Discovering the Plan behind the Gordian Knot New Trends in Social and Liberal Sciences

At the beginning of December 2015, Dr. Tamer Balcı, one of the founding editors for New Trends in Social and Liberal Sciences, asked me to “write an essay or a welcome message indicating the significance of interdisciplinary studies.” It is a rare but rather daunting honor to be asked to write an opening essay for a new journal. How does one who is immersed in such interdisciplinary research share that excitement with others who are similarly engaged; or more provocatively, with those who are not? Perhaps by recognizing that interdisciplinary studies is not “new” per se but rather that it is the most dynamic means of understanding phenomena in the social and liberal sciences

Site Formation Processes of Submerged Shipwrecks. MATTHEW E. KEITH (Editor), 2016. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. Xi 276 Pp. $79.95 (Hardcover), ISBN 978-0-8130-6162-7

Site Formation Processes of Submerged Shipwrecks explores the physical and cultural processes affecting shipwreck sites. Authors from archaeology, chemistry, oceanography, and sediment dynamics share their expertise regarding the factors that influence the formation and preservation of shipwreck sites. These include the material aspects of ships, the underwater environment, and events including storms, chemical reactions, and subsequent human activity

Penetration of anthropophytes into alluvial phytocoenoses of the Skawica river valley (western Carpathians)

In this paper, data on penetration of anthropophytes into alluvial phytocoenoses, collected in the years 2006-2007, were analysed with reference to the level of their disturbance, community structure and localization of patches. The investigation was carried out in the whole Skawica valley (in the area comprising villages Zawoja, Skawica and Białka). On the basis of 106 phytosociological releves, eight associations were distinguished: Rorippo-Agrostietum, Phalarido-Petasitetum hybridi, Filipendulo ulmariae-Menthetum longifoliae, Phalaridetum arundinaceae, Glycerietum plicatae, Thyphetum latifoliae, Alnetum incanae, Salicetum albo-fragilis. It was stated that phytocoenoses undisturbed or less disturbed are penetrated with anthropophytes in smaller degree while riparian forest associations are more threated by anthropophytes. Invasive species - Impatiens glandulifera, Impatiens parviflora and Reynoutria japonica - most frequently penetrate phytocoenoses of Alnetum incanae, Salicetum albo-fragilis, Phalarido-Petasitetum hybridi and Filipendulo ulmariae-Menthetum longifoliae. Communities which are free from penetration by anthropophytes in this area include rush associations: Glycerietum plicatae and Typhetum latifoliae

Spanish Artifacts from Santa Elena

This volume contains Parts I and 2 of a three-part presentation of the artifacts relating to the sixteenth century Spanish occupation of the colonial capital of La Florida at Santa Elena, located on Parris Island, South Carolina from 1566 to 1587. Part 1, by Stanley South, with contributions by Eugene Lyon, Richard Polhemus, William Radisch and Carl Steen, comprises the Spanish non-ceramic artifacts. Part 2, by Russell Skowronek, Richard Johnson and Stanley South, examines the Spanish imported ceramics. Part 3, incomplete at this writing, by Chester Depratter, deals with the Spanish-contemporary Indian pottery. This third part will be published as a separate volume at a later date. The entire artifact inventory of the artifacts from Santa Elena is presented in this three-part volume, being those recovered from a number of expeditions to the site between 1979 and 1985. For comparative use the appendices contain the tabulated artifact inventory resulting from these expeditions. Synthesizing tables from these data are presented in the text. This information should prove useful to students of sixteenth century Spanish colonial history, particularly historical archaeologists involved in excavating sites of this period wherever they may be.https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/archanth_anthro_studies/1008/thumbnail.jp

Developing a Statistically Valid AND Practically Useful Student Evaluation Instrument

The current article presents the findings on the development of a student evaluation instrument in which course evaluation is directly tied to student learning outcomes. With a committee consisting of instructors from six distinct disciplines brought together as part of a working group for this purpose, the instrument was developed utilizing research on the components of effective teaching and how these components impacted student learning. The instrument was tested at two time points, once via pen and paper (n=340 students) and the other online (n=2636 students). Factor Analysis resulted in one latent factor both times. The instrument also had high internal consistency reliability. Comparisons of individual student factors revealed a few variables significantly predicted ratings, but effect sizes were small. This work suggests an instrument has been created that assesses components of effective teaching, via the impact on student learning, and the ratings obtained are not highly influenced by individual factors

Positive maps, positive polynomials and entanglement witnesses

We link the study of positive quantum maps, block positive operators, and entanglement witnesses with problems related to multivariate polynomials. For instance, we show how indecomposable block positive operators relate to biquadratic forms that are not sums of squares. Although the general problem of describing the set of positive maps remains open, in some particular cases we solve the corresponding polynomial inequalities and obtain explicit conditions for positivity.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figur

Musical Life of the Santa Clara Mission, Hymns from 1777-1836

The following seventeen hymns or himnos are to be found in Santa Clara Choral Book, as indicated by the page number given in parentheses. For instance, (CB, 65) means that the hymn transcribed can be found on page 65 of the Choral Book. The text is in Spanish, and the original notation appears in square notes on afa or ut clef, as in the rest of the Choral Book. I have transcribed all of these himnos into modem notation , in as many as four voice parts, as indicated in the Choral Book. Only the first strophe of each hymn is directly written in with the music; any additional strophes appear separately, beneath the musical staves. My transcription of the full Spanish lyrics of each hymn follows the musical transcriptions. A complete set of English translations, guided by the thoughtful and expert assistance of Margarita Delgado, is included

Deflation Troughs, Water, and Prehistoric Occupation on the Margins of the South Texas Sand Sheet

Within the South Texas Plains, the area broadly defined by the Rio Grande to the south and the Nueces River to the north, a distance of ca. 175 km, evidence of open human occupation is remarkably abundant. Because it is predominantly a region of loose, sandy soils and active and relict sand dunes where wind processes dominate, the area is known as the South Texas Sand Sheet (STSS). There is no running water within the STSS and all streams are ephemeral. Existing drainage systems are small, localized, and not integrated, carrying water for a few days and up to two weeks after the passage of a storm. The lack of running water makes human occupation on this semi-arid area even more remarkable. The STSS and the adjacent wind deflated areas have hundreds of small and shallow elongated deflation troughs. Most of these poorly drained swales retain seasonal fresh water that sustain high moisture plants and are ephemeral wetlands; a small percentage of them hold water year round. As a result, the long history of human occupation of the STSS was possible due to the presence of the deflation troughs. This study explores the connection between human occupation of the STSS and deflation troughs at four previously unreported archeological sites in northern Hidalgo County using a combination of intensive archeological and geological survey, oral history, GIS technology, and existing soil maps

Deflation Troughs, Water, and Prehistoric Occupation on the Margins of the South Texas Sand Sheet

Within the South Texas Plains, the area broadly defined by the Rio Grande to the south and the Nueces River to the north, a distance of ca. 175 km, evidence of open human occupation is remarkably abundant. Because it is predominantly a region of loose, sandy soils and active and relict sand dunes where wind processes dominate, the area is known as the South Texas Sand Sheet (STSS). There is no running water within the STSS and all streams are ephemeral. Existing drainage systems are small, localized, and not integrated, carrying water for a few days and up to two weeks after the passage of a storm. The lack of running water makes human occupation on this semi-arid area even more remarkable. The STSS and the adjacent wind deflated areas have hundreds of small and shallow elongated deflation troughs. Most of these poorly drained swales retain seasonal fresh water that sustain high moisture plants and are ephemeral wetlands; a small percentage of them hold water year round. As a result, the long history of human occupation of the STSS was possible due to the presence of the deflation troughs. This study explores the connection between human occupation of the STSS and deflation troughs at four previously unreported archeological sites in northern Hidalgo County using a combination of intensive archeological and geological survey, oral history, GIS technology, and existing soil maps

Nuevo Santander The Unrealized Archaeological Potential of a “Civilian” Province in Northern New Spain

In 1746 the Viceroy of New Spain called for the founding of a new province to be located between the Rio Grande and the Nueces River. Between 1748-1755 two dozen civilian communities of farmers and ranchers were established by the province’s founder José de Escandón. Many towns were founded along the banks of the Rio Grande where there was access to water and lands for agriculture and grazing. Each town served as the administrative, economic, and ecclesiastical hub for surrounding land grants and ranches. Were it not for the work of W. Eugene George, Mindy Bonine, and Mary Jo Galindo, our knowledge of the architectural and archaeological history of this region would be woefully incomplete. In this presentation the CHAPS Program team draws on the work of these pioneers and continuing original research concerning the surviving archaeological and architectural record of the Lower Rio Grande Valley