1,721,005 research outputs found
Combination of Different Proxies for Estimating Demographic Development in the Transition to the Bronze Age on the Iberian Peninsula
No full textIn many parts of the Iberian Peninsula, the transition from the Copper Age to the Bronze Age is marked by profound demographic
changes. Although the local conditions and cultural development can vary greatly, the Iberian Peninsula can be divided into two
zones. Especially in the south, which has been a hotspot of archaeological investigations for decades, a clear increase in settlement
evidence can be observed for the Copper Age. With the transition to the Bronze Age, different trajectories become clear within the
southern region: In the South West there is a widespread abandonment of settlements and discontinuity. Wherever stratigraphic
continuity is evident, a significant change can be found in the archaeological material within a site. The rapid spread of early Bronze
Age cultures on the southeastern Iberian Peninsula seems to be accompanied by a demographic boom. This can be derived from
regional land use reconstructions and estimates of grain production. This is accompanied by signs of a highly stratifying society with
control over resources and food production.
By means of aoristic analyses and 14C cumulative calibrations we try to understand these changes in more detail and to investigate
whether climatic influences and the resulting population shifts may have played a role. To this end, we combine the existing evidence
from different data sources and proxies, such as changed economic conditions, abandonment of settlements and palaeobotanical
predictions of human influence, in a common quantitative framework in order to estimate and test temporal relationships and cau-
sality. The observed correlations are tested for their statistical significance using a Monte Carlo-based method. Firstly, we can sug-
gest that a combination of environmental influences and socio-economic reconfiguration is likely to trigger the demographic shifts
Regional Climatic and Social Transformations During the 4.2 ka BP Event in the Southern Iberian Peninsula
No full textWithin the F1 project of the CRC 1266 ‘Scales of Transformation‘ we are investigating the 4.2 ka BP event in the western Mediterra-
nean and its influence on the transformation of societies at the major cultural transition from a Neolithic/Chalcolithic configuration
towards the Bronze Age.
Hereby the local timing and magnitude of the climatic oscillation during the event and the intensity and character of the societal
change by quantification of the archaeological record are in focus. The intent is to correlate both proxies and to test if and to what
extent the climate may have triggered and influenced developments in the human sphere.
Geochemical analyses of long chained n-alkanes and alkenones from a marine sedimentary archive (ODP-161-976A) from the Al-
boran Sea are taken out in order to investigate changes in precipitation, vegetation dynamics and sea surface temperatures. We
combine this record with an estimation of the demographic development, which we obtain with the help of summed 14C data and
aoristics.
Our recent results indicate two prominent arid periods centred around 4.0 ka BP and 4.25 ka BP interrupted by more humid condi-
tions. Furthermore, we found a correlation between the development of precipitation and demographic proxies. It is also evident that
the settlement structures changed in the course of the climatic shift.
Still a finer chronological resolution is desirable for both climatological and archaeological proxies. Nevertheless, it is already pos-
sible to examine the hypothesis of early statehood on the Iberian Peninsula in a more differentiated way than before by taking into
account the changed environmental conditions and a detailed and quantitative description of large transformations in the social
sphere
Aridification and Socio-Economic Reconfiguration as the Cause of Transformed Human-Environmental Relationships. The Crisis of the Calcolithic-Bronze Age Southern Iberian Peninsula
No full textrchaeologically the turn from the 3rd to the 2nd millennium BCE is characterized by the transition from the Copper Age to the
Bronze Age social and economic configuration (not only) on the Iberian peninsula. This goes hand in hand with a social restructuring
from a society that is to some extent characterized by increasing complexity and hierarchy to a society that clearly shows a social
stratification and unequal access to resources.
This transition is accompanied climatologically by the 4.2 ky BP event, an aridification event likely to last from the 24th to the 22nd
century BCE and which, in its effect on past cultural developments, is considered to be one of the most severe of the Holocene.
Today, Mediterranean coastal regions are characterised by a dry to semiarid climate, with some regions receiving less than 200 mm
of precipitation per year. The southern Iberian Peninsula in particular is vulnerable to desertification and droughts, and the climate
has a strong impact on local society and economies.
Based on combined archaeological and climatological investigations we can show how climate change has affected the population
development of this period and how settlement foci and preferences have changed in the course of two successive droughts. As
a result of the aridification, the Copper Age societies were forced to develop strategies of evasion and resilience, which in turn
enabled them to locate and colonize places that had hitherto been unfavourable for settlement. These new strategies in turn led to
a significant transformation of the Mediterranean region of the southern Iberian Peninsula through human impact (deforestation, El
Argar).
We present this development as an early example of a trajectory in which the reciprocal influence of man and the environment inter-
twined has had a lasting influence on the further development of both spheres
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Human impact and population dynamics in the Neolithic and Bronze Age: Multi-proxy evidence from north-western Central Europe
Full text linkThis paper aims at reconstructing the population dynamics during the Neolithic and Bronze Age, c. 4500–500 cal. BC, in north-western Central Europe. The approach is based on the assumption that increased population density is positively linked with human activity and human impact on the environment, respectively. Therefore, we use archaeological 14C dates and palaeoenvironmental data from northern Germany and south-western Denmark to construct and compare independent proxies of human activity. The latter involves relative quantification of human impact based on pollen analysis and soil erosion history inferred from summarizing of dated colluvial layers. Concurring patterns of changes in human activity are frequently recorded on a multi-centennial scale. Whereas such multi-proxy patterns are interpreted to indicate relative population changes, divergent patterns are discussed in the context of proxy-related uncertainties and potential biases. Patterns of temporal distribution of increasing and decreasing human activity are understood as ‘boom and bust’ phases in population density/size. Based on the comparison of the three proxies, we identify five phases of growing (boom) and four phases of decreasing (bust) population. The boom phases date to ca. 4000–3500, 3000–2900, 2200–2100, 1450–1300 and 1000–750 cal. BC. The bust phases to ca. 3200–3000, 2400–2300, 1650–1500 and 1200–1100 cal. BC
Potential responses and resilience of Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age societies to mid-to Late Holocene climate change on the southern Iberian Peninsula
Full text linkIn this investigation, we use a socio-environmental multi-proxy approach to empirically test hypotheses of recurrent resilience cycles and the role of climate forcing in shaping such cycles on the Iberian Peninsula during mid-Holocene times. Our approach combines time series reconstructions of societal and environmental variables from the southern Iberian Peninsula across a 3000 yr time interval (6000–3000 cal yr BP), covering major societal and climate reorganisation. Our approach is based on regional compilations of climate variables from diverse terrestrial archives and integrates new marine climate records from the Western Mediterranean. Archaeological variables include changes in material culture, settlement reconstructions and estimates of human activities. In particular, both detailed chronologies of human activities evolving from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age and mid- to Late Holocene climate change across the mid-Holocene are compared, aiming to assess potential human responses and coping processes associated with abrupt mid-Holocene climate changes
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
- …
