Lingual cortical mandibular defects (Stafne's defect): an anthropological approach based on prehistoric skeletons from the Canary Islands

While posterior lingual mandibular depressions (Stafne's defect) are often discussed in clinical reports, they are rarely the subject of anthropological research. This situation is paradoxical since osteologists and skeletal biologists are in a position to enhance understanding of the trait's aetiology by systematically recording the trait in recent and prehistoric skeletal collections. This report reviews anthropological studies of cortical defects of the mandible, recommends a protocol for recording observations in trait variation, and presents new data for the prevalence of Stafne's defect—lingual cortical defects of the mandibular corpus. Among the Guanches of Tenerife in the Canary Islands (Spain), the prevalence of lingual cortical defects is 3.32% (15/452), males are more frequently affected than females, and there is a tendency for individuals with antemortem tooth loss to display larger lesions than individuals without antemortem loss of teeth. Defects of the left side are somewhat more variable in position than defects located on the right. In comparative perspective, prevalence of lingual cortical defects among the Guanches is high, given the overall 1.07% prevalence reported for archaeological series (Finnegan & Marcsik,1980), but is similar to figures reported for the Avar period sample from Hungary 3.73%. Prospects for the use of lingual cortical defects as non‐metric traits of value in population distance studies remain uncertain since variation in trait expression may have a high environmental component. However, if human osteologists routinely include observations of lingual mandibular cortical defects in their analysis of skeletal collections, the data required to elucidate factors responsible for the trait's cultural, ecological, temporal and geographical patterning will more rapidly become established. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

'Hard and Heavy': Gender and Power in a heavy metal music subculture

This article analyses gendered structures of power in a heavy metal (HM) music club. Although both male and female HM devotees often declare that they are engaged in a rebellious activity, this romantic conviction sits uneasily alongside the HM scene's reinforcement of conventional gender relations and identities. Although many women gravitated toward the HM setting in order to escape stifling adolescent situations, they wound up in another oppressive context. Both the forceful corporeal practices of men and the highly gendered structures of power meant that women 'did' gender on men's terms. HM texts, narratives, identities, and corporeal practices constituted a complex and contradictory gender regime that literally kept women 'in their place'.     

A simple methodology for recording petroglyphs using low-cost digital image correlation photogrammetry and consumer-grade digital cameras

In the present study a simple method is described for obtaining 3D digital models of petroglyphs of different sizes and characteristics and its usefulness, in the study of this cultural heritage, is evaluated. For this research we used low-cost photogrammetric software and consumer-grade digital cameras, without any other surveying techniques. In order to test this methodology, three field research studies were carried out in Galicia (Spain).     

Electrochemical Characterization and Dating of Archaeological Leaded Bronze Objects Using the Voltammetry of Immobilized Particles

The application of solid state electrochemistry techniques for the characterization and dating of leaded bronze objects is described. Characteristic voltammetric signatures of copper and lead corrosion products were used as markers of more or less prolonged corrosion periods. The proposed methodology was applied to samples from the Roman archaeological sites of Valeria (Spain) and Gadara (Jordan), Roman and medieval sites in Xàtiva (Spain), and modern statuary exhibited outdoors, on the campus of the Universitat Politècnica of Valencia, Spain, covering a time interval between the fourth to second century bc and the 20th century ad . For such samples, the ratio between the signals for copper and lead corrosion products decreased monotonically with the corrosion time. This variation was modelled on the basis of thermochemical and kinetic considerations, the experimental data being consistent with a potential rate law for the corrosion process.     

Spatial Patterns in the Association between the Prevalence of Asthma and Determinants of Health

The World Health Organization endorses the study of diseases from the perspective of the Determinants of Health (DH), that is, the circumstances in which people are born and raised, the environment in which they grow up and age and their lifestyle. The aim of this study is to analyze the spatial behavior of the prevalence of asthma in Aragon, a Mediterranean region in Spain, under the DH approach. The methodological process entailed building a spatial database collating asthma prevalence as dependent variable, and lifestyle, socioeconomic, and climate indicators as explanatory factors, and then evaluating the spatial variability of the relationships by combining the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) models and cartographic design techniques. MGWR evidenced spatially varying relationships operating at different scales. Lifestyles seem closely tied to the prevalence of asthma in most of the study area while urban functionality and local climate patterns seem to boost prevalence rates in some specific enclaves. Consequently, the social and environmental conditions that characterize the study area translate into several DH scenarios modulating the spatial distribution of asthma. This differential DH behavior detected by local regression models is relevant to guiding and refining public health decision-making.     

Healing images. Gems and medicine

The main purpose of magical gems was to secure divine protection, avert evil influences and heal various diseases. Some body parts are especially addressed, such as the stomach and the uterus. This concern seems to relate to ‘societal diseases’ also found in contemporary literature. How do these ‘healing pictures’ function? The analysis of the pictorial elements reveals different levels of therapeutic efficacy. Some images use visual plays upon words, others combine Egyptian and Graeco‐Roman elements, allowing ‘bilingual’ readings. The mnemonic function of images, charakteres and voces magicae also requires further investigations. Objects could transmit the memory of oral rituals and knowledge. The transfer of magical figures on other media is very rare, but when it occurs, as on a few medical devices, it may help us to understand the mechanism of medico‐magical performance, combining formalism and inventiveness.