The subject for this essay considers the trade with amber and how it was organized in Scandinavia during the early Nordic Bronze age. There is very little written about this subject. One of the few scholars that have done this is the archeologist Timothy Earle. He has done this generally from a material that comes from the world of the living, mostly settlements. I will compare his view with a grave material that are based on Aner & Kersten Die Ältere Bronzezeit (2001, band 11). My own conclusion is that Timothy Earls view corresponds well with the grave material

Figures removed from thesis by author. The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on March 19, 2010). Thesis advisor: Dr. Susan Langdon. Includes bibliographical references.

The amber spacers from Bronze Age Britain and Europe are one of the most well known artefact groups from this time period. Yet despite the frequency with which these artefacts are cited, the details of these finds both individually and within their original excavation contexts appear to be poorly understood. Recent new finds of ‘sets’ of spacers prompted this review and updating of the amber spacer corpus, which now extends to 375 individual spacers from 141 findspots. Once thought to constitute an artefact horizon which could provide a chronological bridge between the regions of Northwest Europe and Britain / the Central European Únĕtice/Tumulus Cultures and Late Helladic I and II Mycenaean Greece, new radiocarbon dating programs have extended their date range from (potentially) c. 2000 cal B.C. to c.1360 cal. B.C., although the regional chronologies remain essentially unresolved. To give a clear survey of how the spacers have been viewed historically, the catalogue entry for each findspot/spacer includes, as well as information about the findspots themselves, x-rays, photographs and drawings produced for this research, alongside all the previously published quotes and illustrations. Microscopic analyses provide evidence for some spacer-sets having been fragmented and deposited separately. Maps showing illustrations of the spacers where they were recovered allow comparison of regional similarities and differences. Loose colour plates show the x-rays of groups of spacers which have been correlated in past interpretations at 1:1 scale for easy comparison. Some earlier interpretations, including the Crescentic/Pendant regional division, the jet spacer/amber spacer/lunulae discrete distribution pattern and the close relationship of the Basic Pattern spacers, are challenged and found to no longer be sustainable. The craft and production aspects of spacer manufacture, particularly the procurement of suitable raw material, are addressed and a new narrative is presented, which is partly informed by the experimental replica research.

Interactions between single and double stranded oligonucleotides with SiO2 surfaces and the interactions between oligonucleotides and immobilized oligomers have been studied computationally. The oligonucleotide is the 18-base-pair sequence for the survival motor neuron gene SMN1. The oligomer consisted of a 50 unit 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (PHEMA) molecule. A linker used to tether the oligonucleotide was either a 10 Å or a 30 Å long succinimdyl 4-[N-maleimidomethyl]cyclohexane-1-caroxylate (sulfo-SMCC-Cn). The surface consisted of a SiO2 crystal that was 50 Å long and 50 Å wide, one unit thick and covered with modified-(3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (m-APTMS) molecules. It was determined that explicit water, sodium counterions and excess salt were necessary to produce computationally stable oligonucleotide structures on surfaces. Artificial partial charges were introduced to the surface, and linkers, oligomers and oligonucleotides were immobilized and studied. The linkers collapsed onto a positive but not onto a negative surface. Oligomers moved closer to the SiO2 surface regardless of the surface charge. Immobilized oligonucleotides tilted significantly from an initial upright position but did not collapse completely onto the surfaces. The interactions between immobilized oligonucleotides and oligomers were examined. The number of oligomers surrounding the oligonucleotide was varied between two and four. Single stranded oligonucleotides were prevented from interacting with the surface as they were inhibited by the presence of oligomers. Double stranded oligonucleotides collapsed onto the surface when only two oligomers were present but remained upright when four oligomers were present. This was due to the four oligomers interacting with one another and effectively shielding the surface. The oligomers interacted with the bases in the single stranded oligonucleotides, making them energetically accessible. Presence of a high density of oligomers prevented the dsDNA from collapsing onto the surface. These results suggest design criteria for preparation of mixed oligonucleotide and oligomer films for use in biosensors.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Washington State University, May 2010. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on May 14, 2010). "Department of Fine Arts."

<p>The subject for this essay considers the trade with amber and how it was organized in Scandinavia during the early Nordic Bronze age. There is very little written about this subject. One of the few scholars that have done this is the archeologist Timothy Earle. He has done this generally from a material that comes from the world of the living, mostly settlements. I will compare his view with a grave material that are based on Aner & Kersten Die Ältere Bronzezeit (2001, band 11). My own conclusion is that Timothy Earls view corresponds well with the grave material</p>

No description available.

Bernstein, in seiner natürlichen Form und auch kunstvoll bearbeitet, gehörte zu den raren und wundersamen Dingen, mit denen Naturgelehrte und Fürsten ihre Mineraliensammlungen, Raritäten-, Kunst- und Wunderkammern und Naturalienkabinetten gerne bestückten. Geschenke aus diesem seltenen Stein waren chwillkommen. Besonders geschätzt wurden Zufallsbilder und Bernsteine mit pflanzlichen und tierischen Einschlüssen (Bernsteininklusen). Einschlüsse von größeren Tieren, wie Fröschen, Eidechsen und Fischen, wurden künstlich hergestellt. Die Echtheit dieser Inklusen wurde zunächst jedoch nicht angezweifelt. Der Platz des Bernsteins in diesen frühen musealen Einrichtungen war, wie der jedes anderen Sammlungsgegenstandes, nicht fest und endgültig. Er war eng an die Entwicklung des Sammlerwesens geknüpft und abhängig vom Wissen ihrer Betreiber über das Universum im Allgemeinen und über den Bernstein im Besonderen. Wobei die persönliche Wertschätzung, die dem Bernstein entgegengebracht wurde, eine wichtige Rolle spielte. Die Sammlungen bildeten und bilden bis heute die Grundlage für die wissenschaftliche Erforschung des Bernsteins und darüber hinaus für die Erforschung der Erdgeschichte. / Carefully worked pieces of naturally occurring amber were seen as rare and wondrous objects by scientists and rulers who avidly collected them to add to their mineral or art collections or their curiosity and specimen cabinets. Gifts of this rare stone were very well received. Amber inclusions containing plants and animals were particularly sought after. Amber pieces containing larger creatures such as frogs, lizards and fish were produced artificially and their authenticity was not, at least initially, doubted. However the place of Amber in these early museum-like settings, was not, as was the case for all other objects in these collections, definitively guaranteed. Its position was closely linked to the development of collectors and dependent on its owner’s knowledge both more generally about the world and about amber in particular; the individual view that collectors took about the worth of amber therefore played an important role. These collections provided and still provide the basis for scholarly research of amber and beyond that of geology.

No description available.

Amber has been a recurring luxury around the Mediterranean Sea for thousands of years in various cultures. This study treats the first two centuries AD in the Roman Empire. The early centuries of the Empire saw a brief period of relative calm in which Baltic amber became a fashion in Rome. The purpose of this investigation is to explain how and why amber journeyed from the northern oceans of Germania into Rome, and how it expressed itself in the Empire. The Amber Road between the Baltic Sea and Rome is well trodden by modern researchers, but very little has been written about why amber arrived in various contexts. The questions are on the topics of the amber’s origin, how it was consumed and by whom. Throughout the study, the agency of amber is considered in order to approach the source material from a new angle. The first chapter investigates what effect the geographical origin and trade had on the agency of amber. The first part of the second chapter discusses amber in material culture as well as examples of amber items in ancient texts. The second part of the second chapter analyses perfume vessels made from amber. The last chapter is on the topic of amber as a luxury. The discussion and conclusion argues that rich women were major consumers of amber in Rome.