88,044 research outputs found
Rafael García Mahíques (dir.) Los tipos iconográficos de la tradición cristiana, 2: Los Ángeles i: La Gloria y sus jerarquías Encuentro, Madrid 2016, 588 pp. [RESEÑA]
No full textLa Santa Escuela de Cristo [RECENSIÓN]
No full textFermín LABARGA, La Santa Escuela de Cristo, Madrid: BAC, 2013, 952 pp.
Lucas F. Mateo Seco (†
A molecular approach to the study of the ancient populations of southern Italy
No full textThe peopling of southern Italy must be traced back to the first expansion of the early forms of our species because of the geographical location of this area in the middle of the Mediterranean basin. Since then, the area was the site of a complex network of migration of different peoples, mainly from Phoenicia, Greece, Arabia, the Balkans, the Middle and Near East and north Africa, resulting in a heterogeneous pattern of both cultural and genetic interactions. In order to test the extent of the genetic impact of these various populations upon the peoples of southern Italy, a mitochondrial-DNA (mtDNA)-based research program was undertaken. This would help trace the geographic origin and past history of these populations. Previous detailed and extensive investigations on the distribution of traditional marker allele frequencies in the Sicilian and Apulian extant populations, could only clearly detect the presence of the more recent gene flow from north Africa and the Middle East, superimposed on a predominant Greek genetic substratum. No traces of the ancient groups who peopled Italy in pre-Roman times were detected. Other authors still claim that it is possible to determine the existence of such ancient traces in southern Italy, stressing the difficulties connected to the reconstruction of human evolution based uniquely on the present structure of the genes. Until recently, population genetic studies have heavily relied upon indirect evidence from the genetics of extant populations as well as information gained from cultural, historical and anthropological sources. The possibility to recover DNA from ancient soft tissue, bone and teeth, and the development of sensitive molecular techniques, such as PCR, have enabled us to directly compare genetic diversity between extinct populations and their extant counterparts. This has also provided a temporal dimension to the study of molecular evolution. These comparisons will generate independent data to address archaeological issues concerning migration, population replacement, lineage extinction, inbreeding, and the genetic relationships of ancient human populations. DNA from bone and tooth samples obtained from the necropoles of Rifriscolaro (6th century BC) and Ticchiara (Bronze age), and DNA of extant populations from various Mediterranean areas, were extracted and analysed for mtDNA polymorphisms (region V, D-loop I and II). Moreover, in order to identify the remains of the family of the Prince Branciforte (a Sicilian maecenas and benefactor who lived between 16th and 17th centuries), molecular sex identification and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analyses were used. a-DNA were extracted from the ribs of two adult and three young individuals. NJ and ML phylogenetic reconstructions, performed to verify the reliability of the identified ancient lineages, confirmed the clustering of the Mediterranean mtDNAs into distinct lineage groups, each defined by a set of associated polymorphisms. The joint analysis of D-loop I and II allowed the identification of at least three distinct lineages within the previously identified aplogroup 1 (or H)
Analisi paleobiologiche degli inumati dell’ipogeo dell’Età del Bronzo di Madonna di Loreto (Trinitapoli).
No full textAncient burned Human Remains Probed by Neutron and Optical Vibrational Spectroscopy
No full textFesta G, Rickards O, Martinez-Labarga C, Martini F, Marques MPM, Batista de Carvalho LAE, Gonçalves D, Parker S, Andreani C. 2017. Ancient Burned Human Remains Probed by Neutron and Optical Vibrational Spectroscopy. 27th February. Multisciplinary Research Meeting@Centro NAST, Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy
Ancient Biomolecules Unravel our History: A Technical Update with Examples from the Middle East
No full textContext: The study of ancient biomolecules represents a useful tool to address questions related to human history.
Objective: This manuscript provides an overview of the major categories of ancient biomolecules, highlighting their
potentialities when applied to research.
Methods: This study gathered knowledge from recently published papers on paleogenomics, paleoproteomics, ancient lipids
and stable isotope analyses with the aim of providing a technical and historical background on ancient biomolecules, and examples
of their application in the Arabian Peninsula and Middle East in general.
Results: The progress seen in the past decade with regard to the study of ancient biomolecules has led to a dramatic expansion
of the studies that apply those analyses. Increasing attention has also been paid to the development and optimization of protocols
aimed at reducing and/or preventing the risk of contamination. While extensively applied to Western areas, the study of ancient
biomolecules in the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula has been limited.
Conclusions: Research on ancient biomolecules represents the most valuable source of information to understand our
evolutionary past at an inconceivable level of detail, especially when applied to areas so far underrepresented in this field, such as
the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula in particular
Mitochondrial variability in the Mediterranean area: a complex stage for human migrations
No full textContext: The Mediterranean area has always played a significant role in human dispersal due to the large number of migratory events contributing to shape the cultural features and the genetic pool of its populations.
Objective: This paper aims to review and diachronically describe the mitogenome variability in the Mediterranean population and the main demic diffusions that occurred in this area over time.
Methods: Frequency distributions of the leading mitochondrial haplogroups have been geographically and chronologically evaluated. The variability of U5b and K lineages has been focussed to broaden the knowledge of their genetic histories.
Results: The mitochondrial genetic makeup of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers is poorly defined within the extant Mediterranean populations, since only a few traces of their genetic contribution are still detectable. The Neolithic lineages are more represented, suggesting that the Neolithic revolution had a marked effect on the peopling of the Mediterranean area. The largest effect, however, was provided by historical migrations.
Conclusion: Although the mitogenome variability has been widely used to try and clarify the evolution of the Mediterranean genetic makeup throughout almost 50 000 years, it is necessary to collect whole genome data on both extinct and extant populations from this area to fully reconstruct and interpret the impact of multiple migratory waves and their cultural and genetic consequences on the structure of the Mediterranean populations
Variations on the Author
No full text“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
Molecular characterization of a pre-Columbian mummy and in situ coprolite
No full textThe history of Homo sapiens dispersal
around the world and inherent interpopulation contacts
and conflicts has given rise to several transitions in his
relationships with the natural world, with the final result
of changes in the patterns of infectious disease
(McMichael [2001] Ecosystem Health 7:107–115). Of particular
interest, in this context, is the contact between
Amerindians and Europeans that started at the end of
the 15th century, and the resulting exchange of microbes.
We successfully recovered ancient DNA from a
pre-Columbian mummy from Cuzco (Peru), radiocarbondated
to 980–1170 AD, for which consistent mtDNA
amplifications and sequences were obtained. The analysis
of mtDNA revealed that the mummy’s haplogroup
was characteristic of Native American populations. We
also investigated a sample of feces directly isolated from
the intestines of the mummy, using a polymerase chain
reaction system designed to detect the broadest spectrum
of bacterial DNAs. The analysis of results, following
a criterion of ‘‘paleoecological consistency’’ (Rollo and
Marota [1998] Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. [Biol.] 354:
111–119), demonstrated that some vestiges of the original
microbial flora of the feces were preserved. In particular,
we were able to identify the DNA of Haemophylus
parainfluenzae, thus suggesting that this recently recognized
pathogen was present in precontact Native Americans
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