Y chromosomes of self-identified Syeds from the Indian subcontinent show evidence of elevated Arab ancestry but not of a recent common patrilineal origin

Several cultural or religious groups claim descent from a common ancestor. The extent to which this claimed ancestry is real or socially constructed can be assessed by means of genetic studies. Syed is a common honorific title given to male Muslims belonging to certain families claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad through his grandsons Hassan and Hussein, who lived 1,400 years ago and were the sons of the Prophet’s daughter Fatima. If all Syeds really are in direct descent from Hassan and Hussein, we would expect the Y chromosomes of Syeds to be less diverse than those of non-Syeds. Outside the Arab world, we would also expect to find that Syeds share Y chromosomes with Arab populations to a greater extent than they do with their non-Syed geographic neighbours. In this study, we found that the Y chromosomes of self-identified Syeds from India and Pakistan are no less diverse than those non-Syeds from the same regions, suggesting that there is no biological basis to the belief that self-identified Syeds in this part of the world share a recent common ancestry. In addition to Syeds, we also considered members of other hereditary Muslim lineages, which either claim descent from the tribe or family of Muhammad or from the residents of Medinah. Here, we found that these lineages showed greater affinity to geographically distant Arab populations, than to their neighbours from the Indian subcontinent, who do not belong to an Islamic honorific lineage.     

One world,one place

Este artículo rastrea la historia del World Archaeological Congress desde una perspectiva sudafricana-una posición estratégica apropiada, dado que el WAC se formó entorno al tema del apartheid y la relación entre el estudio del pasado y la política del presente. Mientras el apartheid fue una cuestión bien definida, los asuntos que el WAC ha tenido que afrontar con posterioridad no han resultado tan sencillos, e incluso en ocasiones han llevado a la incertidumbre. El concepto de Una Arqueología Mundial que el WAC adopta puede ser visto como una serie continua de meditaciones ligadas con una propuesta fundacional. Sin embargo este mundo ha cambiado. Las nuevas tecnologías de información y comunicación suponen el fin de las distancias que en el pasado supusieron un factor limitador para los movimientos mundiales progresistas. En pocos a?os, la red de banda ancha tendrá un coste bastante inferior en todas las ciudades del mundo. Las organizaciones mundiales que luchan contra intereses establecidos serán redes flexibles que se organizarán entorno a cuestiones locales, compartiendo al mismo tiempo la información y los recursos a nivel global. De este modo se abren grandes oportunidades para los movimientos mundiales que enlazan, a una y al mismo tiempo, las complejidades de las circunstancias locales y las oportunidades de las alianzas globales.

---

Résumé Le r?le de l'apartheid et de la localisation de Cape Town sont des éléments utilisés dans le survol du développement du Congrès Mondial de l'Archéologie et du mouvement One World Archaeology depuis 1986. à l'époque un boycott académique a empêché la participation des Sud-africains au congrès de Southampton durant lequel fut formaliser le CMA. Le terme un monde, une place, caractérise la proposition d'adopter une nouvelle approche et l'opportunité de repositionner le mouvement One World Archaeology. L'approche un monde, une places'oriente sur le concept de place, de sites locaux d'engagements et de connections entre la question de l'identité, le patrimoine culturel, l'interprétation historique et les droits humains. Un accès élargis aux nouvelles technologies de communication peut faciliter cette approche et offrir le potentiel de se préoccuper de la diversité des localisations et rendre possible le développement d'un réseau de communication stratégique d'une ≪archéologie engagée.

     

Archaeological ethnography: Conversations around Kruger National Park

Este artículo esboza las posibilidades para una práctica mixta, a la que yo denomino etnografía arqueológica, que enlaza la arqueología y antropología sociocultural. Mi trabajo de campo se ha realizado en los límites del Parque Nacional Kruger con individuos de la comunidad de Malatji, y también con ecologistas sociales, guardas del parque, intérpretes y agentes del patrimonio que trabajan en el parque nacional. La investigación contribuye y evalúa críticamente el centralísmo del patrimonio arqueológico de Sudáfrica y sus múltiples papeles en la formulación de nuevas subjetividades en la nación cosmopolita y postcolonial.

---

Résumé Cet article illustre la possibilité d'utiliser l'ethnographie archéologique comme pratique hybride permenttant de faire le pont entre l'archéologie et l'anthropologie socioculturelle. Mon travail de terrain se déroule à la limite du Parc National Kruger avec des individus de la communauté Malatji et aussi des spécialistes en écologie sociale, des agents de la conservation, des guides interprètes et des représentants du patrimoine employés du parc national. Cette recherche entend contribuer et faire une évaluation critique de la centralité du patrimoine archéologique en Afrique du sud et de ses r?les multiples dans la formation d'une nouvelle subjectivité dans la nation cosmopolite postcoloniale.

     

Fighting or Dancing: Archaeology and Folklore Traces

The connections between archaeology and traditions or folklore may be thought of as a dance, in which archaeological traces complement or constitute elements of folklore, and traces of folklore complement and constitute archaeological interpretation. On the other hand, archaeology and folklore may engage in competition about the “true” past(s). In this paper I will explore the tensions between these perspectives, and the tensions between archaeology and many forms of folklore.     

Optical dating of alluvial deposits at the orogenic front of the andean precordillera (Mendoza,Argentina)

Well constrained numerical ages of alluvial fan sediments are key to understanding the chronology of alluvial episodes and tectonic activity at the front of the Andean Precordillera. We tested the application of radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating in the distal part of an alluvial fan five kilometers north of Mendoza. For OSL dating a large number of aliquots (n > 70) — each composed of ∼50 quartz grains — were measured in order to obtain reliable burial ages despite scattered dose distributions. Owing to a feldspar contamination in all samples, an infrared stimulation was inserted before each OSL measurement, which reduced the feldspar OSL signal successfully. By using the minimum age model we obtained stratigraphically consistent burial ages of alluvial deposits in a depth profile. The uppermost ∼1 m of sediment is composed of debris flow deposits buried 770±76 years ago. Three plant remnants used for radiocarbon dating from the same layer, however, yielded ages younger than 350 years, which are interpreted to underestimate the depositional age. Underneath the debris flow, a major unconformity cuts a series of distal alluvial fan sediments with interstratified floodplain deposits, which are composed of sandy and calciterich silt layers, respectively. Three samples from this unit which were distributed over one meter of sediment thickness yielded statistically concordant OSL ages of 12.3±1.2 ka, 12.3±1.2 ka, and 11.7±1.1 ka. The deposition of these sediments during the latest Pleistocene coincides with a phase of cool and humid climate, which occurred before the alluvial fan propagated farther into the foreland. The overlying debris flow sediments are associated with alluvial fan incision during the arid Late Holocene.     

Proposing new approaches for dating young volcanic eruptions by luminescence methods

The application of luminescence dating to young volcanic sediments has been first investigated over three decades ago, but it was only with the technical innovations of the last decade that such analyses became viable. While current analytical procedures show promise for dating late Quaternary volcanic events, most efforts have been aimed at unconsolidated volcanic tephra. Investigations into direct dating of lava flows or of non-heated volcanoclastics like phreatic explosion layers, however, remain scarce. These volcanic deposits are of common occurrence and represent important chrono- and volcanostratigraphic markers. Their age determination is therefore of great importance in volcanologic, tectonic, geomorphological and climate studies. In this article, we propose the use of phreatic explosion deposits and xenolithic inclusions in lava flows as target materials for luminescence dating applications. The main focus is on the crucial criterion whether it is probable that such materials experience complete luminescence signal resetting during the volcanic event to be dated. This is argued based on the findings from existing literature, model calculations and laboratory tests.     

Luminescence dating studies of Ye?ilova Hoyuk

Ceramic findings collected from Ye?ilova Hoyuk located in Izmir were dated using the thermoluminescence dating technique. The area is of significant archaeological importance since it is the first prehistoric settlement in Izmir. Recent archeological observations suggest that human occupation of the region took place about 8500 years ago comparing to previously determined dates of 5000 years. Three samples collected from the same archaeological layer (Neolithic period) in Ye?ilova Hoyuk were dated using the thermoluminescence method. Archaeological doses (AD) were obtained by single aliquot regenerative dose method (SAR) for thermoluminescence (TL) using coarse grain quartz minerals extracted from samples. Thick and thin Al₂O₃:C thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD) were used to determine the annual dose rate. The archaeological doses were found to vary from 25.91±0.78 to 26.82±0.68 Gy, and the annual doses were found to be between 3.34±0.24 and 3.47±0.24 mGy/a. The ages obtained for the samples were determined to be 6000±830 BC, 5740±670 BC and 5460±740 years for samples ND1, ND2 and ND3, respectively, which supports the prediction of archeologist that the sampling layer dates from the Neolithic period.     

Multidisciplinary analysis of a mummified cranium claimed to be that of a medieval execution victim

This article presents a multidisciplinary analysis of a human skull with preserved soft tissue curated by a small museum in Boscastle, Cornwall, UK. The skull lacks a mandible and is coated in a black tar-like substance. Records left by a previous museum curator (now deceased) claimed the skull to be the head of a medieval execution victim. The skull was purportedly recovered from a London church that was destroyed during the Second World War where it had been kept in a carved oak box. If these details are correct, the skull would appear to have been venerated as a relic. The skull and box have been analysed using a range of techniques including computerised tomography, laser scanning, microscopy, infrared spectroscopy and radiocarbon dating. These analyses demonstrated the skull in fact to be that of an Egyptian mummy dating from the Ptolemaic period. Other instances have been noted of parts of Egyptian mummies being presented as European saintly relics, and the ‘Boscastle skull’ would appear to be an example of such. A wider point illustrated by the work presented here is that sufficient application of modern analytical techniques may reveal considerable information regarding human remains which otherwise have little or no provenance. This point strengthens arguments for the retention of such remains by curating institutions.     

The Index of Economic Disparity: Measuring trends in economic disparity across Canadian Census Subdivisions and rural and urban communities

Territorial inequalities have long been a subject of study and concern in Canada. In the face of large structural changes such as industrial shifts and the decarbonization of our economies, there is an urgency to understand such inequalities and design effective policy interventions for those places facing persistent economic decline. This paper shares a novel composite index that measures economic disparity across Canadian Census Subdivisions (CSDs) using Census data from 2001 through 2016 and the 2011 National Household Survey. Named the “Index of Economic Disparity,” it is comprised of an equally weighted average of four sub-indices that assign percentile rankings for all CSDs based on whether they experience persistent and substantial decline in key economic areas: population, labour force outcomes, working-age share of population, and industrial diversity. The variation of outcomes across geographies—urban and rural—highlights the importance of place-based policies.