Department of Archeology, Conservation, and History

The Himalaya is a biodiversity hotspot and provides critical ecosystem services to the region. The climate change significantly influences the Himalaya and brings about changes in vegetation distribution that in return affects the number of livelihoods. Despite high susceptibility, climate change impacts on the ecosystem have not been properly examined, mainly due to the complex topography. Furthermore, biodiversity of the Himalaya is increasingly influenced by diverse human cultures and land uses. Therefore, a comprehensive review based on paleoecological evidence combined with contemporary vegetation maps is important in order to establish a better understanding of the evolution of climate and vegetation. An empirical approach including pollen records, carbon isotope (δ 13 C), and phytolith assemblages was applied to assess ecosystem sensitivity to climate variability. Furthermore, this present study also examines the impact of various anthropogenic drivers on vegetation in Indian Himalaya. This chapter also provides a detailed understanding about factors governing the vegetation changes in the Himalaya, which can be utilized for conservation efforts in the region.

Long-term trends of heavy metal pollution in aquatic systems are significant for assessing the influence of human activities and adopting relevant management strategies. In this study, we present analyses of heavy metals (iron, manganese, copper, zinc, cobalt, nickel, and lead) in 210 Pb/ 137 Cs dated sediment cores from Ahansar lake (Kashmir Himalaya, India) covering a time span of the last 200 years. Additionally, the relative water quality analyses and compilation of historical water quality data (since 1983 CE) were performed to understand the long-term eutrophication status of Ahansar lake system. The heavy metal concentrations varied very little in pre-anthropogenic sediments (before 1980 CE) and represent geochemical background concentrations. Since the 1980s, the heavy metals (Pb, Zn and Cu) began to increase gradually corresponding to the population expansion in the region and the beginning of industrialization. Similarly, the ecological risk index (ERI) values for all heavy metals lies below 40, indicating less toxic impact of Pb, Cu, Zn and Ni. However, the increasing trend of ERI observed in Pb and Zn since 1980, indicates deterioration of the lake ecosystem. Further, the water quality parameters revealed deteriorating trend from ∼2000 CE, with an increase of total phosphorus, ammonia, nitrate and a decrease of dissolved oxygen. The present day (∼2020 CE) quantitative assessment of Ahansar lake water quality using trophic level index (TLI) reflected the eutrophic condition of the lake waters. The long-term baseline information from this study will aid policy makers and environmentalists for the development, management and restoration of water resources.

Yugoslav wars that started in 1991 were the result of long term issues that have not been resolved by Josip Broz Tito and the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. The states and autonomies within the Federation of Yugoslavia wanted more economic and governmental independence, whilst seeking the recognition of their cultural and ethnic differences. With the right and clever political moves Slobodan Milosevic eventually became a president of Serbia in 1989. He was a staunch communist who understood the importance of having the support of nationalists, Yugoslav People’s Army and the Ortodox Church. Milosevic soon became the face of propaganda as well as the initiator. Similarly to Milosevic, Franjo Tudjman was a communist with a hint of patriotism at the start of his career, but then in the 1990s he changed his political direction once the Serbian nationalist propaganda started portraying Croats as the villains of Yugoslavia. Tudjman did not hold back, he joined efforts with emigrated Croats...

Explain how the subject of history was professionalized and institutionalized in line with the formation or strengthening of national identities, and what other forms of history writing arose to challenge the nationalist model? It is fascinating to imagine that at one point every academic discipline was just a hobby, including history. Unlike science that took a brief time to be perceived as a serious subject, history took awhile. Yet, it was thanks to Leopold von Ranke, Karl Marx, George Bancroft, Henry Thomas Buckle and many more that wrote history and represented themselves as professionals to ultimately make history an academic discipline in every university. However these influential historians had political agendas and many of them were loud and clear about their nationalistic identity. This essay will examine how professionalization of history was an exact byproduct of nationalist history. The nationalist history had immense effect and reached almost every corner of the Westeren world. Every historian felt the need to be a part of the nationalistic circle. The 19th century saw a positive reaction to such history, however in the 20th century after the two World Wars, more historians saw interest in other cultures and regions that were not a part of the Westeren world. Therefore a second task of this essay will be to explore the criticism towards the nationalist history and to what extent was it the reason for historians to change their focus on the unheard, the women and the minorities. The awakening of the nationalist history At the end of the 18th century, history was not yet an academic discipline and therefore not popular amongst the Enlightenment thinkers who were at the time more fascinated with science. However, with the outcome of the French Revolution in 1799. more amateur historians took interest in the political climate of Europe which was one of the consequence that led to the rise of nationalism. The French Revolution had an enormous effect on the neighboring countries and out of the criticism towards the French Revolution, historians realized that the nation is the key force in modern history. After Prussian defeat from Napoleon, German public had strong

The 20th century woman wanted love, warmth, respect, friendship, common interests and commitment out of her marriage and her husband. For American women the biggest shift in their lifestyle emerged around the 1960's. The United States has not always been the force of change, but rather a source of influence for the rest of the world. The traditional perception of women in marriages and the traditional norms have not begun to transform in the US, but rather it was the women from the US that have become the loudest proponents of the change. For that reason it was necessary for me to focus on the US in this essay and determine what were some significant causes for the shift in marriage and how that affected American women.

This thesis explores the knowledge of venereal disease in eighteenth-century Norway. This is a largely unexplored topic, even though the disease had a significant impact both on society at large and on the development of medicine. The wide concept of knowledge incorporates the many actors on the medical marketplace, ranging from patients to community healers to university-trained physicians.

Some knowledge of venereal disease pervaded Norwegian society at all levels. The disease's progress and eventual manifestation in ways that were impossible to hide outed the sufferer in society. The physical symptoms of venereal disease sparked discussions within communities not only about possible treatments, but about the shameful nature of the disease and the behaviour which was perceived to have caused it. Recipes for and advice on treatment circulated among sufferers as well as within the wider community, and people sought help from actors in the medical marketplace when their own knowledge failed. These diverse actors often had quite different approaches to medicine, informed by their different worldviews. I have categorised them in ‘knowledge groups’ according to their medical approach: empirics and licenced practitioners. However, the overlap between the treatments they provided was significant.

People’s choices of practitioners were due in part to practical concerns, in part to the assignment of authority to medical knowledge. Although we now commonly refer to physicians as ‘authorities in medicine’, this attribution of authority was not self-evident in early modern Norway. The respective actors’ authority was partly determined by the degree of overlap between their own and their recipients’ worldviews. Therefore, an actors’ ability to function as a medical authority was greatly determined by their worldview and thus their approach to medical treatment, rather than their possession of a certain level of knowledge as such.

The emergence of a sustained scholarly interest in the origins of humanitarian organisations is a relatively new phenomenon, which has – in part – led to an overly positivistic and uncritical understanding of humanitarianism, in both its current and past iterations. This article is an examination of one of the earliest, and perhaps most influential humanitarian organisations of its time: the Near East Relief – and details the organisation's transformation from a coalition of religiously selective relief committees into a secular, permanent, and development-focused humanitarian institution. Through exploring the setting, birth, and early history of the NER, it is possible to create an image of the general development of international humanitarianism in the interwar years. Factors such as field experience, donor pressure, internal organisational disputes, paternalistic attitudes, a growing academic presence within the NER, and the influence and changing character of religious doct...

The emergence of a sustained scholarly interest in the origins of humanitarian organisations is a relatively new phenomenon, which has – in part – led to an overly positivistic and uncritical understanding of humanitarianism, in both its current and past iterations. This article is an examination of one of the earliest, and perhaps most influential humanitarian organisations of its time: the Near East Relief – and details the organisation's transformation from a coalition of religiously selective relief committees into a secular, permanent, and development-focused humanitarian institution. Through exploring the setting, birth, and early history of the NER, it is possible to create an image of the general development of international humanitarianism in the interwar years. Factors such as field experience, donor pressure, internal organisational disputes, paternalistic attitudes, a growing academic presence within the NER, and the influence and changing character of religious doct...

The conservation, research and practical challenges concerning Edvard Munch’s 11 monumental canvas paintings from the University of Oslo’s Aula Assembly Hall are presented with reference to their history of previous treatments from 1916. The evaluation of the existing masonite marouflages resulted in the adhesion of extra lightweight honeycomb structures to the reverse sides. An in-depth description of the choice of practical treatments, methods, consultants and use of specialist materials are described in relation to the physical considerations when dealing with monumental canvases. The issue of the Hall’s acoustic parameters, the evacuation considerations for the paintings and recommendations for monitoring, maintenance and re-examination in the future are also discussed. Acknowledgements David Drewry, Jamie Barnes and Shaun Majka, AIM Composites Ltd. Cambridge; Hans-Petter Åmodt, EXEL Fine Art (DHL Quality Cargo), Oslo; Rolluf Dunsæd and Petter Halvorsen, Oslo; Jens Treider, Oslo...

Varnish is rare on the great majority of the paintings by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863–1944). Empirical experience has shown that many of his oil colors are notably vulnerable to dirt removal, especially the lean blues, greens, yellows, reds, and whites (B. TopolovaCasadiego, The Munch Museum, personal communication, 5 March 2009). The removal of firmly attached dirt and dust (or any other impurities, e.g., tide lines from water stains or bird droppings) is and will continue to be utterly challenging for Munch’s unvarnished paintings. This is particularly evident in paintings that are not protected by airtight, glassed frames, as is the case of Chemistry, one of the artist’s 11 largescale canvas paintings for the Aula of Oslo University (1914–1916). For over 30 years, the surface of Chemistry (about 444 × 220 cm2) had been exposed to vast amounts of airborne pollutants, severely soiling it (Figure 1). In 2008, various aqueous and mechanical cleaning tests were performed. In o...

La presente investigación pretende mostrar cómo funcionó el proceso de censura inquisitorial en los libros en la Nueva Granada, específicamente en las bibliotecas de Santafé, aunque se hará referencias a algunas censuras llevadas a cabo en ciudades como Popayán y Cartagena, debido a la importancia de las mismas en esta época. Este proceso se estudiará en uno de los ámbitos en donde el conocimiento podía hacer más daño por su difícil control: las bibliotecas privadas. Lo anterior con el fin de probar que la Inquisición utilizó la censura como forma de dominación cultural y social en el mundo colonial, con el fin de reproducir la mentalidad Católica.

La investigación se divide en tres capítulos: En el primero se analiza la censura como elemento positivo, esto es, con una función creadora que forjaba el espíritu de la sociedad colonial. En este capítulo se analizan cuatro grandes elementos: 1) los privilegios de impresión, 2) las protestas de ortodoxia, 3) las censuras impresas, 4) la normatividad y la censura positiva. El segundo capítulo trata sobre el carácter represivo de la censura y su papel en el control social y cultural. Este capítulo se divide en tres secciones: 1) Censura y Reforma, 2) normas censoras, y 3) los calificadores. El último capítulo está dedicado al expurgo y sus distintas formas, es decir, al cómo se censuraba.  El capítulo está dividido en las siguientes secciones: 1) protesta de ortodoxia, 2) anotación expurgatoria, 3) tachones, 4) marcas pequeñas de señalamiento, y 5) páginas pegadas y arrancadas.

El cambio monárquico e institucional sucedido en España a principios del siglo XVIII, que conllevó al ascenso de la dinastía borbónica, tuvo consecuencias que llegaron a los territorios de ultramar españoles. El presente capítulo pretende explicar cómo este cambio de dinastía fue uno de los motores de la independencia colombiana.