Archaeogenetic study of prehistoric rice remains from Thailand and India: evidence of early <Emphasis Type="Italic">japonica</Emphasis> in South and Southeast Asia

We report a successful extraction and sequencing of ancient DNA from carbonized rice grains (Oryza sativa) from six archaeological sites, including two from India and four from Thailand, ranging in age from ca. 2500 to 1500 BP. In total, 221 archaeological grains were processed by PCR amplification and primary-targeted fragments were sequenced for comparison with modern sequences generated from 112 modern rice populations, including crop and wild varieties. Our results include the genetic sequences from both the chloroplast and the nuclear genomes, based on four markers from the chloroplast and six from the nuclear genome. These markers allow differentiation of indica rice from japonica rice, the two major subspecies of Asian rice (O. sativa) considered to have separate geographical origins. One nuclear marker differentiates tropical and temperate forms of subspecies japonica. Other markers relate to phenotypic variation selected for under domestication, such as non-shattering, grain stickiness (waxy starch) and pericarp colour. Recovery and identification of sequences from nuclear markers was generally poor, whereas recovery of chloroplast sequences was successful, with at least one of four markers recovered in 61 % of archaeological grains. This allowed for successful differentiation of indica or japonica subspecies variety, with japonica identified in all the Thai material and a mixture of indica and japonica chloroplasts in the two Indian assemblages. Rice subspecies was also assessed through conventional archaeobotanical methods relying on grain metrics, based on measurements from 13 modern populations and 499 archaeological grains. Grain metrics also suggest a predominance of japonica-type grains in the Southeast Asian sites and a mixture of japonica and indica in the Indian sites with indica in the minority. The similar results of grain metrics and ancient DNA (aDNA) affirm that grain measurements have some degree of reliability in rice subspecies identification. The study also highlights the great potential of ancient DNA recovery from archaeological rice. The data generated in the present study adds support to the model of rice evolution that includes hybridization between japonica and proto-indica.     

GOVERNMENT QUALITY AND THE ECONOMIC RETURNS OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT IN EUROPEAN REGIONS

Transport infrastructure investment is a cornerstone of growth‐promoting strategies. However, the link between infrastructure investment and economic performance remains unclear. This may be a consequence of overlooking the role of government institutions. This paper assesses the connection between regional quality of government and the returns of different types of road infrastructure in the regions of the European Union. The results unveil the influence of regional quality of government on the economic returns of transport infrastructure. In weak institutional contexts, investment in motorways—the preferred option by governments—yields significantly lower returns than the more humble secondary road. Government institutions also affect the returns of transport maintenance investment.     

Postclassic expansion of Mesoamerican biocultural characteristics into Sonora,Mexico

Recent excavations at the Postclassic period (circa a.d. 1000–1521) mortuary mound of El Cementerio (SON P:10:8), located along the Río Yaqui in central Sonora, Mexico, have documented 105 mortuary features (111 individuals) many of which display elongated intentional cranial modification and several cases of tooth filing. These constitute biocultural traits common across much of Mesoamerica throughout its Prehispanic cultural sequence, which expanded along West Mexico and into northwest Mexico beginning in the late Classic period. The examples from El Cementerio represent the northernmost concentrated expression of these traits and could represent the spread of Mesoamerican/West Mexican identity associated with macro-regional trade and the expansion of the Aztatlán archaeological tradition during the Postclassic period in the region.     

Nationalism,religion, and abortion policy in four Catholic societies

Over the last decade, a growing number of scholars have tackled the changing relationship between national identity and social policy. In this article, we explore the relationship between abortion policy and the historical and political construction of national identity as it relates to religious norms and symbols. Focusing on two main cases, Ireland and Poland, Catholic societies in which abortion rights are severely restricted, we argue that, in political discourse and institutions, a strong relationship between the Catholic Church and national identity helps opponents of abortion enact and maintain such restrictions in the name of religious norms embedded in strong claims about national identity. After exploring these two main cases, we briefly turn to Spain and Québec, Catholic societies that, in recent decades, have witnessed a secularisation of their national identity correlated to a liberalisation of abortion rights. This suggests that, at least in Catholic societies, the decline of a religious national identity is likely to favour a liberalisation of abortion rights.     

Effect of stereotomy on the lower bound value of minimum thickness of semi-circular masonry arches

Constructing structural systems with the minimal required cross section of its members was a strong motivation for progress whole along the history of building. This article investigates the effect of stereotomy on the minimum thickness value of a semi-circular arch made of masonry: a material with negligible tensile strength. The arch is modeled with its center line to which the loading is assigned according to arch length. Here, instead of some scalar parameters such as the rupture angle and the location of the middle hinge on the intrados, the geometry of the stereotomy is associated with a continuous function. Stereotomy-related constraints are introduced to keep the results feasible from an engineering point of view, and it is also demonstrated that they are essential for a well-posed constrained optimization problem. The necessary condition for a non-vanishing lower bound of minimum thickness values is derived analytically considering the assumptions of limit state analysis, infinite friction, and a no-tension material model. The lower bound thickness to radius ratio (t/R) is found to be t/R = 0.0819. A numerical method is introduced to demonstrate the existence of a valid stereotomy at the lower bound. Multiple admissible stereotomy patterns are presented at various minimum thickness values (higher than the lower bound) to demonstrate that suitable stereotomy for a fixed (t/R) ratio is far not unique—in general even the location of the middle hinge and the rupture angle might vary.     

A new Middle Jurassic Chinese fossil clarifies the systematic composition of the Heterophlebioptera (Odonata: Trigonoptera)

Juraheterophlebia sinica, a new species of damsel-dragonfly, is described from the Middle Jurassic of China. Its fore- and hind wings in connection to the body allows comparison of the type genera of the families Erichschmidtiidae and Juraheterophlebiidae, respectively based on a forewing and a hind wing. Juraheterophlebiidae is a junior synonym of the Erichschmidtiidae. The new fossil confirms the previous attributions of Erichschmidtia and Juraheterophlebia to the clade Heterophlebioptera.     

Pyramid building as an integrated process

In the first stage of pyramid building the core grows in proportion to the distance from fiducial marks in the court around the pyramid. The upward flow of stones is effectuated by rockers on cribs standing on large step‐structures on the terraces. In the second stage packing‐ and outer casing blocks are mounted sequentially by the same methods along steep gradients on symmetrical faces of the pyramid, starting and ending at opposite corners. Alignment is by sighting from the vertex over the edges and over the corners to the fiducial marks. The two stages, the method of raising the blocks, the geometry of alignment, the special ramps, the proposed sequence of mounting the casing blocks are based on archaeological evidence, and all can be incorporated in a coherent building sequence.