First archaeological evidence of banana cultivation in central Africa during the third millennium before present

AbstractThe third millennium BP crisis of the central African rainforest is not sufficiently understood. The low resolution of most pollen profiles and a large plateau of the calibration curve aggravate the exact dating of the event, and its causal climatic parameters are debated. We present a high-resolution pollen profile from the swamp site Nyabessan in the southern Cameroonian rainforest, covering the period 3100-2300 cal yr BP. Between 3100 and 2500 cal yr BP, the climate was favourable for a regional evergreen forest with Caesalpiniaceae and Lophira and a local Raphia swamp forest. Around 2500/2400 cal yr BP, a significant decrease of mature forest and swamp forest taxa and an increase of pioneers indicate that the rain forest was seriously disturbed and replaced by secondary formations. The dominance of Trema orientalis, a pioneer well adapted to seasonal desiccation, points to a much more accentuated seasonality after 2500 cal yr BP, which seems to be linked to a southwards shift of the ITCZ during the northern hemisphere winter months. We propose that the rain forest crisis between 2500 and 2200 cal BP created favourable conditions for farming and paved the way for a major expansion of Bantu speaking populations.

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Athens and Jerusalem in the Third Millennium

Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology ◽

10.1558/jmea.v17i2.247 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 247-267

Author(s):

Alexander H. Joffe

Keyword(s):

The Third ◽

Third Millennium

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Las estrategias discursivas de algunos artículos de opinión de Umberto Eco

Tropelías Revista de Teoría de la Literatura y Literatura Comparada ◽

10.26754/ojs_tropelias/tropelias.200415-179 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 266

Author(s):

Loreta De Stasio

Keyword(s):

Mass Media ◽

Italian Society ◽

Umberto Eco ◽

Discursive Strategies ◽

Contemporary World ◽

The Third ◽

Binary Structure ◽

Third Millennium ◽

The Future ◽

Economic Character

En este artículo examinaremos algunas de las principales estrategias discursivas empleadas en dos artículos publicados por U. Eco en L’Espresso, una revista semanal muy conocida en Italia de carácter político, social, cultural y económico, en el marco de una página personal titulada “La Bustina di Minerva”, es decir, “El Sobrecito de Minerva”. El título es una referencia a la comunicación breve, a las observaciones de cualquier tipo, pero igualmente, de forma simultánea. Los sobrecitos reflexionan sobre el mundo contemporáneo, la sociedad italiana, los medios de comunicación de masas; tratan de la actualidad y la relacionan con la historia y la filosofía, con Internet y el futuro del Tercer Milenio, y nos proponen los pensamientos de U. Eco con más viveza que una conferencia o un tratado.La ironía, la sátira y la parodia son las bases argumentativas de muchos “Sobrecitos”. Generalmente, el humor transmite dos sentidos a la vez. Detrás de una serie de textos tan variados temáticamente aparece a menudo una misma estructura binaria, un cuerpo dual. Con frecuencia, un mismo artículo obedece a una doble orientación tematica, ya que suelen mezclar dos motivos que pertenecen a áreas diferentes, alternando simultáneamente dos sujetos. A esta doble orientación temática del “Sobrecito” corresponde la doble orientación semántica de la palabra irónica que, junto con la parodia es un discurso dialógico o bi-direccional en el que se mezclan dos voces.In this article some of the main discursive strategies used in two articles published by U. Eco are examined. These articles have been published in L'Espresso, a weekly review very widespread in Italy, of political, social, cultural and economic character, within the framework of a column titled “La Bustina di Minerva”, that is to say, “The little bag/envelope of Minerva”. This title refers to a brief communication, to observations of any type, but also, immediate. The “bustine” reflects on the contemporary world, the Italian society, the mass media; they deal with present time and relate it to history and philosophy, Internet and the future of the Third Millennium, and they propose us Eco’s thoughts with more vividness than a conference or an essay.Irony, satire and parody are the argumentative bases of many “bustine”. Generally, humour transmits two senses simultaneously. Behind a series of texts so thematically varied there is often a same binary structure, a dual body. Frequently, a same article obeys to a double thematic direction, since usually they mix two arguments that belong to different areas, alternating two subjects simultaneously. To this double thematic direction of the “bustina” corresponds the double semantic direction of the ironic word that, along with parody, is a dialogic or bidirectional speech in which two voices are mixed.

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Holy Land, Whose Land

American Journal of Islam and Society ◽

10.35632/ajis.v20i3-4.1844 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 20 (3-4) ◽

pp. 208-210

Author(s):

Zaineb Lstrabadi

Keyword(s):

Holy Land ◽

The Third ◽

The Past ◽

Third Millennium ◽

Arab Israeli Conflict

Dorothy Drummond's book was born at the dawn of the third millennium,when the author was in Jerusalem. She had taken notes throughout hertravels in the Holy Land, which she defines not only as the land of historicPalestine, but also the lands of present-day Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq,and Egypt (i.e., where the Patriarchs, Prophets, and the Holy Familyroamed). Rather than write a travelogue, she decided to write a book aboutthe Arab-Israeli conflict while interspersing her personal comments (initalics) about her journeys. Her intent is not to "answer the question posedin the title of this book. Rather, by shedding light on dark corners, itattempts to bring understanding," as she explains in the prologue.The book is divided into three parts: a discussion of the IsraeliPalestinianconflict in the present, a discussion of the roots of the conflicttraveling 4,000 years into the past, and a brief discussion of how negotiationis the only way to resolve the conflict. There are maps and pho tographsthroughout the book, as well as a 40-page glossary of the HolyLand's people and places. Drummond has written the work in the presenttense, because of the immediacy of all that has happened in the MiddleEast, but the discussion ultimately centers on the area between theMediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.Her book promises to be a good, balanced account written in a wonwonderfullyaccessible style. However, early on it runs into problems. Forexample, when she talks about the 1956 Israeli attack on Egypt, she fails ...

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