Searching for the Amyklaion: For a History of the ‘Discovery’ of the Sanctuary in the Modern Era

Η ανασκαφή του Τσούντα στην Αγία Κυριακή, το 1890, δεν σήμανε μόνο το ξεκίνημα της αρχαιολογικής έρευνας του Αμυκλαίου, αλλά και τον τερματισμό μιας μακράς φάσης αναζήτησής του, μιας φάσης γεμάτης από μυστήρια, παρεξηγήσεις, παρανοήσεις και επινοήσεις. Το τέλος της αρχαιότητας είχε φέρει και την καταστροφή της ίδιας της μνήμης σχετικά με τη θέση των Αμυκλών και του Αμυκλαίου. Η λέξη διατηρήθηκε, στη λόγια παράδοση, αλλά αποκομμένη από το αρχικό της σημαινόμενο. Σε κείμενα των μεσαιωνικών χρόνων, όπως στον Βίο του Οσίου Νίκωνος, το όνομα Αμύκλες ή Αμύκλιον εμφανίζεται ταυτισμένο με το Νίκλι της Αρκαδίας, στην αρχαία Τεγέα. Στη συνέχεια, σαν έδρα επισκοπής, περιφερόμενη από την Τεγέα στο Μουχλί και στην Τριπολιτσά.Ο Γάλλος επιγραφολόγος Abbé Fourmont, που ήρθε στην περιοχή της Σπάρτης την άνοιξη του 1730, ισχυρίσθηκε ότι βρήκε το Αμυκλαίο στο Σκλαβοχώρι και ότι το «κατάστρεψε». Παρουσίασε επίσης δήθεν πανάρχαιες επιγραφές που «ανακάλυψε» στα ερείπια του ιερού, όπως έναν κατάλογο των ιερειών του Αμυκλαίου, τις οποίες είχε πλαστογραφήσει ο ίδιος. Αυτές οι επιγραφές θα θεωρούνταν αυθεντικές επί πολλές δεκαετίες. Ο Fourmont πέρασε και από την Αγία Κυριακή, όπου αντέγραψε μια πραγματική επιγραφή, χωρίς όμως να συνδέσει τη θέση της με το Αμυκλαίο ή τις Αμύκλες. Το δικό του «Αμυκλαίο» το “είδε” στον σημερινό οικισμό Καλύβια Σοχάς, δυτικά από το Σκλαβοχώρι, στη ρίζα του Ταΰγετου. Για ένα μεγάλο διάστημα οι Αμύκλες θα τοποθετούνταν, ασαφώς, κάπου στο Σκλαβοχώρι.Ο επόμενος σημαντικός σταθμός της ιστορίας είναι το 1805, όταν πέρασε ο Βρετανός στρατιωτικός και αρχαιοδίφης William Martin Leake. Ο Leake, βασισμένος κυρίως στην ερμηνεία αρχαίων πηγών όπως ο Πολύβιος, ήταν ο πρώτος που πρότεινε ότι οι αρχαίες Αμύκλες βρίσκονταν στην Αγία Κυριακή. Παρουσίασε την επιχειρηματολογία στο βιβλίο του για την Πελοπόννησο που εξέδωσε το 1830.Αλλά ο πρώτος που τοποθέτησε ρητώς το ιερό του Αμυκλαίου Απόλλωνα πάνω στον λόφο της Αγίας Κυριακής ήταν ο Γάλλος αρχαιολόγος Charles Lenormant, μέλος της Γαλλικής Επιστημονικής Αποστολής του Μοριά, που πέρασε από την περιοχή το 1829. Ωστόσο, αυτή η ταύτιση θα έμενε στην αφάνεια, μέχρι το καλοκαίρι του 1878, όταν επισκέφθηκε για πρώτη φορά την Αγία Κυριακή ο Adolf Furtwängler και αναγνώρισε τα εντοιχισμένα στην εκκλησία αρχιτεκτονικά μέλη ως κομμάτια του Θρόνου.No abstract available in Englis

Note on the Assumption of Hydrologic Stationarity

Recent arguments that empirical evidence points tohydrologic nonstationarity that is a consequence ofclimate change cannot be dismissed. Yet the operationalassumption of hydrologic stationarity used extensively inwater management should not be discarded withoutfurther study. It remains to be determined if assumedforms of hydrologic nonstationarity would tax the abilityof water systems, through their robustness and resilience,to absorb the additional stresses that would follow fromthose assumptions. One approach to making thedetermination is by way of an assessment of the expectedeconomic regret in water management resulting from theuse of the assumption of restrictive hydrologic stationarityin the face of perceived hydrologic trends

Water Management Decision Making in the Face of Multiple Forms of Uncertainty and Risk

In the Wasatch Range Metropolitan Area of Northern Utah, water management decision makers confront multiple forms of uncertainty and risk. Adapting to these uncertainties and risks is critical for maintaining the long‐term sustainability of the region\u27s water supply. This study draws on interview data to assess the major challenges climatic and social changes pose to Utah\u27s water future, as well as potential solutions. The study identifies the water management adaptation decision‐making space shaped by the interacting institutional, social, economic, political, and biophysical processes that enable and constrain sustainable water management. The study finds water managers and other water actors see challenges related to reallocating water, including equitable water transfers and stakeholder cooperation, addressing population growth, and locating additional water supplies, as more problematic than the challenges posed by climate change. Furthermore, there is significant disagreement between water actors over how to best adapt to both climatic and social changes. This study concludes with a discussion of the path dependencies that present challenges to adaptive water management decision making, as well as opportunities for the pursuit of a new water management paradigm based on soft‐path solutions. Such knowledge is useful for understanding the institutional and social adaptations needed for water management to successfully address future uncertainties and risks

The Effect of Exclusive Olive Oil Consumption on Successful Aging: A Combined Analysis of the ATTICA and MEDIS Epidemiological Studies

The consumption of dietary fats, which occur naturally in various foods, poses important impacts on health. The aim of this study was to elucidate the association of exclusive use of olive oil for culinary purposes with successful aging in adults aged >50 years old and residing in Greece. Use of olive oil in food preparation and bio-clinical characteristics of the Greek participants enrolled in the ATTICA (n = 1128 adults from Athens metropolitan area) and the MEDiterranean Islands Study (MEDIS) (n = 2221 adults from various Greek islands and Mani) studies, were investigated in relation to successful aging (SA). Participants were divided into the following three categories: (a) no olive oil consumption; (b) combined consumption of olive oil and other dietary fats; and (c) exclusive olive oil consumption. The SA was measured using the previously validated successful aging index (SAI). After adjusting for age, sex, and smoking habits, combined consumption of olive oil and other fats (vs. no olive oil use) was not significantly associated with SAI levels (p = 0.114). However, exclusive olive oil intake (vs. no use of olive oil) was significantly associated with SAI (p = 0.001), particularly among those aged older than 70 years. Therefore, the exclusive consumption of olive oil, as opposed to either combined or no olive oil consumption, beneficially impacts successful aging, particularly among individuals over 70 years of age. Primary public health prevention strategies should seek to encourage the enhanced adoption of such dietary practices in order to promote healthy aging and longevity

Universal First-passage Properties of Discrete-time Random Walks and Levy Flights on a Line: Statistics of the Global Maximum and Records

In these lecture notes I will discuss the universal first-passage properties of a simple correlated discrete-time sequence {x_0=0, x_1,x_2.... x_n} up to n steps where x_i represents the position at step i of a random walker hopping on a continuous line by drawing independently, at each time step, a random jump length from an arbitrary symmetric and continuous distribution (it includes, e.g., the Levy flights). I will focus on the statistics of two extreme observables associated with the sequence: (i) its global maximum and the time step at which the maximum occurs and (ii) the number of records in the sequence and their ages. I will demonstrate how the universal statistics of these observables emerge as a consequence of Pollaczek-Spitzer formula and the associated Sparre Andersen theorem.Comment: Lecture notes for the summer school "Fundamental Problems in Statistical Physics: XII" held at Leuven, Belgium (2009). 20 pages, 4 figures; typos corrected, a figure redrawn and new references and discussions adde

Skeletal muscle mass and body fat in relation to successful ageing of older adults: The multi-national MEDIS study

BACKGROUND: The determinants that promote successful ageing still remain unknown. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the role of skeletal muscle mass and body fat percentage (BF%), in the level of successful ageing. METHODS: during 2005-2011, 2663 older (aged 65-100 years) from 21 Mediterranean islands and the rural Mani region (Peloponnesus) of Greece were voluntarily enrolled in the study. Appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM), skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) and BF% were calculated using population formulas. Dietary habits, energy intake, expenditure and energy balance were derived throughout standard procedures. A successful ageing index ranging from 0 to 10 was used. RESULTS: The mean ASM mass was 24±6.0kg, the SMI was 0.84±0.21 and the BF% was 44%. Females had lower SMI and higher BF% in comparison with males, respectively [(SMI: 0.66±0.09 vs. 1.03±0.11; BF%: 51% vs. 34%, (p<0.001)]. High successful agers had better rates in ASM (p=0.01), SMI (p<0.001) and BF% (p<0.001), compared with the medium and low successful ones. Changes in SMI [b-coefficient (95% CI):2.14 (1.57 to 2.71)] were positively associated with successful ageing, while changes in BF% [b-coefficient (95% CI): -0.04 (-0.05 to -0.03)] were inversely associated with successful ageing. Results from sensitivity analysis showed that the effects of variations on body composition were consistent, less pronounced in the positive energy balance group and more pronounced among the oldest old. CONCLUSIONS: Body composition changes seem to be associated with lower quality of life in the older adults, as measured through successful ageing

Scenario development for estimating potential climate change impacts on crop production in the North China Plain

It is important to investigate potential changes in temperature, precipitation and solar radiation for assessing the impacts of future climate change on agricultural production for specific regions. In this study, climate scenarios of precipitation, temperature and solar radiation for the North China Plain (NCP) were constructed in terms of stochastic daily weather sequences. A nonhomogeneous hidden Markov model (NHMM) was used to downscale daily precipitation projections at 32 stations during winter wheat and summer maize growing seasons for a baseline (1966–2005) and a 21st century (2080–2099) A1B scenario, using selected general circulation models (GCMs). A climatological seasonal cycle of regional-averaged daily reanalysis precipitation was used as input to the down-scaling for the baseline simulation; this input was then scaled by the precipitation changes from GCM projections to generate down-scaled stochastic simulations of precipitation in the 21st century. Temperature was generated using a weakly stationary generating process, conditional on precipitation occurrence, with 21st century additive changes taken from the GCMs at the regional scale. Three hypotheses about changes in solar radiation (−20%, 0% and 20%) were made considering the large uncertainty in its future change. The down-scaled simulations exhibit station increases in the mean daily rainfall of 13.9–69.7% in the scenarios driven by the GCM with the projected largest and multi-model mean precipitation increase for the wheat season, with changes of 0.4–29.9% for the maize season. In the scenario driven by the GCM with the largest projected precipitation decrease, the simulated rainfall decreases at all stations, with changes ranging from −24.6 to −0.1% for the wheat and maize seasons, respectively. Temperature increases by about 3.7 ◦C for the wheat season and 3.6 ◦C for the maize season

Is parental longevity associated with the cardiovascular risk and the successful aging of their offspring? Results from the multinational MEDIS study

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of parental longevity and parental cardiovascular disease (CVD) history in CVD risk and successful aging of a random sample of older adults living in the Mediterranean basin and who participated in the MEDiterranean Islands (MEDIS) study. During 2005 to 2011, 2663 elders were voluntarily enrolled. A multidimensional successful aging index consisting of 10 components was used. Paternal and maternal longevity was defined as those older participants of whom both parents lived above the age of 90. The burden of CVD-related factors (CVD-RFs) was calculated as the total score of 4 major CVD-RFs (range 0-4). After adjustment, parental longevity was inversely associated with the burden of CVD-RFs ( P = .04). Moreover, parental longevity was positively associated with the older adults' successful aging score (β-coefficient [95% confidence interval]: .38 [0.06-0.71]). Parent's long living was revealed as an important factor for successful aging and for reduced CVD risk, suggesting that further research is needed in the genetic predisposition of longevity