Wczesnośredniowieczne grodzisko w Dusinie, pow. gostyński, woj. wielkopolskie w świetle ponownej analizy archeologicznej

The article presents the results of another archaeological analysis carried out on materials from an early medieval settlement in Dusina in southern Greater Poland. The data obtained during the excavations, during the millennium research, prompted the recognition of the settlement as the oldest motte-type object in Poland. During the verification of the old findings, the ceramic material and the stratigraphic situation were re-analyzed, radiocarbon dating was made, and historical and cartographic data were used to confirm the chronology of the stronghold as well as the course of events that led to severe damage and disturbance of the original appearance of the stronghold. A contour plan and a model of the terrain were also prepared.

CURRÁS, B. X. – SASTRE, I. (eds.), 2020 Alternative Iron Ages. Social Theory From Archaeological Analysis

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ROMAN PORTS IN THE LOWER TIBER VALLEY: COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES TO REASSESS ROME'S PORT SYSTEM

This paper presents an innovative study of the port system of Rome in Imperial times through the application of an integrated approach to both archaeological analysis and material evidence. Specifically, it seeks to provide a more complete contextualization and understanding of the port system of Rome by focusing on the exploration of the physical geography of the river Tiber and its transformations in connection with the organization of the port system between the late first century BC and early third century AD. Methodologically, this study is based on the compilation, re-evaluation and analysis of published archaeological and geoarchaeological data and on the application of modelling and simulations techniques within a GIS environment. These foundations and means allow us to reconstruct the development of the river Tiber's historical course in antiquity and its impact on specific organizational aspects of Rome's port system. In this sense, this study provides new insights and avenues of research (applicable to other geographical areas and periods of time) to evaluate the system's changing capacity for transport and the potential existence of a signalling system, in contrast to previous hypotheses on the organization of river traffic along the Tiber.

Visuospatial integration: Paleoanthropological and archaeological perspectives

The visuospatial system integrates inner and outer functional processes, organizing spatial, temporal, and social interactions between brain, body, and environment. These processes involve sensorimotor networks like the eye–hand circuit, which is especially important to primates, given their reliance on vision and touch as primary sensory modalities and the use of the hands in social and environmental interactions. At the same time, visuospatial cognition is intimately connected with egocentric memory, self-awareness, and simulation capacity. In the present article, we review issues associated with investigating visuospatial integration in extinct human groups through the use of anatomical and behavioral data gleaned from the paleontological and archaeological records. In modern humans, paleoneurological analyses have demonstrated noticeable and unique morphological changes in parietal cortex, an area crucial to visuospatial management. Archaeological data provides information on hand-tool interaction, the spatial behavior of past populations and their interaction with the environment (e.g. in domains like landscape use and navigation, the spatial relations implicit in social networks, etc.). Visuospatial integration may represent a critical bridge between extended cognition, self-awareness, and social perception. As such, visuospatial functions are relevant to the hypothesis that human evolution is characterized by changes in brain–body–environment interactions and relations, which enhance possibilities for integrating inner and outer cognitive components through neural plasticity and a specialized embodiment capacity. We therefore advocate the investigation of visuospatial functions in past populations through the paleoneurological study of anatomical elements and archaeological analysis of visuospatial behaviors.

The Early Modern Period, 1530–1650

The final main chapter looks at the early modern period, assessing how far it saw a ‘Reformation of the landscape’ and a secularization and commodification of the way land was valued as a resource. It is argued that, as earlier, a group sense of attachment to place was strongest in vibrant, socially ‘open’ settlements with considerable shared spaces, the kind of settlements found mainly in the vale part of the hundred. Village social space is examined in detail through an archaeological analysis of standing buildings and their relationship to the wider streetscape. Court depositions supply data about inhabitants’ attitudes to different social spaces and the ways in which they were used.

Quand la pétroarchéologie questionne la notion de site : états de surface et taphonomie des objets lithiques de La Belle-Roche (Sprimont, Prov. de Liège, Belgique)

Petro-archaeological analysis of the lithic industry of the Lower Paleolithic of La Belle-Roche cave (Sprimont, Belgium), according to the grids developed in recent years by various research programs in France, allows a new reading of this industry. Although the anthropic character of certain objects seems well-estabilished, their accumulation in the deposit remains problematic. In this respect, the taphonomic and weathering analysis of the industry raises questions about the origin of the deposit, the age of the industry and the notion of “site”: is the “La Belle-Roche site” as a prehistorian or prehistoric construction?

What could Paul have meant by ‘against nature’ (παρὰ φύσιν) as written in Romans 1:26? Striving for the well-being and health of all people

The point of departure of this article is postmodern philosopher Michel Foucault’s ‘archaeological analysis’ of the history of sexuality, seen from the lens of the South African philosopher Johann Beukes. Foucault points out that since the circulation of the so-called handbooks on penance in the 6th century CE, same-gender sex was seen as a punishable sin. With regard to perspectives before this period, Foucault reflects specifically on the contribution of the Christian theologian Augustine (354–430 CE), and particularly Augustine’s interpretation of the Greek expression para phusin (παρὰ φύσιν) as ‘against nature’ as written in Paul’s letter to the Romans (1:26). He argues that this interpretation by Augustine represents a trend in contemporaneous thinking of non-Christian writers such as Plutarch and Themistios. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that a much more influential stimulus from another non-Christian thinker, namely Artemidorus of Daldis (2nd century CE), created a common context that influenced Augustine’s views and subsequently those on same-gender sex, sexual identity, and heterosexual marriage within the Christian tradition.Contribution: The article shows how modern-day homophobia and aversion in same-gender sex do not have its primarily ground in Paul’s use of para phusin, but that Augustine and present-day homophobes in the Christian (including the Reformed) tradition do have their roots in a non-Christian conviction without realising its intercultural and non-Christian origins.

Airborne Lidar Survey, Density-Based Clustering, and Ancient Maya Settlement in the Upper Usumacinta River Region of Mexico and Guatemala

We present results from the archaeological analysis of 331 km2 of high-resolution airborne lidar data collected in the Upper Usumacinta River basin of Mexico and Guatemala. Multiple visualizations of the DEM and multi-spectral data from four lidar transects crossing the Classic period (AD 350–900) Maya kingdoms centered on the sites of Piedras Negras, La Mar, and Lacanja Tzeltal permitted the identification of ancient settlement and associated features of agricultural infrastructure. HDBSCAN (hierarchical density-based clustering of applications with noise) cluster analysis was applied to the distribution of ancient structures to define urban, peri-urban, sub-urban, and rural settlement zones. Interpretations of these remotely sensed data are informed by decades of ground-based archaeological survey and excavations, as well as a rich historical record drawn from inscribed stone monuments. Our results demonstrate that these neighboring kingdoms in three adjacent valleys exhibit divergent patterns of structure clustering and low-density urbanism, distributions of agricultural infrastructure, and economic practices during the Classic period. Beyond meeting basic subsistence needs, agricultural production in multiple areas permitted surpluses likely for the purposes of tribute, taxation, and marketing. More broadly, this research highlights the strengths of HDBSCAN to the archaeological study of settlement distributions when compared to more commonly applied methods of density-based cluster analysis.

III. The Origins of Determinate Information

This paper continues an argument begun in "Why Quantum Mechanics Makes Sense", which explores the conditions under which a physical world can define and communicate any kind of information. Since it appears that nearly all of what’s known in our most fundamental theories may be needed to do this, the question arises as to how such a complex, many-leveled system of rules and principles could have emerged from much simpler initial conditions. Following the earlier treatment of Quantum Mechanics, the initial state of the universe is taken to be a plenum of unconstrained (and therefore structureless) possibility. Any sort of system can emerge, in these conditions, so long as it’s able to define all its constraints in terms of each other – as our observable universe does. I attempt an "archaeological" analysis of currently known physics into component layers of self-defining structure, each of which can be understood as emergent on the basis of previously established constraints. I also consider how this kind of reconstruction might relate to our currently well-established Concordance Model of the early history of our universe.

Towards an Ontology-Driven Information System for Archaeological Pottery Studies: The Greyware Experience

The archaeological analysis of medieval and modern pottery has benefited from the consolidation of archaeometry in the domain of Medieval Archaeology in the past few decades. As part of an ongoing research project devoted to the characterization of pottery production, distribution processes and technological transfer, we deal with a considerable amount of data that are very diverse in origin and nature and must be exploited within an integrated information system in order to provide information for historical knowledge. The Greyware system has been designed to fulfil this goal and provides the main categories for pottery analysis within a shareable and reusable scenario. Its development and application prove that a little semantics goes a long way and that the creation of domain ontologies for archaeological research is an iterative process under development, as long as several projects sharing data, resources and time can develop a collaborative framework to maximize the assets of individual expertise and collaborative work. In this paper, we discuss the requirements of the system, the challenge of developing strategies for normalized data management and their potential for exploiting historical vestiges from an integrated perspective.