Dysentery in the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem: an ELISA analysis of two medieval latrines in the City of Acre (Israel)

Dysentery was a significant cause of ill health during medieval times according to written sources of the period. However, it has been very difficult to detect the organisms that cause dysentery in archaeological samples from latrines and cesspools. This is because the cysts of the enteric parasites that cause dysentery are very small and usually fragment in the soil, in contrast to the robust ova of parasitic intestinal worms. This study uses a monoclonal enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique to identify the fragments of those enteric parasites that cause diarrhoea. Samples were taken from two excavated medieval latrines in the city of Acre. Coins and radiocarbon dating suggest that the latrines were in use during the thirteenth century CE. Positive results were noted for Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia duodenalis, while Cryptosporidium parvum was negative. This is the first time that either of these parasites have been identified in the Middle East using these methods.     

The Spatial Dispersion of Informal Investment at a Regional Level: Evidence from the UK

Although there have been various studies on the geographical specialization of venture capital in the UK, there remains a gap in the research on regional differences in the behaviour of those informal investors who make a significant contribution to the funding of entrepreneurial ventures. Utilizing a unique data set from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor project, this study will estimate the level of informal investment activity across the different regions of the UK. The relationship between informal investment and early stage formal venture capital availability is also examined to determine which areas display the greatest funding gaps in the provision of equity finance. It shows that while formal and informal investments are heavily concentrated in highly prosperous areas such as London and the South East of England, informal investments make a larger relative contribution to early stage and expansion equity capital within poorer regions.     

The Covid-19 app and the fire spirit: Receiving messages in Britain and Siberia

The UK's National Health Service Covid-19 ‘track and trace’ app was designed as a critical public health technology. So why has it encountered so much resistance? The authors compare alerts on the phone regarding exposure to possible Covid-19 infection with messages from a Siberian nomad's domestic fire, which sometimes crackles warnings of potential illnesses or accidents. Though these prediction technologies may seem radically different, they are both instruments for thinking about possible futures and adjusting behaviour. The authors interpret them as forms of divination that differ not so much in their logic as in their embeddedness in wider cosmologies of person, fate and society. The Siberian fire generates meaning as a focal point of coherence within many narrative strands concerning family and landscape; acceptance of its messages is rooted in intimacy and entanglement. This highlights how the Covid-19 app belongs to a state of emergency and exception. Its statistical idiom of risk and its culturally hyper-valued focus on privacy conceal the identities of people caught in the chain of infection, blocking social and narrative coherence and thereby encouraging suspicion and cynicism.