Ruin Islanders

A discussion of the archaeological research in the Bache Peninsula region of eastern Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories which has produced a substantial amount of data relating to this poorly defined phase of Thule culture

Study draws on data from archaeological research in the Bache Peninsula region of eastern Ellesmere Island to clarify and extend knowledge of the Ruin Island phase of Thule culture and the question of Thule culture expansion into the Canadian High Arctic. Detailed discussion of Thule material culture.

First Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This collection is the first book to comprehensively analyse the relatively new and under-researched phenomenon of ‘ruin porn’. Featuring a diverse collection of chapters, the authors in this work examine the relevance of contemporary ruin and its relationship to photography, media, architecture, culture, history, economics and politics. This work investigates the often ambiguous relationship that society has with contemporary ruins around the world, challenging the notions of authenticity that are frequently associated with images of decay. With case studies that discuss various places and topics, including Detroit, Chernobyl, Pitcairn Island, post-apocalyptic media, online communities and urban explorers, among many other topics, this collection illustrates the nuances of ruin porn that are fundamental to an understanding of humanity’s place in the overarching narrative of history.

The citizens of the Marshall Islands have been told that climate change will doom their country, and they have seen confirmatory omens in the land, air, and sea. This book investigates how grassroots Marshallese society has interpreted and responded to this threat as intimated by local observation, science communication, and Biblical exegesis. With grounds to dismiss or ignore the threat, Marshall Islanders have instead embraced it; with reasons to forswear guilt and responsibility, they have instead adopted in-group blame; and having been instructed that resettlement is necessary, they have vowed instead to retain the homeland. These dominant local responses can be understood as arising from a pre-existing, vigorous constellation of Marshallese ideas termed "modernity the trickster": a historically inspired narrative of self-inflicted cultural decline and seduction by Euro-American modernity. This study illuminates islander agency at the intersection of the local and the global, and suggests a theory of risk perception based on ideological commitment to narratives of historical progress and decline.

An important part of the heritage of Count Eigil Knuth (1903-1996) is his archaeological archive contaning contextual information on prehistoric sites gathered during six decades of research in High Arctic Greenland. The finds and observations are a key to the understanding of human life under extreme conditions in a long-term perspective and represent a unique piece of evidence concerning the early cultural history of the Eastern Arctic. Knuth's expeditions from 1932 to 1995 took him to Greenland and Canada, in particular High Arctic Greenland. In a number of important articles Knuth published the findings dating back to the earliest human settlement in Greenland. However, he never managed to present the complete body of information and results from his many investigations. The present authors have thus compiled a computer database on the basis on his archive, which constitutes the starting point of the present book. The book focuses on Knuth's most substantial contribution to archaeology: the prehistory of Peary Land and adjacent areas. In the catalog, emphasis has been placed on topographical and architectural information, site structure, artefact statistics and radiocarbon dates. A total of 154 archaeological sites are presented. Fifty-one sites with a total of 244 features are Independence I sites (c. 2460-1860 cal. BC), twenty-three sites with a total of 416 features belong to Independence II (c. 900-400 cal. BC) and sixty-three sites with a total of 626 features are of Thule origin (c. 1400-1500 ca. AD). This study presents some new information on the faunal material from Peary Land based on Christyann Darwent's recent analyses as well as new data on the dwelling features on the Adam C. Knuth Site, which was visited by a multidisciplinary team in 2001. It also offers an introduction presenting an overview and evaluation of Knuth's remarkable curriculum vitae as an independent arctic archaeologist. In the concluding chapters some basic statistics on the archaeological sites are presented. We evaluate Knuth's radiocarbon datings of the Independence I, Independence II and Thule cultures in High Arctic Greenland, and settlement distributions and settlement patterns for the three cultures represented in Peary Land are discussed.

Study draws on data from archaeological research in the Bache Peninsula region of eastern Ellesmere Island to clarify and extend knowledge of the Ruin Island phase of Thule culture and the question of Thule culture expansion into the Canadian High Arctic. Detailed discussion of Thule material culture.

Be good. Or some dark night the sorcerers of Vente may come for you. On the islands of the Tropic Sea, parents caution naughty children to behave, or risk that some dark night the sorcerers of the Vente Islands might to carry them off. The fate of these very naughty children varies from island to island, but it is often whispered that they might end up in a stew. Navy lieutenant Taef Lang must have been a very naughty boy, since one soft, tropical night the Vente came and carried him off. And he certainly ended up in some very hot water. Sailing to Redoubt is the story of his adventures in the company of two Vente Island sorceresses, Sella and Lessie Raah, on a quest to discover the secret of the legendary lost outpost of the world’s first people, the Founders. Equipped with a map, a golden key, and a small yacht, they set sail across the bright, blue, and sometimes deadly, Tropic Sea. Sailing to Redoubt is C. Litka’s sixth imaginary world novel and is filled with the characters, humor, and adventure that are the hallmarks of his writing. C. Litka writes old-fashioned novels with modern sensibilities, humor, and romance. His lighthearted novels of adventure, mystery, and travel are set in richly imagined worlds and feature a colorful cast of well drawn characters. If you seek to escape, for a few hours, your everyday life, you will not find better company, nor more wonderful worlds to travel and explore, than in the novels of C. Litka.