Book reviews

Barbara Harrisson. Pusaka: heirloom jars of Borneo. xvi, 55 pp., 142 plates. Singapore, etc: Oxford University Press, 1986. (Oxford Asia Studies in Ceramics.) £48.

E. E. van Delden (comp). Klein repertorium: index op tijdschriftenarti‐kelen met betrekking tot voormalig Nederlands‐Indië. Deel l. Tijdschrift voor het Binnenlandsch Bestuur, 1887–1900. 79 pp. Amsterdam: Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, 1986. Guilders 40.     

„Und setzet eure Worte nicht auf Schrauben”︁ Medizinische Semiotik vom Ende des 18. bis zum Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts - Gegenstand und Forschung

There is no doubt that medical semiotics are having a revival at the moment. Different aspects of yesterday's and today's interest in semiotics and in the historical interpretation of signs of disease in the context of theory and history of medicine can be illuminated: their deciphering as the history of the sign in medicine by historic science, their overestimation by philosophy during the Age of Enlightenment, their reduction to a phenomenology of medicine and natural science during the first half of the 19th century and their transformation to medical diagnostics since the middle of the 19th century and recently even their functionalization as methodical instrument within the history of science. The following will show the change in meaning of medical semiotics. Modern development and especially the transition to medicine, based on natural science, will be emphasized.     

Macrophysical climatic modeling of Africa’s late quaternary climate: Site-specific, high-resolution applications for archaeology

Macrophysical climatic modeling (MCM) is based on the relationship between large-scale atmospheric dynamics and synoptic climatology to develop simulations of late Pleistocene and Holocene climate in specific localities. Climatic events are calculated at 200-year intervals for the last 14,000 and 500 years for the period from 14,000 to 40,000 B.P. The model has been applied to more than 200 localities in Africa. We present examples from different parts of the continent at locations of archaeological significance. The results indicate that the transition from glacial maximum to postglacial conditions shows both temporal and inter- and intraregional variability. In addition to long-term differences among early, middle, and late Holocene climatic regimes, the model also shows incidences of sharp, abrupt events at some intervals. The applications of MCM invite comparison with inferences based on proxy data and assist in formulating and cross-examining socioecodynamic models based on climatic change, e.g., the continuity of cultural interactions along the Mediterranean littoral, the emergence and spread of cattle pastoralism, and the depopulation of the Sahara during the glacial maximum.     

Book review

Haryati Soebadio and Carine A. du Marchie Sarvaas (ed.) Dynamics of Indonesian history. Amsterdam: North‐Holland, 1978. xvi, 395 pp. Guilders 120, US$58.50.     

CARBON AND OXYGEN ISOTOPE RATIOS OF MARBLES FROM SOME ANCIENT QUARRIES OF WESTERN ANATOLIA AND THEIR ARCHAEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

¹³C/¹²C and ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios have been measured for 42 marbles from the main quarry localities of archaeological interest of Western Anatolia (Marmara, Ephesos, Aphrodisias, Denizli and Afyon) in order to test the possibility of isotopically characterizing ancient marbles from this region. The various groups of samples are not clearly distinguishable on a δ¹³C-δ¹⁸O diagram. However, if only white or slightly coloured samples are considered, the isotopic method appears to be much more selective.     

Morphological Characteristics of Healthy and Osteoarthritic Joint Surfaces in Archaeological Skeletons

Osteoarthritis is a major health concern in living populations, as well as being one of the most common pathological lesions identified in the archaeological record. The aetiology of the disease remains unclear, with a multi‐factorial influence of physical strain, age, genetics, and obesity. Previous studies have identified a relationship between the presence of knee osteoarthritis on the distal femoral joint and the morphology of the intercondylar notch, patellar groove, and medial condyle. The current study expands this research to investigate the relationship between distal femoral, distal humeral, and proximal ulnar joint morphology and osteoarthritis with 3D shape analysis techniques. These methods provide a more detailed analysis of joint morphology in order to determine any relationship between 3D shape and osteoarthritis. The results indicate a complex relationship between joint shape and knee osteoarthritis, with eburnated right femora showing a statistically significant association. The shapes associated with eburnated or affected femoral joints can be explained by osteophyte development, and therefore likely represent systematic shape changes and not a particular joint shape predisposing individuals to the condition. There was no identifiable relationship found in the proximal ulna or distal humerus, indicating that joint shape is unlikely to influence the development of the condition in the elbow joint and that any shape changes produced by osteoarthritis are not systematic or quantifiable. The joints analysed in this study were highly influenced by asymmetry, sexual dimorphism, and allometry, resulting in a small sample size of affected joints in many datasets. Further analyses of large skeletal samples are needed to more thoroughly investigate the possible relationship of distal femoral joint shape and osteoarthritis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Unique Case of Prone Position in the Primary Cremation Tomb 252 of Monte Sirai Necropolis (Carbonia,Sardinia, Italy)

A series of graves belonging to the Phoenician period were investigated after the campaign excavation of 2007 in the Phoenician‐Punic necropolis of Monte Sirai (Carbonia, Sardinia, Italy). One tomb in particular (labelled 252) is presented here because of its uniqueness. Tomb 252 contained the cremated remains of an individual, probably male, and comparison of the excavation records alongside reconstruction of the bone material itself makes clear that the individual was cremated in a prone position. It represents the first case of prone cremation reported in the literature. To investigate whether the temperature of the cremation was homogenous across the entire body, we have conducted a combined physical–chemical analysis using X‐ray diffraction spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.