The Baptism of an Indian Juggler: Event and Narrative in the Swedish Press, 1827–1852

In 1827, an Indian juggler named Mooty Madua Samme converted to Christianity in Stockholm, Sweden. This historical event got much attention in the press at the time – as did his succeeding marriage to a Swedish woman named Erica – and was celebrated as a victory for the Evangelical Lutheran faith. Later, in the 1840s, a narrative depicting the event spread via a travelogue by Xavier Marmier, which was translated and mediated through the Swedish press, and reacted to by Samme's priest; in the 1850s, Samme's name surfaced again – now in context of the contemporary freedom of religion debates in Sweden. In this article, we explore Samme's baptism (and interrelatedly, his marriage) by looking at newspaper mediations of the event and the related narratives. Seen from a microhistorical perspective, we show how Samme's conversion and religious otherness was utilised in contemporary religious and political discussions, and we argue that the event and narratives surrounding the baptism can augment our understanding of the Swedish nineteenth century religio-cultural landscape in which he was situated.     

SECRETS OF THE DRAVA: BRONZE AGE METALWORK IN CONTINENTAL CROATIA

The article presents a group of Bronze Age artefacts recovered from the Drava river wetlands in continental Croatia, examining their typological and chronological markers, and assessing the technological characteristics of the material through spectrometric and use-wear analyses. We discuss the context of the finds, types of items retrieved and deposition locations, and how these fit into the patterns of European Bronze Age metal deposition practices. Compositional and metalwork use analyses indicate that most of the items were in use prior to their deposition and display solid metallurgical skill. Chronologically, typologically, compositionally, and conceptually, the items align with the depositional trends seen in the wider region and beyond.     

Dental and oral nonmetric traits in a Coimbra reference sample: testing intrasample chronological and spatial variation

A reference sample of dental and oral nonmetric traits should represent its biological population from which it stems. The presence of individuals born at different times, different regions, and separate countries in the Coimbra-identified cranial collections provides the test of whether this sample reflects the biological continuity of this Portuguese sample among the late modern (early industrialization, nineteenth century) to early contemporary (early demographic transition, first half of the twentieth century) population of this region of central Portugal. The Coimbra collections were scored for 61 traits using methodology by Hauser and De Stefano (1989), Turner et al. (1991), Scott and Turner (1997), Irish (1998), and Marado and Silva (2016). The 600 individuals in the sample were divided by generation, region, and nationality. Their phenetic diversity was tested with principal component analysis and with the mean measure of divergence statistic. The proximity between the subsamples was generalized, and it mimicked previous genetic marker results. Some small subsamples hindered conclusions; nevertheless, this Coimbra sample is considered a reliable dental reference sample for the Portuguese late modern/early contemporary population.     

Updating Numerical Models of Masonry Arch Bridges by Operational Modal Analysis

This article aims at presenting and discussing the strategies for updating the finite element numerical modeling of stone masonry arch bridges using operational modal analysis. The study comprehended three bridges: two old ones, the St. Lázaro and the Lagoncinha bridges, and a recently constructed bridge in Vila Fria, Portugal. Updating of the bridge models is performed by comparing the numerical and experimental modal parameters. Three-dimensional detailed numerical models are used to perform modal analysis of the bridges. Experimental modal identification of the bridges is based on the measurement of their acceleration responses during normal operation. The assigned material properties are also based on available results obtained from in situ and laboratory tests and on the results of visual inspection and historical research carried out for both old bridges.     

Lisbon's Red Belt: A Cautionary Tale on Politicisation and Depoliticisation of the Urban Realm

Within the making of Portuguese liberal‐representative democracy, the Portuguese Communist Party became a major actor in local government in urban deprived peripheries, shaping Lisbon's Red Belt. In this article, we analyse the communist discourse on the Portuguese urban question, showing how it politicised the urban as a site of unevenness and deprivation, but simultaneously depoliticised it by refusing to acknowledge it as a proper space for conflict. This historical account leads us to a critical debate with proposals that discuss urban politicisation by ontologising “the urban” or “the political”—we argue that these approaches tend to be less helpful in understanding processes of contingent, partial and inter‐related forms of politicisation/depoliticisation of the urban in itself. In contrast, we argue for a more attentive theorisation on politicisation–depoliticisation of the urban condition as a most valuable path to grasp situated formulations of citizenship and, hence, configurations of political regimes.     

Archaeology of the Border Fort Achiras,Córdoba (1832–1869)

During the nineteenth century, the existence of a southern border in the Córdoba province resulted from a complex situation where an expanding national state was inserted into a global economic system and into an environment occupied by various Indian groups. This situation created a mixed society on the borderlands. The military line was defended by forts, with one of them being the Achiras Fort (1832–1869). The fort was situated at the end of the mountain range of Comechingones. This paper considers the archaeological investigation of this fort. The most important and consistent part of the archaeological record is the Command. The Command was formed by two rooms. This work also presents the results of the excavations into the fort and describes the archaeological remains found. Finally, a general model for archaeology in the South Córdoba Border is presented.     

External Financial Liberalization and Macroeconomic Performance in Emerging Countries: An Empirical Evaluation of the Brazilian Case

This article evaluates the effects of external financial liberalization on Brazilian macroeconomic performance from 1995 to 2016. Its main contributions are to assess the influence of the global financial cycle on the level of external financial liberalization and to analyse the short- and long-run macroeconomic effects of such liberalization on the performance of a peripheral economy in the global currency hierarchy. Methodologically, the article employs the Markov-Switching Vector Autoregressive and Vector Error Correction models. The results show that the global financial cycle directly affects cross-border financial flows and frames the impact of external financial liberalization on the macroeconomic performance. The article concludes that external financial liberalization has negative macroeconomic effects in the short run and generates a trade-off between stability and growth in the long run.