Assessment of organizational policies in a retail store based on a simulation model

This paper evaluates three organizational policies in a retail store by a discrete simulation model in Simio®. The policies implemented were using one, two, or three express checkouts, cross-trained workers, and allocating one, two, or three weighing counters in the produce section (fruit and vegetables). These policies were evaluated during days with low, medium, and high demand over critical performance metrics such as the queue length, waiting time, active and idle time rate, the average time in the system, average service time, and sales. Our results demonstrated that all policies are beneficial for the studied system but in days with high demand. In days with low or medium demand, there were good improvements for some indicators, but this conflicted with others. As the simulation model was implemented to evaluate each policy independently, a future direction should include studying the performance simultaneously

A symbolic Neanderthal accumulation of large herbivore crania

This work examines the possible behaviour of Neanderthal groups at the Cueva Des-Cubierta (central Spain) via the analysis of the latter’s archaeological assemblage. Alongside evidence of Mousterian lithic industry, Level 3 of the cave infill was found to contain an assemblage of mammalian bone remains dominated by the crania of large ungulates, some associated with small hearths. The scarcity of post-cranial elements, teeth, mandibles and maxillae, along with evidence of anthropogenic modification of the crania (cut and percussion marks), indicates that the carcasses of the corresponding animals were initially processed outside the cave, and the crania were later brought inside. A second round of processing then took place, possibly related to the removal of the brain. The continued presence of crania throughout Level 3 indicates that this behaviour was recurrent during this level’s formation. This behaviour seems to have no subsistence-related purpose but to be more symbolic in its intent