An interesting case of prehistoric trepanation from Poland: re‐evaluation of the skull from the Franki Suchodolskie site

The skull described here was excavated in Central Poland (archaeological site Franki Suchodolskie) in 1951, and was known as one of the oldest cases of healed trepanation. This skull, with later excavations from the Ukraine (cemeteries of Vasilyevka II and Vasilyevka III), was the basis for dating the beginning of the practice of trepanation in the Mesolithic period. The skull was never comprehensively described and dated, although it was scientifically extremely important. The skull has been reassessed by the authors of this paper has brought thorough verification of the knowledge concerning this excavation. According to radiocarbon analysis it is much younger than previously thought and has now been dated to the Late Neolithic or the Bronze Age. Earlier opinions about the healing and survival after the operation have not been confirmed: the hole in the squama of the frontal bone made by scraping and then by grooving has no evidence of healing. Radiological studies as well as computer tomography indicate lack of any healing processes in the bone tissue around the trepanation opening. The results of the analysis significantly modify ideas regarding the earliest skull operations in Central Europe, and change the time of the first trepanation to the Late Neolithic, as for most of the continent. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Classy Kids and Down-at-Heel Intellectuals: Status Aspiration and Blind Spots in the Contemporary Ethnography of Iran

This article reviews the ways in which class, status, social mobility and their cultural ramifications have been considered (or failed to be considered) in recent ethnographic studies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It argues against the trend of privileging “resistance” to an oppressive state as a theoretical frame for documenting social phenomena in Iran: lifestyles and consumption patterns cannot be interpreted merely as signs of political rebellion because they are endowed with symbolic value as status attributes in a society whose class configurations are shifting. I present a number of sources and concepts that help to rethink these phenomena, and show how the experience of Afghan refugees living on the margins of Iranian cities illuminates both the opportunities and constraints created by the Islamic Republic's uneasy mix of political Islam, populism and neoliberalism. A focus on aspiration to upward mobility becomes a useful analytical lens that allows us to sidestep reductive dichotomies such as tradition/modernity or religion/secularism that are in practice blurred by its very pursuit.     

Mesolithic fishery in the Polish Lowland. Fish remains from the Site 7 at Krzyż Wielkopolski,Poland

Fish remains have been discovered at seven Mesolithic sites located mainly in central and northern Poland, an area that is known as the Lakeland of the Polish Lowland. Based mainly on the results of the identification of fish remains uncovered during the excavations at the Site 7 in Krzy? Wielkopolski (Western Poland), the conclusions were made on the locality and technique of fishery. The fish taxa represented show that the fishing showed that the fishing economy during the Mesolithic period was focused on nearby freshwater rivers and lakes. At that time, people fished primarily for Cyprinids, pike and perch. According to the archaeological finds, the basic fishing tools used by the Mesolithic communities were spears, harpoons and rods with hooks. The small fishes recovered were most probably caught by fishing traps or nets, but such artifact finds are very rare in the Polish Lowland. This paper summarises the current data on Mesolithic fishery in the Polish Lowland based mainly on the data from the Site 7 at Krzy? Wielkopolski, but also includes archaeological data collected from previous studies in the region.     

Evaluation of the rate of wood degradation at the Iron Age archaeological site of Biskupin,Poland

A study was made of the degradation of archaeological Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) at the Iron Age archaeological site of Biskupin, Poland. Wood degradation was evaluated after 10 years of deposition of samples in different burial conditions (mineral soil, peat and water) and at different depths (25, 50 and 100 cm) at the location of the original archaeological wood from the Lusatian culture settlement. Changes in the wood samples were assessed on the basis of selected physical (maximum water content, basic density and porosity) and chemical (chemical composition, structure of cellulose and lignin) properties. The observed degradative changes were different for samples deposited in different locations of the archaeological site and at different depths. They relate mainly to carbohydrates—both cellulose and hemicelluloses—although the structure of lignin also underwent changes. The experiment using wood that had been degraded to a similar degree to the Biskupin wood enabled identification of the actual danger of degradation of the latter. It was found that the remains of the wooden structure of the Biskupin settlement are degrading, despite the favourable physicochemical conditions prevailing at the site, and it is necessary to take measures to prevent its further decomposition.     

The Environmental History of the Holocaust

ABSTRACT

The introduction conceptualizes environmental history of the Holocaust as a subdiscipline of Holocaust studies. The authors approach this emerging field of research through the context of environmental humanities with its current interest in the Anthropocene, soil science, forensics, multispecies collectives, and explorations of relations between ecocides and genocides. Proposed approach considers post-Holocaust spaces and landscapes as specific ecosystems and examines relations between its actors (human and non-human) in order to show the Holocaust’s spatial markers and long-terms effects. The article outlines existing literature on the subject, identifies the central research problems and questions, and discusses sources and methods. The authors demonstrate that the environmental history of the Holocaust applies a hybrid methodology that uses methods from various disciplines with the aim of creating new theories and interpretive categories and thus should be considered complementary to existing approaches in Holocaust studies. The authors follow the methodological principles of grounded theory in generating new concepts and seeking multidisciplinary methods for explaining nature’s role in the Holocaust and how Holocaust has changed nature. The authors claim that environmental history of the Holocaust broadens Holocaust studies as a field of research and opens up new questions concerning relations between nature and extermination in order to provide a more holistic perspective for exploring the relationship between culture and nature, genocide and ecocide. The approach proposed here shows Holocaust and post-Holocaust landscapes in terms of ecological/natural heritage, which might influence the way these spaces are commemorated, conserved and preserved, as well as used for tourist purposes.     

Record of the meso- and neoholocene palaeoenvironmental changes in the Jesionowa landslide peat bog (Beskid Sądecki MTS. Polish Outer Carpathians)

The paper presents an analysis of depositional sequences of landslide peat bog situated in the depressions developed within the landslide landforms Jesionowa in the Beskid Sądecki Mts. (Outer Carpathians). The peat bog, with depositional sequence 2.80 m long, started to form at the beginning of the Atlantic Phase ca. 6390–5910 cal BC. Palynological and lithological analyses as well as several (14) radiocarbon age determinations of different horizons in the sediments enabled the reconstruction of palaeoenvironmental changes during the Meso-and Neoholocene. The increase in climate humidity at the beginning of the Subboreal and Subatlantic Phases was observed as delivery of minerogenic material to the peat bog basin and formation of a mineral horizon and an illuvial level within the peat. The particularly intensive delivery of allochthonous material to the peat bog took place at the beginning of the Subboreal Phase and was the result of both significant humid climate and increased human impact (colonization of the Funnel Beaker Culture) in the landslide area. Similar influence of younger colonisations of landslide area (Przeworsk Culture and, later, Valachian colonisation) was also recorded within the deposits of peat bog (illuvial and mineral horizons) in the early Subatlantic Phase. Rejuvenation of the landslide zone and formation of the younger landslide were connected with the increase in climate humidity at the beginning of the Subboreal Phase. The peat bog deposits situated within this younger landslide, which are ca. 1.8 m thick, are significantly contaminated with mineral material.     

Impact of property rights and ownership on the development of Warsaw’s contemporary city centre

The paper raises the problem of the impact of unregulated property and ownership rights on the development of the city centre. It applies to Warsaw as a post-socialist city that has recorded fast economic growth since the country’s communist regime collapsed in 1989. We follow the course of changes in the city centre of Warsaw, in particular, those pertaining to land use and high-rise buildings for office use as investments that encounter difficulties under the unregulated status of construction sites and lack of clear regulations for private property restitution that was nationalized under socialism. To describe and explain the difficulties, we provide data showing the location of large companies and office buildings, and examples of conflicts as well. Unregulated ownership issues and property rights weigh on Warsaw’s city centre, now vastly dispersing and gravitating westwards, and prevent the district from rational and effective development.