The chert abundance ratio (CAR): a new parameter for interpreting Palaeolithic raw material procurement

Raw material provenance and procurement studies are an essential research line to infer landscape exploitation, mobility dynamics and territorial management among prehistoric hunter-gatherer groups. This paper proposes an original and intuitive method, the chert abundance ratio, aimed at quantifying lithic resource occurrence in the landscape while considering the geological natural factors of an area (chert-bearing formation extent, thickness, occurrence index, size and chert content). The resource availability can be statistically compared to any archaeological assemblage distribution to define the procurement strategies, whether generalist or selective, and the mobility patterns. The study area, the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula, focused in the Prades Mountains, represents a regional scenario with high chert disposal shared by several Late Upper Palaeolithic occupations. The discrimination of the procurement areas is used as a parameter for outlining the foraging radius and the territorial range, contributing to an understanding of several aspects of the settlement, such as site functions, occupation length or intensity and group size.     

Carnivores as zoonotic parasite reservoirs in ancient times: the case of the Epullán Chica archaeological cave (Late Holocene,northwestern Patagonia,Argentina)

Zoonoses are currently considered as one of the most important threats for Public Health worldwide. Numerous zoonoses known today have occurred since antiquity. Carnivores act as definitive hosts for many intestinal parasites; some of them are responsible for several zoonotic diseases. The aim of this work was to study the parasite remains found in coprolites assigned to carnivores from the archaeological site Epullán Chica (ECh) and to discuss the results from a zoonotic point of view. ECh is located in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina and was occupied since the end of the Late Holocene (～2200 years B.P.). Nine coprolites were examined for parasites. Samples were processed by rehydration in a 0.5 % water solution of trissodium phosphate, followed by homogenization, filtered and processed by spontaneous sedimentation. The macroscopic remains were separated and dried at room temperature and were examined for diet analysis. Six out of 9 coprolites examined were positive for parasites. Representatives of at least 10 parasite taxa were registered. Results are in line with the reconstruction of the scenario of zoonoses in the past and the diseases that the human populations and animals from Patagonia could be exposed. The present study provides the first palaeoparasitological report of carnivore coprolites recovered from the archaeological site Ech and reflects contamination of the cave used by hunter-gatherers with different parasites causative of zoonotic diseases.     

The rise and fall of a speculative bubble: geostrategic concerns,public debate and the promotion of an American trans-oceanic canal in the 1820s

The article examines the interest in the United States for the construction of a trans-oceanic canal in Central America. In 1820, William Davis Robinson published a book, Memoirs of the Mexican Revolution, which contained an appendix discussing the practicability of building a trans-oceanic canal including detailed analysis of the potential routes for its construction. The appendix sparked a lively debate among American political and economic leaders. This debate would not abate until the enormity of the financial and engineering realities of the project coupled with the continuing political instability of Mexico, Greater Colombia, and the Republic of Central America dampened investor enthusiasm.     

Las expresiones de violencia en una Medea itinerante: Medea maelstrom de Roberto Viña

This Latin American Medea plunges us into the well-known classical Greek myth from a novel approach. The Cuban writer Roberto Viña redefines the heroine's voyage with the Argonauts from the moment of her escape from her native Colchis. That is why Viña fragments the myth and focuses his tragedy on the sorcerer's maritime itinerancy that bears another nomination. Thus we identify the ethos of an ambivalent woman, peculiarly shy, and yet able to commit fratricide. Within the framework of the literary reception studies, we will analyze the expressions of extreme violence perpetrated by the characters of this play from very dissimilar perspectives.     

After thought. Devotion,Teresa de Jesús,and Miguel de Cervantes

ABSTRACT

This article explores the complex landscape of devotion in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spain, comparing the legislated Christian-only history of Counter-Reformation with the various alternative strands of belief, faith, and devotion present in a variety of areas of cultural production. The article first examines representations of devotion—and methodologies of reading such representations—in areas of production such as architecture, dictionaries, literature, and the arts; at the end of this first section, it coins the concept of “After Thought” as a reading tool to better comprehend and possibly experience devotion in ways particular to early modern Spain, not merely en cristiano but in multiconfessional forms. “After Thought,” both the tool and the article, follow intellectual engagements with Andalusi (not merely Andalusian) past, present, and future environments in early modern Spain. They also engage alternative somatic dimensions of a different “entendimiento” of Christianity, as described by Teresa de Jesús and practiced by both her and Cervantes. Finally, in reviewing the six ducal chapters of the second part of Don Quijote as a rewriting of Castillo interior, the apocryphal condition of this segment of the novel mobilizes yet another wheel in the Trojan horse of fiction, one that exposes the way in which Cervantes refigures Teresa de Jesús, thus yielding two interactive models of “After Thought” in early modern Spain's arts, religion, and spirituality.     

Huerequeque: An inland outpost of the Initial Period Sechín Alto Polity in the Casma Valley of Peru

The Sechín Alto Polity effectively controlled the Casma Valley zone on the Peruvian north coast during the Initial Period (2100–1000 cal b.c.) through an inclusive administrative strategy whereby large inland centers and their component monumental architecture served specific, complementary functions within the polity. Smaller satellite sites established on the coast insured a supply of marine protein to the inland agricultural centers. The political strategy of the Sechín Alto Polity also included expansion inland to colonize the mid-sized site of Huerequeque at a key location in order to annex abundant agricultural land, to access a trade route to the highlands, and to extend and define the eastern Sechín Alto Polity boundary farther. Huerequeque is unique, however, because of its distinct cultural heritage, and excavations there have made it possible to examine the process through which the expanding polity established an administrative presence, imposed Sechín Alto Polity practices, and eventually abandoned the site. More broadly, elucidating this process is critical to a better understanding of the development and expansion of complex societies.