scholarly journals Radiocarbon Dates and the Earliest Colonization of East Polynesia: More than a Case Study

Radiocarbon ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 681-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Della Casa

Over the last 30 yr, there has been an ongoing debate on the dates and modes of the earliest colonization of East Polynesia, namely the Cook Islands, the 5 archipelagos of French Polynesia, the Hawai'i Islands, Easter Island, and New Zealand. At least 3 alternative models were proposed by Sinoto, Anderson, Kirch, and Conte, but interestingly all these models basically relied on the same set of roughly 200 radiocarbon dates on various organic materials from archaeological excavations as far back as the 1950s. Some of the models differed by 500–1000 yr—for a proposed initial colonization around the turn of the BC/AD eras, if not considerably later. By comparing the different approaches to this chronological issue, it becomes evident that almost all known problems in dealing with 14C dates from archaeological excavations are involved: stratigraphy and exact location of samples, sample material and quality, inbuilt ages and reservoir effects, lab errors in ancient dates, etc. More recently, research into landscape and vegetation history has produced alternative 14C dating for early human impact, adding to the confusion about the initial stages of island colonization, while archaeological 14C dates, becoming increasingly “young” as compared to former investigations, now advocate a rapid and late (post-AD 900) colonization of the archipelagos. As it appears, the Polynesian case is more than just another case study, it's a lesson on 14C-based archaeological chronology. The present paper does not pretend to solve the problems of early Polynesian colonization, but intends to contribute to the debate on how 14C specialists and archaeologists might cooperate in the future.

Behaviour ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 156 (5-8) ◽  
pp. 409-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene M. Pepperberg ◽  
Suzanne L. Gray ◽  
Shilpa Mody ◽  
Francesca M. Cornero ◽  
Susan Carey

Abstract In Call’s (2004) 2-cups task, widely used to explore logical and causal reasoning across species and early human development, a reward is hidden in one of two cups, one is shown to be empty, and successful subjects search for the reward in the other cup. Infants as young as 17-months and some individuals of almost all species tested succeed. Success may reflect logical, propositional thought and working through a disjunctive syllogism (A or B; not A, therefore B). It may also reflect appreciation of the modal concepts “necessity” and “possibility”, and the epistemic concept “certainty”. Mody & Carey’s (2016) results on 2-year-old children with 3- and 4-cups versions of this task converge with studies on apes in undermining this rich interpretation of success. In the 3-cups version, one reward is hidden in a single cup, another in one of two other cups, and the participant is given one choice, thereby tracking the ability to distinguish a certain from an uncertain outcome. In the 4-cups procedure, a reward is hidden in one cup of each pair (e.g., A, C); one cup (e.g., B) is then shown to be empty. Successful subjects should conclude that the reward is 100% likely in A, only 50% likely in either C or D, and accordingly choose A, thereby demonstrating modal and logical concepts in addition to epistemic ones. Children 2 1/2 years of age fail the 4-cups task, and apes fail related tasks tapping the same constructs. Here we tested a Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus), Griffin, on the 3- and 4-cups procedures. Griffin succeeded on both tasks, outperforming even 5-year-old children. Controls ruled out that his success on the 4-cups task was due to a learned associative strategy of choosing the cup next to the demonstrated empty one. These data show that both the 3- and 4-cups tasks do not require representational abilities unique to humans. We discuss the competences on which these tasks are likely to draw, and what it is about parrots, or Griffin in particular, that explains his better performance than either great apes or linguistically competent preschool children on these and conceptually related tasks.


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zofia Wysokińska ◽  
Tomasz Czajkowski ◽  
Katarzyna Grabowska

AbstractNonwovens are one of the most versatile textile materials and have become increasingly popular in almost all sectors of the economy due to their low manufacturing costs and unique properties. In the next few years, the world market of nonwovens is predicted to grow by 7%–8% annually (International Nonwovens & Disposables Association [INDA], European Disposables and Nonwovens Association [EDANA], and Markets and Markets). This article aims to analyze the most recent trends in the global export and import of nonwovens, to present two case studies of Polish companies that produce them, and to present one special case study of the market of nonwoven geotextiles in China and India, which are the Asian transition economies among the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa).


Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 791
Author(s):  
Sufei Zhang ◽  
Ying Guo

This paper introduces computer vision systems (CVSs), which provides a new method to measure gem colour, and compares CVS and colourimeter (CM) measurements of jadeite-jade colour in the CIELAB space. The feasibility of using CVS for jadeite-jade colour measurement was verified by an expert group test and a reasonable regression model in an experiment involving 111 samples covering almost all jadeite-jade colours. In the expert group test, more than 93.33% of CVS images are considered to have high similarities with real objects. Comparing L*, a*, b*, C*, h, and ∆E* (greater than 10) from CVS and CM tests indicate that significant visual differences exist between the measured colours. For a*, b*, and h, the R2 of the regression model for CVS and CM was 90.2% or more. CVS readings can be used to predict the colour value measured by CM, which means that CVS technology can become a practical tool to detect the colour of jadeite-jade.


2001 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-34
Author(s):  
Allan Macinnes

This paper makes an important, interdisciplinary contribution, to the ongoing debate on the transition from clanship to capitalism. Integral to this contribution is the important distinction between capitalism as an individualist ideology and capitalist societies where individualism is a widespread but not necessarily a universal ideology. His concern is not with the bipolar opposition of landlord and people which tends to dominate debates on the land issue in the Highlands. Instead, he focuses on material culture change in relation to landscape organisation, settlement patterns and morphology in order to examine how social relationships were structured during the critical period of estate re-orientation often depicted progressively as Improvement but regressively as clearance through the removal and relocation of population. His case study on Kintyre is particularly valuable. By scrutinising spatial as well as social relationships Dalglish demonstrates that clanship was based as much on daily practices of living as on an patrimonial ideology of kinship, practices which led the House of Argyll to attempt the reinvention of concepts of occupancy in order to emphasise the importance of the individual over the family through partitioned space.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
Osman Nabay ◽  
Abdul R. Conteh ◽  
Alusaine E. Samura ◽  
Emmanuel S. Hinckley ◽  
Mohamed S. Kamara

The paper examined and brought to the fore the typical characteristic of urban and peri-urban farmers in Freetown and Bo communities which serves as major source of supply of agricultural products into the cities’ markets. The social and environmental aspect and perception of producers involved in urban and peri-urban agriculture was examined. Descriptive statistics and pictograms were used to analyze and present the data. Results indicate that 56.34% never went to formal school and mostly dominated by women, showing that farming became the alternative means of livelihood support for those groups. Crops grown are purely influenced by market orientation—demand and cost, as is evident in Gloucester (lettuce, cabbage and spring onions). Potato leaves were commonly grown in almost all communities, reason being that it serves as common/major sauce/vegetable cooked in every household in Sierra Leone. Maize and rice were featured in Ogoo farm—government supervised land set aside purposely for growing crops to supply the city. Findings also revealed that majority of the farmers are resource poor, judging from calculation about their monthly income earning and available household assets and amenities. About 70.4% of the lands the farmers grow their crops on is leased for production. Except for Gloucester community, when costs of production will be summed, minimal benefit seem to be realized from the farming activities. Even though some of these farmers are engaged in organization, many have limited access to micro financial organization that would probably loan them money to upscale production.


2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Goodwin

Abstract Far from being of interest only to argumentation theorists, conceptions of speech acts play an important role in practitioners’ self-reflection on their own activities. After a brief review of work by Houtlosser, Jackson and Kauffeld on the ways that speech acts provide normative frameworks for argumentative interactions, this essay examines an ongoing debate among scientists in natural resource fields as to the appropriateness of the speech act of advocating in policy settings. Scientists’ reflections on advocacy align well with current scholarship, and the scholarship in turn can provide a deeper understanding of how to manage the communication challenges scientists face.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Jose Antonio Barrera Vera ◽  
Gabriel Granado Castro ◽  
Joaquin Aguilar Camacho

ResumenEl análisis estratigráfico constituye una herramienta de diagnosis indispensable en obras de arqueología, que permite descifrar a arqueólogos, historiadores y antropólogos la disposición e interrelación entre los diferentes estratos y la ordenación cronológica de los restos hallados. En este campo, la fotogrametría realizada con cámara digital convencional y software de amplia difusión constituye una alternativa versátil, eficiente y asequible frente a las técnicas convencionales de representación, basadas en procedimientos artesanales y cargadas de subjetividad, cuyas principales limitaciones son analizadas. En este artículo se establecen una sencilla metodología y un modelo sistemático para la documentación y preservación de unidades estratigráficas en excavaciones arqueológicas, compatibles con la técnica de análisis estratigráfico basada en la matriz Harris. La validez y posibilidades del método han sido constatadas en el proyecto de intervención arqueológica desarrollado en la Capilla Real de la Catedral de Sevilla.AbstractThe stratigraphic analysis constitutes an essential diagnostic tool in archelogy works, which allows the archaeologists, historians and anthropologists to decipher the arrangement and interrelation between the different strata and the chronological ordering of the remains found. In this field, the photogrammetry realized with conventional digital camera and software of wide diffusion constitutes a versatile alternative, efficient and affordable in front of the conventional techniques of representation, based on artisan and loaded procedures of subjectivity, whose main limitations are analyzed. This article establishes a simple methodology and a systematic model for the documentation and preservation of stratigraphic units in archaeological excavations, compatible with the technique of stratigraphic analysis based on the Harris matrix. The validity and possibilities of the method have been verified in the project of archaeological intervention developed in the Royal Chapel of the Cathedral of Seville.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 2029-2036
Author(s):  
Asha A Bhat ◽  
Prashanth A S

Skin is one of the most beautiful organs God has ever blessed to anyone. Everyone craves for beautiful skin and makes all possible efforts to make it glow. To achieve this, they are engaged in continuous use of creams, moist- urizers and other cosmetic articles which lead to immediate or long-term skin issues. Itching being the predomi- nant symptom of these cosmetic issues make people highly embarrassed in society. In Ayurveda, almost all skin conditions are explained under one umbrella called Kushta. It is broadly classified into Mahakushta and Kshudra- kushta1. Dadru Kushta one among the Kshudra Kushta is the most common skin condition accounts for 20% in all consultation in general practice2. North Karnataka is well known for its hot and humid conditions making its population at risk of many Tinea infections. Kandu, Raga and Atasi Pushpa Sankashavat Mandala are the cardi- nal features of Dadru3. In the present case study, 40 patients of Dadru Kushta were taken according to inclusion criteria. The combined effect of both Shodhana and Shamana was assessed. Keywords: Dadru Kushta, Aupasargika, Anushangi, Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test


Author(s):  
Peter Flynn

In 2006 my university academic IT support group was approached by an academic colleague wanting to start a new journal, which would be available in electronic form only. There were restrictions imposed by the technical capabilities of the pool of authors, the requirements of the discipline, and — unsurprisingly — the lack of financial resources. The decision was made to implement a system using only open source software, and building largely from scratch, as the existing open source journal publishing systems at the time, although comprehensive and well-established, were seen as far too large and complex for the task. This paper is a case study describing the process and explaining the background to the decisions made. It attempts to draw some conclusions about the technical viability of creating a small-scale publishing system which attempted to retain XML throughout the workflow, and about the human factors which influenced the decisions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 54-61
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Dacy-Ignatiuk ◽  
Adam Hibszer

Abstract The authors of the article sought to answer the questions: do geography teachers feel a tie with their place of work, what is the strength of this relationship and what factors influence these declared ties with the place. A step towards knowing the answers is the declared subjective assessment of emotional relationships with such a place. To this end, surveys were conducted among geography teachers. Due to their profession, they are a social group having a wide range of influence on young people and their attitudes towards their local geographical environment. Organizational reasons (the ability to reach teachers of all schools through the information exchange platform between Board of Education and school heads – so-called the headmasters panel) decided to examine a selected group of respondents – geography teachers of the Silesian Voivodeship. Google questionnaire was used as an electronic form of data collection. The research was quantitative and only partly qualitative. The analysis of the obtained results gave an interesting view of the perception of teachers' relations with the place where their school is located – their place of work. Almost all respondents declared the existence of a territorial bond with their place of work. The workplace itself is an important factor in the formation and strength of these ties. The length of residence in a given place was also important, and its type (town or a village) and size were less important. For half of the surveyed teachers, it was difficult for them to indicate the distinguishing feature (symbol) of their place of work, regardless of whether they were inhabitants or commuters from elsewhere.


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