The long road to religious toleration: Emeric Crucé predecessor of the enlightenment

ABSTRACT

Le Nouveau Cynée has been neglected and little cited by Anglo-American historians of political thought, and its author, Emeric Crucé, considered a secondary figure and nearly forgotten. Why is he largely ignored if his book offers the broadest notion of toleration of its time, along with new and original proposals to make peace and organize the world without distinction as to religion and race? Indeed, his peace plan compared with Sully’s, Saint-Pierre’s or Leibniz’s was the only one not addressed exclusively to Christians, but which incorporated all kinds of people, no matter what their religion was. And he did so at a time when the Turks were considered by Christian kings to be their natural enemies, since their threat to Christianity was constant. Besides, his concept of toleration goes beyond that of the so-called champions of toleration of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries such as Locke, Pierre Bayle, Voltaire, Rousseau or Kant. Thus, he can be regarded, along with Spinoza, as one of the most tolerant authors prior to Enlightenment.     

Spatial Patterns in the Association between the Prevalence of Asthma and Determinants of Health

The World Health Organization endorses the study of diseases from the perspective of the Determinants of Health (DH), that is, the circumstances in which people are born and raised, the environment in which they grow up and age and their lifestyle. The aim of this study is to analyze the spatial behavior of the prevalence of asthma in Aragon, a Mediterranean region in Spain, under the DH approach. The methodological process entailed building a spatial database collating asthma prevalence as dependent variable, and lifestyle, socioeconomic, and climate indicators as explanatory factors, and then evaluating the spatial variability of the relationships by combining the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) models and cartographic design techniques. MGWR evidenced spatially varying relationships operating at different scales. Lifestyles seem closely tied to the prevalence of asthma in most of the study area while urban functionality and local climate patterns seem to boost prevalence rates in some specific enclaves. Consequently, the social and environmental conditions that characterize the study area translate into several DH scenarios modulating the spatial distribution of asthma. This differential DH behavior detected by local regression models is relevant to guiding and refining public health decision-making.     

Red deer antler technology and early modern humans in Southeast Europe: an experimental study

In technological approaches to prehistoric industries, there is currently a renewed interest in the transformation of osseous materials. This approach requires the construction of a technical reference base of manufacturing stigmata, as well as of the procedures and methods used to produce tool blanks.One of the better known processes for the production of blanks in the Upper Palaeolithic is extraction by a double longitudinal groove, observed only in the Gravettian. Aurignacian artefacts indicate that during this period blanks were obtained through a procedure of longitudinal fracturing (splitting) or diffuse percussion fracturing. The manner of implementing these procedures is, however, still poorly known.In order to better characterise this stage in the manufacturing of blanks for antler points, we conducted an experimental study. Based on a thorough analysis of the Spanish archaeological materials, we tested the procedure of fracturing by indirect percussion on deer antler. The results provide new criteria for the identification of blanks and their manufacturing processes. They also emphasize the possibility of predetermining the size of the blank and, consequently, the size of future projectile point.     

On the Earthquake-Source Numerical Implementation in the Seismic Wave Equation

We present a detailed approach to implement a moment-tensor point source to compute displacements, particle velocities and accelerations using direct grid methods. Here, the wave modeling algorithm is based on pseudospectral methods to compute the partial derivatives. A comparison to the analytical solution in the 3D acoustic case verifies the discrete implementation of the source in the mesh. Then, the more general 3D elastic case is illustrated and simulations, with and without free surface, are performed that can be used as a reference solution for other grid methods.     

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.     

An attempt to correct for the fading in million year old basaltic rocks

The use of feldspar for luminescence dating has been restricted because of anomalous fading. This has made its application to several important geological problems such as volcanic terrains difficult. Presently, two correction procedures are used to correct for anomalous fading. The present study tests these correction procedures using volcanic samples of known ages spanning the time period of 400 ka to 2.2 Ma. These correction procedures provided grossly underestimated ages (up to 60%). The possible causes for the underestimation are discussed.     

Public–Private Plan Development: Can Early Private Involvement Strengthen Infrastructure Planning?

Private parties, who are usually involved in later stages of design, construction and maintenance, can potentially strengthen the early plan-making stages of infrastructure planning. They can bring in knowledge, expertise and experience to help address complexity in planning. Such early private involvement can be accommodated through several models for which experiences in Dutch infrastructure planning practice differ. In this article, we assess the potential of early private involvement for strengthening infrastructure plan development by examining evaluative studies and conducting interviews with public and private actors involved in four early private involvement models in Dutch infrastructure planning: market consultation, early design contest, market reconnaissance and unsolicited proposal. We conclude that in order to unlock the potential of early private involvement government needs to incorporate incentives for creativity, reward private involvement and strike a balance in the setup of the investigated models between conceptual freedom for private solutions and transparent public guidance in preconditions and regulations. Early private involvement could, thus, provide opportunities for conceptual creativity and innovation and opportunities for public–private collaboration, which can strengthen plan development.     

Towards a Risk Management and Conservation Plan for the Djin Blocks at the World Heritage Site of Petra,Jordan: The Case of Djin Block No. 9

Cultural heritage is subjected to many pressures and risks. Over the past few years, the use of digital technologies has significantly changed the approaches to cultural heritage documentation for the purpose of condition assessment and conservation. The integration of novel approaches and techniques has permitted a detailed examination and assessment of damage, deterioration due to weathering and erosion, and their mechanisms. This study seeks to contribute to the preservation and conservation of the significant heritage of the so-called Djin Blocks at the World Heritage Site of Petra in Jordan. While these three dimensional cuboid rock-cut monuments have been subject to extensive conservation studies, this is the first time they have been subjected to 3D recording and multispectral photography, with the aim of recording damage caused by the ravages of time.

This study presents the results of the documentation of the case study Djin Block No. 9. A variety of systematic documentation techniques were used, including 3D recording with terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), close-range photogrammetry, multispectral imaging, and thermography records. In addition, pathological studies of the erosion from various causes and an analysis of the effect of weathering on Djin Block No. 9 are performed. Based on this data, the paper presents recommendations for developing risk management and conservation planning of Djin Block No. 9.     

‘Vienen de gente de mucha discreción y entendimiento:’ ethnic identity,ambivalence, and colonial discourses in Diego Muñoz Camargo’s Descripción de la ciudad y provincia de Tlaxcala

Diego Muñoz Camargo's Descripción de la ciudad y provincia de Tlaxcala (1585) is a well-known reference on the history of Tlaxcala that scholars have studied to better understand Tlaxcalan participation in the conquest of Tenochtitlan, its relationship with the Spanish Crown, and the author's selective approach to local history. Often, these approaches present the historian as acculturated or Hispanized because of his celebration of the Spanish or criticism of local religious practices. This article complicates such approaches in order to show the complex ways that the author approached issues of cultural difference. Examining Muñoz Camargo's recourse to colonial discourses of morality, I argue that the author molds and tailors these discourses to fit local Tlaxcalan circumstances. In doing so, I show how he humanizes Tlaxcala's ruling elite while exemplifying the inherent ambivalence of moral authority in Colonial New Spain.