Season of birth and sheep husbandry in late Roman and Medieval coastal Flanders: a pilot study using tooth enamel d18O analysis

From the early Roman period, there is archaeological evidence for the exploitation of the Flemish coastal plain (Belgium) for a range of activities, such as sheep herding on the then developing salt-marshes and salt-meadows for the production of wool. During the early Middle Ages, this culminated in the establishment of dedicated ‘sheep estates’. This phase of exploitation was followed by extensive drainage and land reclamation measures in the high Medieval period, transforming areas into grassland, suited for cattle breeding. As part of a larger project investigating the onset, intensification and final decline of sheep management in coastal Flanders in the historical period, this pilot study presents the results of sequential sampling and oxygen isotope analysis of a number of sheep teeth (M2, n = 8) from four late Roman and Medieval sites (dating from 4th to 15th century AD), in order to assess potential variations in season of birth between the different sites and through time. In comparison with published data from herds of known birth season, incremental enamel data from the Flemish sites are consistent with late winter/spring births, with the possibility of some instances of slightly earlier parturition. These findings suggest that manipulation of season of birth was not a feature of the sheep husbandry-based economies of early historic Flanders, further evidencing that wool production was the main purpose of contemporary sheep rearing in the region. Manipulation of season of birth is not likely to have afforded economic advantage in wool-centred economies, unlike in some milk- or meat-based regimes.

Accounting as interpretive framing

The study furthers our understanding of the persuasive and constructive aspects of accounting information. We consider it as a process of ‘interpretive framing’ in the quest for legitimacy - an attempt to justify decisions and excuse mistakes. We base our theoretical discussion on the premise that the picture reported by accounting information is an example of institutional reality and thus mediated by the social contexts in which it is constructed and interpreted. Accounting information is a matter of ‘the interpretation of interpretations’ - the provision of accounting information, which is already a result of a competitive interplay among prior interpretations of certain aspects of our economic phenomena, undergoes further interpretation by the recipients of that information. This notion applies equally to narratives and numbers. We challenge notions of rigor, accuracy and objectivity assigned to quantification in accounting and posit that numbers can be an even more powerful rhetorical device due to their image of being rational and ‘rhetoric free’. We illustrate our theoretical propositions presenting explicit references to the constructive and rhetorical aspects of financial reporting from Pacioli and his times (late 15th century) to the recent regulatory developments of FASB/IASB in 2013, i.e. from the rhetoric of double entry book-keeping to the rhetoric of 'fair value’. We acknowledge, building on these theoretical foundations, the inherent subjectivity of accounting information (influenced by perceptions and interests) without entirely denying however its informative functions. We illustrate the practical implications of this, in a situation where “shared and socially accepted” perceptions may be the nearest we can get to anything resembling a faithful representation of economic reality. The paper contributes to a broader understanding of how accounting information can be viewed as a social and humanistic construction, and challenges taken-for-granted assumptions about impartiality, neutrality and rationality in regard to the process.

Catálogo dos livros de Horas da Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil

O presente trabalho objetivou identificar a coleção dos livros de horas da Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil, com vistas a produzir um catálogo. A coleção abrange nove livros manuscritos iluminados; neste trabalho, porém, foram identificados apenas os oito livros produzidos na segunda metade do século XV. Quatro desses livros são provenientes da Real Biblioteca – Casa do Infantado, que veio para o Brasil em 1808 com a família real portuguesa, tornando-se o núcleo inicial da Biblioteca Nacional brasileira. Na primeira parte apresentamos as considerações teóricas situando o período no qual o livro de horas se inscreve, destacando a sua importância, tanto na sociedade quanto no desenvolvimento da piedade do homem na cristandade medieval. Apresentamos também um breve histórico da Biblioteca Nacional, depositária da coleção dos livros de horas e, concluindo a primeira parte, os dados referentes à construção do catálogo. A segunda parte é o catálogo propriamente dito, onde os livros estão descritos obedecendo às normas internacionais vigentes, viabilizando o acesso, a divulgação e o intercâmbio de informações, promovendo assim a valorização e a preservação desses bens culturais e patrimoniais.

O homem do renascimento

Investiga-se a existência de um ideal de homem do Renascimento e seu universo ético, seus valores e expectativas morais. Pressupõe-se a existência de novos tipos sociais, em cena desde o século XV: artista, príncipe, navegador e indígena, cardeal, mulher renascentista, filósofo e mago e, em particular, banqueiro e mercador -expressões máximas de individualidades.

O problema da liberdade no primeiro livro dos discorsi de Maquiavel

A pesquisa pretende analisar e contextualizar o problema da liberdade cívica no Primeiro Livro dos Discorsi de Maquiavel. A análise será histórico-político-filosófica do ideário da liberdade, construída pelos humanistas cívicos florentinos, entre os séculos XIV e XV, e criticado e realizado teoricamente por Maquiavel pelo viés do republicanismo. O que está em questão é a herança do conceito de libertà e sua confluência contemporâmea na obra do pensador florentino.

Peregrinação, conquista e povoamento. Mito e realismo desencantado numa hagiografia medieval portuguesa

O texto pretende realizar uma interpretação da narrativa de viagem ao Paraíso Terrestre cistercience Vida de Santo Amaro, à luz da história portuguesa entre os séculos XIII e XV, apontando as relações existentes entre pensamento histórico e pensamento mítico na passagem do processo de Reconquista para os Descobrimentos, vivenciados ao longo da história das diferentes versões escritas da fonte analisada.

A escrita do passado entre monges e leigos (Portugal - séculos XIV e XV)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

O espaço urbano e suas temporalidades: diagnóstico e propostas de intervenção para o patrimônio histórico do centro de Limeira - SP

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Da Camelot arturiana à Terra-média: representações da mulher em Le morte Darthur e the Lord of the rings

Pós-graduação em Letras - IBILCE

Ceuta, para além da terra dos mouros: a fabricação histórica de um marco do império português (século XV e início do XVI)

Pós-graduação em História - FCHS

As vogais na diacronia do português: uma interpretação fonológica de três momentos da história da língua

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

José Feliciano de Castilho e a tradição clássica no séc. XIX: os adágios de Publílio Siro

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

De um falsário a outro, de patranhas viageiras a legados críveis (século XV)

In the 15th and early 16th centuries, when traveling eastward and westward no longer proved extraordinary, travel writings, such as those of Marco Polo or Jean de Mandeville, were printed and reprinted and have been in the world of exchanges and acquisitions both in Portugal and in other parts of Europe. However, although they have played a key role in defining foreign worlds for Europe, reflecting the aspirations of their time and providing news about the universe to be discovered, these reports do not always necessarily tell of trips that were actually taken. Several of them, on the contrary, do no more than draw together, for contemporary readers, passages of interest taken from other writings; passages which, based on their regularity and frequency, would allow for a narrative staged as travel to be taken as truth for contemporaries and immediate successors. In the Iberian Peninsula of the late 15th century, an account written by an author about whom nothing is known, Gomez de Santisteban, who defines himself as a companion of Prince Pedro on a supposed trip to the Holy Land, was among those reports integrated into the description and the perception of the land being discovered. The driving question of this paper is, therefore, how Santisteban, though he wrote memories of trips that he did not take, achieved credibility like those travelers whose trips have been recognized as authentic.

Tuzla City (BiH): an example of geohazard induced by salt extraction

Salt deposits characterize the subsurface of Tuzla (BiH) and made it famous since the ancient times. Archeological discoveries demonstrate the presence of a Neolithic pile-dwelling settlement related to the existence of saltwater springs that contributed to make the most of the area a swampy ground. Since the Roman times, the town is reported as “the City of Salt deposits and Springs”; "tuz" is the Turkish word for salt, as the Ottomans renamed the settlement in the 15th century following their conquest of the medieval Bosnia (Donia and Fine, 1994). Natural brine springs were located everywhere and salt has been evaporated by means of hot charcoals since pre-Roman times. The ancient use of salt was just a small exploitation compared to the massive salt production carried out during the 20th century by means of classical mine methodologies and especially wild brine pumping. In the past salt extraction was practised tapping natural brine springs, while the modern technique consists in about 100 boreholes with pumps tapped to the natural underground brine runs, at an average depth of 400-500 m. The mining operation changed the hydrogeological conditions enabling the downward flow of fresh water causing additional salt dissolution. This process induced severe ground subsidence during the last 60 years reaching up to 10 meters of sinking in the most affected area. Stress and strain of the overlying rocks induced the formation of numerous fractures over a conspicuous area (3 Km2). Consequently serious damages occurred to buildings and infrastructures such as water supply system, sewage networks and power lines. Downtown urban life was compromised by the destruction of more than 2000 buildings that collapsed or needed to be demolished causing the resettlement of about 15000 inhabitants (Tatić, 1979). Recently salt extraction activities have been strongly reduced, but the underground water system is returning to his natural conditions, threatening the flooding of the most collapsed area. During the last 60 years local government developed a monitoring system of the phenomenon, collecting several data about geodetic measurements, amount of brine pumped, piezometry, lithostratigraphy, extension of the salt body and geotechnical parameters. A database was created within a scientific cooperation between the municipality of Tuzla and the city of Rotterdam (D.O.O. Mining Institute Tuzla, 2000). The scientific investigation presented in this dissertation has been financially supported by a cooperation project between the Municipality of Tuzla, The University of Bologna (CIRSA) and the Province of Ravenna. The University of Tuzla (RGGF) gave an important scientific support in particular about the geological and hydrogeological features. Subsidence damage resulting from evaporite dissolution generates substantial losses throughout the world, but the causes are only well understood in a few areas (Gutierrez et al., 2008). The subject of this study is the collapsing phenomenon occurring in Tuzla area with the aim to identify and quantify the several factors involved in the system and their correlations. Tuzla subsidence phenomenon can be defined as geohazard, which represents the consequence of an adverse combination of geological processes and ground conditions precipitated by human activity with the potential to cause harm (Rosenbaum and Culshaw, 2003). Where an hazard induces a risk to a vulnerable element, a risk management process is required. The single factors involved in the subsidence of Tuzla can be considered as hazards. The final objective of this dissertation represents a preliminary risk assessment procedure and guidelines, developed in order to quantify the buildings vulnerability in relation to the overall geohazard that affect the town. The historical available database, never fully processed, have been analyzed by means of geographic information systems and mathematical interpolators (PART I). Modern geomatic applications have been implemented to deeply investigate the most relevant hazards (PART II). In order to monitor and quantify the actual subsidence rates, geodetic GPS technologies have been implemented and 4 survey campaigns have been carried out once a year. Subsidence related fractures system has been identified by means of field surveys and mathematical interpretations of the sinking surface, called curvature analysis. The comparison of mapped and predicted fractures leaded to a better comprehension of the problem. Results confirmed the reliability of fractures identification using curvature analysis applied to sinking data instead of topographic or seismic data. Urban changes evolution has been reconstructed analyzing topographic maps and satellite imageries, identifying the most damaged areas. This part of the investigation was very important for the quantification of buildings vulnerability.