scholarly journals Ground stone technology in context: Consumption of grinding tools and social practice at Neolithic Avgi, NW Greece

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Tasos Bekiaris

Excavations at the Neolithic site of Avgi (Middle-Late Neolithic, circa 5700-4500 cal. BCE) in the Kastoria region, northwestern Greece, brought to light one of the largest ground stone assemblages known from Neolithic Greece. More than 8000 ground stone tools and objects, raw materials and by-products comprise a valuable record for investigating various aspects of ground stone technology (production, consumption, discard), while their rich contextual information provides an ideal opportunity for addressing its significance for Neolithic societies. This paper examines the presence of grinding tools (stable grinding slabs and mobile grinders, their raw materials and by-products) within different spatiotemporal contexts (habitational phases, buildings, open areas, pits). Through the detailed technological and contextual analysis of the grinding artifacts we seek to explore different aspects of their biographies, related to their manufacture, use, maintenance, destruction and discard, within the context of a single Neolithic community. The goal is to shed light on the multiple ways through which the Neolithic society of Avgi consumed those technological products in various social occasions, practices and places (e.g., daily routine activities, special events of communal or symbolic character, individual houses and communal activity areas) and explore their role in the formation of social identities and the production of social meaning.

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 759-788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Çiğdem Atakuman

In southwest Asia, the emphasis on architecture and burial ritual, which was instrumental in the construction of place-bound identities during the Early Neolithic (c. 10,000–7000 cal. bc), shifted toward an emphasis on miniature portable objects, such as figurines, stamps and ceramics, during the Later Neolithic (c. 7000–5000 cal. bc). Through a focus on stamps, this article argues that the appearance and proliferation of image-bearing portable objects is related to a new understanding of identities around emergent concepts of ‘house’ and ‘community’, which reordered the terms of social affiliation as well as difference and hierarchy at various scales. In terms of an iconographical approach, stamp imagery shows some affinities with the anthropomorphic and zoomorphic themes of the Early Neolithic; however, the majority of the Later Neolithic stamp imagery is composed of highly abstract types that cannot immediately be associated with the themes of the Early Neolithic. A close examination would indicate that these abstract types were also reproduced by manipulating ancestral imagery. It would also appear that certain types of images were employed on certain types of objects, such as ceramics and figurines, in increasingly structured ways. Arguably, these seemingly different object classes are an outcome of a seamless historical discourse of raw materials, images and forms, continuously shifting the conceptualization of self and society. It is in this context that stamps may be treated as figurines of a highly abstract, highly crafted and highly standardized nature. While the clay figurines appropriated social identities in the domestic sphere, stamps and ceramics were instrumental in linking multiple scales of identity formation, from personal to communal. Reconsidering the material shift from the Early to Late Neolithic, I suggest that the spreading regulation of appropriating body and food was central in the construction of a convergent politics of reproduction around the concepts of ‘house’.


2007 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 289-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Tsoraki

Unlike previous studies of ground stone technology in the Greek Neolithic, this paper follows a more contextualised approach by looking at contexts of deposition of ground stone from Late Neolithic Makriyalos, Northern Greece. The patterns attested in the distribution of ground stone objects between domestic and communal areas will be discussed in terms of the spatial and social contexts of tool use, curation and deposition, contributing to wider discussions about the way acts of production, consumption and discard were structured within different contexts of social practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 286-310
Author(s):  
Danai Chondrou

The article offers a detailed analysis of the grinding tool assemblage from the two neighbouring, partially contemporary and almost entirely excavated Late/Final Neolithic settlements of Kleitos, northwestern Greece. The data shed light on various choices regarding the organisation of the production and management of these implements. According to the evidence, grinding tools were not only used as part of the daily routine, but were also often used in special events. The limited rates of exhausted implements, the extreme fragmentation, and special patterns of deposition indicate the complex manipulation of grinding implements beyond their primary functions.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 381
Author(s):  
Alessandro Nanni ◽  
Mariafederica Parisi ◽  
Martino Colonna

The plastic industry is today facing a green revolution; however, biopolymers, produced in low amounts, expensive, and food competitive do not represent an efficient solution. The use of wine waste as second-generation feedstock for the synthesis of polymer building blocks or as reinforcing fillers could represent a solution to reduce biopolymer costs and to boost the biopolymer presence in the market. The present critical review reports the state of the art of the scientific studies concerning the use of wine by-products as substrate for the synthesis of polymer building blocks and as reinforcing fillers for polymers. The review has been mainly focused on the most used bio-based and biodegradable polymers present in the market (i.e., poly(lactic acid), poly(butylene succinate), and poly(hydroxyalkanoates)). The results present in the literature have been reviewed and elaborated in order to suggest new possibilities of development based on the chemical and physical characteristics of wine by-products.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1688
Author(s):  
Ying-Ju Chen ◽  
Chun-Yen Kuo ◽  
Zwe-Ling Kong ◽  
Chin-Ying Lai ◽  
Guan-Wen Chen ◽  
...  

The Taiwan Tilapia is an important aquaculture product in Taiwan. The aquatic by-products generated during Tilapia processing, such as fish bones and skin, are rich in minerals and protein. We aimed to explore the effect of a dietary supplement, comprising a mixture of fermented Tilapia by-products and Monostroma nitidum oligosaccharides as the raw materials, combined with physical training on exercise performance and fatigue. We used a mouse model that displays a phenotype of accelerated aging. Male senescence-accelerated mouse prone-8 (SAMP8) mice were divided into two control groups—with or without physical training—and supplemented with different doses (0.5 times: 412 mg/kg body weight (BW)/day; 1 time: 824 mg/kg BW/day; 2 times: 1648 mg/kg BW/day) of fermented Tilapia by-products and Monostroma nitidum oligosaccharide-containing mixture and combined with exercise training groups. Exercise performance was determined by testing forelimb grip strength and with a weight-bearing exhaustive swimming test. Animals were sacrificed to collect physical fatigue-related biomarkers. Mice dosed at 824 or 1648 mg/kg BW/day showed improvement in their exercise performance (p < 0.05). In terms of biochemical fatigue indicators, supplementation of 824 or 1648 mg/kg BW/day doses of test substances could effectively reduce blood urea nitrogen concentration and lactate concentration and increase the lactate ratio (p < 0.05) and liver glycogen content post-exercise (p < 0.05). Based on the above results, the combination of physical training and consumption of a dietary supplementation mixture of fermented Tilapia by-products and Monostroma nitidum oligosaccharides could improve the exercise performance of mice and help achieve an anti-fatigue effect.


2011 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tristan Carter

AbstractThis paper reviews 50 years of obsidian studies at Neolithic Çatalhöyük in the Konya plain, central Anatolia. A number of key issues are addressed: (1) the source of the site's raw materials, the means and forms by which the obsidian was introduced to the site and the role of Çatalhöyük in the supra-regional dissemination of these raw materials; (2) the alleged gender associations of certain obsidian goods in the burial record and beyond; (3) a more general consideration of the social significance of the circulation and consumption of obsidian at the site, including the phenomena of hoarding and gifting, plus the important role of projectiles in the creation of social identities and various forms of ritual behaviour, not least the termination of the life of a building/individual; (4) the technotypological and raw material variability through time; (5) the use of obsidian in daily practice and craft-working.


2017 ◽  
Vol 183 (4) ◽  
pp. 1146-1157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Wang ◽  
Hui Zheng ◽  
Xia Wan ◽  
Hongfeng Huang ◽  
Junhui Li ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 410 ◽  
pp. 699-703
Author(s):  
Valeriya È. Shvarczkopf ◽  
Irina A. Pavlova ◽  
Elena P. Farafontova

The research focuses on the properties of by-products formed in the production of porcelain stoneware: polishing residue and residue of the mixture-preparation shop. The polishing residue consists of glassy phase (80%), quartz (14%), mullite (5%). Residue of the mixture-preparation shop consists of quartz (~ 18%), muscovite (~ 6.9%), kaolinite (~ 20.5%), calcium-sodium feldspar (~ 51.4%), diopside (~ 2.98%). Polishing residue occurs when polishing porcelain stoneware to create a glossy surface and when polishing the side faces of porcelain stoneware to obtain accurate tile geometry. The particle size of the polishing residue is less than 0.2 mm, and the residue of the mixture-preparation shop is less than 40 microns. Residue of the mixture-preparation shop is formed when cleaning equipment: mills, mixers, slipways, etc. The ways of utilization of by-product are follows: as a filler for the silicate production; for polymer-cement, water-dispersion and oil paints; as a filler for the production of roofing materials, bituminous roofing mastics based on organic binders; raw materials for the production of foam glass materials and products.


The current fashion system uses high volumes of non-renewable resources to produce clothes, being responsible for 10% of the global greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere every year and 20%of the global water wasted. At the same time people are buying 60%more clothing than 15 Years ago, which going in the landfills, causes 92 million tons of waste each year. This waste has been further increased by the surgical masks used for COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, a new way of designing and producing clothing needs to be incorporated into the current system to facilitate its recycling making it more circular. New tissues, therefore, are proposed made by natural polysaccharides, embedded by micro- Nano capsules of chitin Nano fibrils and Nano lignin all obtained as by- products from food and forestry waste respectively. Thus, pollution and waste will be reduced and the natural raw materials will be maintained for the future generations.


Author(s):  
P.K. Dang ◽  
N.T.P. Giang ◽  
T.T. Nguyen ◽  
S. Chu-Ky ◽  
N.C. Oanh ◽  
...  

Background: In Vietnam, animal feed mainly depends on imported raw materials, while available agro-industrial by-products are often released into the environment and only a its unsubstantial portion used as an animal feed. Therefore, efficient use of these by-products as animal feed is essential. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of dietary levels of rice distiller’s dried grain (Rice DDG) on broiler performance, meat yield and meat quality. Methods: The research was conducted at the experimental station, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Vietnam, from May to September 2020. A total of 240 a day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned into 4 groups with 3 replications to receive 4 diets with different levels of RDDG at 0, 5, 8 and 10% for 14 weeks. Growth, meat yield and meat quality were estimated. Result: ADG was higher in broiler chickens fed diets with rice DDG compared to that in control diet at 12 and 14 weeks (P less than 0.05) while ADFI and FCR were not affected by the diets. There were significantly no differences in meat yield and quality among the diets. In conclusion, rice DDG could be used to partially replace main ingredients in chicken diets.


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