scholarly journals Diet-Derived Variations in Radiocarbon and Stable Isotopes: A Case Study from Shag River Mouth, New Zealand

Radiocarbon ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Higham ◽  
Atholl Anderson ◽  
Christopher Bronk Ramsey ◽  
Christine Tompkins

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) determinations of rat bones from natural and cultural sites in New Zealand have produced ages at odds with the accepted date for early human settlement by over 1000 yr. Since rats are a human commensal, this implies either an earlier visitation by people or problems with the reliability of the AMS determinations. One explanation for the extreme ages is dietary variation involving movement of depleted radiocarbon through dietary food chains to rats. To investigate this, we 14C dated fauna from the previously well-dated site of Shag River Mouth. The faunal remains were of species that consumed carbon derived from a variety of environments within the orbit of the site, including the estuary, river, land, and sea. The 14C results showed a wide range in age among estuarine and freshwater species. Terrestrial and marine organisms produced ages within expectations. We also found differences between bone dated using the Oxford ultrafiltration method and those treated using the filtered gelatin method. This implies that contamination could also be of greater importance than previously thought.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Elise Caddigan

<p>Old St Paul’s is an iconic New Zealand heritage site managed by Heritage New Zealand.¹ It is a site that tells both national and local stories and draws a wide range of international and domestic visitors. Key recommendations made by the New Zealand Ministry of Tourism in their 2010 and 2015 strategies were that the country is no longer automatically perceived as ‘authentic’² by international visitors, and that heritage in New Zealand should be striving to deliver engaging, educational and rich cultural and social experiences.  Using Old St. Paul’s as a case study, this research asks if New Zealand heritage sites are providing exhibitions, interpretation and stories that successfully communicate the site management’s presentation goals to visitors. This relationship is evaluated through the exhibitions and interpretation used by site management, and compared with visitor understanding and their experience of these.  This research uses interviews and visitor surveys to gauge the management/visitor relationship at Old St. Paul’s. An in-depth interview with the site’s manager is analysed and presented comparatively against the results gained from conducting visitor surveys. This research provides an investigation into contemporary heritage practice in New Zealand and offers a pilot study for future development in the heritage sector. Furthermore, it is suggested that heritage sites could adopt similar summative practices to those used in the museum sector in order to monitor visitor satisfaction and the perception of quality.</p>


2018 ◽  
pp. 71-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qunyan Maggie Zhong

With the advent of technologies, language learners are faced with unprecedented opportunities and a wide range of alternatives to engage with in their self-directed learning. However, a review of the literature indicates that studies investigating how learner autonomy is shaped and reshaped in online learning environments are under-researched (Reinders & White, 2016). Using a case study method, the primary objective of this study is to examine how a learner engaged with technology-mediated environments to meet his learning needs and goals and how his autonomy evolved in online environments. A qualitative analysis of the interview data collected at two different timescales reveals new developments in the learner’s autonomous learning. Instead of using limited online materials, the learner became a critical user of multiple online sources. Additionally, the learning conditions he was exposed to in New Zealand fostered an interdependent and social dimension in his autonomous learning. By the end of this research study, he was also found to be more capable of regulating his self-directed study. The results corroborate the argument that the notion of learner autonomy is fluid and dynamic, suggesting that apart from psychological factors of the learner, environmental factors, e.g. the guidance from the teacher and learning conditions also play a critical role in the formation of different dimensions of learner autonomy.


2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 57-70
Author(s):  
Jean O’Donoghue ◽  
Jano I. Van Hemert

Developmental Gene Expression Map (DGEMap) is an EU-funded Design Study, which will accelerate an integrated European approach to gene expression in early human development. As part of this design study, we have had to address the challenges and issues raised by the long-term curation of such a resource. As this project is primarily one of data creators, learning about curation, we have been looking at some of the models and tools that are already available in the digital curation field in order to inform our thinking on how we should proceed with curating DGEMap. This has led us to uncover a wide range of resources for data creators and curators alike. Here we will discuss the future curation of DGEMap as a case study. We believe our experience could be instructive to other projects looking to improve the curation and management of their data.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lorie A. Mastemaker

<p>On a small ridge overlooking Havelock North and parts of the Heretaunga Plains to the west, a Victorian homestead known as Duart House was rescued from neglect by a local community group in 1985. The group became known as the Duart House Society (DHS) who formed to care for its maintenance and promote it to the public for social and cultural activity; however, in managing local heritage, the DHS have done so according to their own priorities and needs. This dissertation examines a case study of an independent heritage initiative and considers the question of how we might understand the ways in which people engage and respond to heritage, and why these activities should be of interest to professionals in favour of democratising museums and heritage. There is currently no research on independent heritage activity in New Zealand and international studies have also been largely neglected. A range of historical, empirical and theoretical approaches are incorporated in this research, including interviews, observation, questionnaires, primary and secondary resources, to generate a diverse range of data reflecting the wide range of factors that influence the central question of this research. By utilising Duart House of Havelock North as a case study, in conjunction with theories of intangible heritage, history and memory, the research moves beyond the 'official' museum and heritage sector to draw attention to the exclusive nature of people's sense of the past in New Zealand. This dissertation also addresses an issue that has been under-theorised in the existing literature of museum and heritage studies, namely that of individual memory, and the importance of objects and places to keep memory alive in the face of change. The research not only provides an in-depth study of one example of local heritage, but suggests an awareness of heritage as personal opposed to collective, and something which is 'performed' in multiple layers rather than just a physical place or 'thing'. It concludes that heritage is a far more complex process between people, place and memory than the literature on the subject claims, which poses a problem for museums who want to be 'all things to all people' and one that is not easily resolved. The research proposes a new direction for museums that is less concerned with 'truth' and more comfortable with 'open-ended exploration', 'wonder' and 'imagination'. This dissertation therefore serves as a critical resource to prompt further debate about the challenge of establishing closer relationships between museums, heritage and communities.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
J G Ruck

<p>This study deals principally with the problems involved in the identification of the early stages of tripterygiid, clinid and gobiesocid fish in the Cook Strait region, New Zealand. The nomenclature of 7 tripterygiid and 4 clinid species is reviewed to assist in the identification of the developmental stages. Those species reviewed are preceded by an asterisk in the list included later in this abstract. The adult osteology of Forsterygion varium (Forster in Bloch and Schneider, 1801) is described and illustrated in detail, together with the osteology of the larvae and prejuveniles at different stages of development. The adult osteology is compared with that of other blennioid fishes. In F. varium the skeletal elements begin to form over a wide range of larval sizes and full adult osteological characters are acquired at a variable time after prejuvenile development is reached. Functionally related elements tend to attain their adult form at about the same size. There is no correlation between the size at initial ossification and the endochondral or dermal origin of a bone. Elements of the vertebral column and median fins develop sequentially and therefore provide (in tripterygiids) an index of development which is useful in comparing the larval stages of different species. The embryological stages of 5 tripterygiid and 3 gobiesocid fish are described and illustrated in detail. Species studied are: Forsterygion capito (Tripterygion capito) (Jenyns, 1842), Forsterygion nigripenne (Tripterygion robustum) (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1836), Forsterygion varium (Forster in Bloch and Schneider, 180I), Gilloblennius decemdigitatus (Clarke, 1879), G. tripennis (Forster in Bloch and Schneider, 1801), Trachelochisnus melobesia Phillipps, 1927, T. pinnulatus (Forster in Bloch and Schneider, 1801), Diplocrepis puniceus (Richardson, 1846). The eggs of all species are laid on submerged objects in clusters of 20-3000 eggs in shallow coastal water. Eggs are attended by an adult fish until hatching occurs. Prolarvae are well developed with fully pigmented eyes, functional jaws and reduced yolk-sacs, and are therefore useful in linking later larval stages with adults. An assessment of the general problems encountered in the identification of larvae and prejuveniles is presented with attention given to the fish in this study. The larval and prejuvenile stages of 1O tripterygiid, 4 clinid and 9 gobiesocid species are described and illustrated in detail. Those described are -Tripterygiidae:*Forsterygion variun (Forster in Bloch and Schneider, 1801), *F. nigripenne (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1836), *F. capito (Jenyns, 1842), *Tripterygion segmentatum McCulloch and Phillipps, 1923, *Gilloblennius decemdigitatus (Clarke, 1879), *G. tripennis (Forster in Bloch and Schneider, 1801), *Helcogramma medium (in part Gunther, 1861), two Helcogramma species, new tripterygiid species (genus not certain); Clinidae: *Notoclinus compressus (Hutton, 1872), *N. fenestratus (Forster in Bloch and Schneider, 1801), *Ericentrusrubrus (Hutton, 1872), *Cologrammus flavescens (Hutton, 1872); Gobiesocidae: Trachelochismus melobesia Phillipps, 1927, T. pinnulatus (Forster in Bloch and Schneider, 1801), Diplocrepis puniceus (Richardson, 1846), Diplocrepis puniceus (South Island form), Gastroscyphus hectoris (Gunther, 1876), Gastroscyphus species, Gastrocyathus gracilis Briggs, 1955, Dellichthys morelandi Briggs, 1955, Haplocylix littoreus (Forster in Bloch and Schneider, 1801). A key to the larvae and prejuveniles of the above species is included. Closely related tripterygiid species with very similar larval stages were identified mainly, by considering myomere counts and by consistent differences in size (standard length) at given stages of development. In contrast clinid and gobiesocid larvae from unrelated adults were readily distinguished by a wide range of characteristics. Larvae and prejuveniles were collected using standard equipment such as nylon mesh plankton nets and light-traps. A light-trap designed specifically for collecting larvae is described in detail in the appendix. An annotated bibliography of New Zealand teleost eggs and larvae is presented in the appendix with reference to 70 marine and freshwater species.</p>


Radiocarbon ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Beavan Athfield

Higham et al.'s (2005) recent article in Radiocarbon 47(3) concerning diet-induced anomalies on radiocarbon ages for various faunal samples from Shag River Mouth is a well-considered study, building upon methodologies and research questions examining the phenomena of dietary anomalies addressed by Beavan Athfield and coauthors (cf. Beavan-Athfield et al. 1999, 2001a; Beavan-Athfield and Sparks 2001a,b,c). However, exception must be taken with one comment appearing in Higham et al. (2005) that suggests to the reader that there is a problem with the laboratory practice associated with rat bone dates measured at the Rafter Radiocarbon Laboratory of GNS Science, New Zealand.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mike Taylor

<p>This research sought to establish a dialogue between the academic discipline and school subject of geography, by exploring the potential of disciplinary-conscious teaching and learning. Although there have been advocates for utilising the concept of perspectives to develop disciplinary-consciousness (Bliss, 2005; Chalmers, 2003; BOGT, 1999; Puttick, 2013) it is unclear the extent to which that pathway has been navigated in school geography policy and practices (Firth, 2011a; Maude, 2015). Broadly, the focus of my research was underpinned by a ‘Futures-3’ curriculum stance (Young & Muller, 2010), in which geography teachers and students were encouraged to engage with the nature of knowledge production in a multi-paradigmatic discipline.  The study drew upon the theoretical energy of Bernstein (1999; 2000), whose sociological analysis of the segmented structure of social science knowledge has congruence with accounts of the development of geographical thought, and therefore helps give direction to the substantive focus of the research problem. Furthermore, Bernstein’s articulation of the field of recontextualisation offers further theoretical support for how academic geographical knowledge, such as the concept perspective, is (re)imagined for school geography knowledge.  As my study is mostly focused on the field of recontextualisation, my sequential case-study design included three distinct phases of empirical inquiry: i) a document analysis of the place and role of the concept of perspectives in curriculum and assessment materials 2001-15; ii) an e-questionnaire of subject specialists; and iii) a Lesson Study inspired collaboration with two teachers and a group of senior secondary students. This latter component of my study was supported by the pedagogical frameworks of Puttick (2013), Hodson (2014) and Moje (2015).   Phase 1 and 2 analysis concluded that the concept of perspective has been recontextualised across multiple documents as a stakeholder framing, which emphasises the views of individuals, groups and organisations, rather than signalling a disciplinary-conscious approach to the subject. Evidence from the geography education specialists suggested disciplinary-consciousness had been considered too challenging for teachers and students alike and therefore was unlikely to dislodge the orthodox stakeholder framing. The lesson study collaboration showed, however, that disciplinary-consciousness is not out of the question for students or teachers, and that Puttick’s (2013) looking at and looking along conceptual framework is a productive guide for teachers who are starting to provide their students in a basic grounding of paradigms and perspectives influencing geographical thought.   The major implication of this research points towards a recontextualising field in which the social relations within it are structurally configured to make it difficult for a creative engagement with the nature of geographical knowledge to prosper. In this case study, disciplinary-consciousness has been marginalised by subject specialists who are mostly distant from the academic discourses that shape geographic knowledge production. Consequently, curriculum and assessment signalling of perspectives is surface level, and sometimes confusing. Moreover, the prevailing educational discourses that currently shape New Zealand education generate little ‘ideological space’ (Bernstein, 1996) for conversations about the variegated nature of geographical knowledge to ferment.  The study concludes with some recommendations for the wide range of actors within the current field of recontextualisation. It is suggested that a collectively aligned response across the sector is required if geography students are to be given the opportunity of exploring different ways of seeing in the construction of geographical knowledge.</p>


Author(s):  
Shreedhar Khakurel ◽  
Trevor Z. Yeow ◽  
Frankie Chen ◽  
Zam Wang ◽  
Sandip K. Saha ◽  
...  

One method to rapidly estimate seismic losses during the structural design phase is to use contribution functions. These are relationships between expected losses (e.g. damage repair costs, downtime, and injury) for a wide range of building components (e.g. cladding, partitions, and ceilings) and the building’s response. This study aims to develop contribution functions for common types of cladding used in different types of buildings considering damage repair costs. In the first part of this study, a building survey was performed to identify types and quantity of cladding used in residential, commercial and industrial buildings in Christchurch, New Zealand; where it was found that the most common cladding types are glazing, masonry veneer, monolithic cladding and precast panels. The data collected during the survey was also used to develop cladding distribution (i.e. density) functions. The second step involved identifying fragility functions from relevant literature which are applicable to the cladding detailing used in New Zealand. The third step involved surveying consultants, suppliers and builders on typical repair/replacement cost. Finally, Monte Carlo simulations were performed to combine the cladding density function with the fragility functions and the repair cost for each type of cladding to derive contribution functions for various types of cladding and building usage. An example (case study) is provided to demonstrate its usage.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mike Taylor

<p>This research sought to establish a dialogue between the academic discipline and school subject of geography, by exploring the potential of disciplinary-conscious teaching and learning. Although there have been advocates for utilising the concept of perspectives to develop disciplinary-consciousness (Bliss, 2005; Chalmers, 2003; BOGT, 1999; Puttick, 2013) it is unclear the extent to which that pathway has been navigated in school geography policy and practices (Firth, 2011a; Maude, 2015). Broadly, the focus of my research was underpinned by a ‘Futures-3’ curriculum stance (Young & Muller, 2010), in which geography teachers and students were encouraged to engage with the nature of knowledge production in a multi-paradigmatic discipline.  The study drew upon the theoretical energy of Bernstein (1999; 2000), whose sociological analysis of the segmented structure of social science knowledge has congruence with accounts of the development of geographical thought, and therefore helps give direction to the substantive focus of the research problem. Furthermore, Bernstein’s articulation of the field of recontextualisation offers further theoretical support for how academic geographical knowledge, such as the concept perspective, is (re)imagined for school geography knowledge.  As my study is mostly focused on the field of recontextualisation, my sequential case-study design included three distinct phases of empirical inquiry: i) a document analysis of the place and role of the concept of perspectives in curriculum and assessment materials 2001-15; ii) an e-questionnaire of subject specialists; and iii) a Lesson Study inspired collaboration with two teachers and a group of senior secondary students. This latter component of my study was supported by the pedagogical frameworks of Puttick (2013), Hodson (2014) and Moje (2015).   Phase 1 and 2 analysis concluded that the concept of perspective has been recontextualised across multiple documents as a stakeholder framing, which emphasises the views of individuals, groups and organisations, rather than signalling a disciplinary-conscious approach to the subject. Evidence from the geography education specialists suggested disciplinary-consciousness had been considered too challenging for teachers and students alike and therefore was unlikely to dislodge the orthodox stakeholder framing. The lesson study collaboration showed, however, that disciplinary-consciousness is not out of the question for students or teachers, and that Puttick’s (2013) looking at and looking along conceptual framework is a productive guide for teachers who are starting to provide their students in a basic grounding of paradigms and perspectives influencing geographical thought.   The major implication of this research points towards a recontextualising field in which the social relations within it are structurally configured to make it difficult for a creative engagement with the nature of geographical knowledge to prosper. In this case study, disciplinary-consciousness has been marginalised by subject specialists who are mostly distant from the academic discourses that shape geographic knowledge production. Consequently, curriculum and assessment signalling of perspectives is surface level, and sometimes confusing. Moreover, the prevailing educational discourses that currently shape New Zealand education generate little ‘ideological space’ (Bernstein, 1996) for conversations about the variegated nature of geographical knowledge to ferment.  The study concludes with some recommendations for the wide range of actors within the current field of recontextualisation. It is suggested that a collectively aligned response across the sector is required if geography students are to be given the opportunity of exploring different ways of seeing in the construction of geographical knowledge.</p>


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