Partial mummification and extraordinary context observed in perinate burials: a complex osteoarcheological study applying ICP-AES, μXRF,and macromorphological methods

Very small, green colored, partially mummified remains of a perinate individual were found buried in a ceramic pot with a copper coin in the Late Medieval cemetery of Nyárl?rinc-Hangár út (“Nyárl?rinc 3. lel?hely”) in southern Hungary. The remains must date back to the second half of the nineteenth century AD. In this paper; we present data gathered in a series of multidisciplinary investigations targeted to the partially mummified remains (ind. no. 14426) and two other non-mummified perinates (ind. no. 10662 and no. 14336) possibly buried under similar circumstances in the cemetery. Besides standard macromorphological and stereomicroscopic examinations, we compared Cu concentrations in the remains using ICP-AES and mapped Cu concentration changes using μXRF. The partially mummified perinate showed the highest Cu concentrations, while the individual buried without a possible Cu source showed the lowest. Body parts in the closer proximity of the copper coins always showed higher concentration. The mummified individual showed 497 times higher Cu values than average, and even the perinate buried without copper coin measured higher than the otherwise normal Cu content of the soil. Extremely high Cu values may be related to the corrosion of the coins included in the burials. Mummification must have been facilitated by copper deriving from the coins. Uneven Cu concentrations and only partial mummification of one of the individuals refer to the importance of other environmental factors involved in a possible quasi-natural mummification process. However, the Nyárl?rinc perinate burial no. 14426 may be the first solely copper-driven mummification case ever reported, and hopefully, more cases are to appear in the future.     

Secular Advice in Erasmus’s Sacred Writings

Research into Erasmus’s political ideas, notably his pacifism, should not be based on sources like Institutio Principis Christiani, Querela Pacis, or Dulce Bellum, which are rhetorical compositions and offer clichés rather than Erasmus’s personal opinions. At the very least, these sources should be checked against Erasmus’s theological writings, in which he presents specific and cogent arguments for his views and allows us to put them into their proper context.     

A new Palaeolithic discovery: tar-hafted stone tools in a European Mid-Pleistocene bone-bearing bed

Two stone flakes partly covered in birch-bark-tar and a third without tar on it were discovered in fluvial gravel and clay in central Italy, in association with the bones of a young adult female Elephas (Palaeoloxondon) antiquus and several micromammals. The probable chronology of the stone flakes is compatible with the late Middle Pleistocene suggested by the site's small mammals and geological context. The fauna indicates a cool stadial episode before isotope stage 6. That age means the flakes are the oldest ever found hafted with tar and indicate a greater capacity for late Middle Pleistocene hominins to utilize raw materials available during cold phases.     

‘The Bombay Debt’: Letter Writing,Domestic Economies and Family Conflict in Colonial India

Between 1856 and 1861 Minnie Blane and her husband, Captain Archibald Wood, wrote dozens of letters from India to the Minnie's mother in England. These letters and those associated with a military investigation into the couple's relationship in the 1860s detail the connections between the breakdown of the East India Company's rule in India and Minnie Blane's marriage. In particular, this correspondence shows some of the ways in which bourgeois identities were constructed in relationship to money and objects, place and race. It also exposes the fissures between family members, allowing us to see the gender, generational and cultural conflicts within such imperial families. The article raises concerns about the ways in which personal letters have been used as documents in the study of European women's imperial history.     

The painting of the Etruscan “Tomba della Quadriga Infernale” (4th century BC), in Sarteano (Siena, Italy): technical features

This work presents the results of an investigation of the painting technique used in the Etruscan tomb “Tomba della Quadriga Infernale”. This tomb was discovered in Sarteano (Siena, Italy) in October 2003 and dated back to the second half of the 4th century BC. Red, dark red, pink, yellow, white, black, and grey colours were used in the tomb in order to create paintings, which now represent a very precious record of the Etruscan art of wall painting in a hypogeal environment. The technical features of the painting were revealed by stratigraphy using optical and electronic microscopy. The components and preparatory layers of the painted areas were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). XRD, SEM-EDS, and optical microscopic techniques were also used for mineralogical analysis of the rock substrate. The SEM-EDS and FTIR analyses showed that red and yellow ochre, calcite, and vegetable charcoal were used to paint the walls of the tomb: the pigments, either alone or mixed together, were utilized to produce pure colours (red, yellow, white, and black) and intermediate tonalities (pink, dark red, and grey). SEM-EDS, FTIR, and XRD highlighted that the painting was made on a preparatory layer of calcite, applied onto a levelling material made up of calcite, clay minerals, quartz, and iron oxides. GC/MS analyses revealed that egg was used as an organic binder to disperse the pigments.     

Analysis of ancient mycolic acids by using MALDI TOF MS: response to “Essentials in the use of mycolic acid biomarkers for tuberculosis detection” by Minnikin et al., 2010

The mycobacterial cell wall is consists of several long chain lipid and glycolipid components. Mycolic acids are major and unique fraction of the cell envelope of mycobacteria that include the ancient causative agents of tuberculosis and leprosy. The analytical investigation of these lipid biomarker residues is one of the most promising perspectives in the field of molecular paleopathology. Recently published in this journal, Minnikin et al. present a systematic critique of the MALDI TOF MS analysis for determination of ancient mycolic acids, focusing on our previous paper. In this study, our mass spectrometric investigations by commonly used 2,5 DHB matrix were presented with our comments to the critique authors. On the base of our previous and recent mass spectrometric results we have to realize that the clinical protocols and standards cannot directly be used for the biomolecular paleopathological investigations. The applicability of the recent mycobacterial and clinical results is very limited in the biomolecular archaeology, thus the recent scientific results and protocols should be adapted carefully to bioarchaeological sciences.     

Signs of the impending apocalypse?

Allan W. Eister, ed. Changing Perspectives in the Scientific Study of Religion. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1974. xxii + 370 pp. Tables, figures, chapter notes, references, and index. $14.50.

J. Stillson Judah. Hare Krishna and the Counterculture. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1974. xviii + 301 pp. Tables, figures, references, selected bibliography, glossary, appendix, and index. $14.95.

B. Z. Sobel. Hebrew Christianity: The Thirteenth Tribe. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1974. xi + 413 pp. Chapter notes, bibliography, appendix, notes, references, and index. $12.50.

Edward A. Tiryakian, ed. On the Margin of the Visible: Sociology, the Esoteric, and the Occult. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1974. xv + 364 pp. Notes, bibliography, and author index. $9.95.