Mortality curves for horses from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Bau de l'Aubesier (Vaucluse, France): methodological, palaeo-ethnological, and palaeo-ecological approaches

A new methodology for estimating the age of death of horse, based on the degree of hypsondonty, has been established using the dental material of Equus mosbachensis, Equus cf. taubachensis, and Equus sp., which were hunted from the Mousterian levels of the Bau de l'Aubesier at Monieux (Vaucluse, France). Our model is based on a regression analysis of curvilinear type, and allows the precise determination of age classes intervals and the distribution of estimated ages, by systematically taking into account the standard deviation. These estimates were tested from all the paired teeth of horses belonging to the same individuals, from the sites of Bau de l'Aubesier and of Jaurens at Nespouls (Corrèze, France).The age structures of the horses of Bau de l'Aubesier were compared in the different levels of the sequence with their frequencies, survival rates, and mortality rates corresponding to as many curves as often used in population ecology and demographics. The different age classes of a present-day natural African population (Equus burchelli boehmi), the individuals having died accidentally in the National Park of Akagera (Rwanda) following a bush fire, provide an interesting comparative catastrophic model with regard to the population dynamics, and permit us to evaluate the impact of Neandertals on the Equidae fossils of Bau de l'Aubesier. Our assemblage clearly indicates in the lower layers, a systematic selection of adult horses, as opposed to the upper sequence where juveniles and adults dominate. Ecological factors, such as seasonal migratory phenomena and herd gathering, which characterise many large size species are also tackled and could explain the high proportion of adults in French Middle Palaeolithic sites where horses were preferentially hunted.     

New insights into the ancient silver production of the Wallis area, Switzerland

This paper discusses the results of a study of the exploitation history of the metallogenic region of the Wallis, Switzerland. Periods of exploitation in this mining district are determined by comparisons of the lead isotope fingerprint of the mines with those of dated artefacts presumed to have a local origin based on the style of craftsmanship. The approach is based on the study of silver mines in the Wallis area and illustrated by three examples of local craftsmanship: (1) silver jewellery from the Late Iron Age, (2) a reliquary shrine from the Early Middle Ages and (3) silver coins from the Late Middle Age.     

Réseaux huguenots et espace Européen (XVIe–XXIe siècle)

Among the examples of the «principle of circulation» in European space, the Huguenot phenomenon is one of the most significant cases, by its duration, four centuries, its scale and the diversity of its expressions. It begins as early as the XVI^th century with the persecution of the first French Protestants who start emigrating to Holland, confirms its dimension after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685: 200,000 French Protestants take refuge mainly in Switzerland, in the United Provinces, in the British Isles and in Protestant Germany, continuing to have connections with their co-religionists who remained inside the French Kingdom. Throughout the XVIII^th century, three networks, religious, cultural and economic, in constant interaction without superimposing themselves, define a Huguenot circularity which marks European space. During the XIX^th-century nationalisms, this circularity strongly weakens without completely disappearing, in particular among the French Huguenots. From World War II on, a reactivation based on memory occurs, which leads in France the Huguenot areas to receive many of Nazism's victims, then facilitates religious and cultural exchanges between Huguenots from France and from the «Refuge».     

The triangular model as an instrument for visualising and analysing residuality

Over the last thirty years, residuality has developed into a major research topic in archaeology. In these studies, several ways of visualising residuality have been proposed, facilitating the analyses of archaeological contexts. These all started from linear temporal concepts, though. In the present article, a new approach is proposed, which makes use of an extra dimension. This enables the inclusion of extra variables and, hence, a more balanced analysis of the contexts through their graphic representations. Archaeological contexts from recent excavations in Carthage are used to illustrate the potentials of the model and its application in the archaeological practise.     

Beyond Ideology: Epistemological Foundations of Vladimir Fock's approach to Quantum Theory

Vladimir Fock was a Soviet theoretical physicist who, from the 1930s, worked to prove that modern physics was compatible with the Marxist philosophy of dialectical materialism. In 1957, he went to Copenhagen, and a dispute over the interpretation of quantum mechanics began with Niels Bohr. Fock later claimed that he had found points of convergence with his Danish colleague, most of them concerning issues of wording and recognition of the reality of the world independently of our mind. It led to a specific narrative among historians of physics on Fock and his interpretation of quantum mechanics: The Soviet physicist is often described as a member of the Copenhagen school that contributed to the rapprochement of the Soviet philosophy of physics with the ideas of complementarity in stripping away the positivism in its formulation. Our contribution aims to show that this ideological dimension was only one aspect of reality. Returning to the foundations of Fock's epistemology of physics, we argue that he relied on the principles of antireductionism and scientific realism to develop an interpretation of the theory that sought to overcome Bohr's approach and that the differences between the two men cannot be reduced to mere questions of formulation.