Arrival Of Europeans Research Articles

Recognizing the life of Aborigin Australia before the Europeans arrival

This article seeks to provide understanding or information related to the life of Aboriginal people in Australia before the arrival of Europeans, known as pre-colonialism. As it is known, the continent of Australia was once occupied by Britain, which was originally a place for the laying of prisoners because at that time the prisons in England were full. Aboriginal is the name for the indigenous people who inhabited Australia for the first time. Aboriginal is the name of a tribe that was given by accident by the Europeans who saw it for the first time in Australia and this name applies to the designation of indigenous Australians to this day. The name of the Aboriginal tribe is a gift from Europeans who visited Australia and were surprised to see that the continent was inhabited. The term “Abo” means an astonishment of European society, and “origin” means authentic. The origin of the Aboriginal people is believed to have come from Asia who later occupied Australia for 45,000-50,000 years. The description of Aboriginal people is almost the same as the physical characteristics of the Papuans, the Toala people in Sulawesi, the Sakai people in Malaysia, the Veddas people in Sri Lanka, and the indigenous tribes of South India (Siboro, 1989). Aboriginal life before the arrival of Europe was rough and still very primitive. The way of life that is one with nature as well as various Aboriginal traditions and cultures is very interesting because it takes full advantage of the existing natural systems. For this reason, the study of Aboriginal people is very interesting.

Christian Missionaries’ Influences on Öhna Traditional Institution in Ikwerre: Negotiating the Insider/Outsider Perspectives

There is an increased awareness to retain some traditionalinstitutions of Africa. This is because substantially Africa has been maimed and dehumanized by the Christian missionaries andtheir protégés as one whose footmarks are not in the sands of time. This narrative fostered the illusionary views that Africa has no history, culture, no religion, and of course, no ethics. However, there arevital institutions and structures which sustained the African before the arrival of Europeans and literacy skills, among which is the Ohna traditional institution among the people of Ikwerre of the Northeastern Niger Delta. With the transformation of Christianity by the militant pneumatological type in Africa in the 21st Century, there seems to be a completeeffacement of traditional beliefs and practices. This work examines the story of Öhafrom the perspectives of the insider against the resurgence of Christianity today. Making use of historical research, and supplemented with ethnographic data, the paper avers that Öhna is alive and well despite the outside factors which tendto occlude it into obscurity. The paper is sanguine that what is needed is dialogue and mutual enrichment of both the Öhna and Christianity so that Christianity will find resonances with Ikwerre forms and metaphors and Ikwerre people will not suffer identity crisis or belongingness

A chrono-cultural reassessment of levels III-V from El Cuco rock-shelter: a new sequence for the late Middle Palaeolithic – early Upper Palaeolithic boundary in the Cantabrian region (northern Iberia)

The Iberian Peninsula is one of the key areas for studying the last populations of Neanderthals and the arrival in Europe of the first anatomically modern humans. In the Cantabrian region, this process can be traced in just a few sites with levels dating to the final stages of the Middle Palaeolithic and the earliest phases of the Upper Palaeolithic. One of these singular enclaves is El Cuco rock-shelter, where the sequence was initially dated by 14C only to the early Upper Palaeolithic sensu lato. However, new studies and datings now place this archaeological sequence in the late Mousterian and the Aurignacian. In this article we present a chrono-cultural reassessment of the upper levels of El Cuco (III-V), including a study of the large mammals. Levels Vc and Vb (>43.5-40.5 ky uncal BP) date from the late Mousterian, whereas levels Va, IV and III (c. 36.5-30 ky uncal BP) cover an interval extending at least from the Early Aurignacian to the Evolved Aurignacian. Particularly noteworthy is the discovery in level Va of a set of decorative beads made from marine shells in a context of possible symbolic behaviour.

Pre-Columbian reforestation in Amazonia

Paleoecology An early 17th-century temporary reduction in global atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels was previously attributed to reforestation in Amazonia after the catastrophic loss of life of the indigenous population caused by diseases brought by European invaders. Using fossil pollen data from Amazonian lake sediments with temporal resolution over the past millennium, Bush et al. found that forest recovery began 300 to 600 years before the population crash. The more recent nadir in atmospheric CO2 was not associated with rapid reforestation at that time. The vegetation changes appear to be the result of changing patterns of land use in the centuries preceding the European arrival and the resulting devastation, whereas the cause of the CO2 decline remains enigmatic. Science , this issue p. [484][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.abf3870

Widespread reforestation before European influence on Amazonia

An estimated 90 to 95% of Indigenous people in Amazonia died after European contact. This population collapse is postulated to have caused decreases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at around 1610 CE, as a result of a wave of land abandonment in the wake of disease, slavery, and warfare, whereby the attendant reversion to forest substantially increased terrestrial carbon sequestration. On the basis of 39 Amazonian fossil pollen records, we show that there was no synchronous reforestation event associated with such an atmospheric carbon dioxide response after European arrival in Amazonia. Instead, we find that, at most sites, land abandonment and forest regrowth began about 300 to 600 years before European arrival. Pre-European pandemics, social strife, or environmental change may have contributed to these early site abandonments and ecological shifts.

Polliniferous flora foraged by Melipona bees along the Rio Negro in the Brazilian Amazon

Undoubtedly, Melipona bees are the most widely managed native American bee species for the production of honey and related products. These bees have been reared since before the arrival of Europeans on the continent. Despite being considered generalists due to their life histories, each stingless bee species has food preferences easily adapting to the available resources. Seeking to contribute to the understanding of the food ecology of Melipona bees, 17 pollen samples from six species found in natural nests along the Rio Negro were analysed. The pollen material was homogenised and prepared following the standard acetolysis technique. Relative frequency, the similarity between diets and correlation of diets with bee body size were determined. Thirty-two pollen types (17 botanical families) were identified, 13 of which were considered attractive, while six promoted temporary specialisation events. The results reaffirmed the potential generalist pattern of these bees with temporary specialisation events, being strongly influenced by local conditions. The diversity of pollen types per pot was not related to bee body size. Also, the number of pollen types found in each nest did not correlate to the number of pots analysed revealing non-neutral determinants for each species pollen richness. With the results obtained, it was clear that certain plants were more as food sources which could support conservation programmes and help meliponiculture in the Amazon.

Insights into past land-use and vegetation change in the Llanos de Moxos (Bolivia) using fungal non-pollen palynomorphs

Here we document a 1000-year fungal record from the raised-field region of the Llanos de Moxos, a seasonally inundated forest-savanna mosaic in the Bolivian Amazon. Fungi are extremely sensitive to changes in vegetation due to their close relationship with the local environment, providing a useful proxy for past local vegetation and land-use change. Here the remains of fungal non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) are identified from a sediment core taken from Laguna El Cerrito. A multivariate constrained ordination is used to extract relationships between the fungal NPP types and environmental gradients, specifically, tree cover, near-shore vegetation, crop cultivation, burning and local sediment input. NPP types such as Neurospora cf. cerealis are identified as indicative of pre-European agriculture and offer the ability to expand on the temporal range of cultivation in the raised-field region. Constrained cluster analysis indicates that the most significant changes in the NPP assemblage occurs c. 1500 and c. 1700 CE, corresponding to the arrival of Europeans to the Americas and Jesuit missionaries to the Llanos de Moxos respectively. The modern savanna landscape is one shaped by changes in land-use and the introduction of cattle following the European Encounter.

Monumental Mobility: The Memory Work of Massasoit

In 2017, after a long reclamation battle, the Wampanoag ceremonially reinterred artifacts and remains associated with the seventeenth-century leader 8sâmeeqan (Ousamequin). Massasoit, the name widely used in histories and Thanksgiving pageants, was a title signifying 8sâmeeqan’s leadership role. A century earlier, a Euro-American fraternal order called the Improved Order of Red Men (IORM) commissioned a sculpture to commemorate the tricentennial of the pilgrims’ 1620 encounter with the Massasoit and his people.As current controversies attest, “the urge to commemorate” is never a straightforward one. In this timely book, Lisa Blee and Jean M. O’Brien trace the creation and installation of the Massasoit memorial on Cole Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and its remarkable afterlife.Monumental Mobility explores the “memory work” of public history: “how individuals and collectivities make meaning of the past as distinct from the concrete matter of what actually happened” (7). O’Brien brilliantly addressed these themes in her earlier work on settler colonialism in New England, where displacement of Indigenous people from local history went hand in hand with dispossessing them from their land. The IORM hoped a monument on Cole’s Hill looking out over Plymouth harbor would cement the landing’s importance in the nation’s history. Achieving this goal meant presenting the European arrival as a peaceful encounter welcomed by Indigenous people, thus “shedding the violence” and exculpating guilt around dispossession. Sculptor Cyrus Dallin, raised in Utah Territory and an avid consumer of Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show, brought his own stereotypes to the commission.Press for the unveiling advertised the presence of 8sâmeeqan’s “only living descendant,” Wootonekanuske/Charlotte Mitchell. The “disappearing Indian” image was so prevalent that newspapers casually erased her siblings and cousins. Mitchell resisted the subordinate role assigned to her in “helping celebrate the killing of my own people” (75). As the statue was unveiled and the band played the Star-Spangled Banner, she turned away from the camera and spoiled the shot. The Mitchells and other Wampanoag activists used commemoration events to bolster land claims and to subvert the narrative of disappearance. On Thanksgiving 1970, United American Indians protesters staged a “Day of Mourning.” They painted the Massasoit statue with red and buried Plymouth Rock in sand. Activism gained the Mashpee and Aquinnah Wampanoags authorship: they shaped interpretation to reflect Indigenous perspectives at Plimoth Plantation and Cole’s Hill, and in their own exhibits.The statue’s history outside New England occupies a significant portion of the book. Dallin donated the plaster cast to the state capitol, but it ended up at Brigham Young University. There, curators engaged in an elaborate tax fraud that involved making unauthorized new castings. The Massasoit figure became a generic trope untethered from tribe, geography, and history, with miniatures sold in tourist shops and larger copies installed in malls, museums, and sculpture parks in Kansas City, Spokane, Chicago, Dayton, and Salt Lake City. This mobility permits Blee and O’Brien to investigate settler colonial narratives in the West. Utah officials rejected Dallin’s proposal for a statue honoring Shoshone leader Washakie and removed the Massasoit from its place of honor in the capitol to make way for representations of Utah history centered on Mormon migrants, actions that simulated the literal dispossession of Utes, Navajos, and Shoshones. Brigham Young University framed its Massasoit statue as a “helper,” a symbol of Indigenous self-sacrifice necessary for Europeans to thrive.If memorials say more about who erected them than they do about the past, sponsors and artists cannot always control the message. Showcasing Blee’s public history expertise, the authors surveyed visitors’ responses to the Massasoit statues. In Kansas City and Dayton, Massasoit stands with other sculptures or art, convincing some that 8sâmeeqan was important without teaching much history. In Provo, the semi-nude statue’s violation of campus dress codes draws more comment than its historical message. Still, for a few individuals the monument inspires reflection about local Indigenous groups and America’s national narrative. As colonized people around the globe tear down monuments, this fascinating book offers a blueprint for closing the gap between the past and present understandings of history.

Health assessment of wild speckled dwarf tortoises, CHERSOBIUS SIGNATUS

BackgroundIn free-ranging reptile populations, bacterial, fungal, viral and parasitic pathogens may affect hosts through impairment in movements, thermoregulation, reproduction, survival, and population dynamics. The speckled dwarf tortoise (Chersobius [Homopus] signatus) is a threatened species that is mostly restricted to the Succulent Karoo biome in South Africa, and little information on pathogens of this species is available yet. We derived baseline parameters for five males and five females that were captured to genetically enhance a conservation breeding program in Europe. Upon collection of the tortoises, ticks were removed and identified. Immediately upon arrival in Europe, ocular, nasal, oral and cloacal swabs were taken for viral, bacteriological and mycological examinations. Fecal samples were collected before and 1 month after fenbendazole treatment, and analyzed for parasites. A panel of PCR, aiming to detect herpesviruses, adenoviruses and iridoviruses, was carried out.ResultsSamples were negative for viruses, while bacteriological examination yielded detectable growth in 82.5% of the swabs with a mean load of 16 × 107 ± 61 × 108 colony forming units (CFU) per swab, representing 34 bacterial species. Cloacal and oral swabs yielded higher detectable growth loads than nasal and ocular swabs, but no differences between sexes were observed. Fungi and yeasts (mean load 5 × 103 ± 13 × 103 CFU/swab) were detected in 25% of the swabs. All pre-treatment fecal samples were positive for oxyurid eggs, ranging from 200 to 2400 eggs per gram of feces, whereas after the treatment a significantly reduced egg count (90–100% reduction) was found in seven out of 10 individuals. One remaining individual showed 29% reduction, and two others had increased egg counts. In five tortoises, Nycthocterus spp. and coccidian oocysts were also identified. Soft ticks were identified as Ornithodoros savignyi.ConclusionsOur baseline data from clinically healthy individuals will help future studies to interpret prevalences of microorganisms in speckled dwarf tortoise populations. The study population did not appear immediately threatened by current parasite presence.

An early dog from southeast Alaska supports a coastal route for the first dog migration into the Americas.

The oldest confirmed remains of domestic dogs in North America are from mid-continent archaeological sites dated approximately 9900 calibrated years before present (cal BP). Although this date suggests that dogs may not have arrived alongside the first Native Americans, the timing and routes for the entrance of New World dogs remain uncertain. Here, we present a complete mitochondrial genome of a dog from southeast Alaska, dated to 10 150 ± 260 cal BP. We compared this high-coverage genome with data from modern dog breeds, historical Arctic dogs and American precontact dogs (PCDs) from before European arrival. Our analyses demonstrate that the ancient dog belongs to the PCD lineage, which diverged from Siberian dogs around 16 700 years ago. This timing roughly coincides with the minimum suggested date for the opening of the North Pacific coastal (NPC) route along the Cordilleran Ice Sheet and genetic evidence for the initial peopling of the Americas. This ancient southeast Alaskan dog occupies an early branching position within the PCD clade, indicating it represents a close relative of the earliest PCDs that were brought alongside people migrating from eastern Beringia southward along the NPC to the rest of the Americas. The stable isotope δ13C value of this early dog indicates a marine diet, different from the younger mid-continent PCDs' terrestrial diet. Although PCDs were largely replaced by modern European dog breeds, our results indicate that their population decline started approximately 2000 years BP, coinciding with the expansion of Inuit peoples, who are associated with traditional sled-dog culture. Our findings suggest that dogs formed part of the initial human habitation of the New World, and provide insights into their replacement by both Arctic and European lineages.

Indian Ocean Geopolitics

The relevance of the IOR is fourfold, First historical relevance. The Indian Ocean has been a zone of human interaction for several millennia, boasting a 1,500 years history of active high seas trade -much before the arrival of Europeans in 1498. Adequate proofs exist to establish that the seafaring and maritime trade across these waters supplemented with facts of human migration, the spread of religion, visit of scholars, and many more since as early as the pre-historic era. Second, geographical relevance, it is said that in geopolitics, geography plays a vital role in influencing peace and security in the region. The Indian Ocean is the third largest Ocean having an area of 68.56 million sq km and covers about 20% of the earth's surface. It is nearly 10,000 km wide at the southern tips of Africa and Australia and extends nearly 13,500 km from the Persian Gulf to Antarctica. It is physically the most complex, walled ocean bounded on three sides by land. The Indian Ocean is not 'open-ended' like the Pacific or Atlantic. IOR stretches from the Suez Canal to the Strait of Malacca with its entry and exit constrained by choke points. Third, economic relevance, the IOR has 40 per cent of the world's energy reserves, 65 per cent of strategic raw material reserves and the largest producers of rubber, tea, spices and jute. It is also a region of extreme economic diversity and its natural resources add to its strategic significance. More than 65% of the world’s Uranium and oil reserves exist on the ocean bed. Last, the Strategic Relevance, Strategically, Indian Ocean is the most important water body of the world where global struggles will play out in the 21st century. The Indian Ocean is the focal point of all the major shipping routes of the world. Major sea routes passing through IOR connecting the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas. The IOR is also the lifeline of international trade and economy, with half of the global cargo trade, two-third of the energy supplies and one-third of the bulk cargo trade passing through the Indian Ocean. Unlike the Pacific and Atlantic, 80% of the trade pattern is 'extra-regional'. About one Lakh ships pass through these waters in a year. According to an estimate, Indian Ocean shipping comprises the highest tonnage of goods in the world. Therefore, IOR needs effective maritime governance and maritime domain awareness by all littoral states. It needs soft power geopolitics practices together with regional integration – a strategic alliance. These can be achieved bridging through dialogues. Prospective military Alliances, Military Training Assistance, Military Diplomatic Exchanges and Defence industry and Technological Transfer are the realistic and appropriate defence integration that can be achieved for the unity of effort for a joint security mechanism. Integrated intelligence Sharing and Integrated Space and Cyber Security Organisations are the modern measures that can support the joint security strategies in the region. This paves the way to implement common cause missions for maintaining peace and order in the IOR.

Familyhood principle and the cooperatives ideas in economic provisions in the Indonesian Constitution

Este artículo narra el viaje en la historia económica de Indonesia y el desarrollo dinámico del Principio de la Familia y las ideas cooperativas. El principio de la Familia y las ideas cooperativas fueron elegidas por los fundadores de la nación Indonesia como las bases para regular la economía nacional en la Constitución de Indonesia. Esta elección fue motivada por la historia económica desde la llegada de los europeos para llevar a cabo un comercio internacional de especias en 1512 hasta el final del colonialismo holandés en 1942. La formulación de las estipulaciones económicas en la Constitución tenía como objetivo transformar la economía de una economía colonial a el sistema económico nacional democrático que está de acuerdo con los valores y las culturas de las comunidades adat. Para realizar esta transformación económica, las cooperativas se eligen para ser la estructura empresarial y también el sistema económico. Se cree que las cooperativas como una institución que se origina en los pensamientos europeos están de acuerdo con los valores y las culturas de las comunidades adat que son comunalistas, lo que en la Constitución se denomina Principio de Familia. La dinámica y el desarrollo del Principio de Familia dependen en gran medida de la voluntad política de los encargados de formular políticas económicas. Sin embargo, desde el nacimiento del Tribunal Constitucional en la era de la democracia política, hubo desarrollos muy interesantes en Indonesia. La revisión judicial de la Ley de Cooperativas es un ejemplo en el que el Tribunal Constitucional desempeña un papel importante en la protección del Principio de Familia y las ideas de las cooperativas como bases para regular la economía nacional.

An American lineage of Helicobacter pylori prophages found in Colombia.

Helicobacter pylori is a human gastric carcinogen that is highly prevalent in Latin American. The prophages of H. pylori show a structured population and contribute to the diversity of this bacterium. However, H. pylori prophages present in American strains have not been described to date. In this study, we identified, characterized, and present the phylogenetic analysis of the prophages present in Colombian H. pylori strains. To characterize Colombian H. pylori strains and their prophages, a Multilocus Sequences Typing (MLST) and a Prophage Sequences Typing (PST), using the integrase and holin genes, were performed. Furthermore, five Colombian H. pylori had their full genome sequenced, and six Colombian H.pylori retrieved from databases, allowing to determine the prophage complete genome and insertion site. The integrase gene frequency was 12.6% (27/213), while both integrase and holin genes were present in 4.2% (9/213) of the samples analyzed. The PST analysis showed that Colombian prophages belong to different populations, including hpSWEurope, hpNEurope, hpAfrica1, and a new population, named hpColombia. The MLST analysis classified most of the Colombia strains in the hpEurope population. The new H. pylori prophage population revealed that Colombian prophages follow a unique evolutionary trajectory, contributing to bacterial diversity. The global H. pylori prophage phylogeny highlighted five phylogenetic groups, one more than previously reported. After the arrival of Europeans, the Colombian H. pylori bacteria and their prophages formed an independent evolutionary line to adapt to the new environment and new human hosts.

A vision on air pollution in cities and the human effect

<p>The human effect on air quality in cities and the evolution of air pollution is obvious, due to economic activity, vehicle traffic, etc. The situation created indirectly by COVID-19, has caused many countries to impose during certain periods restriction of movement and stoppage of economic activities, which has allowed us to observe the instant effect that occurs on the air quality in cities. This article discusses what the observed effect has been, focusing on the early moments of the pandemic (January 2020 to March 2020), with an analysis of the situation from its origin in China to its arrival in Europe and more specifically the situation created in Spain. After the analysis of the situation, it can be seen the large reduction of pollutants in the air of different cities, and in particular in Spain, which came to reduce about 80%. All this leads us to the observation of how human activity can greatly influence air pollution.</p>

The history of the Notion of the State in West Africa: from the destruction of empires to the emergence of the modern state resulting from colonization (the case of the Mali Empire)

This article aims to address the question of the emergence of empires in West Africa from the ninth century to the present day. The author plans to make an in-depth analysis of the political formation of the different empires which have succeeded each other in this vast West African space which nowadays shelters the current republics of Mali and Mauritania in particular and in general throughout other West African countries (Guinea, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Niger). The largest and most famous empires that appeared on the territory of what is now Mali is called the Ghana Empire in the 9th century and was succeeded by the Mali or Mandé Empire in the 13th century. The influence of these empires throughout Africa and the rest of the world shows us a particular interest in understanding over time the notion of the State in Africa before the colonization and destruction of the African political system and its replacement by colonial state with the arrival of Europeans. Today the question of the weakness of the modern or postcolonial state in Africa and Mali poses many questions not only in the concert of nations but also in the academic and university environment. We will try to demonstrate in this article the link between the break in the evolution of the African state and the imposition of the modern European state through the colonial state which is at the root of the backwardness of African countries in terms political, economic and social compared to the rest of the world.

Суринамские мароны: исторические особенности формирования этносоциальной группы во фронтирном обществе

Предметом исследования являются исторические особенности формирования суринамских маронов. Прибытие в Западное полушарие европейцев способствовало радикальным социально-демографическим изменениям, в том числе в результате массового ввоза африканских рабов. Одной из распространенных форм сопротивления невольников стали побеги с плантаций, в ходе которых в различных регионах Америки (Бразилии, Мексике, Суринаме, Ямайке) возникли маронские сообщества. Сумевшие адаптироваться к новым условиям суринамские мароны в течение первой половины XVIII в. оказались серьезной преградой на пути развития плантационного хозяйства, заставив рабовладельцев пойти на компромиссные соглашения. Автор на основе широкого круга зарубежных источников и исследований осуществляет историко-этнографический обзор зарождения и активной фазы формирования этносоциальной группы суринамских маронов, стремится показать особенности социально-культурной среды, а также противоречия между маронами, индейцами и европейцами. Территориально-географические особенности Суринама привели к гораздо меньшим по масштабам боевым действиям маронов по сравнению с ямайскими марунами, находившимися в условиях ограниченного островного пространства. В ходе исследования проанализированы отличительные особенности маронских сообществ. Противостояние маронов и колонизаторов заканчивается в начале XIX в. в результате постепенной креолизации африканской массы невольников, однако его последствия не преодолены вплоть до настоящего времени.

Servicios ambientales: sistema agroforestal tradicional con plantas de maguey pulquero en la Altiplanicie, Hidalgo

Los sistemas agroforestales tradicionales en México son una expresión de las formas de manejo y aprovechamiento de recursos naturales con una antigüedad más allá de la llegada de los europeos, la obtención de servicios ambientales y cosecha múltiples en periodos prolongados son característica importante para destacar. La región de la Altipanicie pulquera en el estado de Hidalgo posee las condiciones y práctica del sistema agroforestal con maguey pulquero como planta perenne principal al que se pueden asociar las prácticas de manejo para la obtención de servicios ambientales diversos y variados productos satisfactores de necesidades humanas. Por ello, este sistema puede ayudar a resolver los problemas ambientales en la región y apoyar las economías locales de los productores campesinos.

Identifying a Pre-Columbian Anthropocene in California

The beginning of the Anthropocene, a proposed geological epoch denoting human-caused changes to Earth’s systems, and what metrics signify its onset is currently under debate. Proposed initiation points range from the beginning of the Atomic Age to the Industrial Revolution to the adoption of agriculture in the early Holocene. Most of the debate centers on the effects of modern industrially oriented technological and economic development. The effects of preindustrial and preagricultural populations on Earth’s systems are less commonly evaluated. Because the utility of the Anthropocene concept is to denote measurable impacts of human activity on Earth’s systems, we argue that focusing on an exact date or single event ignores time-transgressive, spatially variable processes of anthropogenic ecosystem engineering. We argue instead for a flexible, anthropologically and ecologically informed conceptualization of the Anthropocene—one that recognizes spatial, temporal, and scalar variability in the effects of humans on Earth systems. We present evidence in support of an ecologically informed pre-Columbian Anthropocene in California using a meta-analysis of sedimentological, palynological, and archaeological data sets from California mountains. We argue that use of fire for resource management by pre-Columbian populations was sufficiently frequent and extensive enough to result in widescale anthropogenic modification of California’s biota and that an Anthropocene therefore began in California by at least 650 years ago, centuries before the arrival of Europeans. Recognizing a pre-Columbian Anthropocene in California constructively conceptualizes a marker for human economic–ecological intensification processes that could be more meaningful for policy, resource management, and research than focusing on any single historical event.

Projekty edukacyjne na rzecz integracji społecznej oraz kształtowania postaw tolerancji i zrozumienia

In response to the „refugee crisis” of 2015 – resulting in the arrival in Europe of many thousands of people fleeing the armed conflict in Syria – the Polish Law and Justice party and the Polish government adopted negative attitudes towards refugees. The Polish mass media promoted anti-refugee narratives focused on terrorism and „threats of Islamisation” of Europe. However, these anti-refugee narratives have been countered by local antihate campaigns, including activities undertaken by local ethnologists and anthropologists. This article offers an analysis of educational activities undertaken in 2017 by the Centre for Migration Studies at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. These activities took a form of two initiatives: „Adopt a vest” and „Let’s talk about refugees”. Both projects aimed at shaping attitudes of openness towards refugees and increasing awareness of refugees among the residents of Poznan, including school children. Additionally, these activities aimed to increase and support the people willing to disseminate knowledge about refugees and impart openness and respect for forced migrants. Such activism is guided by the idea that it is essential not only to get to know the world better, but also to imagine it differently and create an alternative vision of the world where solidarity with refugees and migrants prevails (cf. Fischman, McLaren 2005).

Practice of adoption in Aotearoa before the 1881 Adoption of Children Act

INTRODUCTION: With the arrival of Europeans in Aotearoa New Zealand came a familial kinship structure and ideas of caring and nurturing children different from that of indigenous Māori society. Europeans brought with them a practice of adoption, a concept that differed from the indigenous kinship practice of whāngai. This led to misunderstandings between the two cultures about care arrangements, particularly when a Māori child was left with a European couple. Even the reasons why Māori engaged in this type of arrangement was often not fully understood by Europeans. For Māori, these arrangements were usually temporary, while Europeans considered them to be permanent. Hence, we have the beginning of the challenges that contributed to the creation of the 1881 Adoption of Infants Act, a first within the British Empire.APPROACH: This article begins with a description of the Māori practice of whāngai and the European practice of adoption preceding the 1881 act, highlighting the key differences between each—the most significant difference being the European idea of permanent and the Māori idea of temporary care arrangements.