Epipalaeolithic

In archaeology, the Epipalaeolithic or Epipaleolithic (sometimes Epi-paleolithic etc.) is a term for a period occurring between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic during the Stone Age. Mesolithic also falls between these two periods, and the two are sometimes confused or used as synonyms. More often, they are distinct, referring to approximately the same period of time in different geographic areas. Epipaleolithic always includes this period in the Levant and, often, the rest of the Near East. It sometimes includes parts of Southeast Europe, where Mesolithic is much more commonly used. Mesolithic very rarely includes the Levant or the Near East; in Europe, Epipalaeolithic is used, though not very often, to refer to the early Mesolithic.
The Epipalaeolithic has been defined as the "final Upper Palaeolithic industries occurring at the end of the final glaciation which appear to merge technologically into the Mesolithic". The period is generally dated from  BP to 10,000 BP in the Levant, but later in Europe. If used as a synonym or equivalent for Mesolithic in Europe, it might end at about  BP or even later.
In the Levant, the period may be subdivided into Early, Middle and Late Epipaleolithic, the last also being the Natufian. The preceding final Upper Paleolithic period is the Kebaran or "Upper Paleolithic Stage VI".
Epipalaeolithic hunter-gatherers, generally nomadic, made relatively advanced tools from small flint or obsidian blades, known as microliths, that were hafted in wooden implements. There are settlements with "flimsy structures", probably not permanently occupied except at some rich sites, but used and returned to seasonally.
Term usage.
In describing the period before the start of the Neolithic, "Epipaleolithic" is typically used for cultures in regions that were far from the glaciers of the Ice Age, so that the retreat of the glaciers made a less dramatic change to conditions. This was the case in the Levant. Conversely, the term "Mesolithic" is most likely to be used for Western Europe where climatic change and the extinction of the megafauna had a great impact of the paleolithic populations at the end of the Ice Age, creating post-glacial cultures such as the Azilian, Sauveterrian, Tardenoisian, and Maglemosian. In the past, French archaeologists had a general tendency to prefer the term "Epipaleolithic" to "Mesolithic", even for Western Europe. Where "Epipaleolithic" is still used for Europe, it is generally for areas close to the Mediterranean, as with the Azilian industry.
"Epipalaeolithic" stresses the continuity with the Upper Paleolithic. Alfonso Moure says in this respect:
In Europe, the Epipalaeolithic may be regarded as a period preceding the Early Mesolithic, or as locally constituting at least a part of it. Other authors treat the Epipalaeolithic as part of the Late Palaeolithic; the culture in southern Portugal between about 10,500 to 8,500 years ago is "variously labelled as 'Terminal Magdalenian' and 'Epipalaeolithic. The different usages often reflect the degree of innovation and "economic intensification in the direction of domestication, sedentism or environmental modification" seen in the culture. If the Palaeolithic way of life continues with only adaptation to reflect changes in the types of wild food available, the culture may be called Epipalaeolithic. One writer, talking of Azilian microliths in Vasco-Cantabria talks of "some exceptions that seem to herald the coming of 'true' Mesolithic technologies a few centuries later".
History of the term.
The concept of the "Epipalaeolithic" arrived several decades after the main components of the three-age system, the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic. It was first proposed in 1910 by the Swedish archaeologist, Knut Stjerna, his initial example being a culture or sub-culture in Scandinavian archaeology, that would not be often called Epipalaeolithic today. This left stone-lined pit graves containing implements of bone, such as harpoon and javelin heads. Stjerna observed that they "persisted during the recent Paleolithic period and also during the Protoneolithic". Here he had used a new term, "Protoneolithic", which was according to him to be applied to the Danish kitchen-middens. Stjerna also said that the eastern culture "is attached to the Paleolithic civilization" ("se trouve rattachée à la civilisation paléolithique"). However, it was not intermediary and of its intermediates he said "we cannot discuss them here" ("nous ne pouvons pas examiner ici"). This "attached" and non-transitional culture he chose to call the Epipaleolithic, defining it as follows:
With Epipaleolithic I mean the period during the early days that followed the age of the reindeer, the one that retained Paleolithic customs. This period has two stages in Scandinavia, that of Maglemose and that of Kunda. ("Par époque épipaléolithique j'entends la période qui, pendant les premiers temps qui ont suivi l'âge du Renne, conserve les coutumes paléolithiques. Cette période présente deux étapes en Scandinavie, celle de Maglemose et de Kunda.")
Stjerna made no mention of the Mesolithic, and it is unclear if he intended his terms to replace that. His new terms were soon adopted by the German Hugo Obermaier, who in 1916 used them in "El Hombre fósil" (translated into English in 1924) as part of an attack on the concept of the Mesolithic, which he insisted was a period of "transition" and an "interim" rather than "transformation":
But in my opinion this term is not justified, as it would be if these phases presented a natural evolutionary development – a progressive transformation from Paleolithic to Neolithic. In reality, the final phase of the Capsian, the Tardenoisian, the Azilian and the northern Maglemose industries are the posthumous descendants of the Palaeolithic ...
This early history of the term introduced the ambiguity and degree of confusion which has continued to surround its use, at least as relates to the archaeology of Europe.


2020 in Slovenia

Events in the year 2020 in Slovenia.


Osmussaar

Osmussaar (, ) is an Estonian island situated in the mouth of the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, 7.5 km off the Estonian mainland. Administratively the island is part of Lääne-Nigula Parish in Lääne County. Its area is .
Before the Soviet Union occupied Estonia during World War II, around 130 people, mainly Estonian Swedes, lived on the island. The continuous settlement of Swedes on Osmussaar had dated back for centuries. Currently Osmussaar has only two permanent inhabitants and the island is a nature reserve.
Name.
The island's Swedish name "Odensholm" (or "Odinsholm") derives from the Vikings' chief god, Odin, who, according to a legend, is buried on the island. The origin of the Estonian name "Osmussaar" is not clear.
History.
The continuous settlement of Estonian Swedes on Osmussaar, which lasted until World War II, goes back at least to the 14th century, though little is known of the island's history before the 18th century. The exact time of colonisation is also unknown and the island was possibly inhabited already in the Viking Age. The island's population varied considerably with time, for example the plague epidemic of 1710 left according to popular stories only a few people alive. In the 20th century the island's population continued to rise and was the highest at the beginning of the 1930s. During the Estonian census of 1934 131 people lived on Osmussaar, all of them Swedes except for the lighthouse keeper and his family.
In 1765 the first lighthouse was built on the northern coast of Osmussaar. In 1850 it was replaced with a new one, which was demolished in 1941 by the retreating Soviet garrison. The current lighthouse was completed in 1954.
In 1914, during World War I, the German light cruiser "Magdeburg" ran aground and sank near the northern tip of Osmussaar.
All inhabitants of Osmussaar were forced to leave the island during World War II. On 12 June 1940 the islanders were evacuated to Vormsi as the island was set aside as a Soviet military base. The next year Osmussaar was the last foothold in Estonia that was given up by the Red Army to the advancing German army. In 1942, during the Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany, the islanders could return to their homes, but the approaching Red Army forced them soon to leave permanently. The last 46 people left for Sweden in February 1944.
According to the Moscow intermediate peace treaty between Finland and the Soviet Union starting 19 September 1944 (Article 17), Finland was obliged to hand over all commercial vessels for the use of the Allies. In late September 1944, the Soviet Union ordered 50 galeas and 50 motor boats to be delivered with Finnish crews to Osmussaar on 2 October 1944. This Finnish navy unit on the Soviet service was called detachment Arho after its commander, Olavi Arho. The chief of this "galeage navy" was Lieutenant Commander Paul Hongisto. The galeas and motor boats were taken into the state service involuntarily, but the crews were offered voluntariy pay of 250 Finnish marks per day. From 2–8 October, 50 galeas towed one motor boat to Estonia with a ten-day food supply for the crews. Detachment Arho served the Soviet military logistics on Hiiumaa and Saaremaa establishing connections to Tallinn. Every galeas had a captain, chief machine operator and two other crew members. The motor boats had two member crew. In Estonia all the military badges were removed from uniforms and the detachment acted like a civilian one. Also any marks of the Finnish nationality like the flags were removed.
From Osmussaar many vessels sailed to Rohuküla of Haapsalu to support the Moonsund Landing Operation on the occupied Hiiumaa and Saaremaa islands. On 4 October the Finnish galeas shipped Soviet soldiers, horses and cannons to Heltermaa of Hiiumaa. Every galeas shipped about one Soviet infantry company. The same day later, the Finnish vessels were ordered to Saarenmaa proper, where the Germans had retreated from Muhu. On 5 October 1944, two Soviet detachments and two brigades were shipped to Taaliku and Triigi.
The last galeases and motor boats came back to Finland on 7 November 1945. Nine of the fifty galeases were lost at sea due to rough water; additionally, seven were destroyed during the war. In total, sixteen galeases were destroyed or lost. Also one galeas more, Greta I, had disappeared either on 4 or 5 October on its way to Osmussaar. On 16 October the German submarine, U-481, sank the galeases Endla, Dan and Maria with its gun fire and ramming them. On 25 October U-958 sank the galeas Linnea with a torpedo. Eight Finnish soldiers were killed in these operations with the galeases. The other German attacks were not successful. Of all the 50 motorboats were lost 22, but without the loss of the human lives. The vessels of the detachment Arho were returned to Finland to Hanko and 2 November 1944, the headquarters of the Finnish navy ordered the liquidation of the unit. The crews were released from service and the vessels were returned to their civilian owners.
Some navy activities were undertaken on the waters near Osmussaar as late as 1945. One German submarine, U-745 was destroyed by a sea mine, 4 February 1945 and later U-676 for the same reason, 19 February 1945.
During the Soviet occupation the island was used by the Soviet Navy. Originally there were plans to house on the island a unit consisting of up to 1200 men, but the large unit was probably disbanded already in 1947 and later the island was home to a small navy unit consisting of a maximum of 40 men.
After Estonia regained independence, the military left in 1993, leaving behind ruins of different fortifications and military buildings. During the property reform the pre-1940 landowners of Osmussaar were not allowed to directly reclaim their land and property, because a cadastral survey had never been conducted on the island and until the Swedes left during World War II, land ownership had been based on old customs. After the departure of Soviet army Osmussaar was uninhabited until 2001, when 2 people moved to the island.
In 1996 the Osmussaar Landscape Protection Area, covering the whole island, was formed for the protection of local geological formations, plant communities and bird fauna.
Geography and geology.
Osmussaar is the 14th largest island in Estonia. The island is 4.6 km long and 1.3 km wide, with its longer axis in a northwest–southeast direction. The island is located in the mouth of the Gulf of Finland and the Hanko-Osmussaar line is considered the border of the gulf. The highest elevation of the island is 8 m.
Osmussaar is the westernmost point before Öland where the Baltic Klint emerges from the Baltic Sea. Essentially Osmussaar is a relict island of the klint. The height of the cliff on the island's north and east coast is up to 6 meters, but compared to the surrounding seabed, the height of the island is 60 meters.
The island has a relatively thin (up to 2 m) cover of Quaternary marine sediments overlying the Ordovician limestone bedrock.
The island arose from the sea 2000–3000 years ago, the uplift continues at a rate of about 3 mm/year. Extensive shingle fields, consisting of limestone pebbles, have developed on the western coast of the island.
A number of large erratic boulders can be found scattered on the island. Their diameter reaches 10–20 meters, but more remarkable is their petrological composition – a relatively unique type of breccia (Neugrund breccia), which formed in the course of the impact that created the Neugrund crater.
The most powerful recorded earthquake in Estonia, measuring 4.7 on the Richter magnitude scale, occurred on 25 October 1976 near Osmussaar and is known as the Osmussaar earthquake (). The earthquake caused the collapse of some sections of the cliff on the island's northeast coast and damaged some buildings on the island. The focus of the earthquake was 5–7 km northeast of the island at a depth of 10 or 13 km.
Transport and tourism.
Osmussaar has no regular connection to the Estonian mainland. The nearest port is Dirhami 9 km to southeast, which is the starting point of
most boat trips to the island. Until 2008, when a floating wharf was installed, the island itself had no decent landing facilities.
The popularity of Osmussaar as a tourist destination increased remarkably in 2002, when around 2000 people visited the island. Since then up to 3000 people visit the island every summer.


Galfa Tower

The Galfa Building or Galfa Tower ("Torre Galfa" in Italian) is a skyscraper in Milan, Italy, located in the Centro Direzionale di Milano district, north of the city centre. It was designed by architect Melchiorre Bega in 1956 and completed in 1959. The name "Galfa" is a portmanteau derived from the names of the two streets where the tower has its facades, Via Galvani and Via Fara. The building is 109 m and 31 floors high, with 2 more underground floors, and qualifies as the eleventh highest skyscraper in Milan.
The overall design of the tower is mainly based on the International Style architecture. The building is rectangular, with the two lowest floors larger than the main body. The main structure in reinforced concrete is almost completely hidden by curtain walls made of glass and aluminium.
The tower was originally built for the Sarom company; in the mid-1970s, it was sold by Sarom to the Popolare di Milano bank, and thereafter served as a service centre and headquarter of the bank. In 2006, Popolare sold the building for 48 million euros to Fondiaria Sai Group.
On 5 May 2012, the building was occupied by a group of people which intended to create a space for artists; the project's name was "Macao". The building was cleared by the authorities ten days later; anyway, project Macao remained, and Mayor Giuliano Pisapia promised to provide it another seat.
After acquiring Fondiaria-Sai in 2012, the insurance group Unipol Group took possession of the building and began discussions with the Milan city council as to its eventual renovation. Work began in 2016, led by the design firm, Studio BG&K. In an interview with the Italian design magazine Abitare, Maurice Kanah, lead architect on the project, said that the refurbished building will contain "a mix of residential, hotel and commercial functions.”<ref name="Bolognesi, 7/4/2017"></ref>


Carlo Francesco Pollarolo

Carlo Francesco Pollarolo (ca. 1653 – 7 February 1723) was an Italian composer, chiefly of operas. Born into a musical family, he became the cathedral organist of his home town of Brescia. In the 1680s he began composing operas for performance in nearby Venice. He wrote a total of 85 of them as well as 13 oratorios. His operatic style is noted for its development of arias accompanied by the orchestra and it shows some influence from the contemporary French opera of Jean-Baptiste Lully.


Theodore of Dobruja

Theodore of Dobruja was a Bulgarian noble. He was brother of Balik the founder of the Despotate of Dobruja, and his successor Dobrotitsa.
In 1346, Theodore and Dobrotitsa were sent along with 1,000 soldiers by Balik to help Byzantine Empress Anna of Savoy in the civil war against John VI Kantakouzenos, but were defeated. In 1347, Umur Beg of Aydin led a naval expedition against Dobruja on behalf of the emperor John V Palaiologos, in which Theodore and Balik died.


Fortified Church of St. Arbogast

The Fortified Church of St. Arbogast () in the municipality of Muttenz in the Swiss canton of Basel-Land is the only church in Switzerland that is surrounded by a defensive wall. It is an example of the fortified church type of construction, and is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The church is still used as a local village church.
History.
The first church on the site was built in the Early Middle Ages, possibly as early as the 6th century but certainly by the 8th century. It is first mentioned in 793. Around 1000 the nave was extended toward the west. The second church was built around 1100. This new building had a wider and longer nave and the choir was rectangular with massive walls. The second church was replaced in the mid-12th century by the third church, parts of which still stand today. The third church, a Romanesque building, had a round apse, a rectangular choir and a bell tower on the north side which were probably grafted on the earlier nave. The church was heavily damaged in the 1356 Basel earthquake. Three years later, under Konrad Münch-Löwenberg, the church was rebuilt. The rounded apse was replaced with the current rectangular choir and the nave was raised to a height of about below its current height. In 1420 Hans Thüring Münch-Eptingen became the owner of the village and had a new, larger bell tower built. Five years later, his mother gave the church a bell.
Under Hans Thüring Münch-Eptingen the church was fortified with a rampart around 1435. The walls had two gatehouses north and south of the church. By fortifying St. Arbogast, the towns people now had defenses to replace the destroyed Hintere Wartenberg, Mittlere Wartenberg and Vordere Wartenberg Castles. The northern gatehouse is decorated with the coat of arms of the Münch or Münch von Münchenstein family. In 1450 Hans Thüring had the interior of the church covered in frescoes. The Münch family had to sell the right to appoint priests and collect money for the church to Peter zum Luft in the late 15th century. He probably built the charnal house adjoining the church. After Peter's death, Arnold zum Luft took over the church in 1474. Under Arnold, the nave was raised the final to its current height and in 1504 given a richly painted wooden ceiling by Ulrich Bruder. Large windows were added on the north and south sides of the nave. Additional frescoes depicting the legend of St. Arbogast were added in 1507. In 1513 the charnal house was decorated with frescoes on the interior and exterior walls and ceiling.
In 1517 the city of Basel took over the church. When Basel converted to the new faith of the Protestant Reformation in 1528, St. Arbogast became a Protestant church. The relics of St. Arbogast were destroyed and the altars were sold off. The frescoes were painted over as part of the wave of iconoclasm from the Reformation.
The Sigristenhaus was built outside the south wall in 1553. In 1630 the bell tower was had an additional story added to it and was topped with a pointed spire. At the same time, the nave windows were replaced with new pointed arch windows and another pointed arch window was added on the south side of the choir. During the 17th century the Wächterhaus was added to the south wall to the west of the Sigristenhaus.
The town decided to demolish the walls and gatehouses around the church in 1853, but Zurich historian Johann Rudolf Rahn convinced the council in Basel to preserve them instead. In 1880/81 the church was renovated and the old frescoes were discovered. However their condition was judged to be too poor and they were covered in new plaster. The only exception was a painting of the Last Judgment above the portal which was repainted in 1884 by Karl Jauslin. In the 1970s the church was renovated again. This time, the 19th century plaster was removed and the medieval frescoes were restored. A new organ was built by Neidhart & Lhòte in Geneva in 1976. Today's congregation forms part of the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton Basel-Landschaft.
Frescoes.
Nave.
All three walls are decorated with a series of paintings of the Apostles (1507). Additionally, the south side had the life of Mary and the Ten Commandments (1507). The west side is the Last Judgment (1507), repainted in 1884 by Karl Jauslin. The north side is a fresco of the Passion (1507).
Choir.
On the north side of the choir above the sacristy is the apostle's medallion from the early 14th century. A fragment of another medallion is visible on the opposite wall. Also on the north wall are two frescoes of the life of St. Arbogast from 1450. In the first King Dagobert brings his son Siegbert, killed in the hunt, to Bishop of Strassburg, Arbogast, and asks for help. In the second the king and his wife pray as Arbogast awakens Siegbert from death.
On the south side the frescoes depict the Assumption of Mary and her crowning in heaven. Another fresco from 1450 shows Saint Nicholas giving three gold purses to the daughters of a poor man.
The vault of the choir features the coat of arms of Münch-Löwenberg from the second half of the 14th century. The remaining frescoes were too badly damaged to be repaired.
The rest of the paintings were badly destroyed.
Charnal house.
The exterior of the charnal house has a fresco of Saint Christopher on the left side and protective mantel on the right. Saint Michael is above the door and the year 1513 is above the window. Inside the charnal house is a fresco of the Last Judgement from 1513 and an example of the Legend of the grateful dead from the same year. The legend is of a knight who always prays for the souls of the dead. One day he is attacked by robbers and the dead come to his aid, driving off the robbers.
External links.
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Lleida

Lleida (, ; ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida.
Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as well as the largest city in the province. It had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous towns of Raimat and Sucs.
Lleida is one of the oldest towns in Catalonia, with recorded settlements dating back to the Bronze Age period. Until the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the area served as a settlement for an Iberian people, the Ilergetes. The town became a municipality, named Ilerda, under the reign of Augustus. It was ruled by the Moors from the 8th century, and reconquered in 1149. In 1297, the University of Lleida was founded, becoming the third oldest in the whole of Spain. During the following centuries, the town was damaged by several wars such as the Reapers' War in the 17th century and the Spanish Civil War in the 20th century. Since then, the city has been in constant urban, commercial and demographic growth.
History.
In ancient times the city, named Iltrida and Ilerda, was the chief city of the Ilergetes, an Iberian tribe. Indíbil, king of the Ilergetes, and Mandoni, king of the Ausetanes, defended it against the Carthaginian and Roman invasions.
Under the Romans, the city was incorporated into the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis, and was a place of considerable importance, historically as well as geographically. It stood upon an eminence, on the right (west) bank of the river Sicoris (the modern Segre), the principal tributary of the Ebre, and some distance above its confluence with the Cinga (modern Cinca); thus commanding the country between those rivers, as well as the great road from Tarraco (modern Tarragona), the provincial capital, to the northwest of Spain, which here crossed the Sicoris.
Its situation induced the legates of Pompey in Spain to make it the key of their defense against Caesar, in the first year of the Civil War (49 BC). Afranius and Marcus Petreius threw themselves into the place with five legions; and their siege by Caesar himself (Battle of Ilerda), as narrated in his own words, forms one of the most interesting passages of military history. The resources exhibited by the great general, in a contest where the formation of the district and the very elements of nature seemed in league with his enemies, have been frequently extolled; but no epitome can do justice to the campaign. It ended by the capitulation of Afranius and Petreius, who were conquered as much by Caesar's generosity as by his strategy. In consequence of the battle, the Latin phrase "Ilerdam videas" is said to have been used by people who wanted to cast bad luck on someone else.
Under the Roman empire, Ilerda was a very flourishing city, and a "municipium". It minted its own coins. It had a fine stone bridge over the Sicoris, (the bridge was so sturdy that its foundations support a bridge to this day). In the time of Ausonius the city had fallen into decay; but it rose again into importance in the Middle Ages.
It was part of Visigothic and Muslim Hispania until it was conquered from the Moors by Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona in 1149.
It used to be the seat of a major university, the oldest in the Crown of Aragon, until 1717, when it was moved by Philip V to the nearby town of Cervera. The University of Lleida is nowadays active again since 1991.
During the Reapers' War, Lleida was occupied by the French and rebel forces. In 1644 the city was conquered by the Spanish under D. Felipe da Silva.
Lleida served as a key defense point for Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, and fell to the Insurgents, whose air forces bombed it extensively, in 1937 and 1938. The November 2, 1937 Legion Condor attacks against Lleida became especially infamous since they were aimed to the school known as "Liceu Escolar de Lleida". 48 children and several teachers died in it that day, 300 people were killed on the November 2 bombings altogether, and the town would be bombed and sieged again in 1938, when it was conquered by Franco's forces.
After some decades without any kind of population growth, it met a massive migration of Andalusians who helped the town undergo a relative demographic growth. Nowadays it is home to immigrants of 146 different nationalities.
During 2007 Lleida was the year's Capital of Catalan Culture.
Climate.
Lleida has a temperate semi-arid climate (Köppen "BSk"). Winters are mild and foggy though cooler than places on the coast while summers are hot and dry. Frosts are common during winter although snowfall can occasionally fall, averaging 1 or 2 days. Precipitation is low, with an annual average of with a peak in April and May and another peak in September and October.
Districts and neighbourhoods.
Lleida is divided in the following districts by the "Observatori Socioeconòmic de Lleida":
Transport.
Railway.
Lleida is served by the RENFE, Spanish state railway's Madrid-Barcelona high-speed rail line, serving Barcelona, Zaragoza, Calatayud, Guadalajara, and Madrid. Lleida has a new airport opened in January 2010, and a minor airfield located in Alfès. Also, the town is the western terminus of the Eix Transversal Lleida-Girona, and a railway covering the same distance ("Eix Transversal Ferroviari") is currently under planning.
Lleida's only passenger railway station is Lleida Pirineus. It is served by both Renfe and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya train lines. In the future a Rodalies Lleida commuter network will connect the town with its adjacent area and the main towns of its province, improving the existing network with more train frequency and newly built infrastructure. A second railway station is Pla de la Vilanoveta in an industrial area, and only used by freight trains. A future railway museum will be located in its facilities.
Since 2008 the bulk of public transport of the Lleida's surrounding area, mainly buses operated by several companies, is managed by Autoritat Territorial de la Mobilitat de l'Àrea de Lleida.
Bus.
The urban buses, coloured yellow with blue stripes and owned by "Autobusos de Lleida", include the following lines:
In addition to these, there's a tourist bus and a regular night service to nearby clubs.
Lleida-Pirineus airport.
Lleida has depended long time on nearby airports and had no local air transit. Lleida-Alguaire airport opened in 2010.
Future and planned services.
A tram-train system is pending approval. Using an existing but outdated passenger line, it would link Balaguer and Lleida, crossing both towns in a much needed move towards better public transportation, both inner-city and between localities.
Languages.
Lleida is a traditionally Catalan-speaking city and province, with a characteristic dialect (known as Western or, more specifically, North-Western Catalan, or colloquially "lleidatà"). Most of the population is actively bilingual in Spanish.
Culture.
Lleida was the Capital of Catalan Culture in 2007.
Theatre and music venues.
Enric Granados Auditorium is the city's concert hall and main music institution and conservatory. It is named after the composer Enric Granados, who was born in the city. CaixaForum Lleida (formerly known as "Centre Cultural de la Fundació La Caixa") includes a concert hall. Teatre Municipal de l'Escorxador is the town's main theatre; it includes a concert venue, Cafè del Teatre. A theatre and congress centre, La Llotja de Lleida, opened in 2010.
Music festivals.
There are two important music festivals in Lleida; MÚSIQUES DISPERSES Folk Festival in March, and the jazz festival JAZZ TARDOR in November. Concerts are also a regular fixture of the two local feasts, Sant Anastasi in May, and Sant Miquel in September.
Film.
CaixaForum Lleida is the usual venue for film-related events and screenings. A Latin-American film festival is held yearly in the town ("Mostra de Cinema Llatinoamericà de Lleida"), and an animation film festival called "Animac" is held every May.
Art and museums.
The Lleida Museum opened in 2008 and displays historical artefacts and works of art from various periods. The Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs, a historically relevant building, exhibits both ancient and contemporary art. The Centre d'Art La Panera is a contemporary art institution. The Museu d'Art Jaume Morera displays art from the 20th and 21st centuries (as well as artwork by its namesake).
The city has a number of small municipal galleries, such as the Sala Municipal d'Exposicions de Sant Joan and the Sala Manel Garcia Sarramona. There are also several institutions dedicated to local artists, such as the Sala Leandre Cristòfol, containing artwork by the sculptor and painter Leandre Cristòfol (1908–1998); and the Sala Coma Estadella, dedicated to the sculptor and painter Albert Coma Estadella (1933–1991).
Private art galleries include the Espai Cavallers. The private foundation CaixaForum Lleida and the Public Library of Lleida also offer regular exhibits. The now defunct Petite Galerie was an innovative and influential gallery in the 1970s.
The Escola Municipal de Belles Arts provides higher education in the arts.
Traditional culture.
Traditional celebrations include the main annual town festivity: "Festa Major"; "Fira de Sant Miquel" and "L’Aplec del Caragol" (escargot-eating festival, the biggest in the world of this sort, held at the Camps Elisis since 1980).
The latter is a gastronomical festivity focused on escargot cooking and is celebrated yearly at the end of May. "L'Aplec" gathers thousands of people around the table to taste the most traditional dishes from Lleida.
Due to its strong popularity, it was declared a traditional festivity of national interest in 2002 by the Generalitat of Catalonia and two years later it was also declared as such by the Spanish Government.
The main traditional celebrations in Lleida are chaired by the twelve emblematic "Gegants de la Paeria" (Giants of the Town Hall), the two oldest made in 1840.
Nightlife.
Lleida has a bar and clubbing area, informally known as "Els Vins". The oldest part of the quarter, known as "Els Vins Vells", has been largely replaced by "Els Vins Nous", an architecturally newer and more upscale area. Most big clubs in Lleida are located outside the town and are not easily accessible without a car, though on Saturday nights there is a bus.
Sister cities.
Lleida has sister relationships with many places worldwide:
References in culture.
The city is the subject of the Catalan folk song "La Presó de Lleida", "The prison of Lleida", which was already attested in the 17th century and may be even older. It is a very popular tune, covered by many artists such as Joan Manuel Serrat.


Anton Raadik

Anton "Rampaging Estonian" Raadik (January 15, 1917 – March 13, 1999) was the most famous Estonian-born middleweight boxer of the 1940s and 1950s, fighting out of Chicago, Illinois.
Professional boxing career.
Anton Raadik was European Middleweight Champion in 1939. On May 13, 1939, he lost a three-round decision to middleweight Jimmy Reeves in Chicago in the International Golden Gloves. In all, he had a reported 130 amateur fights, winning 118.
In 1940 and 1941 he had his first three professional fights in Moscow. In 1943 he won three more fights in Scandinavia, losing only to Oiva Purho in Gothenburg in 1944. Raadik fled the Soviet occupation of Estonia during World War II and settled first in Finland before moving to Sweden in 1945. He was inactive in 1945 and then moved to Chicago in 1946.
In the USA, Raadik made rapid progress and in December 1946 fought the formidable Jake LaMotta. In 1947 he lost to two famous and experienced opponents, Georgie Abrams and Al Hostak.
On October 31, 1947, he had his most famous fight, with future middleweight champion Marcel Cerdan, in Chicago. Cerdan was well ahead on points going into the tenth round, but then Raadik floored him three times and came close to stopping him, only to lose the decision.
Raadik boxed until 1952, losing more fights than he won. He fought such highly regarded opponents as Carl (Bobo) Olson, Robert Villemain, Steve Belloise, and Harry (Kid) Matthews, but his heyday had passed.


Nikolai Nikolajevich Gerhard

Nikolai Nikolajevich Gerhard (Russian:Герард, Николай Николаевич, born 3 September 1838 in Mogilev Governorate - 9 December 1929 in Halila sanatorium in Polyany, Leningrad Oblast) was a Russian general and politician. He served as the Governor-General of Finland from December 6, 1905 to February 2, 1908.


Maiden Castle, Dorset

Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hill fort south west of Dorchester, in the English county of Dorset. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age.
The earliest archaeological evidence of human activity on the site consists of a Neolithic causewayed enclosure and bank barrow. In about 1800 BC, during the Bronze Age, the site was used for growing crops before being abandoned. Maiden Castle itself was built in about 600 BC; the early phase was a simple and unremarkable site, similar to many other hill forts in Britain and covering . Around 450 BC it was greatly expanded and the enclosed area nearly tripled in size to , making it the largest hill fort in Britain and, by some definitions, the largest in Europe. At the same time, Maiden Castle's defences were made more complex with the addition of further ramparts and ditches. Around 100 BC, habitation at the hill fort went into decline and became concentrated at the eastern end of the site. It was occupied until at least the Roman period, by which time it was in the territory of the Durotriges, a Celtic tribe.
After the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century AD, Maiden Castle appears to have been abandoned, although the Romans may have had a military presence on the site. In the late 4th century AD, a temple and ancillary buildings were constructed. In the 6th century AD the hill top was entirely abandoned and was used only for agriculture during the medieval period.
Maiden Castle has provided inspiration for composer John Ireland and authors Thomas Hardy and John Cowper Powys. The study of hill forts was popularised in the 19th century by archaeologist Augustus Pitt Rivers. In the 1930s, archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler and Tessa Verney Wheeler undertook the first archaeological excavations at Maiden Castle, raising its profile among the public. Further excavations were carried out under Niall Sharples, which added to an understanding of the site and repaired damage caused in part by the large number of visitors. Today the site is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and is maintained by English Heritage.
Before the fort.
Before the hill fort was built, a Neolithic causewayed enclosure was constructed on the site. Dating from around 4000 BC, it was an oval area enclosed by two ditches, It is called a causewayed enclosure because the way the ditches were dug meant that there would originally have been gaps. These gaps, and the bank being only high, indicate the site would not have been defensive. Instead the ditches may have been symbolic, separating the interior of the enclosure and its activities from the outside. Archaeologist Niall Sharples, who was involved in excavating the hill fort in the 1980s, has identified the hilltop views of the surrounding landscape as a likely factor for the enclosure's position. Situated on the side of the hill, it would have been visible from several miles away, and when first cut the ditches would have exposed the underlying white chalk and stood out against the green hillside. The interior of the enclosure has been disturbed by later habitation and farming. The site does not appear to have been inhabited, although a grave containing the remains of two children, aged 6–7, has been discovered. The enclosure is the earliest evidence of human activity on the site.
The purpose of Neolithic causewayed enclosures is unclear, and they probably had a variety of functions. In addition to the burials, which indicate the site at Maiden Castle was important for rituals related to death, pottery from the coast and areas to the east and west was found here, indicating that the site was a meeting place that attracted people over long distances. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the enclosure was abandoned around 3,400 BC. Arrowheads discovered in the ditches may indicate that activity at the enclosure met a violent end.
Within a period of about 50 years, a bank barrow was built over the enclosure. It was a long mound of earth with a ditch on either side; the parallel ditches were apart. Many barrows lie over graves and are monuments to the deceased, but as the barrow at Maiden Castle did not cover any burials, scholars have suggested that it was a boundary marker. This would explain the limited human activity on the hilltop for the 500 years after the bank barrow's construction. Around 1,800 BC, during the early Bronze Age, the hill was cleared and used to grow crops, but the soil was quickly exhausted and the site abandoned. This period of abandonment lasted until the Iron Age, when the hill fort was built. The bank barrow survived into the Iron Age as a low mound, and throughout this period construction over it was avoided.
First hill fort.
Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC. The reason for their emergence in Britain, and their purpose, has been a subject of debate. It has been argued that they could have been defensive sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and resulting pressure on agriculture.
Since the 1960s, the dominant view has been that the increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain. Deposits of iron ore were located in different places to the tin and copper ore necessary to make bronze. As a result, trading patterns shifted, and the old elites lost their economic and social status. Power passed into the hands of a new group of people.
Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe believes that population increase still played a role and has stated that
"[the forts] provided defensive possibilities for the community at those times when the stress [of an increasing population] burst out into open warfare. But I wouldn't see them as having been built because there was a state of war. They would be functional as defensive strongholds when there were tensions and undoubtedly some of them were attacked and destroyed, but this was not the only, or even the most significant, factor in their construction".
There are around 31 hill forts in Dorset; archaeologist Sharples, who undertook excavations at Maiden Castle, proposed that hill forts were used to control agricultural land to support a large community. Those in Dorset were situated near expanses of fertile land. Monumental defences such as the ditch at Maiden Castle indicate that the land was disputed and communities fought each other for control. This is supported by Cunliffe, who argues that the elaborate earthworks such as those around the entrances to Maiden Castle and Danebury were used to defend the weakest part of the hill fort. They increased the time the attackers took to reach the gateway, which would have left them vulnerable to defenders armed with slings. Hoards of carefully selected sling stones have been found at both sites.
Constructed on a territorial boundary in about 600 BC, the first hill fort at Maiden Castle was a area surrounded by a single ditch. The hill it sits on is part of a ridge on the north side of the South Winterborne valley, which feeds the River Frome. At the eastern end of the ridge and rising above sea level, the site of the first hill fort was not the highest point along the ridge. The highest point is the neighbouring Hog Hill, which is only higher. The hill projects about above the surrounding countryside, which is about above sea level. The defences were high and consisted of the V-shaped ditch and a rampart. The rampart would probably have been timber-faced around just the entrances. Elaborate timber facing would have been used to impress visitors. The site could be accessed by an entrance in the northwest and a double entrance in the east. The double entrance is unique in hill forts in the British Isles. The reason for a double entrance is unclear; however, archaeologist Niall Sharples has suggested that it was a form of segregation. It is likely that several farming communities lived in the hill fort and wanted different entrances.
The defences of the first hill fort were rebuilt on at least one occasion; the ditch was deepened by . The spoil from re-digging the ditch was deposited on the back of the rampart. At the same time, the defences around the eastern entrances were made more complex. A bank and ditch were built outside the two entrances, and a bank was erected between them. The bank had a wall faced with limestone, which was brought from more than away. Sharples believes this would have created an impressive entrance and was a demonstration of the settlement's high status. The Early Iron Age archaeology has been largely destroyed due to later activity on the site. However, nearby Poundbury and Chalbury date to the same period, so through comparison it is possible to infer the Early Iron Age activity at Maiden Castle. From parallels at these sites, Sharples deduces that it was probably densely occupied, with separate areas for habitation and storage. Not much is known about the material culture and economy of the Early Iron Age, and the paucity of finds from this period at Maiden Castle makes it difficult to draw conclusions about activity on the site.
Developed hill fort.
In the Early Iron Age, Maiden Castle was generally unexceptional; it was one of over 100 hill forts of similar size built around the same time in the area that is now Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire, and Wiltshire. In the Middle Iron Age, Maiden Castle was expanded and in the process it became the largest hill fort in Britain and one of the largest in Europe. According to archaeologist Niall Sharples it is, by some definitions, the largest in western Europe. In about 450 BC, Maiden Castle was expanded from . The area was initially enclosed by a single bank and ditch, with the bank standing high although the ditch was shallow. The hill fort's expansion was not unique; it was one of a series of "developed hill forts" in southern England. As some hill forts were expanded, many of the smaller hill forts that had proliferated in the Early Iron Age fell out of use, as was the case in Dorset. The developed hill forts in Dorset were spaced widely apart. This, and the abandonment of the smaller hill forts in the area when the developed hill forts were built, indicates that these developed hill forts were important. The developed hill forts of Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire, and Wiltshire were equally spaced apart, with roughly equal access to resources such as water.
The emergence of developed hill forts has been attributed to Iron Age society becoming more complex. The emergence of one dominant hill fort in an area indicates that the inhabitants of a particular hill fort became more important than their contemporaries, possibly through warfare. However, a general dearth of evidence for destruction and an increase of artefacts associated with crafts and industry suggest that the reason for change was economic. Hill forts may have become important as centres of trade. This is supported by the possibility that the multiple rings of ditches often employed at developed hill forts (the technical term for which is "multivallate") were likely to be not just defensive; so many ditches and ramparts, such as those at Maiden Castle, were excessive for defence alone so were likely used as statements of power and authority. Developed hill forts were generally densely occupied; this is best demonstrated at Danebury, where 57% of the site has been excavated. While developed hill forts were of a higher status than their smaller predecessors, they were not all equal. Cunliffe states that the Maiden Castle's monumental defences probably indicate that it was of higher status than other developed hill forts.
Maiden Castle expanded westwards, and the ditch was extended to enclose the neighbouring Hog Hill. The peaks of the two hills encompassed by the new, larger hill fort were separated by a dry valley. A shaft dug into the valley was possibly used as a water source. Almost immediately after the single ditch enclosure was expanded to , work began on making the defences more elaborate. The existing rampart was heightened to , and more ramparts and ditches were added. On the south of the fort, four ramparts and three ditches were added, but because of the steepness of the northern slope of the hill, the fourth rampart did not extend all the way round, and only three ramparts were built on the northern side. At the same time, the eastern entrance was again made more complex through the addition of further earthworks, lengthening the approach to the site.
The four-post structures common in hill forts throughout England are also found in Maiden Castle. Their purpose on this site is uncertain however, since at square they have been considered by archaeologists to be too small for dwellings; as a result, it has been concluded that these structures were probably granaries. The presence of granaries suggests that the fort was used to control the area's food supply. Little evidence has been discovered for houses in Maiden Castle during the site's reconstruction in the 5th century BC; this is probably because the site has not been fully excavated and a quarry used to provide material for the rampart may have obliterated the evidence. It appears that houses were not built near the ramparts until after the defences were complete. Maiden Castle was occupied throughout the Iron Age and its inhabitants lived in roundhouses. The later houses appear to be organised in rows, and to be roughly similar in size, a reorganisation which indicates the increasing power of the elites over Iron Age society.
Bronze objects such as pins, jewellery, and rivets have been found on the site, dating from the Middle Iron Age. As there was no local source of tin and copper ore, this demonstrates long distance trade, probably with the southwest. Although bronze was not produced at Maiden Castle, there is evidence of it being reworked. Good quality iron ore could be found in the surrounding area, but the hill fort does not appear to have been a centre for iron production in this period; this is not unusual as very few hill forts in Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire, and Wiltshire exhibit traces of iron production. Early in the Iron Age, most of the pottery found at Maiden Castle was produced locally – within about  – however later on sources further afield became more important, and by the Late Iron Age 95% of the pottery came from the area around Poole Harbour, more than away. This long-range trade has been taken as evidence for increasing relationships with groups of people over large areas and the emergence of tribal identities. Although Sharples states that developed hill forts such as Maiden Castle are not towns and cannot be considered truly urban because they are so closely related to agriculture and storage, Cunliffe and fellow-archaeologists Mark Corney and Andrew Payne describe developed hill forts as "town-like settlements", a form of proto-urbanism.
Decline.
Across Britain, many hill forts fell out of use in the 100 years around the turn of the millennium. It has been suggested that this, and the contemporary change in material culture of the Britons (such as the introduction of coinage and cemeteries and an increase in craft industries), was caused by increased interaction with the Roman Empire. The developing industries may have resulted in a shift away from the hill fort elites, whose power was based on agriculture. Such change is not as obvious in Dorset as it is in the rest of Britain, but there is a trend for abandonment of hill forts in the area and a proliferation of small undefended farmsteads, indicating a migration of the population.
Around 100 BC, Maiden Castle's organised street pattern was replaced by more random habitation. At the same time, the western half of the site was abandoned and occupation was concentrated in the east of the fort. Also during the Late Iron Age, some of the earthworks around the eastern gateway were filled in and settlement expanded beyond the entrance, and into the areas between the banks. Excavations by archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler in this area revealed several houses, storage pits, an area used for iron working, and a cemetery. On the industrial site, more than of iron slag was discovered in an area of , and it is believed the site produced around of iron. The amount of ore required could not have been supplied by local sources, so most likely originated from areas of specialist iron production such as the Weald, south west England, and Wales. Maiden Castle is one of the most important iron production sites from the Late Iron Age in southern Britain.
There is little evidence for burial in the Iron Age until late on in the period, and it is believed that the prevalent method of disposing of a body was by excarnation. Wheeler's excavations on the cemetery in the eastern gateway revealed 52 burials, but only part of the cemetery was investigated, so the total number of burials is likely to be at least double this figure. One area of the cemetery featured burials of 14 people who had died in violent circumstances, including one body with a Roman catapult bolt in its back. Wheeler used the "war cemetery", as he described it, as evidence of a Roman attack on Maiden Castle.
Roman activity and abandonment.
In AD 43, the Roman conquest of Britain began. Vespasian's subsequent campaign to conquer the tribes of the Atrebates, Dumnonii, and Durotriges in the southwest of Britain took place in AD 43–47. Based on the discovery of a group of bodies in the Late Iron Age formal cemetery that had met a violent death, archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler created a vivid story of the fall of Maiden Castle to Roman forces. He believed a legion wreaked destruction on the site, butchering men, women, and children, before setting fire to the site and slighting its defences. However, there is little archaeological evidence to support this version of events, or even that the hill fort was attacked by the Romans. Although there is a layer of charcoal, it is associated with the iron works, and the main evidence for slighting of defences comes from the collapse of an entranceway to the fort. Although 14 bodies in the cemetery exhibited signs of a violent death, there is no evidence that they died at Maiden Castle.
The eastern part of the hill fort remained in use for at least the first few decades of the Roman occupation, although the duration and nature of habitation is uncertain. Many 1st-century Roman artefacts have been discovered near the east entrance and in the centre of the hill fort. It has been suggested that Maiden Castle was occupied as a Roman military outpost or fort and the settlement discontinued, as there is no known fort in the area and it was not uncommon for hill forts in the southwest to have been occupied by Roman forces. This was a characteristic of Vespasian's campaign in the region; there was military occupation at Cadbury Castle in Somerset, Hembury in Devon, and Hodd Hill in Dorset.
Maiden Castle had been abandoned by the end of the 1st century, a time when "Durnovaria" (Dorchester) rose to prominence as the "civitas", or regional capital, of the Durotriges, a Celtic tribe whose territory was in southwest England. However, in July 2015 archaeologists from Bournemouth University discovered the remains of the Iron Age settlement of Duropolis and believe that the abandonment of the fort may be connected with the new site. According to the ancient geographer Ptolemy, writing in the 2nd century AD, "Dunium" was the main settlement of the Durotriges. Although "Dunium" has long been thought to refer to Maiden Castle, Hod Hill and Hengistbury have been identified as two other possible sites for "Dunium". "Dunium" may have derived from British "duno-" which meant "a fort". Sometime after 367, a Romano-Celtic temple was built at Maiden Castle in the eastern half of the hill fort. The date was deduced from a hoard of coins discovered beneath a mosaic floor in the temple. A central room, measuring square, was surrounded by a passageway, similar to many Romano-Celtic temples found in the south of England. Nearby were two other buildings: a rectangular building with two rooms that may have been a house for a priest, and a circular building that may have been a shrine. At the same time as the temple was built, the fort's eastern gateway was refurbished; there was possibly another shrine inside the gateway.
Later history.
The 4th-century temple gradually fell into disuse and Maiden Castle was used predominantly as pasture. There is evidence for activity on the site in the form of a few post-Roman or Anglo Saxon burials, some possibly Christian, but the hill fort was not reused as a settlement. In the 16th and 17th centuries, a barn was built over the "war cemetery". The only other significant activity on the hill top after the Romans was a short period of cultivation in the 17th century, as demonstrated by traces of ridge and furrow caused by ploughing.
The modern name for the hill fort is first recorded in 1607 as "Mayden Castell"; it is not unique to the site and occurs in several other places in Britain and is widely taken to mean a "fortification that looks impregnable" or one that has never been taken in battle. Alternatively, the name may derive from the Brittonic "mai-dun", meaning a "great hill". A more recent explanation has been advanced by Richard Coates suggesting that the name is only of medieval origin, and was applied simultaneously to the considerable number of identically named locations around the country.
Over the following centuries, the site was abandoned completely and became open pasture, although it was of interest to antiquarians. Thomas Hardy, who built his house within sight of it, described the castle in a short story, "Ancient Earthworks and What Two Enthusiastic Scientists Found Therein" (1885) about a local antiquarian who spent much time investigating the site. In 1921, composer John Ireland wrote "Mai-Dun", a symphonic rhapsody, about the hill fort in Dorset. John Cowper Powys wrote a novel titled "Maiden Castle" in 1936, which was set in Dorset.
Archaeological investigations.
The first widespread investigation of hill forts was carried out in the second half of the 19th century under the direction of Augustus Pitt-Rivers, but it was not until the 1930s that Maiden Castle was methodically investigated, the first large-scale excavation of the interior of a hill fort. Between 1934 and 1937, Mortimer Wheeler and Tessa Verney Wheeler excavated both the interior and the defences, work that was funded almost entirely by donations from the public. Wheeler's use of the media to disseminate information about the site resulted in Maiden Castle becoming well known. It was one of about 80 hill forts to have been excavated by 1940, in a period known as "hill fort mania" during the 1920s and 1930s.
Between 1985 and 1986 further excavations under Niall Sharples were prompted by the hill fort's deteriorating condition, partly caused by the large number of visitors to the site. Under the auspices of English Heritage, repair work and archaeological investigations were undertaken concurrently. Techniques such as radiocarbon dating were available to Sharples that were unavailable to Wheeler, allowing the site to be dated. The structure was made a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1981, giving Maiden Castle protection against unauthorised change; it is now maintained by English Heritage. With parking facilities and information boards for visitors, Maiden Castle is open to the public all year round. Today, the site is in the civil parish of Winterborne Monkton at .
Cultural references.
In 1921, the English composer John Ireland (18791962) wrote the tone poem "Mai-Dun, A Symphonic Rhapsody" about the place, adopting Hardy's name for it. In 1931, Ireland arranged his piece for piano four hands.


2008 in Scotland

Events from the year 2008 in Scotland


Escoural Cave

The Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Escoural Cave () is a structure known for its Paleolithic-era rock-art and funerary burial site, located in the Portuguese municipality of Montemor-o-Novo, in the civil parish of Santiago do Escoural.
History.
The earliest vestiges of human occupation date back to 50,000 years B.C. (pertaining to the middle Paleolithic), associated with the interior of the cave. The first occupants of the cave came from groups of Neanderthal hunter-gatherers, who used the cave as a temporary shelter in order to hunt. Based on bone evidence within the cave, these groups hunted nearby aurochs, deer and horse. Elements of rock art also pertain to the Upper Paleolithic (40,000 to 10,000 years B.C.) or final parts of the Neolithic period, when the interior was used as a funerary site, while a small settlement inhabited the area in the exterior. During the Chalcolithic period, a human settlement existed within the cave, developing into a fortified site by the end of Copper Age.
A series of archaeological investigations began in 1963, under Manuel Farinha dos Santos, which continued in 1980, while a team of international investigators performed soundings in 1989. In 1999 it was included in the "Programa de Valorização e Divulgação Turística: Itinerários Arqueológicos do Alentejo e Algarve", under the Ministry of Commerce and Tourism and Secretary-of-State of Culture, in order to monetize the sight as a tourist pole. As a result, an interpretative centre was constructed from a local traditional building, then expanded, reopened in 2011 after new public works.
Architecture.
The rock-art site is located along the E.N.370 motorway between Santiago do Escoural and Alto da Abaneja, approximately five kilometres from the latter. A side road towards the east, in the direction of Herdade da Sala, in the locality of Fonte Nova, directs the traveller to a marble outcropping and cliff face embedded in igneous rock, on which the archaeological site is found. It is in an isolated rural location between the Tagus River and Sado River basins and the plains region of the Alentejo, near other important megalithic monuments, including the Cromolech of Almendres and the dolmen Anta Grande do Zambujeiro.
A complex subterranean structure, the cave is an irregular plan that extends longitudinally northwest to southeast, consisting of a network of horizontal halls and galleries at different levels sealed within a thick flowstone mantle. Although the excavation and investigation of the cave has been studied since the 1960s, prospecting in the cave has yet to be concluded. The cave, which develops in a very tangled and karst network with multiple connections to the outside, is located within a steep cliff of hard limestone.
The latest surveys, made in 1989 (Silva and others, 1991), have revealed new chambers, resulting in further progressive investigations. Beyond the important cave art, paintings and engravings, the underground system has revealed numerous funerary burial sites dating from the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic, with a universe of interesting artifacts. Outdoors, in an area defined by the extent of the cliff face, there were recorded traces of a village that existed throughout the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic.
The monument is a singular example of Neolithic Portuguese archaeology, whose prehistoric art paintings are comparable to those of Altamira and Lascaux. The site was the first in Portugal in which prehistoric art was identified, and the only location that has examples of Paleolithic artwork. There have been identified hundreds of motifs, engravings and paintings of animals, abstract forms and geometric shapes in the archaeological site.


Lida Castle

Lida Castle (, , ) is a historic, medieval castle in Lida, Grodno Region, western Belarus.
History.
It was one of several citadels erected by Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania in the early 14th century to defend his lands against the expansion of the Teutonic Knights. Other links in this chain of defense included Hrodna, Navahrudak, Kreva, Medininkai, and Trakai. The modern town of Lida, Belarus grew up around this castle. Lida Castle is above sea level.
The site selected for the castle is naturally defended by the Kamenka and Lida rivers to east and west. Construction of boulder walls was carried out in 1323, 1324, and 1325. Later they were faced with red brick. The castle had two angle towers and a church, which was moved outside the walls in 1533. The upper storeys of both towers were lived in.
Despite its strong fortifications, Lida was taken by the Teutonic Knights on several occasions (1384, 1392). Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas gave it to his ally, Khan Tokhtamysh, who settled "in a yurt near the castle". In 1406, the family of Yury of Smolensk was locked up in Lida as hostages; his attempt to take the castle and liberate them was not successful. In 1433, Lida was a point of contention between Švitrigaila and his cousin Sigismund Kęstutaitis.
The following decades were somewhat less stormy. Lida was ravaged by the Crimean Tatars in 1506 and it was stormed by the Russians during the Russo-Polish War in 1659. The Swedes, taking it twice during the Great Northern War, had both towers blown up. In 1794, the castle grounds were the site of a battle between Kościuszko's followers and the Russians.
After the city fire of 1891, the south-western tower and parts of the western wall of the castle were torn down to provide stone for repairing fire-damaged houses. A team of archaeologists from St. Petersburg intervened to halt vandalism. There was only a slight restoration of the walls in the 1920s.
During much of the 20th century, an itinerant zoo or circus occupied the castle compound. Every December a Christmas tree was placed within the walls. It was not until 1982 that a restoration campaign was launched. The red brick was used to denote the newly reconstructed sections, up to high. Significant restoration occurred in 2010.
Each year, the Lida Castle hosts a medieval-style tournament. A museum is being created within its towers.


Modern history of Spain

Articles on the modern history of Spain:


Francesco Maria Bovio

Francesco Maria Bovio (ca. 1750 - 1830) was an Italian lawyer, judge and professor. He's best known for being the grandfather of Italian philosopher Giovanni Bovio (1837-1903). He also fought for the Parthenopean Republic (1799) during the Altamuran Revolution (1799).
Life.
Francesco Maria Bovio was born in Altamura in the 1750s to a family of landowners; the exact date of birth is currently unknown. He studied literature and law at the University of Naples, and he turned out to be particularly gifted in the field of law. After winning a public competition for the position of teacher, he taught Latin and Ancient Greek in the "Royal Schools" () of Matera, Italy.
After his father's death, when he returned to his hometown Altamura in order to administer his properties, he was assigned the position of lecturer of literature as well as civil and canon law at the University of Altamura.
At the end of the 18th century, he was already a member of the Altamura Masonic lodge "Oriente di Altamura", together with other famous Altamurans. The seat of the Masonic lodge was the baronial palace of the Melodia family (different from today's "palazzo Melodia", designed by architect Orazio Lerario in the 17th century). He took an active part in the Altamuran Revolution (1799), planting the Tree of Liberty. He was later removed from teaching; but after the Treaty of Florence (1801), was allowed to resume teaching.
In the period 1806-1815 (with the French kings Giuseppe Bonaparte and Gioacchino Murat ruling over the Kingdom of Naples), he was appointed judge ("giudice interino di pace"). When Court of Appeal transferred to Altamura (1808), Francesco Bovio brilliantly worked as a lawyer in that court of appeal, following the court even when it was transferred to Trani. In 1821, he became a judge of the civil court of Lecce but after a few years he returned to Trani because of his age and there he died in 1830.
He had at least two children - Scipione Bovio and Nicola Bovio. Both of them, in 1820, joined the Carboneria of Trani (the so-called sale of "the Pelican"). Nicola Bovio was the father of the famous philosopher Giovanni Bovio (1837-1903).
The Altamuran Revolution.
During the upheavals of the Neapolitan Republic of 1799, Bovio became minister of the Republican Departmental Government. Later, with the return of the Bourbons as kings of the Kingdom of Naples, he wasn't allowed to teach anymore. Bovio claimed to have joined and fought during the Altamuran Revolution (1799) for fear of being shot by the commissioner Nicola Palomba of Avigliano (who, together with general Felice Mastrangelo of Montalbano, were the leaders of the Altamuran Revolution).


Samogitian diocese


Camelotia

Camelotia (meaning "from Camelot") is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Late Triassic or Early Jurassic in what is now England. Paleontologists are divided on which family it may belong to; in the past, "Camelotia" has generally been assigned to the prosauropods, but this group of primitive dinosaurs is in constant flux. The genus is now considered a member of the family Melanorosauridae, who includes the first true giant herbivorous dinosaurs.
Discovery and species.
The type specimens, syntypes SAM 3449 and SAM 3450, were described and named in 1985 by Galton. They were collected from the Triassic-Jurassic Westbury Formation, dating to the latest Rhaetian-Lowermost Hettangian. The fossils includes the specimens "BMNH R2870-R2874", "R2876-R2878" (holotype), with vertebrae, ribs, and parts of the pubis, ischium and hind limb. The type species, "C. borealis", was first described by Galton in 1985. Dinosaurs formerly known as "Avalonianus" and "Gresslyosaurus" turned out to be "Camelotia".
Description.
From the fragmentary remains of "Camelotia", part of the skeleton can be reconstructed. "Camelotia" likely had a short neck supporting a fairly large skull with small eyes. Its jaws contained many small-to-medium-sized, serrated, leaf-shaped teeth. Its hands and feet had five digits each; the hands in particular were long and narrow, and bore a large claw. The forelimbs were longer than the hindlimbs, in contrast to the more derived sauropods. It has been calculated around 9-10 m long. On 2020, Rubén Molina & Asier Larramendi pointed Camelotia as the largest known quadrupedal Sauropodomorph, with the holotype measuring long, tall, and weighed . Also pointed out that the other Sauropodomorph fossils found on the same location belong to an even larger animal, of and .


Timeline of Parma

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Parma in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.
See also.
Timelines of other cities in the macroregion of Northeast Italy:()
References.
"This article incorporates information from the Italian Wikipedia."
Bibliography.
in Italian.
"See also: " (in Italian)


2004 in Sweden

Events from the year 2004 in Sweden


Serpentine Galleries

The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Central London. Comprising the Serpentine Gallery and the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, they are within five minutes' walk of each other, linked by the bridge over the Serpentine Lake from which the galleries get their names. Their exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract up to 1.2 million visitors a year. Admission to both galleries is free.
Serpentine Gallery.
The Serpentine Gallery was established in 1970 and is housed in a Grade II listed former tea pavilion built in 1933–34 by the architect James Grey West. Notable artists whose works have been exhibited there include Man Ray, Henry Moore, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Paula Rego, Sondra Perry, Bridget Riley, Allan McCollum, Anish Kapoor, Christian Boltanski, Philippe Parreno, Richard Prince, Wolfgang Tillmans, Gerhard Richter, Gustav Metzger, Damien Hirst, Maria Lassnig, Jeff Koons and Marina Abramović. On the ground at the gallery's entrance is a permanent work made by Ian Hamilton Finlay in collaboration with Peter Coates, and dedicated to Diana, Princess of Wales, the gallery's former patron.
Serpentine Sackler Gallery.
In 2013 the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, with an extension designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, was opened to the public, giving new life to The Magazine, a Grade II* listed former gunpowder store built in 1805. Located five minutes' walk from the Serpentine Gallery across the Serpentine Bridge, it comprises 900 square metres of gallery space, restaurant, shop and social space. The Magazine Restaurant adjoins the gallery space.
At a preview of her show at the Serpentine Gallery, Hito Steyerl spoke out against the Gallery's funding by the Sackler family, members of which own Purdue Pharma which is behind the painkiller OxyContin. The Gallery subsequently put out a statement that concluded: “Donations to the Serpentine from the Sackler Trust are historic and we have no future plans to accept funding from the Sacklers.”
Pavilions.
Every year since 2000 the Serpentine Gallery has commissioned a temporary summer pavilion by a leading architect. The series presents the work of an international architect or design team who has not completed a building in England at the time of the Gallery's invitation. Each Pavilion is completed within six months and is situated on the Gallery's lawn for three months for the public to explore. Cecil Balmond has been a creative force behind Serpentine Pavilion programme.


Texandria

Texandria (also Toxiandria; later Toxandria, Taxandria), is a region mentioned in the 4th century AD and during the Middle Ages. It was situated in the southern part of the modern Netherlands and in the northern part of present-day Belgium, currently known as Campine (Kempen in Dutch).
Name.
The tribal name Texandri, which may be related to the region, is mentioned as "Texand(ri)" by an inscription dated 100–225 AD, as "Texuandri" by Pliny (1st c. AD), and perhaps as "Texu<...>" on an inscription from Romania dated 102/103 AD.
The variant form "Toxiandria" is only attested once in a 9th-century manuscript of Ammianus Marcellinus' "Res Gestae" (ca. 390) to designate the region, and the variant "Taxandria" occurs five times in 9th-century sources, and also in later documents. The inconsistencies in spelling may be explained by dittography (errors by copyists), or by the fact that the old form "Texandri" had fallen out of usage.
The name "Texandria" is generally assumed to stem from the Proto-Germanic root "*tehswō(n)-" ('right [hand], south'; compare with Old Saxon "tesewa", Gothic "taihswa", 'right, south') attached to the contrasting suffix "*-dra-". "Texandria" may thus be interpreted as the 'land of the southerners'.
History.
The region of Texandria is first mentioned by the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus ca. 390 AD. In the 380s, the Salian Franks, after being defeated by Julian ca. 358, were given permission to settle "apud Toxiandriam locum" ('at a place in Toxiandria').
Between 709 and ca. 1100, the name "Texandria" was used to denote a region located in the southern part of the modern Netherlands and the northern part of Belgium. In sources of the period 709–795, the "pagus Texandrie" appears concentrated in the basin of the river Dommel and its tributaries, with a first cluster of locations between Alphen in the west and Waalre in the east, and a second cluster more to the south around Overpelt.
As a result of a growing elite network of alliances, Texandria expanded between 815 and 914 to a region covering modern North Brabant and adjacent parts of the provinces of Antwerp and Limburg (possibly between Oosterhout, Laakdal and Reppel). In the mid-11th century, Stepelinus, a monk from Saint-Trond, located the region of Campania (firstly attested in this document) within Texandria. From ca. 1225, however, "Campania" (modern Campine) replaced "Texandria" as the name of the region. "Texandria" had nonetheless survived as the name of a vast archdeaconry within the diocese of Liège, although it was eventually replaced with "Campania" by the end of the 14th century and disappeared from historical records.


Joanna of Aragon, Queen of Naples

Joanna of Aragon (, ; 16 June 1455 – 9 January 1517) was Queen of Naples as the second wife of King Ferdinand I.
Born in Barcelona, Joanna was the second child of King John II of Aragon by his second wife, Juana Enríquez de Córdoba, and his youngest legitimate child.
Queenship.
King Ferdinand I of Naples, an illegitimate son of her uncle Alfonso V of Aragon, asked Joanna's hand in marriage from John II and he accepted. After the wedding on September 14, the contract was signed in Navarre, on 5 October 1476 and the agreement was ratified on November 25. John II gave his daughter a dowry of 100,000 gold florins and Ferdinand gave his new wife many duchies and/or cities, such as Sorrento, Theano, Isernia, Teramo, Sulmona, Francavilla and Nocera. He also gave her more than 20,000 ducats annually. Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, eldest son of the king from his first marriage, sailed to Spain on 11 June 1477 in order to bring Joanna to Naples. She arrived on 1 September 1477. The formal wedding, with both the bride and groom present, took place on 14 September 1477 and was officiated by Rodrigo Borgia, the future Pope Alexander VI. Their first child was born in 1479 and another child arrived in 1480.
Joanna showed a tendency to resolve political affairs. In August 1485, she started to randomly journey through Italy, probably to ensure loyalty to her husband in the wake of rebellions led by Baron Antonello Sanseverino and supported by Pope Innocent VIII and Cardinal Giulio della Rovere. A few years later, after the conspiracy was suppressed, Joanna returned to Abruzzo, accompanied by her daughter Joanna. They visited most of the monasteries in L'Aquila that year.
Queen Dowager.
On 25 January 1494, Ferdinand I died aged 71. He was succeeded by his eldest son Alfonso, and step-son of Joanna, who became queen dowager. From this point on, Joanna signed every letter with the phrase "the sad queen" (Old Italian: "la triste reyna"). Because of the grief, she did not even attend her step-son's coronation on 8 May 1494. In return, Alfonso gave his step-mother the position of Lieutenant General of the Kingdom of Naples.
Meanwhile, King Charles VIII of France was about to conquer Naples. Doing the last desperate thing he could, Alfonso II abdicated in favour of his son, who became Ferdinand II of Naples. However, before he left, he advised his son to take the advice of the queen dowager in consideration and never do anything to upset her. When Charles VIII was about to enter Sicily, Ferdinand II took Joanna and her daughter Joanna (who was also to be his wife) and left. After their return on 13 October 1495, Joanna arranged a marriage between her daughter Joanna and King Ferdinand II. They were married on 28 February 1496. However Ferdinand II died of malaria in October of the same year and Joanna was left a childless widow aged seventeen. By now, the young Joanna also signed every letter with "the sad queen".
Joanna tried to suggest her brother, King Ferdinand II of Aragon as the rightful King of Naples, but a younger step-son from Ferdinand I's first marriage, Prince Frederick, was chosen. Initially, the new king's relationship with Joanna was quite cold. In fact, when Frederick's reign began, Joanna resigned her position as lieutenant general and expressed her desire to move to Aversa. After a year of absence, she returned from Aversa and regained her position as lieutenant general. But, she once again found differences, this time with Isabella del Balzo, Frederick's wife. She did not attend Frederick's coronation.
After they were once again banished from the kingdom, Joanna and her daughter Joanna returned to Naples, where Joanna died following a short illness on 9 January 1517. Her daughter Joanna died the following year from the same illness.
Issue.
With her husband, Joanna had two children, one of whom survived childhood:


Gavrinis

Gavrinis () is a small island in the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany, France. It contains the Gavrinis tomb, a megalithic monument notable for its abundance of megalithic art in the European Neolithic. Administratively, it is part of the commune of Larmor-Baden.
Geography.
Reachable by boat from the town of Larmor-Baden near the opening of Morbihan Gulf to the Atlantic Ocean, Gavrinis is an uninhabited granite rock outcrop of 750 × 400m. Its highest point dominates much of the surrounding area.
Name.
The name "Gavrinis" is popularly believed to be derived from the Breton words "gavr" (goat) and "enez" (island), thus suggesting a meaning of "goat island". This is probably a false etymology. In documents dating from 1184 and 1202, the island is named as "Guirv Enes" and "Guerg Enes", respectively. The old Breton word "Guerg" is not related to "gavr", but to parallels such as Welsh "gwery", or Old Irish "ferg", signifying "wrath".
The Gavrinis passage tomb.
Importance.
The island is famous for its important passage grave, a megalithic monument from the Neolithic period, belonging to the same broad context as the Breton megaliths of Carnac and Locmariaquer, and closely connected with the monuments at Brú na Boínne (Ireland) and Maes Howe (Orkney). At the time of its construction, c. 3500 BC, the island was still connected with the mainland. The rich internal decorations make Gavrinis one of the major treasuries of European megalithic art. The tomb is also remarkable for the care taken in its construction and its good preservation.
History of research.
The first excavations took place in 1835, when the internal chamber was discovered. Further research was undertaken by the archaeologist Zacharie Le Rouzic who began restoration work around 1930. Further works took place in the 1960s and 1970s. Charles-Tanguy Leroux, former director of Breton Antiquities, undertook studies and consolidation works in the 1980s. Further excavation is in the planning stages.
Date.
The tomb was built relatively late within the French megalithic sequence. Its use ceased around 3000 BC. At that time, the light wooden structures cladding its entrance were burnt, after which part of the mound collapsed, obscuring and blocking the passage. A layer of windblown sand transformed the monument into a simple hillock.
The cairn.
The stone mound has a diameter of about 50m. The mass of stones forming the cairn is internally structured by a series of walls, subdividing it into separate "ranks". It is a characteristic example of Neolithic dry stone architecture.
The chamber.
The mound covers a single rectangular (nearly square) slab-built burial chamber, located at the centre of the mound and measuring about 2.5m across. The chamber is built of about 50 carefully placed slabs. The biggest of these is the ceiling slab which weighs nearly 17 tons. Such simple dolmen-type chambers, reached by passages, were very common in Brittany between 4500 and 3000 BC. At the same time, similar monuments were constructed in Normandy and Poitou, in Ireland, Britain, and the Iberian Peninsula.
The passage and its art.
The chamber is reached from outside by a 14m-long corridor or passage. Of the 29 orthostat slabs that form the sides of the passage, 23 are decorated with carved symbols and patterns. Some of the symbols appear to represent non-abstract objects, such as axes and croziers or staffs. A common horn-like motif may symbolise cattle, and a shape conventionally called the shield may be a very stylised human figure. More abstract motifs include zigzag lines, lozenges, and snake-like lines.
Reuse of stones.
In 1984, it was discovered that the external side of some slabs, now covered by cairn material, is also decorated, but in a different style from their internal face. This decoration must have been applied before the cairn was erected. Archaeologists suspect that at least a number of those slabs may be in secondary use, having formed part of earlier monuments elsewhere. Most strikingly, the top of the chamber ceiling slab bore the depiction of a bull, the horns of a further animal, and a motif known from other monuments that has often been interpreted as an axe (Twohig 1981), but which has also been interpreted as a representation of a whale, and thus as a "mythic animal" (Whittle 2000). The slab can be joined with the ceiling stones of two other monuments, the Table des Marchands dolmen and the Er Vinglé tomb, at Locmariaquer, at a distance of 4 km. The three slabs appear to have once formed a massive 14m standing stone, similar to the great broken menhir of Locmariaquer, which broke or was broken, to be reused as three ceiling slabs, its decorations deliberately obscured.
Replica.
A replica of part of the Gavrinis passage with its decorated slabs can be visited in the museum at the megalithic necropolis of Bougon (Deux-Sèvres).


Dentheletae

The Dentheletae (), also Danthaletae (Δανθαλῆται) or Denseletae, were a Thracian tribe that in antiquity lived near the sources of the River Strymon, and are mentioned in texts by Polybius, Cassius Dio, Tacitus and by Livy. They lived in the neighbourhoods of the modern towns Kyustendil (ancient Pautalia) and Dupnitsa (ancient Germania, "hot" in Thracian due to the springs), stretching to as far as the mountains to the west towards the valleys of the Morava and the Vardar river, with territories situated next to the Thracian tribes Agrianes (per Theopompus) and the Maedi (per Strabo). Their main city, called Dentheletica, was presumably Pautalia (modern-day Kyustendil) as this was the capital of the Roman region Dentheletica. They possibly built fortifications around Stara Planina in the 1st century BC, lived around Sofia and Skaptopara (modern Blagoevgrad) was their town.
Livy mentions them in passing in his account of King Philip V of Macedon, who in 214BC plundered them for supplies even though they were his ally. The Dentheletae were allies of Rome. Along with the Scordisci, the Dentheletae invaded Macedonia.
Circa 30BC, when under their king 'Sitas, who was blind', and whilst under treaty with Rome, their territories were invaded by the Bastarnae. In response to this invasion and with the wider objective of securing the Macedonia/Thrace frontier of the Roman Empire, Consul Marcus Licinus Crassus Dives (grandson of Crassus the triumvir) earned a triumph for his attack on the Bastarnae in defense of the Denteleti in 28-29BC with Legio IIII "Scythica", Legio V "Macedonica" and possibly Legio X "Fretensis".
Raids in Dardania 16-13BC marked the end of the Dentheletae.


Barkhale Camp

Barkhale Camp is a Neolithic causewayed enclosure, an archaeological site on the South Downs in West Sussex, England. It is about south-west of the village of Bignor.
The site is a scheduled monument. It is on the Slindon Estate, which is a National Trust property.
Description.
Causewayed enclosures are found mostly in southern and eastern England; they have an area of , and were constructed in the middle part of the Neolithic period, about 3000–2400 BC.
Barkhale Camp is on a gentle south-facing slope of Bignor Hill. It is an oval enclosure, north to south and west to east, defined by a bank of width and height up to . There is an external ditch, up to wide; it is in sections of length , with causeways between them. The area within the enclosure is about .
There were small-scale excavations in 1958–1961 by Veronica Seton-Williams, and in 1978 by the Sussex Archaeological Field Unit; pottery sherds and flint tools of the Neolithic period, and pottery sherds of later periods, were found.


2007 in Norway

Events in the year 2007 in Norway.


Mihailo III of Duklja

Mihailo III () was Prince of Duklja, from c. 1180, or before, up to 1186 or 1189. He was descended from the Vojislavljević dynasty, and also cousin to Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja of Serbia. The Principality of Duklja was tributary to the Byzantine Empire until 1180, when Emperor Manuel I died and Empire plunged into turmoil. By 1186, Byzantine possessions in Upper Dalmatia were overrun by Stefan Nemanja, who also imposed his rule over Duklja. The domain of Prince Mihailo was reduced to the coastal regions around Bar, while the rule over Duklja was given to Vukan, eldest son of Stefan Nemanja. Prince Mihailo was patron of the Archbishopric of Bar, and in 1189 his wife, princess Desislava, was accompanied to Dubrovnik by archbishop Gregory of Bar.


Polotsk Voivodeship

Połock Voivodeship (, ) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (Grand Duchy of Lithuania) since the 15th century until the partitions of Poland in 1793.
The voivodeship history can be traced to the Principality of Polotsk, conquered by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania around late 14th / early 15th centuries. From 1504 the former Principality was recognized as a voivodeship.
Zygmunt Gloger in his monumental book Historical Geography of the Lands of Old Poland provides this description of the Połock Voivodeship:
“Połock, in Latin Polocia, Polocium, lies on the right bank of the Dvina, and is regarded as one of the oldest gords of Rus’. In the 13th century, the Principality of Polotsk was ruled by Kievan princes, but in app. 1225 it was seized by the Lithuanians under Duke Mindaugas (...) Duke Vytautas named the first starosta of Połock, and in app. 1500, the starosta was renamed into the Voivode of Połock, while the Duchy was turned into a voivodeship, divided into two equal halves by the Dvina (...)
The voivodeship had two senators, who were the Voivode and the Castellan of Połock (...) Since it was not too large and its population was not numerous, furthermore, its capital was located in the middle, the voivodeship was not divided into counties. Its courts were located in Połock, where the sejmiks also took place. Połock Voivodeship had two envoys in the Sejm, and two deputies to the Lithuanian Tribunal”.
Administration.
Voivodeship Governor (Wojewoda) seat:
Administrative division:
Number of Senators:
Number of envoys in the Sejm:


Parasphaerorthoceras

Parasphaerorthoceras is an extinct orthocerid genus, a nautiloid cephalopod, that lived in what would be Europe and north Africa during the Silurian from 422.9—418.1 mya, having existed for approximately .
Taxonomy.
"Parasphaerorthoceras" was named by Ristedt in 1968, who placed it in the Sphaerorthoceratidae, which he also named. "Parasphaerorthoceras" is listed in Jack Sepkoski's (2002) list of Cephalopod genera under Orthocerida It is also classified and described in some detail in Björn Kröger's 2008 paper on Silurian and Devonian nautiloids from Morocco
Morphology.
The shell of "Parasphaerorthoceras" is generally straight, ("orthoconic") with a circular cross section. The initial chamber is spheroidal, followed by a distinct constriction.
The apical part of the shell is wavy but becomes striated, then smooth in later growth stages. The siphuncle is central or subcentral. Septal necks suborthochoanitic. Sutures are straight.
In life, these animals may have been similar to the modern squid, except for the long shell.
Fossil distribution.
"Parasphaerothoceras" species have been found in Austria, Italy, Sardinia, and Morocco.


Rauracian Republic

The Rauracian Republic was a short-lived French occupation zone that included parts of modern Switzerland around the Jura mountains. It was created from the northern portion of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel, which was part of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Rauracian Republic existed for just a few months. It was inaugurated on 17 December 1792 and absorbed into France on 23 March 1793. Twenty-two years later, in 1815, Basel and Bern divided the territory of the former republic between them.
The name of the Republic was taken from the Latin name of an ancient Celtic tribe, the Raurici, who settled the southern part of the Upper Rhine. The Raurici were related to the Helvetii, whose name was later bestowed on another French client state, the Helvetic Republic.
Chronology.
Following the proclamation in September 1792 of the French First Republic, unrest quickly spread in the lands of the Prince-Bishop of Basel, leading to the creation of "revolutionary committees". On 17 December 1792, the Rauracian Republic was proclaimed as the first "daughter republic" of revolutionary France. Following the successive collapses of two national assemblies, a third voted for incorporation into France, backed by a referendum believed to have been supported by French pressure and manipulation. This was achieved on 23 March 1793 with the creation of the French Department of Mont-Terrible which had its capital at Porrentruy.
Administrative frontiers changed more than once in the ensuring two decades, but when the war finally came to an end, the territory of Mont-Terrible, previously the Rauracian Republic, was divided by the victorious powers at the Congress of Vienna between the cantons of Bern and Basel.
Unlike other "daughter republics" of France, the Rauracian Republic seems never to have acquired a national flag. It did, however, adopt a coat of arms. In essence, this portrayed the old Lictors' Bundle which had been a favoured symbol of authority under the old Roman Republic and which still appears in the seal of the French state and on the cantonal shield of St. Gallen.


List of years in Montenegro

This is a list of years in Montenegro.


Pictorial list of postage stamps in Nazi Germany


Melodifestivalen 2000

Melodifestivalen 2000 was the selection for the 40th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 39th time that this system of picking a song had been used; 1,394 songs were submitted to SVT for the competition. The final was broadcast on SVT2 and Sveriges Radio's P4 network. Roger Pontare (1994 winner with Marie Bergman) won the MF again with the rock-inspired ballad "När vindarna viskar mitt namn", donning a folk-inspired costume and featuring Sámi dancers during his performance. The winning song was performed later in English at the Eurovision Song Contest as "The Spirits Are Calling My Name", placing seventh among 24 entrants.
The 2000 Melodifestivalen was presented by no less than 10 past participants and winners, who performed a medley of selected Melodifestivalen entries from the past four decades as an interval act. Two of the presenters, Lena Philipsson and Carola Häggkvist, went on to win the Melodifestivalen in 2004 and 2006, respectively (Carola had also won in 1983 and 1991 before). The show was watched by 4,175,000 people, with a total of 525,567 votes cast.


La Bastida de les Alcusses

La Bastida de les Alcusses is an Iberian city of the 4th century BC located near Mogente/Moixent, Valencia. It is considered to be one of the principal Iberian archaeological sites of the Valencian Community due to its sudden abandonment and good preservation.
The site is located 741 metres above sea level (and 200 metres above the valley floor) at the southwest end of the Serra Grossa. The site covers over 4 hectares and is 650 metres long and 150 metres wide. The site is now an archaeological park, surrounded by pine forest and bush but accessible by road.

Heinrich Vieter

Heinrich Vieter was a German Pallottine missionary to the German colony of Kamerun. Vieter arrived in Douala with seven other members of the mission on 25 October 1890. Over the next 13 years, Vieter led the Pallottines as they opened missions and schools across the territory. He befriended the young Ntsama Atangana at the mission school in Kribi; Atangana would later gift the Pallottines with land in Jaunde. When a Bulu leader Martin-Paul Samba was sentenced to death for treason against Germany in 1914, Vieter appealed for a stay, but his requests were ignored.


List of Igbo Nnewi monarchs

The Monarchy of Nnewi concerns the monarchical head of state of Nnewi, which is a traditional and hereditary monarchy with a tetrarchy system. The Kingdom of Nnewi has been a monarchy since 15th century. Chiefdoms were set up at various dates in the four quarters, but it was naturally in Otolo - the original settlement of Mmaku, the grandfather of Nnewi - that the first chiefdom was established under the reign of Mmaku in 1498. Mmaku's wife was Ifenweugwu and his son, Ikenga. Mmaku was on his death succeeded by Ikenga, who married Ifite and begot a child he named Nnewi. Later, Isu, Ifite and Ichi were begotten.
Until now, the ruling house of Otolo which is as well that of the entire Nnewi is in Nnofo family in Otolo, Nnewi. In the other three quarters of Nnewi, his influence is also felt although there are Obi in Uruagu, Umudim and Nnewichi quarters.
The role of the Monarch is limited to the four quarters of Nnewi, and have no part in the formal governance of the Anambra State. The Monarch and the members of the Royal Family undertake a variety of official, unofficial and other representational duties within Nnewi, Nigeria and abroad.
Since 1477 till date, the List of Igbo monarchs gives a list of Igbo
chieftains and kings from their earliest known history up to the current monarch.
Chief Kenneth Onyeneke, Igwe Orizu III became King on 2 June 1963 on the death of his father, Chief Josiah Nnaji, Igwe Orizu II.