Feasting and Building an Urban Society at Cerro Jazmín,Oaxaca, Mexico

Here we present new excavation data from the urban site of Cerro Jazmín, Oaxaca, Mexico. Based on a comparative analysis of ceramic, faunal, botanical, and architectural evidence collected from a prominent city sector and a contemporary residence, we argue that feasting took place in the Sunken Patio Sector in the Late and Terminal Formative periods. Feasting strategies in an earlier occupation of the city sector employed a largely exclusionary strategy, giving way to a more corporate strategy in a later occupation. We take the findings from the Sunken Patio feasting complex as evidence of the formalization of Cerro Jazmin’s urban, regional role as a site of civic-ceremonial activity. Participation in this meaningful act of food consumption may have served to cement communal ties in a nascent urban society.     

Lime Powder Production in the Maya Puuc Region (A.D. 600–950): An Experimental Pit-Kiln

Powdered lime was one of the most significant materials in the daily lives of the Prehispanic Maya, yet archaeologists have uncovered relatively little evidence of production methods or locales prior to the Spanish conquest. The recent identification of a series of pit-kilns dating to the Late and Terminal Classic periods (ca. a.d. 650–950) in and around the site of Kiuic in the Puuc region of the northern lowlands of the Yucatán Peninsula provides the opportunity to investigate a sub-regional Prehispanic lime production technology. Here we present the preliminary excavation results of nine pit-kilns and then describe the experimental reconstruction and firing of a lime pit-kiln. The results indicate that the pit-kilns are more fuel-efficient than the aboveground pyres used during the post-conquest period. This in turn suggests that Prehispanic inhabitants of the Puuc managed their consumption of natural resources for producing lime during a period of sociopolitical, demographic, and environmental stresses.     

Sustainability of the tourist supply chain and governance in an insular biosphere reserve destination: the perspective of tourist accommodation

ABSTRACT

Small islands in peripheral regions are currently perceived as attractive tourist destinations. Governance plays an important role as a strategy for the revival of such destinations to achieve a more productive, environmental, social and sustainable management structure. ‘Good’ governance of a destination depends on all the actors involved in the tourism network. Such governance requires a redefinition of relations between government and society and minimal boundaries between public and private sectors. This paper has analysed the level of implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a tourist destination that is a biosphere reserve (BR), the island of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain), from a comprehensive approach involving a tourism supply chain (TSC) with private and public agents. The focal firms analysed within the TSC have been tourist accommodation establishments in Fuerteventura. The paper shows that the level of involvement of tourist accommodation in CSR is positive. However, this involvement is not sufficiently high to meet the requirements of a destination designated as a BR. Therefore, coordination policies should be developed that promote governance systems and further enhance sustainability in the destination.     

Trapped in clichés: masculinity,films and tourism in Iceland

When the Icelandic television series ‘Trapped’ was aired it instantly garnered worldwide attention. The main character, a rugged Icelandic man, is presented as being one with the harsh cold landscape. This article demonstrates how visual materials, like ‘Trapped,’ have become extremely important in the presentation of Iceland to the outside world, as well as working to present Iceland as a tourism destination. Furthermore, we evidence how ‘Trapped’ identifies with the Nordic noir genre. Our analysis shows that the series ‘Trapped’ and recent Icelandic films rest on the strong and entrenched association of Icelandicness with maleness, while also reflecting on existing stereotypes about Iceland and the Icelandic people as being exotic, both of which have become reanimated through the tourism industry. Thus, visual material such as ‘Trapped’ constitutes a part of, and becomes in and of itself symbolic of recurrent masculinity in Iceland. Our analysis emphasizes the importance of framing the ‘official’ production of locations as tourism destinations by both state and commercial industries in relation to other cultural productions that often also engage with mobile historical stereotyping and commercial attempts at nation branding.     

Enacting nationalism through youthful mobilities? Youth,mobile phones and digital capitalism in a Lao‐Vietnamese borderland

Mobile phone use has become a defining feature of what it means to be young, and the relatively remote Lao‐Vietnamese borderland area that is the focus of this study is no exception. Drawing on Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities, this article investigates the interplay between the everyday styles of being young, the forces of digital capitalism and the enactment of nationalism. We do this with a focus on ethnic minority youth's appropriation of the mobile services offered by Viettel, the most popular mobile services provider in the study area and owned by the Vietnamese Ministry of Defence. We suggest that the everyday performances of being young, revolving around the mobile phone, are affected by the forces of digital capitalism. We further suggest that the cultural context of Viettel's digital capitalism is embedded in a fabric of Vietnamese nationalism, leading ethnic minority youth, consciously and unconsciously, to enact nationalism through their everyday styles of being young.     

Rubble Stone Masonry Walls Strengthened by Three-Dimensional Steel Ties and Textile-Reinforced Mortar Render,Under Compression and Shear Loads

This article addresses the results of a structural strengthening solution for rubble stone masonry walls. The strengthening includes inserting three-dimensional steel ties across the thickness of the walls and a 30-mm layer of air-lime and cement mortar render reinforced with glass fiber mesh (textile-reinforced mortar), on both sides of the wall. The strengthening solution was found to be efficient for rehabilitating ancient rubble stone masonry walls due to the “three-dimensional” confinement, provided by the steel wires, by offsetting the low cohesive capacity of the mortar used in the walls and thus improving the mechanical resistance and delaying the collapse mechanisms. This study is part of an experimental research program carried out in Universidade Nova de Lisboa, to evaluate structural strengthening solutions for ancient rubble stone masonry buildings. To this end, three specimens of rubble stone masonry walls without strengthening (unreinforced masonry) and other three, with the mentioned strengthening solution, were subjected to compression and shear load tests. Building materials were also tested in order to characterize physical, chemical and mechanical properties.     

Application of Non-Destructive Techniques in the Inspection of Wooden Structures of Protected Buildings: The Case of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores Church (Isla Cristina,Huelva)

This study describes a thorough inspection of a 20th century church in the town of Isla Cristina (in the province of Huelva, southwestern Spain), which is currently awaiting restoration. The study indicates the damage processes at work in the building structure materials (brick, concrete, steel, and wood), which are closely related to its geographical location, and analyses the deterioration of the wooden roof structure. The analysis of the wooden roof includes the results of an inspection methodology on a protected building based on traditional techniques such as visual inspection and innovative non-destructive inspection techniques (visual classification, ultrasounds and thermography). Fieldwork consisted of the visual classification of the wooden pieces according to Spanish standard UNE 56544:2007 specifications after which ultrasound and thermography techniques were applied on-site. A second stage involved laboratory tests (anatomic identification, density and bending strength) using wood samples extracted from the structure in order to check the values for the physical and mechanical properties previously recorded by non-destructive techniques (NDT). These non-destructive techniques are used in inspections of the wooden roofs of buildings to identify dampness, deterioration, density loss and defects as a means of assessing their conservation status. This work concludes that the use of ultrasound and thermography techniques constitute an accurate diagnostic tool for the on-site inspection of wooden structures and the evaluation of their condition. Thermography identifies different materials and moisture content while ultrasound detects the various degrees of deterioration and density-loss in areas of the wood with high moisture content.     

Socioeconomic impacts of Russian invasion of Ukraine: A multiregional assessment for Europe

History shows that wars can be enormously disruptive of economic activity, especially international trade, national income, and global economic welfare. This article analyzes the impact on the European regions the Russian invasion of Ukraine using the largest and most updated multiregional input-output model for Europe. Two shocks, trade and inflation, and four alternative scenarios are simulated. The scenarios are considered regarding the number of countries applying a trade embargo, the exemption of oil and gas, and the potential trade diversions with third countries such as China. We obtained a significant fall in GDP (−1.7%), 3.7 m lost jobs and 3% raise over the prewar inflation rate. For trade shock, large indirect effects are obtained, indicating the high relevance of the sectors and countries exposed to the war and the sanctions. The republics of the former Soviet Union, as well as the satellite countries of the former communism, face the harshest adverse impacts. This work shows the importance of breaking Russia's colonial economic ties to the countries in Eastern Europe.