1.
Iraq
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The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds, others include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians, around 95% of the countrys 36 million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism, and Mandeanism also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish, two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws, the area has been home to successive civilisations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and it was also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires. Iraqs modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sèvres, Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932, in 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Baath Party from 1968 until 2003, after an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Husseins Baath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011, but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian Civil War spilled into the country, the Arabic name العراق al-ʿIrāq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several suggested origins for the name, one dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk and is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Urug, containing the Sumerian word for city, UR. An Arabic folk etymology for the name is rooted, well-watered. During the medieval period, there was a region called ʿIrāq ʿArabī for Lower Mesopotamia and ʿIrāq ʿajamī, for the region now situated in Central and Western Iran. The term historically included the south of the Hamrin Mountains. The term Sawad was also used in early Islamic times for the region of the plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In English, it is either /ɪˈrɑːk/ or /ɪˈræk/, the American Heritage Dictionary, the pronunciation /aɪˈræk/ is frequently heard in U. S. media. Since approximately 10,000 BC, Iraq was one of centres of a Caucasoid Neolithic culture where agriculture, the following Neolithic period is represented by rectangular houses. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gypsum, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations
2.
Erbil Governorate
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Erbil Governorate, sometimes referred to by the alternative spelling Arbil Governorate, is a governorate in Iraqi Kurdistan. It derives its name from the city of Erbil, which is its capital, Erbil Governorate covers an area of 15,074 km2 in the north of Iraq, with a population of 2,009,367 people. It is largely populated by Kurds but has minority populations of Assyrians, Turkmen, University of Kurdistan Hewlêr, Public English-medium university Ishik University, Private university that belongs to Fezalar Educational Institutions in Erbil
3.
Zagros Mountains
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The Zagros Mountains form the largest mountain range in Iran, Iraq and southeastern Turkey. This mountain range has a length of 1,500 km. The highest point in the Zagros Mountains is Dena, the Zagros fold and thrust belt was formed by collision of two tectonic plates, the Eurasian Plate and the Arabian Plate. This collision primarily happened during the Miocene and folded the rocks that had been deposited from the Carboniferous to the Miocene in the geosyncline in front of the Iranian Plate. The process of collision continues to the present and as the Arabian Plate is being pushed against the Eurasian Plate, the Zagros Mountains, a relatively dense GPS network which covered the Iranian Zagros also proves a high rate of deformation within the Zagros. The GPS results show that the current rate of shortening in the southeast Zagros is ~10 mm/yr, the north-south Kazerun strike-slip fault divides the Zagros into two distinct zones of deformation. The GPS results also show different shortening directions along the belt, normal shortening in the southeast, the sedimentary cover in the SE Zagros is deforming above a layer of rock salt whereas in the NW Zagros the salt layer is missing or is very thin. This different basal friction is partly responsible for the different topographies on either side of the Kazerun fault. Higher topography and narrower zone of deformation in the NW Zagros is observed whereas in the SE, deformation was spread more, stresses induced in the Earths crust by the collision caused extensive folding of the preexisting layered sedimentary rocks. Subsequent erosion removed softer rocks, such as mudstone and siltstone while leaving harder rocks, such as limestone and this differential erosion formed the linear ridges of the Zagros Mountains. The depositional environment and tectonic history of the rocks were conducive to the formation and trapping of petroleum, salt domes and salt glaciers are a common feature of the Zagros Mountains. Salt domes are an important target for exploration, as the impermeable salt frequently traps petroleum beneath other rock layers. The Zagros Mountains have a totally sedimentary origin and are primarily of limestone. In the Elevated Zagros or the Higher Zagros, the Paleozoic rocks could be found mainly in the upper and higher sections of the peaks of the Zagros Mountains along the Zagros main fault. On the both sides of this fault, there are Mesozoic rocks, a combination of Triassic and Jurassic rocks that are surrounded by Cretaceous rocks on the both sides. The Folded Zagros is formed mainly of Tertiary rocks, with the Paleogene rocks south of the Cretaceous rocks, the mountains are divided into many parallel sub-ranges, and orogenically have the same age as the Alps. Irans main oilfields lie in the central foothills of the Zagros mountain range. The southern ranges of the Fars Province have somewhat lower summits and they contain some limestone rocks showing abundant marine fossils
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Kurdish languages
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Kurdish is a continuum of Northwestern Iranian languages spoken by the Kurds in Western Asia. Kurdish forms three dialect groups known as Northern Kurdish, Central Kurdish, and Southern Kurdish, a separate group of non-Kurdish Northwestern Iranian languages, the Zaza–Gorani languages, are also spoken by several million Kurds. Recent studies estimate between 8 to 20 million native Kurdish speakers in Turkey, the majority of the Kurds speak Northern Kurdish. The literary output in Kurdish was mostly confined to poetry until the early 20th century, today, there are two principal written Kurdish dialects, namely Northern Kurdish in the northern parts of the geographical region of Kurdistan and Central Kurdish further east and south. Central Kurdish is, along with Arabic, one of the two languages of Iraq and is in political documents simply referred to as Kurdish. The Kurdish languages belong to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European family and they are generally classified as Northwestern Iranian languages, or by some scholars as intermediate between Northwestern and Southwestern Iranian. Martin van Bruinessen notes that Kurdish has a strong south-western Iranian element, whereas Zaza, windfuhr identified Kurdish dialects as Parthian, albeit with a Median substratum. The most argued hypothesis on the localisation of the territory of the Kurds remains D. N. Mackenzies theory. He has tried to reconstruct the alleged Persian-Kurdish-Baluchi linguistic unity presumably in the parts of Iran. Kurdish is divided into three groups, where dialects from different groups are not mutually intelligible without acquired bilingualism, Northern Kurdish is the largest dialect group, spoken by an estimated 15 to 20 million Kurds in Turkey, Syria, northern Iraq and northwestern Iran. Central Kurdish is spoken by an estimated 6 to 7 million Kurds in much of Iraqi Kurdistan, Sorani is a written standard of Central Kurdish developed in the 1920s and was later adopted as the standard orthography of Kurdish as an official language of Iraq. Southern Kurdish is spoken by about 3 million Kurds in Kermanshah and Ilam provinces of Iran, in historical evolution terms, Kurmanji is less modified than Sorani and Pehlewani in both phonetic and morphological structure. The Kermanshahi group has influenced by among other things its closer cultural proximity to Persian. Philip G. Kreyenbroek, a writing in 1992, says. Sorani is normally written in a form of the Arabic script. Reasons for describing Kurmanji and Sorani as dialects of one language are their common origin, for example, Sorani has neither gender nor case-endings, whereas Kurmanji has both. Differences in vocabulary and pronunciation are not as great as between German and English, but they are still considerable, according to Encyclopaedia of Islam, although Kurdish is not a unified language, its many dialects are interrelated and at the same time distinguishable from other Western Iranian languages. The same source classifies different Kurdish dialects as two groups, northern and central
6.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
7.
Archaeological site
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Sites may range from those with few or no remains visible above ground, to buildings and other structures still in use. Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a site can vary widely, depending on the period studied and it is almost invariably difficult to delimit a site. It is sometimes taken to indicate a settlement of some sort although the archaeologist must also define the limits of human activity around the settlement, any episode of deposition such as a hoard or burial can form a site as well. Development-led archaeology undertaken as cultural resources management has the disadvantage of having its sites defined by the limits of the intended development, even in this case however, in describing and interpreting the site, the archaeologist will have to look outside the boundaries of the building site. According to Jess Beck in “How Do Archaeologists find sites. ”The areas with a number of artifacts are good targets for future excavation. The most common person to have found artifacts are farmers who are plowing their fields or just cleaning them up often find archaeological artifacts, many people who are out hiking and even pilots find artifacts they usually end up reporting them to archaeologist to do further investigation. When they find sites, they have to first record the area and if they have the money, there are many ways to find sites, one example can be through surveys. Surveys involve walking around analyzing the land looking for artifacts. ”This helps archaeologists in the future. In case there was no time, or money during the finding of the site, archaeologists can come back, archaeologist can also sample randomly within a given area of land as another form of conducting surveys. Surveys are very useful, according to Jess Beck, “it can tell you where people were living at different points in the past. ”Geophysics is a branch of survey becoming more and more popular in archaeology, because it uses different types of instruments to investigate features below the ground surface. It is not as reliable, because although they can see what is under the surface of the ground it does not produce the best picture, Archaeologists have to still dig up the area in order to uncover the truth. There are also two most common types of survey, which is, magnetometer and ground penetrating radar. Magnetometry is the technique of measuring and mapping patterns of magnetism in the soil and it uses an instrument called a magnetometer which is required to measure and map traces of soil magnetism. The ground penetrating radar is a method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface and it uses electro magnetic radiation in the microwave band of the radio spectrum, and detects the reflected signals from subsurface structures. There are many tools that can be used to find artifacts. This tool is helpful to archaeologists who want to explore in a different area. They can use this tool to see what has already been discovered, with this information available, archaeologists can expand their research and add more to what has already been found. Traditionally, sites are distinguished by the presence of artifacts and features
8.
Neanderthal
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Neanderthals, or more rarely Neandertals, were a species or subspecies of archaic humans in the genus Homo that became extinct about 40,000 years ago. Neanderthals and modern humans share 99. 7% of their DNA and are closely related. Neanderthals left bones and stone tools in Eurasia, from Western Europe to Central, from the 1950s to the early 1980s, however, Neanderthals were widely considered a subspecies of Homo sapiens and a minority of scholars still hold this view. Several cultural assemblages have been linked to the Neanderthals in Europe, the earliest, the Mousterian stone tool culture, dates to about 160,000 years ago. Late Mousterian artifacts were found in Gorhams Cave on the south-facing coast of Gibraltar, male Neanderthals had cranial capacities averaging 1600 cm3, females 1300 cm3, extending to 1736 cm3 in Amud 1. This is notably larger than the 1250–1400 cm3 typical of modern humans, males stood 164–168 cm and females 152–156 cm tall. Recent studies also show that a few Neanderthals began mating with ancestors of modern humans long before the out of Africa migration of present day non-Africans. Claims that Neanderthals deliberately buried their dead, and if they did, the debate on deliberate Neanderthal burials has been active since the 1908 discovery of the well-preserved Chapelle-aux-Saints 1 skeleton in a small hole in a cave in southwestern France. In 2013, scientists sequenced the genome of a Neanderthal for the first time. The genome was extracted from the bone of a 50. In 2016, elaborate constructions of rings of broken stalagmites made by early Neanderthals around 176,000 years ago were discovered 336 m inside Bruniquel Cave in southwestern France and this would have required a more advanced social structure than previously known for Neanderthals. Thal is a spelling of the German word Tal, which means valley. Nevertheless, Kings name had priority over the proposal put forward in 1866 by Ernst Haeckel, the practice of referring to the Neanderthals and a Neanderthal emerged in the popular literature of the 1920s. The German pronunciation of Neanderthaler or Neandertaler is in the International Phonetic Alphabet, in British English, Neanderthal is pronounced with the /t/ as in German, but different vowels. In laymans American English, Neanderthal is pronounced with a /θ/ and /ɔ/ instead of the longer British /aː/, during the early 20th century the prevailing view was heavily influenced by Arthur Keith and Marcellin Boule, who wrote the first scientific description of a nearly complete Neanderthal skeleton. During the 1930s scholars Ernst Mayr, George Gaylord Simpson and Theodosius Dobzhansky reinterpreted the existing fossil record, Neanderthal man was classified as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis - an early subspecies contrasted with what was now called Homo sapiens sapiens. The obviously unbroken succession of fossil sites of both subspecies in Europe was considered evidence that there was a slow and gradual evolutionary transition from Neanderthals to modern humans, contextual interpretations of similar excavation sites in Asia lead to the hypothesis of multiregional origin of modern man in the 1980s. Current scientific ideas hold that both evolved from a common African ancestor, Homo erectus
9.
Proto-Neolithic
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Pre-Pottery Neolithic A denotes the first stage in early Levantine and Anatolian Neolithic culture, dating c. 11,500 – c. 10,000 BP. Archaeological remains are located in the Levantine and Upper Mesopotamian region of the Fertile Crescent, the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and the following Pre-Pottery Neolithic B were originally defined by Kathleen Kenyon in the type site of Jericho. During this time, pottery was not yet in use, PPNA succeeds the Natufian culture of the Epipaleolithic. PPNA archaeological sites are larger than those of the preceding Natufian hunter-gatherer culture. PPNA settlements are characterized by round, semi-subterranean houses with stone foundations, the upper walls were constructed of unbaked clay mudbricks with plano-convex cross-sections. The hearths were small, and covered with cobbles, heated rocks were used in cooking, which led to an accumulation of fire-cracked rock in the buildings, and almost every settlement contained storage bins made of either stones or mud-brick. One of the most notable PPNA settlements is Jericho, thought to be the worlds first town, the PPNA town contained a population of up to 2, 000–3,000 people, and was protected by a massive stone wall and tower. There is much debate over the function of the wall, for there is no evidence of any serious warfare at this time, one possibility is the wall was built to protect the salt resources of Jericho. PPNA cultures are unique for their practices, and Kenyon characterized them as living with their dead. Kenyon found no fewer than 279 burials, below floors, under household foundations, in the PPNB period, skulls were often dug up and reburied, or mottled with clay and displayed. The lithic industry is based on blades struck from regular cores, sickle-blades and arrowheads continue traditions from the late Natufian culture, transverse-blow axes and polished adzes appear for the first time. Sedentism of this allowed for the cultivation of local grains, such as barley and wild oats. Sites such as Dhra′ and Jericho retained a hunting lifestyle until the PPNB period and this period of cultivation is considered pre-domestication, but may have begun to develop plant species into the domesticated forms they are today. Deliberate, extended-period storage was possible by the use of suspended floors for air circulation and protection from rodents. This practice precedes the emergence of domestication and large-scale sedentary communities by at least 1,000 years, granaries are positioned in places between other buildings early on c. 11,500 BP. However, beginning around 10,500 BP, they were moved inside houses and this change might reflect changing systems of ownership and property as granaries shifted from a communal use and ownership to become under the control of households or individuals. Moreover, uilding granaries may have been the most important feature in increasing sedentism that required active community participation in new life-ways. With more sites becoming known, archaeologists have defined a number of variants, Sultanian in the Jordan River valley
10.
Great Zab
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The Great Zab or Upper Zab is an approximately 400-kilometre long river flowing through Turkey and Iraq. It rises in Turkey near Lake Van and joins the Tigris in Iraq south of Mosul, the drainage basin of the Great Zab covers approximately 40,300 square kilometres, and during its course, the rivers collects the water from many tributaries. The river and its tributaries are fed by rainfall and snowmelt – as a result of which discharge fluctuates highly throughout the year. At least six dams have been planned on the Great Zab and its tributaries, but construction of only one, the Bekhme Dam, has commenced but was halted after the Gulf War. The Zagros Mountains have been occupied since at least the Lower Palaeolithic, historical records for the region are available from the end of the third millennium BCE onward. In the Neo-Assyrian period, the Great Zab provided water for irrigation for the lands around the city of Nimrud. The Battle of the Zab – which ended the Umayyad Caliphate – took place near a tributary of the Great Zab, during the 19th and 20th centuries, the Great Zab basin saw frequent uprisings of local Kurdish tribes striving for autonomy. The Great Zab rises in Turkey in the region east of Lake Van at an elevation of approximately 3,000 metres amsl. In Turkey, the Great Zab traverses the provinces of Van and Hakkâri, whereas in Iraq it flows through Duhok Governorate and Erbil Governorate, together with the Tigris, the Great Zab forms the boundary between Erbil Governorate and Ninawa Governorate. In its upper reaches, the Great Zab flows through steep, numerous mountain streams and wadis join the Great Zab on its right and left banks. The Great Zab receives most of its waters from the left-bank tributaries, the length of the Great Zab has been variously estimated at 392 kilometres and 473 kilometres. Approximately 300 kilometres of the course are located within Iraq. The average discharge of the Great Zab is 419 cubic metres per second, the average annual discharge is 13.2 cubic kilometres. Because of its nature, Medieval Arab geographers have described the Great Zab – together with the Little Zab – as demoniacally possessed. Estimates of the basin of the Great Zab vary widely – from a low 25,810 square kilometres to a high figure of 40,300 square kilometres. Approximately 62 percent of the basin is located in Iraq, the remainder is in Turkey, to the south, the Great Zab basin borders on that of the Little Zab while on the east it adjoins the Tigris basin. The Zagros consists of limestone folds rising to elevations of over 3,000 metres amsl. The valleys – including that of the Great Zab – and the foothill zone are filled with gravel, conglomerate, and sandstone
11.
Mousterian
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Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of predominantly flint tools associated primarily with Neanderthals. They date to the Middle Paleolithic, the part of the European Old Stone Age. The culture was named after the site of Le Moustier. Similar flintwork has been all over unglaciated Europe and also the Near East. Handaxes, racloirs and points constitute the industry, sometimes a Levallois technique or another prepared-core technique was employed in making the flint flakes, Mousterian tools that have been found in Europe were made by Neanderthals and date from around 160,000 BP and 40,000 BP. In North Africa and the Near East, Mouseterian tools were produced by anatomically modern humans. In the Levant, for example, assemblages produced by Neanderthals are indistinguishable from those made by Qafzeh type modern humans, possible variants are Denticulate, Charentian named after the Charente region, Typical and the Acheulean Tradition - Type-A and Type-B. The industry continued alongside the new Châtelperronian industry during the 45, Mousterian artifacts have been found in Haua Fteah in Cyrenaica and other sites in Northwest Africa. Contained within a cave in the Syria region, along with a Neanderthaloid skeleton, located in the Haibak valley of Afghanistan. Zagros and Central Iran The archaeological site of Atapuerca, Spain, gorhams Cave in Gibraltar contains Mousterian objects. Uzbekistan has sites of Mousterian culture, including Teshik-Tash, siberia has many sites with Mousterian style implements, eg Denisova Cave. Neanderthal extinction hypotheses Synoptic table of the old world prehistoric cultures Levallois technique Neanderthals’ Last Stand Is Traced — New York Times article
12.
Projectile point
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In archaeological terms, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a projectile, such as a spear, dart, or arrow, or perhaps used as a knife. Scientific techniques exist to track the specific kinds of rock or minerals used to make stone tools in various regions back to their original sources. Occasionally, projectile points made of worked bone or ivory are found at archaeological sites, in regions where metallurgy had emerged, projectile points were made from copper, bronze, or iron. In North America, some late prehistoric points were fashioned from copper that was mined in the Lake Superior region, a large variety of prehistoric arrowheads, dart points, and spear points have been discovered. Flint, obsidian, quartz and many rocks and minerals were commonly used to make points in North America. Some of the more famous Paleo-Indian types include Clovis, Folsom, projectile points fall into two general types, dart/spear points, and arrow points. Larger points were used to tip spears and atlatl darts, arrow points are smaller and lighter than dart points, and were used to tip arrows. The question of how to distinguish an arrow point from a point used on a projectile is non-trivial. According to some investigators, the best indication is the width of the hafting area, an alternative approach is to distinguish arrow points by their necessarily smaller size. Projectile points come in a variety of shapes and styles, which vary according to chronological periods, cultural identities. Typological studies of projectile points have become more elaborate through the years, for instance, Gregory Perino began his categorical study of projectile point typology in the late 1950s. Collaborating with Robert Bell, he published a set of four volumes defining the known point types of that time, Perino followed this several years later with a three-volume study of Selected Preforms, Points and Knives of the North American Indians. Another recent set of studies of North American projectile points has been produced by Noel Justice
13.
Lithic flake
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In archaeology, a lithic flake is a portion of rock removed from an objective piece by percussion or pressure, and may also be referred to as a chip or spall, or collectively as debitage. The objective piece, or the rock being reduced by the removal of flakes, is known as a core, the energy of this blow propagates through the material, often producing a Hertzian cone of force which causes the rock to fracture in a controllable fashion. Since cores are often struck on an edge with an angle for flake propagation. The process continues as the flintknapper detaches the desired number of flakes from the core, the surface area of the core which received the blows necessary for detaching the flakes is referred to as the striking platform. Flakes may be produced by a variety of means, force may be introduced by direct percussion, indirect percussion, or by pressure. Additionally, flakes may be initiated in a Hertzian, bending, when a flake is detached from its core in a Hertzian fashion, the flake propagates in a conchoidal manner from the point of impact or pressure, usually producing a partial Hertzian cone. The cone of force often leaves a distinctive bulb of applied force on the flake, wedging initiation is the result of a strong hammer blow. At impact, concentric radii emanate from the point of percussion, but unlike conchoidal fracture, the bipolar reduction technique is typified by its use of wedge initiation. The core is placed on a surface or anvil and is struck above by a hammer. The end which received the blow or pressure is referred to as the end of the flake. On most natural cobbles or nodules of source material, a weathered outer rind called a cortex covers the inner material. Flakes are often differentiated by the amount of cortex present on their dorsal surfaces, prominent bulbs of force generally indicate that a hard hammer percussor was used to detach the flake, flakes displaying this characteristic are referred to as conchoidal flakes. Hard hammer flakes are indicative of primary reduction strategies, more moderate and diffuse bulbs may indicate the use of a soft hammer percussor—such as bone, wood, or antler—which produces the bending flakes often associated with bifacial thinning and trimming. The relative abundance of type of flake can indicate what sort of lithic work was going on at a particular spot at a particular point in time. A blade is defined as a flake with parallel or subparallel margins that is usually at least twice as long as it is wide, there are numerous specialized types of blade flakes. Channel flakes are characteristic flakes caused by the fluting of certain Paleo-Indian projectile points, prismatic blades are long, narrow specialized blades with parallel margins which may be removed from polyhedral blade cores, another common lithic feature of Paleo-Indian lithic culture. Prismatic blades are triangular in cross section with several facets or flake scars on the dorsal surface. Prismatic blades begin to appear in high frequencies during the transition between the Middle and Upper Paleolithic. This lithic technology basically replaces the Levallois reduction technology
14.
Wild goat
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The wild goat is a widespread species of goat, with a distribution ranging from Europe and Asia Minor to central Asia and the Middle East. It is the ancestor of the domestic goat, in the wild, goats live in herds of up to 500 individuals, males are solitary. Female goats go through a period called estrus, when they are ready to reproduce, collectively for males and females, this means they are in a period of the breeding cycle called rut, which is in the fall, when they are ready to mate. During the rut old males drive younger males from the maternal herds, the gestation period averages 170 days. Does usually give birth to one kid, kids can follow the mother goat almost immediately after birth. Kids are weaned after 6 months, female goats reach sexual maturity at 1½–2½ years, males at 3½–4 years. The lifespan of a goat can be from 12 to 22 years, the domestic goat has become established in some areas in the wild as a feral animal. In habitats not adapted to their presence they can cause environmental problems. Capra aegagrus aegagrus Capra aegagrus blythi Capra aegagrus chialtanensis Capra aegagrus cretica Capra aegagrus hircus Capra aegagrus turcmenica Capra aegagrus pictus Capra - Ibex
15.
Spur-thighed tortoise
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The spur-thighed tortoise is one of five species of Mediterranean tortoise. The other four species are the Hermanns tortoise, Russian tortoise, Egyptian tortoise, the spur-thighed tortoise is a very long lived animal, achieving a lifespan of upwards of 125 years, with some unverified reports of up to 200 years. The spur-thighed tortoises habitat is North Africa, southern Europe, and it is prevalent in the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, as well as in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Greek tortoise is often confused with Hermanns tortoise, however, notable differences enable them to be distinguished. The division of spur-thighed tortoises into subspecies is difficult and confusing, given the huge range over three continents, the various terrains, climates, and biotopes have produced a huge number of varieties, with new subspecies constantly being discovered. The differences in form are primarily in size and weight, as well as coloration, which ranges from brown to bright yellow. Also, the bending-up of the edges of the ranges from minimal to pronounced. So as not to become lost in the number of subspecies, recently a few tortoises previously classified as Testudo graeca have been assigned to different species, the genetic richness of Testudo graeca is also shown in their crossbreeding. Tortoises of different form groups often mate, producing offspring with widely differing shapes, perhaps the best means of identification for the future is simply the place of origin. The smallest, and perhaps the prettiest, of the subspecies is the Tunisian spur-thighed tortoise and it has a particularly bright and striking coloration. However, these are also the most sensitive tortoises of the species, so they cannot be kept outdoors in climates, as cold. They are also incapable of long hibernation, at the other extreme, animals from northeastern Turkey are very robust, such as Hermanns tortoise. The largest specimens come from Bulgaria, specimens of 7 kilograms have been reported. In comparison, the Tunisian tortoise has a weight of 0.7 kg. Testudo graeca is also related to the marginated tortoise. The two species can interbreed, producing offspring capable of reproduction, males differ from females in six main points. Their tails are longer and taper to a point evenly, the underside is somewhat curved, while females have a flat shell on the underside. The rear portion of a carapace is wider than it is long
16.
Columbia University
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Columbia University is a private Ivy League research university in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1754 as Kings College by royal charter of George II of Great Britain, after the American Revolutionary War, Kings College briefly became a state entity, and was renamed Columbia College in 1784. Columbia is one of the fourteen founding members of the Association of American Universities and was the first school in the United States to grant the M. D. degree. The university also has global research outposts in Amman, Beijing, Istanbul, Paris, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Asunción, Columbia administers annually the Pulitzer Prize. Additionally,100 Nobel laureates have been affiliated with Columbia as students, researchers, faculty, Columbia is second only to Harvard University in the number of Nobel Prize-winning affiliates, with over 100 recipients of the award as of 2016. In 1746 an act was passed by the assembly of New York to raise funds for the foundation of a new college. Classes were initially held in July 1754 and were presided over by the colleges first president, Dr. Johnson was the only instructor of the colleges first class, which consisted of a mere eight students. Instruction was held in a new schoolhouse adjoining Trinity Church, located on what is now lower Broadway in Manhattan, in 1763, Dr. Johnson was succeeded in the presidency by Myles Cooper, a graduate of The Queens College, Oxford, and an ardent Tory. In the charged political climate of the American Revolution, his opponent in discussions at the college was an undergraduate of the class of 1777. The suspension continued through the occupation of New York City by British troops until their departure in 1783. The colleges library was looted and its sole building requisitioned for use as a hospital first by American. Loyalists were forced to abandon their Kings College in New York, the Loyalists, led by Bishop Charles Inglis fled to Windsor, Nova Scotia, where they founded Kings Collegiate School. After the Revolution, the college turned to the State of New York in order to restore its vitality, the Legislature agreed to assist the college, and on May 1,1784, it passed an Act for granting certain privileges to the College heretofore called Kings College. The Regents finally became aware of the colleges defective constitution in February 1787 and appointed a revision committee, in April of that same year, a new charter was adopted for the college, still in use today, granting power to a private board of 24 Trustees. On May 21,1787, William Samuel Johnson, the son of Dr. Samuel Johnson, was unanimously elected President of Columbia College, prior to serving at the university, Johnson had participated in the First Continental Congress and been chosen as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. The colleges enrollment, structure, and academics stagnated for the majority of the 19th century, with many of the college presidents doing little to change the way that the college functioned. In 1857, the college moved from the Kings College campus at Park Place to a primarily Gothic Revival campus on 49th Street and Madison Avenue, during the last half of the 19th century, under the leadership of President F. A. P. Barnard, the institution assumed the shape of a modern university
17.
Smithsonian Institution
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The Smithsonian Institution, established in 1846 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States. Originally organized as the United States National Museum, that ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967. Additional facilities are located in Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York City, Texas, Virginia, more than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and Panama are Smithsonian Affiliates. The Institutions thirty million annual visitors are admitted without charge and its annual budget is around $1.2 billion with 2/3 coming from annual federal appropriations. Other funding comes from the Institutions endowment, private and corporate contributions, membership dues, and earned retail, concession, Institution publications include Smithsonian and Air & Space magazines. The British scientist James Smithson left most of his wealth to his nephew Henry James Hungerford, Congress officially accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation, and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust on July 1,1836. The American diplomat Richard Rush was dispatched to England by President Andrew Jackson to collect the bequest, Rush returned in August 1838 with 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns. Once the money was in hand, eight years of Congressional haggling ensued over how to interpret Smithsons rather vague mandate for the increase, unfortunately, the money was invested by the US Treasury in bonds issued by the state of Arkansas which soon defaulted. The United States Exploring Expedition by the U. S. Navy circumnavigated the globe between 1838 and 1842, in 1846, the regents developed a plan for weather observation, in 1847, money was appropriated for meteorological research. The Institution became a magnet for young scientists from 1857 to 1866, the Smithsonian played a critical role as the U. S. partner institution in early bilateral scientific exchanges with the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. The Smithsonian Institution Building began construction in 1849, designed by architect James Renwick Jr. its interiors were completed by general contract Gilbert Cameron and the building opened in 1855. The Smithsonians first expansion came with construction of the Arts and Industries Building in 1881, Congress had promised to build a new structure for the museum if the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition generated enough income. It did, and the building was designed by architects Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze, meigs of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The National Zoological Park opened in 1889 to accommodate the Smithsonians Department of Living Animals and this structure was designed by the D. C. architectural firm of Hornblower & Marshall. More than 40 years would pass before the museum, the Museum of History. It was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White. That same year, the Smithsonian signed an agreement to take over the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum opened in the Old Patent Office Building on October 7,1968. The first new building to open since the National Museum of Natural History was the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
18.
Archaeological looting in Iraq
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Looting of ancient artifacts has a long tradition. As early as 1884, laws passed in Mesopotamia about moving and destroying antiquities, by the end of WW1, British-occupied Mesopotamia had created protections for archeological sites where looting was beginning to become a problem. They established an absolute prohibition on exporting antiquities, the British Museum was responsible for the sites and museums across Iraq during this time period. Gertrude Bell, well known for drawing the Iraq borders, excavated many sites around Iraq, by the mid 1920s the black market for antiquities was growing and looting began in all sites where antiquities could be found. After Iraq was independent of Britain the absolute ban on antiquity exports was lifted, until the mid 1970s Iraq was one of very few countries to not prohibit external trade in antiquities. This made Iraq attractive to looters and black market collectors from around the globe, the result of the first Gulf War was that at least 4000 artifacts were looted from Iraq sites. Uprisings that followed the war resulted in 9 of 13 regional museums being looted and burned. This was just a preview for what would once again happen after the 2003 war, since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, archaeological looting has become an even greater problem. Though some sites, such as Ur and Nippur, were protected by US and Coalition forces. Saddam Hussein treasured his national heritage immensely and acted to defend these sites, Hussein came into power in 1979 as the fifth president of Iraq. It wasn’t until his party the Ba’athists was under pressure in the 1990s that looting become a problem once again for Iraq. By 2000 looting had become so rampant that the workers of the sites were even looting their own workplaces, with the fall of Saddams government on 9 April 2003, archaeological sites were left completely open to looting. Before the 2003 invasion by United States forces, the US government created an invasion, the US has been heavily criticized in the media and academic writings for not adequately planning protections for culture and antiquities. This looting of the National Museum of Iraq and of hundreds of sites around the country was not prevented. At the time of war planning it was the Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld decided on a fast invasion with fewer troops, resulting in protection of buildings. American troops and commanders did not prioritize security for cultural sites around Iraq, American troops in Iraq didn’t trust Iraqi power of any kind meaning that instead of using and training Iraqi police, the US military took matters of security and policing into their own hands. Essentially the US would act as peacekeepers to train a national army, special Forces teams would work with regional warlords to keep control of their territories. Allowing warlords to police their own areas has been credited with being a disastrous plan for the sites in particular
19.
Ear canal
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The ear canal, is a tube running from the outer ear to the middle ear. The adult human ear canal extends from the pinna to the eardrum and is about 2.5 centimetres in length and 0.7 centimetres in diameter, the human ear canal is divided into two parts. The elastic cartilage part forms the third of the canal, its anterior and lower wall are cartilaginous, whereas its superior. The cartilage is the continuation of the framework of pinna. The bony part forms the two thirds. The bony part is shorter in children and is only a ring in the newborn. Size and shape of the canal vary among individuals, the canal is approximately 2.5 centimetres long and 0.7 centimetres in diameter. It has a form and runs from behind and above downward and forward. On the cross-section, it is of oval shape and these are important factors to consider when fitting earplugs. Due to its exposure to the outside world, the ear canal is susceptible to diseases. It plays an important role in the ear canal, assisting in cleaning and lubrication, and also provides some protection from bacteria, fungi. Excess or impacted cerumen can press against the eardrum and/or occlude the external auditory canal, archived from the original on 2014-01-01
20.
Anatomically modern human
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Anatomically modern humans evolved from archaic humans in the Middle Paleolithic, about 200,000 years ago. The emergence of modern human marks the dawn of the species Homo sapiens. Other fossils include the proposed Homo sapiens idaltu from Herto in Ethiopia that are almost 160,000 years old and the Skhul hominids from Israel, which are 90,000 years old. The oldest human remains from which an entire genome has been extracted belongs to Ust-Ishim man, however, it can and has been argued that Homo sapiens have been fully capable of modern behavior from the time they first evolved. The binomial name for the species of the human population is Homo sapiens. The species is taken to have emerged from a predecessor within the Homo genus around 200,000 years ago. Generally, modern humans are more lightly built than archaic humans from which they have evolved, Humans are a highly variable species, modern humans can show remarkably robust traits, and early modern humans even more so. Despite this, modern humans differ from archaic people in a range of anatomical details, the cranium lacks a pronounced occipital bun in the neck, a bulge that anchored considerable neck muscles in Neanderthals. Modern humans, even the ones, generally have a larger fore-brain than the archaic people. This will usually give a higher forehead, and reduced brow ridge and this splits the ridge into a central part and two distal parts. In current humans, often only the section of the ridge is preserved. This contrasts with archaic humans, where the ridge is pronounced. Modern humans commonly have a steep, even vertical forehead whereas their predecessors had foreheads that sloped strongly backwards, according to Desmond Morris, the vertical forehead in humans not only houses larger brains, but plays an important role in human communication through eyebrow movements and forehead skin wrinkling. Compared to archaic people, anatomically modern humans have smaller, differently shaped teeth and this results in a smaller, more receded dentary, making the rest of the jaw-line stand out, giving an often quite prominent chin. The central part of the forming the chin carries a triangularly shaped area forming the apex of the chin called the mental trigon. Particularly in living population, the use of fire and tools require fewer jaw muscles, giving slender, compared to archaic people, modern humans have smaller, lower faces. The body skeletons of even the earliest and most robustly built modern humans were less robust than those of Neanderthals, particularly regarding the long bones of the limbs, the distal bones are nearly the same size or slightly shorter than the proximal bones. In ancient people, particularly Neanderthals, the bones were shorter
21.
National Museum of Natural History
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The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D. C. Opened in 1910, the museum on the National Mall was one of the first Smithsonian buildings constructed exclusively to hold the national collections and research facilities. The main building has an area of 1,500,000 square feet with 325,000 square feet of exhibition and public space. The museums collections contain over 126 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, the United States National Museum was founded in 1846 as part of the Smithsonian Institution. The museum was housed in the Smithsonian Institution Building, which is better known today as the Smithsonian Castle. A formal exhibit hall opened in 1858, the growing collection led to the construction of a new building, the National Museum Building. Covering a then-enormous 2.25 acres, it was built in just 15 months at a cost of $310,000, congress authorized construction of a new building on June 28,1902. The regents began considering sites for the new building in March, the D. C. architectural firm of Hornblower & Marshall was chosen to design the structure. Testing of the soil for the foundations was set for July 1903, the Natural History Building opened its doors to the public on March 17,1910, in order to provide the Smithsonian Institution with more space for collections and research. The building was not fully completed until June 1911, the structure cost $3.5 million dollars. The Neoclassical style building was the first structure constructed on the side of the National Mall as part of the 1901 McMillan Commission plan. In addition to the Smithsonians natural history collection, it housed the American history, art. Between 1981 and 2003, the National Museum of Natural History had 11 permanent, there were six directors alone between 1990 and 2002. Turnover was high as the directors were disenchanted by low levels of funding. Robert W. Fri was named the director in 1996. One of the largest donations in Smithsonian history was made during Fris tenure, kenneth E. Behring donated $20 million in 1997 to modernize the museum. Fri resigned in 2001 after disagreeing with Smithsonian leadership over the reorganization of the scientific research programs. J. Dennis OConnor, Provost of the Smithsonian Institution was named acting director of the museum on July 25,2001, eight months later, OConner resigned to become the vice president of research and dean of the graduate school at the University of Maryland
22.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
23.
Fetal position
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Fetal position is the positioning of the body of a prenatal fetus as it develops. In this position, the back is curved, the head is bowed, and this position is used in the medical profession to minimize injury to the neck and chest. The fetal position has been observed in drug addicts, who enter the position when experiencing withdrawal, sufferers of anxiety are also known to assume the fetal position during panic attacks. Many people assume this position when sleeping, especially when the body becomes cold, assuming this position and playing dead is often recommended as a strategy to end a bear attack. Many baby mammals, especially rodents, remain in the position well after being born. The fetal position is one of the most comfortable and familiar positions to the human. Babies are most often found stretched out, however, because they do not have control of their limbs
24.
Soil test
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Soil test may refer to one or more of a wide variety of soil analyses conducted for one of several possible reasons. Possibly the most widely conducted soil tests are those done to estimate the plant-available concentrations of plant nutrients, other soil tests may be done for engineering, geochemical or ecological investigations. In agriculture, a soil test commonly refers to the analysis of a sample to determine nutrient content, composition. The test is used to mimic the function of roots to assimilate minerals, the expected rate of growth is modeled by the Law of the Maximum. Labs, such as those at Iowa State and Colorado State University, tap water or chemicals can change the composition of the soil, and may need to be tested separately. As soil nutrients vary with depth and soil components change with time, composite sampling can be performed by combining soil from several locations prior to analysis. This is a procedure, but should be used judiciously to avoid skewing results. This procedure must be done so that government sampling requirements are met, a reference map should be created to record the location and quantity of field samples in order to properly interpret test results. Soil chemistry changes over time, as biological and chemical processes break down or combine compounds over time and these processes change once the soil is removed from its natural ecosystem and environment. As a result, the chemical composition analysis accuracy can be improved if the soil is analysed soon after its extraction — usually within a time period of 24 hours. The chemical changes in the soil can be slowed during storage, air drying can also preserve the soil sample for many months. Soil testing is performed by commercial labs that offer a variety of tests, targeting groups of compounds. The advantages associated with local lab is that they are familiar with the chemistry of the soil in the area where the sample was taken and this enables technicians to recommend the tests that are most likely to reveal useful information. Do-it-yourself kits are sold at farming cooperatives, university labs, private labs. Electrical meters that measure pH, water content, and sometimes nutrient content of the soil are also available at hardware stores. Laboratory tests are more accurate than tests with do-it-yourself kits and electrical meters, here is an example soil sample report from one laboratory. Soil testing is used to facilitate fertilizer composition and dosage selection for land employed in agricultural and horticultural industries. Prepaid mail-in kits for soil and ground testing are available to facilitate the packaging
25.
Pollen
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Pollen is a fine to coarse powdery substance comprising pollen grains which are male microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce male gametes. If pollen lands on a compatible pistil or female cone, it germinates, individual pollen grains are small enough to require magnification to see detail. The study of pollen is called palynology and is useful in paleoecology, paleontology, archaeology. Pollen in plants is used for transferring haploid male genetic material from the anther of a flower to the stigma of another in cross-pollination. In a case of self-pollination, this takes place from the anther of a flower to the stigma of the same flower. Pollen itself is not the male gamete, each pollen grain contains vegetative cells and a generative cell. In flowering plants the vegetative tube cell produces the pollen tube, pollen is produced in the microsporangia in the male cone of a conifer or other gymnosperm or in the anthers of an angiosperm flower. Pollen grains come in a variety of shapes, sizes. Pollen grains of pines, firs, and spruces are winged, the smallest pollen grain, that of the forget-me-not, is around 6 µm in diameter. Wind-borne pollen grains can be as large as about 90–100 µm, in angiosperms, during flower development the anther is composed of a mass of cells that appear undifferentiated, except for a partially differentiated dermis. As the flower develops, four groups of cells form within the anther. The fertile sporogenous cells are surrounded by layers of cells that grow into the wall of the pollen sac. Some of the cells grow into nutritive cells that supply nutrition for the microspores that form by meiotic division from the sporogenous cells, in a process called microsporogenesis, four haploid microspores are produced from each diploid sporogenous cell, after meiotic division. After the formation of the four microspores, which are contained by callose walls, the exine is what is preserved in the fossil record. Two basic types of microsporogenesis are recognised, simultaneous and successive, in simultaneous microsporogenesis meiotic steps I and II are completed prior to cytokinesis, whereas in successive microsporogenesis cytokinesis follows. While there may be a continuum with intermediate forms, the type of microsporogenesis has systematic significance, the predominant form amongst the monocots is successive, but there are important exceptions. During microgametogenesis, the unicellular microspores undergo mitosis and develop into mature microgametophytes containing the gametes, in some flowering plants, germination of the pollen grain may begin even before it leaves the microsporangium, with the generative cell forming the two sperm cells. Except in the case of submerged aquatic plants, the mature pollen grain has a double wall
26.
Paleoclimatology
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Paleoclimatology is the study of changes in climate taken on the scale of the entire history of Earth. It then uses the records to determine the past states of the Earths various climate regions and he noted that the loess deposits at Timaru in the South Island recorded changes in climate, he called the loess a climate register. Paleoclimatologists employ a variety of techniques to deduce ancient climates. Mountain glaciers and the polar ice caps/ice sheets provide much data in paleoclimatology, ice-coring projects in the ice caps of Greenland and Antarctica have yielded data going back several hundred thousand years, over 800,000 years in the case of the EPICA project. Air trapped within fallen snow becomes encased in tiny bubbles as the snow is compressed into ice in the glacier under the weight of later years snow. The trapped air has proven a valuable source for direct measurement of the composition of air from the time the ice was formed. Layering can be observed because of seasonal pauses in ice accumulation and can be used to establish chronology, changes in the layering thickness can be used to determine changes in precipitation or temperature. Oxygen-18 quantity changes in ice layers represent changes in ocean surface temperature. Water molecules containing the heavier O-18 evaporate at a higher temperature than water molecules containing the normal Oxygen-16 isotope, the ratio of O-18 to O-16 will be higher as temperature increases. It also depends on factors such as the waters salinity. Various cycles in those isotope ratios have been detected, pollen has been observed in the ice cores and can be used to understand which plants were present as the layer formed. Pollen is produced in abundance and its distribution is well understood. A pollen count for a layer can be produced by observing the total amount of pollen categorized by type in a controlled sample of that layer. Changes in plant frequency over time can be plotted through statistical analysis of pollen counts in the core, knowing which plants were present leads to an understanding of precipitation and temperature, and types of fauna present. Palynology includes the study of pollen for these purposes, volcanic ash is contained in some layers, and can be used to establish the time of the layers formation. Each volcanic event distributed ash with a set of properties. Establishing the ashs source will establish a range of time to associate with layer of ice, climatic information can be obtained through an understanding of changes in tree growth. Generally, trees respond to changes in climatic variables by speeding up or slowing down growth, different species, however, respond to changes in climatic variables in different ways
27.
Flowering plant
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The flowering plants, also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants, with 416 families, approx. 13,164 known genera and a total of c.295,383 known species, etymologically, angiosperm means a plant that produces seeds within an enclosure, in other words, a fruiting plant. The term angiosperm comes from the Greek composite word meaning enclosed seeds, the ancestors of flowering plants diverged from gymnosperms in the Triassic Period, during the range 245 to 202 million years ago, and the first flowering plants are known from 160 mya. They diversified extensively during the Lower Cretaceous, became widespread by 120 mya, angiosperms differ from other seed plants in several ways, described in the table. These distinguishing characteristics taken together have made the angiosperms the most diverse and numerous land plants, the amount and complexity of tissue-formation in flowering plants exceeds that of gymnosperms. The vascular bundles of the stem are arranged such that the xylem and phloem form concentric rings, in the dicotyledons, the bundles in the very young stem are arranged in an open ring, separating a central pith from an outer cortex. In each bundle, separating the xylem and phloem, is a layer of meristem or active formative tissue known as cambium, the soft phloem becomes crushed, but the hard wood persists and forms the bulk of the stem and branches of the woody perennial. Among the monocotyledons, the bundles are more numerous in the stem and are scattered through the ground tissue. They contain no cambium and once formed the stem increases in diameter only in exceptional cases, the characteristic feature of angiosperms is the flower. Flowers show remarkable variation in form and elaboration, and provide the most trustworthy external characteristics for establishing relationships among angiosperm species, the function of the flower is to ensure fertilization of the ovule and development of fruit containing seeds. The floral apparatus may arise terminally on a shoot or from the axil of a leaf, occasionally, as in violets, a flower arises singly in the axil of an ordinary foliage-leaf. There are two kinds of cells produced by flowers. Microspores, which divide to become pollen grains, are the male cells and are borne in the stamens. The female cells called megaspores, which divide to become the egg cell, are contained in the ovule. The flower may consist only of parts, as in willow. Usually, other structures are present and serve to protect the sporophylls, the individual members of these surrounding structures are known as sepals and petals. The outer series is usually green and leaf-like, and functions to protect the rest of the flower, the inner series is, in general, white or brightly colored, and is more delicate in structure. It functions to attract insect or bird pollinators, attraction is effected by color, scent, and nectar, which may be secreted in some part of the flower
28.
Achillea millefolium
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Achillea millefolium, commonly known as yarrow /ˈjæroʊ/ or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Asia, Europe. It has been introduced as a feed for livestock in places like New Zealand, however, it is a weed in those places and sometimes also in its native regions. In New Mexico and southern Colorado, it is called plumajillo from its leaf shape, in antiquity, yarrow was known as herbal militaris, for its use in stanching the flow of blood from wounds. Other common names for species include gordaldo, nosebleed plant, old mans pepper, devils nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldiers woundwort, thousand-leaf. A. millefolium is an erect, herbaceous, perennial plant that produces one to several stems 0. 2–1 m in height, leaves are evenly distributed along the stem, with the leaves near the middle and bottom of the stem being the largest. The leaves have varying degrees of hairiness, the leaves are 5–20 cm long, bipinnate or tripinnate, almost feathery, and arranged spirally on the stems. The leaves are cauline, and more or less clasping, the inflorescence has 4 to 9 phyllaries and contains ray and disk flowers which are white to pink. The generally 3 to 8 ray flowers are ovate to round, disk flowers range from 15 to 40. The inflorescence is produced in a flat-topped capitulum cluster and the inflorescences are visited by many insects, the small achene-like fruits are called cypsela. The plant has a strong, sweet scent, similar to that of chrysanthemums, yarrow grows from sea level to 3,500 metres in elevation. The plant commonly flowers from May through June, common yarrow is frequently found in the mildly disturbed soil of grasslands and open forests. Active growth occurs in the spring, the plant is native to Eurasia and is found widely from the UK to China. In North America, both native and introduced genotypes, and both diploid and polyploid plants are found and it is found in every habitat throughout California except the Colorado and Mojave Deserts. Common yarrow produces a yield of 43,000 plants per acre. The plant is found in Australia as an introduction, the several varieties and subspecies include, Achillea millefolium subsp. M. var. millefolium - Europe, Asia A. m. subsp, M. var. borealis - Arctic regions A. m. subsp. M. var. rubra - Southern Appalachians A. millefolium subsp, chitralensis - western Himalaya A. millefolium subsp
29.
Centaurea cyanus
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Centaurea cyanus, commonly known as cornflower, is an annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to Europe. In the past it often grew as a weed in cornfields, in reaction to this, the conservation charity Plantlife named it as one of 101 species it would actively work to bring Back from the Brink. Cornflower is a plant growing to 16-35 inches tall, with grey-green branched stems. The leaves are lanceolate, 1–4 cm long, the flowers are most commonly an intense blue colour, produced in flowerheads 1. 5–3 cm diameter, with a ring of a few large, spreading ray florets surrounding a central cluster of disc florets. The blue pigment is protocyanin, which in roses is red, Centaurea cyanus is native to temperate Europe, but is widely naturalized outside its native range. It has been present in the British Isles as an archaeophyte since the Iron Age, in Ireland, in Co. Clare Centaurea cyanus is recorded in arable fields as very rare and almost extinct. While in the north-east of Ireland it was abundant before 1930s, the common names bachelors button, bluebottle, boutonniere flower, hurtsickle or cyani flower are also used. It may also be referred to as basketflower, though the term refers to the Plectocephalus group of Centaurea. Cornflower is also used for chicory, and a few other Centaurea species and it is grown as an ornamental plant in gardens, where several cultivars have been selected with varying pastel colours, including pink and purple. Cornflower is also grown for the industry in Canada for use by florists. The most common variety for this use is a doubled blue variety such as Blue Boy or Blue Diadem. White, pink, lavender and black are used but less commonly. A relative, Centaurea montana, is a plant which is also cultivated as a garden plant. Soil pH requirements, neutral to mildly alkaline, the cornflower is considered a beneficial weed, and its edible flower can be used for culinary decoration, for example to add colour to salads. In herbalism, a decoction of cornflower is effective in treating conjunctivitis, cornflowers have been used and prized historically for their blue pigment. Cornflowers are often used as an ingredient in some tea blends and herbal teas, in folklore, cornflowers were worn by young men in love, if the flower faded too quickly, it was taken as a sign that the mans love was not returned. The blue cornflower has been the national flower of Estonia since 1968, the blue cornflower was one of the national symbols of Germany. The flower thus became identified with Prussia, not least because it was the color as the Prussian military uniform
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Centaurea solstitialis
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Centaurea solstitialis, yellow star-thistle, is a member of the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin region. The plant is known as golden starthistle, yellow cockspur. Centaurea solstitialis is a herb from the Asteraceae family. During the vegetative stage it forms a rosette of non-spiny leaves, as the summer approaches, it produces a flowering stem which will produce numerous spinous capitula containing numerous yellow flowers. Flowers within capitula are pollinated by insects and each capitula will produce a mix of pappus and non-pappus seeds and it is an annual semelparous species, and will die after reproduction is completed, normally by the end of the summer. Centaurea solstitialis is a weed also on its native European range, consequently, it inhabits highly disturbed ruderal habitats, being found on roadsides. This makes this species a candidate case for incipient ecological speciation, however, it has been introduced in several parts of the world, including Australia, Argentina, Chile, and the USA. In many of these regions, where the particular array of natural biological controls found in the native regions do not exist, it has become an invasive species. The Yellow star-thistle plant has the ability to create monotypic stands and habitats in the soil of fields, graded dirt sites. Its colonization eliminates and prevents other plant species from growing, terminating the habitats biodiversity, extensive spreading monotypic fields of yellow starthistle are not uncommon. Its growth plasticity, competitiveness, preference for the Mediterranean climate, grazing of the plant by horses can cause igropallidal encephalomalacia or chewing disease, a neurological condition. The disease generally follows consumption of 60-200% of the body weight over an extended period of a month or more. Though starthistle is most dangerous when it is the plant available or is delivered as a contaminant in dried hay, horses may develop a taste for it. Many other species of grazers, including mules and burros, are not affected, Star thistle is a valuable source of pollen, thus nectar for pollinators. Yellow star thistle, a noted pest plant, is a nectar source for many central valley. Star Thistle populates ground that has been abused, dry, compacted, a plant with a tap root system, it has a crucial role in restoring the soil by bringing up vital micronutrients. Similar to many plants classified as weeds, they quickly establish in, protect, introduction in other parts of the world is poorly known. In California, Yellow star-thistle was dispersed into agricultural fields, Yellow starthistle is now a very common sight in vacant lots and fields, along roadsides and trails, in pastures and ranch lands, and in parks, open-space preserves and natural areas
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Senecio
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Senecio /sᵻˈniːʃi. oʊ/ is a genus of the daisy family that includes ragworts and groundsels. The scientific Latin genus name, Senecio, means old man, variously circumscribed taxonomically, the genus Senecio is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. The traditional circumscription of Senecio is artificial, being polyphyletic, even in its new circumscription which is based on genetic data, despite the separation of many species into other genera, the genus still contains c. 1250 species and is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. As no morphological synapomorphies are known to determine which species belong to the genus or not, the genus has an almost worldwide distribution and evolved in the mid to late Miocene. Some species produce natural biocides to deter or even animals that would eat them. Senecio species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species — see list of Lepidoptera that feed on Senecio, pyrrolizidine alkaloids have been found in Senecio nemorensis and in Senecio cannabifolius var. integrilifolius. The flower heads are normally rayed with the heads borne in branched clusters, and usually completely yellow, in its current circumscription, the genus contains species that are annual or perennial herbs, shrubs, small trees, aquatics or climbers. The only species which are trees are the species belonging to Robinsonia occurring on the Juan Fernández Islands. The genus Senecio is distributed almost worldwide and it is one of the few genera occurring in all five regions with a Mediterranean climate. Furthermore, species are found in regions, including tropical alpine-like areas. Many genera and the tribe are in need of revision. Many species actually being placed in the genus need to be transferred to other or new genera, in its new delimitation the genus is still not monophyletic. Genera that have included are the following, Aetheolaena Culcitum Hasteola Iocenes B. Robinsonia The following genera contain species that are or have been included within Senecio, & Brettell Brachyglottis J. R. Forst. - Giant groundsels occurring in the high areas of East Africa Dorobaea Cass. Löve & D. Löve Pentacalia Cass, & Brettell Pojarkovia Askerova Psacaliopsis H. Rob. & Brettell Pseudogynoxys Cabrera Pseudojacobaea R. Mathur Roldana La Llave Sinosenecio B, jeffrey & Y. L. Chen Telanthophora H. Rob. Senecio ampullaceus — Texas ragwort, Texas squaw-weed, Texas groundsel, — Creeping groundsel Senecio antisanae Senecio arborescens Senecio aureus L
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Muscari
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Muscari is a genus of perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia that produce spikes of dense, most commonly blue, urn-shaped flowers resembling bunches of grapes in the spring. The common name for the genus is grape hyacinth, a number of species of Muscari are used as ornamental garden plants. The genus Muscari originated in the Old World, including the Mediterranean basin, central and southern Europe, northern Africa, western, central and it has become naturalized elsewhere, including northern Europe and the United States. Brian Mathew says that many species of grape hyacinths, including not only Muscari but also the related Leopoldia and they usually have one or more narrow leaves which arise from a bulb. The flowers appear in the spring and form a spike or raceme, the flowers often become less tightly spaced as the flower matures. The flower colour varies from blue to a very dark blue. In some species the flowers may be of a different colour. In 1753, Carl Linnaeus used the name Hyacinthus muscari for the plant now called Muscari racemosum, in 1754, Philip Miller formally established the genus Muscari according to modern rules of nomenclature. The name muscari comes from the Greek muschos, musk, referring to the scent, classified in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, the genus was formerly placed in the Liliaceae as a member of the Hyacintheae tribe. The genus was at one time divided into four groups or subgenera, Botryanthus, Pseudomuscari, Pseudomuscari and Leopoldia are now treated as separate genera. The genus Muscari is now more or less equivalent to the Botryanthus group, a complication in splitting up the broad genus is that Millers original Muscari included representatives of at least three of the new genera. The Muscarimia group are retained in Muscari by the Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, two species have been placed in this group, M. macrocarpum and M. racemosum. As of November 2011, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepts 42 species, The names of some of the species are somewhat confused, especially in the horticultural literature. Thus the name M. racemosum is commonly found as a synonym for M. neglectum. Muscari azureum Fenzl, see Pseudomuscari azureum Garbari & Greuter Muscari comosum Mill, Muscari paradoxum K. Koch, see Bellevalia paradoxa Boiss. Some species are among the earliest garden flowers to bloom in the spring and they are planted as bulbs and tend to multiply quickly when planted in good soils. They prefer well drained soil, that is acid to neutral. Naturally found in woodlands or meadows, they are cultivated in lawns, borders, rock gardens
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Alcea
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Alcea, commonly known as hollyhocks, is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae. They are native to Asia and Europe, the single species of hollyhock from the Western Hemisphere, the streambank wild hollyhock, belongs to a different genus. Hollyhocks are annual, biennial, or perennial plants usually taking an erect, the herbage usually has a coating of star-shaped hairs. The leaf blades are often lobed or toothed, and are borne on long petioles, the flowers may be solitary or arranged in fascicles or racemes. The notched petals are usually over three centimeters wide and may be pink, white, purple, or yellow, the fruit is a schizocarp, a dry disc divided into over 15 sections that contain seeds. They are easily grown from seed, breeds with red flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Cultivars have been bred, especially from A. rosea and they include the double-flowered Chaters Double, the raspberry-colored Creme de Cassis, and The Watchman, which has dark, nearly black, maroon flowers. The stems of hollyhocks can be used as firewood, and the roots have been used medicinally, alcea species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Bucculatrix quadrigemina and Vanessa cardui, the painted lady. The mallow flea beetle is a pest that makes tiny holes in the leaves, cutworms, aphids, and capsid bugs use the plant as a food source in hotter and drier conditions. A number of weevils use A. rosea as their host plant, including Rhopalapion longirostre, Alocentron curvirostre, the plants are also susceptible to the pathogenic fungus Puccinia malvacearum, the hollyhock rust. A hollyhock flower, known in Japan as aoi, was incorporated into the seal of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan. For example, it inspired the name and symbol of Mito HollyHock, the Aoi Matsuri is one of the three main festivals of the city of Kyoto. During the Victorian era, the hollyhock symbolized both ambition and fecundity in the language of flowers
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Stimulant
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Stimulants is an overarching term that covers many drugs including those that increase activity of the body, drugs that are pleasurable and invigorating, or drugs that have sympathomimetic effects. Due to their rendering a characteristic up feeling, stimulants are also referred to as uppers. Depressants or downers, which decrease mental and/or physical function, are in stark contrast to stimulants and are considered to be the functionally opposite drug class, Stimulants are widely used throughout the world as prescription medicines as well as without a prescription as performance-enhancing or recreational drugs. The most frequently prescribed stimulants as of 2013 were lisdexamfetamine, methylphenidate and it is estimated that the percent of the population that has abused amphetamines, cocaine and MDMA combined is between. 8% and 2. 1%. Stimulants in therapeutic doses, such as given to patients with ADHD, increases ability to focus, vigor, sociability, libido. However, in higher doses stimulants may actually decrease the ability to focus, in higher doses stimulants may also produce euphoria, vigor, and decrease need for sleep. Many, but not all, stimulants have ergogenic effects, Drugs such as ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, amphetamine and methylphenidate have well documented ergogenic effects, while drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine have the opposite effect. In some cases psychiatric phenomenon may emerge such as stimulant psychosis, paranoia, acute toxicity has been reportedly associated with a homicide, paranoia, aggressive behavior, motor dysfunction, and punding. The violent and aggressive behavior associated with acute stimulant toxicity may partially be driven by paranoia, most drugs classified as stimulants are sympathomimetics, that is they stimulate the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. This leads to such as mydriasis, increased heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate. When these changes become pathological, they are called arrhythmia, hypertension, and hyperthermia, however given the complexity of the mechanisms that underly these potentially fatal outcomes of acute stimulant toxicity, it is impossible to determine what dose may be lethal. Assessment of the effects of stimulants is relevant given the large population currently taking stimulants. A systematic review of cardiovascular effects of prescription stimulants found no association in children, a review over a four-year period found that there were few negative effects of stimulant treatment, but stressed the need for longer term studies. A review of a long period of prescription stimulate use in those with ADHD found that cardiovascular side effects were limited to transient increases in blood pressure only. Initiation of stimulant treatment in those with ADHD in early childhood appears to carry benefits into adulthood with regard to social and cognitive functioning, Abuse of prescription stimulants or of illicit stimulants carries many negative health risks. Abuse of cocaine, depending upon route of administration, increases risk of disease, stroke. Cocaine may also increase risk for disease, as well as damage nasal cartilage. Abuse of methamphetamine produces similar effects as well as marked degeneration of dopaminergic neurons, Drugs used to treat sleep disorders such as excessive daytime sleepiness are called eugeroics, and include notable stimulants such as modafinil
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Astringent
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An astringent substance is a chemical compound that tends to shrink or constrict body tissues. The word astringent derives from Latin adstringere, meaning to bind fast, two common examples are calamine lotion and witch hazel. Another example is yerba mansa, a plant of California. Astringency is also the dry, puckering mouthfeel caused by tannins found in fruits such as blackthorn, Aronia chokeberry, chokecherry, bird cherry, quince and persimmon fruits. The tannins bind the salivary proteins, causing them to precipitate or aggregate, tannins are found in some red wines and teas. A small amount of astringency is expected in some wines, especially young red wines made from such as cabernet sauvignon. Astringents in medicine cause constriction or contraction of mucous membranes or exposed tissues and are used internally to check discharge of blood serum or mucous secretions. This can happen with a throat, hemorrhages, diarrhea. Externally applied astringents, which cause mild coagulation of proteins, dry, harden. People with acne are often advised to use if they have oily skin. Mild astringent solutions are used in the relief of minor skin irritations as those resulting from superficial cuts, allergies, insect bites. Some common astringent agents include alum, acacia, sage, yarrow, witch hazel, bayberry, distilled vinegar, very cold water, and rubbing alcohol. Astringent preparations include silver nitrate, potassium permanganate, zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, Burows solution, tincture of benzoin, balaustines are the red rose-like flowers of the pomegranate, which are very bitter to the taste. In medicine, their form has been used as an astringent. Some metal salts and acids have also used as astringents. Redness-reducing eye drops contain an astringent, in the past, Goulards Extract was used, but is now discontinued. The dictionary definition of astringent at Wiktionary
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Shamanism
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The word shaman probably originates from the Tungusic Evenki language of North Asia. The term was introduced to the west after Russian forces conquered the shamanistic Khanate of Kazan in 1552, Mircea Eliade writes, A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be, shamanism = technique of religious ecstasy. Shamanism encompasses the premise that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments/illness by mending the soul, alleviating traumas affecting the soul/spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. The shaman also enters supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community, Shamans may visit other worlds/dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements. The shaman operates primarily within the world, which in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance results in the elimination of the ailment, hundreds of books and academic papers on the subject have been produced, with a peer-reviewed academic journal being devoted to the study of shamanism. The word shaman probably originates from the Evenki word šamán, most likely from the dialect spoken by the Sym Evenki peoples. The Tungusic term was adopted by Russians interacting with the indigenous peoples in Siberia. It is found in the memoirs of the exiled Russian churchman Avvakum, adam Brand, a merchant from Lübeck, published in 1698 his account of a Russian embassy to China, a translation of his book, published the same year, introduced the word shaman to English speakers. The etymology of the Evenki word is sometimes connected to a Tungus root ša- to know, other scholars assert that the word comes directly from the Manchu language, and as such would be the only commonly used English word that is a loan from this language. This proposal has been thoroughly critiqued since 1917, ethnolinguist Juha Janhunen regards it as an anachronism and an impossibility that is nothing more than a far-fetched etymology. Ethnolinguists did not develop as a discipline nor achieve contact with these communities until the late 19th century, there is no single agreed-upon definition for the word shamanism among anthropologists. The English historian Ronald Hutton noted that by the dawn of the 21st century, the first of these uses the term to refer to anybody who contacts a spirit world while in an altered state of consciousness. The second definition limits the term to refer to those who contact a spirit world while in a state of consciousness at the behest of others. Problematically, scholars advocating the third view have failed to agree on what the defining technique should be, the fourth definition identified by Hutton uses shamanism to refer to the indigenous religions of Siberia and neighboring parts of Asia. According to the Golomt Center for Shamanic Studies, a Mongolian organisation of shamans, Shamans are normally called by dreams or signs which require lengthy training. However, shamanic powers may be inherited, turner and colleagues mention a phenomenon called shamanistic initiatory crisis, a rite of passage for shamans-to-be, commonly involving physical illness and/or psychological crisis
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Medicine man
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A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective Indigenous languages, for the spiritual healers, in the ceremonial context of Indigenous North American communities, medicine usually refers to spiritual healing. Medicine men/women should not be confused with those who employ Native American ethnobotany, Native Americans tend to be quite reluctant to discuss issues about medicine or medicine people with non-Indians. In some cultures, the people not even discuss these matters with Indians from other tribes. In most tribes, medicine elders are prohibited from advertising or introducing themselves as such, as Nuttall writes, An inquiry to a Native person about religious beliefs or ceremonies is often viewed with suspicion. The term medicine man/woman, like the term shaman, has been criticized by Native Americans, as well as specialists in the fields of religion. The term medicine man/woman has also frequently used by Europeans to refer to African traditional healers. Cherokee Medicine People are considered the chosen ones within their tribe, the knowledge has been passed down for thousands of years. The Cherokee tribe is one of the first tribes to form a language to record their knowledge of formulas. Some of the information in these ledgers are in written code or backwards to prevent other people trying to use the ledger for their own purposes. A Cherokee Medicine person is not considered a doctor because they are known to have powers that could heal. The Medicine people kept their tools that used to heal other tribal members in a medicine bundle. When a Medicine Person treated their patients it was completely up to the person who was being treated if they did not want the medicine in case they had any opposed beliefs. Another way Medicine people would treat their patients was by using sweat lodges, in 1978, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed, which allowed Medicine People to begin practicing again. Since practicing medicine was banned decades ago it completely faded, which is the reason why only a handful still practice this today, training a Cherokee Medicine Person takes years due to the vast amount of knowledge needed to practice. They learn secrets and formulas that they record in ledgers, when a medicine person learns new secrets and formulas it is important that they are not interrupted while recording their knowledge. It is also important that if one is not trained to use the knowledge they should not try to practice it without proper training. Another part of training is going into the mountains where they dance, sing, on the seventh day the Medicine People dance in a circle at the darkest hour to sacred songs while the drums get louder
