Perry Tourtellotte | Sweet Briar College (original) (raw)

Papers by Perry Tourtellotte

Two Iron Age settlements, Tuzusai and Taldy Bulak 2 (ca. 500 BCE to 1 CE), located in Southeaster... more Two Iron Age settlements, Tuzusai and Taldy Bulak 2 (ca. 500 BCE to 1 CE), located in Southeastern Kazakhstan on the Talgar alluvial fan north of the Tian Shan range, have yielded a small collection of bone, antler/horn, bronze, and stone artifacts with affinity to nomadic art of the first millennium BCE. Both settlements date within the period of late Saka culture. Two pieces have decorative ornamentations with zoomorphic imagery: a small carved fragment of a with carved images of a wing and an ear and a perforated bone disk with the carving of three birds’ heads. The other artifacts include objects associated with Saka weaponry or nomadic economy such as the two antler/horn psalia (cheek pieces) and a bronze amulet. A carnelian bead will also be described as an imported object. These special finds are found on the occupation floors of mud brick houses and pit houses of settlements, not in grave or burial contexts. The objects are placed in stratigraphic sequence in the settlement ...

The main goal of this paper is to present results of preliminary archaeological research on the s... more The main goal of this paper is to present results of preliminary archaeological research on the south side of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan. We test the hypothesis that agropastoral land use changed over four millennia from the Bronze Age through the ethnographic Kirghiz period due to economic, socio-political, and religious changes in the prehistoric and historic societies of this region. Our research objectives are to: (1) describe and analyze survey results from Lower Kizil Suu Valley; (2) discuss the results of radiometric and archaeobotanical samples taken from three stratigraphic profiles from three settlements from the Juuku Valley, including these chronological periods: the Wusun period (200 to 400 CE), the Qarakhanid period (1100 to 1200 CE), and the ethnographic Kirghiz period (1700 to 1900 CE); and (3) conduct preliminary GIS spatial analyses on the Iron Age mortuary remains (Saka and Wusun period). This research emerges out of the first archaeological surveys conducted in...

This paper discusses the preliminary results of archaeological surveys conducted in the Juuku Reg... more This paper discusses the preliminary results of archaeological surveys conducted in the Juuku Region of north-central Kyrgyzstan on the south side of Lake Issyk kul. Our goal was to document ancient and contemporary agropastoral systems over a four millenia time period. During the surveys about 350 loci were identified as settlements, burial mounds, graves, single artifact finds, and artifact scatters (ceramic). The areas of Juuku Valley survey included two discrete polygons: Polygon 1, Lower Juuku at 1750 to 1950 m asl in elevation and Polygon 2, Chak Juuku or Upper Eastern Branch Juuku Valley at 2060 to 2100 m asl in elevation. Three radiometric dates and preliminary archaeobotanical studies were conducted at three exposed profile cuts. The methods included here are: (1) pedestrian surveys; (2) use of digital maps (Google Earth, Encarta); (3) placing archaeological loci within known chronological time periods; (4) AMS dating of charcoal samples collected from profile deposits; and...

Gastrointestinal illnesses are among the most common diseases worlwide. According to the Centre o... more Gastrointestinal illnesses are among the most common diseases worlwide. According to the Centre of Prevention and Control of Illnesses of the United States of America, the incidence of gastrointestinal tumors is very raised (105,3 cases for 100.000 habitants), being this device only surpassed by the tumors in the masculine genital system (151,6 cases for 100.000 habitants), for the year of 2004. (1) Hepatocellular carcinoma is the commonest primary malignant tumor of the liver and one of the most common tumors in the world; it's the fifth most common cancer in men and the eighth most common in women, and it ranks fourth in annual cancer mortality rates. It has a clear geographic distribution, related with the incidence of the infection for the hepatitis B virus. Men are generally more susceptible than women; male predominance is more obvious in populations at high risk for the tumor (mean male-tofemale ratio, 3.7:1.0) than those at low or intermediate risk (mean male-to-female ratio, 2.4:1.0). (2) Cirrhosis is the irreversible final result of continuous hepatic aggressions, of diverse nature and cause, that had had, most of the time, chronic course; is marked by inflammatory and hepatocellular degenerative alterations, with septal formation and fibrosis. In Portugal is mainly caused by continued and chronic intake of alcohol. In its true essence, it has a nodular parenchymal transformation, with vascular alterations. (3) Alpha-fetoprotein is normally formed by immature hepatic cells in the embryo; at birth, children have relatively high levels of this protein, that fall for normal levels of the adult (inferior than 10 ng/ml), per the first year of life. In adults, high levels (superior than 500 ng/ml) are seen in cases of hepatocellular carcinoma, tumors of the germinative cells (testicules and ovaries) and hepatic metastasis. Relação entre Alpha-fetoproteína, Doença Hepática Crónica e Carcinoma Hepatocelular ii Ana Margarida Mendes Romão With this research work, it was intended to correlate and evaluate the circulating value of alpha-fetoprotein with the shown tumoral size (hepatic ultrasonography, computorized tomography or nuclear magnetic ressonance) at the moment of the diagnosis; to demonstrate that the structure of the circulating alpha-fetoprotein in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma is different from that finding in patients with chronic hepatic disease. The main goals had been 1) to evaluate the value of the circulating alpha-fetoprotein in people with hepatocellular carcinoma, in the region, 2) to correlate the circulating value of alpha-fetoprotein with the tumoral size visualized by image techniques at the moment of diagnosis and 3) to evaluate if the circulating alphafetoprotein in the people with hepatocellular carcinoma possess superior percentages of some fraccions (AFP L3 e AFP P4+P5) in relation to people with chronic hepatic disease without hepatocellular carcinoma. It was also intended to make one brief theoretical revision on these pathologies. To do so, an electronic research was made, using Pub Med, Medline, Medscape, Google Scholar and Cochrane, from which some articles were selected for the elaboration of this thesis. Still a bibliographical research in the main books of the specialty was made. After careful evaluation, the main results were that alpha-fetoprotein is raised in about 75% of the people with hepatocellular carcinoma. (2) It was intended to make a qualitative analysis of the alpha-fetoprotein, by ways that it could be possible to predict which of these pathologies would develop, being able to act precociously, before the complete development of these.

I would like to thank my supervisor, Lina Markauskaite and associate supervisor, Peter Goodyear. ... more I would like to thank my supervisor, Lina Markauskaite and associate supervisor, Peter Goodyear. I sincerely acknowledge Lina's intellectual support and her wisdom to help me explore my understanding of phenomenographic research. Without her commitment, careful guidance, valuable time and goodwill, this project could not have been completed successfully. Peter has supported me and served as my spiritual adviser with his wide knowledge and expertise. He has offered me wonderful ideas and insights, most especially whenever I have difficulties and confusions. I would also like to thank the TAFE directors and Head Teachers who made the data collection process easier, and give especial thanks to those teachers who participated in this project. I will not forget their unconditional support. I am also deeply indebted to the staff and students at CoCo (The Centre for Research on Computer Supported Learning and Cognition) at the University of Sydney. Special thanks to Gilbert Importante, David Ashe, Pippa Yeoman, Melinda Lewis and Martin Parisio who all in different ways supported me in this project. I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of an Australian Award (AusAid) scholarship. Particularly, the AusAid Unit of the University of Sydney whose staff immediately forward my financial concerns to the appropriate AusAid department. I thank my employer, the Islamic University of Technology (IUT) and Prof. Dr. Che kum Clement for providing me with the opportunity to study overseas and for extending my study leave several times. I am ever so grateful to Professor Keith Trigwell, Mary-Jane Mahony, Carlos González, Hanh Thi Nguyen for giving me invaluable suggestions and iv peer-feedback in many relevant issues during the conduct of this project. I would also like to thank Jennifer Gamble, Estelle Hoen, Tigger Wise and Owen Kavanagh, Ashik Ahmed for their editorial intervention, and specifically for checking the spelling and the grammar, and for improving the language for the sake of clarity. And finally, I would like to thank my wife Taslima. This work would be difficult without her love and support. I know how hard it was for her to look after my three daughters without my presence in our home country. Needless to say, she has proven to be a great wife and mother. I am also grateful to my parents and brothers who continually support my family (wife and kids) and provide me emotional strength to conduct this project successfully.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2018

Recent research in Central Asia has altered our understanding of mobility and local economies dur... more Recent research in Central Asia has altered our understanding of mobility and local economies during the Bronze and Iron Ages. In this paper, we present new data from Tuzusai, an Iron Age (400 cal BCE-1 cal CE) site in southeast Kazakhstan. Multiple lines of evidence have suggested that Tuzusai was part of an agro-pastoral system, and that people may have been present at Tuzusai year-round. We performed an analysis of cementum annulations in caprine (sheep/goat) teeth from Tuzusai, which gives direct evidence for seasonal slaughter patterns. Our results demonstrate that animals were slaughtered at Tuzusai year-round, and that there was a spike in the fall which was likely due to herd management strategies. To date, these results are the strongest line of evidence that people were present at Tuzusai throughout the year. We use ethnographic analogy to discuss the nature of a community in which some people were sedentary and others were mobile. We also argue that our results can be used as a model to help determine mobility at other sites in the region for which there are fewer lines of evidence describing the local economy.

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2019

Abstract How can archaeologists contribute to tracing the evolutionary dynamics of the coupled hu... more Abstract How can archaeologists contribute to tracing the evolutionary dynamics of the coupled human-natural systems that characterize the Anthropocene? We present a Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) framework to integrate models of human and natural landscape formation processes in the mid to late Holocene on the Talgar alluvial fan on the north slope of the Tian Shan Mountains in the area known as “Semirech’ye” (“Seven Rivers”). We compare our model to the physical evidence from sediment profiles and the archaeological record of subsistence and settlement over the Holocene. The resulting coupled model situates “niche construction theory” and the idea of “transported landscapes” within the SES perspective to focus on how couplings and feedbacks between humans and biophysical processes create or limit opportunities for different modes of subsistence over time, especially during periods of expansion and colonization of new territories. In the Talgar region, we hypothesize that initial, low-level human manipulations of surface water flow across an alluvial fan coupled with aeolian and fluvial sediment dynamics in a series of positive feedbacks to increase the possibilities for agricultural production over time. The human niche in Talgar therefore became increasingly sedentary and agricultural in emphasis compared to niches constructed in other parts of Central Eurasia.

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2017

Central Asia is commonly referred to as a pastoral realm, and the first millennium B.C. is often ... more Central Asia is commonly referred to as a pastoral realm, and the first millennium B.C. is often thought to mark a period of increased mobility and reliance on animal husbandry. The economic shift of the first millennium B.C. is usually interpreted as a transition toward specialized pastoralism in Central Asia, and the point in time when the Central Asian 'nomads' or Scythians appear. However, in this paper, we present evidence for farming, including the introduction of new crops, at four archaeological sites across the Talgar alluvial fan of southeastern Kazakhstan. In addition, we contrast this data with piecemeal evidence for agriculture at three other sites in the broader foothill ecocline of eastern Central Asia. Collectively, these data show that the people in this region were cultivating free-threshing wheat and hulled barley (long-season grain crops), as well as broomcorn and foxtail millet. There is also evidence for viticulture. These data warrant a reevaluation of the 'nomad'-based model for Iron Age economy in this region. This article highlights the need for further investigation into the links between agricultural intensity leading to grain surpluses, increasing exchange through Eurasia, cultural stratification, craft specialization, and population growth among peoples in the foothills of eastern Central Asia during the first millennium B.C.

MRS Proceedings, 2015

ABSTRACTBetween the fourth century B.C. and second century A.D., changes in climate, culture and ... more ABSTRACTBetween the fourth century B.C. and second century A.D., changes in climate, culture and commerce converged to extend networks of influence and intensify social stratification in communities situated along the Silk Road. The horse-riding nomads and agro-pastoralists of what is now Southeastern Kazakhstan were important actors in the unfolding of these events. The settlements and kurgan burials of the Saka and Wusun could be found dotting the alluvial fans north of the Tien Shan Mountains just a short time before Alexander the Great founded outposts in the Ferghana Valley and Chinese emissaries formalized relations with their periphery. In other words, the appearance of Iron Age Saka-Wusun sites anticipated the formation of the Silk Road’s northern branch and subsequently helped mediate long-distance relationships connecting East and West. Historical accounts appear to confirm the presence of the Saka and Wusun in this role, but there is much that remains unknown regarding re...

Quaternary Science Reviews, 2015

Abstract In comparison to Southwest Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the relationship between Ho... more Abstract In comparison to Southwest Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the relationship between Holocene river dynamics, climate change and floodwater farming in Central Asia is significantly under researched. To address this, a multi-disciplinary research project was begun in 2011 centred on the Talgar catchment, a south-bank tributary of the Ili River, southeast Kazakhstan. Building on archaeological excavations and surveys conducted over the past 20 years, we have undertaken investigations of Holocene human adaptations to changing hydromorphic regimes in the Tien Shan piedmont region, Central Asia. Fluvial geochronologies have been reconstructed over the last 20,000 years using Optically Stimulated Luminescence and 14C dating, and are compared with human settlement histories from the Eneolithic to the medieval period. Phases of Late Pleistocene and Holocene river aggradation at c. 17,400–6420, 4130–2880 and 910–500 cal. BC and between the mid-18th and early 20th centuries were coeval with cooler and wetter neoglacial episodes. Entrenchment and floodplain soil development (c. 2880–2490 cal. BC and cal. AD 1300–1640) coincided with warmer and drier conditions. Prior to the modern period, floodwater farming in the Talgar River reached its height in the late Iron Age (400 cal. BC – cal. AD 1) with more than 70 settlement sites and 700 burial mounds. This period of agricultural expansion corresponds to a phase of reduced flooding, river stability and glacier retreat in the Tien Shan Mountains. Late Iron age agriculturists appear to have been opportunistic by exploiting a phase of moderate flows within an alluvial fan environment, which contained a series of partially entrenched distributary channels that could be easily ‘engineered’ to facilitate floodwater farming. Holocene climate change was therefore not a proximate cause for the development and demise of this relatively short-lived (c. 200 years) period of Iron Age farming. River dynamics in the Tien Shan piedmont are, however, strongly coupled with regional hydroclimatic fluctuations, and they have likely acted locally as both ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors for riparian agriculturists.

Studia ethnologica Croatica, 1993

Résumé/Abstract What are the origins of specialized pastoral transhumance in Mediterranean Europe... more Résumé/Abstract What are the origins of specialized pastoral transhumance in Mediterranean Europe? This question concerning the long-distance, twice yearly movement of herders and their sheep and goat flocks between upland summer pastures and lowland ...

Recent research in Central Asia has altered our understanding of mobility and local economies dur... more Recent research in Central Asia has altered our understanding of mobility and local economies during the Bronze and Iron Ages. In this paper, we present new data from Tuzusai, an Iron Age (400 cal BCE–1 cal CE) site in southeast Kazakhstan. Multiple lines of evidence have suggested that Tuzusai was part of an agro-pastoral system, and that people may have been present at Tuzusai year-round. We performed an analysis of cementum annulations in caprine (sheep/goat) teeth from Tuzusai, which gives direct evidence for seasonal slaughter patterns. Our results demonstrate that animals were slaughtered at Tuzusai year-round, and that there was a spike in the fall which was likely due to herd management strategies. To date, these results are the strongest line of evidence that people were present at Tuzusai throughout the year. We use ethnographic analogy to discuss the nature of a community in which some people were sedentary and others were mobile. We also argue that our results can be used as a model to help determine mobility at other sites in the region for which there are fewer lines of evidence describing the local economy.

Quaternary Science Reviews, 2015

n comparison to Southwest Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the relationship between Holocene riv... more n comparison to Southwest Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the relationship between Holocene river dynamics, climate change and floodwater farming in Central Asia is significantly under researched. To address this, a multi-disciplinary research project was begun in 2011 centred on the Talgar catchment, a south-bank tributary of the Ili River, southeast Kazakhstan. Building on archaeological excavations and surveys conducted over the past 20 years, we have undertaken investigations of Holocene human ad- aptations to changing hydromorphic regimes in the Tien Shan piedmont region, Central Asia. Fluvial geochronologies have been reconstructed over the last 20,000 years using Optically Stimulated Lumi- nescence and 14C dating, and are compared with human settlement histories from the Eneolithic to the medieval period. Phases of Late Pleistocene and Holocene river aggradation at c. 17,400e6420, 4130 e2880 and 910e500 cal. BC and between the mid-18th and early 20th centuries were coeval with cooler and wetter neoglacial episodes. Entrenchment and floodplain soil development (c. 2880e2490 cal. BC and cal. AD 1300e1640) coincided with warmer and drier conditions. Prior to the modern period, floodwater farming in the Talgar River reached its height in the late Iron Age (400 cal. BC e cal. AD 1) with more than 70 settlement sites and 700 burial mounds. This period of agricultural expansion cor- responds to a phase of reduced flooding, river stability and glacier retreat in the Tien Shan Mountains. Late Iron age agriculturists appear to have been opportunistic by exploiting a phase of moderate flows within an alluvial fan environment, which contained a series of partially entrenched distributary channels that could be easily ‘engineered’ to facilitate floodwater farming. Holocene climate change was therefore not a proximate cause for the development and demise of this relatively short-lived (c. 200 years) period of Iron Age farming. River dynamics in the Tien Shan piedmont are, however, strongly coupled with regional hydroclimatic fluctuations, and they have likely acted locally as both ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors for riparian agriculturists.

Typescript. Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, 1984. Includes bibliograph... more Typescript. Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, 1984. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-154).

MRS Proceedings, 2014

ABSTRACT Most of what is known about the Iron Age in Southeastern Kazakhstan has been learned fro... more ABSTRACT Most of what is known about the Iron Age in Southeastern Kazakhstan has been learned from kurgan burials and historical accounts describing the largely nomadic lifestyle of steppe populations from the 8th century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E. Recent archaeological surveys however, are revealing an unexpectedly large number of settlements at the edges of the steppe, along the northern slopes of the Tien Shan Mountains. One of these sites, Tuzusai, has provided a wealth of ceramic finds that offer insight into local pottery production traditions and their social and material contexts. Our preliminary analysis of both pottery and local clay and temper resources suggests that the community at Tuzusai engaged in feasting activities that incorporated a diverse vocabulary of pot forms. The overwhelming majority of these forms appear to have been locally produced using assembly strategies that responded to shortcomings in available raw materials. Given our current understanding of local production resources and the technical difficulty associated with the production of thin walled forms using these materials, we suggest that these ceramics may be high-status goods valued not solely for their function in feasting activities, but for the labor and skill required to produce them.

Antiquity, 2003

... 24595 2 Eurasien-Abteilung, Deutsches Archaologisches Institut 3 Central State Museum, Almaty... more ... 24595 2 Eurasien-Abteilung, Deutsches Archaologisches Institut 3 Central State Museum, Almaty, Kazakhstan 4 Institute of Archaeology, University College London 5 Sweet Briar College, SweetBriar, VA. 24595 Received: 13 March 2002; accepted: 17 March 2003 Page 2. ...

Journal of Field Archaeology, 2013

Two Iron Age settlements, Tuzusai and Taldy Bulak 2 (ca. 500 BCE to 1 CE), located in Southeaster... more Two Iron Age settlements, Tuzusai and Taldy Bulak 2 (ca. 500 BCE to 1 CE), located in Southeastern Kazakhstan on the Talgar alluvial fan north of the Tian Shan range, have yielded a small collection of bone, antler/horn, bronze, and stone artifacts with affinity to nomadic art of the first millennium BCE. Both settlements date within the period of late Saka culture. Two pieces have decorative ornamentations with zoomorphic imagery: a small carved fragment of a with carved images of a wing and an ear and a perforated bone disk with the carving of three birds’ heads. The other artifacts include objects associated with Saka weaponry or nomadic economy such as the two antler/horn psalia (cheek pieces) and a bronze amulet. A carnelian bead will also be described as an imported object. These special finds are found on the occupation floors of mud brick houses and pit houses of settlements, not in grave or burial contexts. The objects are placed in stratigraphic sequence in the settlement ...

The main goal of this paper is to present results of preliminary archaeological research on the s... more The main goal of this paper is to present results of preliminary archaeological research on the south side of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan. We test the hypothesis that agropastoral land use changed over four millennia from the Bronze Age through the ethnographic Kirghiz period due to economic, socio-political, and religious changes in the prehistoric and historic societies of this region. Our research objectives are to: (1) describe and analyze survey results from Lower Kizil Suu Valley; (2) discuss the results of radiometric and archaeobotanical samples taken from three stratigraphic profiles from three settlements from the Juuku Valley, including these chronological periods: the Wusun period (200 to 400 CE), the Qarakhanid period (1100 to 1200 CE), and the ethnographic Kirghiz period (1700 to 1900 CE); and (3) conduct preliminary GIS spatial analyses on the Iron Age mortuary remains (Saka and Wusun period). This research emerges out of the first archaeological surveys conducted in...

This paper discusses the preliminary results of archaeological surveys conducted in the Juuku Reg... more This paper discusses the preliminary results of archaeological surveys conducted in the Juuku Region of north-central Kyrgyzstan on the south side of Lake Issyk kul. Our goal was to document ancient and contemporary agropastoral systems over a four millenia time period. During the surveys about 350 loci were identified as settlements, burial mounds, graves, single artifact finds, and artifact scatters (ceramic). The areas of Juuku Valley survey included two discrete polygons: Polygon 1, Lower Juuku at 1750 to 1950 m asl in elevation and Polygon 2, Chak Juuku or Upper Eastern Branch Juuku Valley at 2060 to 2100 m asl in elevation. Three radiometric dates and preliminary archaeobotanical studies were conducted at three exposed profile cuts. The methods included here are: (1) pedestrian surveys; (2) use of digital maps (Google Earth, Encarta); (3) placing archaeological loci within known chronological time periods; (4) AMS dating of charcoal samples collected from profile deposits; and...

Gastrointestinal illnesses are among the most common diseases worlwide. According to the Centre o... more Gastrointestinal illnesses are among the most common diseases worlwide. According to the Centre of Prevention and Control of Illnesses of the United States of America, the incidence of gastrointestinal tumors is very raised (105,3 cases for 100.000 habitants), being this device only surpassed by the tumors in the masculine genital system (151,6 cases for 100.000 habitants), for the year of 2004. (1) Hepatocellular carcinoma is the commonest primary malignant tumor of the liver and one of the most common tumors in the world; it's the fifth most common cancer in men and the eighth most common in women, and it ranks fourth in annual cancer mortality rates. It has a clear geographic distribution, related with the incidence of the infection for the hepatitis B virus. Men are generally more susceptible than women; male predominance is more obvious in populations at high risk for the tumor (mean male-tofemale ratio, 3.7:1.0) than those at low or intermediate risk (mean male-to-female ratio, 2.4:1.0). (2) Cirrhosis is the irreversible final result of continuous hepatic aggressions, of diverse nature and cause, that had had, most of the time, chronic course; is marked by inflammatory and hepatocellular degenerative alterations, with septal formation and fibrosis. In Portugal is mainly caused by continued and chronic intake of alcohol. In its true essence, it has a nodular parenchymal transformation, with vascular alterations. (3) Alpha-fetoprotein is normally formed by immature hepatic cells in the embryo; at birth, children have relatively high levels of this protein, that fall for normal levels of the adult (inferior than 10 ng/ml), per the first year of life. In adults, high levels (superior than 500 ng/ml) are seen in cases of hepatocellular carcinoma, tumors of the germinative cells (testicules and ovaries) and hepatic metastasis. Relação entre Alpha-fetoproteína, Doença Hepática Crónica e Carcinoma Hepatocelular ii Ana Margarida Mendes Romão With this research work, it was intended to correlate and evaluate the circulating value of alpha-fetoprotein with the shown tumoral size (hepatic ultrasonography, computorized tomography or nuclear magnetic ressonance) at the moment of the diagnosis; to demonstrate that the structure of the circulating alpha-fetoprotein in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma is different from that finding in patients with chronic hepatic disease. The main goals had been 1) to evaluate the value of the circulating alpha-fetoprotein in people with hepatocellular carcinoma, in the region, 2) to correlate the circulating value of alpha-fetoprotein with the tumoral size visualized by image techniques at the moment of diagnosis and 3) to evaluate if the circulating alphafetoprotein in the people with hepatocellular carcinoma possess superior percentages of some fraccions (AFP L3 e AFP P4+P5) in relation to people with chronic hepatic disease without hepatocellular carcinoma. It was also intended to make one brief theoretical revision on these pathologies. To do so, an electronic research was made, using Pub Med, Medline, Medscape, Google Scholar and Cochrane, from which some articles were selected for the elaboration of this thesis. Still a bibliographical research in the main books of the specialty was made. After careful evaluation, the main results were that alpha-fetoprotein is raised in about 75% of the people with hepatocellular carcinoma. (2) It was intended to make a qualitative analysis of the alpha-fetoprotein, by ways that it could be possible to predict which of these pathologies would develop, being able to act precociously, before the complete development of these.

I would like to thank my supervisor, Lina Markauskaite and associate supervisor, Peter Goodyear. ... more I would like to thank my supervisor, Lina Markauskaite and associate supervisor, Peter Goodyear. I sincerely acknowledge Lina's intellectual support and her wisdom to help me explore my understanding of phenomenographic research. Without her commitment, careful guidance, valuable time and goodwill, this project could not have been completed successfully. Peter has supported me and served as my spiritual adviser with his wide knowledge and expertise. He has offered me wonderful ideas and insights, most especially whenever I have difficulties and confusions. I would also like to thank the TAFE directors and Head Teachers who made the data collection process easier, and give especial thanks to those teachers who participated in this project. I will not forget their unconditional support. I am also deeply indebted to the staff and students at CoCo (The Centre for Research on Computer Supported Learning and Cognition) at the University of Sydney. Special thanks to Gilbert Importante, David Ashe, Pippa Yeoman, Melinda Lewis and Martin Parisio who all in different ways supported me in this project. I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of an Australian Award (AusAid) scholarship. Particularly, the AusAid Unit of the University of Sydney whose staff immediately forward my financial concerns to the appropriate AusAid department. I thank my employer, the Islamic University of Technology (IUT) and Prof. Dr. Che kum Clement for providing me with the opportunity to study overseas and for extending my study leave several times. I am ever so grateful to Professor Keith Trigwell, Mary-Jane Mahony, Carlos González, Hanh Thi Nguyen for giving me invaluable suggestions and iv peer-feedback in many relevant issues during the conduct of this project. I would also like to thank Jennifer Gamble, Estelle Hoen, Tigger Wise and Owen Kavanagh, Ashik Ahmed for their editorial intervention, and specifically for checking the spelling and the grammar, and for improving the language for the sake of clarity. And finally, I would like to thank my wife Taslima. This work would be difficult without her love and support. I know how hard it was for her to look after my three daughters without my presence in our home country. Needless to say, she has proven to be a great wife and mother. I am also grateful to my parents and brothers who continually support my family (wife and kids) and provide me emotional strength to conduct this project successfully.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2018

Recent research in Central Asia has altered our understanding of mobility and local economies dur... more Recent research in Central Asia has altered our understanding of mobility and local economies during the Bronze and Iron Ages. In this paper, we present new data from Tuzusai, an Iron Age (400 cal BCE-1 cal CE) site in southeast Kazakhstan. Multiple lines of evidence have suggested that Tuzusai was part of an agro-pastoral system, and that people may have been present at Tuzusai year-round. We performed an analysis of cementum annulations in caprine (sheep/goat) teeth from Tuzusai, which gives direct evidence for seasonal slaughter patterns. Our results demonstrate that animals were slaughtered at Tuzusai year-round, and that there was a spike in the fall which was likely due to herd management strategies. To date, these results are the strongest line of evidence that people were present at Tuzusai throughout the year. We use ethnographic analogy to discuss the nature of a community in which some people were sedentary and others were mobile. We also argue that our results can be used as a model to help determine mobility at other sites in the region for which there are fewer lines of evidence describing the local economy.

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2019

Abstract How can archaeologists contribute to tracing the evolutionary dynamics of the coupled hu... more Abstract How can archaeologists contribute to tracing the evolutionary dynamics of the coupled human-natural systems that characterize the Anthropocene? We present a Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) framework to integrate models of human and natural landscape formation processes in the mid to late Holocene on the Talgar alluvial fan on the north slope of the Tian Shan Mountains in the area known as “Semirech’ye” (“Seven Rivers”). We compare our model to the physical evidence from sediment profiles and the archaeological record of subsistence and settlement over the Holocene. The resulting coupled model situates “niche construction theory” and the idea of “transported landscapes” within the SES perspective to focus on how couplings and feedbacks between humans and biophysical processes create or limit opportunities for different modes of subsistence over time, especially during periods of expansion and colonization of new territories. In the Talgar region, we hypothesize that initial, low-level human manipulations of surface water flow across an alluvial fan coupled with aeolian and fluvial sediment dynamics in a series of positive feedbacks to increase the possibilities for agricultural production over time. The human niche in Talgar therefore became increasingly sedentary and agricultural in emphasis compared to niches constructed in other parts of Central Eurasia.

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2017

Central Asia is commonly referred to as a pastoral realm, and the first millennium B.C. is often ... more Central Asia is commonly referred to as a pastoral realm, and the first millennium B.C. is often thought to mark a period of increased mobility and reliance on animal husbandry. The economic shift of the first millennium B.C. is usually interpreted as a transition toward specialized pastoralism in Central Asia, and the point in time when the Central Asian 'nomads' or Scythians appear. However, in this paper, we present evidence for farming, including the introduction of new crops, at four archaeological sites across the Talgar alluvial fan of southeastern Kazakhstan. In addition, we contrast this data with piecemeal evidence for agriculture at three other sites in the broader foothill ecocline of eastern Central Asia. Collectively, these data show that the people in this region were cultivating free-threshing wheat and hulled barley (long-season grain crops), as well as broomcorn and foxtail millet. There is also evidence for viticulture. These data warrant a reevaluation of the 'nomad'-based model for Iron Age economy in this region. This article highlights the need for further investigation into the links between agricultural intensity leading to grain surpluses, increasing exchange through Eurasia, cultural stratification, craft specialization, and population growth among peoples in the foothills of eastern Central Asia during the first millennium B.C.

MRS Proceedings, 2015

ABSTRACTBetween the fourth century B.C. and second century A.D., changes in climate, culture and ... more ABSTRACTBetween the fourth century B.C. and second century A.D., changes in climate, culture and commerce converged to extend networks of influence and intensify social stratification in communities situated along the Silk Road. The horse-riding nomads and agro-pastoralists of what is now Southeastern Kazakhstan were important actors in the unfolding of these events. The settlements and kurgan burials of the Saka and Wusun could be found dotting the alluvial fans north of the Tien Shan Mountains just a short time before Alexander the Great founded outposts in the Ferghana Valley and Chinese emissaries formalized relations with their periphery. In other words, the appearance of Iron Age Saka-Wusun sites anticipated the formation of the Silk Road’s northern branch and subsequently helped mediate long-distance relationships connecting East and West. Historical accounts appear to confirm the presence of the Saka and Wusun in this role, but there is much that remains unknown regarding re...

Quaternary Science Reviews, 2015

Abstract In comparison to Southwest Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the relationship between Ho... more Abstract In comparison to Southwest Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the relationship between Holocene river dynamics, climate change and floodwater farming in Central Asia is significantly under researched. To address this, a multi-disciplinary research project was begun in 2011 centred on the Talgar catchment, a south-bank tributary of the Ili River, southeast Kazakhstan. Building on archaeological excavations and surveys conducted over the past 20 years, we have undertaken investigations of Holocene human adaptations to changing hydromorphic regimes in the Tien Shan piedmont region, Central Asia. Fluvial geochronologies have been reconstructed over the last 20,000 years using Optically Stimulated Luminescence and 14C dating, and are compared with human settlement histories from the Eneolithic to the medieval period. Phases of Late Pleistocene and Holocene river aggradation at c. 17,400–6420, 4130–2880 and 910–500 cal. BC and between the mid-18th and early 20th centuries were coeval with cooler and wetter neoglacial episodes. Entrenchment and floodplain soil development (c. 2880–2490 cal. BC and cal. AD 1300–1640) coincided with warmer and drier conditions. Prior to the modern period, floodwater farming in the Talgar River reached its height in the late Iron Age (400 cal. BC – cal. AD 1) with more than 70 settlement sites and 700 burial mounds. This period of agricultural expansion corresponds to a phase of reduced flooding, river stability and glacier retreat in the Tien Shan Mountains. Late Iron age agriculturists appear to have been opportunistic by exploiting a phase of moderate flows within an alluvial fan environment, which contained a series of partially entrenched distributary channels that could be easily ‘engineered’ to facilitate floodwater farming. Holocene climate change was therefore not a proximate cause for the development and demise of this relatively short-lived (c. 200 years) period of Iron Age farming. River dynamics in the Tien Shan piedmont are, however, strongly coupled with regional hydroclimatic fluctuations, and they have likely acted locally as both ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors for riparian agriculturists.

Studia ethnologica Croatica, 1993

Résumé/Abstract What are the origins of specialized pastoral transhumance in Mediterranean Europe... more Résumé/Abstract What are the origins of specialized pastoral transhumance in Mediterranean Europe? This question concerning the long-distance, twice yearly movement of herders and their sheep and goat flocks between upland summer pastures and lowland ...

Recent research in Central Asia has altered our understanding of mobility and local economies dur... more Recent research in Central Asia has altered our understanding of mobility and local economies during the Bronze and Iron Ages. In this paper, we present new data from Tuzusai, an Iron Age (400 cal BCE–1 cal CE) site in southeast Kazakhstan. Multiple lines of evidence have suggested that Tuzusai was part of an agro-pastoral system, and that people may have been present at Tuzusai year-round. We performed an analysis of cementum annulations in caprine (sheep/goat) teeth from Tuzusai, which gives direct evidence for seasonal slaughter patterns. Our results demonstrate that animals were slaughtered at Tuzusai year-round, and that there was a spike in the fall which was likely due to herd management strategies. To date, these results are the strongest line of evidence that people were present at Tuzusai throughout the year. We use ethnographic analogy to discuss the nature of a community in which some people were sedentary and others were mobile. We also argue that our results can be used as a model to help determine mobility at other sites in the region for which there are fewer lines of evidence describing the local economy.

Quaternary Science Reviews, 2015

n comparison to Southwest Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the relationship between Holocene riv... more n comparison to Southwest Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the relationship between Holocene river dynamics, climate change and floodwater farming in Central Asia is significantly under researched. To address this, a multi-disciplinary research project was begun in 2011 centred on the Talgar catchment, a south-bank tributary of the Ili River, southeast Kazakhstan. Building on archaeological excavations and surveys conducted over the past 20 years, we have undertaken investigations of Holocene human ad- aptations to changing hydromorphic regimes in the Tien Shan piedmont region, Central Asia. Fluvial geochronologies have been reconstructed over the last 20,000 years using Optically Stimulated Lumi- nescence and 14C dating, and are compared with human settlement histories from the Eneolithic to the medieval period. Phases of Late Pleistocene and Holocene river aggradation at c. 17,400e6420, 4130 e2880 and 910e500 cal. BC and between the mid-18th and early 20th centuries were coeval with cooler and wetter neoglacial episodes. Entrenchment and floodplain soil development (c. 2880e2490 cal. BC and cal. AD 1300e1640) coincided with warmer and drier conditions. Prior to the modern period, floodwater farming in the Talgar River reached its height in the late Iron Age (400 cal. BC e cal. AD 1) with more than 70 settlement sites and 700 burial mounds. This period of agricultural expansion cor- responds to a phase of reduced flooding, river stability and glacier retreat in the Tien Shan Mountains. Late Iron age agriculturists appear to have been opportunistic by exploiting a phase of moderate flows within an alluvial fan environment, which contained a series of partially entrenched distributary channels that could be easily ‘engineered’ to facilitate floodwater farming. Holocene climate change was therefore not a proximate cause for the development and demise of this relatively short-lived (c. 200 years) period of Iron Age farming. River dynamics in the Tien Shan piedmont are, however, strongly coupled with regional hydroclimatic fluctuations, and they have likely acted locally as both ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors for riparian agriculturists.

Typescript. Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, 1984. Includes bibliograph... more Typescript. Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, 1984. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-154).

MRS Proceedings, 2014

ABSTRACT Most of what is known about the Iron Age in Southeastern Kazakhstan has been learned fro... more ABSTRACT Most of what is known about the Iron Age in Southeastern Kazakhstan has been learned from kurgan burials and historical accounts describing the largely nomadic lifestyle of steppe populations from the 8th century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E. Recent archaeological surveys however, are revealing an unexpectedly large number of settlements at the edges of the steppe, along the northern slopes of the Tien Shan Mountains. One of these sites, Tuzusai, has provided a wealth of ceramic finds that offer insight into local pottery production traditions and their social and material contexts. Our preliminary analysis of both pottery and local clay and temper resources suggests that the community at Tuzusai engaged in feasting activities that incorporated a diverse vocabulary of pot forms. The overwhelming majority of these forms appear to have been locally produced using assembly strategies that responded to shortcomings in available raw materials. Given our current understanding of local production resources and the technical difficulty associated with the production of thin walled forms using these materials, we suggest that these ceramics may be high-status goods valued not solely for their function in feasting activities, but for the labor and skill required to produce them.

Antiquity, 2003

... 24595 2 Eurasien-Abteilung, Deutsches Archaologisches Institut 3 Central State Museum, Almaty... more ... 24595 2 Eurasien-Abteilung, Deutsches Archaologisches Institut 3 Central State Museum, Almaty, Kazakhstan 4 Institute of Archaeology, University College London 5 Sweet Briar College, SweetBriar, VA. 24595 Received: 13 March 2002; accepted: 17 March 2003 Page 2. ...

Journal of Field Archaeology, 2013