Archaeology

the study of ants and insects com understand human behaviour and discourse, his politics and ways do keep alive some dreams that can come true.

Recent genomic evidence reported by Platt et al. (2026) indicates a strong sex bias in Neanderthal–modern human admixture, consistent with disproportionate mating between Neanderthal males and anatomically modern human (AMH) females. Existing appeals to “mate preference” leave the content and direction of that preference under-specified. I propose a two-level hypothesis centred on asymmetric perceptual bias. The primary mechanism arises when shared perceptual systems are calibrated against displaced sex-specific morphological distributions in different hominin populations; the principal access mechanism is inter-group raiding, (...) supplemented where prolonged coexistence permitted by exchange, expulsion, opportunistic pairing, or other forms of incorporation. -/- The model distinguishes three layers that must not be collapsed. First, morphological reality: AMH and archaic populations may have differed measurably in gracility, robusticity, craniofacial form, and perhaps neotenous traits. Observers from both populations could in principle agree on the ordering of those real differences. Second, perceptual calibration and bias: the same objectively more or less gracile phenotype can receive different sex-typical, familiar, threatening, or mate-relevant weight because each perceiver has been calibrated by a different population-specific distribution of male and female bodies. Third, biological and reproductive function: none of these perceptual differences implies degrees of actual femaleness or maleness. Archaic and AMH females were functional females, and archaic and AMH males functional males; successful admixture itself demonstrates cross-population reproductive compatibility sufficient to produce offspring. -/- Suppose, purely illustratively, that an imagined gracility coordinate placed average AMH females at 10, AMH males at 6, archaic females at 7, and archaic males at 4. Both AMH and archaic observers might agree that 10 is more gracile than 7. Yet the perceptual meaning of 7 differs by reference distribution. For an archaic male, 7 lies in the familiar female region and 10 extends farther in a gracile direction. For an AMH male, 7 lies close to the morphology associated with his own male population at 6. The scale therefore tracks a hypothetical real morphological gradient while the bias arises from population-relative weighting of positions on that gradient. It is not a scale of biological femaleness. -/- Neoteny is retained as one possible source of positive affective weighting on the real gracility gradient, not as the master mechanism and not as an identity between infant bonding and adult sexual desire. Raiding is treated as the most secure mechanism of cross-group access under conditions lacking shared language and kinship institutions, not as the only conceivable mechanism. The model explains both sides of the genomic pattern: perceptual bias could increase the probability that AMH females were positively weighted and incorporated by archaic males while decreasing the reciprocal probability that archaic females were positively weighted and incorporated by AMH males. The proposal is probabilistic and falsifiable through sex-specific morphometrics, genomic modelling, archaeological evidence, and tests of reference-distribution effects on perception. The model is relational rather than based on a simple claim that one population was more “attractive.” Suppose, purely illustratively, that an imagined gracility index placed average AMH females at 10, AMH males at 6, archaic females at 7, and archaic males at 4. An archaic male would encounter an AMH female as a stronger displacement along cues associated in that observer’s experience with gracility and female-typical morphology. An AMH male, by contrast, would encounter an archaic female whose morphology lay closer to the range occupied by males in his own population. The same archaic female phenotype could therefore be legible as ordinarily female within an archaic population yet comparatively masculine, threatening, unfamiliar, or weakly mate-salient to an AMH male. The numerical example is not an empirical measurement; it formalises the geometry of the hypothesis. I ground the positive affective weighting of gracile and juvenile-associated cues partly in phylogenetically ancient neoteny-recognition systems involved in infant attention and bonding, while distinguishing this substrate from adult sexual preference itself. The hypothesis therefore does not require Neanderthal males to possess a unique psychology. It predicts that shared perceptual-affective machinery, operating on differently distributed male and female morphologies, could generate asymmetric mate salience. Raiding is treated as the most secure mechanism of cross-group access under conditions lacking shared language and kinship institutions, not as the only conceivable mechanism. Stable coexistence may have allowed barter, exchange, expulsion of rivals, voluntary pairing, or other transfers; such channels would still have been filtered through the same morphological asymmetry. The model explains both sides of the genomic pattern: preferential incorporation of AMH females by archaic males and the relative absence of reciprocal incorporation of archaic females by AMH males. It extends conditionally to Denisovan admixture and yields archaeological, genomic, experimental, and modelling predictions. The proposal is explicitly probabilistic and falsifiable: it depends on measurable sex-specific morphological distributions, evidence for sex-biased introgression, and the capacity of relative—not merely absolute—craniofacial morphology to influence cross-population sexual classification. (shrink)

This study develops a critical framework for evaluating ad hoc inflation in Qur’anic borrowing theories—explanations that multiply hypothetical intermediaries, lost sources, or selective adaptations in order to sustain the claim that the Qur’an derives its narratives from Jewish or Christian precedent. By systematically comparing the Qur’anic portrayals of Moses, Pharaoh, Joseph, Mary, Jesus, Lot, and Solomon with the spectrum of Late Antique traditions, archaeological evidence, linguistic data, and ancient Near Eastern cultural contexts, the analysis identifies domains where the Qur’anic material (...) diverges sharply from known Christian, Jewish, Gnostic, and folkloric accounts while exhibiting internal coherence and historically resonant detail. These divergences occur precisely in places where borrowing models would predict dependence or replication. The study argues that, methodologically, each additional layer of hypothetical transmission required to explain such divergences increases model complexity without increasing explanatory power. A more disciplined comparative approach reveals that the Qur’anic narratives often preserve structural, legal, linguistic, and geographical patterns unattested in the alleged source traditions, while avoiding their contradictions, anachronisms, and theological motivations. The proposed framework provides a clearer set of criteria for distinguishing genuine literary dependence from conjectural reconstruction, thereby offering a more rigorous basis for future work in Qur’anic historiography and Late Antique textual interactions. (shrink)

Debt to a friend, debt to the humaniny, there's the destiny of a young anthropology trying to succeed.

Ancient Egyptians precisely direct their temples and tombs to specific astronomical points, as attested in the designs of the Old kingdom pyramids and related temples. Likewise, the same approach was used in many religious and funerary buildings across the sequential historical epochs of ancient Egypt. This research introduces what can be called "astronomical design improvements" conducted by ancient Egyptians to secure a precise orientation for a specific direction of religious and funerary monuments. Moreover, this precise orientation requires observatories used for (...) the orientation and monitoring of geographical directions. Therefore, this paper discusses the inquiring; are there any Astronomical Observatories evidences in ancient Egypt? (shrink)

In this first of two essays written on the topic of ancient greek inscriptions, I will briefly explore and discuss the role of the written word and of visual language within the cult of Asclepius at Epidauros, by both looking at the creation and function of the Epidaurian sanctuary's healing inscriptions—also called 'iamata'. Throughout the essay I have made use of J.L. Austin's Speech Act Theory to better contextualize the meaning of the inscriptions dealt with.

The most discussed of architectural marvels tend to be the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus or the Parthenon at Athens, supposedly because they are the ones we happen to have nominated ‘world wonders’; but that doesn’t mean all the rest of temple-type sites to be found across the greater Mediterranean area have less wonder about them. On the contrary; when wanting to explore and explain the role temples played in the lives of their ‘subscribers’ and a (...) temple site’s place as often the nucleus of a community, the Serapeum at Alexandria is as excellent a piece of architecture to examine as any. (shrink)

In this chapter, we identify four specific subtypes of epistemic injustice that target Indigenous knowledge systems, practices, products, and methods of transmission. These four subtypes of epistemic injustice are: cultural-methodological epistemic injustice, epistemic diminishment, epistemic cultural disruption, and epistemic biophysical disruption. These subtypes identify avenues for the framework of transformative justice targeting these epistemic injustices and their harms. We provide three case studies from the Salish Sea, in British Columbia, Canada, of epistemic transformative justice, described as responses to these subtypes (...) of epistemic injustice. The first involves Indigenous archaeological work on marine resource use over long spans of history. The second involves a Squamish First Nation-led collaborative herring monitoring initiative. The third is about work on revitalizing Straits Salish reef net fishing technology. (shrink)

چکیده: این مقاله "داروینیسم تاریخی" یا "نوزایی تمدنی" را به‌عنوان یک چارچوب جهان‌شمول برای فهم تکامل تمدن‌ها معرفی می‌کند؛ چارچوبی که بر الگوهایی مشابه انتخاب طبیعی زیستی بنا شده است. استدلال می‌شود که در سراسر تاریخ جهان، تمدن‌های دراز مدت در فرآیندهایی شبیه بقا و نوزایی فرهنگی پدید آمده، سازگار شده و افول کرده‌اند: برای نمونه، هیتی‌ها از حاتی‌ها، یونانی‌ها از میسینی‌ها، و بابلی‌ها از تمدن سومر و اکد برخاسته و هویت خود را در امتداد ایشان تعریف نموده‌اند. در این (...) چشم‌انداز، اسطوره‌ها صرفاً ساخته‌های خیال‌پردازانه نیستند، بلکه گنجینه‌هایی از حافظه جمعی‌اند که تجربه‌های تاریخی جوامع کهن پیش از "نوزایی تمدنی" را در قالب‌های ادبی جوامع پس از "نوزایی تمدنی" رمزگذاری کرده‌اند. هرچند "داروینیسم تاریخی" یک قانون کلی برای همه تمدن‌های درازمدت است، اما این مقاله آن را به ‌طور خاص در اسطوره‌شناسی ایرانی به کار می‌گیرد. با بررسی روایت‌های شاهنامه و دیگر منابع ایرانی، نشان داده می‌شود که اسطوره‌های شاهنامه و اوستا بازتاب‌دهنده دگرگونی‌های تمدنی، مهاجرت‌ها و نوزایی‌های فرهنگی در سرزمین وسیع آریانا در عصر برنز و آهن هستند. تناقض‌های ظاهری در منابع ایرانی ــ همچون روایت‌های متفاوت از خاستگاه‌ها و دوگانگی سنت‌های زرتشتی ــ در این چارچوب نه نشانی از جعل تاریخ، بلکه شواهدی از بازسازی‌های متوالی تاریخی در جریان "نوزایی تمدنی" تفسیر می‌شوند. بر این اساس، "داروینیسم تاریخی" به ‌مثابه رهیافتی نو در فلسفه اسطوره‌شناسی، کوششی است برای کشف هسته‌های تاریخی اساطیر کهن و پیوند دادن آنها با روند شکل‌گیری فرگشت و نوزایی‌های تمدنی. (shrink)

This paper argues that, in its pre-Biblical version (pre-J), the Cain and Abel story principally dealt with tensions distinctive for dry-farming families identifying the social structure as their main cause. The social structure was problematic because it involved two important imbalances, one between the spouses and one between the children. Pre-J offers a novel solution to problems caused by these interfamilial imbalances: rather than accepting their pre-established social roles, people should develop a merit-based social structure. This is why Yahweh says (...) that acceptance and honour are in doing what is right. Focusing on a pre-J narrative in this way and situating the story within the broader motive of sibling rivalry, solve three puzzles: Yahweh’s preference (God challenges unjust social institutions), Cain’s reactions (he is angry because his expectations were unmet and depressed because he thought that this was his failure), and Yahweh’s final forgiveness to Cain (the conflict was not due to Cain’s wicked character). (shrink)

At the beginning of Scene #2 of “Top Graduate Zhang Xie,” sheng is sent off through the Ghost Gateway (鬼门道) by a music troupe in the back stage to become Zhang Xie. The ritual of sending off (断送) transforms actors into characters, and the stage into a dreamscape. Performance on stage contains a ritualistic connotation that musicians summon ghosts, in the form of actors, from the other world to represent dreams in the past. Hence, theatrical performance is actually a dreamscape. (...) Zhungzi’s dream elucidates that there is no absolute reality or illusion, awakening or dream, but always ongoing “transformations of things.” Following Zhuangzi’s non-dualism, dreamscape of theatrical performance focuses on the gesture of crossing a boundary and the unfolding of multiple subspaces of dreamscape such as dreadful realm and architectural space. Through the spatial logic of theatrical performance, crossing a boundary and entering endless layers of the dreamscape generate diverse emotional effects such as humor, dread and melancholy. (shrink)

This thesis uses a biosocial anthropological approach to explore the wide variety of human-environmental interactions exhibited by the Shuar of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Based on 10 months of ethnographic inquiry and deploying a comparative and evolutionary perspective, this thesis focuses primarily on the holistic nature of ancient subsistence patterns. I delve into the adaptive strategies exhibited by the contemporary Shuar and attempt to delineate the socio-ecological, ritual and cosmological significance of these patterns of behaviour. I suggest how subsistence adaptations, like (...) hunting, which have been greatly diminished in the Shuar communities, nevertheless reveal particular forms of cross-species interactions likely deeply rooted in coevolutionary processes. As clearly indicated by informants' oral histories, hunting patterns and meat-eating behaviour show complex trophic, socio-structural and ritual associations between humans and animal taxa. I then hypothesise that food taboos against eating particular animals (mostly large mammals) may have functioned as mechanisms for the preservation of prey and likely arose from ancient relationships with extinct megafauna. Further, concerning horticulture, a subsistence strategy still practised by the Shuar, I reveal how specific forms of human-plant interactions, such as those with Manihot esculenta Crantz and Guadua spp., inform patterns of patterns of growth, fertility and reproduction. This Amazonian form of human-plant coevolution exhibited by traditional horticulture underscores, in principle, basic and higher-order relational processes exemplified by the biosocial, ritual, ontological, and myth-cosmological associations between organismic kingdoms. Concerning the use of medicinal and psychoactive plants, I show how these kinds of botanical knowledge frequently intersect, thus representing adaptive behaviours highly dependent on embodied and cognitive engagements with plant materials. Both conceived as elementary forms of cure and primary triggers of metaphysical formulations, relationships with these elements of the plant kingdom are likely to be well-embedded in our evolutionary history. Lastly, the thesis' attempt at cross-species comparisons linked to different evolutionary periods (i.e., archaic hominins, extant forager-horticulturalists and non-human primates) may shed new light on the nature of complex adaptive patterns exhibited by Indigenous peoples in general and the Shuar in particular. (shrink)

Human nature is a puzzling matter that must be analysed through a holistic lens. In this essay, I foray into anthropology's biosocial dimensions to underscore that human relations span from microorganisms to global systems. I argue that the future of social-cultural anthropology depends on the integration of evolutionary theory for its advancement. Ultimately, since the likelihood of novel zoonoses' emergence, digital ethnography could offer remarkable opportunities for ethical and responsible inquiries.

This book explores the interaction between biology, sociology, and biosemiotics, emphasizing how biological and cultural processes intertwine to shape human evolution and social structures.

This book explores the interaction between biology, sociology, and biosemiotics, emphasizing how biological and cultural processes intertwine to shape human evolution and social structures. At its core lies the theory of dual inheritance, which posits that genes and cultural elements interact in a continuous feedback loop, mutually influencing each other and contributing to cultural evolution.

Throughout our entire evolutionary history, the physical environment has played a significant role in shaping humans’ subsistence adaptations. As early humans began to colonise novel biomes and construct ecological niches, their behavioural flexibility appeared as an unquestionable fact. During the Late Pleistocene-Holocene transition, the shift from foraging to farming radically altered ecosystem services, resulting in increased exposure to zoonotic pathogens and the emergence of structural inequalities that pervade our current human condition in the Anthropocene epoch. The article seeks to use (...) an anthropological biosocial analysis to explore the diverse evolutionary paths humans have taken, which in turn shape their relationships with the natural world. Given the enigmatic nature of human behavior, it is essential to examine it holistically to understand how different subsistence patterns (e.g., intensive agriculture, foraging, and horticulture) have influenced resilience and adaptation to environmental challenges. (shrink)

This analysis summarizes conclusions on an evolutionary model for the origin of moral and religious capacities in the genus Homo. The authors’ published model (2020, Routledge) is now extended to the emergence of nascent theological thinking, augmenting the previous line of theory based on genomics, cognitive science, neuroscience, paleoneurology, cognitive archaeology, ethnography, and modern social science. This analysis concludes that findings support the earliest theological thinking in Homo sapiens, but not in an earlier species, Homo erectus, and clarifies why and (...) when it likely began. Types of anatomy, behavior, neurology, and cognition are presented that support tendencies to frame a structure of religious principles and a set of supernatural figures that early humans would consider right, just, exemplary, and even sacred. Stages of emergent physical, behavioral, and cognitive features are presented in tables. While based on published research results in the sciences, the model is presented here with anticipation of future testing. (shrink)

Qualquer museu destinado a apresentar “outras” culturas se constitui como uma exceção em relação à função usual de um museu: a ambição de retratar um mundo em miniatura requer uma expografia muito específica, na qual a alteridade tensiona com a continuidade, que os museus em geral presumem, entre os visitantes e os objetos que vieram ver. A ambição de constituir um microcosmo, portanto, levanta um problema de legitimidade: quem, entre “nós”, tem legitimidade para assumir a responsabilidade paradoxal de colocar em (...) cena o “Outro”? Mais do que uma simples abordagem sobre a história dos museus, mais do que uma viagem pelos problemas colocados pela Antropologia, o livro de Benoît de l’Estoile (2007) permite encarar de frente tal dificuldade, comum a todas as instituições francesas que se sucederam após a exposição colonial de 1931 (mas não somente). Entregando-se aos prazeres da intertextualidade cinematográfica, para além de ser uma forma de apresentar a questão fundamental da legitimidade (bom gosto contra mau gosto), o título da obra coloca o “gosto” em questão: “por ‘gosto alheio’, entendo as diversas formas de apropriação ‘das coisas dos Outros’, entendidas em um sentido amplo como manifestações da alteridade cultural” (L’Estoile 2007: 20). O gosto, portanto, remete aos modos de apropriação em todos os processos de apropriação, cuja legitimidade se apresenta, imediatamente, de maneira problemática. É sob este ângulo, considerando o problema da legitimidade como uma tensão que atravessa todo o texto, que abordaremos uma obra que demonstra como a alteridade foi construída ao longo de um século, segundo modos diferenciados, colocando em evidência a mais fundamental das questões: “O que significa a distinção entre nós e os outros no mundo em que vivemos?”. (shrink)

When does art history begin? Art historiographers typically point to the Renaissance (Vasari) or, alternatively, to Hellenism (Pliny the Elder). But such origin stories become increasingly disconnected from contemporary disciplinary practices, especially as the latter try to rise to the challenge of conducting art history in a more diversified and global way. This essay provides an alternative account of art history’s origin, one that does not try to alleviate the sense of disconnect, but rather develops a global, non-Eurocentric account. The (...) account focuses less on genealogy and more on what necessitates something like an art-historical awareness or attention in the first place. Relying on examples from ancient Mesopotamia, it argues that art-historical thought can be identified whenever and wherever material objects are attended to or produced for their potential to manifest visibly and over time their meaning. (shrink)

Celestial bodies have long been a source of religious objectification and this article aims to convey the origin of the relationship between human religious belief and observations of the night sky. The academic search for the origin of religion commenced in the early nineteenth century and since then the debate of whether animism or pre-animism is the original religion has dominated this field. Until now, no unified theory has acknowledged the influence of primitive astronomy on the origin of religion. However, (...) the theory of Astronicism supports the pre-animist hypothesis by proposing that early modern humans of the Upper Palaeolithic made simple associations between celestial bodies and their apparent capacity to determine human survival. This article asserts that these associations led to celestial deification long before humans animated astronomical phenomena with spirits. Archaeological specimens from Europe and beyond including astral rock art, cup marks and engravings are used in this article to assert that astrolatry and astromancy were crucial to the development of religion. (shrink)

Abstract: Dieser Artikel führt den Begriff des „Historischen Darwinismus“ – auch bezeichnet als „zivilisationelle Evolution“ oder „zivilisationelle Renaissance“ – als universellen Rahmen zur Erklärung der Entwicklung von Zivilisationen ein, ein Rahmen, der auf Mustern basiert, die der biologischen natürlichen Selektion analog sind. Es wird argumentiert, dass im Verlauf der Weltgeschichte langlebige Zivilisationen entstanden, sich angepasst und wieder verfallen sind durch Prozesse, die kulturellem Überleben und Regeneration ähneln. So entstanden beispielsweise die Hethiter aus den Hattiern, die Griechen aus den Mykenern und (...) die Babylonier aus den sumerischen und akkadischen Zivilisationen, wobei sie ihre Identitäten in Kontinuität mit ihren Vorgängern definierten. Aus dieser Perspektive sind Mythen nicht bloß Produkte der Vorstellungskraft; vielmehr sind sie Speicher kollektiver Erinnerung, die die historischen Erfahrungen antiker Gesellschaften codieren, die der zivilisationellen Evolution vorausgingen, und diese in literarischer Form in Gesellschaften nach der zivilisationellen Evolution weitergeben. Obwohl der Historische Darwinismus ein allgemeines Prinzip darstellt, das auf alle langlebigen Zivilisationen anwendbar ist, wendet dieser Artikel es spezifisch auf die iranische Mythologie an. Durch die Analyse der Erzählungen des Schāhnāme und anderer iranischer Quellen wird gezeigt, dass die Mythen des Schāhnāme und des Avesta zivilisatorische Transformationen, Migrationen und kulturelle Wiederaufleben auf dem weiten Land von Aryana während der Bronze- und Eisenzeit widerspiegeln. Offensichtliche Widersprüche in den iranischen Quellen – wie divergierende Herkunftserzählungen und die Dualität der zoroastrischen Traditionen – werden innerhalb dieses Rahmens nicht als Beweis historischer Fiktion, sondern als Zeichen aufeinanderfolgender historischer Rekonstruktionen im Verlauf der zivilisationellen Renaissance interpretiert. Dementsprechend erweist sich der Historische Darwinismus als ein neuartiger Ansatz in der Philosophie der Mythologie, der darauf abzielt, die historischen Kerne antiker Mythen aufzudecken und sie mit den Prozessen der zivilisatorischen Entwicklung und Erneuerung zu verbinden. (shrink)

Dieser Artikel ist die Rezension (und das Vorwort zur zweiten Auflage) des Buches: A. A. Varshovi (2024), Ferdowsis Schāhnāme; Mythos oder Realität?, Cyrus University Press, Kalifornien, USA.

This article is the review (and the preface to the second edition) of the book: A. A. Varshovi (2024), Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh; Myth or Reality?, Cyrus University Press, California, USA.

Эта статья является рецензией (и предисловием ко второму изданию) книги: А. А. Варшови (2024), Шахнаме Фирдоуси; Миф или реальность?, Сайрус Юниверсити Пресс, Калифорния, США.

В данной статье вводится концепция «Исторического дарвинизма» — также называемая «Цивилизационной эволюцией» или «Цивилизационным ренессансом» — как универсальная рамка для понимания эволюции цивилизаций, основанная на закономерностях, аналогичных биологическому естественному отбору. В статье утверждается, что на протяжении мировой истории длительно существовавшие цивилизации возникали, адаптировались и приходили в упадок посредством процессов, напоминающих культурное выживание и регенерацию. Например, хетты возникли из хаттов, греки — из микенцев, а вавилоняне — из шумерской и аккадской цивилизаций, формируя свою идентичность в преемственности с предшественниками. С этой точки (...) зрения, мифы — это не просто продукты воображения; они являются хранилищами коллективной памяти, кодирующими исторический опыт древних обществ, предшествовавших «Цивилизационной эволюции», в литературных формах обществ, существовавших после «Цивилизационной эволюции». Хотя «Исторический дарвинизм» представляет собой общий принцип, применимый ко всем длительно существующим цивилизациям, в данной статье он специально применяется к иранской мифологии. Анализируя повествования Шахнаме и других иранских источников, показано, что мифы Шахнаме и Авесты отражают цивилизационные трансформации, миграции и культурные ренессансы на обширной территории Арьяны в бронзовом и железном веках. Очевидные противоречия в иранских источниках — такие как различные версии происхождения и дуализм зороастрийских традиций — интерпретируются в рамках данной концепции не как свидетельства исторической выдумки, а как признаки последовательных исторических реконструкций в ходе «Цивилизационного ренессанса». Таким образом, «Исторический дарвинизм» выступает как новый подход в философии мифологии, направленный на выявление исторического ядра древних мифов и их связь с процессами цивилизационного развития и обновления. (shrink)

Cet article constitue la recension (et la préface de la deuxième édition) du livre : A. A. Varshovi (2024), Le Shâhnâmeh de Ferdowsi; Mythe ou Réalité?, Cyrus University Press, Californie, États-Unis.

Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) are known for their ability to reduce carbon emissions and fuel consumption. However, managing the thermal aspects of HEVs, especially concerning their powertrains and battery systems, remains a significant challenge. Traditional cooling mechanisms often result in inefficiencies due to their static nature. This paper proposes an AI-based thermal management system designed to address these limitations by offering dynamic, adaptive thermal regulation for HEVs. The system integrates real-time data monitoring with AI algorithms to optimize the cooling process (...) based on vehicle operating conditions, thereby reducing energy wastage and enhancing overall vehicle performance. By employing machine learning models, the system can predict thermal anomalies and adjust cooling efforts accordingly, thereby preventing overheating, improving battery life, and minimizing wear on the electric motor and power electronics. The proposed AI-based thermal management system combines predictive analytics, data-driven decision-making, and advanced cooling methodologies to ensure optimal thermal regulation under varying driving conditions. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of existing thermal management technologies in HEVs, identifies current challenges, and presents the AI-enhanced system as a cutting-edge solution for improving HEV efficiency and reliability. (shrink)

This chapter delves into the museological side of ‘the way forward’ to conservation for planetary health bioethics. Specifically, it highlights the crucial role that museums play – their curatorial or exhibition interventions, conservation operations, development policies, or practices – which present or represent the vital relationship between human and planetary health. While it is not new to stress the significance of museums’ link to the environment and environmental education, it is necessary to re-examine recent cases in light of the rapid (...) changes brought about by climate change and the constant call for sustainability. We thus offer a review of some recent literature that appraises the museum’s role in bioethically considering the health of our living planet. Learning this role taps into relatively new themes such as ecomuseums and architectural heritage, or critical eco-museology. (shrink)

Nowadays there is a general acknowledgment of the importance of place in Italian crime novels. In Caponapoli, Massimo Siviero articulates a narrative way in which he approaches the structures, city, and the built environment to reflect the society, cultural relations, transformations and dysfunctions of contemporary Naples. Joe Pazienza, the private detective, has been seen by him recently before he was a reporter. When hired by his first client, Nada Mormile, someone with all the requirements of the dark lady in the (...) right place, he immediately smells “serious” trouble. There is a strange message full of threats at stake, and the construction sites of a substantial building, soon found “suicidal” with his head inside a bag. There is also someone who does not appreciate Joe’s new job as too nosy and goes out of his way to make him understand. Also, there is the Caponapoli. The health complex around which all the mysteries of a violent and fascinating city seem to gather. (shrink)

Bourdieu argues that political inclination is dependent upon one's position in the academic field, and not vice versa. Distinguishing between three hierarchically arranged fields of power, he places the academic field in a middling position between the political and social fields. He posits a hierarchy of the faculties, in which those at the top are closer to political power. Bourdieu supports his argument using empirical data gathered through publicly available sources, presented in tabular form. University professors, Bourdieu argues, are subordinate (...) in the field of power to managers of industry and business, but are nonetheless "holders of an institutionalized form of cultural capital," and therefore culturally dominant with respect to writers and artists (36). These academics, especially those at the top of the social hierarchy, present higher percentages of "indices of social integration and respectability" (36-37). According to Bourdieu, two antagonistic principles of hierarchization are at play in the university field: "the social hierarchy, corresponding to capital inherited and economic and political capital. (shrink)

Archaeological research conducted since the 20th century in the eastern Bolivian plains highlights the process of anthropogenization established between the indigenous groups of the Llanos de Moxos and the Amazonian landscape during the pre-colonial period. These studies demonstrate the existence of an anthropogenic spatiality in Moxos, that is, an environment domesticated and improved by different human groups, some of probable Arawak ethnolinguistic origin. Thus, when the Spanish arrived in the Llanos de Moxos in the 16th century, they encountered traces of (...) civilizations characterized by low-density agricultural urbanism. Based on a literature review of recent archaeological data, this study considers that the Llanos de Moxos hosted a sophisticated engineering system that addressed both survival needs and cosmological frameworks. This engineering involved the development of dikes, canals, artificial lakes, pyramids, and raised agricultural fields, within a subject–subject relationship with the landscape. (shrink)

Seeking consensuses from the public is difficult, this also applies to the heritage sector, particularly in heritage preservation. ‘What, why and how to preserve?’ are the core of debates in the field and the differ- ences between points of views are basically due to the difference in valuation. In order to know everyone’s needs, views and expectations better and for sustainability, involving the community for preservation be- comes fundamental. Education, an experience which does not only provide opportunities for enlightenments and (...) widening horizons, but also introduce various concepts in terms of moral, ethical and social through systematic instructions. Having such great impact to community, promoting heritage education can be an effective approach awakening public consciousness on heritage preservation, and thus, enhancing people’s responsibility towards heritage, for both tangible and intangible, and developing a sustainable future for heritage through public engagement. However, it is necessary to understand the structure or the level of engagement prior setting the goal for heritage education. A model for classifying the level of engagement from performance is proposed for clarification and appraisal. This model is part of the research project of Community Engagement with Heritage in Macau which has an intention to examine its level of community engagement and give suggestions. This essay will first discuss community engagement, then classify the levels of engagement with models and lastly argue heritage education can elevate the level of community engagement which ultimately achieves the aim of heritage preservation. (shrink)

After the WHS inscription of the Historic Centre of Macau in 2005, the relationship between citizens of Macau and their heritage is not distanced. Most of these monuments remain functional for religious and social purposes and are actively engaged in public commercial activities such as the annual Macau Light Festival. Several historic houses have been transformed into either a permanent library or a museum where people can experience various events. With such frequent interaction, these monuments are more than just heritage (...) to locals; they are the venues where people’s daily lives are attached. However, this familiarity will cause a paradox in preservation since losing the distance might mean being unable to deliver the message of protection. It would be difficult to find a balance between preservation and reuse of heritage. This paper will use the Historic Centre of Macau as a case study to discuss the types of adaptive reuse in Macau and propose potential risks of these approaches. (shrink)

Usual narratives among prehistoric archaeologists consider typological approaches as part of a past and outdated episode in the history of research, subsequently replaced by technological, functional, chemical, and cognitive approaches. From a historical and conceptual perspective, this paper addresses several limits of these narratives, which (1) assume a linear, exclusive, and additive conception of scientific change, neglecting the persistence of typological problems; (2) reduce collective developments to personal work (e.g. the “Bordes’” and “Laplace’s” methods in France); and (3) presuppose the (...) coherence and identity of these “methods” over time. It explores the case of the “Structural and analytical typology” method, developed in France, Spain, and Italy from the 1950s to the 2000s by Georges Laplace and his collaborators for lithic implements. This paper (1) provides a detailed historical account of the evolving content of this collective endeavour over five decades; (2) it addresses the epistemological question of what makes the identity and unity of a scientific method, demonstrating that the core component of the “analytical typology” lies in its particular way to represent real-world phenomena through its notation system; and (3) it reveals how this little known but significant episode of advances in the methods and theory of archaeology, contemporary but independent of the “New Archaeology” trend in English-speaking archaeology, was instrumental in the continuation of evolutionary perspectives in France and in the development of quantitative and formal methods in archaeology in southwestern Europe, foreseeing crucial knowledge representation issues raised today by digital methods in archaeology and data curation. (shrink)

A crucial design feature of language useful for determining when grammatical language evolved in the human lineage is our ability to combine meaningless units to form a new unit with meaning (combinatoriality) and to further combine these meaningful units into a larger unit with a novel meaning (compositionality). There is overlap between neural bases that underlie hierarchical cognitive functions required for compositionality in both linguistic and nonlinguistic contexts (e.g., tool use). Therefore, evidence of compositional tool use in the archaeological record (...) should signify, at the very least, the cognitive capacity for grammatical language by that point in time. We devise a novel system to evaluate the level of hierarchical nesting of tool components in single tool use activities. In the application of this system, we demonstrate that nonhuman primates, and by extension, the last common ancestor shared by Pan and Homo, are capable of basic combinatoriality; however, their technology does not approach the compositionality observable in modern human tool use. The prehistoric archaeological record supports a continuous evolution of combinatorial tool use into compositional tool use, with evidence for human-like levels of by 0.93 million years ago (Ma), or possibly as early as 1.7 Ma. While compositional language could have lagged behind compositional tool use, if language and technology coevolved according to the Technological Origin for Language hypothesis, which proposes a feedback system between the two, then evidence for hierarchical tool use structures implies a similar level of complexity in linguistic structures. (shrink)

Efforts to preserve cultural heritage have continuedthroughout history, and currently use game technology. Seriousgames, with their audio-visual features make it possible for players toabsorb and retain the often rather arid data of heritage. Furthermore,such technology facilitates the transmission of heritage globallyamongst remote people, without the need to commute personally.Exploring the literature, we noted a lack of local game culture in Iran,and in the Middle East more broadly. This region is limited in terms ofthe existing global game industry, and the introduction (...) of its culture tothe world depends on the global market. This ascertains the paper'sresearch problem: the need for more local games in the field to promote local historical culture. Hence, the paper aims to preserve anddisseminate the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of its focus area, Iran’s Silk Roads and its caravanserais, by developing and testing a serious game named The Sericum Via. It has a non-linearnarrative, engaging the player in a long journey visiting the Safavidcaravanserais on the Silk Roads, using their detailed information. Thegame's text-based and strategic environment demands decision-making skills throughout the game and is challenging enough to makethe player revisit the game frequently. (shrink)

Recently, we have witnessed an explosion of studies and discussions claiming that Neanderthals engaged in a range of “symbolic” behaviors, including personal ornament use (Radovčić et al., 2015), funerary practices (Balzeau et al., 2020), visual arts (Hoffmann et al., 2018), body aesthetics (Roebroeks et al., 2012), etc. In Paleolithic archaeology, it has become mainstream to axiomatically infer from these putative behaviors that Neanderthals engaged in symbol use and that Neanderthals thus possessed some form of language. Rudolf Botha's bombastic title "Neanderthal (...) Language: Demystifying the Linguistic Powers of Our Extinct Cousins" provides a detailed and very critical overview of the archaeological hypotheses and speculations about Neanderthal language. (shrink)

This volume explores various themes at the intersection of archaeology and philosophy: inference and theory; interdisciplinary connections; cognition, language and normativity; and ethical issues. Showcasing this heterogeneity, its scope ranges from the method of analogical inference to the evolution of the human mind; from conceptual issues in assessing the health of past populations to the ethics of cultural heritage tourism. It probes the archaeological record for evidence of numeracy, curiosity and creativity, and social complexity. Its contributors comprise an interdisciplinary cluster (...) of philosophers, archaeologists, anthropologists, and psychologists, from a variety of career stages, of whom many are leading experts in their fields. Chapter 3 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com. (shrink)

Cleopatra VII, the last of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, reveled in perfume (Plutarch, Life of Marcus Antonius 26.2). She even used it in her seduction of the Roman general Marc Antony. Sailing up the river Cydnus to meet him, she reclined in a canopy spangled with gold, adorned like Venus in a painting. Boys dressed as cupids fanned her and wondrous scents from incense offerings wafted along the riverbanks. Not long after her death in August 30 BCE, a book (...) circulated under her name called Cleopatra’s Cosmetic, full of recipes for fragrant oils and cleansers (Totelin 2017: 114–18). (shrink)

Freud’s fascination with the ruins of ancient Rome was an element in the formation and development of psychology. This article concerns the intersection of psychoanalysis with archaeology and history in the study of that city. Its substantive content is an analysis of the life and career of Andrea Carandini, the best-known Roman archaeologist of the past 40 years. He has said and written much about his changing views of himself and about what he is trying to do in his approach (...) to the recuperation of the Roman past. His scholarly publications and autobiographical testimonies are at the core of this article. After an early commitment to Marxism that ended in disenchantment and a crisis in his personal life, Carandini spent a decade undergoing psychoanalysis with the Chilean-born expatriate Ignacio Matte-Blanco. The latter gained a following as a theorist who built upon Freud’s ideas about the unconscious by producing a set of mathematically inspired concepts concerning the workings of temporality in human history in which emotional intuition took priority over the rational(izing) logic of empiricism. Much influenced by his psychoanalyst, Carandini developed a highly personal approach to the writing of archaeology and history. These writings are explored here in terms of Roman historiography, and in the wider arena of formulations of how the past is to be addressed and written about. (shrink)

Community detection is a major issue in network analysis. This paper combines a socio-historical approach with an experimental reconstruction of programs to investigate the early automation of clique detection algorithms, which remains one of the unsolved NP-complete problems today. The research led by the archaeologist Jean-Claude Gardin from the 1950s on non-numerical information and graph analysis is retraced to demonstrate the early contributions of social sciences and humanities. The limited recognition and reception of Gardin's innovative computer application to the humanities (...) are addressed through two factors, in addition to the effects of historiography and bibliographies on the recording, discoverability, and reuse of scientific productions: (1) funding policies, evidenced by the transfer of research effort on graph applications from temporary interdisciplinary spaces to disciplinary organizations related to the then-emerging field of computer science; and (2) the erratic careers of algorithms, in which efficiency, flaws, corrections, and authors’ status, were determining factors. (shrink)

Methodological innovations have a special status in disciplinary histories, because they can be widely adopted and anonymised. In the 1950s, this occurred to Georges Laplace’s innovative use of 3-dimensional metric Cartesian coordinate system to record the positions of archaeological objects. This paper proposes a conceptual and social history of this process, with a focus on its spatial context, the Pyrenean region (Spain, Basque Country, and France). Main results of this research based on archives, publications, and bibliometric data, include: 1) a (...) critical discussion of the notions concerning authorship of such methodological innovations; 2) a presentation of the lesser-known aspects of Laplace’s method, showing its contribution to the abstraction and formalisation of archaeological observations and data recording; and 3) the identification of an international Pyrenean intellectual lineage of innovation regarding stratigraphy and excavation methods, from the late 19th century to the early 21th century. (shrink)

In this chapter I address the concern that UNESCO World Heritage designation leads to unregulated tourism. I argue that heritage tourism not only has a negative impact on the site but may adversely impact local populations and descendant communities. I detail two related worries, UNESCO-cide and the Disneyfication of cultural heritage. The term ‘UNESCO-cide’ was coined by Marco d’Eramo to describe the role overtourism has played in the death of cities listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. Disneyfication is the process (...) of sanitizing potentially controversial or seemingly negative narratives from the tourist site to make the experience more palatable. I focus my analysis on two UNESCO World Heritage sites: Angkor Archaeological Complex in Cambodia and George Town in Malaysia. After a discussion about the negative impacts World Heritage designation has had on these sites, I suggest some mitigating strategies for tourism. (shrink)

This chapter draws upon the archaeological and philosophical literature to offer an analysis and diagnosis of the popular ‘ancient aliens’ theory. First, we argue that ancient aliens theory is a form of conspiracy theory. Second, we argue that it differs from other familiar conspiracy theories because it does distinctive ideological work. Third, we argue that ancient aliens theory is a form of non-contextualized inquiry that sacrifices the very thing that makes archaeological research successful, and does so for the sake of (...) popular accessibility. Rather than merely dismissing ancient aliens as ‘pseudoarchaeology’ on demarcationist grounds, we offer a more complicated account of how the theory works, and what ideological work it does. (shrink)

Cultural heritage conservation has two aspects, tangible and intangible, both of which contribute greatly to the understanding of ancient inheritances. Due to the role of education in the preservation process, and the strength of the new media in the current era, serious games can play a key role in conservancy by transmitting the target culture. There is a gap in the serious game field in relation to Turkey's cultural heritage on the Silk Roads, underlining the motivation of this research. Hence, (...) this study proposes the Anatolian Journey serious game, which is developed in the Twine platform, designed to transmit Turkey's tangible and intangible cultural heritage, providing comprehensive information on the Seljuk caravanserais, located on the Silk Roads. Moreover, the research compares undergraduate and graduate students' gains in knowledge of heritage data while playing a serious game and encountering the same content in text form with an online survey. (shrink)

Astronomy and religion have long been intertwined with their interactions resembling a symbiotic relationship since prehistoric times. Building on existing archaeological research, this study asks: do the interactions between astronomy and religion, beginning from prehistory, form a distinct religious tradition? Prior research exploring the prehistoric origins of religion has unearthed evidence suggesting the influence of star worship and night sky observation in the development of religious sects, beliefs and practices. However, there does not yet exist a historiography dedicated to outlining (...) why astronomy and religion mutually developed, nor has there been a proposal set forth asserting that these interactions constitute a religious tradition; proposed herein as the Astronic tradition, or Astronicism. This paper pursues the objective of arguing for the Astronic tradition to be treated, firstly, as a distinct religious tradition and secondly, as the oldest archaeologically-verifiable religious tradition. To achieve this, the study will adopt a multidisciplinary approach involving archaeology, anthropology, geography, psychology, mythology, archaeoastronomy and comparative religion. After proposing six characteristics inherent to a religious tradition, the paper will assemble a historiography for astronomical religion. As a consequence of the main objective, this study also asserts that astronomical religion, most likely astrolatry, has its origins in the Upper Palaeolithic period of the Stone Age based on specimens from the archaeological record. The assertion is made that astrolatry is the original religion and fulfils the Urreligion theory. To end, the proposed characteristics of a religious tradition will be applied to Astronicism to ultimately determine whether it is a valid tradition that can stand alongside the established Abrahamic, Dharmic and Taoic traditions. (shrink)

Sticking to elementary mathematics, this text is a short introduction to understanding historical and comparative counting systems. It gives a brief historical and contextual overview, along with showing how to read and count in a number of ancient systems including Egyptian, Babylonian, Mayan, Roman, Hebrew, Intuit, binary, Quipu and abacus.