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.     

The Upper Paleolithic Rock Art of Iberia

Nearly 200 rock art sites of Upper Paleolithic age are currently known on the Iberian Peninsula, in both caves and the open air. Over half are still concentrated in Cantabrian Spain and they span the period between c. 30–11 kya, but–tracking the course of human demography in this geographically circumscribed region–many of the images were probably painted or engraved during the Solutrean and, especially, Magdalenian. Dramatic discoveries and dating projects have significantly expanded the Iberian rock art record both geographically and temporally in recent years, in close coincidence with the growth of contemporaneous archeological evidence: cave art loci in Aragón and Levante attributable to the Solutrean and Magdalenian, many cave art sites and a few open-air ones in Andalucía and Extremadura that are mostly Solutrean (in line with evidence of a major Last Glacial Maximum human refugium in southern Spain), the spectacular Côa Valley open-air complex in northern Portugal (together with a growing number of other such loci and one cave) that was probably created during the Gravettian-Magdalenian periods, and a modest, but important increase in proven cave and open-air sites in the high, north-central interior of Spain that are probably Solutrean and/or Magdalenian. Despite regional variations in decorated surfaces, themes, techniques and styles, there are broad (and sometimes very specific) pan-Iberian similarities (as well as ones with the Upper Paleolithic art of southern France) that are indicative of widespread human contacts and shared systems of symbols and beliefs during the late Last Glacial. As this Ice Age world and the forms of social relationships and ideologies that helped human groups survive in it came to an end, so too did the decoration of caves, rockshelters and outcrops, although in some regions other styles of rock art would return under very different conditions of human existence.     

Preventive Intervention for a Group of Buildings in the Historic Centre of Manresa (Barcelona)

The preservation of old downtowns has become a necessity of growing interest. New urban policies have been approved in different countries in order to revive the old city centers and make them economically sustainable. In this global trend, the municipality of Manresa (Barcelona) developed an important urban planning operation in the old district that included the demolition of a group of existing buildings and the construction of a new modern one in close proximity to a group of old residential buildings which are cultural heritage of the city. As a consequence, specific areas of risk were generated which lead to the adoption of precautionary measures to ensure safety. This article presents the preliminary analysis, diagnostics and monitoring carried out on this group of heterogeneous old buildings, as well as the results and precautionary measures taken to ensure their safety. The article also provides a translatable methodology that combines qualitative and quantitative aspects.     

New techniques for the recovery of small amounts of mature enamel proteins

Currently there are no non-destructive techniques to obtain protein from the dental enamel, the most mineralized tissue in mammals and most resistant to diagenesis, which provides a window to the developing period by means of incremental markings containing proteins. To recover protein, dissolution of powdered enamel is required. Here we tested whether samples obtained by micro-etching of the enamel surface were adequate for protein analysis by MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry and identification in protein databases. The micro-etch techniques were effective in generating adequate samples for mass spectrometry (from 3 to 13.4 μm superficial enamel), being also highly conservative, since they rendered masses of enamel ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 mg. Using these techniques the separation of proteins by SDS-PAGE was not necessary, and the whole procedure was easier. Results showed successful identification of specific enamel proteins after whole crown superficial etching with 11% EDTA in the case of immature porcine samples, and with 10% HCl in the case of mature human enamel. X- and Y-isoforms of amelogenin, ameloblastin, and enamelin peptides were identified. The new techniques described here allowed the successful recovery of enamel proteins, opening new avenues for the use of enamel protein information in fossil/archeological material, where sometimes little protein is left.     

Methods of Palaeodemography: The Case of the Iberian Oppida and Roman Cities in North‐East Spain

Ancient demography is a recurrent topic in archaeology, thanks to new methods and evidence from different surveys and excavations. However, different cultures or periods are studied on their own, without any comparison being made between them and of their population dynamics. The present paper seeks to advance the situation by defining methodologies to allow diachronic comparisons between two different periods and cultures. After setting out a methodological approach, the paper goes on to apply the same to a case study: namely the Roman conquest of north‐east Spain, comparing the demography of the ancient Iberian communities (fourth‐second centuries BCE) to the Roman colonization (first century BCE to first century CE). Roman urbanism is generally supposed to increase the population in a particular territory, but our present evidence refutes this point: a decrease in population is visible in urban or proto‐urban sites from the Iberian to Roman periods, though there is an increase in the rural densities.