Anthropologies of extinction

This guest editorial reflects on the relevance of anthropology for extinction concerns, a rapidly expanding practical, ethnographic and theoretical space at a time of impending mass extinction. While biological extinction is necessarily a multispecies development (usually implicating humans), traditional species talk – focused on taxonomies, collections and classification – needs critical rethinking as it necessarily diverts attention from the vitality of life. The broad discipline of anthropology has much to offer for understanding processes of extinction and recovery, fleshing out habitat problems and prospects of extinction, and advancing meaningful environmentalist practices.     

Provenance of marble sculptures and artifacts from the so-called Canopus and other buildings of “Villa Adriana” (Hadrian's villa – Tivoli,Italy)

The results of a minero-petrographic and isotopic study carried out on the marbles of statues and architectural elements belonging to several buildings on the “Hadrian's Villa” site (the so-called Canopus, the Peschiera, the Sala dei Pilastri Dorici and the Serapeum) are presented here as part of an ongoing archaeometric project which considers the determination of the provenance of all the marble decorations of the Villa complex. Analytical data indicate the prevailing presence of marmor lunense and the use of Pentelic and Thasian marbles for architectural elements in a few parts of the Sala dei Pilastri Dorici, the Peschiera and the Serapeum; no significant use is made of Proconnesian marble, probably the most inexpensive of the time. Analysis of sculptures from the Canopus showed that those of the Tiber and Nile gods were made of Parian marble, the Caryatids and Telamons of Pentelic marble and the Amazons of the precious white Dokymaean marble.     

Geographic variation in bone carbonate and water δO values in Mendoza,Argentina and their relationship to prehistoric economy and settlement

Questions of mobility, settlement pattern, and their relation to economic organization and resource use are central to ongoing work in central-western Argentina. Here we analyze geographic patterns in the distribution of 178 human bone carbonate δ¹⁸O samples, 46 human tooth enamel carbonate δ¹⁸O samples, and 48 water δ¹⁸O samples from throughout the Andean Cordillera and Monte Desert and evaluate their implications for prehistoric mobility and economy. We confirm and refine previous generalizations regarding a highland/lowland dichotomy in water δ¹⁸O values and show that the range of human carbonate δ¹⁸O values generally reflect available water sources. While there is little within-lifetime change in patterns of water use, we show that most individuals have stable isotope signatures consistent with water use from multiple areas or areas other than where they were ultimately interred. These data indicate high levels of residential mobility, and we conclude by discussing their implications for our understanding of regional prehistory.     

Internal oxidation of cast iron artifacts from an 18th-century steel cementation furnace

Heavily corroded metal artifacts recovered from the site of an 18th-century steel cementation furnace in Trenton, New Jersey, are cast iron altered by internal oxidation. The progress of the internal oxidation process was followed by comparison with the microstructure of cast iron exposed to high temperature in a wood-burning fireplace. The graphite flake structure of the cast iron allows deep, rapid penetration of oxygen that reacts at the iron–carbon interfaces within the iron to form iron oxides that eventually replace the graphite flakes. Microprobe analyses show that the silicon in the cast iron is converted to knebelite that also serves as the host for phosphorus. Sulfur dispersed in the internal oxidation product and porosity appear to be responsible for rapid rusting of the artifacts. Internal nitriding accompanies the oxidation. The Trenton artifacts are interpreted as grate bars from the fire box of a cementation furnace.     

Phylogeographic analysis of barley DNA as evidence for the spread of Neolithic agriculture through Europe

Results of analyses of the photoperiod response gene (PPD-H1) and simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in modern landraces of cultivated barley were used as evidence for the mechanism of agricultural spread in Neolithic Europe. In particular, we explored the usefulness of considering adaptive genes as indicators of past selective pressures acting on crops, during their spread through Europe. In some areas, such as the Alpine region, Britain and Scandinavia, we have evidence to suggest that the adaptation of crops to certain climatic conditions may have contributed to the timing of agricultural spread. At the northern fringes of Europe, and in higher altitude locations in central Europe, the introduction of more suitably adapted cereals may have facilitated successful agriculture to trigger agricultural expansion. This research opens up the possibility of investigating other genetic adaptations to climate, which would permit a fuller evaluation of the relative contributions of climate/crop and forager/farmer interactions in the process of agricultural spread.     

Narcolepsy -- cataplexy and psychoanalytic theory of sleep and dreams

Narcolepsy had been documented some twenty years before the psychoanalytic movement, emphasizing the central role of sleep and dreams in the understanding of mental health, offered an entirely novel theory of its aetiology. And when the full range of the behavioral aspects of the condition were documented, it was obvious that intense psychoanalytic interest in it was inevitable. Unfortunately, even mainstream neurology, lacking any rival physiological explanation, for a time tended to entertain a definite role for such beliefs, at least in some cases. However, such a theory involving outre concepts of repressed, guilt-ridden sexual drives as an explanation of the behavioral aspects of narcolepsy-cataplexy, of necessity simply added to the burdens of the sufferer. For it became clear that the condition by itself produced enough psycho-social problems without further adding to them. This historical note details the persistence of this misconceived theory up to the later decades of this century, and the burden that it placed upon those who suffered from this condition.