Funerary practices of the Iberomaurusian population of Taforalt (Tafoughalt, Morocco, 11–12,000 BP): the case of Grave XII

The Iberomaurusian necropolis of Taforalt (Morocco, 11-12000 BP), excavated by Roche in the 1950s, contains 28 multiple graves. The funerary practices of the Taforalt population have been the focus of a previous work (Mariotti et al., 2009). In the absence of the excavation records of the necropolis, these funerary practices were investigated through the analysis of the contents of each grave and the distribution of intentionally modified specimens (ochre-dyeing, cut marks). Previous research has drawn particular attention to Grave XII (containing three male adults and two juveniles), where many intentionally modified specimens were identified. The present study focused specifically on the human remains recovered from Grave XII. Analysis of these remains has provided evidence of interventions, such as dismemberment and defleshing of the cadaver, and the use of ochre to colour the bones. Furthermore, the presence of lesions on two skulls suggests the possibility of intentional killing and cannibalism among the Taforalt population. This study further supports our previous impression of the complex and diversified funerary practices, characterising the social life of the Iberomaurusian population of Taforalt.     

骨骼表面人类齿痕特征的实验研究

长期以来;学者们大多将考古遗址出土骨骼表面的牙齿痕迹归因于食肉动物或者啮齿动物的啃咬行为。然而;人类在咀嚼和啃食骨骼及其附着营养物质的过程中,在其表面也会产生的改造痕迹。本文是国内学者对人类齿痕进行实验研究的首次尝试。实验结果显示;由于烹饪方式的不同;动物骨骼上人类齿痕的大小、形态、分布范围、深度等都有可能产生差异。将本次实验所得数据与西方学者研究结果对比后发现;虽然人类与食肉类动物造成的齿痕在形态上存在较大程度的相似性;但在合理排除食肉类动物是遗址中骨骼富集与改造营力的前提之下;我们依然可以通过分析典型人类齿痕组合在考古遗址中的出现情况;对古人类动物资源利用的能力与方式、烹饪技术乃至探讨古人类的食人风俗等提供一个独特的观察视角。     

Between votes and bullets. Conflicting ethnic identities in the Basque Country

With settlement of the Northern Irish conflict, the Basque Country hosts the most threatening nationalist conflict in the European Union. After the breakdown of the ceasefire late in 1999, a return of intensive and indiscriminate ETA violence has provoked a political and social crisis for Basque (and Spanish) society, and, according to all recent opinion polls, the issue of terrorism now ranks first among citizens' worries. This article focuses on the historical origins of the Basque conflict, its evolution during the Francoist dictatorship (1939–75), and the reasons for its continuity in the new political context of democracy. Special attention is paid to the attempt of kick-starting a peace process in 1998, comparison with the Northern Irish experience, and factors which contributed to the collapse of that attempt of peaceful accommodation. Finally, in the light of the most outstanding theoretical approaches towards the explanation of political violence in the Basque Country, several proposals for the necessary rethinking of this problem are presented.     

河南淇县宋庄东周墓葬一例殉人骨骼上发现疑似类风湿关节炎

本文介绍了河南淇县宋庄东周贵族墓葬的一例殉人骨骼标本M9-X2,对标本中疑似类风湿关节炎的表现特征进行描述和分析。该殉人的肩、肘、手腕、髋、膝、脚踝等多处关节面的骨质存在对称性侵蚀。相关的X光片显示,侵蚀关节附近有骨质疏松。因未保存全部脊椎和两侧骶髂关节,虽然无法完全排除血清阴性脊椎关节炎的可能,但是对比多种关节疾病的不同骨骼病变特征后认为,该殉人骨质病变更倾向于类风湿关节炎。     

Blood,War, and Ritual: Religious Ecology, ‘Strong’ Culture,and Human Sacrifice in the Premodern World

What social factors predict human sacrifice in premodern societies? After summarising key insights from competing theoretical perspectives that seek to explain the presence of human sacrifice in premodern societies, we empirically assess the explanatory utility of each theory. We draw from Stark's ‘moral communities’ argument and Alexander and Smith's insights regarding cultural autonomy to highlight how the macro-level organisation of premodern societies impacted the practice of human sacrifice. Using data from Murdock and White's Standard Cross-Cultural Sample, logistic regression models suggest that premodern societies that expressed community ties through religious ceremonies were more likely to engage in human sacrifice, while beliefs in spirit aggression are correlated with lower likelihood of human sacrifice. In terms of non-religious factors, societies that experienced frequent famine were slightly less likely to activity in the ancient world are partly a function of societal complexity. We conclude by specifying the theoretical implications of these findings.     

Bone breakage in the Krapina hominid collection

The fragmentary condition of the Krapina Neandertal remains has been offered as one line of evidence for the hypothesis that these hominids were the victims of cannibals seeking marrow and brains. Two other hypotheses regarding the causes of the framentation have been raised: a substantial portion of the breakage in the Krapina collection is attributable to excavation damage; and the rest of the breakage is attributable to sedimentary pressure and to natural rock falls that occurred during the site's prehistory. The purpose of this paper is report on tests of these three hypotheses concerning the cause of breakage in the Krapina material. Microscopic inspection of all Krapina hominid specimens showed that 23% of the material was inadvertantly broken during excavation or during quarrying that took place at the end of the last century. The morphology of the prehistoric breakage is inconsistent with the cannibalism hypothesis and supports the hypothesis that prehistoric breakage was caused by sedimentary pressure and/or roof falls.     

密度和饵料投放量对安吉小鲵幼体生长与同种相残率的影响

用改变安吉小鲵 (Hynobiusamjiensis)盆养密度和饵料投放量的实验方法 (共 2× 2种处理 ) ,研究了这两个生态要素对动物生长和同种相残率的影响。结果表明 ,小鲵幼体生长率及其变异受到饵料投放量的显著影响 ,而相残率受到密度与饵料投放量的双重制约 ;4种处理中 ,低密度高饵料组有最大生长率和最小的个体差异 ,而高密度低饵料组有最小的生长率和最大的相残率。以上结果符合理论预期。     

暗纹东方鲀苗种同类相残的研究

暗纹东方(Takifu guobscurus Abe)俗称江河豚,隶属于统形目、纯科,是一种海江洞游性鱼类。其内脏器官含剧毒,宰杀烹调不慎可致食者于死地,但肉味极为腴美,故民间素有“拼死吃河豚”之说。国外较早开展了东方纯属鱼类的养殖,在从苗种到成鱼的各个生长阶段中,河纯,特别是苗种阶段的同类相残较严重,成为苗种生产的主要限制因素。为探讨河纯同类相残的原因并采取有效防范措施,作者于1995年4月30日至6月20日,在人工培育暗纹东方统苗种期间,对其同类相残的现象进行了观察研究,现将研究结果作如下总结。     

Development of size structure in tiger salamanders: the role of intraspecific interference

Cannibalism affects patterns of density-dependent mortality and may regulate population size. In many cases, rates of cannibalism depend on size structure, the frequency distribution of body sizes in the population, because cannibals can often only capture and consume smaller individuals. Size differences within single-age groups can be caused by a variety of factors. In this research we tested the hypothesis that size variation among larval tiger salamanders is due, in part, to interference interactions among individuals of different sizes. We found that size variation was greater when we raised larvae in groups rather than in isolation. This increase in size variation was due more to a relative deceleration of growth among smaller individuals rather than acceleration among larger individuals. We also found that smaller larvae had lower feeding rates than larger larvae when in groups, but not when isolated. Including spatial structure to limit physical interactions did not affect the size specificity of feeding rate, although it reduced feeding rates overall. We argue that these results are consistent with the hypothesis that larger larvae interfere, probably indirectly, with the feeding behavior of small individuals and this contributes to increases in size variation over time. We hypothesize that this indirect interference is caused by a behavioral response of smaller larvae to the risk of predation (cannibalism) by larger individuals. Received: 18 May 1998 / Accepted: 29 April 1999     

大小等级和大小组合差异对盆养安吉小鲵幼体同种相残率的影响

用改变安吉小鲵 (Hynobiusamjiensis)幼体大小等级、盆养密度和饵料投放量的实验方法 ,研究这些生态要素对同种相残 (撕咬和吞吃 )的影响 ;同时结合Fuetal (2 0 0 3)的研究 ,比较了大小组合的差异对同种相残的影响。结果表明 ,①大小等级、密度与饵料量均显著地影响幼体的被吞吃率 :较小个体易被较大个体攻击 ;低饵料×高密度水平下 ,3个等级大小幼体的同种相残率都最高。②大小组合的差异显著影响幼体间的同种相残率 :不同大小组合的幼体间被吞吃率均显著大于相同大小组合 ,而被撕咬率反之。这证实了体形大小决定种群同种相残率的理论预测。     

Infanticide and cannibalism by male chimpanzees at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda

Researchers have documented infanticide by adult males in four wild chimpanzee populations. Males in three of these have killed infants from outside of their own communities, but most infanticides, including one from Kanyawara, in Kibale National Park, Uganda, took place within communities. Here we report two new cases of infanticide by male chimpanzees at a second Kibale site, Ngogo, where the recently habituated chimpanzee community is the largest yet known. Both infanticides happended during boundary patrols, which occur at a high frequency there. Patrolling males attacked solitary females who were unable to defend their infants successfully. The victims were almost certainly not members of the Ngogo community. Males cannibalized both infants and completely consumed their carcasses. These observations show that infanticide by males is widespread in the Kibale population and that between-community infanticide also happens there. We discuss our observations in the context of the sexual selection hypothesis and other proposed explanations for infanticide by male chimpanzees. The observations support the arguments that infanticide has been an important selective force in chimpanzee social evolution and that females with dependent infants can be at great risk near range boundaries, but why male chimpanzees kill infants is still uncertain.     

The population dynamics of pike,Esox lucius,and perch,Perca fluviatilis,in a simple predator-prey system

Synopsis The population dynamics and predator-prey relationship of pike, Esox lucius, and perch, Perca fluviatilis, were examined in simple fish communities in two adjacent shallow lakes, Lochs Kinord and Davan, Deeside, Scotland. Few perch survive to age 3 but Z is low for fish > 3 years and perch live up to 17 years. Population fecundity remained relatively high and constant in perch because of the multi-age spawning stock and the presence of older more fecund perch. Growth rates of perch in both lochs are relatively high as a consequence of low stock abundance. The N, B, and P of adult perch were unusually low. The age range of pike, and N, B, P, and growth were in the range of values reported elsewhere. There was little variation in the strength of pike year classes and the importance of cannibalism and low occurrence of alternative prey in the lochs suggest that the populations were self-regulating. Cannibalism by adults was responsible for most of mortality in perch larvae, and predation by pike and adult perch was responsible for the majority of juvenile losses. This conclusion is supported by the high biomass ratios of pike:juvenile perch of 1.0–30.8. While the number of adult fish was almost equal, the biomass of adult pike was 2–3 × that of perch in Kinord and 6 × in Davan. In L. Kinord, where year class strength was stable, high predation pressure from perch and pike reduced perch abundance rather than eliminated year classes. Perch year classes fluctuated in abundance in L. Davan and were eliminated in the first summer in two sampling years. The pike, and particularly the perch populations, have features characteristic of fish communities in unperturbed ecosystems: namely, a wide range of age classes, stability in biomass with variation dampened by longevity, and low production.     

New records of within-group infanticide and cannibalism in wild chimpanzees

Two cases of within-group infanticide and cannibalism were observed among the M Group chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania. In both cases, victimized infants were male, 5 – 6 months of age, and in good health when killed. Four to five years have passed since the mothers of the victims immigrated into M Group as nulliparous immigrants. In one case the 2nd-ranking male was observed to detach the infant from the mother's belly. Both infants were finally killed by the alpha male after several adult males scrambled for the bodies. There was no evidence that the mothers had mated with males other than those of M Group. Nor was there evidence that the mothers had restrictive mating relationships with some of the M Group adult males. What little evidence is available shows that the mothers had mated mostly with adolescent and other immature males during their conception cycles. However, at least in one case, the mother began to mate more with adult males rather than with immature males after the infanticide. It is proposed that the function of within-group male infanticide can be explained by the male-male competition hypothesis developed for hanuman langurs and other nonhuman primates.     

Cannibalism among phytoseiid mites: a review

Cannibalism, the killing and consumption of conspecific individuals, is a common and widespread phenomenon in the animal kingdom. Cannibalism in phytoseiid mites has been known for decades but until recently reports were mainly observational and experimental data were lacking. Recently, diverse aspects of cannibalism, such as life stage-related cannibalism and preference, nutritional benefits, the role of diet specialization, species discrimination, and kin discrimination were assessed and compared within and among diverse phytoseiid species. As a result, species of the family Phytoseiidae provide a rather well studied group with respect to cannibalism at the individual level. The present review aims at summarizing and canalizing the wealth of recent experimental data on cannibalistic phytoseiid mites and seeks to emphasize and discuss the behavioral and ecological significance of cannibalism. In an ideal case, it will stimulate studies on topics related to cannibalism that are currently underrepresented such as the consequences of cannibalism for population dynamics and species composition in a given habitat. Partitioned in six sections, the key determinants of cannibalism in phytoseiid mites are treated by extracting features that are common among species and, where applicable, by indicating the circumstances that minimize the costs and maximize the benefits of cannibalism. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Paleolithic hominin remains from Eshkaft-e Gavi (southern Zagros Mountains, Iran): description, affinities, and evidence for butchery

Eshkaft-e Gavi is a cave located in the southern Zagros Mountains of Iran and is one of the few archaeological sites in the region to preserve both Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic occupations. Excavation of the site in the 1970s yielded an assemblage of lithic and faunal remains, including ten hominin specimens: a mandibular molar, four cranial fragments, a clavicular diaphysis, the proximal half of a metacarpal, a fragment of os coxa, the proximal diaphysis of a juvenile femur, and a patella. The bones derive from a minimum of four individuals, including two juveniles. Although many of these remains could be Epi-Paleolithic in age, one of the juvenile specimens—the mandibular molar—occurs at the base of the cave's Upper Paleolithic sequence. The remains are very fragmentary, but those that preserve diagnostic morphology indicate that they represent modern humans. The molar is taxonomically diagnostic, thus confirming the association of the Aurignacian-like Baradostian Industry with modern humans. Four of the specimens—a piece of frontal bone, the clavicle, the juvenile femur, and the patella—display clear evidence for intentional butchery in the form of stone-tool cutmarks. These cutmarked specimens, along with a fragment of parietal bone, are also burned. Although this evidence is consistent with cannibalism, the small sample makes it difficult to say whether or not the individuals represented by the hominin remains were butchered and cooked for consumption. Nevertheless, the cutmarked Eshkaft-e Gavi specimens add to a growing sample of hominin remains extending back into the Plio-Pleistocene that display evidence of intentional defleshing.     

The effects of cannibalism on Amazonian poison frog egg and tadpole deposition and survivorship in Heliconia axil pools

This study investigated the influence of cannibalism on egg and larval mortality, and on the deposition strategies of adults, in a tropical anuran breeding in very small leaf axil pools. Patterns of egg and tadpole deposition and mortality in the Amazonian poison frog, Dendrobates ventrimaculatus, were monitored in rainforest near Pompeya in Sucumbios Province, Ecuador. Oviposition and tadpole deposition typically ocurred in leaf axils of Heliconia plants. Pools typically received more than one oviposition. Egg survivorship was low, and significantly lower when eggs were deposited in pools with large tadpoles, indicating that cannibalism is an important source of mortality. Tadpole survivorship was also associated with the presence of other tadpoles: most pools ended with only one surviving tadpole, regardless of the number of tadpoles deposited in the pool. Egg deposition was signifcantly less likely for pools that had a tadpole in them, suggesting that adults can detect the presence of tadpoles and avoid ovipositing in pools that contain them. This hypothesis was tested with a series of pool choice experiments, which revealed that D. ventrimaculatus avoid placing either eggs or tadpoles into a pool which contains a large tadpole. Several hypotheses which could explain multiple deposition in this species are discussed. Received: 14 September 1998 / Accepted: 25 January 1999     

星豹蛛求偶和交配行为

以星豹蛛(Pardosa astrigera)为研究对象,在室内对其求偶和交配行为进行了描述。雄蛛\"俯卧撑\"式动作(push-up)在求偶中具重要作用。交配初期,两侧触肢交替插入;随交配进行,单侧触肢连续插入3~5次后才换另一侧触肢插入,触肢每插入一次,基血囊膨大多次。完整交配一次雄蛛触肢器平均插入次数为29·625。交配前求偶时间、交配持续时间和有效交配时间分别平均为6min、32min25s和11min11s。星豹蛛雄蛛可进行多次交配,而雌蛛一般为单次交配。雌蛛交配状态(是否已经交配)影响其同类相食行为,已交配雌蛛对雄蛛同类相食率显著高于未交配雌蛛对雄蛛同类相食率。     

Microhabitat segregation and cannibalism in an endangered freshwater isopod, Thermosphaeroma thermophilum

Intraspecific microhabitat segregation is expected to arise when there are age- or sex-specific differences in predation risk. The degree to which conspecific predation (cannibalism) can generate this risk, however, is poorly understood. In this paper, we examine microhabitat use, cannibalism, and individual responses to the presence of conspecifics in Thermosphaeroma thermophilum, an endangered isopod crustacean species that is endemic to a single, thermal spring in Socorro, N.M. USA. In samples from the natural habitat, juveniles (mancas) were found mainly on vegetation, whereas adults were found predominantly on bottom sediments. Females were found on vegetation more often than males. In laboratory containers without refuges, males cannibalized females, males and females cannibalized mancas, and mancas cannibalized each other, even in the presence of alternative food. When placed in containers provided with refuges, mancas actively avoided adults. We suggest, therefore, that cannibalism in T. thermophilum generates age-, size-, and sex-specific predation risks which are responsible for microhabitat segregation between mancas and adults, and between males and females. Since interspecific predation in the spring is negligible, cannibalism appears to play a significant role in population regulation and behavioral evolution in this species. We recommend, given the current “endangered” status of this species, that microhabitat heterogeneity be maintained in its native spring because it provides refuges from cannibalism and may support a larger and more viable natural population. Received: 28 June 1996 / Accepted: 24 February 1997