Early 20th Century Research Articles

Kia kōrerorero tonu ai: a review of the dialogue at the interface of Indigenous oral tradition and archaeology in Aotearoa New Zealand and Oceania

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the previous theoretical interfaces of Indigenous oral tradition and archaeology in Oceania, specifically in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Historical processes of writing down kōrero, or oral histories, by amateur historians and ethnologists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, culminated in the romanticised traditions of the early Polynesian society and influenced contemporary archaeological scholarship. In response to criticisms, archaeologists attempted to validate kōrero using Western research methodologies. However, attempts often fell short and processual archaeologists of the mid‐late‐20th century considered oral tradition and archaeology as incapable of cross‐validation. Parallel ethnological scholarship focused on the symbolism in oral histories as indicators of their function in contemporary society or as legitimate forms of recounting actual historical events after critical evaluation. More recent archaeologists use kōrero about the last few centuries like any other historical source. Māori scholars have taken inspiration from previous theoretical arcs to position kōrero in a postmodern space of relative truths or to critically analyse its historical and functional values. The review concludes with how the interface of oral history and archaeology might follow Kaupapa Māori research methodologies and current materialist critiques of dominant settlement pattern theory.

Organ Symphony "Noёl" by Paul de Maleingreau and the Christian Mystery of Christmas

The purpose of the work is to reveal the poetic-intonational spiritual-symbolic aspects of the organ symphony "Noël" by P. de Malengro in the direction of stylistic and spiritual-philosophical searches of the Franco-Belgian culture of the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Research methodology. An interdisciplinary, genre-stylistic, historical-cultural approach was essential for this work, allowing to explore the factors contributing to the discovery of the spiritual-semantic specificity of the concept of "symphony" in all its variety of meanings. The scientific novelty of the work is determined by the introduction into musicological use of materials from the organ symphony "Noël" by P. de Malengro, the poetics of which was formed at the intersection of the artistic, spiritual and musical traditions of the Northern Renaissance and French modernism. Conclusions. An overview of the use of the term "symphony" in the cultural-historical and spiritual practice of different eras testifies not only to the breadth of its semantic and applied meanings, but also to the presence of general semantic indicators, in accordance with which a symphony ultimately implies a certain integrity in which merge, different numerous components are combined. A symphony as a musical work is an equally complex and comprehensive concept that represents the most diverse "models" of this genre. The organ symphony "Noël" by P. de Malengro represents the typology of the "spiritual symphony". Its expressiveness, related to the biblical mystery of Christmas, is strengthened by the composer's appeal also to the masterpieces of the Northern Renaissance (Rogir van der Weyden and the van Eyck brothers). Symphony "Noël" is a free composition (4 parts) of the suite-variation type, a "symphony-mystery", the thematic basis of which is Gregorian chants, as well as the corresponding principles of their texture and mode-intonation development (monody, heterophony, various forms of polyphonic development, reproduction of the spiritual and vocal practice of discanting of the Notre Dame School). The poetics of such a "symphony-mystery" is significantly supplemented by an appeal to the timbre qualities of the so-called "symphonic organ", the universalism of performance, dynamic and timbre-intonation capabilities of which turned out to be literally correlated with the universalism of the symphony genre as such.

Archaeological Geology of Jurash, ʿAsīr Province, Southwestern Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACTThe Jurash archaeological site is located on Wādī Bīshah near the city of Khamīs Mushayt in southwestern Saudi Arabia. It has a fort and other remains from the pre‐Islamic period (third century bc to early seventh century ad) and a settlement with two mosques from the Early Islamic period (early seventh to early 11th centuries ad). A survey was conducted for the purposes of identifying the building materials and determining their geographic sources, and also investigating the building methods. It was found that all materials were locally derived and that the fort's outer wall is a typical example of South Arabian fortifications of the first millennium bc. An examination of the site stratigraphy revealed that Jurash has been repeatedly inundated by destructive flash floods from Wādī Bīshah. The timing of these events was largely controlled by global climatic fluctuations, including the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age.

Portals of Ani churches of the late 10th – early 11th centuries: Springing of a new typology

Portals representing iconic elements of the three-dimensional composition of the medieval churches have particularly expressive forms in the architecture of Ani. The article reveals the features of the portals of two types, successively developed by the architect Trdat for the majestic cathedrals of the Armenian capital of the late 10th – early 11th centuries. Drawing ideas from the samples of different traditions, including the ancient Greco-Roman one, new types were created, such as a perspective portal and a local medieval version of the Hellenistic portal.

Cultivating Environmental Ignorance: Non-Circulation of Ethnomedicinal Knowledge about Culén (Otholobium glandulosum) in the Atlantic World (1646–1810)

A growing body of literature recognises the importance of exploring the uses of plants in historical written sources. The Chilean native plant culén (Otholobium glandulosum) has a long history of medicinal use, with various parts of the plant, including its leaves, aerial parts, and roots, employed to treat numerous ailments. This study undertakes a Critical Discourse Analysis of historical sources, specifically books published between the 17th and early 19th centuries (1646–1810), focusing on the medicinal applications of culén. The research highlights the circulation of plant knowledge over time by adopting an interdisciplinary approach that bridges historical ethnobotany, environmental history, and the history of knowledge and ignorance studies. The study reveals how the evolution of the ethnobotanical and ethnomedicinal knowledge of culén reflects the broader environmental ignorance, wherein the scientific community excluded and oppressed the indigenous and local knowledge of the plant. This work underscores the importance of integrating historical studies into modern environmental and botanical research, emphasising the value of understanding past knowledge systems to inform contemporary conservation efforts and sustainable practices.

Multifaceted Heparin: Diverse Applications beyond Anticoagulant Therapy

Heparin, a naturally occurring polysaccharide, has fascinated researchers and clinicians for nearly a century due to its versatile biological properties and has been used for various therapeutic purposes. Discovered in the early 20th century, heparin has been a key therapeutic anticoagulant ever since, and its use is now implemented as a life-saving pharmacological intervention in the management of thrombotic disorders and beyond. In addition to its known anticoagulant properties, heparin has been found to exhibit anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anti-tumorigenic activities, which may lead to its widespread use in the future as an essential drug against infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and in various medical treatments. Furthermore, recent advancements in nanotechnology, including nano-drug delivery systems and nanomaterials, have significantly enhanced the intrinsic biofunctionalities of heparin. These breakthroughs have paved the way for innovative applications in medicine and therapy, expanding the potential of heparin research. Therefore, this review aims to provide a creation profile of heparin, space for its utilities in therapeutic complications, and future characteristics such as bioengineering and nanotechnology. It also discusses the challenges and opportunities in realizing the full potential of heparin to improve patient outcomes and elevate therapeutic interventions.

Negotiating with Colonial Modernity

The emergence of a new elite in Minangkabau, flourishing in the modern milieu of Bukittinggi city at the beginning of the 20th century, represents a pivotal case study in the dynamics of colonial modernity. These individuals distinguished themselves in the economic and intellectual domains, as well as in the authentication of symbolic status through lifestyle emulation of the Dutch. However, their integration into the social circles of both traditional and modern communities in Bukittinggi was met with limited acceptance. This phenomenon underscores a society that embraced novel perspectives on the colonial world without succumbing to colonialist ideologies. This raises pertinent inquiries: who were these new elites? Why did they seek recognition within their modern context in Bukittinggi despite existing within a reality of modernity? And what was the nature of the inclusivity process for these new elites as modernists, without becoming colonialists? This discourse elucidates the process by which the new Minangkabau elite negotiated colonial modernity in Bukittinggi between 1905 and 1942. The findings reveal that the successful negotiation of colonial modernity by the new Minangkabau elite served as a mode of restraint as well as alienation from the social realities of Bukittinggi. Firstly, the negotiation facilitated broader participatory avenues for the new elite of Minangkabau in early 20th-century Bukittinggi. Secondly, it paved the way for them to independently craft mediums of intellectual and inclusive modernity. Thirdly, this negotiation led to the creation of new cultural forms that amalgamated three essential values of early 20th century Bukittinggi: tradition, colonialism, and Islam.

Differences in the Shape of the Frontal Bone between 20th-Century Euro-Americans and Germans

Geometric morphometrics is a very useful but rarely applied concept in forensic anthropology. It uses information on the shape of an object for data analysis. For this study, geometric morphometrics has been used to compare the shape of the frontal bone between a German and a Euro-American sample (both early 20th century). Results were compared using size-only, shape-only and size-and-shape combined. Results show that the frontal shapes of the two study populations can clearly be distinguished from one another. The best classification results could be achieved when combining size and shape data for analysis. Centroid size showed significant variation by group and sex, and that Euro-Americans are more sex dimorphic than Germans. We conclude that shape data provides a considerable amount of extra information for population affinity estimation, even on a single cranial bone like the frontal. A broader application of geometric morphometrics in forensic anthropology could thus help generating a more reliable biological profile, as well as providing additional insight into German-American morphometric differentiation.

Alteration by natural processes or anthropogenic manipulation? Assessing human skull breakage through machine learning algorithms

Bone breakage is one of the most common features in the archaeological record. Fractures occur at different times and are classified as fresh or dry depending on the presence or absence of collagen in the bone. In the study of human remains, the timing of the occurrence of a fracture is of crucial importance as it can sometimes be linked to the cause of death. Types of skull breakage can be classified based on when they occurred, though not all fractures correspond to the expected features. This variability is added to the challenge of working with bones covered in consolidant, which obstructs the bone surface and hinders taphonomic analysis. This is the case of the Txispiri calotte, which was categorized as a skull cup in the early 20th century, though this classification was later rejected in the 1990s. In this study, we used statistics and machine learning (ML) to test the breakage characteristics of one set of skull fragments with fresh fractures, another set with dry fractures, and the Txispiri calotte. For this purpose, we considered the fracture type, trajectory, angles, cortical delamination and texture of each of the individual fractures. Our results show that the 13 fractures of the Txispiri calotte correspond to dry breakage and bear no relation to artificially produced skull cups. This study shows the potential of ML algorithms to classify fresh and dry fractures within the same specimen, a method that can be applied to other assemblages with similar characteristics.

N. M. Karamzin’s notes to D. I. Fonvisin’s letter — a reply in the debate about language

The discussion about language plays a crucial role in Russian literature of the early 19th century. It begins with Nikolay Karamzin’s essay Why Are There Few Talented Authors in Russia? (1802) and Alexander Shishkov’s book Discourse on the Old and New Style in Russian Language (1803), which criticizes Karamzin. The traditional view is that Karamzin refrains from answering Shishkov. The present paper presents an alternative hypothesis, arguing that Karamzin does react, but indirectly. Karamzin’s reply takes the form of comments on Denis Fonvizin’s letter addressed to Osip Kozodavlev, where Fonvizin discusses his work on the Dictionary of the Russian Academy. In October 1803 Karamzin publishes this letter in Vestnik Evropy, the magazine he edits since 1802. In this letter Fonvizin discusses borrowings from foreign languages in Russian; Karamzin follows suit. The question of borrowings is central in Shishkov’s book. Karamzin takes a moderate course, recommending that a borrowing should be discarded if the same meaning is expressed by an existing Russian word. However, his general opinion is that borrowings are useful, as they help express notions that Russian still lacks. This attitude is contrary to Shishkov’s intent to rid Russian of any borrowings. This disagreement reflects the difference between two views on language as such. Karamzin sees language as means of expressing notions, which can be international; thus notions may be borrowed as well as words, and along with them if needed. For Shishkov, words come before notions; each word is viewed as a complex of meanings together with its formal and semantic links to other lexical units. These features are specific for any culture, so, in Shishkov’s view, changing this structure by adding borrowings means destroying the language rather than enriching it.

Коллегиальные органы управления в сфере национальной безопасности в России: историко-правовой анализ

The article shows that complex solution of problems of security of the state, preservation of sovereignty and territorial integrity requires consolidated efforts of the entire public administration system. Coordination of such activities goes beyond the departmental jurisdiction and is imposed on collegial bodies governed by the state. The development of such collegial bodies in our country started in the early 20th century in the Russian empire. The author reviews the legal framework of activities of supreme collegial bodies in the defense and security sphere in their historical retrospect.

THE FORMATİON AND EVOLUTİON OF EURASİAN THOUGHTS AND CONCEPTS

The concept of "Eurasianism" is rooted in the philosophical ideas of the early 20th century, emphasizing the unity of the post-Soviet space and its special, non-Western path of development. Recently, the world order has been put to the test of strength: global challenges put states in front of the need to revise the existing world order, which forms a favorable ground for the implementation of the idea of Eurasianism in a regional perspective. Today, the idea of Eurasianism is institutionalized within the framework of the CIS and the EAEU and is especially relevant in the context of new global challenges (economic instability, changing nature of the international order, epidemiological threat, etc.), which allow us to talk about the emergence of a new world order. The article also examines the development of the Eurasian economy through the prism of the relationship between the processes of globalization and regionalization. Globalization is interpreted as an objective process of internationalization of the world economy, the peculiarities of the involvement of the economies of the Eurasian countries in it are revealed. The subjective side of globalization as a form of economic policy of the developed countries of the world in their own interests and its consequences are shown. The trends of regionalization in the economies of the Eurasian countries are revealed. It is proved that the increasing regionalization objectively leads to a significantly different world order than globalization — to a multipolar world.

“Interesting Cases”: On the Problem of Embezzlement in the Russian Army of the 18th – Early 19th Century

The article is written mainly on the materials of military court cases from the Russian State Military Historical Archive, as well as regulatory and legislative sources. The author examines property crimes within the Russian army from a socio-cultural perspective. The author concludes that the tools and practices that served as constraints in plundering money and resources have evolved over several decades. The practice of intimidation and capital punishment, which originated under Peter I, very quickly proved to be uneffective. As a result, by the middle of the 18th century, a system was formed so that, aside from the usual financial liability of the perpetrators, criminal and disciplinary penalties, it was effectively complemented by the principle of the command vertical liability in the matter of compensation for damage, which gave it a special corporate character. A specific attitude towards damage also facilitated this. The claim arose from a specific military unit, not from the treasury. This damage could not be forgiven even by the emperor. Measures such as sequestration of the culprit’s real estate and extending material claims to their heirs further reinforced the corporate identity of the regiment’s property.

Hemp for health: a historical perspective on the marketing of cannabis-based foods in Sweden

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide the first comprehensive examination of the early cannabis-based food products industry, using Sweden as a case study. Drawing upon historical newspaper articles and advertisements from the Swedish Historical Newspaper Archive, the authors trace the short-lived development of the industry, from the initial exploitation of fears of tuberculosis in the late 19th century, followed by the “boom” in hempseed extract products and the widening of its claimed effects and, finally, increased skepticism and critiques of such products across the popular press in the early 20th century. Design/methodology/approach A rigorous search of the Swedish Historical Newspaper Archive was conducted to gather newspaper articles and advertisements on cannabis-based foods. The collected resources were scrutinized using critical discourse analysis to tease out key discourses at work, particularly around the concepts of health, nutrition and science. Findings The authors find that central to the marketization of cannabis-based foods was the construction of disease based on scientific and medical discourse, fearmongering to create a strong consumer base and individualization to place responsibility on consumers to take action to protect their family’s health. This demonstrates not only the long historical relationship between science and food marketing but also how brands’ health claims could often be fraudulent or overstated. Originality/value It is important to cast a historical lens on the commercialization of cannabis-based food products because demand for similar types of products has rapidly grown over the past decade. Now, just as before, manufacturers tap into consumers’ insecurities about health, and many of the same questions continue to be mooted about products’ safety. Paying greater attention to the broader and problematic history of commercial cannabis can, thus, serve as a reminder for both consumers and policymakers to think twice about whether hemp really is for health and if the claims it espouses are a mirage rather than a miracle.

M. M. Speransky and the Problem of the Committee of Ministers in the 1st Third of the 19th Century

M. M. Speransky’s reform projects and notes are integral to understanding the historical development of the Russian state in the early 19th century. They provide valuable insight into the functioning of the Russian Empire’s institutions and its modernization. These documents cover the whole range of socio-political, economic and institutional problems, strategic goals, tactical guidelines, the most important directions, successive and distinctive features of the transformative policy of the two reigns – Alexander I and Nicholas I, as well as give an idea of the specifics of reform activities of the managerial elite of this time. “A truly statesman”, Speransky was highly esteemed as a statesman by his peers due to his merging of theoretical expertise and practical administrative skills. This article delves into Speransky’s perspectives on the institutional status of the Committee of Ministers within the power structure of the Russian Empire in the first third of the 19th century. It illustrates that his viewpoint on the Committee’s role changed based on the reform program's objectives, domestic and foreign political contexts, and strategic goals. Initially, Speransky acknowledged the Committee's role in state administration, but later during the reign on Alexander I contemplated its abolition due to overlapping functions with the State Council and the Senate. Ultimately, he proposed its transformation and integration with the Committee of Ministers.

Sums of Consecutive Odd Integers and Pythagorean Triples

Summary Using the familiar way of representing a square of an integer as the sum of consecutive odd integers, the author described a method of studying the Pythagorean triples. This method was used by Fibonnacci in the early 13th century. It is a fruitful and accessible way to explore the following types of problems: given positive integers x 2 and m, can there exists a Pythagorean triple x 2, y 2, z 2 such that z = y + m ? Using this method, the author shows that, among other things, there cannot be any primitive Pythagorean triples with m an even positive power of 2, but there are infinitely many such triples with m an odd power of 2. On the other hand, if p is an odd prime, there cannot be any primitive triples with m an odd power of p, but infinitely many such triples with m an even power of p. To encourage students to use this method, the author has also designed a sequence of problems for students to explore.

A Study on Benjamin’s Theory of Translation

Walter Benjamin is one of the most creative and important critics of the early 20th century, and his work “The Task of Translation” stands as one of the most influential translation theories. It has greatly influenced the traditional notions of faithfulness and the “original language first” principle, laying the theoretical foundation for deconstructionist translation theory.

Perspectives on Suicide: Bosnian and Herzegovinian and Croatian views from the 1880s to the 1930s

The phenomenon of suicide is a profoundly intricate topic, influenced by a myriad of factors encompassing biological, biochemical, cultural, sociological, interpersonal, psychological, philosophical, conscious, and unconscious components. The examination of press publications, patient records from Croatian psychiatric institutions, and scholarly discourse on suicide in medical literature dating back to the late 19th and the early 20th century reveals that among the diverse perspectives of journalists and psychiatrists of that era, there are notable variations in terms of defining the reasons for suicide attempts. The absence of consistent explanations underscores the enigmatic nature of the ultimate resolution end one’s life. Although numerous experts and laypeople have claimed to know the exact motives behind someone resorting to suicide, some have continued to look for an explanation in otherworldly forces or individuals with supernatural powers. In essence, the multifaceted nature of suicide necessitates a nuanced and comprehensive approach, integrating various disciplines and perspectives to attain a deeper understanding of this phenomenon.

La Casa Virreinal como arquetipo. Análisis comparativo de cuatro viviendas en Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala

This article presents a contribution to the study of the architectural composition of Modest Residential Heritage built in the Historic Center of San Salvador in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The objective is to identify patterns in the spatial organization of these dwellings, particularly the "casa patio" typology, which exhibits continuities from the colonial (virreinal) period to the republican era. Due to the lack of residential buildings from the virreinal period in San Salvador, four cases of virreinal houses from Antigua Guatemala, the capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala to which the province of San Salvador belonged, are analyzed. The methodology employed includes the comparison of the selected cases using Classification Schemes to graphically interpret three architectural elements: the patio with its corridors, the axis of access through the zaguanes (gateways), and the interior-exterior relationship. The results show that the patios play a fundamental role in the organization of spaces, and the architectural composition emphasizes order through the use of corridors. Additionally, the path from the entrance through the zaguanes to the chiflones (narrow passageways) connecting to other patios follows an angled route to avoid direct visibility between them. The comparative study reveals that the spatial organization of the four analyzed examples exhibits continuities in the distribution of spaces, potentially contributing to defining a typology of "Hispanic-American virreinal house" that is regionalized according to site-specific determinants. ILIA: Investigaciones Latinoamericanas en Ingeniería y Arquitectura, No. 01, 2024: 67-74.

Космополис эпохи премодерна на границе западной и восточной культур: многоязычие и пределы переводимости (на материалах Каффы XIII–XV веков)

Objective: To investigate the problem of the terminological precision of the most relevant qualities possessed by cosmopolis in the pre-modern world where the representatives of Western and Eastern faith acted equals in various written and spoken languages. Research materials: The “Codex Cumanicus” composed in Caffa at the turn of the 13th–14th centuries; the lexis of medieval urbanism in three languages (Latin, Persian, and Comanian) selected from it; “Libellus de notitia orbis” of Iohannes de Galonifontibus with a description of multilingual Caffa from the early 15th century. Results and novelty of the research: From the “Codex Cumanicus” was first isolated the lexis of medieval urbanism, dispersed throughout four semantic fields: representation of cosmopolis in the physicality, legally, the sociocultural data, and the ethical community. The representation of cosmopolis in the physicality found untranslatability to eastern languages such Latin terms as “murus”, and “vacuum”, calling attention to essential attributes of urban physis – stone walls, and public places. The representation of cosmopolis in the legally data proved the failure to communicate such thing as a “libertas”, the key characte­ristic of a free city; the Latin term “civitas”, a community of citizens, was adapted in Coman language only through Sogdian analogy of “känd”. The concept “lex”, law, was perceived only through the Jewish approach of “ˈtorə”. The representation of cosmopolis in the sociocultural data did reflect the richness of terms which represented the merchants, traders, bankers, artisans, warriors, and those in the service, education, and entertainment industries; most of them entered the language as a borrowings from Persian and Arabic. The representation of cosmopolis as ethical community explained the rethinking any archaic thought forms of the earlier polytheistic mind moving toward the monotheistic idea; the central concept of Western culture “Deus”, God, was reinterpreted in the most distant Eas­tern cultures as “Tengri” like the designation used earlier for the supreme sky deity of all Asian nomads; the universal theories for both West and East about the four elements and four bodily fluids reflected the relation between the world and man, as macrocosm and microcosm, really integrated citizens of different faiths and languages into the ethical community. This research uses the cognitive science and mental mapping methods. The first allows one to inquire on the terms, ideas, linguistic units, verbal codes in which was treated the cosmopolis in the pre-modern world. The second makes it possible to visualize a distribution of lexical triads according to the degree of positivity / negativity, nearness / distance in transmitting meanings from Latin in Eastern.