scholarly journals Archaeobotanical results from early medieval Radom, Central Poland, with a special emphasis on the oldest finds of bog bilberry (Vaccinium uliginosum)

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Skrzyński
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Useful Plants ◽  
Origanum Vulgare ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Vaccinium Uliginosum ◽  
Central Poland ◽  
Interesting Species ◽  
Bog Bilberry

The article presents one of the most interesting results of an archaeobotanical analysis of material from the early medieval settlement complex in Radom. These results provided data on useful plants and the paleoenvironment of the site. In the case of two species, it was possible to designate specific sites of their origin. The most interesting species mentioned above are Origanum vulgare and Vaccinium uliginosum. The first one could only grow at one site, slightly away from the settlement. Regarding the second species, the closest sites of occurrence of V. uliginosum can presently be found 40 km from the excavated site. This is quite a long distance from the point of view of early medieval man. It is worth emphasising that the finds of bog bilberry are the oldest remains of V. uliginosum that have been discovered at a Polish archaeological site.

scholarly journals Early medieval island-type lake dwellings in north-western Poland: Western Slavonic crannogs?

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 11-37
Author(s):  
Wojciech Chudziak
Keyword(s):  
Functional Relation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Border Zone ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
External Appearance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Island Type ◽  
North Western

In many regions of Europe there are so-called lake-dwellings, which were described in 1890 by Robert Munro, and have a close spatial and functional relation withinland water systems and seas. Settlements of this type are also known from the area of north-western Poland, where the landscape is dominated by lakes. Characteristicamong them are early medieval settlements entirely occupying small islands located within lake basins (Parsęcko, Żółte and Myślibórz in Pomerania – Pomorze; Nowy Dworek, Chycina and Lubniewice in Lubusz Land – ziemia lubuska). In their external appearance, they resemble British crannogs, especially in their size, the anthropogenic structure of the islands, wooden quays, piers and bridge crossings connecting the islands with the nearby mainland. An important feature of the islands where such structures are sited is their characteristic location – directly on the long-distance routes, in the settlement border zone, in the vicinity of the main watersheds of Lubusz Land andPomerania. They were also part of local settlement clusters, which often included contemporary defensive settlements. They were central places, especially important from the point of view of the identity of local territorial communities. Their functions should be considered not only in the social and political dimension, but probably also in the mythical and sacral one.

Maritime and River Traders, Landing Places, and Emporia Ports in the Merovingian Period in and Around the Low Countries

2020 ◽  
pp. 763-796
Author(s):  
Dries Tys
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Institutional Economics ◽  
New Institutional Economics ◽  
Central Position ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Low Countries ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

The origin, rise, and dynamics of coastal trade and landing places in the North Sea area between the sixth and eighth centuries must be understood in relation to how coastal regions and seascapes acted as arenas of contact, dialogue, and transition. Although the free coastal societies of the early medieval period were involved in regional to interregional or long-distance trade networks, their economic agency must be understood from a bottom-up perspective. That is, their reproduction strategies must be studied in their own right, independent from any teleological construction about the development of trade, markets, or towns for that matter. This means that the early medieval coastal networks of exchange were much more complex and diverse than advocated by the simple emporium network model, which connected the major archaeological sites along the North Sea coast. Instead, coastal and riverine dwellers often possessed some form of free status and large degrees of autonomy, in part due to the specific environmental conditions of the landscapes in which they dwelled. The wide estuarine region of the Low Countries, between coastal Flanders in the south and Friesland in the north, a region with vast hinterlands and a central position in northwestern Europe, makes these developments particularly clear. This chapter thus pushes back against longstanding assumptions in scholarly research, which include overemphasis of the influence of large landowners over peasant economies, and on the prioritization of easily retrievable luxuries over less visible indicators of bulk trade (such as wood, wool, and more), gift exchange, and market trade. The approach used here demonstrates that well-known emporia or larger ports of trade were embedded in the economic activities and networks of their respective hinterlands. Early medieval coastal societies and their dynamics are thus better understood from the perspective of integrated governance and economy (“new institutional economics”) in a regional setting.

War Captives, Left-Behind Wives, and Buddhist Nuns: Female Migrants in Early Medieval China (4th–6th Century CE)

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Wen-Yi Huang
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Textual Representations ◽  
Medieval China ◽  
Gender And Migration ◽  
Early Medieval China ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Northern Wei ◽  
Distance Travel

Abstract Using received texts and excavated funerary epitaphs, this article examines the intricacies of gender and migration in early medieval China by exploring women's long-distance mobility from the fourth century to the sixth century, when what is now known as China was divided by the Northern Wei and a succession of four southern states—the Eastern Jin, Liu-Song, Southern Qi, and Liang. I focus on three types of migration in which women participated during this period: war-induced migration, family reunification, and religious journeys. Based on this analysis, I propose answers to two important questions: the connection between migration and the state, and textual representations of migrants. Though the texts under consideration are usually written in an anecdotal manner, the references to women, I argue, both reveals nuances in perceptions of womanhood at the time and elucidates the contexts within—and through—which long-distance travel became possible for women.

scholarly journals Some considerations on the use of the geoelectric «square» array

1996 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Merlanti ◽  
M. Pavan
Keyword(s):  
Error Term ◽  
Homogeneous Medium ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Linear Arrays ◽  
Relative Measurements ◽  
Square Array ◽  
Anisotropy Coefficients

The «square array» is what we may consider to be an unconventional geoelectric configuration since it is not widely used and therefore there are few examples of practical application. The purpose of this research was to verify the operating effectiveness of this configuration in terms of profile and sounding, and the significance of the set of possible measurements and derived parameters. This was also obtained by comparing the relative measurements with the most common linear arrays (Wenner, Schlumberger, tripotential). The experiment was carried out in two different zones. In the first area, corresponding to the archaeological site of Marzabotto (Bologna), the target was represented by wall remnants inserted in a substantially homogeneous medium, from an electrical point of view, and at depths that are less than those of the dimensions of the device used. At the second site, located in the valley of Landrazza (Savona), the situation was very different, with a valley section on a calcareous bedrock filled with poorly classified residual sediments. An overall analysis of the results showed that the square technique is more exhaustive than the classical linear arrangements when performing soundings. Instead, with regard to profile development, it is not as preferred since it involves a greater amount of work without generating improved information. From analysis of the experimental results, considerable doubts arose about the meaning and the use of the anisotropy coefficients and the error term as defined theoretically. These parameters turned out to be of little use with regard to the characterization of the ground anisotropy and for checking the reliability of the measurements.

scholarly journals Environmental and Linguistic Typology of Whistled Languages

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 493-510
Author(s):  
Julien Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Natural Speech ◽  
Language Diversity ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Language Family ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Linguistic Typology ◽  
Language Structure

Whistled forms of languages are distributed worldwide and survive only in some of the most remote villages on the planet. They are not limited to a given continent, language family, or language structure, but they have been detected only sporadically by researchers and travelers, partly because they can be taken for nonlinguistic phenomena, such as simple signaling. Whistled speech consists of speaking while whistling to communicate at a long distance. The result is a melody that imitates modal speech and that remains intelligible for the interlocutors. This review proposes a typology of this special, little-known, natural speech type and takes socio-environmental and linguistic aspects into consideration. The amazing potential of this phenomenon to provide an alternative point of view into language diversity and speech offers a unique occasion to revisit human language with original insights embracing the adaptive flexibility that characterizes speech production and perception.

scholarly journals μXRF Mapping as a Powerful Technique for Investigating Metal Objects from the Archaeological Site of Ferento (Central Italy)

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Capobianco ◽  
Adriana Sferragatta ◽  
Luca Lanteri ◽  
Giorgia Agresti ◽  
Giuseppe Bonifazi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Elements ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Multivariate Curve Resolution ◽  
Polycapillary Optics ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Minor Elements ◽  
Major Chemical

This research concerns the application of micro X-ray fluorescence (µXRF) mapping to the investigation of a group of selected metal objects from the archaeological site of Ferento, a Roman and then medieval town in Central Italy. Specifically, attention was focused on two test pits, named IV and V, in which metal objects were found, mainly pertaining to the medieval period and never investigated before the present work from a compositional point of view. The potentiality of µXRF mapping was tested through a Bruker Tornado M4 equipped with an Rh tube, operating at 50 kV, 500 μA, and spot 25 μm obtained with polycapillary optics. Principal component analysis (PCA) and multivariate curve resolution (MCR) were used for processing the X-ray fluorescence spectra. The results showed that the investigated items are characterized by different compositions in terms of chemical elements. Three little wheels are made of lead, while the fibulae are made of copper-based alloys with varying amounts of tin, zinc, and lead. Only one ring is iron-based, and the other objects, namely a spatula and an applique, are also made of copper-based alloys, but with different relative amounts of the main elements. In two objects, traces of gold were found, suggesting the precious character of these pieces. MCR analysis was demonstrated to be particularly useful to confirm the presence of trace elements, such as gold, as it could differentiate the signals related to minor elements from those due to major chemical elements.

Paleoecological implications of the first prehistoric record of water vole (Microtus richardsoni) from Washington state, USA

2019 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-387
Author(s):  
R. Lee Lyman
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Sampling Error ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Cascade Range ◽  
Western Montana ◽  
Water Vole ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The North ◽  
Long Distance Transport ◽  
Distance Transport

AbstractRemains of the North American water vole (Microtus richardsoni) have previously been recovered from late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits in southwestern Alberta, western Montana, and north-central Wyoming. All are within the historically documented modern range of the metapopulation occupying the Rocky Mountains; no ancient remains of this large microtine have previously been reported from the metapopulation occupying the Cascade Range. Four lower first molar specimens from the late Holocene Stemilt Creek Village archaeological site in central Washington here identified as water vole are from the eastern slope of the Cascade Range and are extralimital to the metapopulation found in those mountains. There is no taphonomic evidence indicating long-distance transport of the teeth, and modern trapping records suggest the local absence of water voles from the site area today is not a function of sampling error. The precise age of the Stemilt Creek Village water voles is obscure but climate change producing well-documented late Holocene advances of nearby alpine glaciers could have created habitat conditions conducive to the apparent modest shift in the range of the species represented by the remains.

Eriugenas Innovation

Vivarium ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Sebastian Weiner
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Ontological Difference

AbstractJohn Scot Eriugena's work Periphyseon is commonly regarded as having introduced Neoplatonism into early medieval thinking. Eriugena's theory of the reunification of the Creator and his creation is then viewed as being based on the Neoplatonic scheme of procession and reversion. However, this interpretation falls short of Eriugena's intentions. Above all, he denies any ontological difference between Creator and creation without taking recourse to the Neoplatonic considerations of procession and reversion. Surprisingly, according to Eriugena's explanation, God is not only the Creator but he is also created. He is created insofar as he alone, possessing all being, is the essence of all created things. Moreover, the fourfold division of nature, presented at the beginning of the work, is not Eriugena's own innovation, but a common Carolingian concept. It is rather his aim to show that from an ontological point of view this division has to be resolved.

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