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Western Asia (western + asia)
Selected AbstractsANATOLIA AND THE BALKANS, ONCE AGAIN , RING-SHAPED IDOLS FROM WESTERN ASIA AND A CRITICAL REASSESSMENT OF SOME ,EARLY BRONZE AGE' ITEMS FROM ,K,ZTEPE, TURKEYOXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 1 2007THOMAS ZIMMERMANN Summary. The ring-shaped idol pendant, a distinctive type of Chalcolithic ritual (?) jewellery, is discussed with regard to its chronology in the Balkans in light of its occasional appearance in Asia Minor. Known from domestic contexts, funerals and hoards (?), none of the so far documented Anatolian pendants (clearly another aspect testifying to the well-known Anatolian,Balkan connections in the fourth millennium BC) can be dated later than the Late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age I. This fact provides further evidence for the developing hypothesis that certain inventories from ,kiztepe, the only prehistoric reference site on the Turkish Black Sea coast excavated on a large scale, need some profound chronological redating. Selected features and levels dated to ,Early Bronze Age II,III' at ,kiztepe seem to be several centuries older than currently believed, which has implications for the overall chronological range of these pendants. [source] Evidence for a combination of pre-adapted traits and rapid adaptive change in the invasive plant Centaurea stoebeJOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2010Martin L. Henery Summary 1. Introduced plants have the potential to rapidly evolve traits of ecological importance that may add to their innate potential to become invasive. During invasions, selection may favour genotypes that are already pre-adapted to conditions in the new habitat and, over time, alter the characteristics of subsequent generations. 2. Spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe) occurs in two predominantly spatially separated cytotypes in its native range (Europe,Western Asia), but currently only the tetraploid form has been confirmed in the introduced range (North America), where it is invasive. We used several common garden experiments to examine, across multiple populations, whether tetraploids and diploids from the native range differ in life cycle, leaf traits and reproductive capacity and if such differences would explain the predominance of tetraploids and their advance into new habitats in the introduced range. We also compared the same traits in tetraploids from the native and introduced range to determine whether any rapid adaptive changes had occurred since introduction that may have enhanced invasive potential of the species in North America. 3. We found tetraploids had lower specific leaf area, less lamina dissection and fewer, narrower leaves than diploids. Diploids exhibited a monocarpic life cycle and produced few if any accessory rosettes. Diploids produced significantly more seeds per capitulum and had more capitula per plant than tetraploids. In contrast, the vast majority of European tetraploids continued to flower in both seasons by regenerating from multiple secondary rosettes, demonstrating a predominantly polycarpic life cycle. 4. During early growth tetraploids from North America achieved greater biomass than both tetraploids and diploids from the native range but this did not manifest as larger above-ground biomass at maturity. In North American tetraploids there was also evidence of a shift towards a more strictly polycarpic life cycle, less leaf dissection, greater carbon investment per leaf, and greater seed production per capitulum. 5.,Synthesis. Our results suggest that the characteristics of tetraploid C. stoebe pre-adapted them (compared to diploid conspecifics) for spread and persistence of the species into habitats in North America characterized by a more continental climate. After the species' introduction, small but potentially important shifts in tetraploid biology have occurred that may have contributed significantly to successful invasion. [source] Risk factors for pre-eclampsia in nulliparous and parous women: the Jerusalem Perinatal StudyPAEDIATRIC & PERINATAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 1 2005E. F. Funai Summary Pre-eclampsia has been described as a ,disease of first pregnancies' and many believe that its occurrence in a later pregnancy signals a fundamentally different entity. We sought to compare risk factors in first and subsequent pregnancies. We studied 1319 cases of pre-eclampsia recorded in a historical cohort of 82 436 deliveries in Jerusalem in 1964,76. Logistic regression was used to control for covariates. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for pre-eclampsia in first births was 2.58 (95% confidence interval[CI] 2.23, 2.97), compared with all later birth order groups, between which there were no detectable differences in risk. Other risk factors included increasing maternal age, diabetes (OR 5.64, 95% CI 4.33, 7.35), multiple gestations (OR 3.38, 95% CI 2.54, 4.49), fetal haemolytic disease (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.43, 3.50) and lower maternal education. The risk of pre-eclampsia was not associated with the mother's employment outside the home and did not differ between immigrants vs. Israeli-born mothers or between groups of women whose fathers had been born in Western Asia, North Africa or Europe. Effects of each risk factor were similar within first and subsequent births. These results lend no support to the hypothesis that there is a fundamental difference between pre-eclampsia in a first pregnancy compared with that occurring in a later pregnancy; conclusions may be moderated, however, by the knowledge that the incidence of pre-eclampsia was low in this historical cohort. [source] Sourcing Iron Age softstone artefacts in southeastern Arabia: results from a programme of analysis using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry/Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-MS/OES)ARABIAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY, Issue 2 2005Peter Magee Iron Age softstone vessels manufactured in southeastern Arabia are widely distributed across that region and in lesser amounts throughout Western Asia. Results from a pilot programme of analysis using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry/Optical Emission Spectrometry on vessel fragments from two southeast Arabian sites are presented. These results indicate the existence of geochemically distinct groups that are separated by both transition metals and rare earth elements. While this indicates the potential for the application of the provenance postulate in softstone analysis, these promising results need to be further tested by an expanded programme of analysis which includes quarry fragments. [source] Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L., brown trout Salmo trutta L. and Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus (L.): a review of aspects of their life historiesECOLOGY OF FRESHWATER FISH, Issue 1 2003A. Klemetsen Abstract ,,,Among the species in the family Salmonidae, those represented by the genera Salmo, Salvelinus, and Oncorhynchus (subfamily Salmoninae) are the most studied. Here, various aspects of phenotypic and life-history variation of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L., brown trout Salmo trutta L., and Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus (L.) are reviewed. While many strategies and tactics are commonly used by these species, there are also differences in their ecology and population dynamics that result in a variety of interesting and diverse topics that are challenging for future research. Atlantic salmon display considerable phenotypic plasticity and variability in life-history characters ranging from fully freshwater resident forms, where females can mature at approximately 10 cm in length, to anadromous populations characterised by 3,5 sea-winter (5SW) salmon. Even within simple 1SW populations, 20 or more spawning life-history types can be identified. Juveniles in freshwater can use both fluvial and lacustrine habitats for rearing, and while most smolts migrate to sea during the spring, fall migrations occur in some populations. At sea, some salmon undertake extensive oceanic migrations while other populations stay within the geographical confines of areas such as the Baltic Sea. At the other extreme are those that reside in estuaries and return to freshwater to spawn after spending only a few months at sea. The review of information on the diversity of life-history forms is related to conservation aspects associated with Atlantic salmon populations and current trends in abundance and survival. Brown trout is indigenous to Europe, North Africa and western Asia, but was introduced into at least 24 countries outside Europe and now has a world-wide distribution. It exploits both fresh and salt waters for feeding and spawning (brackish), and populations are often partially migratory. One part of the population leaves and feeds elsewhere, while another part stays as residents. In large, complex systems, the species is polymorphic with different size morphs in the various parts of the habitat. Brown trout feed close to the surface and near shore, but large individuals may move far offshore. The species exhibits ontogenetic niche shifts partly related to size and partly to developmental rate. They switch when the amount of surplus energy available for growth becomes small with fast growers being younger and smaller fish than slow growers. Brown trout is an opportunistic carnivore, but individuals specialise at least temporarily on particular food items; insect larvae are important for the young in streams, while littoral epibenthos in lakes and fish are most important for large trout. The sexes differ in resource use and size. Females are more inclined than males to become migratory and feed in pelagic waters. Males exploit running water, near-shore and surface waters more than females. Therefore, females feed more on zooplankton and exhibit a more uniform phenotype than males. The Arctic charr is the northernmost freshwater fish on earth, with a circumpolar distribution in the Holarctic that matches the last glaciation. Recent mtDNA studies indicate that there are five phylogeographic lineages (Atlantic, Arctic, Bering, Siberian and Acadian) that may be of Pleistocene origin. Phenotypic expression and ecology are more variable in charr than in most fish. Weights at maturation range from 3 g to 12 kg. Population differences in morphology and coloration are large and can have some genetic basis. Charr live in streams, at sea and in all habitats of oligotrophic lakes, including very deep areas. Ontogenetic habitat shifts between lacustrine habitats are common. The charr feed on all major prey types of streams, lakes and near-shore marine habitats, but has high niche flexibility in competition. Cannibalism is expressed in several cases, and can be important for developing and maintaining bimodal size distributions. Anadromy is found in the northern part of its range and involves about 40, but sometimes more days in the sea. All charr overwinter in freshwater. Partial migration is common, but the degree of anadromy varies greatly among populations. The food at sea includes zooplankton and pelagic fish, but also epibenthos. Polymorphism and sympatric morphs are much studied. As a prominent fish of glaciated lakes, charr is an important species for studying ecological speciation by the combination of field studies and experiments, particularly in the fields of morphometric heterochrony and comparative behaviour. [source] Characteristics, evolution and mechanisms of the summer monsoon onset over Southeast AsiaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 12 2004Zuqiang Zhang Abstract Based on the 1979,95 mean pentad reanalysis data from the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction, the climatological characteristics and physical mechanism of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) onset are investigated. Special focus is given to whether the ASM onset starts earlier over the Indochina Peninsula than over the South China Sea (SCS) and why the ASM is established the earliest over Southeast Asia. An examination of the composite thermodynamic and dynamic quantities confirms that the ASM onset commences earliest over the Indochina Peninsula, as highlighted by active convection and rainfall resulting from the convergence of southwesterly flow from the Bay of Bengal (BOB) vortex and easterly winds associated with the subtropical anticyclone over the SCS. Two other important characteristics not previously noted are also identified: the earliest reversal of meridional temperature gradient throughout the entire troposphere and the corresponding establishment of an easterly vertical wind shear, which are due to upper level warming caused by eddy (convective) transport of latent heat. These changes in the large-scale circulation suggest that, in addition to rainfall, a reversal in the planetary-scale circulation should be included in determining the timing of the ASM onset. With such a consideration, the climatological ASM onset occurs first over southeastern BOB and southwestern Indochina Peninsula in early May, and then advances northeastward to reach the SCS by the fourth pentad of May (16,20 May). The monsoon then covers the entire Southeast Asia region by the end of May. Subsequently, a similar onset process begins over the eastern Arabian Sea, India and western BOB, and the complete establishment of the ASM over India is accomplished in mid June. In the process of the onset of each ASM component, the reversal of the upper level planetary-scale circulation depends strongly on that of the meridional temperature gradient. Over the Indochina Peninsula, the seasonal transition of upper level temperature results from convection-induced diabatic heating, whereas over western Asia it is attributed to subsidence warming induced by the active ascending motion over the former region. The steady increase in surface sensible heating over the Indian subcontinent and the latent heating over the tropical Indian Ocean in April to early May appear to be the major impetus for the development of the cyclonic vortex over the BOB. A similar enhancement over the Arabian Peninsula and the surrounding regions is also identified to be crucial to the development of the so-called onset vortex over the Arabian Sea, and then ultimately to the ASM onset over India. Copyright © 2004 Royal Meteorological Society [source] Late Mousterian subsistence and cave use in Dalmatia: the zooarchaeology of Mujina Pe,ina, CroatiaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 2 2005P. Miracle Abstract The faunal assemblage from Mujina Pe,ina provides an initial glimpse of Late Middle Palaeolithic food procurement, management, and site use, in Dalmatia, Croatia. Radiometric dates place the entire sequence at about 42,kyr in the middle of OIS 3 (Oxygen Isotope Stage 3) (Rink et al., 2002). Mujina Pe,ina is located along a potential migration corridor for hominin populations moving into Europe from western Asia. The faunal composition shifts from a co-dominance of red deer and chamois,+,ibex in Layer D1,+,D2 that formed during relatively cold conditions to a clear dominance of wild caprids followed by large bovids and equids in Layer B,+,C that formed during relatively warm conditions. Although non-hominin carnivores played a significant role in the modification of the faunal assemblages throughout the stratigraphic sequence, the Late Mousterian faunal assemblage from Mujina Pe,ina shows the hominins to be competent hunters within a context of considerable competition from non-hominin carnivores. These ,mixed' hominin-carnivore signatures are pulled apart through a detailed taphonomic analysis of this well-excavated assemblage. The Mujina Pe,ina assemblage thus provides a significant point of reference for a broader-scale study of variability in Mousterian subsistence practices in their own right as well as within the context of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic in southeastern Europe. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Chloroplast DNA Variation and Biogeography in the Genus Rorippa Scop. (Brassicaceae)PLANT BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2002W. Bleeker Abstract: Phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of 25 Rorippa species were studied using sequences of two non-coding regions of chloroplast DNA (trnL intron, trnL/F spacer). Our results indicate a close relationship between European (R. islandica ssp. islandica, R. pyrenaica) and North American (R. curvipes, R. sinuata) mountain species. The polyploid European lowland species R. amphibia, R. palustris and R. sylvestris are much younger than the mountain species and have their closest relatives in western Asia and Siberia. Different colonization routes of the southern hemisphere are discussed for Rorippa. Australasia was colonized at least twice, most likely via the Malayan route. A molecular clock approach dates the first colonization to the end of Pliocene or early Pleistocene. R. gigantea reached Australia later in the Pleistocene. Our data provide evidence for an amphitropical disjunction between the South American (R. philippiana) and North American (R. curvisiliqua) species. Long-distance dispersal via migrating birds is the most likely explanation for this intercontinental disjunction. Two of the analysed African species (R. nudiuscula, R. madagascariensis) have their closest relative (R. austriaca) in eastern Europe and western Asia. The lack of sequence divergence among these species indicates a colonization event probably not earlier than 100 000 years ago. [source] THE USE OF OXYGEN ISOTOPES IN SHEEP MOLARS TO INVESTIGATE PAST HERDING PRACTICES AT THE NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT OF ÇATALHÖYÜK, CENTRAL ANATOLIAARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 3 2010E. HENTON This paper presents a pilot study designed to test the use of oxygen isotopes for investigating aspects of early herding practices in the Neolithic of western Asia, using the site of Çatalhöyük in central Anatolia as a case study. Time-sequenced ,18O values in dental enamel of archaeological sheep are assessed for post-depositional diagenetic effects and compared with seasonal ,18O meteoric water values in the region today. The evidence is used to indicate the environmental conditions in which individual sheep spent their first year, enabling management of breeding and birthing seasons, and movement to seasonal pastures, to be investigated. [source] FROM SUSA TO ANURADHAPURA: RECONSTRUCTING ASPECTS OF TRADE AND EXCHANGE IN BITUMEN-COATED CERAMIC VESSELS BETWEEN IRAN AND SRI LANKA FROM THE THIRD TO THE NINTH CENTURIES AD*ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 3 2008B. STERN In contrast with artefactual studies of long-distance trade and exchange in South Asia during the Prehistoric and Early Historic periods (Ardika et al. 1993; Gogte 1997; Krishnan and Coningham 1997; Tomber 2000; Gupta et al. 2001; Ford et al. 2005), few scientifically orientated analyses have focused on artefacts from the region's Historic period. During excavations at the ancient city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, a number of buff ware ceramics with a putative organic coating on the interior were recovered (Coningham 2006). Dated stylistically to between the third and ninth centuries ad, analysis of the coatings using gas chromatography,mass spectrometry (GC,MS) and stable isotope analysis (carbon and deuterium) confirmed that the coatings are bitumen,an organic product associated with petroleum deposits. There are no known bitumen sources in Sri Lanka, and biomarker distributions and isotopic signatures suggest that the majority of the samples appear to have come from a single bitumen source near Susa in Iran. The relationship between the bitumen coatings and the vessels is discussed, and it is suggested that the coatings were used to seal permeable ceramic containers to allow them to transport liquid commodities. This study enhances our knowledge of networks of trade and exchange between Sri Lanka and western Asia during Historic times. [source] | ||||||||||||||||