Unique chemical parameters and microbial activity lead to increased archaeological preservation at the Roman frontier site of Vindolanda, UK

Waterlogged burial conditions impact upon artefact preservation. One major determinant of preservation is presence and behaviour of microorganisms, however, unravelling the mechanisms, especially in waterlogged conditions is challenging. In this study, we analysed elemental composition, bacterial diversity and community structure from excavation trenches at the Roman Site of Vindolanda, Northumberland, UK, using pXRF and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Excavation trenches provide information of different occupation periods. The results indicated that microbial communities were dominated by Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria at a phylum level. Samples which also had visible vivianite presence showed that there were marked increases in Methylophilus. Methylophilus might be associated with favourable preservation in these anaerobic conditions. More research is needed to clearly link the presence of Methylophilus with vivianite production. The study emphasises the need for further integration of chemical and microbiome approaches, especially in good preservation areas, to explore microbial and chemical degradation mechanisms

Genetic and Phenotypic Stability of Measures of Neuroticism Over 22 Years

Abstract People meeting diagnostic criteria for anxiety or depressive disorders tend to score high on the personality scale of neuroticism. Studying this dimension of personality can therefore give insights into the etiology of important psychiatric disorders. Neuroticism can be assessed easily via self-report questionnaires in large population samples. We have examined the genetic and phenotypic stability of neuroticism, measured up to 4 times over 22 years, on different scales, on a data set of 4999 families with over 20,000 individuals completing at least 1 neuroticism questionnaire. The neuroticism scales used were the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire revised (EPQ-R), the EPQ-R shortened form, and the NEO 5 factor inventory personality questionnaire. The estimates of heritability of the individual measures ranged from .26 ± .04 to .36 ± .03. Genetic, environmental, and phenotypic correlations averaged .91, .42, and .57 respectively. Despite the range in heritabilities, a more parsimonious ‘repeatability model’ of equal additive genetic variances and genetic correlations of unity could not be rejected. Use of multiple measures increases the effective heritability from .33 for a single measure to .43 for mean score because of the reduction in the estimate of the environmental variance, and this will increase power in genetic linkage or association studies of neuroticism

Genome-Wide Linkage Analysis of Multiple Measures of Neuroticism of 2 Large Cohorts From Australia and the Netherlands

People meeting diagnostic criteria for anxiety or depressive disorders tend to score high on the personality scale of neuroticism. Studying this personality dimension can give insights into the aetiology of these important psychiatric disorders

The Emergence and Development of Association Football: Influential Sociocultural Factors in Victorian Birmingham

This article explores the interdependent, complex sociocultural factors that facilitated the emergence and diffusion of football in Birmingham. The focus is the development of football in the city, against the backdrop of the numerous social changes in Victorian Birmingham. The aim is to fill a gap in the existing literature which seemingly overlooked Birmingham as a significant footballing centre, and the ‘ordinary and everyday’ aspects of the game’s early progression. Among other aspects, particular heed is paid to the working classes’ involvement in football, as previous literature has often focused on the middle classes and their influence on and participation in organized sport. As the agency of the working classes along with their mass participation and central role in the game’s development is unfolded, it is argued that far from being passive cultural beings, the working classes, from the beginnings, actively negotiated the development of their own emergent football culture

The nature and significance of extramural settlement at Vindolanda and other selected sites on the Northern Frontier of Roman Britain

The study of the nature and function of extramural settlement on the northern frontier of Roman Britain is often regarded as being binary; soldiers inside their forts and civilians confined to the adjacent “vicus” (Birley, Salway and Sommer), which is conceptualised here through the broader term ‘extramural settlement’. The research of Driel-Murray, Allason-Jones and Allison provided evidence for women inside Roman forts, making this interpretation of frontier occupation no longer tenable. The aim of this thesis is to examine and challenge the view that extramural settlements were largely ‘civil’ and to place the work of Driel-Murray et al. into context. The thesis studies the nature and significance of the extramural settlement at Vindolanda and selected sites through the deposition of three domains of material culture selected to indicate the presence, location and activities of soldiers (combatants), non-combatants as exemplified by adult women, and shared activities that were common bonds across the whole community. According to Cool and Baxter ‘finds have the greatest ability to illuminate the past when they are regarded as an integral part of the archaeological record’, an idea which underpins this thesis (Cool & Baxter 2002:365). This approach differs from previous investigations of extramural settlements. Scholars such as Eric Birley, Peter Salway and Sebastian Sommer have studied the role of extramural occupation through site morphology and the very fragmentary epigraphic record without close scrutiny of the associated material culture. Spatial analysis of artefacts in this thesis will be used to show that the walls of a fort were no ‘great divide’ and were no absolute demarcation line between combatants and non-combatants. The thesis demonstrates that the nature and significance of extramural occupation is that the overall dynamics of military sites like Vindolanda were more complex, integrated and subtle than is commonly thought

The nature and significance of extramural settlement at Vindolanda and other selected sites on the Northern Frontier of Roman Britain

The study of the nature and function of extramural settlement on the northern frontier of Roman Britain is often regarded as being binary; soldiers inside their forts and civilians confined to the adjacent “vicus” (Birley, Salway and Sommer), which is conceptualised here through the broader term ‘extramural settlement’. The research of Driel-Murray, Allason-Jones and Allison provided evidence for women inside Roman forts, making this interpretation of frontier occupation no longer tenable. The aim of this thesis is to examine and challenge the view that extramural settlements were largely ‘civil’ and to place the work of Driel-Murray et al. into context. The thesis studies the nature and significance of the extramural settlement at Vindolanda and selected sites through the deposition of three domains of material culture selected to indicate the presence, location and activities of soldiers (combatants), non-combatants as exemplified by adult women, and shared activities that were common bonds across the whole community. According to Cool and Baxter ‘finds have the greatest ability to illuminate the past when they are regarded as an integral part of the archaeological record’, an idea which underpins this thesis (Cool ;Baxter 2002:365). This approach differs from previous investigations of extramural settlements. Scholars such as Eric Birley, Peter Salway and Sebastian Sommer have studied the role of extramural occupation through site morphology and the very fragmentary epigraphic record without close scrutiny of the associated material culture. Spatial analysis of artefacts in this thesis will be used to show that the walls of a fort were no ‘great divide’ and were no absolute demarcation line between combatants and non-combatants. The thesis demonstrates that the nature and significance of extramural occupation is that the overall dynamics of military sites like Vindolanda were more complex, integrated and subtle than is commonly thought.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo