563 research outputs found
Population continuity or replacement at ancient Lachish? A dental affinity analysis in the Levant
Thesis (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2012Are material culture changes between late Bronze and early Iron Age inhabitants of Lachish, in modern day Israel, the result of immigrants settling the region, or an in situ evolution of practices by the same indigenous peoples? The research objectives are to: 1) assess dental affinity of an Iron Age Lachish sample relative to its Bronze Age predecessor, and 2) compare data in both groups with European and North African comparative samples to estimate biological affinity within the Mediterranean area. In the process, two competing hypotheses are tested; one postulates continuity and the other population replacement between the Bronze and Iron Age. Using the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System, dental trait frequencies were compared to determine inter-sample phonetic affinities. The results suggest: 1) biological continuity between the Lachish Bronze and Iron Ages, and 2) a marked level of heterogeneity with closer affinity to some Egyptian and Phoenician groups within the Mediterranean Diaspora. These findings lend support to one of many competing theories identifying the ancient Lachish peoples, while providing an increased understanding of the Bronze and Iron Age transition in the Levant, which is often considered one of the most intriguing and volatile periods in the Near East.1. Introduction -- Research problem and project development -- Methodological approach -- Objectives and goals of the study -- Research questions -- Hypothesis -- Significance -- Organization of thesis -- 2. Bronze and iron ages in Palestine -- Terminology -- Chronology -- Background: pottery and chronology -- Philistine pottery -- The chronological debate -- The modified conventional chronology -- The low chronology -- Geographic setting of Palestinian settlements -- The Bronze Age in Palestine -- Settlement and burial patterns -- Subsistence patterns -- The Iron Age in Palestine -- The Canaanites -- The Philistines -- The Israelites -- 3. Lachish -- Archaeological background -- Stratigraphy -- Archaeology: early Bronze (EB- ca. 3300-2300 B.C.E.) -- Middle Bronze (MB- ca. 2000-1550 B.C.E.) -- Late Bronze (LB- ca. 1550-1200/1098 B.C.E.) -- Construction -- Foreign relations -- Trade -- Industry -- Agriculture -- Philistine pottery and Lachish -- The end of the Bronze Age at Lachish -- The Iron Age (ca. 1200/1109-586/520 B.C.E.) -- Level V -- Level IV -- Level III -- Level II -- Who are the peoples of ancient Lachish? -- Affinity studies in Lachish and surrounding regions -- 4. Methodological background -- Dental anthropology -- Microevolutionary research and dental analysis -- Dental morphological study -- Advantages of using teeth as a research tool -- Disadvantages of using teeth as a research tool -- Current dental morphological methods -- 5. Materials and methods -- Materials : samples used in study -- Iron age skeletons -- Bronze age skeletons -- Comparative samples -- Methods -- Data collection -- Quantitative MMD -- Isolation-by-distance -- 6. Results -- Traits frequencies -- MMD -- Lachish bronze age sample (LCB) -- Lachish Iron Age sample (LCI) -- Isolation-by-distance -- 7. Discussion -- Egypt and Lachish -- Nubia and Lachish -- Isolation-by-distance -- Who are the peoples of ancient Lachish? -- 8. Conclusions and future research -- Literature cited -- Appendix
Determination of electromagnetic medium from the Fresnel surface
We study Maxwell's equations on a 4-manifold where the electromagnetic medium
is described by an antisymmetric -tensor . In this setting,
the Tamm-Rubilar tensor density determines a polynomial surface of fourth order
in each cotangent space. This surface is called the Fresnel surface and acts as
a generalisation of the light-cone determined by a Lorentz metric; the Fresnel
surface parameterises electromagnetic wave-speed as a function of direction.
Favaro and Bergamin have recently proven that if has only a principal
part and if the Fresnel surface of coincides with the light cone for a
Lorentz metric , then is proportional to the Hodge star operator of
. That is, under additional assumptions, the Fresnel surface of
determines the conformal class of . The purpose of this paper is
twofold. First, we provide a new proof of this result using Gr\"obner bases.
Second, we describe a number of cases where the Fresnel surface does not
determine the conformal class of the original -tensor . For
example, if is invertible we show that and have
the same Fresnel surfaces.Comment: 23 pages, 1 figur
Tracing controversies in hacker communities: ethical considerations for internet research
This paper reflects on the ethics of internet research on community controversies. Specifically, it focuses on controversies concerning gendered, social interaction in hacking communities. It addresses the question how internet researchers should treat and represent content that individuals controversially discussed online. While many internet sources are likewise technically public, they may yet suggest distinct privacy expectations on the part of involved individuals. In internet research, ethical decision-making regarding which online primary sources may be, e.g., referenced and quoted or require anonymisation is still ambiguous and contested. Instead of generalisable rules, the context dependence of internet research ethics has been frequently stressed. Given this ambiguity, the paper elaborates on ethical decisions and their implications by exploring the case of a controversial hackerspaces.org mailing list debate. In tracing data across different platforms, it analyses the emerging ethico-methodological challenges
Wave propagation in linear electrodynamics
The Fresnel equation governing the propagation of electromagnetic waves for
the most general linear constitutive law is derived. The wave normals are found
to lie, in general, on a fourth order surface. When the constitutive
coefficients satisfy the so-called reciprocity or closure relation, one can
define a duality operator on the space of the two-forms. We prove that the
closure relation is a sufficient condition for the reduction of the fourth
order surface to the familiar second order light cone structure. We finally
study whether this condition is also necessary.Comment: 13 pages. Phys. Rev. D, to appea
On the thermodynamics of the Swift–Hohenberg theory
We present the microbalance including the microforces, the first- and second-order microstresses for the Swift–Hohenberg equation concomitantly with their constitutive equations, which are consistent with the free-energy imbalance. We provide an explicit form for the microstress structure for a free-energy functional endowed with second-order spatial derivatives. Additionally, we generalize the Swift–Hohenberg theory via a proper constitutive process. Finally, we present one highly resolved three-dimensional numerical simulation to demonstrate the particular form of the resulting microstresses and their interactions in the evolution of the Swift–Hohenberg equation
- …