Trade and Agriculture at Megara Hyblaia

The terms of twentieth–century debate on the causes of Greek overseas settlement were set by Gwynn and Blakeway: overseas settlements were either founded to feed hungry mouths in an overpopulated homeland, or they were founded to improve Greek trading opportunities in the rest of the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Although the trade versus agriculture dichotomy is increasingly being regarded as false, its legacy lingers on, even in recent work. Detailed attention to the earliest remains at one of the best–known Greek overseas settlements, Megara Hyblaia in south–east Sicily, provides strong evidence in favour of seeing agriculture as central to Greek settlement abroad, but agriculture as a basis for trade rather than agriculture for its own sake.     

The face of the poet Dante Alighieri reconstructed by virtual modelling and forensic anthropology techniques

This paper describes the multi-disciplinary approach to reconstruct the face of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321). Since Dante's sepulchre will be opened in 2021, the reconstructive process is based on morphological and metric data collected on the poet's cranium during the formal identification of his remains in 1921 by the anthropologist Fabio Frassetto, as well as on the resulting plaster model. Starting from this plaster model and a morphologically compatible reference mandible, since the original mandible was never found, a 3D digital model of the complete skull was obtained by reverse engineering and virtual modelling techniques. The most important aspect in this work was the method of virtual modelling proposed for the ex novo generation of the mandible. The physical model of the skull (cranium + mandible) was then produced by means of a rapid prototyping system. This model was finally used to recreate Dante's face via traditional facial reconstruction techniques currently used in forensic anthropology.     

Rêves et visions dans le Liber de exemplis et similitudinibus rerum de Jean de San Gimignano

Dans le Liber de exemplis et similitudinibus rerum, Jean de San Gimignano consacre le septième livre aux produits de l’imagination, et plus particulièrement aux visions et aux rêves. Il y développe une réflexion qui vise à montrer à ses lecteurs supposés, en premier lieu aux prédicateurs, de quelles manières ceux-ci peuvent trouver leur place dans un sermon. L’article étudie comment le dominicain italien a envisagé l’utilisation des rêves bibliques et de leur interprétation à des fins homilétiques ainsi que l’attitude somme toute ambiguë de l’auteur du Liber de exemplis à l’égard des traités d’oniromancie.     

A Diplomatic Edition of the Introductory Section of Yamāri's Pramā(n)avārttikālankāra(t)īkā Supari(s)uddhā Folios 10a1-14b2

This is the second part of the diplomatic edition of Yamāri's Pramā.navārttikālatkāra.fīkā Suparisuddhā,the continuation of the part published beforeJ In the part published here,Yamāri explains Prajnākaragupta's two initial verses,i.e.,folios 10a1-12a3 on PVA 1,and 12a3-14b2 on PVA2.     

Agriculture and exploitation of wild plants at Chalcolithic (4th to 3rd millennium cal BC) sites in Sardinia (Italy)

This paper present the results of archaeobotanical analysis carried out at two open-air sites dated to the first phase of the Copper Age, “Chalcolithic” (4th to 3rd millennium cal BC) in Sardinia. The sediment was systematically floated, a total of 3142 l was sampled and 4014 charred plant remains were identified. Chalcolithic agriculture in Sardinia was primarily based on the cultivation of Hordeum vulgare, H. vulgare var. nudum and Triticum aestivum/durum. Possible cultivated legumes of Vicia/Lathyrus, Vicia/Pisum and cf. Pisum sativum were identified. Linum sp. was also present, which may have been cultivated and exploited in Sardinia by the Chalcolithic community. The diet of the Chalcolithic community was complemented by the consumption of edible fruits such as Ficus carica, Sambucus sp. and Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris. Typical Mediterranean shrubs such as Pistacia lentiscus, Juniperus sp., Cistus sp., Malva sp. and Thymelaea hirsuta were also found.     

Persistence and decay of the intestinal microbiota's DNA in glacier mummies from the Alps

The study of the DNA of ancient microorganisms in human remains represents one of the newest and most promising branches of molecular archaeoanthropology. Despite the growing number of papers addressing this subject, however, the analysis of ancient bacterial DNA is still a contentious issue. The indigenous microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract of man represents a community characterized by relative constancy in species composition and proportion. As a model system, we studied the preservation of the intestinal microbiota DNA in two naturally freeze-dried human mummies found on the Alps. This kind of mummy is an ideal subject for ancient DNA investigations. The first is a male body historically dated 1918 A.D. while the second is the famous Tyrolean Iceman (3.350–3.100 B.C.). The screening of bacterial 16S rRNA gene libraries from colon samples of the two mummies (49 clones for the 1918 mummy, 119 clones for the Iceman) showed that the characteristic composition of the intestinal microbiota of man (Alpha-, Beta-, Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroides, Clostridia) is still kept in the library from the recent mummy while the Iceman's library is almost entirely composed by the DNA of clostridia. Comparison of the intestinal data with those from the literature describing the screening of 16S rRNA gene libraries from other parts of the Iceman's body and from permafrost specimens indicates that the changes in library composition may partly be attributed to the proliferation of clostridia inside the corpses, as described in forensic literature, and partly to the differential persistence of the DNA of gram-negative bacteria and endospore-former low-GC gram-positive bacteria. The present results contribute to the issue of the authentication of claims of pathogen DNA identification in archaeological human remains.     

Foot amputation by the Moche of ancient Peru: osteological evidence and archaeological context

Three probable cases of foot amputation, with healing, in skeletal remains associated with the Moche culture (AD 100–750) of northern coastal Peru are described. Each case exhibits non‐functional tibio‐talar joints with proliferative bone occupying the normal joint space. The robusticity of the tibiae and fibulae suggest renewed weight‐bearing and mobility following recovery. The osteological evidence is consistent with details shown in Moche ceramic depictions of footless individuals. A footless Moche skeleton with wooden prostheses, described in 1913 by Peruvian physician Vélez López, appears to represent a fourth example of this procedure. The Moche surgical approach was similar to a technique that would be pioneered in western medicine by the Scottish surgeon Sir James Syme some 1500 years later. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.