A Dual Measurement System: Standardization and Architectural Planning in Xochicalco

This article examines changes in ritual practices during the Epiclassic period in central Mexico. It presents data recovered from recent excavations of a shrine discovered in Lake Xaltocan in the northern Basin of Mexico. Pottery and AMS dates place the construction and use of the shrine in the Epiclassic period. The shrine was first built during or soon after the collapse of the Teotihuacan state. With the decline of Teotihuacan and the emergence of competing centers, ritual practitioners began human sacrifice: the remains of over 30 individuals were documented, including 13 complete severed crania. This practice suggests conflict as the political landscape became decentralized. Despite how broader processes may have affected behavior, the shrine, ritual practice was fundamentally local. We present archaeobotanical evidence of offerings of food, incense, and flowers that elucidates the microlevel nature of ritual at the shrine.

The role of migration in the cultural development of central Mexico has long been debated. Archaeological models suggest that central Mexico likely experienced increased migration during the Epiclassic period (600-900 CE) and that migrants may have originated in northwestern Mexico. While previous biodistance analyses of Classic and Postclassic populations have come to similar conclusions, none have incorporated Epiclassic skeletal populations. This study uses multi-scalar biodistance analyses to directly evaluate archaeological Epiclassic migration models within central Mexico. This study uses finite mixture and relationship (R) matrix analyses of cervicometric tooth dimensions to reconstruct patterns of biological affinity among Classic and Epiclassic Mesoamerican populations (n = 333), including at the central Mexican Epiclassic shrine site of Non-Grid 4 where the remains of at least 180 individuals were interred. Estimated inter-site phenotypic distances demonstrate support for some degree of both biological continuity and extra-local gene flow within central Mexican populations during the Classic-Epiclassic transition. Furthermore, estimated phenotypic distances and finite mixture posterior probabilities indicate central Mexican Epiclassic populations were biologically diverse, originating from various source populations throughout Mesoamerica, including the Bajío region, the Malpaso Valley, and the Oaxaca Valley. Results suggest that emphasizing both local and extra-local gene flow rather than population replacement may be more appropriate to understand central Mexican population structure during the Classic-Epiclassic transition. Moreover, analyses support previous archaeological migration models positing that Epiclassic migrants into central Mexico originated in northwestern Mexico, but also find evidence of Epiclassic migrants originating from previously unanticipated locales like southern Mexico.

Sta. Cruz Atizapán: a 22-ka lake level record and climatic implications for the late Holocene human occupation in the Upper Lerma Basin, Central Mexico

ABSTRACTHigh‐quality records of hydroclimate variability in central Mexico during the last 2000 years are necessary to better understand human–environment interactions in Mesoamerica. Of particular interest are the climatic conditions during the Epiclassic period (ad 600–900), as droughts have been associated with a cultural demise occurring around ad 900–1000. We reconstruct the hydroclimate history of the last 2000 years based on a sediment record from a drought‐sensitive lake located near one of the most important Epiclassic city‐states in Mesoamerica. Titanium concentrations, pollen and diatoms give a consistent environmental signal of five droughts occurring at about: (i) ad 50–250, (ii) ad 700–950, (iii) ad 1200–1300, (iv) ad 1450–1550 and (v) ad 1760–1820. Some droughts were associated with cooler climatic conditions, and all of them framed major historical events. Our results show that the great cultural development of the Epiclassic period ( ad 600–900) was framed by a scenario of drought conditions followed by abandonment at ad 900–1000. A brief return to moister conditions is recorded before another drought during the time of the fall of the city‐state of Tula (1200). European contact (1521) and the War of Independence (1810–20) also occurred during times of drought.

Traditional culture is a culture formed by a nation in the process of civilization evolution, which can reflect the national characteristics and ideological style, and is the overall expression of the Chinese people's thoughts, feelings, ideological forms and aesthetic concepts. China's traditional culture is the historical precipitation of our country after thousands of years, which contains rich cultural connotations and has a very broad mass base and cultural heritage needs. Integrating traditional cultural elements into the planning and design of landmark landscape architecture requires landscape designers to deeply explore local traditional culture and show it with modern elements to create a harmonious living environment rich in traditional beauty. This paper mainly analyzes the necessity of the application of traditional culture in the planning and design of landmark landscape architecture, expounds the principles of the planning and design of landmark landscape architecture in the context of traditional cultural elements, and then explains the application of China traditional culture in the planning and design of landmark landscape architecture, aiming at making people feel the beauty of traditional culture while tasting modern cities, enhancing people's cultural self-confidence and enhancing the intimacy of urban landscape.

The subject of the study is the planning and architectural organization of the city. The object of the study is the city of Taganrog, Rostov Region (Russia). The change in the main vector of socio-economic transformations of the city, as a large industrial pole of the region, at the same time having important cultural and historical significance, is due to the current socio-economic transformations in the country. Among the new strategic priorities and directions for the city are the preservation and development of the cultural space and the development of the tourist potential of the city, to the implementation of which there are a number of positive prerequisites. The changes taking place cause the need for spatial transformations of the urban fabric. The problems and features of the planning structure and infrastructure of the urban area were considered, as well as obstacles to urban planning transformation and the formation of the city as a tourist center (destination) were identified. To comprehensively solve the existing urban planning problems of the city of Taganrog and form it as a tourist center, a single architectural and urban planning approach is proposed (hereinafter, a single approach). The proposed approach is based on the principles of development: hospitality, compliance with needs, continuity, connectivity and «accessible sea». A single approach synchronizes urban planning mechanisms, within the framework of which a system of architectural and urban planning measures is made to implement a certain goal – the formation of a tourist destination. The system of measures is formed taking into account the justified principles of development, planning methods and techniques. As a practical application of a single approach, a set of architectural and urban planning measures and urban planning mechanisms for their implementation is proposed. Recommendations are given on updating the documents for regulating urban planning activities, taking into account the complex of architectural and urban planning measures: the master plan, local standards for urban planning design, land use and development rules, rules for the improvement of the territory of the municipality.

The Epiclassic Period is generally recognized as an era of major expansions of Nahua-speaking communities throughout Central Mexico, east to the Gulf Coast, and south into Central America. However, these Epiclassic expansions rest on a deeper history that, while often neglected or mischaracterized, can be elucidated by linguistic evidence. This evidence shows that the Nahua did not originate as hunter-gatherers: the Proto-Nahua speech community emerged among cultivators who lived within the Mesoamerican tropics. This evidence also suggests that, rather than remaining on the Mesoamerican margins until the Epiclassic, some Nahua speakers may have been among the elites at Teotihuacan as early as the 5th century A.D. This chapter reviews the major debates about the linguistic history of the Nahua that underlies their Epiclassic expansions.

Tula, Hidalgo, was one of several sites that rose to prominence during the Epiclassic period after the demise of Teotihuacan, and during the Early Postclassic period it was probably the largest and most influential center in central Mexico. For over a century various scholars have argued that Tula was the legendary Tollan (“place of reeds”), which, according to Aztec and other indigenous sources, was the capital of the Toltec civilization that dominated central Mexico prior to the arrival of the Aztecs. For this reason the site, its inhabitants, and its material culture are often referred to as Toltec, although there is evidence that “Tollan” and “Toltec” are pan-Mesoamerican concepts whose origins may go back at least as far as Teotihuacan, if not earlier. This article discusses the early history of Tula, Tula Grande and the Tollan Phase City, and Tula during the Aztec Period.

The form and organization of urban architecture is examined at the central Mexico site of Xochicalco to reconstruct aspects of both its internal community structure and regional political organization during the Epiclassic period (A.D. 700-900). Analysis of the site's defensive architecture provides unique information about the city's internal design. Dry moats, walled roads, and steep terrace facades subdivide the community into a series of population segments that on the basis of both size and architecture type resemble ward divisions found in central Mexico cities at the time of Conquest. Furthermore, Xochicalco does not have a single defensive perimeter characteristic of a strongly centralized polity; instead, it possesses a series of defensive precincts located on the hills and ridges adjacent to Cerro Xochicalco that are equivalent in form and redundant in function. The model that best approximates the segmentary nature of this structure is that of a regional confederacy dominated by Xochicalco during the Epiclassic.

There is a wealth of travelogues about southwest China left by overseas visitors since 1840. These travelogues record the traditional cultural imprints of the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, including landscapes, architecture, economic development, and social customs. Taking The Land of the Dragon as a representative overseas travelogue, this study aims to investigate the discursive construction of traditional culture in southwest China, particularly along the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The findings show that the traditional culture in southwest China occupies a unique place in the history of traditional Chinese culture, characterized by rich ethnic characteristics as well as cultural depth and breadth. Overseas travelogues often reflect certain fixed impressions and partial understandings of traditional Chinese culture. This study has both theoretical and practical implications. It first demonstrates the applicability of critical discourse analysis to overseas travelogues about China and enriches methodological approaches through a content analysis of The Land of the Dragon. Second, this study helps to make a better understanding of Chinese traditional culture and enhance the readers' critical reading awareness, call on people to protect nature and traditional culture, and utilize them rationally so as to promote the sustainable development of material culture and spiritual culture.

The article analyses the methodological aspects of the relationship between the West and Islam as well as between supporters and opponents of globalisation. It presumes that the processes taking place in the collective unconscious play an important role in cultural interactions and conflict. If the lives of individuals are shaped by their conscious efforts or the specifics of the individual unconscious, the evolution of nations, cultures and civilisations is influenced and frequently determined by certain autonomous mental combinations contained in the collective unconscious (i.e. collective complexes). Sometimes these complexes coexist amicably, supplement or support each other. Sometimes a vicious conflict between them or fight to the death occurs. Social or political conflict is the reflection or, more specifically, the result of such conflict. In the article, the conflict between the West and Islam is treated as a conflict between traditional and modern cultures. In the view of modern cultural apologists, traditional cultures are intolerant and backward while modern Western culture is being degraded.The existing differences between these cultures have mainly been determined by the historical and psychological features of their formation. In Islamic religion and culture, the fundamental structures of the unconscious were shaped by faith while in modern Western culture the main contributor was the reason. Other important aspects of the expression of the collective unconscious are the complexes of globalisation and nationalism. In some European countries, a rapidly consolidating globalisation complex superseded or replaced the specific national structures of the unconscious and their residents tend to happily accept European integration or, at least, obediently acquiesce to it. The situation in Lithuania is different. Firstly, the spirit of resistance nurtured over hundreds of years and hardened in labour camps and in exile over the decades is still very much alive. Secondly, the Lithuanian national complex will disappear before it has fully formed. And this is where the zest, passion and even fierceness of people influenced by it stems from.

Mexican prehistory is characterized by migration and population isolation in its earliest phase, followed by later inter‐population cultural interactions, such as politics and trade. While shared, common morphological variants are often informative about recent population events, rare trait variants have not been widely investigated to see whether they might be informative about earlier events. Here, we consider populations that show several rare variants at frequencies high enough to warrant such an investigation. Examining past population structure can help us understand population interactions across different periods of time, levels of migration, and population isolation/drift. Multiple‐origin populations may have more variation, including more and higher rates of rare traits. We examined maxillary lateral incisors in 1117 dentitions from 76 samples of Preclassic/Classic and Postclassic pre‐European contact Mexico and the American Southwest for the prevalence of rare lateral incisor variants. Variants observed included barrel, congenital absence, interruption groove, mesial marginal bending, peg, reduced, supernumerary, and talon teeth. The most common variant overall is interruption groove. Central Mexico, Huasteca, and the Lowland Yucatan region samples present the highest overall number of incisor variants. Higher frequencies of single unusual traits are commonly found in samples from smaller populations, while samples from larger population centres show a greater range of these rare variants. We investigated to see whether the pattern of rare incisor variant frequencies reflected early or later population history by comparing similarity/distance matrices and factor model matrices using Mantel tests and Generalized Procrustes analysis. Results show a weak relationship with the Postclassic period and shared migration/language and trade interaction models. We suggest that later cultural interactions have acted to mask earlier population history. Research on serial founder effects should be approached multiregionally and across time, to avoid missing inter‐region biological relationships. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

With the accelerated development of economic globalization and the international integration of cultural information, the cultures of various countries, especially the traditional culture, are constantly displayed to the world. For the Chinese youth in the new era, how to renew the identification of the excellent traditional Chinese culture and view the foreign culture correctly is the key topic that the Chinese society needs to pay close attention to at the present stage. Due to the impact of market economy, multiple values and the network, college students lack the cognition of the existence of excellent traditional culture, weaken the cognition, and deviate from the knowledge and practice. Correct and reasonable guidance and standardized education of young college students to understand traditional Chinese culture is not only related to the judgment of young college students' values and the choice of behavior, but also related to the stability and development of the whole youth education society. Compared with the traditional Chinese and western culture education mode, western countries highlight the combination of traditional culture and modern ruling class ideology, attach importance to traditional culture education, enhance the sense of national identity, and have unique characteristics in traditional culture education. In combination with the above, the Chinese excellent traditional culture identity education should conform to the development of The Times and the needs of students, innovate the way of expression; integrate and optimize resources, strengthen the construction of campus culture, and build a new path of Chinese excellent traditional culture identity education.

Having analysed the reform in the field of urban planning, this study aims to investigate the administrative and legal status of the State Inspection of Architecture and Urban Planning in cases of administrative offenses provided for in Article 96 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and the specifics of its powers; to systematize proposals for improving the activities of the State Inspection of Architecture and Urban Planning regarding proceedings, detection of violations and bringing to administrative responsibility under Article 96 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses. In accordance with the purpose and specificity of the research subject, a number of methods were used, which include: descriptive, systematic analysis, generalization, comparative method, functional and other methods of scientific knowledge. The scientific originality of the study is due to the fact that the author has for the first time investigated the administrative and legal status of the State Inspection of Architecture and Urban Planning in cases of administrative offenses provided for by Article 96 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses. The relevance of improving the activities of not only the divisions of the State Inspection of Architecture and Urban Planning, but also other divisions that implement state policy in the field of construction is substantiated. It is proposed to make changes to the legislation of Ukraine regarding the expansion of the powers of the State Inspectorate of Architecture and Urban Planning in detecting violations and conducting proceedings in the field of construction, and it is also proposed to harmonize the Law of Ukraine “On Regulation of Urban Planning Activities”. Development of activities with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated December 23, 2020 No. 1340 “Some Issues of the Functioning of Architectural and Construction Control and Supervision Bodies”. On the basis of the conducted study of the administrative and legal status of the State Inspection of Architecture and Urban Planning, a conclusion was formulated, according to which the Law of Ukraine “On Regulation of Urban Planning Activities" dated February 17, 2011 needs to be supplemented, since its content does not reflect the administrative status of the State Inspection of Architecture and Urban Planning as a central of the executive authority, which carries out control and supervision in the field of urban planning

In the new journey of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way, the promotion of common prosperity in spiritual life is a core issue in meeting the people's needs for a better life. Cultural construction and common wealth in spiritual life complement each other. Cultural construction promotes the common prosperity of spiritual life through the four links of "cultural production, cultural distribution, cultural interaction and cultural consumption", and systematically contributes to the spiritual life security, sense of gain, happiness three aspects. In a hundred years of practice, the CPC has developed a series of valuable experiences in promoting the common prosperity of people's spiritual life through cultural construction. Facing the new era, to promote the common prosperity of people's spiritual life through cultural construction, we should implement such strategies as building a new ecology for the supply of cultural resources, stimulating the vitality of cultural undertakings and industries, and reinforcing the Party's cultural leadership, etc. aims to promote the realization of the common prosperity of people's spiritual life through cultural construction.