Psychosurgery in Sweden 1944-1964

This study presents results on hitherto unknown data on lobotomies performed at the former State Mental Hospital of Umedalen (from here on called simply "Umedalen") in the north of Sweden. More than 700 operations were carried out from 1947 through 1960, and we calculated the average rate of postoperative mortality to 7.4 percent, and that 63 percent of those who were operated were women. By considering annual hospital reports to the National Board of Health (Medicinalstyrelsen), we also made the first mapping of early psychosurgery in Sweden; approximately 4,500 lobotomies were performed between 1944 and 1966. Statistical analysis, qualitative content analysis, and discourse analysis were used. The study supports earlier findings of female preponderance in the number of lobotomy operations.     

Stone Age fishhooks – how were they dimensioned? Morphology,strength test,and breakage pattern of Neolithic bone fishhooks from Ajvide,Gotland, Sweden

The late Stone Age Pitted Ware site at Ajvide, Gotland, in the Baltic Sea, Sweden, has revealed a large deposit of fishbone and approximately 400 bone fishhooks, complete and incomplete. Cod (Gadus morhua), which is one of the most abundant fish species in the bone assemblage, was probably caught with hook and line fishing. To investigate the fishhooks' field of application, a morphological and morphometric study was performed on 384 available hooks. Two sets of replicas made of four selected original fishhooks were submitted to a strength test. A breakage study of the incomplete hooks in comparison with the strength-tested hooks was carried out in order to distinguish fresh breaks from dry breaks. It seems that a certain morphology for fishhooks was preferred at Ajvide, indicating they were produced by skilled craftsmen for special usage. The strength test showed that the hooks had a weight bearing capacity more than the average size of cod caught at Ajvide. Using results of these tests, we predicted that the mean breaking strength of 46 intact Ajvide hooks was 96.6 ± 26.1 (s.d.) Newtons (equivalent to 9.85 ± 2.7 kg). The design of fishhooks changed somewhat over time, being slightly larger in the oldest layers of the site. The breakage patterns of the hooks show that the bow was the most common area of breakage. The design and weight bearing capacity of the hooks point to a specialized cod fishery from boats in deep water.     

How flakes shatter: a critical evaluation of quartz fracture analysis

Despite its worldwide use as a stone tool raw material, quartz is known to be a difficult material for archaeologists. The main reason for this is the tendency of quartz flakes to fragment during detachment, which complicates the use of traditional lithic analyses. In this article we present an experimental study of quartz flake fragmentation. We evaluate the method called fracture analysis that has been developed and used explicitly for the study of quartz assemblages. The method assumes high predictability of quartz flake fragmentation, but our experiments show that there is significant variation in fragmentation that fracture analysis does not take into account. Our results indicate that this variation is partly explained by indenter hardness, the relative thickness of the detached flake, as well as individual knapper-related factors. These results undermine the applicability of quartz fracture analysis in its current form. In addition, we discuss the effects of flake fragmentation on the technological organisation of prehistoric quartz users and suggest that it has affected reduction strategies as well as blank and tool dimensions. We also suggest that there should be mobility-related differences in archaeological assemblages in terms of the quality of the quartz raw material and that the curation of quartz should be low in relation to better quality raw materials used parallel with it.     

Science as propaganda: Swedish scientists and the co-production of American hegemony in Sweden during the cold war, 1953–68

This article takes a close look at how the United States used the funding of scientific research in Sweden as a hegemonic and propaganda tool in the 1950s and 1960s. It shows that non-aligned Sweden functioned just as much as a node in the international science network set up by the Americans after the Second World War as did the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries. These funds were awarded mainly to an elite network of prominent Swedish scientists. The article sheds interesting light on the controversies of such funding in Sweden during the cold war and adds important knowledge about Swedish–American relations during the cold war. The article argues that this Swedish scientific elite co-produced US hegemony in Sweden by actively seeking out American military funding and by making use of it. It also argues that US funding was intended to portray the United States as an altruistic patron of science in the world and thus serve American propagandistic purposes as well.     

Late late Albian (Early Cretaceous) shark teeth from Annopol,Poland

Siversson, M. & Machalski, M., February 2017. Late late Albian (Early Cretaceous) shark teeth from Annopol, Poland. Alcheringa 41, 433–463.

Screen washing of the condensed phosporite-bearing sands at the top of the Albian succession at Annopol, Poland, produced 789 selachian teeth of which 264 are determinable to at least genus level. The sediment type and methods of processing prevented recovery of small-toothed taxa, resulting in an assemblage comprising 13, mostly large-toothed taxa. Lamniformes dominates with Dwardius sp. being, by far, the most common taxon. Observations on vertical distribution and preservation of the teeth (with focus on the adhered phosphatic matrix), coupled with biostratigraphic ranges of co-occurring ammonites, indicate that the majority of the shark material is attributable to the Mortoniceras rostratum or, more probably, M. perinflatum Zone (late late Albian; mid-‘Vraconnian’). This is compatible with the composition of the shark assemblage, characterized by the co-occurrence of Paraisurus sp. aff. P. compressus, Cretoxyrhina vraconensis and Squalicorax teeth with strong serrations on the cutting edges. The tightly curved basal edge of the root in lateral teeth of C. vraconensis conforms to that of teeth from the Pawpaw Formation of Texas (M. rostratum Zone) and differs from the more divergent root lobes in younger specimens from the uppermost Albian and/or lowermost Cenomanian of Kolbay, Mangyshlak. Some specimens in the studied assemblage are probably older, within the range from the middle to earliest late late Albian. The strong numerical dominance of either Cretoxyrhina or Dwardius in late late Albian to early Cenomanian selachian faunas indicates competitive exclusion in these similar-sized, apex predatory sharks.

Mikael Siversson* [mikael.siversson@museum.wa.gov.au], Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Western Australian Museum, 49 Kew Street, Welshpool, Western Australia 6106, Australia; Marcin Machalski [mach@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland. *Also affiliated with: Department of Environment & Agriculture, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia.     

BUILDING AN IDENTITY: ARISTOCRATIC LANDSCAPE AND CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION AT THE 16TH‐CENTURY BISHOP'S PALACE IN ODENSE

In the 16^th century, establishing and maintaining one's status and position in society was an important social factor and motivator. This article examines to what extent such efforts can be deduced from archaeological material. The subject is the 16^th‐century bishop's palace in Odense, Denmark. This case study has been encouraged by the unprecedented large‐scale archaeological excavations that have taken place in the Odense city centre in recent years. The new archaeological data allows for a contextual analysis in which the finds and structures are considered as evidence for negotiated identity expressed through materiality. The main conclusion is that a unique socioeconomic identity is expressed in the building structure, while evidence from the portable objects is more ambiguous.     

Aligning the Non-Aligned: a re-interpretation of why and how Sweden was granted access to US military materiel in the early Cold War, 1948–1952

The article argues that previous research into how Sweden came to be eligible to purchase armaments in the United States in the early Cold War has misread the historical evidence. Instead of there being a change in US policy in early 1950, as has been argued by several Cold War scholars, this article states that it was the incremental changes of Sweden’s security policy that eventually made the US government view the Swedes as possible non-aligned allies in the Cold War. The difference is crucial. The Swedish adherence to the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (CoCom) embargo is a critical factor when trying to understand the perceived change in the US policy, because this was a confirmation of the Swedish consent to US hegemony in Western Europe. Furthermore, this article argues that, contrary to what prior research has assumed, it was never part of US policy to get Sweden to join the North Atlantic Treaty (NAT or NATO later). The evidence for assuming that this was ever a US policy objective is simply lacking. The article thus presents a much needed re-evaluation of US–Swedish security relations during the late 1940s and early 1950s.