Two Clocks: A Comparison of Ceramic and Radiocarbon Dates at Macapainara, East Timor

Radiocarbon analysis and ceramic typology assessment are commonly used to date late Holocene archaeological sites in Island Southeast Asia. We apply both methods to date the site of Macapainara in East Timor, and they produce substantially different age ranges for this site. The radiocarbon dates are consistently later in time than ceramic typology dates from the same or adjacent stratigraphic levels. We assess the various sources of error for the two dating techniques that could produce this discrepancy, and conclude that the ceramic typology age ranges are misleadingly old due to concerted curation of fine ceramics by the site occupants. We discuss the implications of this for dating sites in East Timor and elsewhere within Island Southeast Asia

Mortuary Caves and the Dammar Trade in the Towuti–Routa Region, Sulawesi, in an Island Southeast Asian Context

Archaeological evidence from survey and cave excavation in the Towuti–Routa region of Sulawesi suggests the following sequence of late Holocene cultural change. Settled communities whose subsistence included an agricultural component had established themselves by the early centuries a.d. and began the use of caves for mortuary purposes. Extended inhumations are the oldest attested mortuary practice, overlapping in time with secondary burials in large earthenware jars dated to around a.d. 1000. The third, ethnohistorically described practice involved the surface disposal of the deceased, including the use of imported martavans for the elite, between approximately a.d. 1500 and 1900. This sequence of mortuary practices has not been documented elsewhere in Island Southeast Asia, although each practice has multiple parallels. The Towuti–Routa dammar trade, which was at its peak at the time of European contact, can perhaps account for the quantity of exotic items imported to the region but not the specifics of the mortuary practices

Excavations at the site of Vasino, Lautem District, Timor-Leste

This chapter explores the archaeology and ethnohistory of one of the distinctive fortified settlements in the eastern part of Timor-Leste. In 2009, a team from The Australian National University (ANU), together with local people, partially excavated the site of Vasino, located close to the north coast of Timor-Leste, above the modern village of Moro-Parlamento (Figure 4.1). The site had been fortified with large stone walls and the aim was to provide more data on when, how and why these fortifications were used in the region. Two related questions guided the research. First, when was the main period of fort construction initiated? Secondly, what were the prevailing environmental and social conditions of those times

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Examining the origin of fortifications in East Timor : social and environmental factors

The remains of fortified archaeological sites abound in hilltop locations on the island of East Timor (Timor-Leste). Archaeologists have linked the emergence of these fortified settlements with environmental change. Some point to a period of reduced rainfall and increased environmental fluctuations beginning about AD 1000, while others cite relatively large-scale climate change during the post-AD 1300 transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age. Both groups link environmental change to resource unpredictability which in turn leads to inter-group conflict. Of course environmental change is not the only possible trigger for conflict; a variety of social or economic factors could also be responsible. Here we present data on three fortified sites in East Timor, two of which have been dated, and combine these new data with previous work to develop a new chronology for fortifications in eastern East Timor. We then evaluate potential environmental and social factors against this chronology and other archaeological, historical, and ethnohistoric evidence. This assessment indicates that social factors, particularly the impact of increased sandalwood trade, were likely more important drivers of fortification and conflict in East Timor than environmental change

Investigating the presence of foreigners and pig husbandry in ancient Bali: stable isotopes in human and domestic animal tooth enamel

Archaeological excavations at the Sembiran and Pacung archaeological sites in coastal Bali, Indonesia, have yielded pottery sherds and other material culture that derives from India and other locations on the Asian mainland, demonstrating that about 2000\ua0years ago the north coast of Bali was in contact with cultures from mainland Asia. The area may in fact have hosted a harbour and perhaps even a community of foreign traders or immigrants. The Sembiran and Pacung excavations also yielded human remains from the same time period. We performed strontium, oxygen and carbon stable isotope analyses of tooth enamel from nine human skeletons to investigate whether the people interred at Sembiran and Pacung were from the local area or had travelled there from a distant home. Strontium isotope ratios were also measured in seven archaeological pig (Sus cf. scrofa) teeth, one archaeological canid tooth, and five modern snail (Achatina fulica) shells to help identify the local strontium isotope signature. The people interred at Pacung and Sembiran had similar oxygen and carbon isotope ratios but varying strontium isotope ratios which were higher than expected based on geology. Despite the abundance of foreign materials recovered, our isotope data can be most parsimoniously explained as deriving from a group of locally raised individuals who had a varying mix of coastal and inland plant resources in their diets. In addition, strontium isotope ratios from the pig teeth show interesting clustering, suggesting that two or three different husbandry practices may have been employed

Multi-isotopic analysis of first Polynesian diet (Talasiu, Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga)

Both archaeological and isotopic data document dietary changes over the first five centuries of Western Pacific island settlement, a time period beginning with the Lapita expansion about 3000 years ago. This change is marked by a decrease in marine food intake and an increase in vegetal food intake occurring in the Late Lapita/immediately post-Lapita populations. The recent discovery of human burials at Talasiu (~2700–2600 cal. BP) in the Kingdom of Tonga opens new opportunities to assess this matter. We characterize the nature of the food items consumed by the Talasiu humans (n=21) using collagen and apatite carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios. We conducted an intra-Pacific comparison to examine the use of marine resources and the contribution of horticultural products and to look at the homogeneity of dietary practices within the Tongan group. Isotope results indicate a mixed diet of terrestrial and marine resources including a differential contribution of more specific marine foods (e.g., non-reef fish/inshore fish and shellfish). The Talasiu dietary pattern appears closer to that of the early Lapita population of Teouma than to other Late Lapita populations suggesting a different pattern of dietary change at the eastern end of the Lapita distribution. The slower rate of change may be due to the small size of both the island and the population, and also the additional potential role of social or cultural factors