Taphonomy of ungulate ribs and the consumption of meat and bone by 1.2-million-year-old hominins at Olduvai Gorge,Tanzania

The phenomenon of equifinality complicates behavioral interpretations of faunal assemblages from contexts in which Pleistocene hominins are suspected bone accumulators. Stone tool butchery marks on ungulate fossils are diagnostic of hominin activities, but debate continues over the higher-order implications of butchered bones for the foraging capabilities of hominins. Additionally, tooth marks imparted on bones by hominins overlap in morphology and dimensions with those created by some non-hominin carnivores, further confounding our view of early hominins as meat-eating hunters, scavengers or both. We report on the manual/oral peeling of cortical layers of ungulate ribs as taphonomically diagnostic of hominoid/hominin meat- and bone-eating behavior that indicates access to large herbivore carcasses by hominins at the site of BK, Olduvai. Supporting these inferences, we show that certain types of rib peeling damage are very rare or completely unknown in faunas created by modern carnivores and African porcupines, but common in faunas modified by the butchery and/or consumption activities of modern humans and chimpanzees, during which these hominoids often grasp ribs with their hands, and then used their teeth to peel strips of cortex from raggedly chewed ends of the ribs. Carnivores consume ungulate ribcage tissues soon after kills, so diagnostic traces of hominin butchery/consumption on ribs (i.e., peeling and butchery marks) indicate early access to ungulate carcasses by BK hominins. Tooth marks associated with the peeling and butchery marks are probably hominin-derived, and may indicate that it was not uncommon for our ancestors to use their teeth to strip meat from and to consume portions of ribs. Recognition of rib peeling as a diagnostic signature of hominoid/hominin behavior may also aid the search for pre-archaeological traces of hominin meat-eating.     

Empirical Formulation for Estimating the Fundamental Frequency of Slender Masonry Structures

The fundamental frequency of a structure enables better assessment of its seismic demand for an efficient design and planning of its maintenance and retrofit strategy. The frequency is independent of the type of external loads, however, depends on structural stiffness, mass, damping and boundary conditions. In the case of slender masonry structures such as towers, minarets chimneys, and pagoda temples, it is influenced by mass and stiffness distribution, connection to adjacent structures, material properties, aspect ratio and slenderness ratio. In this present article, the data collected from various literature reviews on the slender masonry structures regarding dynamic, geometrical, and mechanical characteristics have been correlated to identify the major parameters influencing the fundamental frequency of such structures. The database has been used for developing an empirical formulation for predicting the fundamental frequency of such structures. The comparison between the experimental fundamental frequencies and the estimated fundamental frequencies are carried out in order to define reliability and accuracy of these empirical formulae.     

Vulnerability Index: A New Approach for Preventive Conservation of Monuments

A new approach is developed for vulnerability analysis of monuments based on a matrix model and the relationships with static and structural factors, climatic conditions, air quality, urban planning and social agents for preventive conservation of cultural heritage in urban centers.

The objective is to provide tools for decision-makers in the current recession to allow them to prioritize strategies for cultural heritage preservation in a town, where territorial policies are applied and regions where restoration budget is distributed. This new tool allows to classify monuments in order to prioritize restoration and is useful in deeper analysis associated to risks assessment.

The degradation of building materials and structures is mainly due to deterioration caused by structural instability, weathering, pollution, and anthropogenic damage. The vulnerability approach of each monument (vulnerability indexes) was calculated, based on a Leopold matrix that depends on intrinsic variables and the life of the monuments. For the very first time, the influence of different deterioration agents has been balanced with a Delphi forecast based on architects’ opinions.

The result is a new pre-Artificial Intelligence tool that enables users to reproduce human reasoning to study relations between vulnerability factors, risk factors, and the historical parameters of the monuments.     

‘It is not fair that he is treated as a commoner’: lower-level native lords in the repartimiento of Macha (Charcas) under colonial rule, 1540–1619

This article studies the impact of colonial rule on Andean hierarchies of power, underlining the role of lower-level native leaders who enabled paramount lords to organize labor services, levy tribute, and govern Andean polities. Using the repartimiento of Macha (Charcas) as a case study, this article examines the impact of external colonial authorities' actions against the backdrop of rising internal tensions within Andean polities. Segmented polities such as Macha faced increasing tensions, giving rise to new mediating roles for lesser-ranking native leaders, placing the subordinate lords' fight for status at the center of debate. This article starts by exploring the first interrelations between lesser-ranking lords and colonial authorities under the encomienda system through the late 1560s. It then turns to the impact of Viceroy don Francisco de Toledo's reforms in the early 1570s, which simplified and standardized native hierarchies of power within each repartimiento while also fragmenting local Andean elites between tribute-paying lords and those exempted of from it. Finally, the article examines the reactions of lower-level native leaders in the face of new constraints regarding tribute exemption and related obligations in the early seventeenth century, as exemplified by indio principal don Diego Chambi.     

Radiometric dates and micromorphological evidence for synchronous domestic activity and sheep penning in a Neolithic cave: Cueva de El Toro (Málaga,Antequera, Spain)

We present radiocarbon dates and preliminary micromorphological information from the Neolithic cave site of Cueva del Toro (Antequera, Málaga, Spain). This site has yielded a rich early and late Neolithic archaeological record. The late Neolithic assemblage reflects specialized handcraft activity including in situ ceramic manufacture, textile production, and food processing along with sheep and goat penning, suggesting that the cave occupants and their domestic animals shared the same living space. Until now, dating of the stratigraphic sequence was incomplete, and the function of the combustion activities carried out at the cave remained unclear. New absolute dates from the main late Neolithic domestic activity area, corresponding to the most intense Neolithic occupation of the cave, allow us to place the entire sequence between 5320 and 5170 BP (or 4250–3950 to 2σ Cal BC). Micromorphological results show that many combustion features from this site represent recurrently burnt episodes on sheep/goat stabling deposits all along the sequence, corroborating human-goat/sheep cohabitation. This practice had not been previously documented in southern Spain for such early dates. Our results exemplify the importance of characterizing archaeological deposits at a microstratigraphic scale of observation.     

机助制图在土地定级中的应用研究——以塘沽为例

本文对用计算机系统协助设计、制作土地定级系列图进行了尝试。利用编制的辅助绘图程序,加速了成图周期,提高了制图质量。并对不同CAD系统间图形相互转换进行了分析,实现了土地定级系列图从TekniCAD到AutoCAD系统中的移植。对机助制图的优势进行了阐述。     

神话与宗教中理想景观的文化地理透视

神话与宗教是原始的哲学和宇宙观,理想景观是其中一个重要组成部分。根据文化圈的不同,世界神话与宗教可划分为三种地域类型:中国式、希腊式和希伯莱式。它们各有其不同的理想景观类型。理想景观是人们对于环境的选择和改造,它的形成受自然环境和文化的双重作用,其中自然环境的作用是潜在的、基础性的,而文化的作用是直接的和本质性的。不同的文化通过神话和宗教中的理想景观类型来表达自己的景观理想,又依据这些理想,通过地理回归在现实中使其物化,实现对地理环境的影响。     

基于女性主义视角的城市住房与住区问题初探--以南京市为例

当代中国城市社会日益复杂和多元化,在以人为本和社会公平的社会思潮背景下,地理学界和规划界有必要深入关注女性这一重要亚群体单元。本文在简要引入西方女性主义地理学以及其关于城市住区发展理念的基础上,通过对南京的实证调查,从女性的角度分析了国内住房供给以及住区规划建设中存在的若干问题,揭示女性需求、性别差异在住区规划和建设中被忽视的现实,并对今后住区建设提出一些基于性别差异和维护男女平等原则的规划设想。     

评钱穆的中国社会演变论

中国社会演变论是钱穆先生用以中国史研究的史学理论,其内容和形式有一个发展、变化过程。这一理论的基本内涵是：以政治制度的演变为主体、以“士人政治”的变迁为主线用以考察中国历史上的社会演变过程,它反映了钱穆先生关于春秋以前是“封建社会”,战国以下是“四民社会”而非封建社会的中国史观点。这一理论的意图在于：用中国历史上社会演变的有限性来证成中国文化精神传统的不变性,其理论实质是道统文化史观。