Revisiting the Epipalaeolithic-Neolithic Transition in the Extreme NW of Africa: The Latest Results of the Chronological Sequence of the Cave of Kaf Taht el-Ghar (Tétouan,Morocco)

African Archaeological Review - This study focuses on the chronostratigraphic sequence of the Cave of Kaf Taht el-Ghar (Dar Ben Karrich, Tétouan, Morocco) excavated in 2012 in the framework of...     

Construction,labor organization,and feasting during the Late Archaic Period in the Central Andes

Recent data from the site of Cerro Lampay, a Late Archaic Period compound in central Peru, sheds light on the role of ritual and architectural construction in the emergence of social complexity in the Central Andes. Excavations at this site have provided a detailed documentation of the building process that ended in the entombment of architectural compounds, including a remarkable sequence of construction events preceded by the processing and consumption of foodstuffs. There was not a single, large-scale construction event, but several small-scale events that were accompanied by consumption activities. This pattern strongly suggests a permanent reinforcement of ties and commitments through feasting, which was required in order to finish the construction process. This scenario supports the idea of emerging leadership capable of mobilizing labor for the construction requirements. Nevertheless, the reliance on feasting as ritual practices, and the small scale of these events, suggests a limited power capacity and a weakly formalized authority, which needed to be constantly reinforced through the inferred ritual practices.     

Geographie heute

Im STANDORT 3/1999 haben Heiner Monheim, Maike Schwarte und Christoph Winkelk?tter im Vorfeld des 52. Deutschen Geographentags in Hamburg die Ergebnisse von 60 Expertengespr?chen zum Perspektivenwechsel in der deutschen Geographie vorgestellt. In dem vorliegenden Beitrag werden diese Befunde durch weitere Prim?r- und Sekund?ranalysen erg?nzt, die im Rahmen einer Sonderveranstaltung “Zur Lage der Geographie in Deutschland” beim Geographentag vorgestellt und diskutiert wurden. Die Grundlage bilden Arbeiten von Studierenden der Universit?t Trier im Rahmen eines Forschungspraktikums und einer Projektstudie. In dem vorliegenden Beitrag wird ein Auszug der wichtigsten Ergebnisse der Studien und der Podiumsdiskussion in Hamburg vorgestellt. Das Projekt wurde durch die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geographie mit 5000 DM gef?rdert. Der DVAG hat die Projekte durch logistische Hilfe bei den Befragungen und durch Gespr?chsbereitschaft bei den Diskussionen aktiv unterstützt.     

Monitoring façade soiling as a maintenance strategy for the sensitive built heritage

The color patterns generally found on the façades of architecturally sensitive buildings have an adverse impact on their aesthetics, to the detriment of their identity and potential economic value. A quantitative and qualitative study was conducted of the perception of aesthetic decay in the limestone on a heritage building. The study assessed building aesthetics between two façade cleaning operations, conducted in 1984–1986 and 2006–2008. Based on the calculation of the final or total soiling index, by means of in situ lightness measurement and three architectural design variables, the color distribution of the façades was quantified in 2006 and a model was developed to monitor façade soiling over time. The proposed model, a tool for planning preventive façade maintenance on architecturally sensitive buildings, advocates for sustainable cleaning operations. Its premise that periodic cleaning should only be conducted in areas where the limestone is affected by aesthetic decay redounds to minimised intervention and lower building management costs.     

Beyond Adornment: Cowry Use as Potter's Tool in the First Impressed Wares of the Southwestern Mediterranean Coast (Northern Morocco)

The use of seashells for the decoration of pottery from the sixth millennium cal BC is well known in the western Mediterranean, with the emergence of so-called Cardial Pottery. Actually, the most discussed issue up until now has been the use of bivalves for impressed decoration. However, the experimental approach followed in the present study provides for the first time clear evidence for the utilization of a very specific group of shells as tools for the decoration of some of the early pottery productions in northwest Africa. In particular, we propose the use of cowry, a gastropod family with a well-known ideological and symbolic role in many human cultures around the world. Also, it is suggested that cowry was used for making impressed wares on the opposite European shore. The implications for reconstruction of Neolithic diffusion along both the European and African coasts of the Mediterranean are of great significance.     

Cropsey on Plato and the Unity of Philosophy

Abstract

Cropsey's book, Plato's World, contains his longest and most sustained reflections on a set of Platonic dialogues, but it is not the first work he published on Plato or the last he intended to write. His last collection of essays, On Humanity's Intensive Introspection, shows that in his writings on Plato Cropsey was attempting to answer a broader question: What is philosophy?