Dirk Spennemann

Nontraditional Settlement Patterns and Typhoon Hazard on Contemporary Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands

Low-lying islands and atolls are particularly prone to storm surges created by tropical depressions and typhoons. This paper presents a case study of traditional and contemporary settlement patterns of Majuro, the capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and discusses its vulnerability to such storm surges. The paper shows that the application of traditional knowledge extends to the realm of urban planning and that, in fact, ignoring this traditional knowledge as expressed in pre-World War II settlement patterns, exposes urban development to increased flood hazards, a risk which may exact a price too high in life and property.

Decomposition of buried human bodies and associated death scene materials on coral atolls in the tropical Pacific.

The decomposition of bodies and the decay of associated cultural materials, including clothing, personal ornaments, caskets, and grave goods, was investigated based on a series of exhumations on a small sand island on Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands. Decay data were documented for an interment period between 40 and 80 months.

Tongan pottery chronology, 14C dates and the hardwater effect

Abstract As with many other Pacific iarchaelogical sites, the chronology of the Lapita sites on Tongatapu (Tonga) rests on two bases: a seriation of form and ornament attributes of pottery, and the absolute chronology as determined by radiocarbon dates. Both systems were in disagreement, casting doubt on the reliability of the pottery seriation. The enclosed nature of the lagoon of Tongatapu, coupled with the dissolution of fossil limestone, creates a water reservoir with an apparent age greater than the apparent age of that provided by the open ocean. A lagoon-specific reservoir correction factor was measured using pre-modern reference shells with known dates of collection. When the radiometric dates are corrected using this factor, both chronologies, pottery seriation and radiometric dates, are in perfect agreement. The paper demonstrates how micro-reservoirs impact on ages derived from 14 C determinations and shows the need to determine the magnitude of localised variations in 14 C.

Learning and teaching 24/7: daily internet usage patterns at nine Australian universities

Purpose – This paper seeks to look at the usage of the internet by students, academics and university administrators as part of their normal working day. It investigates whether access to computer facilities and the mode of study have any influence, or whether other factors need to be considered when providing services.Design/methodology/approach – To assess this, the paper considers the diurnal nature of general internet usage in Australia, addresses the daily average internet use at various Australian universities, and considers how much the usage profile says about the student profile and student study habits.Findings – Web usage is high at the start of the work day and then peaks at the end of the work period, with another slight peak by 7 p.m., presumably after the dinner period, representing those who come on‐line in the evening.Originality/value – The analysis of the proxy usage of nine Australian universities has shown that the vast majority of usage in the Victorian and South Australian universit...

Cultural heritage conservation during emergency management: luxury or necessity?

Annually, natural disasters cause loss of life, damage to property, and damage to the environment. Concomitant is damage to the cultural heritage property, both items and places. Yet in the wake of a disaster, containment and response efforts put additional cultural resources at risk--usually due to ignorance rather than malice on the part of the disaster manager or the property owners. This paper reviews the effects of natural disasters on heritage sites and argues for increased awareness and training for disaster managers.

The internet and daily life in Australia : An exploration

Increasingly, content for both work/education and entertainment is being delivered over the Internet. While research has focussed on the applications of the Internet, little has been done to examine how it fits into our daily lives over the run of an average day. Using data drawn from Australian services, this article provides a new methodology for charting when usage occurs, and to what extent a difference exists between various sectors of the community. It also demonstrates the suitability of human activity patterns and time usage studies to understand how society adopts new technologies.

Archaeological techniques for exhumations: a unique data source for crime scene investigations

If exhumations to retrieve a body or body samples are conducted according to archaeological methodology, they may provide evidence on events which occurred during the interment process. This article discusses the exhumation methodology employed during exhumations in a tropical environment and provides a case study to serve as an example of the data that can be obtained beyond the simple recovery of human remains.

The avian dispersal of olives Olea europaea: implications for Australia.

Summary Around the Mediterranean olives are an important food source for birds, and are now emerging as a significant component of the diet of some Australian frugivores. Attempts over the past 200 years to establish an olive oil industry in Australia have led to many neglected olive groves which have become havens for frugivorous birds. Worldwide, olives have proved to be a successful invader of disturbed lands, with birds as the principal seed vectors. A proliferation of new olive orchards in the 1990s and the effect of naturalisation on the size of olive drupes has the potential, with help from the avian fauna, to accelerate the dispersal of this woody weed in Australia.

Differential representation of human skeletal remains in eroded and redeposited coastal deposits: A case study from the Marshall Islands

A historical cemetery on Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, was partially washed away during an exceptional seasonal high tide. The osteological analysis of the human remains washed out by the tides showed that the anatomical representation of the bones found on the shoreline is distinctly skewed, caused by the erosion of the graves by wave action and the differential transport of bones by waves and currents.The two major factors involved in the observed differential preservation of skeletal elements appear to be (i) the overall weight of the bone and (ii) its ability to float. Light-weighted bones, such as the phalanges, or heavily spongiotic bones, such as vertebrae and patellae, float easily and — by wave and tidal action — can be carried out to sea, leaving the heavier bones, such as femora, tibiae, or non-floating bones, such as the crania and mandibles, behind.

Is today shaping tomorrow for tertiary education in Australia? A comparison of policy and practice

The Commonwealth Government of Australia appears to be moving towards a national policy on environmental education for a sustainable future. Using the new environmental campus of Charles Sturt University in New South Wales as a case study, this paper outlines how one Australian university is providing sustainability in higher education by integrating its designs, operations and teaching practices. In doing so, it shows recent initiatives in the higher education sector and highlights the gap between Commonwealth Government moves to enhance the national effort and what is happening on the ground. It is suggested that this gap exists because the Government outlines a series of actions rather than a set of ethical propositions for development at a local level.