Burials and Human Remains of the Eastern Mediterranean in Early Christian Context

Author(s):  
Sherry C. Fox ◽  
Paraskevi Tritsaroli

This chapter examines the contribution of the contextual study of human skeletal remains of Early Christian burials in the eastern Mediterranean. Bioarchaeological studies of sites in Greece, Cyprus, Asia Minor, and Palestine are presented to better understand the people and their burial practices from this region during a tumultuous period in the fourth through seventh centuries. The use of multiple lines of evidence such as funerary archaeology, taphonomy, and skeletal biology reveals the lifestyles and burial customs of the inhabitants from a selection of eastern Mediterranean sites. Despite regional variations, there is a great degree of uniformity in the burial customs across the areas under consideration. Finally, the populations of the eastern Mediterranean share similar demographic profiles and health outcomes. Future research will likely engage in scientific applications in archaeology that may address significant questions, such as reconstructing diet from stable isotope analyses and disease via ancient DNA analysis.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendra Sirak ◽  
Daniel Fernandes ◽  
Olivia Cheronet ◽  
Eadaoin Harney ◽  
Matthew Mah ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTDNA recovery from ancient human remains has revolutionized our ability to reconstruct the genetic landscape of the past. Ancient DNA research has benefited from the identification of skeletal elements, such as the cochlear part of the osseous inner ear, that provide optimal contexts for DNA preservation; however, the rich genetic information obtained from the cochlea must be counterbalanced against the loss of valuable morphological information caused by its sampling. Motivated by similarities in developmental processes and histological properties between the cochlea and auditory ossicles, we evaluated the efficacy of ossicles as an alternative source of ancient DNA. We demonstrate that ossicles perform comparably to the cochlea in terms of DNA recovery, finding no substantial reduction in data quality, quantity, or authenticity across a range of preservation conditions. Ossicles can be sampled from intact skulls or disarticulated petrous bones without damage to surrounding bone, and we argue that, when available, they should be selected over the cochlea to reduce damage to skeletal integrity. These results identify a second optimal skeletal element for ancient DNA analysis and add to a growing toolkit of sampling methods that help to better preserve skeletal remains for future research while maximizing the likelihood that ancient DNA analysis will produce useable results.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-38
Author(s):  
Daniel Hummel

A small but growing area of public administration scholarship appreciates the influence of religious values on various aspects of government. This appreciation parallels a growing interest in comparative public administration and indigenized forms of government which recognizes the role of culture in different approaches to government. This article is at the crossroads of these two trends while also considering a very salient region, the Islamic world. The Islamic world is uniquely religious, which makes this discussion even more relevant, as the nations that represent them strive towards legitimacy and stability. The history and core values of Islam need to be considered as they pertain to systems of government that are widely accepted by the people. In essence, this is being done in many countries across the Islamic world, providing fertile grounds for public administration research from a comparative perspective. This paper explores these possibilities for future research on this topic.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Klein

This is a pdf of the original typed manuscript of a lecture made in 2006. An annotated English translation will be published by the International Review of Social Psychology. I this text, Moscovici seeks to update his earlier work on the “conspiracy mentality” (1987) by considering the relationships between social representations and conspiracy mentality. Innovation in this field, Moscovici argues, will require a much thorough description and understanding of what conspiracy theories are, what rhetoric they use and what functions they fulfill. Specifically, Moscovici considers conspiracies as a form of counterfactual history implying a more desirable world (in which the conspiracy did not take place) and suggests that social representation theory should tackle this phenomenon. He explicitly links conspiracy theories to works of fiction and suggests that common principles might explain their popularity. Historically, he argues, conspiracism was born twice: First, in the middle ages, when their primary function was to exclude and destroy what was considered as heresy; and second, after the French revolution, to delegitimize the Enlightenment, which was attributed to a small coterie of reactionaries rather than to the will of the people. Moscovici then considers four aspects (“thematas”) of conspiracy mentality: 1/ the prohibition of knowledge; 2/ the duality between the majority (the masses, prohibited to know) and “enlightened” minorities; 3/ the search for a common origin, a “ur phenomenon” that connects historical events and provides a continuity to History (he notes that such a tendency is also present in social psychological theorizing); and 4/ the valorization of tradition as a bulwark against modernity. Some of Moscovici’s insights in this talk have since been borne out by contemporary research on the psychology of conspiracy theories, but many others still remain fascinating potential avenues for future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10679
Author(s):  
Cassandra Funsten ◽  
Valeria Borsellino ◽  
Emanuele Schimmenti

Historic gardens are important parts of humanity’s built heritage within the designed landscape, providing many environmental, economic and socio-cultural benefits. Management is a key part of their conservation, perhaps the most difficult because it is costly, must be continual, and requires a skilled workforce. This systematic review looks at the literature addressing historic garden management, with special attention regarding the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability. Academic studies on this subject come from many different disciplines, making it both stimulating and fragmented. It is now time to consolidate these interdisciplinary efforts into a clear vision, including a framework of key themes and research methods so as to better coordinate efforts and make the information and innovation generated more accessible to the garden managers “in the trenches”. With this aim, reviewed studies are classified according to 10 criteria: supply or demand orientation; management phase involved; primary sustainability processes addressed; geographic criteria; number of sites covered; policy documents referred to; kind of data collected; study methods employed; possibility of bias specifically regarding historic gardens; garden use. An analysis of these criteria shows that historic garden management literature focuses on describing the gardens themselves, with few studies interested in the people supporting them. Future research should follow recent policy documents’ lead and pay more attention to community value and involvement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-54
Author(s):  
Crystal C. Hall

In the United States, the lack of personal savings has been a perennial concern in the world of public policy. Policymakers and other practitioners constantly struggle with how to encourage families to accumulate funds in preparation for inevitable, but often unpredictable, financial emergencies. The field of applied behavioral science has attempted to address this challenge—often with mixed or modest results. I argue that psychological science (personality and social psychology in particular) offers underappreciated insights into the design and implementation of policy interventions to improve the rate of individual savings. In this article, I briefly discuss examples of prior interventions that have attempted to increase saving and then lay out some opportunities that have not been deeply explored. Future research in this area should broaden and deepen the way that psychology is leveraged as a tool to improve the financial security of the people who are the most vulnerable.


Arts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 128
Author(s):  
Carles Sánchez Márquez

Since the late 19th century the wall paintings of Sant Miquel in Terrassa have drawn attention due to their singularity. From the early studies of Josep Puig i Cadafalch (1867–1956) to the present, both the iconographic program and the chronology of the paintings have fueled controversy among scholars. In particular, chronological estimates range from the time of Early Christian Art to the Carolingian period. However, a recent technical study of the paintings seems to confirm an early date around the 6th century. This new data allows us to reassess the question in other terms and explore a new possible context for the paintings. First, it is very likely that the choice of iconographic topics was related to the debates on the Arian heresy that took place in Visigothic Spain during the 5th and 6th centuries. Secondly, the paintings of Sant Miquel should be reconsidered as a possible reception of a larger 6th-century pictorial tradition linked to the Eastern Mediterranean, which is used in a very particular way. However, thus far we ignore which were the means for this artistic transmission as well as the reasons which led the “doers” of Terrassa to select such a peculiar and unique repertoire of topics, motifs, and inscriptions. My paper addresses all these questions in order to propose a new Mediterranean framework for the making of this singular set of paintings.


2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne P. Crick

Tourism is the mainstay of the Caribbean and the attitude of the people in the region may have a significant impact on the success of the industry. This paper analyzes the way in which tourism authorities of three Caribbean destinations have internally marketed tourism to their host populations in order to encourage the desired attitudinal expressions. A matrix of five possible responses to tourism was developed and each of the three countries was found to occupy different positions in the matrix. An analysis of the internal marketing strategies determined that the countries adopted different approaches based on their particular challenges but none of the approaches had achieved lasting success. The study concludes with recommendations for future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-59
Author(s):  
Asep Sumaryo ◽  
Purnama Putra

Indonesia is a country with the largest Muslim population in the world of its 240 million people,88.2% are Muslims. Islamic banks exist because of the public's need for alternative transactions thatare interest-free. However, the growth of Islamic banks in Indonesia is still not optimal, one of thefactors is that people are still not enthusiastic about Islamic banks and the lack of intention of thepeople to become customers of Islamic banks. There are several factors that affect the intention interms of planned behavior theory, namely attitudes, subjective norms and perceptions of behaviorcontrol. So the research aims to determine the effect of attitudes, subjective norms and perceptionsof behavioral control on the intention of the people of Bekasi city to become customers in Islamicbanks. The research method uses multiple linear regression analysis. The data used are the results ofquestionnaires distributed to 12 districts in the city of Bekasi. The sample consisted of 132 people inBekasi city who were taken by using purposive sampling technique. Data were tested partially andsimultaneously. The data is processed using SPSS (Statistical Product and Service Solution) version22. The results of this study show partially that attitude variables have a positive and significant effect,subjective norm variables have a positive and significant effect, behavioral control perceptions have apositive but insignificant effect on intention to become a customer. Islamic Bank. Meanwhile, attitudes,subjective norms and perceived behavioral control simultaneously have a significant positive effect onthe intention to become a customer of Islamic banks. Future research is expected to expand the scopeof research, add variables and other factors and extend the research period.


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