The world's oldest mercury poisoning revealed in Copper Age Iberia

by University of Seville

Cinnabar from Mine Siele, Tuscany, Italy. Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology of the 

French National Museum of Natural History in Paris. Credit: Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart, 

CC-BY 4.0

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that exposure to mercury, a natural element that can be present in the air, water and soil, can cause serious health problems, even in small amounts. Mercury contamination or poisoning can have serious toxic effects on humans, affecting the nervous, digestive, and immune systems, as well as the lungs, kidneys, skin, and eyes. The WHO currently considers mercury to be one of the top ten substances of greatest public health concern.

A recent paper published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology and in which researchers from the University of Seville participate, explores the complex relationship between humans and mercury over time. In this article, titled "The use and abuse of cinnabar in Late Neolithic and Copper Age Iberia," a team of 14 specialists in biology, chemistry, physical anthropology and archaeology have presented the results of the largest study ever carried out on the presence of mercury in human bone, with a sample of a total of 370 individuals from 50 tombs located in 23 archaeological sites in Spain and Portugal dating from Neolithic, Copper Age, Bronze Age and antiquity, thus encompassing 5,000 years of human history.

The results reveal that the highest levels of mercury exposure occurred at the beginning of the Copper Age, between 2900 and 2600 BC. In this period, the exploitation and use of cinnabar increased considerably for social and cultural reasons. Cinnabar (HgS) is a mercury sulfide mineral that, when pulverized, turns into a powder of a striking and brilliant red color. Historically, this substance has been used to produce pigments in paint, being famous already in antiquity ("Pompeian red") or in modern art (known as "vermilion"). It so happens that the largest cinnabar mine in the world, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, is located in Almadén, in central Spain).

The exploitation of the Almadén cinnabar began in the Neolithic, 7,000 years ago. By the beginning of the Copper Age, around 5000 years ago, cinnabar became a product of great social value, with a character that was both sacred, esoteric and sumptuous. In tombs from this period discovered in southern Portugal and Andalusia, cinnabar powder (often turned into a pigment) was used to paint megalithic chambers, decorate figurines or stelae, and to spread it over the dead. As a result, many people must have accidentally inhaled or consumed it, leading to unsuspected accumulations of mercury in their bodies. Levels of up to 400 parts per million (ppm) have been recorded in the bones of some of these individuals. Taking into account that the WHO currently considers that the normal level of mercury in hair should not be higher than 1 or 2 ppm, the data obtained reveal a high level of intoxication that must have severely affected the health of many of those people. In fact, the levels detected in some subjects are so high that the study authors do not rule out that cinnabar powder was deliberately consumed, by inhalation of vapors, or even ingestion, for the ritual, symbolic and esoteric value that was attributed to it.

The results of this study provide scientific evidence of great value to expand future research on the complex relationship of human beings with mercury, one of the most peculiar mineral substances on our planet, and to learn about its uses and their consequences for human health.Fish consumption still safe despite initial fears over mercury levels

More information: Steven D. Emslie et al, The Use and Abuse of Cinnabar in Late Neolithic and Copper Age Iberia, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology (2021). DOI: 10.1002/oa.3056

Provided by University of Seville 

Easternmost Roman aqueduct discovered in Armenia

by University of Münster

The excavation trench shows a pillar of the unfinished aqueduct. Credit: Artaxata project

Archaeologists from the University of Münster and the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia have discovered remains of a Roman arched aqueduct during excavation work on the Hellenistic royal city of Artashat-Artaxata in ancient Armenia. It is the easternmost arched aqueduct in the Roman Empire. Excavation work took place back in 2019, and an evaluation of the find has now been published in the Archäologischer Anzeiger journal.

"The monumental foundations are evidence of an unfinished aqueduct bridge built by the Roman army between 114 and 117 CE," explains author Prof. Achim Lichtenberger from the Institute of Classical Archaeology and Christian Archaeology at the University of Münster. "At that time, Artaxata was destined to become the capital of a Roman province in Armenia." It was during this time that the Roman Empire reached its greatest extent—if only for a short while—because it was under Trajan, who was Emperor of Rome from 98 to 117 CE—that the Romans attempted to incorporate the province of Armenia into the Roman Empire. "The planned, and partially completed, construction of the aqueduct in Artaxata shows just how much effort was made, in a very short space of time, to integrate the infrastructure of the capital of the province into the Empire," says co-author Torben Schreiber from the Institute of Classical Archaeology and Christian Archaeology at the University of Münster. "The aqueduct remained unfinished because after Trajan's death, in 117 CE, his successor Hadrian relinquished the province of Armenia before the aqueduct was completed." The archaeologists therefore see their find as furnishing evidence for the failure of Roman imperialism in Armenia.

In the background of the excavation area is the hillock in Artaxata on which is located the 

Khor Virap monastery, with Mount Ararat behind it. Credit: Artaxata project

Methods

In their excavation campaign, the team used a multidisciplinary combination of methods from the fields of archaeology, geophysics, geochemistry and archaeoinformatics. The area of the Hellenistic metropolis of Artaxata in the Ararat Plain was first examined geomagnetically. At this stage of their work, the experts surveyed and charted any anomalies. The geomagnetic image showed a conspicuous dotted line, which they analyzed with so-called sondages. The results were documented by the archaeologists three-dimensionally. Additional drillings provided evidence of further unfinished or destroyed pillars of the aqueduct. "We used satellite pictures and infrared images from a drone to visualize the course of the aqueduct's pillars," says co-author Dr. Mkrtich Zardaryan from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography at the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia. "We reconstructed the planned course of the aqueduct by means of a computer-assisted path analysis between the possible sources of the water and its destination." A scientific analysis of the lime mortar used showed that it was a typical Roman recipe. An analysis of soil samples dated the construction of the aqueduct to between 60 and 460 CE, and in the opinion of the researchers this makes the reign of Emperor Trajan the most likely dating for it.

Project: "Artaxata in Armenia—Fieldwork in a Hellenistic Metropolis in the Ararat Plain"

Since 2018 a team of German and Armenian scientists—headed by Achim Lichtenberger (Münster University), Mkrtich Zardaryan (Armenian Academy of Sciences) and Torben Schreiber (Münster University) – have been carrying out research into the Hellenistic metropolis of Artaxata in the Ararat Plain in Armenia. Their aim is to examine both a newly established Hellenistic royal city and the many-faceted cultural imprint between Central Asia, Iran and the Mediterranean region.The Aqueduct of Constantinople: Managing the longest water channel of the ancient world

More information: A. Lichtenberger et al, An Unfinished Roman Aqueduct at Artaxata in Armenia, Archäologischer Anzeiger 2021. doi.org/10.34780/8f82-fyw2

Provided by University of Münster 

Australia's coal country looks to a less sooty future

by Andrew Leeson

Australia's conservative government has boasted it will sell coal for as long as anyone is

 buying.

Australia's conservative leaders have defied calls for urgent climate action, boasting they will sell coal for as long as anyone is buying. But in the country's carbon heartland, locals are already preparing for life beyond fossil fuels.

Two-hundred-and-thirty years ago, among the verdant outcrops that flank the southeastern coastal town of Newcastle, a band of escaped convicts made the first recorded discovery of coal on the Australian continent.

It would begin Australia's long love affair with the sooty fuel that now nets the country tens of billions of dollars a year and has made Newcastle the world's largest coal-exporting port.

Nathan Clements was born and raised in the nearby town of Singleton, which he described as "very much the heartland of coal mining here".

"I don't want to say coal is everything, but it's a lot," he said.

"My older brother worked in a coal mine, my dad worked in a mine and still does to this day. When it was my turn, it was the norm to walk into that industry," said the 26-year-old, who for the last seven years has worked as an electrical fitter fixing mine equipment.

Around Singleton and the broader Hunter region, evidence of the vast scale of the coal industry is obvious.

Coal trains rumble through the countryside, each engine dragging a writhing column of rusty wagons from far into the distance.

In Australia's coal heartland, however, locals are already preparing for life beyond fossil fuels.

From the air, open cast mines pock the bush with jet-black scars. Off the coast, an armada of vessels waits, ready to load up and return to China, India, Japan or South Korea with mountains of millennia-old rock.

And Australia's government would like to keep it that way.

When dozens of countries, meeting at COP26 talks in Glasgow, recently agreed to phase out coal, Australia baulked.

"We are not closing coal mines and we are not closing coal-fired power stations," said resource minister Keith Pitt, using the opportunity to boast about the quality of Australian coal and 300,000 Australian jobs linked to the sector.

'A change in attitudes'

But unlike the government, workers in Singleton and towns across the Hunter are gradually coming to terms with King Coal's demise.

"I still need to work. I still need a job," said Clements, but "it is inevitable. There is an inevitability to it."

Coal nets Australia billions of dollars a year.

For him, there was a slow realisation that he might not be able to follow the career path of his father, who will retire in his coal job next year when Muswellbrook—Australia's oldest open cut coal mine—closes after almost 115 years of operation.

Clements said discussing the industry's future has become markedly less taboo and scepticism more mainstream with catastrophic events of the last few years.

"For a lot of people, I noticed a change in attitudes around the 2019-2020 bushfires," he said, referring to the climate-worsened disaster that tore through much of southeastern Australia.

And despite the government's bravado, the market is voting with its feet.

The very largest mining firms, such as Australia's own BHP and Rio Tinto, are already sprinting for the exits, rapidly offloading coal assets to smaller risk-embracing outfits.

Official figures show the number of people directly employed in the coal industry is more like 44,600—less than half the number of Australians employed by McDonald's.

Some in the coal sector are fearful that well-paying jobs are going to quickly become a thing of the past.

Newcastle in Australia is the world's largest coal-exporting port.

No silver bullet

But others are optimistic that their region will succeed despite Canberra's digging in on a seemingly dying industry.

"There's so much innovation going on," said Sam Mella of Beyond Zero Emissions, a think tank working with local industry on diversification.

She pointed to the infrastructure around coal—the port, the rail network, transmission lines as well as universities and research institutes—as a valuable asset for the region.

"We have this fantastic legacy to build on," she said. "I think the Hunter is going to lead the way in the post-carbon economy."

So far, there is no silver bullet—no one technology or project that will save the entire region or replace coal.

But there is hope that out of the plethora of projects, from water filtration technology to megawatt-scale batteries to designing and manufacturing hyper-efficient wind turbines, that something will emerge.

So far, there is no silver bullet—no one technology or project that will save the entire region

 or replace coal.

The question is whether the transition can come quickly enough for workers like Clements.

"My concern is that when the market finally says 'nah, we're not interested anymore' that we don't have a plan, and a lot of people lose their jobs."

But "I think there is still a chance for the region, I don't think it's a one-way ticket," he said. "There is definitely still a bit of life there."Australia vows to keep mining coal despite climate warning

© 2021 AFP

Syria reservoir dries up for first time

A rowing boat lies grounded on the exposed lake bed of Syria's Duwaysat Dam reservoir 

after it dried up completely for the first time in its 27-year history.

Low rainfall, structural damage and extraction by struggling farmers have emptied a key reservoir in northwestern Syria, leaving it completely dry for the first time, farmers and officials told AFP.

With man-made climate change increasing the frequency of drought and wildfires worldwide, Syria is experiencing one of its driest and hottest years on record after historically low rainfall last winter.

The reservoir formed by Al-Duwaysat Dam in Idlib province, a key irrigation source for thousands of farmers, has completely dried up for the first time in its 27-year history.

The exposed lake bed is parched to a crisp in many places, a sinister expanse littered with stranded rowing boats, animal skulls and dead trees.

A few shallow pools remain, around which small flocks of sheep graze on new shoots.

According to the World Bank, the reservoir has a capacity of a 3.6 million cubic metres (38.8 million square feet) and is mainly used for irrigation and water supply.

"Because of drought and low rainfall, we can now walk on the floor of the reservoir," its managing engineer Maher al-Hussein said, recalling that it was full to capacity just two years ago.

Low rainfall last winter left the reservoir half-full and all the water was used for irrigation by farmers trying to save their crops, Hussein said.

A shepherd waters his flock from the small pools that are that are all that is left of the 

reservoir following successive years of low rainfall.

Damage to the main pipeline that feeds water from the reservoir to irrigation networks has led to significant leakages, further reducing the volume that reaches the fields, he added.

"It is the first time the reservoir has dried out since it was built in 1994," Hussein said.

He said around 800 families depended on the reservoir to irrigate 150 hectares (370 acres) of farmland.

"For 10 years we have come to this reservoir," said cattle farmer Abu Joumaa. "If God does not send us good rainfall that could fill the reservoir this year... people won't be able to grow crops they rely on to make a living."

Colorado basin drought sparks water limits at huge US reservoir

© 2021 AFP

New stress test model quantifies climate risks for banks

by Technical University Munich

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

European banks will soon be required to incorporate climate change risks into the stress testing of their equity. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now developed a new approach in cooperation with the Frankfurt Institute for Risk Management and Regulation (FIRM). In a case study they applied their stress testing method in several CO2 pricing scenarios. Due to sharp rises in probabilities of credit default in several industries, the results show that the bank in question would face significant decreases in capital ratios. The model can help banks to prepare for future risks.

Climate change can cause substantial losses to companies, not only as a direct result of extreme weather events, but also through transitory risks, above all in the form of rising CO2 prices and long-term decreases in economic value creation. This, in turn, means greater risks for banks if companies are unable to service loans. Consequently, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) have ordered financial institutions to incorporate climate risks into their risk management and stress testing processes, which serve primarily to evaluate their capital buffers. The new requirement will take effect in 2022.

It is still unclear, however, how this requirement can be implemented. Nor is it certain what dimensions the transitory climate risks might reach in stress tests. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have therefore worked with the Frankfurt Institute for Risk Management and Regulation (FIRM) to develop a method that can be adapted to a variety of stress tests and have applied it in two case studies involving a bank and two investment funds.

Case study with 400 Euro STOXX companies

The model is based on a definition of transitory climate risks derived from recognized forecasts such as the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP), the resulting macroeconomic analysis for states and industries, and companies' CO2 footprints. On that basis, the research team investigated around 400 companies listed in the Euro STOXX 600 index. They looked at four scenarios distinguished by different CO2 pricing levels (50 or 100 euros per ton), the potential of companies to reduce CO2 emissions and the share of costs passed through to consumers. All of the scenarios assume an abrupt introduction of a CO2 tax.

Sectors with probabilities of default of 5–34 percent

The analysis shows that in every scenario around 10 percent of the investigated companies would face asset devaluations of more than 15 percent. In the most adverse scenario, 6 percent of the companies would see their assets devalued by over 30 percent. On a industry-by-industry basis, the assets of the six hardest-hit sectors would devaluate by 15–36 percent.

With these results, the researchers carried out a stress test on a major European bank. They began by calculating the rise in companies' probabilities of credit default caused by the loss in asset values. In the most adverse scenario, 16 percent of the companies would have a probability of default of over 3 percent, which is considered high risk. The six most adversely affected sectors would have probabilities of default ranging from about 5 percent to 34 percent. Based on the bank's so-called risk-weighted assets in relation to these corporate loans, the researchers calculated the effects on the bank's equity.

Total capital ratio reduced by up to 1.56 percentage points

The stress test shows that across all scenarios, the bank's common equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital would decrease by between 0.1 and 1.2 percentage points. The core capital ratio (Tier 1) would be down by 0.1–1.3 percentage points and the total capital ratio by 0.2–1.6 percentage points. By comparison: the average core capital ratio of European banks was 15 percent at the end of 2020, so that the scenarios analyzed by the researchers would mean decreases of between 1 percent and nearly 10 percent.

"The stress test underscores the fact that transitory climate risks could pose a major challenge to the stability of the financial sector if no measures are taken," says study author Gunther Friedl, professor of management accounting at TUM. "Our models and assumptions are undoubtedly quite strict—but that is the point of a stress test. Climate change may cause such severe asset losses and high-risk credit default probabilities for some industries that banks should be adjusting their risk management procedures today. If they do so, the decreases in capital ratios identified in our study will be avoided. Therefore, we have proposed an instrument for calculating risks in order to take appropriate action at an early stage."

Risks to funds differ

In a second stress test, the team assessed the effects of companies' asset devaluations on two funds: an equity fund consisting mainly of EuroSTOXX 600 stocks and a mixed fund. Depending on the scenario, the equity fund would face a devaluation of 2.3–9.1 percent and the mixed fund in the 1.2–3.5 percent range.

"Although the effects on the funds vary considerably, especially with the equity fund the stress test shows that asset managers will have to manage the inherent climate risks in their portfolios very carefully" says co-author Sebastian Müller, professor of finance at TUM.

Integrating climate risk into established risk categories

"With this study we want to take the lead and provide a useful stimulus for practitioners and researchers alike as they develop approaches for the management of climate risks," says Gerold Grasshoff, the CEO of FIRM.

Taking the study as a starting point, financial practitioners of FIRM worked with the researchers to prepare recommendations for climate risk management. They advise financial institutions to implement intensive monitoring of climate risks and their economic interdependencies. To do this, the banks will need significantly more data on their debtors, for example with regard to their emission reduction targets. Because climate change will impact the entire economy, the task of making such data available should not be left to the banks alone. Instead, global standards should be established for uniform reporting on climate-related company data.

The group also advocates the inclusion of transitory climate risks in the existing risk categories for credit risk management. Due to possible overlapping, the researchers do not support the idea of a dedicated risk management concept for climate risks, as is currently under discussion.

European regulator urges banks to evaluate climate risks

More information: Gunther Friedl, Sebastian Müller, Alexander Schult, Approaches to climate risk methodology as an example of ESG risk management in finance (2021). go.tum.de/010988

Provided by Technical University Munich 

Researchers caution global economic growth could slide into stagnation

by Sonia Fernandez, University of California - Santa Barbara

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

We've been living in a time of unprecedented global economic growth. Depressions, recessions and other dips in the economy notwithstanding, the last century has been unlike any other before in terms of overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita growth. It's the result of a potent combination of technology, via the Industrial Revolutions, and economic and political freedom and stability, thanks to the spread of democracy.

But the heady days of rapidly rising prosperity may be coming to an end, according to an interdisciplinary group of scientists at UC Santa Barbara and the University of Colorado Boulder. Developed democracies in particular look to be first in line for a long-run economic slowdown through the 21st century, and that, according to the researchers, should prompt some preparation for the additional fiscal and social stress that it will bring.

"Long-run slowdowns in growth in rich countries are inevitable for a bunch of reasons that we really don't have control over," said Matthew Burgess, the lead author of a paper that appears in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. "Nobody can say for sure exactly what's going to happen, but there's this long-term pattern of declining growth that has been visible since the middle of the last century."

Among the factors that may be implicated in this potential slowdown are aging populations, shifts from goods to services, slowing innovation, and debt. The extended effects of COVID-19 and climate change, the researchers say, could further slow growth.

"Given that future economic costs of human-driven environmental challenges like climate change can be enormous, aggressive action today on effective solutions is crucial to limiting future economic declines," said Steven Gaines, a co-author of the paper.

The news doesn't bode well for rich, democratic countries like the United States, which rely on long-term economic growth for many of their social safety net programs, job-creation investments, and to repay debt. The effects would ripple out to individuals as well, as slowing economic growth affects investments and savings that are crucial for education and retirement.

"I don't think there's quite enough of a deep appreciation of how much of our society we have built on growth," Burgess said, adding that the slowdown might persist for decades. While rapid growth has been implicated in many of our ecological woes, often leading to calls from the ecological community to slow down, thus far the position has been politically unrealistic, he said. Now, the question is: regardless of the politics, what if slow growth is inevitable?

A 'Guided Civic Revival'

"We need to start imagining a slow- to no-growth world," said Burgess, who is careful to point out that in the greater scheme of civilization, the last hundred years of economic growth have been the deviation, rather than the norm.

We take the kinds of growth we've seen in the last hundred years for granted, because so much of our memory and our ways of studying economics arose during this time when we were growing," he said.

The researchers propose a "guided civic revival," an approach that combines grass-roots, bottom-up civic forces with government participation to weather the potential long-term economic winter. Its goals would be to decouple social capital and individual well-being from economic growth; reduce inequality; improve opportunities for youth; increase the return on investment in government spending and taxation; and safeguard core institutional elements of democracy so they can withstand stress. The endgame? To promote unity in a storm of fiscal stresses that pose challenges to not just to our pocketbooks but also to society and democracy.

"I think the most important thing to ask ourselves is how do we build social solidarity in a context where things feel zero-sum," Burgess said. "Secondly, how do we adjust expectations?" For as long as most of us can remember, growth is assumed—it's part of the American Dream that over time, children will be better off economically than their parents. Recent statistics show that dream is fading, with at best 50% of people in their 30s today making more than their parents did, Burgess said. Yet many continue to assume that their ship will come in.

"There's lots of evidence that a gap between expectation and reality can be a catalyst for political unrest, especially among middle- and upper-class youth," he said.

Other solidarity-building exercises center around building a strong, shared identity while also making room for ethnocultural diversity, and lessening economic inequality by lowering the barriers to public education and providing job-relevant training.

Meanwhile, increasing the efficiency of public spending and reducing waste are fiscal strategies for the government to implement. The researchers suggest measures including spending on education, research and development, and infrastructure, while closing costly tax loopholes, reducing corruption and reforming the economically inefficient healthcare system. Savings and debt—our mechanisms for investing in the future as well as dealing with the present—may have to undergo a rethink in a stagnant economy, as exponential growth might no longer be relied on to reward us for buying a house, or contributing to education or retirement.

The measures the researchers propose are meant to be starting points from which to consider a slow-growth future, Burgess said. They could also be coupled with a shift in the assessment of well-being from the amount of income and affluence to the more subjective feelings of security, strong connections with family, personal freedoms, health, meaning, purpose and moral satisfaction.

"What does a successful, developed democracy look like amid long-run stagnation?" Burgess said. "In the modern United States, nobody really knows because it hasn't happened. The main goal of this paper is to start the conversation."Australia COVID measures to have 'profound' long-term impact

More information: Matthew Burgess, Prepare developed democracies for long-run economic slowdowns, Nature Human Behaviour (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01229-y. www.nature.com/articles/s41562-021-01229-y

Journal information: Nature Human Behaviour 

Provided by University of California - Santa Barbara 

Winged Gods and walking griffons: A plate with a depiction of Scythian Gods has been found in Middle Don

by Institute of Archaeology of Russian Academy of Sciences

Silverplate with a depiction of Scythian Gods and eagle head griffons.

Credit: Institute of Archaeology RAS

Expedition members of IA RAS have found a unique plate depicting winged Scythian gods surrounded by griffons during their excavations of the burial ground Devitsa V in Ostrogozhsky District of Voronezh region. This is the first case of such a finding in the Scythian barrows on Middle Don. No other items depictions of gods from the Scythian pantheon have been found in this area.

"The finding has made an important contribution to our concepts of Scythian beliefs. Firstly, a particular number of gods are depicted at once on one item. Secondly, it has never happened before that an item with depicted gods has been found so far from the north-east of the main Scythian centers," said the head of the Don expedition, Prof. Valeriy Gulyaev.

Burial ground Devitsa V—named after the neighboring village area—was found in 2000 by the Don archaeological expedition of IA RAS. The site is situated on the hill of the right bank of the river Devitsa and is a group of 19 mounds which are situated in two parallel chains stretched from west to east. However, the significant part of ancient barrows has already disappeared: the necropolis area belongs to an agricultural sector and is being actively plowed.

Since 2010 the site has been systematically studied by the specialists from the Don expedition of IA RAS. During the cemetery excavations, some great discoveries have already been made. In 2019 in barrow 9 a burial was found which held the remains of a woman-warrior and an old lady in ceremonial female headwear known as a calathus.

In a field season in 2021, the Don archaeological expedition continued studying the necropolis. Archaeologists started the excavation of mound 7 in the central part of the cemetery Devitsa V in the vicinity of barrow 9.

The main grave referred to the Scythian times and dated back to the 4th century BC was located almost under the center of one mound and was a wooden tomb of 7.5x5 meters. In ancient times it was covered with oak half beams which were held by the seventeen large oak pillars on the gravesides. This is the biggest grave among all found in Devitsa V necropolis.

The barrow had already been plundered in ancient times. The robbers laid a wide test pit and "cleaned" a central part of the burial including the skeleton. However, by the time of the plundering the roof of the tomb had already fallen and that is why in the mixture of soil and tree remnants on the gravesides some grave goods have been preserved. Found items completely match the main elements of the Scythian "triad." Equipment, harness, and "animal style" artifacts were found in a warrior's grave.

There was a skeleton of a man of 40-49 years old in the grave. Next to his head archaeologists found many small gold semi-sphere plates which were decorated the funeral bed. Along with the skeleton an iron knife and a horse rib (likely, the remains of the ceremonial food), a spearhead, and three javelin's heads were found. The scientists have been able to reconstruct the length of the weapon relying on that the counterweights of the lower part of the polearm that have been remained untouched. The spear was about 3.2 meters long, and the javelines' length was about 2.2 meters.

In the southeast corner of the grave were fragments of three horse harness items: horse-bits, girth buckles, iron browbands, as well as iron, bronze, and bone Scythian pendants. The archaeologists have also found six bronze plates in the shape of wolves with grin laws which were decorated with horse cheeks—two on each harness. Next to the horse harness was a cut jaw of a young bear which testifies, according to the scientists, to the bear cult at the Scythes of Middle Don. Apart from it a molded cup and a big, black-glazed vessel have been found in different parts of the tomb.

In the northeast part of the grave separate from other items and a few meters far from the skeleton a silver square plate nailed by many small silver nails to a wooden base was found. The length of the plate was 34.7 cm, with the width in the middle part 7.5 cm.

In the central part of the plate is a winged figure facing a Goddess of animal and human fertility. The Goddess is known as Argimpasa, Cybele. The upper part of her body is stripped, and there is headwear, likely a crown with horns, on her head. The Goddess is surrounded on both sides with the figures of winged eagle-headed griffons. Depictions of this type, where the traditions of Asia Minor and ancient Greek are mixed, are often found in excavations of the Scythian barrows of the Northern Sea region, the Dnieper forest-steppe region, and the Northern Caucasus.

The left side of the plate is formed by two square plates decorated with the depictions of syncretic creatures standing in a so-called heraldic pose (in front of each other, close to each other with their paws). From the right side, two round buckles are attached to the plate on each of which one anthropomorphic character with a crown on his head standing surrounded by two griffons is depicted. Who those characters are and which item was decorated by this plate remains an open issue.Swiss archaeologist discovers the earliest tomb of a Scythian prince

Provided by Institute of Archaeology of Russian Academy of Sciences 

Janitorial culture of abuse documented by Worker Institute

by Stephanie Olszewski, Cornell University

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Experiences of workplace sexual assault and harassment are widespread in the janitorial industry, according to a new report by the ILR School's Worker Institute, with women janitors more likely than men to experience unwanted sexual behavior, to be targeted by supervisors and to switch jobs due to harassing behavior.

Released Nov. 9, the report documents experiences of workplace sexual harassment in the California janitorial industry, as well as the conditions that hinder reporting and impose silence.

"So many workers and particularly those in the low-wage economy face sharply unequal power relations at work, which makes conditions ripe for exploitation and abuse," said Zoe West, Worker Institute affiliate researcher, report co-author and Rhiza Collective co-founder.

"Sweeping Change: Building Survivor and Worker Leadership to Confront Sexual Harassment in the Janitorial Industry" also highlights an innovative response developed by SEIU-USWW, the Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund and other organizations, examining a worker-and-survivor-led peer education model that has been institutionalized through statewide legislation. 

Participatory research for the report was conducted by the Worker Institute at Cornell that included surveys of more than 700 janitorial workers; focus groups with 35 workers; a survey of 36 janitors who are promotoras (peer educators) and compadres (male allies); and in-depth interviews with four worker leaders. 

Silence around the issue is often enforced by the behavior of supervisors, coworkers and other actors, the report found. These behaviors conspire to create an environment in which those targeted report working in fear and grappling with trauma alone.

The research points to the value of a peer-education model in confronting the problem of sexual violence within this context, by finding that building worker leadership and cultivating relationships of trust in confronting sexual harassment can help break silence around the issue and shift workplace practices and culture. The report also draws broader lessons for taking on the problem of workplace sexual harassment and violence in other contexts.

On Nov. 9, the Worker Institute hosted a virtual report launch event featuring a conversation with janitor peer educators leading change in their workplaces. Simultaneously translated in English and Spanish, the event included a discussion of the findings, potential policy and organizational solutions, and testimony from survivors.Co-worker interventions can moderate customer sexual harassment in service industry

More information: Report: ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/74351

Provided by Cornell University 

Study: Women structurally underrepresented in management research

by Radboud University

Women are structurally underrepresented in leading management and organization journals, a new study published today in Research Policy finds. Nora Lohmeyer(verwijst naar een andere website) of Radboud University and Carolin Auschra and Julia Bartosch of Freie Universität Berlin analyzed a dataset of 43,673 articles in fourteen top journals, and found that even in 2017, the most recent year of their study, on average only 30 percent were written by women. Furthermore, almost all topics within the field are dominated by men in publication, leading to a significant gender gap in publishing.

The number of articles authored by women is lagging behind the number of women currently working in the field, the authors claim. In the last decades, most leading journals struggled to pass the threshold of 30 percent of female authors and for some journals the percentage of female authors was even lower, barely hitting 20 percent. The low share of women in top journals cannot be explained by an overall low representation of women working in the field, with women making up a little over 40 percent, based on rough numbers.

Male islands

In the paper, the researchers also describe a dominance of "male islands," research topics on which predominantly men publish. In fact, the researchers could only find one topic on which women publish slightly more than men: gender and diversity. There is also a prevalence of "men's clubs": in 2017 about half the articles were authored by men (either in all male teams or by male single authors), while only 3.4 percent were authored by female single authors and 5.8 percent by all female teams.

Lohmeyer: "Publications are very important for academic careers. Promotions, grants, and benefits are often tied to the number of publications in top journals. If women publish less in these journals, as our study shows, they will have a harder time getting ahead in the field. And it can create vicious circles: researchers need top publications to get grants, but the likelihood for achieving top publications is much higher if you get a grant. Our study suggests that women might get caught in such circles more often than men."

Requirements for future diversity

Furthermore, current publications drive future diversity in the field. "Who publishes in top journals impacts the diversity of topics covered in the field and can limit scholarly plurality. If men and women tend to publish on different topics and women are underrepresented in top journals, these journals might miss out on relevant topics."

"Previous studies have shown that while women tend to publish less, they are not publishing research of lower quality. This suggests that journals need to undertake specific actions to ensure a more diverse range of authors," explains Bartosch. "The first step for these journals is to become aware of the underrepresentation of women. Based on our findings, editors can benchmark the gender-diversity of their journal against their peers and see how they do compared to others. To increase the number of women in their journals, they could plan special issues around specific themes where women publish more often, to encourage more female authors to come forward. In other fields, such as medicine, it has been suggested to check the proportion of included women during the review process for invited and commissioned articles. This might be a way forward for our field as well."

Discussion

Auschra: "This is a complicated, multifaceted process which is not easily solved. Our study suggests that despite an overall and steady increase in the number of women, a large part of the underlying structure of management and organization research is still male. Only by analyzing the roots of that structure and addressing the problem at those roots can the field grow and encompass a wider range of research, more accurately reflecting the field at large. We hope that our article triggers a vivid discussion about the representation of women in top journals that engages the whole community."Medical journal articles written by women are cited less than those written by men

Provided by Radboud University 

Study: COVID tech took a toll on work-from-home moms

by University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

It's no secret that being a work-from-home mom during the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic was a drag. And those tech tools—video meetings and texting—designed to make remote work easier? They just added to the stress and exacerbated the mental health toll on burnt out moms trying to hold everything together.

That's one major takeaway from a study published this week in the journal Communication Reports. Researchers surveyed 540 adults in May 2020 who had worked for up to 10 weeks remotely, and found that stress levels among women with children skyrocketed—likely because blurred work-life balance boundaries meant they took on the brunt of juggling homeschooling and household chores alongside professional duties.

The results also reveal that video chats and texts tended to stress out remote workers, regardless of parental status and other factors including age, race, and education. Why? Researchers hypothesize that the extra visual cues needed to get points across via a video screen and expectations of immediacy when replying to texts contributed to fatigue. For working mothers, these two communication methods were especially burdensome because they hindered the ability to multitask.

The findings raise questions about the future of remote work and ways to preserve employees' mental health, said lead researcher and UNLV communication studies professor Natalie Pennington.

"We did find stress levels progressively increased for women with more children, which really points to the juggling act—you're trying to keep track of multiple kids and the job," she said. "The answer to alleviating stress might be supporting the use of asynchronous communication, like email, compared to synchronous forms, like video chats and texting, to create the flexibility needed to better balance work and home. When real-time communication is needed, phone calls may be better suited to allow for multi-tasking."

The study was conducted in collaboration with Michigan State University associate professor Amanda Holmstrom and University of Kansas professor Jeff Hall.Call me, maybe? Study probes how people connected during the pandemic

More information: Natalie Pennington et al, The Toll of Technology while Working from Home during COVID-19, Communication Reports (2021). DOI: 10.1080/08934215.2021.1993947

Provided by University of Nevada, Las Vegas