Zusammenfassung: Die Toten vereinen: Temporalität und Organisation des neolithi-schen Hypogäums von Les Mournouards II (Marne, France)

Why were large collectivities of the dead a widespread feature of the later fourth millennium cal BC in western Europe? The hypogée or artificial cave of Les Mournouards II in the Marne region, northern France, where remains of 79 people were deposited in two chambers, is used to address this and related questions. Bayesian modelling of 29 newly obtained radiocarbon dates places the construction of the tomb in the 34th or 33rd centuries cal BC, with a use-life which could be as little as 100 years. The results indicate that the two chambers were used concurrently, distinctions between them being attributable to their use by different social groupings, as hypothesised by the excavator, André Leroi-Gourhan. The probably short life of this tomb suggests that clusters of hypogées in general could reflect the use of successive tombs by the same groups. The character of the tomb is discussed in general terms of anxieties about territory and numbers of people, threats of dispersal and the maintenance of community. Diversity within collective burial practices in the Paris basin is examined, and a series of specific differences between hypogées and allées sépulcrales are explored

In-Depth Interviews With State Public Health Practitioners On The United States National Physical Activity Plan

Abstract Background The United States National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP; 2010), the country’s first national plan for physical activity, provides strategies to increase population-level physical activity to complement the 2008 physical activity guidelines. This study examined state public health practitioner awareness, dissemination, use, challenges, and recommendations for the NPAP. Methods In 2011–2012, we interviewed 27 state practitioners from 25 states. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were coded using a standard protocol, verified and reconciled by an independent coder, and input into qualitative software to facilitate development of common themes. Results NPAP awareness was high among state practitioners; dissemination to local constituents varied. Development of state-level strategies and goals was the most frequently reported use of the NPAP. Some respondents noted the usefulness of the NPAP for coalitions and local practitioners. Challenges to the plan included implementation cost, complexity, and consistency with other policies. The most frequent recommendation made was to directly link examples of implementation activities to the plan. Conclusions These results provide early evidence of NPAP dissemination and use, along with challenges encountered and suggestions for future iterations. Public health is one of eight sectors in the NPAP. Further efforts are needed to understand uptake and use by other sectors, as well as to monitor long-term relevance, progress, and collaboration across sectors

Methodologies for Housing Justice Resource Guide

This Resource Guide is the outcome of a Summer Institute on Methodologies for Housing Justice convened by the Institute on Inequality and Democracy at UCLA Luskin as part of the Housing Justice in Unequal Cities Network, which is supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS 1758774). Held in Los Angeles in August 2019, the Summer Institute brought together participants from cities around the world. As is the case with the overall scope and purpose of the Housing Justice in Unequal Cities Network, it created a shared terrain of scholarship for movement-based and university-based scholars. Dissatisfied with the canonical methods that are in use in housing studies and guided by housing justice movements that are active research communities, the Summer Institute was premised on the assertion that methodology is political. Methodology is rooted in arguments about the world and involves relations of power and knowledge. The method itself – be it countermapping or people’s diaries – does not ensure an ethics of solidarity and a purpose of justice. Such goals require methodologies for liberation. Thus, as is evident in this Resource Guide, our endeavor foregrounds innovative methods that are being used by researchers across academia and activism and explicitly situates such methods in an orientation towards housing justice

Die Zeit der großen Gräben: Modelle zur Chronologie des Michelsberger Fundplatzes von Heilbronn-Klingenberg „Schlossberg“, Stadtkreis Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg

This paper presents an attempt to establish more precise dating of the Michelsberg enclosure of Klingenberg-Schlossberg in the Neckar valley. The approach used is advocated as the basis on which to explore the timing and duration of other Michelsberg enclosures of the later fifth–earlier fourth millennium cal BC. Excavated extensively in 1986–1987, the Klingenberg enclosure has two ditches across a loess promontory, traces of a palisade inside the inner ditch, remains of burnt superstructure in both ditches, numerous pits both inside and outside, and numerous dog remains. There are some signs of pre-enclosure occupation in the MK II and III/IV phases, but the bulk of activity belongs to the MK V/Munzingen phase. A formal chronological approach combines the detailed archaeological information from the excavation with radiocarbon dates on carefully selected samples, here mainly charred cereals or articulated or articulating animal bones, in a Bayesian statistical framework.  No samples were found to date MK II activity. Samples for two MK III/IV pits suggest a date in the 40th–39thcenturies cal BC. MK V/Mz activity began at the very end of the 39thand the start of the 38thcentury cal BC. Unlike in the previously published interpretation of the sequence, this activity probably began with the construction of the enclosure, both ditches being dug either together or in very quick succession. This was followed by pits inside the enclosure, from the earlier 38thcentury cal BC. Probably after a few decades, pits began to be dug outside the enclosure, in the middle part of the 38thcentury cal BC. Both ditches probably went out of use in the mid-37thcentury cal BC, probably simultaneously, after the burning of the rampart between them, and the ending of the external pits could be of the same date; the internal pits might have continued a little longer. A duration of 120–150 years for MK V/Mz activity is estimated. Alternative models are considered.  The local and wider implications of these formal date estimates are discussed, topics covered including the circumstances in which the enclosure may have been constructed and those in which it ended, the chronology of MK pottery, and the wider development of MK and other enclosures

CMIP5 Historical Simulations (1850-2012) with GISS ModelE2

Observations of climate change during the CMIP5 extended historical period (1850-2012) are compared to trends simulated by six versions of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies ModelE2 Earth System Model. The six models are constructed from three versions of the ModelE2 atmospheric general circulation model, distinguished by their treatment of atmospheric composition and the aerosol indirect effect, combined with two ocean general circulation models, HYCOM and Russell. Forcings that perturb the model climate during the historical period are described. Five-member ensemble averages from each of the six versions of ModelE2 simulate trends of surface air temperature, atmospheric temperature, sea ice and ocean heat content that are in general agreement with observed trends, although simulated warming is slightly excessive within the past decade. Only simulations that include increasing concentrations of long-lived greenhouse gases match the warming observed during the twentieth century. Differences in twentieth-century warming among the six model versions can be attributed to differences in climate sensitivity, aerosol and ozone forcing, and heat uptake by the deep ocean. Coupled models with HYCOM export less heat to the deep ocean, associated with reduced surface warming in regions of deepwater formation, but greater warming elsewhere at high latitudes along with reduced sea ice. All ensembles show twentieth-century annular trends toward reduced surface pressure at southern high latitudes and a poleward shift of the midlatitude westerlies, consistent with observations

Investigating the role of prior and observation error correlations in improving a model forecast of forest carbon balance using Four Dimensional Variational data assimilation

Efforts to implement variational data assimilation routines with functional ecology models and land surface models have been limited, with sequential and Markov chain Monte Carlo data assimilation methods being prevalent. When data assimilation has been used with models of carbon balance, prior or “background” errors (in the initial state and parameter values) and observation errors have largely been treated as independent and uncorrelated. Correlations between background errors have long been known to be a key aspect of data assimilation in numerical weather prediction. More recently, it has been shown that accounting for correlated observation errors in the assimilation algorithm can considerably improve data assimilation results and forecasts. In this paper we implement a Four-Dimensional Variational data assimilation (4D-Var) scheme with a simple model of forest carbon balance, for joint parameter and state estimation and assimilate daily observations of Net Ecosystem CO2 Exchange (NEE) taken at the Alice Holt forest CO2 flux site in Hampshire, UK. We then investigate the effect of specifying correlations between parameter and state variables in background error statistics and the effect of specifying correlations in time between observation errors. The idea of including these correlations in time is new and has not been previously explored in carbon balance model data assimilation. In data assimilation, background and observation error statistics are often described by the background error covariance matrix and the observation error covariance matrix. We outline novel methods for creating correlated versions of these matrices, using a set of previously postulated dynamical constraints to include correlations in the background error statistics and a Gaussian correlation function to include time correlations in the observation error statistics. The methods used in this paper will allow the inclusion of time correlations between many different observation types in the assimilation algorithm, meaning that previously neglected information can be accounted for. In our experiments we assimilate a single year of NEE observations and then run a forecast for the next 14 years. We compare the results using our new correlated background and observation error covariance matrices and those using diagonal covariance matrices. We find that using the new correlated matrices reduces the root mean square error in the 14 year forecast of daily NEE by 44% decreasing from 4.22 gCm−2 day−1 to 2.38 gCm−2 day−

Metodologías para la justicia de la vivienda: Guia de recursos

Esta Guía de Recursos es el resultado de un Instituto de Verano sobre Metodologías para la Justicia en la Vivienda convocado por el Instituto sobre Desigualdad y Democracia de UCLA Luskin como parte de la Red de Justicia en la Vivienda en Ciudades Desiguales, que es apoyada por la Fundación Nacional de Ciencias (BCS 1758774). Celebrado en Los Ángeles en agosto de 2019, el Instituto de Verano reunió a participantes de ciudades de todo el mundo. Al igual que el alcance y el propósito general de la Red de Justicia en las Ciudades Desiguales, creó un terreno compartido de para estudiosos del movimiento y académicos de universidades. Con una insatisfacción a los métodos canónicos que se utilizan en los estudios sobre la vivienda y guiado por los movimientos de justicia de la vivienda que son comunidades de investigación activa, el Instituto de verano se basó en la afirmación de que la metodología es política. La metodología se basa en argumentos sobre el mundo e implica relaciones de poder y conocimiento. El método por sí mismo -ya sea el contra ataque al mapeo o los diarios de la genteno asegura una ética de solidaridad y un propósito de justicia. Tales objetivos requieren metodologías para la liberación. Por lo tanto, como es evidente en esta Guía de Recursos, nuestro esfuerzo pone en primer plano los métodos innovadores que están siendo utilizados por los investigadores en todo el mundo académico y el activismo y sitúa explícitamente tales métodos en una orientación hacia la vivienda la justicia

Data assimilation with correlated observation errors: experiments with a 1-D shallow water model

Remote sensing observations often have correlated errors, but the correlations are typically ignored in data assimilation for numerical weather prediction. The assumption of zero correlations is often used with data thinning methods, resulting in a loss of information. As operational centres move towards higher-resolution forecasting, there is a requirement to retain data providing detail on appropriate scales. Thus an alternative approach to dealing with observation error correlations is needed. In this article, we consider several approaches to approximating observation error correlation matrices: diagonal approximations, eigendecomposition approximations and Markov matrices. These approximations are applied in incremental variational assimilation experiments with a 1-D shallow water model using synthetic observations. Our experiments quantify analysis accuracy in comparison with a reference or ‘truth’ trajectory, as well as with analyses using the ‘true’ observation error covariance matrix. We show that it is often better to include an approximate correlation structure in the observation error covariance matrix than to incorrectly assume error independence. Furthermore, by choosing a suitable matrix approximation, it is feasible and computationally cheap to include error correlation structure in a variational data assimilation algorithm