Commingled burials and shifting notions of the self at the onset of the Mycenaean era (1700–1500 BCE):The case of the Ayios Vasilios North Cemetery, Laconia

Mortuary practices in southern Greece undergo a radical transformation at the beginning of the Mycenaean era (or Late Bronze Age, around 1700 BCE). This period sees the introduction of formal cemeteries, larger tombs, richer burials and a more complex ritual sequence involving multiple interments, tomb re-use and the ‘secondary treatment’ of earlier burials. ‘Secondary treatment’ is a rather vague, all-inclusive term, which includes various practices, such as disarticulating skeletons, mingling the bones and relocating them in piles or scatters either inside or outside the tomb (completely or selectively). Two questions arise: Why is this practice introduced? Why does it take different forms? The recent excavation of Ayios Vasilios North Cemetery in Laconia was designed on the basis of an integrated bioarchaeological strategy in order to provide the opportunity to fully explore these issues. While our ultimate goal is to understand the causes and consequences of the wider transformations in funerary practices, the focus of this paper is on one aspect: the re-use of graves and the secondary treatment of earlier burials. Through an integrated approach which aims to reconcile archaeological theory with current methodological advances in bioarchaeology and funerary taphonomy, we seek to reconstruct the funerary activities in great detail, in order to fully observe variation and change, and, ultimately, understand how this considerable variation may inform us on the re-definition of social relations at death, or shifting notions of the self. Beyond the specifics of the Mycenaean case-study, our aim is also to address broader methodological and theoretical questions, stressing the need for a true integration in the study of mortuary assemblages. To this end, we propose a taphonomy-oriented, methodological approach for the field recording and lab analysis of the human remains, drawing on current advances in archaeothanatology, forensic science, and analysis of commingled remains. This approach works best if placed within a clear theoretical framework, which recognises the manipulation of the dead body as closely associated with notions of personhood, and at the same time respects the historical specificity of the mortuary context and engages with the full complexity of contextual empirical data. Using the case of Ayios Vasilios in order to illustrate this process, our specific questions include: the formation characteristics of funerary assemblages, frequency and sequence of tomb use, diversity of secondary treatment, and age and sex differences in funerary treatment. Our results demonstrate a considerable extent of variation in funerary disposal and secondary treatment during this transitional period. Shifts of emphasis within this diverse treatment, especially regarding bodily fragmentation and modes of dispersal, suggest that, in Ayios Vasilios, a) age, but not sex, differences in funerary treatment were at play, b) mortuary transformation embodies the transformation from narrower (possibly household-based) associations to increasingly wider concepts of lineage and descent, c) tensions between tradition and innovation, as well as integration and differentiation, are evident in the variation of secondary treatment and co-existence of different forms (as already attested in other funerary and daily practices)

Towards a social bioarchaeology of the Mycenaean period: A multi-disciplinary analysis of funerary remains from the Late Helladic chamber tomb cemetery of Voudeni, Achaea, Greece.

This research seeks to develop a holistic bioarchaeological approach to the social dimensions of Mycenaean mortuary practice, with special reference to the treatment of the dead body, through the multi-dimensional analysis of human skeletal remains and contextual mortuary data from Voudeni, an important Late Mycenaean (1400-1050 BC) chamber tomb cemetery in Achaea, Greece. This approach aspires to transcend unproductive cross-disciplinary divisions, advocating the integration of theory and multi-faceted bio-cultural evidence, specifically addressing theoretical and methodological issues in the analysis of commingled skeletal remains. It proposes that the most effective route to explore social aspects in mortuary data is through an emic understanding of historically situated actions and experiences, both of the living actors, the mourners, and of the dead themselves. Human skeletal remains are the primary strand of evidence, both as the object of the acts of the living and the subject of their own lived experiences. The research is presented in successive stages: a) building a solid theoretical and methodological framework, b) presenting the sample and detailed osteological results, c) exploring the relationships of intersecting variables in bio-cultural mortuary data across socio-temporal parameters (with special emphasis on the distinction between the palatial LHIIIA-B and the transitional post-palatial LHIIIC period), and d) final synthesis, aiming to shed new light on questions pertaining to changing social conditions in Achaea and general issues in current Mycenaean mortuary research. These include: tomb re-use; form, diversity, sequence and frequency of mortuary activities; mortality profiles; differential inclusion/visibility and funerary treatment of social groups or different identities; changes in treatment of the dead body reflecting shifts in notions of the self and of social relationships. It was shown that the complex interaction between changing social conditions and mortuary practice was reflected in subtle emphasis shifts in the post-mortem treatment of bodies and bones rather than in blatant radical changes

Intelligence in relation to Jung’s personality types

ABSTRACT -The present study investigated the relationship between Jung's personality types and psychometric intelligence. A total of 4758 participants completed the Critical Reasoning Test Battery 2 and the Jung Type Indicator (JTI). General intelligence was significantly correlated with Extra version-Intro version (El), Sensing-Intuition (SN), Thinking-Feeling (TF) and Judging-Perception (JP), indicating an advantage for Introversion, Intuition, Thinking and Perceiving. Regressing personality and demographic factors on general intelligence indicated that they account for 14% of its variance. The investigation of personality and demographic predictors of specific mental abilities (numerical, verbal and abstract reasoning) revealed that El, TF and JP can be used to predict scores on all three mental abilities, whereas SN can be used to predict verbal reasoning only. The present study is an investigation of the extent to which Jung's personality type

Can cultural consumption increase future earnings? Exploring the economic returns to cultural capital

Cultural consumption is often viewed as a form of embodied cultural capital which can be converted into economic rewards (e.g., earnings) because such practices increase the likelihood of moving into more advantaged social positions. However, quantitative evidence supporting this theory remains uncertain because it is often unable to rule out alternative explanations. Cultural consumption appears to influence hiring decisions in some elite firms, in both the US and the UK, but it is unclear whether these processes are applicable to other professional occupations and other labour market processes, such as promotions. We examine these processes using data from Understanding Society, an individual‐level panel survey conducted in the UK, allowing us to explore whether cultural consumption predicts future earnings, upward social mobility and promotions. People who consume a larger number of cultural activities are more likely to earn higher wages in the future, to be upwardly socially mobile, and to be promoted. Cultural consumption, then, can function as cultural capital in some labour market settings, potentially contributing to the reproduction of income inequality between generations

Peripheralisation: A Politics of Place, Affect, Perception and Representation

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Recently scholars have started to consider the persistence of peripheries in relation to how they are 5 represented by others outside of the region. Drawing on Foucauldian knowledge/power processes 6 and forms of ‘internal colonialism’, powerful core regions construct and reconstruct knowledge about 7 peripheries as a weaker ‘other’. However this denies agency to passive, peripheral ‘victims’, 8 compromising their capacity to contest their peripherality. We challenge this using Deleuze and 9 Guattari’s assemblages and the concepts of affect and perception to develop a conceptualisation of 10 power which allows agency to weaker entities. This enables us to develop better tools for improving 11 peripheral development. We use an innovative Public Engagement research method and a case 12 study of Cornwall in the South West of the UK to consider an alternative model with regards to how 13 ideas become accepted and adopted. We claim that analyses of the relationships between core and 14 peripheral regions need to understand the complex cultural assemblages behind regional identities, 15 because this helps us to explore the sites of possibility which offer space for development

Spatially resolved proteomic profiling identifies tumor cell CD44 as a biomarker associated with sensitivity to PD-1 axis blockade in advanced non-small- cell lung cancer

Most patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) fail to derive significant benefit from programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) axis blockade, and new biomarkers of response are needed. In this study, we aimed to discover and validate spatially resolved protein markers associated with sensitivity to PD-1 axis inhibition in NSCLC