Iron production in scandinavian archaeology

Several sites of the historic and prehistoric periods exist at the vicarage of Borg on Vestvåg?y, North Norway. The settlement site Borg I, which is at present being investigated within the framework of a Scandinavian research project, is believed to be a Late Iron Age chieftain's residence.     

The Anchin manuscript of Passio Olavi (Douai 295), William of Jumièges,and Theodoricus Monachus: New evidence for intellectual relations between Norway and France in the 12th century

That Plotinus and Porphyry lie behind Synesius' De insomniis is generally agreed, but it can be shown that two chapters in particular derive directly or perhaps through the intermediary of a commentary from Plotinus. There is in these chapters a certain amount of interpretation on Synesius' part of the material he draws from Plotinus and in addition a great deal of rhetorical embellishment and amplification. Whether in the rest of the De insomniis Synesius is so directly dependent on a single source that he then reworks and embellishes is hard to say.     

NEW ASPECTS OF THE MESOLITHIC‐NEOLITHIC CEMETERIES AND SETTLEMENT AT ZVEJNIEKI,NORTHERN LATVIA

The paper reflects upon recent international research at Zvejnieki in northern Latvia, a renowned complex of a burial ground and two settlement sites used in the Mesolithic and Neolithic. Since its discovery and first excavations in the 1960s, Zvejnieki continues to produce evidence that provides new grounds for understanding mortuary practises and ancient lifeways. This information is relevant for other contemporary sites in Europe revealing new and hitherto unexpected elements of burial traditions. It is suggested that the Zvejnieki population was partly mobile, and the site was one of the places to bury the dead. The ancestral link was established through transportation and use of occupational debris from more ancient sites and through the incorporation of earlier burial space or even burials into the new graves. The depth of a burial also appears to be a significant variable in ancient mortuary practices.     

The Secularization of Providential Order: F. A. Hayek's Political-Economic Theology

In this article I argue that the concept of spontaneous order that underlies F. A. Hayek's political-economic thought is a secularized version of classical liberalism's understanding of order as providential. In Adam Ferguson's writings on history and social order, from which Hayek draws the notion of spontaneous order, the classical liberal paradigm reveals its intimate connection to providential theology. It is in three features of Ferguson's thought, namely his understanding of order, the politics of laissez-faire he dictates, and his providential optimism, that a providential theology reveals itself. Hayek's restatement of liberalism involves the secularization of this notion of order, which forces him both to ground his thought in a different ontology and to formulate a different politics. By contrasting Hayek's political economy to Ferguson's thought I trace the implications of this secularization. In the conclusion I contend that despite his secularizing gesture, Hayek does not succeed at emptying his understanding of order of all theological traces. Consequently, his notion of “spontaneous order” still carries a distinct theological charge, making it impossible for Hayekian political economy to countenance the destruction wrought by markets.     

Regional technological change and path dependency in the Danish food processing industry

Evolutionary theories of technological change arguably exert the greatest impact on our understanding of technological change. According to evolutionary economic theory the process of technological change is driven by the continual creation of technological variety through innovation and innovative firm entry and the destruction of variety through the processes of imitation (diffusion), selection and plant exit. This joint process of variety creation and destruction translates micro-economic diversity into technological progress. A third principle of evolutionary economic theory is the principle of heredity, the communication of information and knowledge over time. The dependence of technology on past and existing knowledge tends to move firms, regions and countries along relatively well-defined technological trajectories. In this paper technology is measured as a pair of capital and labour input coefficients. Empirical analysis of the Danish food processing industry reveals that technology varies markedly across regions and that differences in regional technological performance persist over time. Multivariate analysis of variance confirms that spatial variation in techniques of production is significant. This study underpins the evolutionary theory of technological change confirming that in the Danish food processing industry, regions move along relatively well-defined technological trajectories.     

Aspirations and Job Success of Highly Qualified Second Generation Iranians in Germany

This study pioneers the quantitative research of second generation Iranian graduates in Germany. Second generation immigrants in Germany, immigrants raised in Germany with at least one parent born abroad, are relevant as they are a crucial part of German society. Second generation immigrants in general as well as Iranians in particular are assumed to have high extrinsic aspirations. But a dataset big enough to study the employment situation of second generation Iranian graduates in Germany did not exist. Therefore, the article uses the KOAB dataset from 2011 to 2015, which contains data from 53,429 full-time employed higher education graduates in Germany (among those are 161 second generation Iranians). Their extrinsic job aspirations and career success (income, job satisfaction) are analyzed. Multivariate analyses reveal the higher extrinsic job aspirations of second generation Iranian graduates compared to many other migrant groups and Germans but similar to second generation Turkish graduates. Nevertheless, the extrinsic job aspiration is relevant, though only one factor among others to predict career success.     

UPPÅKRA. A CENTRAL SITE IN SOUTH SCANDINAVIAN IRON AGE: STABILITY AND CHANGE THROUGH MORE THAN A MILLENNIUM

In the 1930s, during the construction of a house south of Lund in south‐western Scania (southern Sweden), a thick occupation layer was discovered. The layer formed as a result of settlement during the Early Iron Age as a small‐scale excavation demonstrated. The article is a presentation of recent investigations of the site in 1996–2014. The occupation layer, which covers an area of some 40 hectares, contained traces of settlements from the late Pre‐Roman Iron Age to the Viking Age. Of particular significance are the remains of a small timber structure interpreted as a ceremonial building. It was reconstructed seven times during the 1^st millennium AD and used for around seven hundred years. On each side of the ceremonial building were depositions of weapons combined with animal bones from large feasts. Besides the ceremonial building, several large halls were excavated, dating from the Roman Iron Age to the Viking Age. These produced evidence of repeated and deliberate arson. Several years of metal detector surveys have resulted in 14,000 registered finds that give a good foundation for interpreting the significance of the site in local, regional and international perspectives as an important religious, political and economic centre in southern Sweden. Contributions by a large number of scholars have helped to provide a well‐based insight into different crafts and sources of artistic inspiration.     

9 April revised: on the Norwegian history tradition after Magne Skodvin on Quisling and the invasion of Norway in 19401

The Norwegian tradition of historiography on the invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940 was first and foremost established by Professor Magne Skodvin (1915–2004) with his doctoral thesis in 1956, numerous books and articles, and through his teaching at the University of Oslo, which inspired many students. In this article, four of Skodvin’s positions are reviewed with arguments that demand a revision of the historical validity of these viewpoints. The four positions consist of Skodvin’s opinion concerning the role of Quisling in the events leading up to 9 April 1940, his view of Quisling’s role in Norway on 9 April 1940, his presentation of the Allied invasion plans before 9 April 1940, and his claim that Quisling had next to no followers amongst Norwegian military officers. Finally, this criticism is placed in context by looking at the historical directions of the development of the Nasjonal Samling (NS), both prior to these events and in the aftermath.     

A new miniSTR heptaplex system for genetic fingerprinting of ancient DNA from archaeological human bone

The analysis of short tandem repeats (STRs) is a useful tool in various contexts of ancient DNA research. Main applications are the reconstruction of kinship, identification, and authentication. Here we describe a short amplicon autosomal short tandem repeat (miniSTR) heptaplex system for the amplification of D13S317, D21S11, D18S51, TH01, D5S818, FGA and Amelogenin from highly degraded DNA as an inexpensive alternative to commercially available kits. All primers were newly designed and the amplicon length of all systems is less than 200 bp, with the exception of some rare alleles in the FGA and D21S11 systems. To validate the suitability of this system for typing STRs from human specimens with low DNA preservation we systematically tested it on 20 skeletal samples from four archaeological sites representing different burial environments and time spans since death. Finally, to test the sensitivity of the heptaplex system, we analyzed serial dilutions of control DNA and ancient DNA extracts. Using the system we were able to reproducibly obtain full STR profiles, down to a concentration of 0.06 ng DNA. Even with 0.004 ng DNA partial profiles could be amplified. The accumulated power of discrimination for the six selected STR loci is 0.99999984, plus the option of genetic sex determination through Amelogenin. The tests conducted prove that the system presented is efficient and especially suited for cases where STRs have to be typed and sex has to be assessed from human specimens with highly degraded DNA.