Improvements in Archaeomagnetic Dating in Western Europe from the Late Bronze to the Late Iron Ages: An Alternative to the Problem of the Hallstattian Radiocarbon Plateau

We present a new curve of the directional secular variation of the geomagnetic field in Western Europe between 1500 bce and 200 ce . Its computation relies on a Bayesian framework. The fast secular variation during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages makes archaeomagnetic dating efficient with a respective precision of 150–200 and 60–100 years during these periods. The Bayesian method also provides posterior date distributions that refine the dating of reference data, especially during the period of the Hallstattian radiocarbon plateau. Archaeomagnetism becomes a valuable alternative to radiocarbon and will help to improve the archaeological chronologies.     

Habermas’s Theological Turn and European Integration

Abstract

Jürgen Habermas’s recent work is defined by two trends: an engagement with the realm of the sacred and a concern for the future of the European Union. Despite the apparent lack of connection between these themes, I argue that the early history of European integration has important implications for Habermas’s conclusions about the place of faith in public life. Although Habermas’s work on religion suggests that the sacred contains important normative resources for postsecular democracies, he continues to bar explicitly religious justifications from discourse within state institutions. I question this exclusion of faith by reconstructing the role that political Catholicism played in the foundation of the European project. By focusing on two of the most important actors involved in the creation of the first European Community, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, I show how explicitly religious reasons can broaden political perspectives, resulting in the creation of new, inclusive, postnational forms of communal life. Pushing Habermas to accept the implications of his theological turn, I argue that pluralistic, nondogmatic and nonauthoritarian religious claims should be allowed to enter into the formal public sphere through a discursively determined interpretation of secular translation.     

Morphological changes in the shape of the non‐pathological bony knee joint with age: a morphometric analysis of the distal femur and proximal tibia in three populations of known age at death

This study examines possible morphological variation in the knee joint of Homo sapiens with increasing age in ostensively healthy and non‐pathological distal femora and proximal tibiae. Throughout the lifetime of each individual, the hard tissue of the knee undergoes considerable remodelling as a response to biomechanical stresses, changes in bone microarchitecture and reduction of bone mineral content as a concomitant of ageing. The knee is also subject to greater levels of degenerative joint disease than any other joint. If death occurs whilst such diseases are in the earliest stages, initial bone changes may not be visually obvious in museum specimens. If such specimens are used for comparative analyses, it is hypothesised that changes might render it problematic if all ages are conglomerated into discrete samples. This study therefore investigates the degree to which the distal femur and proximal tibia change shape during ageing and, if changes are present, whether they are expressed similarly in males and females. It also examines whether changes are of greater magnitude than those morphological differences which might exist between populations. In an example population of African‐Americans, results indicate that there is a statistically significant difference in shape between age groups and those differences become progressively greater between the youngest and oldest adults. Results also show that although morphological variation caused by ageing is apparent, those shape differences attributable to sexual dimorphism are more powerful. When two additional populations are analysed jointly with the African‐Americans (Caucasian Americans and the European Spitalfields sample), results indicate that inter‐population shape differences are considerably greater than differences caused by increasing age. Results imply that it is justifiable to combine specimens of all ages into discrete samples for comparative purposes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How Was Edmond Halley’s Map of Magnetic Declination (1701) Constructed?

Edmond Halley made two scientific voyages in the Atlantic Ocean as captain of the HMS Paramore between 1698 and 1700. Following these voyages he published the first map showing lines of equal magnetic declination in 1701. Halley did not reveal how he constructed the map, however, and it remains unknown. In this study, a construction procedure is hypothesized that uses mathematical tools that were available in his day, namely arithmetical averages and Isaac Newton’s method of divided difference for fitting a polynomial curve to data. To enable his map construction, a method is suggested whereby Halley could have created new data to augment the situations where insufficient data were collected.     

Studies on Amerindian dogs, 2: Variation in early peruvian dogs

Remains of dogs have been discovered in Peru for over a hundred years, but relatively little information is available on them. Dating evidence, especially by the radiocarbon method, suggests that the skulls of dogs considered in detail here range from 1030 BC to 1324 AD, with the majority belonging to the past two millennia. Craniometric information is presented on a series of early Peruvian specimens now preserved in Lima and London, representing the majority of material as yet unpublished, and the largest sample so far studied. Additional Peruvian data were also collected from the literature, as well as comparable information on some other Amerindian dog series. It has been possible to indicate that two distinct forms are represented in the Peruvian material.     

欧美旅游者在秦始皇帝陵博物院的情感体验时空变化

以时空思维为指导,从情感社会学、认知心理学、时间地理学等多学科角度,深入地展开了对旅游者情感体验的研究。采用访谈、问卷等方法,系统探索了欧美旅游者情感体验的影响因素。基于秦始皇帝陵博物院实际情况与欧美旅游者的表达习惯,参考双因素情感模型,确定基本情感词汇,建立情感轮分析模型进行数据收集,计算旅游者情感体验值。从时间、空间及路径3个角度,探索秦始皇帝陵博物院欧美旅游者情感体验的时间、空间变化规律和路径变化规律。研究发现秦始皇帝陵博物院欧美旅游者的积极情感体验整体呈倒“U”型波动,消极情感体验整体呈“U”型波动;欧美旅游者情感体验的空间分布表现出聚集节点与景区主要展馆高度契合的特点;旅游者的游览路径和游览顺序会影响其情感体验。     

A Discrete Variant in the Third Plantar Tarsometatarsal Joint: Patterns of Occurrence in a Prehistoric Population from West-central Illinois

A small pit in the articular surfaces of the third tarsometatarsal joint has been noted with particularly high frequency in North American Indians. This pit varies in depth, and covers most of the inferior third of the articular surfaces of the third metatarsal and the lateral cuneiform; it is accompanied by remodelling of the inferior surfaces of the bones involved. In the present study, patterns of occurrence are examined in a prehistoric skeletal population from west-central Illinois. This population is extremely well preserved, enabling a thorough examination of feet as well as hands for most individuals. The sample included 496 adults and juveniles above the age of 6 years. Of this total population, 18 per cent exhibit the variation, which occurs more frequently in females and is unrelated to size. Furthermore, 29 per cent of the individuals in which it occurs exhibit this variant only unilaterally, with no significant side differences. Various lesions, trauma and acquired or activity-related aetiologies are explored, as are the patterns of sex association, occurrence near an area of ligamentous attachment and lack of age and size association. It is hypothesized that a discrete genetic trait is represented in the third tarsometatarsal joint of this population in the form of an anomalous interosseous plantar ligament. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Osteoarchaeol., 7 : 124–132 (1997) No. of Figures: 3. No. of Tables: 2. No. of References: 26.     

农村土地流转的空间差异及成因分析——以陕西关中三县为例

以西安市长安区、渭南市澄城县、宝鸡市岐山县为考察点,采用问卷调查法和SPSS软件对三县土地流转现状进行实证分析,以查明不同区域土地流转差异情况和造成土地流转差异的影响因素。结果表明,由于经济发展水平不同,三县区土地流转达成比例相差较大,流转规模、流转方式有很大不同,流转价格更是有较大差别,经济发达地区有较强的土地"非粮化"现象,土地流转更接近市场行为。非农收入水平、农户的受教育程度、各类土地流转中介和管理机构的完善程度、农户的社会保障程度等对土地流转有显著影响,且影响方式均为正向,并且对流出率的影响超过对流入率的影响。     

In Defence of the Secular? Islamisation,Christians and (New) Politics in Urbane Malaysia

Besides the clarion call for a “new politics” by opposition political parties, a significant catalyst that arguably swayed Christian electoral choices in the landmark Malaysian general elections of March 2008 was the counsel by religious leaders to safeguard “the secular state”. This action was prompted by recent high profile controversial legal cases that were perceived to be a serious erosion of the freedom of religion clause guaranteed in the secularist Federal Constitution. In this essay, I not only examine the recent antecedents of this course of action but also delve into the more distant past in order to draw out how the apparently impervious categories of “religion” and “the secular” have been implicated in the structuring of social and political imaginaries in Malaysia.     

The Study of Chinese Internet Slang from the Perspective of Sociolinguistics

网络语言是随着互联网的风靡而兴起的一种新的交际语言。网络语言也以其简约的语风、独特的语法构造、朗朗上口的特点广为流传。本文从社会语言学理论出发,从语言变体、言语社区、以及语言变化的社会语言出发深入浅出的分析网络语言的构成及其稳定性。