3,536 research outputs found
The social significance of Neolithic stone bead technologies at Çatalhöyük
No full textThis project aims to better understand the social significance of stone bead production and use, from a technological perspective, at the large Neolithic settlement of Çatalhöyük, Turkey. This is done by closely examining technological practices and choices, reconstructing the manufacturing process, and analysing production contexts in order to determine the organization of production at Çatalhöyük, and the presence of craft specialization, all based on a large dataset providing both synchronic and diachronic perspectives of life at Çatalhöyük. Specifically, contexts with production evidence are identified and examined, manufacture marks on finished and unfinished beads are analysed, perforating tools are examined for use-wear, and some basic bead making experiments are also conducted. More importantly, the reasons behind the presence of craft specialization, and what factors may have propelled it, are also discussed. Technology is a fundamental aspect of daily life for Neolithic people, whether it is obtaining raw materials, manipulating them into finished products, using them, or exchanging them; technology is therefore a tangible form of constructing, maintaining, and propagating social ideologies. Stone bead technologies at Çatalhöyük provide important information regarding what regions the people of Çatalhöyük were interacting with, the skillsets they possessed, and why beads were made they way they were and what significance these beads had to both bead makers, bead consumers, and Neolithic society in general. Similarly, depositional practices and contextual analyses of contexts with evidence of bead use, such as burials and placed deposits, support the idea that stone beads were multipurpose, socially valued goods that became integral to daily, ritual, and social life at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, performing important functions such as the communication of ideas, the forging of relationships, marking important transitions in the lives of people and households, and creating, maintaining and propagating identities, both communal and personal. Stone beads conspicuously performed an integral social role at Çatalhöyük; the story of their manufacture and use is inextricably linked to all aspects of Neolithic life at Çatalhöyük, including identity, technology and symbolism and ritual
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An 11 600 year-old communal structure from the Neolithic of southern Jordan
No full textThe authors present a new type of communal
and monumental structure from the earliest
Neolithic in western Asia. A complement to
the decorated stone pillars erected at G¨obekli
Tepe in the north, ‘Wadi Faynan 16 Structure
O75’ in the southern Levant is a ritualised
gathering place of a different kind. It serves to
define wider western Asia as an arena of social
experiment in the tenth millennium BC, one
in which community seems to take precedence
over economy
Chipped stone variability and approaches to cultural classification in the Epipalaeolithic of the south Levantine arid zone
No full textThis thesis examines how our picture of the Epipalaeolithic of the southern Levant has been structured, what its evidential base is and how it has gained authority. Hitherto, research has focused on describing variability in microliths, the type-fossil of the period, in terms of archaeological cultures using typology. Narrative analysis was used in the first part of this thesis to explore the work of three main researchers in the field. This has shown that narrative strategies are indeed employed in archaeological texts to describe lithic and other data creating a picture of the period that relies substantially on ideas 'imported' from modern attitudes to the region and the relations of people within it. The techniques of narrative are used to pull together the disparate and conflicting data we work with into a unity of significance, embodying authority and plausibility. In the second part of the thesis, a study of 12 chipped stone assemblages from the Negev and southern Jordan was undertaken. Attribute analysis was used to explore variability within and between sites. This has revealed a complex and cross-cutting pattern of personal or local decisions taken within a context of wider norms, which has created very specific tool forms at individual sites. A picture of context dependent variability was discovered that has not been reflected in the traditional typological methods. This offers new ways of seeing the relationships between social organisations and material culture
The Compliance with Intellectual Property Laws and their Enforcement in Jordan- A post-WTO Review & Analysis
No full textThis thesis examines the implementation, enforcement and evolution of IP laws and regulations in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The period of interest includes the last decade of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty first century, with emphasis on the role played by Free Trade Agreements struck between Jordan and the United States, the European Union, and Jordan’s accession to the World Trade Organization.
This thesis also examines the enforcement of the current set of IP laws in Jordan, and looks at their social and economic compatibility with the Jordanian societal norms and economic realities.
This thesis argues that Jordanian IP laws lack a meaningful social and economic texture, and have failed to be evenly enforced in Jordan, essentially because they do not fit the Jordanian culture and are not compatible with Jordan’s economic stage of development. Additionally, the thesis argues that IP laws have had insignificant economic impact on the Jordanian economy as the majority of technologies used in Jordan, and the majority of foreign direct investments attracted to Jordan, are not IP related. Finally, the thesis argues that the current Jordanian enforcement model, which is built on coercion by donor countries, is serving the interests of foreign companies to the exclusion of the local citizens, and will not, in the long run, produce an enforcement model based on self-regulation by Jordanians, themselves. The laws, therefore, are unable to produce tangible results for the Jordanian people, or help meet their economic interests.
The last part of the thesis deals with recommendations and suggestions aimed at creating an integrated approach to the adoption of IP policies
The relation between stone disease and obesity in Jordan
No full textObesity forms a growing challenge in medicine worldwide. In Jordan, the obese and the overweight population form 49.7% of the total population. The latest national male to female ratio in Jordan is 1:1.06. There is a relation between obesity and renal stone formation. This study is conducted to study the relation of renal stone and obesity in the Jordanian popu-lation. All patients with urolithiasis that attended the urology clinic at Prince Hussein Bin Abdullah Urology Center at King Hussein Medical Center, Jordan, over the period from January 2006 to January 2011 were included in the study and analyzed for age, gender, body weight, number of visits to the clinic and number of procedures. Over a period of 60 months from January 2006 through January 2011, 8346 patients were treated for urolithiasis. The median age was 43.2 years. The male to female ratio was 1.46:1. 42.3% of the patients were obese, with body mass index (BMI) >30 kg/m 2 and 25.8% of the patients were overweight, with BMI >25 kg/m 2 . The normal body weight population formed 31.9% of the total population. The majority of our urolithiasis patients were obese and overweight, forming 68.1% of the population, with a higher number of clinical visits and higher number of surgical procedures. In the Jordanian population, there is a clear relation between obesity and stone formation, where the majority of stone formers was obese
Political participation in Jordan: the impact of party and tribal loyalties since 1989
No full textIn the light of the internal and regional crises in the 1980s, Jordan found itself under pressure, and various ideological and political factors pushed the country towards political reform. As a result, Jordan has undergone several transformations, and a certain degree of political liberalization has made political participation the main objective of the Jordanian political system and its various institutions. This development in turn has required participation of all segments of the society, including political parties, minorities, and women. This participation demonstrates how far the political system has been liberalized. Therefore, nobody can argue that there is no political participation in Jordan. However, important questions remain. What is the form of this participation? What is its scale? What factors influence political participation, and what are its main objectives? Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the issue of political participation in Jordan. In particular, it investigated the impact of party and tribal loyalties on political participation in Jordan since 1989. This is undertaken through examining the basic forms of political participation, particularly participation in parliamentary elections. Accordingly, this study is divided into two main parts. The first part aims to shed light on the historical development of Jordanian parliament, electoral laws and systems, and political parties' participation and in addition to examine these in context of the socio-economic, political, and cultural environment. The second part was carried out through a survey involving the distribution of 400 questionnaires to five groups of political elite in Jordan. It is concluded in this study that despite the fact that political parties in Jordan date back to the establishment of the state in 1921, the social relations of kinship and the tribe are still dominant and constitute the main motives for Jordanians to participate in parliamentary elections. Several factors explain this, but it is argued here that the most important is legislations, particularly the emergency laws which have heavily restricted political freedoms and activities
Exploitation of animals resources from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Tell AbuSuwwan site in Jordan: “an Archaeozoological perspective”
No full textThe analysed faunal assemblages are coming from Tell AbuSuwwan Neolithic site in Jordan. Tell AbuSuwwan is one of the Neolithic mega-farming sites. Radiocarbon datings show a continuous occupation of the site from the Pre-pottery Neolithic A until the Pottery Neolithic.
Archaeological excavation recovered 16194 faunal assemblages from Tell AbuSuwwan. Identified taxonomical specimens are 1950.
Archaeozoological and taphonomical analyses were applied to reconstruct the paleo-economy and environment of Tell AbuSuwwan. First archaeozoological preservation of Tell AbuSuwwan faunal remains view presence of domestic sheep/goat faunal remains. Several wild animals species were found within the faunal assemblages like auroch, wild boar, gazelle and wild goat.
During the faunal assemblages study a variety of animal hard tissues artefacts were found. 64 tools referable to different bone tools typologies have been recognized. These artifacts have been analysed to recognize the traces produced during their manufacturing. Then an experimental work has been carried out in order to reconstruct the manufacturing processes of Tell AbuSuwwan bone tools
Twenty Thousand-Year-Old Huts at a Hunter-Gatherer Settlement in Eastern Jordan
No full textTen thousand years before Neolithic farmers settled in permanent villages, hunter-gatherer groups of the Epipalaeolithic period (c. 22–11,600 cal BP) inhabited much of southwest Asia. The latest Epipalaeolithic phase (Natufian) is well-known for the appearance of stone-built houses, complex site organization, a sedentary lifestyle and social complexity—precursors for a Neolithic way of life. In contrast, pre-Natufian sites are much less well known and generally considered as campsites for small groups of seasonally-mobile hunter-gatherers. Work at the Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic aggregation site of Kharaneh IV in eastern Jordan highlights that some of these earlier sites were large aggregation base camps not unlike those of the Natufian and contributes to ongoing debates on their duration of occupation. Here we discuss the excavation of two 20,000-year-old hut structures at Kharaneh IV that pre-date the renowned stone houses of the Natufian. Exceptionally dense and extensive occupational deposits exhibit repeated habitation over prolonged periods, and contain structural remains associated with exotic and potentially symbolic caches of objects (shell, red ochre, and burnt horn cores) that indicate substantial settlement of the site pre-dating the Natufian and outside of the Natufian homeland as currently understood
Correspondence between Mervyn M. Dymally and Vernon Jordan, December 1967
No full textCorrespondence between Mervyn M. Dymally about Vernon Jordan increasing voter awareness in Los Angeles. Enclosed is a grant proposal from the Urban Affairs Foundation
Narratives of ethnicity and nationalism : a case study of Circassians in Jordan
No full textThis research is an exploration of ethnic narratives of the Circassian
community in Jordan, in addition to the nationalist narratives promoted by the state
of Jordan, and their reconstruction by the research participants. This research aims to
understand how the research participants, as non-Arabs, understand and makes
sense of the Pan-Arab ethnonational narratives promoted by the state through the
‘Jordan First’ nationalist campaign and textbooks of national and civic education. It
also seeks to understand the ethnic narratives of the Circassian community. It
highlights the fact that ethnic narratives are often contextualised, and come to light
always in comparison to the other. It also shows how ethnic narratives are gendered,
can include or exclude women, and gender relations are ethnicised, or in other
words used as markers for group boundaries.
The main aim of this research is to unpack the research participants’
conceptualisations of Jordan and the Pan-Arabism, and to understand the strategies
they use to include themselves within these narratives. It intends to evaluate
whether research participants see themselves as integrated into the Jordanian society
or not. Whereas the community itself is often portrayed as integrated into the
society, because many of them are in high governmental positions, and the
ceremonial guards of the Royal Family are the Circassians, it is also important to
examine whether they believe that they are, and how. This thesis contributes to the
literature on ethnicity and nationalism based on a minority with unique profile, and
also contributes to the overall body of literature on state nationalism in the Middle
East. The research has been approached through the use of both qualitative and
quantitative data collection methods. It is based on the analysis of textbooks of
national and civic education, and the ‘Jordan First’ campaign, in addition to 13
interviews and 62 questionnaires
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