Thesis - Uppsala. / Bibliography: p. [306]-310.

This is an anthropological inquiry into how humans use beads and other personal ornaments, and what this can tell us about production, labor organization, regional traditions, and cultural exchange. Specifically, it examines the manufacture and provenience of 8,000 Late Neolithic and Copper Age (3500-2500 BC) beads from a group of closely related collective burials in the Sizandro River Valley of southwestern Portugal. Because these burials lie within five kilometers of each other and have access to similar geological landscapes, patterns of raw material consumption would be expected to be comparable. This period witnessed the rise of socially-complex, non-state societies, but there is still debate about how socially differentiated people were. One way archaeologists can shed light on this type of prehistoric social complexity is to examine how and why people produce things in the way that they do--how they work. Beads in museum collections were measured and coded for shape, usewear, composition, and other traits. Analyses were conducted using microscopy, spectroscopy, petrography, and isotopic chemistry. The goal was to determine the extent of intra-site versus inter-site variation in the Sizandro, and to compare these results to other sites in the Estremadura in order to better understand craft production and interregional exchange in the context of the demographic transition to agriculture. A number of striking patterns were found. The vast majority of beads (~90%) show a high degree of standardization and are made of abundant, locally-available materials. Discoid calcite beads in particular have low standard deviations in diameter and thickness, highly indicative of batch production. Because of their transportability, beads (perhaps sewn into garments) likely served not only a decorative but a semi-monetized function. This pattern is similar to the use of `wampum' beads as commodity money among chiefdom-scale groups in parts of pre-contact North America, and has numerous cross-cultural ethnographic parallels. Approximately 10% of the beads were much less standardized and made from a diverse range of non-local raw materials obtained via direct or down-the-line exchange from other groups in the Iberian Peninsula. The emphasis on rarified materials is similar to elsewhere in the Western Mediterranean, suggesting that the Estremadura participated in a wider system of shared symbolic values.

This research aims to test the hypothesis that portable art objects and ornaments were used to create and maintain social networks between groups of hunter-gatherers coping with climatic insecurity. This is tested through the materials used to produce such objects. The results of tests indicate that the movement of objects of portable art and ornaments did not correlate with climatic values such as precise temperature and variance of temperature, which goes against the assumptions of the main hypothesis mentioned above. However, the variation in the production of these objects correlates well with broad climatic changes and with demographic events. This suggests that portable art objects and ornaments might have been used to a certain extent to help facilitate the population movements that were themselves affected by climate change. / Graduate

The function of multiple display signals in golden whistlers (Pachycephala pectoralis) was investigated over three field seasons (2001/02 – 2003/04) at Toolangi State Forest (Victoria, Australia). Male golden whistlers are highly ornamented and possess several elaborate plumage displays, including a yellow breast and a conspicuous white throat patch. In addition, they are highly vociferous and possess large song repertoires. (For complete abstract open document)

abstract: Profound alterations to instruments that take place over short periods of time are fascinating, and the changes undergone by the guitar during the late eighteenth century make for an intriguing transition in the instrument's history. The guitar that existed before 1750 is most commonly referred to as the 'Baroque guitar' and is vastly different from the guitar of today. It was considerably smaller than the guitars that followed, pitched higher, and used primarily for accompaniment through chord strumming. From roughly 1750 to 1800 the guitar underwent a transformation that eventually led to the design and performance practices that have continued through to this day; larger, with lower-pitched courses (and sometimes single stringing), and used increasingly more in punteado (plucked) style. By defining the instrument as it existed prior to 1750, and the changes that it underwent after 1750, we can ensure that the instrument discussed is the one that has directly led to the instrument we use today. Because instrument design and performance practice inevitably influence each other, a thorough examination of ornamentation practices from 1750-1800 can lead to a greater understanding of the instrument as it changed, and the instrument it eventually turned into. Since the early nineteenth century was one of the more productive time periods for the guitar, having a better understanding of the ornamentation performance practices that preceded it may provide insight to how the players and composers of this fertile time (Sor, Aguado, Giuliani, etc.) approached their instrument. Although there was not much music printed or copied for guitar during the latter half of the eighteenth century, a substantial number of guitars were built, along with instruction manuals featuring the guitar. Instruction manuals were examined, along with works for solo guitar and guitar in ensemble with other instruments, to explore ornamentation practices from 1750-1800. Through examination of the guitar instruction manuals of the late eighteenth century, an increased understanding is gained regarding the techniques that eventually became cornerstones of nineteenth-century guitar performance practice. / Dissertation/Thesis / D.M.A. Music 2012

Social monogamy, closely associated with bi-parental care, is the most frequent pairing system found in birds. Because females invest more into the reproduction, they are usually considered to be the sex that chooses the partner. To satisfy female preferences in the mate choice males in various species developed a number of traits that signalize their quality. What qualities are signaled by these traits and what mechanisms are responsible for the emergence, development and maintenance of these traits is the subject of a number of evolutionary- ecological studies. By pairing with an appropriate male female can obtain direct or indirect benefits to its own fitness. The good parent theory suggests that male secondary sexual traits signalize male ability to provide parental care (a direct benefit). An indirect benefit is presented by the quality of the genetic material that the female obtains from male for her offspring. According to the good genes hypothesis females use secondary male ornamentation to assess genetic quality of males. One of the most studied secondary sexual ornaments that can advertise male quality and may be used in mate choice by females is the plumage colouration. In many avian species there is sexual dimorphism in the plumage colouration and there is also growing evidence that...

L’espace alsacien est divisé principalement en deux diocèses catholiques jusqu’à la Révolution. La Réforme protestante, survenant en Alsace dès les années 1520, crée une situation particulière qui voit désormais cohabiter, dans une atmosphère conflictuelle, deux religions chrétiennes qui s’opposent notamment sur le plan cultuel. Les objets et les ornements sont au cœur du culte catholique, faisant l’objet de publications explicatives ou normatives dès la fin du XVe siècle. Le corpus, qui couvre essentiellement la fin du XVIIe siècle et le XVIIIe siècle, permet de discerner des périodes esthétiques qui répondent aux grands courants artistiques de la période prise en compte. Les objets et les ornements sont pris en compte en tant que production artisanale régionale ou venue d’ailleurs. L’étude de l'orfèvrerie permet de dessiner un réseau orienté vers les villes d’Allemagne du sud, Augsbourg notamment, alors que les textiles connaissent un espace davantage tourné vers Lyon et Paris. Le cadre régional et corporatif se trouve complété par des réseaux commerciaux, dominés en partie par des familles originaires de Savoie. Ces objets et ornements sont achetés par les institutions, notamment les fabriques, ou bien font l’objet de dons aux églises. Ils sont soumis aux aléas des événements, ce qui permet de dessiner des variations cycliques de création et de destruction. Au-delà de l’économie générée, la question des commanditaires permet de toucher à la perception du beau et du sacré par les fidèles au sein des paroisses, perception concrétisée dans la construction et dans l’aménagement des sacristies. Enfin, la question de l’utilisation des objets et des ornements débouche sur une analyse de la sacralité attachée à ces objets et de leur perception par les fidèles. Une théologie des objets peut ainsi être envisagée, entre une perception proche du tabou et une mise en péril par la profanation, la destruction ou, peut-être aussi, par leur patrimonialisation. / Until the Revolution, the Alsace area was roughly divided into two catholic dioceses. The protestant reform, which started in Alsace as soon as the 1520s, created an unusual situation, where two Christian religions confronting each others mainly on religious matters, also had to live together. Objects and ornaments were in the heart of the Catholic cult, as related in explanatory or normative publishings, as soon as the end of the XVth century. The corpus, which essentially covers the end of the XVIIth as well as the XVIIIth century, helps us distinguish the aesthetic periods which match the main artistic currents of the concerned time. The objects and ornaments are referred to as regional or imported craft. The study of silverware allows us to draw a network oriented towards the cities of Southern Germany, such as Augsburg, whereas textile is more to be found around Lyon and Paris. The regional and corporative frame is completed by business networks, partially ruled by families from Savoie. These objects and ornaments were either bought by institutions such as church councils or donated to churches. They were submitted to the randomness of events which draws cyclical variations of creation and destruction. Beyond the economic consequences, the order givers prompt us to study the way the faithful apprehended beauty and sacredness, which were made concrete in the building and furnishing of sacristies. To finish with, the study of the use of the objects and ornaments leads to an analysis of the sacred value linked to these objects and the way the faithful considered it. Thus, a theology of objects may be considered, amid a taboo related perception and the risk of desecration, destruction or maybe even by their status when classified as patrimony.

Au cours de la seconde partie de l’âge du Bronze moyen, soit entre le XVe et le début du XIIIe siècle avant notre ère, des bracelets, parures de cheville, épingles et torques sont produits et enfouis en quantité importante dans la moitié nord de l’Europe atlantique, essentiellement en contexte de dépôt non funéraire. Il s’agit d’un moment particulier, au cours duquel ce phénomène des dépôts évolue, notamment à travers l’accroissement considérable de la masse métallique enfouie et immergée. S’il concorde certainement avec une forte augmentation de la production, elle ne suffit pas à expliquer la quantité pléthorique d’objets en bronze retirés du circuit économique.Par l’inventaire détaillé des ornements corporels en bronze et leur classement typo-technologique, ainsi qu’à travers des analyses spatiales et statistiques, il a été démontré que l’attribution typologique des objets de parure nécessitait d’être affinée et aussi précise que pour les autres catégories d’objets, fournissant des informations cruciales d’un point de vue culturel. Cette classification renouvelée distingue désormais 14 types d’épingles, 2 types de torques et 27 types de parures annulaires, au sein desquels se répartit l’essentiel des productions de parure du Bronze moyen atlantique 2 mises au jour en France atlantique, y compris les productions imitées ou importées depuis les régions voisines.D’un point de vue technologique, l’un des apports majeurs de ce travail est la démonstration de l’emploi prédominant de la technique de la fonte à la cire perdue pour la fabrication des parures annulaires à tige pleine. Des modalités de découpe de la cire ont également pu être identifiées. L’hypothèse avancée et étayée par des exemples concrets irait dans le sens de la segmentation de colombins et de plaques de cire, permettant l’obtention de préformes, ensuite cintrées et décorées individuellement avant la fonte.Le fait de mener cette étude sur une aire géographique étendue a permis d’envisager différents réseaux de production/diffusion des parures en bronze. Des particularismes locaux ont notamment pu être identifiés, caractérisés par le dépôt de types d’objets dont la diffusion est extrêmement restreinte, ou encore par des associations d’objets dans les dépôts qui dénotent avec celles des zones directement voisines géographiquement.À l’échelle régionale, plusieurs groupes ont pu être identifiés, caractérisés par l’enfouissement de certains types de parures dont la combinaison entre la morphologie et le décor lui sont propres. L’analyse typo-technologique fine a permis de déterminer quelles étaient les productions enfouies préférentiellement dans une zone, mais aussi de repérer les éventuelles importations, affinités ou influences visibles à travers les ornements corporels. Les interactions à différentes échelles entre les groupes ont ainsi pu être évaluées, permettant de préciser les contours du domaine atlantique. Des échanges à très longue distance ont eu lieu durant le Bronze moyen, visibles notamment par l’importation de matériaux (ambre balte, verre proche-oriental, etc.), mais aussi d’objets de parure, particulièrement visibles entre la France atlantique, le sud de l’Angleterre, le Lüneburg et le Schleswig-Holstein. Si la nature de ces échanges ne peut à ce jour être envisagée précisément, il est tentant de l’interpréter en termes de circulation d’individus, peut-être par le biais d’échanges matrimoniaux. Les parures annulaires sous toutes leurs formes sont en effet très souvent sollicitées dans ce cadre, dans les sociétés actuelles ou passées.En définitive, les ornements corporels en bronze s’avèrent être d’excellents indicateurs, justifiant le choix de ce prisme pour l’étude des sociétés du Bronze moyen atlantique. Ce travail a participé à caractériser plus précisément cette période, mais ouvre également de nombreuses perspectives, aussi bien sur les plans culturels que socio-économiques, techniques et symboliques. / During the second part of the Middle Bronze Age, between, XVth and beginning of the XIIIth century BC, many bronze bracelets, anklets, pins and torcs are produced and buried in the northern part of Atlantic Europe, mainly within hoards. This constitutes a peculiar moment, in which this hoard phenomenon evolves, particularly through a significant increase of the buried and immersed metallic mass. If it is evidently consistent with a strong increase of the production, it does not completely explain the plethoric quantity of bronze objects removed from the economic circulation.Through the detailed inventory of bronze ornaments and their typo-technologic classification, but also their spatial and statistics analysis, it has been showed that the ornament typological attribution required being as accurate as other object categories, providing crucial information about cultural interpretation. This revised classification identifies 14 types of pin, 2 of torcs and 27 of bracelets and anklets. These types form the major part of Middle Bronze Age 2 bronze ornament production yet discovered in Atlantic France, including imitating productions and importations from neighbouring areas.Concerning the technological aspect, one of the main contributions of this research is the demonstration of the predominant use of lost-wax-casting technique in the production of plain bracelets and anklets. A technique of wax slicing has been highlighted: clear examples from Bignan and Trégueux hoards indicate that strips and coils were cut in a wax drafts then individually curved and decorated, before smelting.This study concerns a wide geographical area, allowing considering different production/diffusion networks. Local specificities have been identified through the presence of types whose area of diffusion is clearly restricted/which have a restricted area of diffusion or by the hoard composition distinguishable from the neighbouring areas.Several groups are identified at a regional scale, characterized by the burying of a certain type of ornaments whose morphology and ornamentation are specific of a distinct area. The precise typo-technological analysis identify/allows to identify productions which are preferentially deposited in a specific area, but also to recognize the possible importations, affinities and influences visible through ornaments. Interactions between these groups have been estimated at different scales, allowing clarifying the outlines of the Atlantic space.Long-distance trades have been detected during Middle Bronze Age through the importation of materials (Baltic amber, Middle East glass, etc.), but also ornaments, particularly visible between Atlantic France, the South of England, Luneburg and Schleswig-Holstein. If it is not possible to reconstruct precisely the nature of these trades, it could be tempting to interpret them in terms of people circulation, maybe by matrimonial exchanges. Ornaments are often use in this context in modern or ancient societies.Finally, bronze ornaments are proven to be excellent indicators for the study of Atlantic Middle Bronze Age societies. This research has contributed to a better understanding of this period from a cultural, socio-economic, technical and symbolic matter.

<p>Arbetet behandlar sättet att sjunga folkvisan från bondesamhället till modern tid. Mitt syfte är att ta reda på om sättet att sjunga folkvisan har förändrats genom åren, vidare vill jag undersöka hur folksången har förändrats och vad det beror på. Jag har intervjuat fem kvinnor som alla är verksamma folksångerskor, använt mig av litteraturstudium och lyssnat till arkivinspelningar. I mitt arbete har jag kommit fram till att folksången har förändrats under årens lopp. En skillnad som blev tydlig för mig är att sångarna förr generellt sjöng på ett mer osentimentalt sätt och att sångarna i dag ofta lägger större vikt vid att tolka texten och att de drillar mer idag. Att skillnader i sången finns beror på många faktorer, bl.a. på att den vokala folkmusiken förr var funktionsmusik- nu har den blivit medialiserad, institutionaliserad och professionaliserad. Dagens folksångerskor blir även inspirerade av andra kulturers musik och andra musikstilar.</p> / <p>This is a paper discussing the way folksong singing has undergone changes from agricultural society to the present day. The aim of this paper is to discern if the way of singing folksongs has changed through the years. In addition, I want to investigate how folk songs have changed and what these changes depend on. I have interviewed five women, all working as folk singers, as well as studied literature and listened to archive recordings. The conclusion of this paper is that folk songs have changed over the years. A clear difference is that the older singers generally sang in a more unsentimental way compared to the singers today, who often attach great importance to interpreting the text and also using more ornaments. The reasons for these differences depend on many factors, e.g. the vocal folk music used to be functional music, whereas today’s music is much more exposed in the media, more institutionalised and professionalized. The singers of today are also inspired by other music cultures and styles.</p>

Arbetet behandlar sättet att sjunga folkvisan från bondesamhället till modern tid. Mitt syfte är att ta reda på om sättet att sjunga folkvisan har förändrats genom åren, vidare vill jag undersöka hur folksången har förändrats och vad det beror på. Jag har intervjuat fem kvinnor som alla är verksamma folksångerskor, använt mig av litteraturstudium och lyssnat till arkivinspelningar. I mitt arbete har jag kommit fram till att folksången har förändrats under årens lopp. En skillnad som blev tydlig för mig är att sångarna förr generellt sjöng på ett mer osentimentalt sätt och att sångarna i dag ofta lägger större vikt vid att tolka texten och att de drillar mer idag. Att skillnader i sången finns beror på många faktorer, bl.a. på att den vokala folkmusiken förr var funktionsmusik- nu har den blivit medialiserad, institutionaliserad och professionaliserad. Dagens folksångerskor blir även inspirerade av andra kulturers musik och andra musikstilar. / This is a paper discussing the way folksong singing has undergone changes from agricultural society to the present day. The aim of this paper is to discern if the way of singing folksongs has changed through the years. In addition, I want to investigate how folk songs have changed and what these changes depend on. I have interviewed five women, all working as folk singers, as well as studied literature and listened to archive recordings. The conclusion of this paper is that folk songs have changed over the years. A clear difference is that the older singers generally sang in a more unsentimental way compared to the singers today, who often attach great importance to interpreting the text and also using more ornaments. The reasons for these differences depend on many factors, e.g. the vocal folk music used to be functional music, whereas today’s music is much more exposed in the media, more institutionalised and professionalized. The singers of today are also inspired by other music cultures and styles.