Reduction of topography effect in inductive electromagnetic profiles: application on coastal sambaqui (shell mound) archaeological site in Santa Catarina state, Brazil

We present results of electrical conductivity profiles obtained with inductive electromagnetic geophysical method in Santa Marta archaeological site, Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil. This site is a sambaqui (shell mound), in which several human occupation remains are found during pre-colonial period such as buried lithic and bone artifacts, fire-place, etc. Most of these mounds include as well many human burials, which, in many cases, point to funerary ritual as a main agency for mound building. A set of profiles of apparent electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility was acquired in two sites aiming the identification of geophysical anomalies with potential interest for excavation. To enhance conductivity data, we applied an effective procedure to remove topographical effects in the apparent conductivity measurements, which are rather conditioned by the presence of a variable water table depth or conductive sediment layer. A linear dependence among conductivity values and the site elevation provided a simple linear model to remove the influence of topography. Corrected electric conductivity maps substantially improved the definition of anomalies, many of them rather subtle in raw data images. Corrected maps also show a better adherence with magnetic susceptibility maps, both of them identifying archaeological structures of interest: a well-structured fire-place and a concentration of ceramic fragments.     

Constructive Characteristics and Degradation Condition of Liceu Secondary Schools in Portugal

Within a full-scope modernization program of Portuguese secondary schools, technical inspections were conducted in order to: 1) identify the main degradation processes that affect different types of school buildings, and 2) provide recommendations for the rehabilitation projects. This article presents the constructive characteristics and a statistical analysis of the degradation condition of a particular type of Portuguese secondary schools, the Liceu, comprising a set of buildings with an invaluable historical and cultural importance and that is very iconic in terms of the historical period in which they were built—the Estado Novo. To that end, a database was designed in order to organize information gathered in the inspection of 15 secondary schools of Liceu typology. The aim of the database was to analyze the most frequent anomalies in this type of school buildings, taking into account the constructive solutions used and establishing statistical relationships between anomalies, probable causes and recommended rehabilitation works. Results obtained allowed concluding that the overall condition of these buildings which, in average, were 60 years old, was severe. The most frequent anomalies in both the buildings envelope and interior are mainly due to design and execution errors, water infiltration, and lack of maintenance. Although the school buildings analyzed are to some extent unique, most lessons learned from this study can be extrapolated to other countries, mostly Mediterranean, where during most of the 20th century, buildings were designed and constructed according to the same architectural and constructive principles, and were subjected to the same type of maintenance.     

An Ethnoarchaeological Study on Anthropic Markers from a Shell-midden in Tierra del Fuego (Southern Argentina): Lanashuaia II

ABSTRACT

For many years the identification of activity areas has been carried out through the spatial distribution of lithics, zooarchaeological remains and specific features such as fireplaces. However, these data are rarely combined and integrated with results from specific analytical techniques such as phytoliths, organic matter, carbonates and multielemental analysis. This research presents the first results of an intrasite spatial analysis on a layer from the site Lanashuaia II, a shell-midden located on the Beagle Channel coast (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina). Ethnoarchaeology is used as a methodological tool to give content to the concept of anthropic markers by means of formulating archaeological hypothesis on the basis of ethnological information. This paper presents the application of specific anthropic markers, which have been designed and applied to identify ashy remains and waste areas through different combinations of proxies. The results show how an approach that integrates different techniques enhances data interpretation and allows to give visibility to activities that may not leave visible evidences.     

The Hemeila Riddle: Genealogical Reconfigurations of Pre-colonial Encounters in Southwestern Mauritania

This article will focus on a seldom-considered aspect of Saharan social contexts: the incorporation of European/Christian characters into tribal sociopolitical frameworks. Supported by data from my fieldwork, I will discuss contemporary portrayals of a mid-seventeenth-century woman, Hemeila, whose mother is recognized as a European Christian of Iberian origin. These two women are presently incorporated in different genealogical narratives from Southwestern Mauritania. The research dealt with in this article also relates to discussions of social hierarchy familiar to Mauritania’s Arabophone populations, with a particular focus on groups holding a “religious” (zwaya) status. Additionally, this article discusses the role of the anthropologist as a producer of social facts, which in this context has led to a direct intervention in the reassessment of Saharan historical traditions.     

Sherds of a Kingdom: Historical Pottery of the Lake Tana Region (Northern Ethiopia)

Although the Gondärine period of Ethiopian history is relatively well-known due to local and foreign historical texts, and the architectural remains of the Solomonic dynasty, little is known about the material culture of the communities who inhabited the core area of this kingdom between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. This paper deals with the historical pottery documented in the Lake Tana region, summarizing the results of a nine-year project in the area of Gondär and linking it with materials from nearby areas. A comprehensive study of the ceramic remains has been undertaken with a combination of ethnographic, written, and archaeological sources, providing a first chronological and typological framework for this pottery, and some hints about the reasons for the changes detected throughout time related to the consolidation of a centralized Ethiopian monarchy in the mid-sixteenth century.     

Chronology during the Bronze Age in the archaeological site Tell Qubr Abu al-‘Atiq, Syria

Archaeosediments are deposits with a direct or indirect anthropogenic component. They provide useful information about past human activities and interaction with the environment. When other materials, such as pottery, are present in archaeosediment layers, the combination of TL ages from pottery and OSL ages from sediments can provide complete data about the occupation and evolution of an archaeological setting. In Mesopotamia, tells are mounds formed by the debris of human occupation and the accumulation of muddy sediments mainly due to the decomposition of mud bricks in ancient towns. Many other materials such as pottery fragments, bones and charcoal can be found in the sediment layers. The combination of OSL, TL and radiocarbon ages can be very useful in the case of the Bronze Age Period in Syria, allowing the occupation sequence of such archaeological sites to be reconstructed. Tell Qubr Abu al-’Atiq, is located on the left bank of the Middle Euphrates River (Syria). The archaeological artefacts found in the sediment layers (pottery) collected during excavations in two areas of the site, indicated the occupation of the tell during the Early and Late Bronze Age by typological pottery classification. The radiocarbon ages of charcoal indicate that human occupation fits the archaeological hypothesis, providing an older and maximum occupation period between 2800 and 2300 BC and a younger period between 1400 and 900 BC. OSL dating of sediments shows ages younger than charcoal, while TL ages of pottery are generally older than sediment and charcoal ages. This can be explained as the different materials correspond to different events. The charcoal and pottery correspond to occupation periods, while sediments correspond to the further destruction of the site.     

Inelastic Displacement Ratios for Seismic Assessment of Structures Subjected to Forward-Directivity Near-Fault Ground Motions

This article presents results of a statistical study focused on evaluating inelastic displacement ratios (i.e., ratio of maximum inelastic displacement with respect to maximum elastic displacement demand) of degrading and non degrading single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems subjected to forward-directivity near-fault ground motions. C_R spectra are computed for normalized periods of vibration with respect to the predominant period of the ground motion to provide a better ground motion characterization. This period normalization allows reducing the record-to-record variability in the estimation of C_R. An equation to obtain estimates of C_R for the seismic assessment of structures exposed to forward-directivity near-fault ground motions is proposed.     

Social Cooperation and Resource Management DynamicsAmong Late Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer Societies in Tierra del Fuego (South America)

This paper presents the theoretical basis and first results of an agent-based model (ABM) computer simulation that is being developed to explore cooperation in hunter–gatherer societies. Specifically, we focus here on Yamana, a hunter-fisher-gatherer society that inhabited the islands of the southernmost part of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina–Chile). Ethnographical and archaeological evidence suggests the existence of sporadic aggregation events, triggered by a public call through smoke signals of an extraordinary confluence of resources under unforeseeable circumstances in time and space (a beached whale or an exceptional accumulation of fish after a low tide, for example). During these aggregation events, the different social units involved used to develop and improve production, distribution and consumption processes in a collective way. This paper attempts to analyse the social dynamics that explain cooperative behaviour and resource-sharing during aggregation events using an agent-based model of indirect reciprocity. In brief, agents make their decisions based on the success of the public strategies of other agents. Fitness depends on the resource captured and the social capital exchanged in aggregation events, modified by the agent’s reputation. Our computational results identify the relative importance of resources with respect to social benefits and the ease in detecting—and hence punishing—a defector as key factors to promote and sustain cooperative behaviour among population.     

Full-Scale Experimental Testing of Retrofitting Techniques in Portuguese “Pombalino” Traditional Timber Frame Walls

Traditional timber frame walls are constructive elements representative of different timber frame buildings, well known as efficient seismic-resistant structures. They were adopted as a seismic-resistant solution in Lisbon’s reconstruction after the 1755 earthquake. To preserve these structures, a better knowledge of their seismic behavior is important and can give indications about possible retrofitting techniques. This article provides a study on possible retrofitting techniques adopting traditional solutions (bolts and steel plates). Static cyclic tests were performed on retrofitted traditional timber frame walls. The experimental results showed the overall good seismic performance of steel plates and the more ductile behavior of bolts retrofitting.