Abstract
The Bois Marchand Cemetery in Mauritius was established in 1867 in response to the massive death toll exerted by a disastrous malaria epidemic that swept the island between 1866 and 1868. As ...all the aspects of Mauritian society are represented in the cemetery’s necrogeography, the still-active burial ground offers an ideal setting to examine life and death during the Indenture Period of the island’s history. This article examines the development, organization, environmental factors, and ecological aspects of this vast burial ground in view of the development of public health care and management.
The astronomical cycles and occurrences of the Sun, Moon, planets and certain star constellations were well known to prehistoric, Roman and medieval communities. Archaeoastronomy studies how ancient ...societies incorporated this knowledge into various aspects of past cultures. The discipline draws on modern astronomy, geodesy, physics, statistics, anthropology, ethnology and archaeology to study and interpret a wide range of source materials, from structural alignments to art, artefacts and inscriptions. This paper presents archaeoastronomical research on the orientation of Romanesque churches across the territory of modern-day Slovenia, focusing on an array of medieval festivals associated with the solstices and equinoxes. It demonstrates a profound connection between these festivals and the alignment of churches.
This article presents an integrated approach used in archaeology and heritage studies to examine health and disease management during the colonial period in the Indian Ocean. Long-distance labor ...migrations had dire health consequences to both immigrants and host populations. Focusing on the quarantine station on Flat Island, Mauritius, this study analyzes a historical social setting and natural environment that were radically altered due to the implementation of health management. Using aerial and satellite imagery, digital elevation models, RTK and total station raw data, 3D modeling, and GIS mapping, we reconstructed the spatial organization and the built landscape of this institution to assess the gap between the benefits claimed by European colonizers and the actual effects on immigrant health conditions through the promotion of public health practices.
Stečki so srednjeveški kamniti nagrobniki, ki jih najdemo še vedno in situ v pokrajinah držav Zahodnega Balkana. Okoli 8% stečkov ima raznovrstne dekoracije v obliki nizkega reliefa, medtem, ko manj ...kot 400 nagrobnikov nosi tudi napise. Zaradi klimatskih vplivov vrezani napisi in ornamenti izginjajo s površine stečkov, zaradi česar jih je vse težje odkriti in prepoznati. V sklopu arheoloških raziskav stečkov na območju srednjeveške župe Dabar (današnji občini Berkovići in Bileća), je bil izveden pilotski projekt 3D skeniranja stečkov z ročnim skenerjem. Osem stečkov, dva z napisom in šest z dekoracijami, je bilo skeniranih v celoti, z namenom da bi lahko ovrednotili vidnost in prepoznavanje umetnostnih izrazov, ter samo tehniko detajlnega dokumentiranja materialne kulture. Članek predstavlja potek skeniranja in analizira rezultate.
In 2009, part of a ‘slave shackle’ was recovered from archaeological investigations at Trianon, an indentured labourer site on Mauritius dated from the beginning of the nineteenth century. This paper ...presents the results of a metallurgical assessment of the artefact, thought to represent colonial ironwork, a category that has hitherto remained understudied. The results are incorporated into the wider archaeological and historical evidence from Trianon, highlighting the value of studying colonial ironwork in context.
•Isotopic analyses of two 19th century cemeteries give insights into Mauritian diets.•A wide range of diets was consumed, particularly in terms of C4 consumption.•People buried at Le Morne consumed ...more C4 foods than those at Bois Marchand.•The individuals from Le Morne had different childhood diets but similar adult diets.•This is consistent with Le Morne’s interpretation as a post-emancipation cemetery.
Slavery, colonialism and emancipation are important aspects of archaeological research in the Atlantic region, but the lifeways of colonial populations remain understudied in the Indian Ocean World. Here, we help to redress this imbalance by undertaking stable isotope analysis (C, N and O) on human remains from Mauritius, a location which played an important role in the movement of people across the Indian Ocean and beyond. The results indicate that a wide range of diets was consumed in Mauritius during the nineteenth century, varying with location and circumstances of birth such that while a range of resources would have been available on the island, the proportions of the different resources consumed was different for different people. Most people consumed some C4 resources, likely maize, although the proportion of the diet that this represented varied widely. There is some evidence for the use of marine resources, with one individual consuming a very high proportion of marine foods. In general, the people buried at the post-emancipation cemetery Le Morne consumed a higher proportion of C4 foodstuffs and a lower proportion of animal protein and/or marine resources than those individuals buried at the formal public cemetery Bois Marchand. The data from La Morne are consistent with a population that lived separately as children and then came to live, and eat, together during adulthood. This study has shown a much more nuanced picture of diet in Mauritius at this time than was previously known. The research complements and enriches the historic narrative, adding dimensions to small islands that would otherwise remain obscure in the absence of rigorous scientific assessment of archaeological finds.
This article reports on the first genetic assessment of the contemporary Mauritian population. Small island nodes such as Mauritius played a critical role in historic globalization processes and ...revealing high-resolution details of labour sourcing is crucial in order to better understand early-modern diaspora events. Mauritius is a particularly interesting case given detailed historic accounts attesting to European (Dutch, French and British), African and Asian points of origin. Ninety-seven samples were analysed for mitochondrial DNA to begin unravelling the complex dynamics of the island's modern population. In corroboration with general demographic information, the majority of maternal lineages were derived from South Asia (58.76%), with Malagasy (16.60%), East/Southeast Asian (11.34%) and Sub-Saharan African (10.21%) also making significant contributions. This study pinpoints specific regional origins for the South Asian genetic contribution, showing a greater influence on the contemporary population from northern and southeast India. Moreover, the analysis of lineages related to the slave trade demonstrated that Madagascar and East Asia were the main centres of origin, with less influence from West Africa.
Članek predstavlja poskus natančnejše tipološke razdelitve in časovne uvrstitve poznoantičnih okrasnih igel vrste stilus, najdenih v Sloveniji. Obravnavana vrsta izhaja iz rimskega toaletnega ...pribora. Pojavljajo se v srednji in jugovzhodni Evropi, a so zgoščene na prostoru jugovzhodne Madžarske, Slovenije in severne Italije. Tovrstne igle z območja Slovenije lahko razvrstimo v pet tipoloških skupin z različicami. Najpogosteje so datirane v 6. st., v uporabi pa so bile vse od konca 4. do začetka 7. st.
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