Laser scanning for conservation and research of African cultural heritage sites: the case study of Wonderwerk Cave,South Africa

The ‘African Cultural Heritage and Landscape Database’ project, initiated and directed by the senior author and administered by Aluka (www.aluka.org), is aimed at the creation of a digital library of spatial and non-spatial materials relating to cultural heritage sites in Africa. The archaeological site of Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa) is one of the 19 sites documented to date using laser scanning, conventional survey, digital photogrammetry and 3D modelling. To date, it is one of the few archaeological caves worldwide to be fully scanned. This paper explores the different uses to which the spatial data derived from this cave have been, or will be, put – for historical and educational purposes, scientific research and site conservation and development.     

Identification of a chrysocolla amulet in an Early Dynastic child mummy

Two pyriform formations were identified within a bundle of linen bandages wrapping a 15–18 months old Early Dynastic mummy. The upper one was taken out of the bandages and examined to ascertain its nature.     

Residents' Spatial Knowledge of Neighborhood Continuity and Form

This paper discusses residents' cognition of neighborhood form in terms of linear-based and areal-based knowledge structures. Cognitive and behavioral data are used to create surfaces of residents' familiarity with, and experience of, a neighborhood in San Diego, California. The complexity of the data required the topological and relational sophistication of an ARC / INFO-based geographic information system. Cellular-based data were collected to identify place-specific measures of residents' familiarity and experience within the community. The cellular data facilitated aggregation of residents' cognitive surfaces as absolute spaces, and also relative to their homes. Spatial autocorrelation and directional autoregression techniques are used in association with standard cognitive mapping to establish the continuity and form of residents' familiarity and experience with their neighborhood. The findings suggest that there is a structural difference in the spatial familiarity of residents who perceive their neighborhood as an area and those who perceive it as a network. North-south and east-west street networks played an important part as the basis for both linear-based and areal-based knowledge, but noncardinal directions were more prominent in the familiarity surfaces of those residents who had an areal-based perception of neighborhood form. In terms of theories of spatial knowledge acquisition, the findings suggest that (i) there may not be a direct sequential link between linear-based and areal-based knowledge structures, (ii) knowledge of a complex network may not be sufficient to provide areal-based knowledge, and (iii) an areal-based knowledge structure does not necessarily comprise an understanding of survey procedures.     

The Amsterdam Tapestry Producer Alexander Baert (1660–1719) and his Workshop: New Findings

Drawing on archival material relating to the Amsterdam tapestry producer Alexander Baert, much of it previously unpublished, this research note marks a departure from the prevailing, undersocialised, approach to tapestry production and trade in the Northern Netherlands. Data explored here for the first time show that, before emigrating from Oudenaarde, Baert was an active member of a rich network of tapestry entrepreneurs, but that ‘push factors’ such as legal and commercial problems along with ‘pull factors’ such as certain benefits and freedoms prompted his decision to move to the Republic. While earlier studies describe his activities there as an isolated process, it becomes clear that the entrepreneur and his descendants preserved enduring business ties in the Southern Netherlands. These networks furnished Baert with the infrastructure that enabled him to import tapestries from Antwerp, Brussels and Oudenaarde and to purchase Flemish cartoons cheaply.     

Immunological evidence of Plasmodium falciparum infection in an Egyptian child mummy from the Early Dynastic Period

A 15–18 months old child mummy, presently housed in Turin's Museum of Anthropology, was discovered in Gebelein (Upper Egypt) during excavations carried out by the Missione Archeologica Italiana, most likely in 1914.