June issues of the scientific journals Estonian Journal of Archaeology, Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences, Linguistica Uralica, Oil Shale, Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences and TRAMES have been published.
Brief reviews:
ESTONIAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY
The first issue of 2024 of Estonian Journal of Archaeology contains three fascinating articles.
A team of authors from Lithuania, led by Adomas Butrimas, presents the results of a study of a socketed antler toggle harpoon head, based on the AMS 14C dating of the object, the determination of manufacturing methods, and data from the ZooMS analysis of the animal species used to make the object. This Neolithic hunting weapon originally consisted of a wooden shaft, a water-resistant interim rod, probably made from antler, and a toggle harpoon head. Counterparts to this harpoon head can also be found in later ethnographic hunter societies.
Estonian and Dutch researchers Esmee J. Hummel, Marcus Adrian Roxburgh and Hans D. J. Huisman analyse the material composition of the artefacts found in Lõhavere’s well-known craft box. Portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry made it possible to supplement the existing knowledge by adding information on the choice of metals used to make various types of objects, surface treatment, and the contaminants present in the raw materials (ores) of alloy components. Almost all items were made of copper-based alloys containing varying amounts of lead, zinc, and tin, although silver was also present in some items.
Finnish and Latvian archaeologists Kerkko Nordqvist and Aija Macāne discuss a simple shaft-hole stone axe, which was found in 2022 in the village of Nagļi in the Lake Lubāns wetland area in eastern Latvia. What makes the axe rare is the finding of a fragment of a wooden haft, made of oak, which made it possible to radiocarbon-date it to the Late Bronze Age.
ESTONIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES
The new issue of Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences presents a collection of articles spanning palaeontology and marine science. The palaeontology contributions study the diversification of Early Silurian crinoids in Baltica, including the discovery of a new crinoid species, Euspirocrinus varbolaensis sp. nov.; present a revision of the taxonomy of the brachiopod species Dalmanella kegelensis from the Sandbian Stage of the Upper Ordovician, introducing a new genus, Alichovella; and provide a revision of the classification of ptyctodont placoderms, a group of armoured fish, from the Late Devonian of Poland. The marine science papers investigate the impact of wind fetch on underwater sound propagation and examine the effects of changes in sea ice cover on the wave climate in semi-enclosed, seasonally ice-covered water bodies such as the Gulf of Riga, which has broader implications for coastal dynamics and climate change studies in similar regions.
LINGUISTICA URALICA
In the June issue of Linguistica Uralica, University of Tartu doctoral student Polina Oskolskaia examines the use of impersonal forms in Veps. She concentrates on Modern Standard Veps, where a contamination of impersonal and 3rd person plural forms can be observed: impersonal forms are used in 3rd person plural contexts (e.g. lapsed magataze ‘children are sleeping’), and vice versa (kirvest plakutaba kurikol ‘the axe is beaten with a mallet’). Standardisation of the grammatical category of the impersonal is not an easy issue. As a result, native speakers with dialect features may speak differently from speakers who follow Standard Veps rules. The main factors which finally determine the use of impersonal and personal forms are context and negation.
OIL SHALE
The latest issue of Oil Shale contains two articles by Chinese authors, one by a Turkish author, and one by a Jordan author.
The Turkish article “Geochemical and thermal characterization and kinetics of oil shale samples from Çeltek, Türkiye”, authored by a member of the journal’s editorial board, Mustafa Verşan Kök, delves into the geochemical aspects, non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis, and model-free kinetics of oil shale samples from the Çeltek region in Amasya, Türkiye, including the effect of the heating rate on the thermal behaviour of the oil shale samples.
Omar S. Al-Ayed, one of the authors of the Jordan article, is also a member of the journal’s editorial board. The article “Tracing rare earth elements in oil shale ash” by Omar S. Al-Ayed et al. presents a study of the presence of rare earth elements in ash samples from seven different Jordanian oil shale deposits, with 15 different earth metals detected in the samples. Total trace metals ranged from 8.7 to 74.37 ppm depending on the region. It was observed that the presence of heavy rare earth metals was much lower than that of light rare earth metals.
We also recommend reading the article “Exploring the influence of effective stress sensitivity on oil shale: implications for porosity and permeability” by Dandan Lu et al. and “Optimization of nozzle structure of top-burning heating furnace: case study of Fushun retort heating for oil shale” by Yue Yue et al.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ESTONIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
The June issue of Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences contains selected papers presented at the conference Modern Materials and Manufacturing 2023 (MMM2023), which hosted the 14th International DAAAM Baltic Conference and the 30th International Baltic Conference BALTMATTRIB 2023. The conference was organized by Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) on 2–5 May 2023 in Tallinn, and it welcomed over 160 participants from 13 different countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Finland, Denmark, United States of America, Austria, Turkey, Italy, France, Czech Republic and Armenia. The conference was divided into two science days and one industry day, attracting worldwide interest and active participation from researchers of national and global technical communities.
The conference technical programme included presentations of the results of scientific and engineering research in important areas of manufacturing and materials engineering as well as materials processing technologies, with particular emphasis on the current trends in the development and application of advanced materials and processes.
The conference Modern Materials and Manufacturing is an international forum focused on Industry 4.0, robotics and manufacturing engineering, IoT, digital twins and additive manufacturing, materials engineering, powder metallurgy and tribology, bringing together materials and manufacturing experts from universities and industry. It encourages new collaboration between different partners not only from academia but also from national competence centres, industry and funding bodies.
TRAMES. A JOURNAL OF THE HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
The opening article of the June issue of Trames is by Jüri Saar, professor of the University of Tartu and the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences, who examines Samuel Huntington’s ideas about civilisation and international order. Saar asks why Huntington’s ideas about civilisations, so much criticised, misused and abused, still exhibit amazing vitality by tackling the trends of international order. Properly understood and applied, civilisational analysis, like geopolitical analysis, can be used as a significant component of strategic approach.
Furkan Polat from the Bursa Technical University (Turkey) analyses on the basis of Libya how armed groups emerge and stay in failed states. Such states can be characterised by the fact that they have no monopoly on the use of force. Thus, anarchic states appear, with more than one power centre. A shift in favour of one of such power centres, however, poses an existential threat to other groups. The author takes a look at how armed groups react to changes in the balance of power, in order to maintain their security in an anarchic system. In the case of Libya, the author argues that the armed groups tend to use strategies for deterring the aggressor to restore the balance of power.
Researchers of the Eastern Mediterranean University (North Cyprus) examine the marriages between Moslems and Christians in the key of cat-dog relations. The results show that conflicts in such marriages are inevitable. The most efficient strategies of solving conflicts in interfaith marriages include communication, upholding interest, affection, gratitude and apologies. In these relationships conflict is often the means how married people can understand each other better and act in the name of finding a solution.
Emrah Aydemir from the Turkish Military Academy analyses soft power in the process of transculturation. He relies on the ideas of the Cuban anthropologist Fernando Ortiz.
Nigerian scholars tackle the significant question of how African community museums maintain the cultural heritage returned to them by Western museums.
Indonesian authors take a look at the changing cultural legacy and its protection and investigate the dynamic interplay between modernity and tradition. They ask how to best connect the younger generation with traditional culture.