Mereology and uncertainty

Mereology as an art of composing complex concepts out of simpler parts is suited well to the task of reasoning under uncertainty: whereas it is most often difficult to ascertain whether a given thing is an element of a concept, it is possible to decide with belief degree close to certainty that the class of things is an ingredient of an other class, which is sufficient for carrying out the reasoning whose conclusions are taken as true under given conditions. We present in this work a scheme for reasoning based on mereology in which mereology in the classical sense is fuzzified in analogy to the concept fuzzification in the sense of L. A. Zadeh. In this process, mereology becomes rough mereology

Animal Hill – a Large Prehistoric Rock Art site CO178 in the Central Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt

This article introduces one of the largest rock art sites found in the central Dakhleh Oasis. Firstly, an overview of all the panels with petroglyphs is provided and the images briefly described. The panels’ description contains basic information on their location and visibility, motifs and their compositional aspects, and chronology. This is followed by a brief summary of the presented data and a discussion situating the site in the broader context of Dakhleh and the surrounding Western Desert. Particular motifs and their arrangements, like a herd of giraffes, are further briefly discussed, and parallels from the Dakhleh region and the Nile valley cited in order to compare the CO178 rock art

Rock art as an element of cultural landscape of the Dakhleh Oasis

Wydział HistorycznyW niniejszej pracy podjęty zostaje wątek znaczenia obecności sztuki naskalnej w krajobrazie Oazy Dachla (Egipt) na przestrzeni dziejów. By jednak móc przedstawić kolejne kategorie petroglifów i ich roli w rzeczywistości społecznej w różnych okresach prowadzone są najpierw rozważania teoretyczne dotyczące definicji krajobrazu. W pracy tej do interpretacji sztuki naskalnej w krajobrazie wykorzystywane są założenia charakterystyczne dla archeologii postprocesualnej, a także koncepcji ontologii relacyjnych, zwłaszcza animizmu. Sztuka naskalna rozumiana jako narzędzie do oswajania krajobrazu omawiana jest w rozdziale 6 poświęconym petroglifom z okresu dynastycznego i grecko-rzymskiego. Petroglify prahistoryczne są z kolei przedmiotem rozważań w rozdziale 5, w którym postuluje się rozumienie tych przedstawień jako element animistycznego świata łowców-zbieraczy. Ostatnia część pracy poświęcona jest biograficznemu charakterowi krajobrazów sztuki naskalnej i zmienności znaczeniowej, jaka owej biografii towarzyszy. Całość dopełniają aneksy, w których znajdują się klasyfikacje wybranych motywów. Podstawę dla studiów stanowią badania terenowe przeprowadzone przez autora w latach 2012-2014.The subject of the following work refers to a meaning of rock art in the landscape of the Dakhleh Oasis (Egypt) throughout the millennia. To be able to present different categories of petroglyphs and their significance in past social realities the theoretical considerations regarding the landscape definition are presented in a first place. In this work the assumptions underlying the interpretation are characteristic for postprocessual archaeology and the concept of relational ontologies, especially the animistic approach. Rock art understood as a tool for taming the landscape is the subject of the chapter 6 dedicated to the Dynastic and Graeco-Roman petroglyphs. The prehistoric pictures form the subject considered in the chapter 5, in which they are conceptualized as an element of the animistic world of the hunters-gatherers. The last part of the work concerns the biographical character of the rock art landscapes and the changeability of their meanings as the consequence of their biographies. Several appendices containing the classifications of selected motifs were added at the end. The basis for the presented studies is the fieldwork conducted by the author between 2012 and 2014

Oasis bestiarum. Animals in Dakhleh Oasis rock art (Egypt)

Les animaux constituent la majeure partie des sujets gravés, relevés par la Petroglyph Unit du Dakhleh Oasis Project, dans l’oasis de Dakhla en Égypte. Cet article est l’occasion d’établir un tour d’horizon des espèces animales identifiables au sein du très riche corpus de figures zoomorphes, qui en compte 1429. Ces gravures sont étudiées ici principalement en termes de technique de production, caractéristiques formelles et chronologie. Leur signification potentielle est intentionnellement laissée de côté. Chaque catégorie de zoomorphe est étudiée individuellement, en commençant par les représentations les plus abondantes qui sont celles de girafes et d’oryx. En conclusion de l’article, la discussion finale permet de resituer l’art animalier de Dakhla dans un contexte plus vaste, et aborde la problématique des restes fauniques. Diverses questions concernant les matériaux analysés sont posées, questions qui sont également d’un intérêt plus large pour l’archéologie du Désert occidental égyptien.Animals constitute a vast share of petroglyphs recorded in Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, during the past 30 years by the Petroglyph Unit of the Dakhleh Oasis Project. In this paper I provide a detailed overview of all the animal species which can be fairly certainly recognised among the rich zoomorphic corpus of figures, which counts 1429 figures. The animals are discussed mainly in terms of techniques of production, other formal traits, and chronology. Their potential significance is here intentionally left aside. Each category of zoomorphs is considered separately, beginning with the most abundant depictions of giraffes and oryxes. The final discussion, which concludes the paper, situates Dakhleh zoomorphic rock art in a broader context, as well as touches upon issues related to faunal remains. I pose various questions regarding the analysed material, which may have also some relevance for the entire Western Desert of Egypt

Oasis bestiarum. Les animaux dans l’art rupestre de l’oasis de Dakhla (Égypte)

Les animaux constituent la majeure partie des sujets gravés, relevés par la Petroglyph Unit du Dakhleh Oasis Project, dans l’oasis de Dakhla en Égypte. Cet article est l’occasion d’établir un tour d’horizon des espèces animales identifiables au sein du très riche corpus de figures zoomorphes, qui en compte 1429. Ces gravures sont étudiées ici principalement en termes de technique de production, caractéristiques formelles et chronologie. Leur signification potentielle est intentionnellement laissée de côté. Chaque catégorie de zoomorphe est étudiée individuellement, en commençant par les représentations les plus abondantes qui sont celles de girafes et d’oryx. En conclusion de l’article, la discussion finale permet de resituer l’art animalier de Dakhla dans un contexte plus vaste, et aborde la problématique des restes fauniques. Diverses questions concernant les matériaux analysés sont posées, questions qui sont également d’un intérêt plus large pour l’archéologie du Désert occidental égyptien.Animals constitute a vast share of petroglyphs recorded in Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, during the past 30 years by the Petroglyph Unit of the Dakhleh Oasis Project. In this paper I provide a detailed overview of all the animal species which can be fairly certainly recognised among the rich zoomorphic corpus of figures, which counts 1429 figures. The animals are discussed mainly in terms of techniques of production, other formal traits, and chronology. Their potential significance is here intentionally left aside. Each category of zoomorphs is considered separately, beginning with the most abundant depictions of giraffes and oryxes. The final discussion, which concludes the paper, situates Dakhleh zoomorphic rock art in a broader context, as well as touches upon issues related to faunal remains. I pose various questions regarding the analysed material, which may have also some relevance for the entire Western Desert of Egypt