Paleolithic Art: A Cultural History

In this article we review the history of the terms and ideas that have been used to conceptualize Paleolithic art since the end of the 19th century. Between 1900 and 1970, prehistoric representations were typically divided into two main groups: parietal art (including rock and cave art) and portable (or mobiliary) art. This classification gave rise to asymmetrical attitudes about Paleolithic images. In particular, many portable and nonfigurative representations were overlooked while a small number of cave paintings were praised for their realism. Although the portable/parietal division has remained a popular divide among archaeologists, in the last 30 years increasing numbers of specialists have crossed the boundaries established by these categories. They have developed new frameworks within which more kinds of images are meaningfully approached and incorporated into the analysis of Paleolithic art and symbolism. The emergence of new approaches to Pleistocene imagery is the result of a number of interrelated processes, including the globalization of Paleolithic art studies, the impact of new discoveries, and the development of new approaches to art, images, and symbolism.     

Czechoslovak–Liechtenstein relations in the shadow of the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia,February 1948

When in 1945 the Czechoslovak authorities confiscated the estate of the Princes von und zu Liechtenstein, the two countries became involved in a dispute which had not been resolved until recently, at least on a diplomatic level. For several decades, the 1948 Communist coup d'état in Czechoslovakia dashed the hopes of the Liechtenstein family for a restitution of their confiscated assets. However, officials responsible internally admitted that the property confiscation had been questionable in the case of the Liechtenstein family. The court had not confirmed the confiscation until after the Communist coup. However, the Liechtenstein family did not renounce their claims, and after the collapse of the Communist regime in 1989 they brought them up again.     

Frequency of fast geomorphological processes in high-gradient streams: case study from the Moravskoslezské Beskydy Mts (Czech Republic) using dendrogeomorphic methods

High-gradient streams are localities with the most dynamic activity of geomorphological processes in medium-high mountains. This study of the frequency of floods and debris flows in a selected high-gradient stream in the Moravskoslezské Beskydy Mts was based on a dendrogeomorphic approach. It makes use of the most accurate methods applied in the dating of historic geomorphological processes. Individual events were reconstructed on the basis of the dating of various growth disturbances displayed in 99 samples taken from 56 predominantly broad-leaved trees.     

House Societies in the Ancient Mediterranean (2000–500 BC)

House societies have become popular with archaeologists in recent years, due to (among other things) their conspicuous material basis (wealth, heirlooms and the houses themselves). As yet, however, most archaeological studies have focused only on individual societies. In this article, we offer a comparative and long-term approach to the phenomenon, using as case studies the Bronze Age and Iron Age communities of the Levant, the Aegean and the central Mediterranean. We describe the elements that define them as house societies and examine their evolution through time. We follow a strictly Lévi-Straussian definition of the house that prevents the concept from losing heuristic power. Using this definition, we consider that houses are to be found in ranked societies without centralization and in complex agropastoral systems, like those of the Mediterranean, where agricultural soil is scarce and liable to be monopolized. We argue that the house emerges in these competitive contexts as an institution to control land and retain patrimony undivided. Through a combination of archaeological and written sources, we try to demonstrate that it is possible to document several strategies used by house societies to acquire and retain power and wealth, including dowry, levirate, a bilateral system of marriage alliances, ancestor cults, specific architectures and house treasures. The case studies addressed here offer good comparative material for assessing similar processes elsewhere. At the same time, we argue that the Mediterranean area developed a particular ideology, that of the shepherd ruler, that was essential to legitimate the house.     

Large carnivore attacks on hominins during the Pleistocene: a forensic approach with a Neanderthal example

Interaction between hominins and carnivores has been common and constant through human evolution and generated mutual pressures similar to those present in worldwide modern human-carnivore conflicts. This current interaction is sometimes violent and can be reflected in permanent skeletal pathologies and other bone modifications. In the present paper, we carry out a survey of 124 forensic cases of dangerous human-carnivore encounters. The objective is to infer direct hominin-carnivore confrontation during the Pleistocene, which is important to understand behavioral changes during human evolution. In addition, the case of Neanderthals is analyzed in order to find evidence of past attacks using forensic observations. The results obtained pose that Neanderthals could potentially have been involved in dangerous encounters during the Pleistocene, validating our methodology to approach past attacks from a forensic perspective.     

The taxonomic placement of the Miocene Patagonian frog Wawelia gerholdi (Amphibia: Anura)

Nicoli, L. Muzzopappa, P. & Faivovich, J., July 2016 The taxonomic placement of the Miocene frog Wawelia gerholdi (Amphibia: Anura). Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

The Miocene frog Wawelia gerholdi, from northern Patagonia, was previously attributed to Ceratophryidae, the clade of extant South American horned frogs, making it one of the oldest records known for this group. However, the only known specimen has juvenile traits and is strongly similar to the australobatrachian Calyptocephalella. We re-examined the morphology of W. gerholdi and provide additional anatomical information and comparisons with juvenile individuals of Ceratophryidae and Calyptocephalella gayi, the only extant species of Calyptocephalella. We reject a close relationship between W. gerholdi and Ceratophryidae. Furthermore, the holotype is indistinguishable from juveniles of C. gayi and shares with all the species of this genus a character state combination that seems unique among anurans. Therefore, we consider Wawelia to be a junior synonym of Calyptocephalella. The problematic taxonomic status of numerous fossil species of Calyptocephalella, together with its untested monophyly, also prompts us to provisionally consider the extinct species as a species inquirenda included in this genus, pending a comprehensive revision of all available remains.

Laura Nicoli [lnicoli@macn.gov.ar] and Julián Faivovich [julian@macn.gov.ar], División Herpetología, and Paula Muzzopappa [pmuzzopappa@macn.gov.ar], Sección Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’-CONICET, Av. Angel Gallardo 470, C1405DJR, Buenos Aires, Argentina.     

‘ … por decir Dios Trino y Uno,dijo Dios tres y uno son cuatro’: the Christian Trinity and the multiplicity of Andean Deities: indigenous beliefs and the instruction of the Christian doctrine in Quechua

In this paper I examine how Christian priests in the early colonial period in the Andes tried to communicate the Christian concept of the Trinity to the indigenous population, mainly through textual but also through visual means. On the basis of these sources, I will address the following questions: how did the priests present the concept in Quechua, one of the general languages of the Andes, in morphological, lexico-semantic and argumentative terms; how was the Trinity represented in painting and, could the Indians relate these explanations to something they were familiar with in their own religion? Answering these questions will provide us with hypotheses as to how the indigenous population might have understood this Christian concept, which, in turn may enable us to better understand modern Andean belief forms with respect to the Trinitarian concept, which I shall briefly discuss in the final section. On the whole, the evidence suggests that, whilst the Christians may have thought that they could explain their Trinity to the Andean people better by using the Quechua language, the adoption of Andean concepts and language resources resulted in different reception strategies, such as the accommodation of Christian beliefs in the Andean religious system, but also the creation of new hybrid concepts based on Amerindian as well as Christian belief forms.     

Book reviews

Efectos regionales del presupuesto europeo en España [Regional Effects of the European Budget in Spain]. M.D. Correa García and S. Maluquer i Amorós. Inistitut d'Estudis Autonòmics, Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona 1998, 216 pp., 4500 ptas, ISBN 84 393 4544 5

Urban Environmental Planning: Policies, Instruments and Methods in an International Perspective. Donald Miller and Gert de Roo (Eds). Avebury, Aldershot 1997, 336 pp., £52.00, ISBN 1 859 72593 7

Worlds of Production: the Action Frameworks of the Economy. Michael Storper and Robert Salais. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA/London, 1997, 370 pp., £29.95 (hb), ISBN 0–67496–203–6