The shouldered point with abrupt retouch (SP) is one of the most characteristic elements of the hunting tools from the end of the Solutrean period in Iberia outside the Cantabrian region. Its morphological and volumetric variability... more
The shouldered point with abrupt retouch (SP) is one of the most characteristic elements of the hunting tools from the end of the Solutrean period in Iberia outside the Cantabrian region. Its morphological and volumetric variability allowed a large variety of hafts with the intention of creating composite projectiles. To test different hafting techniques we carried out an experimental program to establish which hafting systems are the most effective for hunting medium-sized ungulates. In order to achieve this, some replicas of SP were made. These were attached with birch tar and, in some cases, strengthened by means of gut in shafts of different lengths and diameters in order to create arrows with one, two or three points. These arrows were shot by three different types of bows at two fallow-deer carcasses in order to test their effectiveness. The results obtained have enabled us to establish four basic models of hafting shouldered points, and to test their hunting efficiency and best ballistic behavior when mounted on arrow hafts.
The aim of this study is to prove the usefulness of a bulbous bow for a fishing vessel, in terms of drag reduction, using an automated shape optimization procedure including hydrodynamic simulations. A bulbous bow is an appendage that is... more
The aim of this study is to prove the usefulness of a bulbous bow for a fishing vessel, in terms of drag reduction, using an automated shape optimization procedure including hydrodynamic simulations. A bulbous bow is an appendage that is known to reduce the drag, thanks to its influence on the bow wave system. However, the definition of the geometrical parameters of the bulb, such as its length and thickness, is not intuitive, as both parameters are coupled with regards to their influence on the final drag. Therefore, we propose to use an automated shape optimization procedure, based on a high-fidelity flow solver, a surrogate model-based optimizer and a CAD-based geometrical model, to derive the characteristics of the bow geometry allowing to maximize the achievable drag reduction. The numerical tools are first presented, and then applied to the optimization of a bow shape for a real fishing vessel, in order to determine the optimal length and thickness of the bow for drag reductio...
The Concert, a pen drawing attributed to Manuel Tramulles (1715-1791), represents a scene in which ten figures play and listen to music in a relaxed atmosphere. This little drawing allows an analysis of different aspects that will... more
The Concert, a pen drawing attributed to Manuel Tramulles (1715-1791), represents
a scene in which ten figures play and listen to music in a relaxed atmosphere. This little
drawing allows an analysis of different aspects that will permit an approach to music in
18th-century Barcelona and this music’s contextualisation. Various aspects are considered:
the posture and positioning of the musicians (all of them –some playing and others not–
are set around the harpsichord), type and number of instruments (string trio, flute, horn
and harpsichord, in addition to two singers) and performance technique. In order to determine
whether there were similar customs in Europe with respect to music in society, it is
also interesting to compare this drawing to other European representations on like subjects.
Additionally, the drawing attributed to Tramulles will serve to supplement the immense
body of documentary information on the musical life and customs of Barcelona in
the late 18th and early 19th centuries provided by the Baron of Maldà in his work Calaix
de sastre. According to this Catalan nobleman, concerts were held regularly throughout
the year in several aristocratic and bourgeois homes in the city.
It will also be determined that the work attributed to Tramulles is not a mere abstract
exercise seeking only to represent a scene with some musicians playing instruments or
singing. Indeed, the drawing depicts, although perhaps in a summary way, the scene of a
real musical performance. The instruments used by the composers of the times are exactly
those which appear in the drawing. It may therefore be deduced that the artist was thoroughly
acquainted with the way in which musical performances were organised.
Euripides’ Heracles includes an agon scene between Lycus and Amphitryon in which great prominence is attached to the value of the bow as opposed to that of the spear. According to some scholars, this debate about the weapons is not... more
Euripides’ Heracles includes an agon scene between Lycus and Amphitryon in which great prominence is attached to the value of the bow as opposed to that of the spear. According to some scholars, this debate about the weapons is not appropriate and it even seems to create a break in the dramatic illusion. This paper, however, analyzes the role of bows and spears in the tragedy and it shows how weapons are used to make visible the transformation of the hero in the play.
В статье анализируется раннесредневековый погребальный комплекс Плавни-II 1/2, исследованный в 1990 г. на левобережье Нижнего Дуная. Погребение было впущено в курган раннего бронзового века. В состав инвентаря входили пара боевых ножей,... more
В статье анализируется раннесредневековый погребальный комплекс Плавни-II 1/2, исследованный в 1990 г. на левобережье Нижнего Дуная. Погребение было впущено в курган раннего бронзового века. В состав инвентаря входили пара боевых ножей, костяные накладки на лук, колчан со стрелами, золотая фольга. На одном из фрагментов фольги находится изображение мужского лица. Анализ погребального обряда и инвентаря позволили датировать захоронение Плавни-II 1/2 второй половиной IX — первыми десятилетиями X в. и связать его с древними венграми. Исследованный комплекс дополняет список погребальных памятников, маркирующих территорию обитания венгерских племен перед обретением родины. The article analyzes the early medieval burial complex Plavni-II 1/2, studied in 1990 on the left bank of the Lower Danube. The grave was sunk into an Early Bronze Age barrow. Grave goods included a pair of battle knives, bone plates for a bow, a quiver with arrows, a golden foil. Image of a male face is on one of the fragments of the foil. The analysis of the burial rite and grave goods allowed dating the burial Plavni-II 1/2 to the second half of the 9th — the first decades of the 10th centuries and associate it with the ancient Hungarians. The investigated grave complements the list of funerary sites, marking the territory of the Hungarian tribes before they found their homeland.
В статье анализируется раннесредневековый погребальный комплекс Глиное/«Водовод» 14/2, исследованный в 2018 г. на левобережье Нижнего Днестра. Погребение было впущено в скифский курган. В состав инвентаря входили боевые топор и нож,... more
В статье анализируется раннесредневековый погребальный комплекс Глиное/«Водовод» 14/2, исследованный в 2018 г. на левобережье Нижнего Днестра. Погребение было впущено в скифский курган. В состав инвентаря входили боевые топор и нож, костяные накладки на лук, колчан со стрелами, золотая и серебряная фольга. Анализ погребального обряда и инвентаря позволили датировать захоронение Глиное/«Водовод» 14/2 второй половиной IX — рубежом IX—X вв. и связать его с древними венграми. Исследованный комплекс дополняет список погребальных памятников, маркирующих территорию обитания венгерских племен перед обретением родины. The article analyzes the early medieval burial complex Glinoe/“Vodovod” 14/2, studied in 2018 on the left bank of the Lower Dniester. The grave was sunk into the Scythian barrow. The inventory consisted of a battle ax and a knife, bone plates for a bow, a quiver with arrows, gold and silver foil. The analysis of the burial rite and inventory allowed dating the burial Glinoe/“Vodovod” 14/2 to the second half of the 9th — the border of the 9th and 10th centuries and associate it with the ancient Hungarians. The investigated grave complements the list of funerary sites, marking the habitat of the Hungarian tribes before they found their homeland.
