Cats, Crocodiles, Cattle, and More: Initial Steps Toward Establishing a Chronology of Ancient Egyptian Animal Mummies

Radiocarbon ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 595-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascale Richardin ◽  
Stéphanie Porcier ◽  
Salima Ikram ◽  
Gaëtan Louarn ◽  
Didier Berthet

AbstractThe ancient Egyptians mummified animals as part of cultic activity from the Late Period into the Roman era (7th century BC to the 4th century AD). Necropolises have provided millions of animal mummies, reflecting the religious fervor of Egyptians with regard to sacred animal cults during this period. Despite the number of sites containing mummies, and the number of mummies themselves, surprisingly little is known with regard to the nuances in the dating of the cults’ popularity and activities. As part of a multidisciplinary project, we have conducted a series of radiocarbon dates based on a group of animal mummies from the collection of the Musée des Confluences in Lyon, France. Thus, 63 specimens of animal mummies and their wrappings were analyzed to provide a range of dates for this practice. Results show that some correlations can be made between the popularity of particular species and the time period in which they were mummified. Monkeys and goats appear to have been among the first mummified species (from 800 BC), while antelopes appear to be a later addition to the corpus (30 BC to 4th century AD), thereby reflecting changes in thought processes, religious beliefs, and economic imperatives over time.

Radiocarbon dates have been measured which were obtained from historically well-dated Egyptian samples belonging to the time period from the I to XXX dynasties. The radiocarbon and historical chronologies go hand in hand for the entire period in which historical time placement can be indepen­dently verified by astronomical calculations, that is up to the time of Sesostris III of the XII dynasty. From this point on a calibration based on an empirical relationship between conventional radiocarbon dates and dendrochronologically determined wood ages derived from bristlecone pine approximates the presently recognized historical chronology of what amounts to mostly the time of the Old Kingdom in the 3rd millennium b. c. A number of reasons seeking to explain the differences between historical and radiocarbon chronologies in that millennium are offered. So far, conventional radiocarbon measurements of ancient Egyptian samples can be converted to dates coming close to fitting the presently accepted historical chronology by calibration against the bristlecone pine correlation. However, some ancient Egyptian dates appear to correlate better to the historical chronology if only the 5730-year half-life is used.


CLARA ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Müller

The Museum of Cultural History in Oslo is home to a small but fine ancient Egyptian collection. For my Magister thesis at the University of Heidelberg, I had the pleasure of conducting research on the 98 scarabs and scaraboid seals in the collection. The study focused on the bottom motifs and the multifunctional purposes for their owners as well as the important insights they provide into common religious beliefs in ancient Egyptian society. This short overview of the research conducted in Oslo presents all twelve attested bottom motifs and introduces the most remarkable objects in the collection. Covering a time span from the Twelfth Dynasty until the Late Period and most probably the Roman Period, the scarabs and scaraboid seals in the museum bear testimony to 2000 years of cultural history, providing fascinating details about the religious beliefs of the common people as well as demonstrating the importance of these objects in everyday life.


2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.J. Morley ◽  
M. Crane ◽  
J.W. Lewis

AbstractThe effect of exposingLymnaea stagnalis(Gastropoda: Pulmonata), infected withDiplostomum spathaceum(Trematoda: Diplostomatidae), to 100 μg l−1cadmium for 7 days on survival characteristics (survival, tail loss, decaudized cercarial life-span) of emerged cercariae was investigated. Exposure ofL. stagnalisto cadmium resulted in significantly increasedD. spathaceumcercarial survival and an inhibited tail loss compared to controls. The normal parallel relationship which exists over time between decreasing cercarial survival and increasing tail loss in controls was changed in cercariae from cadmium-exposed hosts with an increased proportion of cercarial deaths occurring without tail loss. The decaudized cercarial life-span over the survival period of the cercarial population did not significantly change. However comparisons between individuals decaudized during the initial 24 h time period with those which were decaudized during the final period of cercarial survival showed a significantly altered life span which did not occur in the control population. As a potential indicator of penetration ‘fitness’ comparisons were also undertaken between control and exposed cercariae decaudized during the initial 24 h time period, which revealed that the decaudized cercarial life-span from the exposed hosts was significantly different from controls. This may have important implications for the ability of cercariae to migrate through the tissues of their target host. The importance and relevance of these results to parasite transmission are discussed.


2006 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 230-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Budd

Concerns about higher education abound, and these include concerns about productivity. The present study extends two previous examinations of faculty publishing productivity covering the years 1991 to 1993 and 1995 to 1997. Both members of ARL and a group of institutions included in ACRL’s data set are included. For both groups there are some increases in mean total numbers of publications, although the rate of increase has decreased since the second time period. Per capita rates of publication demonstrate an even flatter pattern. In recent years, there have been some changes in the dynamics of universities’ faculties; there are more part-time faculty and more faculty who are not on the tenure track. These factors, coupled with the publishing data, point to activities that all academic librarians should be aware of.


IMP Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malena Ingemansson Havenvid ◽  
Elsebeth Holmen ◽  
Åse Linné ◽  
Ann-Charlott Pedersen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship continuity across projects among actors in the construction industry, and to discuss why and how such continuity takes place. Design/methodology/approach The authors draw on the results from four in-depth case studies illustrating different strategies for pursuing relationship continuity. The results are analysed and discussed in light of the oft-mentioned strategies suggested by Mintzberg (1987): emergent, deliberate and deliberately emergent strategies. Furthermore, the ARA-model is used to discuss why the relationship continuity strategies are pursued, and which factors might enable and constrain the relationship continuity. Findings The main findings are twofold. First, the authors found that the strategy applied for pursuing relationship continuity may, in one-time period, contain one type of strategy or a mix of strategy types. Second, the type of strategy may evolve over time, from one type of strategy being more pronounced in one period, to other strategies being more pronounced in later periods. The strategies applied by construction firms and their counterparts can thus contain elements of emergent, deliberate and deliberately emergent strategies, in varying degrees over time. It is also shown that the strategies of the involved actors co-evolve as a result of interaction. Also, the main reasons for pursuing continuity appear to lie in the re-use and development of important resources and activities across projects to create efficiency and the possibility to develop mutual orientation, commitment and trust over time, and thus reduce uncertainty. Research limitations/implications Further empirical studies are needed to support the findings. For managers, the main implication is that relationship continuity can arise as part of an emerging interaction pattern between firms or as part of a planned strategy, but that elements of both might be needed to sustain it. Originality/value The authors combine Mintzberg’s strategy concepts with the ARA-model to bring new light to the widely debated issue of discontinuity and fragmentation in the construction industry.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 237802311881180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan J. B. Mijs

In this figure I describe the long trend in popular belief in meritocracy across the Western world between 1930 and 2010. Studying trends in attitudes is limited by the paucity of survey data that can be compared across countries and over time. Here, I show how to complement survey waves with cohort-level data. Repeated surveys draw on a representative sample of the population to describe the typical beliefs held by citizens in a given country and period. Leveraging the fact that citizens surveyed in a given year were born in different time-periods allows for a comparison of beliefs across birth cohorts. The latter overlaps with the former, but considerably extends the time period covered by the data. Taken together, the two measures give a “triangulated” longitudinal record of popular belief in meritocracy. I find that in most countries, popular belief in meritocracy is (much) stronger for more recent periods and cohorts.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Molouki ◽  
Daniel Bartels ◽  
Oleg Urminsky

A one-year longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the accuracy of people’s assessmentsof their own personal change over time. We compared people’s predicted, actual, and recalledchange in their personality, values, and preferences over this time period. On average,participants underestimated the absolute magnitude of their personal change, yet simultaneouslyoverestimated their net improvement, in both prediction and recall. This effect was due to anasymmetry whereby people selectively neglected negative changes, especially prospectively.Although participants in our sample both improved and declined over the year, they were morelikely to remember past improvements than declines, and made nearly uniformly positivepredictions of future change. We discuss how the current findings reconcile researchdemonstrating expectations of personal improvement (e.g., Wilson & Ross, 2001; Kanten &Teigen, 2008) with other research that suggests people overpredict their personal stability(Quoidbach, Gilbert, & Wilson, 2013).


PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11902
Author(s):  
Corinne B. Tandy ◽  
Agricola Odoi

Background Pertussis is a toxin-mediated respiratory illness caused by Bordetella pertussis that can result in severe complications and death, particularly in infants. Between 2008 and 2011, children less than 3 months old accounted for 83% of the pertussis deaths in the United States. Understanding the geographic disparities in the distribution of pertussis risk and identifying high risk geographic areas is necessary for guiding resource allocation and public health control strategies. Therefore, this study investigated geographic disparities and temporal changes in pertussis risk in Florida from 2010 to 2018. It also investigated socioeconomic and demographic predictors of the identified disparities. Methods Pertussis data covering the time period 2010–2018 were obtained from Florida HealthCHARTS web interface. Spatial patterns and temporal changes in geographic distribution of pertussis risk were assessed using county-level choropleth maps for the time periods 2010–2012, 2013–2015, 2016–2018 and 2010–2018. Tango’s flexible spatial scan statistics were used to identify high-risk spatial clusters which were displayed in maps. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was used to identify significant predictors of county-level risk. Residuals of the OLS model were assessed for model assumptions including spatial autocorrelation. Results County-level pertussis risk varied from 0 to 116.31 cases per 100,000 people during the study period. A total of 11 significant (p < 0.05) spatial clusters were identified with risk ratios ranging from 1.5 to 5.8. Geographic distribution remained relatively consistent over time with areas of high risk persisting in the western panhandle, northeastern coast, and along the western coast. Although county level pertussis risks generally increased from 2010–2012 to 2013–2015, risk tended to be lower during the 2016–2018 time period. Significant predictors of county-level pertussis risk were rurality, percentage of females, and median income. Counties with high pertussis risk tended to be rural (p = 0.021), those with high median incomes (p = 0.039), and those with high percentages of females (p < 0.001). Conclusion There is evidence that geographic disparities exist and have persisted over time in Florida. This study highlights the application and importance of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology and spatial statistical/epidemiological tools in identifying areas of highest disease risk so as to guide resource allocation to reduce health disparities and improve health for all.


Author(s):  
Michael J. Saks ◽  
Barbara A. Spellman

Rules of evidence are designed to facilitate trials by controlling what evidence may be presented at trial. Those rules came into being, and evolved over time, due to changes in trial process and structure – especially following the rise of adversarial procedure, whereby control over the marshaling and presentation of facts shifted from judges to lawyers. Refinements and reforms continue to be undertaken to try to improve the scope and clarity of the rules. Trial judges must not only apply the rules, they also have the discretion to make rulings in light of their expectations of the impact they think the evidence will have on jurors. This task involves metacognition: one human trying to estimate the thought processes of others. Thus, evidence rulemakers have been and are, effectively, applied psychologists. The rules of evidence reflect their understanding of the psychological processes affecting, and capabilities and limitations of witnesses, lawyers and jurors. Psychological research and methods provide an additional source of insight and assistance in that endeavor. Better psychological understanding should lead to more effective rules. Psychologists typically employ the scientific method: empirically testing hypotheses in an effort to discover which are valid understandings of how people perceive, store, and retrieve information. To evaluate evidence rules, one could conduct experiments directly on a rule, or borrow from existing knowledge developed in basic research and see whether those understandings support existing or proposed evidence rules.


Author(s):  
Ruth Boeker

This chapter brings together the results of the previous chapters and shows what role Locke’s moral, religious, metaphysical, and epistemic background beliefs play in his thinking about persons and personal identity. Locke breaks with traditional metaphysical debates, first, by adopting a metaphysically agnostic stance with regard to the materiality or immateriality of thinking substances and, second, by arguing for a kind-dependent approach to questions of identity over time. Locke’s moral and legal conception of a person, according to which persons are subjects of accountability, is informed by his moral and religious beliefs. His thinking about moral accountability can be challenged and has been challenged by his contemporaries. Although Locke has good reasons for distinguishing our idea of a person from that of a human being and of a substance, these reasons are based on his metaphysical agnostic views and his religious belief in an afterlife.


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