Hunting in a Tropical Rainforest:Evidence from the Terminal Pleistocene at Lobang Hangus, Niah Caves, Sarawak

The Terminal Pleistocene zooarchaeological evidence from Lobang Hangus, an east-facing entrance to the Niah Cave complex, provides unique insights into the hunting habits of the human inhabitants of this cave. The composition and structure of the vertebrate accumulation indicates that a variety of locally available terrestrial, arboreal and aquatic taxa were being exploited, The age structure of the principal predated species, the presence of bone points and evidence from modern rainforest hunting combine to suggest that some form of projectile weaponry as well as trapping technologies were probably being employed by the hunters at Niah before the end of the Pleistocene. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The 'human revolution' in lowland tropical Southeast Asia:the antiquity and behavior of anatomically modern humans at Niah Cave (Sarawak, Borneo)

Recent research in Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia suggests that we can no longer assume a direct and exclusive link between anatomically modern humans and behavioral modernity (the 'human revolution'), and assume that the presence of either one implies the presence of the other: discussions of the emergence of cultural complexity have to proceed with greater scrutiny of the evidence on a site-by-site basis to establish secure associations between the archaeology present there and the hominins who created it. This paper presents one such case study: Niah Cave in Sarawak on the island of Borneo, famous for the discovery in 1958 in the West Mouth of the Great Cave of a modern human skull, the 'Deep Skull,' controversially associated with radiocarbon dates of ca. 40,000 years before the present. A new chronostratigraphy has been developed through a re-investigation of the lithostratigraphy left by the earlier excavations, AMS-dating using three different comparative pre-treatments including ABOX of charcoal, and U-series using the Diffusion-Absorption model applied to fragments of bones from the Deep Skull itself. Stratigraphic reasons for earlier uncertainties about the antiquity of the skull are examined, and it is shown not to be an `intrusive' artifact. It was probably excavated from fluvial-pond-desiccation deposits that accumulated episodically in a shallow basin immediately behind the cave entrance lip, in a climate that ranged from times of comparative aridity with complete desiccation, to episodes of greater surface wetness, changes attributed to regional climatic fluctuations. Vegetation outside the cave varied significantly over time, including wet lowland forest, montane forest, savannah, and grassland. The new dates and the lithostratigraphy relate the Deep Skull to evidence of episodes of human activity that range in date from ca. 46,000 to ca. 34,000 years ago. Initial investigations of sediment scorching, pollen, palynomorphs, phytoliths, plant macrofossils, and starch grains recovered from existing exposures, and of vertebrates from the current and the earlier excavations, suggest that human foraging during these times was marked by habitat-tailored hunting technologies, the collection and processing of toxic plants for consumption, and, perhaps, the use of fire at some forest-edges. The Niah evidence demonstrates the sophisticated nature of the subsistence behavior developed by modern humans to exploit the tropical environments that they encountered in Southeast Asia, including rainforest. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of tropical easterlies in southern Africa's winter rainfall zone during the Holocene

South Africa's southwestern Cape occupies a critical transition zone between Southern Hemisphere temperate (winter) and tropical (summer) moisture-bearing systems. In the recent geological past, it has been proposed that the relative influence of these systems may have changed substantially, but little reliable evidence regarding regional hydroclimates and rainfall seasonality exists to refine or substantiate the understanding of long-term dynamics. In this paper we present a mid-to late Holocene multi-proxy record of environmental change from a rock hyrax midden from Katbakkies Pass, located along the modern boundary between the winter and summer rainfall zones. Derived from stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes, fossil pollen and microcharcoal, these data provide a high resolution record of changes in humidity, and insight into changes in rainfall seasonality. Whereas previous work concluded that the site had generally experienced only subtle environmental change during the Holocene, our records indicate that significant, abrupt changes have occurred in the region over the last 7000 years. Contrary to expectations based on the site's location, these data indicate that the primary determinant of changes in humidity is summer rather than winter rainfall variability, and its influence on drought season intensity and/or length. These findings are consistent with independent records of upwelling along the southern and western coasts, which indicate that periods of increased humidity are related to increased tropical easterly flow. This substantially refines our understanding of the nature of temperate and tropical circulation system dynamics in SW Africa, and how changes in their relative dominance have impacted regional environments during the Holocene. 

Proteomics and in silico approaches to extend understanding of the glutathione transferase superfamily of the tropical liver fluke Fasciola gigantica

Fasciolosis is an important foodborne, zoonotic disease of livestock and humans, with global annual health and economic losses estimated at several billion US$. Fasciola hepatica is the major species in temperate regions, while F. gigantica dominates in the tropics. In the absence of commercially available vaccines to control fasciolosis, increasing reports of resistance to current chemotherapeutic strategies and the spread of fasciolosis into new areas, new functional genomics approaches are being used to identify potential new drug targets and vaccine candidates. The glutathione transferase (GST) superfamily is both a candidate drug and vaccine target. This study reports the identification of a putatively novel Sigma class GST, present in a water-soluble cytosol extract from the tropical liver fluke F. gigantica. The GST was cloned and expressed as an enzymically active recombinant protein. This GST shares a greater identity with the human schistosomiasis GST vaccine currently at Phase II clinical trials than previously discovered F. gigantica GSTs, stimulating interest in its immuno-protective properties. In addition, in silico analysis of the GST superfamily of both F. gigantica and F. hepatica has revealed an additional Mu class GST, Omega class GSTs, and for the first time, a Zeta class member.

Hardware Software Interface: a Strategy for the implementation of Urban Agriculture

This paper describes how urban agriculture differs from conventional agriculture not only in the way it engages with the technologies of growing, but also in the choice of crop and the way these are brought to market. The authors propose a new model for understanding these new relationships, which is analogous to a systems view of information technology, namely Hardware-Software- Interface.
The first component of the system is hardware. This is the technological component of the agricultural system. Technology is often thought of as equipment, but its linguistic roots are in ‘technis’ which means ‘know how’. Urban agriculture has to engage new technologies, ones that deal with the scale of operation and its context which is different than rural agriculture. Often the scale is very small, and soils are polluted. There this technology in agriculture could be technical such as aquaponic systems, or could be soil-based agriculture such as allotments, window-boxes, or permaculture. The choice of method does not necessarily determine the crop produced or its efficiency. This is linked to the biotic that is added to the hardware, which is seen as the ‘software’.
The software of the system are the ecological parts of the system. These produce the crop which may or may not be determined by the technology used. For example, a hydroponic system could produce a range of crops, or even fish or edible flowers. Software choice can be driven by ideological preferences such as permaculture, where companion planting is used to reduce disease and pests, or by economic factors such as the local market at a particular time of the year. The monetary value of the ‘software’ is determined by the market. Obviously small, locally produced crops are unlikely to compete against intensive products produced globally, however the value locally might be measured in different ways, and might be sold on a different market. This leads to the final part of the analogy - interface.
The interface is the link between the system and the consumer. In traditional agriculture, there is a tenuous link between the producer of asparagus in Peru and the consumer in Europe. In fact very little of the money spent by the consumer ever reaches the grower. Most of the money is spent on refrigeration, transport and profit for agents and supermarket chains. Local or hyper-local agriculture needs to bypass or circumvent these systems, and be connected more directly to the consumer. This is the interface. In hyper-localised systems effectiveness is often more important than efficiency, and direct links between producer and consumer create new economies.

Agriculture, settlement and society in Early Medieval Ireland

During the early medieval period, Ireland was politically organised into a large number of very small kingdoms. Unlike much of Western Europe, it had not been incorporated into the Roman Empire, and as a consequence, settlement remained exclusively rural in character until the Viking period. Extensive documentary, archaeological, zooarchaeological and macro-plant evidence provides a detailed reconstruction of the livestock and arable economy of the period. Cattle ownership formed the basis of wealth as well as being an indicator of status in society, and this is reflected in its clear dominance of the livestock economy during this period. From the eighth century onwards, however, cereal production appears to grow in importance as subsistence farming gave way to the production of agricultural surplus. This is reflected in cereal diversification and in the construction of watermills and more efficient grain-drying kilns. At the same time, settlement underwent significant changes and the relative importance of cattle in some areas began to decline.