To be or not to be: reassessing the origins of portable art in the Cantabrian Region (Northern Spain)

The characterization of the first portable artistic depictions in Cantabrian Spain is crucial for comprehension of the symbolic development of Neandertals and Homo sapiens in the context of the passage from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic. However, despite the importance of these first graphic representations, their study has tended to lack the application of suitable methodologies to be able to discriminate between graphic activity and other kind of alterations (use-wear, taphonomic, or post-depositional). The present study has examined a significant sample of Middle and Upper Paleolithic lithic and osseous objects from Cantabrian Spain that have been cited as evidence of graphic activity in the literature. The contexts in which the objects were found have been considered, and the objects have been analyzed through the microscopic observation of the marks to distinguish between incisions, pecking, and engraving made for a non-functional purpose (graphic activity) and those generated by diverse functional actions or taphonomic processes (cutmarks, trampling, root marks, percussion scars, and use-wear). The results show that some regional Middle Paleolithic osseous objects display incisions that are neither functional nor taphonomic and whose characteristics are similar to graphic evidence attributed to Neandertals in Europe and the Near East. In turn, the first portable art produced by Homo sapiens in the Cantabrian Spain seems to be limited mostly to linear signs, and no figurative representation can be recognized until the Gravettian. This appears to indicate a particular idiosyncrasy of the region in the Early Upper Paleolithic, which, in comparison with other regions such as south-west France and the Swabian Jura, shows a later and less abundant production of portable art.

NOTE SUL SUFISMO VISIVO: RAPPRESENTAZIONI GRAFICHE A SUPPORTO DELLA REALIZZAZIONE SPIRITUALE NEL TAṢAWWUF

Riassunto: Questo articolo raccoglie considerazioni di carattere introduttivo sul Sufismo visivo, ovvero sul vasto e complesso tema dell’utilizzo di rappresentazioni grafiche nella letteratura sufi, soffermandosi su un aspetto in particolare, ovvero su come questi diagrammi in molti casi siano stati concepiti dai maestri sufi che li idearono e dai loro fruitori come strumenti grafici a supporto della realizzazione spirituale; contemporaneamente esso si interroga, attraverso l’analisi dei testi, sulle ragioni che spinsero alcuni esponenti del Sufismo ad adottare questo particolare mezzo espressivo. Per far ciò sono stati presi in considerazione autori di epoche diverse, partendo da al-Ḥallāǧ (m. 309/922), passando per Ibn ʿArabī (m. 638/1240) -il cui impulso appare determinante nello sviluppo di questo fenómeno- proseguendo con alcuni eminenti esponenti della Scuola Akbariana quali Ḥaydar Āmulī (m. dopo il 787/1385) e Muḥammad Šīrīn Maġribī (m. 810/1408), per concludere con un maestro Naqšbandī contemporaneo di nome Abū l-Ḥasan Zayd Fārūqī (m. 1993). Questo excursus, sebbene breve e sommario, ripercorrendo più di mille anni consente di accertare la diffusione e la lunga fortuna del mezzo espressivo grafico nella storia del Taṣawwuf, il quale rimane ancora oggi poco conosciuto e che solo raramente viene avvertito come una delle tecniche spirituali proprie del Sufismo. Abstract: This article provides introductory considerations on Visual Sufism, that is, on the vast and complex topic of the use of graphic representations in Sufi literature, focusing on one aspect in particular. That is about how these diagrams in many cases have been conceived by the Sufi masters who designed them and by their users as graphic tools to support spiritual realization. At the same time, through the analysis of the texts, it questions the reasons that led some Sufi thinkers to adopt this particular means of expression. In order to do so, authors of different periods have been taken into consideration, starting from al-Ḥallāǧ (d. 309/922), passing through Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240) -whose impulse appears decisive in the development of this phenomenon -then continuing with some eminent exponents of the Akbarian School such as Ḥaydar Āmulī (d. after 787/1385) and Muḥammad Šīrīn Maġribī (d. 810/1408), concluding with a contemporary Naqšbandī master named Abū l-Ḥasan Zayd Fārūqī (d. 1993). This excursus, though brief and summary, by retracing more than a thousand years allows us to ascertain the diffusion and long fortune of the graphic means of expression in the history of Taṣawwuf, which remains little known even today and is only rarely perceived as one of the spiritual techniques proper to Sufism.

The end of the Ice Age in southern Europe: Iberian images in the Palaeolithic to Post-Palaeolithic transition

The documentation of Palaeolithic art in the open air, together with direct dates for parietal art and the study of territories marked by the last hunter groups in southern Europe, supports new interpretations of Palaeolithic art and its continuity in the early Holocene. We provide updated information about the graphic representations in that time of transition, grouped under the term Style V. We also reflect on the chronological framework of some themes and techniques for which dates are available, from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Neolithic. These topics reveal the strength of the Palaeolithic background in more recent versions of prehistoric art, especially the schematic art associated with the first farmers. These new considerations are added to the presence of ­Palaeolithic and Post-Palaeolithic art throughout Europe and all over the world, which shows how symbols are social traits of communication associated with human groups. The study of con­nections through these archaeological items, with their undeniable materiality, is a future challenge that will ­undoubtedly produce interesting results.

Tectonics of cartography

Probably by dint of seductive appearances and overflowing passion for cartography, by dint of instant accessibility to all kind of maps and any graphic representations commonly called ‘maps’ and finally by dint of confusions between what is an IMAGE and what is a DATA, everyone forgets that, at the dawn of a cartographic project, ‘THE MAP STILL DOESN’T EXIST’. For it to exist, a scope of collective work and essential skills are necessary. First of all, the aim of a mapping project must be identified. Its specifications, statement of requirements, its schedule of conditions must be sealed by a contract between an orderer and a cartographer.The objective of this presentation is to recall how a keyboard is neither a magic thought nor a magic wand. Clicking on it will never finalize our work without us, cartographers, but engages us to follow series of timeless execution process over the entire duration of the cartographic production, in anticipating each action.Our work consists in making every effort, by all the necessary technical and human means, to gather the knowledge of a subject (or several) to ‘Map-draw’ with the ultimate goal of returning this acquired knowledge to the readers. Their eye has to find at first glance the information sought. Indeed, the more beautiful and easier to grasp the map is, the more it will be consulted with pleasure.Through a range of cartographic memories, the following characteristic examples of out-of-standard cartographic productions will detail the pertinence of this meticulous cartographical articulation.

Inter-Regional Hospital Patients’ Mobility in Italy

Background: The federalization of the Italian National Health Service (NHS) gave administrative, financial, and managerial independence to regions. They are in reciprocal competition according to the “quasi-market” model. A network of independent providers replaced the state monopoly. The NHS, based on the Beveridge model in which citizens are free to choose their place of treatment, was consolidated. The aim of our research was to analyze the fulfillment of need for hospital services on site and patients’ migration to hospitals of other regions. Material and Methods: We analyzed data from 2013 to 2017 of Hospital Discharge Cards (HDCs) provided by the Ministry of Health. The subjects of the analysis (catchment areas) were the hospital networks of every Italian region. The study of flows was developed through Internal Demand Satisfaction, Attraction, Escape, Attraction, Absorption, and Escape Production indexes. Graphic representations were produced using Gandy’s Nomogram and Qgis software. Results: In the studied period, the mean number of mobility admission was 678.659 ± 3.388, with an increase of 0.90%; in particular, the trend for ordinary regime increased 1.17%. Regions of central/northern Italy have attracted more than 60% of the escapes of the southern ones. Gandy’s Nomogram showed that only nine regions had optimal public hospital planning (Lombardy, Autonomous Province of Bolzano, Veneto, Friuli V.G., Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, Latium and Molise). Conclusion: The central/northern regions appear more able to meet the care needs of their citizens and to attract patients than the southern ones.

Drawing places, recreating spaces: visual voices from at-risk children

Drawing is a highly participatory mode of communication, particularly suited to allowing children to express their knowledge and ideas about various aspects of reality. It is necessary to ascertain whether children are able to master drawing sufficiently to place it at the service of their representational intentions, and whether they possess the pictorial flexibility needed to articulate and differentiate their graphic representations. The presence and development of this important cognitive–symbolic ability are investigated. This exploratory study aimed to investigate, in children living in socioeconomic and cultural disadvantaged conditions, (1) the emergence and development of the pictorial flexibility needed to effectively represent and differentiate the building in which they live from the building in which they wish they lived; and (2) the patterns in the number and quality of pictorial differentiation strategies adopted for representational purposes. Two-hundred 8-to-12-year-old Brazilian children living in a favela were asked to produce two specific thematic drawings, representing their real house vs. their desired house. The children’s pictorial representations were coded according to their communicative efficacy (allowing the viewer to distinguish, in each pair of drawings, between the real house and the one desired by the drawer) and according to the number and type of pictorial strategies used to diversify the two types of buildings. The children were had sufficient representational flexibility to effectively perform a pictorial differentiation task, and express their point of view on the environment in which they live, and imagine alternative scenarios, adopting a variety of painting strategies. Drawing, prompted with a contrastive task, has proven to be effective in allowing even disadvantaged children to differentiate their real and desired urban environments. Children’s pictorial flexibility manifests itself through a wide range of strategies, varying in number and quality according to the age of the artists. As such, its use can be encouraged by educational interventions aimed at broadening the expressive potential of children, and as a tool for fostering resilience.

The symbolic role of the underground world among Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals

Cueva de Ardales in Málaga, Spain, is one of the richest and best-preserved Paleolithic painted caves of southwestern Europe, containing over a thousand graphic representations. Here, we study the red pigment in panel II.A.3 of “Sala de las Estrellas,” dated by U-Th to the Middle Paleolithic, to determine its composition, verify its anthropogenic nature, infer the associated behaviors, and discuss their implications. Using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction, we analyzed a set of samples from the panel and compared them to natural coloring materials collected from the floor and walls of the cave. The conspicuously different texture and composition of the geological samples indicates that the pigments used in the paintings do not come from the outcrops of colorant material known in the cave. We confirm that the paintings are not the result of natural processes and show that the composition of the paint is consistent with the artistic activity being recurrent. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that Neanderthals symbolically used these paintings and the large stalagmitic dome harboring them over an extended time span.

HOPS: a user-friendly data analysis software to open exoplanet reasearch

<p>Exoplanets observations with small and medium scale telescopes are becoming more and more popular among amateur astronomers, students and early career scientists as they do not require extremely sophisticated instrumentation. However, and important barrier between observing and producing scientifically valid results is the data analysis and modelling. To assist observers towards this aspect and make it possible for more people to contribute to scientific research I developed HOPS (HOlomon Photometric Software), a python-based package which includes a user interface and it is compatible with Linux, OS X and Windows. It is open-source (github.com/ExoWorldsSpies/hops) and it is designed to analyse data from small and medium class telescopes. HOPS is a user-friendly package where graphic representations, statistics and models are brought together into a single package. With these characteristics, HOPS can be used by amateur astronomers individually or as part of citizen science projects or as an educational for university or school students. In this presentation I will describe the newest version of the code (v3.0) and an educational version designed for high school students.</p>