The Ghosts of Max Weber in the Economic History of Preindustrial Europe
“References to Weber in the literature on preindustrial Europe published by economists during the last fifty years show that the more economists have rehabilitated culture as an autonomous force of economic change, the more they have heralded Weber as a precursor of their endeavors. The casting of Weber in such terms, moreover, has gone hand in hand with a decline, rather than an increase, in conversations between economists, sociologists, historians, and other humanists and social scientists interested in the role of culture in the formation of modern economic life.”
Trivellato, Francesca. “The Ghosts of Max Weber in the Economic History of Preindustrial Europe.” Capitalism: A Journal of History and Economics 4, no. 2 (2023): 332-376. https://doi.org/10.1353/cap.2023.a917621.
“In what follows, a reading of Wittgenstein’s remarks will be offered according to which Wittgenstein subscribes to a form of dialetheism (that is, the view that there are sentences that are both true and false). In contrast to modern dialetheist approaches to the Liar, however, some of Wittgenstein’s remarks suggest combining a dialetheist position with what is called ‘logical nihilism’ (that is, the view that there are no universally valid inference rules).”
Late Neolithic collective burial reveals admixture dynamics during the third millennium BCE and the shaping of the European genome
“To conclude, our study of a Late Neolithic burial enables direct, quasi–real-time observation of the trimodal admixture processes in Europe between 3300 and 2600 cal BCE as steppe ancestry people dispersed and mixed with local Neo-ancestry groups or individuals. The generalization of the results obtained from our data suggests that this genomic transformation took place during a period of profound cultural change.”
Oğuzhan Parasayan et al., Late Neolithic collective burial reveals admixture dynamics during the third millennium BCE and the shaping of the European genome. Sci. Adv.10, eadl2468(2024). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adl2468
Can #UK#academics explain these spammy emails from publication agencies who want to feature my academic articles? I've been told this this a scam, but I'm not sure how -- do they charge money to do this? Is this related to the dreaded #REF?
As far as I'm concerned, if some publication wants to write a feature based on one of my publications... go for it. You don't need to contact me about it.
Agropastoral and dietary practices of the northern Levant facing Late Holocene climate and environmental change: Isotopic analysis of plants, animals and humans from Bronze to Iron Age Tell Tweini
“In view of the known critical factors influencing Bronze and Iron Age agriculture in the Eastern Mediterranean region, such as the global climate fluctuations at the end of the Early and Late Bronze Age or the collapse of the socio-economic system in connection with migrations, at least in part of a warlike nature, which are described as the invasion of the “Sea Peoples”, agricultural production at Tell Tweini proves to be comparatively resilient. Thus, despite the destruction of Tell Tweini in the first quarter of the 12th century BC, a revival of urban life and trading systems in the 11th century BC and continuing into the Iron Age II is evident.”
Fuller BT, Riehl S, Linseele V, Marinova E, De Cupere B, et al. (2024) Agropastoral and dietary practices of the northern Levant facing Late Holocene climate and environmental change: Isotopic analysis of plants, animals and humans from Bronze to Iron Age Tell Tweini. PLOS ONE 19(6): e0301775. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301775
Agropastoral and dietary practices of the northern Levant facing Late Holocene climate and environmental change: Isotopic analysis of plants, animals and humans from Bronze to Iron Age Tell Tweini
“In view of the known critical factors influencing Bronze and Iron Age agriculture in the Eastern Mediterranean region, such as the global climate fluctuations at the end of the Early and Late Bronze Age or the collapse of the socio-economic system in connection with migrations, at least in part of a warlike nature, which are described as the invasion of the “Sea Peoples”, agricultural production at Tell Tweini proves to be comparatively resilient. Thus, despite the destruction of Tell Tweini in the first quarter of the 12th century BC, a revival of urban life and trading systems in the 11th century BC and continuing into the Iron Age II is evident.”
Fuller BT, Riehl S, Linseele V, Marinova E, De Cupere B, et al. (2024) Agropastoral and dietary practices of the northern Levant facing Late Holocene climate and environmental change: Isotopic analysis of plants, animals and humans from Bronze to Iron Age Tell Tweini. PLOS ONE 19(6): e0301775. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301775
Evidence for dynastic succession among early Celtic elites in Central Europe
“The historical and archaeological record leave no doubt that the development of culture and population in southwestern Germany was temporarily characterized by profound discontinuities, particularly during the third to first century BCE. The definitive end of the 2,000 years of relative genetic continuity from the Bronze throughout the Iron Age in southern Germany is marked by a sudden, sharp increase of Steppe-related ancestry during the Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages.”
Gretzinger, J., Schmitt, F., Mötsch, A. et al. Evidence for dynastic succession among early Celtic elites in Central Europe. Nat Hum Behav (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01888-7
The Making and Unmaking of a Presidency: Envisioning Empire in British Bencoolen, 1685–1825
“The effort to transform Sumatra into a productive constituent of a larger imperial nexus depended on many of the same processes that were to shape modern capitalism. Not only did British officials in Bencoolen deploy coerced and enslaved labor, they did so with the intent of wresting control of the production, consumption, and circulation of valuable commodities such as pepper and sugar. Practices of slavery, transplantation, and agrarian change typically associated with British colonies in the Atlantic world fundamentally shaped Bencoolen.”
Bains, T. (2024) ‘The Making and Unmaking of a Presidency: Envisioning Empire in British Bencoolen, 1685–1825’, Journal of British Studies, pp. 1–21. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/jbr.2023.142.
‘He had a sarcastic turn of phrase’: discovery of 1509 book sheds new light on ‘father of utilitarianism’
“Last month, UCL academics unveiled the most significant rediscovered books left to the university in Bentham’s will, including the translation of Brandt’s Ship of Fools and a maths textbook explaining Euclid’s propositions. Their contents, together with the philosopher’s own notes, indicate how some of his radical theories were first sparked.”
Biblical Gilgal: A Common Place Name or a Cult Site near Jericho?
“Gilgal was a national cult centre of the Kingdom of Israel, and in several references its name appears alongside that of Bethel (1 Sam 7:16; 2 Kgs 2:1–2; Hos 4:15; 12:12; Amos 4:4; 5:4–5). Bethel, located in the highlands, was the seat of a national temple (see Amos 7:13) and the place where the golden calf, the animal sacred to the Storm God, represented the God of Israel in his temple.”
“He argued that all four sublunar elements, namely, earth, water, air, and fire, can be analysed into geometrical units which take two shapes: cubical when at rest, and pyramidal when in motion. This allowed him, in turn, to solve the difficulty of the participation of the cubical portions of earth in elemental transmutations, which was due to the triangular faces of the other elements.”
Conditional Enfranchisement: How Partisanship Determines Support for Noncitizen Voting Rights
“Our findings suggest that U.S. voters are pragmatic about extending the local franchise to noncitizens. Although U.S. voters are, on average, indifferent toward local noncitizen suffrage, they oppose enfranchisement when noncitizens would vote for the opposing party.”
ALARIAN, H. and ZONSZEIN, S. (2024) ‘Conditional Enfranchisement: How Partisanship Determines Support for Noncitizen Voting Rights’, American Political Science Review, pp. 1–8. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055424000522.
Origen of Alexandria and the History of Racism as a Theological Problem
“Earlier scholarly accounts that portray Origen as a champion of human equality and as engaged in anti-racist efforts therefore cannot stand up to scrutiny. Origen disparages certain ethnic groups and develops arguments that connect ethnic identity and geographical location with various degrees of sinfulness. His work offers clear evidence that theories of ethnic inferiority have a long history within the Christian matrix that stretches considerably beyond the modern and medieval periods.”
Matthijs den Dulk, Origen of Alexandria and the History of Racism as a Theological Problem, The Journal of Theological Studies, Volume 71, Issue 1, April 2020, Pages 164–195, https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/flaa025
#Image attribution: Luyken, Jan (1649-1712), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Page URL:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OrigenStudentsLuyken.jpg
“The fakes created during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century tell us another story, one of the rediscovery of the ancient Near East within the Orientalism movement. This fascination about the Orient and the past led certain individuals to create some fantastic stories and theories, such as those published by the writer Zecharia Stichin (1920–2010) who took the mythological battles of gods related in the authentic Babylonian Epic of Creation to be real astronomic phenomena.”
Michel, C. 2020. Cuneiform Fakes: A Long History from Antiquity to the Present Day. In: Michel, C. and Friedrich, M. ed. Fakes and Forgeries of Written Artefacts from Ancient Mesopotamia to Modern China. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 25-60. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110714333-002
“The fakes created during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century tell us another story, one of the rediscovery of the ancient Near East within the Orientalism movement. This fascination about the Orient and the past led certain individuals to create some fantastic stories and theories, such as those published by the writer Zecharia Stichin (1920–2010) who took the mythological battles of gods related in the authentic Babylonian Epic of Creation to be real astronomic phenomena.”
Michel, C. 2020. Cuneiform Fakes: A Long History from Antiquity to the Present Day. In: Michel, C. and Friedrich, M. ed. Fakes and Forgeries of Written Artefacts from Ancient Mesopotamia to Modern China. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 25-60. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110714333-002
“The extent to which the worship of Baal and Asherah affected Israel’s understanding of Yahweh is seen in the inscriptions found at Kuntillet Ajrud. Jezebel was not fully responsible for the ongoing worship of Canaanite deities in Israel and Judah but her reign gave legitimacy to the long held tendency.”
Dolan, M. (2024) “Jezebel: A Hebrew Disaster”, Buried History: The Journal of the Australian Institute of Archaeology, 40, pp. 39–48. https://doi.org/10.62614/7d25h288
“Because a growing share of Americans hold highly unfavourable views of big corporations, we argue that the belief that large firms win from trade will provoke hostility towards trade and globalization. To test this theory, we show experimentally that informing people that large corporations benefit from trade makes them markedly more hostile towards trade compared to a treatment emphasizing that firms in exporting industries benefit.”
Menon, A. and Osgood, I. (2024) ‘The Wrong Winners: Anti-Corporate Animus and Attitudes Towards Trade’, British Journal of Political Science, pp. 1–18. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123424000152.
"Because a growing share of Americans hold highly unfavourable views of big corporations, we argue that the belief that large firms win from trade will provoke hostility towards trade and globalization. To test this theory, we show experimentally that informing people that large corporations benefit from trade makes them markedly more hostile towards trade compared to a treatment emphasizing that firms in exporting industries benefit."
Menon, A. and Osgood, I. (2024) ‘The Wrong Winners: Anti-Corporate Animus and Attitudes Towards Trade’, British Journal of Political Science, pp. 1–18. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123424000152.
"Focusing on classical philologists and biblical scholars in nineteenth-century Germany, it examines how Hyperkritik developed from a technical philological term into a pejorative label that was widely invoked to discredit the latest trends in classical philology and, especially, biblical scholarship."
"After a thorough examination, we may conclude that the item’s amateurish preparation and local origin are suggestive of a scribal exercise. The use of an available mould that was not suitable for a tablet, the child’s fingerprint on the reverse and the corrected mistakes in the script all point to an inexperienced scribe."
“After a thorough examination, we may conclude that the item’s amateurish preparation and local origin are suggestive of a scribal exercise. The use of an available mould that was not suitable for a tablet, the child’s fingerprint on the reverse and the corrected mistakes in the script all point to an inexperienced scribe.”
“Four factors are found to be significant predictors of the position of primary stress: endings, word complexity, the segmental structure of the final syllable, and syllable count. Moreover, this study confirms previous observations on the tendency for American English to have more final stress in French loanwords than British English.”
Dabouis, Q. and Fournier, P. (2024) ‘Stress in French loanwords in British and American English’, Journal of Linguistics, pp. 1–26. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022226724000136.
“The Harvard team established the practical makings of the first quantum internet by entangling two quantum memory nodes separated by optical fiber link deployed over a roughly 22-mile loop through Cambridge, Somerville, Watertown, and Boston.”
From the manuscript to you: How Old Norse manuscripts are read and edited
"A case-study in how a page from an Old Norse manuscript (in this case the Codex Regius of the Poetic Edda) is edited for publication in a modern-day book. Manuscript images from the Árni Magnússon Institute at the University of Iceland (handrit.is)."
#Video length: Thirty minutes and fifteen seconds.