Evidence for tanning from plant and insect remains

[FIRST PARAGRAPH] It is suggested elsewhere (Hall and Kenward forthcoming) that a bioarchaeological 'indicator group' (sensa Kenward and Hall 1997) for tanning may be recognisable. The material giving rise to this hypothesis was discovered during assessment of samples from Anglo-Scandinavian and early post- Conquest riverside deposits at Layerthorpe Bridge, York (Carrott et al. 1997). Here, large quantities of bark fragments (and the sclereids -small clumps of lignified cells characteristic of certain trees, notably oak- left when bark decays) were recorded in many samples. These gave the suspicion that the bark was being employed for some purpose, since there was usually very little wood present with it. Much the most likely process to have required bark in bulk is tanning (taken here to represent the steeping of hides in pits or vats with tree bark). Support for this came from a somewhat surprising direction. The beetle Trox scaber was unusually abundant (it was found in 30 of the samples, at a frequency of 3-6 per sample when present; five samples contained 'several' individuals and one 'many’, on the semi-quantitative scale used for recording). This contrasts with the evidence from Anglo-Scandinavian Coppergate, where it was present in a large proportion (242) of the samples but was never abundant. There were only eight cases where three or four individuals were noted, the rest being ones or twos, and the mean number of individuals per sample where the beetle was present was 1.2 (AY 14/7; Kenward, unpublished database). Thus T. scaber was significantly more abundant at the Layerthorpe Bridge site than at Coppergate

Setting people in their environment: plant and animal remains from Anglo-Scandinavian York

INTRODUCTION: For the past millennium, the inhabitants of the centre of York have, whether hey knew it or not, been living on top of a compost heap in which are preserved all kinds of remains of Anglo-Scandinavian and early post-conquest life. The preservation of this mass of organic matter has come about because, for reasons which are not fully understood, the deposits show anoxic waterlogging - in other words they have remained moist, and decay has been inhibited by lack of free oxygen. Later citizens must often have encountered these 'peaty' deposits and wondered about some of the more recognisable biological remains, as well as the numerous artefacts, surviving in them. However, it was not until the early 20th century that the value of all this material in investigating the past started to be appreciated

Actively decaying or just poorly preserved? Can we tell when plant and invertebrate remains in urban archaeological deposits decayed?

We have recendy argued that poorly preserved delicate macrofossil remains of plants and invertebrates in near-surface deposits in York are in active decay, rather than being preserved in stasis, part-way down the decay trajectory. Observations of both archaeological and modern deposits suggest empirically that remains either survive for a long period (if conditions are conducive) or decay rapidly (if they are not). The hypothesis that very gradual decay has led to large numbers of deposits containing remains in a similar state appears illogical. It is more likely that, where poorly preserved biological remains are found, they either decayed in the past and then were stabilised when ground conditions became anoxic, or are currently in decay. Long-term patterns of decay cannot easily be investigated experimentally, but arguments concerning patterns and rates of decay can be. Apart from the question of in-ground preservation, understanding patterns of decay will allow us to address a range of taphonomic problems fundamental to drawing archaeological information from these remains

The bioarchaeology of Anglo-Saxon Yorkshire: present and future perspectives

The Anglo-Saxon period in Yorkshire - in terms of our knowledge of those questions which bioarchaeological studies are conventionally used to address - remains very much an unknown quantity, We can hardly claim even to know whether these questions are indeed appropriate in the Anglo-Saxon period. To some extent this reflects the nature of the Anglo-Saxon deposits so far encountered, in which preservation of the less durable organic remains has been very limited. The nature of Anglo-Saxon occupation, with a bias towards rural settlements of a kind whicb have generally left only faint traces in the ground, means that there are no deeply stratified richly organic deposits of the kind revealed in some Roman and Viking Age phases in major urban centres, of which only York is weIl known in the region. The Anglo-Saxon period thus presents exceptional challenges to the environmental archaeologist, and ones which closely parallel those for the Iron Age. It is a period for which the kind of assemblages traditionally provided by bioarchaeologica1 studies are most urgently needed, to define environment and land use, resource exploitation, living conditions, trade and exchange, as well as aspects of craft-working and industrial activities. In addition, the period in Yorkshire presents special problems concerning the status of individual rural or ecclesiastical settlements, particularly the nature of York as a possible wic. For the purposes of this paper (and in view of the complexities of the archaeology of the 5th to 11th centuries), we have elected to discuss only such biological material as .falls after the end of the Roman period (as generally accepted) and before the first significant waves of Scandinavian invasion in the mid 9th century

Recent palaeoenvironmental evidence for the processing of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) in eastern England during the medieval period

[FIRST PARAGRAPH] Hemp (Cannabissativa L.)— whose origins as a domesticated plant probably lie in C.Asia — has been cultivated in England since at least a.d.800 (and before this perhaps in the Roman Period), mainly for its ¿bre, which was used to make sails, ropes, ¿shing nets and clothes, as well as for the oil from hempseed. Hemp cultivation may have reached a peak during the early 16th century, when Henry VIII decreed that increased hemp production was required to supply the expanding navy. Evidence for the locations where the crop was cultivated and processed is available in several different forms, including written evidence in parish records and government reports, place-name evidence (e.g.Hempholme and some instances of Hempstead), and features on old maps, such as Hempis¿eld (hemp¿eld)

Preliminary archaeoentomological analyses of permafrost-preserved cultural layers from the pre-contact Yup’ik Eskimo site of Nunalleq, Alaska : implications, potential and methodological considerations

Acknowledgements Site excavation and samples collection were conducted by archaeologists from the University of Aberdeen, with the help of archaeologists and student excavators from the University of Aberdeen University of Alaska Fairbanks and Bryn Mawr College, Kuskokwim Campus, College of Rural Alaska and residents of Quinhagak and Mekoryuk. This study is funded through AHRC grant to the project ‘Understanding Cultural Resilience and Climate Change on the Bering Sea through Yup’ik Ecological Knowledge, Lifeways, Learning and Archaeology’ to Rick Knecht, Kate Britton and Charlotta Hillderal (University of Aberdeen; AH/K006029/1). Thanks are due to Qanirtuuq Inc. and Quinhagak, Alaska for sampling permissions and to entomologists working at the CNC in Ottawa for allowing access to reference collections of beetles, lice and fleas. Yves Bousquet, Ales Smetana and Anthony E. Davies are specially acknowledged for their help with the identification of coleopteran specimens. Finally, we would also like to thank Scott Elias for useful comments on the original manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Reduction in jejunal fluid absorption in vivo through distension and cholinergic stimulation not attributable to enterocyte secretion

Jejunal fluid absorption in vivo was reduced by distension and by hydrostatic pressure and further declined on adding E. coli STa enterotoxin but no net fluid secretion was detected. Luminal atropine reduced pressure mediated reductions in fluid absorption to normal values but intravenous hexamethonium was without effect. A neural component to inhibition of absorption by pressure (though not stretch) may be mediated by axon reflexes within cholinergic neurons.Perfusion of cholinergic compounds also reduced net fluid absorption but did not cause secretion. In order to show that these actions were not secretory processes stimulated by cholinergic compounds that offset normal rates of absorption, these compounds were tested for their ability to cause net secretion in loops that were perfused with solutions in which choline substituted for sodium ion. In addition, these perfusates additionally contained E. coli STa enterotoxin or EIPA (ethyl-isopropyl-amiloride) to minimize absorption.In these circumstances, where it might be expected to do so if it were acting through a secretory rather than an absorptive mechanism, carbachol did not cause net fluid secretion. Cholinergic stimulation and pressure induced distension are thought to reduce net fluid absorption through inducing secretion but are found only to reduce fluid absorption.In conclusion, distension and cholinergic stimulation of the small intestine are two further circumstances in which fluid secretion is assumed to explain their action on fluid movement, as required by the enterocyte secretion model of secretion but, which like STa enterotoxin, instead are only able to reduce fluid absorption. This casts further doubt on the widespread validity of the enterocyte secretion model for fluid appearance in the lumen in diarrhoeal diseases

Anti-nausea effects and pharmacokinetics of ondansetron, maropitant and metoclopramide in a low-dose cisplatin model of nausea and vomiting in the dog: a blinded crossover study

Nausea is a subjective sensation which is difficult to measure in non-verbal species. The aims of this study were to determine the efficacy of three classes of antiemetic drugs in a novel low dose cisplatin model of nausea and vomiting and measure change in potential nausea biomarkers arginine vasopressin (AVP) and cortisol. A four period cross-over blinded study was conducted in eight healthy beagle dogs of both genders. Dogs were administered 18 mg/m2 cisplatin intravenously, followed 45 min later by a 15 min infusion of either placebo (saline) or antiemetic treatment with ondansetron (0.5 mg/kg; 5-HT3 antagonist), maropitant (1 mg/kg; NK1 antagonist) or metoclopramide (0.5 mg/kg; D2 antagonist). The number of vomits and nausea associated behaviours, scored on a visual analogue scale, were recorded every 15 min for 8 h following cisplatin administration. Plasma samples were collected to measure AVP, cortisol and antiemetic drug concentrations

Bayesian models for weighted data with missing values: a bootstrap approach

Many data sets, especially from surveys, are made available to users with weights. Where the derivation of such weights is known, this information can often be incorporated in the user's substantive model (model of interest). When the derivation is unknown, the established procedure is to carry out a weighted analysis. However, with non‐trivial proportions of missing data this is inefficient and may be biased when data are not missing at random. Bayesian approaches provide a natural approach for the imputation of missing data, but it is unclear how to handle the weights. We propose a weighted bootstrap Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm for estimation and inference. A simulation study shows that it has good inferential properties. We illustrate its utility with an analysis of data from the Millennium Cohort Study