The Geoglyphic Art of Chiles Atacama Desert

The Geoglyphic Art of Chiles Atacama Desert More than 5,000 geoglyphs- prehistoric works of art placed on or worked into the landscape- have been recorded in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile over the past thirty years. A summary of these investigations appears in a paper by Luis Briones entitled The geoglyphs of the north Chilean desert: an archaeological and artistic perspective,  published in the March 2006 issue of the journal Antiquity.   The Geoglyphs of Chile The best-known geoglyphs in the world are the Nazca lines, built between 200 BC and 800 AD, and located approximately 800 kilometers away in coastal Peru. The Chilean glyphs in the Atacama Desert are far more numerous and varied in style, cover a much larger region (150,000 km2 versus the 250 km2 of the Nazca lines), and were built between 600 and 1500 AD. Both the Nazca lines and the Atacama glyphs had multiple symbolic or ritual purposes; while scholars believe the Atacama glyphs additionally had a vital role in the transportation network connecting the great South American civilizations.Built and refined by several South American cultures- likely including Tiwanaku and Inca, as well as less-advanced groups- the widely varied geoglyphs are in geometric, animal and human forms, and in about fifty different types. Using artifacts and stylistic characteristics, archaeologists believe the earliest were first constructed during the Middle Period, beginning around 800 AD. The most recent may be associated with early Christian rites in the 16th century. Some geoglyphs are found in isolation, some are in panels of up to 50 figures. They are found on hillsides, pampas, and valley floors throughout the Atacama Desert; but they are always found near ancient pre-Hispanic trackways marking llama caravan routes through the difficult regions of the desert connecting the ancient people of South America. Types and Forms of Geoglyphs The geoglyphs of the Atacama Desert were built using three essential methods, ‘extractive’, ‘additive’ and ‘mixed’. Some, like the famous geoglyphs of Nazca, were extracted from the environment, by scraping the dark desert varnish away exposing the lighter subsoil. Additive geoglyphs were built of stones and other natural materials, sorted and carefully placed. Mixed geoglyphs were completed using both techniques  and occasionally painted as well.The most frequent type of geoglyph in the Atacama are geometric forms: circles, concentric circles, circles with dots, rectangles, crosses, arrows, parallel lines, rhomboids; all symbols found in pre-Hispanic ceramics and textiles. One important image is the stepped rhombus, essentially a staircase shape of stacked rhomboids or diamond shapes (such as in the figure).Zoomorphic figures include camelids (llamas or alpacas), foxes, lizards, flamingos, eagles, seagulls, rheas, monkeys, and fishes includin g dolphins or sharks. One frequently occurring image is a caravan of llamas, one or more lines of between three and 80 animals in a row. Another frequent image is that of an amphibian, such as a lizard, toad or serpent; all of these are divinities in the Andean world connected to water rituals.Human figures occur in the geoglyphs and are generally naturalistic in form; some of these are engaged in activities ranging from hunting and fishing to sex and religious ceremonies. On the Arica coastal plains can be found the Lluta style of human representation, a body form with a highly stylized pair of long legs and a square head. This type of glyph is thought to date to AD 1000-1400. Other stylized human figures have a forked crest and a body with concave sides, in the Tarapaca region, dated to AD 800-1400. Why Were the Geoglyphs Built? The complete purpose of the geoglyphs is likely to remain unknown to us today. Possible functions include a cultic worship of mountains  or expressions of devotion to Andean deities; but Briones believes that one vital function of the geoglyphs was to store knowledge of safe pathways for llama caravans through the desert, including the knowledge of where salt flats, water sources, and animal fodder could be found. Briones terms these â€Å"messages, memories and rites† associated with the pathways, part sign post and part story-telling along a transportation network in an ancient form of combined religious and commercial travel, not unlike the rite known from many many cultures on the planet as pilgrimage. Large llama caravans were reported by Spanish chroniclers, and many of the representational glyphs are of caravans. However, no caravan equipment has been found in the desert to date (see Pomeroy 2013). Other potential interpretations include solar alignments. Sources This article is a part of the About.com guide to the Geoglyphs, and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Briones-M L. 2006. The geoglyphs of the north Chilean desert: an archaeological and artistic perspective.  Antiquity 80:9-24. Chepstow-Lusty AJ. 2011. Agro-pastoralism and social change in the Cuzco heartland of Peru: a brief history using environmental proxies. Antiquity 85(328):570-582. Clarkson PB. Atacama Geoglyphs: Huge Images Created Across the Rocky Landscape of Chile. Online manuscript. Labash M. 2012. The Geoglyphs of the Atacama Desert: A bond of landscape and mobility. Spectrum 2:28-37. Pomeroy E. 2013. Biomechanical insights into activity and long distance trade in the south-central Andes (AD  500–1450). Journal of Archaeological Science 40(8):3129-3140. Thanks to Persis Clarkson for her assistance with this article, and to Louis Briones for the photography.

War on Drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

War on Drugs - Essay Example Some policies have created conflicting issues because they are not clear; hence making war on drug polices a difficult social policy in the contemporary society. Therefore, the international community has made significant efforts towards identifying and prompting human rights through helping the minorities, oppressed people, disadvantaged and encouraging the government to initiate the protection of human rights across the globe. The issues of war on drugs have led to various effects globally. The authors including Malinowska-Sempruch, Hoover and Alexandrova provide various approaches towards unintended consequences of the war on drugs. They attempt to reveal the way war on drug policies has led to HIV epidemic in Russia, Ukraine and many other countries. The UN conventions implemented the international drug polices, but some of them have contributed to the hindrance towards confronting issues of health epidemics. The authors report that the â€Å"unforeseen consequence in the age of HIV† in countries where drug use is high plays a significant role in spread of HIV (Malinowska-Sempruch, Hoover and Alexandrova, 2003: 196). The impact of law enforcement towards reducing illegal drug measures are seen unnecessary because they contribute to health issues; thus violating human rights. â€Å"The warning signs of massive dual drug and HIV epidemics in Russia and Ukraine have been apparent since the late 1990s. Few observers, though, ever thought that HIV would reach catastrophic levels so quickly. â€Å"(Malinowska-Sempruch, Hoover and Alexandrova, 2003: 204) The international community should play a leading role towards identifying and promoting human rights across the globe (Malinowska-Sempruch, Hoover and Alexandrova, 2003: 194). Various agencies of the international community should work together towards helping the minority, oppressed and the

Business Marketing Communication Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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The Case of Spirit Airlines Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The of Spirit Airlines - Case Study Example The flights operate chiefly from and to South Florida, Latin America along with the Caribbean. The airline focuses on capturing the market of people traveling by air with the low fares. They believe that this market of air travelers have always been served with high costs and their strategy of low airfares grant them the prospect of continuous growth. This prospect also facilitates their sustained existence in the industry. The company employs the model of the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) in their business. This model of ULCC assists the company to make available their services at low-fares which entails the fundamental service. The company also offers an assortment of elective services that can be availed with the help of extra charges. The company generally targets the people who are leisure travelers with the help of their low-cost services. Their unique services and low airfares have earned them immense popularity in the US placing them among the best airline companies in the co untry in spite of the increase in the fuel prices. The biggest strength that has placed the company among the best airlines companies is their low-cost design. The operating expenses of the company were stated to be one of the lowest amongst all the airlines' companies functioning in the US. It is believed that this advantage of cost enables them to defend their position in the airline's industry and facilitates them to make available such low fares in the market, keep up the working margins and hold up the constant development and expansion. Although, the airlines had to increase their costs of tickets from the year 2009-2010 owing to the boost in the fuel prices they still managed to keep up their revenue and be counted among the best airlines of the US.  

I DONT HAVE ONE YET Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

I DONT HAVE ONE YET - Research Paper Example She had just been married for two years; and already was getting a lot of trouble in her marriage. She was really traumatized by the inevitably changing circumstances in her marriage following a strong and stable relationship she had had with her boyfriend. I remember when she was still in college and was really in love with her boyfriend Martin. Martin too loved her and this is the reason they got married immediately after finishing college. Liz was my best friend and this automatically qualified Martin as a good friend of mine. Consequently, we had many common friends because of this marriage and the friendship network. When Martin proposed divorce as a measure of solving their problems, we were all really devastated and Liz was too depressed to control the situation. I sympathized and empathized with her and at most times everything just went out of hand and I felt like I could no longer help in solving their situation. I too grew distressed of this. We no longer had good moments with Liz as we always deed since she spent most of her time in the bed weeping. Overtime she even grew cold and impossible to engage in a conversation. This reciprocated by withdrawing from our friendship and even withdrawing from her own self; she was no longer eating well nor caring fr her personal hygiene. There is a tremendous increase in divorce rates in the world today especially in the Northern America. In he United States of America, the current divorce rates lies at 50%. This typically means that 50% of America’s marriages end in dissolution (Cherlin Pgs 28-29). This is an alarming issue in the world today as divorce comes with many consequences that negatively involve even the innocent children that find themselves in the middle of such marriages. In Canada alone, statistics show that there are 2.11 divorces per every 500 families; there were 70,226 divorce cases in 2008 alone. This rate is a bit higher in America where there are 3.6 divorce cases per every 1,000 pe ople or 500 families (Cherlin Pg 29). The reasons for divorce varies from one region in the Northern America to another but the impacts are similar (Levinger & Oliver Pg 103). Divorce is a very bitter and heartbreaking monster to many families in the current generation. It mostly involves couples that at one point were very happy together, and they go through traumatizing moments to forget such days after divorce. It is so hard and it takes a long time and a lot of strength for such couples to overcome the confusion and trauma surrounding life, love and relationships. Martin had started withdrawing from Liz immediately they lost their first child at five months. Their child died of chronic pneumonia and Martin had always felt a sense of blame to Liz. He always accused her of negligence and lack of proper care to the child in terms proper and protective dressing of the child. Therefore, he withdrew from Liz after the child’s death and when Liz was devastated and tired of pursu ing Martin’s closeness, she too withdrew: not to me this time, bur to our other male friend Jack. Martin felt bad and in turn started being overprotective and jealous about Liz and Jack. At some point, he even engaged jack in a fight and the whole friendship network was falling apart. Liz instead withdrew further to a point that Martin proposed a divorce. This is when Liz again started to feel that she needed him more than

Reading Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Reading Education - Essay Example A similarity in the two sources is that they have a theoretical framework that relates achievement with social class and race or ethnic difference. On the theoretical border line of consumerism, gender and identity, In the report Choice Pathways and Transitions, the identity of the group under monitoring (cohorts) is no longer based on the old judgments based on class or gender but on the key aspect of identity; social class (Ball et.al. 2000, p.3). In the book addressing the classroom issues, the author cites griffins (1998) where he stated that many boys who are under-achieving, the difference is because of race and social class. Both sources also state that ethnic enculturation is a major impact while considering students achievements. Phoenix (1987) explained that ethnicity affects the constructs of gender (sex) and power. Different cultures take different behaviours as gendered in varying (more or less gender specific) ways. Social class also influences culture constructions (Sk eleton, 1997). Cultural theory in addressing the class room issue, also add that children school differently due to their social class; middle-mothers guarantee their children schooling success than working-class mothers. In the book addressing the classroom issues, the decision making for students is influenced mainly by the classroom inequalities, their social life and cultural issues e.g. association of language with femininity (Francis B., p.5), the association gender with roles e.g., girls cannot do hard subjects like mathematics. This is contrasting with Choice, pathways and transition report, where decision choices were influenced by the theoretical framework of individualism rather than as a result of structured constraints like classroom inequalities like in the... This essay focuses on the social and historical contexts of the themes that motivated the undertaking of this research. There are four main reasons why this study was conducted. The first theoretical borderline was to study the effect of the increase and outspread of the culture of individuality and the economic science of individualisation. Here, the study noted that there have been, in the duration of one generation, some revolutionary changes to the distinctive experiences of youth and one among the most often contested of the changes is the issue of decision making whereby young people have a certain extent to which they view their decision making as personal or individual choice and not as a product of structured conditions, which must be satisfied. This report makes a conclusion that the two studies acknowledge and appreciate that the events of the world affect all people, but they do so differently on the youth. These youths assume their choices, pathways and transitions in a dynamic urban environment full of many opportunities, challenges, oppressions, despairs and excitements. The main argument in this essay is that young people lead their life differently as a result of their differences in gender, the social class they belong to and the identities they fake or assume. Another argument is that the social, individual and material resources desirable to live a reflexively organised lifestyle are not equally reachable to all. The researchers found out that there are organizational factors like unemployment, poor pay, discrimination, lack of support, interrupted schooling, lack of formal qualifications, low self-confidence, and poverty as forming track-lines through the lives of some young people.

Role of marketing in helping charities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Role of marketing in helping charities - Essay Example The focuses in this paper are on charitable organizations which, just like any other organization, need to be marketed to succeed in their operation. The urge to show ability to spend and compete favourably in the larger market contributes highly for the reasons for marketing. Owing to the ever dynamic marketing techniques and messages, the ancient techniques and approaches of the charitable organization have proved to be irrelevant for the success of these organizations. Similarly, as a result of the ever increasing numbers of channels that conducts marketing for various organizations, consumers have had the opportunity to acquire more information on different organizations. This has also resulted into people being selective on their taste and choice. The internet has been of great importance when it comes to enlightening them on the best choice to go for at any given time. This is because they have been able to get access to prices, quality, benefits and value cutting across a wide range of goods and services. For instance, various sites have contributed greatly in exposing various charitable organizations, and help them acquire supports inform of donations and contributions. In addition, many charity organizations have created websites in order to make such efforts effective and the need to indulge people in true dialogue rather than just simply broadcasting messages to them. One of the obligations for the success of this technique is the use of softer skills and collaborations; this must be accompanied by open sharing of information, honest discussion of views and goals amongst others. (Wymer, Knowles & Gomes, 2006). . Understanding and getting appropriate answers is very crucial for charities just as commercial brands, this becomes useful when communicating with supporters and reaching out to supporters who need their services and support. Unlike commercial brands that tend to be faster in investing in new routes to market, charities are more reticent in t hat, the resources allocated to them is always insufficient, and this has always called for wise spending of the allocated donations (Wymer, Knowles & Gomes, 2006). According to Wymer, Knowles & Gomes (2006), for many years, media option such as mail, press and television have been of considerable help when it comes to fundraising, marketing and even communication. Despite the fact that their returns have always taken a downward trend in the recent past, ignoring these techniques proves difficult as their success or failure depends on the charity organization at stake. It will therefore, be significant to identify where people, who need help have interest as far as the charity services is concerned. It is always significant to engage or concentrate more on people and goals and not technologies or techniques used in marketing these organizations. This would mean that there is no need of setting up ones presence in a social network that brings no benefit to any of these charity organi zations. This can be determined by checking whether the charity is capable of attaining any of its set goals or objectives and if not then there is no need of being in such network. For cases where resources are limited, it is advisable to be in only those networks or channels that best meet the set goals or objectives (Wymer, Knowles & Gomes, 2006). It has always been thought that charities organizations don’t need go online in terms of marketing simply because they don’t deal with physical products. However, the validity of this observation is doubtable since they can use online marketing for their brand awareness and cause(s), get more donors and raise more fund which will enable them achieve their set objective and goals. Online marketing takes the form of online fundraising, charity auctions, acquisition of members and retention, lead generation and advocacy amongst others (Wymer, Knowles &