assemblages recovered in recent excavations in the northern French Alps permit a better understanding of the way people managed plant resources in a mountain context during the Middle Neolithic (4500–3500 cal b.c.). The aim of this paper is to shed new light on the question of crop cultivation as well as wood gathering and management from the results of the new archaeobotanical investigations at “Le Chenet des Pierres” in Bozel (Savoie, France; 1,000 m. a.s.l.). The study reveals the presence of cereals like einkorn (Triticum monococcum), emmer (T. dicoccum), naked wheat (T. aestivum/durum/turgidum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare/distichon). In addition wild fruits and nuts, probably gathered, such as hazelnuts (Corylus avellana), wild apples (Malus sylvestris), arolla pine kernels (Pinus cembra), sloes (Prunus spinosa) and raspberries (Rubus idaeus) were recorded. The anthracological analysis shows that the occupants exploited mostly a mixed oak forest, and the available woodland from the alluvial forest to the mountain areas. With the archaeobotanical study of “Le Chenet des Pierres” we also want to raise the question of crop cultivation in a mountain context. Although present data show that cultivation at higher altitudes is common, it is still difficult to demonstrate the inhabitants cultivated plants near their settlement during the Neolithic.

When What You See Is Not What You Get: Rashbam's Commentary on Job and the Methodological Challenges of Studying Northern French Jewish Biblical Exegesis

AbstractThis article explores the implications of recent debate over the attribution of a commentary on Job to the medieval exegete Samuel ben Meir that has arisen since the appearance of Sarah Japhet's edition of the text in 2000. A review of the debate provides an access point for discussion of the methodological difficulties faced by all scholars of medieval northern French Jewish biblical exegesis.

The role of Gallo in the identity of Upper-Breton school pupils of the language variety and their parents

Whilst recent studies have provided pivotal insights into the relationship between Bretons and the principle languages of Brittany, Breton and French, this paper aims to shed light on the relationship between Brittany’s northern French near language (Oïl) variety, Gallo, and the identity of the inhabitants of the territory with which it is historically associated, Upper-Brittany. This is done through questionnaires of both a quantitative and qualitative nature and follow-up interviews with school pupils of Gallo and their parents in 2003 and 2004. Results suggest that although Gallo has been historically subject to a highly negative linguistic culture in both the French and Breton language contexts, for many respondents Gallo is perceived as continuing to play a role in their identity. This role, whilst it is restricted to the Upper-Breton region, tradition, the countryside and the family is of a positive nature for many respondents, but particularly for the younger generation. However, this identity role does not necessarily require it to be spoken and Gallo, which has up to recent years been socially marginalised in favour of Breton and French, may find a place for itself in Brittany’s identity consciousness as an ‘associated language’ to Upper-Breton identity.

Rashbam Scholarship in Perpetual Motion

Rashbam Scholarship in Perpetual Motion MORDECHAI Z. COHEN Elazar Touitou. Exegesis in Perpetuai Motion: Studied m the Pentateuchal Commentary of Rabbi Samuel ben Mew [Hebrew]. Ramat Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 2003. Pp. 283.OVER THE PAST QUARTER CENTURY, Elazar Touitou has substantially enhanced our understanding of the hermeneutics of Rabbi Samuel ben Meir (Rashbam; c. 1080-1160), one of the greatest proponents of the peshal method in the Jewish tradition of biblical interpretation. Touitou's writing have opened bold new directions in evaluating Rashbam within the context of Jewish learning and his surrounding Christian intellectual milieu. His many studies, augmented by new ones, have been brought together here by the author in an integrated and updated form that reflects the changing landscape of modern research of the northern French peshat school founded by Rashbam's grandfather, Rashi (1040-1105). While the form and substance of the essays dominate this book, Touitou also addresses new matters raised by scholars of biblical interpretation such as G. Dahan, S. Japhet, JV1. Lockshm, A. Mondschein, R. Salters, and M. Sokolow, as well as historians such as A. Grossman and I. M. Ta-Shma, thereby creating an academic dialogue that paints a multifaceted intellectual portrait of Rashbam enriched by a variety of perspectives. The result is an insightful analysis of this great French exegete and his role in developing the peshat method, making Exegesis in Perpetual Motion required reading for anyone interested in Jewish biblical interpretation m its cultural context.The primary challenge for a reader of Rashbam - like other northern French pes hat exegetes - stems from his lack of clear statements of interpretive theory and principles, which has contributed to the mystification of the very definition of peshat, rendered variously as Scripture's literal meaning, plain meaning, original meaning, contextual meaning, and more.1 A second, related challenge is to account for the origins of the French peshat method, which emerged suddenly as a departure from the older type of rabbinic exegesis. After its seemingly spontaneous generation in Rashi's work, this new mode of reading appears as a full-blown exegetical system in the writings of his two great students, Joseph Kara (c. 1050-1130) and Rashbam. Exegesis in Perpetual Motion, divided into three major sections, illuminates these issues with sensitivity to their historical and cultural implications. Section one is a dedicated, three-chapter study of the origins of the northern French peshat method. Section two describes Rashbam 's relation to his predecessors: his complex attitude toward rabbinic exegesis (chapter 4) and debt to Rashi (chapter 5). Section three, the largest part of the book, with seven chapters, analyzes Rashbam's peshat method itself as applied in his Pentateuch commentary. After discussing the problematic state of the text of this commentary (chapter G), Touitou pieces together Rashbam's hermeneutical theory based on his sporadic statements regarding the relation between peshat and midrash (chapter 7). The author then defines Rashbam's interpretive methods as reflected in his analysis of the Pentateuch's literary structure (chapter 8), its narratives (chapter 9), and halakhic sections (chapter 10). The final two chapters contain additional glosses by Rashbam on selected biblical verses: from the Pentateuch, heretofore unpublished, culled from the margins of an early Rashi manuscript (chapter 11), and from the Prophets and Writings, appearing as citations m the medieval work 'Arugat ha-Bosem (chapter 12). The two appendices address related subjects: traces of Rashbam in the printed text of Rashi's Pentateuch commentary; and a contemporary evaluation of Rashbam's idiosyncratic peshat readings in light of Nehama Leibowitz's critiques. The bibliography is current2 and the indices are helpful, as is the list of Touitou s earlier studies incorporated in the current book. …

Bioavailability of sediment-borne lead for ragworms (Hediste diversicolor) investigated by lead isotopes

Abstract The Seine estuary possesses a heavily industrialised catchment area that contrasts significantly with that possessed by the smaller Authie estuary. For both of these northern French estuaries, Pb isotopic compositions and concentrations have been determined on specimens of Hediste diversicolor (ragworms) and on HCl leachates performed on related mudflat sediment. Three sampling campaigns were completed in 2003. As expected, the reactive Pb obtained by 1 M HCl leaching, shows higher concentrations and a more anthropogenic signature in samples from the Seine estuary than in samples from the Authie. However, neither of the two sites is free from the influence of anthropogenic Pb. Possible contaminant sources are discussed through comparisons with previously published data. For the more highly contaminated Seine estuary, most of the ragworm Pb signatures are similar to those of the sediments. In contrast, ragworms from the Authie site exhibit a higher proportion of anthropogenic Pb than the corresponding sediments. Various hypotheses are discussed to explain this significant discrepancy: (1) analytical artifacts, (2) migration of ragworm populations, (3) diet and feeding behaviour, and as the most likely explanation (4) an unsuitable leaching method for the extraction of bioavailable Pb. The possibility of using Pb isotopes as a tool for bioavailability studies on sediments or soils is discussed.

Quantitative reconstruction of climatic variations during the Bronze and early Iron ages based on pollen and lake-level data in the NW Alps, France

Vegetation and lake-level data from the archaeological site of Tresserve, on the eastern shore of Lake Le Bourget (Savoie, France), are used to provide quantitative estimates of climatic variables over the period 4000–2300 cal BP in the northern French Pre-Alps, and to examine the possible impact of climatic changes on societies of the Bronze and early Iron Ages. The results obtained indicate that phases of higher lake level at 3500–3100 and 2750–2350 cal BP coincided with major climate reversals in the North Atlantic area. In west-central Europe, they were marked by cooler and wetter conditions. These two successive events may have affected ancient agricultural communities in west-central Europe by provoking harvest failures, more particularly due to increasing precipitation during the growing season. However, archaeological data in the region of Franche-Comté (Jura Mountains, eastern France) show a general expansion of population density from the middle Bronze Age to the early Iron Age. This suggests a relative emancipation of proto-historic societies from climatic conditions, probably in relation to the spread of new modes of social and economic organisation.

Distribution, growth and survival of anchovy larvae (Engraulis encrasicolus L.) in relation to hydrodynamic and trophic environment in the Bay of Biscay

European anchovy larvae were sampled in June 2004 in the south-eastern part of the Bay of Biscay (limits: 4°W, 46°N). Larval distribution was analysed and compared with spawning distribution in previous weeks. Patches of old larvae were found around the French and Cantabrian shelf (CS) edges and even in oceanic waters, far from the main spawning areas, whereas the youngest larvae appeared in the middle French shelf, associated with adult spawning locations. The analysis of environmental conditions showed significant differences from coastal to oceanic stations as well as in areas under the influence of river discharges. A principal component analysis carried out on temperature, stratification, chlorophyll a and plankton concentration distinguished five areas: Gironde, Northern French Shelf, Southern French Shelf, CS and Oceanic area. Growth and mortality rates were estimated for anchovy larvae in these contrasting areas. Advective processes due to dominant north-easterly winds during summer influence larval distribution in the Bay of Biscay after spawning. However higher food concentration on the shelf did not result in significant differences in the growth rate. Mortality rates seem to be negatively related to larval size, although this effect may be partially due to advection. This is the first attempt to study the effect of environmental factors on anchovy larval distribution and mortality in the Bay of Biscay.