Bronze Age Globalisation and Eurasian Impacts on Later Jōmon Social Change

Journal of World Prehistory - From northern China, millet agriculture spread to Korea and the Maritime Russian Far East by 3500–2700 BC. While the expansion of agricultural societies across...     

The Emergence of a Story Space

For centuries, the Club War, a popular uprising on Finnish territory in the 1590s, constituted a minor side story in Swedish royal historiography. After the Napoleonic Wars, it was quickly appropriated as one of the most canonical historical events in the emerging Finnish national history. This article argues that, in order to understand the role of the Club War in early 19th-century Finnish historical culture, it is necessary to trace its interpretive tradition backwards in time, across established borders of national historiographies, in a thematic, transtemporal, and comparative framework. The paper will discuss eight pieces of Swedish and Finnish history writing from 1620 to 1860, focusing on the storylines, attributes attached to the protagonists, and historical agency allocated to different social groups against a backdrop of sources available within each context of writing, in order to pinpoint and analyse moments when the story space of the event altered. The article will demonstrate that textual traditions of regions that formerly belonged to multi-ethnic or conglomerate states provide particularly interesting material for transtemporal historiography. Through this case study, the article also argues that Swedish and Finnish historiography of the early 19th century should be studied as one, entangled, textual culture.     

The feminization of governance in rural communities in Poland: the case of village representatives (sołtys)

The main aim of this article is to analyze the drivers behind the feminization of the position of village representative in Poland and to discuss the possible consequences of this process. This article is based on a qualitative empirical study conducted in 10 communes located in different regions of Poland and varied in terms of women's participation in local public life. The results of my research show that the most significant factors of the feminization of the function of village representatives are social and cultural changes, as well as weakening of this position in the current system of local administrative institutions. Research has shown no striking differences in terms of types of initiatives or modes of functioning by women and men. Of significance, on the other hand, is the diversity of views on gender equality and, in particular, the activities of women in local public life. In the communes characterized by a significant presence of female village representatives and commune councilors, the women's public activities are more accepted and appreciated than in the communes, where women in such positions were in a minority.     

Effect of Horizontal Component Definition on the Characterization of Vertical Ground Motions: Application to Eastern Canada

In this article, ground motions recorded on rock sites in eastern Canada are studied in order to characterize their vertical acceleration components. Emphasis is placed on the sensitivity of vertical-to-horizontal spectral ratios to: (i) inter-component intensity correlations and (ii) the use of geometric mean horizontal components at each site instead of considering them individually. Four different definitions of horizontal components are investigated. Vertical-to-horizontal spectral ratios are compared with the findings of other researchers. We illustrate how the results can be used to evaluate vertical acceleration demands on rock sites in eastern Canada.     

The virgin of the Macana: Emblem of a Franciscan predicament in new Spain

The importance of the Virgin Mary in Mexico's religious pantheon is well documented. Of the great variety of devotions imported to New Spain from Europe, Mary became a favored one; she was invoked by all sectors of society at different historical junctures, and was often promoted by specific religious orders or social groups. A number of these cults became inextricably linked with a sense of community autonomy and evolved into emblems of local pride, of which the Virgin of Guadalupe is the best-known example. To strengthen their local and creole character, a significant number of these devotions grant an essential place to the Amerindian in their apparition stories. This is the case with the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Virgin of Remedios, and the Virgin of Ocotla´n to cite a few examples. Several works of art of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries represent these devotions by showing the Virgin Mary and the American Indian together.     

Relict Anthropogenic Ecosystem from the Middle Ages: History of a Salt Marsh from Transylvania (Sic,N Romania)

ABSTRACT

A paleoecological study was performed on a sediment core recovered from a former artificial lake – the Reedbed of Sic near Cluj-Napoca, Romania – in order to explore the history of water management and nearby salt mining, and its impact on the environment. From the Roman period, the area served as a recipient of salty wastewaters. The most significant shift in the sediment composition and macrofossil assemblages took place after 1000 AD, suggesting a significant upturn in salt mining. The impact of mining-related activities was further increased in the Middle Ages when, according to documentary sources, fishponds and watermills were constructed in the area. They led to the stabilisation of the water level in the lakebed, and enhanced the appearance of reed beds and the spread of secondary salt marsh vegetation. This biotop was later invaded by the Entzia macrescens, an agglutinated foraminiferal taxon, known mostly from the high intertidal marshes worldwide. In the investigated marshland, the dominance of halophytic species reached their acme in the seventeenth century, which coincides with the acme of mining activities. This medieval – early Modern Age industrial ecosystem survived the abandonment of salt mines and fishponds, being preserved until today.