Milling Cereals/Legumes and Stamping Bread in Mauretanian Tamuda (Morocco): An Interdisciplinary Study

African Archaeological Review - Recent archaeological excavations (2016–2019) in the city of Tamuda (northern Morocco) yielded evidence of commercial milling and bread-making facilities dated...     

The Role of Different Raw Materials in Lithic Technology and Settlement Patterns During the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa

African Archaeological Review - The study of raw materials is an essential step in lithic analysis, regardless of the age, provenance, and technology of the assemblages. As in many other contexts...     

The business relations,identities and political resources of Italian merchants in the early-modern Spanish monarchy: some introductory remarks

Abstract

This article offers a preliminary approach to the special volume entitled Business Relations, Identities, and Political Resources of the Italian Merchants in the Early-Modern Spanish Monarchy. It discusses the major issues and debates addressed in the five contributions collected here about the central role played by the Genoese, Florentine and Milanese commercial networks in the framework of a polycentric imperial structure as was the Spanish Monarchy.     

Experimental Research with Salt Crystallization in Historical Portuguese Azulejos

The most serious form of degradation of historical azulejos is the spall of the glaze and it is widely accepted that the crystallization of salts dissolved in water circulating in the masonry is its main cause. This article reports the results of an accelerated aging test aimed at studying the physical deterioration of azulejos caused by cycles of dissolution and re-crystallization of sodium chloride (NaCl). Experiments were carried out on 26 Portuguese azulejos from the 17th–19th century, some of which with original manufacturing defects or with varying degrees of previous decay.

The results of 75 cycles over 18 months did not verify that the action of NaCl could trigger an accelerated loss of glaze in a healthy azulejo. Furthermore, the results lead to the induction that there must be other, eventually concurring, causes for the spall of glaze than a simple challenge with salts that crystallize by evaporation.     

El episodio de los Horacios y Curiacios de Tito Livio en el Poema de Mio Cid

La declamación del Cid durante las Cortes de Toledo desemboca en el sangriento enfrentamiento entre una tríada de sus mejores soldados contra tres miembros del clan de Carrión. Este combate triple responde al nuevo sistema triádico que gobierna este tercer cantar. La crítica cidiana sostiene una influencia de la épica francesa para este episodio al igual que defiende la necesidad del autor del poema por mantener un patrón triple. Sin embargo, la peculiaridad del número de combatientes y el papel que el monarca Alfonso VI como juez desempeña durante la asamblea tienen una raíz literaria. Esta pugna entre ambas tríadas y el hecho de que el rey delegue la supervisión del pleito recuerda el episodio de los Horacios y Curiacios de Tito Livio en el libro primero de su Ab urbe condita. La influencia de la obra de Tito Livio durante la Edad Media, y en concreto el éxito de este episodio belicoso, posibilita argumentar una base literaria para la confección del episodio cidiano. Así, el cambio numérico de este último cantar y la postura del rey atesoran una matriz erudita que demuestra los intereses culturales del genio creador del Poema de Mio Cid.     

I Like You,I Like Your Pottery: An Ethnoarchaeological Approach to Ceramic Distribution and Acquisition in Northeastern Ghana

This article deals with the myriad determinants involved in pottery distribution in northeast Ghana, considered from a theoretical perspective that integrates the materiality of vessels and the social, political and historical context where both communities and pottery operate in their daily practice. Hence, we develop a comprehensive research strategy that combines emic and etic views covering the multiple dimensions of pottery life history. In this sense, production units, technical traditions and the characteristics of the redistributive centres, as well as the strategies for pottery acquisition, are studied. Special attention is paid to quite varied aspects such as the physical properties of vessels and their performance characteristics, the reputation of both vessels and potters according to the consumers and the mobility and connectivity patterns found in the study area. On the other hand, interpretations regarding the historical and sociopolitical context of the region are emphasised, as well as the interethnic relationships amongst groups inhabiting the area.     

Civil Religion Reconsidered: The Saliency of a Venerable Concept

This essay reexamines civil theology, a venerable concept in the field of political science and how it is symbolized in contemporary political practice. Civil theology provides the foundation of politics for a community and is reflected in its myths and how the community interpretes itself within the greater structure of reality. It is during periods of crises, however, when this myth structure and society's understanding of itself come into question that civil theology presents itself as a salient topic for theoretical analysis and speculation. This article considers a contemporary response to the crisis of our time, one associated with the breakdown of the “traditional” American civil theology and the impact this has had on political thought and policy debates. From an understanding of this response may come a broader knowledge of the problems confronting the policy process as well as potential resolutions.     

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.