Figurines in Pietrele: Copper Age ideology

Major trends in figurine production of the copper age settlement of Pietrele (Romania) are discussed. The bone figurines are seen as an ideological innovation of the Early Copper Age system in the Eastern Balkans.Predstavljamo glavne trende v produkciji figurin na bakrenodobnem naselju Pietrele v Romuniji. V koščenih figurinah vidim ideološko inovacijo zgodnjebakrenodobnega sistema na vzhodnem Balkanu

Parallele Raumkonzepte

A workshop devoted to parallel spatial concepts and organized by Svend Hansen and Michael Meyer was held for Research Group A-I of the Excellence Cluster TOPOI on 15–17 March 2010 at the Topoi-Haus of the Freie Universität Berlin. The 23 contributions shared a common theme: potential insights into archeology in light of parallel forms of spatial perception and usage in societies. Analysis can be conducted of such parallelisms existing between diverse identity groups as well as between the traditional and newly emerging spatial usage of a collective entity

Contextualising Ancient Technology

The diffusion of innovations from the Near East into the ‘static’ surrounding peripheries has become a well-known archaeological paradigm, often summed up as Ex Oriente Lux. While this conflicts with modern, scientifically controlled chronologies, it is difficult to explain as mere local developments and pure chance the appearance of large-scale communication networks, the transformation of power concentrations in the first states, or the diffusion of the wheel, alloyed metals, and writing. The papers in this volume follow two approaches to convene on new insights into the prehistoric and ancient innovation process. Theoretical perspectives attempt to challenge and modify traditional models of innovation diffusion that lack the chronological depth of archaeological sources, while case studies from the Copper, Bronze and Iron Ages of Europe, southwest Asia, and North Africa analyze the specific archaeological and sociopolitical contexts, the technological traditions of innovations, and the specifications of their emergence, spread, and improvements

Acts

Forscher aus den Disziplinen Prähistorische Archäologie, Vorderasiatische Archäologie, Alte Geschichte, Klassische Archäologie, Ägyptologie, Musikarchäologie und Ethnologie untersuchen im Rahmen der Research Area C-III die Konstruktion sakraler Landschaften und komplexer Handlungsräume durch rituelle Handlungen, die insbesondere durch Prozessionen gekennzeichnet sind. Eine besondere Bedeutung kommt in diesem Zusammenhang der Verschränkung von physischem Raum, Bildern, Handlungen und Klang zu. Das Spektrum der Forschungsprojekte ist groß: Es umfasst die Untersuchung bronzezeitlicher Hortfunde in Mitteleuropa und die Strukturierung ritueller Räume im Rahmen von Mahlzeiten im Kontext früher Staaten und Städte in Südmesopotamien und im Südwest-Iran ebenso wie die Untersuchung von Prozessionen und Pilgerreisen im antiken Griechenland und der Gegenwart (am Beispiel von Prozessionen und Pilgerreisen im Himalayagebirge und den Anden). Hinzu kommt die Frage nach der Entstehung und Generierung von Klangräumen. Fruchtbar als theoretische Grundlage sind dabei Begriffe von Raum und Ritual, die die Konstruktion von Räumen durch das Zusammenspiel von physischem Raum und dessen Rezeption durch den Betrachter im Verlaufe von Handlungen betonen. Weiterführend als Grundlage aller Projekte ist die Diskussion gemeinsamer Parameter (u. a. Aussagewert der Quellen, Akteure der Rituale, longue durée von Ritualen, parallele Räume) und theoretischer Ansätze, wie z. B. performance-Theorien

A Research Program on Innovations in Prehistory and Antiquity

The authors discuss the simultaneous appearance of technological innovations in three key technologies (metallurgy, wheeled vehicles, weighing systems) in the second half of the 4th millennium. This is done from a source-critical perspective because the innova- tions are discussed with the help of dynamic maps from the Topoi project Digital Atlas of Innovations. Besides indications of diffusion gradients influenced by special research conditions, exceptional waves of innovation can be detected for all three technologies in the discussed period. These waves of innovation cannot, however, be generalized but have to be understood on the basis of the respective technology traditions and lines of devel- opment specific to local areas. Monocentric diffusion theories can be clearly disproven, local technology developments and their converging in certain centrally situated regions have to be assumed instead. Similarly, the transfer of objects and their châine opératoire can only be detected rather infrequently, while the adaptation to local socio-economic and environmental factors can be demonstrated

A role for taurine in mitochondrial function

The mitochondrial pH gradient across the inner-membrane is stabilised by buffering of the matrix. A low-molecular mass buffer compound has to be localised in the matrix to maintain its alkaline pH value. Taurine is found ubiquitously in animal cells with concentrations in the millimolar range and its pKa value is determined to 9.0 (25°C) and 8.6 (37°C), respectively. Localisation of such a low-molecular buffer in the mitochondrial matrix, transforms the matrix into a biochemical reaction chamber for the important matrix-localised enzyme systems. Three acyl-CoA dehydrogenase enzymes, which are pivotal for beta-oxidation of fatty acids, are demonstrated to have optimal activity in a taurine buffer. By application of the model presented, taurine depletion caused by hyperglycemia could provide a link between mitochondrial dysfunction and diabetes

Pietrele in the Lower Danube region: integrating archaeological, faunal and environmental investigations

The c. 9m high tell-settlement of Pietrele-Magura Gorgana, situated close to the Danube river, is one of the westernmost sites of the Kod∫adermen-Gumelnita-Karanovo VI cultural complex that spread over the whole Westpontic region during the 5th millennium BC. Until recently tells were equated with the site when, in fact, they represent only the outstanding part of a far more complex settlement system as we now know from Pietrele thanks to geomagnetic prospections and subsequent excavations. People living on the tell, together with the inhabitants from the flat area around it, formed a vast community that must have had a strong impact on its habitat and, vice-versa, was strongly affected by the immediate surroundings. During the settlement period a lake covered huge parts of the floodplain. It provided not only a considerable part of the diet, but ensured, through the direct access to the main river, continuous and extensive over-regional exchange.Okoli 9 metrov visoka naselbina tipa tell Pietrele-Magura Gorgana se nahaja blizu reke Donave in je ena najbolj zahodnih naselbin kulturnega kompleksa Kodžadermen-Gumelnita-Karanovo VI, ki se je širil čez celotno zahodno pontsko regijo v času 5. tisočletja BC. V preteklosti so tell enačili z naseljem, danes pa zahvaljujoč geomagnetskim preiskavam in kasnejšim izkopavanjem na najdišču Pietrele vemo, da sama naselbina tell predstavlja le najbolj izjemen del veliko bolj kompleksnega naselja. Tisti ljudje, ki so živeli na tellu, in tisti, ki so živeli v ravnici okrog tella, so bili skupaj del velike skupnosti, ki je morala imeti močan vpliv na okolje, in na katero je tudi neposredna okolica morala imeti pomemben učinek. V času obstoja te naselbine se je v tej ravnici nahajalo veliko jezero. Le-to je predstavljajo pomemben vir za prehrano takratnih ljudi, prek neposrednega dostopa do glavne reke pa je omogočalo tudi stalno in obsežno menjavo na nadregionalni ravni