Seismic Hazard Analysis Using Discrete Faults in Northwestern Pakistan: Part II – Results of Seismic Hazard Analysis

This article is the second of two companion articles that evaluate seismic hazard in northwestern (NW) Pakistan. Using the properties and characteristics of discrete faults in NW Pakistan described in the first article, probabilistic and deterministic seismic hazard analyses for 11 major cities in NW Pakistan were conducted. The results from both probabilistic and deterministic seismic hazard analyses exhibit good agreement. Median deterministic spectra compare favorably with uniform hazard spectra (UHS) for 475- or 975-year return periods, while the 84^th-percentile deterministic spectra compare favorably with the UHS for a 2475-year return period. Peak ground accelerations (PGAs) for 2475-year return periods exceed 1.0 g for the cities of Kaghan and Muzaffarabad, which are surrounded by major faults. The PGAs for a 475-year return period for these cities are approximately 0.6g — 3 to 4 times greater than estimates by previous studies using diffuse areal source zones. The PGAs for some cities located farther from faults (including Astor, Malakand, Mangla, Peshawar, and Talagang) are similar to those predicted using diffuse areal source zones. Seismic hazard maps for PGA and spectral accelerations at periods of 0.2 s and 1.0 s corresponding to three return period (2475, 975, and 475 years) were produced. Based on deaggregation results, a discussion of the conditional mean spectra for engineering applications is presented.     

Geoarchaeological evidence for ritual closure of a kiva at Fourmile Ruin,Arizona

Geoarchaeological analyses, including soil micromorphology and chemistry, were used to characterize the deposition history of a fourteenth-century Pueblo ceremonial structure (or kiva) at Fourmile Ruin, east-central Arizona. These subterranean structures were often ritually “closed” by Pueblo societies through the burning of roofs and the deposition of special objects. These conspicuous markers are absent in the Fourmile Ruin kiva, but the composition of constituent materials and sedimentation processes nonetheless signal complex, highly-orchestrated closure activities. The study demonstrates the efficacy of geoarchaeological analyses of stratified deposits for modeling the subtle behaviors associated with the ritual closure and abandonment of sacred places.     

Stone-boiling maize with limestone: experimental results and implications for nutrition among SE Utah preceramic groups

Groups living on Cedar Mesa, SE Utah in the late Basketmaker II period (Grand Gulch phase, AD 200–400) were heavily maize-dependent, but lacked beans as a supplemental plant protein, and pottery vessels for cooking. Common occurrence of limestone fragments in their household middens suggests 1) limestone may have been used as the heating element for stone-boiling maize and 2) this practice might have made some maize proteins more available for human nutrition. Experiments examined these possibilities; results indicate that stone-boiling with Cedar Mesa limestone creates an alkaline cooking environment suitable for nixtamalization of maize kernels, and that maize cooked in this fashion shows significant increases in availability of lysine, tryptophan, and methionine. Archaeological limestone fragments from a Grand Gulch phase site show amounts of fragmentation and changes in density consistent with repeated heating. While not conclusive, these data indicate that further research (e.g., examination of archaeological limestone fragments for maize starch grains or phytoliths) is warranted. It is suggested that greater attention be paid to archaeological indications of stone-boiling with limestone among maize-dependent but pre-pottery societies.     

Intensifying collection and size increase of the tessellated nerite snail (Nerita tessellata) at the Coconut Walk site,Nevis, northern Lesser Antilles,AD 890–1440

Recent archaeological investigation at the Coconut Walk site on the Caribbean island of Nevis revealed dense 40 cm deep midden deposits that accumulated between cal AD 890–1440. Analysis of invertebrate faunal remains reveals an assemblage dominated by nerite snails. We measured the length and width of more than 2700 tessellated nerite (Nerita tessellata) shells to investigate evidence for changing mean size that might be indicative of intensifying human predation pressure or other cultural and natural processes. Contrary to similar archaeomalacological studies in which size decline is detected, we observed a statistically significant size increase for N. tessellata over time. This size increase is coupled with increasing levels of tessellated nerite exploitation at the Coconut Walk site. Results suggest that tessellated nerite use was sustainable over several centuries of site occupation. Our findings have important implications for investigations of anthropogenic impacts on prehistoric mollusc populations. In addition, the findings reported here provide important insight into human subsistence patterns during the Late Ceramic Age in the Caribbean and a framework for comparison with observations from other Pre-Columbian sites in the Caribbean.     

The “Warrior of the Lords”: Smbat Bagratuni at the Center and Periphery of Late Sasanian Iran

The Armenian general Smbat Bagratuni's remarkable rise to military and political preeminence in the late sixth- and early seventh-century Sasanian Empire presents a fascinating historical question: how did a liminal figure, a Christian from a frontier region, become the “Joy of ?usrō” and “Warrior of the Lords” of king ?usrō II Aparvēz (590–628 CE)? This essay argues that Bagratuni's accomplishments were rooted in Sasanian patterns of political decentralization, provincial regionalism and strategic politics. The Sasanians were ethnically Persian, but Parthian and Armenian aristocrats from the periphery of the empire played a central role in upholding the regime. Granting titles, wealth and personal support, the king sought to turn aristocratic families against each other to enhance royal authority. Simultaneously, regional aristocrats like Smbat Bagratuni used royal patronage to advance their local interests, often at the expense of the royal center. The life of Smbat Bagratuni illustrates how complex negotiations of individual and collective identity shaped relations of “center” and “periphery” in Sasanian Iran.     

Barcelona as urban palimpsest: Architectonic memory and structural violence in José Luis Guerin's En construcción (2001)

This article presents an analysis of the Spanish director José Luis Guerin's “documental ficticio” titled En construcción (2001) En construcción. Dir. José Luis Guerin.Ovídeo TV S.A., 2001. Film. [Google Scholar]. In particular, I will examine the filmic representation of urban and architectonic spaces within post-industrial Barcelona, as well as the relationship of space and place to the construction of historical (post)memory in post-Francoist Spain, as “lieux de memoire.” While contemporary Spanish film has tended toward the engagement of Franco's lingering specters, I contend that Guerin's filmic discourse rather focuses on the new totalitarian state imposed by the emergence of social democracy and free-market capitalism in post-Francoist Spain, as inscribed via the urban architecture within Barcelona's public spaces.     

Reflections on Faith and Film in Hail,Caesar!

While Hail, Caesar! written, directed, and produced by Ethan and Joel Coen initially appears to be merely a light satire of classic Hollywood of the 40s and 50s, it also comments upon several kinds of faith, religious and otherwise. Most obviously, the film humorously critiques the Bible-blockbuster films of the era, as being fairly insincere, manipulative, and too conveniently reconciling of secular, Christian, and Jewish perspectives. But careful examination reveals that four different kinds of faith are dealt with in the film: 1) Christian faith, 2) communist faith, 3) faith in Hollywood, and 4) Jewish faith. The second of these is mercilessly mocked, but the first and third are dealt with more sympathetically. The Bible-blockbuster film, as well as the efforts of the studio fixer Eddie Mannix to cover-over scandas in the lives of not a few of the actors and directors, are both efforts to support a the 1950s cultural consensus. That consensus involves a good deal of hypocrisy, but the Coens present the best case they can for understanding those like Mannix who seek to maintain it, even if they show why it ultimately cannot be. Most interestingly, while the film does little to examine Jewish faith itself, it uses the classic Jewish prohibition of graven images to criticize both Christianity and the basic activity of Hollywood. The film illustrates why the 50s cultural consensus could not hold, and raises troubling questions about the long-term impact of cinema itself.