The Origin of Austronesians from the Perspective of Customs and Traditions | Chapter 1 | Traditions and Cultural Heritage: Genesis, Reproduction, and Preservation

From the perspective of customs and traditions, Austronesians have connection with Fujian early ancestors, through material production and social life. For example, stepped adzes are one of the most characteristic production tools in the vast area of the eastern China coast, excavated in large quantities from many sites in Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and were used in the manufacture and production of canoes and oars. In addition, stepped adzes have been found in Taiwan Province, the Philippines, North Borneo and many islands of Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean, as far as Hawaii and Marquesas islands. It has also become one of the most important material item used to map the migration of early Austronesians across the ocean. Another representative product is the outrigger canoe, true ocean-going ship for Austronesians, and an important part of their heritage. There are excavations of canoes in Fujian, more than 2,000 years old, which shows the connection between the prehistoric people of Fujian and Austronesian population. Similarly, Austronesian custom of tattoos and broken hair are also found in ancient ethic groups in Fujian. These converging testimonies indicate that Austronesian culture is strongly related to Fujian maritime culture and, it may even be said that Austronesian culture and population originated in Fujian.

Author(s) Details:

Shen Qu,
Department of Anthropology and Ethnology, Xiamen University, China.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/TCHGRP/article/view/9520

On Cobalt in the Old Russian Lead Glass | Chapter 01 | Recent Trends in Chemical and Material Sciences Vol. 8

 The goal of this study is to look at all of the known examples of cobalt use in Old Russian lead glass and estimate the availability of cobalt blue in pre-Mongolian times.

The use of cobalt was extremely unusual in Old Russian glassmaking, which began in the eleventh century AD and was based on the manufacturing of lead glass. Only three confirmed occurrences of cobalt being used for blue colouring of bracelets and beads have been documented until recently. In addition, two occurrences of possible cobalt colouring were documented, but the usage of cobalt was not proven due to the lack of appropriate analytical procedures at the time. During the last two decades, the author has acquired seven more glass objects containing cobalt. All of these potash-lead glass bracelets and beads were discovered in pre-Mongolian layers in Old Russian towns and cities such as Novgorod, Vladimir, Smolensk, Tver, and Suzdal, among others. Another blue bracelet of this type has been discovered in Bolgar, a mediaeval Volga Bulgarian city, and has been studied at Kazan University.

Only with a considerable degree of uncertainty could the single early Russian artefact taken from Kiev's St. Sophia Cathedral be called a creation of a Russian workshop. It is a fragment of tessera from one of the earliest Russian temples, and has an extraordinarily high amount of cobalt, improved content of sodium, and contains antimony, which functions as an opacifier, in contrast to all other investigated artefacts. Antimony is infrequently utilised in Russian lead glass, and it is only discovered in one other sample considered here.

The blue coloration has not been attained with cobalt blue in two artefacts, one of which has increased manganese concentration. These findings support the theory that cobalt blue was transported into Russia on occasion from many sources, and that the pre-Mongolian tradition of its use did not arise independently.

Author(S) Details

A. N. Egorkov
Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute for the History of Material Culture, Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

View Book:- https://stm.bookpi.org/RTCAMS-V8/article/view/6534

Recent Status of Covid-19 Pandemic: A Perspective to Global and Indian Scenario | Chapter 6 | Recent Developments in Medicine and Medical Research Vol. 15

 This page aims to tell the storey of the Covid-19 infection, starting with patient zero and progressing to a catastrophic pandemic. Analyzing how the globe came together to try to control the epidemic in a coordinated manner up to this point. The writers want to portray the disease's progression and subsequent developments to the public in a simple and easy manner.

Author(S) Details

John George
Department of Community Medicine, Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, Thrissur, Kerala, Pin Code- 680555, India.

Sandra Paulson
Department of Community Medicine, Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, Thrissur, Kerala, Pin Code- 680555, India.

View Book:- https://stm.bookpi.org/RDMMR-V15/article/view/5006