Search results for "0601 history and archaeology"
showing 10 items of 699 documents
Science and law in the time of cholera: the mystery of the biscuits in Torroja (1865)
2018
By focussing on a case of collective poisoning in 1865, four features of forensic cultures are analysed: technologies for detection, authorized voices, regulations in action and the predominant social anxieties. Local newspapers and archival documents kept in the medical academies of Barcelona and Madrid are analysed. The analysis shows the tensions between various types of proof employed in legal medicine and the ambiguities between epidemic diseases and poisoning accidents. In the first section, I review the fears caused by the cholera epidemic in 1865, which was the first explanation of the accident. The changes of popular perception are also discussed by analysing contemporary newspaper…
Reconstruction of human subsistence and husbandry strategies from the Iberian Early Neolithic: A stable isotope approach
2018
Objectives The Early Neolithic involved an important social and economic shift that can be tested not only with the material culture, but also through biomolecular approaches. The Iberian Peninsula presents few Early Neolithic sites where fauna and humans can be analyzed together from an isotopic perspective. Here we present an isotopic study on the site of Cueva de Chaves as an example for understanding the dietary and economical changes that took place during Early Neolithic in Iberia. Material and methods Here we apply carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis to bone collagen from 4 humans and 64 faunal samples from 14 different species. The large dataset belongs to the same unique ch…
THE BLACK GOLD THAT CAME FROM THE SEA. A REVIEW OF OBSIDIAN STUDIES AT THE ISLAND OF USTICA
2018
Volcanism has produced a natural glass called obsidian that during prehistoric times, from Neolithic to the Metal Ages, was considered a valuable raw material in order to produce efficient cutting tools. Ustica, a small and solitary island in the southwestern Tyrrhenian Sea, despite being volcanic, did not generate any obsidian. Yet the island's soils return large quantities of obsidian fragments, residues of prehistoric use. Where did this material, defined by some archaeologists as the Black Gold of prehistory, come from? This article reviews the archaeometric studies on Ustica’s obsidians, carried out since the middle o f the 1990s, to answer this question. The obsidians of Ustica have b…
Application of field portable EDXRF spectrometry to analysis of pigments of Levantine rock art
2010
The results of the analyses of elemental composition of red and black pigments of Levantine rock art from La Saltadora rock shelters (Valltorta gorge, Castellon, Spain) are presented in this paper. Nondestructive analyses were carried out using a portable energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometer developed for in situ analysis. The results revealed the strong presence of calcium in all the analyzed locations due to the contribution of the underlying calcareous bedrock and the overlying crust. Iron is the main element detected in red pigments and manganese in black pigments. Iron and calcium ratios have been found indicative of the degree of preservation of the pictorial laye…
Perceptual Self-Awareness in Seneca, Augustine, and Olivi
2013
This article traces the philosophical idea of self-perception from the times of ancient Stoicism to the thirteenth century by analyzing the views of Seneca, Augustine, and Olivi. The central argument is that they defend the same idea according to which self-preservation and the appropriate use of one’s body requires awareness thereof, despite the obvious contextual differences and the uncertainty of direct historical connections between the authors. They think that this kind of self-awareness does not belong only to human beings, because irrational animals need to perceive their bodies, the functions of their bodily parts, and to perceive themselves as living beings in order to act appropri…
Double Objective in Mind: Translating American Management Ideas in the Context of Cold War Finland
2021
The transfer of American management ideas was a central part of the Cold War struggle over ideologies. A key mediator was the European Recovery Program, which conveyed American influences to European management specialists. However, a direct influence was not always possible, as in Finland, which officially blocked assistance because of foreign policy considerations. Still, it was among the first countries to follow Harvard University’s lead in launching advanced management training. We examine how and why the focal actors adopted the American model of executive education, and how they managed to translate foreign ideas persuasively to the local business elite. The translation of executive …
Effect of different co-solvents on biodiesel production from various low-cost feedstocks using Sr–Al double oxides
2020
The main objective of the present paper comprises the investigation of biodiesel production from low-cost feedstock such as lard oil and waste cooking oil (WCO) using Sr-Al double oxides. Nanocatalyst was characterised FTIR, XRD, SEM, TEM, BET and XPS. The Sr:Al with 3:1 molar ratio showed the best catalytic activity in the conversion of both oils to fatty acid methyl ester. The effect of acetone and tetrahydrofuran (THF) as a co-solvent for transesterification were compared and the best result was obtained with 5 % THF. The mutual effect of the nanocatalyst and co-solvent on biodiesel production was investigated. The characterisation of biodiesel synthesised from lard oil and WCO was perfo…
Income inequality and famine mortality: Evidence from the Finnish famine of the 1860s
2021
This article examines whether economic inequality intensified the adverse effects of harvest, price, and income shocks during a famine. Using a parish-level longitudinal dataset from the Finnish famine of the 1860s, it shows that a substantial proportion of the excess mortality experienced during the famine resulted from a decline in agricultural production, a decline in incomes, and a surge in food prices. The findings indicate that the adverse effects of food output fluctuations were intensified by increasing income inequality and decreasing average income, while the market-transmitted shocks were weakened by a contraction of disposable income. The results are corroborated with multiple a…
El Imperio romano y la India en época de Augusto. Replanteamiento de las relaciones diplomáticas = The Roman Empire and India in the Time of Augustus…
2018
Este artículo trata acerca de tres aspectos vinculados con las embajadas que recibió Augusto durante su reinado procedentes de la India: los motivos concretos que condujeron a su envío; un intento de identificación del origen preciso de dichos emisarios; las misiones y objetivos de dichas embajadas indias.This article deals with three aspects related to the embassies that Augustus received from India during his reign: The specific reasons that led to their sending; an attempt to identify the precise origin of such emissaries; the missions and objectives of these Indian embassies.
RPAS AND TLS TECNIQUES FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY: THE CASE STUDY OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF ERACLEA MINOA (ITALY)
2018
Abstract. Digital documentation and 3D modelling of archaeological sites are important for understanding, definition and recognition of the values of the sites and of the archaeological finds. The most part of archaeological sites are outdoor location, but a cover to preserve the ruins protects often parts of the sites. The possibility to acquire data with different techniques and merge them by using a single reference system allows creating multi-parties models in which 3D representations of the individual objects can be inserted. The paper presents the results of a recent study carried out by Geomatics Laboratory of University of Palermo for the digital documentation and 3D modelling of E…