Gastrointestinal parasites in ancient South American camelid feces from the Atacama Desert (Pampa del Tamarugal,Tarapacá, northern Chile)

Faunal remains from archeological sites worldwide, especially feces and regurgitated pellets, are usually subjected to paleoparasitological examination, allowing the identification of past animal parasites. In this study, we analyzed 10 samples of South American camelid dung, which played an important role for the ancient human groups in the South-Central Andes, dated between 341 and 1635 calCE, from the Iluga Túmulos site (Pampa del Tamarugal, Tarapacá region, Atacama Desert, Chile). Microscopy examination revealed parasite remains in seven samples, in which oocysts of Eimeria macusaniensis and eggs of Lamanema chavezi/Nematodirus lamae, Trichuris sp., Moniezia sp., capillariids, strongylids, and unidentified nematodes were found. Although some of these species pose a potential health risk to camelids, most are not considered to be of major zoonotic importance, which could explain the absence of these parasites on human coprolites from this site analyzed previously. This first paleoparasitological study on camelid fecal remains from northern Chile sheds light on the occurrence of gastrointestinal parasites and its relationship with Andean ancient human populations and the environment.     

REVIEW

The Empty Place: Poetry, Space and Being Among the Foi of Papua New Guinea. By James F. Weiner. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 1991. Pp. 218. Price $US14.95.     

Overcoming barriers to institutional integration in European second-tier urban regions

Within the debates about the socio-economic advantages of cohesive urban regions, several barriers to institutional integration are said to exist, especially when a metropolitan government is absent and integration relies on inter-municipal cooperation. Some barriers are associated with different urban region structures, such as the asymmetric power relations and sociocultural contrasts between municipalities in systems with dominant core cities, or the lack of a leading city to overcome fragmentation and provide a shared identity in polycentric urban regions (PURs). This paper investigates whether urban regions formed around second-tier cities, whose features depart from both dominant core and PUR models, are able to mitigate these barriers when pursuing integration strategies. The analysis relies on interviews with municipal leaders in three representative European case studies, examining how they perceive the barriers to inter-municipal relations in second-tier urban regions. The findings show that perceptions vary not only between regions, with the three cases following different trajectories of integration, but also within regions, according to the geographical and socio-economic context of municipalities and the legacy of past relations. In general, barriers to integration are not minimized without explicit efforts to rebalance power relations, approach political cultures, mobilize core city leadership and develop a metropolitan identity.     

Applying dynamics and comparing life tables for Pleistocene Equidae in anthropic (Bau de l'Aubesier,Combe-Grenal) and carnivore (Fouvent) contexts with modern feral horse populations (Akagera,Pryor Mountain)

In this study, we propose a method based on life tables currently used in population dynamics and ecology to compare the mortality curves of Equidae from anthropic and carnivore fossil assemblages with those from modern populations. The combined analysis of frequency (f_x) with various ecological parameters such as mortality rate (q_x), survival rate (l_x), fecundity rate (m_x), and killing factor (k_x), established for each age class, allows us to characterize the stability of fossil populations. These ecological parameters, developed in demography, correspond to many curves and constitute a complementary approach to interpret the two main mortality models, attritional and catastrophic, often evoked in zooarchaeology. The age structures of fossil horses from the anthropic sites of Bau de l'Aubesier (Vaucluse, France) and Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France) and the hyena den of Fouvent (Haute-Saône, France) are compared to typical catastrophic modern populations of Equidae from the National Park of Akagera (Rwanda). We also used data collected by the Bureau of Land Management for present day feral horses from Pryor Mountain (Montana, USA) which constitutes a reliable referential of a stable living population. The characterization of age structures in those different contexts is discussed as well as the impact of Neanderthals and hyenas on fossil assemblages.     

The Material Characterization of a Santamarian Ceremonial Axe

The characterization of a ceremonial bronze axe is described. The axe is assigned to the Santamarian culture of north‐west Argentina, c. 1000–1470 ad, and was selected to increase presently limited knowledge of prehistoric metallurgy in the Andean region of Argentina. The characterization methods used were electron probe microanalysis, gamma radiography, X‐ray diffraction, optical metallography and microhardness testing. The axe was well cast in a bivalve mould, with the only defects in the area of an ancient fracture. The analysis showed that it is made from a tin bronze with a, probably, accidental addition of lead. Arsenic was found as a surface contamination, probably deriving from arsenic in the water of the stream in which the axe was found. The axe shows that Santamarian craftsmen had the skill to decorate the axe in an artistic style with a strong local accent while providing a functional, annealed and cold‐worked cutting edge.     

Producing African-descent: afro-peruvian music,intangible heritage,authenticity and bureaucracy in a Latin American music compilation

ABSTRACT

Policy and actions for the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) are laced with politics of representation and meaning-making of expressive culture within and outside communities. This article explores how ICH experts, practitioners, activists, and other actors negotiate and re-construct ideas of racial identity and authenticity in one such initiative. Sponsored by CRESPIAL in 2012, the album Cantos y Música Afrodescendientes de América Latina is a compilation of music of Afro-descendant communities in Latin America. Conceived as a project for safeguarding the musical ICH of these communities, it involved participation from thirteen Latin American governments. This paper, centered on the Peruvian participation in this project, studies the bureaucratic intricacies of this project, exploring how ideas on racial identity and authenticity overlap with political agendas and administrative requirements in order to produce a unified representation of ‘Afro-Latin American’ music. My analysis highlights 1) the local knowledge systems that inform the ideas of racial identity and authenticity advanced by the project’s actors; 2) their adopted strategies within Peru’s bureaucratic network of heritage management; and 3) the positionality, capacity and agency of each actor for achieving their particular goals in this collaborative project.     

Balbuena's Grandeza mexicana and the American Georgic

Bernardo de Balbuena’s Grandeza mexicana (1604) stands between two worlds. One of the earliest and most spectacular poetic celebrations of the wonders of the city of Mexico, this text was addressed both at the American and the Spanish audience, producing a duplicitous message. The capital of New Spain is presented as one of the most loyal and productive colonies of the Hispanic empire, though it is also celebrated for its economic autonomy and cultural supremacy with regards to the metropolis. These dualisms are also noticeable in the poetic style of Balbuena’s work, which, following the traditional idea of the Wheel of Virgil, adopts old classical models to portray the New World whilst anticipating Baroque poetics. Following the example of Virgil, Balbuena fashioned his literary career as a process organised in three distinct evolutionary stages, beginning with a bucolic text, Siglo de Oro en las selvas de Erífile, and culminating with an epic poem, El Bernardo. Grandeza stood between these two, adapting the rural setting of the Georgics to an urban context, and offering an idealised account of the Virgilian praise of human industry, which placed Balbuena and the other members of the lettered class on the forefront of Mexican society.