Diachronic Patterns Research Articles

Pig Hunting and Husbandry in Prehistoric Italy: a Contribution to the Domestication Debate

In this article the evidence of pig exploitation in the prehistory of the Italian peninsula and Sicily is presented. Though some differences in pig morphology seem to have existed between different parts of the country, a broadly consistent diachronic pattern of change has emerged. In the Mesolithic fairly small wild boars (with bones quite large in relation to the teeth) lived in Italy. For most of the Neolithic pigs of a similar size and shape could be found across the peninsula but signs that a few changes in systems of pig exploitation had started occurring can be found at several sites. This is interpreted as most probably indicating the beginning of a slow and gradual process of domestication of local animals. The hypothesis that early and middle Neolithic pig husbandry relied mainly on imported animals can be fairly confidently refuted. Sometime during the late Neolithic and/or the early Bronze Age, practices of pig husbandry seem to have changed throughout the country, and a much clearer separation appears between the wild and domestic populations. The average size of domestic pigs decreased, probably as a consequence of a closer confinement of domestic herds, but wild boar size seems to have increased, possibly as a consequence of climatic change or of a release in hunting pressure. Recent Italian wild boars (of the traditional Maremman type) are, however, as small as their Mesolithic counterparts, a possible indication that habitat fragmentation caused by human demographic pressure brought about a further change in wild boar size.

Feasting and Ancestor Veneration at Chinchawas, North Highlands of Ancash, Peru

The present article considers evidence for ancestor veneration and feasting in the North Highlands (Department of Ancash), Peru between A. D. 500-900. The study draws upon ethnohistorical, iconographic, and archaeological comparisons to better understand different lines of data from the ancient Recuay community of Chinchawas (3,850 masl), including public and mortuary architecture, ceramics, faunal remains, and stone sculpture. Two major programs of religious activity can be discerned: one situated within local Recuay traditions (Kayán and Chinchawasi phases, A. D. 500-800), followed by a suite of intrusive patterns associated with Wari expansion (Warmi phase, after A. D. 800). The study argues that, by A. D. 500, special public ceremonies combined ancestor worship and feasting as part of community politics at the site. Chinchawasi practices included subterranean tombs, special architectural enclosures with monolithic sculptures, and evidence for large-scale consumption. Warmi practices appear smaller in scale, focusing on aboveground mausolea, different stone sculptural forms and iconography, and increasing evidence for interregional interaction. The diachronic patterns reflect: 1) flexible sociopolitical arrangements at Chinchawas that accommodated group and entrepreneurial interests, and 2) local sociocultural transformations associated with Wari expansion (ca. A. D. 750).

Diachronic patterns of dental hypoplasias and vault porosities during the predynastic in the Naqada region, Upper Egypt.

The diachronic pattern of the frequencies of linear enamel hypoplasias and porotic hyperostosis was studied in temporally separated samples of adult predynastic Egyptian remains from the Naqada region, Upper Egypt. The samples covered a period of increasing population density and social complexity as well as decreasing Nile flooding in Egypt. First and second molars were evaluated for hypoplasias in material from the Naqada I, II, and III periods; sample sizes were 13, 30, and 25, respectively, for the first molar, and 11, 28, and 24 for the second molar. Cranial vaults were examined for porotic hyperostosis using several approaches; sample sizes were 26, 66, and 51 for Naqada I, II and III, respectively. Linear regression showed a decreasing trend for several variables: for the individual frequency of first molar hypoplasias (rho = 0.025), the vault porosity score, which indicates the severity of the lesions (rho < 0.001), and the extent score, which indicates the number of superior vault bones having porosities (rho < 0.001). Logistic regression showed a temporal decline in the percentage of crania per sample having any vault porosities and only higher grade lesions (rho < 0.012 and rho < 0.003, respectively). Lesions of the second molar showed no directional trend. The results contrast with the common observation that these skeletal markers usually increase in contexts of increasing population density and social complexity.

Diachronous pattern of Milankovitch cyclicity in late Albian pelagic marlstones of the North German Basin

The occurrence, correlation and preservation of high-frequency cyclicity has been studied in pelagic marlstones across an epicontinental basin. Wavelet analysis has been used for detection and extraction of stationary periodicity, and gradual, random and abrupt sedimentary changes from gamma-ray and carbonate content data in three Upper Albian successions in the North German Basin. The sections represent the basin center, a salt diapir edge, and a submarine swell. The mean sedimentation rate varies from 11 cm/ka in the basin center to 0.8 cm/ka on the submarine Pompeckj swell, respectively. The major periodicity of 0.7–13 m most likely represents Milankovitch-cycles of ∼100 ka eccentricity. The length of major periodicity of each section depends on sedimentation rate and ranges from 0.7 to 13 m. Up to 15 periodic sedimentary cycles are embedded in a transgressive–regressive cycle from ∼101.5 to 99 Ma. Regional correlation indicates that preservation of periodic sedimentation shifts diachronously throughout the North German Basin. Periodic cyclicity does not occur during the early transgressive phase and across regional sequence boundaries in early late Albian. The preservation of periodic cyclicity shifts diachronously according due to the preservation of undisturbed pelagic sedimentation. The degree of disturbances in sedimentation limits the preservation of periodicity more than the mean sedimentation rate. Undisturbed sedimentation started in the basin center at higher subsidence in an early stage transgression. On the other side, increased terrigeneous supply during regression favored the preservation of periodic sedimentation for longer time along the more off-shore submarine Pompeckj swell. Other high-frequency Milankovitch cycles (i.e. obliquity, precession) are more sensitive to disturbances and less preserved than eccentricity cycles.

Purism and Fashion

The present article investigates the effects of a purist reaction against French loans in Belgian and Netherlandic Dutch: is the diachronic development of French influence different in Belgian Dutch compared to Netherlandic Dutch? On the basis of the onomasiological profile of a concept (i.e. the synonyms with which the concept may be designated, distinguished by their relative frequencies), the proportion of French items in the corpus (which consists of non-elicited data from the field of clothing terms) is calculated. The evolution of this proportion exhibits a different pattern in the two varieties. On the one hand, the decrease of the ratio of French words in the Belgian subset of the corpus can be explained as a manifest purist reaction against French influence. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, the appreciation of French words seems to be subject to changing fashions, resulting in an inconsistent diachronic pattern of French influence. Yet, these different attitudes towards French influence in Belgian and Netherlandic Dutch do not imply a global divergence between the vocabularies of both geographic varieties: there appears to be an overall pattern of convergence that is not disrupted by the difference in attitude towards French loans.

Dimensions of Register Variation: A Cross-Linguistic Comparison

Douglas Biber's new book extends and refines the research and methodology reported in his ground breaking Variation Across Speech and Writing (CUP 1988). In Dimensions of Register Variation he gives a linguistic analysis of register in four widely differing languages: English, Nukulaelae Tuvaluan, Korean, and Somali. Using the multi-dimensional analytical framework employed in his earlier work, Biber carries out a principled comparison of both synchronic and diachronic patterns of variation across the four languages. Striking similarities as well as differences emerge, allowing Biber to predict for the first time cross-linguistic universals of register variation. This major new work will provide the foundation for the further investigation of cross-linguistic universals governing the pattern of discourse variation across registers, and will be of wide interest to any scholar interested in style, register and literacy.

Naming practices in academic writing: Another thought

Due to the paucity of attention to research article (RA) abstracts, particularly from a diachronic perspective, this study investigates the changes in the representation of authorial presence through first person pronouns in RA abstracts, with data sampled from four applied linguistics journals between 1990 and 2019. The findings indicate that the representation of authorial presence tends to be shaped by the number of authors. Overall, co-authors intrude into their abstracts more frequently than single authors. In the most recent two decades, single authors are inclined to project their author persona as individuals. However, in the 2010s, both types of authors tend to conceal their presence in abstracts through less frequent use of personal pronouns. The two overwhelmingly recurrent pronouns we and I performed eight discourse functions, among which low-stakes ones (functions that run relatively low risk of exposing authors to readers’ attacks or challenges) have been favored over high-stakes ones (functions that run relatively high risk of exposing authors to readers’ attacks or challenges). The most recurrent low-stakes function of “Organize the text” and “Describe methods” both exhibit significant diachronic variations in their occurrence in co-authored abstracts, with the former overall increasing while the latter steadily declining. However, no significant variations are observed in the occurrence of these two low-stakes functions in single-authored abstracts. The dominant high-stakes function “State opinions” displays opposite diachronic patterns in its incidence in co-authored and single-authored abstracts -- downward and upward respectively.

Feminism, matrilinealism, and the ‘house of women’ in contemporary women's fiction

Abstract In this paper I use the Bakhtinian concept of the ‘chronotope’ to investigate the ways in which a matrilineal narrative affects the space/time structures of some recent women's fiction. The intersection of feminism and matrilinealism produces particular kinds of structures: in feminist matrilineal narratives, there are often two time‐frames going on at once. There is a synchronic, horizontal plane, on which the generations of women are united by a common femaleness; and a diachronic, vertical axis of descent, leading back into the past and forward into the future. The house inhabited by several generations of women is a very useful spatial device to bring together the synchronic and diachronic patterns that a feminist matrilinealism sets up. I investigate these patterns in relation to Sara Maitland's Three Times Table, Catherine Cookson's House of Women and Tanith Lee's ‘Wolfland’.

The Morphological Status of Old English ge-

OE ge- functions synchronically as a proclitic, contrary to widely held views. This morphological status is an integral part of a broader diachronic pattern in Germanic, namely grammaticalization of an old particle to a prefix. OE g e- provides a clear example of grammaticalization. Following its path from Proto-Indo-European adverbial to Old English proclitic, and from its near grammaticalization as a past participle marker and subsequent loss, one can see easily the cline of grammaticalization.

Out of the Past: Theoretical and Methodological Contributions of Congressional History

Never before has congressional history received so much attention. While historians continue to produce important studies (Bogue 1989; Silbey 1985; Thompson 1985), political scientists account for much of the upsurge in interest. In turning to Congress's past, they are offering fresh examinations of behavioral shifts, structural development, and other diachronic patterns (Brady 1988; Cooper and Young 1989; Skladony 1985; Stewart 1989; Swift 1989). However, while such work is increasing, most political scientists continue to approach Congress ahistorically, implicitly treating the institution's present as a unique period for which the past has little relevance. Political scientists are therefore poised at an interesting juncture in congressional scholarship: while a majority yet remains loyal to the postwar tradition of ahistoricism, a growing number are rediscovering an even older political science tradition of historically informed scholarship. With this in mind, now is a particularly appropriate time to ask: What can be gained from the study of Congress's past? And further, is it worth the effort? To answer those questions, let us examine history's contributions to two key aspects of any research perspective: theory and methodology.

Diachronic patterns of change in structural properties of the femur in the prehistoric American Southwest.

Diachronic patterns of change in the femoral diaphysis are examined in archaeological skeletal samples from the American Southwest. Three cultural periods differing in subsistence-settlement strategies are represented: Early Villages (A.D. 500-1150), Abandonments (A.D. 1150-1300), and Aggregated Villages (A.D. 1300-1540). Relevant properties of cross-sectional geometry and bone density were obtained using computerized tomography. Temporal trends in geometry suggest that activity levels increased between Early Villages and Abandonments, then declined during Aggregated Villages. In both sexes, femoral shape became more circular, and bending stresses were reduced in the a-p plane through time. Compared to the other periods, bone density was the lowest during Abandonments in both sexes. The reduction in bone density may reflect declining nutritional quality through time that was especially poor during the Abandonments period. Patternings in sexual dimorphism suggest that Abandonments males may have been more sensitive to nutritional stress than contemporary females.

Giraudoux's La Guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu and Homer's Iliad: The Scales of Zeus as Dramatic Device

It has become common practice in myth criticism and in thematological studies to link Giraudoux's La Guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu with the Iliad. Sometimes a critic pursues the matter further and points to interesting reworkings of the original material; often the usefulness of the comparison for the philosophical and political climate of the modem period is the focal point. Giraudoux's play offers rich opportunities for critics seeking the diachronic patterns in myth forms described by Professor Ruthven, but here our task will lead us beyond these questions towards consideration of an intertextual relationship in a new light. The success and popularity of recent revivals of La Guerre de Troie n' aura pas lieu should encourage us to take this fresh look at a familiar comparison in the hope of giving a more precise definition to Giraudoux's use of Homer's text and a reassessment of the basis of the play.

Mogollon Settlement Patterns in the Middle San Francisco River Drainage, West-Central New Mexico

ABSTRACTDuring the summer of 1979 a site reconnaissance of 12 2.6 km2 sections within the middle San Francisco River drainage region, west-central New Mexico, was conducted in association with the ongoing WS Ranch Site Project excavations near Alma. Research was divided between river valley and mountain environments. A total of 101 sites was located and recorded, 47 along and 54 away from major river valleys. Diachronic settlement pattern trends show gradual movement from high hills and mesa bluffs onto the river terrace areas with subsequent expansion into upland areas by A.D. 900–1000. A large Reserve phase (ca. A.D. 1000–1150) sample allowed the delimitation of three topographically defined communities in the region. Post Reserve phase occupation was concentrated into a few large sites in the San Francisco River Valley; no post A.D. 1250–1300 sites were found.

On Measuring Party System Change

When studying party system change over time, it is tempting to use as indicators one or several of the existing measures of fractionalization and concentration. If these measures are used to study change, they will often be misleading because of their inability to discriminate among even very different diachronic patterns. Seven indicators are tested on a hypothetical set of data, and all of them fail to reflect typical patterns of change. Thus if students of party systems want to study the general phenomenon of party system stability or change, they should preferably use other types of measures. An indicator of aggregate volatility is shown to satisfy the requirements of a good indicator of party system change.

A Quantitative Analysis of Diachronic Patterns in Some Narratives of Poe

A Quantitative Analysis of Diachronic Patterns in Some Narratives of Poe