Víctor M. Fernández

A new HLA-G allele (HLA-G * 0105N) and its distribution in the Spanish population

Six different HLA-G subtypes ( HLA-G*01011, -G*01012, -G*01013, -G*0102, -G*0103, and -G*0104) have been defined by the WHO Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System.HLA-G is an interesting nonclassical class I gene with the following characteristics: 1) a low degree of polymorphism (Morales et al. 1993; Yamashita et al. 1996); 2)HLA-G expression is restricted to trophoblast cells where it is the only Mhc molecule expressed; low mRNA transcript levels have been detected in a wide variety of cells in fetal and adult tissues (Onno et al. 1994); 3) alternative splicing of HLA-G transcripts gives rise to four membrane-bound and two soluble isoforms (Fujii et al. 1994); 4) polymorphic changes do not follow the three hypervariable regions per domain model and do not affect either the antigen or T-cell receptor binding sites (Arnaiz-Villena et al. 1996); and 5) stop codons have been found in homozygousity at theMhc-G exon 3 in the Cercopithecinaefamily of primates. Altogether this suggests that alternative splicing forms without exon 3 could play a role in cellular physiology other than antigen presenting (Castro et al. 1996). In the present study a new HLA-G subtype is described in the Spanish population; this allele shows linkage disequilibrium with the HLA A30-B13 haplotype and bears a nucleotide deletion either in the third position of codon 129 or the first of codon 130. Genomic DNA from 114 unrelated healthy Spanish individuals was isolated from peripheral blood lymphocytes using standard methods. Amplification of exon 2, exon 3, or exon 2 + intron 2 + exon 3 was performed using HLA-Gspecific primers as previously described (Morales et al. 1993). A total of 20 samples were further studied by singlestrand conformational polymorphism because they showed blanks or typing anomalies. Four showed a rare mobility pattern; polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products from exon 2 + intron 2 + exon 3 were purified, inserted into the pGEM-T vector, and sequenced in an Applied Biosystems (Foster City, CA) DNA automated sequencer. Two new HLA-G sequences were obtained: one ( HLA-G*0104, present in two unrelated samples) has been recently described in a Japanese population study (Yamashita et al. 1996), and the other (present in two other unrelated samples and namedHLA-G*0105N) has not yet been described. HLA-G*0104 has a non-synonymous leucine to isoleucine substitution at the first base of codon 110 (exon 3) compared withG*01013 (Fig. 1); this change is the first non-synonymous variation found at this codon in humans. This position does not seem to be important in the binding site region for processed antigen or in T-cell receptor interactions. A study of this allele in 114 unrelated Spanish individuals using a PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method (Morales et al. 1993) indicates that it is present in 100% of HLA-A23(n = 7)and 70% of HLA-A24 (n = 17)-positive Spaniards and has a frequency of 21.05% (n = 114, see Figure 1 legend). It is also found in four HLA-A19and oneHLA-A2/-A11-positive samples; strong linkage disequilibrium has already been described betweenHLA-A and -G alleles (Morales et al. 1993). The newHLA-G*0105Nallele shows a cytosine deletion either at the third base of codon 129 or the first base of codon 130 (exon 3; Fig. 1). This deletion changes the reading frame from this position, yielding a different amino acid sequence of the protein, which most likely would finish with a stop codon at the beginning of the α3 domain (exon 4), ifHLA-G*0105Nexon 4 DNA sequence is identical toHLA-G*01011 exon 4 DNA sequence; the cytosine deletion at codon 129/130 is not a PCR artefact because it has been observed in two different samples and in different PCR-RFLP assays. Stop codons in homozygousity have been found at exon 3 of Mhc-G sequences from The nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper have been subitted to the GenBank the nucleotide sequence database and have been assigned the accession number L78073. The name G*0105N was offficially assigned by the WHO Nomenclature Committee in October 1996

Palaeoenvironmental evolution of the blue Nile (Central Sudan) during the early and mid-holocene (Mesolithic-Neolithic transition)

Abstract The investigation of some Mesolithic and Neolithic settlements on the eastern margin of the Blue Nile (central Sudan) near Karthoum, has allowed some conclusions to be drawn about the palaeoenvironmental evolution of this area during the early to mid-Holocene. The sedimentological analysis of some of the sites, together with some chronological results from the pottery assemblage found in these sites, have enabled changes in the climatic conditions during the early and mid-Holocene to be distinguised. Between 8000 and 7000 BP, more humid conditions than the present have been recorded (the ‘Mesolithic Optimum’). An arid stage coincident with the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition developed in this area has been detected between 7000 and 6800 BP. Humid conditions, although less developed than the previous humid stage, were then reestablished at ca. 6800 BP.

Archaeological survey in the Blue Nile area, Central Sudan. Prospección arqueológica en el área del Nilo Azul, Sudán Central

espanolSe presentan los resultados de una prospeccion intensiva del area de Wadi Soba-el-Hasib al este de Jartum en la orilla oriental del Nilo Azul y una exploracion del Nilo Azul aguas arriba hasta Singa. El objetivo principal fueron los restos prehistoricos, con un 80% de yacimientos mesolfticos (Early Khartoum), siendo el resto neolftico (Shaheinab-Jebel Moya) junto a escasos restos paleolfticos. Por primera vez se han registrado yacimientos importantes del Neolftico Final en el Sudan Central, siempre en areas lejanas al Nilo de la Butano y la Gezira. Se han aplicado metodos estadisticos multivariantes a los procesos de formacion, seriacion ceramica y modelos de asentamiento. Se advierte el paso primero de una explotacion acuatica por grupos moviles a una concentracion demografica de cazadores-pastores de sabana, que luego adoptan una economia movil con tumulos funerarios como unico resto arqueologico hasta la epoca moderna. EnglishThe results are presented of an intensive survey of the Wadi Soba-el-Hasib area east of Khartoum on the east bank of the Blue Nile and the exploration of the Blue Nile Basin upstream to Singa. The survey focused mainly on the Prehistoric sites, with the Mesolithic period (Early Khartoum) as the mostly represented with more than 80% of the discovered sites, the Neolithic sites (Shaheinab-Jebel Moya) making up most of the remainder 20%. Very few Palaeolithic sites were recorded. Late Neolithic sites of large size have been found for the first time in the Central Sudan, all of them located away from the Blue Nile in the Butana and Gezira plains. Site structure and formation processes, ceramic seriation and settlement patterns have been analysed applying statistical multivariate methods to the survey quantitative data. Some historical trends have been noticed. The first is the change from a Nilewadi aquatic exploitation by small mobile groups towards demographic concentration of near-sedentary savanna hunting-herding populations. During the Late Neolithic period the groups adopted a mobile economy and their only archaeological record thereafter are the burial tumuli fields up to the Christian and Islamic periods.

Archaeological excavations in prehistoric sites of the Blue Nile area, Central Sudan. Excavaciones arqueológicas en yacimientos prehistóricos del Nilo Azul, Sudán Central

espanolResultados de las excavaciones en dos yacimientos mesolfticos, uno de la zona del rio (Sheikh Musta fa1, fechado por carbono-14 en c. 7705-7600 bp) y otro en Wadi Sobo (El Mahalab, c. 7705-6940 bp), y un yacimiento neolftico inicial del wadi (Sheikh el Amin, c. 5555-4590 bp), con analisis exhaustivos de estratigrafias, ceramicas, materiales lfticos y otros hallazgos, usando metodos multivariantes (componentes principales, analisis factorial). Aunque la erosion ha afectado parcialmente a los sitios mesoliticos, se recuperaron importantes datos sobre la evolucion cultural regional del VIII al y milenio bp, cuyas lineas de cambio van desde ceramicas niloticas con lineas onduladas incisas a tipos saharianos con impresiones de lineas rectas y punteadas, y desde puntas de dorso y segmentos estrechos a segmentos anchos que reflejan el paso de la pesca y caza mayor a la caza menor La pesca pierde importancia progresivamente a lo largo del periodo de los tres yacimientos, mientras que la recoleccion vegetal, inferible a partir de los morteros, aumenta continuadamente para empezar a decrecer al final antes del paso a una economia pastoril nomada. EnglishExtensive excavations were carried out in two Mesolithic sites, in the river area (Sheikh Mustafa-1, radiocarbon dated to c. 7930-7600 bp) and in the Wadi Soba zone (El Mahalab, c. 7705-6940 bp), and at a wadi Early Neolithic site (Sheikh el Amin, c. 5555-4590 bp). The results of comprehensive analysis of stratigraphical conditions, pottery and lithic material and other cultural types are presented. Multivariate methods such as principal component and rotated factor analysis have been applied to quantitative data from excavated sectors and squares at the three sites. Even though the Mesolithic sites are partially deflated, significant information was gathered on the cultural evolution in the area during the 8th – 5th millennia bp. The inferred scenario presents several change trends: from specifically Nilotic pottery decoration (incised wavy line) to Saharan types such as impressed rocker and dotted wavy line, from lithic backed points and narrow lunates, used for fishing and hunting big game, to wide lunates for the hunting of smaller game. Fishing importance decreased along the whole period of the three sites. Plant gathering, deduced from grinders frequency, increased to a maximum during the Neolithic but a decrease is inferable for the latter phases of this period when the transition begun to a pastoralist way of life.

Four thousand years in the Blue Nile: Paths to inequality and ways of resistance. Cuatro mil años en el Nilo Azul: Caminos a la desigualdad y vías de resistencia

As general conclusions of the papers of the Blue Nile Project dossier herein, some ideas are suggested about the prehistoric societies investigated by Spanish archaeologists in Central Sudan during the 1990’s. The project included a survey of the Wadi Soba-El Hasib region east of Khartoum and excavations of two Mesolithic sites and one Neolithic site in the Wadi Soba area. Data from different sources are combined in an attempt to construct a historical narrative. Vestiges of some cultural hiatuses were noticed in the region, namely at the beginning and the end of the Mesolithic period, the latter involving the emergence of social stratification and the decline of women status. The archaeological gap at the end of the Neolithic period is interpreted as being a consequence of hindrance to social division. Early cultures of resistance and population movements towards the Ethiopian escarpment as a refuge area are proposed as longue dureeprocesses among Nilo-Saharans of the Eastern Sahel.

The Azazo Project: Archaeology and the Community in Ethiopia

Abstract In this article we discuss the motivations, aims, and preliminary results of working with a local community in Ethiopia. Trying to escape from the (neo)colonial archaeology that is still practised in Africa, this project aims to achieve a cooperative and participative archaeology. This work with the community has been one of our main priorities in our last seasons, and although we have focused on elementary school and university students, we have opened up a number of different paths to follow in future years. The experience has been very positive, and engagement with local people has helped us to create awareness about the importance of cultural heritage, hopefully ensuring the future protection of the sites.

The Archaeology of the Jesuit Missions in Ethiopia (1557–1632)

This book presents an archaeological and architectonic study of the 17th century Jesuit constructions in Ethiopia, which played an important role in the missionary activity. Its comprehensive study gathers and preserves the splendor of these endangered ruins for future generations.

The Jesuit Mission to Ethiopia (1557–1632) and the Origins of Gondärine Architecture (Seventeenth–Eighteenth Centuries)

During the time when the Ethiopian kings were based in the city of Gondar (c. 1636–1769), they erected a series of stone-and-mortar buildings (‘castles’ or ‘palaces’) of semi-military style, which are nowadays one of the main tourist attractions of the country and have intrigued scholars ever since their first description by the Scottish traveler James Bruce in 1790. Recent studies have tended to reject the importance attributed by traditional scholarship—heavily influenced by colonial prejudices—to the influence of Portuguese and Jesuit presence in the country all through the previous decades and have instead looked for a mainly Oriental origin (Ottoman, Indian, etc.) of the architecture. After the archaeological/architectural survey and excavations at several of the main Jesuit sites by a team led by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (2006–2014), there seems to be enough reasons to take the important buildings made by the Jesuit missionaries and technicians, between 1621 and 1632, as one of the main sources of the subsequent Gondarine architecture.

Europe: Beyond the Canon

The inception of widely shared codes of practice for archaeologists throughout Europe in the last decades has undoubtedly contributed to enhance our daily practice, both scientifically and ethically. The next challenge ahead, if we are to both face the old and new multicultural circumstances and productively renovate our research goals and agendas, is to destabilize and dismantle in a deliberate way the “universal” components of our theoretical conceptions. We must approach and consent the up to now demonized “other” archaeologies in our society, represented by local people, “pseudoarchaeologists,” looters and private collectors, immigrants, and so forth. In conversing and learning from them we not only would fairly acknowledge our societal variety but also will enrich our visions of the past and eventually be better prepared for the ongoing combat with the true menace to a socially productive archaeology, which comes from a destructive, ultraliberal capitalist activity.