Dating the Trollesgave site and the Bromme culture – chronological fix-points for the Lateglacial settlement of Southern Scandinavia

The Bromme culture belongs to the Lateglacial, the period when people settled in the recently deglaciated Southern Scandinavia. Until now there have been only a few imprecise fix-points relating to the chronological position of this archaeological culture. This situation can now be improved with the aid of research results from a Bromme culture settlement at Trollesgave in SE Denmark. Using pollen and plant macrofossil data, Lateglacial lacustrine deposits containing waste material from the settlement can be assigned to the end of the climatically mild Allerød period. A series of ¹⁴C dates establishes the age of the settlement as c. 10 826 ± 49 ¹⁴C years BP (12 871–12 590 cal yr BP). By correlation with climate data from the Greenland ice cores, the occupation can be assigned to the early part of the cold climatic zone GS-1, thus demonstrating that the global ice-core climate zones are not absolutely synchronous with the regional division into biozones.     

WHY DO WE CARE ABOUT POST‐HUMANISM? A CRITICAL NOTE

What is disclosed in the questioning of the human being in post‐humanism? Addressing this question in congruence with Heidegger's questioning of being in Being and Time, we end up with two discoveries: first, that the characteristic of Dasein, as the being of the questioning, already carries the same implications as the post‐human figure, and second, that questioning in this sense is indicative of the effort of realizing anew scientific space for conceptualizing the human being as non‐substantialist. Conceived of in this way, however, post‐humanism is a result of a very human effort indeed.     

Something Borrowed,Something New? Reflections on Apocalypticism and Prophecy in the Old Testament

This article approaches the ongoing scholarly debate as to what constitutes apocalypticism in ancient Judaism, and, in particular, if and how apocalyptic texts stand out as different from prophetic texts in the Old Testament. Some examples from the history of scholarship illustrate how the dichotomy between prophecy and apocalypticism has been perceived, and the underlying presuppositions are discussed critically. A case is made for assuming a fundamental continuity between so-called prophetic and apocalyptic writings as developments of the same literary tradition. Against this background is discussed how differences and nuances between texts within this continuity can be fruitfully acknowledged. Three tendencies that appear to be reinforced in so-called apocalyptic texts in the Old Testament are pointed out: The extensive use of literary loans from older texts, the development of visually suggestive, yet elusive imagery, and the combination of different literary forms and genres. Finally, some selected texts from Old Testament prophetic books (Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, and Isaiah) serve as test cases for the first of these aspects.     

Phenol Formaldehyde Revisited—Novolac Resins for the Treatment of Degraded Archaeological Wood

Archaeological wood is usually severely degraded. The Norwegian Viking Age Oseberg find exemplifies problems arising due to past conservation treatments and the need for new types of preservatives. Phenol formaldehyde (PF) has been investigated as a consolidant for alum‐treated wood. X‐ray tomography has revealed that it is possible to obtain a porous structure inside the wood, ensuring ethical acceptability by allowing re‐treatment. In order to understand the curing mechanics, the kinetics of the initial condensation reaction were elucidated at room temperature. It was found that a second‐order reaction using both phenol and formaldehyde concentrations is the most probable mechanism.     

Introduction

From the 15th to the early 18th century the Baltic Sea was not only a highway for the physical transport of basic goods, it also functioned as the channel for the import and local and regional transfer of foreign cultural artifacts, artisans, artists and a wide range of media for cultural diffusion. Established commercial transportation, especially to the Low Countries and the British Isles, of grain, timber and iron ore from Denmark, Sweden and the eastern Baltic states brought wealth to the social and political elites within the Baltic region. The economic prosperity of the higher social layers among the Baltic States allowed them as customers and patrons to import a wide range of objects of art and artifacts belonging to prestige culture. The contributors to this volume of the Scandinavian Journal of History address the cultural traffic outlined above. The volume's ten articles are revised versions of papers read at the conference Cultural Traffic and Cultural Transformation around the Baltic Sea, 1450–1720, a conference held in the Carlsberg Academy in Copenhagen in early spring 2003. The conference Cultural Traffic and Cultural Transformation around the Baltic Sea, 1450–1720 (Carlsberg Academy, Copenhagen, 21–22 March 2003,) was made possible by substantial grants from the Carlsberg Foundation (Denmark) and the Danish Research Council for the Humanities. Organizers Dr Badeloch Noldus (Instituut Pallas, Leiden University, The Netherlands) and Dr Stephen Turk Christensen (Department for History and Social Theory, Roskilde University Centre (RUC), Denmark) thank the following for their support: Dr David Gaimster (Ministry for Culture, UK), Curator Hugo Johannsen (Danish National Museum), Curator Steffen Heiberg (National Historical Museum Frederiksborg Castle), Dr Juliette Roding (Leiden University), Accounts Department (RUC), Department for History and Social Theory (RUC), the staff at Carlsberg Academy, Conference Assistant Thea Pedersen (RUC) and Dr Ole Meyer (University of Florence). The conference participants reflected upon and discussed questions relating to the nature, scope, origin, direction and impact of the cultural interaction taking place in the late medieval and Early Modern Baltic region with examples drawn especially, but not exclusively, from elite culture. For recent studies dealing with Early Modern cultural relations between mostly the Low Countries and areas within the western Baltic, see articles in J. J. van Baak, L. Honti & A. H. Huussen, eds. The Baltic. Languages and Cultures in Interaction (Proceedings NOMES-Conference, 19–20 May 1994); Tijdschrift voor Scandinavistiek, vol. 16 (1995); J. Roding & L. Heerma van Voss, eds., The North Sea and Culture (1550–1800). Proceedings of the International Conference held in Leiden, 21–22 April 1995 (Hilversum, 1996). An interesting, but uneven, treatment of the eastern Baltic within a wider context of cultural exchange can be found in M. Klinge, Östersjövälden. Et illustrerat historisk utkast (Borgå, 1985). Rather dispersed, and occasionally too categorically formulated, relevant information and contextualization concerning Baltic cultural interaction can be found in the general history of the territories of the western Baltic power states by D. Kirby, Northern Europe in the Early Modern Period. The Baltic World 1492–1772 (London & New York, 1990), especially in the section “Migrants, Aliens and the Problem of Religious Diversity”.