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Poison arrows: North American Indian hunting and warfare
Abstract
Biological warfare is a menacing twenty-first-century issue, but its origins extend to antiquity. While the recorded use of toxins in warfare in some ancient populations is rarely disputed (the use of arsenical smoke in China, which dates to at least 1000 BC, for example) the use of poison arrows and other deadly substances by Native American groups has been fraught with contradiction. At last revealing clear documentation to support these theories, anthropologist David Jones transforms the realm of ethnobotany in Poison Arrows. Examining evidence within the few extant descriptive accounts of Native American warfare, along with grooved arrowheads and clues from botanical knowledge, Jones builds a solid case to indicate widespread and very effective use of many types of toxins. He argues that various groups applied them to not only warfare but also to hunting, and even as an early form of insect extermination. Culling extensive ethnological, historical, and archaeological data, Jones provides a thoroughly comprehensive survey of the use of ethnobotanical and entomological compounds applied in wide-ranging ways, including homicide and suicide. Although many narratives from the contact period in North America deny such uses, Jones now offers conclusive documentation to prove otherwise. A groundbreaking study of a subject that has been long overlooked, Poison Arrows imparts an extraordinary new perspective to the history of warfare, weaponry, and deadly human ingenuity.
... The seeds are circular and flattened about 2 cm in diameter with smooth brown colour. This tree offers a wide range of uses, for instance, the plant secretes yellowish milky latex used by Amerindians to produce poisoned darts [3,4]. The Hura crepitan has been found to contain certain nutrients ranging from amino acids (protein), ash (minerals), lipids in the form of oil, etc; thus, the seed has also been said to contain some antinutrients in varying degrees such as phytates, alkaloid, saponins, flavonoids, etc. [1]. ...
... It is envisaged that a good nutrient the seed flour with regards to protein and amino acids will reveal the potential of the seed for inclusion in human and animal diet. The study is Nwokenkwo et al.;ACRI,20(5): [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]2020; Article no.ACRI. 55249 3 Hura crepitan Tree Plate 2. Seed of Hura crepitan ...
... The method of stipulated by [9] was used for this assay. A Five grams of the test sample was transferred into a 100cm 3 Erlenmeyer flask with the addition of 20cm 3 of 0.3N hydrochloric acid solution. The entire mixturein the flask were stirred using a magnetic stirrer for I hour at 50°C following filtration. ...
The Objectives of the Study: To evaluate the Antinutritional components, Amino acid profiles and the physic-chemical properties of Hura crepitan (Sand box) seed. Design of the Study: This study was structured to fit into using a combination of T-test and one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to evaluate the data obtained from the laboratory analysis. Place and Duration of Study: This research work was done at the Department of Food Science and Technology Laboratory, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria, between May 2019 and November 2019. Methods: The mature dry fruits of the Hura crepitan seeds were harvested from the plants on Federal University of Technology Owerri, Imo State campus. The Hura crepitan seeds were sorted in order to remove dirts and foreign other foreign contaminants. The cleaned seeds were divided into four portions and stored in separate glass containers for further processing. The first portion of the seeds were dried at 60°C in Gallen Kamp moisture extraction oven for 6 hours at and pulverised in a Monilex blended into flour, some seeds were boiled while some portions were roasted and processed into fine flour and subsequently subjected to analysis to evaluate the antinutritional contents, amino acid s as well as determining the physic-chemical properties of the samples. Results: The results obtained suggested that the anti-nutrients in the raw seed-flour were flavonoids with 17.50%, alkaloid (6.20%), tannin (5.24%), and cyanogenic glycoside (1.76%). Fermentation and moist cooking were found to be more effective in the reduction of the anti-nutrients in the Hura crepitan seeds. The amino acid profiles were evaluated, and twenty amino acids were identified in the seed flour. The three major ones implicated were arginine (3.25 g/100 g in cooked and 8.05 g/100 g in fermented), glutamic acid (6.05 g/100 g in cooked and 10.2 g/100 g in fermented) and valine (8.03 g/100 g in raw and 8.58 g/100 g in fermented). The limiting amino acid is methionine with a chemical score of 44.52%. the physicochemical properties of the sandbox seeds evaluated suggested that the free fatty acids values ranged from 3.60% to 6.03% and there were no significant differences (P>0.05) among the samples, the iodine value ranged from 104.94% to 126.90%, the peroxide value for the sample varies between 2.96% to 44.81%. Conclusion: This study suggested that the Hura crepitan seed contains appreciable amounts of essential amino acids as well as having good physicochemical properties while the use of moist heat and/or fermentation can reduce the antinutritional components to the bearest minimum. Hence, can be utilized some areas of food industries where protein (amino acids) are critically required.
... 51 This perspective is supported by David Jones, who in his monograph, Poison Arrows: North American Indian Hunting and Warfare, identifies 80 tribes that used poison arrows. 52 The available evidence suggests that many, perhaps most, indigenous societies used poison for hunting, fishing, and warfare, but there is too little information available to provide a more precise estimate of the prevalence of such usage. ...
... He apparently was unaware of the studies by Perrot, Lewin, or Neuwinger, which undermines the value of his review. 52 The claim that poison arrows were the norm in primitive societies, not the exception, contrasts sharply with one offered by Leonard Cole, who studied the use of poison weapons in preparing an interesting study of the ''poison taboo'' and concluded that ''most tribal groups did not use them.'' 54(pp123-124) His conclusion came from negative evidence: There were few mentions of poisoned weapons in an anthropological bibliography of warfare or in the Encyclopedia of World Cultures, 55,56 and the anthropological studies that he consulted rarely mentioned poisons. ...
... As Jones noted in particular reference to the study of poison arrows among North American Indians, most scholars have preferred to ignore or denigrate the subject. 52 Why was poison so widely employed? According to one theory, early bows and arrows were insufficiently powerful to reliably kill prey, especially large animals, unless they were poison-tipped. ...
This article critically reviews the literature on the history of biological warfare, bioterrorism, and biocrimes. The first serious effort to review this entire history, made in 1969, had numerous limitations. In recent decades, several authors have filled many of the gaps in our understanding of the past use of biological agents (including both pathogens and toxins), making it possible to reconstruct that history with greater fidelity than previously possible. Nevertheless, there are numerous remaining gaps, and closer inspection indicates that some supposed uses of biological weapons never took place or are poorly substantiated. Topics requiring additional research are identified.
... Prehistoric bow draw weights from European bows, in contrast, likely fell between 70-90 pounds (Bergman 1993:102). The use of poison may also allow for drastically reduced draw weights (see Jones 2007), since this hunting strategy diminishes the force and penetration a projectile requires in order to successfully kill an animal. Under the logic employed in this study, all other things being equal, bows of low draw weight would be accessible to a larger proportion of individuals within a population than bows of higher draw weight. ...
... Changes in projectile point size do not necessarily reflect a shift in the technologies used to propel them, as the presence of fletching (Hughes 1998:367) and/or the use of poison (see Jones 2007) might allow for decreased dart point sizes without diminishing hunting effectiveness. ...
ISBN: 9780438592711
In the first of my three studies on the shift from atlatl to bow technology, I construct bow
and atlatl learning curves from modern, pseudoexperimental data. The results of this quantitative analysis suggest that atlatls are easier to learn how to use than bows and can be wielded effectively by wider segments of human populations. This finding implies that this shift in projectile weaponry may have exacerbated emergent divisions of labor in prehistoric societies, and also suggests the possibility that differences in prehistoric population structures may have influenced the (poorly dated) timing of this transition in various locations across the globe. In my second study, I hone in on a region in northwestern Canada as a spatiotemporal test case, since this area currently contains the largest published database of atlatl and bow radiocarbon dates in the world. I establish a new statistical procedure using Monte Carlo, Bayesian, and radiocarbon calibration methods implemented in Program R to calculate the minimum number of dates required on atlatl and bow technology to adequately characterize this transition. I also develop a second procedure for determining whether bow and atlatl technologies overlapped for a significant amount of time in prehistory, and for calculating how
long they overlapped. In my third study, I test whether spatiotemporal patterning occurs in atlatl and bow radiocarbon dates across the northwest Canadian Subarctic. The data most likely exhibit east-to west spatial patterning in the appearance of bow technology, a tentative result that does not support the hypothesis that bows entered the study area by simple cultural diffusion from Siberia. In light of these findings, I present several working hypotheses to explain why the transition from simpler atlatl to more complex bow technology occurred in the northwestern North American Subarctic, and suggest that this topic provides an exemplary case study for testing what causes fluctuations in the complexity of material culture in general.
... Hunting poisons have been utilized in Africa, India, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Melanesia, and the Americas (Bisset 1966(Bisset , 1976(Bisset , 1979(Bisset , 1981(Bisset , 1992Bisset and Woods 1966;Cheney 1926;Hoffman 1891;Jett 1970;Jones 2007;Lewin 1923;Mines 1908;Neuwinger 1996Neuwinger , 1998Perrot and Vogt 1913;Rambo 1978;Schapera 1925;Schebesta 1941;Woodburn 1970). Hunting poisons were used at least as early as 24,000 years ago at Border Cave in South Africa (d' Errico et al. 2012). ...
... Few archaeologists and anthropologists have mentioned the use of poisons for hunting by Paleoindians in the Americas (cf. Haury et al. 1959;Haynes 2002;Jones 2007;Wedel 1986). Interestingly, Haury et al. (1959:29) briefly mentioned the possible use of hunting poisons in their description of the Clovis-age Lehner mammoth kill site in southeastern Arizona. ...
Archaeologists have long envisioned direct encounters between Paleoindians and megafauna of the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (LGIT, 15-11.5 cal BP). Debate continues regarding the role that these Paleoindian hunters played in the extinction event(s). Archaeologists, paleontologists, and paleobiologists have proposed that Paleoindians proved to be very effective hunters who employed darts and spears tipped with razor-sharp, chipped-stone projectile points. These weapons are assumed to have been capable of inflicting mortal wounds and death as a result of massive blood loss. Few archaeologists, however, have considered the possible use of hunting poisons, as well as the implications of poison use for past procurement tactics and present-day archaeological research. This paper explores the feasibility of poison hunting by Paleoindians-specifically those derived from Aconitum spp. or monkshood-as well as the possible material correlates of this technology that might be observed in the archaeological record.
... Böceklere evrim basamaklarında başarı sağlayan özellikler aynı zamanda, biyolojik savaşlarda kullanılmalarını sağlayan özelliklerdir. Bu özellikleri özetlersek: Hayvan ve bitkilerden elde edilen zehirli maddeler savaşlarda, avcılıkta her dönemde ve özellikle göçebe, avcı ve toplayıcı insanlar tarafından kullanılmıştır (Jones 2007). ...
Bu kitap, böceklerin sosyal ve kültürel yönden toplumları geçmiş-
ten günümüze kadar nasıl etkilediklerine dikkat çekmek için Hacettepe Üniversitesi, Biyoloji Bölümünde tarafımdan açılan ve anlatılan“Kültürel Entomoloji” dersinde kullanılması için yazılmıştır. Kültürelentomoloji konularının bir bölümüne bu kitapta yer verilmiştir.
Kültürel entomoloji konuları öncelikle yaşamın anlamı ile ilgilidir.
Bu nedenle insanlık tarihinde, sözlü ve yazılı geleneklerde, halk masallarından dünyanın en tanınmış dinlerinin kutsal yazılarına kadar birçok yerde böceklerin izini bulmak şaşırtıcı değildir.
Kültürel entomoloji, böceklerin ve diğer karasal eklembacaklıların
edebiyat, dil, müzik, görsel sanatlar, tarih, mitoloji, politika, din, halk bilimi, rekreasyon üzerindeki etkilerini doğa bilimlerini ve sosyal bilimleri bir araya getirerek ele alan bir bilim dalıdır.
Entomoloji derslerinin konuları, ağırlıklı olarak böceklerin morfo-
lojileri, fizyolojileri, sınıflandırılmalarına ilişkin bilgileri içermektedir.
Öğrenciler tarafından zor, geniş kapsamlı ve ne yazık ki sevimsiz
bir ders olarak algılanan entomoloji dersinin konusu olan ve günü-
müzdeki en kalabalık canlı grubunu oluşturan böceklerin, insanlık
tarihinin her aşamasında çok önemli rolleri vardır.
Bu kitap öğrencinin, derse farklı yaklaşımını ve böceklerin kültürümüze etkileri konusunda da bilgi sahibi olmalarını sağlamak amacı ile ders kitabı olarak hazırlanmıştır. Böceklerle yan uğraş olarak ilgilenen diğer kişilerin de yararlanabileceği bir kaynak olması da kitap hazırlanırken göz önüne alınmıştır.
Prof. Dr. Nilgün KAZANCI
... The earliest report was by von Siebold [11: 201) who recounted observations that Hayashi Shihei made of the Ainu on Hokkaidõ Island, Japan, in the 18 th century. Spider poisons have also been reported from the Americas, Asia, and Africa (e.g., [5,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]). Indigenous Americans used macerated black widow spiders (Latrodectus Walckenaer 1805 spp., Theridiidae), sometimes with their eggs [21,22]. ...
Hunting has been crucial in early human evolution. Some San (Bushmen) of southern Africa still practice their indigenous hunting. The use of poisons is one remarkable aspect of their bow-and-arrow hunting but the sources, taxonomic identifications of species used, and recipes , are not well documented. This study reports on fieldwork to investigate recent indigenous hunting practices of G/ui and G//ana San communities in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), Botswana. Here we discuss their use of spider poison. The hunters use the contents of the opisthosoma ('abdomen') of a spider as sole ingredient of the arrow poison and discard the prosoma that contains the venom-glands. Using taxonomic keys, we identified the spider as the garden orb-web spider Argiope australis (Walckenaer 1805) (Araneidae). The hunters' choice of this species is remarkable given the scientific perception that A. australis is of little medical importance. The species choice raises questions about how the spider fluids could kill game, particularly when the prosoma, which contains the venom glands, is not used. Possibilities include trauma, as a source of pathogens, or abdomen containing toxins. Based on characteristics of Argiope Audouin 1826, we hypothesize that the choice of this species for arrow poisons might have evolved from the recognition of aposematic signalling or spiritual symbolism. Indigenous knowledge (IK) is an important source for advances in biotechnology but is in decline worldwide. The study contributes to the documentation of the San people, and their ancient IK, which is threatened by marginali-zation, political pressures, and climate change. PLOS ONE PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.
... Before more modern forms of pens were invented, the trees" unripe seed capsules were sawn in half to make decorative pen sandboxes (also called pounce pots), and hence the name "sandbox tree" 5 . The mineral elements composition of the seed oil was described by Okoli et al. 9 . ...
The amino acids profile of the seeds, vitamins and antinutrients contents of the raw seed oil of Hura crepitans were studied in order to compliment information available in the literature and establish whether the oil can be used as edible oil, and the seed in food modifications and formulations. The seeds were collected along Nwaniba Road in Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The oil was cold-extracted with n-hexane and used in the analysis of antinutrients and vitamins. The defatted seed flour was used in the determination of amino acids. The amino acids, vitamins and antinutrients were determined using standard methods. The results reveal that the antinutrients levels in the seed oil are relatively higher than their corresponding levels in conventional edible seed oils except phytate and oxalate. The oil is very rich in vitamin C compared to mustard and sunflower seed oils which are also edible oils. The seeds are richer in amino acids than the seeds of A. hypogaea, and E. guineensis which are conventionally used as food materials and their oils in cooking and frying. They are particularly rich in the essential amino acids except valine. The amino acids contents of the seeds compare reasonably (about 82%) with whole hen's egg. Although H. crepitans seeds are rich in amino acids and the oil in vitamin C, the high tannins and cyanide levels in the seed oil would limit its use in nutrition. However, the seed flour can be beneficial in food fortification processes and animal feeds production.
... While we are not aware of any actual finds of Iron Age weaponry from the Levant with remains of poison on them, their use should not be discounted (as suggested already by Miller, McEwen, and Bergman 1986: 190). On the one hand, poisoned projectiles are known from many cultural contexts, ancient and modern, world over (e.g., Bisset 1989;Mayor 2003;Jones 2007;Borgia, Carlin, and Crezzini 2017). Second, ancient sources discuss such weapons, such as Job 6:4 (e.g., Dhorme 1984: 76;Greenstein 2019: 27; most date Job to the Persian period [e.g., Greenstein 2019: xxvii]), the Epic of Anzu, a version of which is known from the seventh-century BCE Library of Ashurbanipal (II:10; Ebeling 1952: 28-29;Annus 2001), and there is mention of poison projectiles in early Greek sources, such as the supposedly poisoned arrow that killed Achilles at Troy (e.g., Burgess 1995;Mayor 2003: 50). ...
... Berberis aquifolium ranges in North America, starting from S-E Alaska and Northern California up to the West of United States (D.E. JONES [7]; C. ROSS [8]). This shrub prefers colder zones, being found at 2000 meters of altitude in woods, especially pine woods. ...
In the near past the use of herbs for health enhanced and scientists are studying new anti-microbial phytochemicals. Although plants have a wide variety of secondary metabolites, very few are still used as antimicrobial. This study performes phytochemical and antibacterial analysis of ethanolic extracts from Berberis vulgaris and Berberis aquifolium. Extracts were prepared from stem and root bark of Berberis sp. with 70% ethanol. After obtaining the plant extracts qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis were performed through spectrophotometry, thin layer chromatography, reversed phase HPLC and UV-VIS spectra. The results showed that B. aquifolium extract has a bigger concentration of alkaloids (5.555%) than B. vulgaris extract (4.161%). The analysis from reversed phase HPLC showed that berberine concentration in B. aquifolium is 0.515 mg/ml and in B. vulgaris extract is 1.369 mg/ml, so in oregon grape is found a smaller concentration of berberine than in common barberry. The plant extracts were tested on Escherichia coli (Gram negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive) bacteria. We found inhibition between 10-12 mm on S. aureus and on E. coli between 8-10 mm. The extracts exhibited a stronger activity versus S. aureus, which demonstrates that berberine extracts are usefull in treatment of infections.
... The weed, however, is not deadly poison, its effects being but temporary" (O'Beirne 1891, p. 211) The bow and arrow have a long history, both as weaponry in intergroup warfare in Asia, Europe, and North America (Maschner and Mason 2013) and in hunting and fishing for food (Laubin and Laubin 1980;Tomka 2013). Their use sometimes occurred in conjunction with poisoned arrowheads (Bradley 1956;Jones 2007;Robbins et al. 2012;Langley et al. 2020). ...
In this paper we review the history and development of bowfishing, provide a case study of a high-profile bowfishing tournament in Oklahoma, survey and summarize management of the sport in all 50 states, and provide scientifically-based approaches for its management. Bowfishing has a distinct niche in the evolution of the bow and arrow and in fishing, as one of several methods practiced by many and scattered indigenous cultures worldwide. In the past century, advances in technology, including the development of the
compound bow, custom boat and lighting systems for night bowfishing, and improved information transfer have opened the sport to many people previously unable to participate in the sport at a satisfying level. Bowfishing poses some distinct challenges for fisheries managers compared to angling, including the impracticality of catch-and-release, noncatch (wounding) mortality, and by-catch mortality of non-targeted native species. In 2019, we conducted a survey of 50 state fish and wildlife agencies that indicated only nine
states had bowfishing education programs and none had articulated management goals or plans specific to the sport. Evidence indicates that bowfishing may provide plentiful opportunities for harvesting nuisance invasive species such as Asian carps (Cyprinidae) and the Common Carp Cyprinus carpio, but must be practiced much more judiciously, and in some instances, not at all, depending on locality, for higher valued native species such as buffalofishes (Catostomidae: Ictiobus spp.), Paddlefish Polyodon spathula, gars (Lepisosteidae), and rays (Batoidea). Whereas in the terrestrial and avian species that
bowhunters most commonly target, males reach a larger size than females, in fish species targeted by bowfishers, the opposite is the case. The result is selective depletion of large, older, mature females and evolutionarily disruptive truncation of life histories. We suggest ten of many potential topics for consideration in agency management planning for bowfisheries. We seek to provide agencies information for developing historical, ecological, and socioeconomic perspectives for managing bowfisheries, as other fisheries, as instruments of species conservation, public benefit, and sound long-term public policy.
... This makes little sense, however, as the flute would be covered by the haft [2]. The use of poison has also been suggested, as the groove could have received such a substance, aiding in the hunting of megafauna, such as mammoths and mastodons (Mammuthus primigenius, Mammuthus columbi, Mammut americanum) [28,29]. Hemoglobin crystallization and red blood cell size analyses from residues on Beringian fluted projectile points [30] have demonstrated that a variety of mammals were hunted, including bison (Bison bison), sheep (Ovis dalli), bear (Ursus arctos), caribou (Rangifer tarandus), and musk ox (Ovibos moschatus). ...
New World archaeologists have amply demonstrated that fluted point technology is specific to Terminal Pleistocene American cultures. Base-fluted, and rarer tip-fluted, projectile points from the Americas have been well-documented by archaeologists for nearly a century. Fluting is an iconic stone tool manufacturing method and a specific action that involves the extraction of a channel flake along the longitudinal axis of a bifacial piece. Here we report and synthesize information from Neolithic sites in southern Arabia, demonstrating the presence of fluting on a variety of stone tool types including projectile points. Fluted projectile points are known from both surface sites and stratified contexts in southern Arabia. Fluting technology has been clearly identified at the Manayzah site (Yemen) dating to 8000–7700 cal. BP. Examination of fluted points and channel flakes from southern Arabia enable a reconstruction of stone tool manufacturing techniques and reduction sequences (chaines opératoires). To illustrate the technological similarities and contrasts of fluting methods in Arabia and the Americas, comparative studies and experiments were conducted. Similarities in manufacturing approaches were observed on the fluting scars of bifacial pieces, whereas technological differences are apparent in the nature and localization of the flute and, most probably, the functional objective of fluting in economic, social and cultural contexts. Arabian and American fluted point technologies provide an excellent example of convergence of highly specialized stone tool production methods. Our description of Arabian and American fluting technology demonstrates that similar innovations and inventions were developed under different circumstances, and that highly-skilled and convergent production methods can have different anthropological implications.
... Неизбежной была бы также конкуренция с другими обзорными изда-ниями по индейцам Северной Америки, опубликованными после 1972 г.: общими сводками, которые отчасти воплощали первоначальный план «Введения» Стёртеванта (Biolsi 2004;Kan and Strong 2006;Thompson 1996) и специальными обзорами по отдельным темам, таким как устная история, литература и музыка, народные экологические знания, полити-ческая организация американских индейцев и др. ( Biolsi and Zimmerman 1997;Browner 2009;Jones 2007;Mills and Slobodin 1994;Moerman 2009Moerman , 2010Trigger and Washburn 1996;Vescey and Venables 1980;Wiget 1996). У нас не было никаких шансов победить эту «армию книг» своими ма-лыми силами. ...
... Already long time ago, humans started to use animal venoms for their benefit. Native Americans, for example, applied rattle-snake venom to the tips of their arrows to increase the damage caused by a strake [6], and in Ayurveda, a historical Indian medicine, cobra venom was used to treat arthritis [7]. Today, more than ever, venoms are recognized as rich source for development of pharmaceuticals and venom research is mainly driven by screenings for possible drug leads [8]. ...
This review gives an overview on the development of research on spider venoms with a focus on structure and function of venom components and techniques of analysis. Major venom component groups are small molecular mass compounds, antimicrobial (also called cytolytic, or cationic) peptides (only in some spider families), cysteine-rich (neurotoxic) peptides, and enzymes and proteins. Cysteine-rich peptides are reviewed with respect to various structural motifs, their targets (ion channels, membrane receptors), nomenclature, and molecular binding. We further describe the latest findings concerning the maturation of antimicrobial, and cysteine-rich peptides that are in most known cases expressed as propeptide-containing precursors. Today, venom research, increasingly employs transcriptomic and mass spectrometric techniques. Pros and cons of venom gland transcriptome analysis with Sanger, 454, and Illumina sequencing are discussed and an overview on so far published transcriptome studies is given. In this respect, we also discuss the only recently described cross contamination arising from multiplexing in Illumina sequencing and its possible impacts on venom studies. High throughput mass spectrometric analysis of venom proteomes (bottom-up, top-down) are reviewed.
... The most frequently used source of these natural products is the skin secretion of frogs that populate the forests of South America, Africa and Australia. These amphibians were historically used to prepare poisoned arrows for hunting and warfare (Jones 2007). Most of these alkaloids are sequestered unchanged from dietary arthropods such as mites, ants, beetles, and millipedes ( Saporito et al. 2009). ...
The total synthesis of both the double bond isomers of indolizine alkaloid 8-deoxypumiliotoxin 193H has been accomplished. Both the double bond isomers Z-4 and E-4 induced convulsions and inhibited neuro-muscular activity at a dose of 25 mg/kg after intraperitoneal injection in mice. The lethal dose of Z-4 and E-4 was 100 mg/kg, indicating that 8-deoxypumiliotoxin 193H is 10-times less toxic than the known pumiliotoxin (+)-251 D.
... Ethnobotanists have demonstrated the extent to which humans evolved bitter taste receptors to flag toxic contaminants and associated compounds in plant and animal foods (Behrens and Meyerhof 2006;Bradbury 2014;Johns 1986). On almost every continent, there are cultures whose sophisticated body of knowledge and understanding of poisonous and toxic compounds have developed out of generations of complex environmental monitoring and experimentation (Gangwar and Ramakrishnan 1990;Jones 2007;Schultes and Raffauf 1990). It is even common for highly toxic or poisonous plants, under the guidance of knowledgeable people, to be used as potent medicines (Armstrong 2018;Moshi et al. 2010) Currently, First Nation communities in many parts of Canada are afflicted with the impossible dilemma that they may increase their risk of contaminant exposure when consuming traditional foods (Kuhnlein et ing with them. ...
Ethnobiology is well positioned to work in tandem with biomonitoring research to create a more complete understanding of how people experience and are affected by contaminated environments. Indigenous communities in proximity to unconventional natural gas (“fracking”) facilities face potential health risks that are often poorly assessed or not assessed at all. This contribution reviews a biomonitoring pilot research project in British Columbia (Canada) that was informed by Indigenous Peoples' concerns of contaminant exposure from traditional foods and their environment. Preliminary biomonitoring results indicate higher levels of a benzene metabolite in pregnant Indigenous women near fracking facilities, compared to what measured in non-Indigenous women. We investigate how Indigenous Peoples' concerns of exposure to industrial contaminants should inform biomonitoring and toxicological studies and, conversely, how biomonitoring studies can complement ethnobiological research with assessable data. By focusing on environmental knowledge and human health in the context of oil and gas development, we critically evaluate how action, environmental justice, and scientific research can and should contribute to more ethical and methodological frameworks and practices. Together, ethnobiology and biomonitoring can be used to fill in important knowledge gaps in environmental health and ethical research practices.
... The wood is used for furniture under the name "hura". Before more modern forms of pens were invented, the trees' unripe seed capsules were sawn in half to make decorative pen sandboxes (also called pounce pots), hence the name 'sandbox tree' [3]. Composites are combinations of two materials in which one of the materials in the form of fibers, sheets, or particles called the reinforcing phase, is embedded in the other material called the matrix phase. ...
Huracrepitan pod was the fibre material used for this research and unsaturated polyester resin was used as the
matrix. The huracrepitan pod was crushed with the aid of the Thomas-Willey laboratory mill machine, model 4 and was sieved
using a standard sieve of 250 μm. The crushed huracrepitan pod was then soaked in a standard solution of 20% Sodium
Hydroxide for 24 hours and washed with distilled water. It was later dried in the oven for an hour for final removal of moisture.
I00 g of unsaturated polyester resin was reinforced with huracrepitan pod particles of filler loadings of 0 g, 10 g, 20 g, 30 g,
and 40 g., while 90 g, 80 g, 70 g and 60 g of unsaturated polyester resin were reinforced with 20 g, 30 g and 40 g huracrepitan
pod.The composites obtained were cut into dumbbell shapes and characterized to assess their performance. The hardness was
enhanced to the maximum of 99.00 Shore A at 40% filler loading the percentage water absorption was found to be 0.3g. Pure
unsaturated polyester resin recorded hardness of 94.67 Shore A, and water absorption of 0.30g and the percentage elongation
optimum was found to be 15% at 40% filler loading and 2.5% at 0% filler loading. The results indicated that the use of huracrepitan pod particles as reinforcement can enhance the properties of polyester composites. It was observed that the
samples with the highest filler loading absorbed more impact energy and also increased the elongation percentage. The application of Huracrepitan pod as filler in this work improved the mechanical properties of the thermosetting polymer.
... Berberis aquifolium ranges in North America, starting from S-E Alaska and Northern California up to the West of United States (D.E. JONES [7]; C. ROSS [8]). This shrub prefers colder zones, being found at 2000 meters of altitude in woods, especially pine woods. ...
In the near past the use of herbs for health enhanced and scientists are studying new anti-microbial phytochemicals. Although plants have a wide variety of secondary metabolites, very few are still used as antimicrobial. This study performes phytochemical and antibacterial analysis of ethanolic extracts from Berberis vulgaris and Berberis aquifolium.
Extracts were prepared from stem and root bark of Berberis sp. with 70% ethanol. After obtaining the plant extracts qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis were performed through spectrophotometry, thin layer chromatography, reversed phase HPLC and UV-VIS spectra. The results showed that B. aquifolium extract has a bigger concentration of alkaloids (5.555 %) than B. vulgaris extract (4.161 %). The analysis from reversed phase HPLC showed that berberine concentration in B. aquifolium is 0.515 mg/ml and in B. vulgaris extract is 1.369 mg/ml, so in oregon grape is found a smaller concentration of berberine than in common barberry.
The plant extracts were tested on Escherichia coli (Gram negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive) bacteria. We found inhibition between 10-12 mm on S. aureus and on E. coli between 8-10 mm. The extracts exhibited a stronger activity versus S. aureus, which demonstrates that berberine extracts are usefull in treatment of infections.
... The plant is known by possessing many dark pointed sharp spines on its smooth bark. These spines prevent animals from climbing it [9,10]. The plant is usually cultivated for shade and the wood used for making furniture, while the milky sap serves as poison for arrows [11] and for catching fishes by fishermen [12]. ...
... For example, Indians of northern South America use the skin secretion of frogs of the genus Phyllobates to poison their arrows for hunting (Myers et al., 1978). Similarly, the Abor people of northeastern India use poison arrows that can kill tigers, buffaloes, and elephants in hunting and warfare (Jones, 2009). ...
... Hunting with a bow relies on sending an arrow deep into an animal's body where it passes through and severs blood vessels, arteries and vital organs ideally causing a relatively quick death. The use of poison can radically affect the design of arrowheads and may compensate for certain trade-offs in design (Bergman 1988:668;Jones 2009). The use of poison on an arrowhead would allow for designs that do not make a wide and traumatic cut, but instead allow for maximum penetration to increase the chance of the arrowhead entering the body. ...
The introduction of the bow and arrow into prehistoric Missouri during the Late Woodland Period possibly changed the Middle Woodland social dynamic and settlement pattern arrangement such that there was a major increase in social cooperation between settlements tied closely to defensive settlement strategies. Small villages faced the possibility of effective, long-range attacks that could potentially lead to the quick application of overwhelming force on unprepared villages. To address this potential, settlements moved to less productive upland locations with inter-visible settlement clusters that provided for mutual defense through defense in layers. As agriculture became better established, this pattern of defense again changed as people nucleated into larger sites in highly productive, lowland areas. Defense was still a significant consideration as reflected in both the selection of defensible topographic settings and the apparent creation of a borderland along the river. The larger number of people in each village provided safety in numbers and decreased the likelihood of overwhelming attacks. The influence of archery and the selection for effective defensive strategies in the face of archery-based warfare could help explain the rapid shift to inter-visible, upland sites during the Late Woodland Period and the subsequent rise of large nucleated settlements.
... The wood is used for furniture under the name "hura" (Jones, 2007). Before modern pens were invented, the unripe seed pods of Hura crepitans were sawed in half to make IJBPAS, September, 2017, 6(9) decorative pen sandboxes, hence the name 'sandbox tree'. ...
There is a great need for evaluation of nutritional component and quality of emerging functional food oil to provide scientific data to support their possible beneficial health effect. The present study was designed to evaluate the nutritional quality parameters of oil extracted from Hura crepitans seed. The oil was analyzed for physicochemical properties, fatty acid profile and amino acid profile using standard methods. The percentage composition of essential amino acid ranges from 1.39 to 0.21g/100g of oil, while that of non-essential amino acid ranges from 1.32 to 0.3g/100g. However, the concentration of arachidonic acid (281.8 μg/dl) and recinoleic acid (231.4 µg/dl) were foundto be the most abundant in fatty acids. Linoleic and linolenic acids are unsaturated fatty acids were also found at 187.7 and 148.6 μg/dl levels of concentration, respectively. Dietary consumption of Hura crepitans seed oil may promote health status by providing nutrients such as essential amino acids and fatty acids.
... This in turn could have consequences for the basal morphologies of stone dart points, a concept we plan to test in future experiments. Using poison is one way around increasing the mass of projectiles for big game (Jones 2007;Osborn 2016). As mammoths vanished and some Paleoindian hunters focused on bison, their equipment should have changed. ...
Thrusting spears, hand-thrown javelins, and atlatls are all suggested as weapons used by Paleo hunters to bring down Pleistocene megafauna. Before we can distinguish between weapons in archaeological contexts, or compare their effects, we need accurate measurements of performance characteristics. Velocity directly influences momentum and kinetic energy and thus the damage a projectile can do, but accurate measurements of atlatl dart velocity are scarce. Measuring dart velocity requires naturalistic experiments involving human throwers. We measured numerous well-practiced individuals using a variety of atlatl equipment, comparing radar gun, film, and chronograph measurements of dart velocity. The atlatls used in hunting and warfare probably did not accelerate darts much beyond 35 m/s (78 mph). We evaluate Hutchings’ use of fracture velocity measurements on stone points to distinguish Paleoindian projectile systems, which seems promising but needs better experimental support, and we use kinetic energy and momentum calculations for various projectiles to consider the shift from atlatls to bows in the Southwest.
... Prehistoric bow draw weights from European bows, in contrast, likely fell between 70 and 90 pounds (Bergman 1993). The use of poison may also allow for drastically reduced draw weights (see Jones 2007), because this hunting strategy diminishes the force and penetration a projectile requires in order to successfully kill an animal. Under the logic employed in this study, all other things being equal, bows of low draw weight would be accessible to a larger proportion of individuals within a population than bows of higher draw weight. ...
Self-bows replaced spear throwers as primary terrestrial hunting weapons on nearly all continents at different time periods throughout human prehistory. Many scholars have debated whether this transition occurred because of a shift in resource exploitation toward smaller fauna or because of the bow's supposedly superior performance in warfare. Before causal hypotheses explaining this technological shift can be tested, performance characteristics of atlatls versus bows must be well understood. Studies of performance characteristics often address topics such as the range, accuracy, or maintainability of weapons systems, but this study quantitatively compares the learnability of each weapon. Learning curves for spear throwers and bows are established using contemporary data generated by archers from the Society for Creative Anachronism and atlatlists from the World Atlatl Association. The hypothesis that spear throwers are easier to learn and can be wielded effectively by a wider segment of human populations than bows is supported. Implications for the organization of labor are contextualized in light of socioecological changes generally characterizing the conditions under which shifts from atlatl to self-bow technology occurred in prehistory. [learning curve, division of labor, atlatl, performance characteristics, skill].
... This effect has also been noted of arrows with poisoned foreshafts and detachable mainshafts used by the San of the Kalahari (Hitchcock and Bleed 1997). Darts with shouldered sockets and short, narrow foreshafts that were covered in poison were also used by the Aleutians for warfare (Jones 2007). Poison can increase success rates of hunts because poisoned projectiles do not need to strike an animal's vital organs. ...
Preserved atlatls and darts, commonly of small size, have been found across North America from the Early to Late Archaic. Close replications of these systems were employed in a naturalistic experiment on a fresh hog carcass. The use of high-speed cameras, a radar gun, and a video analysis program to measure dart velocity and view impacts in slow motion allowed a detailed analysis of the results. The experiment captured several details about atlatl and dart ballistics, including killing potential, the effects of point beveling on dart flight and impact, traceable impact damage on bones and stone points, and the effectiveness of various hafting arrangements. The results provide details about the atlatl and dart that will be helpful to the study of ancient hunting cultures.
... For example, in Asia, the juice of Derris elliptica roots, containing rotenone, was used. North-American Indians from the Californian area used extracts from plants of the genus Croton containing phorbol for fishing [4]. This substance was also present in relatively-complicated African piscicides (substances poisonous to fish), typically based on plants of the genus Euphorbia [5]. ...
Toxin weapon research, development, production and the ban on its uses is an integral part of international law, with particular attention paid to the protection against these weapons. In spite of this, hazards associated with toxins cannot be completely excluded. Some of these hazards are also pointed out in the present review. The article deals with the characteristics and properties of natural toxins and synthetic analogs potentially constituting the basis of toxin weapons. It briefly describes the history of military research and the use of toxins from distant history up to the present age. With respect to effective disarmament conventions, it mentions certain contemporary concepts of possible toxin applications for military purposes and the protection of public order (suppression of riots); it also briefly refers to the question of terrorism. In addition, it deals with certain traditional as well as modern technologies of the research, synthesis, and use of toxins, which can affect the continuing development of toxin weapons. These are, for example, cases of new toxins from natural sources, their chemical synthesis, production of synthetic analogs, the possibility of using methods of genetic engineering and modern biotechnologies or the possible applications of nanotechnology and certain pharmaceutical methods for the effective transfer of toxins into the organism. The authors evaluate the military importance of toxins based on their comparison with traditional chemical warfare agents. They appeal to the ethics of the scientific work as a principal condition for the prevention of toxin abuse in wars, military conflicts, as well as in non-military attacks.
... Hunting with a bow relies on sending an arrow deep into an animal's body where it passes through and severs blood vessels, arteries and vital organs ideally causing a relatively quick death. The use of poison can radically affect the design of arrowheads and may compensate for certain trade-offs in design (Bergman 1988:668;Jones 2009). The use of poison on an arrowhead would allow for designs that do not make a wide and traumatic cut, but instead allow for maximum penetration to increase the chance of the arrowhead entering the body. ...
The introduction of the bow and arrow into prehistoric Missouri during the Late Woodland Period was a
major event that possibly changed the entire Middle Woodland social dynamic and settlement pattern
arrangement such that there was a major increase in social cooperation between settlements tied closely to
defensive settlement strategies. Small villages faced the possibility of effective, long-range attacks that
could potentially lead to the quick application of overwhelming force on unprepared villages. To deal with
this potential, settlements moved to less productive upland locations with inter-visible settlement clusters
that provided for mutual defense through defense in layers. As agriculture became better established, this
pattern of defense again changed as people nucleated into larger sites in highly productive, lowland areas.
Defense was still a significant consideration as reflected in both the selection of defensible topographic
settings and the apparent creation of a borderland along the river. The larger number of people in each
village provided safety in numbers and decreased the likelihood of overwhelming attacks. The influence of
archery and the selection for effective defensive strategies in the face of archery-based warfare creates a
more parsimonious explanation for the rapid shift to inter-visible, upland sites during the Late Woodland
Period. Archery appears to be the primary cause of what was a seismic shift where settlement patterns
altered radically in just a few hundred years. This research addresses the possible implications for major
advances in prehistoric weapons technology that has increasing relevance for today's society.
... Adenium obesum is a globally known organic piscicide that is used to kill fish (Neuwinger, 2000;Jones, 2007;Oyen, 2008) in addition to being used worldwide for ornamental purposes (Hastuti et al., 2009). However, the plant is indigenous to Africa where it is found in places ranging from the Sahel region towards central Africa and into Natal and Swaziland as well as to south western Arabian Peninsula (Plaizier, 1980;Arbonnier, 2004). ...
Histopathological effects of ethanol extract of Adenium obesum stem bark was investigated in the gills and skin of African sharptooth catfish, Clarias gariepinus over a 96-h exposure period as an endpoint of toxicity. There was a significant (p < 0.05) concentration-dependent mortality in some of the exposed fish. The median lethal concentration of the extract was 7.15 mg L−1. The extract caused some histopathological lesions in the gills and skin of the exposed fish. However, the severity but not the type of the lesions observed in the gills and skin of the exposed fish was concentration-dependent. Although the degree of tissue change (DTC) grading indicated moderate damage in the gills of the exposed fish, there were no significant (p > 0.05) differences between gills DTC of the exposed and unexposed fish. However, lesions in the skin did not affect the normal functioning of the tissue but significant (p < 0.05) differences were recorded in the DTC between the skin of the exposed and the unexposed fish. The extract was toxic to the exposed fish and therefore, A. obesum can be used as a potent organic piscicide for effective fish pond management.
... The absence of obvious signs of toxicity, including mortality was indicative of the very low toxicity of the extract in the exposed rats resulting in the obtained very high LD50 value. This is in spite of the fact that the plant is a potent arrow poison [13,33]. The toxicity of the plant might therefore, be influenced by the route of administration as animals are normally exposed parenterally when the plant is used as arrow poison unlike the oral route of administration of the present study. ...
Aims: Adenium obesum is a known medicinal plant thereby creating the need for the evaluation of its toxicity and histopathological effects on the liver of female Wistar rats orally administered ethanol extract of the plant’s stem bark.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Veterinary Pathology, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, between January 2011 and January 2012.
Methodology: Ethanol extraction of A. obesum stem bark was performed prior to screening it for its phytochemical constituents. Female rats per group were orally administered by gavage pre-defined doses (300mgkg-1, 2000mgkg-1 and 5000 mgkg-1) of the extract separatively in a stepwise procedure and observed for signs of toxicity. Control rats were administered distilled water placebo.
Results: The extract contained some alkaloids, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, glycosides, steroids and triterpens with no anthraquinones. Exposed rats did not show signs of toxicity and neither was there any mortality. Changes in aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase activities were non-significant (p>0.05). Congestion and fatty degenerative changes were seen in the liver of the exposed rats, which were not significantly (p>0.05) different in exposed rats compared to the control. Conclusion: Adenium obesum did not cause major hepatic damage in the exposed rats and therefore, it is a safe oral medicinal plant within the extract dose and exposure period used in the study.
Spiders are known by their productions in which one of them is venom. Major venom component groups are small molecular mass compounds, antimicrobial (also called cytolytic, or cationic) peptides (only in some spider families), are reviewed with respect to various structural motifs, their targets (ion channels, membrane receptors), nomenclature, and molecular binding. We further describe the analysis of venom components that are often analyzed by Edman degradation and SMMCs by methods including mass spectrometry and thin layer chromatography. Today, venom research, increasingly employs transcriptomic and mass spectrometric techniques. Pros and cons of venom gland transcriptome analysis with Sanger, and Illumina sequencing are discussed and an farther studies are required. In this review, we discussed only the recently described spider venom composition and characteristics.
Spiders are known by their productions in which one of them is venom. Major venom component groups are small molecular mass compounds, antimicrobial (also called cytolytic, or cationic) peptides (only in some spider families), are reviewed with respect to various structural motifs, their targets (ion channels, membrane receptors), nomenclature, and molecular binding. We further describe the analysis of venom components that are often analyzed by Edman degradation and SMMCs by methods including mass spectrometry and thin layer chromatography. Today, venom research, increasingly employs transcriptomic and mass spectrometric techniques. Pros and cons of venom gland transcriptome analysis with Sanger, and Illumina sequencing are discussed and an farther studies are required. In this review, we discussed only the recently described spider venom composition and characteristics.
Projectile points are one of the most commonly preserved artefacts at archaeological sites worldwide, yet few studies have investigated how hunting and warfare intended use affected the design and morphological variation of this technology. This paper presents the techno-typological study carried out on seven bone projectile points closely associated to a burial assemblage excavated from El Alto 5 (~ 550 cal BP, Sierras of Córdoba, Argentina). The bone point assemblage provides a useful comparative model for interpreting the function of arrowpoints where this contextual data is unavailable, concerning primarily with the question of how archaeologists can accurately differentiate the arrow tips used for defense or attack from those used for hunting. Bone arrowpoints have barbed shoulders to resist removal from the wound and stems with serrated edges for a secure hafting. They required shafts few millimeter thicker than stone-tipped arrows for hafting, involving more kinetic energy to inflict severe injuries. The identification of a dark residue spattered over the blades opens the possibility that poison was applied to enhance the effectiveness of the shoot. The study is considered a starting point to build more accurate models to identify interpersonal violence during the Late Prehispanic Period of Sierras of Córdoba and neighboring regions, where most bone points occurred as domestic refuse and are not directly associated to human skeletal remains.
The use of natural lacquer for preservation and decoration of various commodities is a remarkable invention. In Japan lacquer production dates back to the Neolithic Jomon period and has been mainly based on the sap extracted from the lacquer tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum (Stokes) F.A. Barkley). However, it is still unclear, if lacquer production evolved in Japan independently or was introduced from Neolithic China, another centre of early lacquer production. A debate also revolves around the origin of the lacquer tree itself and whether it occurs in Japan naturally or was introduced from the continent along with the skills required for lacquer production. Records of Rhus/Toxicodendron fruit remains, recovered from cultural layers of archaeological sites and natural palaeoenvironmental archives across Japan, provide an opportunity to answer the existing questions. This paper presents a method for differentiating charred endocarps of the six Rhus/Toxicodendron species growing in Japan, which is not feasible based on size or morphological properties of whole fruits or endocarps. To develop this method, we used a set of modern reference fruits. Identification is based on the species-specific tissue structure of the charred endocarp in longitudinal sectional view observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We suggest a simple identification key that is based on two prominent traits of the endocarp's tissue structure, i.e., tissue alignment and density. The method was successfully applied to an abundant record of charred Rhus/ Toxicodendron endocarps recovered by flotation from Okhotsk culture layers dating to ca. 490-880 CE at the multi-component Hamanaka 2 archaeological site, Rebun Island, Hokkaido region, northern Japan. The recovered endocarps belong to Asian poison ivy (Toxicodendron orientale Greene, 1905) and the chronology of the archaeobotanical assemblages suggests that fruits and/or other parts of this plant were used by different local populations over a period of up to 3000 years (Final Jomon to Classic Ainu period). This indicates that not only lacquer tree was an important economic plant in Japanese prehistory, but also other Rhus/Toxicodendron species were used for unknown purpose. While use of T. orientale for medical effects or as an alternative source for lacquer production seems possible, we hypothesise that at Hamanaka 2 it was utilised for its high tannin content to tan hides and furs of sea mammals. This interpretation emphasises the discussed function of Hamanaka 2, famous for its rich zooarchaeological record of sea mammal remains, as an important site of marine hunting and raw material processing.
شیوع بیماری کوئید 19 در ارتباط با حقوق محیط زیست، از ابعاد مختلف قابل بررسی است. از لحاظ نظری نشان¬دهنده ریشه¬های عمیق بحران فلسفی، اخلاقی و حقوقی انسان در مواجه با طبیعت است. از لحاظ عملی نقش حقوق محیط زیست در پیشگیری از شیوع بیماری¬های مشترک «انسان- حیوان» را یادآورمی¬شود. از لحاظ آثار زیست محیطی، دو چهره متفاوت مثبت و منفی در محیط زیست طبیعی و انسانی از خود نشان داد. در سویه مثبت، شیوع این بیماری به صورت موقت، باعث ارتقاء کیفیت محیط زیست شهری(آلودگی هوا، صوت، مصرف سوخت) شده و نسبت یه حیوانات، باعث منع تجارت و فروش و مصرف گوشت حیوانات وحشی گردید. در سویه دوم، آثار منفی این بیماری بر موضوعاتی چون، انباشت پسماندهای پزشکی، مصرف بی¬رویه آب و تعلیق مقررات زیست محیطی نسبت به شرکت¬ها اثر گذاشت. در این نوشتار سعی شده است برخی ابعاد زیست محیطی فوق، از منظر دانش حقوق محیط زیست تحلیل و ارزیابی شود. سئوال اساسی این است که با توجه به آثار و زمینه¬های زیست محیطی شیوع این بیماری، نظام حقوق محیط زیست نیازمند چه تحولی است و چه واکنش حقوقی پیشگیرانه¬ای لازم و ضروری است. فرض اساسی این مقاله بر این مبنا استوار است که ضروری است انسان¬ها در لایه فلسفی- حقوقی به بازبینی مناسبات خود با طبیعیت و حیوانات بپردازند و در سطح عملی با شیوع این بیماری اتخاذ برخی تدابیر حقوقی را لازم می¬نماید.
Pharmacologically active natural products including toxins can survive in ethnobotanical objects stored long-term and can remain stable in quantities great enough to represent a potential hazard to museum personnel. In April 2006, twenty-one samples from suspected hazardous ethnobotanical objects identified by the Science Museum of Minnesota's Oh No! Ethnobotany program (Kubiatowicz and Benson 2003), ranging in age from twenty-five to one-hundred-fourteen-years old, underwent organic residue analysis using gas and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Samples were taken from the following objects: curare-tipped darts, poison-tipped arrows, barbasco vine, ayahuasca branches, yoco vine, opium pipe, kava roots, tobacco cigar, tobacco plug, clavo huasca vine, quinine branch, Precatory pea seed, Ceylon drug bundles and a Tibetan altar bottle. Pharmacologically active natural products were identified in twelve of twenty samples tested (60%). The toxin tubocurarine was identified in four of six curare samples in quantities great enough to represent a potential hazard to museum personnel.
Precolumbian archaeologists traditionally focus on periods of stability rather than change when constructing regional cultural chronologies. However, the advent of large databases of radiocarbon dates and the proliferation of open-source software environments such as R now allow archaeologists to understand technological transitions with greater chronological precision than has been historically possible. In this study, we employ Monte Carlo procedures, Bayes’ Theorem, the R package Bchron, and IntCal13 to address three chronological topics. We calculate the minimum number of dates required on atlatl and bow technologies to robustly date this late Holocene transition in Subarctic northwestern Canada, analyze previously published dates on organic projectile diagnostics to determine whether bows and atlatls overlapped for an observable amount of time, and estimate the years of calendric time that they overlapped. Results indicate that minimum sample sizes of 29 atlatl and 19 bow dates are required to characterize this particular transition in our study area. Actual radiocarbon dates show that bow and atlatl technologies temporally co-occurred within this region for 174 ± 135 (1σ) actual calendar years. Quantitative analyses such as these open the door to testing hypotheses that explain why and how technological transitions occur within and between (pre)historic groups.
Objective: The research interest of authors was to find the phytochemicals in H. crepitans that produces the medicinal activity. Methods: Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry [GC-MS] analysis was used for screening the secondary metabolites in its bark as a preliminary study. The extract was prepared using Soxhlet extraction method with ethanol as solvent. It was concentrated at 35 o C in hot air oven. The molecular mass of the phytochemicals were established based on the molecular ion in the mass spectra. Results: The chromatogram showed eight peaks representing the presence of eight phytochemicals in the extract. The suggested compounds are 5-(hydroxymethyl)furan-2-carbaldehyde with Peak Area Percentage (PA%) of 1.65 and Retention Time (RT) 3.913; 3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-2,3-dihydro-4H-pyran-4-one with PA% of 2.75 and RT 5.434; Nitrocoumarin with PA% 0.91 and RT 13.035; Methyl 14-methylpentadecanoate with PA% 17.47 and RT 15.889; Hexadecanoic acid also known as Palmitic acid with PA% 3.52 and RT 16.543; Methyl linolelaidate with PA% 25.22 and RT 18.247; 9,12,15-Octadecatrien-1-ol with PA% 34.28 and RT 18.353; Stearic acid, methyl ester with PA% 14.18 and RT 18.781. Conclusions: The bioactivity studies showed that H. crepitans bark could be a urinary acidifier, inhibitor of uric acid production, antibacterial, prevents inflammation and vasodilatation. It also showed anti 5HT (Serotonin), anti HIV integrase activity and antidote activity for heavy metals poisoning. We therefore recommend the isolation and synthesis of these bioactive compounds for new drug development.
Documentary sources, even some that appear to be eyewitness accounts of events and processes of interest to archaeologists, must be carefully evaluated. Some are infected by the folklore of the time, and some of this folklore has thus crept into archaeological “knowledge.” Our analysis of arrows and projectile points represents one example where traditional understandings derived from ethnographic sources and contemporary documents should be questioned.
A culture's semantic structure reflects and affects local knowledge (the conceptual structure used to interact with the environment). Archaeological analysis of iconography reflecting folk taxonomies and other aspects of local knowledge will consequently provide insight into many different aspects of past cultures. A methodology for modeling folk taxonomy is introduced. Both Linnaean and folk taxonomies are based on gross morphological traits, creating correspondence between them at the generic-species level. However, differences are likely at higher taxonomic levels and will be portrayed by depictions of "anomalous " taxa at odds with Linnaean taxonomy. Using archaeological context, symbolic associations, and analogy, archaeologists can use these anomalies to determine the underlying semantic connections. We apply this model to Casas Grandes effigies and find that owls, rattlesnakes, coral snakes, and shamans are associated with each other under the semantic domain "night" and are central to Medio period cosmology and leadership.
Pollution of the environment is coeval with mankind. Even early humans polluted the ambient air when they lit fires. The aim of this study is to select some major sources and some different areas of environmental pollution in ancient times. Most information is available from the most developed ancient cultures, namely China, the Roman Empire, and Israel. The most extensive hemispheric air pollution is associated with remarkable lead and copper mining and metallurgical activities in the Roman Empire and China. Household appliances and dishes made of these metals, especially of lead, contributed to their incorporation into the teeth and were conducive to severe illnesses.
abstract. The American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) falls into a category of wild organisms, called “synanthropes,” that have developed an affinity for, or dependency on, human interventions in the landscape. The distribution and numbers of crows in North America east of the Mississippi River have been largely tied to the anthropogenic fragmentation of the forest. As ground feeders, crows need open space for foraging, but they also need trees for nesting and roosting. Conflicts between corvids and people centered on the former's damage to agriculture. Both Native American peoples and Euro-American settlers sought to thwart corvine preference for maize through a series of ingenious measures. After 1950 rural concern about corvine depredations greatly diminished. The appearance of large winter roosts in cities shifted the conflict with crows. Like humans, crows have undergone change, and their synanthropic character can be seen as fundamental to their biogeography.
We report an outbreak of Manchineel dermatitis and ophthalmitis in four students from North America who visited the island of Bequia, West Indies. The exposure resulted from taking shelter during a rain storm under a Manchineel tree. Manchineel exposure and ingestion can lead to severe and even fatal disease.
The American Journal of Gastroenterology is published by Nature Publishing Group (NPG) on behalf of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG). Ranked the #1 clinical journal covering gastroenterology and hepatology*, The American Journal of Gastroenterology (AJG) provides practical and professional support for clinicians dealing with the gastroenterological disorders seen most often in patients. Published with practicing clinicians in mind, the journal aims to be easily accessible, organizing its content by topic, both online and in print. www.amjgastro.com, *2007 Journal Citation Report (Thomson Reuters, 2008)
The paper is a systematic listing and discussion of those plants for which a use is given in La Flesche's Osage dictionary, Buechel's Lakota (Teton Dakota) dictionary, and Densmore's Teton Sioux Music. This constitutes the only systematic treatment of Osage ethnobotany and a supplement to Gilmore's ethnobotanical study of the Lakota and other groups of the eastern Plains.
Lanceolate bifacial points, including one fluted specimen, have been collected from beneath an early Holocene tephra at the
Uptar site, northeastern Siberia. Thus, the technology associated with the well-known Paleoindian tradition was not confined
to the Americas. The Uptar collection does not compare readily with other Beringian complexes and demonstrates that there
is greater diversity in the archaeological record of northeastern Siberia than traditional colonization models imply.