Settlement Phase Research Articles

Mathematical model describing the population dynamics of Ciona intestinalis, a biofouling tunicate on mussel farms in Prince Edward Island, Canada

A mathematical model was used to describe the population of the aquatic invasive species, Ciona intestinalis in the presence of cultured mussel production. A differential equation model was developed to represent the key life stages: egg, larva, recruit, juvenile and adult. Stage transition rates were calculated from time spent in a stage and transition probabilities. Because surface availability for the settlement phase is a key determinant of population growth, dead juvenile and dead adult stages were also modelled, together with their drop-off rates. This model incorporated temperature dependencies and an environmental carrying capacity. Model validation was carried out against field data collected from Georgetown Harbour, in 2008. Relative sensitivity indices were calculated to determine the most influential factors in the model. The results indicated that the modelled outputs were broadly in agreement with the observed data. Under baseline conditions the number of C. intestinalis increased from early September to late October, after which they reached a plateau at an abundance of approximately five individuals per cm 2 . Sensitivity analyses revealed that a reduction in spawning interval or the development time of larva accelerated C. intestinalis population growth. In contrast, decreasing either carrying capacity or the percentage drop-off of live juvenile and adult stages resulted in a decline in the population. This research provides the first detailed model describing population dynamics of C. intestinalis in mussel farms and will be valuable in exploring effective treatment strategies for this invasive species.

Non-pollen palynomorphs show human- and livestock-induced eutrophication of Lake Nussbaumersee (Thurgau, Switzerland) since Neolithic times (3840 bc)

Lake Nussbaumersee, located SW of Lake Constance (Switzerland/Germany), was studied at high temporal resolution for non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) within a calcareous gyttja sediment core from the deepest part of the lake. At the Nussbaumersee lakeshore, three pile-dwelling settlements have been excavated and dendrochronologically dated (to the Neolithic, 3840–3695 bc; late Early Bronze Age, 1580–1538 bc; and Late Bronze Age, 850–780 bc). The NPP study revealed three peaks of cyanobacteria, likely related to three settlement phases causing phosphate eutrophication of the lake water. The fast decline in cyanobacteria and reduction in green algae blooms after the abandonment of the Neolithic village and the quick recovery of the lake water back to oligotrophic conditions indicate a high prehistoric resilience of the lake ecosystem. After the second eutrophication phase starting around 2500 bc, the density of NPP eutrophication indicators remained at much higher levels, probably showing a loss of resilience of the lake ecosystem due to repeated human disturbance.

Longitudinal Associations of Cultural Distance With Psychological Well-Being Among Australian Immigrants From 49 Countries

Data of 5,033 immigrants from 49 countries/regions to Australia, derived from Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia (LSIA), were analyzed to test a widely held assumption that greater cultural distance (CD) between immigrants’ culture of origin and their destination culture is associated with more adjustment difficulties and thus lower psychological well-being (the CD Hypothesis). Objective measures of CD were constructed from Hofstede’s four value dimensions, Schwartz’s seven dimensions, and Smith et al.’s two dimensions. The hypothesis was tested using multilevel hierarchical regression analyses which controlled for individual-level variations in age, gender, marital status, English language skills, and income. Results revealed limited support for the hypothesis. Whereas the global index of CD based on Smith et al.’s values provided support for the hypothesis, the specific indices of CD, comprised of separate value dimensions, showed a mixed pattern of relationships. Finally, most of the observed CD-well-being links were limited to the earlier phases of settlement and were diminished within 3.5 years after arrival.

The Beginning of Scandinavian Settlement in England: The Viking ‘Great Army’ and Early Settlers, c. 865–900 by Shane McLeod (review)

Reviewed by: The Beginning of Scandinavian Settlement in England: The Viking ‘Great Army’ and Early Settlers, c. 865–900 by Shane McLeod Roderick McDonald McLeod, Shane, The Beginning of Scandinavian Settlement in England: The Viking ‘Great Army’ and Early Settlers, c. 865–900 (Studies in the Early Middle Ages, 29), Turnhout, Brepols, 2013; hardback; pp. xvi, 330; 8 b/w illustrations, 3 b/w tables, 6 b/w line art; R.R.P. €80.00; ISBN 9782503545561. Based on his doctoral thesis, Shane McLeod has produced a finely nuanced analysis of the earliest stages of Scandinavian conquest and settlement in England, from approximately 865 to 900. He differentiates between the more commonly used evidence for subsequent generations of Scandinavian settlement in the tenth century and evidence available for the first generation of settlers, associated with the ‘great army’, who (in McLeod’s well-argued view) included others, both domestic and civilian. McLeod’s thesis critiques the limits of available evidence – annalistic/historical, literary, archaeological – and draws upon migration theory to argue in favour of the early stages of conquest and settlement being undertaken not solely by warriors and settlers coming from the Scandinavian [End Page 192] lands of Denmark and Norway. A sound case is developed that the great army and associated settlers included those with prior migration experience, in particular coming from lands that had already been settled by Scandinavians in both Ireland and Francia. McLeod also makes the case that right from the very early stages the invasion and settlement of England involved not just young adult fighting men, but included women and children in greater numbers than scholars have hitherto believed. It also stands to reason that the migrations would have also included administrators, given the nature of the settlement and establishment of Scandinavian rule. McLeod maps out the underlying principles in migration theory, and identifies in particular five of nine principles that can be applied specifically to the evidence for Scandinavian migration to England. The five principles, for which evidence exists in relation to migration of Scandinavians to England, are: migration through the use of advance ‘scouts’ for setting up migration ‘chains’; the tendency for a migratory flow to continue over a period; migrants being a select group of people from the population of origin; migrants being more likely to have experience of previous migration; and migrants often returning to their place of origin. Having mapped out the evidence for supporting his application of migration theory, McLeod then traces the likely origins of the settlers. He uses annalistic and archaeological evidence to argue for the presence of a significant proportion of Scandinavians from both Ireland and the Frisian coastal areas of Francia in the great army, and thus forming the basis of the early stages of migration to England. In comparison, the evidence for great army members coming directly from the Scandinavian homelands in the early phases of Scandinavian settlement in England is shown to be limited. McLeod also looks at a number of other aspects of the migrations, as a means for describing a more complete picture of the people and the circumstances that led to their migration. He discusses the likely motivations behind the migrations, and makes a good argument for the immigrants’ desire for economic and social advancement as an important motivating factor. He argues that this is especially the case in the desire for wealth through land ownership, which was of high cultural value and for which opportunities were limited in both Ireland and Francia. McLeod considers the use of client kings as one example of a number of political and economic innovations that came about during the early phases of Scandinavian migration to England. Inter alia, he argues that the use of a written treaty between Guthrum and Alfred through which boundaries were agreed and administrative units established was another such innovation, possibly reflecting a continental experience of treaties, resulting in the creation of buffer zones on the margins of Scandinavian rule in England. He also makes the case for Scandinavian innovation in the acculturation of administrative and economic conditions (in particular in Mercia and East Anglia) to existing [End Page 193] Anglo-Saxon activities. He argues that the use of...

Flora and vegetation on dumps of uranium mining in the southern part of the former GDR

From 1946 to 1990 an intensive uranium mining had been carried out with underground mining and also with opencast mining by the Wismut enterprise in the southern part of the former GDR. The mining activity lead also in the surroundings of Ronneburg to a permanent growth of devastated areas, among others in the form of dumps and tailings. These areas form by reason of mining-specific contaminations, extrem biotops which demand high claims on the pioneer organisms during the phase of natural first settlement. From 1990 to 1992 vegetation mappings were carried out on 15 dumps of the Thuringia mining area according to Braun-Blanquet (1964). The utilization of the computer programm Flora _D (Frank and Klotz 1990) enabled the ecological characterisation of the dumps. On the 15 investigated dumps found were 498 higher plants, belonging to 65 families. One hundred species are species with a high dominance. The number of species per dump fluctuates between 1 I and 282. Pioneer plants occur on the berms mostly in the second year after stoppage of the dumping, on the slopes after five to ten years. After nearly ten years the first step of settlement seems to be finished. Among the mechanisms of spreading dominate wind- and burdock spread. According to the form of life forms the dump species are predominantly hemicryptophytes, further therophytes, geophytes and phanerophytes.

거창 고학리 해주오씨의 장소애착을 통해 본 종족경관의 형성과정

This research, which sought to conjecture the formation process of tribal landscape while confirming the method and characteristic of place attachment of the Haeju Oh Family, which is rooted within the village and the Yongwon Pavilion and Garden of Gohak-ri, Mari-myeon, Geochang-gun, Gyeongnam, reached the following conclusion based on the interpretation and analysis of cultural and scenic elements such as the names and sculptures nearby the village and Yongwon Pavilion and Garden. This place is where Goohwagong Oh Sue, Haeju person, settled down. This is also where his descendants were refined while yearning for their ancestors. The Yongwon Pavilion was established in 1964. It can be sufficiently known that this place was managed and maintained as garden-like place where the spirit of yearning was shared and which was the basis of the life and entertainment of descendants after being the monumental place for Master Oh Guhwa, through stories, documents, nearby facilities, and writings on many rocks. It is clear that the meaning of `Bang-Hak(訪鶴) and Jung-Hak (停鶴)` which is carved in many places around this area and Gohak-ri, which symbolizes the Hakbong(crane peak), the vein of Wonjak-dong which is one of the Ahneuisamdong(three outstanding scenic places of Ahneui), is scenic language explaining the ecological settlement and lives of the Haeju Oh Family. When considering the definition of sense of place as a `social device` made by discussions and practice rather than its existing as substance, the many structures scattered around the village, Yongwon Pavilion Garden, and nearby designations show the monumental place inheritance of tribal group clearly exhibiting the characteristics of Korean sense of place. Ever since Guhwagon Oh Sue settled down in Guhak-ri, the tribal group of Haeju Oh Family went through life settlement phase and landscape formation phase by realizing the sense of place. Afterwards, while yearning for ancestors and repeatedly rooting down in the place, territoriality expanded and the place was reproduced. In particular, timber houses and monuments were constructed during the Japanese Colonization Period, and after independence, the Yongwon Pavilion was constructed through place reproduction, and monumental tribal landscape is currently being expressed in various forms to this day. Thus, allowing to reach the conclusion of `Tribal Landscape of Gohak-ri, Mari-myeong, Geochang-gun,` which we perceive today. The products of territorial expansion formed by the repeating phenomenon of place rootedness and place attachment by tribal groups are in fact the substance of tribal landscape. Through such, it is possible to confirm the true spirit of place attachment and the earnest interest and affection of descendants towards unique place that is repeatedly constructed and inherited within the group memory.

“Minding the Gap”: Against the Gaps. The Early Bronze Age and the Transition to the Middle Bronze Age in the Northern and Eastern Aegean/Western Anatolia

Gaps are not desirable in archaeology, whether they refer to cultural gaps or to gaps in research. When Rutter defined a “gap” between the Early Cycladic IIB and Middle Cycladic I/Middle Helladic I assemblages, it was evident that there existed a real gap in archaeological research of the prehistoric landscapes and islandscapes of the northern and eastern Aegean and of western Anatolia, to the south of Troy. This short article discusses the rich archaeological evidence of the Aegean Early Bronze Age that has accumulated over the past 30 years. It emphasizes cultural dialogues that existed between the eastern Aegean Islands and western Anatolian littoral, on the one hand, and between both of these areas and the Cyclades, mainland Greece, and Crete, on the other; these dialogues are obvious in technology (pottery, metallurgy), in the development of trade networks, in the evolution of political and social practices, in symbolic expressions, and finally in the transformation of the parallel lives of the Early Bronze Age Aegean societies. A figure of the plan of the EB I–III settlement phases at the Heraion can be found under this article’s abstract on AJA Online. Join the discussion at http://www.ajaonline.org/forum/1637.

The late-antiquity environmental crisis in Emilia region (Po river plain, Northern Italy): Geoarchaeological evidence and paleoclimatic considerations

For about four decades in Italy local, scientific literature has occasionally dealt with fluvial avulsions, suggesting they should be considered as genetically linked to a peculiar climatic worsening that occurred in the late-6th century AD (the so-called “Paul the Deacon Deluge”). Research performed by the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell'Emilia-Romagna over the last few years has allowed better definition of the timing of a more articulated alluvial history, mainly concerning the Roman Imperial age and Late-Antiquity (1st–6th century AD). The main stratigraphic details of fourteen selected archaeological excavation sites (eleven recently surveyed and three reviewed from the literature) performed in the cities of Modena, Bologna and related surroundings have been summarized. Eleven 14C dates, ranging between the years 130 AD and 810 AD, allowed us to chronologically delimit a first framework for the riverbed network behaviour during ancient times in the central part of the region. The alluvial process appeared to be continuous throughout the time span examined. The fan trench was the most sensitive reach of the river system. It started to aggrade during the 4th century AD. During the 5th century AD and probably after the end of the 6th century AD, a number of avulsions occurred. This indicates that the fluvial system was in a metastable equilibrium, whose behavioural threshold was finally overcome. Hence, the importance of the supposed year 589 AD crisis (the “Deluge”) appears to be less than previously supposed. The riverbed aggradation became evident immediately after the Roman Empire's economic and demographic crisis of the 3rd century AD, and it was probably due to the loss of the land preservation systems in the mountain catchment areas. The long duration of the aggradation phase suggests that more than one human settlement phase in the minor catchment areas and/or a minor climatic worsening pulse probably occurred during the 5th century AD. The starting of the aggradation also coincided with the end of the Petit Maclu 1 high level phase of the European lakes. Notwithstanding this, the climate's role as a forcing co-factor can still be hard to evaluate positively due to the lack of local proxy data.

Archaeological significance of the Palaeolithic charcoal assemblage from Krems-Wachtberg

At the Palaeolithic site of Krems-Wachtberg, numerous charcoal remains were excavated since 2005. They were concentrated in the living floor (layer 4.4), especially in fireplaces 1 and 2 and several pits, but also mixed into sediments above the living floor. Since 2008, VIAS dendrolab (Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science, University of Vienna) has been cooperating with the excavators to investigate these charcoal samples for wood species analysis, dendrochronological synchronization, and also to evaluate their palaeoclimatic potential. The dominant wood type is Pine, which includes the species Pinus sylvestris, Pinus mugo, and Pinus cembra/sibirica. Two other gymnospermous wood types were found among the samples. Several charcoal pieces belong to Picea abies/Larix decidua (which cannot be separated by means of wood anatomy) and a single specimen of Abies sp. was found. A single angiosperm wood remain was analysed as Fagus sylvatica.Dendrochronological investigations singled out a number of samples with very similar ring patterns, which obviously had been growing at the same time. As these clusters do not match each other, samples were either not contemporary or grew on climatologically differing places. As a result of these studies, we were able to ascertain the synchronous use of fireplaces 1 and 2 in at least one phase. The advanced methods of charcoal analysis described in this paper can be used for detecting and synchronizing settlement phases on many archaeological sites. In particular, it is possible to significantly enhance the temporal resolution achievable with 14C-ages on wood charcoal.

The Rise of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Western Africa, 1300–1589 by Toby Green (review)

Reviewed by: The Rise of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Western Africa, 1300–1589 by Toby Green Rebecca Shumway The Rise of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Western Africa, 1300–1589. By Toby Green. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 366 pp. $99.00 (cloth); $79.00 (e-book). Drawing on archival sources in Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean, Toby Green presents a new study of the earliest phase of European maritime activity and settlement on the Cape Verde islands and the West African coast between the Senegal River and Sierra Leone. The book examines conditions in fourteenth- and fifteenthcentury Iberia and West Africa that set the stage for the complex interactions between Europeans and Africans that followed, though the book primarily focuses on the period from 1460 to 1589, when Cape Verde was a hub of long-distance trade. Most of the nine chapters deal exclusively with the islands and coastal towns where Iberians conducted trade, although frequent reference is made to the African hinterland as well as locations in Europe and the Americas that were connected to Cape Verde by maritime trade. The book provides a richly detailed analysis of the evolution of Cape Verde as both an entrepôt for trade in enslaved Africans and a very early European colony in which African slaves produced agricultural products for export. Green’s use of documents from the Inquisition enables him to paint a detailed portrait of the settlers who came from Iberia in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries seeking their fortunes in the first site of what Philip Curtin has dubbed the “plantation complex.” A large proportion of these settlers were New Christians of Jewish ancestry, and Green argues that their experiences with violence and exclusion in Europe shaped the ways in which they built a new society based on slavery and slave trading on Cape Verde and the African coast. One of the most intriguing ideas presented in the book is that this part of the world was simultaneously shaped by three overlapping diasporas in this period: the New Christian diaspora in Cape Verde and the Mediterranean, the diaspora of Islamic traders involved in trans-Saharan trade, and the Mandinka diaspora through which coastal Western Africans shared a cultural and linguistic link with their neighbors in the distant interior. Green is very keen to show that he has uncovered new evidence that warrants a reassessment of the volume of the early slave trade from Upper Guinea. He makes a strong argument for the underappreciation of the Portuguese contraband slave trade and introduces evidence showing that the scale of this trade may have been quite large. For example, he demonstrates that many slave ships could have been provisioned by the increasing agricultural production in Upper Guinea [End Page 729] in this period. The number of enslaved Africans taken by slave ships in this period nevertheless remains extremely uncertain, however, and historians who have used quantitative methods to assess the volume of the trade will undoubtedly question Green’s interpretation. Moreover, this evidence alone does not refute the generally accepted view that African gold was more important than slaves to the first generations of European traders in Africa, which Green rejects. New evidence presented here regarding early Europeans’ travels in the Americas has more potential to stimulate fruitful historical analysis. Green shows that many of the first “explorers” of the Americas, including Columbus, actually had extensive experience in and knowledge of West Africa, and that they referenced their African knowledge in their encounters with the indigenous people of the Americas. The ways in which these European travelers introduced ideas about slavery and slave trading from the Old World to the New constitute a new dimension of the ideological processes involved in the formation of the early Atlantic World. Some readers will be put off by Green’s exaggerated claims. This book certainly advances historical knowledge of the complex processes that might be called the making of the Atlantic World (à la John Thornton); however, it is a stretch to say that it makes a significant contribution to our understanding of major events in the more recent history of the world—such as the colonization of Africa...

Introduced Domestic Animals in the Neolithic and Metal Age of the Philippines: Evidence From Nagsabaran, Northern Luzon

ABSTRACT The faunal remains recovered from the Neolithic and Metal Age Nagsabaran shell midden site in Cagayan, Northern Luzon Philippines were analyzed to gain insights into the arrival of managed animal populations, subsistence patterns, and animal processing during the occupation of the site around 2000 cal BC to within the last 1,500 years. Introduced pigs are present from the earliest recognized phases of settlement, but dogs are only evident from the Late Neolithic/Metal Age onwards. The faunal assemblage is dominated by wild taxa suggesting the reliance on hunting for subsistence even up to the Late Metal Age (1350 BP). There was no intensification in animal husbandry, even in the presence of domestic animals, which is in contrast to other sites in the region dating to the same period and demonstrates regional variability in the resource importance of introduced domestic taxa. Analysis of skeletal element representation in the assemblage revealed that whole carcasses were being brought to the site and processed, and systematic analysis of the butchery marks permitted the description of carcass processing sequences. Over-representation of certain skeletal elements, and the presence of finished tools suggests the on-site manufacture of bone implements during the later phases of site occupation.

The Western Altmark versus Flintbek – palaeoecological research on two megalithic regions

This investigation focuses on the human-induced transformation of landscapes by comparing two small-scale megalithic regions on the North German Plain. For this study two test areas were defined, each measuring 36 km2. Archaeological information and palaeoecological proxies were implemented to investigate changes of the environment related to human activities of the Neolithic Funnel Beaker Culture (FBC) during the period from ca. 3800–2800 cal BC. The chronological framework was constructed with the help of Bayesian and aoristic modelling of AMS-dates, combining archaeological and radiometric information. Charcoal from the megalithic tombs provided on-site data that show human impact induced by the construction and further use of the graves. Off-site data originated from two pollen profiles of nearby bogs. They supply additional information on local and regional landscape development. The ratio of light-demanding to shade-tolerant woody species represents the degree of woodland openness. It is a value which can be determined for both anthracological as well as palynological data. A comparison of both proxies led to divergent results for the two chosen areas. The proxies can be associated quite well for the Haidberg area with regard to openness, whereas missing accordance of both palaeoecological data sets in the Flintbek region provides a strong argument for human impact on local levels. A settlement phase indicated by various non-arboreal pollen taxa was not confirmed for the Altmark Haidberg area before 3050 cal BC, but in the nearby area of Beetzendorf (7 km distance) at least since ca. 3200 cal BC. In the Flintbek region, two settlement phases of the FBC are visible, separated by a phase of forest regeneration, which was attributed to changes of settlement behaviour within the local Neolithic societies.

The First New Zealanders: Patterns of Diet and Mobility Revealed through Isotope Analysis

Direct evidence of the environmental impact of human colonization and subsequent human adaptational responses to new environments is extremely rare anywhere in the world. New Zealand was the last Polynesian island group to be settled by humans, who arrived around the end of the 13th century AD. Little is known about the nature of human adaptation and mobility during the initial phase of colonization. We report the results of the isotopic analysis (carbon, nitrogen and strontium) of the oldest prehistoric skeletons discovered in New Zealand to assess diet and migration patterns. The isotope data show that the culturally distinctive burials, Group 1, had similar diets and childhood origins, supporting the assertion that this group was distinct from Group 2/3 and may have been part of the initial colonizing population at the site. The Group 2/3 individuals displayed highly variable diets and likely lived in different regions of the country before their burial at Wairau Bar, supporting the archaeological evidence that people were highly mobile in New Zealand since the initial phase of human settlement.

The Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene archaeological record in Brazil: A geo-referenced database

Between 13,000 and 8000 14C BP, eastern South America was settled by a stable and diversified population of hunter–gatherers. Archaeological excavation in the past twenty years has yielded increasingly consistent evidence of occupation in different regions of Brazil since the end of the Pleistocene, with dates at least contemporary to the Clovis Horizon in North America. This is addressed by documenting and analysing the quantity, quality and distribution of archaeological 14C dates from Brazil during this period. A total of 277 dates from 90 sites are tabulated, mapped, and included in the analysis. During the Late Pleistocene there was a pioneer phase of human colonization, with dispersal inland through the major river systems. Subsequently, the Early Holocene saw the first phase of established settlement of Brazil's interior. There seems to be an archaeological threshold reached at ca. 10,500 years 14C BP: numbers of sites increase, there is evidence of settlement of all major biomes, and there is clear evidence of inter-regional cultural diversity.

Taming Credit Card Fees by Requiring the Biggest Banks to Compete for Merchant Acceptance: An Inter-Bank Competitive Model

In the multi-district class action In re: Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation merchants claim that the fees they pay to accept Visa and MasterCard cards are too high because the banks issuing those cards do not compete for card acceptance. Because so many of their customers rely on Visa and MasterCard cards, the merchants contend that they cannot stop accepting either brand in toto. They would risk losing too many customers. But if the banks had to compete with each other, the merchants believe, they might credibly threaten to refuse one bank’s cards, forcing it to lower its acceptance fees. The merchants also contend that they could apply competitive pressure on the card-issuing banks by steering their customers to payment mechanisms that are less expensive than credit cards. Visa and MasterCard, however, prohibit merchants from pursuing these strategies. Without the ability to spur competition, the merchants contend, the card networks’ default interchange fee is the proverbial offer they can’t refuse.In 2005, the merchants filed a class action alleging that the card networks’ rules restrained competition on card acceptance fees and thus violated the antitrust laws. After seven years of litigation and negotiation, the case has entered a settlement phase. Visa and MasterCard have offered to (1) pay the merchants approximately $7.25 billion and (2) relax their rules restraining merchants from steering their customers toward less expensive payment mechanisms. The proposed settlement, however, would not alter the rules requiring merchants to accept all Visa or MasterCard credit cards regardless of the issuing bank.This article shows that simply empowering merchants to steer customers to less expensive payment mechanisms through discounting or surcharging cannot sufficiently address the competitive problem with card acceptance fees. Restrictions in the settlement would likely prevent most merchants from using these competitive devices, and if merchants were given unfettered discretion to steer their customers, consumers could be worse off than they are now. Merchants should instead be empowered to accept credit cards on an issuer-by-issuer basis. This intuitively obvious solution has traditionally been criticized on the ground that it would undermine the efficiency of the credit card system. The dramatic growth and popularity of credit card networks demonstrates, the critics argue, that they have been doing something right. Compelling millions of card-accepting merchants to enter individual fee agreements with thousands of card-issuing banks would impose transaction costs swamping any possible savings from more competitive interchange fee setting. And the patchwork of card acceptance could frustrate and anger cardholders.This article proposes an inter-bank competitive model that would produce virtually all of the benefits of issuer-based-acceptance-fee competition with virtually none of the feared inefficiencies. Visa and MasterCard would be permitted to continue to operate exactly as they do now with one exception – any merchant could insist that one or more of the four largest card-issuing banks offer it a bilateral card acceptance fee below the networks’ default rates. Replacing the customer steering provisions in the proposed settlement with this inter-bank competitive model and revising the release provisions to exclude anticompetitive conduct relating to unforeseeable market conditions would likely satisfy the objecting merchants and thus enable relatively quick court approval, ending years of continuous litigation in credit-card markets. It would also stand a significantly better chance than the proposed settlement of actually bringing meaningful competition to the credit card acceptance-fee market.

Breeding and rearing of the two striped cardinalfish, Apogon quadrifasciatus (Cuvier, 1828) in captive condition

The present study describes captive breeding, reproductive behavior and larval/juvenile rearing of Apogon quadrifasciatus. Spawning occurred 25 days after stocking in the breeding tank. Clutch size varied from 2500 to 3100. The males incubated the eggs, the incubation period was approximately five days at a mean temperature of 29°C. The average total length of the newly hatched larvae was 2.6mm with an average mouth gape of 160μm.Two experiments were conducted to determine the most suitable food items for the larvae. In the first (planktonic phase, day 1–13) larvae fed with copepod nauplli showed the highest survival (33%). In the second experiment (settlement phase, 14–26 days, copepod, Artemia sp. and Cyclop-Eeze), also showed that copepods were the preferred feed by the post hatching larvae. After 26 days, post hatching larvae were fed a diet that followed a protocol designed in accordance to the mouth size. Culture was maintained up to six months, and juveniles attained a maximum total length of 46.3mm and a weight of about 3500mg. Captive breeding and rearing of A. quadrifasciatus can help in restoring the wild populations impacted by local trawling activities as well as to supply this species to the ornamental fish trade, in a sustainable way.

Understanding the Merchant Credit Card Acceptance Fee Class Action Settlement Proposal

The seven-year legal battle between merchants that accept credit cards, on one side, and Visa, MasterCard, and the largest card-issuing banks, on the other, has entered a settlement phase. Unlike settlements in standard law suits where the parties can freely agree to any terms they choose, in a class action, the court must (1) provide class members with the opportunity to object and (2) determine that the compromise “is fair, reasonable, and adequate.” Although this part of the case promises to be no less controversial than its predecessors, it should move to resolution much more quickly. By the end of 2013, the trial court is likely to decide whether to grant final approval to the settlement.This paper briefly reviews the history of antitrust attacks on the fees that merchants pay to accept credit cards, including a detailed discussion of the allegations in the complaint in In re: Payment Card and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation. It then explains the complicated proposed settlement in this case, working through the provisions relating to (1) damages, (2) injunctive relief, and (3) the releases from future liability that the class members would provide to the defendants. Finally, this paper analyzes the settlement’s policy implications and legality, predicting that the court will not approve the b(2) mandatory injunctive relief class, but it may approve the b(3) opt out damages class. Whether that result would be acceptable to the parties on either side remains to be seen.

Pottery shreds as tools in late Neolithic Vinca

Pottery shreds as tools in late Neolithic Vinca

14C dates and stratigraphy: reconsidering the sequences at Moverna vas (Bela Krajina, southeastern Slovenia)

Recently obtained AMS 14C dates and the stratigraphic matrix from the Moverna vas site show inconsistencies in the upper part of the stratigraphic sequence. The Bayesian approach to chronological modeling in the OxCal program is used in the paper to present the calendar chronology of Neolithic and Eneolithic settlement phases at the site and to propose a revision of the upper part of the stratigraphic sequence, also partly supported by a typological comparison of a pottery vessel from one of the 14C dated contexts.

Graweckie stanowisko w Haliczu (Halycu) na Ukrainie. Wyniki polsko-ukraińskich badań wykopaliskowych

The Halych site is located on a cape of a high (4th) terrace on the right bank of Dniester River (fi g. 3). During the survey, the Polish-Ukrainian expedition explored 340 m2. It is a non-defi ned closely fragment of a site largely destroyed by industrial exploitation of loess for the local brick plant (fi g. 2, 3). The relics of Paleolithic settlement appeared on 3 levels, at a depth of 200–230 cm from the surface. They constituted 1st cultural stratum in the lower part of the Rivne type fossil soil (fi g. 5, 6), created during warming and humidizing of the climate, related to the Lascaux interstadial in Western Europe. The oldest of the discovered levels (Ic) has remained in a form of gray spots, single bones and dispersed fl int products (365 specimens). The middle settlement level (Ib) was best preserved and included the largest number of fi nds. It included the hearth no 2, fl int products grouped around it (2132 specimens) and a concentration of more than 800 bones, almost exclusively mammoth ones (fi g. 13). The youngest settlement level (Ia) has remained in a form of hearth No 1, concentration of fl int objects (2199 specimens) and dispersed, single bones (fi g. 14). The inventory from Halych shows close typological links both to the Dniester Molodova culture sets (for instance Molodova V, ex. VII and VIII and Mežygircy I), being a result of spreading of Gravette tradition from Western to Eastern Subcarpathian after 25 kyr. As a result of this process Molodova culture appeared in the area of middle and upper Dniester River. Also typological similarities of mid-European Pavloviene (Pavlov, Dolní Věstonice), should be noted. Considering the radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dating it can be assumed, that the upper cultural stratum from Halych has three phases, and the youngest settlement phase (Ia), should be dated for the period between 19th and 21st millennium BC., the middle phase (Ib), between 23rd and 24th millennium BC, while the oldest (Ic), from 24th to 25 000 years BC. Thus what remains, are relics of a local sequence of Gravettian culture, from the period between 19 to 25 000 years ago. Upper Paleolithic settlement process had three phases there, and the youngest settlement phase can be dated for 19 and 21, 23 and 24 thousand years BC while the oldest for 24 to 25 thousand years BC.