Neolithic occupation and mid-Holocene soil formation at Encosta de Sant'Ana (Lisbon,Portugal): a geoarchaeological approach

Excavations at the archaeological site of Encosta de Sant'Ana (Lisbon, Portugal) uncovered a mid-Holocene buried alluvial soil associated with early Neolithic occupation layers. Routine laboratory analyses and micromorphological observations were undertaken on the soil material. Humic acids from its Ab horizon, as well as Neolithic ecofacts, were radiocarbon dated. The dates obtained indicate that soil was formed between c. 8.0 and 6.0 cal ka BP and that the pedological evidence fits the record of the North Atlantic Holocene IRD events (“Bond events”) and the so-called “Holocene climate optimum”. The geoarchaeological record reveals that Neolithic inhabitants settled upon a stable surface, still affected by soil formation that was suddenly interrupted by slope wasting, probably in correspondence to Bond event 4, at c. 6.0 cal ka BP.     

Characterization of timber masonry walls with dynamic tests

Timber-framed wall buildings are seen all over Europe, especially in seismic regions, given its adequacy to resist earthquakes. The “Pombalino” buildings, developed after the great 1755 earthquake that destroyed Lisbon, constitute one of the best examples of historic seismic-resistant structures based on timber-framed masonry walls. The research presented in this article aimed at experimentally evaluating the seismic behavior of the “Pombalino” buildings. The experimental program was based on extensive dynamic testing on sub-structures of typical “Frontal” walls (the timber masonry walls), carried out at the LNEC (the Portuguese National Laboratory of Civil Engineering) shaking table. The tests comprised (a) seismic tests, in which the seismic action was applied with increasing amplitude in one direction; and (b) dynamic identification tests, aiming at evaluating the dynamic properties of the sub-structures and their evolution with damage accumulation.     

Constructive Characteristics and Degradation Condition of Liceu Secondary Schools in Portugal

Within a full-scope modernization program of Portuguese secondary schools, technical inspections were conducted in order to: 1) identify the main degradation processes that affect different types of school buildings, and 2) provide recommendations for the rehabilitation projects. This article presents the constructive characteristics and a statistical analysis of the degradation condition of a particular type of Portuguese secondary schools, the Liceu, comprising a set of buildings with an invaluable historical and cultural importance and that is very iconic in terms of the historical period in which they were built—the Estado Novo. To that end, a database was designed in order to organize information gathered in the inspection of 15 secondary schools of Liceu typology. The aim of the database was to analyze the most frequent anomalies in this type of school buildings, taking into account the constructive solutions used and establishing statistical relationships between anomalies, probable causes and recommended rehabilitation works. Results obtained allowed concluding that the overall condition of these buildings which, in average, were 60 years old, was severe. The most frequent anomalies in both the buildings envelope and interior are mainly due to design and execution errors, water infiltration, and lack of maintenance. Although the school buildings analyzed are to some extent unique, most lessons learned from this study can be extrapolated to other countries, mostly Mediterranean, where during most of the 20th century, buildings were designed and constructed according to the same architectural and constructive principles, and were subjected to the same type of maintenance.     

Reaction to Fire of Existing Timber Elements Protected With Fire Retardant Treatments: Experimental Assessment

Fire safety is an important issue of building safety, especially when the building’s fire load contents enhance the risks of fire deflagration. When existing timber structures are involved, the most usual way to improve its reaction to fire is to treat wood with fire retardants. This study focuses on the surface protection of existing timber roof structures against fire, through the use of fire retardant (FR) treatments applied on site. An experimental investigation was carried out to study the effect of FR treatments on timber reaction to fire, with a special emphasis on timber members with biological deterioration and previously treated with preservative products. The behaviour and effectiveness of intumescent and non-intumescent treatments was also investigated. The study showed that the application of FR treatments improved the reaction to fire of timber, even in the presence of previous preservative treatments. However, the choice of the specific FR treatment should take into account the substrate conditions. In addition, test results suggest that protection systems involving multi layers (intumescent and non-intumescent) with different functioning modes each are likely to have a good global performance on the protection of timber elements against fire.     

Gender Education Gaps among Indigenous and Non‐Indigenous Groups in Bolivia

This article studies gender education gaps among indigenous and non‐indigenous groups in Bolivia. Using the National Census of Population and Housing 2012 and an estimation method analogous to difference‐in‐differences, the study finds that the intersection of gender and indigenous identity confers cumulative disadvantage for indigenous women in literacy, years of schooling and primary and secondary school completion. While gender education gaps have become narrower across generations, there remain significant differences within indigenous groups. The Aymara have the largest gender gap in all outcomes, despite having high overall attainment rates and mostly residing in urban centres with greater physical access to schools. The Quechua have relatively smaller gender gaps, but these are accompanied by lower attainment levels. The article discusses the possible sources of these differentials and highlights the importance of taking gender dynamics within each indigenous group into greater consideration.     

Sur l'expertise anthropologique territoires et identités indigènes au Brésil

Is it possible for an anthropologist to decide whether an individual or a collectivity can or cannot be characterized as « indigenous », and then proceed to establish the limits of the territory which should be assigned (or recognized) by the state? Does his role as a scientist furnish him with the conceptual and methodological instruments necessary for such a task? In epistemological and ethical terms, is this something which he should endeavour to do? The purpose of this paper is to discuss how these questions are being put to Brazilian anthropologists since the 1980s. Torn between an « indianist » and an « indigenist » discourse, between romanticism and political mediation, the anthropologist must define an appropriate posture for dealing with policy-making; one which will simultaneously safeguard the scientific quality of his work while addressing the specific demands of each situation.     

Aqui Lourenço Marques!! Radio colonization and cultural identity in colonial Mozambique, 1932–74

The Portuguese empire in Africa was one of the last to collapse amidst the waves of decolonization that swept the continent in the 1950s and 1960s. The astonishing endurance of Portuguese colonialisms until the mid-1970s can be viewed partly in relation to the communication technologies that underscored the Lusophone imperial presence in Africa in important cultural and political ways. This paper explores the historical geography of radio-broadcasting in colonial Mozambique and examines the importance of colonial anthropological knowledges in the formation of radio programming. Colonial broadcasters represented their work as «radio-colonization» and frequently stressed the links between their activities and the development of imperial and colonial modernity. From the very beginning of radio-broadcasting in Mozambique, broadcasters sought to harmonize their contribution to colonial culture and society with the objectives of the colonial state, and broadcasting became central to the capitalist development of the colony. In the dying days of Portuguese colonialism broadcasters belatedly began to attempt to assimilate non-white subjects into the perceived order of colonial modernization. Radio programming was differentiated in important ways according to ethnicity and gender and this paper seeks to discuss some of the complex relationships between colonial subjectivities and the search for the colonial modernization of Mozambique.     

Spatial Patterns in the Association between the Prevalence of Asthma and Determinants of Health

The World Health Organization endorses the study of diseases from the perspective of the Determinants of Health (DH), that is, the circumstances in which people are born and raised, the environment in which they grow up and age and their lifestyle. The aim of this study is to analyze the spatial behavior of the prevalence of asthma in Aragon, a Mediterranean region in Spain, under the DH approach. The methodological process entailed building a spatial database collating asthma prevalence as dependent variable, and lifestyle, socioeconomic, and climate indicators as explanatory factors, and then evaluating the spatial variability of the relationships by combining the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) models and cartographic design techniques. MGWR evidenced spatially varying relationships operating at different scales. Lifestyles seem closely tied to the prevalence of asthma in most of the study area while urban functionality and local climate patterns seem to boost prevalence rates in some specific enclaves. Consequently, the social and environmental conditions that characterize the study area translate into several DH scenarios modulating the spatial distribution of asthma. This differential DH behavior detected by local regression models is relevant to guiding and refining public health decision-making.     

Investigating links between ecology and bifacial tool types in Western Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum

We apply Eco-Cultural Niche Modeling (ECNM), using the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-Set Prediction, to reconstruct the ecological niches exploited by Middle Solutrean and Upper Solutrean populations during the latter stages of Heinrich Event 2 and the early part of the Last Glacial Maximum, respectively. We focus on the Upper Solutrean technocomplex and its regionally distinct styles of hunting weaponry to investigate whether regional cultural variability reflects a link between material culture and ecology. Our analytical approach uses archaeological and geographic data in conjunction with high-resolution paleoclimatic simulations and vegetation reconstructions for the two climatic phases in question. Our results indicate that cultural choices behind the production of specific projectile point types have at some level an ecological basis and are linked to particular environments. We also find that the identified pattern of Upper Solutrean territoriality has an ecological foundation, but that its stylistic expression in the variation of diagnostic armature types is likely a byproduct of cultural drift. We argue that ECNM is an effective means with which to evaluate the paleoecological pertinence of archaeologically defined artifact types and to identify the ecological and cultural mechanisms underlying material culture variability.