Cleopatra 'of African descent'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/also_in_the_news/7945333.stm
Page last updated at 23:31 GMT, Sunday, 15 March 2009

Elizabeth Taylor playing Cleopatra
Elizabeth Taylor's European Cleopatra persists in the public imagination

The legendarily beautiful Egyptian queen Cleopatra was part African, says a documentary team who believe they have found the tomb of her sister.

It was traditionally thought that Mark Anthony's lover was of Greek descent.

But remains of the queen's sister Princess Arsinoe, found in Ephesus, Turkey. indicate that her mother had an "African" skeleton.

Experts have described the results - revealed in a BBC documentary - as "a real sensation."

The discovery was made by Dr Hilke Thuer of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He said: "It is unique in the life of an archaeologist to find the tomb and the skeleton of a member of Ptolemaic dynasty.


That Arsinoe had an African mother is a real sensation
Dr Hilke Thuer
Austrian Academy of Sciences

"That Arsinoe had an African mother is a real sensation which leads to a new insight on Cleopatra's family and the relationship of the sisters Cleopatra and Arsinoe."

Documentary presenter and archaeologist Neil Oliver said: "Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony - they are all iconic figures from history.

"It's almost impossible to remember they were real people and not the semi-mythical figures portrayed by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor."

He continued: "It was like a splash of cold water in the face to be confronted by them as human beings.

A painting of Cleopatra on her deathbed
Cleopatra also looks European in this oil painting - owned by Michael Jackson

"When I stood in the lab and handled the bones of Cleopatra's blood sister - knowing that in her lifetime she touched Cleopatra and perhaps Julius Caesar and Mark Antony as well- I felt the hairs go up on the back of my neck.

"Suddenly these giant figures from history were flesh and blood."

There was plenty of sibling rivalry Princess Arsinoe and her powerful sister Cleopatra - many believe the queen ordered her Roman partner Mark Anthony to murder her.

The film examines the life of Cleopatra - who had an affair with Julius Caesar - including her murderous intentions towards Arsinoe.

Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer is on BBC One at 9pm on March 23.

生態学（＝生物の生活の機構）を通じての生物進化の研究

生活の機構の時間スケール：行動、歴史、進化
比較的短時間で完結する過程＝行動（または活動）繁殖行動、採食行動
世代を越えて進行する過程＝遷移あるいは進化、分布の拡大など
形態や性質が祖先とある程度以上異なっていく過程＝進化

われわれが、ふつう直接観察できるのは行動
だが、（個体数の増減などの）過程にかかわった要因を探る手がかりは、行動の観察から得られるかもしれない。たとえば、異なる環境での行動の比較は、行動の歴史的変化を示唆しうる。さらに、両者の環境変化の諸相と重ね合わせて変化の過程を検討することができる。

歴史変化の必然性を説明しなければならない

歴史生態人類学のテーマ
人類史における、二足歩行、道具、言語、家族、狩猟、農耕、牧畜、交易、国家などの起源や変化

歴史的現象には、生態学的手法では触れにくいもの
生活の機構としての経済や社会との必然的関係において変化していないもの
民族的、文化的な恣意的な文化

オキノ先生曰く

人類学について研究するんじゃなくて、人類について研究しないといけない
では、どうすれば人類を研究したことになるの？
未開人の研究を通して人類の始原の姿を再構成する、という戦略は通用しない
世間はいまでもそういうふうにみるけれど

「都市一つ壊滅したかも」小惑星あわや激突…豪学者が観測

　【ブリスベーン＝岡崎哲】３日未明、直径３０～５０メートルもある小惑星が地球の近くをかすめていたことが、オーストラリア国立大学の天文学者、ロバート・マクノート博士の観測で分かった。
Click here to find out more!

　最接近時には地球からわずか約６万キロの距離で、博士は「衝突していれば１都市が壊滅するところだった」としている。

　地元メディアによると、同博士は２月２７日、２００万キロ以上離れた宇宙空間に時速３万１０００キロもの速度で地球に向かって来る未知の天体を発見し、軌道を計算したところ、太陽の周りを１年半かけて公転する小惑星だった。この小惑星は３日午前０時４０分（日本時間２日午後１０時４０分）に地球に最も近づき、その距離は、月との距離（約３８万キロ）の６分の１弱に当たる約６万キロだった。

　この小惑星の大きさは、１９０８年にロシア・シベリアに落ち、２０００平方キロの森を焼き尽くしたものに匹敵したという。

　地球への再接近は１００年以上先になる見込み。

　国立天文台の入江誠・広報普及員の話　「小惑星と地球との距離が６万キロ・メートルというのは、宇宙の距離としてはものすごく近い。小惑星の大きさも、かなり大きい部類に入る。この大きさの小惑星がここまで地球に接近するのは珍しいことだ。地球に衝突せずに通過してよかった」
（2009年3月6日12時29分 読売新聞）

ラオスに一番列車が走る、構想１５年～悲願の鉄道開通

　【ビエンチャン＝田原徳容】東南アジアの内陸に位置する最貧国のひとつラオスで５日、隣国タイとつながるラオス初の鉄道が開通した。

　構想から１５年。１９９７年のアジア通貨危機による作業中断など苦難を経て、ラオス国民の悲願がようやくかなった。

　開通したのは、ラオスの首都ビエンチャン郊外のタナレンからメコン川を渡りタイ東北部ノンカイまでの３・５キロ。タイ国営鉄道会社が運営する。メコン川では、「ラオス―タイ第１友好橋」の中央部分に線路が敷かれた。ディーゼル車両が１日２往復する。

　友好橋が完成した９４年に両国が建設を計画。アジア通貨危機で資金難に陥り、ラオス側の工事が一時中断したが、２００６年に再開し、開通にこぎつけた。総工費は５億４７００万バーツ（約１４億６０００万円）。

　５日は、タイのシリントン王女やアピシット首相を乗せた一番列車がノンカイ駅を発車し、１５分かけて新設のタナレン駅に到着した。

　平地がメコン川沿いに限られたラオスでは、フランスによる植民地時代なども物資輸送はもっぱら河川交通が用いられ、鉄道は発達しなかった。

　ラオス政府は、車頼みだった物資輸送のコストを約４０％削減できると見込んでおり、将来は、中国雲南省やベトナムにも路線を拡大する考え。ビエンチャンとタイの首都バンコクも線路１本で結ばれたことで、観光活性化にも期待がかかる。
（2009年3月5日22時22分 読売新聞）

裸のサル：恥ずかしさを捨て去ることは可能か

人類はどうやら、直立二足歩行を始めて毛皮が邪魔になったらしい。毛皮があれば
日光から皮膚を保護することができるが、直立したら直射日光を受ける体表面積が小さくなる、その一方で、二足歩行のおかげで移動性がぐんと高まった。人類は他の動物と比べると大した戦闘能力は持ってないけど、とにかく根気強く歩いて獲物を追い詰めることができた。ところが、長時間移動し続けると暑くなってくる、体温調節するときに毛皮があるのは邪魔。毛皮がない個体のほうが進化に適応的だったらしい。

それが、なぜまた服を着るようになったのか。もちろん、寒冷な中緯度地域に進出したから。でも、もともと裸だった人間が、服をつけないと恥ずかしいのはなぜなのか。パートナー云々の説明は本当に関与的なんだろうか。

他の霊長類と違って、ヒトの毛皮がなくなった経緯：
直立二足歩行を始めた人類は、毛皮がなくなったことで、発汗冷却による体温調整が促進された。そして、冷却作用の働きにより、大脳の進化が可能になった。

それなのに、人間が裸を恥ずかしいと感じるのはなぜ？

ヒトの群居性は一つの難題を突き付ける。群居により、他のメンバーに性的衝動を感じてしまうからだ。パートナーを欺いて他のメンバーと性交することは、潜在的には男性にとっても女性にとっても有利に作用する。

ここに裸の恥ずかしさの秘密がある。むき出しの身体は性的なシグナルを発し、それが夫婦の安全を脅かすのだということをヒトは何千世代もかけて学び、裸は悪いことだと選び取ったのだ。

社会的接触のなかで性的シグナルを露出しないようにする

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7915369.stm
BBC NEWS
Can people unlearn their naked shame?

By Paul King
Once we were all happy to walk around naked, now we're not. But can an experiment in nudity help us understand why we are so embarrassed by being seen in the buff and help shed our inhibitions?

It's a classic anxiety nightmare - you're standing in front of a room full of work colleagues, your boss is there, maybe even that new colleague you've been trying to impress. And you're stark naked. Ouch.

Why are we so ashamed of being seen naked? Is there something deep in human nature that finds naked skin abhorrent? Some prudishness inherited from our Victorian ancestors?
FIND OUT MORE...
# Horizon's What's the Problem With Nudity? is on BBC Two at 2100 GMT on Tuesday, 3 March
# Or watch it later on the BBC

And how can you explain the rebels who shun convention to spend their weekends hanging out with similar-minded nudists, insisting nothing could be more normal?

Eight ordinary people - none of them nudists - were recently brought together for an experiment filmed by the BBC's Horizon programme, to test some of the scientific theories that explain why naked bodies make us so uncomfortable.

Among them were Phil, 39, from Birmingham and Kath, 40, from Dorset. Kath's greatest worry was that people would laugh at her. Some of the men in the group were more concerned about inappropriate excitement.

Man's nakedness

Phil was first to feel the cameras burning into his skin. A matter of hours after meeting the other volunteers, he found himself before a full-length mirror, instructed to remove all of his clothes. When he discovered the mirror was two-way and he was being watched, his red face, beating heart and soaring blood pressure told a story.

Performing the same task, Kath admitted she wanted "the floor to open up." When we are naked in public, most of us feel exposed.
“ All around the world individuals feel great shame when they know that others know that they have failed to be adequately modest ”
Prof Dan Fessler
Psychologist

And of course, a naked human is just that bit more naked than other primates. We have only minimal body hair, they have fur. Why?

It's one of the greatest mysteries in evolution, and even bothered Charles Darwin. One of the theories is that we lost our fur as a way of dealing with the heat of the sun. It's controversial, as most mammals use fur to protect them from the sun. But some anthropologists believe our ancestors' unique ability to sweat, along with their upright stance, meant we could cool quicker without fur - prompting the onset of human nudity.

They reckon that evolutionary step towards nudity had huge implications for the human race. With a souped-up cooling system, our ancestors could afford to develop ever-bigger brains - leading to culture, tools, fire, and language.

Red for 'no-go'

"Really, without losing hair, without our sweatiness, we wouldn't have been able to evolve the big brains that characterise us today," says anthropologist Professor Nina Jablonski of Penn State University. "Essentially, being hairless was the key to much of human evolution."

So there's reason to believe our nudity arose out of practical need, but that doesn't answer why we're so ashamed by it.

But it seems this shame can be unlearned - witness, for example, the work of artist Spencer Tunick, who frequently corrals hundreds of volunteers to strip off en mass in public places for his photographs.

After a series of experiments, Phil and Kath, who had been so self-conscious at the start, each came face-to-face with a newly stripped fellow volunteer. They were invited to paint the body in front of them, colour coding every patch of skin to show how uncomfortable they felt touching that part of the body - red for no-go; yellow for squirming and green for fine.

Phil drew the line at colouring his subject's genitals, but Kath had lost all her inhibitions. Within moments she'd painted her subject completely green. Every inch.

Learned shame

It was an example of how flexible our attitudes to nudity are. And it explains how nudists can carry on as normal when they're surrounded by naked people. Over a couple of days, the volunteers had unlearned many of the social conventions that normally govern their life, and reached a new consensus that permitted them to be naked in each other's company.

It chimes with the psychologists' theory that we are not born with a shame of nudity. Instead we learn it, as an important behavioural code that allows us to operate in human society.

With the long immature period of a young human, mum and dad need to form a stable pair bond to do the looking after. But humans are more social than any other primate, living and moving in large social groups.

Psychologist Professor Dan Fessler, of the University of California, Los Angeles, says our gregariousness "poses a challenge... because those groups of course provide a source of temptation. Potentially both sexes can benefit by cheating on their partners."

That's where our shame of nudity comes in. Over thousands of generations, we've learned that showing off a naked body sends out sexual signals that threaten the security of mating pairs. And we've chosen to agree that that is a bad thing.

Shame is the ideal emotion to enforce that code of conduct. Because it feels unpleasant, we avoid it at all costs. And because it's such a visible emotion, everyone around gets a clear message that you know you've messed up.

Social contract

"All around the world individuals feel great shame when they know that others know that they have failed to be adequately modest," Prof Fessler says. "Essentially, they're signalling to those around them 'I understand what the social norm is and I understand that you know that I have failed in this regard, so please don't hurt me.'

"Nudity is a threat to the basic social contract. They have exposed their body and their sexual selves in a way that presents an opportunity for sexual behaviour outside of the principal union."

But as this code of conduct is something we learn, rather than are born with, we can re-learn it, if common consensus allows. As Phil reflected: "One thing I think I'll take away is how easy it was to bond with complete strangers in what should really be an artificial environment and one that by all society's standards we should feel uncomfortable with."

Would all this knowledge prepare Phil and Kath to push the boundaries of acceptable behaviour back in the real world? As the weekend drew to a close, they were presented their final, surprise challenge.

They are invited to walk naked in the street to waiting taxis, which they do. They have overcome a significant bit of socialisation.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7915369.stm

Published: 2009/03/02 11:43:31 GMT