Ancient agriculture in Western Siberia: problems of argumentation,paleoethnobotanic methods,and analysis of data

The problem relating to the emergence of ancient agriculture and the specifi c character of its development in Western Siberia is considered on the basis of paleobotanical data analysis. This article provides information on basic methods of searching and identifying phytoliths, grains (or grain prints), and pollen of domesticated cereals, as well as evaluates the feasibility for using these techniques in examining this problem. Currently known paleobotanical indicators of agriculture in Western Siberia, Kazakhstan, the Altai, and Zhetysu are summarized, and new indicators are presented. The attempt at reconstructing the centers for cultivating domesticated cereals starting in the Late Bronze Age is based on the analysis of spatial and temporal distribution of the cereals’ grains and pollen.     

Changes of Proverbs in Form and Meaning: The Case of Croatian ‘Odjeća ne čini čovjeka čovjekom’ (Clothes Do Not Make the Man)

This article deals with changes of form and meaning of the Croatian proverb ‘Odje?a ne ?ini ?ovjeka ?ovjekom’ (Clothes do not make the man). The analysis is done on the basis of its use in newspaper articles and spoken communication. Furthermore, the data are interpreted within the framework of cognitive semantics. The analysis shows that the proverb is often used in modified form and that it has changed its form from negative to positive. Most of the informants recognize its modified form ‘Odijelo ne ?ini ?ovjeka’ (The suit does not make the man) as the original one. From the cognitive semantic point of view, changes analysed in relation to the concept of basic conceptual metaphor point to changes in the socio-cultural context and to perception of the importance of (outward) appearance.     

Geographical Aspects of the Organization of Social Production and its Control (with Special Reference to Agriculture)

A systems approach to the study of the geographical aspects of production and the management of production is proposed. Areal (geographic) systems are viewed as a form of organization of production and an object of control. The areal system may range in scale from a microsystem (an individual large farm) to a global system. Geographical information plays an important role in the organization and control of areal systems. Geographic models, particularly maps, are a useful tool in the analysis and design of systems. The systems approach to areal complexes is not intended to replace the regional method, but supplements the regional approach by providing a better understanding of the region as a complex dynamic system. Further research in the geography of the control of production from the systems standpoint is recommended.     

Central European Heterotopias of Decay: the Poetics of the Real in Andrzej Stasiuk’s On the Road to Babadag

This article analyses Andrzej Stasiuk’s 2004 travelogue On the Road to Babadag: Travels in the Other Europe as a work that questions the existing narratives about the region commonly referred to as ‘Central Europe’. The main argument is that by bringing forward an original interpretation of ruins and decay — theorized here as ‘heterotopias of decay’ — Stasiuk’s poetics of villages and small towns from forgotten corners of Europe invites an interrogation of the notion of Central Europe itself. The narrative’s dismissal of the very term ‘Central Europe’, because it disregards the mundane qualities of the everyday, is presented as an original contribution to the debates about this region.     

Institutions and Falsified Culture in the Novel Evening Act by Croatian Writer Pavao Pavličić

`In one area of his prose work, the Croatian writer Pavao Pavli?i? belongs to a group of writers in the 1970s who used a fantastic narrative model and thematized irrational parallel worlds as opposed to a realist model of narration. Pavli?i?’s novel Evening Act (published as Ve?ernji akt in 1981) has a realistic beginning, but it slips into fantastic narration when the main character, a young man called Mihovil, discovers his ability to falsify documents and works of art. At the same time, he is capable of recognizing falsified art works and documents that are accepted as an integral part of social, cultural, and historical memory. When this ability becomes dangerous, Mihovil falsifies his own body to escape from his unbearable reality. This paper will analyse the function of the fantastic model in Pavli?i?’s novel as a postmodern play with traditions of Croatian and world literature and culture. The ludic layer of the novel has a highly symbolic value: it draws attention to the relationship of cultural institutions and society to the authenticity of art works, the role of art, and ways of preserving (or destroying) cultural memory.     

Some Data on the Medical Geography of the European North of the RSFSR

A survey of medical geographic factors in the north shows that special precautions must be taken in the tundra and tayga against frostbite and the common cold, deficiency of ultraviolet radiation and vitamins, and against tick-borne encephalitis and tularemia.