This article surveys the beliefs concerning the supernatural characteristics and powers of sacred trees in Israel; it is based on a field study as well as a survey of the literature and includes 118 interviews with Muslims and Druze. Both the Muslims and Druze in this study attribute supernatural dimensions to sacred trees which are directly related to ancient, deep-rooted pagan traditions. The...

To begin with a theoretical question, what happens to the development of literature when a relatively new cultural system based on the written word is superimposed upon an ancient oral traditional culture? The first discovery is that the oral culture does not immediately disappear by the mere fact of its being in contact with writing, nor does the literature of the oral society disappear becaus...

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date...

This article discusses how early twentieth-century France developed rustic modernization projects anchored in traditional regional practices. This entailed overcoming political and cultural fears associated with regional allegiances as well as developing regional cultural agendas susceptible to economic exploitation. The case study of how Burgundians marketed artisan workmanship, gastronomical ...

As part of the Darwin celebrations in 2009, the Natural History Museum in London unveiled TREE, the first contemporary artwork to win a permanent place in the Museum. While the artist claimed that the inspiration for TREE came from Darwin's famous notebook sketch of branching evolution, sometimes referred to as his "tree of life" drawing, this article emphasises the apparent incongruity between...

The Women’s International Conference in1995 in Beijing proposed the idea that women’s rights be considered within the category of general human rights. Our concepts about human rights are rooted in the liberal traditions of a relatively homogeneous Western culture. In recent years, however, this culture has become increasingly heterogeneous. As a result of this greater diversity of beliefs and ...

Traditional cultural properties were the subject of a National Register Bulletin, Bulletin 38, that was issued by the National Park Service in 1990. In the three years since it was issued, both the Bulletin and its subject matter have been the focal points of considerable discussion and debate in the preservation community. This special issue of CRM presents several perspectives on the debate. ...

IBM’s traditions in human factors are rooted as far back as the 1950s. This article traces and describes how the challenges to the discipline have changed over the last 40 years, based on the personal and professional experiences of the authors. During that span of time, the focus of attention has shifted from traditional knobs and dials hardware, to system and application software, and now to ...

Nonhuman primates occupy a special niche in anthropology because of the comparative insights into humans they provide. Initial anthropological interest in primates targeted the apes for their close phylogenetic relationships with humans, and the semiterrestrial Old World monkeys for their ecological similarities with hominids adapting to life on the ground. From the earliest anecdotal reports o...