• Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage
• Publicationsclose
• Other research productsclose
• 2018-2022close
• Article close
• EE close

The article will comprise a discussion on the continual aspect of landscape based on a burial place in the eastern part of Estonia. This burial place was used for collective dispersed burials into a stone grave from the 3rd to 11th centuries AD. In the second half of the 11th century the burial tradition changed, and from that time on richly furnished inhumations were practiced in the very place next to the stone grave. Previously, I have interpreted such a change in social and religious landscape as a rupture, but it can also be considered as a continuation. The physical landscape remained the same, while new religious rituals (individual inhumations instead of collective cremations) were starting to be practiced at the same location. I will argue that there were various reasons for using this place in the landscape for such a long period of time. The main reason, however, was economic, for the place was probably used as a harbour site. But as practical everyday life was probably closely connected to religious life during that period, I will argue that there was also a religious importance to the place.

The article examines T. E. Hulme's reading of Georges Sorel as a politically transversal thinker of moral renewal. It argues that, by distancing Sorel from syndicalism and by reading him as a thinker of moral absolutes, this interpretation constituted an act of resignification. This is shown by contrasting Hulme's reading with the dominant patterns of the British reception of Sorel. What emerges is the striking, and self-aware, originality of Hulme's positions. This originality, we argue, was made possible by the European scope of Hulme's intellectual horizon, which gave him the resources to read Sorel differently. Finally, we ask why Hulme read Sorel in this way. We suggest that Hulme was working through a contradiction between his relativistic philosophical education and an increasing need for political commitment. Sorel's ethics of commitment grounded in myth were a way to move from Bergsonian openness to a metaphysics capable of conceptualizing moral and political absolutes.

We thank the wet laboratory teams at MPI-SHH, the PalaeoBARN at the University of Oxford and the University of York. We thank David K. James and Lucia Hui of the Alameda County Vector Control Services District for procuring the rat used for the de novo genome. We are grateful to Sarah Nagel at Max Planck Institute for the Evolutionary Anthropology for the single-stranded library preparation, and Dovetail Genomics for the de novo genome assembly service. We thank Maria Spyrou for her suggestions and comments. We acknowledge Ewan Chipping and Helena England (University of York), Carl Phillips, Veronica Lindholm (Ålands Museum), Christine McDonnell and Nienke van Doorn (York Archaeological Trust), Emile Mittendorf (Gemeente Deventer), Inge Riemersma (Archaeological depot, Provincie Zuid-Holland), the Turkish Ministry of Culture & Tourism, Jan Frolík and Iva Herichová (Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague), Franz Humer and Eduard Pollhammer (Archaeological Park Carnuntum), Dorottya B. Nyékhelyi and László Daróczi-Szabó (Budapest History Museum), Institut National du Patrimoine (Tunisia), University of Barcelona, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project HUM2006-03432/HIST), Spanish Ministry of Culture (program of archaeological excavations abroad 2009); Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for the Development (2009), Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICAC), Vujadin Ivanisević, Nemanja Marković and Ivan Bugarski (Archaeological Institute 809 Belgrade), the Field Museum Chicago, the British National History Museum and the American Museum of Natural History for providing materials and support. G.L. and A.J. were supported by the ERC (grant ERC-2013-StG-337574-UNDEAD) and A.J. was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council Doctoral Training Program. D.O. was supported by Wellcome (Small Grant in Humanities and Social Science 209817/Z) and the British Academy / Leverhulme Trust (Small Research Grant SG170938). E.R. was supported by Estonian Research Council grant No PRG29. R.K. was supported by the Czech Academy of Sciences institutional support (RVO:67985912). S.V.-L. was supported by the ERC (grant ERC-StG- 716298 ZooMWest). H.E. was funded by an ERC grant (206148) through the Sealinks Project. A.H.B was funded by the Leverhulme Trust (ECF-2017-315). The de novo genome assembly, population genomics study, and radiocarbon dating were funded by the Max Planck Society. The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association with humans. The dispersal history of this non-native commensal rodent across Europe, however, remains poorly understood, and different introductions may have occurred during the Roman and medieval periods. Here, in order to reconstruct the population history of European black rats, we generated a de novo genome assembly of the black rat, 67 ancient black rat mitogenomes and 36 ancient nuclear genomes from sites spanning the 1st-17th centuries CE in Europe and North Africa. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA confirm that black rats were introduced into the Mediterranean and Europe from Southwest Asia. Genomic analyses of the ancient rats reveal a population turnover in temperate Europe between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, coincident with an archaeologically attested decline in the black rat population. The near disappearance and re-emergence of black rats in Europe may have been the result of the breakdown of the Roman Empire, the First Plague Pandemic, and/or post-Roman climatic cooling. Peer reviewed

Abstract The Lithuanian onshore section of the south-eastern Baltic Sea region, or the so-called Lithuanian Maritime Region (LMR) – a belt several tens of kilometres wide along the Baltic Sea coast – is characterised by a complicated Quaternary structure and many of unsolved problems related to stratigraphy and palaeogeography. The inter-till lacustrine sediments widespread in the middle part of the Pleistocene thickness play a key role in solving the mentioned problems. The primary inter-till sediments were attributed, as a single lithostratigraphic unit, to the late Saalian Glaciation (MIS 6, Pamarys Sub-Formation; according to the Lithuanian Quaternary Stratigraphic Scheme). Subsequent detailed investigations show that the investigated inter-till succession represents a more complicated sediment complex formed over a wide time interval from the Saalian ice sheet decay at the very end of MIS 6 to the beginning of severe climate cooling during MIS 4. This standpoint is confirmed by the results of a few series of OSL and IR-OSL datings of inter-till sediments, as well as by data of pollen and diatom analysis. The more detailed stratigraphic subdivision of the inter-till sedimentary complex offers a new significant insight into the regional stratigraphic scheme of the Quaternary. As a result of the mentioned investigations, a new original reconstruction of the palaeogeographic situation in the LMR during the MIS 6 – MIS 3 time span was carried out. The lowermost part of the investigated inter-till sediments, attributed to MIS 6, could be correlated with the third MIS 6 warming in Northern Eurasia about 155 ka ago. The reconstruction of the palaeoenvironmental changes starting from MIS 6 and lasting to MIS 3 shows that the Eemian Sea MIS 5e in age was absent in the LMR, while part of the south-eastern Baltic Sea region was covered by a continental ice sheet during MIS 4 and, possibly, the very beginning of MIS 3.

Abstract. Based on the Baltic Earth Assessment Reports of this thematic issue in Earth System Dynamics and recent peer-reviewed literature, current knowledge of the effects of global warming on past and future changes in climate of the Baltic Sea region is summarised and assessed. The study is an update of the Second Assessment of Climate Change (BACC II) published in 2015 and focuses on the atmosphere, land, cryosphere, ocean, sediments, and the terrestrial and marine biosphere. Based on the summaries of the recent knowledge gained in palaeo-, historical, and future regional climate research, we find that the main conclusions from earlier assessments still remain valid. However, new long-term, homogenous observational records, for example, for Scandinavian glacier inventories, sea-level-driven saltwater inflows, so-called Major Baltic Inflows, and phytoplankton species distribution, and new scenario simulations with improved models, for example, for glaciers, lake ice, and marine food web, have become available. In many cases, uncertainties can now be better estimated than before because more models were included in the ensembles, especially for the Baltic Sea. With the help of coupled models, feedbacks between several components of the Earth system have been studied, and multiple driver studies were performed, e.g. projections of the food web that include fisheries, eutrophication, and climate change. New datasets and projections have led to a revised understanding of changes in some variables such as salinity. Furthermore, it has become evident that natural variability, in particular for the ocean on multidecadal timescales, is greater than previously estimated, challenging our ability to detect observed and projected changes in climate. In this context, the first palaeoclimate simulations regionalised for the Baltic Sea region are instructive. Hence, estimated uncertainties for the projections of many variables increased. In addition to the well-known influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation, it was found that also other low-frequency modes of internal variability, such as the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability, have profound effects on the climate of the Baltic Sea region. Challenges were also identified, such as the systematic discrepancy between future cloudiness trends in global and regional models and the difficulty of confidently attributing large observed changes in marine ecosystems to climate change. Finally, we compare our results with other coastal sea assessments, such as the North Sea Region Climate Change Assessment (NOSCCA), and find that the effects of climate change on the Baltic Sea differ from those on the North Sea, since Baltic Sea oceanography and ecosystems are very different from other coastal seas such as the North Sea. While the North Sea dynamics are dominated by tides, the Baltic Sea is characterised by brackish water, a perennial vertical stratification in the southern subbasins, and a seasonal sea ice cover in the northern subbasins.

Abstract The shift from carbon-intensive to low-carbon energy systems has profound justice implications as some regions are likely to lose as much as gain from decarbonization processes. Increasing calls have been made to adopt a ‘whole systems’ perspective on energy justice. Drawing on the Multi-level Perspective on socio-technical transitions this paper presents a new comprehensive framework of energy justice in system innovation, proposing to map injustices along three dimensions: 1) multiple spatial scales (regional, national, international); 2) different time horizons (currently experienced vs. anticipated injustices); 3) connections to transition dynamics (injustices related to the optimization of the currently dominant system, destabilization of the incumbent system or the acceleration of alternative solutions in niches). The framework is applied to analyse the ongoing energy transition in Estonia, involving interactions between the incumbent oil shale based regime and wind, solar, nuclear and bioenergy as emerging niche challengers. The content analysis of news items in Estonian media reveals an inventory of 214 distinct incidents of energy injustices across 21 different categories. We find that many experienced and anticipated injustices are deployed, often strategically, by certain actors to advocate specific energy futures and to influence current political choices. From the justice perspective our analysis thus raises a question whether it is ethical to use probable yet currently unrealized injustices related to regime destabilization and niche acceleration as a means to perpetuate injustices related to the optimization of the currently dominant regime.

Abstract A recent study of conodonts from the Wuxiahe Formation (lower to middle part) in the Ziyang-Langao region suggested its age of middle Telychian (Llandovery) to lower Sheinwoodian (Wenlock), contradicted by subsequent graptolite studies indicating an age of late Telychian for the same interval. New samples from the Qiaoxi section for conodonts to re-access the age of the Wuxiahe Formation collected in this study show that the lower to middle part of the formation belongs to the Pterospathodus amorphognathoides amorphognathoides Biozone, suggesting the age of late Telychian; thus, the Llandovery–Wenlock boundary in the section is most probably higher than previously estimated, but its precise position is not determined since the identification of the Wenlock graptolite Cyrtograptus cf. lundgreni in the section is to be further confirmed. Based on the conodont faunas recognized in the Qiaoxi and Tianwancun sections, the base of the Wuxiahe Formation in the Ziyang-Langao region is diachronous, i.e., not higher than the upper Telychian Pterospathodus amorphognathoides amorphognathoides Biozone at Qiaoxi, but not lower than the lower Sheinwoodian Kockelella ranuliformis Biozone at the Tianwancun setion.

Since the first lockdown in March 2020, time seems to have slowed to a continuous present tense. The Greek language has three words to express different experiences of time: aion, chronos and kairos. If aion is the boundless and limbo-like time of eternity, chronos represents chronological, sequential, and linear time. Kairos, however, signifies the rupture of ordinary time with the opportune moment, epiphany and redemption, revolution, and most broadly, crisis and emergency. This paper argues that the pandemic is impacting how individuals perceive time in two ways: first, as a distortion of time in which individuals are caught between linear time ( chronos) and rupture ( kairos) invoking the state of emergency and second, as an extended present that blurs the passing of chronological time with its seeming eternity ( aion). As a result of the perceived suspension of ordinary time, temporal understandings of the future are postponed, while the past hovers like a ghost over the present.

The participation of the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order at the Imperial Diets and its relations with the German branch (from the 1520s to the 1550s) This article discusses the relations of Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order with the German branch from the secularization of Prussia (1525) to the beginning of the Livonian War (1558), and concentrates on the topics that were connected with the participation of the Order at the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire. Before the aforementioned period, the branches had very few direct connections, and relations of the Livonian branch with the Empire were usually mediated by the Grand Master of the Order. After 1525, the German Master largely took over the role of a mediator, as he became the acting head of the Order and had close relations with the central Imperial institutions. The latter became increasingly important for the Livonian Master, who became an Imperial prince most probably on the 24th of December 1526. This enabled him to participate in the Imperial Diets. At the Diets, the branches represented their interests usually separately. This was partially caused by the fact that these diverged quite strongly: while the German branch aspired for the recuperation of Prussia, tried to protect the Order’s possessions from increasing intrusions of German princes, and paid the Turkish taxes to obtain support from the Emperor; the Livonian branch wanted to obtain support against the Russian threat and rivals inside Livonia, while also trying to avoid paying Imperial taxes. Additionally, the Duke of Prussia was the neighbour of Livonia with whom the Livonian branch usually tried to maintain normal relations. Nevertheless, the branches communicated quite actively during the Diets and supported each other, at least in a rhetorical capacity. Additionally, Livonian envoys normally went firstly to the German Master for consultations and headed to the Diets only thereafter. Thus, the communication was quite vivid, but did not leave many marks to the official documentation, as especially the Livonian branch preferred to represent itself as a separate and independent member of the Empire in front of the Imperial Estates.