bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Finding the early Neolithic in Aegean Thrace: the use of cores
Authors: Ammerman Albert J. , Efstratiou Nikos , Ntinou Maria , Pavlopoulos Kosmas , Gabrielli Roberto , Thomas Kenneth D. , Mannino Marcello A.
Published: January 2015

Using a new approach that combines high-quality coring with AMS dating, the authors are mapping the start of the Neolithic in Aegean Thrace – a missing link in the arrival of agriculture in Europe. The method also revealed the edge of the marine transgression dating to some 2900 years ago, implying that sites located near the coast in early Neolithic times have in all likelihood been lost to the sea.
Excavating the eternal: an indigenous archaeological tradition in India
Authors: Cremo Michael A.
Published: January 2015

Archaeological investigation in India begins conventionally with the interest of Europeans. But India's own historical texts reveal examples of indigenous, curiosity-driven fieldwork as early as the sixteenth century. Describing the systematic search for lost sacred images and sites in places associated with Krishna's earthly pastimes, the author makes a spirited case for regarding this activity as real archaeology, comparing it with today's heritage projects.
Isotopic signatures and hereditary traits: snapshot of a Neolithic community in Germany
Authors: Bentley R. Alexander , Wahl Joachim , Price T. Douglas , Atkinson Tim C.
Published: January 2015

A group of Linearbandkeramik people at Talheim, Germany were previously found to have died at the same time, probably in a massacre, and the authors were able to ask some searching questions of their skeletons. The isotope signatures of strontium, oxygen and carbon, which gave information on diet and childhood region, showed up three groups which correlated with hereditary traits (derived previously from the analysis of the teeth). In the local group, there were many local children but no adult women, suggesting they had been selectively taken alive at the time of the massacre. Another group, with isotope signatures derived from upland areas, includes two men who may have been closely related. A third group has a composition suggestive of a nuclear family. The variations of one type of isotope signature with another suggested subtle interpretations, such as transhumance, and a probable labour division in the community between stockholders and cultivators. Here we see the ever-growing potential of these new methods for writing the ‘biographies’ of prehistoric skeletons.
Multivallate sites and socio-economic change: Thailand and Britain in their Iron Ages
Authors: O'Reilly Dougald J .W.
Published: January 2015

The Iron Age in north-eastern Thailand is marked by the appearance of multivallate ‘moated sites’ some of them up to 50ha in extent. Current evidence for their date and function shows them to be contemporary with other developments – expansion into new agricultural land, increases of ranking in burial and the arrival of regional pottery industries. In interpreting the reasons for these changes, the author draws on analogies from the Bronze/Iron transition in Britain, where forts are also seen as instruments of socio-economic change.
Equids and an acrobat: closure rituals at Tell Brak
Authors: Oates Joan , Molleson Theya , Sołtysiak Arkadiusz
Published: January 2015

Deposits of human and animal bodies in a monumental Akkadian building at Tell Brak (ancient Nagar) superficially suggest random killing and disposal. But here the authors produce evidence that these represent the deliberate sacrifice of valued creatures. Among the human remains were those argued to represent a specialist acrobat, while the donkey remains reflect the association of the building with the breeding of the much-debated onager-donkey hybrid that preceded the horse.
Gesture politics and the art of ambiguity: the Iron Age statue from Hirschlanden
Authors: Armit Ian , Grant Philomena
Published: January 2015

The discovery of the extraordinary Hirschlanden figure was reported in this journal in 1964. Since then the statue has featured in numerous discussions of Iron Age art and society, to the extent that it has become one of the iconic images of the European Iron Age. It has become almost taken for granted that the Hirschlanden figure is an ‘intensely masculine’ warrior statue representing the heroised dead. However, certain aspects of the figure suggest a rather deeper, more ambiguous symbolism. The authors use their up-to-date critique to raise questions about the eclectic character of Iron Age spirituality.
Early sculptural traditions in West Africa: new evidence from the Chad Basin of north-eastern Nigeria
Authors: Breunig Peter , Franke Gabriele , Nüsse Michael
Published: January 2015

Thanks to a number of well-stratified sequences, the authors can offer a new history of clay image-making in West Africa. From the first known human occupation in the second millennium BC, the shaped clay figurines remain remarkably conservative, suggesting their use as offerings, toys or in games or some role rooted in domestic everyday life. Only in the late first millennium BC and in one area (Walasa) does a more formal art emerge in north-eastern Nigeria, a development contemporary with the famous Nok culture further south.
Growth and decline in complex hunter-gatherer societies: a case study from the Jomon period Sannai Maruyama site, Japan
Authors: Habu Junko
Published: January 2015

The Sannai Maruyama site (3900-2300 BC) is one of the largest known from Japan's Jomon period (14000-300 BC). This study shows that over 1500 years the number of dwellings, their size, the type of stone tools and the fondness for figurines varied greatly. Nor was it a story of gradual increase in complexity: the settlement grew in intensity up to a peak associated with numerous grinding stones, and then declined to a smaller settlement containing larger buildings, many arrowheads and virtually no figurines. Using a bundle of ingenious analyses, the author explains what happened.
Legal and archaeological territories of the second millennium BC in northern Mesopotamia
Authors: Ristvet Lauren
Published: January 2015

Defining territories and settlement hierarchies is a primary goal of archaeological survey, involving the mapping of different-sized settlements on the ground. However it may not always work, owing to the particular land use or political strategies anciently employed. With the aid of cuneiform documents from Tell Leilan, Syria, the author shows how the settlements found by archaeological survey in northern Mesopotamia actually relate to a number of intersecting authorities, with a hold on major tracts of pasture as well as on arable land and cities. These insights from the Near East have important implications for the interpretation of surveyed settlement patterns everywhere.
Why handaxes just aren't that sexy: a response to Kohn & Mithen (1999)
Authors: Machin Anna Jane
Published: January 2015

The Acheulean handaxe is one of the most iconic, analysed and fiercely debated artefacts from the prehistoric period. Persisting for over one million years and recovered from sites across the Old World its distinctive, often symmetrical, tear drop or ovate shape appears to be over-engineered for a subsistence function alone. Debate has centred upon trying to unravel the reasons for this form; raw material, knapping technique, subsistence function, cognition, social context of manufacture and sexual selection have all been proposed as key factors (Jones 1994; White 1998; Gamble 1999; Kohn & Mithen 1999; McPherron 2000; Gowlett 2006).
Eastern arrivals in post-glacial Lapland: the Sujala site 10 000 cal BP
Authors: Rankama Tuija , Kankaanpää Jarmo
Published: January 2015

The Sujala site in northern Finnish Lapland is a reindeer hunters' camp from the early post-glacial period, discovered by the authors in 2002. The site was originally linked with the Preboreal occupation of the north Norwegian coast, but further excavations and analyses indicate that it actually represents a totally new phenomenon: evidence for an eastern influx into Lapland around the Preboreal–Boreal transition. This discovery has far-reaching implications for the colonisation of north Scandinavia, but also for the subsequent development of Early Mesolithic settlement in northern Finland and Norway.
Eastern Anatolian obsidians at Çatalhöyük and the reconfiguration of regional interaction in the Early Ceramic Neolithic
Authors: Carter Tristan , Dubernet Stéphan , King Rachel , Le Bourdonnec François-Xavier , Milić Marina , Poupeau Gérard , Shackley M. Steven
Published: January 2015

A small group of exotic obsidian blades supplied from over 600km distant reached a particular area of the East Mound at Çatalhöyük in the Early Ceramic Neolithic (7000-6300 cal BC). The authors explore a variety of explanations and contexts, including changes in technology, agricultural expansion, gift exchange, bride-wealth and incomers from the east.
The orientation of rondels of the Neolithic Lengyel culture in Central Europe
Authors: Pásztor Emília , Barna Judit P. , Roslund Curt
Published: January 2015

The rondels – circular earthworks of late Neolithic Europe – have a repeated form highly suggestive of deliberate design and symbolism. The concentric ditches are cut by two, three or most often four causeways at right angles. Here the authors investigate the orientation of the causeways in 51 rondels belonging to the Lengyel culture and conclude that they correlate well with the sunrise. The idea of a solar cult receives some corroboration from patterns on contemporary pottery.
Monumental burials and memorial feasting: an example from the southern Brazilian highlands
Authors: Iriarte José , Gillam J. Christopher , Marozzi Oscar
Published: January 2015

What happened at the sites of prehistoric burial mounds after they were erected? In the southern highlands of Brazil and Argentina the pre-Hispanic mounds of the twelfth-thirteenth centuries AD are surrounded by large circular enclosures with avenues leading to their centre. The authors discovered that the banks of the surrounding enclosure were built up over several generations of time, accompanied by a succession of ovens. Ethnohistoric observations of more recent peoples in the same region suggested an explanation: the cremation of a chief was followed by periodic feasts at his mound, where meat was steamed and maize beer prepared at the edge of the gathering.
The cart ruts of Malta: an applied geomorphology approach
Authors: Mottershead Derek , Pearson Alastair , Schaefer Martin
Published: January 2015

The mysterious rock-cut cart ruts of Malta are here examined by geomorphologists. They find that the ruts could be caused by two-wheeled carts with a gauge of 1.40m carrying moderate loads. In wet weather the carts would gradually cut into the limestone and reach their ground clearance of 0.675m, causing the carriers to try another route – so there are plenty of them.
Exploiting a damaged and diminishing resource: survey, sampling and society at a Bronze Age cemetery complex in Cyprus
Authors: Webb Jennifer M. , Frankel David
Published: January 2015

Is a cemetery that has been robbed and pillaged for generations worthy of systematic research? It certainly is, given the application of a well conceived and executed project design. The authors show that the precise investigation of tomb architecture and identification of residual pottery can allow the detailed mapping of funerary practice over large areas of space and periods of time. Here they develop a narrative of increasing population and funerary investment through the Bronze Age in central north Cyprus. And having recorded 1286 pillaged tombs they call attention to the value of what still remains and the dangers that such monuments still face. The fact that a cemetery has been damaged is no reason to sacrifice it to the bulldozer.
A new chronological framework for prehistoric Southeast Asia, based on a Bayesian model from Ban Non Wat
Authors: Higham Charles , Higham Thomas
Published: January 2015

The authors offer a new chronological framework for prehistoric Southeast Asia, based mainly on the Bayesian modelling of 75 radiocarbon dates from well-stratified excavations at Ban Non Wat. The results are revolutionary. Neolithic practice now begins in the second millennium and hierarchical state-forming activity is dated to a ‘starburst’ around 1000 BC. The authors reflect on the social implications of the new model – and on the criteria for an ever stronger chronology.
A re-assessment of the larger fetus found in Tutankhamen's tomb
Authors: Hellier C.A. , Connolly R.C.
Published: January 2015

As noted by Geoffrey Chamberlain, the two baby girls found in Tutankhamen's tomb were probably his stillborn heirs. More controversially he suggested that they were twins, although one appeared to be larger than the other. Here new research on estimating the age of a fetus is shown to support the twin hypothesis, while recent work on Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome explains why they could be such different sizes.
The invention of ‘Tarentine’ red-figure
Authors: Thorn Jed M.
Published: January 2015

This deconstruction of how Apulian red-figure pottery came to be termed Tarentine has implications for archaeological methodology far beyond the Mediterranean. The author shows how the assumptions of great authorities, themselves rooted in a colonial world, led to a highly resistant model of core and periphery for pottery production that may have no basis in fact. It is a fine example of the process that has left us with so many unsuitable and immovable names for material from Samian to Gothic.
Bredarör on Kivik: a monumental cairn and the history of its interpretation
Authors: Goldhahn Joakim
Published: January 2015

The famous monumental Bronze Age cairn Bredarör on Kivik with its decorated stone coffin or cist has been described as a ‘pyramid of the north’. Situating his work as the latest stage in a long history of interpretation that began in the eighteenth century, the author analyses the human bone that survived from the 1930s excavation and shows that the cist and chamber must have remained open to receive burials over a period of 600 years.
1859 + 150: Time depth and process
Authors: Renfrew Colin
Published: January 2015

In a single year two of the fundamental principles for the study of antiquity were established: chronology and process. Both have been elaborated and re-visited since: chronology most significantly 90 years later in 1949 with the development of radiocarbon dating by Willard Libby. That these two foundations should be established in the ambit of a single year – 1859 – is remarkable, and worthy of celebration.
A dugong bone mound: the Neolithic ritual site on Akab in Umm al-Quwain, United Arab Emirates
Authors: Méry Sophie , Charpentier V. , Auxiette G. , Pelle E.
Published: January 2015

The authors present a remarkable site with a remarkable interpretation: a structured platform of dugong bones, containing skulls laid in parallel and ribs in sets, together with artefacts of the Neolithic period. They propose that the bones have been symbolically arranged and the mound as a whole had a ritual purpose – an interpretation endorsed by analogy with dugong platforms noted in the Torres Strait in recent times.
Dying to serve: the mass burials at Kerma
Authors: Judd Margaret , Irish Joel
Published: January 2015

High ranking burial mounds in Bronze Age Sudan featured burials in a corridor leading to the central burial – supposedly of a king. Were the ‘corridor people’ prisoners captured during periodic raids on Egypt, or local retainers who followed their king in death? The authors use the skeletal material to argue the second hypothesis – coincidentally that advanced by George Reisner, the original excavator.
Sculptors' signatures on Iberian stone statues fromIpolca-Obulco(Porcuna, Jaén, Spain)
Authors: Chapa Teresa , Belén María , Martínez-Navarrete M. Isabel , Rodero Alicia , Ceprián Bautista , Pereira Juan
Published: January 2015

With the help of a modern mason, the authors have discovered a series of scarcely visible markings on well-known limestone statues from southern Spain dating back to the fifth century BC. Unrelated to letters or religious symbols, their best point of comparison seems to lie with the kind of signature used by masons to denote a craftsman or workshop. One can certainly forgive any sculptor an expression of pride in the elegant and complex carvings of the Iberian culture.
The reburial issue in Britain
Authors: Moshenska Gabriel
Published: January 2015

The dead are back. Like a horde of irritating poltergeists the human remains of the ancients have returned to harass us in the form of the reburial issue; perennial source of postcolonial guilt and undergraduate seminar material. Only this time there is an unusual twist: the remains in question are British. The Council of British Druid Orders (CoBDO) has requested the reburial of a specific group of prehistoric human remains from the collection of the Alexander Keiller Museum. In response English Heritage have carried out a consultation, amidst considerable publicity and public debate (Hole 2008).
Counting microliths: a reliable method to assess Mesolithic land use?
Authors: Crombé Philippe , Sergant Joris , Robinson Erick
Published: January 2015

In this debate the authors tackle a problem fundamental to researchers and resource managers in the Mesolithic period: what sort of prehistory do flint scatters represent?
Taking microliths into account
Authors: Vanmontfort Bart
Published: January 2015

I thank Crombéet al.for their comment on an earlier paper (Vanmontfort 2008) and the editor of this journal for providing me with the opportunity to reply to their critique. They use two intensively surveyed and studied areas in the lower Scheldt region to compare the microlith-based method with a site-based approach. Actually this comparison nicely illustrates the potential of the method. My Figure 3 compares the calculated frequencies of sites and microliths – which is not quite the same as the 'Mesolithic use' of these regions – over the Mesolithic period for the two regions. The results correspond remarkably well. This agreement is perhaps not surprising, since the presence of microliths is also one of the most determining factors in the attribution of sites to each of the Mesolithic phases. However, the results from the two methods might easily have diverged from each other. Contrary to Crombéet al.'s expectation of correspondence, the distribution of a particular artefact type may offer different and complementary information to site-based data (Vanmontfort 2008: 250).
Academic freedom, political correctness, and early civilisation in Chinese archaeology: the debate on Xia-Erlitou relations
Authors: Liu Li
Published: January 2015

The interpretation of archaeology is inevitably affected by the social, cultural and intellectual background of researchers. This is certainly the situation in the study of early Chinese civilisations and their material remains, particularly in regard to the Erlitou culture in the middle Yellow River region in China (c. 1900-1500 BC). The spatial and temporal definitions of the Erlitou culture are partially coincident with those of the Xia dynasty as recorded in ancient texts. The type-site of Erlitou, in Yanshi, Henan province, has revealed much evidence indicating the development of a large and complex political centre there. But the historical or dynastic affiliation of the Erlitou site/culture has generated much debate among archaeologists and historians in recent years. A general tendency in the debate, as seen in publications, is that most Chinese archaeologists and historians believe that the Erlitou site represents the material culture of an early dynasty, Xia or Shang, while most scholars in the West have reservations regarding such interpretations (Liu & Chen 2003: 26-35; Liu 2004: 223-38; Liu & Xu 2007).
Are Catalans ignoring archaeology?
Authors: James N.
Published: January 2015

So declares the new introduction to the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia (MAC), in Barcelona. It is too modest. The collection is big. It concentrates on Catalonia and its culture area but there are finds from further afield, notably Bronze Age Argaric material. Extensive space is devoted to the late prehistory of the Balearic Islands, a magnificent collection from the Greek and Roman site of Empúries (Ampurias, ancient Emporium, Emporiae), and to the late prehistoric 'Iberian' culture, including the Tivissa treasure. There is also a good collection of Visigothic material. To the visitor from northern Europe, the museum is a reminder of how much there is to find in a country for so long heavily populated.
Mass cannibalism in the Linear Pottery Culture at Herxheim (Palatinate, Germany)
Authors: Boulestin Bruno , Zeeb-Lanz Andrea , Jeunesse Christian , Haack Fabian , Arbogast Rose-Marie , Denaire Anthony
Published: January 2015

The Early Neolithic central place at Herxheim is defined by a perimeter of elongated pits containing fragments of human bone, together with pottery imported from areas several hundred kilometres distant. This article offers a context for the centre, advancing strong evidence that the site was dedicated to ritual activities in which cannibalism played an important part.
The ornamental trousers from Sampula (Xinjiang, China): their origins and biography
Authors: Wagner Mayke , Bo Wang , Tarasov Pavel , Westh-Hansen Sidsel Maria , Völling Elisabeth , Heller Jonas
Published: January 2015

A decorated pair of trousers excavated from a well-preserved tomb in the Tarim Basin proved to have a highly informative life history, teased out by the authors – with archaeological, historical and art historical dexterity. Probably created under Greek influence in a Bactrian palace, the textile started life in the third/second century BC as an ornamental wall hanging, showing a centaur blowing a war-trumpet and a nearly life-size warrior of the steppe with his spear. The palace was raided by nomads, one of whom worked a piece of the tapestry into a pair of trousers. They brought no great luck to the wearer who ended his days in a massacre by the Xiongnu, probably in the first century BC. The biography of this garment gives a vivid glimpse of the dynamic life of Central Asia at the end of the first millennium.
Pre-Columbian geometric earthworks in the upper Purús: a complex society in western Amazonia
Authors: Pärssinen Martti , Schaan Denise , Ranzi Alceu
Published: January 2015

It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good. The combination of land cleared of its rainforest for grazing and satellite survey have revealed a sophisticated pre-Columbian monument-building society in the upper Amazon Basin on the east side of the Andes. This hitherto unknown people constructed earthworks of precise geometric plan connected by straight orthogonal roads. Introducing us to this new civilisation, the authors show that the ‘geoglyph culture’ stretches over a region more than 250km across, and exploits both the floodplains and the uplands. They also suggest that we have so far seen no more than a tenth of it.
Isotopes and individuals: diet and mobility among the medieval Bishops of Whithorn
Authors: Müldner Gundula , Montgomery Janet , Cook Gordon , Ellam Rob , Gledhill Andrew , Lowe Chris
Published: January 2015

Stable isotopes get personal in this analysis of burials at a medieval cathedral. Compared with the local meat-eating rank and file, those people identified as bishops consumed significantly more fish and were incomers from the east. These results, while not so surprising historically, lend much increased confidence that isotope analysis can successfully read the status and mobility of individuals in a cemetery.
Domestic campsites and cyber landscapes in the Rocky Mountains
Authors: Scheiber Laura L. , Finley Judson Byrd
Published: January 2015

The dwellings of prehistoric Native North Americans are amongst the hardest archaeological structures to find and characterise – they leave only a shallow ring of stones. But the authors show that, when recorded to modern levels of precision, these tipi-stances contain a wealth of information. The stone rings are mapped in detail by hand, and located by GPS, their hearths are located by fluxgate survey and sampled for radiocarbon dating, and the results displayed in layered maps on GIS. Different social groups had different floor plans, so that, even where artefacts are missing, the movement of peoples can be dated and mapped. The results also bring to the fore the great cultural value of these, the dominant monument types of Bighorn Canyon National Recreational Area.
Degrees of freedom in the Caribbean: archaeological explorations of transitions from slavery
Authors: Armstrong Douglas V.
Published: January 2015

The anniversary of the abolition of slavery was justly celebrated worldwide in 2007. But what is the character of freedom, how does it relate to material culture, and how can archaeology study it? The author here summarises ideas he has been developing in Jamaica and York over the past two years.
The archaeology of occupation, 1940-2009: a case study from the Channel Islands
Authors: Carr Gillian
Published: January 2015

The occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II and its subsequent commemoration, memorialisation and re-enactment as heritage offers a parable for the advent of materiality in many other periods and places. The author draws a contrast between the official and the clandestine at the time of occupation, and points out the even more illuminating contrast between first hand domestic memories gradually fading with the generations and the public recognition of the events in museums, monuments and memorials – which on some islands took more than half a century to come to pass.
Volcanoes, ice-cores and tree-rings: one story or two?
Authors: Baillie M.G.L.
Published: January 2015

Good archaeology relies on ever more precise dates – obtainable, notably, from ice-cores and dendrochronology. These each provide year-by-year sequences, but they must be anchored at some point to real historical time, by a documented volcanic eruption, for example. But what if the dating methods don't agree? Here the author throws down the gauntlet to the ice-core researchers – their assigned dates are several years too old, probably due to the spurious addition of ‘uncertain’ layers. Leave these out and the two methods correlate exactly…
Raymond Dart and the danger of mentors
Authors: Derricourt Robin
Published: January 2015

Archaeology, like all scientific and scholarly disciplines, requires the transmission of knowledge and ideas. This commonly involves the influence of mentors and role models: figures who can at times take on the role of gurus. But adherence to mentors has its dangers. That is shown in the career of Raymond Dart, whose professional work was deeply flawed by the adherence he paid to his mentor Grafton Elliot Smith. His status has been maintained by his dedicated disciple, the great physical anthropologist Phillip Tobias, but critical assessment of the corpus of Dart’s work (Dubow 1996; Derricourt 2009) contrasts with his selective reputation.

In the first part of 1925, Dart — then a youthful professor of anatomy in Johannesburg — published in quick succession two papers in the pre-eminent British science journal Nature.One (on the discovery of Australopithecus with the announcement and interpretation of the Taung fossil cranium) would become a landmark document in the history of palaeoanthropology and prehistory (Dart 1925a). The other is a classic example of the approaches which would later be seen as belonging in the lunatic fringe of archaeology. Dart would continue publishing on both themes throughout his long and productive life (from his birth in Australia in 1893 to death in Johannesburg in 1988).
An unusual Late Antique funerary deposit with equid remains (Usseau, France)
Authors: Gleize Y. , Scuiller C. , Armand D.
Published: January 2015

A Late Antique burial in central-western France contained the skull and long bones of two individuals, overlaid by the parts of an equid carcass. What are we to make of such a deposit? Clearly it does not relate to an ethnic or ritual norm. The authors lead us through the ways that such a rite might be decoded.
Gristhorpe Man: an Early Bronze Age log-coffin burial scientifically defined
Authors: Melton Nigel , Montgomery Janet , Knüsel Christopher J. , Batt Cathy , Needham Stuart , Pearson Mike Parker , Sheridan Alison , Heron Carl , Horsley Tim , Schmidt Armin , Evans Adrian , Carter Elizabeth , Edwards Howell , Hargreaves Michael , Janaway Rob , Lynnerup Niels , Northover Peter , O'Connor Sonia , Ogden Alan , Taylor Timothy , Wastling Vaughan , Wilson Andrew
Published: January 2015

A log-coffin excavated in the early nineteenth century proved to be well enough preserved in the early twenty-first century for the full armoury of modern scientific investigation to give its occupants and contents new identity, new origins and a new date. In many ways the interpretation is much the same as before: a local big man buried looking out to sea. Modern analytical techniques can create a person more real, more human and more securely anchored in history. This research team shows how.
Ancient texts and archaeology revisited – radiocarbon and Biblical dating in the southern Levant
Authors: Levy Thomas E. , Najjar Mohammad , Higham Thomas
Published: January 2015

The Iron Age sequence in the southern Levant is one of the most evocative and provocative in ancient history, since it coincides with events remembered in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). The authors show how a scientific chronological framework can be created and contribute an independent voice to the historical debate. They also show that, if archaeology is to complement history, such a framework requires an especially rigorous application of precision, in context definition, data handling and Bayesian radiocarbon dating, and urge such application to forthcoming work at the key Biblical site of Megiddo.
Comprehensive Assessment of Automatic Identification System (AIS) Data Application to Anti-collision Manoeuvring
Authors: Felski Andrzej , Jaskólski Krzysztof , Banyś Paweł
Published: January 2015

The use of radar information for collision avoidance is common, however it is effective only for constant values of ship motion parameters. As information delays or information errors occur, it is reasonable to supplement the information derived from radar with another information system. An ideal system should operate automatically and continuously. A system that appears to be suitable to provide this kind of information is the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which may be classified as a radio communication system that uses radio waves to transmit data with regard to ship motion parameters. In this paper the topic of integrity and completeness of AIS information is discussed and the research results for the completeness and integrity of dynamic information are presented. In addition, the outcomes of AIS information correctness from the Gulf of Gdańsk were compared with studies carried out in the Baltic Sea, east of Bornholm, between Trelleborg and Arkona. The results of research for AIS dynamic information with the highest completeness (Position, Course over Ground and Speed over Ground) are presented. The research outcomes presented in the paper lead to the conclusion that AIS could deliver useful supplementary information in the process of collision avoidance.
Models for Estimating the Potential Number of Ship Collisions
Authors: Lušić Zvonimir , Čorić Mirko
Published: January 2015

This paper analyses two different methods of estimating ship collision candidates. The first one is an analytical approach; accordingly, an overview of various analytical expressions for estimating the number of collision candidates for three main situations (encounter, overtaking, and crossing) will be presented. The second is a simulation approach: the paper will present how to simulate ship movements by replacing them with circles in order to obtain a graphical presentation of ship movements in the zone of danger, including the calculation of collision candidates. The applied simulation model will also feature three main situations, i.e. encounter, overtaking, and crossing, and the results of simulations will be compared with the results of analytical models. The results and conclusions should improve the existing models for obtaining the potential number of ship collisions and encourage new advanced simulation methods.
GPS Precise Point Positioning with the Japanese Quasi-Zenith Satellite System LEX Augmentation Corrections
Authors: Choy Suelynn , Harima Ken , Li Yong , Choudhury Mazher , Rizos Chris , Wakabayashi Yaka , Kogure Satoshi
Published: January 2015

The Japanese Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) is a regional satellite navigation system capable of transmitting navigation signals that are compatible and interoperable with other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). In addition to navigation signals, QZSS also transmits augmentation signals, e.g. the L-band Experimental (LEX) signal. The LEX signal is unique for QZSS in delivering correction messages such as orbits and clock information that enable real-time Precise Point Positioning (PPP). This study aims to evaluate the availability of the LEX signal as well as the quality of the broadcast correction messages for real-time PPP applications. The system is tested in both static and kinematic positioning modes. The results show that the availability of the LEX signal is 60% when the QZSS satellite elevation is at 30° and above 90% when the satellite is above 40° elevation. Centimetre-level position accuracy can be obtained for static PPP processing after two hours of convergence using the current MADOCA-LEX (Multi-GNSS Advanced Demonstration of Orbit and Clock Analysis) correction messages transmitted on the LEX signal; and decimetre-level point positioning accuracy can be obtained for kinematic PPP processing.
Resiliency analysis for complex engineered system design
Authors: Mehrpouyan Hoda , Haley Brandon , Dong Andy , Tumer Irem Y. , Hoyle Christopher
Published: January 2015

Resilience is a key driver in the design of systems that must operate in an uncertain operating environment, and it is a key metric to assess the capacity for systems to perform within the specified performance envelop despite disturbances to their operating environment. This paper describes a graph spectral approach to calculate the resilience of complex engineered systems. The resilience of the design architecture of complex engineered systems is deduced from graph spectra. This is calculated from adjacency matrix representations of the physical connections between components in complex engineered systems. Furthermore, we propose a new method to identify the most vulnerable components in the design and design architectures that are robust to transmission of failures. Nonlinear dynamical system and epidemic spreading models are used to compare the failure propagation mean time transformation. Using these metrics, we present a case study based on the Advanced Diagnostics and Prognostics Testbed, which is an electrical power system developed at NASA Ames as a subsystem for the ramp system of an infantry fighting vehicle.
Homotopy limits in type theory
Authors: AVIGAD JEREMY , KAPULKIN KRZYSZTOF , LUMSDAINE PETER LEFANU
Published: January 2015

Working in homotopy type theory, we provide a systematic study of homotopy limits of diagrams over graphs, formalized in the Coq proof assistant. We discuss some of the challenges posed by this approach to the formalizing homotopy-theoretic material. We also compare our constructions with the more classical approach to homotopy limits via fibration categories.
The Origins and Myths of the Swedish Model of Workplace Democracy
Authors: HEDIN ASTRID
Published: January 2015

In 1976 Sweden adopted a law on workplace democracy, presented by the Social Democratic government as the ‘reform of the century’. What can the reform tell us about the history of the Swedish Model and how it was revised during the early 1970s under the prime minister, Olof Palme? This article compares four grand narratives of the development of welfare states, viewing dominant narratives of the Swedish Model as influential myths in their own right. The article argues that despite its global reputation as a hallmark of ‘democratic socialism’, the Swedish workplace democracy reform was a broad cross-class compromise, in the wake of a pan-European wave of similarly labelled reforms. Furthermore, the reform served to protect workplaces against Communist activism. The argument builds on the internal meeting protocols of the board and executive committee of the Swedish Social Democratic Party.
TRAVELLING WAVES AND OSCILLATIONS IN SAL’NIKOV’S COMBUSTION REACTION IN A COMPRESSIBLE GAS
Authors: PAUL RHYS A. , FORBES LAWRENCE K.
Published: January 2015

We consider a two-step Sal’nikov reaction scheme occurring within a compressible viscous gas. The first step of the reaction may be either endothermic or exothermic, while the second step is strictly exothermic. Energy may also be lost from the system due to Newtonian cooling. An asymptotic solution for temperature perturbations of small amplitude is presented using the methods of strained coordinates and multiple scales, and a travelling wave solution with a sech-squared profile is derived. The method of lines is then used to approximate the full system with a set of ordinary differential equations, which are integrated numerically to track accurately the evolution of the reaction front. This numerical method is used to verify the asymptotic solution and investigate behaviours under different conditions. Using this method, temperature waves progressing as pulsatile fronts are detected at appropriate parameter values.
Compact curved half circular disc-monopole UWB antenna
Authors: Abdelraheem Ahmed M. , Abdalla Mahmoud A.
Published: January 2015

This paper introduces a compact modified semi-circular monopole ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna. A compact antenna size (4.3 × 3.4 cm2) compared to the typical coplanar waveguide (CPW) circular monopole antenna (5.5 × 4 cm2) is achieved. The proposed antenna is completely proven for UWB communication performance. The antenna is matched over 8.4 GHz bandwidth (2.2–10.6 GHz), with reflection coefficient lower than −10 dB over the band. Matching bandwidth is verified through simulation and measurements of VSWR. Efficient power radiation over the band is proven through radiation efficiency. Radiation efficiency is not lower than 81% at the upper end of the band. Omnidirectional characteristics are proven through, firstly, measured transfer function magnitude at three different configurations, Face-to-Face, Face-to-Side, and Side-by-Side (all frequencies at different orientations), and, secondly, measured radiation pattern at three selected frequencies that span the bandwidth (all orientations at different frequencies). Moreover, the ability of the antenna to support, as narrow pulses as, 0.25 ns omnidirectionally is proven through detailed study for time response. Antenna transfer function is measured for magnitude and phase. Then, a first-order Raeighly pulse, that fulfils the FCC mask for emission restrictions, is applied at the terminals of a UWB system of the proposed UWB antenna. Finally, the output, barely distorted, normalized, pulse is compared to the input pulse.
Annexin A2 promotes phagophore assembly by enhancing Atg16L+ vesicle biogenesis and homotypic fusion
Authors: Morozova Kateryna , Sidhar Sunandini , Zolla Valerio , Clement Cristina C. , Scharf Brian , Verzani Zoe , Diaz Antonio , Larocca Jorge N. , Hajjar Katherine A. , Cuervo Ana Maria , Santambrogio Laura
Published: January 2015

Plasma membrane budding of Atg-16L-positive vesicles represents a very early event in the generation of the phagophore and in the process of macroautophagy. Here we show that the membrane curvature-inducing protein annexin A2 contributes to the formation of these vesicles and their fusion to form phagophores. Ultrastructural, proteomic and FACS analyses of Atg16L-positive vesicles reveal that 30% of Atg16L-positive vesicles are also annexin A2-positive. Lipidomic analysis of annexin A2-deficient mouse cells indicates that this protein plays a role in recruiting phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositides to Atg16L-positive vesicles. Absence of annexin A2 reduces both vesicle formation and homotypic Atg16L vesicle fusion. Ultimately, a reduction in LC3 flux and dampening of macroautophagy are observed in dendritic cells from Anxa2−/− mice. Together, our analyses highlight the importance of annexin A2 in vesiculation of a population of Atg16L-positive structures from the plasma membrane, and in their homotypic fusion to form phagophore structures.
Dip-pen patterning of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) chain-conformation-based nano-photonic elements
Authors: Perevedentsev Aleksandr , Sonnefraud Yannick , Belton Colin R. , Sharma Sanjiv , Cass Anthony E. G. , Maier Stefan A. , Kim Ji-Seon , Stavrinou Paul N. , Bradley Donal D. C.
Published: January 2015

Metamaterials are a promising new class of materials, in which sub-wavelength physical structures, rather than variations in chemical composition, can be used to modify the nature of their interaction with electromagnetic radiation. Here we show that a metamaterials approach, using a discrete physical geometry (conformation) of the segments of a polymer chain as the vector for a substantial refractive index change, can be used to enable visible wavelength, conjugated polymer photonic elements. In particular, we demonstrate that a novel form of dip-pen nanolithography provides an effective means to pattern the so-called β-phase conformation in poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) thin films. This can be done on length scales ≤500 nm, as required to fabricate a variety of such elements, two of which are theoretically modelled using complex photonic dispersion calculations.
Genetic targeting of sprouting angiogenesis using Apln-CreER
Authors: Liu Qiaozhen , Hu Tianyuan , He Lingjuan , Huang Xiuzhen , Tian Xueying , Zhang Hui , He Liang , Pu Wenjuan , Zhang Libo , Sun Heng , Fang Jing , Yu Ying , Duan Shengzhong , Hu Chaobo , Hui Lijian , Zhang Haibin , Quertermous Thomas , Xu Qingbo , Red-Horse Kristy , Wythe Joshua D. , Zhou Bin
Published: January 2015

Under pathophysiological conditions in adults, endothelial cells (ECs) sprout from pre-existing blood vessels to form new ones by a process termed angiogenesis. During embryonic development, Apelin (APLN) is robustly expressed in vascular ECs. In adult mice, however, APLN expression in the vasculature is significantly reduced. Here we show that APLN expression is reactivated in adult ECs after ischaemia insults. In models of both injury ischaemia and tumor angiogenesis, we find that Apln-CreER genetically labels sprouting but not quiescent vasculature. By leveraging this specific activity, we demonstrate that abolishment of the VEGF–VEGFR2 signalling pathway as well as ablation of sprouting ECs diminished tumour vascularization and growth without compromising vascular homeostasis in other organs. Collectively, we show that Apln-CreER distinguishes sprouting vessels from stabilized vessels in multiple pathological settings. The Apln-CreER line described here will greatly aid future mechanistic studies in both vascular developmental biology and adult vascular diseases.
Quantum ratchet in two-dimensional semiconductors with Rashba spin-orbit interaction
Authors: Ang Yee Sin , Ma Zhongshui , Zhang Chao
Published: January 2015

Ratchet is a device that produces direct current of particles when driven by an unbiased force. We demonstrate a simple scattering quantum ratchet based on an asymmetrical quantum tunneling effect in two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba spin-orbit interaction (R2DEG). We consider the tunneling of electrons across a square potential barrier sandwiched by interface scattering potentials of unequal strengths on its either sides. It is found that while the intra-spin tunneling probabilities remain unchanged, the inter-spin-subband tunneling probabilities of electrons crossing the barrier in one direction is unequal to that of the opposite direction. Hence, when the system is driven by an unbiased periodic force, a directional flow of electron current is generated. The scattering quantum ratchet in R2DEG is conceptually simple and is capable of converting a.c. driving force into a rectified current without the need of additional symmetry breaking mechanism or external magnetic field.
Chemical fingerprinting of hydrocarbon-contamination in soil
Authors: Boll Esther S. , Nejrup Jens , Jensen Julie K. , Christensen Jan H.
Published: January 2015

Chemical fingerprinting analyses of 29 hydrocarbon-contaminated soils were performed to assess the soil quality and determine the main contaminant sources.
Rapid and sensitive detection of Salmonella typhimurium using aptamer-conjugated carbon dots as fluorescence probe
Authors: Wang Renjie , Xu Yi , Zhang Tao , Jiang Yan
Published: January 2015

Aptamer-conjugated carbon dot complexes were developed and first used as a novel fluorescence probe for sensitive quantitative detection of Salmonella typhimurium.
A highly durable p-LaFeO3/n-Fe2O3 photocell for effective water splitting under visible light
Authors: Yu Qing , Meng Xianguang , Wang Tao , Li Peng , Liu Lequan , Chang Kun , Liu Guigao , Ye Jinhua
Published: January 2015

A new p-type photocathode LaFeO3 was successfully fabricated, and a stable (120 h) and effective water splitting (H2: 11.5 μmol h−1, O2: 5.7 μmol h−1) was realized via construction of a p-LaFeO3/n-Fe2O3 photocell.
Pillar[5]arene based supramolecular prodrug micelles with pH induced aggregate behavior for intracellular drug delivery
Authors: Wang Yin , Du Jianwei , Wang Youxiang , Jin Qiao , Ji Jian
Published: January 2015

A novel type of dual pH-responsive supramolecular prodrug micelles based on pillar[5]arene was prepared. It was found that the prodrug micelles could be aggregated upon acidic condition, which led to enhanced accumulation and better therapy effect.
First enantioselective total synthesis and configurational assignments of suberosenone and suberosanone as potential antitumor agents
Authors: Kousara Mohammad , Ferry Angélique , Le Bideau Franck , Serré Kathalyn L. , Chataigner Isabelle , Morvan Estelle , Dubois Joëlle , Chéron Monique , Dumas Françoise
Published: January 2015

The first enantioselective syntheses of (1R)-suberosenone and (1R)-suberosanone are achieved, leading to revision of the AC of a natural (1S)-suberosanone.
Optical and spectroscopic studies of Ca0.9Nd0.1Ti0.9Al0.1O3 single crystals grown by an optical floating zone technique
Authors: Murugesan G. , Nithya R. , Kalainathan S. , Ravindran T. R.
Published: January 2015

Single crystals of multifunctional Ca0.9Nd0.1Ti0.9Al0.1O3 have been grown in air and also in argon atmosphere using an optical floating zone technique.
Excited state evolution of DNA stacked adenines resolved at the CASPT2//CASSCF/Amber level: from the bright to the excimer state and back
Authors: Conti Irene , Nenov Artur , Höfinger Siegfried , Flavio Altavilla Salvatore , Rivalta Ivan , Dumont Elise , Orlandi Giorgio , Garavelli Marco
Published: January 2015

La and excimer state population exchange, along the common puckering decay coordinate, explains the longest DNA lifetime component.
The relationship between the strength of hydrogen bonding and spin crossover behaviour in a series of iron(iii) Schiff base complexes
Authors: Nemec Ivan , Herchel Radovan , Trávníček Zdeněk
Published: January 2015

The magnetic (spin crossover) properties of the complexes were tuned by the different crystal solvent molecules.
Crystal and magnetic structures of the brownmillerite Ca2Cr2O5
Authors: Arevalo-Lopez Angel M. , Attfield J. Paul
Published: January 2015

Magnetic moments show a surprising degree of spin canting in the antiferromagnetic structure of the brownmillerite Ca2Cr2O5, obtained from the high pressure perovskite CaCrO3through hard-soft chemistry.
6-Methoxy-5-phosphaphenanthrene: a molecule with an unreactive PC double bond
Authors: Wang Lili , Wang Zhihua , Wang Qiuyan , Duan Zheng , Mathey François
Published: January 2015

A multi-step synthesis of the title compound has been devised.