28 research outputs found
Prehistoric gold from Lake Sevan Basin? New research on Armenian gold deposits and objects
No full texthttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100008721 National Academy of Sciences of Armeniahttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschafthttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100007029 Science Committee of the Ministry of Education Science Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armeni
The Question of Byzantine Armenia in “Ancient Armenian Geography” (or “Ashkharatsuyts”)
No full textIntroduction. Until now, the issue of four Byzantine (Justinian) Armenias in historiography has been considered according to the data of the Byzantine historian of the 6th century Procopius of Caesarea, which does not give grounds for a final answer to the questions posed. Analysis. When comparing the data of Procopius with the information of “Ashkharatsuyts” (“Ancient Armenian Geography”), we find many discrepancies (especially when considering the contour of the borders of I, II and III Armenias). According to the “Ancient Armenian Geography”, the territory of I Armenia was expanded both at the expense of the other two, and at the expense of Cilicia and northwestern Syria. Results. So, under Emperor Justinian, a new defensive line was created, which we for the first time in historiography called the “Mamikonyan line”. One can rely on the information of Ashkharatsuyts almost without hesitation, since this work was written in the 5th – 7th centuries, and the lion’s share of the information was supplemented by the second author of the work, Anania Shirakatsi (it is convincingly proven that the first author was the father of Armenian historiography, Movses Khorenatsi). Justinian trusted the Mamikonyan family, being convinced that they had previously faithfully served the kings of Greater Armenia, the Arshakids, and was practically not mistaken in his calculations
Reducing Time and Cost of Construction Projects by Improving the Properties of Precast Normal-weight Wall Panels
No full textAbstractOne way to save time, cost, and to provide an alternative to lightweight concrete in construction projects is to reduce the number of installed insulations on precast wall panels and to improve the properties of normal weight concrete panels, respectively. These goals can be achieved by improving the three properties of precast panels, such as thermal resistance, fire resistance, and heat capacity by using perlite as insulation. The main goals of this paper are getting buildings constructed or modified in less time and cost by producing superior wall panels and improving the properties of normal weight concrete panels. Superior wall panels are new panels that provide the three properties listed above. The results from sample calculations indicate considerable improvement in these properties and significant savings in terms of construction time and costs
Phrygia According to the Works of Khorenatsi and Shirakatsi
No full text“Ancient Armenian Geography” (or “Ashkharatsuits”, literally — “World Map”) calls Phrygia
the fifth among all the countries of Universal Asia, which is located between Lycia and
Paphlagonia. Partly based on “The Geography” by Ptolemy, “Ancient Armenian Geography”
complements the Greek author with its information. Outlining the borders of Phrygia, “Ashkharatsuits”
shows the territorial limits that this state reached in the first half of the I millennium
BC (especially in the 8th–6th centuries). These centuries can be characterized as the “golden
era” of Phrygia since almost all of western Asia Minor was part of this kingdom, and Phrygia
reached its apogee during this period. The authors of the Armenian source do not mention
any historical person and speak exclusively about geography (administrative-territorial divisions,
urban map orography, hydrography, plains, etc.). All the data of the Armenian text
have been scrupulously examined and compared/collated with the information of Ptolemy, as
well as with the information ranging from the Bible and Strabo’s “Geography” to the works of
the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus. Only a hermeneutic approach to the issue will
make it possible to remove all the “brackets” since if the main text of “Ashkharatsuits” was
written in the 5th century by Khorenatsi, then from a geographical perspective the source was
supplemented in the 7th century by Shirakatsi. Information about the administrative division
of Onoratia is also important, as well as its historical and geographical description — all this
sheds light on the problem of studying both Onoratia and Phrygia. “Ashkharatsuits” traces the
evolution undergone by Phrygia during its history
Problems and Prospects with the Scientonomic Workflow
No full textWhile the scientonomic workflow guiding the development of a general theory of scientific change has been practiced for nearly four years, it has yet to be formally evaluated. The goal of this paper is to fill this gap with a critical appraisal of the practice and theoretical underpinnings of the workflow currently used in scientonomy. First, we consider the traditional workflow which uses publications as the primary vehicle for substantive epistemic change and find that it fails to be sufficiently transparent or inclusive and is ambiguous at decisive points. Conversely, as we argue, the scientonomic workflow has the potential to succeed where the traditional workflow fails and thus provides a promising alternative workflow. We then go on to note a number of practical and theoretical problems that have arisen upon reflection on the scientonomic workflow and suggest some modifications to the workflow and to our practices. This paper takes the first steps in improving the workflow to reach its maximum potential.
Suggested Modifications
[Sciento-2019-0001]: Accept that the goal of peer-reviews in the scientonomic workflow is evaluation for pursuitworthiness rather than acceptability.
[Sciento-2019-0002]: Accept that the discussions concerning a suggested modification are to be published once a communal verdict is available. The discussions are to be published in the journal as special commentary articles co-authored by all participants of the discussion or in special edited collections.
[Sciento-2019-0003]: Accept that the commentators of suggested modifications are allowed to suggest reformulations of the original formulations.
Also accept that, by default, the new formulation should bear the original author’s name, unless the author decides to give credit to those who significantly contributed to the new reformulation. This should be decided collegially by the author, the commentators, and the editors on a case-by-case basis.
[Sciento-2019-0004]: Accept that an annual book prize is to be offered for extensive participation on the encyclopedia. The winner(s) are to be decided by the encyclopedia editors.
[Sciento-2019-0005]: Accept that star-ratings are to be introduced for commentators who comment on suggested modifications on the encyclopedia.
[Sciento-2019-0006]: Accept that the encyclopedia editors are to be granted official housekeeping rights to handle the ripple effects.
Also accept that if the additional required changes are implicit in the suggested modification, the editors should create and alter encyclopedia pages to ensure that the accepted body of scientonomic knowledge is properly documented; if it is conceivable to accept the modification without accepting the ripple effect change in question, the editors should register these changes as new suggested modifications so that the community can discuss and evaluate them in an orderly fashion.
[Sciento-2019-0007]: Accept that the verdict on suggested modifications is to be decided by a communal vote that will follow the discussion period.
Have a communal discussion and decide as to what percentage of votes it should take for a modification to be accepted – a simple majority (50% +1), or supermajority of three fifths (60%), two thirds (67%), or three quarters (75%). Also discuss to decide as to how long the discussion period and the voting period should be.
This modification is incompatible with modification [Sciento-2019-0008].
[Sciento-2019-0008]: Accept that a countdown mechanism is to be introduced, where a modification is accepted by default if there are no objections within a 90-day period following its publication.
This modification is incompatible with modification [Sciento-2019-0007]
Prehistoric gold from Lake Sevan Basin? : new research on Armenian gold deposits and objects
No full textThe article gives an overview of the results of a joint Armenian-German project in the area of today's open pit gold mine of Sotk in Eastern Armenia. Special attention is given to the preliminary results of the gold analysis. Interdisciplinary studies on regional natural gold deposits - especially the Sotk and Tsarasar deposits - and their archaeological context are presented together with the analytical results of 43 gold and four silver objects from five different sites in Armenia. The LA-ICP-MS data are discussed in terms of their alloy and trace element composition. They provide information on the use of raw material sources, intentional alloying, and the preferred use of these alloys. The archaeometric investigations show that the gold objects were mostly made of secondary placer gold. However, for one object, the oldest object examined in this study, the use of primary rock gold could not be excluded. Furthermore, the data provide information on the serial production of typologically identical types found at different sites, indicating that these objects were probably traded over long distances
