Includes Its Bulletin and Records.

The theme of the 31st US Symposium on Rock Mechanics is 'Rock Mechanics contributions and challenges', having as objective the examination and quantification of the progress that has been achieved in addressing the major practical challenges facing the science of rock mechanics and mine design. The 124 papers included in the proceedings cover areas such as: experimental studies (laboratory and field); conceptual, analytical, and numerical modeling; design and construction methods. 35 papers deal with practical mining problems and include information on rock reinforcement technology, blasting, rock bursts, open pit mining, remote sensing and borehole geophysics, mechanical fragmentation, and subsidence. Areas emphasized are coal and metal mine design problems. Other papers deal with the newest computer models, new instruments, fracture mechanics, new laboratory testing techniques, and in situ testing.

This volume contains the results of significant fieldwork completed in the Tong Hills of Northern Ghana, an area currently inhabited by the Talensi ethno-linguistic group. Although made anthropologically renowned by the anthropologist Meyer Fortes, the archaeology and material culture of the Talensi Tong Hills had largely been neglected until the research initiated by the authors. Extensive archaeological surveys and excavations were completed allied with ethnoarchaeological and ethnobotanical research on shrines, sacrifice, and indigenous medicine. The data is presented and described, and a settlement chronology for the region reconstructed. The results of the geological, organic geochemical, petrographic, and archaeometallurgical analysis are provided. The function of shrines and the meaning of 'shrine' as a concept are evaluated, and indigenous medicinal practices, their links with shrines, and their substances, materiality, and archaeological implications assessed with reference to the primary empirical material gathered. Ritual, performance, and its inter-relation with the past and the archaeological record are also considered so as to question the 'timelessness' of previous anthropological presentations. The Tong Hills are also discussed with reference to their place in the wider history and archaeology of the region. This book will be useful to anyone interested in the archaeology and anthropology of African indigenous religions and ritual practices, as well as those interested in West African history, and the relationship between archaeology and anthropology.