A case of multiple metastasis in Late Holocene hunter‐gatherers from the Argentine Pampean region

Chenque I site is a prehistoric cemetery located in Lihué Calel National Park (La Pampa province) in the Western Pampean region of Argentina. Hunter‐gatherer societies made use of this site during the Final Late Holocene for at least 700 years (1030–370 BP). Currently 41 burial structures have been excavated, and more than 150 individuals have been recovered. There is great variability in mortuary patterns at the site (simple, multiple, primary, secondary burials, and also a variant not previously observed in the region). The life‐ways of this population have been investigated through the evaluation of several biological and cultural factors. Several pathological conditions have also been identified in this cemetery. Burial no. 12 contains a skeleton of an adult male that shows multiple pathological lesions, compatible with a neoplastic disease. These lesions have been analysed using several methodological strategies: macroscopic, radiological and microscopic. This is the first time that this kind of disease has been identified from a prehistoric burial in Argentina. In this paper the location and characteristics of the lesions are evaluated, and the different neoplastic diseases that could have produced them are discussed. Since the people buried in this cemetery belonged to highly mobile societies, a key issue is to infer the consequences that this disease would have had on the dynamics of the group in which this person lived, because of the gradual deterioration of his health and physical strength. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Great white shark teeth used as pendants and possible tools by early‐middle Holocene terrestrial mammal hunter‐gatherers in the Eastern Pampas (Southern South America)

Two great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) teeth recovered in a terrestrial mammal hunter‐gatherers context in the Pampas are described. Associated lithic (mainly quarzite) tools, and the predominant exploitation of the Lama guanicoe relate the ancient inhabitants of the site with those of the early‐middle Holocene sites of the Area Interserrana of the Provincia de Buenos Aires. According to the stratigraphic context and the terrestrial fauna, the age of the deposit seems to be constrained to the early‐middle Holocene. The root tips of the shark teeth are marked by an artificial transvers groove fitted to tie a thread. Tooth edge serrations are strongly eroded, suggesting they were used as tools. We favour the hypotheses that the fish could have stranded on the beach or a small estuary in the neighbourhood, or that the teeth were obtained from the body of a pinniped attacked by a shark and sobsequenty found by humans. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diet,nutritional status and oral health in hunter‐gatherers from the central‐northern coast of Patagonia and the Chubut river lower valley,Argentina

Archaeological research in central‐northern Patagonia (Atlantic coast and lower the valley of Chubut river) showed that this area was used since at least the Middle Holocene. Stable isotope analyses (¹³C and ¹⁵N) of human bone samples indicate that hunter‐gatherers living in that area had a terrestrial‐marine diet including guanaco meat, land plants, mollusks and pinnipeds. Despite this general trend, intersite variability and changes through time were noted, especially after the late Holocene. These results have been reinforced by archaeofaunal, technological and bioarchaeological records. In this paper, three hypotheses are examined: (a) the diet of these populations was complete and rich enough to ensure good health status and avoid nutritional deficiencies; (b) carbohydrate consumption increased progressively after 1000 BP, when pottery technology was adopted and (c) this kind of mixed diet would have been qualitatively more nutritious than that of other populations of the region, which would have resulted in better nutritional and healthy conditions. These three hypotheses are compared with dental results obtained from 563 permanent teeth from 45 individuals (34 adults and 11 juveniles from both sexes), rescued from burial sites. Indicators of oral health were assessed through the observation of caries, abscesses, wear, pulpar cavity exposure and ante mortem loss. Features of nutritional status such as enamel hypoplasia, porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia were also examined. Given the availability of direct radiocarbon dating for most of the sample, three temporal series were determined: ‘Before 1000 BP’, ‘1000–5000 BP’ and ‘Post‐contact’. No evidence of alimentary stress or iron deficiency was found in individuals from the three series, which accounts for healthy and good nutritional life conditions. After 1000 BP, the results show a progressive increase in the caries percentage and a decrease in abscesses, dental wear and ante mortem losses frequency. This is possibly related to more consumption of processed foods in the last 1000 years. These results were compared with similar studies based on samples from different environments and latitudes of Patagonia. Evidence suggests that mixed diets (marine‐terrestrial) would have been more appropriate and nutritionally complete than exclusively marine or terrestrial diets. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A dental microwear study of seaweed‐eating and grazing sheep from Orkney

The potential of dental microwear for recognizing the use of seaweed as fodder in the past is explored through the analysis of microwear patterning in modern seaweed‐eating and grazing sheep from Orkney. Seaweed‐eating and grazing sheep are clearly distinguished on the basis of microscopic dental wear patterns. This reflects an emphasis on anterior‐posterior jaw movements and large pitted features in the seaweed‐eaters and can be attributed to the differing forces and/or masticatory movements required in the comminution of grasses and seaweed. Differences between seaweed‐eating and grazing individuals are maintained when the grazing group is expanded to include grazing sheep from Greenland and the Scottish borders. It is concluded that the microwear of seaweed‐eating sheep is highly distinctive and that dental microwear analysis potentially has a widespread application for identifying seaweed grazing within Scotland and the North Atlantic islands. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bone remodelling following a lower leg fracture in the 11,000‐year‐old hunter‐gatherer from Vado all' Arancio (Italy)

The Upper Palaeolithic skeleton from Vado all'Arancio (Italy), dated to about 11,330 BP, exhibits a severe ankle fracture healed with residual deformation. Following recovery, this young hunter‐gatherer continued to walk for an extended period of time, albeit in a mechanically altered manner. While right‐left differences in external lower limb bone measurements are relatively low, biomechanical analysis of femur and tibia indicates unusually pronounced asymmetry in all cross‐sectional measures of diaphyseal strength. Asymmetry results primarily from normal side endosteal hypertrophy, and not from hypotrophy of the injured limb, suggesting that this individual resumed active life following recovery. This pattern of asymmetry underscores the role of physical activity in maintaining bone mass. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diet and Oral Health of Populations that Inhabited Central Argentina (Córdoba Province) during Late Holocene

The aim of this work is to study, from a bioarchaeological perspective, the diet and oral health of the populations that inhabited Central Argentina in two periods which would reflect changes in subsistence strategies: earlier late Holocene (ca. 2500–1500 years BP) and later late Holocene (ca.1500–400 years BP). The sample is composed by 83 adult individuals from 47 archaeological sites. We considered five non‐specific indicators of stress, infectious and degenerative diseases: hypoplasia of dental enamel, dental caries, abscesses, antemortem teeth loss, and calculus. We also considered hypercementosis, dens in dens, and agenesis. We test intraobserver error by means of intraclass correlation coefficient and analysis of variance of repeated measures. We calculated prevalence by sex, age, geographic subregion, and chronological period. We applied Chi‐square (X²) to test statistical significance of observed differences. Considering the sample as a whole, low prevalence of dental caries (10.27%), abscesses (16.52%), and hypoplasia (10.84%) are coincident with values observed for populations with mixed or hunter‐gathering subsistence strategy. In later late Holocene, high incidence of caries should be considered as indicator of consumption of C4 vegetables or other carbohydrate‐rich vegetables, such as legumes of Prosopis sp. Also, moderate values of dental enamel hypoplasia should be related with metabolic‐systemic stress episodes. Summarizing, these results are coincident with isotopic, archaeological, and ethnohistorical evidences which suggest climatic, social, and demographic pressures that might have affected the lifestyle of these populations before the Spanish conquest. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The combined use of oxygen isotopes and microwear in sheep teeth to elucidate seasonal management of domestic herds: the case study of Çatalhöyük,central Anatolia

This paper presents and tests a model designed to investigate how off-site herd management developed in settled pre-historic societies. The model is constructed from data collected from traditionally raised local sheep, acting as an interpretive link to published data. The modern comparator was small, but plausible results allow modelling of the archaeological data to be explored. Birth seasonality and herding location are identified through modelled patterns in oxygen isotope data in tooth enamel, and diet just before death by microwear in the same tooth. In combination, these allow aspects of seasonal management of breeding, fallow and slaughter herd sections to be interpreted. Novel practices are discussed in comparison local wild sheep ethology. The case study is Neolithic Çatalhöyük (7400–6200 cal BC) in central Anatolia. Its location provided the opportunity for different parts of the landscape to be used for herding, although choice might have been socially constrained. Data are taken from 72 specimens; the results suggest settlement-wide preference for a suite of practices that kept herds within a day of the settlement and that maintained breeding cycle synchrony with optimal resource availability. Chronological analysis suggests birth season manipulation was tried but rejected, whilst hay or cereal fodder was introduced and became increasingly important. It is argued that herding was probably on dedicated pasture on the arable fringes rather than in closer integration on ‘garden plots’, as there is no evidence of field-edge weed diets and little evidence of adjusting the birth season to accommodate the crop cycle.     

Testing Area‐Scale Fractal Complexity (Asfc) and Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy (LSCM) to Document and Discriminate Microwear on Experimental Quartzite Scrapers

Few microwear studies have been conducted on tools made from quartzite. Most rely on visual observation of microwear features using optical light microscopes and scanning electron microscopes. Quantification of microwear on quartzite tools is extremely rare, even though numerous methods to mathematically document surface roughness have been applied to other silicate tools. In this paper, laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) was used to document surface roughness on four experimental scrapers made from two different subtypes of Mistassini quartzite that were used on either fresh or dry deer hide. Surface roughness data were analysed using area‐scale fractal complexity (Asfc). The results of this test case indicate that Asfc can effectively discriminate between the unused and used regions on the quartzite tools based on surface roughness, and that it can also discriminate between surface roughness produced by working dry versus fresh hides. Differences in the subtypes of Mistassini quartzite did affect surface roughness, but not significantly enough to prevent discrimination of the dry and fresh hide‐working tools. Although the use of the Asfc parameter for lithic microwear analysis requires further testing, these first results suggest it could be a reliable technique to mathematically document and discriminate wear patterns on archaeological quartzite tools.     

Race and the Making of Southeast San Francisco: Towards a Theory of Race‐Class

San Francisco is engaged in a redevelopment project that could bring millions in investment and community benefits to a starved neighborhood—and yet the project is embedded in an urban development process that is displacing residents. In trying to unsettle these contradictions, this paper achieves two aims. First, I unearth a little known history of redevelopment activism that frames debate around the current project. Second, I use this history to argue for a reframing of the language of race. To wit: although the social construction of race and racism is well established, race is still deeply understood in everyday life as natural. This paper offers a theoretical fusing of race and class, “race‐class”, to help us think race through a vital constructionist lens. Race‐class makes present the economic dynamics of racial formation, and foregrounds that race is a core process of urban political economy. Race‐class works both “top‐down” and “ground‐up.” While it is a vehicle for capital's exploitation of people and place, race‐class also emerges as a mode of power for racialized working‐class residents.     

Bone mineral densities in the prehistoric,Viking‐Age and medieval populations of Norway

Osteoporosis is a prevalent condition in Norway, as evidenced by the fact that this country has the highest reported incidences of hip and distal forearm fractures. Because recent studies suggest a higher bone density in rural populations compared with urban ones, increased physical activity is believed to be an important factor in reducing fracture incidence. In the present investigation, 185 femoral necks from the Schreiner Collection in Oslo were measured by means of a bone‐mass scanner. The bones, anthropological specimens ranging from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages, were separated into three groups: prehistoric (n = 36), Viking Age (n = 38) and medieval (n = 111). The medieval group was further separated into urban, rural and monastic populations. The examination showed that: (a) there was no significant difference at a 5% level in average bone mineral density (BMD) between the male and female material; (b) there was no significant difference in average BMD among the prehistoric, Viking Age, and medieval periods (P = 0.151); (c) there was no significant difference in average BMD between the rural and urban medieval material; (d) there was a significant difference in average BMD only between the monastic and the rural medieval material; (e) only the medieval material showed a significantly higher average BMD than that of today (P = 0.001). These findings may indicate that factors in addition to physical activity are important for normal BMD maintenance. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wavelength‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence analysis of ancient glasses*

The application of X‐ray fluorescence to the study of the composition of ancient glasses has been limited by the large amount of material required for samples. In this paper the setting of a reduced sampling XRF method for the analysis of ancient glasses is described. The method involves the preparation of glass beads by melting the sample with lithium tetraborate flux. By means of reference and synthetic samples, the method allows regression curves to be set, covering broad ranges from ppm to high concentrations. By means of a single program, up to 31 elements of interest in the study of ancient glass are analysed. The reproducibility, sensitivity and reliability of the method are discussed. The results demonstrate that 0.2 g of glass is sufficient to obtain accurate and sensitive analyses for most of the elements of interest.     

Mortality Profiles of Hunter‐Gatherer Societies: A Case Study from the Eastern Pampa–Patagonia Transition (Argentina) During the Final Late Holocene

The objectives of this work are to present a set of methodological procedures to analyse commingled bone assemblages (e.g. secondary burials), in order to build the mortality profile of the Paso Alsina 1 site and discuss the obtained age at death distribution in a context of hunter‐gatherer populations that inhabited the eastern Pampa–Patagonia transition (Argentina) during the Final Late Holocene. The Paso Alsina 1 site is a formal disposal area of inhumations composed by multiple secondary burials dated at ca. 500 ¹⁴C years BP. The site is comprised of a minimum number of 77 individuals, represented by both sexes and all age categories. The mortality profile is characterized by a bimodal pattern with a peak of greater representation of individuals younger than 3 years and another comprising the range between 20 and 34.9 years old. These results are discussed in relation to the paleopathological information available for the site, indicating that individuals suffered mainly disruptions in growth and development by systemic stress. The mortality profile obtained suggests that this skeletal series would not have formed as a result of a catastrophic event. On the contrary, it is an atricional mortality profile, consisting of individuals who died at different times and places and for varied reasons. Later, skeletal remains were grouped into secondary bundles and simultaneously buried at the site. Body manipulation and secondary burials are common in the context of a social reorganization that occurred in the area and in neighbouring regions during the Final Late Holocene. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Standards of self‐determination and standards of minority‐rights in the post‐communist era: a historical perspective

Abstract. In the recent Yugoslav crisis, the decisions of the international community sparked off a sharp debate on the recognition of self‐determination claims, reminiscent of the debates in the aftermath of the First World War. This article compares and contrasts the principles and practices of the international community in these two periods. It draws a parallel between the simultaneous strengthening of self‐determination norms and minority protection norms, first at Versailles and then in the midst of the recent Balkan crisis. Though the processes showed many similarities, there was one crucial difference: by the time of the Balkan crisis, the international community had come to regard minority autonomies as the most appropriate form of protection for compact minorities in new nation‐states born of ethnic separatism. While in the Versailles system minority protection norms were meant as compensations for the denial of self‐determination, in the Balkan crisis the autonomies were regarded as the highest form of minority protection, which in turn increased the perceived risk of minority separatism in new states. It is in this context that the article presents the debate over the traditional and more recent approaches to the ‘unit question’, which has haunted scholars and policy‐makers ever since the concept of self‐determination emerged as an international norm.     

Agglomeration economies and the location of foreign direct investment: A meta‐analysis

This paper undertakes a meta‐analysis of the effect of agglomeration economies on foreign direct investment (FDI) location. It finds strong differences in these economies arising from both measurement and study‐specific characteristics. Economies generated from domestic rather than foreign activity have the strongest effects on FDI, with the latter only significant if related to the home country of the investor. Support is also found for studies that identify different sources of agglomeration economies, although this is largely underexplored in the empirical literature. The average agglomeration economies estimate is not influenced by publication bias and indicates genuine effects for agglomeration economies on FDI location choice.     

The Non‐Adult Cohort from Le Morne Cemetery,Mauritius: A Snap Shot of Early Life and Death after Abolition

The cemetery of Le Morne in Mauritius dates from the 1830s and is thought to contain the remains of slaves, freed slaves or potentially free Madagascans, which in itself has economic and social implications and makes the cemetery all the more intriguing. During 2010, excavations recovered the remains of 11 individuals, of which six were children. Although a small sample, the burials of the non‐adults show several interesting features. Two neonates were buried contemporaneously and may have been twins, while a late term foetus in a grave with a young woman may represent an incident of coffin birth. This sample has the potential to cast light on the burial practices of the slave/ex‐slave community in Mauritius, about which little is currently known. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pore‐scale analysis of trapped immiscible fluid structures and fluid interfacial areas in oil‐wet and water‐wet bead packs

The objective of this study is to obtain quantitative evidence of pore‐scale immiscible fluid distribution in oil‐wet and water‐wet porous media using X‐ray computed microtomography. Temporal and spatial saturation profiles, as well as surface and interfacial areas, are thoroughly analyzed through cycles of drainage and imbibition using samples with different wetting characteristics but similar pore structures. The population of individual immiscible fluid structures (‘blobs’) was also evaluated. The specific nonwetting phase surface areas of both porous media are found to be in close correlation with the specific solid surface area. On the other hand, the differing wetting strengths of the two porous media affect the curvature of the fluid–fluid interface and thus the specific meniscus interfacial area of the two porous media. Although the magnitude of the specific meniscus interfacial areas is different, they both trend toward a maximum at wetting phase saturations of 0.35–0.55. The differences in wetting characteristics are also apparent in the blob populations. The number of blobs in the oil‐wet porous media is three times greater than that of the water‐wet porous media at similar saturations; the increase in population is a result of the increase in the amount of smaller blobs inhabiting the smaller pore spaces. The surface areas of individual blobs as a function of the individual blob volumes are found to closely agree with the specific surface area of a sphere at blob volumes below the minimum individual grain volume and with the specific pore space surface area above this volume. These results show how wettability and saturation history influence the distribution of immiscible fluids within the pore space.     

Dental evidence of biological affinity and environmental conditions in prehistoric Trentino (Italy) samples from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age

The use of teeth in anthropological analyses has always provided valuable information on the subsistence patterns of human communities, as well as the biological relationships among them. The present study analyses the permanent dentition of several diachronically continuing samples from the Trentino alpine region of Italy from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. The study of both metric and non‐metric dental traits show a strong level of homogeneity from the earlier to the later samples, indicating little external biological influence from surrounding areas. However, the evidence of oral pathology and linear enamel hypoplasia highlights a trend of increase in defects, particularly between the Neolithic and the Copper Age. This has been ascribed to a shift towards more intense agricultural activities and pastoralism, that led to a change in diet and to an increased sedentism. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Persistence of the Black Colour in Magnetite‐Based Pigments in Prehispanic Ceramics of the Argentine North‐West

The persistence of the black colour in magnetite‐containing paints in polychrome ceramics of the Argentine North‐West processed under conditions considered as oxidant has generated questions about ancient production technologies. In this work, the thermal oxidation reaction of magnetite to hematite under different temperatures, atmospheres and physicochemical characteristics of the materials is experimentally evaluated. The causes of this behaviour are elucidated, and it is concluded that in the archaeological context, a double‐firing process was not necessary to achieve the coexistence of different colours.     

Reaching across: institutional barriers to cross‐ethnic parties in post‐conflict societies and the case of Northern Ireland

This paper investigates the paradox in post‐conflict societies of continued marginality of cross‐ethnic parties despite significant convergence in public attitudes and identities. In so doing, it examines the argument that parties that attempt to reach across the divide are constrained by consocational institutions designed to accommodate rival identities in such environments. The paper explores this puzzle in the context of Northern Ireland, drawing upon qualitative evidence from elite interviews and focus groups collected in 2012 and 2013. It concludes that cross‐community parties operating in the region do encounter formal institutional barriers, but that such barriers only partially explain the phenomenon and an interplay between formal and informal constraints underlies their position of relatively limited electoral success.