The construction of an international: Debord,Jorn, and situationist praxis

Though the Situationist International (SI) was a network connecting artists and theorists across Europe, scholars have mainly focused on its Paris branch. Guy Debord, its leading French member, has been cast as the undisputed author of situationist praxis and his ‘Rapport sur la construction des situation’ (1957) understood as the SI’s launching manifesto. By situating Debord’s ‘Rapport’ in its original context, this paper argues that the ‘Rapport’ should be seen less as an articulation of the SI’s aesthetic project than as the conceptual basis for an incipient transnational co-operation between the movement’s branches. Engaging the thought of the Danish artist Asger Jorn, who organised the conference at which the ‘Rapport’ was first delivered, Debord started a conversation in which the non-French participants were invited to be critical interlocutors. Through their discussion, I suggest, these theorists and artists not only together brought the SI into existence as a continental formation but also, by moulding the ‘Rapport’s’ concepts to new ends, shaped its organisational praxis. I conclude by considering how this reading of the SI’s emergence recasts our understanding of later situationist developments and theory.     

Forthcoming meetings and conferences of general interest

The nineteenth-century British historian Lucy Aikin's ambitious four-part poem Epistles on Women (1810) marks both her first important contribution to women's historiography and a compelling example of Enlightenment feminist historiography. To some extent, Aikin is building on the work of male Enlightenment historians who had evaluated the status of women in different times and places and correlated it to social progress. However, she not only restricts her focus exclusively to women, but also makes a concerted effort to resolve some of the tensions apparent in previous accounts of the relationship between women and social progress. Especially striking is her mediation of two distinct historical models of femininity, which I have called the republican and commercial models of femininity, the outlines of both of which we can trace in the work of male Enlightenment historians. By suggesting that through proper education women might combine the best aspects of each model, Aikin strategically advances the project of controversial feminists like Catherine Macaulay and Mary Wollstonecraft, who had taken inspiration from the republican model of femininity in their demands for improvements to female education.     

Minateda rock shelters (Albacete) and post-palaeolithic art of the Mediterranean Basin in Spain: pigments,surfaces and patinas

The inorganic and organic fractions of two microsamples of prehistoric paint from the same site, the Minateda rock shelters, are analysed here for the first time. The two samples correspond to two rock shelters of different styles (Levantine and schematic) – Abrigo Grande de Minateda (The Great Rock Shelter of Minateda) and Abrigo del Barranco de la Mortaja (Del Barranco de la Mortaja Rock Shelter). Since its discovery, historiographical tradition has emphasised the Abrigo Grande de Minateda, with its magnificence and complexity, as emblematic of the origin and evolution of rock art in the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). Four complementary techniques –Microphotography, Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), Raman Spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectroscopy (GC–MS)– were combined to identify and characterise the physicochemical properties of the paint and of the surface. We present an interpretation of the results that leads us to define complex taphonomic alterations beyond the usual distinction of layers that include the surface, pigments and patinas.     

A high-resolution electron microscopic and energy-dispersive spectroscopic study on the molecular mechanism underpinning the natural preservation of 2300 Y.O. naturally-mummified human remains and the occurrence of small-sized [Zn][Al]Carbon spheres

In this paper we use Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy, and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy to characterize the surface of the skin of a 2300 YO, naturally-preserved mummy, belonging to a two-year and eight month girl (“Pepita”), found inside a cave located in Altamira, Querétaro, México (21°40′–20°01′; 99°03′–100°36′). The cave was found in Sierra Gorda, an orographic region with a relief of sedimentary origin from the Gulf of Mexico, composed by high mountains with altitude values surpassing 3000 m above sea level, with ample and steep canyons, and a prominent role on the exploitation and distribution of cinnabar (HgS). The skin showed the presence of small-sized spherules, containing Al (≤43%) in the most exposed region (5–10 μm depth). Thin layers and structural microdomains covered small and large spheres. Structures conformed by stacked, nano-sized particles located far-from-the bunches contained C (≤45%), Zn and Si (≤10%), and minor amounts of Ca (≤2.6%). By contrast, regions between spheres contained high amounts of Ca (≤23%) and Al (≤15%), but lacked Zn and Si. Carbon spheres showed two distinctive composition, a signature that their formation might have occurred in a least two different stages via concentric growth mechanisms, with the incorporation of Zn and Al at a later stage. [Zn][Al]Carbon spheres showed morphology and growth patterns that compared to those resulting from the hydrothermal carbonization by Fe²⁺ ions under mild conditions, suggesting a common mechanism of formation. Textural changes of thin films found between [Zn][Al]Carbon spheres were attributed to differences in viscosity, which might have contributed to increases in functionality and specific surface area (by means of decreases in size) and, in turn, facilitating the sequestration of biomolecules. We propose that the presence of [Zn][Al]Carbon spheres provides protection against bacterial and UV attack. The physical properties of these spheres helped entrap biomolecules. Taken together, these factors contributed to the preservation of Pepita.     

An additional basal sauropodomorph specimen from the Upper Triassic Caturrita Formation,southern Brazil,with comments on the biogeography of plateosaurids

Bittencourt, J.S., Leal, L.A., Langer, M.C. & Azevedo, S.A.K., June 2012. An additional basal sauropodomorph specimen from theUpperTriassic Caturrita Formation, southern Brazil, with comments on the biogeography of plateosaurids. Alcheringa, 1–10. ISSN0311-5518.

We describe an additional saurischian specimen from the Caturrita Formation (Norian) of the Parana Basin, southern Brazil. This material was collected in the 1950s and remained unstudied due to its fragmentary condition. Detailed comparisons with other saurischians worldwide reveal that some characters of the ilium, including the low ventral projection of the medial wall of the acetabulum and its concave ventral margin, together with the short triangular shape of the pre-acetabular process and its mound-like dorsocaudal edge, resemble those of sauropodomorphs such as Plateosaurus and Riojasaurus. This set of traits suggests that MN 1326-V has affinities with basal Sauropodomorpha, probably closer to plateosaurians than to Saturnalia-like taxa. Previous records of this clade in the Caturrita Formation include Unaysaurus, which has been related to Plateosaurus within Plateosauridae. Alternative schemes suggest that plateosaurids include Plateosaurus plus the Argentinean ‘prosauropods’ Coloradisaurus and Riojasaurus. Both hypotheses raise biogeographic questions, as a close relationship between faunas from South America and Europe excluding Africa and North America is not supported by geological and biostratigraphical evidence. Additionally, the absence of plateosaurids in other continents suggests that the geographical distribution of thistaxon is inconsistent with the geological history of western Pangaea, and this demands further investigations of the phylogeny of sauropodomorphs or improved sampling.

J.S. Bittencourt* [sigmaorionis@yahoo.com.br] Laboratório de Paleontologia, Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes 3900, 1404901, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil. Fellow FAPESP; L.A. Leal, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, Rua José Moreira Sobrinho, s/n, 45206-190, Jequié, BA, Brazil; M.C. Langer, Laboratório de Paleontologia, Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes 3900, 1404901, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil; S.A.K. Azevedo, Laboratório de Processamento de Imagem Digital, Departamento de Geologia e Paleontologia, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Quinta da Boa Vista s/n, 20940-040, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Received 29.7.2011; revised 10.10.2011; accepted 18.10.2011.