Technological aspects of Mesopotamian Uruk pottery: estimating firing temperatures using mineralogical methods,thermal analysis and luminescence techniques

The Middle Uruk phase in Mesopotamia (3600–3500 bc) has been characterised by the massive production of “bevelled rim bowls” (BRBs). They are characterised by their similar shape and volume in Mesopotamia and surroundings. However, their production method has not been studied in detail, including the firing temperature. The determination of the firing temperature of ancient pottery has been attempted by studying mineral phase transformation sequences; although, very little knowledge exists about such transformations in mixtures or thermal analyses. These methods usually provide imprecise firing temperatures between 500 and 800 °C, as other factors such as the raw materials or firing time and conditions must be considered. As an alternative, luminescence techniques have been tested with promising results, as they have provided reliable maximum firing temperatures for ancient pottery at mild conditions (below 600 °C) with high precision. In this work, the firing temperatures of BRB samples from two archaeological sites located in the Middle Euphrates Valley (Syria) have been studied using mineralogical, chemical and thermal analysis. Both mineral characterization techniques and thermal analyses show agreement and firing probably below 600–700 °C. Luminescence yields ambiguous results but circumstantial evidence on the firing temperature between 400 and 550 °C.     

On the trail of social relations in the colonial Sahara: a postcolonial reading

The Atlantic coast of the Sahara Desert was belatedly colonised by Spain. The paternalistic nature of this process and the collaboration of Sahrawi tribal leaders produced a specific type of colonial relations. The military hierarchy of colonial structures overlapped with the social stratification of Sahrawi tribes. Yet outside the upper echelons of Sahrawi authorities and Spanish military officers, daily life in the colony was defined by interactions among workers who performed the less lucrative jobs, Spanish immigrants from the Canary Islands as well as members of the indigenous population. Given their similar social status, four decades after the Spanish decolonisation (1975), we can still recognise the feelings that Sahrawi people inspire among Canarian returnees and the Sahrawis’ recollections of Canarian settlers, proving that colonial relations are never simple but ambivalent and open to new interpretations, especially when they intersect with other categories such as social class. Informed by postcolonial studies, our analysis of in-depth interviews conducted in the Canary Islands and the Sahara over the last ten years reveals the affective bond shared by colonisers and colonised at the bottom of the social hierarchy, allowing us to identify colonial memory as a cornerstone of social and cultural geography.     

La Espiral Cave (Cuba): Guano and signs of Plant Substances Used as Paint Ingredients

At La Espiral cave, located in Bahia Honda municipality (Artemisa province, Cuba), there are several pictographs, including two of particular importance due to the design used: one of concentric circles and another of a spiral. We analyzed the pigments and binders used in one of these pictographs. The chemical ingredients of the paint are considered in this article, as well as the use of bat guano as a major pigment compound. The apparent presence of ellagic acid, ellagitannin, or anthocyanins would strengthen the hypothesis that artists used vegetable protein as a paint binder or solvent.     

New World civitas,contested jurisdictions,and inter-cultural conversation in the construction of the Spanish Monarchy

Jurisdictional frontiers were created, contested, and negotiated among a wide range of actors, including native Americans and Europeans, with reference to the cities founded in Castilla del Oro (roughly present-day Panama). This research deals, first, with the reshaping of the concept of a city in the New World, based on its inhabitants’ sense of civitas. It analyses, secondly, the creation and redefinition of jurisdiction during political conflicts and, third, the construction and maintenance of jurisdiction through local relations with indigenous populations described as ‘conversation’. The analysis of the creation and preservation of local jurisdictions allows for an interpretation of the complexities involved in the configuration of political power and political space from below in the territories claimed by the Spanish Monarchy.     

Can MNCs promote more inclusive tourism? Apollo tour operator's sustainability work

ABSTRACT

Outbound tour operators are key actors in international mass tourism. However, their contribution to more sustainable and inclusive forms of tourism has been critically questioned. Drawing from new institutional theories in organization studies, and informed by the case of one of the largest Scandinavian tour operators, we examine the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability work in large tour operators and the challenges faced in being more inclusive. On the basis of in-depth interviews with corporate officers, document analysis and media reports, we show how top-down coercive and normative pressures, coming from the parent company and the host society shape the ability of the daughter corporation to elaborate a more inclusive agenda. However, daughter companies do not merely comply with these institutional pressures and policy is also developed from the ‘bottom-up’. We show how the tour operator's sustainability work is also the result of organizational responses including buffering, bargaining, negotiating and influencing the parent organization. By creating intra and inter-sectoral learning and collaborative industry platforms, MNCs not only exchange and diffuse more inclusive practices among the industry, but also anticipate future normative pressures such as legislation and brand risk. Daughter organizations help shape their institutional arrangements through internal collaborative platforms and by incorporating local events and societal concerns into the multinational CSR policy, especially when flexible policy frameworks operate, and the corporate CSR agenda and organizational field are under formation. However, risks do exist, in the absence of institutional pressures, of perpetuating a superficial adoption of more inclusive practices in the mass tourism industry.     

Bound by blood: the ethnic and civic nature of collective identities in the Basque Country,Catalonia and Valencia

This paper explores the factors determining collective identities in the Basque Country and Catalonia, paying special attention to language and birth as key domains of ethnolinguistic divide. We will also make a comparison to the case of Valencia, a region with a native language that nevertheless has not developed a nationalist movement. We have performed a cluster analysis to compare the differences between collective identities in these regions using data from the survey on National Identity in Spain, and discriminant analysis is used to test the validity of our model. Results show that an ethnolinguistic division, based on parental origin and linguistic skills, defines peripheral identities in the Basque Country and Catalonia, but this singularity cannot be found for Valencia. Finally, our model corroborates the relevance of ethnolinguistic factors in defining collective identities in the Basque and Catalan regions, while the civic factor may be more relevant in Valencia.     

Rocking of Non-symmetric Rigid Blocks in Buildings Considering Effects Associated with Dynamic Soil-Structure Interaction

A dynamic model for the estimation of the rocking and/or overturning response of a free-standing non-symmetric rigid block considering rotational and horizontal excitation is proposed. The block is situated at different levels of a building with flexible base subjected to earthquakes. Base flexibility introduces the rotational component of the excitation due to dynamic soil-structure interaction (DSSI). The model is used to assess the influence of the dynamic soil-structure interaction on the behavior of the block. An illustrative example of the proposed model for non-symmetric rigid blocks in 5-, 10-, and 15-story buildings located in soft soils considering earthquakes from different seismic sources is presented. Results show that it is important to consider kinematic effects as well as inertial effects of DSSI in the dynamic response of contents. The influence of base flexibility depends on the change of spectral intensities associated to the increase of the building structural period and is larger for higher building levels.     

Experimental analysis of rubble stone masonry walls strengthened by transverse confinement under compression and compression-shear loadings

Stone masonry walls of ancient buildings have reasonable resistance to vertical loads but lower resistance to shear forces and reduced tensile strength. However, to achieve such compressive strength the masonry must not disaggregate when subjected to loading. This can be achieved if during the construction of the walls larger stones, usually referred as “through stones”, are used, spanning the thickness of the wall, making it possible to improve the transverse confinement of the masonry. For rehabilitation projects and structural reinforcement of such buildings, the transverse confinement can be achieved by fixing steel elements perpendicular to the wall. This confinement technique is often part of a more comprehensive rehabilitation solution, which includes the application of mortar or concrete reinforced layers applied to the wall surface.

This article presents results of an experimental research on material properties and mechanical characterisation of stone masonry specimens strengthened by two transverse confinement solutions (independent steel reinforcing rods and continuous steel ribbons wrapping the specimen). Specimens were tested under compression and compression and shear loadings.

This experimental work is part of a major research project to study the mechanical behavior of URM and strengthened walls, and the characteristics of the building materials of such specimens.