Methodological insights into the study of centuriated field systems: a landscape archaeology perspective

The morphological identification of centuriated field systems has been characterised from its beginnings by methodological approaches mainly sustained on actus-based modular relationships and orientations. Many researchers dedicated to the identification of centuriations have only performed archaemorphological analyses based on interpretation of aerial photographs and maps without field verification or any other proof of the validity of their hypothsis. Their restitutions consisted of a set of lines over a map or an aerial photograph which often lacked precision and spatial resolution. This article argues that the study of centuriations should transform its aims, scope and methodologies to be converged with those presented by diachronic transdisciplinary landscape archaeology. In order to do so a series of integrated methodological approaches are exposed and their applicability discussed

Pitch production during the Roman period: an intensive mountain industry for a globalised economy?

The authors’ research project in the Pyrenees mountains has located and excavated Roman kilns for producing pitch from pine resin. Their investigations reveal a whole sustainable industry, integrated into the local environmental cycle, supplying pitch to the Roman network and charcoal as a spin-off to the local iron extractors. The paper makes a strong case for applying combined archaeological and palaeoenvironmental investigations in upland areas, showing mountain industries to have been not so much marginal and pastoral as key players in the economy of the Roman period and beyond it into the seventh century AD

The Roman centuriated landscape: conception, genesis and development as inferred from the Ager Tarraconensis case

Although centuriation was only one system of Roman land division, its impact on the landscape and its visibility in modern field arrangements make it the most commonly recognized expression of Roman landscapes. Centuriated grid systems are usually analyzed from a materialistic point of view and consequently regarded as an assertion of Roman dominance over conquered territories. In this sense, their productive function is clear. The hinterland of Tarraco (the ancient capital of the Roman province of Tarraconensis) offers one of the most clearly documented examples of multiple-grid centuriated systems. From 2006 to 2010, the Landscape Archaeology Research Group (GIAP) of the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology employed a wide array of digital and field methodologies at Tarraco to record the traces of centuriated land divisions and their Roman origin. Most importantly, these methods have allowed research to move beyond pure description of the traces to explore the concepts and ideas behind the making of a centuriated landscape. By using Tarraco as a case study, this article shows how centuriation was not only a system for dividing the land but also a conceptual appropriation of the landscape based on a strong mythical and religious backgroun

Interreligious dialog to the citizens behaviour of univesitaries students

In the national context, La Araucanía is a region characterized by ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. At the same time, the growing emergence of awareness of identity and belonging to the Mapuche people and the asymmetry of living conditions in relation to the dominant society have made the conflict between the State of Chile and the Mapuche people a topic of first regional relevance. On the other hand, the Catholic University of Temuco, since its foundation in 1959, has declared a clear and determined commitment to the region, seeking to understand and contribute to the solution of its problems, challenges and aspirations. The proposal of this presentation is that, in order to fulfill its public commitment to contribute to social coexistence, UC Temuco must attend to the integral formation of its students as professionals and citizens, one of whose dimensions is the religious worldview, which implies finding and defend the proper status of the 'education of the faith' in the university context, characterized by 'religious neutrality'. In this context, it is proposed to consider the conditions for an authentic interreligious dialogue as the most appropriate perspective to favor the development of the faith in the university environment. In this framework, the case of the elective course Manifestations of spirituality in Araucanía is presented. A look at diversity. Four relevant moments of this experience are described: religious identity, religions before contemporary reality, testimonies of faith, and leaving oneself to meet the other. Finally, some significant results are presented for the purpose of contributing to the formation of citizens committed to harmonious coexistence and peace

New Development in the core yarns manufacture

A new mechanism for the regulation of feeding tension of elastic filaments has been developed, in cooperation with a reputable manufacturer of textile machinery, to obtain “core spun” yarns. This device reduces, of a very significant form, the coefficient of variation of the elongation of the yarn and, consequently, the fabrics obtained with this yarns are more regular appearance. This mechanism is fundamental when the new spools of T-400, with diameter and weight superiors to the standard size, are processed.Postprint (published version

Insights of microorganisms role in rice and rapeseed wastes as potential sorbents for metal removal

Altres ajuts: acord transformatiu CRUE-CSICRice and rapeseed agricultural wastes, as nonliving biomass, are proposed for heavy metal remediation in polluted effluents (chromium, cadmium, copper and lead). The physicochemical characterization of these biomasses shows that the surface of both sorbents is negatively charged (zeta potential), the surface area of sorbents is 4.39 and 40.7 (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller), and the main functional groups are carboxylic and hydroxyl (attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy). The main purpose of this work is to evaluate the insights of microorganisms associated with these nonliving biomasses in the removal of heavy metals from synthetic aqueous solutions, adjusted at pH 4.0 (as the best acidic condition for the sorption process). The isolates (Bacillus genus in rice and Escherichia, Micrococcus and Staphylococcus genus in rapeseed) remove heavy metals from mentioned solutions, mainly in consortia, with contribution percentage over than 80% of total metals. In addition, when they are present in biomass, they provide an additional metal removal effect, especially in rapeseed biomass system and with multiple heavy metals aqueous solutions: i.e. Cr(III) removal, at 4 mmol/L, increases from 70 to 100%. This knowledge makes possible the use of the nonliving biomasses with no need for any special pretreatment against the microorganisms, prior to their use as metal sorbents that implies their good feasibility for application from an economical point of view

Occupation et anthropisation des espaces de haute montagne dans les vallées de Nuria et de Coma de Vaca (Gerona, Espagne) : résultats des recherches archéologiques et patrimoniales

Depuis 2010, un programme intégrant des recherches archéologiques et paléo-environnementales a été développé dans les Pyrénées orientales (Catalogne). Le but était d’étudier la formation et l’origine des paysages de haute montagne méditerranéens. Ce programme comprenait des travaux de prospection, des systèmes d’information géographique, des fouilles archéologiques ainsi que l’intégration de données paléo-environnementales. Les résultats soulignent l’importance des activités d’élevage au cours des derniers millénaires dans les zones étudiées, depuis la première occupation humaine de ces espaces de haute montagne, attestée depuis le Néolithique moyen, jusqu’aux périodes modernes et contemporaines. Cette activité a conduit à la formation de paysages culturels complexes. L’archéologie du paysage fournit de nouvelles données pour l’élaboration des outils de gestion nécessaires au développement durable des espaces de haute montagne.Since 2010, an integrated archaeological and paleoenvironmental research program has been developed in the Eastern Pyrenees (Catalonia), with the aim of studying the long-term landscape shaping of Mediterranean high-mountain environments. This program involved extensive surveying, geographical information systems, archaeological excavation and the integration of multi-proxy paleoenvironmental data. The results underline the incidence in these areas of grazing activities during the past millennia, from the first human occupation of the highlands, recorded in the Middle Neolithic, to the modern and contemporary periods. This activity has led to complex cultural landscapes in the high Pyrenean areas. Landscape history provides new data for the development of management tools for the sustainability of Mediterranean highlands

Els espais altimontans pirenaics orientals a l'Antiguitat : 10 anys d'estudis en arqueologia del paisatge del GIAP-ICAC

En aquest treball s'ofereix una panoràmica dels estudis realitzats pel Grup d'Investigació en Arqueologia del Paisatge (GIAP) als espais altimontans pirenaics orientals en els darrers 10 anys. Des d'un enfocament multidisciplinari en el marc de l'arqueologia del paisatge, els resultats obtinguts permeten trencar amb la visió tradicional d'aquestes àrees muntanyenques a l'Antiguitat, mostrant la seva intensa explotació i una forta antropització que ja comença en el període Neolític.This work offers an overview about the studies conducted by the Grup d'Investigació en Arqueologia del Paisatge (GIAP) in the Eastern Pyrenees high mountain areas during the last ten years. From a multidisciplinary approach within the framework of landscape archaeology, the results obtained make it possible to break with the traditional vision of these mountainous areas in antiquity, showing their intense exploitation and strong anthropization, already beginning in the Neolithic period

The seeds of commerce: a network analysis-based approach to the Romano-British transport system

Communication routes are an important subject in the study of the human past. They allowed interactions between communities and the dispersal of goods and ideas. Their study, therefore, can shed light on the way in which communities inhabited the landscape, related to each other and were affected by macro-regional trends. Many methods, such as archaeomorphological analysis and Least Cost Route modelling (LCR), have been devised and are routinely employed for the reconstruction of ancient routes. Their analysis in terms of communication, trade or historical significance, however, has usually been left unexplored. This is probably due to the connected nature of routes, which form communication networks: these are shaped by interconnected nodes and extend over territories surpassing the regional scale in such a way that even a change in a single node or link can affect the whole network. Consequently, the partial reconstruction of communication networks provided by the aforementioned methods does not usually allow a holistic analysis. In this paper the relatively well understood British Roman road network is employed to explore the analytical possibilities offered by a combination of Social Network Analysis, Spatial Network Analysis and spatial interpolation-based distribution analysis. The British road network has been reconstructed using published data but also a variation of LCR in which cost surfaces are derived from cultural data obtained from large-scale cultural inventories. The distribution of introduced food plants during the Roman period serve as an excellent proxy for the study of trade along the network and its historical consequences. This multi-period archaeobotanical dataset has some evident advantages to other types of material remains: archaeobotanical remains are not reused as, for example, amphorae and, accordingly, they reflect a distribution pattern based on consumption or commerce. Some of them are imported (as they cannot be produced locally) and, consequently, their distribution would be applied through usage of the main routes. The results suggest a continuous inflow of exotics but highlight their changing transport routes, their differential access and the particular weight of certain nodal sites in the development of this commerce with direct impact on urbanisation and the overall economy of Britannia. The Roman road network acted as a major factor in the distribution of sites, their political and economic importance and their permanence or disappearance as global economic trends changed over time

Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level

Importance: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale. Objectives: To report the retinoblastoma stage at diagnosis in patients across the world during a single year, to investigate associations between clinical variables and national income level, and to investigate risk factors for advanced disease at diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 278 retinoblastoma treatment centers were recruited from June 2017 through December 2018 to participate in a cross-sectional analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed in 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: Age at presentation, proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, and tumor stage and metastasis. Results: The cohort included 4351 new patients from 153 countries; the median age at diagnosis was 30.5 (interquartile range, 18.3-45.9) months, and 1976 patients (45.4%) were female. Most patients (n = 3685 [84.7%]) were from low- A nd middle-income countries (LMICs). Globally, the most common indication for referral was leukocoria (n = 2638 [62.8%]), followed by strabismus (n = 429 [10.2%]) and proptosis (n = 309 [7.4%]). Patients from high-income countries (HICs) were diagnosed at a median age of 14.1 months, with 656 of 666 (98.5%) patients having intraocular retinoblastoma and 2 (0.3%) having metastasis. Patients from low-income countries were diagnosed at a median age of 30.5 months, with 256 of 521 (49.1%) having extraocular retinoblastoma and 94 of 498 (18.9%) having metastasis. Lower national income level was associated with older presentation age, higher proportion of locally advanced disease and distant metastasis, and smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma. Advanced disease at diagnosis was more common in LMICs even after adjusting for age (odds ratio for low-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 17.92 [95% CI, 12.94-24.80], and for lower-middle-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 5.74 [95% CI, 4.30-7.68]). Conclusions and Relevance: This study is estimated to have included more than half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017. Children from LMICs, where the main global retinoblastoma burden lies, presented at an older age with more advanced disease and demonstrated a smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, likely because many do not reach a childbearing age. Given that retinoblastoma is curable, these data are concerning and mandate intervention at national and international levels. Further studies are needed to investigate factors, other than age at presentation, that may be associated with advanced disease in LMICs