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The article reviews data on the use of the method of raw material units in the study of Palaeolithic industries. In scientific literature, this method is also called transformation analysis (TA) or minimum analytical nodule analysis (MANA). This approach is aimed at the identification from a broad technological context of industry groups of lithics produced from the same raw material blocks on the basis of their color, texture and another macro- and microscopically seen petrographic attributes. The method of raw material unit analysis finds application within the framework of several directions in the study of archaeological complexes. The first of them is the study of the structure and taphonomy of cultural deposits. The second one deals with the reconstruction of human mobility and subsistence systems on the basis of raw material transportation and transformation patterns.
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The paper deals with the reconstruction of technology used to produce ostrich eggshell beads found on the Final Pleistocene sites Ust-Kyakhta III (excavated in 1976, 1978) and Ust-Kyakhta XVII (excavated in 1990—1992) in Western Transbaikalia. The sites are thought to belong to the same culture. The similar objects made from the same raw material and also on soft ornamental stone were discovered on the other sites of the region, such as Studenoye II, Sukhotino IV, Podzvonkaya. This element of material culture is specific for this period, but the technological aspect of personal ornaments manufacture for this category of objects on this territory wasn’t thoroughly studied before. That is why the purpose of our research was to determine technological chain of ostrich eggshell bead production, given some gaps in the studied collection, specifically a lack of preforms. This work was dedicated to reveal the most probable technological chains, which, in the same time, let us obtain some replicas, which are most similar to the archaeological pieces. The following chain was indicated as an optimal one to obtain specific morphological features, determined on the beads of Ust-Kyakhta XVII: fragmentation of eggshell in order to obtain small pieces, than perforation with the help of bow drilling by means of pointed hafted stone tools and, finally, grinding and polishing to smoothen the preform.
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To study the early stages of wolf domestication, we investigated the remains of large canids from the Yana site. Morphologically they cannot be called dogs, but there are certain indicators of the wolves’ relationship with people, favorable to the start of domestication. The sample is dominated by animals with worn, partially missing teeth and various bone pathologies. Often these animals are medium-sized. One skull of a nearly adult individual demonstrates juvenile characteristics. The morphologic and morphometric anomalies observed can be explained by commensalism (deficient and young animals using the resources of human settlement as an alternative food source). On the other hand, pathologies could have been an indirect result of commensalism, rather than its cause. Due to the risk of conflict with humans, only the most tolerant animals could live near their settlement. Experiments with living animals show, that tolerance comes at the cost of accumulating morphologic pathologies, genetically associated with tolerance, which was observed in many Yana wolves.High sociality and vocal behavior allowed wolves to approach human settlements, becoming some of the earliest domesticated animals. The site yielded evidence of a special attitude towards wolves, perhaps indicating a totemic cult. The Yana site material, interpreted in light of the biological characteristics of wolves, demonstrates for the first time the earliest stages of domestication, which can be characterized as self-domestication.
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This article deals with the preliminary results of recent works at the Upper Palaeolithic site of Pushkari VIII (Pogon). A hearth with a system of pits surrounding it was identified in the excavation area of 14 m². Most of the pits contained vertically buried bones. In addition, an accumulation of bones, including a mammoth skull, was found in the southeastern part of the fireplace. Three working areas were localized around the hearth: two of them were used for processing of flint raw materials, while the third one served as a place where skinning was done. The collection of flint artefacts is typical for the Pushkari type industries and belongs to the Gravettian technocomplex. At this stage of research, we can talk about fixing a short-term episode of a hunting group's stay. The results obtained give new information about human activity, and open up opportunities for reconstruction.
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The paper deals with microlithic technology in the Early Upper Palaeolithic of Mongolia. The assemblages from 5 sites under consideration contain both microcores and microblades, but no tools made of microblades are present. The materials from Northern Mongolia and Gobi Altai testify to the existence of microlithic technology since the early stages of the the Upper Palaeolithic (ca. 37—26 kya). In the Early Upper Palaeolithic of Northern Mongolia (Tolbor-4 and Tolbor-15 sites) microblades were usually detached from narrow-front and, less frequently, wedge-shaped microcores. The materials of Tsagan-Agui Cave in Gobi Altai include elongated cores with negatives of microblade removals on the narrow front. The Early Upper Palaeolithic layer of Chikhen-Agui Rockshelter yielded a subprismatic microcore designed for microblade production and 24 microblades. In addition, microblades and microcores were found in the Early Upper Palaeolithic layers of the open air site of Chikhen 2.
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The article studies barbed point phenomenon in western part of Baikal Siberia aged 12 000 BP. There are two different approaches to the classification of such tools today: morphological and functional. The authors support the functional classification and grade the points of the discussed sites (Bolshoi Yakor I, Verkholenskaya Gora I, Makarovo II, Strizhova Gora and Kurla I) according with morphological and morphometrical characteristics and their zooarchaeological context to harpoon and traumatic types. These studies have led to the conclusion that most of the points are the tips of thrusting harpoon type spears or harpoons with detachable head. .
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Despite the strict regimen applied to all the documents in the Soviet archives concerning the status of the Romanian treasure sent to Moscow in December 1916, the information that has become well known puts forward less known aspects of the evolution of this issue, which for a century now has been a current one in the Romanian-Russian/Soviet relation. Just as up-to-date are the searches and studies of historical researchers in order to shed light on this topic.
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The text deals with contact area and mutual inspirations of methodologies stemming from cultural anthropology and oral history. It summarizes recent international discussion about memory, body, and senses in social sciences and introduces few concepts (e.g. food as a language, food evoking memories, embodiment, synesthesia) that can be inspirational for current development of oral history methodology in the Czech conditions. Czech memory studies have been strongly based on textual analyses dealing with a written or spoken language. Through the topic of food and foodways, new ways of overcoming the textual and visual dominance in social sciences could be developed. Food is treated as a topic convenient for uncovering of various memory layers and representation of (silenced and neglected) histories of the everyday home food producers.
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The article gives an overview of the existence of six selected grammar schools in three towns of eastern Slovakia – Košice, Prešov, and Levoča in years 1944 – 1948. It focused on problems of these grammar schools after WWII (not only material problems, but also problems of teacher qualification). Annual reports were used to provide the information about number of students, their nationalities, religions, etc. The author also discusses out-of-school activities of these schools.
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On 5-6 September, 2013, in Făgăraş took place the first session of scientific communications, which refers to exploitation of country's specific cultural heritage of Făgăraş. The session was held in the Medieval Tower Thomory from the Museum of History
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In the early 1960s of last Century, in city Balti lived many Germans families, especially educated and decent people. Studying archives, then taking note of German researchers work Ute Şmidt А. Gamman, H. Fihtner, А. Kern and others I found out that they have been invited to colonize the southern Bessarabia by the Emperor Alexander I. Between the years 1814-1842 in Bessarabia moved over 9 thousand Germans who, largely, were peasants and craftsmen. They have set up a total of more than 50 colonies, in which there is an effective self-government, schools, churches, hospitals. After the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the vast majority of Germans from Bessarabia were put in a position to repatriate, and the remaining ones have passed through the Stalin's deportations. However, German settlers have left deep traces in the history and culture of Moldova
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The question contained in the title of the article regards the names of three ethnic (tribal) groups found in the literature on the subject which has to do with the pre-state structures of what would later come to be known as the Greater Poland. The names are: the Zeriuani, the Lendians, and the Polans. The first two names are found in sources dating back to the 9th—10th century, while the last name appears for the first time around the year 1000, during the reign of Bolesław I, i.e. after the formation of the Polish state. In the following article, the author argues that previous assertions of Polish historians regarding the Zeriuani have been wrong, since they assumed that the name is toponomastic, that is related to the place of dwelling of the community called by this name. According to the author of the article, the name Zeriuani, which constitutes the only regnum in the writings of the Bavarian Geographer, contains information regarding a myth of the common origins and the subsequent separation of the Slavic community, and thus does not denote a tribal name. Regarding the Lendians, the error constitutes in locating them exclusively in the eastern territories of what would later come to be Poland, since the name can be related to the entire middle territory of Poland, from Odra to the eastern territories, described by the scholars in the last few decades. Thus, the only ethnic name that could exist in the 9th—10th century in the territory of the future Greater Poland was, in fact, the Lendians. On the basis of the available sources, it could be asserted that the Polans, as a tribe, never existed under that name, since it encompassed all subjects of Bolesław I around the year 1000, and thus had no connection with the pre-state tribal structures of the Greater Poland.
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Obecne w islandzkich sagach sceny spalenia domostwa wraz z jego mieszkańcamiw szczególny sposób stanowią o dramaturgii poszczególnych opowieści. Ze względu na swój radykalizm, odczuwalny także przez ówczesnych, wydarzenia te na długo pozostawały w ludzkiej pamięci, stopniowo stając się integralnym elementem uprawianej tam sztuki literackiej.Sceny tego typu okazywały się bardzo dobrą okazją do uwypuklenia nie tylko intensywnościkonfliktów opisywanych w sagach oraz bezwzględności osób w nie zaangażowanych. Odbiorcy sag mogli przy tej okazji szczególnie dobrze ujrzeć przymioty i cechy (lub ich brak), których oczekiwali po bohaterach sag, takie jak: lojalność, honor, poszanowanie prawa.Autor nawiązuje do dyskusji na temat roli tego typu scen w poszczególnych opowieściach. Artykuł tym samym stanowi próbę odpowiedzi na pytanie, na ile były one jedynie fikcyjnym elementem wpływającym na kształt narracji (eliminacja poszczególnych bohaterów, zarzewie konfliktu, podżeganie do zemsty), na ile zaś nawiązywały swoją literacką aranżacją do autentycznych przypadków, znanych odbiorcom sag. Opierając się na konkretnych przykładach, wziętych z sag rodowych (Saga o Njalu) czy też tzw. sag współczesnych (Saga o Gudmundzie Szlachetnym), autor przychyla się do zdania, że sceny spalenia były konstruowane w sposób, który pozwalał odbiorcom wierzyć, że fikcyjna opowieść mogła rozegrać się w przeszłości. Kluczowa rola przypadała tu odpowiednio nakreślonym postawom ludzi, których owe sceny spalenia dotyczyły, chociażby w kwestii ratowania za wszelką cenę kobiet i dzieci czy też pomszczenia zamordowanych.
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The article constitutes a polemic with Marek Cetwiński’s interpretation of the translation of the phrase equus maculis, which appears in the chronicle of Wincenty Kadłubek. The author had previously proposed a translation to “a piebald horse,” which allowed to compare Kadłubek’s account of the legendary race for power in the pre‑Piastera with other instances of the presence of spotted, piebald animals in enthronement rites of the Slavic peoples. Marek Cetwiński considers this translation to be inadequate, arguing that equus maculis should be translated instead as “a foaming horse” — sweaty and tired after a long run. However, this kind of translation has no linguistic basis and results only from the desire to rationalize Kadłubek’s writing. The following article presents instances of the presence of the descriptor maculis in ancient and medieval Latin and discusses the meanings associated with the word by the authors of those texts. The author of the article cites examples from texts written by Vergil, Laurentius Rusius, Ekkehard, or Telonius, with the view of substantiating the thesis that in each of those cases, the term maculae refers to the natural spots on the animal’s skin and not to sweat or dirt.The term is often used in fixed expressions, but it never refers to a sweaty animal. Thus, thereis only one way to understand this term, used by the continuators and translators of Kadłubekalike — as the horse’s color.
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The immigration of foreign, and especially German knights to Silesia, whose height was reached at the turn of the 13th century, was one of the foremost reasons which contributed to the change of the region’s character in the crucial period of separation from the newly reunited Kingdom of Poland. The research devoted to the changes among the Silesian elites of those times, especially with regard to foreign knights, is notoriously scarce among the Polish academia. The aim of the article, therefore, is to familiarize the readers with the biographies and historical relevance of the von Zedlitz family, one of the numerous German families who settled in Silesia in the Middle Ages. The paper is devoted to the von Zedlitzs who lived in the Duchy of Jawor and Świdnica and the Duchy of Legnica in the 14th century. According to the author, there had been many members of the family who rose to prominence at the courts of the local dukes, thanks to which the von Zedlitz family became one of the most influential and affluent families in the region.
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