A Case of Ancient Bladder Stones from Oluz Höyük,Amasya, Turkey

A biological object was recovered from the pelvic region of an adult woman coded to SK13 unearthed from Oluz Höyük in Amasya, Turkey. The skeleton was dated to the medieval period on the basis of the burial customs and the calibrated ¹⁴C dates. The find was identified as a bladder stone on morphological, radiographic and chemo‐analytical grounds with the help of X‐ray diffraction, polarised energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy, confocal Raman spectroscopy, and microscopic techniques. The mineralogical composition of urinary stone was found to be as calcium phosphate (apatite). Bladder stone disease is endemic in poor agricultural regions where the typical diet is mostly based on grain carbohydrate consumption with scarce intake of animal protein. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A scientific luther

Francis Bacon. By Perez Zagorin (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998) xvi + 286 pp. $29.95, £19.95

Francis Bacon: The History of the Reign of King Henry VII. Edited by Brian Vickers (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press 1998) xlv + 284 pp. £40.00 cloth     

Commentary. The diseases of Alexander the Great

The accompanying articles that speculate that Alexander the Great had a traumatic carotid dissection or congenital cervical scoliosis demonstrate the difficulties in retrospective diagnosis as a historical enterprise. The extant primary sources were written centuries after Alexander's death and are ambiguous in their original languages, and even more so in translation. Thus we cannot be certain what illness Alexander actually had. Furthermore, anachronistic diagnosis removes Alexander from the medical context of this time, telling us little of historical significance about him. Such investigations also illustrate the more general limits that the absence of context imposes on the study of ancient history.     

The New ‘Coimbra Method’: A Biologically Appropriate Method for Recording Specific Features of Fibrocartilaginous Entheseal Changes

This paper presents a revised version of the Coimbra method for recording fibrocartilaginous entheses. The method itself is the only biologically appropriate recording method for fibrocartilaginous entheses that scores features separately, thereby ensuring that the aetiology of individual features can be studied. The method divides the enthesis into two zones, scoring the relevant features in each zone. These features represent either bone formation or bone destruction and include erosive lesions, fine and macro‐porosity, and cavitations. The revised method includes a new feature, textural change, which is scored as absent or present when it involves 50% or more of the surface. All other features are now scored as zero (absent), one or two with the higher score representing greater expression of the feature. This change in scoring has led to the reduction of inter‐observer error with approximately 80% agreement for overall feature scores for both the common extensor origin and subscapularis insertion. The simplification of the scores and the reduction in inter‐observer error mean that the method is now recommended for widespread use. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Elemental Characterization by EDXRF of Imperial Longquan Celadon Porcelain Excavated from Fengdongyan Kiln,Dayao County

A mass of Longquan porcelain shards carved with ‘Guan’ or the dragon patterns were unearthed in the early Ming Dynasty layer of the Fengdongyan kiln site at Dayao County. These celadon shards were fired in the Hongwu and Yongle eras of the Ming Dynasty. In order to research the raw materials and firing technology of the imperial porcelain, 85 typical shards were analysed by energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (EDXRF). The results indicate that the contents of TiO₂ and Fe₂O₃ in the body vary in the Hongwu and Yongle eras. Compared with Longquan glazes in the Southern Song Dynasty, the average values of K₂O, Fe₂O₃ and TiO₂ are higher, but that of CaO is lower in early Ming imperial porcelain glazes. Principal components analysis (PCA) shows that different degrees of elutriation of the same raw materials are the main reason for this difference in the Hongwu and Yongle periods. However, the raw materials of imperial porcelain glazes show no obvious changes and have inherited the earlier tradition. The production and firing technology of imperial porcelain reached a higher level and had not declined in the Early Ming Dynasty.     

THE EFFECT OF ACCESSIBILITY ON PRODUCTIVITY IN SPANISH MANUFACTURING FIRMS

This paper evaluates the impact of accessibility on the productivity of Spanish manufacturing firms. We suggest the use of accessibility indicators of workers and commodities, integrating transport, land use, and individual components, computing real distances or traveling times using the Spanish full road network. Estimated firms’ total factor productivity is explained as a function of the accessibility indicators and additional control variables. Results evidence the crucial role on firms’ productivity to the accessibility of commodities and to a slightly lesser extent the workers.