158 research outputs found
DATING THE MYANMAR BRONZE AGE: PRELIMINARY 14C DATES FROM THE OAKAIE 1 CEMETERY NEAR NYAUNG’GAN
Since 2014 the Mission Archéologique Française au Myanmar has been excavating a prehistoric cemetery, Oakaie 1, adjacent to the famous Nyaung’gan Bronze Age cemetery in Sagaing Division. Oakaie 1 (OAI1) was selected as a Nyaung’gan proxy in order to better understand the Neolithic-Bronze Age-Iron Age chronological transitions in upper-central Myanmar, for eventual regional-scale synthesis. An initial attempt to AMS 14C date 13 human femurs failed due to a lack of collagen but a subsequent effort using an apatite dating methodology on 5 femurs was successful. These preliminary data bracket part of the cemetery from the 9th to 6th c. BC with a 4th-3rd c. BC outlier. Typological and technological analogies between OAI1 and Nyaung’gan pottery grave goods likewise suggest an early 1st millennium BC date for the local Bronze Age
A partial prehistory of the Southwest Silk Road: Archaeometallurgical networks along the sub-Himalayan corridor
Historical phenomena often have prehistoric precedents, with this paper we investigate the
potential for archaeometallurgical analyses and networked data processing to elucidate the
progenitors of the Southwest Silk Road in Mainland Southeast Asia and southern China. We
present original microstructural, elemental and lead isotope data for 40 archaeological copperbase metal samples, mostly from the UNESCO-listed site of Halin, and lead isotope data for 25
geological copper-mineral samples, also from Myanmar. We combined these data with existing
datasets (N=98 total) and compared them to the 1000+ sample late prehistoric
archaeometallurgical database available from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Yunnan.
Lead isotope data, contextualised for alloy, find location and date, were interpreted manually for
intra-site, inter-site and inter-regional consistency, which hint at significant multi-scalar
connectivity from the late 2nd millennium BC. To test this interpretation statistically, the
archaeological lead isotope data were then processed using regionally-adapted productionderived consistency parameters. Complex networks analysis using the Leiden community
detection algorithm established groups of artefacts sharing lead isotopic consistency. Introducing
the geographic component allowed for the identification of communities of sites with consistent
assemblages. The four major communities were consistent with the manually interpreted
exchange networks and suggest southern sections of the Southwest Silk Road were active in the
late 2nd millennium BC
MicroRNA-155 negatively affects blood-brain barrier function during neuroinflammation.
Blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction is a hallmark of neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and stroke. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying neurovascular dysfunction during BBB breakdown remain elusive. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have recently emerged as key regulators of pathogenic responses, although their role in central nervous system (CNS) microvascular disorders is largely unknown. We have identified miR-155 as a critical miRNA in neuroinflammation at the BBB. miR-155 is expressed at the neurovascular unit of individuals with MS and of mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). In mice, loss of miR-155 reduced CNS extravasation of systemic tracers, both in EAE and in an acute systemic inflammation model induced by lipopolysaccharide. In cultured human brain endothelium, miR-155 was strongly and rapidly upregulated by inflammatory cytokines. miR-155 up-regulation mimicked cytokine-induced alterations in junctional organization and permeability, whereas inhibition of endogenous miR-155 partially prevented a cytokine-induced increase in permeability. Furthermore, miR-155 modulated brain endothelial barrier function by targeting not only cell-cell complex molecules such as annexin-2 and claudin-1, but also focal adhesion components such as DOCK-1 and syntenin-1. We propose that brain endothelial miR-155 is a negative regulator of BBB function that may constitute a novel therapeutic target for CNS neuroinflammatory disorders
Creating and curating an archive: Bury St Edmunds and its Anglo-Saxon past
This contribution explores the mechanisms by which the Benedictine foundation of Bury St Edmunds sought to legitimise and preserve their spurious pre-Conquest privileges and holdings throughout the Middle Ages. The archive is extraordinary in terms of the large number of surviving registers and cartularies which contain copies of Anglo-Saxon charters, many of which are wholly or partly in Old English. The essay charts the changing use to which these ancient documents were put in response to threats to the foundation's continued enjoyment of its liberties. The focus throughout the essay is to demonstrate how pragmatic considerations at every stage affects the development of the archive and the ways in which these linguistically challenging texts were presented, re-presented, and represented during the Abbey’s history
Initiating discourse on the (multi?) directionality of the Mainland Southeast Asian Bronze Age transition
International audienceDiscourse on early Southeast Asian metallurgy has been dominated by theories on how and when the technologyarrived from present-day China, with little to no discussion about how and when metallurgy dispersed withinSoutheast Asia. This situation is a logical result of how interest in prehistoric metallurgy and subsequentarchaeometallurgical investigation has developed in the region, particularly with respect to dating controversies andmajor geographical data biases. In this paper I propose a new and testable mid-late 2nd to early-1st millennium BCsouth-to-north and partly maritime/up-river dispersion model that seeks to complement the extra-regional theoriesfor metallurgy’s generally north-to-south terrestrial/down-river arrival in Mainland Southeast Asia
International Symposium on Qin Period Metallury and Its Social and Archaeological Context (秦时期冶金考古国际学术研讨会论文集)
à veni
Corrigenda to “Isotopic and technological variation in prehistoric Southeast Asian primary copper production" 2011, 38: 3309-3322
International audienc
- …