The search for a precise method of measurement in psychical experiments

Presents three brief case studies to show how cognition and psychic activity were explored as energetic and economic transactions in a variety of experimental settings. First, in the 1870's German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin began a search for an objective measurement of cognitive performance in which he engaged for several decades. His investigations resulted in a graphic representation of cognitive efficiency, the Arbeitscurve, delineating numbers of additions per time interval in close resemblance to representations of machine efficiency. Second, at the turn of the century American nutrition scientist and agronomist Wilbur Olin Atwater convinced himself in a series of precision measurements that the human motor was a perfectly closed input-output system and that any mental surplus in the form of cognitive energy transformation did not count as contradictions to the principle of the conservation of energy. Third, at the beginning of the 20th century and on the basis of Atwater's results, German psychiatrist Hans Berger stipulated a special form of psychic energy for mediating between the principle of the conservation of energy and mental causality. Berger attempted to quantify psychic energy as one factor of brain metabolism. In the three cases of precision investigations into psychic life presented here, the experimental space of psychophysiology turned mental activity into a form of machine-like behavior.     

One world archaeology today

Resumen Desde su aparición en 1986, el World Archaeological Congress ha defendido el desarrollo de una arqueología política y éticamente informada y desde una perspectiva global, que actualmente se conoce como “Arqueología de un único mundo”. En este corto ensayo argumento que la “Arqueología de un único mundo” es la arqueología de la era de la globalización. Y como tal la “Arqueología de un único mundo” no debe ser más que una tentativa política y éticamente motivada de aumentar, con los medios de los que disponen los arqueólogos, la solidaridad entre los seres humanos de este planeta y de reducir las alarmantes desigualdades que existen entre ellos. Soy partidario de que los dos principios más importantes tanto para el World Archaeological Congress como para el trabajo que desarrolla sean la solidaridad y la inclusión. Este artículo contiene varias sugerencias sobre lo que debería implicar en la práctica.

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Résumé Depuis son apparition en 1986, le Congrès Mondial d'Archéologie défend une perspective informée des points de vue politique, éthique et global sur l'archéologie que l'on est venu à conna?tre sous le nom d' “Archéologie Mondiale.” Dans cette courte présentation je discute le fait que l'archéologie mondiale est une archéologieau temps de la mondialisation. En tant que telle, une archéologie mondiale ne devrait être autre qu'un mouvement motivé par l'éthique et la politique avec pour fins d'augmenter la solidarité mondiale entre les êtres humains de cette planète et de réduire les inégalités grotesques qui existent entre eux. Je propose que les deux principes les plus importants pour l'Archéologie Mondiale et l'oeuvre du Congrès Mondiale d'Archéologie devraient être la solidarité et l'inclusivité. Cette communication contient un nombre de suggestions pour la réalisation de ces idées.

     

Review - Matthew Johnson: Archaeological Theory: An Introduction

Hans Ame Jensen: Seeds and Other Diaspores in Soil Samples from Danish Town and Monastery Excavations, dated 700–1536 AD. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. Biologiske Skrifter 26, Copenhagen 1986. 107 pp, 11 Tables, 10 Figs. 5 Pl.

R. Haaland &; P. Shinnie (eds.): African Ironworking: Ancient and Traditional. Norwegian University Press 1985. 212 pp.     

Post-depositional surface whitening of ceramic artifacts: alteration mechanisms and consequences

Surfaces on ceramic artifacts that are paler than the main sherd body are commonly interpreted as slips that were intentionally applied by the potter during the manufacturing process. However, due to post-depositional alteration, sherds that were not originally coated with a slip may macroscopically appear with deceptively similar pale surfaces. This paper presents a comparison of two sherds, both with pale to white surfaces, one of which is a real slip and the other a surficial corrosion that occurred during the burial stage. Observations using optical and scanning electron microscopy, as well as electron-probe image- and microanalysis, clearly illustrate the features of the two surfaces, as well as demonstrating their causes and effects. The superimposed slip is clearly delimited from the sherd body by a denser and much finer-grained fabric, in which clay minerals predominate and porosity is reduced by about 20% compared to the body. In the other sample, surface corrosion, due to invading fluids, has led to leaching of calcareous constituents and results in a remarkable increase in porosity close to the rim (ca. 25%). Sometimes called the “espresso crema effect” (Tschegg et al., 2009b), the surface becomes considerably brighter than the core and can easily be confused with intentional slips. This, as a consequence can lead to significant misinterpretations, to erroneous sherd characterizations and classifications, as well as to incorrect assignments to specific ware groups.