Journal articles on the topic 'Eastern Hillside'

A 130-years old beech forest stand (Helleboro odo-ri – Fagetum) in Eastern Mecsek hills (Southern Hungary), abandoned 22-25 years ago, provides excellent opportunities for the study of spontaneous forest dynamics. In 2010 intensive studies started, iniciated by Mecsekerdő Zrt: repeating an individuum-based tree-stand survey of 1986-87, and a grid-based herb layer survey according to the Forest Reserve Protocol. In the herb layer 95 species were found, amongst them 14 protected ones, most of them in the hillside-hilltop ecotone. Most important are the more thousand exemplars of Doronicum orientale. More than 30% percentage of specialist and competitor species indicates a very good naturalness state, comparable with forest reserves.

At the level of the north hillside of the western High Atlas, only the training of limestones and dolomitic marls of Aït Abbes was recognized in Senonian. It is topped by the phosphated series. To highlight a tectonic action at the end of lower Santonian of Sidi Bou Othman's region and which is probably due to a halocinique phase, three cuts were been lifted on both sides of the Assif Aït Tabgaw. This tectonic phase appears by angular unconformity within the deposits of the training of Aït Abbes, microfaults, synsedimentary slidings, and monogenic breaches… It also structures the whole region at the high bottom or emergent low lands forming several small basins confined and supersaturated in brines. Then, following an important peneplanation, a platform of sebkha type is set up on the whole region. Some brief marine incursions reach the eastern basins.

The Band-bellied Owl (Pulsatrix melanota) is among the least known Neotropical strigiforms, and up to now, no nesting records of the species have been published. In July 2020 in a locality in the eastern foothills of central Peru, an active nest occupied by a single chick and an adult pair of band-bellied owls was found. The nest was located on a small triangular ledge (≈170 cm2) at 6 m high in a forked trunk of a 17 m high and 93,3 cm DBH Albizia carbonaria tree, in a gently sloping hillside of a small ravine at 1290 m a.s.l. The nesting tree was located only at 4 m from a transited road and 40 m from a small village. The habitat in the nest site was dominated by agricultural land. In addition, we describe three other chicks, provide morphometric measurements of an adult and notes on the diet.

A large part of the population in low-income countries (LICs) lives in fragile and conflict-affected states. Many cities in these states show high growth dynamics, but little is known about the relation of conflicts and urban growth. In Afghanistan, the Taliban regime, which lasted from 1996 to 2001, caused large scale displacement of the population. People from Afghanistan migrated to neighboring countries like Iran and Pakistan, and all developments came to a halt. After the US invasion in October 2001, all the major cities in Afghanistan experienced significant population growth, in particular, driven by the influx of internally displaced persons. Maximum pressure of this influx was felt by the capital city, Kabul. This rapid urbanization, combined with very limited capacity of local authorities to deal with this growth, led to unplanned urbanization and challenges for urban planning and management. This study analyses the patterns of growth between 2001 and 2017, and the factors influencing the growth in the city of Kabul with the help of high-resolution Earth Observation-based data (EO) and spatial logistic regression modelling. We analyze settlement patterns by extracting image features from high-resolution images (aerial photographs of 2017) and terrain features as input to a random forest classifier. The urban growth is analyzed using an available built-up map (extracted from IKONOS images for the year 2001). Results indicate that unplanned settlements have grown 4.5 times during this period, whereas planned settlements have grown only 1.25 times. The unplanned settlements expanded mostly towards the west and north west parts of the city, and the growth of planned settlements happened mainly in the central and eastern parts of the city. Population density and the locations of military bases are the most important factors that influence the growth, of both planned and unplanned settlements. The growth of unplanned settlement occurs predominantly in areas of steeper slopes on the hillside, while planned settlements are on gentle slopes and closer to the institutional areas (central and eastern parts of the city). We conclude that security and availability of infrastructure were the main drivers of growth for planned settlements, whereas unplanned growth, mainly on hillsides, was driven by the availability of land with poor infrastructure.

Nepalese hillside terraces are classified into two broad groups, sloping or bari terraces which are only rainfed, and level or khet terraces which are commonly flood irrigated but may also be rainfed. Although such terraces may be adjacent, the process of irrigation by flooding and puddling changes the pattern of variability both within and between terraces. Data collected from Pakhribas Agricultural Centre, Dhankuta, Nepal, were used to describe this variability. The variability is manifest not only in the soil characteristics of the two terrace types, with khet terraces being more uniform than bari terraces both within and between terraces, but also in the variability of field experiments on the two terrace types. However, both terrace types exhibit similar patterns of variability which influence the design of experiments. These include the following: a gradient between the terrace riser and wall which is generally more important than gradients along the terrace, variability within terraces which can preclude the assumption that plots on the same terrace are similar, and variability between terraces which requires experimental units in the same block to be assigned to the same terrace.

The research described in this paper is focused on the occurrence of pathogenic microorganisms on beech trees relative to the presence of tree injuries, with the aim to ensure protection and preservation of this species in Serbia. The research was conducted in Eastern Serbia, in a hillside beech forest Fagetum moesiacae submontanum of generative origin. The testing was carried out on two sites over 51 testing plots, with a total of 829 trees and 21 species of identified fungi. On the first site it was found that the appearance of fungi primarily depends on the presence of mechanical damage on trees (as much as 73.46%), while the presence of abiotic damage has almost no bearing (only 3.21%). On the second site there was a strong correlation link between the occurrence of fungi and presence of mechanical damage - 51.88%, as well as between the fungi and abiotic damage - 47.96%. The health condition of high beech stands was found to be heavily dependent on careful and proper manipulation during harvesting, while each injury inflicted on a beech live tree during logging opens the door to infection with pathogenic microorganisms.

Dere Street Roman Road was strategically important to the Roman army. It was built in the late 1st century ad to enable the advance of the Roman Army, commanded by Agricola, into the hostile territories of what is now Scotland. This eastern arterial road linked the Roman legionary forts of Eburacum (York) and Inchtuthil near Perth, and continued to be used through the medieval period, its longevity of use standing as a testament to Roman engineering and road construction. In 2007 an archaeological excavation made an exciting discovery which sheds new light on construction techniques employed by Agricola’s legionnaires and demonstrates their adaptive ability to use whatever local resources were at hand to engineer a solution for crossing difficult terrain. As an archaeological response to a proposal to extend the existing Dun Law Windfarm, excavations were conducted by CFA Archaeology Ltd across what was believed to be the course of Dere Street running across Dun Law, a prominent, but wet and boggy, hillside in the Scottish Borders (NGR: NT 4643 5663). The excavations discovered a surviving section of the road, which at that point traversed a palaeochannel by means of a latticework of logs and a mat of branchwood.

Dendrochronological Studies of Wood from Mediaeval Mines of Polymetallic Ores in Lower Silesia (Sw Poland)The paper presents results of dendrochronological dating of wood encountered in abandoned mines in the eastern part of Lower Silesia. The research was carried out in gold mines in Złoty Stok, Głuchołazy, and Zlate Hory, a polymetallic-ore mine in Marcinków as well as old mines in the Sowie Mts: the Silberloch adit, an adit on the hillside of Mała Sowa, a graphite mine, and the silver and lead mine Augusta. Altogether 69 samples were taken from timbers of coniferous tree species:Pinus sylvestris, Abies alba, Picea abiesandLarix decidua.The oldest wood, from the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was encountered in the gold mines in Zlate Hory and Głuchołazy. In the gold mine in Złoty Stok, graphite mine in Sowie Mts and in Marcinków there was identified wood from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Generally, timbers from the nineteenth century were prevailing, and in three cases there was even encountered relatively young twentieth-century wood in the gold mine in Złoty Stok and in the Silberloch adit. The analyses carried out were only preliminary. Broader, interdisciplinary investigations, including dendrochronology, archaeology, geology, mining, and palaeobotany, would substantially contribute for learning the history of the mining in the whole region.

Introduction: Maternal mortality in our region observed a significative reduction, however, it continues to be a a public health problem. In Cali-Colombia was traditionally concentrated in the eastern and hillside areas and with high prevalence of afroamerican patients. Materials and methods: To analyze the behavior of maternal mortality during the last twenty years in the city, an ecological analytical study of spatial correlation was carried out including in the analysis, economic, sociocultural and health care factors. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyzes were performed. Results: The spatial analysis showed clusters of maternal mortality in the northern and central areas of the city. As a risk factor for maternal mortality, it was observed that in pregnant women belonging to the mixed ethnic backgrounds and spanic white ethnicity from low socioeconomic income (IRR: 1.13, 95% CI 1.03-1.24). Access to basic education (OR: 0.66, 95% CI 0.53-0.83), attendance at prenatal care (OR: 0.95 95% CI 0.93-0.98) and access to health institutions (OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.95-0-97) identified as protective factors for maternal mortality. Conclusion: The clusters for maternal-perinatal mortality in the city during the last two decades had a significant spatial change with a new pattern of risk factors associated to maternal mortality.

The Ghorveh plain with an annual average rainfall of 350 millimeter and a cold and semi humid climate is located between the Dehgolan's watersheds and Chahardoli and 95 kilometers east of Sanandaj and northwest of Hamadan. From a geographic coordinates point of view it is situated between the longitudes of 47° 38' 52" to 48° 06' 03" eastern and latitudes of 35° 02' 22" to 35° 30' 54" northern . This plain leads to Mts. Darvazeh and Ebrahim Attar from south, it leads to hillside lands from the northern side , from Westside it reaches Mt. Bikheir and from the eastern part it is limited to the Dam Gaz heights. The area of the Ghorveh watershed is 1063/50 square kilometers while the area of the region under study is 197 square kilometers. Geologically speaking, it is located in the Sanadaj –Sirjan zone. The collision depth to the underground waters in the heights range bordering the plain is a maximum of 42 meters while the same rate about the river Talvar is at least zero and it is less than 5 meters in a wide range region of the eastern side of the plain. The direction of the underground water flow in the Ghorveh region is from the south west to north east. The Piezometrical water level changes compared to the western side plain has had a reduced height.The Dehgolan's plain with an annual average rainfall of 354 millimeters and a cold and semi humid climate is located in the eastern side of the city of Sanandaj between the longitudes of 47° 08' 00" to 48° 12' 00" eastern and latitudes of 35° 00' 00" to 36° 00'00" northern. This plain is limited to not very high ridge of Shanooreh from the eastern side and it leads to the Darband Kabood heights and Abdulrahman heights from south, while it leads to Mt. Sheida and Akhikamal and Salarabad from north and then it is limited to the Khatoon heights from the west part . The area of the watershed of Dehgolan is 2250 square kilometer and the area of the region under study is 644 square kilometers . Geologically and regionally speaking, it is part of the geological – structural zone of Sanandaj – Sirjan. The general slope of the region is towards east and north east. The main river of this plain is called Talvar. The alluvial aquifer of the Dehgolan's plain is of a free type and is on average 90meters thick where in some parts thickness swells to 90 meters.

The Ghorveh plain with an annual average rainfall of 350 millimeter and a cold and semi humid climate is located between the Dehgolan's watersheds and Chahardoli and 95 kilometers east of Sanandaj and northwest of Hamadan. From a geographic coordinates point of view it is situated between the longitudes of 47° 38' 52" to 48° 06' 03" eastern and latitudes of 35° 02' 22" to 35° 30' 54" northern . This plain leads to Mts. Darvazeh and Ebrahim Attar from south, it leads to hillside lands from the northern side , from Westside it reaches Mt. Bikheir and from the eastern part it is limited to the Dam Gaz heights. The area of the Ghorveh watershed is 1063/50 square kilometers while the area of the region under study is 197 square kilometers. Geologically speaking, it is located in the Sanadaj –Sirjan zone. The collision depth to the underground waters in the heights range bordering the plain is a maximum of 42 meters while the same rate about the river Talvar is at least zero and it is less than 5 meters in a wide range region of the eastern side of the plain. The direction of the underground water flow in the Ghorveh region is from the south west to north east. The Piezometrical water level changes compared to the western side plain has had a reduced height.The Dehgolan's plain with an annual average rainfall of 354 millimeters and a cold and semi humid climate is located in the eastern side of the city of Sanandaj between the longitudes of 47° 08' 00" to 48° 12' 00" eastern and latitudes of 35° 00' 00" to 36° 00'00" northern. This plain is limited to not very high ridge of Shanooreh from the eastern side and it leads to the Darband Kabood heights and Abdulrahman heights from south, while it leads to Mt. Sheida and Akhikamal and Salarabad from north and then it is limited to the Khatoon heights from the west part . The area of the watershed of Dehgolan is 2250 square kilometer and the area of the region under study is 644 square kilometers . Geologically and regionally speaking, it is part of the geological – structural zone of Sanandaj – Sirjan. The general slope of the region is towards east and north east. The main river of this plain is called Talvar. The alluvial aquifer of the Dehgolan's plain is of a free type and is on average 90meters thick where in some parts thickness swells to 90 meters.

Resumen: El monte Rodiles, situado en el margen oriental de la ría de Villaviciosa, conserva evidencias de ocupación histórica desde sus orígenes como castro romanizado. El asentamiento está limitado en su vertiente sur por los restos de una muralla defensiva, mientras que en la ladera nororiental existen escarpes rocosos que debieron de actuar como defensa del enclave. Este trabajo realiza un análisis del relieve y revisa la estructura del sustrato geológico en el entorno próximo para determinar el origen de los escarpes en la ladera nordeste. Los datos de campo y el análisis de la topografía permiten identificar la existencia de varios deslizamientos que afectan a gran parte de la ladera nororiental del monte Rodiles. La masa deslizada aprovecha la inclinación de la sucesión litológica del Jurásico hacia el NE. La existencia de un nivel de arcillas, mecánicamente incompetentes, por debajo de los conglomerados de la Formación La Ñora, mecánicamente más competentes, permite el movimiento de la ladera hacia el mar. Estos escarpes están además alineados con la terminación lateral de una falla normal Mesozoica reactivada posteriormente como una falla inversa durante el levantamiento de la Cordillera Cantábrica. Las cicatrices de los deslizamientos, desarrolladas sobre niveles métricos de conglomerados fracturados, constituyeron por tanto una defensa natural del enclave histórico.Palabras clave: enclave histórico, deslizamientos, estabilidad de taludes, conglomerados jurásicos.Abstract: The Rodiles hill, on the eastern shores of the Villaviciosa estuary, preserves evidences of historic occupation since the romans. The settlement has a defensive wall in the south and is bounded to the north by a cragged slope to the sea. This work investigates the relief and the structure of the rocks in the area aiming at finding an origin for the crags in the northeastern slope of the hill. Field observations and the analysis of the topography reveal the presence of several landslides that affect most of the northeastern hillside. The dip of the Jurassic rock sequence to the NE and the presence of a two meter-thick layer of shales, mechanically very plastic, below the La Ñora conglomerates Formation, mechanically very competent, favours the slip of the hillside. The scarps are aligned with the lateral termination of a Mesozoic normal fault, reactivated as a reverse fault during the formation of the Cantabrian Mountains. The head scarps at the back of the landslides, developed on fractured conglomerates, constituted a natural defence during the historic settlement.Keywords: historic settlement, slides, slope stability, Jurassic conglomerates.

The subject that we are discussing here is the historical origin of the ethnic groups that live in an area of ​​9 square kilometers. This area is known as (the Kohikhana District) of Maimana city. Kohikhana district is located in the eastern part of Maimana city at the the hillside of the mountain range that stretches to the north and south. The residence of this area consists of different ethnic groups such as Lefrai, Kolani, Zai Reza, Turkmen, Uzbek, Punjabi, and Pashtun. There are various traditions and views about the origin and habitat of these ethnic groups, the form of settlement, and the method of immigration. The majority of the residents of this region are Lefrai, Kolani, and Zai Reza, who are all known under the title (AAimaq or Firouzkohi). The above tribes came here from the mountain areas of Faryab province or Ghor province and settled here. Besides them, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Punjabis, and Pashtuns have also come here from different areas and live peacefully together. The purpose of this article is to show that the tribes living in this area came to this area and settled at what time? Which region and land were they from? Under what conditions and factors did the foundation of immigration in this direction? What was their naming philosophy? And in which position did they settle in this area?

In the conditions of the Central Caucasus, hay harvesting on mountain slopes contributes to increasing livestock production. The authors propose using mining modification units for hay harvesting while applying table salt as a preservative to ensure better hay preservation. A set of hay harvesters aggregated with low-clearance tractors is porposed for hillside areas with a slope of up to 15°. The technical capabilities of the selected machines may optimize the harvesting time and reduce the cost of manual labor, ensu re the most negligible loss of harvested feed, and increase its quality and preservation. The tests of this technology were carried out in the mountainous zone of the RSO-Alania (the Dargava basin, the site of SKNIIGPSH) at an altitude of 1540 m above sea level south-eastern exposure with a slope steepness of up to 15°. Experimental studies found that the content of fodder units in compressed hay increased by 32.1%, dry matter by 29.6%, crude protein by 17.3%, fat by 7.4%, fiber by 14.2%, sugar by 17.6%, and metabolic energy by 8.0%. The developed technology, as compared with manual harvesting, can reduce mechanical losses in more than 1.2 times, increase labor productivity in 4…5 times, and reduce the cleaning time in 3 times. At the same time, it was found that the consumption of harvested feed increased by 18.5%, which, together with its higher nutritional value, positively affected the physiological state of animals in the winter-stall period and led to an increase in milk yield by 11.7%.

One of the oldest lime manufactures in Chiang Mai Province is located in a hillside village, Ban Pong, Hang Dong District, the western part of Chiang Mai City. Villagers still have conserved traditional production methods using wood-fired kilns and the primary material selection, an Ordovician marble. There are 2 massive amounts of carbonate rocks distributed in Chiang Mai Province; Permian limestone and Ordovician marble. However, the Ordovician carbonate rocks in Ban Pong were selected to produce high-quality lime by their primitive method (man-made) for a long time. Petrographical studies suggest that the Ordovician rock samples show a granoblastic texture with a slightly foliation represents by mica flakes. They are made up mainly of calcite, with very small amounts of quartz, muscovite, talc, and opaque minerals that can be identified as marble. The mineral compositions are according to the value of CaO, SiO2, Al2O3, K2O, and Fe2O3 in whole-rock analysis by XRF. The geochemical data suggest that marble in the Ban Pong area has a high CaO ratio and contains small amounts of muscovite, quartz, talc, and opaque minerals that may reduce the decomposition temperature during the calcination process. The Ordovician marble in Ban Pong is an appropriate raw material for traditional lime manufacture to saving energy in the production system. HIGHLIGHTS Limestone has been a geologic material in the lime industry from the past to the presence of human society Villagers in Ban Pong (Chiang Mai Province, Thailand) selected the western Ordovician limestone mountains to produce lime by a primitive process instead of the eastern Permian limestone mountains The mineral- and chemical compositions of the Ordovician limestones were intensively analyzed to characterize the suitable raw materials for a primitive lime kiln The mineral composition indicated that the Ordovician limestone in this area is metamorphosed into an impure fine-grained marble GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

By using the convection-resolving weather research and forecasting simulation, a convective rainfall event over the middle portions of the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains in North China is investigated in this study. The influences of the cold front and complex topography on the initiation and maintenance of the convective system are analyzed. Results show two reasons why the convective clusters are initiated near noon on the hillsides at an elevation of 800 m. First, a local topographic convergence zone usually appears on the eastern slope of the Taihang Mountains near noon in May. Second, such a topographic convergence zone is enhanced by a cold front system and then triggers the convective clusters. Subsequently, the convective cells strengthen when moving downslope and weaken when moving eastward on the plain. When moving downslope, the atmospheric stratification is convectively unstable, and the mountain–plains solenoid (MPS) is strong near the foot of the mountain. The large amount of water vapor carried by the MPS-induced easterly wind is forced to ascend by topographic obstructions, and therefore the convective cells develop. As a result, heavy rainfall occurs on the hillsides with an elevation of 200–600 m. When the convective cells move eastward on the plain, the atmospheric stratification is stable, and the MPS is weak. Thus, convective activities weaken. Moreover, the results reveal that the mesoscale convergence line, slope gradient and slope aspect of the local terrain, local atmospheric instability, and the MPS play different roles in maintaining the convective system at elevations of 200–600 m along the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains.

Ochradenus aucheri Boiss. (Jesh) belonging to family Resedaceae usually found in sandy areas, hillsides, and mountains. Common in southern and eastern Iran to Pakistan and Muscat. Very common throughout mountains at lower elevation and on alluvial gravels in the northern Emirates. Rapidly colonizes new roadsides, e.g. around Hatta (Western, 1989). Unripe fruits eaten as treatment for digestive problems

Negligent entrustment is a civil wrong grounding an action in tort law which arises when one party is held liable for negligence because he negligently provided another party with a an object that could cause harm to another and the latter caused injury to a third party with that object. The cause of action most frequently arises where one person allows another to drive his vehicle. Common law countries apply the The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act of 2007, which provides that an organization is guilty of an offence if the way in which its activities are managed or organized causes a person’s death, and amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the organization to the deceased. The Act applies inter alia to a corporation. The offence is termed ‘corporate manslaughter’, insofar as it is an offence under the law of England and Wales or Northern Ireland; and ‘corporate homicide’, insofar as it is an offence under the law of Scotland. An organization that is guilty of corporate manslaughter or corporate homicide is liable on conviction to a fine and the offence of corporate homicide is indictable only in the High Court of Justiciary. The Act provides, inter alia, that the extent to which the evidence shows that there were attitudes, policies, systems or accepted practices within the Organization that were likely to have caused failures in the provision of services by the corporation could be taken into account in determining the culpability of that entity. The possible application of this legislation to air transport is a reality, as exemplified in the Helios trial which opened on 26 February 2009 in Cyprus. The trial pertains to the island’s worst air tragedy, when 121 people perished on a charter plane that slammed into a Greek hillside nearly four years ago. According to reports, at the time of writing, Helios Airways and four airline officials faced charges of manslaughter and reckless endangerment in one of the most complex and high-profile cases in the eastern Mediterranean island’s legal history. Plaintiffs, who are relatives of the dead, have called for criminal action against those deemed responsible when the Helios Airways Boeing 737–300 ran out of oxygen and crashed outside Athens in August 2005. It has also been reported that, although the authorities have not named those to be charged, the accused are known to be officials who held top management positions in the airline at the time of the crash. Against this backdrop, this article analyses the offence of negligent entrustment and draws a link between the offence and the leasing of aircraft and crew.

SummaryThe mountains of south-eastern Nigeria are a western extension of the Cameroon mountain range, which is classified as an endemic bird area (EBA). Unlike its eastern extension in Cameroon, most of the ornithological surveys in the western extension of the Cameroon highlands in Nigeria have produced only limited checklists and inventories. There is a clear need for quantitative baseline data so that conservation problems can be identified. Twenty line transects covering a total transect length of 28.8 km were used to survey five sites (Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, Oban Division and Okwangwo Division of Cross River National Park, Sankwala Mountains and Mbe Mountains) in the westernmost extension of the Cameroon Mountains EBA in south-eastern Nigeria. Vegetation measurements were taken to control for the potential confounding effect of variation in vegetation density and structure on detectability of birds between sites. The 193 bird species recorded in Afi, 158 in Sankwala, 124 in Oban, 100 in Mbe and 73 in Okwangwo Division included most of the Cameroon highlands restricted range species. The results show that the mountains of south-eastern Nigeria are important parts of the Cameroon EBA, particularly Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary. However these sites are threatened by fire and livestock grazing on the hilltops, shifting agriculture on the hillsides and lowlands, and logging for timber in some parts, as well as wildlife hunting for bushmeat.

The frequency and abundance of invasive alien woody plants were recorded along roadsides and at watercourse crossings in 66% (151/230) of the quarter degree squares in the study area. The survey yielded 64 species of which the most prominent (in order of prominence) in streambank habitats were: Salix babylonica, Populus x canescens, Acacia dealbata and Salix fragilis (fide R.D. Meikle pers. comm ). The most prominent species (in order of prominence) in roadside and veld habitats were: Opunlia ficus-indica, Prunus persica, Eucalyptus spp.. Rosa eglanteria, Pyracantha angustifolia and Acacia dealbata.Little invasion was recorded for most of the province. The greatest intensity of invasion was recorded along the perennial rivers and rocky hillsides in the moist grassland of the eastern mountain region bordering on Lesotho and Natal.

Water is one of the most important entry points to improve rural livelihoods in drought affected areas of the north-eastern Amhara region in Ethiopia. Various attempts have been made to overcome this problem by making use of different water harvesting structures. However, the choice of structures has been difficult because of a lack of empirical evidence on the relative effectiveness of the different structures. An experiment was conducted from 2002 to 2004 to compare and evaluate three different water harvesting structures (eye-brow basin, half-moon and trench) against the normal seedling plantation practice by farmers (normal pit) as a control. Data on root collar diameter (RCD), diameter at breast height (DBH), height and survival rate of Acacia saligna tree seedlings was collected at 3-month intervals after planting and annual grass biomass production was also measured. Trench and eye-brow basin structures produced 68, 95, 52 and 44% increases in RCD, DBH, height and survival rate, respectively, 15 months after planting compared with the normal pit. Trench structures increased grass biomass by 41.1% compared with normal pits. Eye-brow basins are recommended on hillsides where stone is available while trenchs could be used where stone is scarce. The results indicated that well designed water harvesting micro-basin structures can mitigate the effect of dry spell shocks on tree seedling performance and land cover rehabilitation. They were also very effective in increasing grass biomass production indicating the potential for improving livestock feed on the available barren hillsides.

Recognized meteorite impact features are relatively rare in the U.S. Midcontinent region, but recently with increased interest and research, the number has increased dramatically. We add another possibility to the growing list, the Edgerton structure in northwestern Miami County, Kansas. The feature is elliptical (∼5.5 × 6.5 km, slightly elongated east-west) with radial surface drainage. The feature was first observed on hillshade maps of digitized topography of 7.5 minute quadrangles. Subsequent magnetic profiles show a higher magnetic value in the center of the ellipse with higher values around the edges; this shape is characteristic of an impact feature. Depth to the anomalous body is estimated to be about 1 km, which puts it in the Precambrian crystalline basement under a cover of Paleozoic sediments. There are no deep boreholes in the vicinity and no seismic profiles are available. If it is an impact structure, it will be the second such feature documented in Kansas, the first being the Brenham meteorite crater at Haviland in Kiowa County in southwestern Kansas. It would be older than the other impact structures identified in the Midcontinent—Manson in Iowa, Ames in Oklahoma, Haswell Hole in Colorado, and possibly Belton in Missouri and Merna in Nebraska. There are at least two other prospective impact features in Kansas: the Goddard ring west of Wichita and Garden City ellipse north-west of Garden City.

In the rugged uplands of eastern Kentucky, archaeological evidence of pre-maize plant cultivation is largely absent from stream bottom locations, being concentrated instead within upland rockshelters. Some researchers have hypothesized that the apparent failure of early food producers to exploit rich bottomland soils was an economically sound response to the shortcomings of local stream valley habitats. Instead, seed crop farmers favored hillsides and ridgetops, which were less costly to clear and maintain under cultivation than narrow and densely vegetated stream bottoms. We analyze the goodness of fit between hypothetical upland and lowland cultivation systems and new evidence for human interaction with plant communities and the agricultural potential of soils. Seed and wood assemblages indicate a temporal association between increased human interaction with lowland plant communities, higher levels of habitat disturbance, and greater reliance on cultivated plants. However, there is no convincing evidence that plant cultivation caused disturbance and exploitation of lowlands. Expansion of mesic and hydric habitats was in part a response to increased precipitation and frequency and severity of flooding. Floodplains became largely unsuitable for human habitation, contributing to more intensive exploitation of uplands. While ridgetops and steep slopes were both poor locations for cultivated plots, other upland soils on limestone benches also had good agricultural potential, as did the soils on lower colluvial slopes.

Six new species of the extinct family Dinopanorpidae (Mecoptera) are described in the new genus Dinokanaga gen. nov. from five Early (and early Middle?) Eocene Okanagan Highlands localities in British Columbia and Washington State. These are Dinokanaga hillsi sp. nov., D. wilsoni sp. nov., D. dowsonae sp. nov., D. andersoni sp. nov., D. sternbergi sp. nov., and D. webbi sp. nov. The family Dinopanorpidae is previously known only from a hind wing of Dinopanorpa megarche Cockerell, and an undescribed species of Dinopanorpa, both from the Paleogene of Primorye (Maritime Province) in Pacific coastal far-eastern Russia. The family includes mostly large species, with forewings up to 43 mm in length. Dinopanorpidae is particularly distinguished by a long R1 vein in both the fore- and hind wings, extending almost to the wing apex and bending posteriad distally. Their wings are mostly dark with light bands and spots; have many to extremely dense crossveins; and an expanded costal space in the basal quarter of the forewing, which is more developed in larger species. The rostrum is extended; the medigynium is without tongue-shaped structures.

Symphyotrichum ericoides, the heath aster, is a herbaceous perennial, arising from woody, corm-like rootstocks or herbaceous rhizomes. This facultative upland species occurs in open, dry ground in plains, railway sidings, prairies, ranges, glades, grassy hillsides, dunes, sand bars, river banks, shore salt flats, and thickets. A weed in Canada, and sometimes declared so in the United States and other times not, S. ericoides has an extensive North American distribution, occurring from Nova Scotia and Maine in the east, westward to southern British Columbia, and southward to northern Mexico. No infraspecific taxa are recognized in this treatment of the species. Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, the New England aster, is a herbaceous perennial, arising from thick, short-branched, woody rootstocks. This facultative wetland species occurs in open places such as along roadside ditches and fence rows, on dry ground in plains, prairies and glades, in clearings, meadows and abandoned fields, and along stream banks and swamps, or in moist open or sometimes wooded places. A weed in both Canada and the United States, S. novae-angliae occurs commonly throughout the northern two-thirds of the eastern deciduous forest region of North America and onto the Great Plains. In the east, Nova Scotia populations are likely escaped cultivars, but in the west, isolated natural populations occur from the Black Hills region of South Dakota south to New Mexico. No infraspecific taxa are reco gnized in this treatment of the species. In those habitats where the two species co-occur, the morphologically intermediate F1hybrid S. amethystinum is often found. Key words: Symphyotrichum ericoides, Aster ericoides, Aster multiflorus, heath aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, Aster novae-angliae, New England aster

Trifolium rubens is a Central European forest-steppe plant species reaching its eastern distribution limit in Ukraine and listed in the Red Book of Ukraine (2009).Our study was carried out in 2016–2020 and aimed to analyze the distribution of T. rubens in Ukraine, to identify the composition of phytocoenoses with T. rubens, and to evaluate the current state of its populations in the Zakarpattia region of Ukraine. The distribution of this species was analyzed based on data obtained from the field surveys, literature, online resources, and herbaria. In total, 78 localities of T. rubens were analyzed. Trifolium rubens was found to be distributed in Zakarpattia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, Chernivtsi, and Vinnytsia regions of Ukraine. Two of these regions (Khmelnytskyi and Chernivtsi) were not mentioned before in the Red Book of Ukraine. The presence of T. rubens in Volyn, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy, and Kyiv regions is doubtful and not confirmed by recent data. Most localities of this species are known from Zakarpattia and Lviv regions.Three new localities were found in the Beregovo district of the Zakarpattia region in the foothills of the Volcanic Carpathians. The floristic compositions of the plant communities and ontogenetic structure of T. rubens populations in Beregovo and Mukachevo districts of the Zakarpattia region were investigated. Investigated populations are isolated with a dispersed disposition of plants on large areas. Trifolium rubens occurs here in meadow-steppe and meadow areas, on hillsides, and also participate in mesoxerophilous secondary (semi-natural) shrub communities in anthropogenically transformed areas. Often such populations are situated along pathways, on forest edges and fallow lands, and associated with ecotones of Trifolio-Geranietea sanguinei class. All studied populations were incomplete with the domination of generative shoots.

Abstract A rectangular (4 by 5) array of short-period three-component seismometers with 15-m spacing was deployed to record several U.S. Geological Survey calibration explosions detonated around the Santa Cruz Mountains. The array was located at a site where an earlier station had recorded frequency-dependent polarized site resonances for aftershocks of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The site is on a hillside believed to be a landslide structure, with the near surface consisting of poorly sorted sediments and weathered rocks with dipping subsurface layers. The primary objective was to explore the site effects in this complex three-dimensional soft-rock environment, characteristic of much of the Loma Prieta source region. The direct P waves from four nearby (15 to 20 km) explosions at easterly azimuths from the array show counterclockwise arrival azimuth anomalies of 30° to 50°. These deflections are attributed to the presence of more than one dipping velocity contrast beneath the array, with dips of from 10° to 50° and dip directions generally toward the south. One such boundary may correspond to the landslide slip surface, and the presence of dipping velocity contrasts underlying the site is probably responsible for some of the observed directional site resonance. A slowness vector analysis demonstrates that arrivals early in the P coda have similar azimuthal anomalies, while later scattered arrivals come from many azimuths. Particle motions indicate that the more coherent arrivals in the coda are comprised of scattered P waves and Rayleigh waves, probably associated with scattering from the rough topography in the region. The coda displays greater spatial coherency along the hill strike than down the slope, consistent with a wedge-shaped landslide. The overall wave-field spatial coherence, CCC(f, Δx), decreases with increasing frequency, f, and spatial offset, Δx, and on average can be well represented by CCC(f, Δx) = e−cfΔx, with c = 0.6 km−1 Hz−1 for the vertical P wave in the first 1-sec window. This behavior is comparable to that found for previously studied hard-rock locations.

Slovenian part of the Adriatic Sea is its most northern part which occupies approximately 200 km2 and is a part of the wider Gulf of Trieste. Slovenian coast consists of 47 kilometers of mostly steep, abrasive marl and sandstone coast. Low accumulation coast is located only at the mouths of the watercourses and represents but a smaller portion, whereas the smallest part is occupied by the limestone abrasion coast. Mainland coastal region is mostly hillside and has a very diverse relief, while plains, in smaller numbers, are located only in the lower parts of the river valleys. Slovenian sea indents the mainland by two larger gulfs: the Gulf of Koper and of Piran and is predominately very shallow. The average depth is around 18 m and the largest depth is 38 m at the Madona cape near Piran. Sea bottom is mostly covered by the thick layer of sediments deposited after the abrasion of the steep cliff coast and by the accumulation of the river alluvium. Due to its shallowness the sea is exposed to high temperature fluctuations and due to the fresh water influx also to the changes of its salinity.The circulation of the sea water is mainly induced by the tide and wind activities, mostly the Bora (strong north-easterly wind) which significantly influences the vertical circulation of the water. Water current is weak and unstable. There is a large influx of nutrients into the Slovenian sea, resulting from the soil erosion, surface water influx, watercourses and direct emissions of waste waters into the sea. The consequence of the mentioned sea characteristics is a great landscape sensitivity of the coastal sea ecosystem. During summer the sea warms intensely and when accompanied by the weak water circulation, we are often witnessing the lack of oxygen in the deeper layers of the water, intensive algae growth and sea blooming, which points to exceeded self-cleaning (assimilation) capacities of the marine ecosystem.The major polluters are the coastal towns of: Koper, Izola, Piran and Portorož, nautical tourism with marines, naval traffic and the port activity of the Luka Koper. The pressures on the marine ecosystem due to the human activities are still increasing, both on the mainland and in the sea, despite some measures to reduce the pollution. According to the assessment of the Mediterranean action plan (UNEP-MAP), Slovenian coastal sea is, due to its oceanographic characteristics and the economic activities influence, ranked among the most sensitive and endangered parts of the Mediterranean. Environmental state of the Slovenian part of the Adriatic Sea will try to be presented through the DPSIR model or the amended Integral Model of Geographical Study of the Environment and its Components.

Activity sites from the Ertebølle periodDyngby III and Sindholt Nord In order to understand the maritime culture of the Ertebølle period in Denmark (5600-4000 BC), it is necessary to take as many sources as possible into account. In the following, two new aspects of coastal Ertebølle finds, represented by the Dyngby III and Sindholt Nord sites, are described (Figs. 1 and 10). Dyngby III is located at the foot of a hill bordering an area which in the Stone Age was a small bay connected with Kattegat (Fig. 1). Several small sites have been excavated along this prehistoric coastline – both “Køkkenmøddinger” (shell middens), and coastal sites without any shell deposits; to these can now be added a new type of coastal site, which is the central issue of this article. The site is rather small (10 m x 10 m), and the culture layers were encapsulated by tufa deposited by fresh water. Charcoal powder, flint debris, and shells from oysters and cockles define the culture layers. No settlement structures were recorded, but the presence of charcoal, burnt flint, and burnt bones indicate the use of fire on the beach.The find material is very restricted. Apart from worked flint, it comprises just a few potsherds, “pot-boilers”, and small bone splinters. The number of artefacts and the range of types represented are limited (Figs. 4, 5, and 6). The most common artefact types are triangular or discoid flint pieces with irregular scars along the edges (Fig. 7) – types which are rare on other Ertebølle sites. The heavy wear indicates that they were used as hammers on a hard material such as bone or antler, but as there are no artefacts or waste in the find material to support these observations, the explanation for the use and occurrence of these tools at Dyngby III is open to discussion. In addition, the numerous core renovation flakes and blades demonstrate an extensive production of blades on this site. The absence or near-absence of blade-tools (scrapers and borers, as well as a very low frequency of burins, truncated pieces, transverse arrowheads and flake axes) is striking – both in absolute terms and in relation to the excavated area, as well as in comparison with other Ertebølle sites. Apart from this, a small fragment of an ornamented bone knife was found (Fig. 8).The artefacts demonstrate that the activities at Dyngby III were very restricted and specialized.The tool inventory and the few and fragmentary bones clearly distinguish this site from other contemporary and small settlements such as Aggersund (Andersen 1979) and Vængesø, which had a much wider artefact inventory (Andersen 1975b). Unfortunately, the few artefacts and bone splinters offer no clear interpretation as to the exact purpose of visiting this particular location on the coast.The culture layers also contained a thin scattering of marine molluscs, the dominant species of which are oysters, followed by cockles; other marine species are absent or extremely sparsely represented. The molluscs therefore reflect very selective collecting. In general, the shells lay singly and did not form a continuous horizon. In this respect, the Dyngby III site differs from the “Køkkenmødding” (shell midden) category. However, in some cases the shells formed small “heaps”, which probably reflect isolated disposal incidents (Fig. 9). An analysis of the oyster shells demonstrated that they were from very young oysters (2-3 years), and that they had been collected solely during a short period in late March and early April.Dyngby III is C-14 dated to 4840-4257 BC. The dating demonstrates that – despite the impression given by the scattered cultural remains – the site reflects a speci­fic, repeated behaviour, most probably a series of very short visits taking place during several centuries of the Ertebølle Culture (as otherwise one would expect a much thicker and more extensive accumulation of waste). Against this background, the limited number of cultural remains and the scattered distribution of the shells seem even more striking. The lack of settlement structures and the very limited range of tools demonstrate that Dyngby III was not an ordinary settlement, but rather a specialized site with a diffuse distribution of marine molluscs. The preliminary interpretation of the site is that it is a locality where access to good flint and blade production was important, and that the occupants collected marine molluscs during their short stays there in the spring. Dyngby III thus represents a coastal site of a type that has never previously been described in Danish archaeological publications.In connection with the excavations at Visborg (Fig. 10), the surrounding region was reconnoitred. During this process a very small concentration of flint debris and marine shells was discovered on the eastern slope of a shallow hill, which during the Stone Age had been a peninsula stretching towards a narrow sound connected with Mariager Fjord to the south (Fig. 10).The Sindholt site had been disturbed by ploughing, and a test excavation proved that no cultural horizon was left in situ. Only flints, some marine shells, and “pot-boilers” were preserved. All the finds lay on the surface and were later recorded. The area with finds turned out to form an oval (15 x 7 metres), with the most intense occurrence of material situated within an area measuring 10 x 7 metres (Fig. 12). From the investigation of the Stone Age settlement of Bro (S. H. Andersen 1973), we know that ploughing expands the horizontal distribution, but that the relationship between the objects largely remains unaltered. The distribution on the surface is therefore in a crude sense also represen­tative of the primary distribution of cultural remains. The Sindholt Nord site is very small. Settlement structures include a fireplace on the prehistoric beach, indicated by a concentration of “pot-boilers”, and higher up the hillside a concentration of shells, measuring 2 x 2 metres, along with a few “pot-boilers” (Fig. 12). The shell concentration was clearly delimited, and it consisted almost exclusively of oyster and cockleshells. The patch of shells was so limited in extent and contained so few shells that it could represent only a single “episode.” The number of worked flints and artefacts was also very limited (Figs. 13-15) and as in the Dyngby III case, the absence of blade tools (scrapers, borers and trunca­ted blades) was striking. The finds indicate that the production of blades and transverse arrowheads was of importance.The Sindholt site is dated from the tool inventory and a single C-14 dating to 4775-4625 BC, i.e. the early Ertebølle Culture.The few finds, the few settlement structures, and the very limited area involved indicate that the Sindholt site represents a single and very short occupation. The site therefore exemplifies a very small coastal settlement unit from the Ertebølle Culture. If this spot had been used repeatedly or continuously over a long span of time, the quantity of debris and of tool types would have been greater, and the shell layer would have been thicker and more extensive. Sindholt would then have incorporated all the different elements which constitute a typical Danish kitchen midden.The conclusion is that the two sites are unusually small and have a very restricted tool inventory. They thus demonstrate new aspects of the coast-linked activities of the Ertebølle Culture and should be labelled “activity spots” or “find spots” rather than settlements. The two sites have close parallels with the “dinnertime camps” known from ethnographic publications from Australia in particular. It is the restricted artefact inventory which especially distinguishes Dyngby III and Sindholt from other (published) small Ertebølle settlements. At both sites the production of blades seems to have been of major importance, and at Sindholt the repair of broken artefacts was also demonstrated. Dyngby III seems to have been used during a very long period of the Ertebølle Culture, while Sindholt seems to represent only a brief epi­sode, but of the same “specialized” nature. The collecting of marine species took place at both sites, but this activity was limited to oysters and cockles. Sindholt represents a very small kitchen midden, and if the site had been visited several times, it would have developed into a typical kitchen midden, whereas the collecting of molluscs at Dyngby III reflects activity of a much more sporadic character.Since the article was delivered to the editor (in the summer of 2003), the excavation of Dyngby III has been completed. This has in no way altered the above description of the site and its artefact inventory. However, the few animal bones have been identified, and the following species have been recorded: Pig (Sus sp.), Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), Red deer (Cervus elaphus), Oxen (Bos sp.), Oxen/Elk (Bos sp./Alces alces), Ourochs/Elk (Bos primigenius/Alces alces), Ourochs/Elk/Red deer (Bos/Alces/Cervus). The bones are badly preserved; only the most robust parts of the skeleton are present, and all parts are represented. The bone fragments do not give any information as to the season in which the animals were used. Søren H. Andersen Nationalmuseet

Viking Age burial practices in DenmarkTraces of burial rituals in inhumation gravesThe hypothesis examined in this article is that the broad impression of grave forms and burial traditions gained from a comparison of contemporaneous inhumation cemeteries of the Viking Age also includes coincidences in the actions and rituals that can be deduced from the remains present in the graves. A mapping of the traces left by these actions is based on evidence from a number of Viking Age cemeteries in present-day Denmark, Scania and Southern Schleswig, excavated between 1895 and 2007. The resulting record reveals some regional differences but also includes some clear traits that are found repeated at numerous cemetery sites. In the present context, attention is focussed on a number of elements seen in the graves which are then presented, exemplified and discussed. In an attempt to interpret these traces, use is made of Nordic mythology, written sources from the Viking Age and Middle Ages and comparative religious studies relating to the mentality and cosmology of the Viking Age.As a starting point, two recently excavated cemeteries on Zealand are presented, namely Kirke Hyllinge Kirkebakke and Trekroner-Grydehøj near Roskilde (fig. 1). Both contain significant information with respect to burial rituals in the Viking Age.Kirke Hyllinge KirkebakkeKirke Hyllinge Church stands on the highest point in the area, c. 43 m above sea level (fig. 2). The cemetery here had at its core an older barrow and from here the graves extended out over an area measuring 80 m E-W and about 35 m N-S (fig. 3). In all, 28 burials were investigated, of which two were double graves, one contained the remains of three people and yet another the remains of four individuals. Further to these were three presumed inhumation graves and a cremation burial. About 80% of the graves were oriented N-W or NW-SE. Analysis of the human bones revealed that these represented the remains of two males, two females and 13 individuals of indeterminable gender. Of the skeletal remains for which it was possible to determine age, two were of children between the ages of seven and ten, three individuals were less than 20 years old, ten were between 20 and 35 and one person was 35-45 years old (fig. 4). There were artefacts in 17 of the graves and it became apparent that the equipment had been placed in two different locations in the grave (fig. 5). Accompanying the deceased on the floor of the grave lay artefacts such as knife, distaff whorl, whetstone, belt buckle or glass beads. Similar artefacts could also be found distributed through the grave fill above the deceased, often in a more or less damaged state. A particular phenomenon which emerged was the presence of skeletal parts that had been placed in the grave fill. An example of this is grave A590, which was 70 cm deep. On the base of this grave lay the remains of a woman with her equipment. Distributed through the fill above her were teeth from two different adult individuals and three further molars from a c. 8-year-old child. There was also burnt human bone. Another example is grave A569 which, in addition to the deceased at the base of the grave, contained parts of an adult and a c. 10-year-old child.Small pieces of burnt bone were found in 16 of the 31 definite or presumed inhumation graves. The quantity of bone varied from just a few grams to more than 200. Burnt human bone only occurred in two inhumation graves, A590 and A594, and in cremation grave A629.Stones of varying size were found in the fill or at the base of eight graves. The quantity – in terms of both number and weight – varied greatly. Most striking was their presence in A590 and A608. In a couple of cases the stones showed the effects of fire.The distribution of graves across the excavated area showed a tendency towards clustering but no systematic pattern emerged with regard to gender or grave orientation within these groups.Immediately to the south of inhumation grave A583 there were two identical constructions, each comprised of four posts (fig. 6). The two four-poster constructions are so similar, and are situated in such a way, that it seems very likely that one replaced the other. Four-poster constructions can represent a light building, a tent or a frame in, or on, which the deceased was placed for a shorter or longer period prior to actual burial.Trekroner-Grydehøj, RoskildeGrydehøj is a small hill on the eastern periphery of Roskilde. At the beginning of the Viking Age, the west-facing slope of the hill in particular was used as a burial ground (fig. 7). The cemetery had as its core a cluster of earlier burial monuments from the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age located on the top of the hill (fig. 8). Of the 27 inhumation graves detected, 25 lay within an area measuring c. 50 x 33 m running down the west-facing hillside. Most of the graves, c. 80%, were oriented N-S or NW-SE.In addition to single graves there were also double graves in which one body had been placed on top of the other. However, there was also an example where they lay in continuation of one another (fig. 9). Three inhumation graves, of which one was a double grave, had burnt human bone in the grave fill (fig. 10). The results of the analyses of human bone are shown in figures 11 and 12.There were artefacts in 21 graves; these were partly associated with the deceased on the base of the grave and partly found distributed through the overlying fill.A505 differed from the other graves. At the top there were many fieldstones and flint nodules and along its eastern side were three large boulders. The upper part of the grave was found to contain most of the skeleton of a female and parts of a skeleton of a male (fig. 13). At the base of the grave was the skeleton of a female (fig. 14). By her right thigh was an iron point fitted into a solid cast bronze socket which originally had a wooden shaft (fig. 15). This presumably represents a ceremonial object, perhaps a symbol of Odin, master of sorcery. In other words, the artefact could be a völva’s staff. At the foot of the grave, a menhir had been erected over the rear half of a medium-sized dog which had been severed in the middle (fig. 16). Along the eastern side of the grave lay the remains of an old stallion; these partially covered the woman’s left side from the waist downwards.Stones were found in eight graves: in the fill, at the base of the grave or over the skeleton (fig. 18). The most striking of these were the large boulders and the many smaller stones seen in the fill of grave A505. A total of 18 of the 27 inhumation graves were found to contain burnt bone fragments; in the great majority of cases these could not be identified to species. It was, however, possible to establish that there were burnt human remains in graves A2036, A2047 and A2059.The distribution of the graves showed a weak tendency towards grouping. There was no systematic pattern with respect to gender or grave orientation within these groups (see fig. 8).There was a four-poster construction by grave group C and inhumation graves A2030 and A2079, but it is unclear to what degree this was associated with the Viking Age cemetery.Traces of rituals in the Viking Age inhumation gravesThe grave pitThe orientation of the grave pit relative to the points of the compass shows some regional differences. In Northern Zealand and Scania graves orientated N-S are dominant, whereas in Southern and Western Zealand they are more mixed with E-W oriented graves (figs. 20 and 21). The tendency to orientate graves in an E-W direction is more pronounced on Funen (fig. 22), and in Jutland E-W orientated burials are clearly dominant. The orientation of the grave pit appears not to be founded on very fixed perceptions of a religious character. It seems rather to be an expression of local or regional tradition.CoffinsExtensive use was made of the ‘available box’ principle when a coffin was needed for a burial. In general, there appears not to have been any immediate status-related link between coffin form and grave content with respect to simple coffins.Double graves, secondary burials and bone depositionsMost of the graves in which there was a secondary burial above a primary interment reveal clear evidence of the care taken to ensure that the new grave lay within the limits of the original grave pit. We can only speculate as to the background for the double and secondary burials. There could have been a ritual killing, but this is unlikely to have been the case in all instances. The reason for human body parts having been included as grave goods could be an expression of ancestor worship; the graves of particularly important people within or outside the family could have been dug up and the bones and artefacts removed in order for them subsequently to be included in the graves of other deceased members of the family.Burnt bone in the grave fillSmall pieces of white calcined bone are a familiar phenomenon in Viking Age inhumation graves. It seems obvious that the burnt bone represents a ritual. The bones have been crushed before being scattered into the grave as it was back-filled. In fortunate cases the bone can be identified to species and both humans and animals are represented. The unburnt corpse at the base of the grave should be considered as the actual primary occupant of grave, whereas the cremated bone constitutes part of the burial fittings. In ‘Odin’s Law’, which is reproduced in the Ynglinga Saga, cremation is prescribed, but inhumation burial increased in dominance during the course of the Late Germanic Iron Age and Viking Age. The burnt bone in the inhumation graves could, however, be a relic of an older tradition and use – a tribute to Odin.Unburnt animal boneThe unburnt animal bones in the inhumation graves represent a broad spectrum of domestic animals such as pigs, cattle, poultry and sheep/goats. It seems obvious to perceive these bones as representing offerings of food, but the animals could have had further symbolic meaning than food alone. The pig has a role in Nordic mythology, including in the form of the hog Gyldenbørste, Frey’s attribute. Similarly, a hog is sacrificed to Frey. Cattle also had a role as offering in the sacrifice (blot), which is reflected in the term blótnaut, i.e. cattle intended for blot.Dogs do not occupy a prominent role in Nordic mythology but occur commonly in Viking Age graves, both in a cremated and an unburnt state. It is possible that the dog performed the role of spiritual guardian on the journey to the Kingdom of the Dead, or that it symbolised the transition from life to death.The horse encompasses symbolic elements which it is important to note. Sleipner was Odin’s eight-legged horse, and it carried him to and from the Underworld. The horse is, accordingly, perceived as an important auxiliary spirit for those skilled in sorcery in their contacts with the afterlife. The horse was also an important animal in the blot and formed part of ritual meals in connection with this.The presence of animals in the graves is equivocal. There is an explanation which immediately springs to the mind of a modern person but the significance can be accentuated and expanded both mythologi­cally and ritually. It seems clear that there is an embedded symbolism in at least some of the animals placed in the graves and in the treatment of these animals prior to burial. An example of a grave containing several animal offerings is A505 at Trekroner-Grydehøj (see figs. 13, 14 and 16).Stones in the grave pitThe purpose of covering or filling graves with stone packings and the placing of boulders of various sizes in the fill, on the base of the grave or directly on the corpse, does not appear immediately evident on the basis of the archaeological evidence. There are descriptions from the saga litera­ture in which burials and stones belong together, for example in Gisli Sursson’s Saga. It seems obvious that the stones are intended to prevent the corpse returning from the dead.In grave A505 at Trekroner-Grydehøj a small square ‘menhir’ had been set on edge on top of the dog’s corpse (see fig. 16). Similarly, a stone was placed on top of the animal bones at the foot of grave A590 at Kirke Hyllinge Kirkebakke. On the face of it, the menhir on the floor of the grave makes most sense if the grave had stood open, or was only partially back-filled, for a period during which the stone was, as a consequence, fully visible.Artefacts in the grave fillThe deposition of artefacts, whether intact, damaged or unfinished, in the grave fill, reflects burial rituals in which the actual back-filling process was important. The significance of the damaged artefacts is not immediately clear. A situation worthy of note is that, in several instances, damaged distaff whorls and brooches, i.e. female-related artefacts, are found in graves where the deceased interred on the base of the grave was a man. It seems entirely possible that the destruction of feminine artefacts and their deposition high up in the grave fill should be seen in a gender-related context. Spinning and weaving were very strongly linked to the female sphere and the tools associated with these activities can be perceived as a metaphor for performance of magic. Accordingly, the fact that the artefacts are damaged could have been linked with the perception of magic as being strongly effeminate and, in reality, a taboo for men.ConclusionAn interesting aspect of Viking Age burial practices is that it can be shown that rituals and ceremonies took place over longer periods – days, weeks, months and years. This is apparent partly from the presence of artefacts, evenly distributed burnt bone fragments and remains of animals and humans in the grave fill, and partly from the traces of the careful re-opening of a grave in order to inter a further corpse precisely within the limits of the original grave pit. Another thought-provoking aspect relates to the human and animal body parts, both burnt and unburnt, which were added to the grave fill during the back-filling pro­cess. It is obvious that there must have been a well-defined difference between whether bones were cremated or unburnt.Another practice, for which the background does not seem immediately clear, is that stones in various amounts and of various sizes were added to some graves. It must be presumed that the purpose of a packing of fist- to head-sized stones differed from that of a heavy boulder placed directly on the body.Stones erected on the base of a grave did not arrive there by chance. They apparently occur particularly at the head and feet of the deceased and, in some instances, in association with animal bones.Artefacts do not occur exclusively on the base of the grave together with the deceased, but can also be present up in the grave fill. Often the artefacts are fragmented and all the evidence suggests that this destruction took place intentionally prior to deposition. It is difficult to say anything about the powers which may have been ­ascribed to these everyday artefacts, and perhaps it is not the object in its usual surroundings which constitutes a problem. It could, to a greater degree, be the object in association with something unusual which constituted a potential risk. Examples include artefacts such as ornaments and distaff whorls which are associated with women and, as such, could have been more or less taboo for men.Despite these variations, the perception of behaviour and customs was uniform over great distances, both in time and space. The common denominator is not always the most conspicuous aspect but can be deduced from the details which are revealed by archaeological excavations of the cemeteries of the period. What these traces as a consequence actually represent with respect to this world and the next is something, as children of the 20th century, we can only attempt to understand and argue the case for. But it could very well turn out that it all remains a question of belief.Jens UlriksenNæstved

ABSTRACT Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L) commonly known as ragi is an important crop used for food, forage and industrial products. Finger millet has a wide ecological and geographical adaptability and resilience to various agro-climatic adversities hence, it is highly suited to drought condition and marginal land and requires low external input in cultivation.. Farmers participatory field demonstrations of ragi variety Arjun and Bhairabi were conducted at two villages ie Pedawada of Malkangiri block and MPV -1 of Kalimela block of Malkangiri district, comprising 40 farmers in cluster approach in Kharif 2018 and 2019 , by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Malkangiri , in South Eastern Ghat Zone of Odisha . Conducting front line demonstrations on farmer’s field help to identify the constraints and potential of the finger millet in the specific area as well as it helps in improving the economic and social status of the farmers. Observation on growth and yield parameters were taken and economic analysis was done. The final seed yield was recorded at the time of harvest and the gross return in (Rs ha -1) was calculated based on prevailing market prices. The results from the demonstration conclusively proved that finger millet variety Arjun (OEB-526) recorded the higher yield ( 18.8 q ha-1) , followed by Bhairabi ( 15.3 q ha-1) and farmer’s traditional variety Nali Mandia ( Dasaraberi) recorded an average yield of (8.6 q ha-1 ) . HYV Finger millet variety Arjun with proper nutrient management and plant protection measures gave 118 % higher over farmer’s practices. The technological and extension gap was 1.9 q ha-1 and 12.07 q ha-1 respectively. Similarly, technological index was 8.2 percent. The benefit cost ratio was 2.4 and 1.9 in case of Arjun and Bhairabi respectively and in case of farmer’s variety Nali Mandia it was 1.4. Hence the existing local finger millet variety can be replaced by HYV Arjun ans Bhairabi , since it fits good to the existing rainfed farming situation for higher productivity. By conducting front line demonstrations on millet on large scale in farmer’s field, yield potential of finger millet can be enhanced largely which will increase in the income level of farmers and improve the livelihood condition of the farming community. Introduction Among small millets, finger millet (Elusine coracana L,) locally known as Ragi/Mandia is the most important crop grown in tribal districts of Odisha and it is the staple food of the tribals. It was originated about 5000 years ago in east Africa (possibly Ethiopia) and was introduced into India, 3000 years ago (Upadhyaya et al., 2006) and it is highly suited to drought condition and marginal land and requires low external input in cultivation. Millet is a collective term referring to a number of small seeded annual grasses that are cultivated as grain crops, primarily on marginal lands in dry areas in temperate, subtropical and tropical regions (Baker, 1996). Nutritionally finger millet is superior to major cereal crops and rich source of micronutrients such as calcium, phosphorous, magnesium and iron. And it has several health benefits. Finger millet grains contain higher amount of proteins, oils and minerals than the grains of rice, maize or sorghum (Reed et al., 1976). Vadivoo and Joseph (1998) mentioned finger millet grains contain 13.24% moisture, 7.6% protein, 74.36% carbohydrate, 74.36% carbon, 1.52% dietary fiber, 2.35% minerals, 1.35% fat and energy 341.6 cal/100g. (Joshi and Katoch, 1990; Ravindran, 1991). It is a rich source of micronutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and iron. Cysteine, tyrosine, tryptophan and methionine are the right spectrum of amino acids found in finger millet protein (Rachie, 1975). The increase in global temperature leads to climate changes that directly affect crop production and increase people's hunger and malnutrition around the world.. With regard to protein (6-8%) and fat (1-2%) it is comparable to rice and with respect to mineral and micronutrient contents it is superior to rice and wheat (Babu et al., 1987). It is also known for several health benefits such as anti-diabetic, anti-tumerogenic, atherosclerogenic effects, antioxidant, which are mainly attributed due to its polyphenol and dietary fiber contents. Being indigenous minor millet it is used in the preparation of various foods both in natural and malted forms. Grains of this millet are converted into flours for preparation of products like porridge, puddings, pancakes, biscuits, roti, bread, noodles, and other snacks. Besides this, it is also used as a nourishing food for infants when malted and is regarded as wholesome food for diabetic's patients. Diversification of food production must be encouraged both at national and household level in tandem with increasing yields. Growing of traditional food crops suitable for the area is one of the possible potential successful approaches for improving household food security. Malkangiri is one of the seven districts where a flagship programme called “Special Programme for Promotion of Millets in Tribal Areas of Odisha (hereafter, Odisha Millets Mission, (OMM)” has been launched by Department of Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment, Odisha in order to revive millets in rainfed farming systems and household consumption. It was started in kharif 2017 in four blocks of the district, namely Chitrakonda, Korkunda, Mathili and Khairiput. The Government of Odisha launched Odisha Millets Mission (OMM) also known as the Special Programme for Promotion of Millets in Tribal Areas of Odisha in 2017 to revive millets in farms and on plates. The aim was to tackle malnutrition by introducing millets in the public distribution system (PDS) and other state nutrition schemes. The focus is on reviving millets in farms and putting it on plates.” Millet, a nutritious and climate-resilient crop, has traditionally been cultivated and consumed by tribal communities in the rainfed regions of southern Odisha. Technology gap, i.e. poor knowledge about newly released crop production and protection technologies and their management practices in the farmers’ fields is a major constraint in Ragi production. So far, no systematic approach was implemented to study the technological gap existing in various components of Ragi cultivation. Awareness of scientific production technology like HYV of ragi, seed treatment with fungicide, use of insecticide and bio-fertilizers, is lacking in Malkangiri district which were a key reason for low productivity. The production potential could be increased by adopting recommended scientific and sustainable management production practices with improved high yielding varieties and timely use of other critical inputs. Objective The field experiment was undertaken to study the performance of three finger millet varieties Local Mandia (Nali Mandia), Bhairabi and Arjun in rainfed upland situation in kharif season. The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the field performance of newly released finger millet varieties Arjun and Bhairabi under rainfed condition. The demonstrations were carried out in Malkangiri district covering two villages like Pedawada and MPV-6 to find out the existing technological and extension gap along with technology index with an objective to popularize the ragi varieties having higher yield potential. Material and methods The study was carried out in operational area of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Malkangiri during Kharif season in the year 2018 and 2019. The study was under taken in Malkangiri and Kalimela blocks of Malkangiri district of Odisha and the blocks were selected purposefully as Finger millet is the major cereals crop grown in large area in Kharif season. The demonstrations were conducted in two different adopted villages Pedawada and MPV-6 in cluster approach. The Front Line Demonstration (FLD) is an applied approach to accelerate the dissemination of proven technologies at farmer’s fields in a participatory mode with an objective to explore the maximum available resources of crop production and also to bridge the productivity gaps by enhancing the production in national basket.The necessary steps for selection of site and farmers and layout of demonstrations etc were followed as suggested by Choudhary (1999). Forty numbers front line demonstrations on HYV Ragi were conducted in two clusters comprising 40 numbers of farmers. All the participating farmers were trained on various aspects of Ragi production technologies and recommended agronomic practices and certified seeds of Ragi variety Arjun and Bhairabi were used for demonstration. The soil of demonstration site was slightly acidic in reaction (pH-5.0 to 5.25) with sandy loam in texture and EC was 0.134 (dS m −1). The available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium was between 214 .00, 22 .00, 142 .00 (Kg ha−1) respectively with 0.48 (%) Organic Carbon. The crop was sown in under rainfed condition in the first to second week of July. The crop was raised with recommended agronomic practices and harvested within 4th week of November up to 2nd week of December. Krishi Vigyan Kendra ( KVK), Malkangiri conducted front line demonstration with HYV varieties like Bhiarabi and Arjun and farmer’ local var Dasaraberi as check Finger millet Variety Arjun (OEB-526) is having Maturity duration 110 days and average yield 20.7q/ha with moderate resistance to leaf, neck and finger blast and brown seed and Bhairabi is a HYV of Ragi with Maturity duration 110 days and average yield 17.6 q/ha. Moderate resistance to leaf, neck blast and brown seeded and protein content 81%. Local variety Dsaraberi or Nali Mandia is having 105 days duration and drought tolerant variety used as farmers variety as local check . The technologies demonstrated were as follows: Popularization of high yielding Ragi variety, Seed treatment with Trichoderma viride @ 4g kg-1 seed , Line sowing with, soil test based fertilizer application along with need based plant protection measures. The field was ploughed two times and planking was done after each plugging, Need based plant protection measures were taken; along with soil test based fertilizer application was done with fertilizer dose 40:30:60 kg. N: P2O5: K2O kg ha -1. In case of local checks existing practices being used by farmers were followed. The observations were recorded for various parameters of the crop. The farmers’ practices were maintained in case of local checks. The field observations were taken from demonstration plot and farmer’s plot as well. Parameters like Plant height, number of fingers per plant, length of finger , no of fingers per year, 1000 seed weight and seed yield were recorded at maturity stage and the gross returns (Rs ha -1 ) were calculated on the basis of prevailing market price of the produce. The extension gap, technology gap, technology index along with B: C ratio was calculated and the data were statistically analyzed applying the statistical techniques. Statistical tools such as percentage, mean score, Standard deviation, co-efficient of variation, Fisher‘s “F” test, were employed for analysis of data. The farmer’s practices (FP) plots were maintained as local check for comparison study. The data obtained from intervention practices (IP) and famers practices (FP) were analyzed for extension gap, technological gap, technological index and benefit cost ratio study as per (Samui et al., 2000) as given below. Technology gap = Pi (Potential yield) - Di (Demonstration yield) Extension gap = Di (Demonstration Yield) - Fi (Farmers yield) Technology index = X 100 Result and Discussion The results obtained from the present investigation are summarized below. The Table 1 depicts the major differences observed between demonstration package and farmer’s practices in ragi production in the study area. The major differences were observed between demonstration package and farmer’s practices were regarding recommended varieties, seed treatment, soil test based fertilizer application, keeping optimum plant population by thinning, weed management and plant protection measures. The data of Table 1 shows that under the demonstrated plot only recommended high yielding variety, proper weeding and optimum plant population maintaining by thinning and the farmers used herbicides and the farmers timely performed all the other package and practices. It was also observed that farmers were unaware about balanced fertilizer application, seed treatment, and use of fertilizers application and maintenance of plant population for enhancing the yield. Majority of the farmers in the study area were unaware about use of weed management practices. The findings are in corroborated with the findings of (Katar et al., 2011) From the Table 2 it was revealed that in the district Malkangiri the productivity of finger millet was 6.38 (q ha-1) as compare to state average productivity 8.67 (q ha-1), but there exists a gap between potential yield and farmers yield, which can be minimized by adoption High yielding varieties with improved management practices. The productivity of finger millet was very low in the district as the crop is mostly grown along the hillsides on sloppy land on light textured soil. It was also coupled with negligence in adoption of improved varieties no input like fertilizers use and no plant protection measures and improper method and time of sowing. However, there is a wide gap between the Potential and the actual production realized by the farmers due to partial adoption of recommended package of practices by the growers. Several constraints contributed to yield fluctuation on Ragi production, including: unreliable rainfall; lack of high yielding variety ,disease tolerant varieties; pests and diseases incidence; low producer prices; poor agronomic practices; and lack of institutional support (Bucheyeki et al., 2008; Okoko et al., 1998). One of the central problems of ragi production and processing in this district is due to an uncertain production environment owing to rain fed cultivation, the low resource base of smallholder farmers and processors, and no scope for post harvest management and value addition facilities and poor marketing facility. The results clearly indicated from the Table 3 that the positive effects of FLDs over the existing practices. HYV Ragi Arjun recorded higher yield 18.8(q ha-1) followed by Bhairabi 15.53 (q ha-1) which was 21 % more and the yield performance of these two HYV varieties was higher than the farmer’s variety. This is due to higher of panicle length, more number of tillers and more number of fingers per panicle in HYV of ragi as compared to local variety. The results are in conformity with the findings of (Tomar et al. , 2003). The results clearly indicated the positive effects of FLDs over the existing practices towards enhancing the productivity. It is revealed form table 4 that, as the calculated ‘F’ value at α=0.05 level was found to be larger than table value, indicating significant difference in yield between farmer’s variety and recommended varieties. There was significant difference between average yield of ragi under Farmers practice (FP) and Recommended practice (RP) in variety Arjun under this demonstration. It was concluded that the yield of these HYV ragi varieties was significantly higher as compared to farmer’s variety. The economics and B:C ratio of farmers practice and Demonstration practice has been presented in Table 6. From the table it was revealed that Benefit: Cost ratio (B:C) was recorded to be higher under demonstrations against control treatments during all the years of experimentation. The cost of cultivation in HYV variety was higher due to more labour cost involved in transplanting and also it included cost of fertilizers and plant protection chemicals and also net returns was higher as compared to farmer’s practice. The B: C ratio was found to be 2.4 in case of variety Arjun as compared to 1.9 in case of variety Bhairabi. The results on economic analysis indicated that HYV ragi Arjun and Bhairabi performed better than local variety Ragi. The HYV variety Arjun recorded higher gross return upto Rs 54,332 and followed by Bhairabi Rs 44,289 per ha which was significantly higher than farmers practice and it was due to higher productivity of varieties under demonstration. Conclusion The results revealed that in Malkangiri district finger millet variety Arjun rerecorded highest yield followed by Variety Bhirabi with proper package and practices under rainfed upland condition. From the above study it was concluded that use of finger millet varieties like Arjun or Bhairabi with scientific methods and technological practices of can reduce the technological gap and enhance the productivity in the district. Yield improvement in Finger Millet in the demonstration was due to use of HYV seed and scientific management practices adopted by the farmers. Yield of Finger Millet can be increased to a great extent by conducting effective front line demonstrations in larger area with proven technologies. Finger millet is one of future smart food crop of India and can be grown in the drought condition. This crop is rich in nutrient for food insecurity and within few years because of increase in population of world and depletion of area of production.. The principal reasons of lower productivity of finger millet in the district Malkangiri were lack of knowledge among the farmers about cultivation of HYV finger millet varieties and improper fertilization, late season sowing and severe weed infestation in crop at critical stages. From the above findings, it can be concluded that use of scientific methods of Finger millet cultivation can reduce the technology gap to a considerable extent thus leading to increased productivity of millets in the district. Moreover, extension agencies in the district need to provide proper technical support to the farmers through different educational and extension methods to reduce the extension gap for better production. Acknowledgments The OUAT Bhubaneswar and ICAR-ATRI Kolkata, is acknowledged for financial support to the research program. Conflicts of interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. References: Babu, B. V.; Ramana, T.; Radhakrishna, T.M. Chemical composition and protein in hybrid varieties of finger millet. Indian J. Agric. Sci. 1987, 57(7), 520-522. Biplab, M.; Samajdar, T. Yield gap analysis of rapeseed-mustard through Front Line Demonstration. Agricultural Extension Review. 2010, 16-17. Bucheyeki, T. L.; Shenkalwa, E. M.; Mapunda, T. X.; Matata, L.W. On-farm evaluation of promising groundnut varieties for adaptation and adoption in Tanzania. African Journal of Agricultural Research. 2008, 3(8), 531-536. Chandra, D.; Pallavi S C.; Sharma A.K. Review of Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn): A power house of health benefiting nutrients. Food Science and Human Wellness. 2016, 5( 3), 149-155. Choudhary, B. N. Krishi Vigyan Kendra - a guide for KVK managers. Division of Agricultural Extension, ICAR, 1999, 73-78. De Onis M.; Frongillo E.A.; Blossner, M. “Is malnutrition declining? An analysis of changes in levels of child malnutrition since, 1980.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2000, 1222–1233. Gull, A.; Jan, R.; Nayik, G. A.; Prasad, K.; Kumar, P. Significance of Finger Millet in Nutrition, Health and Value added Products: A Review. Journal of Environmental Science, Computer Science and Engineering & Technology, JECET. 2014, 3(3), 1601-1608. Gupta, S .M.; Arora, S.; Mirza, N.; Pande, A.; Lata, C.; Puranik, ; Kumar, J.; Kumar, A. Finger Millet: A “Certain” Crop for an “Uncertain” Future and a Solution to Food Insecurity and Hidden Hunger under Stressful Environments. Frontiers on Plant Sci. 2017, 8, 643 Joshi, H. C.; Katoch, K. K. Nutritive value of millets: A comparison with cereals and pseudocereals. Himalayan Res. Dev. 1990, 9, 26-28. Kande, M.; Dhami, N B.; Subedi, N.; Shrestha, J. Arjun. Field evaluation and nutritional benefits of finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) 2019. Katare, S.; Pandey, S.K.; Mustafa, M. Yield gap analysis of Rapeseed-mustard through front line demonstration. Agriculture update. 2011, 6(2), 5-7. Lupien, J.R. Sorghum and millets in human nutrition. FAO, ICRISAT. At: ao.org. 1990, 86. Mohanty, B. Odisha Millet Mission: The successes and the challenges. 2020. "Baseline Survey: Malkangiri District 2016-17, Phase-1 (Special Programme for Promotion of Millets in Tribal Areas of Odisha or Odisha Millets Mission, OMM)," Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies, Bhubaneswar. 2019. Nigade, R. D.; Jadhav, B. S.; Bhosale, A. S. Response 0f long duration finger millet(Elusine coracana L,) variety to different levels of nitrogen under rainfed condition. J agrc Sci. 2011, 7(1), 152-155. Odisha Agriculture Statistics, Govt of Odisha. 2013-2014. Rachie, K. O. The Millets: Importance, Utilization and Outlook. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Hyderabad, India. 1975, 63. Ravindran, G. Studies on millets: proximate composition, mineral composition, phytate, and oxalate contents. Food Chem. 1991, 39(1), 99- 107. Ravindran G. Seed proteins of millets: amino acid composition, proteinase inhibitors and in vitro digestibility. Food Chem. 1992, 44(1), 13- 17. Reed C. F. Information summaries on 1000 economic plants. USDA, USA. 1976. Samui, S K.; Maitra, S.; Roy, D K.; Mandal, A. K.; Saha, D. Evaluation of front line demonstration on groundnut. Journal of Indian Society of Coastal Agricultural Research. 2000, 18(2), 180-183. Singh, J.; Kaur, R..; Singh, P. Economics and Yield gap analysis of Front Line Demonstrations regarding Scientific practices of Indian Mustard in district Amritsar. Indian Journal of Economics and Development. 2016, 12(1a), 515. Singh, P.; Raghuvanshi. R. S. Finger millet for food and nutritional security. African Journal of Food Science. 2012, 6(4), 77-84. Srivastava, P.P.; Das, H.; Prasad, S. Effect of roasting process variables on hardness of Bengal gram, maize and soybean. Food Sci. Technol. 1994, 31(1), 62-65. Tomar, L. S.; Sharma, B. P.; Joshi, K. Impact of front line demonstration of soybean in transfer of improved technology. Journal of Extension Research. 2003, 22(1), 139. Upadhyaya, H.D.; Gowdaand C.L.L.; Reddy, V.G. Morphological diversity in finger millet germplasm introduced from Southern and Eastern. African Journal of SAT Agriculture Research. 2007, 3(1). ejournal.icrisat.org. Vadivoo, A.S.; Joseph, R. Genetic variability and diversity for protein and calcium contents in finger millet (Elusine coracona (L.) Gaertn) in relation to grain color. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition Dordrecht. 1998, 52, 353-364. Department of Botany, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Deemed University, Coimbatore, TN, 641 043, India.

The article describes the results of field geobotanical and landscape studies in spruce (Picea abies) forests of the eastern and southeastern parts of Izhora upland (Leningrad Region), carried out in 2016. This upland is a plateau with prevailing absolute heights of 100–150 m. The carbonate rocks of the middle Ordovician represent the upper part of the geological basis. Everywhere the bedrock is overlain by the moraine of 1–5 m thickness. The moraine has high content of carbonates on a larger area. Features of the geological structure of the territory determined the widespread fertile (for the taiga zone) sod-carbonate soils (rendzinas) and richer vegetation than in the surrounding southern taiga landscapes. According to geobotanical subdivision (Geobotanicheskoye..., 1989), the vegetation of Izhora upland accords to the extrazonal subtaiga okrug of Ordovic plateau, which is located in the southern taiga subzone. The data on the current spruce forests of Izhora upland are very few (Nitsenko, 1960; Boch et al., 1992; Sambuk, Smagin, 1992). The results of our research allowed us to supplement information on spruce forests and their current state in the territory with a thousand-year period of agricultural use. The characteristic of five groups of spruce forest associations, including the full species composition of communities, their layer structure and quantitative characteristic of species participation in each layer is presented (table). The approaches of ecological-phytocenotic classification were used for grouping of the available relevés, as well as dominants of all layers of communities and determinant species were taken into consideration. Plant communities of Piceeta brachipodiosa group of associations (rel. 1–4) occur on the tops and gentle slopes of low hills composed of calcareous loamy moraine rich in limestone fragments. Along with spruce always present in the tree layer is Pinus sylvestris; broad-leaved species are not found, small-leaved species are rare. The broad-leaved species are absent in young grows. The shrub layer in such forests is usually not thick. The grass Brachypodium pinnatum is a dominant of herb layer; Convallaria majalis, Rubus saxatilis and nemoral herb species (Viola mirabilis, Hepatica nobilis, Aegopodium podagraria) are co-dominants. The projective cover degree of mosses ranges from 30 to 85 %. Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus and Hylocomium splendens predominate in moss layer. Plant communities of Piceeta convallariosa group of associations (rel. 5–8) occur in similar sites. Besides spruce and pine, the tree layer includes small-leaved species (Populus tremula, Betula pendula). Acer platanoides and Quercus robur grow occasionally in young grows. The shrub layer is usually closed and rich in species: Lonicera xylosteum, Sorbus aucuparia, Padus avium, Daphne mezereum, Ribes alpinum and Viburnum opulus. Convallaria majalis is a dominant and Rubus saxatilis is a co-dominant of herb layer. In addition to these species Calamagrostis arundinacea, Geranium sylvatica and nemoral species are constant, but not abundant in communities. Moss cover dominated by Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus is well developed. Piceeta nemoriherbosa group of associations (rel. 9–15) is the most common type of communities in the Izhora upland. They are distributed mainly on plains, hills and ridges composed of carbonate moraine. Besides spruce, there are pine, rarely aspen and birch in the first tree canopy and Acer platanoides in the second one, as well as in young grows. The dense shrub layer is character for this type. This group of associations can be divided according the composition of shrubs and moss abundance: spruce nemoral herb-moss forests with Lonicera xylosteum and spruce nemoral herb with Corylus avellana. Nemoral species are the dominants in herb layer. Hepatica nobilis and Aegopodium podagraria are the most constant and abundant among them. Viola mirabilis, Lathyrus vernus, Carex digitata, Paris quadrifolia, Pulmonaria obscura are present with less constancy. Continuous moss cover is absent in spruce forests with Corylus avellana and its projective cover degree reaches 50–85 % in those with Lonicera xylosteum. The moss layer is dominated by Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus. Plant communities of Piceeta oxalidosa group of associations (rel. 16–20) occur on plain areas and low ridges with different composition of soil-forming rocks: both carbonate and non-carbonate morainic loam and cobble-less loam. Tree layer is formed by spruce only. The dense shrub layer, mainly of Lonicera xylosteum, is typical for this type. Oxalis acetosella is dominant of the herb-dwarf shrub layer. There are also nemoral (Hepatica nobilis, Aegopodium podagraria, Paris quadrifolia, Anemonoides nemorosa) and boreal species (Luzula pilosa, Gymnocarpium dryopteris, Maianthemum bifolium, Rubus saxatilis) in communities. The proportion of these two groups of species is different, but can be roughly equal. Vaccinium myrtillus was met only in these communities. Well-developed moss cover is typical for the majority of the communities. Plant communities of Piceeta aegopodiosa group of associations (rel. 21–24) were described on plains and gently sloping hillsides with different soil-forming rocks, including the once cultivated and used for agricultural purposes. Aspen is always present in the tree layer, birch and grey alder are in the majority of the communities; the latter is character species only for this type of spruce forests. Aegopodium podagraria is a dominant in herb layer. Moss layer is well formed; its projective cover degree reaches 70–85 %. Spruce nemoral herb forests prevail in the studied area. Their specific features, in comparison to similar subtaiga communities, are smaller abundance or even absence of broad-leaved trees in the tree layer, the absence of some characteristic species in the herb and moss layers (e. g., Asarum europaeum, Carex pilosa, Rhodobryum roseum), and well-formed moss cover dominated by boreal species of mosses (Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus and Hylocomium splendens). Author’s and available literature data show that there are no broad-leaved-coniferous forests in the current vegetation cover of the Izhora upland and the richest mixed (with broad-leaved tree species) spruce forests are extremely rare. In addition to prevailing spruce nemoral herb forests there are also spruce wood sorrel forests, more character for southern taiga. Nemoral herb spruce forests is a kind of transition between south-taiga and subtaiga forests: a small share of broad-leaved trees and developed moss cover brings them closer to the first types, while abundance of nemoral species in the herb layer and developed shrub layer to the second ones. According to some climatic parameters, the Izhora upland differs from the surrounding landscapes: here is more severe winter, the amount of active temperatures is 100–200° lower and, accordingly, the vegetation period is shortened. Despite this, more southern types of plant communities are common here, which is most likely due to the richness of the soil, but not to climate. Thus, the zonal vegetation status of this area can be defined as a calciphytic variant of the southern taiga forests rather than as an extra-zonal subtaiga forest, as presented in the existing schemes of geobotanical subdivision (Rastitelnost..., 1980; Geobotanicheskoye..., 1989).

A gift to VeledaThe large finds of military equipment in Southern Scandinavian bogs (the so-called war booty sacrifices) have long comprised a central aspect of research into the Iron Age. During recent decades, research has focused on the chronology and origin of these find assemblages, the hierarchical structure of Iron Age armies and their military strategic organisation and logistics. Comparably little attention has, on the other hand, been paid to the finds in their primary sense, i.e. as votive offerings and, accordingly, expressions of ritual acts with ideological and religious connotations. Our knowledge concerning the character of the acts performed before and during the actual depositions, and the religious background for these acts, is very limited. An historical account of which there has, until now, been little awareness in this respect, is the history of Veleda. According to Tacitus’ Historiae, Veleda was a prophetess of the German tribes north of the Lower Rhine. Tacitus’ account may serve as a source of inspiration towards a better understanding of these war booty offerings. The aim of this article is to draw attention to the ritual and sacral dimension of the Southern Scandinavian war-booty sacrifices and to paint a picture of the possible background and religious connotations for these finds.About the South Scandinavian war booty sacrificesThe Southern Scandinavian war booty sacrifices typically contain various types of weapons and elements of the personal equipment of individual warriors, as well as tools and other elements belonging to an army’s logistical apparatus. The find sites are concentrated geographically relative to the eastern coast of Jutland and on the island of Funen. The majority dates from the Late Roman Iron Age and the beginning of the Migration Period. It is generally accepted that the war booty offerings represent the equipment belonging to defeated armies, deposited by the victors of the conflicts. Recent debate has focussed on the question of whether the sites mirror offensive or defensive military actions. With regard to the ritual background and religious connotations of the sites, discussions have traditionally been based on descriptions by Classical writers of the sacrificial rituals of Celtic or Germanic tribes. These traditionally form the explanatory framework for the interpretation of the sites as representing votive offerings of a victorious army to some war god or other.The sacrificial sites as a ritual sceneCommon features of the war booty offerings are their location in a wetland environment, originally a lake or bog, and the intensive destruction of the artefacts previous to their deposition. Analyses indicate that this destruction was conducted very intentionally and according to a firmly structured pattern of ritual behaviour. The sacrifices thus represent considerable organisational and logistical investment(s), involving the participation of large groups of people. Through an association with high steep moraine hillsides, the topography of some of the offering sites resembles that of a natural amphitheatre. The localities seem to have been intentionally chosen to allow a large audience to witness the performance of the offering. The offerings can thus be seen as highly performative and dramatic spectacles, which, drawing on both additive and visual effects, can be expected to have left a lasting impression in the memories both of individuals and of the community.Tacitus’ account of VeledaTacitus’ account of Veleda forms part of his report in books IV and V of Historiae, on the revolt of the tribes of the Batavi and the Bructeri against Roman administration, which took place around 70 AD in the province of Germania Inferior. The prophetess is introduced in the context of the siege and destruction of Castra Vetera, near modern Xanten, in 69/70 AD. According to Tacitus, she had foretold the victory of the alliance of Germanic tribes; one of the legionaries of the defeated legions was sent to her along with other gifts. She is described as a woman of the tribe of the Bructeri. Furthermore she is told to have had enormous authority, due to her prophetical and even divine power. Shortly after the siege of Castra Vetera, the Germans are reported to have succeeded in capturing the flagship of the Roman Rhine fleet, which again was brought as a present to Veleda.Veleda and her giftsVeleda is described more elaborately as being one of many prophetesses worshipped by the Germanic tribes, and who even may have achieved divine status. She was said to dwell in a tall tower of some kind, and direct contact with her was prohibited. Against the background of Veleda’s divine status, and her role as a mediator between gods and humans, the gifts which were brought to her after the Germans’ two victories can be seen as offerings. The Roman legate, said to have been killed on his way to Veleda, corresponds to the presentation and execution of the enemy commander in the context of the Roman triumph, or the killing of the Roman officers in the aftermath of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. The trireme, the largest type of contemporary military vessel, cannot be expected to have been intended for military use but as an obvious expression of Roman military power, and hence clear proof for the Germans’ triumph.From Castra Vetera to IllerupThe range of gifts which, according to Tacitus, were brought to Veleda, correlates with some of the elements of the war booty offerings. With regard to the Roman officer, it was especially weapons and personal equipment, presumably those of the leading commanders of the defeated armies, that were deposited at several sites. These probably received special attention during preparation of the offerings. Tacitus’ account on the captured trireme is reminiscent of the finds of either complete or parts of what can be assumed to have been specialised military vessels seen in a number of war booty offerings. The similarities between the example of Veleda and the war booty offerings are not limited to the respective gifts/offerings. In both cases, the giving of gifts/offerings is in the context of a military campaign. The vessels, in particular, can be characterised as very spectacular items, and in both cases the victor of the military conflict was responsible for the giving of gifts/offerings.Veleda and her sisters in the NorthTacitus’ description of Veleda, and other references to Germanic prophetesses in Classical writings, shows parallels to the description of the Völva in much later Old Norse written sources from the medieval period. Fulfilling a role as a mediator between the gods and humans, these female prophetesses seem not only to have been part of actual society, but also an element of contemporary mythology. The Völva can be perceived as being associated with the mythological concept of the Norns, which again relate to other mythological figures, such as the Valkyries, Disir and a number of minor deities. Like Veleda, these religious specialists and mythological beings all relate to the general concept of fate, and in particular to warriors and war. Several mythological beings and female deities that appear in the Old Norse written sources, presumably representing an old stratum within the mythological narrative, show close links to a wetland environment, in the form of lakes, wells or bogs.The goddess in the lakeEven though both the various historical sources and the archaeological evidence are characterised by considerable variation in terms of space and time they nevertheless open up far-reaching perspectives and can be used as source of inspiration for a better understanding of war booty offerings. This applies not least to the question of whether these phenomena result from unsuccessful invasions or successful raids abroad. The latter hypothesis has been promoted more recently with reference to the Roman Triumph. The example of Veleda shows that the tribe of the Bructeri celebrated a version of the Triumph, indicating a similar practice in a Germanic context. This supports the above hypothesis that at least some of the war booty offerings may result from the showing off to the native community of war booty acquired abroad. The story of Veleda is of particular interest with reference to the nature of the ritual and religious dimension of the finds. Tacitus’ account of Veleda resembles the Southern Scandinavian war booty offerings on several counts. Additionally, there are obvious parallels between Veleda and the other Germanic prophetesses, on the one hand, and a large number of female characters in Old Norse written sources on Pre-Christian mythology, on the other. These similarities may be rooted in a shared conceptualisation of the influence of the divine powers on the outcome of a battle, of the predictability of the will of these powers and how appreciation could be expressed to such powers or to the ones who had communicated their will. The example of Veleda can be seen, like the later written accounts of Vølvas, Norns, Valkyries and other mythological beings, as a distant echo of this concept; it presumably belongs to the oldest strata of Pre- Christian cosmology reflected in our written sources. The historical sources can be seen as mirroring a past cognitive reality and religious world view; according to which female beings, both as religious specialists and as mythological characters, fulfilled a crucial role in the context of coercion, war and death. Against this background, one may ask whether the war booty offerings can be interpreted as reflecting votive offerings relating to religious specialists who were incorporated into preparation of the military campaign. Additionally, one may ask whether the nameless war god, to whom the war booty offerings are traditionally thought to have been dedicated, may also be sought among the various female beings mentioned in Classical and later Old Norse sources. These sources mirror a mythological conceptualisation of wells, lakes and bogs as not merely transitional zones or entrances to the supernatural, but as the very dwelling place of various mythological beings. Against this background, the changing context of votive activities in Scandinavia, practised in both wetland environments and in the context of settlements, may have been rooted in the dualism of a female and masculine sphere in religious and military practice.Andres Sieg fried DobatMoesgård Museum/Aarhus Universitet

Cooking pits – in clusters or in rowsCooking pits can occur either arranged in one or more rows, following a roughly parallel course, or in clusters of up to several hundred closely-spaced examples with no apparent pattern in their location. This type of structure is known from Southern Scandinavia, Germany and Poland. Most cooking-pit systems belong to the Bronze Age, but occasional examples date from the Early Iron Age.The cooking-pit complexes are described according to the following characteristics: 1) location in the landscape, 2) proximity to water, 3) distance to contemporary settlements, hoards and graves, 4) uniformity of form and content and 5) paucity of finds (Heidelk-Schacht 1989).In recent years in Denmark, attention has become focussed on cooking-pit systems and many new examples have been investigated (fig. 1). There are at least 42 known sites (fig. 2) comprising a total of at least 4300 cooking pits. However, as most rows or clusters of cooking pits have not been fully excavated, the real number is much greater. There are virtually no da­table finds from the pits, as a consequence of which there is a tendency to date these features alone on the basis of their form and structure. Radiocarbon dates are the most important source when dating and many new sites, especially with uni-seriate arrangements of cooking pits, have been scientifically dated.In this article, the cooking-pit question is examined with a point of departure in a uni-seriate system at Frammerslev in Salling and a complex system at Brok­bakken, Bjerringbro.FrammerslevDuring Skive Museum’s investigations in 2002 and 2006, discoveries included a uni-seriate cooking-pit system and a 31 m-long row of postholes 200 m further to the east, parallel to the row of cooking pits. The row of cooking pits (fig. 3) lies on a plateau located on a large promontory. The promontory hosts several concentrations and a row of burial mounds, constituting a marked feature in the landscape, also in the Late Bronze Age. The row of cooking pits runs directly towards a burial mound in both directions. Six cremation graves were found in the burial mounds, indicating that they were also used for burial purposes in the Late Bronze Age. There is no settlement in the vicinity.The row of cooking pits comprises 33 pits located in extension of one another, forming a 67 m-long northeast-southwest oriented row (fig. 4). Towards the northeast, the row continues in a more scattered fashion with a further seven cooking pits. In the middle of the series there is a complex of at least four cooking pits ( fig. 4, no. 1), of which two are included in the row. Repeated re-cutting can be seen in the complex and this is the only site so far where repeated use can be documented. At Frammerslev, there are subsidiary cooking pits associated with the row – a feature also seen at Roerstensgård and Bækmarksgård.The other cooking pits in the Frammerslev row are circular or elongate-oval. On the basis of the deposits in the pits, a typology has been constructed (fig. 5).When the cooking pits are classified according to the presence or absence of a compact charcoal-rich layer at their base, as well as one or two overlying layers, two main types can be identified, one with three, and one with two sub-types:Type 1 includes cooking pits with a black, compact charcoal-rich basal layer. Type 1a has a basal layer of charcoal and over this a yellow to brownish-yellow layer with red-burnt areas and, uppermost, brown topsoil material with scattered fire-shattered stones and charcoal. There may be red-burnt soil at the edge of the pit. There are, accordingly, three layers within the cooking pit and the red-burnt layer over the charcoal is unbroken and follows the course of any subsidence in the pit. Type 1b has brown topsoil-like fill directly over the basal charcoal layer. There are, accordingly, only two layers in the cooking pit. Type 1c comprises a black charcoal-rich basal layer with a substantial content of fire-shattered stones in the same layer as the charcoal, by which it distinguishes itself from types 1a and 1b. Type 2 covers cooking pits lacking black charcoal layers and possibly also without fire-shattered stones. In the case of type 2a, the whole pit is filled with brown clay, possibly lacking, or with only occasional scattered, fire-shattered stones and with very little charcoal. There is no red-burnt subsoil associated with these pits. With type 2b, the basal layer comprises clay with a very low content of charcoal and occasional fire-shattered stones or yellow to brownish-yellow clay with many small pieces of fire-shattered stone but no charcoal and no red-burnt clay.As can be seen from the overview (fig. 6) of the cross-sections of the cooking pits, there is great uniformity within, respectively, types 1a and 2a.Cooking pits of type 1 were primarily hearths where the cooking stones were heated in situ and the subsoil has become coloured by the effect of the intense heat. Subsequently, the pit served its purpose as, presumably, a cooking place for the roasting of meat. While the stones were still hot the fire was extinguished by being covered by thin layers of soil being thrown in; in several cases these can be seen to have acquired a reddish colour due to the effect of the heat. In several of the cooking pits there are very small fire-shattered stones, presumably the result of repeated use. Finally, the pit was either intentionally covered after its last usage or stood open and, with time, became filled with soil-rich culture layers. Accordingly, the cooking pit represents a complete series of events.The cooking pits of main type 2, with no or few fire-shattered stones, no or only a little charcoal and lacking red-coloured subsoil, must be explained in a different way. Either fire was never lit in the cooking pit – in which case it is difficult to maintain the term cooking pit and the pit could perhaps represent a kind of preliminary phase to its actual use, or the pit has been completely cleaned out after use, resulting in only the overlying layers being present. This type represents perhaps the pre- and post-phases of the actual cooking-pit activity.By examining the distribution of types 1 and 2, a pattern emerges which can provide the basis for an interpretation of the uni-seriate structure at Frammerslev (see fig. 4). Cooking pits of type 1 are the deepest and lie on both sides of the large central pit. Cooking pits of type 2 lie further away at both the northeastern and southwestern ends. This distribution of types suggest that the most commonly-used features are the central ones and that the row grew successively out from this core. Two shallow pits of type 2 furthest to the north could perhaps be the beginning of the next stage.The cooking pits at Frammerslev have not been archaeologically dated on the basis of artefacts. Two cooking pits of type 1 have been radiocarbon dated (fig. 7). If account is taken of the greatest uncertainty, the calibrated dates are, respectively, 860-790 BC and 1070-830 BC, i.e. Late Bronze Age, periods IV-V.Uni-seriate structures are found on Funen and Zealand and in Central and Northwestern Jutland and have many common features. They have often a marked location in the landscape, several occur on or near the highest point, for example on larger or smaller promontories extending out into a wetland area. Virtually all the uni-seriate cooking-pit rows lie in the vicinity of a wetland. Five out of 11 uni-seriate cooking-pit rows point in the direction of a burial mound. It is difficult to judge whether the cooking-pit rows lie remotely relative to settlements and burial grounds; investigation of even greater areas would be required in order to establish with certainty the absence of contemporary sites in the vicinity. This situation is further complicated by the fact that the houses from this period appear to be located quite a distance apart.The uni-seriate cooking-pit structures are, as a rule, lacking in finds. Nine uni-seriate cooking-pit rows have been radiocarbon dated (fig. 9). The radiocarbon dates reveal that the cooking-pit systems were used in the Late Bronze Age, periods IV-V, especially in the years between 950 and 800 BC.Brokbakken I-IIIIn the period between 1990 and 2008, Viborg Stiftsmuseum carried out several arch­aeological investigations on a 20 hectare site at Bjerringbro. These excavations have been named Brokbakken I-III. By way of the excavations at Brokbakken it has proved possible to demonstrate that large and small concentrations of cooking pits can be found in the vicinity of a multi-seriate system of cooking pits.Brokbakken comprises a delimited promontory (fig. 10), bordered on three sides by 8-10 m high steep slopes and gullies running out towards the flat Gudenå river valley. To the southeast, the promontory slopes gently without any natural boundary. The concentration of cooking pits at Brokbakken II lies a little withdrawn from the edge of the promontory, facing out towards a small gulley. The multi-seriate system of cooking pits, Brokbakken III, lies along the edge of an extensive valley which, 1.5 km distant, runs into the Gudenå.Brokbakken I yielded a concentration of 30 cooking pits, especially of type 1b, together with refuse pits from the Late Bronze Age, periods IV-V.At Brokbakken II, there is a concentration of 85 densely-placed cooking pits, primarily of type 1c (basal layer comprising a mixture of charcoal and fire-shattered stones), as well as several smaller clusters (fig. 11). There are a few finds, including a collection of sherds (fig. 12) from a c. 23 cm high vessel. Radiocarbon dating of a cooking pit shows that, when the greatest uncertainty is taken into account, it was in use between 1130 and 840 BC (see fig. 7), i.e. in Late Bronze Age, periods IV-V.At Brokbakken III, a multi-seriate system of cooking pits was investigated in 1997. This comprised 110 examples arranged in three to four rows (termed rows F, G, I and J), forming a fan shape (fig. 13), as well as 42 cooking pits lying individually or in smaller or larger concentrations. The majority of the cooking pits are circular or oval and they vary in size.The cooking pits at Brokbakken III are built up according to the same basic principles as those at Frammerslev, and cooking pits of types 1b, 2a and 2b are present. Cooking pits with a compact layer of charcoal at the base are, conversely, absent, but these are presumably replaced by cooking pits of type 1c. Overall, it can be seen that the majority of the cooking pits, in all 55% of all those which were sectioned, belong to type 1b.When account is taken of the greatest uncertainty in the radiocarbon dates, the cooking pit alignments can be seen to have been in use in the period 1020-800 BC, i.e. Late Bronze Age, periods IV-V.Multi-seriate cooking-pit systems are known from 10 localities on Zealand, Funen and Bornholm, and in Jutland. They are located on hillsides or level ground with small elevations or on flat promontories extending out into wetland areas. The cooking-pit rows are found by bogs, lakes and watercourses. The multi-seriate cooking-pit systems have no fixed orientation and several structures follow a meandering or curved course. At the known localities, there are between two and 15-16 rows of cooking pits, and it seems that systems comprising three to four rows are commonest. Five structures have been dated to the Late Bronze Age, periods IV, V and VI.Concentrations of cooking pits with more than 25 cooking pits are known from 20 localities on Zealand, Møn and Funen and in Jutland (see fig. 2). The concentrations have very diverse locations – some are on or by marked hill tops or on an even plateau, while others occur on sloping terrain as well as on the floor of a valley. The cooking-pit concentrations lie in the vicinity of lakes, watercourses or bogs or close to open water.A cooking-pit concentration at Fårdalgård (fig. 19) lies in undulating terrain, virtually a promontory. On the plateau behind the cooking pits, settlement traces from the Late Bronze Age have been found. Further away, there are burial mounds and only 100 m away lies the find site for the famous Fårdal hoard. The latter is dated to the Late Bronze Age, period V, and the system of cooking pits can, as a whole, be dated on the basis of pottery to the Late Bronze Age; this also applies to other concentrations of cooking pits.ConclusionSystems of cooking pits must be seen in a wider context, where their topographic location and information on the area’s settlements, burial grounds and hoards are included in the evaluation. On the basis of topographic location, it is reasonable to suggest that uni-seriate structures could have had a different function from multi-seriate examples, and that the complexity is further increased if there are both rows and concentrations of cooking pits at the same site.Uni-seriate structures are often located high up in the vicinity of, or pointing towards, burial mounds containing finds from both the Early and Late Bronze Age. These structures should probably be interpreted in conjunction with the burial mounds, and be seen as cultic features employed in connection with burials or other ceremonies associated with the cult. Their physical form, a long row of cooking pits at Frammerslev, constitutes a clear eastern demarcation and the associated row of postholes is a clear western demarcation of the row of burial mounds. The group of burial mounds towards the north could be a form of transverse demarcation of the area. In this way, areas are created within the landscape, each of different significance – outside and inside – a totally ritual landscape.The multi-seriate systems and large concentrations of cooking pits are often conspicuously located in areas with watercourses, lakes or bogs or facing out towards open water. Several sites, such as Brokbakken I-III and Fårdalgård, are located on marked promontories extending out into large river valleys where offerings have been found in the vicinity. It seems obvious to imagine these large concentrations and numerous rows of cooking pits as the result of many people’s activities in connection with great gatherings and cultic ceremonies. The argument can be made for an supra-regional presence of people, and the site can, therefore, be interpreted as a gathering place for a larger area.Figure 20 shows the location of the cooking-pit concentrations relative to the main watercourses in Central Jutland: Gudenå, Skals Å and Nørre Å. There is about 30 km in a straight line from the concentrations of cooking pits in Lynderup to the cooking pits of both Brokbakken I-III and Munkebo. Within this area, with its meandering river systems, and the areas of land they delimit, there are several systems of cooking pits. Their location in the landscape suggests some form of territorial division. We can almost predict the location of the next structure in the landscape!Brokbakken I-III also demonstrates, at a superior level, a form of division of the landscape. High up on the promontory there are cooking pits and traces of metalworking delimited by the slightly lower-lying multi-seriate system of cooking pits. Below the promontory by the Gudenå there is an offering area. On the plateau nearest the promontory there are scattered traces of settlement and in the burial mounds further away the rich graves of important people. If this interpretation of the landscape is correct, the systems of cooking pits can have had a function as markers in the ritual landscape.The investigations of rows of cooking pits show that there are differences in the physical composition of the individual structures, but it is the fill layers which form the basis for a more subtle interpretation of their function. These layers could represent various stages of use and cleaning out. The investigation at Frammerslev shows that the rows of cooking pits were used several times, and it is possible to argue for successive expansion. A form of division into separate sections is also seen at several sites.On the basis of many ethnographic parallels and practical experiments, it has been suggested that the cooking pits were used to cook meat. If we accept that the cooking pits of type 1 were used for cooking, and that food for 10 people can be prepared in a single pit, the systems of cooking pits at Frammerslev could have been used to prepare food for 60-100 people, while those at Brokbakken III could perhaps provide for 800-1000 individuals.Inge Kjær KristensenMuseum SallingSkive Museum

The article presents a hitherto unknown painting by Edward Mateusz Römer (1848–1900), a representative of a painters’ dynasty from Vilnius. The painting, which is currently referred to as “Spring in Vilnius”, features the house of the artist’s family in Vilnius. In order to fully evaluate the iconography of the work, considerable attention is given to the object of the work itself. The canvas features the courtyard and northern-side buildings of Römersʼ house in Vilnius, at the intersection of Savičiaus and Bokšto streets. Based on various written sources (house descriptions in tariff books, egodocuments of the Römer family), the development of the possession over the years and the functioning of the house in the nineteenth century are reconstructed. Also, changes in the structure of the living spaces are revealed, including the localisation of various premises and specification of the whereabouts of E. M. Römerʼs painting studio within the building complex. Throughout the nineteenth century, Römer’s house in Bokšto Street in Vilnius was the centre of the family’s social and cultural life. The main residential masonry buildings were mostly concentrated in the northern and eastern parts of the courtyard, whereas the wooden residential and livestock buildings were on the opposite side of the courtyard, to the right of the gate. After 1948, all the buildings in the southern part of the house were destroyed. Only the residential masonry houses consisting of three buildings located along the northern and eastern boundaries of the possession have survived to this day. The analysis of the origin revealed that the masonry in the northern part, which almost reached the top of the walls, dates back to 1792–1808. The reconstruction could have been related to Michał Józef Römer’s marriage in 1799. Most probably the “illusory” wall imitating the facade was built during the same year. At the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, the eastern building on the hillside was the main building of the house. According to the data of 1812, by that time M. J. Römer’s apartment was in the more spacious part of the northern building (on the second floor), but from 1816 to1821, seven rooms of this apartment, rearranged according to the design of the architect Joseph Poussier, were leased to “Gorliwy Litwin”, the Masonic Lodge of Vilnius. In 1816, Michał Józef Römer and his wife Rachel moved back to the eastern building where they lived until M. J. Römer’s death. Their children with families lived in the apartments of the northern building, which were reconstructed between 1834 and 1837. From the end of eighteenth century until 1863, the first floor of the more spacious northern building, the so called “courtyard building” located away from the street, served as a stable and a carthouse. Later this part of the building was reconstructed, served as a painting studio of Adam Szemesz until 1864, and was E. M. Römer’s painting studio after 1877. The courtyard was a very important part of the complex of buildings. Part of it was occupied by an orchard and a small vineyard. After 1863, E. J. Römer decided to arrange the so-called “grove” of decorative plants for walking and relaxation. In 1850, a masonry studio for the painter Kanuty Rusiecki (1800–1860) was built in the courtyard of Römers’ house. For some time, this studio was also used by the painter Jan Zenkiewicz (1825–1888). Unfortunately, the building did not survive to this day. In the creative legacy of E. M. Römer, the paintings featuring the house in Bokšto Street are especially valuable. The painter concentrated on these motives during the last decade of his life, especially before 1897, when he mainly resided in Vilnius. E. M. Römer immortalised part of the courtyard and the northern buildings in the painting of 1893, which is now called “Spring in Vilnius”. Due to the painting quality of the work and its historical/iconographic value, this canvas is attributed to E. M. Römer’s most important extant works. In all likelihood, this painting is identical to the canvas “Under the Poplars” mentioned in the literature; in 1896, it was donated for the establishment of Jan Matejko’s museum in Krakow.

This paper presents a check list of 179 bird species occuring in the Qwaqwa National Park which borders the eastern part of Golden Gate Highlands National Park. Data on the distribution, status, habitat preferences and breeding were obtained during several visits between December 1992 and March 1995. The following habitats were preferred: grassland, montane grassland, woodland, rocky hillsides, mountain slopes and riverine areas with Phragmites reedbeds. The conservation of waterbirds, raptors and other localised species such as Orangebreasted Rockjumper, Palecrowned Cisticola, Mountain Pipit and Gurney's Sugarbird is important as these species occur in specialised habitats.

The present research study was conducted to find out the factors responsible for changing trends in biodiversityin Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu. Among the thirty two districts of Tamil Nadu, Salem andThiruvannamalai district were purposively selected. Since, the tribal population were found to be high.The study was conducted in two blocks namely Pethanaickenpalayam in Salem district and Jawadhu hillsin Thiruvannamalai district respectively. Totally 182 tribal respondents were selected based on proportionaterandom sampling method. The data was collected through personal interview method by using the well-structuredinterview schedule. The statistical method percentage analysis was used to analyse the collecteddata. Findings were meaningfully interpreted and relevant conclusions were drawn. The results showsthat introduction of new plant varieties (97.80 percent), deforestation (96.15 percent), erratic variation ofrainfall (94.50 per cent) and application of chemical fertilizer (91.75 percent) are the major factor responsiblefor changing trends of bio-diversity in the study area.

The geomorphological evolution of the Serra do Espinhaço is discussed based on: a) a critical analysisof previous papers about the geomorphology of the range, b) new interpretation based on own field data,c) regional interpretation, considering informations about the evolution of adjacent areas west and east ofthe range (São Francisco River, Doce River and Jeqitinhonha-Araçuaí Rivers Basins). The global contextis presented as a synthetical characterization of the main geological conditions, regional physiographyand drainage system organization and anomalies.The regional geomorphological organization is rigid controlled by the geology: a) the shape of therange reproduce the original collisional arc developed during the proterozoic orogeny, b) the existence oftwo strongly diferenciated plateaux (Planalto Meridional and Planalto Setentrional) reflect the litho-structuralcontrast between the southern and northern parts of the range, c) the morphology expresses the associationbetween lithological resistance to erosion and the tectonic organization in all scales.The morphology of the higher portions of the plateaux is characterized by relicts of two tertiaryplanation surfaces. They are probably peneplains resulting from erosion under tropical humid climaticconditions. During the Pleistocene, the valleys recorded the formation of several stepped terraces. thespacial variation on its dislevelments reflects the intensity of crustal uplifts and the position of the streamsin the drainage system hierarchy. The hillsides were, during the Upper Pleistocene, covered by two finecolluvial layers. In both cases, the cenozoic sediments register evidences of humid and hot paleoclimaticconditions.The Serra do Espinhaço acquired its present main physiography after the Miocene, which wascharacterized by tectonic stability. During the Pliocene, a strong compressional tectonic event reactivatedthe main precambrian thrust faults and detachment planes. As a consequence, the high scarp related to thewest thrust front was enhanced together with a eastward tilting of the plateaux. At the same time, in thePlanalto Setentrional, several valley heads of the São Francisco drainage basin were deviated and capturedby the Jequitinhonha Basin drainage system. In the Planalto Meridional, the geological conditions (porouslithology and anticline structure) favoured the capture of streams by the São Francisco Basin drainagesystem.As a consequence of the compressional forces that uplifted the range, an extensional stress fielddeveloped in the eastern border, generating grabens structures where the main rivers installed its valleys.The neotectonic activity is also recorded in several parts of the range and adjacent areas by normal, reverseand strike-slip faults in pleistocenic alluvial and colluvial deposits. Fault planes data analysis indicates ageneral NW-SE compressional stress field that remains up to the present time, as confirmed by results ofseismological data.(*)

The climate in the Arctic, including the European sector, is changing rapidly (Report..., 2021). Currently, there is uncertainty as to whether the regularities of satellite-observed greening in tundra areas indicate a change in the vegetation cover in situ. The NDVI changes are multidirectional in different sectors of the Arctic and depend on the period taken for calculation (Bhatt et al., 2010, 2013; Epstein et al., 2017; Tishkov et al., 2018; Myers-Smith et al., 2020). Non-environmental factors (atmospheric changes, orbital drift, sensor degradation, snow duration or standing water) can give greening signals (Gamon et al., 2013; Raynolds et al., 2013; Guay et al., 2014). The winter and spring indicators (for example, coastal spring sea-ice area) represent potential predictors of tundra vegetation productivity a season or two in advance of the growing season (Bhatt et al., 2021). The question of what happens to vegetation over a long period is more accurately answered by studies carried out by surface methods on monitoring sites having repeated geobotanical descriptions with an accurate geographical reference. An increase in the projective cover and height of the vegetation cover, an increase in the relative abundance of shrubs and grasses, and shrub vegetation spreading on hillsides and in river valleys have been established for the tundra of Alaska and the Canadian Arctic (Sturm et al., 2001; Tape et al., 2006; Gould et al. ., 2009; Myers-Smith et al., 2019; Harris et al., 2021). In other publications (Prach et al., 2010; Callaghan et al., 2011; Danils and de Molenaar, 2011; Matveeva and Zanokha, 2013b), on the contrary, it is shown that, despite climatic changes, the flora and vegetation remained mainly fairly stable in Alaska, Greenland, Spitsbergen and Taimyr. The changes are often recorded only in the locations where the landscapes are being physically changed or destructed (Jorgenson et al., 2015; Pospelova et al., 2017; Lavrinenko and Lavrinenko, 2020). Flora, as a more conservative component of the vegetation cover, retains its composition and structure much longer than vegetation (Koroleva et al., 2019), however, the dispersal of species in our time is much faster than expected. A repeated inventory (decades later) of local tundra floras (Pospelov and Pospelova, 2001; Sekretareva and Sytin, 2006; Matveeva et al., 2014; Koroleva et al., 2019) shows an increase in their richness mainly due to species of more southern latitudinal groups. Northward migration of boreal species occurs mainly along river valleys. We calculated climate indices for Eastern European tundras, which are important for plants, using the software ClimPACT (Alexander et al., 2013) and applying daily data series (Bulygina et al., website). Over the past 30 years, compared with the previous 30 years, the annual number of frost days (by 14-21 days) has significantly decreased, the duration of the vegetation period has increased (by an average of 2 weeks) as well as the number of growing degree days (by an average of 85 C) (Table 1). It is important to focus attention on species discovered originally far from the previously known boundaries of their natural habitat, since they may indicate ongoing climatic changes. In this article, we supplemented the 5 local floras in the Malozemelskaya Tundra and Bolshezemelskaya Tundra, which we revisited in the period from 2019 to 2020, with 67 taxons (Table 2). The local flora "Bolvansky Nos" at the mouth of the Pechora River, which previously contained 222 species (Lavrinenko et al., 2016), has become one of the richest for its zonal positions (the northern zone of the southern tundra) and for the East European tundras in general due to new findings (34 species). The majority (69%) of the newly discovered taxons in the 5 local floras belong to the boreal fraction and there are even more such species (71%) in the "Bolvansky Nos" flora. We also analyzed the species, which we found earlier during the inventory of 24 local floras on the islands and the mainland of the Eastern European tundra (Lavrinenko et al., 2016, 2019, marked with asterisks in the tables). The number of species discovered for the first time far from their location, which were previously indicated in the main reports of the last century, was 64. The main part (62%) of these species belongs to the southern latitudinal groups. Current locations indicate the northern limit of their spreading in the European North. Most of these species penetrate to the north along the the valleys of rivers flowing in the meridional direction from south to north (Pechora and its tributaries, More-Yu, Neruta). Some aquatic and coastal plants have been found far north of their former locations, which is particularly impressive: Cicuta virosa, Eleocharis palustris, E. quinqueflora, Filaginella uliginosa, Juncus bufonius, J.nodulosus, Myriophyllum sibiricum, M. verticillatum, Naumburgia thyrsiflora, Potamogeton friesii, P.pusillus, P. sibiricus, Sagittaria natans, Sparganium angustifolium, Stuckenia filiformis. Many of them are not found just as specients, but they form communities and are highly vital (Lavrinenko and Lavrinenko, 2018; Lavrinenko and Dyachkova, 2021). In the last century, most of these plants were known from the middle/southern parts of the Komi Republic (Arctic..., 1960-1987; Flora..., 1974-1979) and are reported for the territory of the Eastern European tundra for the first time. The valleys of rivers flowing in the meridional direction from south to north are also a passage for the migration of meadow plants Dactylis glomerata, Lathyrus palustris, Sedum purpureum. New locations of arboreal species (Picea obovata, Pinus sylvestris, Populus tremula, Alnus fruticosa) can be considered as evidence of their northward movement along river valleys from the forest-tundra zone and the forest islands located to the south. It is concluded that climate warming in the Eastern European sector of the Arctic contributes to the active natural dispersal of plant species of southern latitudinal groups to the north, especially along the valleys of large rivers flowing in the meridional direction.