First record of Carinodens (Squamata,Mosasauridae) from the uppermost Maastrichtian of Stevns Klint,Denmark

Milàn, J., Jagt, J.W.M., Lindgren, J. & Schulp, A.S., November 2017. First record of Carinodens (Squamata, Mosasauridae) from the uppermost Maastrichtian of Stevns Klint, Denmark. Alcheringa 42, 597-602. ISSN 0311-5518.

Here we report on an important addition to the Late Cretaceous fossil record of marine reptiles from Denmark: a tooth crown of the rare durophagous mosasaur Carinodens minalmamar found in the uppermost Maastrichtian strata at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Stevns Klint. The tooth was found within the uppermost few metres of the Maastrichtian chalk placing it within the latest 50.000 years prior to the K/Pg boundary. The new find is a shed crown probably representing a tooth from the 11th to 13th position in the jaw. The tooth represents the northernmost occurrence of the genus Carinodens. Previous mosasaur finds from Denmark have all been from the hypercarnivorous mosasaurids Mosasaurus hoffmannii and Plioplatecarpus sp., thus our specimen adds a new trophic niche exploited by marine tetrapods in the food web of the latest Maastrichtian of Denmark.

Jesper Milàn* [jesperm@oesm.dk], Geomuseum Faxe/Østsjællands Museum, Østervej 2, 4640 Faxe, Denmark; John W.M. Jagt [john.jagt@maastricht.nl], Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht, De Bosquetplein 6–7, 6211 kJ Maastricht, the Netherlands; Johan Lindgren [johan.lindgren@geol.lu.se], Department of Geology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 12, 223 62 Lund, Sweden. Anne S. Schulp? [anne.schulp@naturalis.nl], Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht, De Bosquetplein 6–7, 6211 kJ Maastricht, the Netherlands. *Also affiliated with: Natural History Museum of Denmark, Øster Voldgade 5–7, 1465 Copenhagen K, Denmark. ?Also affiliated with: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR Leiden, the Netherlands, and Faculteit Bètawetenschappen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands.     

From the Ground,Up: The Looting of Vưườn Chuối within the Vietnamese and Southeast Asian Antiquities Trade

The exact nature of the illicit antiquities trade from ground to market in Southeast Asia remains poorly known outside of Thailand and Cambodia, where most research has been focused. This paper helps to address this imbalance by documenting and contextualizing looting activities at the Bronze and Iron Age site of V???n Chu?i, located within urban Hanoi. A brief excavation history is provided so as to place recent looting into archaeological context. The methods used to document the recent and on-going looting observed are then discussed, followed by the nature of the current threat to V???n Chu?i and a summation of what little is known about the Vietnamese antiquities trade in general and its relationship to regional antiquities trafficking. Finally, we discuss the current regulatory landscape in terms of constitutional, ownership, penal and international law, difficulties with enforcement and prosecution, and what course of action is needed not only to protect V???n Chu?i and similar sites in and around Hanoi, but also to continue to raise public awareness of the archaeological repercussions of the trade itself.     

A Roman Skeleton with Possible Treponematosis in the North‐East of the Iberian Peninsula: A Morphological and Radiological Study

The main goal of this paper is to describe and discuss pathological lesions observed in a Roman skeleton (between 2^nd and 3^rd century AD) from the north‐east region of the Iberian Peninsula (St Nicasi 18–24 site. Gavà, Barcelona), which may be compatible with treponematosis. Most of the skeleton, with the exception of the neurocranium, was recovered. Only the left tibia was affected, whereas the rest of the recovered skeletal remains were unaffected. Macroscopic examination revealed a male individual between 25 and 30 years of age at death with a sabre‐shaped left tibia. The proximal half of the diaphysis was pitted and the bone overall enlarged. The surface of the tibia showed occasional vascular impressions where, in some instances, small raised plaques of new bone appeared to bridge over them, specifically in the most affected area of the proximal half of the tibia. No destructive lesions were observed. Radiographic examination and gross inspection at the cross section of the tibia showed encroachment into the medullary cavity of coarse cancellous bone and cancellization of the cortex. The observed lesions indicate that the tibia was affected by a chronic infectious disease. Differential diagnoses were considered, and these included other infectious diseases, fibrous dysplasia, Paget's disease, chronic varicose ulcers affecting bone and trauma, with the conclusion that the disease affecting the tibia could have been treponematosis. This could be significant in the history of the treponematoses being one of the oldest examples of treponematosis in pre‐Columbian Europe. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Global Horizons: Mexico,the Third World,and the Non-Aligned Movement at the Time of the 1961 Belgrade Conference

This paper analyses the autonomous streak that marked Mexico's foreign policy during the presidency of Adolfo López Mateos (1958–64). Throughout this period, Mexico showed reluctance to participate fully in the flagship Kennedy programme for Latin America, the Alliance for Progress. At the same time, the López Mateos government adopted a position of defence for Cuba's right to self-determination in spite of Washington's attempts to eradicate the Cuban Revolution from the Western Hemisphere. During López Mateos's term, Mexico tried for the first time in its history to elaborate a foreign policy with broader international outreach, an effort highlighted by the Mexican presidential trips to Latin America and Asia as well as other countries that belonged to the Non-Aligned Movement. While historiography has explored Mexico's attitude towards the Alliance for Progress and, more consistently, the country's Cuban policy, much less attention has been dedicated to López Mateos's engagement with the Non-Aligned Movement. Focusing on Mexico's failed participation at the First Conference of Heads of State of Non-Aligned Countries celebrated in Belgrade in 1961, this article aims to fill this research gap. Indeed, even if Mexico did not ultimately participate in the conference, Mexican diplomacy did show great interest in the gathering. For a country that had formally sided with the United States after the beginning of the cold war, Mexico's flirtation with the Non-Aligned Movement represented a detour from the diplomatic path it had adopted at the end of the Second World War. This work argues that Mexico's engagement with the Non-Aligned Movement presents a different dimension of the country's international strategy during the 1960s, reflecting Mexico's desire to loosen the bipolar constraints that limited its economic development and increase its leverage with Washington.     

New discoveries in a Nabataean tomb. Burial practices and ‘plant jewellery’ in ancient Hegra (Madâ’in Sâlih,Saudi Arabia)

The excavation of tomb IGN 117 in Madâ’in Sâlih, ancient Hegra, in Saudi Arabia, produced a large amount of bones, objects and materials (leather, fabric, fruit, wood, amorphous organic substances) of the Nabataean‐Roman period (first to early fourth century AD). Two pieces of fabric and leather are of particular interest because they contained pierced dates (Phoenix dactylifera) strung together using date‐palm leaflets. These exceptional discoveries are poorly attested in Near Eastern funerary contexts. Together with other data from Madâ’in Sâlih, the southern Near East and Egypt, this interdisciplinary analysis leads to the reconstruction of part of the funerary practices related to the preservation and preparation of the body that occurred in tomb IGN 117. Finally, the analysis allows the questioning of the symbolic role of plant jewellery and the date palm in a funerary context.     

An archaeometric contribution to the characterization of Renaissance maiolica from Urbino and a comparison with coeval maiolica from Pesaro (the Marches,central Italy)

The results of an archaeometric trial study performed on an important finding of Renaissance maiolica (mid‐15th to early 16th century) from the Ducal Palace of Urbino are presented. Mineralogical–petrographic data (XRD, OP, SEM–EDS) and chemical characterization (ICP/AES–MS: major and trace elements) of both ceramic bodies and glazes were compared with similar data provided on coeval maiolica found in archaeological excavations in Pesaro, now stored in the city's Municipal Museum, in order to verify an origin of the potteries from common (Pesaro) or different (Pesaro and Urbino) production centres. The results indicate that ceramic bodies were produced with quite similar illitic–calcareous clays, most probably taken from the same local Pliocene Formation. Similarities were also found concerning the glaze's glass (silica–lead), colourants (cobalt, copper and manganese) and pigments (lead antimonate and cassiterite).     

Zooarchaeological Evidence for Domestic Rituals in the Iron Age Communities of North‐Eastern Iberia (Present‐Day Catalonia) (Sixth–Second Century BC)

Many socio‐economic changes occurred in southern Europe during the first millennium BC. In north‐eastern Iberia societies evolved from the small‐scale local groups of the Late Bronze Age to the more complex societies of the Iron Age. Together with a diversity of material changes (detected in pottery, agricultural techniques, architecture, etc.), a new ritual manifestation is attested in the Ancient Iberian Period (about 550 BC), lasting until some time after the Roman conquest. This consisted of sheep and goats (among other species) being carefully deposited below the floors of some domestic buildings. In this article the characteristics of these associated bone groups are described and their significance is discussed.     

Seismic Vulnerability of Historical Masonry Aggregate Buildings in Oriental Sicily

ABSTRACT

The seismic vulnerability assessment of historical UnReinforced Masonry (URM) buildings is a very complex task since it is strongly related to a great variety both of geometrical layouts and of masonry mechanical characteristics. In this article, some results of a Catania University research project, denomined “FIR 2014”, focused on the seismic vulnerability estimation of historical buildings, built in Catania after the 1963 earthquake, are presented. First, a detailed typological analysis of the considered urban fabric, characterized by typical residential masonry buildings, has been performed. Such analysis allowed recognizing an elementary structural modulus, which has been studied according to different geometrical layouts representative of isolated or aggregate buildings. The results of nonlinear static analyses, performed by applying an innovative macro-element approach, allowed for the assessment the seismic vulnerability of typical URM buildings coherently to the Italian seismic code. The adopted macro-element strategy for the seismic assessment of aggregate masonry buildings, although related to a specific historical center, may be applied to similar urban fabrics and can also be used for the calibration and validation of fast seismic assessment strategies, particularly useful for the evaluation of the seismic risk at urban scale.     

Architecture and Urbanism in the Fortified Settlement of Pech Maho (Sigean,France) in the Third Century BC: A Social and Economic Perspective

This paper offers a synthesis of the urbanism and architecture of Pech Maho (Sigean) from a social and economic point of view. Its aim is to highlight the specificities of this settlement in the context of the Late Iron Age between south France and north‐east Spain. During the third century BC, this small site had an impressive defensive system, as well as quite a complex urban framework. The constructed blocks excavated so far show a predominance of multicellular buildings that testify to a wide range of ground plans. Most of the spaces seem to have been devoted to specialized activities of a clear economic orientation, whilst other buildings or spaces have a strong symbolic nature. Rooms used exclusively for domestic tasks are in the minority, while a large dwelling in the central area appears to have been a private residential unit. All of this suggests that Pech Maho would have been an economic centre, as well as the residence of an elite that would have exerted control over the productive and trading activities, in a context that clearly evokes that of an emporion.