scholarly journals Evergreen Plants in Roman Britain and Beyond: Movement, Meaning and Materiality

Britannia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 135-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A. Lodwick
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Norway Spruce ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Food Plants ◽  
Stone Pine ◽  
Roman Britain ◽  
Roman World

ABSTRACTIn tandem with the large-scale translocation of food plants in the Roman world, ornamental evergreen plants and plant items were also introduced to new areas for ritual and ornamental purposes. The extent to which these new plants, primarily box and stone-pine, were grown in Britain has yet to be established. This paper presents a synthesis of archaeobotanical records of box, stone-pine and norway spruce in Roman Britain, highlighting chronological and spatial patterns. Archaeobotanical evidence is used alongside material culture to evaluate the movement of these plants and plant items into Roman Britain, their meaning and materiality in the context of human-plant relations in ornamental gardens and ritual activities. Archaeobotanical evidence for ornamental evergreen plants elsewhere in the Roman world is presented.

Roman Sculpture

Classics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Atnally Conlin
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Roman History ◽  
Roman Art ◽  
Broad Category ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Production Distribution ◽  
Greek Sculpture

Sculpture in the Roman world constitutes a broad category of diverse objects: from miniature votive statuettes deposited at rural sanctuaries to colossal portrait statues erected in apsidal niches of grand urban basilicas, from decorative plaques suspended between columns in Roman peristyle gardens to large-scale reliefs attached to conspicuous triumphal monuments. Perhaps more so than any other category of Roman material culture, sculpture has been extensively categorized and analyzed by generations of scholars. In contrast to the progressive development of styles identified (and often questioned) for Greek sculpture, Roman sculpture traditionally is divided along the same political subperiods as those used for Roman history (Republican, Augustan, Tetrarchic, etc.). Within these historical categories, two types of sculpture have been afforded primacy with respect to originality and aesthetic influence: portraiture and “historical” reliefs. More recently, scholarship has shifted away from the single-monument, typological-, or historical-based analysis to explore questions of display, patronage, production, distribution, regional divergences, gender and sexuality, reception, and socioreligious significance. Unless otherwise noted, general textbooks on Roman art are not part of this article.

Pots on mats: mat-impressed salt-extraction pottery at Chalcolithic Provadia-Solnitsata, Bulgaria

Antiquity ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Mila Andonova ◽  
Vassil Nikolov
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Salt Production ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Late Chalcolithic ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Materials Used ◽  
The Relationship

Evidence for both basket weaving and salt production is often elusive in the prehistoric archaeological record. An assemblage of Middle–Late Chalcolithic pottery from Provadia-Solnitsata in Bulgaria provides insight into these two different technologies and the relationship between them. The authors analyse sherds from vessels used in large-scale salt production, the bases of which bear the impression of woven mats. This analysis reveals the possible raw materials used in mat weaving at Provadia-Solnitsata and allows interpretation of the role of these mats in salt production at the site. The results illustrate how it is possible to see the ‘invisible’ material culture of prehistoric south-eastern Europe and its importance for production and consumption.

The Iberian Peninsula between 300 and 850

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martínez Jiménez ◽  
Isaac Sastre de Diego ◽  
Carlos Tejerizo
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Documentary Evidence ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Urban Patterns

The vast transformation of the Roman world at the end of antiquity has been a subject of broad scholarly interest for decades, but until now no book has focused specifically on the Iberian Peninsula in the period as seen through an archaeological lens. Given the sparse documentary evidence available, archaeology holds the key to a richer understanding of the developments of the period, and this book addresses a number of issues that arise from analysis of the available material culture, including questions of the process of Christianisation and Islamisation, continuity and abandonment of Roman urban patterns and forms, the end of villas and the growth of villages, and the adaptation of the population and the elites to the changing political circumstances.

Disease and Trauma in the Children from Roman Britain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary E. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Iron Deficiency Anaemia ◽  
Metabolic Diseases ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Roman Britain ◽  
Deficiency Anaemia ◽  
Roman World ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

This chapter explores our current knowledge of pathology and trauma in Romano-British non-adult samples focusing on the children from the late Roman cemetery of Poundbury Camp, Dorset. Evidence for metabolic diseases (rickets, scurvy, iron deficiency anaemia), fractures, thalassemia, congenital disorders and tuberculosis, are presented with emphasis on what their presence tells us about the impact of the Romans in Britain. Many of the large Roman sites from the UK were excavated long before diagnostic criteria for recognizing pathology in child remains were fully developed, and European studies tend only to focus on anaemia and its link to malaria. A lack of environmental evidence for the sites from which our skeletal remains are derived is also problematic, and this chapter hopes to set the agenda for future research into the health and life of children living in the Roman World.

scholarly journals Evaluation of modeled global carbon dynamics: analysis based on global carbon flux and above-ground biomass data

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bao-Lin Xue ◽  
Qinghua Guo ◽  
Tianyu Hu ◽  
Yongcai Wang ◽  
Shengli Tao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Carbon Flux ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Gross Primary Production ◽  
Carbon Dynamics ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
Carbon Cycles ◽  
Ground Biomass ◽  
Global Carbon

Abstract. Dynamic global vegetation models are useful tools for the simulation of carbon dynamics on regional and global scales. However, even the most validated models are usually hampered by the poor availability of global biomass data in the model validation, especially on regional/global scales. Here, taking the integrated biosphere simulator model (IBIS) as an example, we evaluated the modeled carbon dynamics, including gross primary production (GPP) and potential above-ground biomass (AGB), on the global scale. The IBIS model was constrained by both in situ GPP and plot-level AGB data collected from the literature. Independent validation showed that IBIS could reproduce GPP and evapotranspiration with acceptable accuracy at site and global levels. On the global scale, the IBIS-simulated total AGB was similar to those obtained in other studies. However, discrepancies were observed between the model-derived and observed spatial patterns of AGB for Amazonian forests. The differences among the AGB spatial patterns were mainly caused by the single-parameter set of the model used. This study showed that different meteorological inputs can also introduce substantial differences in AGB on the global scale. Further analysis showed that this difference is small compared with parameter-induced differences. The conclusions of our research highlight the necessity of considering the heterogeneity of key model physiological parameters in modeling global AGB. The research also shows that to simulate large-scale carbon dynamics, both carbon flux and AGB data are necessary to constrain the model. The main conclusions of our research will help to improve model simulations of global carbon cycles.

scholarly journals Amplification and Suppression of Distinct Brain-wide Activity Patterns by Catecholamines

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
RL van den Brink ◽  
S Nieuwenhuis ◽  
TH Donner
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Network Dynamics ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Heterogeneous Distribution ◽  
Neurotransmitter Systems ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Catecholamine Levels

ABSTRACTThe widely projecting catecholaminergic (norepinephrine and dopamine) neurotransmitter systems profoundly shape the state of neuronal networks in the forebrain. Current models posit that the effects of catecholaminergic modulation on network dynamics are homogenous across the brain. However, the brain is equipped with a variety of catecholamine receptors with distinct functional effects and heterogeneous density across brain regions. Consequently, catecholaminergic effects on brain-wide network dynamics might be more spatially specific than assumed. We tested this idea through the analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measurements performed in humans (19 females, 5 males) at ‘rest’ under pharmacological (atomoxetine-induced) elevation of catecholamine levels. We used a linear decomposition technique to identify spatial patterns of correlated fMRI signal fluctuations that were either increased or decreased by atomoxetine. This yielded two distinct spatial patterns, each expressing reliable and specific drug effects. The spatial structure of both fluctuation patterns resembled the spatial distribution of the expression of catecholamine receptor genes: α1 norepinephrine receptors (for the fluctuation pattern: placebo > atomoxetine), ‘D2-like’ dopamine receptors (pattern: atomoxetine > placebo), and β norepinephrine receptors (for both patterns, with correlations of opposite sign). We conclude that catecholaminergic effects on the forebrain are spatially more structured than traditionally assumed and at least in part explained by the heterogeneous distribution of various catecholamine receptors. Our findings link catecholaminergic effects on large-scale brain networks to low-level characteristics of the underlying neurotransmitter systems. They also provide key constraints for the development of realistic models of neuromodulatory effects on large-scale brain network dynamics.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTThe catecholamines norepinephrine and dopamine are an important class of modulatory neurotransmitters. Because of the widespread and diffuse release of these neuromodulators, it has commonly been assumed that their effects on neural interactions are homogenous across the brain. Here, we present results from the human brain that challenge this view. We pharmacologically increased catecholamine levels and imaged the effects on the spontaneous covariations between brain-wide fMRI signals at ‘rest’. We identified two distinct spatial patterns of covariations: one that was amplified and another that was suppressed by catecholamines. Each pattern was associated with the heterogeneous spatial distribution of the expression of distinct catecholamine receptor genes. Our results provide novel insights into the catecholaminergic modulation of large-scale human brain dynamics.

Are large scale models useful? A case of nested model domains for assessing current and future stream runoff and sediments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alena Bartosova ◽  
Berit Arheimer ◽  
Alban de Lavenne ◽  
René Capell ◽  
Johan Strömqvist
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Aridity Index ◽  
Global Climate Models ◽  
Hydrological Models ◽  
Nested Model ◽  
Nested Models ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
Scale Models

<p>Continental and global dynamic hydrological models have emerged recently as tools for e.g. flood forecasting, large-scale climate impact analyses, and estimation of time-dynamic water fluxes into sea basins. One such tool is a dynamic process-based rainfall-runoff and water quality model Hydrological Predictions for Environment (HYPE). We present and compare historical simulations of runoff, soil moisture, aridity, and sediment concentrations for three nested model domains using global, continental (Europe), and national (Sweden) catchment-based HYPE applications. Future impacts on hydrological variables from changing climate were then assessed using the global and continental HYPE applications with ensembles based on 3 CMIP5 global climate models (GCMs).</p><p>Simulated historical sediment concentrations varied considerably among the nested models in spatial patterns while runoff values were more similar. Regardless of the variation, the global model was able to provide information on climate change impacts comparable to those from the continental and national models for hydrological indicators. Output variables that were calibrated, e.g. runoff, were shown to result in more reliable and consistent projected changes among the different model scales than derived variables such as the actual aridity index. The comparison was carried out for ensemble averages as well as individual GCMs to illustrate the variability and the need for robust assessments.</p><p>Global hydrological models are shown to be valuable tools for e.g. first screenings of climate change effects and detection of spatial patterns and can be useful to provide information on current and future hydrological states at various domains. The challenge is (1) in deciding when we should use the large-scale models and (2) in interpreting the results, considering the uncertainty of the model results and quality of data especially at the global scale. Comparison across nested domains demonstrates the significance of scale which needs to be considered when interpreting the impacts alongside with model performance.</p><p>Bartosova et al, 2021: Large-scale hydrological and sediment modeling in nested domains under current and changing climate. Accepted to Special Issue Journal of Hydraulic Engineering.</p>

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