The supermarket revolution in developing countries: tidal wave or tough competitive struggle?

An extensive literature on the transformation of food retailingin developing countries by the expansion of supermarkets hashighlighted the implications of the concentration of food valuechains for the continued incorporation of small farmers in freshproduce supply. A critical examination of this literature showsthat extent of the transformation of retailing, and also offood production as a consequence of it, is overestimated, particularlyfor fresh produce. The future landscape of food retailing willbe more varied than the supermarket revolution hypothesis predicts.     

Hunting,Herding, and Caravanning: Osteometric Identifications of Camelid Morphotypes at Khonkho Wankane,Bolivia

Khonkho Wankane is a ceremonial center located in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin, Bolivia. During the Late Formative period (AD 1–500), its residents practiced agropastoral lifeways and participated in the rise of the state at Tiwanaku. Like at many Andean sites, bones from the family Camelidae are the most abundant large mammal in domestic contexts. Identifying camelid morphotypes represented by these bones carries far‐reaching implications for understanding past hunting, herding, and caravanning practices, and their roles in larger social and economic webs. Identifications were based on a locally focused reference collection, including llamas (Lama glama) from the immediate vicinity of the site, as well as Andean guanacos (Lama guanicoe), a much smaller morphotype than the Patagonian guanacos used in many osteometric studies. Multivariate statistical analyses and incisor morphology identified all four camelid. Different analyses suggest that the crux of osteometry lies in the reference collection, not the statistical test. An additional, very large morphotype likely corresponds to a castrated llama, the preferred cargo animal among modern drovers. The presence of these animals is interpreted as evidence that groups hunted vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) and guanaco, which are not currently present around the site, herded llamas and alpacas (Vicugna pacos), and perhaps organized caravans with castrated llamas. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

新疆阿勒泰地区早期铁器时代铜器的科学分析研究

阿勒泰地区位于新疆的最北端,与欧亚草原之间存在丰富的文化交流,而冶金技术的发展与人类文明紧密相关,为探究新疆阿勒泰地区的冶金发展情况,选取9件草原游牧文化的代表性器物——铜鍑和马具,使用金相显微镜、扫描电子显微镜和X射线能谱仪及双通道电感耦合等离子体发射光谱仪,对16个样品进行金相组织分析和成分分析,并探讨其制作技术特征。研究发现阿勒泰地区的早期铁器时代铜器普遍采用范铸工艺,其成分主要为红铜、砷铜、铅砷青铜。该分析结果为研究新疆阿勒泰地区的冶金发展提供了重要参考。     

Bone weight,meat yield estimates and cod (Gadus morhua): A preliminary study of the weight method

Past approaches to the Weight Method (use of the weight of excavated bone assemblages to evaluate the relative potential meat yield of the animals from which they came) are critically reviewed. They do not account for both inter-taxon and intra-taxon variability in the relationship between bone weight and total body or soft tissue weight. Critics of the Weight Method have assumed that these problems are insurmountable. It is argued here that they can be overcome practically. Solutions lie in the integration of classic Weight Method approaches, which assume a consistent ratio of bone weight to body weight between different taxonomic and size groups, with the understanding of animal scaling provided by studies of skeletal mass allometry. Allometric equations derived from original data (regarding cod, Gadus morhua) and available from published sources (regarding mammals and birds) are used to illustrate this argument. Three practical approaches to the Weight Method are suggested and briefly explored, using bone weight data from Earls' Bu, a Norse site in Orkney, Scotland, as a case study.     

The conundrum of castration in the archaeological record: An interpretation of Roman cattle horn-cores from Chelmsford,Essex

Current methods of sexing archaeological cattle bones, in particular the metapodials, are based upon past research into contemporary breeds and this work embraces a limited sample size, spread across a vast geographical area. Although the separation of cows and bulls is not in question, there appears a great deal of subjectivity in the literature concerning the identification of castrated beasts. Living bone is in a dynamic state of equilibrium with the rest of the body and responds to increased loading, that is, an increase in weight of the beast or stress/strain through strenuous movement, by remodelling. If cows and oxen are performing the same work, as for example in ploughing, then loading on the bones will be similar. These bones will thus respond by remodelling in corresponding fashion, and hence any morphological and metrical distinctions will be clouded. Horn-cores are less subject to these constraints, although in some cultures there may be loading on these bones, for example through attaching the harness to the horns for ploughing. The Chelmsford cattle horn-cores constitute waste from some industrial activity and it is argued in the text that horn-working is the most likely candidate, together with possibly tanning. Sexing of the bones strongly indicated male animals, with few females being present. A procedure for detecting castrated cattle (oxen) is presented, the results of which suggest an equivalent ratio of oxen to bulls.     

试论夏商城市水利设施及其功能

本文就考古所见夏商城址内的水利遗存进行了分析,对夏商城市水利设施的种类、功能、渊源等相关问题进行了初步探讨。     

西汉初年陇西、北地、上郡治所考——以张家山汉简《秩律》所见各县等第为中心

汉代郡治之县,在同郡属县中秩级最高。由张家山汉简《二年律令·秩律》载录的各郡辖县秩级,可探知西汉初年某些郡的治所: 陇西郡治所为上邽县;上郡治所为高奴县;北地郡治所为彭阳县。此外,西汉初年汉中、河东、河内三郡治所也可以凭借《秩律》得到进一步限定。《秩律》在西汉初年郡治研究上的价值需要得到重视。     

错综的血亲:对波士顿本《胡笳十八拍图》册作为刘商谱系祖本质疑

本文系“马臀烫印与番马画鉴定”系列研究之第三篇论文。该文与下期发表之《臀部的破绽:由马臀烫印质疑波士顿本<胡笳十八拍册>之版本年代》并合.藉由图像分析、风格分析、马臀烫印等三种研究角度,检证波士顿美术馆本《胡笳十八拍图》册、台北故宫本《胡笳十八拍图》册、大都会博物馆本《胡笳十八拍图》卷等存世三种具代表性的刘商谱系版本.从而质疑波士顿本作为刘商谱系“笳拍图”图像系列中年代最早、内容最精之祖本的论点。     

Pharmacy as a means of propagating the Lutherian doctrine of justification

Pharmacy serving to propagate the Lutherian doctrine of justification: "Christus as a pharmacist" is an interconfessional, but confessionally differentiated symbolic motif (Sinnbildmotiv) of Christian folklore art in German-speaking countries. The article investigates the sociocultural conditions and prerequisites (German bible translation, religion and confession, piety, pharmacy, chymiatry, chemistry, apothecary training and status) for transfering the old metaphor and idea of Christ as a physician to the new vision of Christ as a apothecary who prepares and dispenses his heavenly medicine all by himself. In the early 17th century (especially in the 1610's) these requirements were fulfilled, so that the oldest known witness to this motif transfer (picturing the so-called Heilandsruf of Matthew 11, 28), a genre picture of 1619, will be the first pictural version of this motif in general. It was created by the protestant Painter Mich(a)el Herr of Nuremberg. In the abstract and reduced form of a devotional picture this motif then became widespread in churches and vicarages, in monasteries and their apothecaries as well as in private houses (with small altars: Herrgottswinkel). The oldest yet known examples are works from around 1630. For the first time during the Thirty Year's War, it served in this form for propagating the Lutherian justification doctrine (now referring to Jesaja 55, 1), saying that the belief in Christ is enough to be released from all sins (sola fide). Around 1650, as a reaction to that, a catholic version of the devotional picture was created, claiming and picturing that in contrast eucharist is the highest and real, healing medium' of Christ to redemption. All pictures of this version avoid quoting Jesaja 55, 1, whereas all protestant pictures quote this verse from the Bible word-for-word.     

The New ‘Coimbra Method’: A Biologically Appropriate Method for Recording Specific Features of Fibrocartilaginous Entheseal Changes

This paper presents a revised version of the Coimbra method for recording fibrocartilaginous entheses. The method itself is the only biologically appropriate recording method for fibrocartilaginous entheses that scores features separately, thereby ensuring that the aetiology of individual features can be studied. The method divides the enthesis into two zones, scoring the relevant features in each zone. These features represent either bone formation or bone destruction and include erosive lesions, fine and macro‐porosity, and cavitations. The revised method includes a new feature, textural change, which is scored as absent or present when it involves 50% or more of the surface. All other features are now scored as zero (absent), one or two with the higher score representing greater expression of the feature. This change in scoring has led to the reduction of inter‐observer error with approximately 80% agreement for overall feature scores for both the common extensor origin and subscapularis insertion. The simplification of the scores and the reduction in inter‐observer error mean that the method is now recommended for widespread use. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.