Cultural and Demic Diffusion of First Farmers, Herders, and their Innovations Across Eurasia

Was the spread of agropastoralism from the Eurasian founder regions dominated by demic or by cultural diffusion? This study employs a mathematical model of regional sociocultural development that includes different diffusion processes, local innovation and societal adaptation. Simulations hindcast the emergence and expansion of agropastoral life style in 294 regions of Eurasia and North Africa. Different scenarios for demic and diffusive exchange processes between adjacent regions are contrasted and the spatiotemporal pattern of diffusive events is evaluated. This study supports from a modeling perspective the hypothesis that there is no simple or exclusive demic or cultural diffusion, but that in most regions of Eurasia a combination of demic and cultural processes were important. Furthermore, we demonstrate the strong spatial and temporal variability in the balance of spread processes. Each region shows sometimes more demic, and at other times more cultural diffusion. Only few, possibly environmentally marginal, areas show a dominance of demic diffusion. This study affirms that diffusion processes should be investigated in a diachronic fashion and not from a time-integrated perspective.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, revised version submitted to Documenta Prehistori

The Neolithic transition in Europe: archaeological models and genetic evidence

The major pattern in the European gene pool is a southeast-northwest frequency gradient of classic genetic markers such as blood groups, which population geneticists initially attributed to the demographic impact of Neolithic farmers dispersing from the Near East. Molecular genetics has enriched this picture, with analyses of mitochondrial DNA and the Y chromosome allowing a more detailed exploration of alternative models for the spread of the Neolithic into Europe. This paper considers a range of possible models in the light of the detailed information now emerging from genetic studies

El espirítu nuevo de Joanot Martorell: las lecturas de dámaso Alonso y Mario Vargas Llosa

En el primer volumen de la “Revista valenciana de filologia”, publicado en 1951, apareció un artículo de indudable interés para trazar la historia de la difusión de la novela de Joanot Martorell por tierras hispánicas: me refiero a"Tirant lo Blanc, novela modema", de Dámaso Alonso. Esta monografía tiene su punto de partida en las ediciones que Martin de Riquer había preparado pocos años antes del original catalán y de la traducción castellana de 1511, que facilitaron la lectura y la investigación de la obra de manera muy significativa al fijar los textos y al ofrecer introducciones y notas que no solo constituían excelentes "estados de la cuestión", sino que también brindaban innumerables aportaciones y sugerencias que propiciaron el nacimiento de buena parte de la crítica tirantiana posterior. El propio Riquer, en su reciente Aproximació al "Tirant lo Blanc", al hablar de los comentarios que, a partir del Quijote, ha suscitado la obra, llama la atención sobre este breve ensayo, que considera "el primer gran estudi" de que disponemos, y recoge sus principales aportaciones estéticas y literaria

De serpientes y de mujeres: a propósito de unos versos de quevedo

Para todo aquel que guste de la poesia castellana de los Siglos de Oro no habrá pasado desapercibido el ambivalente papel que interpreta la mujer como tema literario -ambi­ valencia de dilatada trayectoria, sin duda-. Si pudiéramos polarizar diríamos que esa mujer literaturizada, y por consiguiente tan irreal como extremadamente cotidiana, sufre por un lado la influencia de la lírica de tradición petrarquista (la dama idealizada, cúmulo de virtudes físicas y morales) y, por otro, la difusión de los modelos de buena parte de Ia poesfa popu­ lar y de la religiosa (con una concepción más claramente terrena yen muchas ocasiones misógina)

Monuments and Monumentality:The cosmological model of the world of megaliths

Neolithic monuments are physical and conceptual expressions of ideas about the nature of the world inhabited by early north European farmers. This contribution explores the complex symbolism encoded in megalithic architecture, and the socio-ritual interactions within which megaliths offered venues for public gatherings in which individuals participated singly or as members of larger groups. By bringing communities together – be it in thanksgiving, worship or pilgrimage – megaliths bridged the gap between the immediate, quotidian and local realities of life and the anomalous entities of the multi-dimensional universe in which past, present and future were given tangible permanence

Alma y vida. El origen de un fracaso histórico

El 9 de abril de 1902 se estrenaba en Madrid Alma y vida de don Benito Pérez Galdós. Es de suponer cierta expectación tras el éxito, y escándalo, de Electra. Pero Alma y vida no logró igualar la obra precedente. Algunos autores hablan de un rotundo fracasoI, otros de una buena acogida (Ángel Berenguer, p. 30). Lo cierto es que Galdós, en el prólogo a la edición de la obra, se queja del mal trato que le dio la crítica, aunque sin referirse a la acogida del público, cosa que sí había hecho en el prólogo de Los condenados. Más bien, el autor parece achacar el que su obra pasase bastante desapercibida ala labor descuidada de una crítica mal preparada. Cuáles fueron esas opiniones de los contemporáneos de Galdós acerca de su nueva obra es el primer acercamiento a Alma y vida que debemos hacer

Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement patterns in central Moldavia (Romania)

International audienceDespite a long tradition of studies of the Moldavian Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures, the analysis of the territorial behaviour of human communities remains underexploited. This work combines concepts used in landscape archaeology with the potential of the Geographic Information System (GIS) to mobilise archaeological artefacts in a large-scale setting and for many thematic purposes. This paper aims to compare the spatial and temporal distributions of archaeological evidence in central Moldavia. Applying integrated approaches through GIS analysis, it explores the natural, economic and social phenomena involved in territorial trajectories during the Later Prehistory (6000-3500 BC). In the chronological framework of the Starcevo-Cris, Linear Pottery, Precucuteni and Cucuteni cultures, different types of spatial analysis are computed in order to underline territorial control and supply strategies in an area well known for its density of its fortified settlements, extremely rich soils and abundance of salt spring

Ekspanzivno učenje in raziskovalne prakse na Slovenski univerzi za tretje življenjsko obdobje

Several innovative projects have been conducted at the Slovenian Third Age University (U3A), creating important new social practices. The project results impact exploratory learning as well as learning and development in the wider community. The aim of the paper is to describe selected research practices at the Slovenian U3A and to interpret them through the theory of expansive learning. In terms of methodology, the research is designed as ethnographic research with elements of the phenomenological and reflexive research paradigm. Selected examples of exploratory learning at the Slovenian U3A are used to identify the factors that influence the development of exploratory learning and the way they are experienced by those involved in exploratory learning processes. It has been found that expansive learning at the Slovenian U3A leads to innovative and socially engaged practices.Na Slovenski univerzi za tretje življenjsko (SUTŽO) obdobje poteka več inovativnih projektov, ki ustvarjajo družbeno pomembne nove prakse, tako da postanejo rezultati raziskovalnega učenja vplivni tudi za učenje in razvoj v širši skupnosti. Namen prispevka je opisati izbrane raziskovalne prakse na SUTŽO in jih interpretirati s teorijo ekspanzivnega učenja. Metodološko je raziskava zasnovana kot etnografska raziskava z elementi fenomenološke in refleksivne raziskovalne paradigme. Ob izbranih primerih raziskovalnega učenja na SUTŽO avtorji opredelijo vplivne dejavnike za razvoj raziskovalnega učenja in doživljanje le-teh pri udeleženih v procesih raziskovalnega učenja. Ugotovitve kažejo, da ekspanzivno učenje na SUTŽO poteka kot inovativna in družbeno angažirana praksa

In search of rituals and group dynamics: correspondence analyses of Neolithic grave fields on the Island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea

In this paper, I analyze two Neolithic grave fields on Gotland (at Visby and Västerbjers) belonging to the Scandinavian Pitted Ware culture. The burials at the two sites are of males and females from all different age groups. They were buried with some variability concerning grave rituals and grave gifts. The aim of this paper is therefore to make a relational multi-varied Correspondence Analysis of the individuals and their artefact variations to enable new contextual interpretations.V članku analiziramo dve neolitski grobišči na Gotlandu (Visby in Västerbjers), ki pripadata skandinavski kulturi jamičaste keramike. V grobiščih so pokopani moški in ženske vseh starosti. Opazne so razlike v pokopnih ritualih in grobnih pridatkih. S pomočjo multivariantne korespondenčne analize posameznih pokopov in sprememb v artefaktnih zbirih predstavljamo novo kontekstualno interpretacijo

Vključenost vzgojiteljev predšolskih otrok v informalno učenje kot pomemben dejavnik njihovega profesionalnega razvoja

Every preschool teacher’s activity results in changes in the preschool teacher as well as in the practice. In situations where we have a limited number and form of professional training offered to preschool teachers, whose attendance is not always subject to the personal plan of preschool teachers’ professional development, informal learning adds great value to teacher development. This paper aims to examine the involvement of preschool teachers in certain forms of informal learning and their reflection on the impact these forms have on their professional development. The empirical part of the paper presents the results of a survey conducted among preschool teachers. 110 preschool teachers from the Republic of Croatia responded to the questionnaire and we got answers to two research questions. The results show that preschool teachers are most often involved in a form of informal learning which includes agreeing on how to work with a colleague from the group and documenting the children’s activities.Vsaka aktivnost vzgojiteljev predšolskih otrok spreminja tako posameznega vzgojitelja kot prakso v vrtcu. V razmerah, ko smo omejeni tako pri številu kot obliki strokovnih usposabljanj predšolskih vzgojiteljev, katerih udeležba v njih tudi ni vedno odvisna od osebnega načrta poklicnega razvoja vzgojiteljev v vrtcu, ima informalno učenje velik pomen za razvoj vzgojiteljev. Namen prispevka je raziskati vključenost vzgojiteljev predšolskih otrok v nekatere oblike informalnega učenja in njihov razmislek o vplivu teh oblik na njihov profesionalni razvoj. V empiričnem delu prispevka so predstavljeni rezultati ankete med 110 vzgojitelji predšolskih otrok v Republiki Hrvaški. Na podlagi vprašalnika smo dobili odgovore na dve raziskovalni vprašanji. Rezultati kažejo, da so predšolski vzgojitelji najpogosteje vključeni v informalno učenje, ki zajema dogovor o tem, kako sodelovati s kolegom iz skupine, in dokumentiranje otrokovih dejavnosti