Ancient DNA analysis of archaeological wheat remains may serve to clarify unknown or controversial points in the history of wheat. In the first part of this study, extraction and amplification of DNA from Anatolian charred ancient wheat seeds obtained from different locations and ages was attempted. None of the our extraction samples yielded any PCR amplification. The possible reasons for this result were investigated by constructing an artificial charring experiment. The results suggest that the chances of obtaining DNA from the charred archaeological samples used in this study by the methods used are very low. Moreover, strong PCR inhibition by these charred seed extracts was observed. The second part of the study aimed to develop new DNA based markers for ancient wheat DNA analysis. Markers linked to the brittle rachis character exhibiting domestication status were sought, but no result was obtained. Primers targeting plasmon sequences were developed and tested. A primer pair amplifying a 400 bp portion of the chloroplast TrnLTrnF intergenic region was focused upon. A short piece of this region was amplified using ancient wheat DNA extracted in another study. This short piece appeared non-polymorphicupon sequencing. The sequence spanning a wider portion of this region contained a number of length polymorphisms. Phylogenetic reconstruction using maximum parsimony showed that these polymorphisms were able to distinguish wheat taxa at the maternal ancestor level.

abstract: This dissertation research investigates both spatial and temporal aspects of Bronze Age land use and land cover in the Eastern Mediterranean using botanical macrofossils of charcoal and charred seeds as sources of proxy data. Comparisons through time and over space using seed and charcoal densities, seed to charcoal ratios, and seed and charcoal identifications provide a comprehensive view of island vs. mainland vegetative trajectories through the critical 1000 year time period from 2500 BC to 1500 BC of both climatic fluctuation and significant anthropogenic forces. This research focuses particularly on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus during this crucial interface of climatic and human impacts on the landscape. Macrobotanical data often are interpreted locally in reference to a specific site, whereas this research draws spatial comparisons between contemporaneous archaeological sites as well as temporal comparisons between non-contemporaneous sites. This larger perspective is particularly crucial on Cyprus, where field scientists commonly assume that botanical macrofossils are poorly preserved, thus unnecessarily limiting their use as an interpretive proxy. These data reveal very minor anthropogenic landscape changes on the island of Cyprus compared to those associated with contemporaneous mainland sites. These data also reveal that climatic forces influenced land use decisions on the mainland sites, and provides crucial evidence pertaining to the rise of early anthropogenic landscapes and urbanized civilization. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Geography 2013

This project is the search for a room. The search included that which is sensible through tone, and that which is intelligible through line. Tone and color were used to paint the sensible, geometric constructions were used to understand the intelligible. The constructed axonometric drawings became both sensible and intelligible in the way that their very construction is an active reconstitution of the charred contours of a dream. This project began with a glass of Scotch, which is a container of a world; dreamlike, smoky, and ethereal. It ended with drawings of a room; a reconstitution of a dream. / Master of Architecture

Bread is an important cultural and social marker, and it occurs in many contexts, often preserved as carbonised. However, as bread fragments are typically small and anonymous, their total value of them is not appreciated. Often bread material is grouped simply as organic and not considered. Material from Late Iron Age and the early Medieval times Gamla Uppsala, Valsgärde, and Gnista (Uppland County, Sweden) is analysed here. In this text, both settlement and ritual contexts were taken into consideration in the trends concerning bread production and/or consumption. This thesis aims to establish a protocol for distinguishing bread from other carbonised materials, including a macroscopic description that can be used in the field. Micro morphological and lipids analyses are relevant resources to study charred bread-like fragments recovered in archaeological contexts. Other laboratory methods, including FTIR, GC–MS, and GCIMS, were used alongside these methods. Experimental archaeology allowed for the build-up of a list of references to compare the material collected in the field. Developing a method to study these remains sheds light on the cultural value of bread, one of the most spread foodstuffs, and its connections with conviviality. / Bröd är en viktig kulturell och social markör, och det förekommer i många sammanhang ofta bevarat som förkolnat. Men eftersom brödfragmenten vanligtvis är små och anonyma, uppskattas inte deras fulla värde. Brödmaterial sorteras ofta endast som organiskt material och tas inte i vidare beaktning. Material mellan yngre järnålder och tidig medeltid från Gamla Uppsala, Valsgärde och Gnista (Upplands Län, Sverige) analyseras här. I denna text har både bosättnings- och rituella sammanhang beaktats för att undersöka trenderna kring brödproduktion och/eller konsumtion. Denna uppsats syftar till att identifiera bröd från annat förkolat material inklusive en makroskopisk beskrivning som kan användas i fält. Mikromorfologiska analyser och lipidanalyser är relevanta metoder för att studera förkolnade brödliknande fragment från arkeologiska sammanhang. Vid sidan av dessa metoder användes andra laboratoriemetoder, som inkluderade FTIR, GC–MS och GCIMS. Experimentell arkeologi gjorde det möjligt att bygga upp en lista med referenser för att jämföra det material som samlats in i fält. Dessa metoder används för att belysa det kulturella värdet av bröd, ett av de mest spridda livsmedlen och dess kopplingar till social gemenskap.

La modélisation numérique des structures bois dans des conditions d’incendie nécessite la connaissance : de la variation des propriétés physiques du bois telles que la conductivité thermique, la chaleur spécifique et la densité en fonction de la température ; de la dégradation thermique du bois au cours des phases de séchage, de pyrolyse et de combustion. En particulier, nous nous sommes intéressés à l’étude du comportement thermomécanique du matériau bois. La loi thermique est décrite par l’équation de la chaleur. Le modèle choisi intègre les trois modes du transfert de chaleur : la conduction, le rayonnement et la convection. La loi mécanique est modélisée dans le cadre de la thermodynamique des processus irréversibles utilisant la notion des variables d’état. Elle tient compte du couplage entre le comportement élastique orthotrope, plastique anisotrope à écrouissage non linéaire isotrope et un endommagement isotrope. L’intégration numérique de la loi mécanique par un schéma implicite itératif combinant la technique du retour radial avec la réduction du nombre des équations est présentée. Le couplage thermomécanique est réalisé, selon l’approche réglementaire de l’Eurocode 5 relatif à la résistance au feu des structures en bois, en appliquant le facteur de réduction Kθ sur la résistance mécanique d’un résineux. Les aspects théoriques et les conditions aux limites associés au modèle thermomécanique sont abordés. L’identification des paramètres du modèle est réalisée sur des données expérimentales obtenues sur des tests réels d’incendie disponibles dans la littérature. À ce titre, plusieurs comparaisons avec différentes applications sont réalisées. Le modèle éléments finis reproduit avec précision la distribution du champ de température dans l’épaisseur des panneaux en bois, la formation du charbon ainsi que l’évolution de la résistance mécanique au cours de l’exposition au feu / Numerical modelling of timber structures in fire conditions requires the knowledge of the variation with temperature of the physical properties of the wood material (the thermal conductivity, the specific heat and the density) in order to take into account the thermal degradation of wood under high temperatures during the drying, pyrolysis and combustion phases, as well as the temperature profiles in the thickness of the surfaces exposed to fire. In particular, this work focusses on the thermomechanical behaviour of timber. The heat transfer analysis is described by the standard equations of heat conduction. It includes the three modes of heat transfer: conduction, radiation and convection. The structural response is modelled within the framework of thermodynamics of irreversible processes using the notion of state variables. It takes into account the coupling between the orthotropic elastic behaviour, the anisotropic plastic behaviour with isotropic nonlinear hardening, and isotropic damage. The numerical integration of the equilibrium equations is carried out with an iterative implicit scheme combining the technique of radial re- turn with the reduction of the number of equations. The thermomechanical coupling is carried out according to the approach recommended by Eurocode 5 for the fire resistance of timber structures by applying the reduction factor Kθ to the strength of a softwood. The theoretical aspects and boundary conditions associated with the thermomechanical model are also discussed. The parameters of the model are identified with experimental data obtained from actual fire tests available in the literature. Several comparative applications are carried out. The finite element model accurately reproduces the distribution of the temperature profile in the thickness of timber planks, the formation of the charred layer, and the evolution of the mechanical resistance during exposure to fire

Principal message of this thesis is to introduce designer Pavel Pánek putting him into proper historical context and to reveal some of his unpublished designs or sketches which are hidden to the eye of wider audience. First chapter is fully devoted to the concise history of technique of pressing glass and mention is made of so called pressing ring playing important role in it. One of the sections contains in brief Pavel Pánek's biography where some moments of crucial importance are underlined. Most important part is that, which provides with account of Pánek's works that I found either interesting or crucial for the development of pressed glass. At the beginning of the description of each piece brief description of used technology is added. I am striving to emphasize Pánek's inexhaustible inventiveness and knowledge of techniques that eventually gave rise to some of his best pieces ever. It appears that in some way Pánek was to a certain extent predestined to grow into a sculptor of great providence especially for the sake of his vocational education. Due to the fact Pánek's personality faces false accusation of plagiarism and theft of foreign invention nowadays I had to include apologetic chapter in it. At the end of the thesis I conclude that Pánek, embodied one of the most experimentally -...