1,720,979 research outputs found
Per un’analisi della rappresentazione dell’Inferno nella chiesa di San Giorgio a Varenna (LC)
No full textThe fresco with the representation of Hell’s court in the church of San Giorgio in Varenna could probably be a fragment of a now lost Last Judgement. The fresco, which has not been studied yet, came to light thanks to the restoration campaign in 1956-1957, directed by Antonio Balbiano. The fragment remaining on the counter-facade shows a large Satan devouring a man and other demons engaged in numerous torture activities on damned souls. On closer inspection, the fresco turns out to be a variant of the most widespread and well-known iconography of the Last Judgements, but it is not an individual example: other representations widespread in Upper Lombardy and Swiss territory present similar characteristics. By comparing the representation in Varenna with those of Santa Maria dei Ghirli in Capione d'Italia (CO) and of Sant'Ambrogio in Chironico (Canton Ticino), it is possible to assume that the Varenna fresco had also a similar iconography and it was developed in two horizontal bands. Moreover, the representation is part of the group of 14th-century infernal depictions strongly influenced by the new post-Giottesque iconography. The Varenna fresco is probably the work of a local atelier, which was active in the San Giorgio building site in the middle decades of the mid 14th century and well up-to-date with local examples. Moreover, the fresco was also the result of popular medieval imagery developed from the most famous 14th-century representations in Padua, Torcello and Milan
Environmental correlates of growth patterns in Neolithic Liguria (northwestern Italy)
Full text linkObjective: This study evaluates patterns of human growth in the Neolithic to make inferences about environmental
correlates of developmental disturbances.
Materials: 33 children/adolescents from the Neolithic of Liguria (Italy), 29 of which date between 4,800-4,400
cal BCE.
Methods: Neolithic patterns of growth are compared with a modern sample (the Denver Growth Study; DGS).
Dental development was used to determine age at death. Proxies for postcranial maturation are femoral length
and proportion of mean adult femoral length attained.
Results: Ligurian children show growth faltering compared to DGS, especially between 4 and 9 years of age.
Between 1 and 2 years, and in later childhood and adolescence, values are more similar or higher than DGS,
when using the proportion of adult femoral length attained.
Conclusions: The pattern of growth in Ligurian Neolithic children may reflect a deprived and highly-infectious
environment: three individuals show skeletal lesions consistent with tuberculosis. The relatively faster growth in
infancy may result from the buffering provided by maternal milk. Older children and adolescents may exhibit
catch-up growth.
Significance: This study contributes to our understanding of Neolithic selective pressures and possible biocultural
adaptive strategies.
Limitations: The cross-sectional nature of the data and the small sample size make it unclear whether the observed
pattern is representative of the growth patterns in the living population. The possibility that adults are
stunted undermines the interpretation of optimal growth in the first years.
Suggestions for Further Research: Refine age estimates, increase sample size through the study of other bone
elements
Inferences on Sicilian Mesolithic subsistence patterns from cross-sectional geometry and entheseal changes
Full text linkUsing cross-sectional geometry (CSG), entheseal changes (ECs), and presence of external auditory meatus exostosis (EAE), this study tests the hypothesis—based on isotopic and zooarchaeological evidence—that in the Sicilian Mesolithic terrestrial rather than marine resources were predominantly exploited, in substantial continuity with previous Epigravettian hunters. Results show similarities in the general frequency of ECs—a rough proxy for overall activity—with Late Pleistocene hunters, in contrast with Mesolithic coastal foragers or Neolithic herders/farmers. Yet, CSG suggests that this possible continuity in the type of resources exploited was accompanied by a behavioral change, and in particular the abandonment of the throwing technology, possibly in favor of new tools such as traps and the bow and arrow. In fact, the dramatic decrease in humeral bilateral asymmetry documented at a European level with the Pleistocene-Holocene transition can be found also in the Sicilian Mesolithic. Results for the lower limb appear compatible with a certain degree of terrestrial mobility in a rugged environment. The frequency of EAE suggests that activities related to water were present but not common; however, their prominence is difficult to determine given the small sample size. The pattern of information provided by the proxies for activity used here is complex and partially contrasting, but has the potential to integrate and enrich archeological methods and biochemical approaches. This study corroborates a varied scenario of continuity and discontinuity in subsistence at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, and highlights the importance of a regional bioarchaeological approach of human biological and behavioral adaptations
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
The re-discovery of Arma dell'Aquila (Finale Ligure, Italy): New insights on Neolithic funerary behavior from the sixth millennium BCE in the north-western Mediterranean
No full textEvidence of Neolithic occupation at Arma dell'Aquila (Finale Ligure, Italy) had been unearthed in the 1930s, with the discovery of nine burials and a number of scattered human remains. The material, however, had never been systematically studied and characterized chronologically until recently. We performed a complete re-assessment of funerary behavior at the site, and studied for the first time the scattered human remains, cross-referencing the anthropological data with the spatial and stratigraphic information contained in the original excavation diaries, and with new direct radiocarbon dates on human bone. Results reveal the funerary use of the site throughout the sixth millennium BCE, when various cultural horizons belonging to the Impresso-Cardial cultural complex have succeeded one another, and during the fifth millennium BCE, when the Square Mouthed Culture was attested in Liguria. Five burials spanning the second half of the sixth millennium BCE were aligned head-against-head and feet-against-feet, crouched on their left side, and may be part of an organized funerary space used over a relatively long period of time. Among the nine individuals recognized from the scattered human remains, three date to c. 5750-5650 BCE, and represent the oldest human remains from a Neolithic context in the north-western Mediterranean. Arma dell'Aquila now constitutes an important source of information on the funerary behavior and biological makeup of Neolithic people of the sixth millennium BCE, a period for which little information was previously present in the region
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
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
Multi-proxy stable isotope analyses of dentine microsections reveal diachronic changes in life history adaptations, mobility, and tuberculosis-induced wasting in prehistoric Liguria (Finale Ligure, Italy, northwestern Mediterranean)
Full text linkObjective: To reconstruct breastfeeding and weaning practices, metabolic stress including tuberculosis-induced wasting, and residential mobility of children in Neolithic and Metal Ages to infer their local ecologies. Materials: Seven permanent teeth from individuals dated to the Neolithic, Copper, Bronze, and Iron Ages buried in nearby caves in western Liguria, Italy. Methods: Carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur stable isotope analyses on dentine microsections. Tooth maturation was used to calculate age at death. Results: Two Neolithic children present longer pattern of weaning and appear to have been weaned using animal protein in contrast to the earlier weaning of Metal Ages children, which were probably weaned with vegetable resources. Sulfur isotopes suggest local origin of Neolithic and Cooper Age children, and non-local origins for Bronze and Iron Age children. Intense catabolism in the last two years is apparent in the adolescent with tuberculosis. Conclusions: Shortening in weaning patterns during the Metal Ages are likely driven by the intensification of agricultural practices and cultivation of new crops during Bronze and Iron Ages. Neolithic food choices and delayed weaning patterns may represent one of the strategies to maximize growth and immune potential in a local economy/ecology with high-infectious load. Tuberculosis was a chronic and long-lasting disease. Significance: The first combined carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur analysis on prehistoric dentine microsections revealing changing human life history adaptations within the same region. Limitations: Small sample size. Suggestions for further research: Increase the sulfur isotope dataset, use new EA-IRMS equipment, and provide data on amino acid to better define weaning food composition
Insights on patterns of developmental disturbances from the analysis of linear enamel hypoplasia in a Neolithic sample from Liguria (northwestern Italy)
No full textObjective: To assess developmental disturbances through the analysis of linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) frequency and to infer environmental stress and life history within Neolithic communities from Liguria (Italy). Materials: 43 unworn/minimally worn permanent anterior teeth of 13 individuals recovered from nearby caves and dated to c. 4800−4400 cal. BCE. Methods: LEH defects were identified with high-resolution macrophotos of dental replicas, age at LEH was calculated via perikymata counts. LEH defects matched between two or more teeth were considered as systemic disturbances. LEH frequency by age classes was analyzed via GLZ and Friedman ANOVA. Results: Number of matched defects per individual range between 2–12. The mean LEH per individual was highest in the 2.5–2.99 age category, with a significant increase relative to earlier growth stages, followed by a decline. Conclusion: LEH may reflect life-history in the local ecology of Neolithic Liguria, where several individuals with osteoarticular tuberculosis have been recorded. Disease burden may have triggered developmental disturbances around the time of weaning. Age at first defect was negatively correlated with age at death and positively with the total number of defects, suggesting that early stress may have affected survivorship. Significance: The study contributes to the reconstruction of ecological pressures among Neolithic people of Liguria, and informs on environmental challenges during the Neolithic adaptive expansion. Limitations: The visual examination of macrophotos is prone to observer error; mid-crown tends to display more visible LEH due to tooth architecture. Suggestions for further research: Apply different quantitative methods to examine severity and duration of disturbances
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