Effects of artificial deformation on cranial morphogenesis in the south central Andes

One of the most interesting issues of the interface between biology and culture is the artificial deformation of the skull. This modification is produced during early morphogenesis through the use of devices that alter the normal growth and development, to obtain a culturally established model. This paper, using a large cranial sample from the South Central Andes (1586 individuals), describes and documents a detailed morphometric study of the changes affecting the vault, cranial base, face, orbits and nasal region resulting from the tabular erect (TE), tabular oblique (TO), circular erect (CE) and circular oblique (CO) deformations with respect to the model without deformation. Data from 17 metric variables were processed by a one‐way ANOVA and LSD test for paired comparisons. All of the deformation types produce significant morphometric divergence in most of the anatomical structures of the skull. The TE exhibits: a restriction of antero‐posterior growth producing expansion in cranial width and height, frontal flattening, shortening of the face and cranial base, widening of the face, increased nasal and orbit height (ORH) and a foramen magnum size increase. The TO exhibits: most change reflected in the widening of the cranial vault, shortening of the cranial base and face, frontal flattening, increased nasal and ORH and foramen magnum size decrease. The CE style exhibits: a decrease in cranial width and strong increase in the cranial height, a reduction in frontal width, expansion of the cranial base and face, increased nasal and ORH, orbital widening and a foramen magnum size increase. The CO style exhibits: a decrease of the cranial vault's width and height, expansion along its length, stretching of the cranial base and face, reduced frontal width, fronto‐malar and biorbitary elongation of the face and further development of foramen magnum. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sinus and meningeal vessel pattern changes induced by artificial cranial deformation: A pilot study

This study explores the changes in sinus and meningeal vessel patterns caused by various types of artificial cranial deformation. Endocranial casts were prepared from six crania exhibiting one of three types of deformation (lambdoid, parallelo-fronto-occipital and fronto-vertico-occipital), as well as from 15 undeformed crania. Vessel and sulcus patterns of each cranium were analysed and these patterns included depth of impressions, size and number of vessels, and directional pathways of vessels. Comparisons were made within and between the different deformation types. The results indicated that deformation has an effect upon the pattern, shape and depth of vessel impressions. Vessels tended to be flattened in the areas directly affected by cranial deformation, and there was often compensatory enlargement of other vessels. Further, three of the six artificially deformed crania exhibited enlarged occipital/marginal sinuses, suggesting that this trait is developmentally plastic and greatly influenced by environmental factors.     

Evidence of artificial cranial deformation from the later prehistory of the Acacus Mts. (southwestern Libya,Central Sahara)

The 1999–2001 Italian–Libyan Archaeological Mission in the Acacus and Messak, southwestern Libya, resulted in the discovery of human specimens from the Wadi Tanezzuft Valley belonging to the Final Pastoral horizon (i.e. late Neolithic, about 3000 years bp). Some of these show clear traces of artificial cranial deformation. This practice, hitherto unrecorded in the central Sahara, is described and analysed in this paper. It represents an additional source of information about population movements and cultural connections in the area. It does not appear to be gender‐related, and neither does it involve all individuals in the sample, suggesting some kind of social and/or cultural differentiation within the group. The pattern of cranial deformation described here is not directly related to types most commonly encountered among recent African populations and elsewhere. It may be considered a combination of antero‐posterior and circumferential deformation and thus is referred to as a ‘pseudo‐circular type’. Archaeological and ethnographic literature related to Africa and southwestern Asia is investigated in order to identify a possible origin of such a custom and its pattern of diffusion. The evidence, according to other sources of information, contributes to interpret this area at the centre of the Sahara as a focal point of population movements and circulation of cultural traditions across North Africa in the latest phases of the Pastoral Neolithic. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

论丝路北方国际重镇灵州地理位置及其遗存

本文通过对古灵州(今宁夏吴忠市)城城址的确证,以及历年来灵州古城所出土带有中西文化交流印痕的重要遗存的介绍,反映出灵州作为丝绸之路北方重镇曾有过的重要地位和作用,揭示出宁夏在丝绸之路上曾有过的辉煌。     

Trepanation in the Chachapoya region of northern Perú

This paper discusses trepanation frequency data from the Chachapoya region of the northern highlands of Perú. New data from three skeletal samples are presented: Kuelap, Laguna Huayabamba, and Los Pinchudos, as well as isolated crania housed at the Chachapoya Museo Instituto Nacional de Cultura. The vast majority of the trepanations are circular in shape, except for one individual exhibiting as many as three roughly square trepanations. Evidence for healing is prevalent, with examples of both associated periosteal reaction of nearby outer table bone, as well as for healing of the insult itself. Only one case demonstrates a clear association between a traumatic injury and a trepanation event. The purpose or function of the remaining cases of trepanation, however, remains elusive. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Managing the risk of climatic variability in late prehistoric northern Chile

The concept of risk management encompasses the diverse strategies employed in preventing and mitigating losses associated with social and environmental calamities. Building on the growing literature on risk, we use archaeological data from the Tarapacá Valley, located in northern Chile, to document the risk-reduction tactics mobilized by the valley’s inhabitants to navigate the increasingly volatile environmental and social conditions of the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000–1450). With the onset of exceptionally unpredictable environmental conditions after AD 1100, residents of the Tarapacá Valley chose strategies such as increased trade and agricultural diversification and extensification to minimize shortages in staple resources. Threats of raiding and intra-community strife exacerbated the risks associated with subsistence shortfalls. Valley communities elected a number of strategies to curtail conflict-induced risk, including movement of settlements and field systems to defensible locations, construction of walls and other defensive features, and the introduction of plazas. Rock art data suggest that trade was increasingly embedded in ritually sanctioned events involving groups from different ecological zones. While studies of risk have focused disproportionately on environmental hazards, subsistence-related crises are often compounded by social hazards that require their own risk-mitigating strategies, further constraining options for coping with subsistence stress.     

Pre-Columbian Fishing on the Coast of the Atacama Desert,Northern Chile: An Investigation of Fish Size and Species Distribution Using Otoliths From Camarones Punta Norte and Caleta Vitor

The bountiful marine resources of the northern Chilean coast offset the extreme aridity of the Atacama Desert in pre-Columbian times, underwriting permanent human occupation, and providing the basis for a long tradition of marine subsistence. We analyzed fish otoliths (n = 549) recovered from the sites of Camarones Punta Norte (occupied ca. 7,000–5,000 years ago) and Caleta Vitor (occupied ca. 9,500–300 years ago) to investigate species distribution and changes over time. We also estimated the size of the fish based on relationships between otolith weight and fish total length (TL) obtained from modern samples of the predominant species, Sciaena deliciosa. The estimated size range of S. deliciosa from Caleta Vitor included fish that were significantly larger than those from Camarones Punta Norte, with the maximum TL (970 mm) almost double the modern maximum length documented. The fluctuating abundance of fish species and other marine taxa from Camarones Punta Norte indicates intense but sporadic use of the site over the span of occupation. In contrast, human occupation of the Caleta Vitor estuary is more continuous. Comparisons of the fish assemblages with a nearby contemporaneous site, Quebrada de los Burros in southern Peru, suggest that fishing technologies were similar along this section of the Pacific coast.     

Artificial cranial modification on a female skeleton from the Byzantine site of Maroneia (Thrace,Greece)

Artificial cranial modification is one of the most often documented types of intentional intervention on the human skeleton in the anthropological record. A female cranium exhibiting headshaping recently came to light at the Early Byzantine site of Maroneia, in Thrace, northern Greece. Headshaping was practiced by several different population groups during the migration period (1st–9th c. AD), but was unknown in Byzantine customs. Homogeneity in burial customs, evidenced by the skeleton's position and orientation and by cemetery topography, strongly supports the hypothesis that this burial belonged to a Christianised citizen who had the right to be buried in a common Christian cemetery. Headshaping provides strong evidence for the cultural adaptability and complexity of Early Byzantine society at Maroneia, an important provincial urban centre of the Byzantine Empire. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

西汉“未央宫”宫名含义小考

未央宫是西汉乃至中国古代最有名的宫殿之一。但对于未央宫为何取名"未央",文献上却没有任何说明。本文试图通过对有关传世汉代文献、出土文献的梳理以及对汉代风俗观念的考察,对此进行初步的探讨。     

宋《郑荣墓志》疏考

北宋与西夏在延州等地的对峙是宋代军事史上的重要课题。本文通过对北宋《郑荣基志》的研究,疏理了郑荣家族的传承脉络,获取了北宋初期宋夏战争和平定侬智高叛乱的一些侧面信息,丰富了北宋中、下级武官名称和官阶称号的资料,对进一步研究宋夏战争及当时的军事、职官等有一定的参考价值。     

Evidence of Trephinations among the Garamantes,a Late Holocene Saharan Population

The current communication examines three male individuals who belonged to the Garamantian civilisation, Fezzan, Libya. The individuals have been dated to ad 1–700 and exhibit signs of perforations on their crania, which appear to represent trephinations. The sophistication of the practice and its successful execution, as evidenced by traces of healing, indicate that the Garamantes possessed the knowledge of complex surgical procedures. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The homicidal nation: An investigation into violence in the United States

Violent crime occupies a central place in American political culture, both as an element of the national character and as the focus of continuing policy debates on issues as disparate as school integration and gun control. This paper seeks to identify the root of the American penchant for violent crime, and for homicide in particular, and sketches its political implications. An “opportunity” model, stressing reaction to social immobility in a society with pervasive achievement‐oriented symbols, provides an appealing approach. It fails to explain, however, the regional violence characterising the South. Institutional factors, notably the weaknesses in a fragmented, locally‐controlled system of law enforcement within a non‐parliamentary democracy, must also contribute to this American problem.     

唐高丽遗民《高铙苗墓志》考略

该文对2008年西安碑林博物馆新入藏的一方唐《高铙苗墓志》进行考释,推测志主高铙苗为唐高宗乾封年间,即高丽发生内讧后投诚唐朝的高丽将领。高铙苗入唐后,遂被授予左领军员外将军一职作为褒奖,并赐予私宅,后于唐咸亨四年(673)去逝,葬长安城南原。此方墓志为研究在唐高丽遗民情况又增加了新的史料。     

从礼制变革看秦国的君主政治

战国是中央集权君主政治发展的重要时期,而礼制是先秦时期反映身份和等级的重要内容之一,礼制变革可以折射出各国君主政治、中央集权制的发展情况。本文通过战国中期以后的秦国礼制变革,在对比战国前期秦国和同时期东方六国相关礼制的基础上,对其差异所表现出的秦国君主政治的特征及其成因作一探讨。     

“胡人”的变迁及其对东西方文化交流的促进

胡人是我国古代中原汉民族对北方和西方异族的通称。先秦时的胡,专指匈奴。汉晋时期"胡人"泛指匈奴、氐、鲜卑、羌、羯,"胡人"的范围已由北方逐渐扩大到西部。这个具有传奇色彩的商业民族,他们沿着传统意义上的陆上丝绸之路大批东移,不但为世人留下了精美的文化艺术产品,极大地丰富了各民族的物质文化生活,而且为沟通东西方文明交流、传播先进的科技文化,发挥了不可替代的作用,为人类的文明、进步做出了积极的贡献。     

从青铜车器窥视先秦马车之发展

先秦时期青铜车器的使用和演变与古代马车的结构、用途、发展、用车制度等联系密切。本文对先秦时期中原地区青铜车器的形制演变及其社会背景进行初步探讨:车器的使用在殷商时期已经较为广泛。西周时期车战的兴起、车马随葬制度的确立,促使车器形制、种类发生变化,形成了先秦马车发展的第一个高峰。春秋时期由于车战的频繁、墓葬制度的改革,促使车器制作的更加精良。战国中期,车战逐渐退出历史舞台,车器的制作也走向衰落。     

Identifying the sources of Inka period ceramics from northern Chile: results of a neutron activation study

To examine regional patterns of ceramic production and distribution during the era of Inka domination in northern Chile, we determined the elemental compositions of 157 samples of archaeological ceramics and geological clays from the sites of Catarpe and Turi using instrumental neutron activation analysis. We identified two major and three minor composition groups in the ceramics. The major groups, High Cr and Low Cr, are linked to clays from two broad geological contexts within the region, while the minor Low Na group is made up of ceramics imported from northwestern Argentina. The distribution of the composition groups indicates that, in the Catarpe–Turi region, patterns of ceramic production differed for different vessel types: jars were made from clay and temper acquired near the sites where the jars were used, while bowls were made of material coming from more distant sources. The geographical distribution of the analyzed ceramics indicates that bowls were exchanged between Catarpe and Turi in a pattern more similar to tribute/extraction than to market exchange, with Catarpe being the dominant site. The compositional analysis also demonstrates that Inka-style ceramics were being locally produced at sites in this region during the era of Inka domination.     

“汉阳诸姬”之唐、沈二国考

"汉阳诸姬"是西周王朝在南方的重要屏障,在相长的时间里,它们担负着镇抚南国和传播王朝礼乐的使命。"汉阳诸姬"之唐、沈二国在西周早期就已受封,进入春秋之后,由于其特殊的地理位置和楚国问鼎中原的野心,先后亡于楚。     

秦始皇陵K0006陪葬坑性质蠡测

秦始皇陵K0006陪葬坑性质一直未有定论,或指其为"廷尉",或说当是"宫厩",也有学者认为是模拟"车马出行从车"之属。分析秦陵陪葬坑的性质,必须结合陵园建造思想、内部布局关系等因素,依据陪葬坑内的埋藏物推测其功用,进而判断陪葬坑所反映的历史原型。在已有认识的基础上,通过宏观与微观分析,本文提出K0006陪葬坑极有可能象征着秦代中车府或中车府的组成部分这一论点。