The Pazyryk Style

This study demonstrates that certain similarities in the domestic artifacts, clothing, and weapons in the Pazyryk burials of the Altai, those in the oases of Xinjiang (Subashi, Yanghai, Jumbulak Kum, Wupu, Keriya, etc.), and those in the piedmont of the southern Altai Mountains, do not evidence a single culture. Such parallels in basic items are caused only by spatial proximity and contacts. Personal ornaments, decoration of utensils, weapons, and horse harness, and signs such as tattoos are more reliable cultural indicators. Every member of the Pazyryk society, regardless of age, was marked by a set of outward signs, distinguishing him or her from the neighbors. This set included tattoos, and also ornaments worn on the clothing, headgear and belt, and decorating the horse. The elaborate Pazyryk traditions of woodcarving enabled everyone to have equally meaningful ornaments, which, like the artistic tattoos, made him or her recognizable. The term “Pazyryk style” is proposed. Being the most exact cultural indicator, it extends to all elements of culture, uniting the Pazyryk people despite the fact that their lifestyle, subsistence, etc., were identical to those of their neighbors.

Exploring correlations in genetic and cultural variation across language families in northeast Asia

Culture evolves in ways that are analogous to, but distinct from, genomes. Previous studies examined similarities between cultural variation and genetic variation (population history) at small scales within language families, but few studies have empirically investigated these parallels across language families using diverse cultural data. We report an analysis comparing culture and genomes from in and around northeast Asia spanning 11 language families. We extract and summarize the variation in language (grammar, phonology, lexicon), music (song structure, performance style), and genomes (genome-wide SNPs) and test for correlations. We find that grammatical structure correlates with population history (genetic history). Recent contact and shared descent fail to explain the signal, suggesting relationships that arose before the formation of current families. Our results suggest that grammar might be a cultural indicator of population history while also demonstrating differences among cultural and genetic relationships that highlight the complex nature of human history.

Exploring correlations in genetic and cultural variation across language families in Northeast Asia

Culture evolves in ways that are analogous to, but distinct from, genomes. Previous studies examined similarities between cultural variation and genetic variation (population history) at small scales within language families, but few studies empirically investigated such parallels across language families using diverse cultural data. We report an analysis comparing culture and genomes from in and around Northeast Asia spanning 11 language families. We extract and summarize the variation in language (grammar, phonology, lexicon), music (song structure, performance style), and genomes (genome-wide SNPs) and test for correlations. We find that grammatical structure correlates with population history. Recent contact and shared descent fail to explain the signal, suggesting relationships that arose before the formation of current families. Our results suggest that grammar might be a cultural indicator of population history, while also demonstrating differences among cultural and genetic relationships that highlight the complex nature of human history.

BINOMIAL REGRESSION IN SMALL AREA ESTIMATION METHOD FOR ESTIMATE PROPORTION OF CULTURAL INDICATOR

In sampling survey, it was necessary to have sufficient sample size in order to get accurate direct estimator about parameter, but there are many difficulties to fulfill them in practice. Small Area Estimation (SAE) is one of alternative methods to estimate parameter when sample size is not adequate. This method has been widely applied in such variation of model and many fields of research. Our research mainly focused on study how SAE method with binomial regression model is applied to obtained estimate proportion of cultural indicator, especially to estimate proportion of people who appreciate heritages and museums in each regency/city level in West Java Province. Data analysis approach used in our research with resurrected data and variables in order to be compared with previous research. The result later showed that binomial regression model could be used to estimate proportion of cultural indicator in Regency/City in Indonesia with better result than direct estimation method.

Binomial Regression in Small Area Estimation Method for Estimate Proportion of Cultural Indicator

In sampling survey, it was necessary to have sufficient sample size in order to get accurate direct estimator about parameter, but there are many difficulties to fulfill them in practice. Small Area Estimation (SAE) is one of alternative methods to estimate parameter when sample size is not adequate. This method has been widely applied in such variation of model and many fields of research. Our research mainly focused on study how SAE method with binomial regression model is applied to obtained estimate proportion of cultural indicator, especially to estimate proportion of people who appreciate heritages and museums in each regency/city level in West Java Province. Data analysis approach used in our research with resurrected data and variables in order to be compared with previous research. The result later showed that binomial regression model could be used to estimate proportion of cultural indicator in Regency/City in Indonesia with better result than direct estimation method.

Preferências de aquisição de livros pelos professores da rede municipal do Rio de Janeiro

Teacher quality is an important factor in education enhancement, and it is strongly related to student achievement. Reading is a good cultural indicator of a population and a tool for one´s self-improvement. International studies concluded that teachers, the would-be role model for students, are seldom avid readers. Recently, many Brazilian state programs have been implemented aiming at encouraging reading habits, but they are seldom evaluated. Since 2001, Rio de Janeiro City Department of Education (RJCDE) distributes annually to elementary and secondary teachers a voucher exchangeable for any book of their choice. We analyzed books chosen by almost 26,000 teachers in 2012. The tally of the books showed a large variety of titles. Literature was the most prominent group, followed by Children’s and Adolescent Literature, which indicates a possible acquisition for family members. Almost one-fifth of the titles were scientific, technical or professional books, which shows a desire for personal and/or professional self-improvement. Teachers from the primary grades presented a distinct set of preferences from secondary grade teachers. The reading habit, as aesthetic pleasure, entertainment, self-improvement, or family reading, requires freedom of choice. The RJCDE program treats teachers as independent adults, responsible for their own choices.

Cultural indicators, country and culture: the Arabana, change and water

Water is of paramount importance to all people who live in Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, Australia, but to the Arabana people, one of the Indigenous peoples of the region, it also holds immense cultural significance. Having lived in the region for thousands of years, Arabana people have developed their own methods to assess the ecological condition of their water sites. This paper presents the results of a collaborative project designed to develop a suite of cultural indicators for water sites in the Kati Thanda region. Based on field trips and a comprehensive desktop review, this paper presents the indicators or ‘signs’ used by the Arabana to assess condition. Key results show that although water has multiple values for the Arabana, water itself is understood as a series of sites within one country rather than as a series of ecosystems or types of water body. Further, the cultural indicators or the ‘signs’ by which Arabana people assess conditions are potentially synergistic with scientific indicators and include fauna, flora, quality, soil, and climatic dimensions. However, Arabana people also assess a site according to its history and the level of cultural knowledge about the site. The paper concludes with a reflection on whether or not these indicators can be used in more generic ways across the region to assist in broader river assessment processes. A cultural indicator schemata is suggested as a starting mechanism for identifying cultural indicators in other parts of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, but the paper concludes by arguing that any effective implementation of such a schemata must involve Indigenous peoples at every level.

Accounting for Multiculturalism: The Utility of Cultural Indicators and the Politics of Diversity and Participation

Multiculturalism has become a charged arena in recent times with proponents and critics focusing on the value of its utility. Existing models measuring the outcome of multiculturalism emanate from the social sciences that attempt to assess the degree of inter-cultural integration through cultural indices on ethnicity and tradition. This article argues that arts impact studies in general, and emergent cultural indicator frameworks in particular, provide a more robust arena for considering the utility of multiculturalism to claims of social, cultural and economic wellbeing. This article examines the impact of multicultural arts through the quality of cultural participation. It begins by critically surveying global, national and local indicator frameworks on measuring multiculturalism in recent developments of cultural policy. It suggests that current frameworks for thinking about cultural diversity and cultural participation are inadequate, and there is a need to develop a more nuanced understanding of these relations as they are played out in the context of people’s everyday cultural lives. It proposes a new framework that highlights a bi-directional theory-based approach to cultural citizenship and tests its utility against original fieldwork conducted in the growth corridor outer suburb of Whittlesea in Melbourne, Australia.