scholarly journals Ostrich eggshell bead strontium isotopes reveal persistent macroscale social networking across late Quaternary southern Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (12) ◽  
pp. 6453-6462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian A. Stewart ◽  
Yuchao Zhao ◽  
Peter J. Mitchell ◽  
Genevieve Dewar ◽  
James D. Gleason ◽  
...  

Hunter-gatherer exchange networks dampen subsistence and reproductive risks by building relationships of mutual support outside local groups that are underwritten by symbolic gift exchange.Hxaro, the system of delayed reciprocity between Ju/’hoãn individuals in southern Africa’s Kalahari Desert, is the best-known such example and the basis for most analogies and models of hunter-gatherer exchange in prehistory. However, its antiquity, drivers, and development remain unclear, as they do for long-distance exchanges among African foragers more broadly. Here we show through strontium isotope analyses of ostrich eggshell beads from highland Lesotho, and associated strontium isoscape development, that such practices stretch back into the late Middle Stone Age. We argue that these exchange items originated beyond the macroband from groups occupying the more water-stressed subcontinental interior. Tracking the emergence and persistence of macroscale, transbiome social networks helps illuminate the evolution of social strategies needed to thrive in stochastic environments, strategies that in our case study show persistence over more than 33,000 y.

Radiocarbon ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Chris Urwin ◽  
Quan Hua ◽  
Henry Arifeae

ABSTRACT When European colonists arrived in the late 19th century, large villages dotted the coastline of the Gulf of Papua (southern Papua New Guinea). These central places sustained long-distance exchange and decade-spanning ceremonial cycles. Besides ethnohistoric records, little is known of the villages’ antiquity, spatiality, or development. Here we combine oral traditional and 14C chronological evidence to investigate the spatial history of two ancestral village sites in Orokolo Bay: Popo and Mirimua Mapoe. A Bayesian model composed of 35 14C assays from seven excavations, alongside the oral traditional accounts, demonstrates that people lived at Popo from 765–575 cal BP until 220–40 cal BP, at which time they moved southwards to Mirimua Mapoe. The village of Popo spanned ca. 34 ha and was composed of various estates, each occupied by a different tribe. Through time, the inhabitants of Popo transformed (e.g., expanded, contracted, and shifted) the village to manage social and ceremonial priorities, long-distance exchange opportunities and changing marine environments. Ours is a crucial case study of how oral traditional ways of understanding the past interrelate with the information generated by Bayesian 14C analyses. We conclude by reflecting on the limitations, strengths, and uncertainties inherent to these forms of chronological knowledge.


2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (18) ◽  
pp. 3801-3813 ◽  
Author(s):  
STÉPHANE FÉNART ◽  
FRÉDÉRIC AUSTERLITZ ◽  
JOËL CUGUEN ◽  
JEAN-FRANÇOIS ARNAUD

i-com ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-193
Author(s):  
Daniel Wessel ◽  
Julien Holtz ◽  
Florian König

Abstract Smart cities have a huge potential to increase the everyday efficiency of cities, but also to increase preparation and resilience in case of natural disasters. Especially for disasters which are somewhat predicable like floods, sensor data can be used to provide citizens with up-to-date, personalized and location-specific information (street or even house level resolution). This information allows citizens to better prepare to avert water damage to their property, reduce the needed government support, and — by connecting citizens locally — improve mutual support among neighbors. But how can a smart city application be designed that is both usable and able to function during disaster conditions? Which smart city information can be used? How can the likelihood of mutual, local support be increased? In this practice report, we present the human-centered development process of an app to use Smart City data to better prepare citizens for floods and improve their mutual support during disasters as a case study to answer these questions.


2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTJE G. MUNTENDAM

This paper presents the results of a study on cross-linguistic transfer in Andean Spanish word order. In Andean Spanish the object appears in preverbal position more frequently than in non-Andean Spanish, which has been attributed to an influence from Quechua (a Subject–Object–Verb language). The high frequency of preverbal objects could be explained by focus fronting. The main syntactic properties of focus fronting in Spanish are weak crossover and long distance movement. Two elicitation studies designed to test for these properties in non-Andean Spanish, Andean Spanish and Quechua show no evidence of syntactic transfer from Quechua into Andean Spanish. Rather, the analysis of naturalistic data and an elicitation study on question–answer pairs show that there is pragmatic transfer from Quechua into Andean Spanish. The study has implications for theories of syntax and language contact, and especially for the debate on the nature of cross-linguistic transfer.


ECONOMICS ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-124
Author(s):  
Ishak Kherchi ◽  
Fellague Mohamed ◽  
Haddou Samira Ahlem

Abstract Purpose: This paper aims to provide corporate social strategies as an entrance to create shared value, in addition to that we aims to provide a theoretical and practical contributions that ground understanding the concept of creating shared value. Design/methodology/approach: The authors analyze a single case study of Volvo corporation. The objective is to evaluate whether the corporate social strategies can yields to a shared value creation. Findings: We found that corporate social strategies followed by Volvo Corporation yields to a shared value creation. Research limitations/implications: This single case study provides an entrance to create shared value; however, more research is needed to find other entrances. Practical implications: The paper has practical implications that relate to the design of shared value model. We provide practical well known strategies that could be apply by corporations to reach shared value creation. Originality/value: A unique view of corporate social strategy and creating shared value concept.


2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 925
Author(s):  
Feifei Xin ◽  
Yifan Chen ◽  
Yitong Ye

The electric bicycle is considered as an environmentally friendly mode, the market share of which is growing fast worldwide. Even in metropolitan areas which have a well-developed public transportation system, the usage of electric bicycles continues to grow. Compared with bicycles, the power transferred from the battery enables users to ride faster and have long-distance trips. However, research on electric bicycle travel behavior is inadequate. This paper proposes a cumulative prospect theory (CPT) framework to describe electric bicycle users’ mode choice behavior. Different from the long-standing use of utility theory, CPT considers travelers’ inconsistent risk attitudes. Six socioeconomic characteristics are chosen to discriminate conservative and adventurous electric bicycle users. Then, a CPT model is established which includes two parts: travel time and travel cost. We calculate the comprehensive cumulative prospect value (CPV) for four transportation modes (electric bicycle, bus, subway and private car) to predict electric bicycle users’ mode choice preference under different travel distance ranges. The model is further validated via survey data.


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