VIVARIA IN DOLIIS. CERAMIC JARS FOR DORMOUSE FATTENING FOUND IN ARUCCI

The excavation of the north house at the archaeological site of Arucci (Aroche, Huelva) has provided interesting data for understanding city planning in general, and domestic architecture in particular. Investigation of their environments has allowed the identification of the distinct functions for which they were intended, including two significant tabernae that were connected to one of the main thoroughfares of the city. In one of them, an interesting set of ceramic fragments has been recovered, whose features allow us to recognize them as ceramic containers for fattening the much-appreciated dormouse. This find signifies an interesting novelty in the archaeological record of the city from which various aspects of the diet of its inhabitants can be inferred, as well as the breeding and production of the rodents.     

EVIDENCE FOR THE MIXING OF FATS AND WAXES IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CERAMICS

Lipid residues from two Late Saxon/early medieval ceramic vessels recovered from excavations at West Cotton, Raunds, Northamptonshire, U.K., have been investigated by high-temperature gas chromatography (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The solvent extracts of sherds sampled from different points on each vessel (i.e., base, body and rim) were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively and compounds were identified which were characteristic of beeswax and animal fat. Furthermore, by determining the sites of accumulation of the specific lipid types and their concentrations in different parts of the vessels it can be inferred that the beeswax was added to the vessels prior to the addition of the fat. It was concluded that the two vessels performed different functions in antiquity.     

PROVENANCE OF MEDIEVAL PIETRA OLLARE ARTEFACTS FOUND IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES OF CENTRAL–EASTERN ITALY: INSIGHTS INTO THE ALPINE SOAPSTONE TRADE*

Medieval archaeological findings made of pietra ollare (basic and ultrabasic metamorphic rocks belonging to the greenschist facies) and coming from central–eastern Italy have been characterized through a petrological study (modal mineralogy, whole‐rock geochemistry, XRD and SEM–EDS analyses). The pietra ollare artefacts considered in this work consist of fine‐grained, grey to pale‐grey, magnesite‐bearing talc‐schists (i.e., soapstones). In order to determine their production centres, Alpine soapstones quarried in ancient times were selected on the basis of their mineralogical and textural compatibility with the archaeological findings. The mineralogy and chemistry (major and trace elements) contributed to establishing the ancient quarries of the Valchiavenna (central Alps) as the probable provenance area. This archaeometric investigation proves that Alpine artefacts made of pietra ollare spread to the south of the Po Plain during the Middle Ages. It can be inferred that the Alpine soapstone trade towards the Marche and Abruzzo regions was addressed through the main waterways: Lake Como, the Adda and Po Rivers and finally the Adriatic Sea.     

MARINE RESOURCES IN THE MESOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC AT THE GROTTA DELL’UZZO (SICILY): EVIDENCE FROM ISOTOPE ANALYSES OF MARINE SHELLS*

Oxygen isotopes in shell carbonate samples from the marine rocky‐shore intertidal gastropod Monodonta turbinata (Born) are investigated in both modern analogue specimens and in archaeological specimens from the Grotta dell’Uzzo (Sicily). Variations in shell edge values of δ¹⁸O in living specimens collected monthly over two years are closely correlated with monthly seawater temperatures measured at the time of collection, showing that the species can be used for palaeoseasonality studies. Analyses of shell edge δ¹⁸O values in archaeological specimens, from Mesolithic through to early Neolithic phases at the Grotta dell’Uzzo, enabled the inference of various seasons of collection of shellfish and how such seasonality varies between the different phases of occupation. Interesting similarities and differences exist between the seasons of marine shellfish exploitation and the seasons inferred from the vertebrate zooarchaeological assemblages. A major inference drawn from the analyses and discussion is that the exploitation of all marine resources (fish and shellfish) increased in the later Mesolithic and early Neolithic periods.     

STONES FROM MEDIEVAL GLASSMAKING: A SUITABLE WASTE PRODUCT FOR RECONSTRUCTING AN EARLY STAGE OF THE MELTING PROCESS IN THE MT LECCO GLASS FACTORY*

The Mt Lecco glass factory was one of the most important production centres in Liguria (Italy) during the 14th and 15th centuries. Archaeological evidence indicates that the whole production cycle took place here. During the glassworking process, production defects such as ‘stones’ were identified and discarded. Stones are partially melted, glass‐coated relics of raw materials or fragments of crucible. The study of the microtexture of stones together with microprobe analyses of phases provides a key for understanding the glassmaking procedure carried out in the Mt Lecco glass factory. The melting rate can be inferred from the compositional variability of glass, which suggests fractional melting of the batch. Glass composition indicates that the Mt Lecco production was a mixed‐alkali one, probably made of quartz‐bearing material as vitrifying agents, plant ashes as fluxing agents and dolomitic limestones as stabilizing agents.     

RELATION BETWEEN BUILDING DAMAGE AND GROUND CONDITIONS IN THE 1999 QUINDIO EARTHQUAKE IN COLOMBIA

An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 (M _b ) occurred in west-central part of Colombia on January 25, 1999. This earthquake is officially called Quindio Earthquake from the name of the most affected province. The earthquake caused disastrous damage to a large number of buildings resulting in significant casualties. In Armenia City and its neighbouring villages close to the epicentre over 1000 people were killed by the earthquake and the total monetary loss reached US$ 2 billion. Armenia City, which has an approximate population of 280 000 people, apparently suffered the worst in terms of casualties and damage to the buildings.

The present paper focuses on the causes of damage to houses and buildings in Armenia City. First, the evolution of the urban area of the city was investigated using historical features available maps from each era. Then a correlation between buildings damage and topographical features of the city was studied. The effects of geological features and amplification of ground motion were also investigated.     

Isotopic Evidence for Camelid Husbandry During the Formative Period at the Pacopampa Site,Peru

ABSTRACT

Camelids were domesticated in the Andean highlands, such as in the puna habitat, and dispersed into lowland areas and the northern Central Andes. As camelids domesticated in a particular region would have had a greater economic benefit than visiting- or hunted wild camelids, it is important to reconstruct the dispersal of camelid husbandry from its initial site throughout the ancient Andean civilisation. We carried out multi-isotope analyses of animal remains recovered from the Pacopampa site to investigate the nature of camelid pastoralism and utilisation. Strontium and oxygen isotope ratios from tooth enamel suggested that camelids in the early Late Formative Period (800–500 BC) were born near the site and remained in the same habitat for up to three years. Although corresponding data for the Middle Formative Period (1200–800 BC) were not available, carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were statistically different from those of the Late Formative Period, supporting the possibility that the camelids inhabited the highland plateau like puna. It is inferred that in the northern highlands camelids were initially rare and regarded as either tribute or ritual animals, or they were used as pack animals. Camelid husbandry using maize as fodder began during the Late Formative Period at Pacopampa.     

Marcusodictyon Bassler from the Lower Ordovician of Estonia: not the earliest bryozoan but a phosphatic problematicum

Marcusodictyon priscum (Bassler 1911) from the Tremadocian Ungulite Sandstone (A2) of Jegelecht Falls, Estonia, is redescribed following SEM study of type and other specimens. The fossil consists of a polygonal network of low ridges known to exist only on the exterior surfaces of valves of the inarticulate brachiopod Obolus. Electron microprobe analysis demonstrates that, like its host substratum, Marcusodictyon is composed of calcium phosphate. This, together with the detailed morphology and dimensions of the ridge system, is used to negate Bassler's assignment of the genus to the ctenostome Bryozoa. Instead Marcusodictyon resembles the Silurian problematicum Gochtia Eisenack. The inferred growth pattern of Marcusodictyon suggests that it may have been a symbiont of a living brachiopod.     

Llanvirn-early Caradoc trilobite biofacies of western Hubei and Hunan,China

On the basis of representative collections made from seven measured sections in western Hubei and Hunan, four early Llanvirn and five late Llanvirn-early Caradoc trilobite biofacies are distinguished along a bathymetric gradient from shallow to deep outer shelf. The diversity and relative abundance of mesopelagic cyclopygids gradually increased southwards or seawards. According to the facies association exhibited in the region, the upper limit of living depth for different forms is inferred as follows: 1) more than 70 m (M. (Microparia)); 2) less than 100 m (M. (Quadratapyge), Pricyclopyge, Aspidaeglina); 3) at approximately 100 m (Cyclopyge); and 4) more than 100 m (Symphysops, Psilacella). Benthic forms were absent in the deep outer-shelf basin because of stagnant conditions. In shallower sites of the outer shelf, genera of nileids in the carbonate facies and raphiophorids in the clastic facies were relatively abundant, but some endemic forms, such as the asaphid Birmanites and remopleuridid Hexacopyge, became dominant during the late Llanvirn-early Caradoc. Rorringtoniids are mainly associated with deeper outer-shelf facies. Panderia is common in an early Llanvirn nileid fauna at Yichongqiao, Cili area, and may well indicate development of shelf carbonate buildups. A transgressive event is suggested by the sudden appearance of rich Cyclopyge in the early Caradoc at Jiuxi, Changde.     

Writers and politics in West Germany

This article argues that Archibald Campbell's Necessity of Revelation (1739) can be viewed as the first application of the ‘science of human nature’, a characteristic branch of the Scottish Enlightenment, to the study of religious belief. Adopting Baconian and Newtonian methodological principles, Campbell set hypotheses, collected historical data, and inferred conclusions about the capabilities of human nature to come to fundamental religious ideas without the aid of revelation. He did so not only to reject the ‘deist’ position on the powers of unassisted human reason, associated with Matthew Tindal's Christianity as Old as the Creation (1730), but also to refute Campbell's conservative critics within the Church of Scotland who had earlier tried him for heresy. Campbell's example is that of a university professor using the experimental study of religion to defeat both radical freethinking and Calvinist orthodoxy. His work is another instance of the complicated relationship between science and religion within eighteenth-century Scotland.     

A rare,late Paleocene molluscan faunule from the Kings Park Formation,Perth Basin,Western Australia

A shallow marine faunule of eight taxa from the Kings Park Formation of the Perth Basin is the first described Paleocene molluscan assemblage from Western Australia. These species are part of a depauperate suite of macroinvertebrates (molluscs, echinoids and corals) derived from deep, onshore caissons in Perth and are inferred to be late Paleocene in age, based on planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and associated age ranges of the molluscan fauna. Bivalves are Sarepta austranaxa sp. nov. (Sareptidae), Solemya kingsparki sp. nov. (Solemyidae), Periploma vivarirex sp. nov. (Periplomatidae), Parvamussium sp. nov.? (Propeamussiidae), Serripecten? sp. (Pectinidae) and Venericardia (Rotundicardia) petraea Darragh (Carditidae). Gastropods are Levifusus? sp. cf. L.? quadrifunifer Darragh (Buccinidae), and Columbarium rumatoides Darragh (Turbinellidae). Bivalves dominate the fauna in dark, glauconitic siltstone and sandstone facies; gastropods are of relatively poor preservation and low diversity.     

Revision of two relic actinopterygians from the Middle or Upper Jurassic Karabastau Formation,Karatau Range,Kazakhstan

Three hundred and forty-six articulated fossil specimens of two species from the Middle or Upper Jurassic Karabastau Formation of the Karatau Range (Kazakhstan, Asia) were studied to revise two little-known palaeonisciform fish: Pteroniscus turkestanensis and Morrolepis aniscowitchi. Detailed morphological analysis shows that P. turkestanensis, Daqingshaniscus longiventralis and Uighuroniscidae form a closely related group. They are far more distantly related to the Palaeoniscidae than previously inferred. The first detailed scanning electron microscopy of the unique scale cover of M. aniscowitchi is presented. Morrolepis is found to be devoid of denticles on the surface of the bones, scales and lepidotrichia—so far considered to be a key coccolepidid characteristic. However, it bears exceptionally robust lateral line scales. Comparison of the axial skeletons of M. aniscowitchi and Morrolepis andrewsi reveals their close affinities within Coccolepididae. The axial skeleton, despite its rare preservation in palaeonisciforms, may be taxonomically informative, at least at the family level. The Karatau palaeonisciforms, being among the youngest examples of basal actinopterygians (persisting in Asia through the late Mesozoic), possess a set of conservative morphological characters that suggest they were relictual taxa by Jurassic times, thus highlighting some freshwater systems as refuges for plesiomorphic taxa.     

Suffolk Place,Southwark, London: a Tudor palace and its terracotta architectural decoration

Suffolk Place (c. 1518–22), Southwark, was the London residence of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. This majestic palace is visible in the foreground of Wyngaerde’s London panorama (c. 1544), from which it can be inferred that it possessed a double courtyard plan. The southern and eastern ranges of the outer courtyard of Suffolk Place were apparently adorned with architectural terracottas at both entablature and parapet level. As the palace was demolished in 1557–58, the finds of ex-situ terracottas are a key source of information concerning the decorative scheme of this vanished palace. Petrological study and other research indicates that the terracottas were locally manufactured, implying the existence of a London-area workshop.     

REAPPRAISAL OF MAGNITUDE OF 20TH CENTURY EARTHQUAKES IN SWITZERLAND

We reappraise the material needed to assess the 20th-century seismicity of Switzerland and of the adjacent areas of the Alps in terms of magnitude. For this we make use of macroseismic reports and literature and by calculating the surface-wave magnitude from the Prague formula of all significant earthquakes in the region. No attempt is made to relocate earthquake positions; instead their reliability is ranked using existing solutions and macroseismic observations We find that for small earthquakes (M _s >4.5), which constitute the bulk of the events in the region, the calculation of M _s observed at relatively short distances, requires station and distance corrections which can be significant. Also we find that recomputed Ms estimates differ from those reported in other earthquake catalogues. From this reappraisal of M _s and from a uniform re-evaluation of the associated macroseismic data, we derive a stable correlations between M _s and felt areas that can be used to assess the magnitude of historical, pre-instrumental, events for which only isoseismal radii (r _i ) and the associated intensities (I _i ) are available. We examined the conversion of surface-wave magnitude into moment magnitude, a conversion that presents some interesting problems for relatively small events for which the M _s -log(Mo) scaling changes. We conclude that the rate of moment release derived from events of M _s >4.0 is small, and that it should be associated with horizontal and vertical velocity rates of less than 1 mm/yr, too small vo be confirmed by GPS measurements over short periods of time so that can be used to constrain hazard assessment.     

Cretaceous plant fossils of Pitt Island,the Chatham group,New Zealand

Pitt Island, a part of the Chathams Islands group, lies 700 km east of New Zealand. Its geology includes the Tupuangi Formation, dated as Motuan to Teratan (late Albian to Santonian) on the basis of palynology. Samples of Tupuangi Formation mudstone yielded leaf cuticle assemblages dominated by araucarian and podocarp conifers and locally by angiosperms. The 12 distinguishable conifer taxa include a new species of Araucaria, A. rangiauriaensis, and the extinct genera Eromangia, Kakahuia (both Podocarpaceae), Otwayia (Cheirolepidiaceae), Paahake (Taxodiaceae or Taxaceae) and possibly Katikia (Podocarpaceae). Ginkgo and two types of dicotyledonous angiosperm cuticle are present. Based on the absence of bennettitaleans and rarity of Ginkgo, a Turonian or slightly younger age is inferred, making the Pitt Island assemblage the first Turonian plant macrofossils documented from New Zealand. The fossils provide a window into southern high-latitude (polar) vegetation of the mid-Cretaceous. Conifer charcoal (probably of Podocarpaceae) is locally abundant and suggests that fire was an important part of the ecosystem. A broad analogy with modern boreal conifer-deciduous angiosperm forests is suggested although clearly with warmer temperatures.     

Bioarchaeological Patterns of Violence in North Patagonia (Argentina) during the late Holocene. Implications for the Study of Population Dynamics

This work presents bioarchaeological patterns of interpersonal violence inferred for Northeastern Patagonia (Argentina) during the late Holocene. The main goal is to evaluate if there is a significant increase in the frequency of indicators of violence during the final late Holocene, prior to colonial times, in possible concordance with the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (ca. 1150–600 years BP). A sample of skulls (n = 797) was studied through a series of methodological steps that included the evaluation of their state of preservation and the study of potential injuries, taking into account the degree of ambiguity of the diagnosis. The sample was divided into three chronological groups: early (ca. 3500–2500 years BP), middle (ca. 2500–1500 years BP) and late (ca. 1500–400 years BP). The individuals were also separated according to sex, age category and geographical distribution. Although a temporal trend toward increased violence was detected, it was not statistically significant. There was also a higher percentage of positive cases in Northern individuals compared to the Southern ones, and between males compared to females, but neither case had statistically significant differences. Alternative mechanisms, such as population dispersals, exchange and use of buffer areas, that may have functioned to dispel social tensions, are proposed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aggregation of Sampling Units: An Analytical Solution to Predict Variance

Geographical variables generally show spatially structured patterns corresponding to intrinsic characteristics of the environment. The size of the sampling unit has a critical effect on our perception of phenomena and is closely related to the variance and correlation structure of the data. Geostatistical theory uses analytical relationships for change of support (change of sampling unit size), allowing prediction of the variance and autocorrelation structure that would be observed if a survey was conducted using different sampling unit sizes. To check the geostatistical predictions, we use a test case about tree density in the tropical rain forest of the Pasoh Reserve, Malaysia. This data set contains exhaustive information about individual tree locations, so it allows us to simulate and compare various sampling designs. The original data set was reorganized to compute tree densities for 5 times 5-, 10 times 10-, and 20 times 20-meter quadrat sizes. Based upon the 5 times 5-meter data set, the spatial structure is modeled using a nugget effect (white noise) plus an exponential model. The change of support relationships, using within-quadrat variances inferred from the variogram model, predict the spatial autocorrelation structure and new variances corresponding to 10 times 10-meter and 20 times 20-meter quadrats. The theoretical and empirical results agreed closely, whereas neglecting the autocorrelation structure would have led to largely underestimating the variance. As the quadrat size increases, the range of autocorrelation increases, while the variance and the proportion of noise in the data decrease.     

First Geochemical ‘Fingerprinting’ of Balkan and Prut Flint from Palaeolithic Romania: Potentials,Limitations and Future Directions

Long‐distance raw material transfers across Romania prior to the Last Glacial Maximum have previously been inferred from either visual and/or petrographic observations of East Carpathian sites. We investigated the potential to ‘fingerprint’ flint from archaeological sites at Mitoc‐Malu Galben and Bistricioara–Lut?rie III in Eastern Romania, using in situ high‐precision analyses of 28 major, minor and trace elements determined by laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA–ICP–MS) in combination with multivariate statistical analysis. Our results suggest that geochemical analyses have the ability to distinguish between different geographical sources but are unable to positively associate flint artefacts from archaeological contexts to these geochemical groups. The mismatches of signatures between artefacts and geological materials, however, raise new questions and open unforeseen perspectives.     

REGIONAL VARIATIONS IN BLOOMERY SMELTING SLAG OF THE IRON AGE AND ROMANO‐BRITISH PERIODS*

This study highlights regional variation in the composition of iron‐smelting slag produced in England prior to the medieval period and attempts to link slag composition to the type of ore smelted. For many sites, the slag compositions were consistent with the use of limonite ore, but there is evidence that siderite ore was smelted at sites in Sussex in the late Iron Age/Romano‐British periods. A compositional comparison of smelting slags and slag inclusions in Iron Age currency bars, using data from Hedges and Salter (1979 ), illustrates the potential of smelting slag compositional data in provenance studies of early iron objects.     

OCCUPATION AND ETHNICITY IN FIVE NINETEENTH-CENTURY CITIES: A COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY

Abstract

Literary critics and historians often interpret authors and authors' works as more or less significant, but are reluctant to quantify those works. The interdisciplinary field of creativity studies, however, poses methods of quantifying the eminence of an author's works. This study uses four measures from that field (anthology entries, scholarly citations, entries in books of quotations, and auction sale records) and one measure from the fields of computational linguistics and data mining (ngrams using millions of books digitized by Google) to assess the eminence of John Milton's thirty-one prose works1. For the purpose of this study, Milton's short “A Letter to a Friend Concerning the Ruptures of the Commonwealth” (1659) was not included in the quantitative analysis out of concern with possible conflations and confusions with letters in Milton's Familiar Letters. and their relation to his greater achievement in epic poetry. These measures indicate the singular eminence of Areopagitica, Milton's 1644 tract on the liberty of unlicensed printing.