Bronze Age moss fibre garments from Scotland – the jury’s out

In the light of recent discoveries of early to middle Bronze Age burials with mats and fibrous material in Scotland, for example at Langwell farm and Forteviot, it was deemed timely to re-evaluate earlier finds of this period, several of which were discovered and initially reported on nearly a century ago. As part of this research it was noted that three Bronze Age finds from the old literature were reported as clothing or shrouds made of hair moss (Polytrichum commune). Three of these are reassessed here, with a detailed re-examination of the “hair moss apron” from North Cairn Farm. Technological analysis of this find showed no evidence for the twining previously reported and SEM fibre analysis shows that it is unlikely to be hair moss or indeed Bronze Age. However, there is other evidence for hair moss artefacts from other British Bronze Age and Roman contexts. These suggest it is possible that hair moss fibre was used in Scotland in the Bronze Age, but that the North Cairn Farm fibrous object should no longer be considered among this evidence

Sheep to Textiles: Approaches to Investigating Ancient Wool Trade

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Harrassowitz via http://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/title_88.ahtm

Wrapped up for safe keeping: 'wrapping' customs in Early Iron Age Europe

During the Early Iron Age (first half of the first millennium BC) central and southern Europe sees the development of stratified societies, manifested among other things in sumptuous burials of the elite members of society. These so-called princely burials provide important information regarding ancient funerary rituals and beliefs in afterlife. One of the curious phenomena documented in these assemblages is the practice of wrapping in textiles and skins not only the body of the deceased, whether inhumed or cremated, but also various burial goods. The practice is well exemplified by the evidence from the princely burial at Hochdorf, in Germany, where all objects were carefully wrapped in cloth. It is unclear whether this phenomenon had a ritual significance in funerary context or represents a regular practice of safekeeping of precious, particularly metal objects. The finds indicate that such wrapping was common throughout Italy, Greece and the Alpine area, suggesting that the practice had a wide, pan-European significance. The paper examines the different ways of wrapping and their possible meaning

Dividends - Foreign Commerce Clause - Parent and Subsidiary Corporations - State Taxes

The United States Supreme Court has held that a state taxing scheme, which treated corporate dividends received from foreign subsidiaries less favorably than those. received from domestic subsidiaries, facially discriminated against foreign commerce in violation of the Foreign Commerce Clause. Kraft General Foods, Inc. v Iowa Department of Revenue and Finance, ___ US ___ , 112 S Ct 2365 (1992)

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationClinical practice guidelines and accrediting agencies emphasize the need for palliative care in nursing homes and care coordination between the hospital and nursing home. However, it is unclear how care is managed for patients discharged to nursing homes after a hospital-based palliative care consult. The purpose of this study was to describe the continuity of care, experiences, and outcomes of residents in a nursing home after palliative care consult during hospitalization. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to enroll a sample of 12 adults, 60 years or older, with a life expectancy of at least 7 days, who received a palliative care consult during hospitalization, and who were discharged to a nursing home without hospice support. Participants' charts were reviewed for clinical information at five time points from hospital discharge to 100 days after nursing home admission. Face-to-face semistructured interviews were conducted, individual chart data were extracted, and care trajectories were mapped. Audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed, and transcripts were imported into a qualitative data analysis software program that was used to organize and manage all data. Content analysis was employed to identify codes, categories, and themes. The mean age of this sample was 80 years (range 62-95). All participants were seriously ill and received goals-of-care conversations facilitated by a palliative care team in the hospital; care preferences ranged from comfort care only to aggressive life-prolonging treatments. However, all participants accessed the Medicare skilled nursing facility benefit upon nursing home iv admission, which indicated a need for rehabilitative or restorative care. None of the participants accessed hospice services in the nursing home. Study findings indicate that despite receiving a palliative care consultation, continuity in care was largely insufficient, and palliative care follow-up was episodic. Three influences on care discontinuity for this complex group of patients are care-setting transitions, individual patient- and family-level factors, and system-level interference. To improve palliative care throughout illness trajectory, older adults need better access to ongoing community and primary palliative care

The first plant bast fibre technology: a new method for identifying splicing in archaeological textiles

Recent research into plant bast fibre technology points to a Neolithic European tradition of working fibres into threads by splicing, rather than draft spinning. The major issue now is the ability of textile specialists and archaeobotanists to distinguish the technology of splicing from draft spun fibres. This paper defines the major types of splicing and proposes a method to observe, identify and interpret spliced thread technology. The identification of spliced yarns is evaluated through the examination of textiles from Europe, Egypt and the Near East. Through the application of this method we propose that the switch from splicing to draft spinning plant fibres occurred much later than previously thought. The ramifications of this shift in plant processing have profound implications for understanding the chaîne opératoire of this ubiquitous and time-consuming technology, which have to be factored into social and economic reconstructions of the past.ER

The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2013: What Follows The Housing Recovery?

This report is the 11th in the series of annual "Greater Boston Housing Report Cards," the first of which appeared in 2002 at a time when housing prices in the region were skyrocketing. In the course of this series, we have reported on the local housing bubble from 2000 through 2005, during which time home prices appreciated at annual double-digit rates; the retreat in home prices that begain in 2006; and then the beginning of a housing recovery in 2010. Like past report cards, this 2013 report probes Greater Boston's housing landscape, keeping tabs on housing construction, home prices, and rents. We have analyzed the relationship between the region's economy, demography, and housing, and we have kept track of federal, state and local government policies that affect the region's housing market. This report also includes a new analysis of local zoning regulations in Greater Boston communities because of the critical role zoning can play, particularly in the development - or lack of developmeent - of multifamily housing. The 2013 Report Card attempts to answer six questions about Greater Boston's housing market and its effect on the region's well-being: 1. What are the most recent trends in home sales, housing production, and foreclosures? 2. What does the future trajectory of home prices and rents look like? 3. Given current economic conditions, is another housing bubble on the horizon? 4. Given the changing demographics and economic health of Greater Boston, have we begun to build appropriate new housing stock to meet expected demand and to help moderate furure price and rent hikes? 5. Do we still face zoning constraints at the local level that hinder the production of an appropriate housing stock for the region? 6. What roles are the federal government and the Commonwealth playing in the housing market today

Making cities: Economies of production and urbanization in Mediterranean Europe, 1000–500 BC

Large and complex settlements appeared across the north Mediterranean during the period 1000–500 bc, from the Aegean basin to Iberia, as well as north of the Alps. The region also became considerably more interconnected. Urban life and networks fostered new consumption practices, requiring different economic and social structures to sustain them. This book considers the emergence of cities in Mediterranean Europe, with a focus on the economy. What was distinctive about urban lifeways across the Mediterranean? How did different economic activities interact, and how did they transform power hierarchies? How was urbanism sustained by economic structures, social relations and mobility? The authors bring to the debate recently excavated sites and regions that may be unfamiliar to wider (especially Anglophone) scholarship, alongside fresh reappraisals of well-known cities. The variety of urban life, economy and local dynamics prompts us to reconsider ancient urbanism through a comparative perspective

Textile technology in Nepal in the 5th-7th centuries CE: the case of Samdzong

The first results of textile and dye analyses of cloth remains recovered in Samdzong, Upper Mustang, Nepal, are presented. The site consists of ten shaft tombs, dated between the 400-650 CE, cut into a high cliff face at an elevation of 4000 m asl. The dry climate and high altitude favoured the exceptional preservation of organic materials. One of the objects recovered from the elite Samdzong 5 tomb complex is composed of wool fabrics to which copper, glass and cloth beads are attached and probably constitutes the remains of a complex decorative headwear, which may have been attached to a gold/silver mask. SEM was used to identify the fibre sources of the textiles, which are all of animal nature. Two of the textiles are made of degummed silk. There is no evidence for local silk production suggesting that Samdzong was inserted into the long-distance trade network of the Silk Road. HPLC-DAD analysis permitted identification of a variety of organic dyes, including Indian lac, munjeet, turmeric and knotweed/indigo, while cinnabar was identified through micro Raman spectrometry. The results indicate that locally produced materials were used in combination with those likely imported from afar, including China and India.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013-312603). Excavations at Samdzong have been supported by grants to Aldenderfer from the National Geographic Society and the Henry Luce Foundation. Many thanks to Alexia Coudray and Marie-Christine Maquoi for their dedicated work in the KIK/IRPA laboratory.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Taylor & Francis via http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20548923.2015.111042