Ancestral memories and early medieval landscapes: the case of Sierra de Ávila (Spain)

This paper focuses on early medieval funerary practices from a landscape perspective in central Iberia. Rock‐dug graves constitute the most conspicuous remains in this region, but their informative potential has not yet been realized. The preliminary outcomes of an ongoing research project are presented here. This aims to contextualize such funerary cases by examining a mid‐altitude mountain study‐area. Through the use of intensive archaeological surveying and geographic information systems, the paper characterizes two basic funerary types: isolated graves and rural disordered cemeteries, which responded to two social strategies led by local households. By recalling ancestorship, they constituted effective mnemonic resources, contributing to claiming rights and forging identities among these dispersed and predominantly small‐scale herding communities.     

Thermoluminescence Dating of Surface Lithic Artefacts from the Chacabuco Valley,Chilean Patagonia

This work presents several thermoluminescence (TL) dates of six archaeological sites located in the Andean valley of the Chacabuco River, central Patagonia. We discuss the advantages of this method to assess the chronology of human occupations, employing samples of lithic artefacts with evidence of fire exposure from surface contexts in the area. We compare the results with stratigraphic archaeological dating by ¹⁴C. We discuss these results in the context of previously formulated hypotheses on the past behaviour of the human population in this area.     

Fossil marsupial predators of South America (Marsupialia,Borhyaenoidea): bite mechanics and palaeobiological implications

Borhyaenoids were marsupial predators that inhabited South America during the Cenozoic. They were very significant because no other mammals rivaled them as terrestrial hunters of large prey. Here we estimate the bite force of three species of borhyaenoids by two different methods to infer predatory behaviour in extinct taxa. One of the methods uses mainly the skull and only some simple measurements of the mandible; the other uses several measurements within the dentary. The results show that bite forces are very high in comparison to predators of the order Carnivora, a feature manifest by several other living and extinct marsupial predators. Differences in size, bite mechanics and special adaptations among the borhyaenoids suggest a very wide range of predatory behaviours that rival those represented in the extant families of the Order Carnivora.     

Sonorous Specters: On Some Recent Histories and Economies of Afro-Latin Jazz

This essay examines the shifts and recalibrations in the Latin Americanist musical production at stake in the relation between Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, institutions sharing an abiding commitment to the past but differing in how they conceive and enact time, space, and place. I identify a set of figures consistently and constantly invoked by contemporary actors to create symbolic and material economies grounded less in a tradition than in the differing relations that the living held with their specters, past, present, and future.     

Damage assessment and conservation strategy for the largest covered market in Europe: the Ribera Market (Bilbao)

Facing a scarcity of land for urban development and demand for public services, the Municipal Council of Bilbao recognizes the need to make good use of its built heritage and to upgrade it, while maintaining its cultural and functional features. A good example is the case of the Ribera Market, the largest covered market in Europe. Deterioration of the market building and public pressure for improved services has led to proposals for its rehabilitation. To do so, the constructive condition of the building must first of all be assessed and, then, the most appropriate and compatible intervention technique must be selected. Today, there is a broad selection of intervention technologies, for the improvement of both mechanical behaviour and durability. However, in this article, it is demonstrated that these technologies are not always applicable in old buildings, because they depend on the severity of the pathology and the intrinsic characteristics of the building: for example, corrosion due to chloride ions originating from the concrete mass. The lack of knowledge on constructive techniques and the requirements for the application of new technologies complicate the interventions, which in turn further complicates decision-making with regard to the property.     

War stories: British and American writers in/on the Italian front (1915–18)

In 1919 the British historian G. M. Trevelyan complained about the ‘not very large stock of English literature on Italy’s part in the war’ that had just ended, a phenomenon he attributed to ‘the mutual ignorance of the English-speaking and Italian peoples’. Nearly a hundred years later the situation seems to be no better. Secondary sources as there are devote only passing mention (if any) to the war stories that were put together by British and American writers who visited, served or worked as volunteers in the Italian front between 1915 and 1918. This article intends to give some details about the Italian front writing of these committed individuals, whose praiseworthy contribution to the war effort was, indeed, fighting the above-mentioned ignorance.     

Pavlov and Cajal: Two different pathways to a Nobel Prize

Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) and Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934) were two contemporary scientists who not only had a great impact on Russian and Spanish science but also on the international stage. Both shared several common features in their life and work, yet they followed fundamentally different paths during their training as scientists. While Pavlov received his laboratory training under the guidance of Ilya Tsion (1843–1912), Cajal did not receive any formal training within a particular laboratory nor did he have a mentor in the traditional sense, rather he was mainly self-taught, although he was supported by key figures like Maestre de San Juan (1828–1890) and Luis Simarro (1851–1921). In this article, we compare the scientific training of these two Nobel Prize laureates and the influences they received during their scientific lives.