Megaliths and Holy Places in the Genesis of the Kingdom of Asturias (North of Spain, ad 718–910)

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Ángel de Blas Cortina ◽  
Marta Díaz-Guardamino
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Santa Cruz ◽  
Northern Spain ◽  
Fluvial Terrace ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Holy Places ◽  
North Of Spain ◽  
Bear Witness

Flowing from the Picos de Europa mountain range into the Bay of Biscay (in a SW–NE direction), the River Sella is the main dividing axis of the highly mountainous territory of Asturias, northern Spain, with peaks up to 2,500 metres. The first known human traces in the Sella river basin date back to the Middle Palaeolithic and include remains of thirteen Neanderthal individuals found in the cave of El Sidrón. Archaeological remains dating to the Upper Palaeolithic and the Epipalaeolithic are frequent throughout the region. The adoption of the Neolithic way of life in Asturias was modest. The polished axes found in large numbers and mostly manufactured with rocks imported from other regions, are one of the main sources of evidence to study the Asturian Neolithic. The most noticeable archaeological evidence for this period is, however, the megalithic phenomenon, the earliest monuments dating to the beginning of the fourth millennium BC. Unlike the usual concentrations of barrows and dolmens in other areas of northern Iberia, these constructions are often found on high ground, strategically overlooking the main stretches of well-travelled pathways. The most prominent Asturian megalith, Santa Cruz (Cangas de Onís), however, differs from the pattern outlined above, as it was placed on a fluvial terrace, on a location often flooded by the Sella and Güeña rivers, which meet here (Blas Cortina 1997a; 1997b). The low altitude and the fair conditions of the optimal Holocene would have provided the basis for a densely forested environment throughout the fifth and fourth millennia bc. Historically, the most populated town of this region has been Cangas de Onís, located in the confluence of the Sella and Güeña rivers, where the best agricultural land is also found. These apt conditions also extend to the adjoining valley of Güeña, home to the sites of Covadonga and Abamia, which bear witness to the interweaving of prehistoric memory and Medieval affairs that will be discussed in this chapter.

scholarly journals Body size, sex and high philopatry influence the use of agricultural land by Galapagos giant tortoises

Oryx ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Kyana N. Pike ◽  
Stephen Blake ◽  
Freddy Cabrera ◽  
Iain J. Gordon ◽  
Lin Schwarzkopf
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Large Male ◽  
Gps Data ◽  
Santa Cruz Island ◽  
Santa Cruz ◽  
Agricultural Areas ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Human Wildlife Conflict ◽  
Privately Owned

Abstract As agricultural areas expand, interactions between wild animals and farmland are increasing. Understanding the nature of such interactions is vital to inform the management of human–wildlife coexistence. We investigated patterns of space use of two Critically Endangered Galapagos tortoise species, Chelonoidis porteri and Chelonoidis donfaustoi, on privately owned and agricultural land (hereafter farms) on Santa Cruz Island, where a human–wildlife conflict is emerging. We used GPS data from 45 tortoises tracked for up to 9 years, and data on farm characteristics, to identify factors that influence tortoise movement and habitat use in the agricultural zone. Sixty-nine per cent of tagged tortoises used the agricultural zone, where they remained for a mean of 150 days before returning to the national park. Large male tortoises were more likely to use farms for longer periods than female and smaller individuals. Tortoises were philopatric (mean overlap of farmland visits = 88.7 ± SE 2.9%), on average visiting four farms and occupying a mean seasonal range of 2.9 ± SE 0.3 ha. We discuss the characteristics of farm use by tortoises, and its implications for tortoise conservation and coexistence with people.

scholarly journals Optimization of the Mashaer Shuttle-Bus Service in Hajj: Arafat-Muzdalifah Case Study

Information ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 496
Author(s):  
Omar Hussain ◽  
Emad Felemban ◽  
Faizan Ur Rehman
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Number ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Holy Places ◽  
Essential Form ◽  
Service Delays ◽  
Customer Dissatisfaction ◽  
Bus Service

Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, is held annually in the month of Dhul Al-Hijjah, the twelfth month, in the Islamic calendar. Pilgrims travel to Makkah and its neighbouring areas—Mina, Muzdalifah, and Arafat. Annually, about 2.5 million pilgrims perform spatiotemporally restricted rituals in these holy places that they must execute to fulfil the pilgrimage. These restrictions make the task of transportation in Hajj a big challenge. The shuttle bus service is an essential form of transport during Hajj due to its easy availability at all stages and ability to transport large numbers. The current shuttle service suffers from operational problems; this can be deduced from the service delays and customer dissatisfaction with the service. This study provides a system to help in planning the operation of the service for one of the Hajj Establishments to improve performance by determining the optimal number of buses and cycles required for each office in the Establishment. We will also present a case study in which the proposed model was applied to the non-Arab Africa Establishment shuttle service. At the same time, we will include the mechanism for extracting the information required in the tested model from the considerably large GPS data of 20,000+ buses in Hajj 2018.

scholarly journals An Assessment and Spatial Modelling of Agricultural Land Abandonment in Spain (2015–2030)

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Perpiña Castillo ◽  
Eloína Coll Aliaga ◽  
Carlo Lavalle ◽  
José Carlos Martínez Llario
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Spatial Modelling ◽  
Land Abandonment ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Northern Spain ◽  
Joint Research ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
High Nature Value Farmland

This article presents a study based on the outputs from the LUISA Territorial modelling platform (Joint Research Centre of the European Commission) focused on regional and local future projections of land abandonment between 2015 and 2030. Spain is taken as representative of one of the countries highly affected by agricultural land abandonment in the European Union. The most relevant factors driving land abandonment (biophysical, agroeconomics, farm structure and demographic) are described and mapped. Results from the analysis reveal that the Galicia region, northern Spain (Asturias, Cantabria, Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia), north-eastern Spain (Aragón region), central Pyrenees/Ebro basin (Huesca, Navarra, Lleida) and south-eastern Spain (Murcia, Almería, Alicante, Málaga) are expected to undergo important abandonment processes. The study also concludes that land abandonment within mountainous, high nature value farmland and Natura 2000 areas is lower compared to the outside area without conservation and protection measures.

Going Over: The Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition in North-West Europe

2007 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Northern Spain ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Data Set ◽  
North West ◽  
Southern Scandinavia ◽  
The One ◽  
Early Farmers ◽  
Rich Data

The processes involved in the transformation of society from Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to Neolithic farmers were complex. They involved changes not only in subsistence but also in how people thought about themselves and their worlds, from their pasts to their animals. Two sets of protagonists have often been lined up in the long-running debates about these processes: on the one hand incoming farmers and on the other indigenous hunter-gatherers. Both have found advocates as the dominant force in the transitions to a new way of life. North-west Europe presents a very rich data set for this fundamental change, and research has both extended and deepened our knowledge of regional sequences, from the sixth to the fourth millennia bc. One of the most striking results is the evident diversity from northern Spain to southern Scandinavia. No one region is quite like another; hunter-gatherers and early farmers alike were also varied and the old labels of Mesolithic and Neolithic are increasingly inadequate to capture the diversity of human agency and belief. Surveys of the most recent evidence presented here also strongly suggest a diversity of transformations. Some cases of colonization on the one hand and indigenous adoption on the other can still be argued, but many situations now seem to involve complex fusions and mixtures. This wide-ranging set of papers offers an overview of this fundamental transition.

scholarly journals Az „iránymutató vízió” szerepe a regionális fejlesztésekben, egy hazai agráripari vállalkozás tapasztalatai (The role of „guiding vision“ on regional developments and experiences of a domestic agro-industrial enterprise)

2013 ◽  
pp. 43-51
Author(s):  
Szilvia Luda
Keyword(s):  
Driving Force ◽  
Human Factor ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Land Ownership ◽  
Research Topic ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Mutual Cooperation ◽  
Scale Of Operation

A szerző tanulmányában külföldi és hazai példák alapján a fenntartható gazdaság kialakítására hoz példákat. Bemutat egy osztrák energiarégiót és egy magyar biodízelgyártó vállalkozást. Mindegyik esetre jellemző, hogy olyan társadalmi-gazdasági környezetet kell teremteni, hogy minden stakeholder a win-win megoldásban legyen érdekelt. _____ Agricultural land ownership and the desirable scale of operation have been the subjects of a plethora of studies. Mainstream research, however, has a tendency not to take the human factor into consideration. The unpredictability of economic policies, uncertainties about EU subsidies, the optimal scale of operation and industry- specific characteristics all constitute a far more exciting and reasonable research topic for the majority. According to literature, social support for the efforts and the existence of a clear “guiding vision” have a crucial role in the success of rural development strategies. Concerning the development of a region or village, it is important to determine whether there exists a leading personality, an example-setting entrepreneur or entrepreneurial group that can act as a fundamental driving force or an initiator in reforming the rural way of life; one that could help preserve positive rural values while nurturing economically successful enterprises. Experience has shown that success can only be built upon partnership and mutual cooperation.

Coerced Migration and Resettlement in the Qin Imperial Expansion

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J. Barbieri-Low
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Imperial Expansion ◽  
Sima Qian ◽  
Forced Resettlement

AbstractDuring the century of massive expansion of the Qin state in China (ca. 316–222 BCE), and the subsequent fifteen years of the empire (221–207 BCE), it is recorded that millions of persons were forcibly relocated and resettled throughout the empire and along its frontiers. For example, the historian Sima Qian (ca. 145–86 BCE) states that in just the years between 213 and 210 BCE, the First Emperor relocated more than a million people from interior counties of the empire to settle newly-conquered lands on the northern and southern frontiers. Yet this was only one type of forced resettlement carried out by the Qin. The Qin state also relocated thousands of aristocratic households from conquered states to the Qin capital of Xianyang, captured large numbers of non-Chinese peoples and assigned them to localities as slaves to open up agricultural land, exiled wealthy iron industrialists from the interior to the periphery, intentionally expelled the entire populations of conquered cities to replace them with amnestied criminals, and pooled and redirected the labor of convicts gathered from throughout the empire to labor on huge projects such as the First Emperor's tomb. This article seeks to analyze and categorize these various Qin forced resettlements to uncover the ideological and policy motivations behind them and the role they played in the larger project of Qin imperial expansion and colonization.

Tunisia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Schneider ◽  
Vanessa Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
The Political ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Sahara Desert ◽  
Northern Area ◽  
Cultural Life ◽  
Arid Desert ◽  
Semi Arid

Found in North Africa, Tunisia borders Algeria, Libya, and the Mediterranean Sea. It is the northernmost country of Africa. The country is divided by the Atlas Mountain range: the northern area is predominantly forest and agricultural land while the southern part is semi-arid desert (Sahara Desert). In 2017, its population numbered 11.5 million people in an area of 165,000 square kilometres (km). The capital, Tunis, is the largest city of Tunisia and the centre of the political, administrative, commercial, and cultural life of the country.

The First Farmers

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Douglas Price
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Major Turning Point ◽  
Wild Sheep ◽  
Spread Of Agriculture

The origins and spread of agriculture and a Neolithic way of life marked a major turning point in the evolution of human society. Farming changed everything. Our heritage as food collectors, consuming the wild products of the earth, extends back millions of years. Nevertheless, at the end of the Pleistocene some human groups began to produce their own food rather than collect it, to domesticate and control wild plants and animals, achieving what is perhaps the most remarkable transformation in our entire human past. Agriculture is a way of obtaining food that involves domesticated plants and animals. But the transition to farming is much more than simple herding or cultivation. It also entails major, long-term changes in the structure and organization of the societies that adopt this new way of life, as well as a totally new relationship with the environment. Hunters and gatherers largely live off the land in an extensive fashion, generally exploiting diverse resources over a broad area; farmers intensively use a smaller portion of the landscape and create a milieu that suits their needs. With the transition to agriculture, humans began to truly change their environment. Cultivation of plants and herding of animals, village society, and pottery did not originate in Europe. Domestication arrived from the ancient Near East. The Neolithic began in southwest Asia some 11,000 years ago and eventually spread into the European continent, carried by expanding populations of farmers. The mountains of western Iran and southern Turkey and the uplands of the Levant (the coastal region of the far eastern part of the Mediterranean, from the northeastern Sinai Peninsula through modern Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, and west along the modern Turkish coast) form an elevated zone somewhat cooler and wetter than much of the Near East. The area has been described as the Fertile Crescent. A variety of wild plants grow in abundance. This region was the natural habitat of many of the wild ancestors of the first species of plants and animals to be domesticated at the end of the Pleistocene: the wild wheats and barleys, the wild legumes, and the wild sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle that began to be exploited in large numbers at the origins of agriculture.

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