Gardens of the Maya

Author(s):  
Andrew R. Wyatt

Houselot gardens are cultivated spaces located adjacent to households and are commonly used to grow flowers, herbs, vegetables, and fruits. They function as a primary source of a diverse array of food items, including staples, condiments, medicines, and spices; they provide non-food items as well, such as dyes, construction materials, or ornamental plants; and they provide a supply of food that is sold in local and extra-local markets. The diversity of plants and uses make gardens a fundamental element of household subsistence production. This chapter investigates the articulation of Maya gardening practices with economic systems, focusing specifically on how changes in the political economy affects household production. We utilize diachronic data from the Pre-Columbian Maya site of Chan, exploring how household gardening practices were affected in a dynamic political landscape from the Middle Preclassic to the Terminal Classic. These data are contrasted with synchronic data from the contemporary village of Lake Mensabak, a Lacandon Maya community going through rapid social and political disruptions. This chapter demonstrates that although houselot gardens are small-scale and household oriented, they reflect changes and upheavals in local, national, and international political economies.

Author(s):  
Aparna . Veluru ◽  
Kanwar P. Singh ◽  
Namita . . ◽  
Sapna . Panwar ◽  
Gayacharan . . ◽  
...  

Roses are the most important commercial ornamental plants grown for flowers, perfumery and nutraceutical compounds. Commercially cultivated roses (Rosa × hybrida L.) are complex interspecific hybrids probably derived from 8-10 wild species among the large diversity of 130-200 species in genus Rosa. Wild germplasm is a primary source of variability and plays a major role in improving existing varieties by broadening their genetic base. In the present investigation, we have utilized the previously identified SSR primers for studying the diversity among 148 selected rose genotypes, including wild species and cultivated varieties of Indian and exotic origin. A total of 88 alleles was scored using 30 polymorphic loci; they produced average 2.9±1 alleles per locus. Polymorphism information content (PIC) values for different SSR loci ranged from 0.08 to 0.8 with a mean value of 0.5±0.2. The neighbor-joining tree generated based on Nei’s (1978) genetic distance values grouped the population into three major clusters. Cluster-I and II consists of all modern rose cultivars (Rosa × hybrida L.) originated from India and cluster-III consists of all exotic cultivars, wild species and a few cultivars from India. STRUCTURE analysis based on microsatellite allelic data, partitioned the total rose genotypes into four different sub-populations with some individual genotypes having genomic admixture. Population subdivision estimates, FST between different subpopulations ranged from 0.01-0.15 indicates low to moderate level of divergence existing among the rose cultivars and germplasm. Population differentiation in rose cultivars and wild species corresponds to their geographical origin and lineages. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) results revealed that 83.12 % of the variance was accounted for by within sub-groups followed by significant levels of variation among the populations (10.42%) and least variance (6.46%) was noticed among individuals within groups.


Author(s):  
William Ringle ◽  
Tomás Gallareta Negrón ◽  
George Bey

Survey in the Puuc region, Yucatán, has revealed considerable evidence for small-scale quarrying and lime burning for construction purposes, as well as a high incidence of masonry architecture. In this chapter we discuss what must have been a substantial component of the Puuc Terminal Classic economy, especially if the construction of palaces and civic-ceremonial structures is included. This chapter addresses the stages involved in the procurement of building materials for housing and subsequent construction processes, especially of masonry structures. We then assess how construction may have been managed and its economic implications, suggesting that elite houses may have been tokens within a royal patronage network in which the size and elaboration of dwellings were subject to sumptuary considerations.


1993 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Gerard Fox

AbstractThis study is an iconographic analysis of ballcourt markers from the Late/Terminal Classic Maya site of Tenam Rosario, Chiapas, Mexico. The squatting posture of the two figures depicted on these markers, while rare in Lowland Maya art, is compared to Late Postclassic images of the earth deities Tlaltecuhtli and Tlaloc from Central Mexico. Contemporaneous examples of this posture are presented from the Gulf Coast site of El Tajin where squatting figures are associated with the rain god specifically and with the themes of ballgame sacrifice and regeneration in general. Tlaloc imagery in Classic Maya art is related to blood sacrifice as a complex, which includes both ritual warfare and autosacrifice. These forms of sacrifice are discussed as engendered categories in both Classic Maya and Aztec society. The Tenam Rosario markers are found to express themes that are consistent with ballgame symbolism throughout Mesoamerica, while conflating male and female aspects of blood sacrifice as regenerative ritual.


Author(s):  
Andrew Kurzawski ◽  
Ofodike A. Ezekoye

A fire contained within a room can spread into void spaces in the walls and ceiling through penetrations in the material that lines the compartment. Few studies have looked at how a room and contents fire transitions to a structural fire. One of the active areas of fire research is the coupling of the fire to the structure. Lightweight wood frame construction represents the majority of residential construction in the U.S. The construction details and choice of materials will affect the overall fire resistance of the structure. Because of the relative lack of knowledge on the fire penetration into wall spaces, this research examined how fire might penetrate into the void spaces of wood framed structures. In the U.S.A., a critical barrier to the penetration of hot gas products into void spaces is provided by the gypsum-board skin of the compartment. For most compartments, there are many penetrations within the compartment’s gypsum-board skin. Common potential access points include security system wiring (e.q. smoke detectors and cameras), ventilation fixtures, light switches, and electrical outlets among others. A hole in the gypsum may create opportunities for void space ignition. One of the purposes of this work is to develop a small scale testing system to characterize fire driven flow and heat transfer into a void space. With such an apparatus, one can rapidly identify materials that are prone to igniting for a given leakage geometry and fire size. Common materials found in void spaces include wooden structural members, plywood/oriented strand board, a variety of insulation types, and vapor barriers. This study discusses the characteristics of the small scale experimental system and preliminary tests on a range of void space construction materials.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 158-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orsolya Farkas ◽  
György Szabados ◽  
Ákos Antal ◽  
Ákos Török

The effect of particulate matter - as a component of an internal combustion engine's exhaust gas - on 8 different types of construction materials have been studied under laboratory conditions. Our aim was double. On the one hand it was to investigate the degree of discolouration, whether there is a difference between the 8 types of rock in the same exposure, after laboratory contamination. On the other hand to measure the mass effect of particulate on the rocks. For testing the adverse effects of diesel soot and particulate matter on stones a small scale laboratory exposure chamber was constructed and built in the exhaust system of the engine. A compression ignition engine was used to pollute directly the set of stones. Mass and colour measurement tests have been carried out on the stones before and after the exposure. The result is as expected small difference in the mass properties and a greater changes in terms of colour measurement.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 305-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Manuel Palomo ◽  
Takeshi Inomata ◽  
Daniela Triadan

AbstractSkeletal remains excavated from the lowland Maya site of Ceibal, representing approximately 117 individuals, provide significant data for the study of changes in bodily treatments and mortuary practices from 1000b.c.toa.d.900. The early Middle Preclassic residents of Ceibal apparently did not bury their dead inside residential structures, which represents a burial practice different from those found at contemporaneous Belizean sites. During this time, tabular erect cranial deformations were found among possible local residents. Sacrificial burials were present by the end of this period, but skeletal remains of violent rituals deposited in public spaces increased from the Middle Preclassic to the Late Preclassic. During the Late Preclassic, tabular erect cranial deformations coexisted with tabular oblique shapes. The Classic period witnessed a prevalence of tabular oblique forms, which were probably tied to local residents. The common placement of the dead under house floors and the preference of ceramic vessels as burial goods also indicate Ceibal's strong affinities with other parts of the Maya lowlands during the Late Classic period. During the Terminal Classic period, there was a resurgence in the placement of sacrificial burials in public spaces and tabular erect cranial deformations were found in possible non-local individuals.


2016 ◽  
Vol 141 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaobai Li ◽  
Weirui Li ◽  
Chenlu Di ◽  
Ming Xie ◽  
Liang Jin ◽  
...  

Chinese cymbidiums (Cymbidium sp.) are important ornamental plants because of their foliage, flower shape, and fragrance. Well-known Chinese cymbidiums mainly include Cymbidium goeringii, Cymbidium faberi, Cymbidium ensifolium, Cymbidium kanran, and Cymbidium sinense. The population genetics of Chinese cymbidiums can be efficiently analyzed using small-scale marker panels with high discriminatory power. In this study, we tested several genic simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and built six genic SSR panels. The panels included several robust markers, which can rapidly assign Chinese cymbidium accessions to their source species. Fifty-three accessions of Chinese cymbidiums were analyzed using 25 markers, which exhibited polymorphism among five species. These markers were ranked according to their discriminatory scores (D scores). The program selected six markers to build an “overall” panel for all Cymbidium classifications and yielded 95.16% population assignment accuracy. Considering one species as the “critical” population and the four other species as one population, we built five genic SSR panels: C. ensifolium panel (four markers, 98.05% accuracy), C. faberi panel (six markers, 95.90% accuracy), C. goeringii panel (six markers, 95.15% accuracy), C. sinense panel (six markers, 96.35% accuracy), and C. kanran panel (five markers, 96.10% accuracy). Genetic distance matrices calculated using the “overall” panels and those derived with the 25 markers were compared. Results showed a high correlation (R = 0.807) with statistical significance (P = 0.042). Moreover, “all panels” revealed higher genetic variations among populations than “all markers.” Hence, the developed panels are suitable for efficient population classification of Chinese cymbidiums.


1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 557-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis P. Stimart

The Allen Centennial Gardens are instructional gardens managed by the Department of Horticulture, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Twenty-two garden styles exist on the 2.5-acre (1.0-ha) campus site with a primary focus on herbaceous annual, biennial and perennial ornamental plants. The gardens are used for instruction mostly by the Department of Horticulture and secondly by departments of art, botany, entomology, landscape architecture, plant pathology, and soils. Class work sessions are limited due to the gardens' prominence on campus, high aesthetic standards, space restrictions, and large class sizes. Undergraduate students are the primary source of labor for plant propagation, installation and maintenance; management; and preparation of interpretive literature. Work experience at the gardens assists students with obtaining career advances in ornamental horticulture. Future challenges include initiating greater faculty use of the gardens for instruction and creating innovative ways to use the gardens to enhance instruction.


Al-Burz ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Noreen Bano ◽  
Liaqat Ali Sani ◽  
Panah Baloch

Brahui is one of the oldest languages of the Sub-continent and Brahui speaking people are found in Balochistan, Sindh, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Iran. Some researchers claim that Brahui is an Aryan language others assert that it is a Turko-Iranian language. Another group of intellectuals also emphasize that the traces of Brahui language have been found in the remainants of Mohenjo Daro and it has Dravidian origin and same language is being spoken in some parts of India and Sri Lanka. According to some historians Brahui’s and Baloch’s belong to same race. Balochi speaking people entered Mekran while Brahui speaking people entered from Chagai as they defeated the Dravidian rulers of Kalat and entered into matrimonial relationship with the Dravidian and Balochi languages were mixed up and a new language of “Brahui” was born due to same relationship. According to reports about four million peoples of the above countries and regions speaks Brahui language. Languages are vehicles of our cultures, collective memory and values. They are an essential component of our identities, and a building block of our diversity and living heritage. Globalized economics and media are altering the face of culture around the globe, reducing the number of languages that human’s converse. As the world economy becomes more integrated, a common tongue has become more important than ever to promote commerce, and that puts speakers of regional dialects and minority languages at a distinct disadvantage. In addition, information technology has pressured languages to become more standardized, further squeezing local variations of language. These pressures are inducing a rapid die-off of languages around the world. UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger declaring that Brahui is vulnerable language. A small scale print and electronic media are playing important role in the promotion of Brahui language but have no ample capacity to stop the invasion of globalization.  Surveys and research finding are also shows that many Brahui words, names of boys, girls, days, relationships, terminologies, names of food items were replaced by the words of the other dominant languages of electronic media.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhavish Patel ◽  
Bojan Tamburic ◽  
Fessehaye W. Zemichael ◽  
Pongsathorn Dechatiwongse ◽  
Klaus Hellgardt

Global energy use has reached unprecedented levels and increasing human population, technological integration, and improving lifestyle will further fuel this demand. Fossil fuel based energy is our primary source of energy and it will remain to be in the near future. The effects from the use of this finite resource on the fate of our planet are only now being understood and recognised in the form of climate change. Renewable energy systems may offer a credible alternative to help maintain our lifestyle sustainably and there are a range of options that can be pursued. Biofuels, especially algae based, have gained significant publicity recently. The concept of making biofuels, biochemicals, and by-products works well theoretically and at small scale, but when considering scaleup, many solutions can be dismissed on either economical or ecological grounds. Even if an (cost-) effective method for algae cultivation is developed, other input parameters, namely, fixed nitrogen and fresh water, remain to be addressed. Furthermore, current processing routes for harvesting, drying, and extraction for conversion to subsequent products are economically unattractive. The strategies employed for various algae-based fuels are identified and it is suggested that ultimately only an integrated algal biorefinery concept may be the way forward.


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