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Monday, May 14th, 2012
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9:57 am - FYI: Sheep remains analysis
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Peter R.W. Popkin, Polydora Baker, Fay Worley, Sebastian Payne, Andy Hammon, The Sheep Project (1): determining skeletal growth, timing of epiphyseal fusion and morphometric variation in unimproved Shetland sheep of known age, sex, castration status and nutrition, Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 39, Issue 6, June 2012, Pages 1775-1792, ISSN 0305-4403, 10.1016/j.jas.2012.01.018.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440312000301)
Abstract: The Sheep Project was designed to investigate the effects of castration, breeding age and nutritional plane on bone growth, epiphyseal fusion, tooth eruption and tooth wear in sheep. The project investigates a population of 356 unimproved Shetland sheep skeletons evenly distributed between females bred at different ages, males and castrates, raised on either high or low nutritional planes. This first instalment focuses on two aspects of our larger study, namely bone growth and epiphyseal fusion as affected by sex, castration and nutrition. Nutrition, sex and castration are shown to influence bone growth in ways that are often element-dependant and not consistent through time. We demonstrate that metric variability (variance) is strongest in males, with little difference between females and castrates, and that, in our sample, nutrition has little influence on variance in any sex cohort. Of importance to the development of models of past animal management this study demonstrates that the standard epiphyseal fusion ranges used by zooarchaeologists are too narrow in most instances and do not account for the large variation between sexes or the lesser variation between planes of nutrition. We recommend methods for recognizing castration and the presence of more than one sheep breed, or type, within the zooarchaeological record.
Keywords: Zooarchaeology; Ageing; Bone growth; Epiphyseal fusion; Nutrition; Castration; Sexing
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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9:50 am - Analysis of elements in medieval Italian glass
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S. Cagno, M. Brondi Badano, F. Mathis, D. Strivay, K. Janssens, Study of medieval glass fragments from Savona (Italy) and their relation with the glass produced in Altare, Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 39, Issue 7, July 2012, Pages 2191-2197, ISSN 0305-4403, 10.1016/j.jas.2012.03.013.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440312001148)
Abstract: Altare was in the medieval and post-medieval period an important glassmaking center in the Liguria region in Northern Italy. The first historical evidence of glassmaking in Altare is dated to the twelfth century. In spite of that, due to the continuity of glassmaking up to the present time and the contemporaneous intensive urbanization of the territory, no medieval glass from Altare or its immediate vicinity has been analyzed up to now. In this work, glass from archaeological excavations in the center of Savona, city with close ties with the glassmaking center, was studied. Glass fragments, dated from the tenth to the sixteenth century were selected from the collections of the Archaeological Museum in Savona and non-destructively analyzed with quantitative PIXE-PIGE. The resulting compositions, compared with known glass productions of the same time and evaluated on the basis of historical documents, offer an interesting panorama on the variety of glass circulation in Liguria.
Keywords: Historical glass; Altare; PIXE-PIGE; Archaeometry; Quantitative analysis; Raw materials
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(comment on this)
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9:49 am - Another article: fireplaces
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Interesting primarily for the high quality image of circa 1000 fireplace remains.
Fabio Donadini, Andreas Motschi, Christoph Rösch, Irka Hajdas, Combining an archaeomagnetic and radiocarbon study: dating of medieval fireplaces at the Mühlegasse, Zürich, Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 39, Issue 7, July 2012, Pages 2153-2166, ISSN 0305-4403, 10.1016/j.jas.2012.02.030.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440312000945)
Abstract: During the restoration of the Radium cinema located in the old Town of Zürich, a stratigraphic sequence of medieval fireplaces came to light. Based on ceramic finds, a preliminary age of about 1000 AD was assigned. In this paper we show the results from archaeomagnetic and radiocarbon dating, which combined with the stratigraphic information yield a better constrain of the period of use of these fireplaces. Whilst the radiocarbon technique continues to be the most widespread methodology for dating young archeological artifacts, archaeomagnetic dating is becoming increasingly more established in Europe thanks to the increased number of available measurements. A Bayesian model on the period of use of these fireplaces was produced with OxCal, by a combination of magnetic and radiocarbon ages, together with the stratigraphic information. The results show that the fireplaces were probably used during 1 to 2 generations (e.g. 20–40 years each), and are in good agreement with the archaeological context of this site. To make use of the magnetic measurements for future reconstructions of the field, we carried out an additional age model using only the radiocarbon and the stratigraphic information. Although some of the structures show large directional scatter due to poor baking in antiquity, the results confirm the trend of the geomagnetic field around 1000 AD.
Keywords: Archaeomagnetism; Radiocarbon dating; OxCal; Switzerland
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(comment on this)
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9:46 am - Another interesting Article
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Sarah Maltoni, Alberta Silvestri, Lara Maritan, Gianmario Molin, The Medieval lead-glazed pottery from Nogara (north-east Italy): a multi-methodological study, Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 39, Issue 7, July 2012, Pages 2071-2078, ISSN 0305-4403, 10.1016/j.jas.2012.03.016.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440312001173)
Abstract: The present work focuses on the archaeometric characterisation of 10th–11th-century lead-glazed pottery from Nogara (Verona, north-east Italy), with the main aim of defining the production technology of both glaze and clay body, through a multi-methodological approach.
All the glazes, transparent and yellow to green in colour, are 20–100 μm thick, texturally homogeneous and variable in composition, with high lead content (PbO: 53–76 wt%), variable silicon (SiO2: 17–31 wt%), low aluminium (Al2O3: 4–7 wt%) and alkalis (Na2O + K2O: 0.6–1.7 wt%) and iron, acting as colourant (FeO about 2 wt%). The ceramic bodies are illitic non-calcareous clay-based, the textural features of which indicate neither depuration nor tempering, and firing temperatures generally under 850 °C. Microstructural, chemical and mineralogical evidence suggests that the Nogara glazes were produced by applying to the unfired ceramic body a lead compound flux, which caused partial melting and chemical diffusion phenomena in and outside the ceramic body. Small (<5 μm) newly-formed K–Pb feldspar crystallites, with euhedral morphologies, were also identified at the body–glaze interface of all samples, suggesting uniform firing techniques. The glaze colour, related to chromophorous FeO, must be considered as unintentional. Comparisons between Nogara samples with the same type of ceramics from various sites of the Mediterranean area and European countries, covering a wide time-span (Roman times to Modern age) show general chemical uniformity of the lead coating composition over the centuries, from whichever archaeological site the samples come. In addition, the results reported here further support the hypothesis that, in Italy, the tradition of using non-calcareous clay in combination with lead compound by itself, appeared in late antiquity, continued until mid-Medieval times.
Keywords: Nogara; Italy; High lead glaze; Pottery; Middle Ages; Production technology
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, May 9th, 2012
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4:04 pm - Oh! Painted Furniture!
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Sylvia Sandelin Löfgren, Sven Isaksson, The oldest evidence of painted furniture from Sweden – The 12th century chair from Suntak, Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 39, Issue 6, June 2012, Pages 1665-1673, ISSN 0305-4403, 10.1016/j.jas.2011.08.026.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440311003050)
Abstract: The 12th century Suntak chair is one of the earliest pieces of furniture known from Sweden. A close examination revealed minute remnants of possible colour pigments on several parts of the chair. Chemical analyses of the pigments revealed the presence of several colours such as black, white and red. This paper attempts to shed light upon the identification and origin of the pigments as well as the time of painting. The original use and the setting of the chair will also be discussed.
Keywords: Pigment; Colour; Analysis; Furniture; Medieval
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
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1:00 pm - A book I must read someday
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| Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
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8:52 pm
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Gah. The only thing worse than dealing with typos in PleaseReview is trying to collate 3 sets of comments and corrections without it.
Also, I think I have re-broken my old cracked metatarsal. This makes driving stick very painful.
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012
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2:41 pm - Complete Anachronist at the Printer
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The latest CA, An Introduction to the Tudor and Elizabethan House by Susan Stallman, is now at the printer...
Onward and upward!
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, March 20th, 2012
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1:39 pm - Computers in Libraries 2012
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I'll be presenting tomorrow at Computers in Libraries 2012. I'm half of a presentation slot, and I gave the guy who is going to be talking about how wonderful Drupal is the first half, so my presentation will probably be abbreviated even if it were short, so I just put screen shots in the powerpoint so I wouldn't have to depend on internets.
The Powerpoint: http://users.drew.edu/jheise/CIL2012.ppt
Basically, the idea is that even if you can't control the CMS you have to use, you can use a combination of the CMSes that are available to you (without special programming), with some careful usability observation and development, to make a site that works pretty well for your users and staff. We did.
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(comment on this)
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| Wednesday, March 14th, 2012
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4:49 pm - Hee hee!
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| Monday, March 5th, 2012
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3:47 pm - FYI: for Civil War buffs
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Reposting to spread the info:
The History and Culture Program at the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies, Drew University, is pleased to announce a two-day conference exploring the present state and future potential of Civil War and Reconstruction-era studies on March 30-31, 2012.
The conference will commence Friday evening, March 30 with a reception and keynote address. The keynote address, “Guerrillas Then and Now,” will be delivered by Daniel Sutherland of the University of Arkansas.
Sutherland’s A Savage Conflict (2009) won the Society for Civil War History’s prestigious Thomas Watson Brown prize in 2010.
Panel sessions will be held Friday evening and Saturday morning in Mead Hall on Drew’s campus, and the conference will culminate in a luncheon and roundtable discussion on the future of Civil War history with recognized scholars in the field.
Further information on the conference’s schedule, registration, and lodging accommodations can be found at the conference website:
http://depts.drew.edu/grad/cwconf/Welcome.html
Any further questions may be directed to the conference committee at cwconf@drew.edu
The registration fee for the conference is $ 50.00 and includes the Friday evening reception, Saturday morning breakfast and luncheon. All conference attendees including moderators and presenters are required to register and may do so online. Payment may be by check or money order made out to "Drew University" and mailed to the following address:
Caspersen School of Graduate Studies
SW Bowne Hall
Drew University
Madison, NJ 07940
ATTN: CW Conference
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, February 1st, 2012
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2:13 pm - Creative Commons
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I just worked through a one-week open online educational technology workshop on Open Educational Resources. I now know a lot more about Creative Commons licenses than I did before. And I'm thinking about changing my online content to use Creative Commons licenses. The angsty thing is-- I don't really want people to use my content in a commercial way without my permission. I know it's really looked down on in the Open communities to use CC-NC-BY licenses (specifying only non-commercial use), and I'd be happy to give people permission on a case-by-case basis-- but I see too many people and companies taking content and just folding it into their own for-profit thing instead of doing a little bit of homework and creating something that uses content in a copyright-appropriate way.
Part of me says put it up as CC-NC-BY and have a contact me for a commercial license-- but I can't tell whether that's really allowed under creative commons.
Thoughts, anyone? Questions are ok too: I'm a librarian and eager to pontificate on my newfound knowledge.
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
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1:14 pm - From PoesyGalore
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| Monday, December 12th, 2011
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12:16 pm - forwarded by another librarian...
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| Friday, December 9th, 2011
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2:00 pm - Let's see if this works- Beekman
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| Monday, December 5th, 2011
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10:23 am - Worth Looking at
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Josefina Pérez-Arantegui, Erika Ribechini, Maria Perla Colombini, Francisco Escudero, "Characterization of an ancient ‘chemical’ preparation: pigments and drugs in medieval Islamic Spain," Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 38, Issue 12, December 2011, Pages 3350-3357, ISSN 0305-4403, 10.1016/j.jas.2011.07.021.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440311002615)
Keywords: Orpiment; Fig; Pigment; Ink; Medicine; Islamic; Scanning electron microscopy
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
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7:04 pm - SCA terminology
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In the SCA, someone who has been a Royal Consort for a successful (ie the BOD didn't dump them) reign is granted the title of Lady (or, rarely, Lord) of the Rose.
I would like to propose a new colloquial usage connected with this.
When a Consort is in fact not married to the Winner of the Crown by Right of Arms, but instead to another who does not hold the County or Duchy, I think the spouse of the Consort should be called a Gentleman of the Violet. 'Cos it's sort of like being ex-Royalty but without all the handy squires. :)
Hi, Liam and Steffan!
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, October 28th, 2011
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12:38 pm - Islamophobist conspiracy?
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Found this linked from the website of the University of Georgia's Islam & Islamic Studies Resources:
"Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America Published in August, 2011, this is the most comprehensive report to date on the primary organizations and individuals behind the campaign to convince the West that Muslims and Islam (not simply terrorism) are a threat that must be stamped out."
The report alleges that the more emphatic Islamophobia and claims about the nature of Islam are being promulgated by a small right wing network-- one could even call it a conspiracy.
Worth thinking about.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Thursday, October 27th, 2011
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11:40 am - Intellectual Property and Livejournal
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Just contacted my House Rep and all the co-sponsors of the bill with this message about the "Stop Online Piracy Act":
Please withdraw your support from HR 3261; my personal blog is on the livejournal platform, now owned by a Russian company, and under this bill, SOPA, if the Russian government alleges that there are piracy blogs on Livejournal, the Attorney General can/will 'disappear' my blog. Since Russia already uses IP claims to shut down companies it doesn't like, SOPA would be a clear and present danger to my use of a service I PAY FOR.
Sponsors are "House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), who introduced the bill with ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich.), IP subcommittee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.."
Full text of bill is at: http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/112%20HR%203261.pdf
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Monday, October 24th, 2011
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2:56 pm - Halloween Costume site
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TakeBackHalloween.org -- costume ideas for women with imagination...
ok, I have to point out that the base idea behind it makes me somewhat twitchy, even though I decry the growth of premade 'sexy' halloween costumes for tween and little girls. Also, can't they find anyone of size to model them? I hate to see CJ Walker sized down.
But anyway, I am very seriously considering that Demeter costume idea. Mind you, as fat as I'm feeling (yeah well, I'm over 300 lbs, what do you expect?), I was going to get glow-in-the-dark stars and a moon, and maybe color an earth, and some dark-blue fabric and go as The Universe. :)
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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