text:
User:Marshallsumter/Keynote lectures (draft)/Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is usually regarded as a period of European history from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West (5th century) to the fall of Constantinople (1453), or, more narrowly, from c. 1100 to 1453.

The apparent Dark Ages lasted from the destruction of the Western Roman Empire until about 500 b2k, or it's the period in western Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire and the high Middle Ages, c. ad 500–1100, during which Germanic tribes swept through Europe and North Africa, often attacking and destroying towns and settlements.

"The latest Roman levels are sealed by deposits of dark coloured loam, commonly called the 'dark earth' (formerly 'black earth'). In the London area the 'dark earth' generally appears as a dark grey, rather silty loam with various inclusions, especially building material. The deposit is usually without stratification and homogeneous in appearance, It can be one meter or more in thickness. [...] The evidence suggests that truncation of late Roman stratification is linked to the process of 'dark earth' formation."

"The sediments in the Thingvellir lake basin have been successfully dated by tephra layers back to ca. AD 900, the time of Nordic Settlement in Iceland."

"Contemporary literature refers directly to tephra fall in the Thingvellir area during the following eruptions [see the X-ray radiographs of the cores on the left]: Katla 1918, 13 October (Sveinsson 1919); Hekla 1766-68, 16 July 1766 (Thörarinsson 1967); Katla 1721, most likely 13 May (Thörarinsson 1955). Tephra fall in adjacent regions is mentioned during the following eruptions: Vatnajokull 1766, 24 July (Thörarinsson 1974); Hekla 1693, sometime between mid February and the end of July (Thörarinsson 1967); Hekla 1510, 25 July or later that summer (Thörarinsson 1967); Hekla 1341, 19 May or later that summer (Thörarinsson 1967)".

"Tephra layers from three historical eruptions, not mentioned in written sources, have been traced into the Thingvellir area, i.e. Katla - 1500, Katla-R from the early 10th century and Vatnaoldur - 900, also named The Settlement Layer (Thörarinsson 1959, 1967, Larsen 1978, 1984a). Neither the year nor the season of deposition are accurately known. In addition, a tephra layer from a subaqueous eruption near Reykjanes in the 13th or 14th century, the Medieval tephra layer, has been traced into the region west of the lake (Olafsson 1983), and the tephra layer from the Eldgjd eruption AD 934 ± 2 has been traced into the region east of the lake."

Theoretical Middle Ages
Def. the "period of primarily European history between the decline of the Western Roman Empire (antiquity) and the early modern period or the Renaissance; the time between c. 500 and 1500" is called the Middle Ages.

Def. the history of "or relating to the Middle Ages, the period from about 500 to about 1500" is called medieval history.

Early history
The early history period dates from around 3,000 to 2,000 b2k.

-10th century
The 10th century BC is equivalent to 3,000 to 2,900 b2k.

On the right is the burial mask for the Pharaoh Psusennes I exhumed from Tomb III at Tanis (Nile delta). The material used is gold (different pieces were assembled using nails). The eyebrows and eye shadows are lapis lazuli. The eyes are glass paste. There is a cobra on the forehead. The ritual beard is braided to symbolize the death of the sovereign. It is kept in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo. Dynasty is the XXI, dated to c. 1039 BC-990 BC.

In the left image is the burial mask for pharaoh Amenemope of the 21st Dynasty of Egypt, dated to 1001 – 992 BC or 993 – 984 BC.

Derrybrusk 2, Co. Femlanagh, is a logboat of Ireland, designated UB-3848, radiocarbon dated to 2912 ± 38 b2k.

-9th century
In 842 BC the Kingdom of Israel and the Phoenician cities sent tributes to Shalmaneser III. The image on the right is from the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III and depicts King Jehu of the Kingdom of Israel bowing before Shalmaneser III of Assyria.

Carthage was founded in 814 BC.

"The recent radiocarbon dates from the earliest levels in Carthage situate the founding of this Tyrian colony in the years 835–800 cal BC,4 which coincides with the dates handed down by Flavius Josephus and Timeus for the founding of the city."

The "dates for the founding of Carthage coincide with dates established for the Phoenician colony of Morro de Mezquitilla, which situate the most ancient occupation levels (Strata B1a and B2) in the years 807–802 cal BC.5"

The "founding of the first Phoenician colonies at the end of the ninth century coincides with the radio-carbon chronology attributed to the most ancient Phoenician imports recorded in the indigenous Portuguese settlements and in the south of Spain, like Acinipo, Alcáçova de Santarem or Cerro de la Mora.7"

Derrybrusk I, Co. Fermanagh, is a logboat of Ireland, designated UB-3846, radiocarbon dated to 2876 ± 34 b2k.

-8th century
This Dipylon Vase on the right is apparently from the late Geometric period, or the beginning of the Archaic period, c. 750 BC (2750 b2k). Prothesis scene is exposure of the dead and mourning.

The low-relief from the L wall of the palace of Sargon II at Dur Sharrukin in Assyria (now Khorsabad in Iraq) is apparently dated to c. 716–713 BC. It is the image on the left.

In the center is an image of the upper portion of a statue of Elissa, Queen of Carthage, apparently from the early 8th century or late ninth century.

"The founding of the Phoenician colony of Toscanos would have come a bit later; its earliest levels (Strata I/II) would date from the years 805–780 cal BC.6"

A logboat of Britain, 126 Short Ferry, designated Q-79, was radiocarbon dated to 2795 ± 100 b2k.

-7th century
Esarhaddon, portrayed on a stone stele, dated after 671 BC on the right, apparently ruled Assyria between 681 – 669 BC.

The black basalt monument of king Esarhaddon on the left narrates Esarhaddon's restoration of Babylon, ca. 670 BCE, from Babylon, Mesopotamia, Iraq, now in The British Museum, London.

A logboat from Britain, 108 Peterborough, designated Q-1564, has been radiocarbon dated to 2610 ± 50 BP or b2k.

-6th century
Croesus, 595 BC – c. 546 BC, was king of Lydia for apparently 14 years: from 560 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 546 BC, or 547 BC. He issued gold-silver alloy coins as on the left.

Based on the pottery shown in the image on the right, Croesus was burned to death.

"Sappho of Eresos" is shown center holding a lyre and plectrum, and turning toward a bearded man with a lyre partially visible on the left.

Logboats from Britain occur in the -6th century: 108 Peterborough, designated Q-3129, radiocarbon dated twice to 2535 ± 40 and 2565 ± 35 BP or b2k, and 14 Blae Tam, designated Q-1497, to 2550 ± 50 BP or b2k.

-5th century
Apparently construction on the Parthenon is dated to have begun in 447 BC (2447 b2k) and was completed in 438 BC (2438 b2k) although decoration continued until 432 BC (2432 b2k).

A logboat from Ireland, Kilraghts, Co. Antrim, designated GrN-14743, has been radiocarbon dated to 2405 ± 20 BP or b2k.

-4th century
The Hellenistic period is between the death of Alexander the Great dated to 323 BC and the Battle of Actium dated to 31 BC and the conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt dated to 30 BC.

The bronze statue imaged on the right is missing the feet, ankles, eyes, part of the crown and the palm branch originally brought in the left hand. The statue is supported by a stainless steel rod inserted in his right leg. It is dated from 340 until 100 BC.

Two logboats from Ireland, 124 Shapwick and 47 Ellesmere, designated Q-357 and Q-1246, have been radiocarbon dated to 2305 ± 120 and 2320 ± 50 BP or b2k, respectively.

-3rd century
"Jastorf (La Tène) culture [3rd to 1st century BC] with bronze and iron technology. Rich building evidence in downtown Bremen."

A logboat from Britain 40 Clifton I, designated Q-1374, has been radiocarbon dated to 2250 ± 45 and 2275 ± 35 BP or b2k.

-2nd century
The Winged Nike of Samothrace is made from Parian marble, ca. 190 BC? and found in Samothrace in 1863 by the archaeological expedition of Charles Champoiseau, 1863 and 1879.

Cleopatra II on the left was involved in the ruling of Egypt apparently from c. 175 BC to until she died in 116 BC.

A logboat, Eskragh, Co. Tyrone, from Ireland, designated GrN-14740, has been radiocarbon dated to 2165 ± 25 BP or b2k.

-1st century
] The "Late La Tène time span [is] between the conquests of 55 BC and 54 BC [2055 and 2054 b2k] under Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) and the time of Christ. In the rare cases where pottery and tableware are attributed to Saxons of the 4th/5th c. AD, "astonishingly La Tène art styles [more than 300 years out of fashion] re-emerge as dominant in the northern and western zone." (Hines 1996, 260)"

"Stamped pottery has had a long and varied history in Britain. There have been periods when it flourished and periods when it almost totally disappeared. This article considers two variations of the rosette motif (A 5) and their fortunes from the late Iron Age to the Early Saxon period. [...] The La Tène ring stamps [which end in the 1st century BC; GH ] are found in a range of designs, from the simple negative ring (= AASPS Classification A 1bi) to four concentric negative rings (= AASPS A 2di). These motifs are also found in the early Roman period [1st century AD; GH]. [...] The 'dot rosettes' (= AASPS A 9di) on bowls from the [Late Latène] Hunsbury hill-fort (Fell 1937) use the same sort of technique as the dimple decoration on 4th-century 'Romano-Saxon' wares."

In "Šarnjaka kod Šemovca (Dalmatia/Croatia), e.g., contain 700-year-older La Tène and Imperial period items (1st century BC to 3rd century AD) [...]:"

"A large dugout house (SU 9) was discovered in the course of the investigation in 2006. Its dimensions are 4.8 by 2.1 metres, with a depth of 34 centimetres, and an east-west orientation, deviating slightly along the NE-SW line. It contained numerous sherds of Early Medieval pottery, two fragments of glass, and a small iron spike. Three sherds of Roman pottery [1st-3rd c. CE; GH] and ten sherds of La Tène pottery [ending 1st c. BCE; GH] were also recovered from the house."

"The contemporaneity of Rome’s Imperial period textbook-dated to the 1st-3rd century AD with the Early Middle Ages (8th-10th century AD) is also confirmed for Poland [in the stratigraphic table above]. There, too, Late Latène (conventionally ending 1st c. BC) immediately precedes the Early Medieval period of the 8th-10th c. CE."

"In [the Roman Empire] capital cities, Rome and Constantinople (Heinsohn 2016) [they] build residential quarters, streets, latrines, aqueducts, ports etc. only in one of the three periods—Imperial Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and Early Middle Ages—dated between 1 and 930s AD. In Rome, they are assigned to Imperial Antiquity (1st-3rd c.); in Constantinople, to Late Antiquity (4th-6th c.)."

"Roman churches of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages [...] would suffice to confirm the existence of these two periods. The churches are there. However, we never find churches of the 8th or 9th century superimposed on churches of the 4th or 5th century that, in turn, are superimposed on pagan basilicas of the 1st or 2nd century. They all share the same stratigraphic level of the 1st and 2nd/early 3rd century. Moreover, the ground plans of the 4th/5th—as well as the 8th/9th—century churches slavishly repeat the ground plans of 1st/2nd century basilicas, as already pointed out 75 years ago by Richard Krautheimer (1897-1994). It is this period of Imperial Antiquity (with its internal evolution from the 1st to 3rd centuries) that alone builds the residential quarters, latrines, streets, and aqueducts so desperately looked for in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Thus, Rome does not have more stratigraphy for the first millennium AD than England or Poland."

"Germanic tribes, not only Anglo-Saxons and Frisians but also Franks, had been competing with Rome for the conquest of the British Isles since the 1st century BC".

"1st century BC "Astonishingly LA TÈNE art styles" (Hines 1996) dominate pottery of SAXONS [and] Powerful LA TÈNE Celts with King Aththe-Domarous of Camulodunum [is the] greatest ruler."

"Saxons begin their attack on Britain as early as the 1st century BC. They compete with the Romans, who may have employed Germanic Franks as auxiliary forces. The Saxons invade from the East, i.e., from the German Bight."

From "the stratigraphy of the Saxon homeland, located around Bremen/Weser inside today’s Lower Saxony [it] is mainly inhabited by Chauci and Bructeri [...] Saxon tribes that are [...] at war with the Romans in the time of Augustus (31 BC-14 AD) and Aththe-Domaros of Camulodunum (Aθθe-Domaros, also read as Addedom-Arus; c. 15-5 BC)."

On the right is an Indian-standard coin of King Maues. On the obverse is a rejoicing elephant holding a wreath, a symbol of victory. The Greek legend reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΜΑΥΟΥ (Great King of Kings Maues). The reverse shows the seated king Maues. Kharoshthi legend: RAJATIRAJASA MAHATASA MOASA (Great King of Kings Maues).

Gortgill, Co. Antrim, is the location of a logboat from Ireland, designated UB-268I, radiocarbon dated to 2060 ± 60 BP or b2k.

Classical history
The classical history period dates from around 2,000 to 1,000 b2k.

Classical antiquity may be from the earliest poetry of Homer (8th–7th century BC) to the Early Middle Ages (600–1000).

"There is absolutely no justification for believing there to have been a historical figure of the fifth or sixth century named Arthur who is the basis for all later legends. / There is, at present, no cogent reason to think that there was a historical post-Roman Arthur."

Imperial Antiquity
Imperial Antiquity lasts from 2,000 to 1,700 b2k.

In Felix Romuliana, "the construction [...] is [...] Imperial Antique (1st-3rd c.), and sometimes even late Hellenistic, [in] appearance."

"Felix Romuliana is regarded as an ideal embodiment of a purely Late Antique (4th-6th c.) city in the Roman province of Moesia (today's Gamzigrad in Serbia), because in the earlier Imperial Antiquity of the 1st to early 3rd centuries there appears to be simply nothing at all in that splendid urban space erected around 305 CE for Emperor Galerius (293-311 CE)."

"Felix Romuliana [was] erected around 305 CE for Emperor Galerius (293-311 CE)."

"Felix Romuliana can boast a rich urban history up to the end of the 1st c. BCE"

It "has “a long settlement continuity from the Neolithic period over the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, the Late Antiquity into the Middle Ages”2 (DAIST 2013, see already Petkovic 2011a, 40)."

Between "1 and 1,000 CE there are only some 300 years with building strata in Felix Romuliana."

"Just between the 1st and 3rd c. CE the city’s evolution is totally and mysteriously stalled."

"Only during the Late Antique period (3rd to 6th c.), which appears to emerge out of thin air, does evolution pick up again with “different construction and expansion phases”3 (DAIST 2013). Since the German-Serbian excavations (2004 to 2012), one even knows “the localization of a necropolis belonging to the palace and its succession of settlements [up to the 6th c.], whose evidently dense occupation indicates a large population”4 (DAIST 2013)."

"For the more than 400 years between the late 6th and early 11th centuries, there was, however, no building evolution in the emergency accommodations. There are no archeological remains for some 400 years of use. There is substantial evidence for only a few decades, or even less. Those 400 years were written into the excavation report to meet a textbook chronology that is not understood but deeply venerated."

"Imperial Antiquity [apparently] did not leave any buildings [in Felix Romuliana] between Augustus (31 BCE - 14 CE) and Severus Alexander (222-235 CE)."

"Since Marcus Licinius Crassus (consul in 30 BCE) had already conquered Moesia in 29 BCE, it remains an enigma why suddenly the fertile area of Felix Romuliana, which had been in full use since the Neolithic period, was suddenly abandoned."

"Galerius’s Late Antique palace complex in Felix Romuliana was built by Legio V Macedonica (the bull and eagle were its symbol), a Roman legion that had been set up in 43 BCE by Octavian and Consul Gaius Vibius Panza Caetronianus (who fell in 43 BCE against Mark Antony)."

"It is indisputable that in 6 CE the legion was in the province of Moesia, with sufficient time to build something. It is also known that right there, in 33/34 CE (now under Emperor Tiberius), the legion did road-construction along the Danube (Clauss EDCS, 1649)."

"The Legio V Macedonica also participates in the construction of the gigantic Danube Bridge (1135 m; 103-105 CE) under Emperor Trajan (98-117). All this happens in close vicinity of Felix Romuliana, where the legion supposedly did not work before the 3rd/4th c. CE."

"Also, for around a quarter of a millennium (1st-3rd c. CE), there are no Aeolian layers in Felix Romuliana with vegetation or small animal remains, etc., which are to be expected if a city lies fallow for such a long time."

"Felix Romuliana still amazes [...] by its absence of Christian traces, despite its cultural proximity to the Greek part of the empire where Christianity had been in full development since the 1st c. CE. During the governorship (111-113 CE) of Pliny the Younger (61/61-113 CE) in Pontus-Bithynia, Christianity was, e.g., no longer stoppable. It had “spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms” of Asia Minor (Pliny: Letters 10:96)."

"[Roman sites and buildings dated to Britain’s Late Antiquity, i.e., to the 5th/6th century AD] never have 1st-3rd century building strata with streets, residential quarters, latrines, aqueducts etc. that are—after the Crisis of the Third Century—built over by new streets, residential quarters, latrines, aqueducts etc. reflecting new styles and technologies. At best, there are alterations of 1st-3rd c. structures that retain the style of the 1st-3rd century AD. An example may be provided by the small basilica in the 2nd century forum of Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) that is currently dated 5th/6th c. but stylistically would perfectly fit the late 2nd early 3rd century AD. The situation is comparable for pottery dated to Late Antiquity that cannot be tied to settlements. E.g., a "small later Roman pottery assemblage" from Mucking is dated "to a period without major occupation" (Lucy 2016)."

"From a stratigraphic viewpoint there is nothing wrong with the term "Saxon date," if Saxons and Romans lived side by side from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD. Since archaeologically this period is contingent with the High Middle Ages of the 10th century AD—there are no building strata with residential quarters etc. in between—, its dates cannot help but move into the 7th to 10th century AD time span."

1st century
On the left is a Roman fresca of Venus standing on a quadriga of elephants from the Officina di Verecundus (IX 7, 5) in Pompeii, first century.

"[1st century AD] Saxon Chauci create rich building evidence. 50 m long houses (three aisles) with integrated stables are found all over the city and many suburbs; blacksmith shops; charcoal kiln technology etc."

"A succession of fires allowed the preservation of all the elements in place, when the inhabitants ran away from the catatrophe, transforming the area into a real little Pompei of Vienne [image on the right]."

"The fire brought the top floor, the roof and the terrasse of a sumptuous dwelling to collapse, both caved in floors being preserved, with the furniture left in place. The house, dating from the the second half of the first century and surrounded by gardens, was baptised "House of the Bacchae" because of a mosaic with a cortege of bacchae surrounding a Bacchus."

"With many others, a superb mosaic preserved in its near-totality in the "House of Thalia and Pan" has been lifted with much precaution earlier this week, to be restored at the ateliers of the gallo-roman museum of Saint-Romain-en-Gal."

"The Roman city of Vienne, in Southeast France, was at a crossroads of communications, between the Rhône River and the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis, on a "highway" connecting Lyon, the capital of Gaul, to the city of Arles. Another axis of circulation had most probably preceded it and the excavations «provide also an exceptional opportunity to analyze the anterior states of the Roman road of Gallia Narbonensis, or Transalpine Gaul, "one of the most important of this time.""

"Besides the two luxurious houses, the neighborhood included shops dedicated to metalwork, food stores and other artisanal production; a warehouse full of jugs for wine; and a hydraulic network that allows for cleaning and drainage. The neighborhood appeared to be built around a market square, apparently the largest of its kind to be discovered in France."

A logboat from Britain 7 Baddiley Mere designated Q-1496 has been radiocarbon dated to 1980 ± 50 BP or b2k.

2nd century
"[2nd/3rd century AD] Ptolemy’s PHA-BIRABON is identified with Bremen though there are other candidates, too. Rich evidence for Roman period. Settlements of 1st century are continued."

The last known celestial globe shown at the right dates from 1850 to 1780 b2k. The constellation illustrations from the Mainz celestial globe are shown at the left.

"After Octavian/Augustus (31 BCE – 14 CE) had, in 30 BCE, turned Egypt into an imperial province of the Roman Empire, Memphis continued to thrive. Suetonius (69-122) writes about the city in his Life of Titus (part XI of The Twelve Caesars)."

A 2nd-century sculpture on the right perhaps shows Phosphorus (the Morning star) and Hesperus (the Evening star) on either side of the Moon (Selene or Luna).

A logboat from Ireland Crevinish Bay l, Co. Femlanagh, designated HAR-1969, has been radiocarbon dated to 1860 ± 70 BP or b2k.

3rd century
In the late imperial antiquity map on the right, provincial boundaries (dashed red lines) are approximate and, in many places, very uncertain.

"Many [British] building sequences appear to terminate in the 2nd and 3rd centuries [1900-1700 b2k]. [...] The latest Roman levels are sealed by deposits of dark coloured loam, commonly called the 'dark earth' (formerly 'black earth'). In the London area the 'dark earth' generally appears as a dark grey, rather silty loam with various inclusions, especially building material. The deposit is usually without stratification and homogeneous in appearance, It can be one meter or more in thickness. [...] The evidence suggests that truncation of late Roman stratification is linked to the process of 'dark earth' formation."

“Parts [of Londinium] / were already covered by a horizon of dark silts (often described as 'dark earth') / Land was converted to arable and pastoral use or abandoned entirely. The dark earth may have started forming in the 3rd century."

A logboat from Britain 168 Wisley designated Q-1399 has been radiocarbon dated to 1780 ± 45 BP or b2k.

Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages date from around 1,700 to 1,000 b2k.

At left is an attempt to correlate the change in 14C with time before 1950. The different data sets are shown with different colored third order polynomial fits to each data set.

"The Δ14C values in a chronology can clearly be used to identify catastrophic gaps and catastrophic rises in carbon-14."

The first four gaps have a jump up in 14C with a fairly quick return to the calibration curve shown in the figure on the right. However, from about 2000 b2k there is a steady rise in the Δ14C values.

4th century
"Recent archaeological excavations have focused on the late fourth and fifth centuries. The discovery of two young adult skeletons in a burial pit in the courtyard of the commander's house have been dated to the early fifth century. The bodies were not buried immediately after their deaths but were left [...] for animals to prey upon before they were thrown into the burial pit. The bodies of the young man and young woman have been radiocarbon dated to 140-430 AD cal. and 340-660 AD. Archaeologists believe that the commander's house was already in ruins at the time of their deaths, and the burial in the pit suggests the Roman community was no longer present at Arebia. The end of the occupation can be tentatively dated by two coins dated to AD 388-402 found on the floor of the commander's house. These coins are the latest Roman coins to be found anywhere along the northern Roman defenses. This last period of Roman occupation was active, with the fort's garrison and defenses consistently maintained. The fortress was remodeled or repaired in the same period since another coin dating to 388-402 was found in the resurfaced road of the rebuilt west gate. This combined data suggests that the fortress was occupied by the Romans until the end of the fourth century and that the end came rapidly."

A logboat from Ireland, Drummans Lower, Co. Leitrim, designated GrN-18756 has been radiocarbon dated to 1630 ± 30 BP or b2k.

5th century
"The Saxons tended to avoid Roman sites possibly because they used different farming methods."

"[We] learn from Prof. Fleming [2016] that Roman conquerors introduced many — perhaps as many as 50 — new and valuable food plants and animals (such as the donkey) to its province of Britannia, where these crops were successfully cultivated for some 300 years. Among the foodstuffs that Roman civilization brought to Britain are walnuts, carrots, broad beans, grapes, beets, cabbage, leeks, turnips, parsnips, cucumbers, cherries, plums, peaches, almonds, chestnuts, pears, lettuce, celery, white mustard, mint, einkorn, millet, and many more. These valuable plants took root in Britain and so did Roman horticulture. British gardens produced a bounty of tasty and nourishing foods. [...] Following the collapse of Roman rule after 400 AD, almost all of these food plants vanished from Britain, as did Roman horticulture itself. Post-Roman Britons [...] suddenly went from gardening to foraging. Even Roman water mills vanished from British streams. But similar mills came back in large numbers in the 10th and 11th centuries, along with Roman food plants and farming techniques."

"Wat's Dyke has recently been redated to the fifth century. The dyke runs parallel to the eighth-century Offa's Dyke in the Welsh Marches. This area marked the border between the British kingdom of Powys and Mercia in medieval times. Excavations at Maes-y-Clawdd near Oswestry have discovered a site along the dyke that contained the remains of a small fire and Roman-British pottery.  The charcoal from the fire had been radiocarbon dated to AD 411-561. It has been suggested that the dyke was associated with the Romano-British kingdom based on the city of Wroxter."

A logboat from Ireland Strabane, Co. Derry, has been dendrodated to 431 AD and radiocarbon dated 1610 BP or b2k.

Another Oxford Island, Co. Amlagh (Kinnegoe), has been dendrodated to 492 AD and radiocarbon dated 1590 BP or b2k.

6th century
"AMS [Accelerator mass spectrometry] 14C dating [summarized on the left] indicates that the age [of Can Ferrerons, a Roman octagonal building in Premià de Mar, Barcelona, with an image of the Tepidarium on the right] is between CE 420–540, at 95.4% confidence level."

A logboat from Ireland West Ward I, Co. Tyrone, designated GrN-16863, has been radiocarbon dated to 1440 ± 30 BP or b2k.

7th century
"There is absolutely no justification for believing there to have been a historical figure of the fifth or sixth century named Arthur who is the basis for all later legends. / There is, at present, no cogent reason to think that there was a historical post-Roman Arthur."

"The reputed remains of St. Chad, enshrined at St. Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham, have been put to the scientific test by radiocarbon dating and skeletal analysis. Only six bones from at least two individuals remained in the reliquary. Five of the six bones have been dated by radiocarbon dating to the 7th century. This date for the bones likely means that one of the at least two 7th century individuals in the reliquary is St. Chad."

"St. Chad and St. Cedd were two Anglian brothers who were among the original twelve students chosen for instruction by St. Aidan of Lindisfarne. In 658, he was sent by Bishop Finian of Lindisfarne to Mercia as a missionary. He became Bishop of the East Saxons and later in 669 of Mercia. He died on March 2, 672 and was buried in Lichfield, Mercia."

"The fact that all the bones date to the 7th century likely means that they have been held together for centuries, perhaps being mixed from bones in cemetery where he was initially interred or, as attested by Bede, in the first movement of his bones to a new church in c. 700. The bones are all leg bones with three bones being dated to the mid 6th to late 7th century and the remaining two bones to the early 7th to mid-8th century by Radiocarbon analysis."

"In 1996, the Isle of May yielded the earliest known Christian church on the east coast of Scotland. Current estimates date the church to the ninth century. The church is similar in size and style to those found in western Scotland and in Ireland in the seventh to tenth century."

"The church was built into the side of a mass burial mound which contains mostly early medieval graves. [...] The burial mound contains hundreds of graves in a 30 m x 20 m space. The latest burials were found in stone cists but most of the earlier graves were separated only by a layer of rocks. [Radiocarbon] dating of the remaining skeletons produced dates from the seventh to the tenth century."

8th century
The Dunhuang map from the Tang Dynasty of the North Polar region at right is thought to date from the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang (705–710). Constellations of the three schools are distinguished with different colors: white, black and yellow for stars of Wu Xian, Gan De and Shi Shen respectively. The whole set of star maps contains 1,300 stars.

The Dunhuang Star Atlas, the last section of manuscript Or.8210/S.3326. It is "the oldest manuscript star atlas known today from any civilisation, probably dating from around AD 700. It shows a complete representation of the Chinese sky in 13 charts with over 1300 stars named and accurately presented."

"The Dunhuang Star Atlas [above center] forms the second part of a longer scroll (Or.8210/S.3326) that measures 210 cm long by 24.4 cm wide and is made of fine paper in thirteen separate panels."

"The first part of the scroll is a manual for divination based on the shape of clouds. The twelve charts showing different sections of the sky follow these. The stars are named and there is also explanatory text. The final chart is of the north-polar region. The chart is detailed, showing a total of 1345 stars in 257 clearly marked and named asterisms, or constellations, including all twenty-eight mansions."

"The importance of the chart lies in both its accuracy and graphic quality. The chart includes both bright and faint stars, visible to the naked eye from north central China".

"There is no doubt about Early Medieval artifacts from the [Krakus] mound [in the second image down on the right] belonging to the 8th century, i.e. the date that was settled upon by dendrochronology."

"The Archaeological Museum of Kraków (Poland) is to be commended for its chronological honesty. Though its curators do not deviate from chronological dogma, they refuse to report settlement strata that cannot be found in the city’s ground. Therefore, their exhibits for the 1st millennium AD jump from the 2nd right into the 9th century AD, with nothing to show for the 700 years in between."

"Mound Krakus (apart from Lusatian and pre-Roman items) also revealed artifacts of the Przeworsk Culture (Buko 2011, 163), which peaked from the 1st c. BC to the 2nd c. AD. The situation is repeated at Aleksandrowice, some 70 km southwest of Kraków, where many Przeworsk artifacts were excavated (Makiewicz 2002, 106-113, 120). Thus, the Kraków area was well settled and active in the time of Imperial Rome."

"Dates for the Przeworsk Culture in more recent textbooks may be stretched up to the 5th or even 6th c. AD. However, there are no 5th c. Przeworsk settlement strata superimposed on 2nd century Przeworsk settlement strata. The additional three centuries are derived from dates found in coin catalogues. Thus, there is no Przeworsk building evolution over six centuries anywhere. Therefore, Ukraine’s Kiev Culture –– with striking 1st-3rd c. Przeworsk features, too –– that is dated from the 3rd/4th to the 5th/6th century has no strata for the 1st-3rd century but a plain blank (cf. Heinsohn 2015). Thus, for Przeworsk it is either 1st-3rd substance plus a 300 year blank or a 300 year blank plus 4th-6th c. substance but never the two periods on top of each other. Moreover, there are no 8th-10th c. Slavic tribal centers (matching the dendrochronological date of the Krakus Mound) superimposed on Przeworsk settlement strata dated to the 2nd or the 5th century. Therefore, it cannot come as a surprise that Przeworzk material and Early Medieval material, i.e. 2nd and 9th c. material, was mixed together in the Krakus Mound (Buko 2011, 163)."

"This enormous time span is confirmed by two other mounds in Lesser Poland, located close to Sandomierz, where the mix of 700 year apart artifacts can be dated to Imperial Rome (1st c. AD) and the Early Middle Ages (Buko 2011, 166). There can be no doubt about blossoming cultures in Lesser Poland during the 1st-3rd century of Imperial Antiquity."

"The first set of [Roman coins at] Jerzmanowice was discovered in autumn 2005. There were more than 110 denarii, only 8 of them were recorded (from Vespasianus [69-79 AD] to Septimius Severus [193-211 AD]). In spring 2006, the second hoard in Jerzmanowice was dug up (less than 100 meters from the place, where the first set had been found). Until summer 2006, Roman denarii in the number of 78 (from Hadrian [117-138 AD] to Septimius Severus [193-211 AD]) were discovered there" (Dymovski 2007, English abstract).

“Though Mound Krakus of the 8th century ff. is labeled as the “oldest man-made structure in Kraków” the same area has villages blossoming 700 years earlier in the 1st and 2nd centuries that are confirmed by the coin finds of Jerzmanowice, 21 km northwest of Kraków. How, then, is it possible that Kraków’s Castle Hill, the very heart of the city, has to wait for some 700 years to start its role as the future capital of Poland? After all, small finds from the hill also stretch from Imperial Rome, a coin of Emperor Titus (69-81 AD; i.e Przeworsk period) to the Early Middle Ages with a Carolingian belt buckle from the 8th/9th c. Slavic Vistulans (Wiślanie) period (Wawel.Kraków)."

"Late Latène Period whose artifacts are evolutionary continued not only in Przeworsk but also in Early Medieval Tribal Center sites. Stratigraphically, Late Latène immediately precedes Polish Tribal Centers as well as Przeworsk strata, Therefore, Late Latène people must be the Slavic predecessors of 1st c. Przeworskers as well as of 8th c. Poles, making the former Poles, too."

"The situation of a 700-year-gap between Slavs of the 8th century and possible predecessors at their sites is repeated on Poland’s Baltic coast where, e.g., at the 8th/9th Slavic hill fort of Sopot 700 year earlier Roman coins from the 1st/2nd century (Trajan [98- 117 AD] and Antoninus Pius [138-161]) have been found (Sopot 2001). In 8th-10th c. Viking Truso (Jagodziński 2010) coins of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius (161-180) have been excavated (Bogucki 2012, 41 f.). Both sites have no strata for the time between 1 and 700 AD. Therefore, the coins cannot be heirlooms handed from parents to children over many centuries."

"In and around Sopot, altogether 41 sites have been surveyed that jump from the end of Late Latène/Iron Age (1st c. BC) right into Slavic sites of the Early Middle Ages with nothing to show for the 700 years in between (Sopot 2001). Yet, there is hardly any evolution of art over this enormous time span. This is well known because of “analogies observable in the Roman period [1st-3rd c.] and medieval pottery [8th-10th c.]“ (Wołoszyn 2012 after Makiewicz 2005)."

"Whereas written sources referring to Slavs on the Baltic coast are divided over three different periods, Imperial Antiquity (1st-3rd c.), Late Antiquity (4th-6th/7th c.), and the Early Middle Ages (7th/8th-10th c.), archaeology can only confirm the Slavic Tribal Centers of the Early Middle Ages. Thus, the 1st-3rd c. VENEDI-Slavs (Pliny the Elder; Tacitus, and Ptolemy) as well as the 4th-6th c. VENETHI-Slavs (Jordanes) are none other than the 8th-10th c. WEONOD-Slavs (from Alfred the Great’s Voyage of Wulfstan). What was anti-stratigraphically put into a chronological sequence returns back to its archeological contemporaneity."

"The devastation of Rome in the 3rd c. is contemporary with the fires that annihilate the second stage of Wawel’s Early Medieval fortifications at the beginning of the 10th century."

In 1978 radiocarbon dating of Roman Empire piles in England such as the one at left were dated conclusively to AD 684 to 702.

"The Strood causeway to Mersea Island was thought to be Roman, built in the 1st c. AD. It leads to Mersea’s Roman burial mound (barrow) where a typical Roman lead covered box with a no less typical Roman glass urn (tentatively dated between 100 and 120 AD) was retrieved [in the image on the page top left]. Oak piles in typical Roman cut were discovered in 1978. Up to the 1980s it was never doubted that the dam was built by Romans in the 1st c. AD to reach their settlements on the Island."

"Scientific dating methods have been applied to some substantial oak piles discovered beneath the Strood in 1978, when a water-main was being laid. They indicate that the structure was probably built between A.D. 684 and 702. The piles were discovered at the south end of the causeway where the trench was at its deepest—they were about 1.6m below the present ground level and were sealed by a series of road surfaces. Seven piles were recovered and samples were submitted to Harwell laboratory for radiocarbon dating to get a rough idea of the date. Samples from four of the piles were sent to the University of Sheffield for tree ring dating (dendrochronology). The remaining three piles are now in the Colchester and Essex Museum. The dating of the construction to AD 684 to 702 was regarded as conclusive."

"Until 1978 it was thought the causeway had been in use since Roman Times. However radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology of the original foundation timbers gave a felling date of about the year 690. The site of the original Roman road has yet to be determined. The Strood regularly floods especially during spring tides."

"From Ireland to the Black Sea, the winter of 763–64 was so extreme that the normally laconic historical and other records of the mid-eighth century refer abundantly to it and offer exceptional details about it and its consequences. The Irish annalistic tradition records that terrible winter as “a great snowfall which lasted almost three months.”29"

"At 66 ppb, the spike in the GISP2 sulfate deposit on Greenland dated 767 is the highest recorded for the eighth century [in the bottom image on the right] and shows that this terrible winter in Europe and western Asia was connected with a volcanic aerosol that left marked traces on Greenland."

9th century
"Three hundred years [prior to 829 AD, 1171 b2k], it would seem, have left almost no trace in the ground. Truly, it would appear, that these years were indeed dark. Not only did men forget how to build in stone, they seem to have lost the capacity even of creating pottery; and the centuries in England that are generally designated Anglo-Saxon have left little or nothing even in this necessary domestic art. Pottery making does appear again in the tenth century."

"An important British settlement has been found at Llanbedrgoch, Anglesey [...]. Structures have been found dating to the 10th, 8th-9th, and 7th century. The settlement is believed to have been a working farm which also produced goods for export. It included coexisting timber halls and round wattle houses. The 10th century structures are in the Viking style but it is unclear if it was built by Vikings or Britons influenced by Viking culture."

"The excavations discovered numerous foreign goods. A seventh century bird headed Saxon brooch similar to Northumbrian brooches was found at the settlement. The brooch could have been dropped during Edwin's raid on Angelsey in c. 630 or arrived as booty from Cadwallon's raids and occupation of Northumbria from 633-634. The 8th-9th century ring ditch was dated to the early 9th century by radiocarbon analysis and a Northumbrian coin. A large timber hall is also believed to date from the same period.  The 10th century settlement revealed fragments of silver arm bands, leather working tools, hack silver, pottery, coins, and a Viking style whetstone linking the settlement with Hiberno-Norse society."

"Wales fared the Viking years better than most northern regions. The Viking impact on Wales was limited to occasional raids, trading, isolated settlers and perhaps intermarriage with the Welsh but large territories were not lost to the Vikings. Further there is no archaeological evidence that the Vikings established major outposts in Wales."

The "apogee of this settlement occurred in the second half of the 9th and during the 10th century, when the interior contained rectangular long-houses and halls. . . . These developments must be linked to changes in the political and economic fortunes of the area and contact with the trading networks of the Hiberno-Norse world. The archaeological evidence from North Wales thus suggests the existence of pockets of strong contact between the Welsh and Vikings of Dublin and Man, with the adoption of some Viking fashions."

"During the summer, three skeletons were discovered in a roughly built burial pit on the site. Last year, two other skeletons had been discovered in the same burial group. The five skeletons represented three adults, as yet unsexed, and two infants, all dumped in a shallow grave located in a ditch outside the defensive wall of the settlement. The presence of the infants and the disordered array of the bodies suggests they were members of the settlement who were not buried by their families but rather by raiders or invaders. At least one of the victims appears to have had his hands tied behind his back at the time of his death. The adults, ranging in age from 25-35, do not show signs of violent deaths but Redknap suggests that their throats may have been slit, which would not leave a mark on the skeletal remains. The bodies have been radiocarbon dated to 770-950, a timespan that includes the Viking raiding period that began in the 850s. It is being suggested that the Vikings temporarily captured the settlement after a raid. This complicates the analysis of Viking-style artifacts dated to the tenth century found at the site."

"In the Greenland ice-core layers dated to “822 and 823,” GISP2 offers a peak reading of 83 ppb of SO4, the highest sulfate deposit of the ninth century. Because those layers fall within the 2.5 year chronological resolution of the individual strata, they must be considered as reflecting the same event. Even more significantly, a second sulfate peak at 62 ppb occurs in the GISP2 ice layer assigned to “827,” demonstrating that the volcanic aerosol was a multiyear phenomenon [image in 8th century section]. Conceivably, but not necessarily, the entire sequence from 820 to 824 could represent the fluctuations in one long period of some volcano’s activity. In other words, not only is the short interval since the preceding volcanic event and its correlate in the written sources correct within the margin of error of the GISP2 dating at this depth, but so, too, is its duration as a phenomenon of multiple events approximately spanning four years, with a decline in the middle."

"Two remarkably cold winters struck Europe over the period 855–60. Reports from both France and Ireland document the cold and dry winter of 855–56. The winter of 859–60 appears to have been much harsher still, affecting France, Germany, and northern Italy in extreme fashion. The description of celestial phenomena that are consistent with volcanic aerosols in the atmosphere reinforces the link of the 859–60 winter with a volcanic eruption.53"

"Comparison with sulfate sediments in GISP2 strongly suggests that both cold winters reflect volcanic emissions, conceivably, but not necessarily, from one long period of some volcano’s activity [image in the 8th century section]. The ice core provides a strong parallel, with a 68 ppb peak in SO4 in the layer dated to “854” and continuing with a high SO4 level at a maximum of 55 ppb in the layers assigned to “856” and “858.” Because those layers fall within the chronological resolution of individual strata, we consider them as reflecting the same event. Both the historical and glaciochemical records indicate multiyear phenomena."

"An exceptionally long and hard winter [occurred] in western Europe in 873–74 and possibly in Spain and North Africa [...] For “876” GISP2 shows a very steep peak to 70 ppb in SO4 sediment [image at lowest right in 8th century section], signaling a volcanic aerosol deposit on Greenland; the date falls within the ± 2.5 years bracket. In this case, then, the precision of the written sources works to fix the less precise GISP2 chronology."


text:
Middle Ages/Dark Ages

This is a paper I wrote for a class on the topic of, "Why the Dark Ages Weren't Dark". Though most of the material present happened during what scholars call the Dark Ages, some parts of the paper refer to the later parts which may or not be within the Dark Ages time span.

Were the Dark Ages Dark?

 * Were the Dark Ages Dark
 * by Gabriel Spiro
 * Prepared for Dr. Kurt Borkman
 * HS 151 – CRN:

The period of time between the fall of Rome and the Scientific Revolution is known as the Middle Ages, or more commonly, the Dark Ages (Barber 4). For many people, images of barbarians running around and helpless maidens being swept off their feet by fearless crusaders has become the stereotype of this period. In fact, Capital One has starred ruthless barbarians in their commercials, and in one of the commercials, the lead barbarian says, “life was good in the dark ages.” Life was getting better in the Middle Ages; the advances in technology, education, and government made the lives of the peasants better each century and it laid the ground work for later revolutions and scientific advances. If it wasn’t for the Medieval Age, Europe and a good part of the world would look very different.

Technological advances
One of the major reasons that the Dark Ages were not dark was through the technological advances. Although many influential inventions that affect us today come from the Industrial Revolution, a number of medieval inventors are responsible for many foundational inventions. Lucas says that many historians cite a number of important,

Mechanical innovations such as the cam, crank, and clockwork; administrative innovations such as double-entry bookkeeping, annual accounts, and audits; and agricultural innovations such as the horse harness, heavy plow, and three-field crop rotation. The effects of these technological changes were so profound, they argued, that a revolution in social and economic conditions took place in the second half of the Middle Ages. The most compelling evidence for a medieval technological revolution was, however, the rapid growth in the use of non-human sources of power from the tenth or eleventh century onward (3). Indeed the Dark Ages were not dark, through the invention of moveable type by Guttenberg, the introduction of the stirrups in Europe, the rise of Gothic architecture in Europe, and the widespread of crop rotation in medieval farming. Medieval Europe didn’t use all of its new inventions correctly, like gunpowder in battle, and the Renaissance scholars would overlook them; but they became foundational to modern Europe.

Barber says in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to European History that Luther’s attempts to debate the Catholic church wouldn’t have been as effective if it wasn’t for Guttenberg’s printing press (50). The printing press was not a new invention - it had been around for centuries - but it had limitations. Printing presses of that time used a solid block of wood or metal that reflected an entire sheet to be printed and discarded after use. Guttenberg was able to enhance the block printing with the moveable type. Now, printers would be able to make books for a lot less because they could reuse their printing blocks. This revolutionized the industry and allowed printers to publish more documents without the worry about wasting precious time creating the printing blocks.

Another influential invention that had actually been around quite some time was the stirrup. White says in Medieval Technology and Social Change, “Before the introduction of the stirrup, the seat of the rider was precarious. Bit and spur might help him control his mount; the simple saddle might confirm his seat… the stirrup made possible … a vastly more effective mode of attack” (1-2). Before the invention of the stirrup, knights were hindered in their movement on horseback. The stirrup, according to the Wikipedia, was “invented by the steppe nomads in what is today Mongolia and northern China in the 4th century and transmitted west. [It] Appeared in Byzantium in the 6th, in the Carolingian Empire in the 8th century. [The stirrup] Allowed [the] mounted knight to wield and strike from a distance with a lance, leading to a great advantage for mounted cavalry” (Medieval Technology). Cantor in The Civilization of the Middle Ages says that, “some historians have said that the stirrup made possible the emergence of the knights who were able to stand up in the stirrups and tilt a lance against his adversary… [and] the innovations in the control of horsepower were mainly used in improving transportation in [the] tenth-century” (228). Now medieval wars were fought with knights on horseback and this allowed the knights who were previously limited by their heavy armor could now become more mobile. This ushered in a new form of strategic fighting where a knight could move from each flank encouraging soldiers and fighting enemies at different points instead of being locked into only one spot due to their armor. At the home front, there were developments in how the spoils of war were being used.

Gothic architecture
Davies says, “Late medieval church style, which the nineteenth century was to dub ‘Gothic’, is widely thought to be essentially aesthetic in inspiration – soaring, as it were, toward Heaven” (440). Cantor agrees by discussing how the humanistic learning in the northern monastic schools brought more ‘non-platonic’ expressions of the human mind to light. “These other approaches helped make the intellectual expression of the twelfth century a more comprehensive and complex movement, affecting all important aspects of higher culture, and helped increase the variety and magnitude of the problems with which later generations of medieval thinkers had to deal” (321). Though many scholars would later try to deface the gothic style as being evil, it was meant to inspire worshipers to connect with their God in a new way. However, the real question is whether or not something grotesque is good or not. Should man look to what is evil and then emulate it in his architecture and especially church buildings, which happened to be the main building programs during this time. Fraser in The Dark Ages & the Age of Gold says, "Medieval man does not select and exclude, like man in the Renaissance. He is more accommodating and opportunistic. The opportunism that defines him is commended, not surprisingly, by Shakespeare, who is supreme opportunistic: There is some soul of goodness in things evil, would men observingly distill it out. (Fraser 185)"

Gothic architecture helped improve man’s creative mind because he wasn’t confined by the old Roman and Greek aesthetic, now they were allowed to show life how they believed it to be. Therefore, during the Black Death, many artisans reflected the ‘darkness’ of this time through their art. As more and more people became artisans, there was a increase in the need to feed these people. It’s around this time that medieval farmers start to widely implement crop-rotation.

Agriculture
The Dictionary of the Middle Ages describes how Crop-rotation took place.

"One field was left fallow, and merely plowed to put the weeds under the soil. A second, in the old style, was planted with grain in late autumn, and the harvest came in the late spring or early summer. The third field--which was the novelty--was planted with oats, barley, peas, or broad beans in the spring and reaped in the autumn. In the second year of the three-year cycle, the previous fallow field would be planted with winter crops, the previous winter-crop field would be used for summer crops, and the previous summer-crop field would remain fallow. In the third year the second year's fallow would go into winter crops, the winter-crop field into summer crops, and the summer-crop field would lie fallow. In the next year the cycle would start over again. (American Council of Learned Societies Par. 22)"

Again the Dictionary of the Middle Age helps us see the four benefits to the crop rotation system.

First, the increased production of legumes not only improved the fertility of the soil--adequate fertilizer is always one of the major problems of a farmer--but also provided a better diet for the lower classes ….

Second, having two seasons of sowing and of harvest each year reduced the risk of famine: it was unlikely that both crops would fail.

Third, the new cycle of crops distributed the labor of plowing more evenly over the year, and kept men, plow animals, and costly plows from standing idle for long periods. This was advantageous not only to lords but also to peasants, who after paying the established manorial dues would keep for themselves much of the new surplus produced.

Fourth, the shift from biennial to triennial rotation enabled a group of peasants to cultivate considerably more hectares annually with the same labor. Modern scholars have generally stressed changes in production per unit of arable land, but the more realistic measure is production per peasant. (American Council of Learned Societies Par. 24)

Roland says in Once More in the Stirrups that the “three-field crop rotation allowed more and better crops to be produced with the same amount of land and labor, increasing not only the supply but the quality of food produced” (576). The introduction of crop rotation helped the European populations to live longer and healthier lives.

Education
Walsh quotes Sir Charles Grant Robertson, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, as saying; “The greatest achievement of the Middle Ages, greater than even their Gothic cathedrals, if possible, was the foundation of the university” (83). During antiquity, much of the education of the public was limited to the nobility while most of the population was illiterate. With the invasion of the barbarians, education was even more limited to those in power and who could afford it. Education became more based in the church and it was through the church’s direction that monasteries started to educate more and more people. Walsh goes into great detail about the origins of common university terms like commencement, “our modern word, commencement, has reference to the fact that by their addresses they were beginning to teach. … The curriculum, examination, commencement, degrees, are all inherited from the Middle Ages, and in some form they go back to the end of the twelfth or beginning of the thirteenth century ” (85). Scott writes about the mission of the universities from the medieval time to the post modern,

Teaching services were first provided during the later Middle Ages at the Universities of Bologna and Paris. Scholastic method was state-of the- art in Europe for both teaching and research; thus, these missions or ideals fused. For example, Roger Bacon taught classes as well as performed scientific experiments. The medieval university teaching mission embodied the undergraduate liberal education and graduate (professional) education missions. (4) Education also wasn’t limited to the rich and famous or mainly Christian peasants. Orme “disproved the notion that previous generations treated children as miniature adults. This one explodes some pervasive myths about their education. First, there was quite a lot of teaching available: it was not just confined to the rich and priestly. There were hundreds of schools in England, some in monasteries and cathedrals, others founded with individual charitable endowments, often with a large bunch of private pupils paying modest fees. Nor was education just for boys, though just how and where girls were taught is hard to trace” (1) Charlemagne was a great military and political figure in German and French history and some remember him as the Father of Europe (Charlemagne). Biel says that “in 787 Charlemagne ordered that ‘every cathedral and monastery in the kingdom establish schools’ so that even the poorest of his subjects of his subjects could become literate” (18). He also quotes Einhard’s Life of Charlemagne, as saying that Charlemagne instructed his educators to “take care not to make no difference between the sons of serfs and of freemen, so that might come and sit on the same benches to study grammar, music, and arithmetic” (18).

Government
Government has its roots dating back to the earliest communities that conquered or were conquered by others and became subservient to them. Some of the earliest empires that held great power were those empires who employed complex bureaucratic systems of government. Feudalism was foundational to the European governments after the Renaissance.

Strayer in Twelfth-Century Europe and the Foundations of Modern Society defines feudalism as, “a way of accomplishing certain essential political acts” (77). Feudalism was foundational to the political system such that European governments wouldn’t be the same today if it wasn’t for Feudalism. During the Middle Ages, we saw the struggles between the Church and the Kings/leader clashing on many issues but specifically, power. After the fall of Rome there was only one group that was able to survive the vacuum of leadership and lack of order and was able to provide people with the solution to their questions. Peasants disillusioned by the instability of the governments, wanted some security in their belief that there was something out there to live for. For the common peasant, they didn’t travel too far from their birthplace; in fact many European families can trace their heritages back to a single village (Borkman). This would be influential later on during the industrial revolution when the family unit was forced to move into cities where there were a million other issues pulling the family apart, but during the medieval age, this reflected in the family unit feeling a sense of loyalty (or bondage) to a certain knight or noble. As the king began to consolidate their powers, the peasants were called to work not only for the local noble but for the nation or people group.

Feudalism wasn’t a medieval concept, the Roman historian Tacitus studied the patterns of the barbarians and he wrote about in Germania. Biel in The Age of Feudalism quotes an English translation of Tacitus’s work. "It brings fame and glory to a leader not only in his own folk, but among neighboring people, if his warband is superior in number and courage. When they go to war it is a disgrace for the chief to be outdone in deeds of valor and for the followers not to equal the courage of their chief. Moreover, for a follower to survive his chief and come unharmed out of a battle is life-long infamy and fame …. The chief fights for victor, the men for their chief …. They depend on their chief for their war-horse, and their weapons; they consider their [minimum] pay to be the feasts [which he provides], but the real wealth [which attracts them] comes from war and plunder.” (11)"

Government took great strides with Charlemagne as king of the Franks. Even before William the Conquer in England called the Curia Regis, Charlemagne had established a group that advised him to actions to take. Though feudalism reflected in different monarchies – an absolute ruler in France and a constitutional parliamentary govern king in England- but it was important in the development of government of nations worldwide.

As the feudal government became more and more secular with the succeeding years and the lack of many strong church members to combat it, resulted in the rise of political parties that called for the separation of church and state. Although, the church held little sway over the governments, that didn’t stop its members from trying to change the nation’s religion to reap the physical benefits of being loyal to one group versus the other. During the Protestant Reformation, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was in the middle of trying to avoid any involvement in the Italian Wars. The Italian wars of 1535-38 were fought between the French and Spanish nations and this was tricky for Charles V who was the grandson of Spanish Queen Isabella (Italian Wars). Along with Muslims trying to penetrate into Christian Europe, Charles V had to worry about keeping his fractured empire from dissolving due to Catholic/Protestant rivalries. The Wikipedia talks about the First Diet of Speyer where, "The Diet came with the consent of [Archduke] Ferdinand to the unanimous conclusion, August 27, that a general or national council should be convened for the settlement of the church question, and that in the mean time, in matters concerning the Edict of Worms, 'every State shall so live, rule, and believe as it may hope and trust to answer before God and his imperial Majesty.' This action was not designed to annul the Edict of Worms, and to be a permanent law of religious liberty, which gave to each member of the Diet the right to act as he pleased. It was merely an armistice, or temporary suspension of the Edict of Worms until the meeting of a general council, and within the limits of obedience to the Catholic Emperor who had no plans to grant religious liberty, or even toleration, to Protestants. (Par. 3)"

Encarta has this to say about the influence of Feudalism upon modern governments, "The fief was embedded in the customary law of western [sic] Europe, and the incidents of feudalism, such as wardship [sic] and marriage, escheat and forfeiture, continued to flourish after feudal military service died out. In England feudal tenures were abolished by statute in 1660, but they lingered on in parts of the Continent until the customary law was replaced by Roman law, a process completed by Napoleon. Roman law substituted other legal notions for feudal ones on the Continent, but in England the common law continued to be basically feudal law. Wherever English people settled in the modern era, they took their common law with them and thus established feudal principles all over the world. English constitutionalism is fundamentally feudal, based on the contract theory of government. When John Locke wrote his treatises on government in the 17th century, he was seeking to generalize for all persons the feudal contract that limited the rights of the suzerain over his vassals and retained for them the German warrior’s independence. The U.S. Declaration of Independence was a classic act of feudal defiance, as the Continental Congress enumerated the tyrannical acts of the king and declared the colonists no longer bound by their allegiance to him. Nineteenth-century liberalism and 20th-century libertarianism owe their basic premises to feudalism. In sum, feudal ideas were important to the political development of Western civilization, reconciling authority with liberty by way of contract. (Cazel)"

The span of time that was labeled dark by Francesco Petrarca is a complete fallacy. During the Renaissance, secular humanists believed that the history of man was an ever evolving form and that each decade built upon the other. With the increase of material from antiquity being recovered and more scholars being educated, led to the belief that the civilizations of Persia, Greece, and Rome were worthy of repetition due to their pure aesthetics. They questioned how the centuries before them with the many ‘stupid’ crusades, the Black Death, and the ‘evil’ Catholic Church’s domination over European powers could be called constructive. They believed that these days were indeed dark. However, they didn’t look at what came out of those ‘dark’ days; the advances in technologies, education, and government were foundation to both the Renaissance and every following revolution.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Middle Ages/Dark Ages


text:
Template talk:Tnavbar3

Under development at User:JWSchmidt/Blog/16 May 2007. --JWSchmidt 03:09, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

title: Template talk:Tnavbar3


text:
Template talk:Discussion subpage

Under development at User:JWSchmidt/Blog/16 May 2007. --JWSchmidt 03:10, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

title: Template talk:Discussion subpage


text:
Talk:Rich Learning Resources Platform

There was a bit of thinking along similar lines that recently went on in Vancouver, the outputs are scattered around here: http://www.wikieducator.org/Tectonic_shift_think_tank Countrymike 03:25, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:Rich Learning Resources Platform


text: Science and the nonphysical/What are the practical applications of the nonphysical


text:
Science and the nonphysical/The paranormal and creationism

Links between creationism and the paranormal

(13-17 February 2007)

Well, and what has paranormal stuff got to do with creationism? (As an aside, when I said "science is what it is" I was talking about the word "science", to argue that what creationists do cannot be called "science", just as I cannot be called "French", as French as I can feel myself: The word means what it means, not what I (or anybody) want it to mean) --Jorge 00:21, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

"Well, and what has paranormal stuff got to do with creationism?" <-- Just trying to make the point of what originates the problem of the non acceptance of creationism as real science, or it would open political space here for the doctrine of spiritual creation of life be admited as scientific. The point is that the fact physical phenomena is so much easier to handle led science to develop materialistically, and now it would be fair to give the same right for the realm of spiritual (or psychic) phenomena to develop as science (with the same meaning of the word too). Skytel 05:06, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

 * I myself don't accept creationism as a science and had never before thougth of any linkage with spirits. I see the question more simply: science is the practice of the scientific method. If you don't follow it, you're not doing science, you're doing whatever you want to call it, but not science. The scientific method leaves no place for dogmas in the sciences: Every proposition (as "life was created by a supreme being" or "I can read your mind" or "water boils when applied heat at 100º") must be provable whenever, wherever, and by whoever. Science doesn't reject what is not provable this way (rejecting it would be, in fact, dogma), it simply doesn't discuss it. It leaves it to others.

 * It's the abolition of dogmas what has kicked out, until now at least, the unproven (scientifically) psychic phenomena from science. It's far more easier to study, say, telekinesis, than to achieve to cool helium below its liquefaction temperature in order to be able to study superfluyds. Try yourself.

 * When some repeatable phenomenom which cannot be explained with present scientific theories is discovered, scientists from all over the world are quick in studying it. It has not to be material; it just has to be repeatable, provable by the scientific method. I wouldn't say time dilation is a material phenomenom, and many people would find it more difficult to believe than any psychic phenomenom. Yet muons reach the surface of the Earth every day to provide a scientific proof of it.

 * "not to search for it while NOT having any material proof in favor or against it, is TO BELIEVE [...]" <- Not necessarily. There are infinite (not many, infinite) things of which we have not proof (scientific ones) in favor or against. For example, psychic energy (although I don't know what it is), the existence of Jedi's Force, the flying spaghetti monster, Allah and the 99 virgins for each martir, Alleh (which I have just invented) and the 100 virgins solely for me, Alloh, Alluh, Joseph Smith's world of fantasy, Christian afterlife (on which I believe), Christian God (on which I do not necessarily believe), etc. It's just a game of imagination. All things of which we have no proof in favor or against cannot be searched, because they are infinite. It's the opposite: If you select one of those infinite things and go searching for it, it's because you believe in it. It's not the others do not believe in it, they could just don't care until a scientific proof is found.

 * A common misconception of the present days, due (I agree with the Pope -the present or the former one, I don't remember) to the unbeliveable technological success that science has brought us (if we are communicating this way it's thanks to Quantum Mechanics, for example), is to believe that what isn't science isn't reasonable. To believe that only science deserves the attention of human Reason. That, of course, is not true, and is unfair, since advances in disciplines such as Phylosophy can be as difficult or more to attain than scientific advances.

 * So yes, it perhaps would be more "fair" for those disciplines to have more people studying them, and for those studying them not to be disregarded as unworthy. But studying something without loyalty to the scientific method (e.g., using dogmas) cannot be called science, the same way playing with three teams cannot be called playing football, and listening to radio cannot be called watching TV. It's just not the meaning of the word.

 * "TO BELIEVE in matter exclusively, what is weird (to do without FAIR reason) to someone born in a religious culture." <- It's not that weird as you believe: I happen to not believe in matter exclusively, but I am one of a constantly shrinking minority. My self-consciousness, joined with some reasonings, makes me believe in the existence of soul. And science fanatics disregard me too when I speak of it. But, despite my self-consciousness being the one and only thing of which I can be sure (as Descartes was), I understand it cannot be treated scientifically, since I cannot prove the self-consciousness of others, nor others can prove I am self-conscious (see Turing's test).

 * The Catholic Church learnt decades ago that the slow but firm advance of science (since the adoption of the scientific method) cannot be endured by dogmatic theories. Some hundred years ago, there was no scientific proof to decide wether the Earth or the Sun was the center of the Universe. Based on dogma (and on reason), the Catholic Church said it had to be the Earth. Scientific proofs appeared of what wasn't thougth to be provable (and not because anybody went searching for them; the fact was that the studied movement of celestial bodies became more and more complex if the Earth remained at the center). And the non-scientific Geocentric theory was rebutted.

 * So the loyalty to the scientific method isn't so a matter of belief or liking, but a way to make only sure steps. Ojects will always describe a parabola when shot. White light will always decompose in colours when passed through a prism. Muons will always be able to reach the surface of the Earth despite their half-life being too short for it. If one of those things stops happening forever, all science will go to hell.

 * But, on the other hand, the scientific method isn't a way to possibly explain it all. The constant wondering about the cause of things cannot have an end. Each new explanation will always be followed by a "why?". If "a superior being created life" is once accepted as a scientific theory, "Why and how did He did it?", "Are there more beings like Him?", "Who created Him?", etc, will follow. So science will never give us the ultimate cause of things, nor will it teach us how worthy and powerful Love is, for example. For that, we are lucky to have religion. --Jorge 04:03, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

"I myself don't accept creationism as a science and had never before thougth of any linkage with spirits" <- Not that creationism is a science, but scientific. Evolutionism also is just scientific (and so also with the right to be wrong at least in some extend). Of course biology is the parent science of both theories, and BOTH make use of scientific data to make their points. I understand that the resistance to accept creationism that simply is the materialist (or atheist) antecipation that giving credit to it will consequently give credit to the possibility of the existence of God. And as God is spiritual, atheists strategically provide to disbelieve in any kind of spiritual or psychic claim, or even far related nonphysical phenomena.

The desperate care to avoid ticking a single card of this weak barrier is evident: no materialist had ever explained why suddenly try to *disprove* the existence of the spiritual side of life. For many (including myself) it ever stood clear their motives were not on spirit itself, but on priesthood and its morals, tithings and threats. Unfortunately for most nowadays skeptics they have already trapped themselves in the rules of science with which they began to challenge religious dogmas. Now they have to object spirit itself - but there is no sufficient *scientific* data to even doubt spiritual existence. Science has simply nothing to say about, never had, and so skeptics have to find *reasons* for their doubts elsewhere.

"Science doesn't reject what is not provable this way (rejecting it would be, in fact, dogma), it simply doesn't discuss it." <-I see you see it - but skeptics (or your science fanatics) do disscuss, and even ask for direct scientific evidences of the existence of spirit, what is dishonest as they ask already knowing that this is quite impossible. I understand there are means to study superfluids, but no means to study some still unknown energy able to move objects nonphysically. "I wouldn't say time dilation is a material phenomenom, and many people would find it more difficult to believe than any psychic phenomenom"

<- Well well: thats because time is the most psychic fenomena we can deal with. It is the basic natural faculty of our very soul, or consciousness. Time is evident, everybody feel it, or have its intuition, but never had it been proven to exist. You will not remember me the clocks or changes. And no matter how greatly it is evident to be nonphysical, no atheist will quietly allow anyone to call it "spiritual". Thats the POINT. "...the existence of Jedi's Force, the flying spaghetti monster..."

<- Well, I'll not risc to push that much here... :-) "But studying something without loyalty to the scientific method (e.g., using dogmas) cannot be called science," <- Will the scientific method evolve? Was it invented in order to never get changed? Or: Can time be repeated? Is history a science? Can we point some more present and more repeateble fenomena than our thoughts? But can be them really repeated? Could repetition be a fair requirement for consciousness to be scientifically studied? Just because psychogists can stimulate the nervous system repeatedly - does it makes suggestive that mental phenomena is *originated* in the brain? Isn´t that like to find suggestive that the nervous system of the spider is its limbs? Or that life has nothing to do with some imaterial soul because we can stop it with a material bullet? One can manage the light in a room at its window, but is it intelligent to conclude that the window is the source of the light?

Anyway creationists are not waiting for that much - they are just calling attention for the same kind of data, and with the same ground reasonings that evolutionist make use - but to point out ANOTHER hipothesis. Now, if we find it mandatory to censure creationists just because we see their hipothesis are motivated in dogmatic spititualism, then we should also censure evolutionists for seeing their hipothesis are motivated in dogmatic materialism. "I understand it cannot be treated scientifically, since I cannot prove the self-consciousness of others, nor others can prove I am self-conscious (see Turing's test)."

<- With time perception you have the same problem, but that makes not a hindrance for science, does it? With such a criterion you cannot even prove you and someone else are looking to each other. "...the fact was that the studied movement of celestial bodies became more and more complex if the Earth remained at the center"

<- Occham? Just a method to see what hipothesis to consider first. Nature really seem to be economic, but that does not mean WE can tell (through our hiper-advanced science) what degree of complexity corresponds to this economy. "Muons will always be able to reach the surface of the Earth despite their half-life being too short for it. If one of those things stops happening forever, all science will go to hell.".

<- Humans will always tend to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms his preconceptions. This is a psychological law - which in fact explains why materialist psychologists prefer to understand it is a neurological law. However, as there is no sufficient scientific data that endorse this preference, lets give equal attention to the psychic version, because the law will still work exactly in the same way. "Each new explanation will always be followed by a "why?"

<- What will ever tend to biased researches. Unless some GOOD method... "Who created Him?"

<- "What was before time?"... Maybe also not an appropriate question, nevertheless creationists do question really appropriate questions. Skytel 17:20, 17 February 2007 (UTC)


text: Science and the nonphysical/New discussion group


text:
Precordial Exam (OSCE)

Inspection

 * from the foot of the bed
 * chest wall deformity (pectus excavatum, carinatum)
 * scars (thoracotomy, pacemaker)
 * heaves (ventricular hypertrophy) and lifts
 * visible apical beat
 * impulses (under xiphoid – can mean RVH or Aorta).
 * dilated veins

Palpation

 * using finger pads, palpate for apex impulse (PMI) - accurately measure MCL
 * location, size - one ICS
 * amplitude - if increased, suggests volume/pressure overload
 * duration - check in relation to carotid pulse (> 2/3 systole → sustained, LVH)
 * if carotid is delayed = parvus et tardus → AV stenosis

 * thrills - palpate at each of the 4 valve zones = grade 4 murmur
 * heaves (with heel of hand)
 * left sternal border → LVH
 * PV → pulmonary hypertension
 * AV → systemic hypertension
 * inferior to xiphoid - RVH

Auscultation

 * listen specifically for one sound at a time
 * calibrate your timing to the radial pulse
 * S1 > S2 in LLSB
 * S2 > S1 in LUSB

S1

 * louder → ↓ PR interval, ↑CO, ↑HR
 * quieter → ↑ PR interval, MR, severe MS
 * splitting → RBBB

S2

 * splitting ↑ by continued inspiration (while patient not holding in breath)
 * Loud S2 → hypertension (systemic or pulmonary circulation)
 * Wide split S2 - RBBB, Pulmonary stenosis
 * Fixed split S2 - ASD
 * Paradoxical: LBBB, severe AS

S3 (Ventricular Gallop)

 * lightly use bell at apex, best heard in LLD
 * can be normal in young people and the pregnant
 * noted in volume overload, increased transvalvular flow (TR, MR)

S4 (Atrial Gallop)

 * lower pitched
 * indicates stiff LV– LVH, post-MI

Other sounds

 * Ejection click - between S1 and S2
 * Carotid bruit
 * Pericardial friction

Murmurs
Describe a murmur in its timing, shape, intensity and radiation

Intensity
1/6 = quieter than S1 2/6 = same as S1 3/6 = louder than S1 with no thrill 4/6 = thrill present 5/6 = heard with edge of scope in contact with skin 6/6 = heard with scope off of the chest

Special tests

 * ↑ blood flow to heart (leg raise, squatting)
 * ↑ AS, ↓HoCM, ↓MR
 * ↓ blood flow to heart (Valsalva)
 * ↓ AS, ↑ MR, ↑HoCM

External link

 * Auscultation Reference Guide - Heart and lung sound lessons, audio and animations
 * Heart and Lung Sounds - Audio examples of heart and lung sounds.

title: Precordial Exam (OSCE)


text:
Chronic Peripheral Arterial Insufficiency

Inspection

 * cyanosis/pallor
 * hair loss
 * shiny skin
 * ulcerations
 * dystrophic nails
 * muscle wasting

Palpation

 * measure the blood pressure
 * skin temperature (compare bilaterally)
 * capillary refill time

 * Pulses:
 * Abdominal Aorta - palpate for aneurism
 * radial, ulnar
 * brachial - in antecubital fossa, medial to biceps tendon

Auscultation

 * bruits:
 * abdominal aorta
 * renal (both anterior and posteriorly)

Provocative Tests

 * Allen's Test for adequacy of circulation to hand
 * occlude both the radial and ulnar arteries → patient to make fist
 * open hand → release ulnar artery → watch for reperfusion of the palm
 * repeat above for radial artery

Ankle Brachial Index

 * compares the brachial artery systolic BP with the measured systolic BP in the dorsalis pedis and tibialis posterior arteries of the lower limb.
 * Requires a manual BP cuff and a vascular doppler probe to perform correctly.
 * Locate the brachial pulse in the AC fossa by palpation and with the doppler probe. Determine the systolic pressure in BOTH arms by inflating the cuff until the doppler signal at the brachial artery is obliterated.
 * with patient supine, place the center of the bladder posterior and ~ 3 cm above the medial malleolus.
 * Locate the tibialis posterior and dorsalis pedis pulses of the leg with the doppler probe. Record the pressure at which the doppler signal is obliterated (highest of DP or TP)
 * ABI is the ratio of the highest systolic pressure in the leg being measured to the highest systolic pressure measured in EITHER arm (whichever is higher).
 * ABI > 1.2 implies incompressible tibial arteries (calcification/atherosclerosis, obese lower limb, etc.)
 * ABI 0.9-1.2 is normal
 * ABI 0.8-0.9 suggests mild peripheral arterial disease
 * ABI 0.5-0.8 suggests moderate peripheral arterial disease
 * ABI <0.5 suggests severe peripheral arterial disease

Inspection

 * same as UL: cyanosis/pallor, hair loss, shiny skin, ulcerations (especially on the heel), dystrophic nails
 * edema (pitting or non)

Palpation

 * skin temperature (compare bilaterally)
 * Capillary refill time

 * Pulses:
 * femoral - midway between the pubis and ASIS
 * popliteal - inferior lateral portion of the popliteal fossa (leg slightly flexed)
 * posterior tibial - inferior posterior border of medial malleolus
 * dorsalis pedis - upper 1/3 of dorsal foot, lateral to EHL

 * Radial Femoral Delay
 * coarctation of aorta

Auscultation

 * bruits:
 * femoral
 * popliteal

Provocative Tests
Buerger’s test
 * raise legs to 45° x 1 min → max blanching of skin
 * have patient sit with both legs dangling down
 * pinkness should return in < 10 s
 * look for dusky rubor (reactive hyperemia)

DeWeese’s test
 * disappearance of previously palpable distal pulses after walking


text:
Blood pressure (OSCE)

Taking a Blood Pressure

General

 * No:
 * smoking or caffeine x 30 mins
 * constrictive clothing

 * Yes:
 * rest for ≥ 5 minutes
 * breathing normal and relaxed

 * During recording: no talking and patient’s legs uncrossed

Equipment

 * cuff size
 * bladder width > 40 % of arm circumference
 * length > 80% of arm circumference

Positioning

 * Level: devices and columns at eye level, patient’s arm held at heart level

Placement

 * lower edge of cuff ~ 3 cm above elbow crease
 * bladder centered over brachial artery (palpate medial to biceps tendon)

Performance

 * palpate radial pulse (note arrythmias)
 * inflate cuff to ~ 30 mm Hg above palpable pulse
 * drop the pressure by 2 mm Hg / second (prolonged filling will lead to venous congestion, making the sounds harder to hear)
 * repeat after ≥ 2 minutes of standing to assess for orthostatic hypotension (drop in 20/10)

 * for all patients on the first visit, take at least 2 readings separated by 2 minutes
 * if first 2 readings differ by > 5 mm Hg, another reading is indicated
 * Elevated readings should be confirmed on 3 readings

Pitfalls

 * anxiety, pain
 * arrhythmias
 * wrong cuff size (too small overestimates, too large underestimates)
 * Isolated office hypertension ('white coat' hypertension) (up to 25%)
 * exercise

JNC-7 Classification
(criteria for adults > 17 and not taking antihypertensives)

 * Optimal
 * Normal	        		< 120 SBP   and  < 80 DBP
 * Prehypertension               120-139 SBP or   80-89 DBP
 * Hypertension Stage 1		140-159 SBP or  90-99 DBP
 * Hypertension Stage 2		>or=160       or   >or=100

title: Blood pressure (OSCE)


text:
Hypertension (OSCE)

Assessment of Hypertension

Goals

 * identify end organ damage
 * identify signs of secondary hypertension

Differential

 * Medications
 * Renal: vascular, parenchymal
 * Endocrine: Cushing’s, pheochromocytoma, primary aldosteronism, hyperparathyroidism, thyroid
 * Aortic dissection

Vitals

 * standard vitals
 * weight and height (BMI)

Inspection

 * Neck:
 * thyroid
 * JVP
 * Skin
 * Cushing’s (striae, acne, hirsutism)
 * pheochromocytoma (clammy, diaphoretic)
 * arterial insufficiency (skin, hair changes)

Palpation

 * Point of maximum impulse (PMI)- diffuse
 * peripheral pulses (symmetric)
 * radiofemoral delay

Auscultation

 * carotid bruit
 * pulmonary edema
 * S4 gallop, murmurs
 * bruits (abdominal, renal, femoral)

Fundoscopic exam

 * Grade 1	- spasm of retinal vessels
 * Grade 2	- constriction retinal arterioles, AV nicking
 * Grade 3 	- vascular changes, hemorrhage, exudates
 * Grade 4	- papilledema

External link

 * Auscultation of Carotid Bruit - bruit audio, case studies and quiz

title: Hypertension (OSCE)


text: Category:Creative works

title: Category:Creative works


text: Category:Poems

title: Category:Poems


text:
Asthma (OSCE)

Clinical Assessment of Asthma

ABC, Vitals

 * SaO2

Fingers

 * cyanosis

Chest

 * ↑AP diameter (barrel chest)
 * asymmetry of shape and movement

Work of Breathing

 * RR, HR
 * POSTURE (tripoding)
 * level of comfort, speaking full sentences, diaphoresis
 * accessory muscle use (SCM, shoulder elevation), nasal flaring, pursed lips

Signs of RESPIRATORY EXHAUSTION or impending FAILURE

 * ↓ LOC, ↓ amplitude of pulse
 * central cyanosis (tongue, oral mucosa)
 * intercostals, subcostal, and supraclavicular indrawing
 * pulsus paradoxus (> 18 mm Hg drop with inspiration suggests very severe asthma)
 * paradoxical movement of the diaphragm

Palpation

 * tracheal tug
 * symmetrically ↓ chest expansion
 * ↓ tactile fremitus (due to hyperinflation)

Percussion

 * hyperresonance - percuss anteriorly and posteriorly, compare L and R
 * ↓ diaphragmatic excursion (normal is 5 - 6 cm)
 * inferior displacement of diaphragm due to hyperinflation

Auscultation

 * listen to each lobe, compare L and R
 * major fissure: T3 posteriorly → 4th ICS MAL → 6th rib MCL
 * minor fissure: 5th ICS MAL → 4th ICS parasternal
 * ↓ AE
 * prolonged expiratory phase
 * forced expiration with bell on trachea (normal < 5 s, abnormal > 6 s)
 * wheezing
 * may be absent in severe asthma
 * consolidation
 * suggests pneumonia as trigger for acute attack

Special Tests

 * peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR): normal male 600, female 400, sick < 150
 * PFT - obstructive pattern (↓ flow rates, ↑ volumes)
 * ABG - pH < 7.3, PO2 < 60, PCO2 > 45

title: Asthma (OSCE)


text:
Template:User committed identity

Committed identity:  is  commitment to this user's real-life identity.

title: Template:User committed identity


text:
Template:User committed identity/doc

This template gives you a way to later prove that you are the person who was in control of your account on the day this template was placed. This is done by putting a code (called a "hash") on your user page so that, in the event that your account is compromised, you can convince someone else that you are really the person behind your username.

Why?
The intended use of this template is to help in the hopefully unlikely event that your account is compromised. If you published your real-life identity, then that identity could be used to reestablish contact with you if your account were compromised; keep in mind, in this scenario contact could not be established with you through your account, since it may be under the control of someone else. However, many Wikipedia users do not disclose their real-life identities, or disclose little enough of them that it may be difficult to establish their identity.

This is not a replacement for having a strong password, nor for registering an email address for your account. You should still do everything you can to prevent your account being compromised, including using a strong password and remembering to log yourself out when using a computer to which others may have access. If you have one, it may also be helpful to post your PGP public key. But even with the best of precautions, your account could become compromised, for instance, via a trojan horse or a brute-force attack on your password. This is intended to be a last resort.

How
The idea is to use cryptographic hashes; you choose a secret string known only to yourself, put it through a one-way hash function, and publish the result somewhere. It is infeasible to determine the secret string corresponding to the hash; hence, an attacker compromising an account presumably would not be able to supply the secret string.

Syntax

Italicized text should be replaced with appropriate input, or its parameter should be removed. Parameters are represented by "parameter= value ", and separated by vertical bars |. For example, if your hash is "ef7c4c55a176bd20ed558aaefde21c4803080195" using SHA-1, and you want a light orange box with a black border, use the following code:
 * Replace "hash" with the hash produced from your secret string. This unnamed parameter is equivalent to a parameter named "1" (see parameters).
 * The "hash function used" parameter, if not included, defaults to SHA-512. (This hash function is strongly recommended.)
 * The "background" parameter, if not included, defaults to #E0E8FF ( light blue, see Hex triplet)
 * The "border" parameter, if not included, also defaults to #E0E8FF.
 * The "article" parameter, if not included, defaults to "a". The other likely value is "an".

to produce

Choosing a good secret string

 * 1) Your secret string should end with a long string of random text, such as "fFfwq0DuDmMXj8hYTM3NTKeDhk". This ensures that brute force and dictionary attacks cannot infer your identity from your public hash.
 * 2) Your secret string should specify enough of your identity that, if the string were revealed, you could unambiguously prove you match that identity. At least two means of contact is a good rule. For instance, your secret string could include a telephone number and email address at which you can be reached. However, it should not contain data that you are not willing to show to Wikipedia's administrative staff.
 * 3) Try not to choose a secret string that represents your identity that could go completely out of date. For instance, it may be bad to choose a string that specifies only your telephone number as that number might change.
 * 4) If you want to change your secret string, do so, but keep track of all your old secret strings. It is best to reveal all of them if you ever want to confirm your identity, as this will establish that you are the same person who used your account from the first moment the committed identity was published.
 * 5) Advanced options:
 * 6) * If you have public accounts on other websites with different passwords, list URLs of those accounts. You can later take a specified action to prove that you own those accounts. For example, if you have a YouTube account, an administrator can provide a string which you then insert in a video comment.
 * 7) * You may include information such as your driver's license number, national identification number, or passport number. You can then later supply copies of these documents as additional evidence to prove your identity.
 * 8) * Another option is to take a photo or video of yourself, take a SHA hash of the resulting file, and include that hash in your secret string. Retain the file. You can then later supply the file to an administrator, and they can video call with you and compare the file with your current appearance. This will remain effective even if the attacker has compromised all your listed means of contact.

Example
Bare minimum: at least two forms of contact and a random string: joe@example.com 555-123-3456 fFfwq0DuDmMXj8hYTM3NTKeDhk More complete example: full name, multiple forms of contact, contact information for trusted friends, and a random string: Joe Schmoe. joe@example.com. 555-123-3456. P.O. Box 1234, San Jose, CA. My best friend Bob's email: bob@example.com. fFfwq0DuDmMXj8hYTM3NTKeDhk After Joe uses the secret string, he can generate a new secret string with a new hash by merely changing the random characters at the end.

A comprehensive example including multiple trusted people and advanced options: Joe Schmoe. joe@example.com. 555-123-3456. P.O. Box 1234, San Jose, CA. My best friend Bob's contact info: bob@example.com, 555-234-5678 My wife's contact info: anne@example.com, 555-345-6789 Other accounts: http://www.youtube.com/user/joeschmoe http://flickr.com/photos/joeschmoe/ Driver's license number: 123456789, SSN: 123-45-6789, passport number: 9876H432L SHA-512 of joeschmoe.jpg: 747ec1836486a3dbe8a5d6805a2cc080fb8dc427d9535579ecb04c750d7a4a515641fd0411ed6bb97242a3e63ab9cbd4d6d66c27611ff5f98aa84497bf64b8a8 NSffKWSHaGbcTm3WGtE8hyUQ In this case, Joe would supply both the above string (e.g. as a text file) and joeschmoe.jpg to administrative staff. Staff might ask him to post a specific comment on YouTube, to send a scan of his passport, or to video call to confirm that his appearance matches joeschmoe.jpg.

Getting the hash
Be sure to note the exact string you enter into the form, in case you need to use it later. It is important that this string be both easily remembered exactly by you and hard to guess or find by any intruder - if an intruder knows the secret string, then this scheme is useless and provides no security. One's username is public and trivially guessable; one's password is not a good choice either, as in the event of a compromised account, the password is likely to have been guessed.

On Unix-like operating systems the,  ,  ,  ,  , and   programs are provided in the GNU Core Utilities. Windows users may use one of the methods mentioned below; those who have PowerShell installed can generate a hash using the following command. Provide your secret phrase in the location indicated:

It is recommended that SHA-512 be used, as recent cryptographic research has cast doubt on the long-term security of SHA-1. The template defaults to SHA-512 if the hash function parameter is omitted. For security, you should only use locally executed programs, or client-side javascript, to create your hash. Examples of such hash calculators include SHA512 Encrypt, jsSHA and HashCalc 2.01.

To verify that you are correctly hashing your secret string, you can try hashing 'My name is Joe Schmoe, and I can be contacted at: joe@example.com' (without the enclosing single-quotes). The SHA-512 hash of that test string should be:  b7a84efbbd843545666957384e874c894fdc17f48ced53abd231c2e4d08e45ad10287b1225432e3ed9794c12994ff1e82aecf66a2ded61ad4baf6d8b9c81dab8

Compromised accounts
In case your account is compromised, to make use of your committed identity to someone and prove you are the same person who originally controlled the account, give a trusted user the exact secret string you originally entered into the box. They can then compute the appropriate hash of that same string and verify that it is the same result and that you are who you say you are.

Once you've established your identity, and set up a new account or regained control of the original account, you'll probably want to create a new hash as now someone (possibly multiple someones depending on how and to whom you communicated the secret string) else knows the secret string.

Weakness
This technique of establishing identity by revealing the secret string behind the hash is not inherently attack proof; it increases attacker effort substantially (if the secret string is chosen and handled properly) which is worthwhile, and does so at little effort to the legitimate user. But it is attackable in that anyone can invent their own secret string, hash it, and claim an identity.

An attacker with access to the account could overwrite the hash with their own one. They could then say that the previous owner of the account was an attacker who claimed their identity and generated his own hash.

An attacker without access to the account could claim that the current account's owner stole their identity. The attacker could state that they did not publish a hash when they used to own the account, or that they did not register an account and that someone else is using their name.

This weakness does not indicate that the commitment is worthless, because the commit phase did not apply to all interested parties (the real person and all potential attackers).

title: Template:User committed identity/doc


text: Category:Collections

title: Category:Collections


text: Category:Writings

title: Category:Writings


text: Category:D (programming language)

title: Category:D (programming language)


text:
Talk:Lisp

How about starting with David Lamkin's, or Peter Seibel's books? Yes, there are Winston&Horn, Steele, etc. but you gotta start somewhere... Is it OK to reference these, or does all content here need to be original? - Sam

title: Talk:Lisp