Period Of Middle Ages Research Articles

Burial of a Golden Horde Nomad from the Kovalevka Kurgan Cemetery

Introduction. The article introduces into scientific circulation the archaeological and anthropological materials from the Golden Horde burial of the Kovalevka Kurgan Cemetery. Kurgan No. 35 dating back to the early Iron Age was studied in the course of the fieldwork carried out by the Volgograd State University expedition in the Oktyabrsky district of the Volgograd region in 2021. The Kurgan is located in the southern part of the cemetery on the upper terrace of the right bank of the river Aksai Esaulovsky in an arable field. Methods and materials. Two burials were examined because of the archaeological excavations. The main burial No. 2 dates back to the late Sarmatian period, while the intake burial No. 1 dates back to the middle age period. Analysis and results. New anthropological materials were obtained in the course of the excavations, which complement our understanding of the nomadic population from the Lower Volga region. The bone remains belonged to a male individual of mesomorphic build of about 164.5 cm tall with a long and narrow skull. A set of pathological conditions were recorded on his bones, appearing because of an active lifestyle and professional activity. The outcomes of the archaeological study of the Kurgan No. 35 from the Kovalevka Kurgan cemetery as of 2021 can be used in the museum and local history work, as well as in studies of the Lower Volga regional ancient history. Authors’ contributions. In this study, V.I. Moiseev and V.Yu. Moiseeva prepared a descriptive part of the archaeological material, carried out the funeral rites and grave goods analyses, and prepared conclusions based on the results of the research. E.V. Pererva conducted a study of anthropological material and defined the craniological, osteological, and pathological features of the individual from burial 1 of the Kurgan No. 35.

Association of quality of life with marital satisfaction, stress, and anxiety in middle-aged women.

Marital satisfaction is one of the important components of quality of life. Women's marital satisfaction is affected when they enter the middle age period, due to the mental and emotional tensions caused by the physical changes. In this regard, the present study aimed to investigate the association of quality of life with marital satisfaction, stress, and anxiety in middle-aged women referring to health centers of Ahvaz city, Iran. This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 1,000 middle-aged married women (30-59 year of age) under the auspices of health centers of Ahvaz city, Iran in 2019. The subjects were selected by simple random sampling method, and were asked to complete demographic characteristics, quality of life questionnaire, Enrich marital satisfaction questionnaire, Holmes-Raheh stress questionnaire, and Spielberger state-trait anxiety inventory. The data were analyzed by using SPSS 0.22 software through mean, standard deviation, frequency, Pearson correlation and regression (p = 0.05). Based on the results, 42.4% of the participants were between 40 and 50 years of age, 35.6% had a high school diploma, and 50% of them were housewives. Also, the results of Pearson's correlation showed a positive and significant relationship between quality of life and marital satisfaction (r = 0.178) (p < 0.001). However, quality of life had a negative and significant relationship with anxiety (r = -0.552) (r < 0.001) and stress (r = -0.188) (p < 0.001). Given the positive and significant relationship between quality of life and marital satisfaction, appropriate trainings are highly recommended for couples to increase the quality of life and marital satisfaction of middle-aged women and thus strengthen the health of family and society.

Differentiated genomic footprints suggest isolation and long-distance migration of Hmong-Mien populations

BackgroundThe underrepresentation of Hmong-Mien (HM) people in Asian genomic studies has hindered our comprehensive understanding of the full landscape of their evolutionary history and complex trait architecture. South China is a multi-ethnic region and indigenously settled by ethnolinguistically diverse HM, Austroasiatic (AA), Tai-Kadai (TK), Austronesian (AN), and Sino-Tibetan (ST) people, which is regarded as East Asia’s initial cradle of biodiversity. However, previous fragmented genetic studies have only presented a fraction of the landscape of genetic diversity in this region, especially the lack of haplotype-based genomic resources. The deep characterization of demographic history and natural-selection-relevant genetic architecture of HM people was necessary.ResultsWe reported one HM-specific genomic resource and comprehensively explored the fine-scale genetic structure and adaptative features inferred from the genome-wide SNP data of 440 HM individuals from 33 ethnolinguistic populations, including previously unreported She. We identified solid genetic differentiation between HM people and Han Chinese at 7.64‒15.86 years ago (kya) and split events between southern Chinese inland (Miao/Yao) and coastal (She) HM people in the middle Bronze Age period and the latter obtained more gene flow from Ancient Northern East Asians. Multiple admixture models further confirmed that extensive gene flow from surrounding ST, TK, and AN people entangled in forming the gene pool of Chinese coastal HM people. Genetic findings of isolated shared unique ancestral components based on the sharing alleles and haplotypes deconstructed that HM people from the Yungui Plateau carried the breadth of previously unknown genomic diversity. We identified a direct and recent genetic connection between Chinese inland and Southeast Asian HM people as they shared the most extended identity-by-descent fragments, supporting the long-distance migration hypothesis. Uniparental phylogenetic topology and network-based phylogenetic relationship reconstruction found ancient uniparental founding lineages in southwestern HM people. Finally, the population-specific biological adaptation study identified the shared and differentiated natural selection signatures among inland and coastal HM people associated with physical features and immune functions. The allele frequency spectrum of cancer susceptibility alleles and pharmacogenomic genes showed significant differences between HM and northern Chinese people.ConclusionsOur extensive genetic evidence combined with the historical documents supported the view that ancient HM people originated from the Yungui regions associated with ancient “Three-Miao tribes” descended from the ancient Daxi-Qujialing-Shijiahe people. Then, some have recently migrated rapidly to Southeast Asia, and some have migrated eastward and mixed respectively with Southeast Asian indigenes, Liangzhu-related coastal ancient populations, and incoming southward ST people. Generally, complex population migration, admixture, and adaptation history contributed to the complicated patterns of population structure of geographically diverse HM people.

Городище у деревни Вырск

The article is devoted to the newly discovered archaeological site – a hillfort near the village of Vyrsk and its historical and geographical interpretation. The settlement is located on the banks of the Srednyaya Vyrka River (the left tributary of the Oka River), near the village of Vyrsk, Kozelsky district, Kaluga region. The Tula archaeological expedition of the Museum-Reserve «Kulikovo Field» carried out a field work at the site in 2021. As a result, several stages of the existence of the settlement were identified: 4th–5th (the Moshchiny culture), 9th–10th (the Romny culture), 12th–13th (the Kievan Rus’ era), 14th–16th centuries (the late Middle Ages period). The late medieval horizon of the site can be identified with the center of the Kozelsk volost of Vyrsk. Vyrsk was first mentioned in the 1445 contractual document between the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Vasilyevich with Prince Ivan Andreevich and Prince Mikhail Andreevich. Vyrsk is also mentioned in the 1447 contract document and in the will of Ivan III. In 1902, V. N. Debolsky expressed a hypothesis about the location of the Vyrka volost on the left bank of the Oka River. The published research confirmed the historian’s assumption. Cadastral documents and maps made it possible to establish that the Ivanovo churchyard was located on the site “on the river on Vyrka” of the Vyrsky camp of Belevsky district in the 17th–18th centuries.

The burials of the kurgan 2 of the Menovnoe VII burial ground (Eastern Kazakhstan)

Emerged in the beginning of the 2nd millennium AD, the nomadic confederation of the Kipchaks up until the beginning of the 13th c. dominated the Eurasian steppes, which became known from the 11th c. as Desht-i Qipchaq or Kipchak steppe. The oecumene occupied by the Kipchak tribes covered, according to the experts, vast areas from the Irtysh River to Ural Mountains, but there is no consensus amongst researchers as to where the formation of the Kipchak traditions, which were part of the Ki-mek Khanate, was taking place. Kipchak sites of the 11th–12th cc. in the steppe zone are very few, but they are considered, as a rule, in the context of the transformation of the earlier traditions of the Oghuz, whereas the medieval burials of the Mongolian period, studied in the steppe zone of Kazakhstan, are considered apriori as Kipchak’s. The materials obtained during the study of the Menovnoe VII burial ground reveal peculiar features, both in the elements of the funeral rites, as well as in specific com-ponents of the material culture, allowing one to consider this site as a funerary monument built by a group of the early Kipchak population who lived in the pre-Mongol period in the territory of Eastern Kazakhstan. The burial ground of Menovnoe VII is lo-cated 1.5 km east-southeast of the village of Menovnoe of the Tavrichesky District of the Vostochno-Kazakhstanskaya Oblast. Within the burial platform, 24 mortuary structures have been recorded: 5 Early Medieval kurgans and 19 stone heaps of the Late Middle Ages period. The article concerns the kurgan 2, which had a diameter of 8 m at a height of 0.25 m. The mound was spanning over an oval fence measuring 7.1×6.5 m. Two pits were examined within the fence: one, located in the centre, con-tained a paired burial of a man and a woman; the second, located by the south wall of the fence, contained a paired burial of horses. The deceased were accompanied by a broadsword, iron arrowheads, an iron cauldron, bone buckles, iron knives, and remains of a saddle. The specifics of the funeral rites and the analysis of the material obtained during the study make is possible attributing the burial of the kurgan 2 of the Menovnoe VII burial ground to the Kipchak cultural tradition developing within the final stage of the early Turkic era, which allows it to be dated to the 11th — beginning of the 12th c. CE.

Lateral river erosion impacts the preservation of Neolithic enclosures in alluvial plains

Situating prehistoric sites in their past environment helps us to understand their functionality and the organization of early sedentary human societies. However, this is a challenge as the natural environment constantly evolves through time and erases these constructions, especially along riverbanks, thus biasing the archaeological record. This study introduces a reassessment of the paleo-landscape evolution around the Neolithic enclosures at the Noyen-sur-Seine site based on new field observations as well as the synthesis of (un)published and new radiocarbon dating. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, our results show that the Noyen enclosures were not built along a Neolithic Seine River: the nearby channels were active in the Middle Age and Early Modern periods. Therefore, the results show that the enclosures were originally much larger: only a fraction that survived river erosion (lateral migration rates up to 2–3 m yr−1 estimated during the nineteenth century) has been preserved. Instead, an abandoned Mesolithic Seine River served as a natural delimitation of the SE part of the Neolithic enclosures. These results indicate that Neolithic enclosures in alluvial settings are often only partly preserved and that societies from that period lived farther away from active rivers than originally thought, where they were protected from floods.

Response of resin canal area of Pinus tabuliformis with different ages to climate change in Taiyue Mountains, China.

To investigate the responses of resin canal area of Pinus tabuliformis with different ages to climate change, we analyzed the relationship between the resin canal area and climate factors from 1972 to 2017 in P. tabuliformis plantation at young age, middle age, near-mature, mature, and over-mature periods in Taiyue Mountains, Shanxi Province. The results showed that 55.7% to 75.2% of resin canal occurred in earlywood. The mature and over-mature periods had the largest resin channel area, sequentially followed by near mature, middle age, and young age periods. Annual mean latewood resin canal area increased significantly in near-mature period and mature period, but not in other periods. There was a significant negative correlation between earlywood resin canal area and minimum temperature during the growing season (May to July) for trees at middle age period. Earlywood resin canal area of mature trees showed significant negative correlation with minimum temperature during the growing season, but significant positive correlation with drought (PDSI) in the non-growing season (previous September to current April). The total area of earlywood resin canal at the young, near-mature, and mature periods was less influenced by climate than other periods. The minimum growing season temperature was a limiting factor to earlywood resin canal growth, while the non-growing season drought gradually became a limiting factor for earlywood resin canal with increasing tree age. The total area of earlywood resin canal decreased with increasing non-growing season drought and increasing growing season minimum temperature. In the context of global warming, the earlywood resin canal area may gradually decrease at all five periods, and the most reduction in the over-mature stage.

Comparison of Bone Quality in Middle Ages and Late Modern Period Human Skeletons from Latvia

The analysis of bone microstructure and histological examination currently provides valuable insights into various facets of bone biology, ancient human existence, and bone-related diseases. This study aims to scrutinize the microstructure of historic Latvian bones, with three bone element groups selected (humerus, radius, and ulna) from a skeletal collection spanning from the Middle Ages to the Late Modern Period, procured through an archaeological excavation at St. George’s Church in Riga. To evaluate the changes in bone samples over time, two methods are utilized: (i) micro-computed tomography, used for measuring and calculating bone volume/trabecular volume (BV/TV), cortical bone and trabecular thickness, and trabecular pore diameter; (ii) immunohistochemistry (IHC) is employed to detect the presence of Runx2, OPG, OC, MMP2, TIMP2, BFGF, IL-1, IL-10, OPN, defensin-2, BMP 2/4, TGFβ factor in bone cells—specifically osteocytes. Archaeological human bone remains from the Middle Ages period in Latvia display a decline in the average bone volume to trabecular volume ratio when compared with the Late Modern Period, indicating a potential reduction in bone quality in the skeletons, potentially associated with a lower living standard during the earlier era. Comparing factors between the periods reveals a higher value of TIMP2 (p = 0.047) in samples from the Late Modern Period group, while IL-1 is higher (p = 0.036) in the Middle Ages group, which may suggest the presence of disease and diminished bone quality in the skeletons from the Middle Ages.

The Archaeo-Mineralogy of Tapeh Kelar’s potsherds dated to the Late Chalcolithic, Early Bronze, and Middle Bronze Ages

Potsherds are very important for the archaeological research because they may date a site, reveal clues about art, technology, and subsistence of people. Potteries show the relationships and exchanges between people from different regions. The Kelar Hill (from now on Tapeh Kelar), Kelardasht region, is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the west of Mazandaran, in north-western Iran. Tapeh Kelar contains cultural materials from the Late Chalcolithic in the fourth millennium BC up to the Islamic Age. The Kura-Araxes context is one of the most significant discoveries of this area. Because Kura-Araxes culture originated far from Tapeh Kelar (in the Southern Caucasus), the primary concern of the present study focused on the structure of the potteries of the site in transitional phase from the Late Chalcolithic to Kura-Araxes and on finding the changes or differences. The study also tries to find the answer to the question whether the Kura-Araxes pots emerged due to exotic agents or not. Twenty five pieces of potsherds from the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age periods were studied by petrographic method to compare the mineralogical texture of the Late Chalcolithic and the Middle Bronze Age potsherds with those of Kura-Araxes. Studies show that the pots of Kura-Araxes at this site are local products despite some changes in their texture due to source change; therefore, the idea that Kura-Araxes tradition potteries were first brought by way of exchange or trade and then copied by local potters is negated.

Academic Issues of Research of Historic-Cultural Heritage of Medieval Ganja

Historic-cultural heritage of Ganja city belongings to such thinkers of Azerbaijan as Nizami Ganjavi, Mahsati Ganjavi, Siti Ganjavi, Raziya Ganjavi, Mirza Shafi Vazeh and others. In this research work were studied the teaching of different sciences in Ganja during Middle Ages period, the services of prominent scientists, thinkers and teachers of that period, who worked in madrasa and used rich libraries. In particular, given the importance of the city as a socio-political, economic, scientific and cultural center during this historical epoch. By the way, during this historical period Ganja as an important political and cultural center was visited by famous scholars of this period, as well as important historical information about their teaching and scientific activities have been studied for many years. In scientific article on the basis of available scientific sources, historical documents, written sources, are considered the merits and patronage of national statehood, which played an exceptional role in the development of the traditions of our national statehood, in the formation of prominent figures in science and culture. Also in this study, based on historical and ethnographic sources, have been determined the significance of the scientific, literary and cultural development of Ganja in the revival of the characteristic features of the Renaissance period.

Paradox latentnej etnicity: ukrajinský prípad obdobia stredoveku a raného novoveku

The author of the article focuses his attention on the latent (implicit) ethnicity paradox, the essence of which lies in the fact that the ancient phenomenon of ethnicity has not yet been articulated and reflected on the social level. But definite ethnic groups and ethnicities did really exist. In the pre-modern period ethnicity articulation was realized on either a personality level or the family societal one. The specificity of the Ukrainian case lies in the fact that nation considered itself to be separate from neighbours and this approach originated in the Southern area of Eastern Slavs in the early Middle Ages period when tribe names disappeared. Since then, Kyivan Rus’ ethnic group that is the initial form of the Ukrainian community came into existence. In the course of time its ethno-cultural, ethno-social and ethno-national strata were transformed. Collaboration of historians, ethnologists and social anthropologists is necessary for the optimization of latent ethnicity research.

Title in English: Masculine Visions of Women Rape in England, in the Period of the Plantagenet Family (A.D. 1154- 1485)

The Middle Ages period is one of the periods that is unique in highlighting the role of men, youth, masculinity, and chivalry in various fields of life, and this appeared socially through men controlling women. Here, the most important problems of the study appear, which is that England is far from the Church of Rome, the source of Catholicism, in addition to the heterogeneity of its population of Bretons, Anglo-Saxons and Normans, which led to the emergence of a group of divergent visions about looking at women in general and women's issues in particular. In view of the length of the study period represented in the era of the Plantagenet family (1154-1485 AD); The aim of the study is to highlight the development of masculine literary, judicial and political visions on the issue of rape of women, which was common in the period under study The direct result of this research is that the prevalence of women's rape represents one of the episodes of people's consistency with the English rulers, who took the initiative to do so for political justifications.

Oak beams in medieval frameworks: Constraints and advantages for restoration

During the fire of Notre-Dame de Paris, all timber frames coming from the Middle ages period, in the nave and choir, were burnt. It was decided to proceed as possible to an identical reconstruction, but many questions arise about the timber frame. Is wood outdated as a material for beams? Is oak wood the best solution for timber frame? Are we able to find similar long slender oak beams in today French forest? Is it safe to use green wood for the building?In fact, the forested area in France is the same today as in the Middle ages period, but two times higher than during the 19th century. Results from the forest inventory proves that 40 million slender oak trees are available in order to sort around 1500 trees for the restoration.Cathedral heritage provided a demonstration of the high efficiency of carpenter's know-how. Most of oak beams kept their functionality for more than 800 years. This is a nice experimental result for a very long mechanical testing. Wood, emerged as material 300 million years ago as a result of long time evolution, is used to build trees, which are a collection of wooden beams able to resist flexure forces, for a long time.Technical know-how about timber frame is old in human societies and was improved during the Middle ages, but scientific knowledge about wood as an anisotropic material is very recent. The background in mechanics for such material has been developed in early 20th century and observation tools for material structures at the nanometre scale appeared in late 20th century. Wood can be considered as an archetypal high-tech material using polymer-with-additive technology combined to nanostructured fibre-composite within a honeycomb-like micro-structured material. This explains why nature solution for tree beams is very efficient in terms of bending resistance per weight.The mechanical behaviour of wooden beams is highly sensitive to the orientation of the main direction of anisotropy (grain direction) relative to bending forces. Natural beams in trees are built by a kind of 3D printing process so that grain orientation at beam periphery is always optimum. Mechanical bending performance of these beams (round-wood), in spite of branching, is equivalent to the performance of standard clear-wood specimens documented in databases. Squaring at the minimum this round-wood should be done while keeping grain angle closest to zero-degree value, which is performed by specific axe-hewn log squaring. The result is “coarse” slightly curved beams much more resistant than “nicely” straight sawn beams with local grain angle above 10°Using directly green wood in the building process is effective for time of building and energy consumption. The drying of wood induces long deep longitudinal cracks and a reduction in beam section but a bigger increase in wood mechanical performance. If the green frame resists, the dried one will resist all the following years.Finally, today carpenters have kept the building know-how and there are many modern non-destructive techniques available for the best sorting of trees and mechanical evaluation of beams.

Archaeobotanical Study of Tell Khamîs (Syria)

Tell Khamîs, an archaeological site of the Syrian region of Upper Jazeera, is 3 km east of the Euphrates and 31 km from Yarâblûs (ancient Karkemiš); archaeological excavations determined seven different levels (Early Bronze, Middle Bronze, Aramaic, Assyrian, Persian, Hellenistic, and Islamic). This study aims to identify plant remains recovered during the excavation of the site and to place them within the chronology of Tell Khamîs and in the context of the archaeobotanical evidence for the Upper Euphrates. A total of 88 sediment samples were collected, and seeds, recovered via flotation, were identified using optical and SEM microscopy. A total of 20,606 whole remains and 37,646 fragments belonging to 92 taxa and 35 plant families were identified. Seed lists were compared with those from other sites, and the results were analyzed using multivariate techniques. Barley is particularly noteworthy for the number of remains; this species was found in 49 different samples, notably, in a silo of about 4 m3 in volume. Middle Bronze Age and Assyrian levels are the richest in remains; the site presents a maximum of documented activity in the Middle Bronze Age period, and the most interesting taxa from a paleoenvironmental and cultural point of view are represented by one or a few seeds.

Stylistic Use of the Grammatical Tense Category in the Middle English Prose

The paper proposes some observation experience over exploring stylistic resources of the verbal category of tense in the texts of English belles-lettres presented by its prosaic segment dated by High Middle Ages period. Acquiring by the prosaic form of the belles-lettres text the independent status is the important step in the History of European Literature which chronologically coincides with the period of transferring from Middle Ages to Renaissance. After passing the formation period there appeared verbal coverings of one and the same contents different in stylistic, lexical and grammatical characteristics as well as the use of the national language. In consequence of the consciousness secularization, works of literature characterized by practical appropriation of reality, take some practical orientation. This, in turn, causes some necessity in new ways to describe «tactile materiality of consciousness». The category of tense is chosen as the investigation object by virtue of its dependence on proper to textual structures’ contents and compositional features. The work of literature text continuum is considered as distributed into chronological plans reflected in the verbal tense forms. The period of transferring from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, the period of translation, supposes establishing evaluative correspondences in the stylistic orientative activity with some etalon presented by the antique rhetorical tradition. Style generating processes in the textual space of English literature, facultative when compared with French belles-lettres, are marked by putting on th etalon position the French rhetorical tradition as well. The most eminent instances of the tradition can be found in the romance genre as one of the most representative in the European literary genre system. The English genre variant is used as illustrative material for the analysis procedure done.

Erratum to ‘Oak beams in medieval frameworks: Constraints and advantages for restoration’ [Journal of Cultural Heritage Volume 56C (July-August 2022) 108-117

• Wood is always a top material for beams. • 40 million of slender young oak trees are available in French forest. • Round-wood squared at the minimum keeps the high resistance of trunks. • Using green wood is the fastest and most energy-saving method. • High tech modern techniques can be used for the best sorting of trees. During the fire of Notre-Dame de Paris, all timber frames coming from the Middle ages period, in the nave and choir, were burnt. It was decided to proceed as possible to an identical reconstruction, but many questions arise about the timber frame. Is wood outdated as a material for beams? Is oak wood the best solution for timber frame? Are we able to find similar long slender oak beams in today French forest? Is it safe to use green wood for the building? In fact, the forested area in France is the same today as in the Middle ages period, but two times higher than during the 19th century. Results from the forest inventory proves that 40 million slender oak trees are available in order to sort around 1500 trees for the restoration. Cathedral heritage provided a demonstration of the high efficiency of carpenter's know-how. Most of oak beams kept their functionality for more than 800 years. This is a nice experimental result for a very long mechanical testing. Wood, emerged as material 300 million years ago as a result of long time evolution, is used to build trees, which are a collection of wooden beams able to resist flexure forces, for a long time. Technical know-how about timber frame is old in human societies and was improved during the Middle ages, but scientific knowledge about wood as an anisotropic material is very recent. The background in mechanics for such material has been developed in early 20th century and observation tools for material structures at the nanometre scale appeared in late 20th century. Wood can be considered as an archetypal high-tech material using polymer-with-additive technology combined to nanostructured fibre-composite within a honeycomb-like micro-structured material. This explains why nature solution for tree beams is very efficient in terms of bending resistance per weight. The mechanical behaviour of wooden beams is highly sensitive to the orientation of the main direction of anisotropy (grain direction) relative to bending forces. Natural beams in trees are built by a kind of 3D printing process so that grain orientation at beam periphery is always optimum. Mechanical bending performance of these beams (round-wood), in spite of branching, is equivalent to the performance of standard clear-wood specimens documented in databases. Squaring at the minimum this round-wood should be done while keeping grain angle closest to zero-degree value, which is performed by specific axe-hewn log squaring. The result is “coarse” slightly curved beams much more resistant than “nicely” straight sawn beams with local grain angle above 10° Using directly green wood in the building process is effective for time of building and energy consumption. The drying of wood induces long deep longitudinal cracks and a reduction in beam section but a bigger increase in wood mechanical performance. If the green frame resists, the dried one will resist all the following years. Finally, today carpenters have kept the building know-how and there are many modern non-destructive techniques available for the best sorting of trees and mechanical evaluation of beams.

Holocene Genetic Evolution of Pig (Sus scrofa) on Romanian Territory in a European Time and Space Frame

Romanian territory represents a key point in the dispersal of domestic pigs into Europe, due to its geographical position. Our study gathers a high number of samples from different archaeological sites on Romanian territory in order to establish a more accurate chronological view of the spread of domestic pig into Europe and to investigate the possibility of a local domestication process. Approximately 200 samples from 45 archaeological sites on Romanian territory, covering a large period of time, from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages, were subjected to DNA analysis. The sequencing of a short fragment from the D-loop region of the mitochondrial DNA identified a different prevalence of domestic pig genetic signature between two periods of time: the Neolithic period and the Early Bronze Age–Middle Ages period. While the Neolithic period is characterized by the presence of domestic pigs with a Near-Eastern signature, during the Early Bronze Age–Middle Ages period this genetic signature is replaced with a European one. Two European and two Near-Eastern signatures were described for all the analysed samples, each of them prevailing within the wild, respectively domestic Sus scrofa. The data also revealed the introgression process as a form of domestication in Romanian territory.

Emergence and intensification of dairying in the Caucasus and Eurasian steppes.

Archaeological and archaeogenetic evidence points to the Pontic–Caspian steppe zone between the Caucasus and the Black Sea as the crucible from which the earliest steppe pastoralist societies arose and spread, ultimately influencing populations from Europe to Inner Asia. However, little is known about their economic foundations and the factors that may have contributed to their extensive mobility. Here, we investigate dietary proteins within the dental calculus proteomes of 45 individuals spanning the Neolithic to Greco-Roman periods in the Pontic–Caspian Steppe and neighbouring South Caucasus, Oka–Volga–Don and East Urals regions. We find that sheep dairying accompanies the earliest forms of Eneolithic pastoralism in the North Caucasus. During the fourth millennium bc, Maykop and early Yamnaya populations also focused dairying exclusively on sheep while reserving cattle for traction and other purposes. We observe a breakdown in livestock specialization and an economic diversification of dairy herds coinciding with aridification during the subsequent late Yamnaya and North Caucasus Culture phases, followed by severe climate deterioration during the Catacomb and Lola periods. The need for additional pastures to support these herds may have driven the heightened mobility of the Middle and Late Bronze Age periods. Following a hiatus of more than 500 years, the North Caucasian steppe was repopulated by Early Iron Age societies with a broad mobile dairy economy, including a new focus on horse milking.

SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR THE SYLLABUS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE COURSE IN ELT DEPARTMENTS

Using literature in language teaching as authentic material has many advantages such as developing learners’ intercultural competence, personal involvement, proficiency in the target language, creativity, critical, and analytical thinking, interpreting, speaking and communication skills. Correspondingly, the purposes of this study are to explore how many state universities have the syllabus for English Literature courses on their official websites and to find out the most preferred topics of English Literature courses in ELT programs. As a part of the qualitative data collection, online curriculums of 59 state universities were explored to find the most preferred topics of these courses. Based on the findings of the study, out of 59 universities, only 37 universities’ online syllabi of “English Literature Course I and II” were available. Also, common topics in English Literature courses’ syllabi of 37 universities were listed. Medieval English Literature - The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer, Old English Period - Beowulf, and Elizabethan Era - Shakespeare were among the most preferred topics, while Middle Age period: historic, social, literary events, Contemporary English Literature, 20th-century literature were the least preferred ones. In the conclusion part of the study, some suggestions were presented for syllabi of English Literature courses in ELT departments of universities.

Indian spices: past, present and future challenges as the engine for bio-enhancement of drugs: impact of COVID-19.

Spices are natural plant products enriched with the history of being used as herbal medicine for prevention of diseases. India is also known as the ‘Land of Spices’. Out of 109 spices recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) more than 52–60 spice crops are grown in India. The major spices exported by India are turmeric, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, peppers, etc. The Indian spices are divided into three era viz. early period, middle age and early modern period. Spices are used in beverages, liquors, and pharmaceutical, cosmetic and perfumery products. The major issue with spices is their handling and storage. This review article mainly focuses on two aspects: at the outset the handling and storage of the spices is an essential factor as spices are available in different forms like raw, processed, fresh, whole dried, or pre‐ground dried. Therefore, the need of processing, packaging, storage and handling of the spices is important as the deterioration of spices can lead to the loss of therapeutic activity. Furthermore, many herbal constituents have the capability to enhance the bioavailability of drugs. Therefore, an attempt has been made to throw a light on the bioenhancer activity and therapeutic activity along with their mechanism of action of some Indian spices which are regularly used for cooking purpose on a daily basis to enhance the taste of food. The spices suggested by ministry of AYUSH which is relevant to its medicinal and biological property in treatment and prevention from COVID‐19 are discussed. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.