The Colosseum

This chapter provides an overview of the uses and structural history of the Colosseum, the largest amphitheatre constructed in the Roman world. Romans knew it as the ‘Amphitheatrum Flavium’, after the dynasty of emperors responsible for its construction. It continued in use even after the fall of Rome, with games still popular into the sixth century. The chapter examines the evidence for naumachiae during the inaugural games and concludes that it is most unlikely that the Colosseum area was flooded to a practical depth. It also reviews the evidence for the accommodation of spectators and its reflection of Roman society.

Late- to post-Variscan tectonics and the kinematic relationship with W-Sn vein-type mineralisation: evidence from Late Carboniferous intramontane basins (Porto-Sátão syncline, Variscan Iberian belt)

Many studies have constrained that late-Variscan buckling produced the arcuate geometry of the Ibero-Armorican belt. Nonetheless, debate remains on the associated geodynamic framework. Poorly studied Late Carboniferous intramontane basins offer an excellent framework to decipher the timing and kinematics of the late- to post-Variscan tectonics. Understanding the latter also helps constrain the structural emplacement mode of contemporaneous W-Sn-Nb-Ta-Li mineralisation. In Iberia, the Porto-Sátão syncline is exemplary of such a Late Carboniferous intramontane basin. We present a structural analysis of the syncline, its basement and the associated W-Sn deposits. The regional structure is dictated by the Alcudian angular unconformity, caused by Cadomian tectonics (575-555Ma) and separating tilted Ediacaran and subhorizontal Lower Palaeozoic formations. Superposed Variscan deformation led to F1-F3 folds with steep and gentle plunges, respectively. The late-orogenic D3 fabric is locally affected by post-orogenic F4 kink folds and a S4 crenulation cleavage. W-Sn bearing vein systems occur along granite-hosted cone sheets, or exploit cross-fold joints associated with the F3 and F4 fold generations, revealing a close kinematic relationship between granite-related mineralisation and the late- to post-Variscan deformation style. This structural history is interpreted as a plate-scale geodynamic change from Late Carboniferous N-S (D3) to Early Permian WNW-ESE (D4) convergence.

Structural evolution of the Moroccan Central High Atlas Syncline-Topped Anticlinal Ridges: Insights from micro-structural analysis of Tirrhist and Anemzi ridges

<p>The Moroccan High Atlas mountain range is an aborted Mesozoic rift basin that was moderately shortened during the Late Cretaceous‒Cenozoic inversion. The range is currently featured in its central part by the presence of conspicuous S-shaped open gentle synclines where Middle Jurassic strata crop out, with sub-horizontal bottom, separated by 15-to-80-km narrow faulted anticline ridges with two distinct directions: ENE and NE. The tight anticline ridges are cored by Triassic continental red-beds intruded by the CAMP basalts and subsequently by Upper Jurrasic‒Lower Cretaceous alkaline magmatism. Regional cleavage with very low-grade anchi- to epi-zonal metamorphism are depicted along several structures of the High Atlas, particularly the NE-trending anticlines. The sedimentary layers thickness, on the other hand, gets thinner towards the faulted anticlines with the development of intraformational truncations. The structural history of the High Atlas syncline-topped anticlinal ridges remains a controversial matter. Any attempt to reconstruct the evolutionary process of such folded structures must take into consideration the following circumstances:</p><ul><li>After a Triassic rifting episode followed by the establishment of Liassic carbonate platform, the High Atlas basin underwent a wide spread exhumation event at the time interval between the Middle Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous leading to the deposition of continental detrital series and sedimentary hiatus;</li> <li>The upward motion was accompanied with the emplacement of alkaline magmas in the Central High Atlas;</li> <li>A complex halokinetic history characterizes the Central High Atlas salt province during both pre-orogenic and orogenic stages;</li> <li>During the Late Cretaceous‒Cenozoic, the High Atlas experienced a moderate crustal shortening which was focused essentially within the range’s borders;</li> </ul><p>In order to bring new insights to the structural history of the High Atlas folded structures, a structural investigation was carried out in Tirrhist and Anemzi ridges. In each station, fractures measurements were taken, and oriented samples were collected for micro-structural analysis. First paleo-stress inversion in some stations reveals the presence of pre-folding bedding-parallel maximal horizontal stress oriented NE to NNE. For a deep analysis of pre syn and post-folding stresses history, we use a calcite stress inversion technique, namely Etchecopar’s method, to unravel the paleo-stresses orientations and to quantify the differential stresses during the different episodes of deformation. The present work is a preliminary attempt to quantify tectonic stresses in the hinterland of an arguably weakly deformed orogenic belt.</p>

On the Foundations of Dahlhaus’s Foundations

In the foreword to his Grundlagen der Musikgeschichte (1977), translated into English as Foundations of Music History (1983), Carl Dahlhaus names three reasons for writing the book: the lack of theoretical reflection in his own field; the problem of mediation between methodological maxims and their political implications; and the difficulties he encountered while preparing his history of nineteenth-century music. Each of the three reasons can now be understood more precisely and historically contextualized in light of recently uncovered letters and notes. Dahlhaus’s methodological critiques of political music as conceptually distinct from aesthetically autonomous works—contrary to a popular claim by Anne Shreffler (2003)—were directed mainly at the “Western left.” Moreover, in the 1980s this controversy became intertwined with historiographical questions regarding the concept of “event” that was reinforced in publications by the “Gruppe Poetik und Hermeneutik.” A postscript discusses the English translation of the book and the concept of “structural history” in late Dahlhaus.

Old Kinord, Aberdeenshire

The paper reports on research at two well-preserved Iron Age settlement sites in north-east Scotland, occupied between the 2nd century BC and 2nd century AD. At Old Kinord, trenches first excavated in 1903 were reopened, shedding new light on the chronology and structural history of a pair of stone roundhouses and two souterrains. The project extended to new surveys of this site and its neighbour at New Kinord. It investigated the character of the unusually large stone structures found there and the ways in which they were built and used. This report also considers the character of the original excavation, which was conducted by the future Lord Abercromby, a significant figure in the history of Scottish archaeology. Canmore ID 17072 Canmore ID 17065 Canmore ID 33981 Canmore ID 16972 Canmore ID 17057 Canmore ID 33980