Search Results (36)

This article analyzes the scale, fluctuations and geographical distribution of olive (Olea europaea) cultivation in Palestine over 550 years, from the Late Mamluk period (1300–1517), through the Ottoman era (1517–1917), until the end of the British Mandate in 1947. Although olive oil played a dominant role in the diet and the local economy, there is currently no research that measures and quantifies the number of olive trees or the number of villages and towns that cultivated olive trees and produced olive oil. We reconstruct the agricultural landscape with its vast olive groves and examine the cultural history of olive tree farming, the growth of the olive oil industries and their economic role and importance. The earliest figures we have, that are from the year 1596, show that 400 villages cultivated 1,400,794 olive trees. By 1943, there were 6,053,367 olive trees that were cultivated by 644 villages. We found a strong correlation (R² = 0.96, p < 0.01) between the number of olive trees and the number of villages, indicating that olive oil demand and the olive oil industry align with population size. The research data derives from a variety of medieval local chroniclers, as well as diaries by European, North African and Middle Eastern travelers who provide descriptions of olive groves and the olive oil industry. Among the most important sources are the 1596 Ottoman tax registers. The tax registers are the first document that present clear-cut figures on the numbers of olive trees, olive presses and the names of the villages that cultivated olive groves. The main sources for the last period dealt with in this study are the British Mandate maps (1943), which display the acreage of the different crops across Palestine. The data from the maps is supplemented by two modern works on olive cultivation written by agronomists Assaf Goor (b. 1894) and Ali Nasouh (b. 1906) who were born in Palestine and employed by the British department of agriculture. The analysis of data shows that demands of local and oversea markets; the olive oil soap industry, which was based on the local olive oil; as well as competing agricultural crops like sugarcane, cotton and citrus, contributed to a complex economic structure. Olive tree cultivation did not depend on government investment. Olive groves in Palestine were rain fed, and, except for the harvest, they required relatively few working days a year. Hence, moderate policies (low taxation during periods of drought and low yields) adopted by enterprising local rulers and the central British government created a unique and relatively balanced relationship between rulers and farmers, which encouraged olive cultivation and led to a constant increase in the number of olive trees and the development of the olive oil industry. Full article

Agricultural carbon emissions, a key part of terrestrial carbon emissions, affect global carbon accounting, with historical data scarcity adding to calculation difficulty. Exploring agricultural planting structure evolution can supplement historical data and improve accounting accuracy. Based on local chronicles and statistics, this study reconstructs Northeast China’s planting structure of six major crops during the 1950s–1980s via threshold classification and transfer matrix methods. Results show high-carbon crops (corn in particular) expanded notably, while low-carbon crops (especially sorghum) declined. Planting patterns varied regionally, with the most complex structural changes occurring in the 1960s–1970s. Agricultural carbon emissions fluctuated in phases; the planting scale effect dominated emission growth, the intensity effect inhibited it, and the structural effect played a heterogeneous auxiliary role. This study provides a historical basis for low-carbon agricultural planning and differentiated carbon reduction policies. Full article

Folk culture is an important asset for rural tourism and is crucial for maintaining the vitality of traditional villages. However, many traditional villages face underutilized folk cultural resources, inadequate systematic analysis, and mismatches between resources and markets, which impede the sustainability of rural tourism. To address this gap, this study applies the Resource–Market–Product (RMP) framework to systematically analyze the development of folk culture tourism. The aims are to identify the gaps among resources, markets, and products in folk culture tourism in Xidi Village and propose effective development strategies. This study integrates multiple data sources, including a local chronicle, a pilot survey, and online content analysis. The results reveal that the three core dimensions are generally consistent, but significant gaps exist. Participants identify key strategies to promote folk culture tourism in Xidi Village, including developing a material product system that highlights local characteristics, innovating diversified nonmaterial folk cultural tourism experiences, designing attractive folk culture tourism routes and scenic spot tour lines, and addressing the importance of differentiated tourist demands. This study systematically identifies the challenges and opportunities associated with folk culture tourism in traditional villages in rural areas. It provides feasible insights for promoting sustainable rural tourism and revitalizing traditional culture. Full article

This article examines the sacred narrative traditions surrounding Nūr Atā, a small town in present-day Uzbekistan, to explore how Muslim communities in Central Asia expressed their religious history. Drawing on seven manuscripts preserved at the Beruni Institute of Oriental Studies in Tashkent, six in Persian and one in Turkic, the study identifies two distinct traditions that portray the town’s sanctity through prophetic miracle stories, hadith transmission chains, and Sufi cosmology. It explores how narrative form, linguistic variation, and intertextual references shape distinct devotional and historiographical claims. The topics addressed include the relationship between sacred narrative and historiography, the role of ritual practice in sacralizing space, and the textual transmission of spiritual authority. The sacred history of Nūr Atā offers a compelling vision of the town’s religious significance, communicated through both the content and structure of its narratives. These accounts position the town not merely as a local pilgrimage site but as a locus of divine favor embedded within the sacred geography of Islam. By linking the Prophet’s Miʿrāj, angelic testimony, and Sufi initiatic traditions to the landscape of Nūr Atā, the texts construct a genealogy of sanctity that aligns the local with the universal. In doing so, they articulate a vision of communal identity rooted in divine election, prophetic blessing, and spiritual legitimacy. The case of Nūr Atā thus underscores the need to treat sacred narratives, pilgrimage guides, and genealogical traditions as forms of historiography in their own right. These sources do not merely supplement court chronicles or administrative histories; they constitute vital modes through which Central Asian Muslim communities preserved collective memory, asserted religious authority, and inscribed themselves within the broader landscape of the Islamic world. Full article

Introduction: Surgical management of prostate cancer has evolved significantly over more than a century, transitioning from open procedures to modern robot-assisted techniques. This narrative review traces the historical progression of surgical treatments for localized prostate cancer, from early approaches to the most recent advancements. Materials and Methods: An extensive literature search was conducted from 1 April to 1 June 2025, using PubMed and cross-referencing citations. The search gathered studies on the evolution of prostate cancer surgery, technical aspects, and comparisons between surgical and non-surgical treatments. Keywords included “PROSTATE CANCER”, “PROSTATE CANCER SURGICAL TREATMENT”, “RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY EVOLUTION”, “ROBOT-ASSISTED RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY”, and “FOCAL THERAPY AND PROSTATE CANCER”. Results: A total of 65 manuscripts, including original articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and clinical trials focusing on the surgical treatment of localized prostate cancer, were selected. The review begins with the history of prostatic surgery, chronicling its evolution through laparoscopic and, ultimately, robotic approaches. It highlights how improved visualization and new technologies have led to better functional outcomes and preservation of structures while maintaining oncological safety. A specific focus is placed on the technical evolution of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy, new robotic platforms, and the role of focal therapy as an ultra-minimally invasive technique for localized disease. Conclusions: Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy represents the current reference surgical technique for localized prostate cancer. However, it is crucial to acknowledge RALP’s elevated cost and the need for further long-term, randomized data to establish definitive oncological equivalence compared to non-surgical options. Full article

Background/Objectives: The eastern periphery of the Slavic expansion (the Volga-Oka region) is the most promising region for reconstructing interactions between Slavic and pre-Slavic populations of the East European Plain. Unlike most pre-Slavic tribes, its autochthonous population practiced inhumation instead of cremation, leaving us with some ancient DNA for analysis. Methods: The region’s modern and ancient Y-chromosome gene pools are dominated by the haplogroup R1a: its frequency reaches 56% in Ryazan Russians (n = 302) and 44% in the Finnic peoples of Mordovia (n = 633). This encouraged us to analyze its Y-SNPs and Y-STRs. Results: Using 2 independent methods of phylogeny analysis, we identified 10 informative Y-STR clusters within R1a, dating back 1600–2900 YBP. The clusters included 48% of modern Ryazan Russians, 40% of Mordovia’s Finnic populations, and ancient DNA samples from the Ryazan-Oka culture (6–7th centuries), Suzdal (12–13th centuries) and Vladimir (13th century). Such a unique combination and pre-Slavic TMRCA indicate that the informative clusters represent pre-Slavic Y lineages. The presence of ancient samples from Vladimir and Suzdal in the clusters suggests that the autochthonous tribes contributed to shaping the urban population of the Vladimir-Suzdal Rus. Some of the informative clusters are associated with the ancient population of the Baltics (2000–4000 YBP). Conclusions: About half of Russian R1a carriers in the Volga-Oka region are descended from a pre-Slavic population, suggesting that the Slavs did not fully replace the autochthonous population but rather mostly culturally assimilated the Meshchyora documented in the Russian chronicles and other local tribes. Full article

As the cathedral serving Zuoyun and parts of Inner Mongolia, the Batayizi Church in Datong, Shanxi is the largest surviving Italian Gothic-style Catholic church in the region. The church features a rigorous layout and refined details, making it a significant case study for the dissemination and development of Western architecture in China. Previous studies have focused on local chronicles, aesthetic analyses, and the indigenization of Catholic churches in Shanxi. Due to the scarcity of archival materials, research on the architecture itself has not yet been conducted. The article first summarizes the construction rules of local form and order of Italian Gothic churches based on related church remains and literature. Next, it establishes the architectural form of the church by combining construction rules and field surveys. Finally, the reconstruction design of the church is completed. As the first reconstruction study of the Batayizi Church, this paper attempts to explore a Reconstruction path based on the construction of local form and order of the church and systematically restores the main facade, floor plan, and structural form of the church. The results not only provide insights for the reconstruction of modern Catholic churches in Shanxi but also offer new ideas and methods for the study of the localization of Western architecture in China. Full article

In the context of the information age, the symbolization of regional elements has become a crucial component in modern cartographic practice. The targeted identification of regional elements and the design of map symbols are prerequisites for realizing the symbolization of regional elements. Therefore, we propose a method to symbolize regional elements by combining textual analysis and image processing. Firstly, local chronicles are used as the textual information source, and regional elements are extracted through textual data mining. Second, the real image data of the elements are selected, and the image segmentation algorithm, clustering algorithm, etc., are used to extract contours and colors from the images and carry out corresponding symbol simplification and color matching, to create highly recognizable symbols. Finally, we apply the symbols to two map types: the thematic map and the tourist map, and design a questionnaire to evaluate the outcomes of the symbol design. After a thorough review, it has been found that the method is superior to related symbolization studies in terms of data source authority, symbol generation efficiency, and symbol information carrying. In conclusion, guided by interdisciplinary thinking, this study effectively combines theoretical analysis and design practice, proposes a new idea of symbolization, and opens up a new way for geographic information visualization. Full article

The 4 February 1867 Cephalonia (Western Greece) earthquake is the largest in the Ionian Islands and one of the largest in the Eastern Mediterranean. However, it remained one of the least studied historical events. For reconstructing this earthquake, we reevaluated existing knowledge and used new contemporary and modern sources, including scientific and local writers’ reports and books, local and national journals, newspapers, and ecclesiastical chronicles. The extracted information covered the earthquake parameters, population impact, building damage, and earthquake environmental effects (EEEs). The earthquake parameters included the origin time and duration of the main shock, epicenter location, precursors, aftershocks, and characteristics of the earthquake ground motion. The population impact involved direct and indirect health effects and population change. Building data highlighted the dominant building types and the types, grades, and distribution of damage. The EEEs included ground cracks, landslides, liquefaction, hydrological anomalies, and mild sea disturbances. Field surveys were also conducted for validation. The quantitative and qualitative information enabled the application of seismic intensity scales (EMS-98, ESI-07). The study concluded that since the affected areas were mainly composed of post-alpine deposits and secondarily of clay–clastic alpine formations with poor geotechnical properties, they were highly susceptible to failure. Effects and maximum intensities occurred in highly susceptible areas with a rich inventory. Full article

The “Zhenshan” 鎮山 (which means a mountain that guards a certain territory) system is based on the traditional Chinese view of nature, which formed and developed through a long period of Confucian humanistic construction. It is the typical representation of China’s nature-oriented worship space, and it has unique spatial order and spatial significance in the world’s sacred mountain worship. The excavation of the spatial characteristics of Zhenshan worship and its network of humanistic meanings is an important part of research that aims to discover the traditional Chinese values of nature, religious views, and Chinese worship space. Based on the analysis of graphic historical materials and a digital chronicle literature review, this paper quantitatively analyzes the historical information of Zhenshan and summarizes the process of change from the birth of the concept of Zhenshan in the Zhou dynasty to the formation of the sacrificial system in the Han dynasty and its gradual localization after the Tang and Song dynasties with an analysis of its spatial pattern and characteristics of worship. The results show that Zhenshan is one of the typical cultural symbols of the transformation of Chinese mountain worship into the unity of government and religion. And it is a typical product of Confucianism, in which the worship of nature in China is integrated into the political system, and its worship space is rooted in the national, regional, and urban spaces at multiple levels. The Zhenshan system, in the course of its dynamic development, has formed two types of worship space: temple sacrificial and metaphorical constraint, constructing a Chinese worship space based on the order of nature, which is distinctly different from the inward-looking religious space of the West and the sacred mountain worship space formed around the religion of the “supreme god”. Full article

Tourist maps provide tourists with destination information that reflects their unique characteristics and cultural connotations and play an important role in attracting tourists and serving marketing purposes. However, existing designs of tourist maps often ignore the importance of cultural resource selection and the relationship between maps and structural linguistics, thereby affecting the narrative function and representativeness of tourist maps. This study utilizes the local chronicle as a data source and proposes a novel visual narrative framework (VNF) for tourist maps. The VNF combines Todorov’s narrative hierarchy and Roth’s visual storytelling tropes to establish a mapping between map elements and narrative elements. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the VNF, the Songshan Scenic Area was selected as a case study. By applying the VNF, highly characteristic and meaningful colors, figurative hand-painted symbols, and scene symbols are selected and integrated into the map design to enhance the artistic value and narrative of the map. This framework reveals the potential cultural value of local chronicles and can serve as a reference for other historical tourist cities, contributing to the preservation of local cultural heritage. Full article

Effective forest conservation should go hand in hand with collaboration of the surrounding local communities. Bringing advancement and relief to marginalized communities is pivotal for conservation initiatives, with the objective of cultivating a sustainable ecosystem while protecting indigenous biodiversity. The linchpin for developing successful partnerships begins with fostering a shared understanding of the intricate relationship between humanity and the natural environment. This awareness can be nurtured by interactive education and tangible outcomes that illuminate the profound long-term benefits of conscientious environmental stewardship. Therefore, an emphasis on community-driven conservation and environmental education becomes imperative, serving as a conduit for disseminating crucial information, fostering practical knowledge, and nurturing the attitudes and skills essential in the quest for environmental protection and sustainable development. Education, in this context, operates as a reciprocal process, demanding that educators glean insights from the local populace to effectively tailor strategies that elevate and empower them toward sustainable advancement. This dynamic interaction is where capacity development (CD) becomes indispensable. This paper delves into the unfolding of a series of conservation endeavors, initially driven by Anita Studer’s commitment to preserving a fragment of the primary Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil. Evolving into a four-decade educational journey, the actions taken showcase enduring ripple effects across 14 states in Brazil, presenting a comprehensive survey of applied techniques in this unique context. The resources required to achieve collective conservation goals witness a continual upswing, a trend expounded in this paper. Hence, we have chronicled the history, methodology, and projects that transpired in response to the ever-evolving community needs. We will also look at the results and discuss the advancement that ensues following the CBD targets and goals presented at the 2022 UN Biodiversity Conference. Full article

Tulou dwellings in Southeast China have captivated global interest due to their distinctive appearance, sustainable construction materials and technologies, and their defensive and collective housing functions. Despite several being recognized as World Cultural Heritage sites, the vast majority of tulou buildings are undergoing irreversible decline and destruction, necessitating a comprehensive and systematic study. Taking 83 tulou buildings in Raoping County, Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province as the research object, this study reconstructs the historical scenes and systematically reveals the emergence, popularity, and consolidation process of tulou dwellings as integrated defensive and residential buildings for ordinary people by conducting a comprehensive analysis of historical documents and local chronicles. Based on an extensive field investigation, the study systematically analyzes the geospatial distribution and the spatial characteristics of Raoping tulou and its residential unit. The results demonstrate the adaptability and flexibility of tulou dwellings, showcasing their developmental process and revealing the inclusive nature of these traditional residences, as well as the initiative of those who reside within them. The research findings contribute to a more dynamic, comprehensive, and authentic understanding of tulou and Chinese traditional residences, providing valuable references for the preservation and sustainable development of tulou architectural heritage. Full article

Based on the theories of industrial structure and settlement environment, this paper conducts a quantitative and qualitative study to investigate how the evolution in the industrial structure of the island affects the settlement environment with relevant statistical data, local chronicles, and questionnaire survey data. The study found that the industrial structure of Liuheng Island has transformed from a fishery-led to industry-led island, which has led to the rapid increase of urbanization on Liuheng Island, and the public service facilities have been increasingly densely distributed urban-type communities with high modernization levels, such as Longshan Community, Xuanzhuotou Community, and Taimen Community. The local residents of Liuheng Island are also satisfied with the public service facilities in terms of facility availability, transportation convenience, environmental comfort, and environmental health. For a period, the island residents were particularly concerned about the regional differences in environmental health, and the main reasons were the industrial structure upgrade towards industrialization, which would cause certain industrial waste emissions, and the pressure of commuting within the island, which would affect residents’ sense of security. This indicates that the evolution of industrial structure will directly affect the speed and quality of urban and rural settlement hardware construction and also, to a certain extent, the subjective perceptions of residents around the dense industrial areas on the state of the settlement, especially in terms of environmental health and community living safety. Full article

The collective ritual of building one-day votive churches (obydennye khramy) was practiced in the European north of Russia between the late 14th and 17th centuries. The product of a syncretism between Orthodox Christianity and native folklore, the ritual’s purpose was to deliver the community from epidemic disease. One-day churches were built of freshly cut logs, on virgin ground, in a prominent place, such as a town square or crossroads. According to local belief, votive objects made from natural materials were simultaneously temporary and eternal; this paper interrogates how one-day churches fit this model. Obydennye khramy were ephemeral structurally, processually, and circumstantially. These were simple, rudimentary votive structures, not built to last nor substitute established churches. By condensing into a single day all of the traditional steps of church-building, the ritual prevented the church from growing old before completion, ensuring its purity through its newness. Built under threat of pestilence, obydennye khramy had the function of realigning the progression of time, putting an end to the period of disease, and thereby allowing humans to fleetingly triumph over natural forces. Obydennye khramy were enduring as objects of intercession, as governance instruments, and in their subsequent representations in the written word and urban topography. Votive churches were spatial icons, mediating between humans and the cosmos and returning to nature as they decayed. The ritual itself, led by religious and secular authorities, performatively reinforced social hierarchies. Obydennye khramy were immortalised in chronicle narratives and occasionally replaced with stone churches, some of which survive today. Full article