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Australian South Sea Islanders are a distinctive cultural group comprising descendants of over 60000 labourers who came to Australia from Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and elsewhere in the Western Pacific between 1863 and 1904. “Blackbirded” labourers were commonly referred to as victims of a slave trade, though many also came voluntarily to work in the sugar plantations of northern New South Wales and Queensland. The advent of racist exclusionary immigration policies introduced from 1901 further forced South Sea Islanders to the margins of colonial society. Yet many Australian South Sea Islanders would argue their untold history speaks to resilience and overcoming adversity. Australian South Sea Islanders have a distinctive cultural heritage, including material culture, oral traditions embedded in the landscape and connections to places – from sugar mills to domestic sites – revealed archaeologically. This heritage must be approached sensitively given its association with sometimes difficult histories but is crucial to understanding the contributions of Australian South Sea Islanders to Australian society, contemporary communities and identities, and historical and social significance across multiple scales. Collaborative research with Australian South Sea Islanders pushes the boundaries of “community archaeology” by taking a slow approach to research, reframing ethnographic objects and cultural landscapes, and producing an archaeology that can include many voices. Les Insulaires australiens du Pacifique Sud forment un groupe culturel distinct composé des descendants de plus de 60 000 travailleurs installés en Australie provenant du Vanuatu, des Îles Salomon, et ailleurs dans le Pacifique Ouest entre 1863 et 1904. Les travailleurs issus du « blackbirding » sont généralement considérés comme victimes de l'esclavage, mais nombreux se sont engagés volontairement pour travailler dans les plantations de canne à sucre du nord de la Nouvelle‐Galles du Sud et du Queensland. L'avènement de politiques d'immigration excluantes et racistes, introduites à partir de 1901, a contraint les Insulaires australiens du Pacifique Sud à rester en marge de la société coloniale. Parmi eux, nombreux sont ceux qui peuvent affirmer que leur histoire méconnue témoigne de leur résilience et de leur capacité à surmonter l'adversité. Les Insulaires australiens du Pacifique Sud possèdent un patrimoine culturel distinctif, dont une culture matérielle spécifique, des traditions orales ancrées dans le paysage et des connections aux lieux ‐ des moulins à sucre aux sites d'habitat ‐ révélés par l'archéologie. Ce patrimoine doit être abordé avec prudence étant donné qu'il est associé à une histoire difficile, mais il reste pourtant essentiel pour mesurer la portée sociale et historique, à plusieurs échelles, de leur contribution à la société australienne, aux communautés et aux identités contemporaines. Le développement d'une recherche collaborative avec les communautés des Insulaires australiens du Pacifique Sud repousse les frontières d'une « archéologie communautaire » en adoptant une approche plus lente de la recherche, en redéfinissant les objets ethnographiques et les paysages culturels, et en produisant une archéologie plus inclusive.

Abstract: In this article, we discuss the Neolithic and Early Copper Age (ECA) part of two pollen records from the Middle Tisza Floodplain in association with the local archaeological settlement record. We address the hypothesis of Willis and Bennett (2004) that there was little human impact by farmers on the environment of SE Europe until the Bronze Age. Contrary to this hypothesis, our results show that small-scale agriculture and woodland clearance is already attestable in the earliest Neolithic in Eastern Hungary, there are signs of expanding scale of mixed farming in the Middle Neolithic and strong evidence for extensive landscape alterations with enhanced pasturing and mixed farming in the Late Neolithic (LN) and ECA. The main vegetation exploitation techniques in the alluvial plain of Sarló-hát were selective tree felling (mainly Quercus), coppicing (mainly Corylus and Ulmus) and woodland clearance to establish grazing pastures and small-scale crop farming. Comparison with other well-dated pollen diagrams from Eastern Hungary suggested that, in the Early and Middle Neolithic (8000–7000 cal. b.p.), Corylus and Ulmus coppicing were probably frequent, while pastoral activities and associated woodland clearance is distinguished in the LN (7000–6500 cal. b.p.). Our data also suggested a shift to moister summer conditions in the alluvium during the ECA, which may have contributed to a trend towards settlement dispersion and increased reliance on animal husbandry in the NE Hungarian Plain.

AbstractThis paper presents preliminary results from the 2019 excavations at Walufeni Cave, at the eastern end of the Great Papuan Plateau (GPP) in western Papua New Guinea. Preliminary dating and analysis of the unfinished excavations at Walufeni Cave span the Holocene and probably continue into the Late Pleistocene, confirming the presence of people on the Plateau from at least the Early Holocene and potentially much earlier. The data presented here offer a site-specific model of early intensive site use from at least 10,000 years ago, then ephemeral use, followed by a sustained Late Holocene occupation. Although there are significant changes in the quantity of material discard over time, there is little evidence for significant change in the subsistence base or technology, reflecting a degree of relative homogeneity until the Late Holocene, when we see the introduction of pig, a change of focus in the plant economy and the presence of marine shell from the southern coast.

The fats, protein and carbohydrates afforded by tree nuts and fruits are key resources for communities from Southeast Asia, through Melanesia, Australia and across Oceania. They are important in long‐distance marine trade networks, large‐scale ceremonial gatherings, and are core resources in a wide range of subsistence economies, including foraging systems, horticulture and swidden agriculture. Recent archaeobotanical evidence has also shown their deep‐time importance, being amongst the earliest foods used in the colonisation of novel environments in Australia and New Guinea, as well as the later colonisation of Near and Remote Oceania. The archaeobotanical methods used to identify fruit and nut‐derived plant macrofossils have been largely limited to use of morphological characters of near whole or exceptionally preserved remains, most commonly endocarps, the hard, nutshell‐like interior layer of the fruit protecting the seed. Here we detail how anatomical characteristics of endocarps, visible in light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), can be used with surviving morphological features to identify confidently the use of key Asia‐Pacific economic trees, in this case, Canarium, Pandanus and Terminalia. Systematic anatomical description allows the identification of these important economic taxa, and separation from the remains of others such as Aleuritesand Cocos, when found in a range of archaeological assemblages. This includes the often highly fragmented charred assemblages that can be recovered routinely from most sites with appropriate fine‐sieving and flotation methods. These methods provide the basis for a more representative and nuanced understanding of ancient plant use, economy and social systems operating in the region and, being particularly useful in tropical regions, will broaden the archaeobotanical database on ancient foods globally. Les graisses, les protéines et les glucides fournis par les noix et les fruits sont des ressources essentielles pour les communautés d'Asie du Sud‐Est, de Mélanésie, d'Australie et d'Océanie. Ils sont importants dans les réseaux commerciaux maritimes à longue distance, les rassemblements cérémoniels à grande échelle et sont des ressources essentielles dans un large éventail d'économies de subsistance, y compris les systèmes de recherche de nourriture, l'horticulture et l'agriculture itinérante. Des preuves archéobotaniques récentes ont également montré leur importance dans le temps, étant parmi les premiers aliments utilisés dans la colonisation de nouveaux environnements en Australie et en Nouvelle‐Guinée, ainsi que dans la colonisation ultérieure de l'Océanie proche et lointaine. Les méthodes archéobotaniques utilisées pour identifier les macrofossiles de plantes dérivées de fruits et de noix ont été largement limitées à l'utilisation de caractères morphologiques de restes presque entiers ou exceptionnellement préservés, le plus souvent des endocarpes, la couche intérieure dure en forme de coquille de noix du fruit protégeant la graine. Nous détaillons ici comment les caractéristiques anatomiques des endocarpes, visibles en microscopie optique et électronique à balayage, peuvent être utilisées avec les caractéristiques morphologiques survivantes pour identifier en toute confiance l'utilisation des principaux arbres économiques de l'Asie‐Pacifique, dans ce cas Canarium, Pandanuset Terminalia. La description anatomique systématique permet l'identification de ces taxons économiques importants et la séparation des restes d'autres tels que les Aleurites et les Cocos, lorsqu'ils se trouvent dans une gamme d'assemblages archéologiques. Cela comprend les assemblages calcinés souvent très fragmentés qui peuvent être récupérés de façon routinière sur la plupart des sites avec des méthodes appropriées de tamisage fin et de flottation. Ces méthodes fournissent la base d'une compréhension plus représentative et nuancée de l'utilisation des plantes anciennes, de l'économie et des systèmes sociaux opérant dans la région et, étant particulièrement utiles dans les régions tropicales, élargiront la base de données archéobotanique sur les aliments anciens à l'échelle mondiale.

An extensive body of engraved rock art on the Great Papuan Plateau is documented here for the first time, along with the first dates for occupation. Consisting largely of deeply abraded or pecked barred ovals and cupules, the rock art of this region does not fit comfortably into any regional models for rock art previously described. It does, however, exhibit some similarity to art in regions to the east and the west of the plateau. Subject to further archaeological testing, we present a number of exploratory hypotheses with which to explain the presence of the engravings; as part of the ethnographic and contemporary Kasua's cultural suite; as part of a relatively recent (late Holocene) migration of peoples from the Gulf to the plateau; or as part of an earlier movement of people from the west, possibly as part of the movement of people into the Sahul continent in the Late Pleistocene. We conclude that the Great Papuan Plateau is not a late and marginally occupied ‘backwater’ but rather part of a possible corridor of human movement across northern Sahul and a region that could allow us to better understand modern humans as they reached the Sahul continent. Un immense corpus d'art rupestre gravé du Grand Plateau de Papouasie‐Nouvelle‐Guinée, est exposé ici pour la première fois, accompagné des premières dates d'occupation humaine qui lui sont associées. L'art rupestre de cette région se compose pour l’essentiel, d'ovales barrés et de cupules profondément abrasés ou piquetés. Cet art ne s’accorde avec aucun des modèles régionaux précédemment décrits. Néanmoins, il présente quelques similarités avec l'art des régions situées à l'est et à l’ouest du plateau. Sous réserve de validation par davantage de faits archéologiques nous présentons plusieurs hypothèses pouvant expliquer la présence des gravures : comme composante ethnographique et contemporaine de la culture Kasua ; comme partie d’une migration relativement récente (Holocène récent) des peuples du Golfe vers le Plateau; ou comme partie d'un mouvement précoce de populations venant de l'ouest ayant pu appartenir à un déplacement de population dans le Sahul au Pléistocène récent. Nous concluons que le Grand Plateau de Papouasie‐Nouvelle‐Guinée n'est pas une zone reculée récemment et marginalement occupée. Il s’agirait plutôt d'un corridor potentiel de déplacement humain à travers la partie septentrionale du Sahul et une région qui pourrait nous permettre de mieux comprendre les humains modernes lorsqu’ils atteignent le continent sahulien.

Abstract Objective--To determine the outcome of administration of neuroleptics to patients with senile dementia of Lewy body type confirmed at necropsy. Design--Retrospective analysis of clinical notes blind to neuropathological diagnosis. [...]

Residential and nursing homes provide an essential contribution towards the care of people with dementia. It is a challenge to provide good care within tight budgets and often with a [...]

Estimating the extent of reduction intensity on lithic artefacts has become a key goal of lithic analyses in recent decades. An understanding of a core or tool's reduction intensity can lead to intra- and inter-site interpretations regarding patterns of human behaviour. Decades of research on this topic have led to a diverse suite of quantifiable measures of reduction encompassing almost all artefact types. We present and test the efficacy of a new method for measuring reduction intensity for backed blades, one of the few remaining artefact types lacking a reliable measure of reduction. As instances of successive retouching of backed blades are rarely documented, we use this reduction intensity metric to estimate original blank size, rather than model multiple stages of reduction. Allometric relationships of blade thickness to length and width were used to estimate original microlith blank size, thereby offering a quantification of reduction intensity. This method was then applied to the microliths, a specific type of small backed blade, from the early Neolithic site of Boncuklu, Turkey. Reconstructing the original mass and dimensions of microlith blanks allows inferences to be made regarding the regularity, efficiency and decision making involved in microlith production. These microliths were produced using similarly sized blanks that were selectively and nearly completely consumed in this reduction sequence. This aspect of lithic technology at Boncuklu involved little waste and therefore enabled the inhabitants to cope with the constraints of raw material access and negotiate the changes to subsistence and social organisation occurring at the beginning of the Neolithic. While we test the efficacy of this new method on the Neolithic of Turkey, it could equally be applied to any blade- or bladelet-based backed artefact industry. These industries existed at various times in Europe, the Near East, Africa, South Asia, and parts of Australia, together spanning the Middle Stone Age, Later Stone Age/Upper Palaeolithic, Epipalaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic.

The time of arrival of people in Australia is an unresolved question. It is relevant to debates about when modern humans first dispersed out of Africa and when their descendants incorporated genetic material from Neanderthals, Denisovans and possibly other hominins. Humans have also been implicated in the extinction of Australia’s megafauna. Here we report the results of new excavations conducted at Madjedbebe, a rock shelter in northern Australia. Artefacts in primary depositional context are concentrated in three dense bands, with the stratigraphic integrity of the deposit demonstrated by artefact refits and by optical dating and other analyses of the sediments. Human occupation began around 65,000 years ago, with a distinctive stone tool assemblage including grinding stones, ground ochres, reflective additives and ground-edge hatchet heads. This evidence sets a new minimum age for the arrival of humans in Australia, the dispersal of modern humans out of Africa, and the subsequent interactions of modern humans with Neanderthals and Denisovans.

AbstractCultural heritage management (CHM) of Indigenous places is the dominant area of professional practice in Australian archaeology, yet relatively few Indigenous Australians take up a career in the sector. The internet is providing new and effective avenues for Indigenous outreach programmes. This paper describes a self-contained, web-enabled, free-to-user cultural heritage training programme designed in consultation with, and for the use of, Indigenous Australians. It includes a consideration of the potential and design requirements of web-delivered courses for more effectively introducing Indigenous communities to the professional CHM sector and thus achieving the long-term goal of increasing the participation of those communities in professional work.

AbstractRecent excavations at Nawarla Gabarnmang in Jawoyn country, southwest Arnhem Land have produced a long sequence of AMS radiocarbon determinations on individual pieces of charcoal reliably associated with stone artefacts dating back to 45,180±910 cal BP. It represents one of the earliest radiocarbon-dated archaeological sites in Australia. Here we report on initial results.

AbstractHistoricising the emergence of ethnographic activities provides insights into the reliability of ethnographic analogies to aid archaeological understandings of past human societies, as well as allowing us to explore the historical emergence of ethnographically contextualised cultural traits. Epe Amoho is the largest hunting camp rockshelter used by the Himaiyu clan (Rumu people) of the Kikori River region, southern Papua New Guinea. Contemporary ethnographic information indicates dry season site use with subsistence practices directed towards riverine fishing and shellfishing, mammal hunting and gardening in the surrounding rainforest. But how long has the site been used and when in the past did activities start to resemble those known ethnographically? Archaeological excavations revealed three pulses of activity: Recent Phase (0-500 cal BP), Middle Phase (900-1200 cal BP) and Early Phase (2500-2850 cal BP). Pollen data reveal increasing rainforest disturbance by people through time. While the best match between ethnographic and archaeological practices occurs during the Recent Phase, selected aspects of Rumu subsistence extend back to the Early Phase. As the temporal depth of ethnographically-known practices differs between archaeological sites, a complex picture emerges where Rumu cultural practices unfolded at differing points in time and space over a period of at least 3000 years.

AbstractSince the 1970s the site of Emo (aka ‘Samoa’, ‘OAC’) in the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea has been cited as one of the earliest-known ceramic sites from the southern Papuan lowlands. This site has long been seen as holding c.2000 year old evidence of post-Lapita long-distance maritime trade from (Austronesian-speaking) Motu homelands in the Central Province, where pottery was manufactured, to the (non-Austronesian) Gulf Province some 400km to the west where pottery was received and for which large quantities of sago were exchanged (the ancestral hiritrade). However, until now the only three radiocarbon dates available for Emo were out of chronostratigraphic sequence, and few details on the site had been published. This paper presents the results of new excavations and the first detailed series of AMS radiocarbon determinations from Emo, thereby resolving long-standing uncertainties about the age of the site and its implications for the antiquity of the long-distance Motuan hirimaritime trade.

AbstractArchaeobotany is the study of plant remains from archaeological contexts. Despite Australasian research being at the forefront of several methodological innovations over the last three decades, archaeobotany is now a relatively peripheral concern to most archaeological projects in Australia and New Guinea. In this paper, many practicing archaeobotanists working in these regions argue for a more central role for archaeobotany in standard archaeological practice. An overview of archaeobotanical techniques and applications is presented, the potential for archaeobotany to address key historical research questions is indicated, and initiatives designed to promote archaeobotany and improve current practices are outlined.

AbstractAnalysis of seeds from cesspits and other deposits excavated at Mountain Street, Ultimo, Sydney, provided insights into the diet, ethnicity and socio-economic status of the site’s inhabitants. Sample composition was similar to seed finds from urban cesspit assemblages in both Australia and Europe, combining locally produced dietary ‘staples’ with occasional imports and even a collected wild plant. It is unlikely that the seed analysis provided a complete picture of the diet of the Mountain Street dwellers, but it suggests an Old World culinary tradition, incorporating fresh and preserved fruits. Ethnicity is often reflected in food choice, but it is difficult to know if the range of species identified at Mountain Street accurately reflects a population derived from Old World immigrants, or rather the food supply system of Sydney at the time. Difficulty in identifying some common seed types may also have distorted the picture of dietary breadth and thus ethnic identity. Imported and exotic items are not considered to show affluence, but rather the desire of the slum dwellers to eat some luxury items.

To determine the response of patients with different butyrylcholinesterase genotypes to therapy, and the influence of butyrylcholinesterase on cognition. Acetylcholine plays a key role in attention and memory and reduced cortical acetylcholine is associated with the severity of dementia. Inhibitors of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase are an effective dementia treatment, though the role of the related enzyme butyrylcholinesterase is less well understood.

Analysis of charred plant macro-remains, including wood charcoals, cereals, seeds, tubers and fruits from the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük has indicated complex patterns of plant resource use and exploitation in the Konya plain during the early Holocene. Evidence presented in this paper shows that settlement location was not dictated by proximity to high quality arable land and direct access to arboreal resources (firewood, timber, fruit producing species). A summary of the patterns observed in sample composition and species representation is outlined here together with preliminary interpretations of these results within their broader regional context.

The similarities between the clinical and pathological findings of dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) with Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are complex, and their significance for pathogenesis is unresolved. It is likely that DLB shares common disease determinants with both Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Clinically DLB shows the presence of dementia similar, though not identical, to that found in Alzheimer's disease. A parkinsonian movement disorder is present in a proportion of DLB cases. Pathologically DLB shows senile plaques, as with Alzheimer's disease, and also substantia nigra neurone loss and Lewy bodies, as with Parkinson's disease. At a genetic level, DLB shows an elevated Apolipoprotein E & epsilon4 frequency as described in Alzheimer's disease, but this is absent in Parkinson's disease. An elevated frequency of the CYP2D64allele has been found in Parkinson's disease and we have therefore genotyped a large series of clinically and neuropathologically confirmed cases of DLB, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and age-matched control individuals for the CYP2D64allele. Whilst an elevated frequency of the CYP2D64allele was found in Parkinson's disease, no such elevations were found in DLB or Alzheimer's disease. Stratification of the CYP2D64allele with respect to the Apolipoprotein E & epsilon4 also did not show any significant associations with the CYP2D64allele. The CYP2D64allele is not a major genetic determinant of DLB and the results place DLB with Alzheimer's disease rather than Parkinson's disease on a genetic level. Pharmacogenetics 9:31–35 © 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

1999 is the United Nations “Year of Older Person”. The five key areas of concern adopted in the UN “Principles for Older Adults” are independence, participation, care, self-fulfilment and dignity. This paper highlights the interrelationships between health and socio-economic problems faced by older women. The demography of ageing is reviewed with reference to changing household structure and morbidity and mortality favouring women who will increasingly become the majority of the oldest old. Many will be healthy but many will suffer disability and dementia. Prevention, diagnosis and current treatments of some of the major illnesses affecting women over 80 are noted, including cerebrovascular disease, osteoporosis, pain, cancer and the dementias. Socio-economic issues relating to the overall ageing of the population include ageism, mobility, housing and financial matters. Care throughout old age and caring for carers are important funding issues recently addressed by the Royal Commission on Long Term Care. Ethical, legal and care standards should be such that when personal autonomy is compromised then the individual should be able to retain her dignity with full human rights. Health care planning and social policy should accommodate gender based differences in longevity which will have considerable impact on living arrangements, income, health care and social supports.

Cholinesterase inhibitors have recently been made available for the management of those with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has limited initial assessment and prescribing to secondary care, but recommended that shared care protocols with primary care need to be developed for ongoing management. We describe a protocol which may be useful as a model for this purpose.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "It's All in the Past," by Mike Baker in the April 2007 issue.