Early Neolithic Landscape and Society in Southwest Scania – New Results and Perspectives

The last two decades of excavations in southwest Scania, Sweden, have given substantial new results regarding Early Neolithic society (4000–3300 cal. BC). The overall aim here is to discuss and synthesize these results, and a number of important excavations are also presented in detail. The results are both on a macro scale concerning overall settlement pattern, landscape use and the scale of monumental landscapes, and on a micro scale concerning, for example, houses and huts, monumental sites and their complexity, and pits and depositional practices on different types of sites. Also, the economy of the region as well as the socio-political organization are discussed based on interpretations of the material presented

The Funnel Beaker Culture in action. Early and Middle Neolithic monumentality in Southwestern Scania, Sweden (4000-3000 cal BC)

One of the most discussed issues in European archaeology is the significance and context of monumentality and the construction of long barrows and megaliths in the Neolithic. The construction of monuments in Neolithic Europe can, due to their often significant size and complexity, be interpreted as signs of collective building efforts, but the social and political background may vary from more egalitarian to highly stratified societies. During the last 20 years of surveys and archaeological excavations in southwest Scania, Sweden, new archaeological results have been produced, revealing many hitherto unknown settlements, central places for feasting, long barrows, megaliths, free-standing façades and other types of monumental constructions. This has disclosed a much more complex picture of the Early Neolithic (4000–3300 cal BC) Funnel Beaker Culture societies in the region. Large-scale excavations have documented a hierarchy of monumental places in Early Neolithic southern Scandinavia, probably reflecting different uses of monuments, mirroring a social hierarchy in polities. Recently, another central place has been excavated at Flackarp, south of Lund, Sweden, containing at least nine dolmens and free-standing façades, further supporting this hypothesis

Seal Hunters, Fishermen and Sea-voyagers: Late Middle Neolithic (2600–2400 cal BC) Maritime Hunter-Gatherers in the Baltic Sea Archipelago at Tråsättra, Sweden

Large scale excavations of Neolithic settlements and cemeteries along the Swedish east coast and on the islands of Gotland and Öland in the Baltic Sea during the last 30 years have produced a large amount of new information concerning the Funnel Beaker Culture, the Pitted Ware Culture and the Battle Axe Culture. Excavations of large areas in a number of sites have given us a much deeper understanding of how these societies were organized, how people made their living and how they buried their dead. Large scale studies of palaeoecological remains, lipids in ceramics and isotopes in animal and human bones have given us new information concerning differences in diet and economy, and studies of genetic material have produced new essential knowledge of ethnic and cultural affiliations. The excavation at Tråsättra covered the whole area of a permanent hunter-gatherer settlement that can be related to the late Pitted Ware Culture, ca. 2600– 2400calBC. This gave us the opportunity to study the organization of the settlement, economy and diet, craftsmanship and ritual activities in detail. Also, finds of a large number of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic clay figurines, a cult building with ritual deposits and a small cemetery made a unique analysis of religious and ideological aspects of the hunter-gatherers in the archipelago of the eastern middle part of Sweden during the late Middle Neolithic B possible

Association between the number of coadministered P-glycoprotein inhibitors and serum digoxin levels in patients on therapeutic drug monitoring

BACKGROUND: The ABC transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is recognized as a site for drug-drug interactions and provides a mechanistic explanation for clinically relevant pharmacokinetic interactions with digoxin. The question of whether several P-gp inhibitors may have additive effects has not yet been addressed. METHODS: We evaluated the effects on serum concentrations of digoxin (S-digoxin) in 618 patients undergoing therapeutic drug monitoring. P-gp inhibitors were classified as Class I, with a known effect on digoxin kinetics, or Class II, showing inhibition in vitro but no documented effect on digoxin kinetics in humans. Mean S-digoxin values were compared between groups of patients with different numbers of coadministered P-gp inhibitors by a univariate and a multivariate model, including the potential covariates age, sex, digoxin dose and total number of prescribed drugs. RESULTS: A large proportion (47%) of the digoxin patients undergoing therapeutic drug monitoring had one or more P-gp inhibitor prescribed. In both univariate and multivariate analysis, S-digoxin increased in a stepwise fashion according to the number of coadministered P-gp inhibitors (all P values < 0.01 compared with no P-gp inhibitor). In multivariate analysis, S-digoxin levels were 1.26 ± 0.04, 1.51 ± 0.05, 1.59 ± 0.08 and 2.00 ± 0.25 nmol/L for zero, one, two and three P-gp inhibitors, respectively. The results were even more pronounced when we analyzed only Class I P-gp inhibitors (1.65 ± 0.07 for one and 1.83 ± 0.07 nmol/L for two). CONCLUSIONS: Polypharmacy may lead to multiple drug-drug interactions at the same site, in this case P-gp. The S-digoxin levels increased in a stepwise fashion with an increasing number of coadministered P-gp inhibitors in patients taking P-gp inhibitors and digoxin concomitantly. As coadministration of digoxin and P-gp inhibitors is common, it is important to increase awareness about P-gp interactions among prescribing clinicians

Bebyggelse och samhällsstruktur. Södra och mellersta Skandinavien under senneolitikum och bronsålder 2300-500 f. Kr.

The main focus of this thesis is a comparative study of the structure and organisation of Late Neolithic and Bronze Age (2300-500 BC) settlements across the southern and middle part of Scandinavia. Variation in size and associations of long-houses and farmsteads are used to analyse economic, social and political complexity. The materials and energy invested in residential housing and in the complexity of the farmsteads illustrate the social stratification and centrality of different regional societies. Settlements range from single farmsteads to hamlets and small villages, and form networks of community structures. The internal organisation of these different settlements is used to discuss the economic specialization and social stratification that formed the basis for polities in the form of chiefdoms of different size and complexity. The existing model is based on the presumed existence of a “standard” long-house and farmstead in combination with a simple and one-dimensional model for how farmsteads and settlements were structured and organized. This model must now be considered inadequate, especially when compared with models based on burials and offerings for how society was organised. Early Bronze Age (1700-1100 BC) society has traditionally been considered stratified and relatively complex, based on small and medium-sized chiefdoms, while the level of stratification during the Late Neolithic (2300-1700 BC) and Late Bronze Age (1100-500 BC) has been under considerable debate. However, recent research based on a number of large-scale studies has shown that the transformation of society towards a more stratified organisation started already in the beginning of the Late Neolithic, and that the level of stratification increased gradually over time. Therefore, the existing model for farmsteads and settlements need to be re-evaluated, as it does not match the expected structure and organisation in a stratified and relatively complex society. Based on a revision of old material and studies of settlements recently excavated, and a comparative study of several hundred long-houses where 14C-dates from the individual buildings play a crucial role for establishing a typology and chronology for southern and middle Scandinavia, it has been possible to show that there has been a clear variation in size of contemporary long-houses and farmsteads. The range in variation changes over time, but according to comparative historical and anthropological studies this variation must be interpreted as a clear sign of social stratification during the whole time period. The degree of variation seems to have been closely connected to the availability of important natural resources and the centrality in the long-distance networks of the different regions in southern and middle Scandinavia. A greater variation in settlement structure and organisation is also apparent. By analysing the 14C-dates, stratigraphy and alignment of long-houses in large, multi-phased settlements, it has been possible to show that a greater complexity existed in the structure and organisation of farmsteads. The range in variation, from isolated to clustered farmsteads, hamlets and small villages, seems to have the same connection to important natural resources and centrality as the range in size of long-houses and farmsteads. The new view presented in the thesis on how farmsteads and settlements were organized has several similarities with a centreperiphery model, both in a regional and intraregional perspective. It supports a hierarchical interpretation of society during the whole time period, based on chiefdoms controlling the distribution of prestige goods. Keywords: long-house, farmstead, settlement, hamlet, village, Late Neolithic, Bronze Age, Scandinavia, Skåne, neo-marxism, structural marxism, chiefdom, hierarchy, heterarchy, centre-periphery model, prestige goods, aggrandizer, entrepreneur, house-based society, corporate group, long-distance contact

Evidence of Large Vessels and Sail in Bronze Age Scandinavia

This paper argues that the Nordic boatbuilding tradition and the use of sail in Scandinavia can be traced back to the Early Bronze Age when it developed in response to emerging chiefdoms and an associated need for long-distance trade in bronze metals. The southern Scandinavian boat imagery dated to the Bronze Age (BA) depicts different types of boats and means of propulsion, including large vessels and the use of sail. This paper focuses on crew-lines on such imagery as indicative of boat length in relation to both the 350 BC Hjortspring boat, a BA type boat and the width-to-length ratio of BA ship-settings. This comparison suggests the BA boat imagery and ship-settings depict the same type of plank-built vessels and that the BA ship-settings are likely to represent ‘real’ vessels. Centrally positioned post holes in four of these ship-settings are therefore likely to represent masts, providing a direct link with mast-like features also present in the rock art boat imagery. Available BA boatbuilding technologies, based on analysis of the Hjortspring boat, and other indirect evidence of BA boatbuilding technologies, suggests that large, sailed vessels most likely existed, propelled in combination with mainly paddling

Image-based quantification of cell debris as a measure of apoptosis

Apoptosis is a controlled form of cell death that can be induced by various diseases and exogenous toxicants. Common apoptosis detection methods rely on fluorescent markers, which necessitates the use of costly reagents and time-consuming labeling procedures. Label-free methods avoid these problems, but often require specialized instruments instead. Here, we utilize apoptotic cell disintegration to develop a novel label-free detection method based on the quantification of subcellular debris particles in bright-field microscopy images. Debris counts show strong correlations with fluorescence-based annexin V staining, and can be used to study concentration-dependent and temporal apoptosis activation. The method is rapid, low-cost, and easy to apply, as the only experimental step comprises bright-field imaging of culture media samples, followed by automated image processing. The late-stage nature of the debris measurement means that the method can complement other, established apoptosis assays, and its accessibility will allow a wider community of researchers to study apoptotic cell death

Aspekter på samhällsutveckling

... Den förändringsprocess som vi här har försökt åskådliggöra är nära knuten till en förändring av ideologi och mentalitet, där den tidigare kollektivt präglade ideologin försvagades och successivt öppnade upp för en ökad stratifiering av samhället. Det finns tydliga tendenser i det arkeologiska materialet mot en ökad betoning och uppvisning av politisk, ekonomisk och militär makt. Denna demonstration av makt når sitt maximum under bronsålderns period II, 1500-1300 f. Kr., då de materiella lämningarna visar att man lagt en stor betydelse vid visuell och rituell uppvisning av hög social position ..

Cell-type-resolved proteomic analysis of the human liver

Background &amp; Aims The human liver functions through a complex interplay between parenchymal and non-parenchymal cells. Mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis of intact tissue has provided an in-depth view of the human liver proteome. However, the predominance of parenchymal cells (hepatocytes) means that the total tissue proteome mainly reflects hepatocyte expression. Here we therefore set out to analyse the proteomes of the major parenchymal and non-parenchymal cell types in the human liver. Methods We applied quantitative label-free proteomic analysis on the major cell types of the human liver: hepatocytes, liver endothelial cells, Kupffer cells and hepatic stellate cells. Results We identified 9791 proteins, revealing distinct protein expression profiles across cell types, whose in vivo relevance was shown by the presence of cell-type-specific proteins. Analysis of proteins related to the immune system indicated that mechanisms of immune-mediated liver injury include the involvement of several cell types. Furthermore, in-depth investigation of proteins related to the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity (ADMET) of xenobiotics showed that ADMET-related tasks are not exclusively confined to hepatocytes, and that non-parenchymal cells may contribute to drug transport and metabolism. Conclusions Overall, the data we provide constitute a unique resource for exploring the proteomes of the major types of human liver cells, which will facilitate an improved understanding of the human liver in health and disease