Ram's Head Research Articles

Grylloi: A Being with Mixed Depictions from Konya

This study is based on a mixed figure on a ring stone from the Roman period (1st - 2nd. century AD) preserved in the Konya Archaeology Museum. This figure is seen as a combination of four elements: a horse protome, a Silenus mask body, rooster feet and a ram's head. This depiction, which is encountered in different typologies in Antiquity, is called Grylloi. A Greek-Roman word, widely used on ring stones since the 1st century BC, this depiction is also known by other names such as mask-animal, multi-headed creatures and fantastic concoction. These beings, usually depicted on oval rings with easily workable jasper stones, were thought to be worn as talismans or amulets with an apotropaic function. In this way, they were probably intended to ward off evil, possibly as amulets.

ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ AR-НАВИГАЦИИ ПРИ ПОСТАНОВКЕ ВЕНТРИКУЛЯРНЫХ ДРЕНАЖЕЙ НА КАДАВЕРНОМ МАТЕРИАЛЕ

Augmented reality (AR) technologies are being actively introduced into medicine. AR can be used as a navigation tool in neurosurgery. The purpose of our study is to evaluate the accuracy of placement of external ventricular drainage, the size of the incision and the duration of this manipulation in an animal model using AR navigation and without its use. A CT scan of an animal model (ram's head) was performed, the results were segmented and loaded into AR-glasses. Participants in the experiment are divided into 2 groups of 5 people each. In the main group, ventricular drainage was placed using AR navigation, in the control group without its use. The average incision size in the non-AR group was 29.58 ± 1.566 mm. In the AR group 29.42 ± 1.279 mm. The differences in the two groups are statistically insignificant (p=0.797). In the AR group, the mean operative time was 10.26 ± 1.121 min. In the group without AR use 13.64 ± 1.588 min. The differences between the groups are statistically significant (p<0.05). In the AR group, drainage was inserted into the ventricle in 47 of 50 cases (94%). In the group without the use of AR in 40 cases out of 50 (80%). These differences are statistically significant (p=0.037). AR navigation does not affect the size of the incision, but increases the accuracy of drainage placement and reduces the duration of the procedure. This shows the possibility of using this technology in clinical practice, however, additional research on the use of AR in phantom models is required.

Comparison of polymethyl methacrylate skull implant fixation by three types of titanium fasteners

To evaluate mechanical strength of three methods of polymethyl methacrylate skull implant fixation in two experimental models. The first experiment was performed on a plastic model that was as close as possible to bone in structural characteristics. The second experiment was performed on a biological specimen (a ram's head). We assessed the quality of implant fixation to bone window edges by craniofixes, ties and microscrews and lateral intercortical screws. Craniofixes are feasible for small flat flaps, but not advisable for wide highly curved implants. They are also the most expensive method of fixation. Implant fixation by ties and microscrews is a universal method comparable in price to craniofix. Lateral intercortical fixation is effective both for small flat implants and wide implants with large curvature. However, this method is not always applicable. Combined fixation by lateral intercortical screws and ties allows for the most effective fixation while reducing the overall price of consumables.

A Patera/Tagenon with A Ram's Head Handle from the Port of Andriake

Myra’nın liman yerleşimi olan Andriake’deki Granarium’da 2009 yılında yapılan kazılarda ortaya çıkarılan bir adet pişmiş toprak koçbaşı saplı patera/tagenon bu çalışmanın konusunu oluşturmaktadır. Andriake patera/tagenonu metal benzerinin pişmiş toprak taklidi olarak üretilmiştir. Pateraların testilerle birlikte yemekten önce ve sonra el yıkama ritüellerinde kullanıldıkları düşünülmektedir. Ancak kimi araştırmacıya göre bu eserlerin tava olarak da kullanılmış olduğu ileri sürülmektedir. Andriake örneğinin her iki amaç için de kullanılmış olabileceği öngörülmektedir. Andriake’deki patera/tagenon yakın benzerleriyle yapılan analoji sonucunda MS 1-2. yüzyıla tarihlenmiştir. Çalışmada incelenen eserin kil ve astar özellikleri yakın paralelleri ve diğer patera örnekleriyle benzeşmemektedir. Bu nedenle Andriake patera/tagenonunun üretim yeri şu an için belirsizdir.

Apparatus for skidding sensitivity testing of energetic materials.

A remote-operated apparatus for testing the detonation sensitivity of energetic materials is detailed. Using an air ram and rotating disk, the normal force and transverse velocity of the impact plane are controlled independently, enabling the exploration of varying impact conditions over a wide parameter space. A microcontroller local to the apparatus is used to automate apparatus operation and ensure temporal alignment of the impacting ram head with the rotating disk. Calculation of the firing parameters and issuing of operational commands are handled by a remote computer and relayed to the local microcontroller for execution at the hardware level. Impact forces are taken from fast strain measurements obtained from gauges incorporated into the ram head. Infrared imaging of explosive samples provides insight into the peak thermal temperatures experienced at the sample surface during the impact event.

Wooden finial in the shape of a ram head from the Property “C” of the Troitsky site

The paper presents a study of the wooden finial in the form of a ram head that was found in Novgorod the Great on the Troitsky XII site. The ornament of fragmentarily preserved object combines elements of Mammen, Borre and Winchester styles that are characteristic for the Viking Age applied art of Scandinavia and the British Isles. Possible attribution of the detail as the skillfully carved wooden chair-throne finial testifies for the high social status of the Prop- erty owner. It indicates to Scandinavians among the first settlers of the Property and reflects their pagan cult practices. The dendrochronological dating obtained for the wooden structures fits well with the dates (950–1050 A. D.) proposed for the Mammen style within Scandinavia and the British Isles.

The road to higher permanence and biodiversity in exurban wetlands.

Exurban areas are expanding throughout the world, yet their effects on local biodiversity remain poorly understood. Wetlands, in particular, face ongoing and substantial threats from exurban development. We predicted that exurbanization would reduce the diversity of wetland amphibian and invertebrate communities and that more spatially aggregated residential development would leave more undisturbed natural land, thereby promoting greater local diversity. Using structural equation models, we tested a series of predictions about the direct and indirect pathways by which exurbanization extent, spatial pattern, and wetland characteristics might affect diversity patterns in 38 wetlands recorded during a growing season. We used redundancy, indicator species, and nested community analyses to evaluate how exurbanization affected species composition. In contrast to expectations, we found higher diversity in exurban wetlands. We also found that housing aggregation did not significantly affect diversity. Exurbanization affected biodiversity indirectly by increasing roads and development, which promoted permanent wetlands with less canopy cover and more aquatic vegetation. These pond characteristics supported greater diversity. However, exurbanization was associated with fewer temporary wetlands and fewer of the species that depend on these habitats. Moreover, the best indicator species for an exurban wetland was the ram's head snail, a common disease vector in disturbed ponds. Overall, results suggest that exurbanization is homogenizing wetlands into more permanent water bodies. These more permanent, exurban ponds support higher overall animal diversity, but exclude temporary wetland specialists. Conserving the full assemblage of wetland species in expanding exurban regions throughout the world will require protecting and creating temporary wetlands.

Propagation protocol for ram's head lady's slipper (Cypripedium arietinum)

Adaptation of tissue culture methods yields vigorous ram's head lady's slipper (Cypripedium arietinum Ait. f. [Orchidaceae]) seedlings ready for removal from flasks after 11 to 12 mo. Following vernalization, these seedlings grow into robust green plants that typically bloom 2 to 3 y after outplanting.

New evidence on the von Mercklin class of rhyta: a black-gloss rhyton from Agrileza, Laureion, Attica

From the 1997 excavations at a Lavrion silver-mine ore washery, Agrileza Compound B, datable to the fourth century BC, came a fragmentary black gloss ram head rhyton of the so-called von Mercklin Class. The rhyton from Agrileza is at present the only known example of this group with a well-defined archaeological context, and is therefore taken as the basis for a review of the regional and chronological attributions of von Mercklin rhyta in several European museums. A discussion of the relationship of these rhyta to the much more common and better known Attic red-figure animal-head vases sketches the background against which the rare occurrence of pouring vessels with animal foreparts in the repertoire of mainland Greek potters has to be seen.

The ram (OVIS, O), an animal model for temporal bone dissection training

Dissection of temportal bone is essential for training in otology. Human temporal bones, if for different reasons are not available, an animal model like Ram Head may be used for surgical dissection training of the temporal bones. In Ram model the entire head is used as head of removing the temporal bone. Ram Head is advantageous for its easy access and anatomical similarity with human temporal bones.

New Terracotta Finds at Oko-Eso, Ife

Casual or accidental finds are not new to the archaeology of Ife. The thirteen brass heads that brought Ife art to world notice were discovered by a bricklayer at Wunmonije Compound in 1938. In early November 1974, while the grave of Thomas Olatunji was being dug at 52, Oke-Eso Compound, the terracotta sculptures of two figures, a male and a female, were found. They were crushed into pieces. Before the news was brought to me the following day, the fragments had been removed from the site, the corpse buried and the grave sealed. It is therefore impossible to recover the fragments that might have been buried with the dead man, as well as to determine the positions of the pieces and their stratigraphic origin. The find consists of a torso (Fig. 1), an almost complete male head (Fig. 3), a portion of a female head (Fig. 2), a ram head (Fig. 4), an arm (Fig. 6), a hand (Fig. 7), and a fragment depicting gourds and cowrie shells (Fig. 5). Except for the male head and ram head, all of the pieces are glazed with red paint, indicating that these should be grouped together as fragments of a female figure. The two human heads seem to belong to the Ife corpus of naturalistic rather than stylized terracottas, the male resembling the well-known Lajuwa head (Willett 1967, pl. 11) in style an technique. Both heads have long incisions on the cheeks to represent facial markings. It is not exactly certain when these were first employed. Oral traditions collected in Ife suggest that they were originally used to differentiate families, especially during periods of war. Later, these war became a permanent indication of group identity. Yet they are not tribal marks as some authorities believe (Nadel 1942, pp. 69-70), for within the Yoruba there are over 22 such (Johnson 1957, pp. 104-105); within Ife alone there are about three. These designs, therefore, are more an identification for descendants of one

Ram's-Head Lady's-Slipper Rediscovered in Saskatchewan

Ram's-Head Lady's-Slipper Rediscovered in Saskatchewan

A Second Saskatchewan Record for the Ram's-Head Lady's-Slipper

A Second Saskatchewan Record for the Ram's-Head Lady's-Slipper

The Slab with a Ram's Head in the Rietberg Museum

The Slab with a Ram's Head in the Rietberg Museum

Accessions to the British Museum (Bloomsbury)

AMONG accessions to the British Museum (Blooms-bury) reported at the April meeting of the Trustees are two which are of outstanding interest on the history of cultural development in Great Britain. Of these the earliest and from its unique character the more arresting comes from a bronze age burial on the north Yorkshire moors. In Loose Howe, a barrow overlooking Rosedale, excavated by Dr. and Mrs. Frank Elgee, was found a coffin consisting of two canoes, with a third canoe beside it. A bronze dagger associated with this burial afforded evidence of date ; but the barrow also contained secondary burials, with one of which was a polished stone axe-hammer of Danish type. Canoe-burial is a new feature in archaeology. The canoes had fresh bark on them and evidently had been made expressly for the burial, pointing to a hitherto unknown ritual of canoe-burial. It has been suggested that such canoe-burials may have given rise to the custom of coffin burial, typical in northern England and Denmark. In view of the conservatism characteristic of later maritime forms and custom in Scandinavia, the comparison with the ship-burials of a much later period inevitably is also suggested. These antiquities are on loan to the Museum by Captain A. W. Milburn. The second object of special interest is a stud ornamented with mlkfiori enamel, found at Chesterholme (Vindolanda) in Northumberland in an early fourth century deposit. It has been given by Mr. Eric Birley. It is the only example of millefiori of a late Roman date as yet found in Britain. It is thought that it may, on further study, provide a link with post-Roman Celtic enamels. Bronze objects belonging to the first Babylonian dynasty, circa 2000 B.C., are additions to examples of the art of a period at present poorly represented in the Museum. They are a bronze bar decorated with a ram's head, and three small figures of women. It is probable that they come from sites nearthe Diyalah River inIraq.

A Group of Plastic Vases

Pl. V, 1 and 2 shows a plastic vase in the British Museum, in the form of an antelope's head, cut off flat at the base of the neck and with the orifice in the right ear. The clay is light reddish-brown with a very smooth surface, the glaze brownish-black. The horns, ears, eyelids, pupils, muzzle and outlines of jaws are black, the face is covered with fine black dots, the neck and throat and the burr of the horns with short black strokes; there are white dots on the muzzle, red in the interior of ears and nostrils, and an incised line round the pupils. Under the base is a black rosette with a white dot on each petal (Pl. V, 2). Horns and ears are broken off, but are preserved complete on a replica in Berlin (Fig. 1, a and Pl. V, 3). Mlle. Maximova pointed out the connexion of the two vases, though she wrongly stated that the London vase had no orifice. She mentioned two others with the orifice in the ear—a bull's head in Berlin and a ram's head in Florence, both also cut off flat at the neck. The bull's head has no other resemblance to the antelopes', but the ram's appears from the description to be of similar style. The main peculiarity of the painting of the antelopes' heads—the covering of some areas with fine dots and others with short dashes—recurs on a number of other vases.

Among the Current Exhibitions

PICASSO dominated the exhibition he shared with Braque and Matisse at the Durand-Ruel Galleries, by virtue of his richness, variety and intensity, as well as his numerical superiority. The Letter, The Coiffure and Purple. Harlequin represented him in his most classic mood, with that monumental solidity of line that always recalls Degas. These and his eight new watercolors, dated 1933, are what the old Chinese masters used to call “paintings with bones” —paintings based on a visible outline sketch. In Maternity we had a lovely instance of his “blue period.” In Woman Asleep we had him caricaturing his own classicism. In the famous Woman of Avignon we had Picasso, the purely abstract. In Slice, of Melon, and Ram's Head, we had still-lifes between the architectural and the abstract. But his most triumphant achievement in this exhibition was Three Masks, Fontainebleau, 1921—a celebrated example of pseudo-cubist distortion. Like so much of Picasso's work it is eloquent without being in the least “literary.” Thr...

Art. VI.—Nejamesha, Naigamesha, Nemeso

One of the sculptures discussed by Dr. Bühler in his highly interesting paper on Specimens of Jaina Sculptures from Mathura (Epigraphia Indica, vol. ii. part xiv. pp. 311 seqq.) bears the perfectly legible inscription bhagavā Nemeso, “divine Nemesa.” Dr. Bühler (l.c. p. 314) refers these words to the goat-headed figure just above them, identifying this Nemesa with Hariṇegamesī or Naigameshin, a divine being mentioned in Jaina legends as presiding over the procreation of children. In support of this explanation Dr. Bühler refers (p. 316) to “the occurrence of the Sanskrit words Naigamesha and Nejamesha, which in the Gṛhyasūtras and the medical Saṃhitās are the names of a deity with a ram's head, particularly dangerous to children.” “There can be no doubt,” Dr. Bühler adds, “that the Naigamesha or Nejamesha of the Brahmans, who seizes children and sorely afflicts them with disease, and the son-granting and embryo-exchanging Naigamesha - Naigameshin of the Jainas are in reality identical.”