Early Processed Triticeae Food Remains in The Yanghai Tombs,Xinjiang, China

Visible food remains can provide evidence regarding ancient food processing, the spread of cereals and cultural communication. Some desiccated food remains were discovered in the Yanghai Tombs, Turpan district, in Xinjiang, China (2600–2900 bp ). These food remains were analysed by Fourier transform infrared (FT–IR) spectroscopy combined with plant microfossils, including starch grains and cross cells of pericarp from the cereal bran fragments. The results showed that these food remains were cooked dough food made from wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum spp.). The cross‐sections of these remains look very dense, not porous under a microscope, which suggests that no fermentation had happened, so these foodstuffs may be some kind of flatbread. Although wheat and barley had been introduced into China by at least the third millennium bc , these remains are still the earliest known direct evidence that wheat and barley were ground into flour and then processed as foodstuffs in north‐western China.     

Force-Based Beam Finite Element (FE) for the Pushover Analysis of Masonry Buildings

A simplified approach for analyzing the nonlinear response of masonry buildings, based on the equivalent frame modeling procedure and on the nonlinear equivalent static analyses, is presented. A nonlinear beam finite element (FE) is formulated in the framework of a force-based approach, where the stress fields are expanded along the beam local axis, and introduced in a global displacement-based FE code. In order to model the nonlinear constitutive response of the masonry material, the lumped hinge approach is adopted and both flexural and shear plastic hinges are located at the two end nodes of the beam. A classical elastic-plastic constitutive relationship describes the nonlinear response of the hinges, the evolution of the plastic variables being governed by the Kuhn-Tucker and consistency conditions. An efficient element state determination procedure is implemented, which condenses the local deformation residual into the global residual vector, thus avoiding the need to perform the inner loops for computing the element nonlinear response. The comparison with some relevant experimental and real full-scale masonry walls is presented, obtaining a very good agreement with the available results, both in terms of global pushover curves and damage distributions.     

Cathedral of Milan: Structural History of the Load-Bearing System

The structure of the Cathedral of Milan is studied. The features of the building and the original aspects of its load-bearing system are discussed. The progressive development of the structural system is described following its historical phases through four centuries. The final configuration is then analyzed with its main load paths. Detailed information, collected during the 20th century restoration work, was used to determine the geometry and loads. Preliminary analyses are based on equilibrium principles, within the framework of limit analysis for masonry constructions. The main structural restoration works taking place during the life of the Cathedral of Milan are outlined. The results provide a basis for the verification of more detailed numerical analyses and a reference for restoration interventions. Furthermore, the introductory analyses presented here develop the knowledge for future studies devoted to the Cathedral of Milan, encompassing structural, construction, and architectural issues.     

Dome of the Basilica of Santa Maria Degli Angeli in Assisi: Static and Dynamic Assessment

This study presents the results of the static and dynamic assessment of the dome of the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi, designed by Galeazzo Alessi. The first section is devoted to an overview of the masonry domes designed by the Italian architect and focuses on the structural solutions adopted in the several cases described to better understand Alessi’s designing skills. In the second part, the drum-dome system is analyzed in order to attain a structural assessment. The static assessment is performed by means of limit analysis and finite element model approaches with non-linear mechanical behavior. The obtained results are consistent with the detected crack pattern and confirm the suitability of the reinforcement steel rings applied to the drum. The seismic assessment has been performed by response spectrum analysis. Due to the lack of specific information, a probabilistic approach for the material mechanical properties was used. The results obtained highlight an adequate seismic response of the structure that can be attributed to the dynamic properties of the slender drum-dome system. This finding justifies the good performance of the structure during the seismic events of 1832 and 1997.     

Historical Survey and Chronology of Bonajuto Chapel in Catania,Italy

Located in the historical center of Catania, Italy, in the Civita district, the Bonajuto Chapel is one of the oldest and best-conserved buildings of the city, which has survived the numerous earthquakes that struck eastern Sicily during the medieval and the modern ages, such as those particularly devastating in 1169 and 1693. However, both the date of this small monument, as well as its original use, still remain uncertain, as literary and documentary evidence are scarce and fragmentary. Most historians, analyzing prevalently the stylistic and constructive aspects, interpreted the chapel as a place of worship and assigned its construction to a rather long period of the early Middle Ages, from the 5th or 6th centuries ad to the 8th or 9th centuries ad—the phase during which the island was under the Byzantine domination. The excavations carried out in 1930 to 1939 and the last restoration works (in 2003) have not provided explicit chronological data. Its age determination is considered essential for a better knowledge of the real influence of this domination on the architecture of the Island. Therefore, a multidisciplinary and accurate analysis of the building using the existing bibliography has been carried out also in order to understand the functional and morphological transformations of the chapel during its long life. The thermoluminescence absolute dating methodology applied to some brickwork elements of the construction, has placed the monument chronology in a period of time that is notably shorter than that previously noted here. These new data, with the study of the architectural structure, have made a significant step forward in the knowledge of the chapel history.     

A Multi-Method Approach to Inferring Early Agriculturalists’ Stone Tool Use at the Crescent Bay Hunt Club Site

While there has been much research on the function of stone tools via use-wear analysis, it is clear that a multipronged approach, including an evaluation of material acquisition, production, and tool use, is necessary if tool function is going to prove truly useful for understanding past cultures. Moreover, the role of chipped lithic tools in the economies of agriculture-based populations has seen little research compared to preagricultural systems. A sample of lithic artifacts from the Crescent Bay Hunt Club site, a twelfth- to fourteenth-century Oneota village at Lake Koshkonong in southeastern Wisconsin, are subjected to a multiple-method analysis to determine individual tool use. An assemblage-based analysis provides an overall understanding of the lithic economy. A combination of microscopic identification of edge damage and surface polishes and an analysis of protein residue provides independent lines of evidence that yield strong inferences about tool use in the lithic economies of sedentary agricultural groups in the midcontinent.     

Discursive Agency: (Re‐)Conceptualizing Actors and Practices in the Analysis of Discursive Policymaking

Interpretive discourse analysis commonly claims to address the interrelation between actors and discourses. However, the analytical focus of most approaches is on structures (discourses) while much less attention is paid to agency. This paper explicitly addresses discursive agency in two steps. First, we systematically review theoretical and analytical dimensions of agency in existing interpretive discourse analysis approaches. This review reveals a set of shared assumptions; most notably a concept of “trialectic” agency emphasizing the constitution of agency among the individual, the (discursive) structures, and the researcher's interpretation. Second, we propose an analytical heuristic, the Discursive Agency Approach, which is developed on the basis of the review and own empirical data. The proposed approach consists of four elements: (1) policy discourses, (2) political institutions, (3) agents defined via a set of characteristics, and (4) strategic practices. This approach is meant to facilitate a systematic exploration of agency under a discourse perspective, tackling the question of how a policy is constituted through the agency ascribed to its proponents in dynamic discursive processes, and how actors acquire political relevance through discursive means. To enable this goal, we propose distinct research steps and associated methods that link the approach to existing means of analysis.     

Studying Incremental Institutional Change: A Systematic and Critical Meta‐Review of the Literature from 2005 to 2015

Since the early 2000s, theorizing on incremental institutional change has made inroads in comparative historical analysis. In particular, the ideas, concepts, and theory introduced by Kathleen Thelen and her collaborators have been widely adopted by scholars. These scholars are not, however, univocally positive about the theory. Three main critiques have been plaguing the theory since its early days: the concepts it builds on lack clarity, the model of agency it uses is too static, and the theory lacks analytical power overall. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analysis method, this article presents a meta‐analysis of the peer‐reviewed empirical literature from 2005 to 2015 that applies this theory. It seeks to better understand the reach of the critiques expressed, as this may provide a starting point for improvement. It finds considerable quantitative support for the critiques, and uncovers an additional problematic issue: the tendency for concept stretching and concept proliferation by scholars seeking to overcome the shortcomings of the theory. Paradoxically, concept stretching and proliferation only further reduce the analytical power of the theory. The article concludes with suggestions for improvement of the development and application of the theory.     

Cock-ups and slap-downs: A quantitative analysis of conspiracy rhetoric in the British Parliament 1916–20151

In view of the negative connotations associated with conspiracy theories, what have been the effects of the term's entry into popular vocabulary in the second half of the twentieth century? Has the ascendancy of the term “conspiracy theory” been correlated with a reluctance to allege conspiracy? In this article, the authors use Hansard, the record of British parliamentary debates, as a source of empirical data in demonstrating a significant and steady reduction in the number of conspiracy claims advanced in parliament; a pattern consistent with the broader marginalization of conspiracy rhetoric. This trend was reinforced by a trope that established itself in the 1980s and juxtaposed “conspiracies” with “cock-ups.” The British expression “cock-up” denotes a blunder or act of incompetence. In the second part of this article, the authors argue that the preference for “cock-up theories” over “conspiracy theories” reflects how a policy geared towards privatization and deregulation tended to characterize government action in terms of incompetence, and not of malfeasance.