Modeling Maya Markets

2020 ◽  
pp. 14-27
Author(s):  
Eleanor M. King
Keyword(s):  
Economic Importance ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
The Future ◽  
Maya Area ◽  
Over Time

An abundance of data now supports the existence—long doubted—of markets in the Maya area in the Classic period (C.E. 250–900) and their economic importance. Why, however, did it take so long for Maya markets to be recognized? And how are they best conceptualized? After briefly reviewing the assumptions that hindered archaeological research on markets, especially among the Maya, this article uses ethnohistorical and ethnographic information to suggest an agent-centered model for how Maya markets worked. The intent is not to create a single, overarching template, because Maya economy varied over time and space, but rather to infuse more of a Maya perspective into current views and inspire others to continue doing so in the future.

CONVERGENCE ZONE POLITICS AT THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF UCANAL, PETEN, GUATEMALA

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 476-493
Author(s):  
Christina T. Halperin ◽  
Jose Luis Garrido Lopez ◽  
Miriam Salas ◽  
Jean-Baptiste LeMoine
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Convergence Zone ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Cultural Interaction ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Political Networks ◽  
Interaction Spheres ◽  
Maya Area

AbstractThe Maya archaeological site of Ucanal is located in Peten, Guatemala, close to the contemporary border with Belize. In pre-Columbian times, the site also sat at the frontiers of some of the largest political centers, Naranjo in Peten, Guatemala, and Caracol, in Belize. Entangled between these dominant centers and with ties to peoples in the Upper Belize Valley, the Petexbatun region in Guatemala, northern Yucatan, and elsewhere, Ucanal was a critical convergence zone of political and cultural interaction. This paper synthesizes archaeological research by the Proyecto Arqueológico Ucanal to underscore the ways in which this provincial polity, identified epigraphically as K'anwitznal, maneuvered within and between different cultural affiliations and political networks. We find that the site's role as a political frontier during the Late Classic period was more of a bridge than an edge. During the later Terminal Classic period, the K'anwitznal kingdom gained independence, but continued to serve as a critical convergence of influences and interaction spheres from throughout the Maya area and beyond.

Mutable Mobiles: Charting the Cartography of Banarasi Toymakers

Design Issues ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-57
Author(s):  
Koumudi Patil ◽  
Uday Athavankar
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Distributed Cognition ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Team Members ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Decentralized Decision Making ◽  
The Future ◽  
Over Time

From the perspective of design, Latour's cycles of inscriptions and mobility promises to be of significance to the future exploration of self-organizing tendencies, as well as distributed cognition in decentralized decision making between heterogeneous team members scattered across time and space. Of particular relevance is the role of the artefact in the absence or lack of communication as an object- to-think-with, as well as to negotiate design decisions over time and space. Artefacts, as in this study- Banarasi toys, acting as probes not only accumulate design decisions, but also inscribe the worldview of the members on themselves. Their mutability and mobility endows on them the promising role of gathering members and eventually an entire community around them. On completion of the cycles, they become a microcosm of the worldview, similar to Latour's map encapsulating the earth.

Language Change and Movement as Seen by Historical Linguistics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Nurse
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Comparative Linguistics ◽  
Language Boundaries ◽  
Over Time

The focus of this chapter is on how languages move and change over time and space. The perceptions of historical linguists have been shaped by what they were observing. During the flowering of comparative linguistics, from the late 19th into the 20th century, the dominant view was that in earlier times when people moved, their languages moved with them, often over long distances, sometimes fast, and that language change was largely internal. That changed in the second half of the 20th century. We now recognize that in recent centuries and millennia, most movements of communities and individuals have been local and shorter. Constant contact between communities resulted in features flowing across language boundaries, especially in crowded and long-settled locations such as most of Central and West Africa. Although communities did mix and people did cross borders, it became clear that language and linguistic features could also move without communities moving.

The Oxford Handbook of the Brazilian Economy

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Direct Investment ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Iron Ore ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Economic Importance ◽  
Closed Economy ◽  
Current Characteristics ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Contemporary Context ◽  
Over Time

Brazil constitutes a globally vital but troubled economy. It accounts for the largest GDP in Latin America and ranks among the world’s largest exporters of critical commodities including iron ore, soya, coffee, and beef. In recent years Brazil’s global economic importance has been magnified by a surge in both outward and inward foreign direct investment. This has served to further internationalize what has been historically a relatively closed economy. The purpose of this Handbook is to offer real insight into the Brazil’s economic development in contemporary context, understanding its most salient characteristics and analyzing its structural features across various dimensions. At a more granular level, this volume accomplishes the following tasks. First, it provides an understanding of the economy’s evolution over time and the connection of its current characteristics to this evolution. Second, it analyzes Brazil’s broader place in the global economy, and considers the ways in which this role has changed, and is likely to change, over coming years. Third, reflecting contemporary concerns, the volume offers an understanding, not only of how one of the world’s key economies has developed and transformed itself, but also of the ways in which this process has yet to be completed. The volume thus analyzes the current challenges facing the Brazilian economy and the kinds of issues that need to be tackled for these to be addressed.

scholarly journals Agritourism—A Business Reality of the Moment for Romanian Rural Area’s Sustainability

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6313
Author(s):  
Ramona Ciolac ◽  
Tiberiu Iancu ◽  
Ioan Brad ◽  
Tabita Adamov ◽  
Nicoleta Mateoc-Sîrb
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Distribution Channels ◽  
Scientific Paper ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
The Future ◽  
Tourism Potential ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Managerial Experience ◽  
Over Time

The agritourism activity can be a characteristic reality of the present, considering rural area’s sustainability, being at the same time a business reality for rural entrepreneurs and a “must have” for rural communities that have tourism potential. It is a form of tourism, through which the tourist can receive a qualitative product at a reasonable price, but also a field that can ensure sustainable development over time, being at the same time environmentally friendly. The purpose of this scientific paper is to identify the aspects that make agritourism “a possible business reality of the moment”, for Romanian rural area’s sustainability. We take into account the following areas: Bran-Moieciu area—considered “the oldest” in terms of agritourism experience, and Apuseni Mountains area, with a great inclination and potential for this activity. The study conducted for these two areas is focused on several aspects: the degree of involvement in agritourism activities, considering the number of years and managerial experience, the analysis of the types of activities/experiences offered by agritourism structures, the identification of the main reasons/motivations for the orientation towards agritourism and the manner in which this field is perceived. Aspects related to the marketing-finance part of the agritourism business are also taken into account: customers, distribution channels, financial sources, shortcomings observed by agritourism business owners and possible action directions so as to improve the activity/agritourism product. Agritourism may be “a possible business reality of the moment” for the studied areas and not only, but in the future, the entrepreneur/farmer must be constantly updated because of the changing situations that appear on the market, be able to make sustainable decisions for his/her own business, which in the future will ensure its viability and obviously its long-term profitability and development, and in the same time rural area’s sustainability.

scholarly journals INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL SECTION: BORDERS, FRONTIERS, AND BOUNDARIES IN THE MAYA WORLD: CONCEPTS AND THEORY

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Halperin ◽  
Carolyn Freiwald ◽  
Gyles Iannone
Keyword(s):  
Special Section ◽  
Economic Networks ◽  
Maya Area ◽  
Cultural Connections ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThe Maya area has long been characterized as a mosaic of polities large and small, with cultural connections, linguistic dialects, ethnicities, and economic networks that shifted, expanded, and contracted over time. In this paper, we examine different ways of constructing boundaries. From physical demarcations in the landscape to habitual practices of interaction and affiliation, the lines that tied and divided were both unstable and multiple. We draw on definitions and theories from anthropology, history, and geography to review the concepts of borders, frontiers, and boundaries and their implications for the Maya area over the long term.

The Internet according to kids

2002 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-52
Author(s):  
Jorian Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Parental Involvement ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Online Shopping ◽  
Online Banking ◽  
Internet Usage ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Future ◽  
Child Friendly ◽  
Over Time

Describes a six‐year study of children’s Internet usage which shows how preferences and habits have changed over time; this was conducted by SpectraCom Inc and Circle 1 network. Explains the research methodology and the objectives, which were to identify trends in the amount of time spent by children online now and in future, their opinions about the future role of the Internet in society and the future of e‐commerce, and parents’ roles in children’s online activities. Concludes that there is need for a more child‐friendly content in Internet sites and for more parental involvement, that children will be influential in the market for alternative devices like mobile phones, that online shopping is likely to flourish, and that children have a growing interest in online banking.

scholarly journals Revealing the spatial shifting pattern of COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Zhu ◽  
Xinyue Ye ◽  
Steven Manson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Long Range ◽  
Network Optimization ◽  
Network Modeling ◽  
The United States ◽  
Standard Series ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Long Range Interactions ◽  
Dynamic Relationships ◽  
Over Time

AbstractWe describe the use of network modeling to capture the shifting spatiotemporal nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. The most common approach to tracking COVID-19 cases over time and space is to examine a series of maps that provide snapshots of the pandemic. A series of snapshots can convey the spatial nature of cases but often rely on subjective interpretation to assess how the pandemic is shifting in severity through time and space. We present a novel application of network optimization to a standard series of snapshots to better reveal how the spatial centres of the pandemic shifted spatially over time in the mainland United States under a mix of interventions. We find a global spatial shifting pattern with stable pandemic centres and both local and long-range interactions. Metrics derived from the daily nature of spatial shifts are introduced to help evaluate the pandemic situation at regional scales. We also highlight the value of reviewing pandemics through local spatial shifts to uncover dynamic relationships among and within regions, such as spillover and concentration among states. This new way of examining the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of network-based spatial shifts offers new story lines in understanding how the pandemic spread in geography.

scholarly journals China’s Investments in Germany and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-119
Author(s):  
Xinming Xia ◽  
Wan-Hsin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Know How ◽  
Advanced Technologies ◽  
The Future ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Chinese State ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Gain Access ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThis paper analyses how China’s investments in Germany have developed over time and the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in this regard, based on four different datasets, including our own survey in mid-2020. Our analysis shows that Germany is currently one of the most attractive investment destinations for Chinese investors. Chinese state-owned enterprises have played an important role as investors in Germany — particularly in large-scale projects. The COVID-19 pandemic has had some negative but rather temporary effects on Chinese investments in Germany. Germany is expected to stay attractive to Chinese investors who seek to gain access to advanced technologies and know-how in the future.

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