The Vita Columbani in Merovingian Gaul

This paper considers the evidence for the dissemination of the Vita Columbani . Using a number of seventh-century texts as well as the Vita itself, it proposes that the Vita Columbani had a wider dissemination in Merovingian Gaul than has hitherto been acknowledged. It suggests that the Vita was not merely confined to monastic and ecclesiastical circles, but was also intended for a royal and aristocratic audience closely linked to the Columbanian communities.     

Micro‐CT Imaging and Analysis of Enamel Defects on the Early Late Pleistocene Xujiayao Juvenile

Dental pathologies and enamel defects in East Asian hominins have rarely been reported. Here, we systematically document and describe a suite of enamel defects in the Xujiayao juvenile maxilla, an East Asian hominin from the early Late Pleistocene that may represent an unknown hominin lineage. In addition, we determine the chronology of growth disruptions represented by matched linear enamel hypoplasias, evaluate the long‐held hypothesis that the large brownish pit on the I¹ is evidence of dental fluorosis and assess the utility of micro‐computed tomography (micro‐CT) techniques in analyzing enamel defects. With the use of binocular microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and micro‐CT imaging techniques, the Xujiayao teeth were found to exhibit a high number of pit‐form defects seldom seen in the fossil record. By matching the timing of linear enamel hyperplasia across multiple teeth, a minimum of five developmental disruptions were identified, indicating that the Xujiayao juvenile experienced several growth disturbances during its short lifespan. Our SEM and micro‐CT analyses suggest that the large pit on the I¹ is an enamel hypoplasia due to its morphology and pre‐eruptive enamel thinning. It is not a post‐eruptive fluorotic pit, and there is no evidence of chalkiness or opacity associated with dental fluorosis. The micro‐CT technique made it possible to verify the presence of enamel hypoplasia and to more precisely quantify defect dimensions, especially in unerupted teeth and shallow hypoplasias that are difficult to detect by binocular microscopy or SEM. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

"The very model of modern urban decay": outsiders' narratives of industry and urban decline in Gary, Indiana

In the eyes of many, the steel city of Gary, Indiana, entered a period of decline in the middle of the twentieth century. The once great city was seemingly racked by job loss, crime, racial division, or moral decay. Which of these caused the decline of the city depended upon the perspective of the story's teller. Each narrative of decline contained a different moment where the city went wrong and it began to decay. For some it was the moral decay of the 1950s, for others it was the rise of black power and politics in the 1960s, for still others it was the white backlash against civil rights in the 1970s. Some saw a microcosm of America, some saw a dangerous cauldron of race and ethnicity. The source of decline and the origins of the urban crisis were largely in the eye of the beholder. The stories people chose to tell about Gary mattered because for much of the twentieth century, Gary was at the center of American narratives about industrialism. These were outsider narratives of decline read onto the Indiana steel city because Gary represented larger debates. People read onto Gary their changing expectations and anxieties about industry and industrial spaces. This article traces the changing attitudes outsiders held toward Gary from the middle of the twentieth century through the period of deindustrialization at the end of the century and examines American narratives about deindustrialization and urban decline.