An important part of the heritage of Count Eigil Knuth (1903-1996) is his archaeological archive including 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 data base based on his archive, and this has formed 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 catalogue emphasis has been placed on topographical and architectural information, site structure, artefact statistics and radiocarbon dates. A total of 154 archaeological sites are presented. 51 sites with a total of 244 features are Independence I sites (c. 2460 – 1860 cal. BC), 23 sites with a total of 416 features belong to Independence II (c. 900 – 400 cal. BC) and 63 sites with a total of 626 features are of Thule origin (c. 1400 – 1500 ca. AD). It has not been our ambition to re-analyse the finds or add new empirical data in connection with the production of this book. We do, however, present 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. The book is provided with 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.
This paper makes a contribution to the controversial debate on the sources of Germany's rapid postwar growth. It is evaluated whether the German Wirtschaftswunder was triggered by reconstruction ...effects after the war or whether there was a genuine growth effect due to the policy reforms in and after 1948. Applying a time series approach it can be demonstrated that there was in fact strong reconstruction growth. This paper makes a contribution to the controversial debate on the sources of Germany's rapid postwar growth. It is evaluated whether the German Wirtschaftswunder was triggered by reconstruction effects after the war or whether there was a genuine growth effect due to the policy reforms in and after 1948. Applying a time series approach it can be demonstrated that there was in fact strong reconstruction growth. On the other hand, reconstruction growth is unable to fully explain Germany's growth record, as growth rates in the 1950s and 60s were significantly higher than the pure reconstruction model predicts. The time pattern of this growth bonus perfectly coincides with the German currency reform and the inauguration of the social market economy. Besides the growth bonus there was an observable interaction with reconstruction mechanisms. It can be argued that even pure reconstruction would have been slower in the absence of any policy change. Taking into account the weak growth performance of the former German Democratic Republic, this hypothesis is strongly supported. In this sense, there was indeed a growth miracle in West Germany.
Au lendemain du second conflit mondial, les besoins sont énormes. Si dans toute l'Europe occidentale, la reconstruction est rapide, les priorités apparaissent sensiblement différentes : ...reconstruction des villes en Grande-Bretagne, priorité à la reconstruction du potentiel productif en France. Dans ce processus de reconstruction, les États-Unis tiennent une place essentielle surtout à partir du lancement du Plan Marshall. Dans le cas de la France, il rend possible, par l'entremise du Comptoir Central du Matériel d'Entreprises, une modernisation sans précédent de l'industrie du bâtiment et des travaux publics. Cet effet du Plan Marshall se trouve prolongé par la mise en place de l'OTAN. L'Europe occidentale se couvre de camps militaires et de bases aériennes américaines qui ouvrent d'importants marchés aux entreprises françaises de travaux publics. Ces entreprises se développent de façon spectaculaire en misant sur les techniques béton (Grands Travaux de Marseille, Campenon Bernard, Dumez) ou à base de bitume (Colas, SCREG), qui leur valent de gros marchés à l'étranger. Mais, dans les autres pays européens aussi, l'industrie de la construction se trouve fortement mobilisée, à l'instar de la Grande-Bretagne (les «builders», dont Wimpey fournit un bon exemple) ou, plus tard, de l'Allemagne (à l'instar de Dywidag et Philipp Holzmann). Immediately following the second world-wide clash, need is enormous. If, throughout western Europe, reconstruction is advancing apace, priorities present tremendous differences : rebuilding cities in Great Britain, reconstructing a capacity for production in France. The United States play an essential role in this reconstruction process, particularly with the creation of the Marshall Plan. For France, it allows an unprecedented modernisation, through the offices of the Central Counter for Construction Material, of the building and public works industries. This effect of the Marshall Plan is maintained by the construction of NATO. Western Europe is dotted with American military camps and air bases, which create huge markets for French public works companies. These companies develop spectacularly by investing in techniques for cement (Grands Travaux de Marseilles, Campenon Bernard, Dumez) or asphalt (Colas, SCREG) which allow them to make impressive foreign deals. But in other European countries the construction industry is on the move too, witness Wimpey, the builders in Great Britain, and Dywidag and Philipp Holzmann in Germany.
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