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Notitia Itineris Cuiusdam Per Graeciam in Lingua Italica Redacta, Cum Inscriptionum Apographis (Cod. Ambr. C 61 inf./6)
Issue:
Volume 10, Issue 1, June 2022
Pages:
1-5
Received:
10 November 2021
Accepted:
29 November 2021
Published:
21 January 2022
DOI:
10.11648/j.ija.20221001.11
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Abstract: The "Notitia itineris cuiusdam per Graeciam in lingua italica redacta, cum inscriptionum apographis" is a text contained in the Codex Ambrosianus C 61 inf., a manuscript composed of several codicological units. It is an incomplete copy of a lost work, whose author was long unknown. In the 1980s, Luigi Beschi suggested that the original work might have been written by Urbano Bolzanio, a friar from Belluno who lived in the 15th century. It is a travel itinerary to Greece and Constantinople, enriched by the citation of several epigraphs found along the way. The original work, as anticipated by the title of the copy in the Codex Ambrosianus, was to be accompanied by several plates with complete inscriptions. By analysing the manuscript in its historical context, this research will refine the date when Urbano Bolzanio may have undertaken his journey to Greece, i.e. between 1479 and 1489. A comparison with another manuscript, the Codex Cicogna 1874, will also reveal new aspects of the literary circle of the friar from Belluno, who was linked to figures such as Girolamo Bologni and Domenico Bonomino. Clues from the text and references to other manuscripts will thus add to the history of Italian epigraphic collections in the 15th century.
Abstract: The "Notitia itineris cuiusdam per Graeciam in lingua italica redacta, cum inscriptionum apographis" is a text contained in the Codex Ambrosianus C 61 inf., a manuscript composed of several codicological units. It is an incomplete copy of a lost work, whose author was long unknown. In the 1980s, Luigi Beschi suggested that the original work might h...
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Archaeology of African Agro-systems: A Macro-Evolutionary Perspective
Augustin Ferdinand Charles Holl
Issue:
Volume 10, Issue 1, June 2022
Pages:
6-19
Received:
10 January 2022
Accepted:
24 January 2022
Published:
16 February 2022
DOI:
10.11648/j.ija.20221001.12
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Abstract: The neolithization processes – the shift from hunting-gathering to food production– was kicked off at the end of the Late Glacial Maximum and amplified at different pace in different places during the Holocene. The virtual simultaneity of these transformations in different parts of the world begs for explanation. The Early Holocene Global warming triggered profound environmental changes that offered new resources cohorts and subsistence opportunities to post-Pleistocene hunters-gatherers. Plants and animals’ domestication resulting from the long-term exploitation and manipulation of selected range of species took place in different parts of the world. Different hypotheses have been formulated to understand the forces driving this shift and the mechanisms sustaining these processes. The prime-movers in these reviewed models include climate change, population growth, the dynamic of exchange, feasting, or religions. This paper focuses on the genesis of African agro-systems in a macro-evolutionary perspective. Plant domestication and the ensuing agricultural system derived from the operation of co-evolutionary process involving nature, biological entities, and human agency in constant directional feed-back loops. The derived African agro-systems, their genesis, diversity, chronology, and long-term evolution are outlined and discussed. The domestication of Pearl-millet (Pennisetum glaucum) as well as its expansion in the continent are featured in a case-study showcasing the core Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) assumptions that are: directionality, causality, targets of selection, mode of inheritance, and pace of evolution operating at micro as well as macro levels.
Abstract: The neolithization processes – the shift from hunting-gathering to food production– was kicked off at the end of the Late Glacial Maximum and amplified at different pace in different places during the Holocene. The virtual simultaneity of these transformations in different parts of the world begs for explanation. The Early Holocene Global warming t...
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Camel: The Symbol of Honor, Pride and Love of Arab Bedouins
Issue:
Volume 10, Issue 1, June 2022
Pages:
20-23
Received:
8 January 2022
Accepted:
24 February 2022
Published:
9 March 2022
DOI:
10.11648/j.ija.20221001.13
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Abstract: Hundreds of papers are written on camel, its importance and love for the Bedouins, but this author has documented 14000 camelperolyphs from all over Saudi Arabia and rejected the claim that camel was present in Saudi Arabian in the Neolithic. The paper contains information about camel, its presence in Arabia and art of nature as compared toart of people. Camel was not present in Arabia during the Neolithic period. It appeared most likely in the bronze age when the climate of Saudi Arabia changed from cool and humid to hot and dry conditions. It is yet not known from where the camel was brought to Arabia, but it is certain that it did not originate in the Arabian Peninsula. Dating of camel by Guillaume Charloux attributing it to 7000 years is debatable. Although camels are not used these days for transportation due to introduction of modern jeeps and other vehicles these are still kept by the Bedouins and Tribal Sheiks as a symbol of honor and prestige. Similarly young Saudis settled in towns and cities have completely no knowledge of their tribal symbols. This old tradition is now dying as camel is no more important for them, but such symbols are preserved on the mountains, hills and caves where in the past their ancestors lived. This author has collected 4000 such symbols from all over Saudi Arabia.
Abstract: Hundreds of papers are written on camel, its importance and love for the Bedouins, but this author has documented 14000 camelperolyphs from all over Saudi Arabia and rejected the claim that camel was present in Saudi Arabian in the Neolithic. The paper contains information about camel, its presence in Arabia and art of nature as compared toart of p...
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Urbanism in Prehistoric China as a Driving Force in Technology Hybridization
Issue:
Volume 10, Issue 1, June 2022
Pages:
24-30
Received:
24 March 2022
Accepted:
14 April 2022
Published:
31 May 2022
DOI:
10.11648/j.ija.20221001.14
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Abstract: Background: Hominids used stone tools for hundreds of thousands of years without exhibiting significant technological progress. The latter first occurred after the end of the last ice age, above all with the introduction of agriculture. At that time, agrarian societies emerged with production techniques, including ceramic technology, basketry, weaving, and cordage, that individuals could master and for which the raw materials could be obtained through subsistence farming. The question arises as to the process by which early societies – in this case in China – were able to advance to a higher level of technology. The working hypothesis is that this was made possible by the hybridization of technologies in urban centers. The exchange among specialized artisans led to cross-fertilization, which facilitated the development of new techniques. Objective: This study first discusses some prominent earlier models of thought on the development of urbanism. It then attempts to apply the concept of technology hybridization to the development of various technologies in ancient China. In particular, topics such as hydraulic engineering, bronze metallurgy, jade industry, and scribal art are discussed. Method: The approach of comparative archaeology allows an understanding of the dynamics of long-term social and technological change in early Chinese societies. A transdisciplinary and diachronic approach is used to reveal long-term social variability and cross-cultural connections. Results: Urbanism is both an expression of technology and a catalyst of further technological progress. Technology hybridization, the convergence and cross-fertilization of technologies of different natures in urban centers, is ultimately an important driving force of cultural progress. Conclusion: Despite great differences in terms of geological substrate, topography, climate, and vegetation, early Chinese cultures shared several common characteristics. These included complex social organization, the existence of social classes, and an increasingly urban landscape with specialized workshops and sophisticated technologies such as copper and bronze metallurgy, jade carving, divination, and writing. This Chinese civilization did not simply emerge from the Central Plains and then absorb and assimilate the cultures of the surrounding regions. Rather, it is the result of a process in which various traditions, peoples, languages, and ethnicities were woven into a historically complex and multilayered fabric. Presumably, the early polities were independent cities or city-states that retained their political autonomy. Actual technical progress took place primarily where population density was high, i.e., in urban centers.
Abstract: Background: Hominids used stone tools for hundreds of thousands of years without exhibiting significant technological progress. The latter first occurred after the end of the last ice age, above all with the introduction of agriculture. At that time, agrarian societies emerged with production techniques, including ceramic technology, basketry, weav...
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