Micro-photogrammetric and morphometric differentiation of cut marks on bones using metal knives,quartzite, and flint flakes

In a previous article, we presented an innovative method to analyze cut marks produced with metal tools on animal bones from a metrical and tridimensional perspective (Maté-González et al. 2015). Such analysis developed a low-cost alternative technique to traditional microscopic methods for the tridimensional reconstruction of marks, using their measurements and sections. This article presents the results of an experimental study to test this photogrammetric and morphometric method for differentiating cut marks generated with metal, flint, and quartzite flakes. The results indicate statistically significant differences among cut marks produced by these three types of raw material. These results encourage the application of this method to archeological assemblages in order to establish a link between carcass processing and lithic reduction sequences on different raw materials and also to define the kind of tools used during butchery.     

Higher education institutions,economic growth and GDP per capita in European Union countries

This paper presents an estimation of the contribution of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to economic growth and the Gross Domestic Product per capita of the European (EU) countries over the period 2000–2015. For this purpose, we analyse the universities’ effects on the supply side of their national economies, especially the contribution of the R&D of HEIs to technological capital of the European (EU) countries. We proposed a methodology of counterfactual scenarios, which assume a hypothetical situation in which HEIs do not exist, to estimating the effects of HEIs, applying techniques of growth accounting. The results obtained indicate that these effects are a significant source of growth in European (EU) countries, contributing to mitigating the adverse effects of the periods of crisis. The estimates show that GDP per capita would currently be more than 11% higher than that corresponding to a scenario without HEIs. The results obtained also show significate differences in GDP per capita between European (EU) countries associated with the activity of HEIs.     

A Critical Review of European and American Provisions for the Seismic Assessment of Existing Steel Moment-Resisting Frame Buildings

The publication of Part 3 of Eurocode 8 (EC8-3), dedicated to the seismic assessment of existing buildings, took place a decade ago. However, its application in engineering practice has been limited. Moreover, no studies have been conducted regarding the application of EC8-3 to steel structures. In this paper, a critical review and practical application of EC8-3 and ASCE41-13 are carried out. Issues related to the definition of the performance requirements, compliance criteria, and the consistency of the analysis procedures proposed by both standards are identified. Conceptual differences between both documents are highlighted, and several inconsistencies in EC8-3 are discussed.     

Small angle neutron scattering study of ancient pottery from Syracuse (Sicily,Southern Italy)

This paper is focused on a spectroscopic study of some pottery shards from an archaeological site in Syracuse (Sicily, Southern Italy), dating back to the Hellenistic–Roman period. Structural characterization was performed at different scales of observation, i.e. from macroscopic to mesoscopic. The main goal was to point out the potentiality of the small angle neutron scattering (SANS) technique as a non-invasive analytical tool in archaeometry, also in conjunction with other, more usual, methodologies. Correlation of experimental data, i.e. macroscopic typology and texture, obtained from petrographic analysis, and radius of gyration and fractal dimension of the interfaces of the mesoscopic aggregates obtained using SANS, together with mineralogical X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, allowed hypotheses to be made on the production technology of the investigated samples.     

Book Reviews

James Valender, ed. Homenaje a María Zambrano: Estudios y correspondencia. México: El Colegio de México, 1998. 313 pp.

Linda M. Willem. Galdós's Segunda Manera: Rhetorical Strategies and Affective Response. Chapel Hill: North Carolina Studies in the Romance Languages and Literatures, 1998. 200 pp.

Patricia Francis Cholakian. Women and the Politics of Self-Representation in Seventeenth-Century France. University of Delaware Press, 2000. 219 pp.

Richard E. Goodkin. Birth Marks. The Tragedy of Primogeniture in Pierre Corneille, Thomas Corneille, and Jean Racine. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000. xi + 281 pp. $57.50.     

A study of dimensional differences of tooth marks (pits and scores) on bones modified by small and large carnivores

The use of tooth mark sizes to infer carnivore types when analyzing the modification of faunal assemblages has been criticized on the base of intense overlap in tooth mark size among differently sized carnivores. The present study analyzes this overlap and presents some critical explanations for it. This work is based on the largest collection of tooth pit dimensional data collected to date for some of the most relevant carnivore types. The study empirically shows that small and large carnivores can be clearly differentiated when using tooth pit size, with a higher discrimination when using tooth marks on dense shafts than on cancellous ends. It is argued that most previous studies of tooth mark sizes have reproduced a higher overlap probably because sample sizes were small, and experiments were carried out using small carcasses (which require a smaller bite force) or for a combination of factors.     

The Many Tongues of the King: Indigenous Language Interpreters and the Making of the Spanish Empire

General language interpreters of Lima's High Court of Appeal (Audiencia) played a significant part in gaining access to the Spanish system of justice for the indigenous populations of Peru. These interpreters worked as translators in lawsuits, notarial transactions, and other legal and administrative procedures conducted or supervised by the viceroy, the justices of the Audiencia, the public defender of the Indians, and other officials stationed at the viceregal court. But they also served as legal agents and solicitors for native leaders and communities litigating in Lima or aspiring to take their cases to the Supreme Council of the Indies in Spain. Through formal and informal dealings, these interpreters brokered between the king and his native subjects, thus connecting indigenous groups with the Habsburg royal court. The careers of these official translators illustrate the crucial roles played by indigenous subjects in the formation of what can be termed the ‘Spanish legal Atlantic,’ an organic network of litigants, judges, lawyers, attorneys, and documents bridging courtrooms on both shores of the ocean.     

Seismic Response of a Four-Story Miniature Building with Replaceable Plastic Hinges

To emphasize on linear and nonlinear seismic behavior of building systems in education, a four-story miniature moment-resisting frame steel building was designed, built, and tested in a shaking table at the Structures Laboratory of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. A prominent feature of the building is the incorporation of elements designed to form plastic hinges that can be easily replaced after a test with minimum effort and at a very low cost. This model is mainly aimed at education in undergraduate and graduate structural dynamics/earthquake engineering courses and it has also been used to support research. This article describes in detail the main features of the building, its design, and discusses the response of the building to two input ground motions. Because the use of pushover analyses is becoming an industry standard, the some relevant results will be compared with those predicted by such kind of analyses. This article is written in very simple terms and is aimed at the undergraduate and graduate student, at educators in structural design and at structural engineers involved in seismic design of building structures. This article covers many aspects that are seldom highlighted in building behavior to earthquake excitation and that are not always covered in design codes or guidelines.     

A las seis patas en punta por la cabeza

If there is a leitmotiv that permeates all of Julio Medem's film production, that would be no other than incest. Tacked from very diverse perspectives, both diegetically, regarding the varied plot developments and the presentation of the films, and extra-diegetically, through the social implications derived from the family relationships suggested on the screen, the constant recurrence of incest forces us to come face to face with the evasive riddles that such a thorny topic presents. In this essay, after a brief review of incest in his full-length films, from Vacas (1992) to Caótica Ana (2007), I focus on the two extant shorts that are accessible today, namely, Patas en la cabeza (1985) and Las seis en punta (1987). In these short films, which are the germ of his later production consisting of six feature authorial films, we can already surmise what Médem would develop later on in his films. Up front, always as a minimum common denominator, incest already begins to show, half cautiously, half defiantly, as a protagonist in its own right.