Love and Empire Schaeffer, Felicity Amaya
12/2012, Letnik:
11
eBook
The spread of the Internet is remaking marriage markets, altering the process of courtship and the geographic trajectory of intimacy in the 21st century. For some Latin American women and U.S. men, ...the advent of the cybermarriage industry offers new opportunities for re-making themselves and their futures, overthrowing the common narrative of trafficking and exploitation. In this engaging, stimulating virtual ethnography, Felicity Amaya Schaeffer follows couples' romantic interludes at Vacation Romance Tours, in chat rooms, and interviews married couples in the United States in order to understand the commercialization of intimacy. While attending to the interplay between the everyday and the virtual, Love and Empire contextualizes personal desires within the changing global economic and political shifts across the Americas. By examining current immigration policies and the use of Mexican and Colombian women as erotic icons of the nation in the global marketplace, she forges new relations between intimate imaginaries and state policy in the making of new markets, finding that women's erotic self-fashioning is the form through which women become ideal citizens, of both their home countries and in the United States. Through these little-explored, highly mediated romantic exchanges, Love and Empire unveils a fresh perspective on the continually evolving relationship between the U.S. and Latin America.
Phytolith remains of rice (Oryza sativa L.) recovered from the Shangshan site in the Lower Yangtze of China have previously been recognized as the earliest examples of rice cultivation. However, ...because of the poor preservation of macroplant fossils, many radiocarbon dates were derived from undifferentiated organic materials in pottery sherds. These materials remain a source of debate because of potential contamination by old carbon. Direct dating of the rice remains might serve to clarify their age. Here, we first validate the reliability of phytolith dating in the study region through a comparison with dates obtained from other material from the same layer or context. Our phytolith data indicate that rice remains retrieved from early stages of the Shangshan and Hehuashan sites have ages of approximately 9,400 and 9,000 calibrated years before the present, respectively. The morphology of rice bulliform phytoliths indicates they are closer to modern domesticated species than to wild species, suggesting that rice domestication may have begun at Shangshan during the beginning of the Holocene.
The importance of food packaging hardly needs emphasizing since only a handful of foods are sold in an unpackaged state. With an increasing focus on sustainability and cost-effectiveness, responsible ...companies no longer want to over-package their food products, yet many remain unsure just where reductions can effectively be made. Food Packaging and Shelf Life: A Practical Guide provides package developers with the information they need to specify just the right amount of protective packaging to maintain food quality and maximize shelf life. Current food packaging must take into consideration the biochemical, chemical, physical, and biological changes that occur during processing, distribution, and storage. Organized according to chapters devoted to specific food products, this practical handbook defines the indices of failure for foods as diverse as milk, fruits, bottled water, juices, vegetables, fish, and beef. It discusses the deteriorative reactions for each food and reviews how different packaging materials may influence time to failure and thus shelf life. Other topics included biobased packaging, packaging and the microbial shelf life of foods, and shelf life testing methodology.
Reconstruction of the eruption history of an active volcano is necessary to elucidate its volcanic activity and to assess the probability of its volcanic eruption. Yokodake volcano in central Japan ...is the only active volcano among the Yatsugatake volcano group. It has effused nine lava flows, most of which have not been dated. For this study, we ascertained the eruption ages of the latest lava (Y9) and second most recent lava (Y8) using radiocarbon (
14
C), thermoluminescence (TL), and paleomagnetic dating methods. Results revealed the eruption ages of the two lava flows and the recent eruption history of Yokodake volcano. Yokodake volcano effused its Y8 lava flow at ca. 3.4 ka, ejected NYk-2 tephra with explosive eruption at ca. 2.4–2.2 ka, and effused the Y9 lava flow associated with Y9-T tephra at ca. 0.6 ka. Magma eruption rates of Yokodake at 34 ky and 3.4 ky were estimated as about 9 × 10
−3
km
3
/ky and 1 × 10
−2
km
3
/ky, indicating a stable eruption rate maintained during the past 34 ky. This result suggests that Yokodake volcano retains some potential for eruption, although the volcanic activity of the Yatsugatake volcanoes (10
−1
–10
−2
km
3
/ky) has weakened over time.
Tephrochronology is of paramount importance in New Zealand where paleoclimate studies use ages of volcanic ash layers as chronological makers. Maar lakes in the Auckland Volcanic Field (AVF) are ...characterised by continuous sediment accumulation over extended periods of time (>10,000 years) providing outstanding archives for paleoclimate studies also containing distally-sourced known-age rhyolitic, andesitic and locally-sourced basaltic tephra. Using a multi-method age model for the sediment sequence from Ōrākei Basin (ca. 130,000 years) combining radiocarbon dating, tephrochronology, luminescence dating, and tuning of relative magnetic paleointensity, we present new ages, and test and refine the reliability of existing tephra ages for 14 basaltic, 18 andesitic and eight rhyolitic tephra horizons.
Our results show overall strong agreement with previously published ages (except the new age derived for the Okareka tephra, here reported as 23,525 cal yr BP) but reduce the error ranges. Larger differences in tephra ages compared to previously published ages occur predominantly beyond the radiocarbon dating limit. The revised ages have potential implications for studies involving tephrochronology (sensu stricto), for volcanic eruption recurrence rates in the AVF and for the timing of climatic changes observed in northern New Zealand, such as a possibly cooler marine isotope stage (MIS) 5b than MIS4.
Virtually all well-documented remains of early domestic dog (Canis familiaris) come from the late Glacial and early Holocene periods (ca. 14,000-9000 calendar years ago, cal BP), with few putative ...dogs found prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ca. 26,500-19,000 cal BP). The dearth of pre-LGM dog-like canids and incomplete state of their preservation has until now prevented an understanding of the morphological features of transitional forms between wild wolves and domesticated dogs in temporal perspective.
We describe the well-preserved remains of a dog-like canid from the Razboinichya Cave (Altai Mountains of southern Siberia). Because of the extraordinary preservation of the material, including skull, mandibles (both sides) and teeth, it was possible to conduct a complete morphological description and comparison with representative examples of pre-LGM wild wolves, modern wolves, prehistoric domesticated dogs, and early dog-like canids, using morphological criteria to distinguish between wolves and dogs. It was found that the Razboinichya Cave individual is most similar to fully domesticated dogs from Greenland (about 1000 years old), and unlike ancient and modern wolves, and putative dogs from Eliseevichi I site in central Russia. Direct AMS radiocarbon dating of the skull and mandible of the Razboinichya canid conducted in three independent laboratories resulted in highly compatible ages, with average value of ca. 33,000 cal BP.
The Razboinichya Cave specimen appears to be an incipient dog that did not give rise to late Glacial-early Holocene lineages and probably represents wolf domestication disrupted by the climatic and cultural changes associated with the LGM. The two earliest incipient dogs from Western Europe (Goyet, Belguim) and Siberia (Razboinichya), separated by thousands of kilometers, show that dog domestication was multiregional, and thus had no single place of origin (as some DNA data have suggested) and subsequent spread.
Gruta do Caldeirão features a c. 6 m-thick archaeological stratification capped by Holocene layers ABC-D and Ea, which overlie layer Eb, a deposit of Magdalenian age that underwent significant ...disturbance, intrusion, and component mixing caused by funerary use of the cave during the Early Neolithic. Here, we provide an updated overview of the stratigraphy and archaeological content of the underlying Pleistocene succession, whose chronology we refine using radiocarbon and single-grain optically stimulated luminescence dating. We find a high degree of stratigraphic integrity. Dating anomalies exist in association with the succession's two major discontinuities: between layer Eb and Upper Solutrean layer Fa, and between Early Upper Palaeolithic layer K and Middle Palaeolithic layer L. Mostly, the anomalies consist of older-than-expected radiocarbon ages and can be explained by bioturbation and palimpsest-forming sedimentation hiatuses. Combined with palaeoenvironmental inferences derived from magnetic susceptibility analyses, the dating shows that sedimentation rates varied in tandem with the oscillations in global climate revealed by the Greenland oxygen isotope record. A steep increase in sedimentation rate is observed through the Last Glacial Maximum, resulting in a c. 1.5 m-thick accumulation containing conspicuous remains of occupation by people of the Solutrean technocomplex, whose traditional subdivision is corroborated: the index fossils appear in the expected stratigraphic order; the diagnostics of the Protosolutrean and the Lower Solutrean predate 24,000 years ago; and the constraints on the Upper Solutrean place it after Greenland Interstadial 2.2. (23,220-23,340 years ago). Human usage of the site during the Early Upper and the Middle Palaeolithic is episodic and low-intensity: stone tools are few, and the faunal remains relate to carnivore activity. The Middle Palaeolithic is found to persist beyond 39,000 years ago, at least three millennia longer than in the Franco-Cantabrian region. This conclusion is upheld by Bayesian modelling and stands even if the radiocarbon ages for the Middle Palaeolithic levels are removed from consideration (on account of observed inversions and the method's potential for underestimation when used close to its limit of applicability). A number of localities in Spain and Portugal reveal a similar persistence pattern. The key evidence comes from high-resolution fluviatile contexts spared by the site formation issues that our study of Caldeirão brings to light-palimpsest formation, post-depositional disturbance, and erosion. These processes. are ubiquitous in the cave and rock-shelter sites of Iberia, reflecting the impact on karst archives of the variation in climate and environments that occurred through the Upper Pleistocene, and especially at two key points in time: between 37,000 and 42,000 years ago, and after the Last Glacial Maximum. Such empirical difficulties go a long way towards explaining the controversies surrounding the associated cultural transitions: from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic, and from the Solutrean to the Magdalenian. Alongside potential dating error caused by incomplete decontamination, proper consideration of sample association issues is required if we are ever to fully understand what happened with the human settlement of Iberia during these critical intervals, and especially so with regards to the fate of Iberia's last Neandertal populations.
Optically stimulated luminescence has developed into one of the leading optical techniques for the measurement and detection of ionizing radiation. This text covers, in a readable manner, advanced ...modern applications of the technique, how it can play a useful role in different areas of dosimetry and how to approach the challenges presented when working with optically stimulated luminescence.The six chapters are as follows:Introduction, including a short history of OSL and details of successful applications Theory and Practical Aspects Personal Dosimetry Space Dosimetry Medical Dosimetry Other Applications and Concepts, including retrospective and accident dosimetry, environmental monitoring and UV dosimetry Throughout the book, the underlying theory is discussed on an as-needed basis for a complete understanding of the phenomena, but with an emphasis of the practical applications of the technique. The authors also give background information and relevant key references on each method, inviting the reader to explore deeper into the subject independently.Postgraduates, researchers, and those involved with radiation dosimetry will find this book particularly useful. The material is both relevant and accessible for both specialists and those new to the field, therefore is fundamental to any academic interested in modern advances of the subject.
In Liquid Love Zygmunt Bauman argued that the solidity and security once provided by life-long partnerships has been 'liquefied' by rampant individualisation and technological change. He believes ...internet dating is symptomatic of social and technological change that transforms modern courtship into a type of commodified game. This article explores the experiences of users of digital dating and hook-up applications (or 'apps') in order to assess the extent to which a digital transformation of intimacy might be under way. It examines the different affordances provided by dating apps, and whether users feel the technology has influenced their sexual practices and views on long-term relationships, monogamy and other romantic ideals. This study shows that dating apps are intermediaries through which individuals engage in strategic performances in pursuit of love, sex and intimacy. Ultimately, this article contends that some accounts of dating apps and modern romantic practices are too pessimistic, and downplay the positives of 'networked intimacy'.
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