Fuel, Fire and Heat: an experimental approach to highlight the potential of studying ash and char remains from archaeological contexts

As in traditional societies today ancient societies probably selected different fuels to meet specific heat requirements. Char and ash, the end products of fire, are often found in abundance in archaeological contexts. These end products can provide information regarding (i) the original fuel resource and type, (ii) the characteristics of the fire and (iii) combined with other archaeological evidence shed further light on possible socio-economic activity(-ies) associated with that fire. The three main fuel resources would have been (i) modern vegetation, (ii) fossil fuel and (iii) animal by-products. Local availability and abundance would have influenced the choice made.In this study an experimental approach was adopted to try and distinguish between the three different fuel resources that are known to have been used by ancient societies (and continue to be used by traditional societies today) from their char and ash remains to help determine original fuel-type and understand the relative heating properties. For this end one fuel-type from each fuel resource listed above, namely wood, peat and cow dung, was chosen.     

‘Time-twisted space’: an exploration of the synaesthetic continuum through the work of Vladimir Nabokov

ABSTRACT

The synaesthetic author Vladimir Nabokov undertakes extensive consideration of the relationship between time and space, and its manifestation in human perception, throughout his fictional and autobiographical writing. The following dissertation considers this in the light time–space synaesthesia, a neurological phenomenon where time is visualized in a spatial form often external to the subject’s body. Using the idea that synaesthesia exists on a continuum alongside common constructs integral to cognitive perception such as cross-modality and metaphor, these three will be explored in detail in Nabokov’s work through a multidisciplinary lens incorporating literature, cognitive science, philosophy and anthropology.     

Iron Age Coinage on the Isle of Wight

This paper presents a discussion and catalogue of the Iron Age coins found on the Isle of Wight which have been recorded, or are extant, on the island. These coins show a wide variety of links with the mainland and Continental Europe. Many of the coins are of unusual or unique types, suggesting a political division between the Isle of Wight and recognized major tribal groups for at least some of the Late Iron Age. Links are indicated with the intermediary Hampshire group introduced by Sellwood (1984). Strong links are shown with the Durotriges group to the west, and to a lesser degree with the Atrebates/Regni group to the east of the island. There are also preliminary indications of political and social centralization on the island for the first time, from numismatic finds.