Tracking mass death during the fall of Rome’s empire (I)

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 325-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael McCormick
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Roman History ◽  
Gastrointestinal Infections ◽  
Mass Graves ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health And Mortality ◽  
Over Time

This is the first part of a two-part article; the second, “A first inventory of mass graves from late antiquity”, will appear in JRA 29 (2016) as well as on the CJO website.The Roman empire was more than a system of institutions, beliefs and socio-economic structures; it was a concentration of human capital, physically located in the demographic strength of the population. Human health and mortality crucially affected, and reflected, the economy. As less optimistic interpretations of Late Roman history regain traction, it becomes important to find ways to test such interpretations, including their biological manifestations and implications. One approach would be to map over time and space large-scale violence and disease-driven surges in mortality, as well as chronic factors that may have more gradually eroded the empire’s human capital. Biomolecular archaeology and pathogen genetics are sparking novel explorations of ancient diseases, which ranged from the spectacularly acute to the chronic – malaria, leprosy or tuberculosis –, not to mention seasonal spikes in more routine gastrointestinal infections and the like. Individually and especially cumulatively, the impact of acute and chronic factors could have been of considerable magnitude. The same is true for environmental conditions; thanks to the advances of paleoclimate science, we now know that they too varied unexpectedly, and surely could affect population health.

scholarly journals China’s Investments in Germany and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-119
Author(s):  
Xinming Xia ◽  
Wan-Hsin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Know How ◽  
Advanced Technologies ◽  
The Future ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Chinese State ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Gain Access ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThis paper analyses how China’s investments in Germany have developed over time and the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in this regard, based on four different datasets, including our own survey in mid-2020. Our analysis shows that Germany is currently one of the most attractive investment destinations for Chinese investors. Chinese state-owned enterprises have played an important role as investors in Germany — particularly in large-scale projects. The COVID-19 pandemic has had some negative but rather temporary effects on Chinese investments in Germany. Germany is expected to stay attractive to Chinese investors who seek to gain access to advanced technologies and know-how in the future.

Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Roman History ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Imperial Rome ◽  
The Past ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Material Sources ◽  
Close Relationship

This volume approaches three key concepts in Roman history — gender, memory and identity — and demonstrates the significance of their interaction in all social levels and during all periods of Imperial Rome. When societies, as well as individuals, form their identities, remembrance and references to the past play a significant role. The aim of Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World is to cast light on the constructing and the maintaining of both public and private identities in the Roman Empire through memory, and to highlight, in particular, the role of gender in that process. While approaching this subject, the contributors to this volume scrutinise both the literature and material sources, pointing out how widespread the close relationship between gender, memory and identity was. A major aim of Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World as a whole is to point out the significance of the interaction between these three concepts in both the upper and lower levels of Roman society, and how it remained an important question through the period from Augustus right into Late Antiquity.

Appropriation: A New Approach to Religious Transformation in Late Antiquity

Numen ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Jitse H. F. Dijkstra
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Monumental Architecture ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Religious Transformation ◽  
Interactive Nature ◽  
Complex Picture ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In this article, I propose the concept of “appropriation,” widely used in cross-cultural contexts, as a new approach to the process of religious transformation in Late Antiquity. This approach has the advantage that it encompasses the entire spectrum of individual responses to the impact of Christianity that characterizes the period. It is thus a particularly dynamic concept, as it accurately takes into account the interactive nature of the process and views it “from the bottom-up,” highlighting human agency. The variety of responses is illustrated by three case studies from Egypt — literature, monumental architecture (temples and churches), and magic — which can be regarded as exemplary for studying similar aspects of the religious transformation process in other areas of the (Eastern) Roman Empire. In each of these cases, the topic has until quite recently been viewed in terms of a “pagan” vs. Christianity framework, which has now been replaced by a more complex picture that exposes to the fullest extent the different forms of appropriation.

scholarly journals The Impact of Late Holocene Flood Management on the Central Po Plain (Northern Italy)

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 3968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Brandolini ◽  
Mauro Cremaschi
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Land Reclamation ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Flood Management ◽  
Po Plain ◽  
The Impact

Fluvial environments have always played a crucial role in human history. The necessity of fertile land and fresh water for agriculture has led populations to settle in floodplains more frequently than in other environments. Floodplains are complex human–water systems in which the mutual interaction between anthropogenic activities and environment affected the landscape development. In this paper, we analyzed the evolution of the Central Po Plain (Italy) during the Medieval period through a multi-proxy record of geomorphological, archaeological and historical data. The collapse of the Western Roman Empire (5th century AD) coincided with a progressive waterlogging of large floodplain areas. The results obtained by this research shed new light on the consequences that Post-Roman land and water management activities had on landscape evolution. In particular, the exploitation of fluvial sediments through flood management practices had the effect of reclaiming the swamps, but also altered the natural geomorphological development of the area. Even so, the Medieval human activities were more in equilibrium with the natural system than with the later Renaissance large-scale land reclamation works that profoundly modified the landscape turning the wetland environment into the arable land visible today. The analysis of fluvial palaeoenvironments and their relation with past human activities can provide valuable indications for planning more sustainable urbanized alluvial landscapes in future.

scholarly journals New trajectories or accelerating change? Zooarchaeological evidence for Roman transformation of animal husbandry in Northern Italy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Trentacoste ◽  
Ariadna Nieto-Espinet ◽  
Silvia Guimarães ◽  
Barbara Wilkens ◽  
Gabriella Petrucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Scale Production

AbstractThroughout the Western provinces of the Roman Empire, greater economic and political connectivity had a major impact on agricultural production, which grew in scale and specialisation after integration with the Roman state. However, uniquely in Western Europe, farming strategies in Italy began to evolve centuries before the Roman conquest, and many ‘Roman’ patterns associated with livestock size and the relative proportions of different taxa first emerged during the early and middle centuries of the first millennium BC. These changes imply a significant reorganisation of production strategies well before Roman hegemony, even in relatively marginal areas of Italy. Zooarchaeological studies have documented further significant changes to livestock production in Roman times, but the relationship between these developments and earlier trends remains unclear. Through analysis of zooarchaeological data for species representation and livestock biometry from lowland northern Italy (Po–Friulian Plain), this study investigates animal exploitation between the Bronze Age and Late Antiquity in order to characterise the influence of Roman political and economic organisation on animal husbandry. Results demonstrated subregional variation in species representation, and different trajectories in the biometric evolution of cattle, sheep and goats, compared to pigs. Initial steps established in the Iron Age towards a more complex and dynamic livestock economy were accelerated and further reconfigured in Roman times, facilitated by Roman economic organisation and the specialised and large-scale production systems within it. Zooarchaeological trends continued to progress over the Roman period, until further changes at the very end of the chronology considered here—around the sixth century AD—suggest another wave of change.

scholarly journals Beyond one-way determinism: San Frediano’s miracle and climate change in Central and Northern Italy in late antiquity

2021 ◽  
Vol 165 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Zanchetta ◽  
Monica Bini ◽  
Kevin Bloomfield ◽  
Adam Izdebski ◽  
Nicola Vivoli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Extreme Rainfall Events ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIntegrating palaeoclimatological proxies and historical records, which is necessary to achieve a more complete understanding of climate impacts on past societies, is a challenging task, often leading to unsatisfactory and even contradictory conclusions. This has until recently been the case for Italy, the heart of the Roman Empire, during the transition between Antiquity and the Middle Ages. In this paper, we present new high-resolution speleothem data from the Apuan Alps (Central Italy). The data document a period of very wet conditions in the sixth c. AD, probably related to synoptic atmospheric conditions similar to a negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation. For this century, there also exist a significant number of historical records of extreme hydroclimatic events, previously discarded as anecdotal. We show that this varied evidence reflects the increased frequency of floods and extreme rainfall events in Central and Northern Italy at the time. Moreover, we also show that these unusual hydroclimatic conditions overlapped with the increased presence of “water miracles” in Italian hagiographical accounts and social imagination. The miracles, performed by local Church leaders, strengthened the already growing authority of holy bishops and monks in Italian society during the crucial centuries that followed the “Fall of the Roman Empire”. Thus, the combination of natural and historical data allows us to show the degree to which the impact of climate variability on historical societies is determined not by the nature of the climatic phenomena per se, but by the culture and the structure of the society that experienced it.

scholarly journals CAN RETURN MIGRATION REVITALISE LATVIA’S REGIONS? FACILITATORS AND BARRIERS TO HUMAN CAPITAL GAINS

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 142-159
Author(s):  
Inta Mieriņa ◽  
Baiba Bela
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Media Analysis ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Psychological Resilience ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
Return Migrants ◽  
The Impact

Migration researchers from East-Central Europe most often focus on the impact of ‘brain drain’ which is characterised by the loss of human capital from emigration. In this paper focus is placed on the assumption that migrants living abroad gain valuable experiences and education opportunities, that lead to personal growth, facilitate entrepreneurship and psychological resilience, amongst other important skills. This experience may be used for the revitalisation of the less-developed regions the migrants return to. To explore what facilitates or inhibits the fulfil potential of ‘brain circulation’ or gain, we use data from two large-scale surveys of return migrants in Latvia, in-depth interviews, media analysis, regional workshops and secondary data. We find that return migrants often choose to return to the capital city and not their original point of departure. While towns and villages offer some advantages such as little competition, easier adaptation and high neighbourhood quality, reliance on personal contacts distorts the efficiency of job placement and there are fewer work opportunities in one’s acquired profession. The skills are waisted and employers remain unappreciative of knowledge gained abroad in towns and villages more than in Riga.  

scholarly journals Human Capital Evaluation and Capitalisation Specific to Rural Areas of Ukraine

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-69
Author(s):  
Olena Borodina ◽  
Oksana Rykovska
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Specific Nature ◽  
Balanced Development ◽  
Rural Economic Development ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
Capital Development ◽  
Quantitative Scoring ◽  
The Impact

SummarySubject and purpose of work: Human capital is one of the key drivers of rural economic development. The purpose of this paper was to study the main assets of human capital in rural areas and to evaluate this human capital; to identify development trends and devise the recommendations for increasing the impact of human capital in Ukraine’s rural areas on individual incomes and economic growth.Materials and methods: The research focuses on evaluating the key assets of human capital in the rural areas of Ukraine – educations, health, qualifications, age and the integral evaluation of rural human capital. The data was gathered by random surveys of household living conditions conducted by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine. Annual surveys cover 10,500 households.Results: Results demonstrate that there were positive dynamics under the education component, while the health component was constantly in decline. The quantitative scoring of assets allowed preparing an integrated evaluation of human capital in rural areas of Ukraine and observing the dynamics of change in years. This indicator had declined before 2008. A decrease in the level of rural human capital in Ukraine started with the activation of large-scale agri-business in the late 1990s. Since 2009, human capital in rural areas has been increasing. The dynamics of human capital development in the rural areas of post- Euromaidan Ukraine demonstrate the specific nature of its capitalisation. Profit per human capital in rural areas depends not on its rate but on the human capital (holder) employment profile.Conclusions: Received evaluations could be used for separation of priority state policy actions for balanced development, quantitative renovation and accumulation of human capital in rural areas.

scholarly journals A cost-efficient face learning mechanism: The impact of stability in appearance on the resolution of facial representations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christel Devue ◽  
Sofie de Sena ◽  
Jade Wright
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Learning Mechanism ◽  
Coarse Information ◽  
Reliable Representation ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
Recognition Errors ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

The way faces become familiar and what information is represented as familiarity develops has puzzled researchers in the field of human face recognition for decades. In this paper, we propose a cost-efficient mechanism of face learning to describe how facial representations form over time and that explains why recognition errors occur. Encoding of diagnostic facial information would follow a coarse-to-fine trajectory, modulated by the intrinsic stability in individual faces’ appearance. In four experiments, we draw on a robust and ecological method using a proxy of exposure to famous faces in the real world to test hypotheses generated by the model and we manipulate test images to probe the nature of facial representations. We consistently show that stable facial appearances help create more reliable representation in early stages of familiarisation but that their resolution remains relatively low and therefore less discriminative over time. In contrast, variations in appearance hinder recognition at first but encourage refinement of representations with further exposure. Consistent with the cost-efficient face learning mechanism we propose, facial representations built on a foundation of large-scale coarse information. When coarse information loses its diagnostic value through the experience of variations across encounters, facial details and their spatial relationships receive additional representational weights.

Assessing ethnic business sustainability in transgenerational succession

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesrina Ann Xavier ◽  
Feranita Feranita ◽  
Manimekalai Jambulingam ◽  
Manmeet Kaur Gorchan Singh
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Human Capital Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Sustainability ◽  
Ethnic Business ◽  
Capital Development ◽  
Ethnic Businesses ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the impact of changes in human capital development and evolution of tacit knowledge following transgenerational succession in ethnic companies. The paper contributes to the understanding of transferring tacit knowledge across generations in ensuring ethnic business sustainability.Design/methodology/approachIn answering the how question, this paper tracked the changes and their impact in the process over time, using the multiple-case study method. A total of six interviews were conducted with three Indian-owned companies in the jewellery industry in Malaysia, with each interview lasting between 45 and 60 min. Secondary data were collected to supplement the primary data for analysis. Data triangulation method was applied to strengthen the design of this study.FindingsThe results indicate that changes in human capital development and tacit knowledge have enabled ethnically Indian-owned jewellery-based companies to alter their products to respond to demands of modern society whilst sustaining and commodifying the ethnic identity of their businesses. The findings also highlight that proper succession planning by ageing entrepreneurs may promote sustainability of these ethnic enterprises.Originality/valueDespite the growing attention on ethnic and migrant entrepreneurship, less is known about the impact of the changes through transgenerational succession over time in ethnic businesses, especially when such changes involve human capital as the key players. This study is important in addressing the gap, in identifying human capital development and tacit knowledge among the critical ethnic resources contributing to ethnic business sustainability. Using a conceptual framework, this paper sheds some light on how ethnic businesses are sustained through transgenerational succession.

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