« Flûte » et pointes de la Grosse Badlhöhle, Autriche

The Grosse Badlhöhle (Austria, Steiermark) is the origin of one of the most perfect bone points of the early Aurignacian and one of the best perforated femurs of the same period, which can be regarded as musical instruments. Two other fragments of points raise intriguing questions on the first Homo sapiens sapiens which cannot be solved today but will contribute to future research. A review on the debate of Palaeolithic flutes will follow with experimental proofs of boring artificial holes with high quality pictures on the blow-hole and the lack of gnawing traces on the opposite face. The musical possibility of an instrument with only one hole is discussed with ethnographic analogies. Hafting, optimal conditions of strength and possible use of arrows will close the discussion on the Badlhöhle bone artefacts.     

Estimation de la distensibilité aortique à partir de séquences d’images de résonance magnétique « steady-state free-precession » et « contraste de phase »

Objective

To investigate the accuracy in the estimation of the aortic lumen area and distensibility obtained from Steady-State Free-Precession (SSFP) and Phase Contrast (PC) MR sequences.

Subjects and methods

Systolic and diastolic aortic lumen of the ascending and descending aorta of 50 subjects, collected with both acquisition sequences, were extracted using a 2D + t automated segmentation method.

Results

While the statistical study indicated very similar lumen areas for SSFP and PC data (slope = 1, r = 0.99), the corresponding distensibility values were less correlated (r = 0.54). Comparison between distensibility values in the ascending and descending aorta and study of these values with aging indicated a greater coherence with expected physiological behavior of the aorta when using SSFP images.

Discussion

Flow artifacts were more severe in PC images and could explain the better results obtained when using SSFP sequences.

Conclusion

A more accurate local assessment of the aortic stiffness is obtained from SSFP image sequences than from PC image sequences.     

Le Magdalénien de la grotte « Grappin » à Arlay (Jura, France) : nouveaux regards

The “Grappin” or “Saint-Vincent's” cave, on the western slope of Jura, East of France, has been explored since 1889. From then to 1960, it has yielded substantial material dated to middle “à navettes” Magdalenian developing during the late Pleniglacial. The study of this settlement, although often mentioned, was never dealt with comprehensively until now. Due to its scientific importance for the middle Magdalenian of western Europe, the site is to be reinvestigated through a global interdisciplinary project entitled “The Tardiglacial and the start of Holocene in the Jura and its margins”. This paper will review our present knowledge of the site, radiocarbon dates and archaeological data. It also focuses on ornaments and engraved mobile art.     

Le « Mégalosaure » (Dinosauria,Sauropoda) de Saint-Agnant (Charente-Maritime,France) : description et origine stratigraphique

The “Megalosaur” remains from Saint-Agnant (Charente-Maritime, France), reported as early as 1881 by Boissellier, are here described and figured for the first time. These bones, as well as a few additional specimens from the nearby locality of Soubise, belong in fact to an indeterminate sauropod. The stratigraphical position of these remains unambiguously indicates an infra-Cenomanian age. However, the presence in this area of continental deposits with Purbeckian and Wealden facies does not allow to decide between an earliest or late Early Cretaceous age.     

Nouvelle nomenclature lithostratigraphique « événementielle » pour le Jurassique de la Tunisie atlasique

The various and heterogeneous nomenclatures previously proposed for the Jurassic of both central and northern Tunisia were examined and revised. In this work we propose a new lithostratigraphic chart taking into account the progress of our knowledge on the sedimentological and palaeontological (ammonites) aspects obtained during the two late decades. This chart summarizes and restores the major sedimentary and stratigraphic events (discontinuities) recorded in the Jurassic rocks. It outlines the main phases of the palaeogeographic evolution of the Tunisian atlasic domain during the Jurassic, in relation with the main controlling factor (tectonic and eustatism), which accompanied the tethyan rifting.     

Une lame de faucille sous la stèle gravée Chalcolithique dite du « Chef de tribu », Vallée des Merveilles, région du Mont Bego, Tende, Alpes-Maritimes

The carved stele known as the “head of the tribe”, attributed to the Chalcolithic, erected at an altitude of 2290 m in the chaos of blocks in the Merveilles torrent in the Mont Bego region at Tende, was removed from its original standing place. Earth extracted from under the stele and sieved yielded a sickle blade in very fine and homogeneous Bedoulian pale biege translucid flint, pressure flaked on a heated core. The blade bears a light polish caused by cereal harvesting. This sickle blade is similar to those widely used in the southern Chassey culture (4300 to 3000 years before our era) but also sometimes in the Campaniform culture, during the ancient and middle Bronze age, like in Murée cave, in the Verdon gorges. The location of the sickle blade at the foot of the carved stele, known as the “head of the tribe”, is not just coincidental. It is highly probable that the blade was intentionally placed beside this rock. It is seemingly during a ritual ceremony that this sickle blade, probably still inserted in a wooden handle, was intentionally placed, in a propitious gesture or as an offering, beside the stele known as the “head of the tribe”.     

J. Deprat,l’Eubée,la Corse et la Sardaigne. À propos de l’article de C. Guernet « J. Deprat,l’Eubée (Grèce) et les fossiles introuvables »

In a recent publication, C. Guernet picks up again the accusations of fraud against J. Deprat, who, in the early 20th century, had suffered such attacks to the point to be removed from the Geological Society of France. At the end of the same century, one among us (M D.D.) reexamined this affair, and drew the conclusion that J. Deprat was innocent, after which the Geological Society of France reinstated him posthumously. The new accusations issued by Guernet are about Deprat's work in Euboea, as well as Corsica and Sardinia. Our own work rather disagrees and shows that, here again, Deprat is innocent. At this occasion, we present or remind new elements about those regions’ geology.     

Un dépôt d’anneaux en pierre du Néolithique ancien à Falaise, « zone d’activité Expansia II » ?

An archaeological diagnostic at Falaise revealed a pile of 6 stone rings, isolated from any domestic or burial features. The isolation suggests that the find can be interpreted as a ritual hoard. This hypothesis is possibly confirmed by other aspects: the alternating sizes and raw materials, as well as the site location between two dense early Neolithic settlement zones. The finds probably date to the late Villeneuve-Saint-Germain/Blicquy. The flat, wide rings have traces of manufacture and use. Analysis indicates that they were worn as arm ornaments, at the minimum in pairs. The raw materials, very common in assemblages from north-western France, are of regional origin. Comparable finds in France are rare, limiting interpretation of the hoard. This practice is not frequent and usually involves ring roughouts or worn grindstones, although these technical constraints do not rule out a certain ritualisation. At Falaise, the latter is perceptible but the objects are neither rare nor unusual. For this reason, the phenomenon differs from hoards of axe blades in Danubian cultures of the Rhineland, or of prestige axes at the beginning of the middle Neolithic.     

Gestion de la « crise du Mo » en 2010 par un service de médecine nucléaire hospitalier au Luxembourg : bilan

To face the challenges of the “⁹⁹Mo crisis” on a nuclear medicine department level, strategies were implemented to maintain numbers of scintigraphies as usual. We evaluated the efficiency of the measures. Using ^99mTc more rationally led to more profitable generator utilization. As long as the amount of ^99mTc at disposal (> 110%, 90–110% (= standard), 70–90%, 50–70%, 30–50% and < 30%) was greater than 30% of the standard, weekly numbers of ^99mTc-based investigations remained at “standard” level. Cost per mCi of administered ^99mTc remained unchanged. The successfully managed “⁹⁹Mo crisis” was based upon a rigorous organization as well as goodwill of all implicated staff, at the cost however of a lesser patient service. Punctual flexibility of staff members, adapted to the fluctuating work load, allowed global balance between numbers of required and delivered working hours. As efficient crisis management is tedious, generalization of the model cannot be thought of. To guarantee secure future availability of ^99mTc, projects for new nuclear reactors dedicated to producing ⁹⁹Mo are first choice.     

Des « terres noires » médiévales urbaines de France aux buttes anthropiques tropicales : l'archéologue en action

Thanks to its general objective, Archaeology depends on Natural Sciences as well as on Anthropology and on the varied scientific domains it understates. Consequently, it has to allocate the definitions of its objects to Nature or Culture or to an unmeasurable mixing of both. The analysis of two different occurrences of joint natural sciences and archaeology work, shows that in fact, the Nature/Culture separation does not intervene while defining the objects but is imposed afterwards in the official publication where, more or less cleaned off from its multiple links, the object appears with a name or termed within a sentence limiting the natural and cultural shares which gathered for this designation.This dichotomy from modern Constitution entails the general issue of choice (realized or difficult) between the natural, cultural or divine origin of these world beings. This choice is philosophical, i.e. political, and if it is legitimately, but insufficiently debated in the West, it raises well beyond, the question of the reasons and justifications of the extension and domination of the so-called Constitution to other societies and soon, to the entire world.     

Algues et microfossiles problématiques du Dévonien Moyen du « Fondry des Chiens » (bord sud du Synclinorium de Dinant, Belgique) : implications paléobathymétriques

This study is concerned with the distribution of algae and microproblematica observed in a regressive sequence of carbonate rocks that accumulated open marine to lagoonal palaeoenvironments. The basal algal microflora is reduced to a few chlorophytes (Udoteacean, Dasycladales), but increases rapidly in number and diversity in the flanks of the bioconstructions, then explodes in the restricted facies (“Pseudo-udoteaceans”). An attempt to estimate the bathymetry is based on the palaeoecological constraints of the identified algae. We conclude that the maximum water depth did not exceed the twenty meters. The regressive sequences being made of around sixty meters (of reefal, perireefal and lagoonal carbonates), subsidence is believed to be the main mechanism controlling accommodation space.     

Le groupe des « bisons adossés » de Lascaux. Étude de la technique de l'artiste par analyse des pigments

The painting matter of the “back to back bison's panel” of Lascaux was examined and analysed by electron microscopy in order to understand the know-how of Magdalenian artists. The observation of several samples coming from specific areas of the two bisons give an access to the nature of the used pigments, to the preparation mode used to obtain various colours and also to the application mode. Thanks to this physicochemical approach, we can make hypotheses about the mind and the gestures of the artists.     

Le « nucléus Donggutuo » et sa signification dans l’industrie du paléolithique inférieur de Donggutuo, bassin de Nihewan, Chine du Nord

As one of the most important Lower Pleistocene sites of the Nihewan basin in North China, Donggutuo (DGT) site is well known for its fine retouched small tools and characters of flake industry. However, new excavations still reveal some new discoveries and educe some new issues to us. For example, the “DGT core” introduced in this article is a new discovered typotechnology and indicates new economic strategy of the local people, which was never known before in this area at the time of 1.1 Ma B.P. The paper provides general background and statistic analysis of DGT industry including special method applied to the “DGT core” and discusses possible influence of environmental change for the emerging of the “DGT core”. The “DGT core” shows a germinated microlithic tradition and reflects a cultural diversity of early humans in the Lower Paleolithic in North China.     

Autres applications de la MIBG : « applications de la scintigraphie de l’innervation myocardique à la 123-I-MIBG en neurologie »

Myocardial 123-I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) imaging enables the assessment of postganglionic sympathetic cardiac innervation. Recently myocardial 123-I-MIBG scintigraphy has been found to be useful to distinguishing Parkinsońs disease (PD) from other akinetic rigid syndromes. The absence of published guidelines for cardiac 123-I-MIBG imaging makes standardization of procedures among individual users of this technique even more important. Cardiac MIBG study showed markedly decreased uptake in PD, dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and pure autonomic failure, which is a common feature of Lewy body disease. The cardiac MIBG uptake is severely impaired even in the early disease stage. Atypical parkinsonian syndromes, including Multiple System Atrophy, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, and other, show modest reduction of cardiac MIBG uptake. The MIBG study can be used for differentiating patients with extrapyramidal signs and dementia, and might provide useful diagnostic information to discriminate DLB and Alzheime?s disease.