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Medieval Times (medieval + time)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Earth and Environmental Science75%

Selected Abstracts

Soil chemical surveying: A path to a deeper understanding of prehistoric sites and societies in Sweden

GEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2007
Johan Linderholm
A large number of contract archaeological investigations have been conducted in Sweden over the last 10,15 years. In this article, the applicability of soil chemical surveying in connection with contract archaeology is discussed, focusing on soil sampling, soil magnetic susceptibility, and phosphate analysis. Results from case studies from an area of the west coast of southern Sweden are presented. The investigated sites cover periods ranging from the Bronze Age to the Late Iron Age/Medieval time (3500,1000 B.P.). Results show that the chemical loading of prehistoric settlements varies considerably both quantitatively and spatially depending on different socioeconomic strategies and behavior. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Hornton Stone: battlefields, buildings and Jurassic seas

GEOLOGY TODAY, Issue 4 2009
Jonathan D. Radley
The Hornton Stone is an unusually pure ooidal ironstone of the Lower Jurassic Marlstone Rock Formation, cropping out on the Edge Hill escarpment and adjacent ironstone plateau in central England. The stone has been quarried for building and ornamental purposes since Medieval times, and more recently as a source of iron ore. Local quarries and buildings provide excellent opportunities to appreciate its fossil content, sedimentary structures and origin. [source]

About the oldest domesticates among fishes

JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 2004
E. K. Balon
Domestication of mammals such as cattle, dogs, pigs and horses preceded that of fishes by at least 10 000 years. The first domesticated fish was the common carp Cyprinus carpio. Initially it was held as an exploited captive and did not undergo major changes in body shape or colour variations. About 2000 years ago, wild common carp were most abundant in the inland delta of the Danube River. These fish were torpedo shaped, golden-yellow in colour and had two pairs of barbels and a mesh-like scale pattern. Large schools of them thrived and reproduced on the flood plains of the Danube. The Romans kept fishes in specially built ponds at that time. The common carp was an ideal candidate and its rearing became more popular in medieval times. Common carp culture gradually became the most profitable branch of agriculture in central Europe and many special ponds were built. Soon common carp were being produced in pond systems including spawning and growing ponds. Unintentional artificial selection had taken place between the 12th and mid-14th century, and deep bodied and variously scaled or scaleless domesticated forms appeared in nearly every pond system. Some colour aberrations appeared in the 1950s in Japan, which, as koi, became the most expensive of fish. Common carp were not originally domesticated in China but wild ,chi'Carassius auratus occasionally appeared as a xanthic form that, as the goldfish, has been known since 960 A.D. By the 1200s the fish were used as ornamental animals in the garden pools of rich landowners. Circa 1276 to 1546, the Chinese began keeping golden chi in aquarium-like vessels and soon rich and poor alike became breeders of the fancy domesticated goldfish. The variously shaped monstrosities and colour aberrants were freaks but they became very fashionable at that time and still are. Domesticated goldfish monstrosities were first exported from China to Japan and much later to Europe and around the world. More recently other species have been domesticated by aquarists, such as the guppy Poecilia reticulata or the neon tetra Paracheirodon innesi. Other fishes kept as ornamentals, like swordtails Xiphophorus hellerii and platies Xiphophorus maculatus, the discus and angelfishes (Cichlidae), as well as those cultured for food like the rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus or sturgeons (Acipenseridae) are merely exploited captives. [source]

A meteorite impact crater field in eastern Bavaria?

METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 2 2005
A preliminary report
The depressions are bowl-shaped, have high circularity and a characteristic rim. Most of them were formed in unconsolidated glacial gravels and pebbles intermixed with fine-grained sand and clay. Magnetic investigations reveal weak anomalies with amplitudes of less than ±10 nano Tesla (nT). In some cases, the origins of the anomalies are suspected to be due to human activity within the structures. So far, no traces of meteoritic material have been detected. An evident archaeological or local geological explanation for the origin of the craters does not exist. A World War I and II explosive origin can be excluded since trees with ages exceeding 100 years can be found in some craters. One crater was described in 1909. Carbon-14 dating of charcoal found in one crater yielded an age of 1790 ± 60 years. Hence, a formation by meteorite impacts that occurred in Celtic or early medieval times should be considered. A systematic archaeological excavation of some structures and an intensified search for traces of meteoritic material are planned. [source]