The tempo of the Iberian megalithic rituals in the European context: The cemetery of Panoría

Our ability to build precise narratives regarding megalithic societies largely depends on the chronology of the multi-ritual events that usually shaped these complex sites. The cemetery of Panoría offers an excellent opportunity for exploring ritual complexity in Iberia through radiocarbon chronology, as four of the nine recently excavated dolmens are remarkably well preserved. For this purpose, seventy-three radiocarbon dates were obtained and analysed within a Bayesian framework. The resulting refined chronology has led us to three main conclusions: i) in all tombs, the second half of the 4th millennium cal BC was an intensive but brief period of funerary depositions, probably over three to six generations; ii) after a long hiatus, most of the dolmens were reused in the 25th and 21st centuries cal BC during even shorter periods, spanning just a few decades and approximately one to four generations; and (iii) long after the funerary rituals had ended in the 21st century, the memory of the cemetery was revived in Late Antiquity. These short, punctuated periods of use are highly consistent with those seen in a growing number of European megalithic monuments. From Britain to Iberia, a pattern of short spans of use is dramatically changing our perception of the social and political roles of these complex monuments

El cambio en las actividades de mantenimiento durante la Edad del Bronce : nuevas formas de preparación, presentación y consumo de alimentos

Les activitats de manteniment han estat marginades perquè s'han considerat com a treballs que no están exposats a canvis significatius ni des del punt de vista tecnològic ni espacial, i per tant no se les ha tingut en compte a l'hora d'analitzar el canvi social. En aquest treball la nostra intenció és centrarnos en una producció que es troba íntimament vinculada a les activitats de manteniment, com és la preparació, la presentació i el consum d'aliments, i ens centrarem en l'anàlisi de la producció ceràmica de les societats del bronze final del sudest de la península Ibèrica.Las actividades de mantenimiento han sido marginadas al considerarlas como trabajos no expuestos a cambios significativos ni tecnológica ni espacialmente y, por tanto, no se las ha considerado a la hora de analizar el cambio social. En el presente trabajo nuestra intención es centrarnos en una producción íntimamente ligada a las actividades de mantenimiento como es la preparación, presentación y consumo de alimentos, centrándonos en el análisis de la producción cerámica de las sociedades del Bronce Final del Sureste de la península Ibérica.Maintenance activities have been of marginal interest since they have been considered as tasks without significant changes through time and in space and therefore without any importance for an understanding of social change. In this paper we aim to centre our discussion on those aspects of maintenance activities such as food preparation, distribution and consumption. In this context we will analyze the pottery vessels of the Late Bronze Age culture of the southeast of Iberia

The temporality of the megalithic tholo-type tombs in southern iberia

El reciente incremento del número de dataciones ra - diocarbónicas de sepulturas tipo tholos permite establecer dife - rentes consideraciones sobre la temporalidad de este fenómeno megalítico. El modelado bayesiano de la nueva serie radiomé - trica de 41 dataciones sitúa el inicio de este nuevo tipo de ar - quitectura megalítica en la transición entre el IV y III milenios ( 3070-2900 cal BC al 68% de probabilidad) y su final entre los siglos IX-VIII cal BC ( 890-710 cal BC al 68% de probabili - dad) coincidiendo con el final de la Edad del Bronce. Durante este extenso periodo ( 2000-2213 años al 68% de probabilidad) solo se documenta un posible hiatus en torno al c. 1550 cal BC coincidiendo con la crisis de las sociedades del Bronce Pleno. La intensidad en el uso ritual de los tholoi durante la Edad del Bronce es sin duda una de las más importantes aportaciones de la nueva serie radiocarbónica. Además, la distribución territo - rial de las dataciones descarta cualquier tipo de diferenciación temporal entre las diferentes comarcas analizadas.According to new radiocarbon dates of tholos- type tombs new insights in the temporality of this megalithic phe - nomenon in southern Iberia can be explored. The Bayesian modelling of 41 dates sets the appearance of this megalithic architecture in the transition among the fourth and third mil - lennia ( 3070-2900 cal BC at 68% probability) and its end in the IX-VIII centuries cal BC ( 890-710 cal BC at 68% prob - ability), matching with the end of the Bronze Age. During this very long period ( 2000-2213 years at 68% probability), a short hiatus is documented around c. 1550 cal BC when dra - matic cultural changes occurred in Bronze Age societies. Two main contributions of the new radiocarbon series can be high - lighted: the intensity in ritual use of tholoi tombs during the Bronze Age and the lack of any temporal differences between the different regions of southern Iberia

Vitamin D Represses Retinoic Acid-Dependent Transactivation of the Retinoic Acid Receptor-ß2 Promoter: The AF-2 Domain of the Vitamin D Receptor Is Required for Transrepression

10 pages, 8 figures.Retinoic acid (RA)-dependent activation of the RA receptor ß2 (RARß2) gene in embryonal carcinoma cells is mediated by binding of retinoid receptor heterodimers (RAR/RXR) to a RA response element (RARE) located closely to the TATA box. We have analyzed the effect of vitamin D on the response of the RARß2 promoter to RA in pituitary GH4C1 cells that coexpress receptors for retinoids and vitamin D. Incubation with vitamin D markedly reduced the response to RA caused by transcriptional interference of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) on the RARE. This DNA element binds VDR/RXR heterodimers with high affinity, and these inactive heterodimers can displace active RAR/RXR from the RARE. Overexpression of RXR in GH4C1 cells, as well as incubation with BMS649 (a RXR-specific ligand), increased the inhibitory effect of vitamin D, suggesting that the VDR/RXR heterodimer is the repressive species and that titration of RXR is not responsible for this inhibition. Although DNA binding could be required for full potency of the inhibitory activity of VDR, it is not absolutely required because a truncated receptor (VDR {Delta}1–111), lacking the DNA binding domain, also displays repressor activity. Furthermore, the ability to mediate transrepression by vitamin D was strongly decreased when a mutant VDR in which the last 12 C-terminal aminoacids have been deleted (VDR {Delta}AF-2) was used. Because this region contains the domain responsible for ligand-dependent recruitment of coactivators, titration of common coactivators for VDR and RAR could be involved in the inhibitory effect of vitamin D. In agreement with this hypothesis, overexpression of E1A, which can act as a RARß2 promoter-specific coactivator, significantly reversed repression by vitamin D.This work was supported by Grants PM94–0094 and PM97–0135 from the Direccion General de Enseñanza Superior e Investigación Científica.Peer reviewe

COVID-19 and behavioral addictions: worrying consequences?

On March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The health measures implemented by the governments of all countries were strict, to prevent the virus from spreading out of control. The results of these measures and the situation resulting from the health crisis had an impact not only on the physical health of individuals, but also on their habits, mental health (Constanza et al., 2020; Baenas et al., 2020) and cognitive impairment (Montejo et al., 2021) Moreover, the impact of stress, isolation, boredom and lack of activity and stimuli on substance use, as well as on other addictive behaviors, such as gambling, video games or pornography viewing is widely known (Király et al., 2020). In addition, for many people, these restrictions meant a reduction in their economic income, loss of employment, and significant concern as well as uncertainties for their families' jobs and financial future. This situation raised alarms from governments, especially in relation to gambling activity (Gainsbury et al., 2021)

Morphological changes, beach inundation and overwash caused by an extreme storm on a low-lying embayed beach bounded by a dune system (NW Mediterranean)

The geomorphological evolution of a low-lying, micro-tidal sandy beach in the western Mediterranean, Pals beach, was characterized using airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data. Data were collected in prior to and six months after the impact of an extreme storm with a return period of approx. 50 years, with the aim of characterizing the beach's response to the storm. The use of repeated high-resolution topographic data to quantify beach geomorphic changes has allowed assessment of the accuracy of different proxies for estimating beach volume changes. Results revealed that changes in the shoreline position cannot accurately reproduce beach volume changes on low-lying beaches where overwash processes are significant. Observations also suggested that volume estimations from beach profiles do not accurately represent subaerial volume changes at large profile distances on beaches with significant alongshore geomorphological variability. Accordingly, the segmentation of the beach into regularly spaced bins is proposed to assess alongshore variations in the beach volume with the accuracy of the topographic data. The morphological evolution of Pals beach during the study period showed a net shoreline retreat (- 4 m) and a significant sediment gain on the subaerial beach (+ 7.5 m3/m). The net gain of sediment is mostly due to the impact of the extreme storm, driving significant overwash processes that transport sediment landwards, increasing volume on the backshore and dunes. The increase of volume on the foreshore and the presence of cuspate morphologies along the shoreline also evidence post-storm beach recovery. Observed morphological changes exhibit a high variability along the beach related to variations in beach morphology. Changes in the morphology and migration of megacusps result in a high variability in the shoreline position and foreshore volume changes. On the other hand, larger morphological changes on the backshore and larger inundation distances occur when the beach and the dunes are lower, favouring the dominance of overwash. The observed storm-induced morphological changes differ from predicted beach storm impacts because of spatial and temporal variations in the beach morphology, suggesting that detailed morphological parameters and indicators used for predicting beach vulnerability to storms should be regularly updated in order to represent the pre-storm beach conditions. Finally, observed morphological changes in Pals Bay evidenced a different behaviour between natural and urban areas, with better post-storm beach recovery on natural areas where the beach is not artificially narrowed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Technological choice and social expression: Archaeometric analysis of funerary argaric pottery vessels from Cerro de San Cristóbal (Ogíjares, Granada)

El estudio de las elecciones tecnológicas y el grado de variabilidad técnica observadas en la cerámica argárica se revela esencial para poder profundizar en las dinámicas sociales propias de la Edad del Bronce en el sureste peninsular. Desde esta perspectiva, el presente trabajo se centra en la caracterización arqueométrica de un conjunto de vasijas cerámicas procedentes de los contextos funerarios del Cerro de San Cristóbal (Ogíjares, Granada) con la finalidad de aproximarnos a sus pautas de fabricación, al grado de interacción de los artesano/as y al modo en que pudo organizarse la producción. Para ello, se ha procedido al análisis petrológico y mineralógico de las vasijas mediante microscopio petrográfico y Difracción de rayos X, y al estudio de la microestructura de la matriz arcillosa con microscopio electrónico de barrido. Los resultados evidencian una alta homogeneidad tecnológica en la mayor parte de piezas y tipos fabricados, excepto en algunas piezas tipológicamente diferenciadas de los estándares argáricos cuyos patrones de fabricación y deposición parecen responder a otras dinámicas sociales. Las elecciones tecnológicas constatadas evidencian un panorama complejo en el que pudieron interaccionar factores diversos como el habitus tecnológico, las estrategias de aprendizaje, el grado de interacción social y la forma en que las vasijas cerámicas fueron conceptualizadas.The study of the technological choices and the technical variability observed in the argaric pottery is essential to deepen in the social dynamics existing in southeast Iberia during the Bronze Age. From this perspective, this paper is focused on the archaeometric characterisation of a ceramic assemblage from the funerary contexts of Cerro San Cristóbal (Ogíjares, Granada) with the aim to approach the patterns of production, the interaction between the potters and the way in which the pottery production could be organised. To this end, we carried out the petrographic and mineralogical analysis of the vessels by means of petrographic microscope and X-ray diffraction as well as the study of the matrix microstructure through scanning electron microscopy. The results show significant technological homogeneity between most of the vessels and types produced, except for some ceramics which differ from the argaric typological standards whose technological choices and depositional patterns seem to be related to other social dynamics. The technological choices documented show a complex picture in which several aspects such as the technological habitus, the learning strategies, the social interaction and how the vessels were conceptualised are closely interconnected

Editorial : Neurological, psychological and endocrine markers of eating disorders and obesity

Altres ajuts: Delegación del Gobierno para el Plan Nacional sobre Drogas (2019I47 and 2021I031