Excavation at Aguas Buenas, Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile, of a gunpowder magazine and the supposed campsite of Alexander Selkirk, together with an account of early navigational dividers

Excavations were undertaken of a ruined building at Aguas Buenas, identified as an 18th-century Spanish gunpowder magazine. Evidence was also found for the campsite of an early European occupant of the island. A case is made that this was Alexander Selkirk, a castaway here from 1704 to 1709. Selkirk was the model for Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. A detailed discussion is given of a fragment of copper alloy identifi ed as being from a pair of navigational dividers

Age at first birth in women is genetically associated with increased risk of schizophrenia

Prof. Paunio on PGC:n jäsenPrevious studies have shown an increased risk for mental health problems in children born to both younger and older parents compared to children of average-aged parents. We previously used a novel design to reveal a latent mechanism of genetic association between schizophrenia and age at first birth in women (AFB). Here, we use independent data from the UK Biobank (N = 38,892) to replicate the finding of an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women, and to estimate the genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in women stratified into younger and older groups. We find evidence for an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women (P-value = 1.12E-05), and we show genetic heterogeneity between younger and older AFB groups (P-value = 3.45E-03). The genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in the younger AFB group is -0.16 (SE = 0.04) while that between schizophrenia and AFB in the older AFB group is 0.14 (SE = 0.08). Our results suggest that early, and perhaps also late, age at first birth in women is associated with increased genetic risk for schizophrenia in the UK Biobank sample. These findings contribute new insights into factors contributing to the complex bio-social risk architecture underpinning the association between parental age and offspring mental health.Peer reviewe

Scientific studies in early mining and extractive metallurgy

SIGLELD:6213.66(20) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Furnaces and smelting technology in antiquity

11.00Available from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:6213.66(BM-OP--48) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

A revised geochronology of Thurston Island, West Antarctica, and correlations along the proto-Pacific margin of Gondwana.

The continental margin of Gondwana preserves a record of long-lived magmatism from the Andean Cordillera to Australia. The crustal blocks of West Antarctica form part of this margin, with Palaeozoic–Mesozoic magmatism particularly well preserved in the Antarctic Peninsula and Marie Byrd Land. Magmatic events on the intervening Thurston Island crustal block are poorly defined, which has hindered accurate correlations along the margin. Six samples are dated here using U-Pb geochronology and cover the geological history on Thurston Island. The basement gneisses from Morgan Inlet have a protolith age of 349±2 Ma and correlate closely with the Devonian–Carboniferous magmatism of Marie Byrd Land and New Zealand. Triassic (240–220 Ma) magmatism is identified at two sites on Thurston Island, with Hf isotopes indicating magma extraction from Mesoproterozoic-age lower crust. Several sites on Thurston Island preserve rhyolitic tuffs that have been dated at 182 Ma and are likely to correlate with the successions in the Antarctic Peninsula, particularly given the pre-break-up position of the Thurston Island crustal block. Silicic volcanism was widespread in Patagonia and the Antarctic Peninsula at ~ 183 Ma forming the extensive Chon Aike Province. The most extensive episode of magmatism along the active margin took place during the mid-Cretaceous. This Cordillera ‘flare-up’ event of the Gondwana margin is also developed on Thurston Island with granitoid magmatism dated in the interval 110–100 Ma