Implications of heat-induced changes in bone on the interpretation of funerary behaviour and practice

Bones submitted to heat experience structural and chromatic modifications. In particular, heat-induced bone warping and thumbnail fractures have been linked to the burning of fleshed and green bones – where the soft tissues have been removed from the bones soon after death – in contrast to dry bones. Those have been suggested as indicators of the state of the individual before being burned thus allowing inferences about the funerary behaviour of archaeological populations. A large sample of 61 skeletons submitted to cremation has been examined for the presence of both of these heat-induced features. Although uncommon, bone warping and thumbnail fractures were present in some of the skeletons demonstrating that its presence is not restricted to the burning of non-dried bones as generally believed. Rather than being an indicator of the presence of bones with soft tissues, bone warping seems to be more of an indicator of the preservation of collagen–apatite links which can be maintained on dry bones with low collagen deterioration. In addition, our results also do not confirm thumbnail fractures as an exclusive sign of the burning of bones with soft tissues. As a result, these heat-induced changes should be used with caution when trying to infer about the pre-burning state of an individual.     

Distinguishing prehistoric cereal grains of Triticum and Secale on the basis of their surface patterns using the scanning electron microscope

As an additional precaution in identifying prehistoric cereal grains of wheats and rye, anatomical investigations have been undertaken on the microscope patterns of the grain surfaces. This technique has been tested on some grains of the wild and cultivated state from four sites in the Near East, dated to between 9000 and 5500 BC.     

Geminierte Konsonanten im Hochhindi

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

MINERALOGICAL AND PETROLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF EARLY BRONZE AGE COPPER‐SMELTING REMAINS FROM THE KIECHLBERG (TYROL,AUSTRIA)

The prehistoric settlement on the Kiechlberg hilltop is located a few kilometres to the north‐east of Innsbruck, in the Tyrolean Inn Valley. Despite its rather isolated location, a multiphase settlement between the fifth and the second millennium bc was confirmed by archaeological investigations in 2007 and 2008. Metallurgical artefacts, such as copper ore fragments, copper slag and raw copper, as well as finished copper and bronze artefacts, are concentrated mainly in Late Copper Age to Middle Bronze Age layers. The chemical compositions of the slag and raw metals confirm Fe—Zn tetrahedrite–tennantite (fahlore) smelting. The ore was most probably imported from the 30–50 km distant copper ore deposits (mainly fahlore) of Schwaz–Brixlegg, in the Lower Inn Valley. The small amount of slag and the presence of slagged and thermally altered ceramic fragments suggest copper production in small‐scale workshops. Most probably, sulphide‐rich ores were smelted in crucibles in a hearth fire. The process was relatively reducing below the 2Sb + 1.5O₂ → Sb₂O₃ reaction (?8.5 log fO₂ at 1100°C), producing Sb‐rich (>10 wt% Sb in metal) raw copper. Inhomogeneous slag remains containing high amounts of sulphide and metal inclusions suggest a poor separation of the metal, matte (copper sulphide) and silicate/oxide melt during the smelting process.     

DAVID AS A BIBLICAL ‘GOOD-FELLA’ AND ‘THE GODFATHER’

Abstract

Scholars search for analogies with which to better understand biblical texts. David has been compared to the “outlaw”, “refugee”, “vassal”, “renegade”, “guerrilla”, “bandit chief”, “fugitive” and “fugitive hero”. This article suggest that there are better cultural-social analogies, i.e., David as a “goodfellan”while in exile from Saul and in the land of the Philistines, and upon accession to the throne, “The Godfather”.

This article also has, as a part of its purpose, the intent to unmask some of the behavior of David and of monarchy for what they are: essentially organized crime maintained in large part by the use of indiscriminate violence-supported by nonsensical myths and obvious hypocrisy.

Cross-cultural comparisons are made throughout between the David stories, gangster movies and systems of monarchy—especially the ad hoc feudal type. Historical questions aside: The David stories can be “cross-culturally” compared with gangster films as “art”.     

IRONIC CORRELATIONS AND SCEPTICISM IN THE JOY STATEMENTS OF QOHELETH?

This is the second instalment of a two part study examining scepticism and ironic correlations in the joy statements of Qoheleth. In this article, the concept of irony is examined in relationship to Gattungen and scepticism in order to discern irony's literary effect. It provides a historical overview of the concept of irony in philosophical context - as well as looking at the role of context in interpreting irony - and whether or not irony is compatible with scepticism. The essential elements and definition of irony are then provided followed by a critical assessment of the above. The article then moves on to examine possible ironic interpretations of the joy statements illuminated by some ironic commentaries of Qoheleth. The article then runs the joy statements through a series of possible ironic Gattungen in order to interpret them followed by a critical assessment. Finally, the article draws some conclusions regarding ironic correlations and scepticism in the joy statements of Qoheleth.     

Julien Offray de la Mettrie (1709-1751)

The year 2001 marks the 250th anniversary of la Mettrie’s death. This paper commemorates his stormy life and the contribution he made to the neurosciences. Trained as a physician, la Mattrie soon fell out with both the medical and ecclesiastical authorities and was exiled first to the Netherlands and then to Frederick the Great’s circle of intellectuals at Sans Souci (Berlin). The two works which are of greatest interest to the readers of this journal are the 1745 Histoire Naturelle de l’âme (retitled Traité de l’âme in 1751) and the 1747 l’Homme Machine. Both are collected in the 1751 Oeuvres Philosophiques. This paper reviews these two ground-breaking tracts noting that, although they are both materialistic, and hence worthy of the odium theologicum into which they fell, they are not materialistic in the Cartesian sense. La Mettrie is dismissive of the Cartesian concept of inanimate matter and the related notion of the ‘beast-machine’. Instead, he sees an unbroken continuity between humans and the rest of nature. His vision is in many ways far ahead of its time and prefigures some of the dilemmas and concerns which our evolutionary neuroscience presents today: how is consciousness related to the goings on in the cerebrum? How can we be held responsible for what we do if all is material? His biographer, Raymond Boissier, writes that we can recognise in him an obscure predecessor of Lamarck and a prophet of things to come.     

An Autobiographical Sketch of a Practitioner–Neurohistorian

In 1929, at the age of 82, the Swedish neurologist Salomon Henschen (1847–1930) planned an Academia Neurologica Internationalis. The exchanged letters with Cécile and Oskar Vogt suggest that there was a great number of neuroscientists internationally who approved of the project. However, during three months of preparation, the initial skepticism increased and, although the invitation to the conference had already been printed, it had to be revoked. The endeavors to revive the Brain Commission failed. Two other projects nonetheless did take shape: the founding of one of the largest and most modern brain research institutes in 1931 by the Vogts and the first International Neurological Congress in Berne that same year. For decades, the Brain Commission remained without successors until the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) was founded in 1961.     

Book reviews

J. D. Legge. Intellectuals and nationalism in Indonesia: a study of the following recruited by Sutan Sjahrir in Occupation Jakarta, ix, 159 pp. Ithaca, N. Y: Cornell Modern Indonesia Project, Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, 1988. (Publication 68 (Monograph Series).)

Mavis Rose. Indonesia free: a political biography of Mohammad Hatta. viii, 245 pp., 10 plates. Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell Modern Indonesia Project, Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, 1987. (Publication 67 (Monograph Series).)

Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal‐, Land‐ en Volkenkunde. Documentation Centre for Modern Indonesia. Directory of West European Indonesianists, 1987. xiii, 313 pp. Dordrecht: Foris Publications, 1987. Guilders 35.

Werner Röll and Albert Leemann. Agrarprobleme auf Lombok: Untersuchungen zur Wirtschafts‐ und Sozialstruktur in Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesien. ix, 300 pp., plate, map. Hamburg: Institut für Asienkunde, [^C1987].