The Neanderthal teeth from Marillac (Charente, Southwestern France): Morphology, comparisons and paleobiology

Few European sites have yielded human dental remains safely dated to the end of MIS 4/beginning of MIS 3. One of those sites is Marillac (Southwestern France), a collapsed karstic cave where archeological excavations (1967–1980) conducted by B. Vandermeersch unearthed numerous faunal and human remains, as well as a few Mousterian Quina tools. The Marillac sinkhole was occasionally used by humans to process the carcasses of different prey, but there is no evidence for a residential use of the site, nor have any hearths been found. Rare carnivore bones were also discovered, demonstrating that the sinkhole was seasonally used, not only by Neanderthals, but also by predators across several millennia. The lithostratigraphic units containing the human remains were dated to ∼60 kyr. The fossils consisted of numerous fragments of skulls and jaws, isolated teeth and several post-cranial bones, many of them with traces of perimortem manipulations. For those already published, their morphological characteristics and chronostratigraphic context allowed their attribution to Neanderthals. This paper analyzes sixteen unpublished human teeth (fourteen permanent and two deciduous) by investigating the external morphology and metrical variation with respect to other Neanderthal remains and a sample from modern populations. We also investigate their enamel thickness distribution in 2D and 3D, the enamel-dentine junction morphology (using geometric morphometrics) of one molar and two premolars, the roots and the possible expression of taurodontism, as well as pathologies and developmental defects. The anterior tooth use and paramasticatory activities are also discussed. Morphological and structural alterations were found on several teeth, and interpreted in light of human behavior (tooth-pick) and carnivores' actions (partial digestion). The data are interpreted in the context of the available information for the Eurasian Neanderthals

Fonte du glacier souterrain de Scarasson (Marguareis, Italie). Suivi instrumenté de la température, de l’humidité et du recul

Located in the italian massif of Marguareis, Scarasson is a famous cave because of its underground glacier and the operation “ Beyond Time” of Michel Siffre in 1962. Because of the quick melting of the glacier since the 2000 years, due to stop of snow feeding, a monitoring began in 2008 for temperature and humidity, and for measuring the retreat with ultrasonic sensors. The results show variations in temperature at different scales, the great dynamic complexity of an «open » underground climate system, and a remarkable transformation of the ice around the melting point.Situé dans le massif du Marguareis (France-Italie), le gouffre de Scarasson est une cavité connue en raison de la présence d’un glacier souterrain et de l’expérience «hors du temps » menée par Michel Siffre en 1962. La fonte accélérée du glacier depuis les années 2000 en lien probable avec l’arrêt de l’alimentation neigeuse a mené à une étude instrumentée de la cavité. Débutée en 2008, elle a été conduite avec des capteurs de température, d’humidité et de distance à ultrasons. Les résultats montrent des variations de la température à différentes échelles, la complexité du système climatique souterrain «ouvert » et la transformation de la glace autour du point de fusion.Morel Laurent, Maire Richard, Valla François, Decker Joan, Siffre Michel, Boscart Joffrey, Caillault Serge, Lambolglia Cathy, Lamboglia Jo, Petit Jean-robert, Ogand Michel. Fonte du glacier souterrain de Scarasson (Marguareis, Italie). Suivi instrumenté de la température, de l’humidité et du recul. In: Collection EDYTEM. Cahiers de géographie, numéro 19, 2017. Monitoring en milieux naturels. Retours d’expériences en terrains difficiles. pp. 101-108

Time

"What does ‘contemporary’ actually mean? This is among the fundamental questions about the nature and politics of time that philosophers, artists and more recently curators have investigated over the past two decades. If clock time—a linear measurement that can be unified, followed and owned—is largely the invention of capitalist modernity and binds us to its strictures, how can we extricate ourselves and discover alternative possibilities of experiencing time? Recent art has explored such diverse registers of temporality as wasting and waiting, regression and repetition, déjà vu and seriality, unrealized possibility and idleness, non-consummation and counter-productivity, the belated and the premature, the disjointed and the out-of-sync—all of which go against sequentialist time and index slips in chronological experience. While such theorists as Giorgio Agamben and Georges Didi-Huberman have proposed “anachronistic” or “heterochronic” readings of history, artists have opened up the field of time to the extent that the very notion of the contemporary is brought into question. This collection surveys contemporary art and theory that proposes a wealth of alternatives to outdated linear models of time" -- Publisher's web site