The excavation report as a literary genre: traditional practice in Britain

Although ways of thinking about the past have changed, in Britain the reporting of excavations has followed a series of shared conventions for nearly 100 years. This article considers two of them. It investigates the relationship between accounts of stratigraphic evidence and the publication of the associated artefacts and ecofacts and suggests that it results from the combination of two separate intellectual traditions in the late nineteenth century. It also identifies certain widely shared proportions between the separate components of excavation monographs published over a long period of time. Their existence has never been acknowledged. The excavation report has become a well-established literary genre and authors who are familiar with such texts unconsciously reproduce the same structures in their writing.

Survival, Pb-uptake and behaviour of three species of earthworm in Pb treated soils determined using an OECD-style toxicity test and a soil avoidance test

Mature (clitellate) Eisenia andrei Bouche (ultra epigeic), Lumbricus rubellus Hoffmeister (epigeic), and Aporrectodea caliginosa (Savigny) (endogeic) earthworms were placed in soils treated with Pb(NO3)(2) to have concentrations in the range 1000 to 10 000 mg Pb kg(-1). After 28 days LC50(-95%confidence limit) (+95%confidence limit) values were E. andrei 5824(-361)(+898) mg Pb kg(-1), L. rubellus 2867(-193)(+145) mg Pb kg(-1) and A. caliginosa 2747(-304)(+239) mg Pb kg(-1) and EC50s for weight change were E. andrei 2841(-68)(+150) Pb kg(-1), L. rubellus 1303(-201)(+204) mg Pb kg(-1) and A. caliginosa 1208(-206)(+212) Mg Pb kg(-1). At any given soil Pb concentration, Pb tissue concentrations after 28 days were the same for all three earthworm species. In a soil avoidance test there was no difference between the behaviour of the different species. The lower sensitivity to Pb exhibited by E. andrei is most likely due to physiological adaptations associated with the modes of life of the earthworms, and could have serious implications for the use of this earthworm as the species of choice in standard toxicological testing. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Attitudes of landscape professionals towards naturalistic versus formal urban landscapes in the UK

The last 30 years have seen a tide of interest sweeping across Europe in the development of nature in cities, and an increasing amount of landscape development in urban areas has involved the use of 'naturalistic' styles. This is an increasing attempt to find ways for urbanism and nature to co-exist. However, there have been considerable discussions among professionals regarding the advantages and disadvantages of 'naturalistic' styles in urban areas. This research examines professional attitudes to 'naturalistic' landscape styles in Britain, in contrast to more traditional, formal landscape styles, and aims to find out whether the interest in natural landscapes is really a fashion among landscape professionals. A self-administered postal survey was carried out using both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques and analysis. The survey included 500 professionals from parks and recreation departments of local authorities, private landscape practices and conservation trusts, and resulted in a satisfactory response rate of 53 %. The results of this study suggested that professionals recognise most of the values attached to naturalistic landscapes in urban areas. However, possible benefits that natural areas may have for urban people are not attached to naturalistic landscapes alone. The study also revealed that the naturalistic style is highly popular among conservation trusts but is less so among professionals from local authorities and private landscape practices who seem to appreciate both styles and believe that these styles are not separable from each other and should co-exist in an urban environment. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.