On Sappho 1: vv. 7–15 and Rigveda 1.118; an Emendation in v. 18

The literary image in Sappho 1.7–15 of a goddess ascending on and travelling by a chariot which is yoked to birds occurs also of the Daughter of the Sun in hymn 1.118 of the Rigveda. Apart from the image as such, the shared context of prayer in the two poems and certain features common to the identities of both goddesses suggest that the images share a common ancestor in Indo-European religious discourse.

In Sappho 1.18, the emendation πε?θην, together with the understanding of the major ms. tradition in v. 19 as a crasis κ?c?γην?相似文献   

Range of motion and energy cost of locomotion of the late medieval armoured fighter: A proof of concept of confronting the medieval technical literature with modern movement analysis

ABSTRACT

Study of technical, normative, and narrative medieval literature and of archaeological pieces allows the motor skills of armoured members of the aristocracy to be outlined but not quantified. The authors present novel data on the impact of wearing armour on both the freedom of movement and the energy cost of locomotion, and confront the results to systematic analysis of medieval written sources. An accurate harness replica realized in an informed archaeological experimental way, close to medieval material and manufacturing conditions, was used for the experiments. Measurements of the energy cost of locomotion in and out of armour were taken during walking and running on a treadmill. Gait analysis and range of motion of joints were performed with 3-D kinematics. The results indicated an increase in the energy cost of locomotion in slight excess to the added weight and for most movements studied reductions in the range of motion over the joint, potentially to the advantage of the wearer during combat. This proof of concept appears promising for further study in this field of scholarly endeavor.     

HISTORICAL JUSTICE THROUGH REDRESS SCHEMES?

The Swedish redress scheme intended for victims of historical child abuse in out-of-home care compensated only 46% of claimants who sought economic compensation for past harms. This article explores the reasons behind this comparatively low validation rate by investigating a) how the eligibility criteria of the Redress Act were evaluated by the Redress Board; and b) the justifications and underlying values used when applications were rejected with reference to the fact that reported abuse was not deemed to be sufficiently severe according to past standards. Victim capital, which determines how vulnerable or credible a victim is perceived to be by others, as well as competence and narration, are essential aspects for this type of legal proceeding. The article demonstrates that the claimants had to traverse a complicated web of criteria to be awarded compensation. The outcomes for claimants were affected by how the past was conceptualized in this legal setting, what competences the victims themselves possessed, what competence and resources the administrative system offered, and the extent to which the decision-making process fragmented victims’ narratives.     

Writing development (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

Development professionals spend a lot of time writing and the aid industry has a vast production of texts. The author argues here that anthropology of development needs to look anew at how these texts are being produced, circulated and the purposes they serve. I have briefly identified six features of development writing: 1. Institutional ownership, 2. multiple authorship, 3. impersonal style, 4. terminology, 5. Communicable simplifications and 6. temporality. The more general point is to call for a more sophisticated engagement with development texts. There might be more going on in these documents than immediately meets the eye. More than anything else, these texts grant legitimacy and presence to the actors involved in development. Writing development is more about the production process, the language and what it ultimately bring in terms of aid flows, rather than the substance of the text itself.     

AFTER POLITICAL ECOLOGY

This book review article probes present anthropological engagement with the environment through the prism of political ecology, placing political ecology in conversation with newer work in environmnetal anthropology. In situating this conversation, the reviewer draws on four recent anthropological monographs that, in one way or another, deal with aspects of ‘nature’. The four monographs are Tania Murray Li's (2014) Land's end: Capitalist relations on an indigenous frontier; Marianne Elisabeth Lien's (2015) Becoming salmon: Aquaculture and the domestication of fish; Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing's (2015) The mushroom at the end of the world: On the possibility of life in capitalist ruin; and, lastly, Marisol de la Cadena's (2015) Earth beings: Ecologies of practice across Andean worlds. As I suggest, political ecology requires a radical remake, perhaps a political ecology 2.0, which brings in nature in a new way and makes the category of the political more inclusive.