Geographical Distribution of the Traditional Dance Culture in Mezőség

The exact definition of the Mezőség/Câmpia Transilvaniei/Transylvanian Plain, hereafter Plain, as a region with an independent folk culture having a coherent internal structure is still a subject of debate among ethnographers. Some of them regard certain small regions (Borsa/Borșa Valley, Kis and Nagy Szamos/Someșul Mic și Someșul Mare etc.) as belonging to the Mezőség/Plain, while others do not. I distinguish a central group of the villages in the Mezőség/Plain region (Belső-Mezőség or Central Plain: e.g. Visa/Vișea, Magyarpalatka/Pălatca, Katona/Cătina, Pusztakamarás/Cămăraşu) from the rest of the territory, similarly to György Martin, István Pávai and László Barabás, relying on material culture and folklore research, as well as my own investigations. When advancing outward from this core area, the concentric circle of so-called peripheral areas follow (the West, North, East and South Plain/Mezőség), reaching the boundaries on the edges of the region: Nagy Szamos/Someșul Mare Valley, Lápos/Lăpuș Valley, Sajó/Șieu Valley, Maros/Mureş Valley, Marosszéki1 Mezőség/Mureș Seat Plain, Erdőalja/Sub Pădure area, Borsa/Borșa Valley, and Kis Szamos/Someșul Mic Valley. A further, smaller group of villages can be distinguished in the area of Belső-Mezőség/Central Plain by their dance and music culture; for the regular weekend dance events of these villages, organised by local youths in the 1960s, Roma musicians of Magyarpalatka/Pălatca would play the music. I assign the name Palatka dance district to this area in my paper.

Preliminary Investigation and Significance on the Architectural Cultural Value: A Case Study of Ancient Theater Buildings in Shaanxi Central Plain Region

As a witness to the history of development, architecture is an important material symbol for recording history and a precious "immovable" historical and cultural heritage. The ancient theater building of the village not only condenses the artistic style of traditional architecture, but also embodies the regional character and heavy folk culture formed in the historical development of a region, and its value is indescribable. This paper takes the most characteristic ancient theater building in Shaanxi Central Plain Region as an example, and it takes the Zouyue Pavilion as the research object, and innovatively proposes the preliminary investigation method of the cultural relics protection which is equal emphasis on the protection and inheritance of the tangible cultural heritage and the intangible cultural heritage, it adopts the cultural relic exploration, field survey, local chronicles research and other methods, through the excavation of the diversified historical information and cultural value of the Zouyue Pavilion, it provides a cultural relic value and research significance basis for its restoration and protection, and more importantly, the precious cultural, historical and social values that can be presented, thus realizing the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage in a real sense.

Understanding crop processing and its social meaning in the Xinzhai period (1850–1750 cal bce): a case study on the Xinzhai site, China

Although the Xinzhai period (1850–1750 cal bce) has been widely regarded as a critical time for the development of urbanization in China, little is known about the labour and social organization of the time. In this paper, archaeobotanical assemblages have been used to explore evidence of crop processing and they have provided further insights into the organization of labour and society at the Xinzhai site on the Central Plain of China. This is the first case study linking agricultural activities and social organization in the Xinzhai period. By discussing macro-botanical and phytolith results together, we conclude that the hulled cereals Setaria italica (foxtail millet), Panicum miliaceum (common or broomcorn millet) and Oryza sativa (rice), and the free-threshing pulse Glycine max (soybean) were all partly processed before storage to reduce labour demand in the harvest period. Since these summer-sown crops are all harvested in autumn, the practice of partial processing might imply that less labour was needed before storage. Thus, the labour for crop processing appears to have been organized on the basis of small production units such as households. This pattern is different from the communal bulk processing of crops before storage by the contemporary inhabitants of Dongzhao. Different patterns of social organization in various settlements in the Xinzhai period can thus be suggested. This conclusion contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the social development of communities living on the Central Plain and indicates that a steady increase in social complexity was very likely in the period before urbanization.

Assessment of risk factors associated with prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in poultry of central plain zone of Punjab, India

Background and Aim: Parasitic diseases are an important hurdle to the economy for the developing poultry industry due to their deleterious effects resulting into malnutrition, diminished feed conversion ratio, weight loss, decreased egg production, and mortality in young birds. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and associated risk factors of gastrointestinal (GIT) parasites in poultry farms of central plain zone of Punjab. Materials and Methods: A total of 490 pooled droppings and 351 intact intestines of poultry from slaughterhouses from seven districts of central plain zone of Punjab state, India, were collected and analyzed from September 2016 to May 2018 by qualitative and quantitative techniques. Results: An overall prevalence of GIT parasites was 38.36% with significantly (p<0.01) highest (74.1%) in Ludhiana and lowest (12.0%) in Shri Fatehgarh Sahib. The most predominant (86.2%) infection was coccidia. The birds reared under a deep litter system were having a higher (p<0.01) fecal load of helminthic eggs and coccidian oocysts (54.4%) compared to the cage system (37.5%). Infection rate was apparently more (40%) in broilers than layers (35.7%). Prevalence of GIT parasites was higher (p<0.01) in monsoon season (58.5%) and lower in summer season (24.48%). The broilers in the age group of 0-2 weeks possessed a significant higher (p<0.05) level of GIT parasitic infection (57.5%), while in case of layers, a higher infection rate (46.66%) was observed in birds between 9 and 18 weeks of age as compared in other groups. Higher (p<0.05) infection rate of GIT parasites was seen in crossbred (45.55%) birds as compared to desi birds (20.00%). Conclusion: The study showed that coccidiosis was the predominant infection among all GIT parasites based on fecal and intestinal tract content analysis. The risk factors associated with the prevalence of GIT parasitic infections were geographical location, deep litter system, broilers, age, crossbred breeds, and monsoon season.