Baltic Amber 5,000 Years of International Trade

Baltic amber is the name given to a specific type of natural fossilized resin that was the focus of international long distance trade throughout Europe and Asia beginning at least 5,000 years ago: it was collected and used by humans first in the Upper Paleolithic period, perhaps as long ago as 20,000 years. What Is Baltic Amber? Plain old amber is any natural resin which oozed its way out of a tree and eventually fossilized at any time from recent times back to the Carboniferous Period of some 300 million years ago. Amber is generally yellow or yellow-brown and translucent, and it is pretty when polished. In its fresh form, the resin has been known to collect insects or leaves in its sticky clutches, preserving them in visually perfect splendor for thousands of years—the oldest amber-preserved insects so far are Late Triassic-aged specimens of 230,000 million years ago. Resins ooze out of certain kinds of pine and other trees (a few conifers and angiosperms), almost everywhere in the northern hemisphere of our planet. Baltic amber (known as succinite) is a specific subset of amber that is found only in northern Europe: it accounts for some 80% of the known amber in the world. Between 35 and 50 million years ago, sap oozed out from a forest of conifers (probably either false larch or kauri) in the region now covered by the Baltic Sea, and eventually hardened into clear lumps. Shoved around northern Europe by glaciers and river channels, lumps of genuine Baltic amber can still be found today on the eastern coasts of England and Holland, throughout Poland, Scandinavia and northern Germany and much of western Russia and the Baltic states. Baltic amber is not necessarily preferable to any other kind of amber—in fact, amber researcher and organic chemist Curt W. Beck comments that it is visually indistinguishable from the local varieties found elsewhere. Baltic amber is simply available in vast quantities in northern Europe, and it may have been a matter of supply and demand that fueled widespread trade. The Attraction Archaeologists are interested in identifying Baltic amber as opposed to locally available amber because its presence outside of its known distribution is an indication of long-distance trade. Baltic amber can be identified by the presence of succinic acid—the real thing has between 2-8% succinic acid by weight. Unfortunately, chemical tests for succinic acid are expensive and damage or destroy samples. In the 1960s, Beck began using infrared spectroscopy to successfully identify Baltic amber, and because it only requires a sample size of about two milligrams, Becks method is a much less ruinous solution. Amber and Baltic amber were used in Europe beginning in the early Upper Paleolithic, although no evidence for widespread trade that long ago has been discovered. Amber was recovered from the Gravettian period La Garma A cave site in the Cantabrian region of Spain, but the amber is of local derivation rather than Baltic. Cultures which are known to have actively traded in amber included Unetice, Otomani, Wessex, Globular Amphora, and, of course, the Romans. Large deposits of Neolithic artifacts made of amber (beads, buttons, pendants, rings, and plaquette figurines) have been found at the Juodkrante and Palanga sites in Lithuania, both dated between 2500 and 1800 BC, and both of which are near Baltic amber mines. The largest deposit of Baltic amber is near the town of Kaliningrad, where it is believed that 90% of the worlds Baltic amber can be found. Historic and prehistoric hoards of raw and worked amber are known from Biskupin and Mycenae and throughout Scandinavia. The Roman Amber Road Beginning at least as long ago as the end of the third Punic War, the Roman Empire controlled all ​the known amber trading routes through the Mediterranean. The routes became known as the amber road, which crossed Europe from Prussia to the Adriatic by the first century AD. Documentary evidence indicates that the main emphasis of the Roman-era trade in amber was Baltic; but Dietz et al. have reported that excavations at Numantia, a Roman site in Soria, Spain recovered Sieburgite, a very rare Class III type of amber, known only from two sites in Germany. The Amber Room But the gaudiest use of Baltic amber has to be the  Amber Room, an 11 square foot room constructed in the early 18th century AD in Prussia and presented to the Russian czar  Peter the Great  in 1717.  Catherine the Great  moved the room to her summer palace in  Tsarskoye Selo  and embellished it about 1770. The Amber Room was looted by the Nazis during WWII and although pieces of it have turned up in the black market, what must have been tons of original amber have completely disappeared, and were probably destroyed. In 2000, customs officials from Kaliningrad donated 2.5 tons of newly mined amber for the restoration of the Amber Room, which is what is illustrated in the photograph on this page. Amber and aDNA Despite the early notions of amber preserving ancient DNA (aDNA) in captured insects (and leading to popular movies such as the  Jurassic Park  trilogy),  it isnt likely. The most recent studies suggest that although extant DNA may possibly exist in amber specimens less than 100,000 years old, the current process used to retrieve it destroys the specimen and may or may not successfully retrieve aDNA. Baltic amber, for sure, is too old to make this possible. Sources This glossary entry is a part of the About.com Guide to the  Raw Materials,  Characteristics of Ancient Civilizations, and part of the  Dictionary of Archaeology. Ancient myths about amber include the Greek Phaethon and his  sisters tears  shed as he died. Volume 16, issue 3 of the  Journal of Baltic Studies  was subtitled  Studies in Baltic , and is worth looking at if youre doing research on the subject. NOVA has a good page on amber called  Jewel of the Earth.Amber Beck CW. 1985. Criteria for amber trade:  The evidence in the eastern European Neolithic.  Journal of Baltic Studies  16(3):200-209. Beck CW. 1985.  The role of the scientist: The amber trade, the chemical analysis of amber, and the determination of Baltic provenience.  Journal of Baltic Studies  16(3):191-199. Beck CW, Greenlie J, Diamond MP, Macchiarulo AM, Hannenberg AA, and Hauck MS. 1978.  The chemical identification of   Journal of Archaeological Science  5(4):343-354.baltic amber at the Celtic oppidum Starà © Hradisko in Moravia. Dietz C, Catanzariti G, Quintero S, and Jimeno A. 2014.  Roman amber identified as Siegburgite.  Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences  6(1):63-72. doi: 10.1007/s12520-013-0129-4 Gimbutas M. 1985.  East Baltic amber in the fourth and third millennia B.C.  Journal of Baltic Studies  16(3):231-256.. Martà ­nez-Delclà ²s X, Briggs DEG, and Peà ±alver E. 2004.  Taphonomy of insects in carbonates and amber.  Palaeogeography  203(1-2):19-64., Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology Reiss RA. 2006.  Ancient DNA from ice age insects: proceed with caution.  Quaternary Science Reviews  25(15-16):1877-1893. Schmidt AR, Jancke S, Lindquist EE, Ragazzi E, Roghi G, Nascimbene PC, Schmidt K, Wappler T, and Grimaldi DA. 2012.  Arthropods in amber from the Triassic period.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  Early Edition. Teodor ES, Petroviciu I, Truica GI, Suvaila R, and Teodor ED. 2014.  The Effect of Accelerated Alteration on the Discrimination between Baltic and Romanian Amber.  Archaeometry  56(3):460-478. Todd JM. 1985.  Baltic amber in the ancient near east: A preliminary investigation.  Journal of Baltic Studies  16(3):292-301.

Outstanding Disscusion Board Princi Essay - 1017 Words

Guide to an Outstanding Discussion Board Thread 1. Read your assignment carefully for content related requirements. Let’s look at the example below. Note that it does not ask for a vague opinion, but requires that your answer be based upon: * Five developmental theories found in your reading assignment. * Information found in reading and presentations related to human development. * Your Christian/Other worldview – this implies that you understand your worldview and clearly define how it relates to the theories discussed. 2. Don’t forget to note your due dates. Example: Discussion Board Forum 1 Topic: We like to have things in systems and theories. It gives us a framework to work with as we try to understand†¦show more content†¦Criteria | A (90 - 100) | B (80 - 89) | C (70 - 79) | D/F (0-69) | | | Outstanding | Proficient | Basic | Below Expectations | Score | Critical Thinking | Rich in content. Full of thought, insight and analysis. | Substantial information. Thought, insight, and analysis has taken place. | Generally competent. Information is thin and commonplace. | Rudimentary and superficial. No analysis or insight is displayed. | 95 | Connections | Clear connections - To previous or current content. - To real-life situations. | Connections are made, not really clear or too obvious. | Limited, if any connections. Vague generalities. | No connections are made. Submission is off topic. | 87 | Uniqueness | New ideas. New connections. Made with depth and detail. | New ideas or connections. Lack depth and/or detail. | Few, if any new ideas or connections. Rehash or summarize other postings. | No new ideas. I agree with†¦ statement. | 85 | Timeliness | All required postings. Early in discussion. Throughout discussion. | All required postings. Some not in time for others to read and respond. | All required postings. Most at the last minute without allowing response time. | Some, or all, required postings missing. | 100 | Stylistics | Few grammatical or stylistic errors. | S everal

Knowledge & Analysis Of The Job Market †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Knowledge Analysis Of The Job Market. Answer: Introduction: It is a well-known fact that one of the basic aims of education is to enable a person evolve into becoming a better human being, by helping an individual attain the knowledge required to become a person of refined taste and fine culture. However, at the same time, there can be no point in denying the fact that education is an important tool that helps a learner acquire the necessary skills, knowledge and expertise required for getting employed in some of the best places. Thus, education helps in opening a door to various job opportunities as well. However, given the extremely competitive job market, it has become extremely difficult for most of the students to find their dream job. Hence, it is important to conduct a thorough analysis of the job market, and critically evaluate the jobs available and the prospects of each job. Thorough Analysis of the Job Market: In order to get in touch with the most lucrative employment opportunities, it is important to take up informed career decisions. Hence, it is important to be armed with various information, so that a student can identify which sectors are expected to provide stability, as well as comprehend how competitive a specific industry is likely to be, and determine whether or not a student needs to upgrade his skills or pursue studies before applying for jobs. As far as the predicted career trends in the coming years are concerned, it has been observed that employment growth is very high in the Australian education as well as defense system. By the end of November, 2019 itself, the employment research companies have claimed that healthcare service and education sectors would render half of the employment growth in Australia (Hawthorne, 2016). Next, as per the job ads posted on job searching sites like Seek, jobs related to accounting and sales are likely to experience a negative economic grow th. Further, thirdly, another important trend that is being observed in this connection is that the jobs at low skill level or demanding less knowledge will witness a downturn in the coming years. Accordingly, it is predicted that the labor market will tend to favor those who are sufficiently skilled, and at least possessing a Bachelor Degree, if not a degree higher than that. Thus, the academic qualification of the student will play an integral role in getting hired as well. Fourthly, technological advancement will exercise dramatic impact on the job market, and although the jobs might not totally vanish, the manufacturing sector especially will find automation augment existing roles. Hence, as per the report submitted by Glassdoor, it will be important to upgrade the professional skills that will be complementary and separate from the machines and this will in fact become an integral part of the work (Watson, 2013). Lastly, a very interesting predicted career trend is the growth i n the freelance jobs. It is predicted that in the coming five years, the gig economy will become an integral part of the job market, whereby more and more short-term contract workers will get the opportunity of working with the permanent ones. This will help in enhancing employment opportunities for the freelance workers (Dijk et al., 2014). Although Australia is expected to experience a moderately positive growth in the job market, certain careers are expected to experience a slightly more positive growth than the other career options. As per the employment trends of the Australian labor market, it was being observed that the Farming, Animals and Conservation sector is expected to top the sectors with a very positive job growth. The jobs of veterinary nurses as well as agricultural technicians are also expected to rise over the coming years (Maddux et al., 2014). The job market for the teachers and trainers is also expected to be highly stable in future. In the domain of the teaching industry, the demand for the early childcare teachers is expected to increase at a high pace over the coming years. At the same time, the demand for workplace trainers is also expected to soar in the coming years. On the other hand, it is expected that the job prospect for the accountants and sales managers and experts, is expected to dimin ish over the coming years (Warren et al., 2015). At the same time, it is also expected that the mining and manufacturing sectors would stop hiring as well, and there would be a downturn in the job prospects here. It is important to note here that the Mining and Manufacturing would be the two industries with declines in employment opportunities over the coming years. This is especially due to the transition of mines from a labor-intensive construction phase to a more managerial phase and the announcements of plant closures by most of the car producers. However, the rise in the educational sector is possible simply because Australian teachers mostly have a shortage of skills, and hence academically qualified teachers are highly welcome. Also, at the same time, the booming mining and resources industries are known to offer salaries 30 % higher than a teachers wage, which is creating greater demand for the teachers profession (McGuinness et al., 2014). Considering the multicultural population of Australia, workplace training has become imperative. The indigenous Australian as well as the foreigners working here need to upgrade their communication as well as soft skills, which has resulted in the greater demand for the profession of both in-house and out-house workplace trainers (Barry et al., 2015). The healthcare sector jobs such as professional nurses and welfare support workers, have also witnessed an upsurge because of the increase in the population of Australia, especially the aged and elderly population. Examination of the Prospects of a Paid Job: While there are various employment opportunities in the labor market of Australia, it is important to carefully investigate the prospects and career growth of these jobs. Accordingly, it was important to conduct a thorough and in-depth research into the jobs available as per my specialization and academic qualification in the Australian market, and examine the career growth of a selected job. Accordingly, after extensive research, the paid vocation that seemed to be attractive was the job of a student service coordinator, also referred to as an academic co-coordinator for a reputed school of Australia. As a student service coordinator, my job will be more of an administrative one, rather than being an educational one. In other parts, as per my job role, I would not be required to impart education to the students, but rather administer and supervise the entire process involved in imparting education to the students (SEEK, 2017). Accordingly, my job would be to check the student files, and academic details recorded in each of the files, belonging to the students of each class. I would also be required to keep a track on the important academic files of the school, such as the application forms of the new applicants, or the final merit list of the students selected to be promoted to the next grade. At the same time, though I would not act as a teacher, I would also be require d to track and monitor the overall academic progress of the students of each class, supervising the performance of each teacher, and advising them to improve, as and when necessary. I would also need to deal with the guardians as well, as my job role would require me to assist the guardians of the students in paying the tuition fees, or providing them general information and other form of assistance to them. Besides, as an academic coordinator, I would require to ensure that the facilities and related equipments are available and are in the appropriate condition to accommodate student and faculty use. In case of students, who are not able to perform well in their examinations, I would require to act as counselor motivating them to perform well, while bringing the problem to the attention of the Principal of the school as well. Anybody with a high school diploma degree is free to apply for this designation. However, often the applicants with prior experience or at least sufficient knowledge in higher educational institutions are preferred. No need of professional training is required. However, a certification course in computers and software applications might be considered useful for accomplishing the clerical and administrative functions The likely income for a graduate willing to take up this profession is likely to be around AU$40,225 per year. However, with experience of at least five years, the salary is likely to increase and can go up till AU$69,522 (Kroll, 2017). Since this is an administrative job, the remuneration scale is better than the teachers in the tertiary educational sectors. The future prospects of this job are many. However, one may also switch to other jobs after playing the role of a student service coordinator for at least ten years. Since here the coordinator is entrusted with the duty of managing guardian concerns, reaching out to their queries and resolving them, one can easily become a customer care officer working for reputed business firms. Again, since the student service coordinator is also expected to monitor and supervise the educational affairs within the institution, the coordinator can later apply for the jobs of business supervisors or business managers as well. The job of a student service coordinator benefits the society in more than one way. First of all, the education service providing industry to which it belongs, helps in offering high quality education to the Australian students, so that they can enjoy bright future. Apart from transferring the required skills and expertise, the coordinator helps in ensuring smooth and uninterrupted flow of the learning process. Often students lag behind in a large class room, and cannot acquire sufficient knowledge. In such a situation, the service coordinator helps in ensuring effective coordination amongst the teachers and the students, by consulting with the guardians and communicating the advices of the Principal. As far as the contribution of the industry to the economy is concerned, it is immense and two-fold. First of all, by ensuring efficient delivery of service, the coordinator and the educational industry at large, helps in making the students future-ready who will later boost the Australi an economy by getting employed. Secondly, as more and more students study in the educational institutions, the school authorities also pay taxes to the government, thereby enhancing the economic condition of the country. Examination of the Prospects of an Unpaid Job: For the voluntary jobs that I could do, and that interested me, was the job of a Little Children Volunteer and Supervisor for the non-profit seeking company, Feed the Children. I would require raising the fund and providing food to the impoverished children across Australia ("Feed The Little Children", 2017). I would require raising awareness amongst the people to donate money for our project, raise a minimal fund everyday and supervise the quality and quantity of food being offered to the children. I was attracted to this field of volunteering because I felt that an internship with this non-profit seeking company would enable me to work for social welfare of the less privileged people by fostering cooperation between the government and non-government organizations (Rodell, 2013). There is no specific training required for this job. A graduate in any stream can apply for this job. Since this is a non-profit organization, there is no huge scope for paid position. However, it is possible for me to apply for the position of a Program Advisor, whereby I would introduce and advise new initiatives that would help the company reach out to the remote areas of Australia for further assistance. The skills acquired through this job would help me to apply for jobs available in non-profit seeking companies, under the job designations of Operating Manager or Indigenous Education Officer, as my skills of caring and nurturing for the underprivileged ones would count. The chosen job profile in the voluntary sector contributes to the society by uplifting the disadvantaged people of the society, and providing for their education and social recreation, trying to achieve social equality as much as possible. There is no remarkable economic contribution of the job. Examination of the Recruitment Opportunities: There are various recruitment agencies that are available in the market offering important career opportunities to the students. The five important recruitment competitors are Career Boss, FWS Employment Services, Hays, Careerone and Hudson. One of the important predicted trends for the companies willing to recruit over the coming years is the focus on talent. The academic qualification along with the employability skills are going to play an integral role. More diverse group of employees will be appointed keeping in mind the importance of workplace diversity. It is also predicted that most of the vacancies these companies would wish to fulfill this year are related to the operations, sales and information technology domains (Breaugh, 2017). Further, the acquisition of some basic professional skills through proper training courses pertaining to areas like SEO/SEM Marketing, Data Mining or Algorithm design will be an added advantage. For applying to the designation of a student service coordinator, I would apply in four selected schools- Gladstone Park Secondary School, Frankston High School, University High School and Northcote High School. Before applying for the designation, I would first visit the official website of the respective schools, and check the total number of students and teachers present there. In case, the workforce is fairly strong, I would check the gross salary as well as he vacancy in the relevant designation. In order to seek employment in the schools, I would apply online on the schools website, or visit the school in detail and drop my resume or I would check out the vacancy and then apply through job portals. The best recruitment option, according to me, would be to apply for the job via the official website of the educational institution. As such, I would be able to have a look at the schools prospect, understand the exact requirement as per my designation, and would be able to approach the school directly (Masoumi, 2015). Often the job sites advertise for a designation even after the job position is filled, and hence the school website is far more authentic and much more a credible source of information. Besides, often applying through the website helps as even if there is no existent vacancy for the desired profile, they might contact the applicant once the vacancy arises. The same does not hold true for the other course. Besides, it is far easier and more convenient. Conclusion: The present report intended to help in understanding the prospects of the present job market of Australia, examine the employment trends as well as career alternatives available for a graduate student. It is important to note here that a thorough research of the present job market is highly important as many students tend to simply panic at the thought of not finding immediate employment after graduation. Accordingly, the report is divided into four parts- it conducts a thorough analysis of the Australian job market, accordingly it examines the prospects of a paid job and that of an unpaid job, and lastly, it also examines the recruitment opportunities in the Australian organizations as well. Reference List: Barry, B. E., Ohland, M. W., Mumford, K. J., Long, R. A. (2015). Influence of Job Market Conditions on Engineering Cooperative Education Participation.Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice,142(3), 04015017. Breaugh, J. A. (2017). to Recruitment.The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Recruitment, Selection and Employee Retention, 12. Feed The Little Children. (2017).Feed The Little Children. Retrieved 6 September 2017, from https://www.feedthelittlechildren.org.au/ Hawthorne, L. (2016). Labour market outcomes for migrant professionals: Canada and Australia compared. Kroll, D. (2017).The Best-Paying Education Jobs - pg.1.Forbes. Retrieved 6 September 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/pictures/fhgg45ifl/the-best-paying-education-jobs/#b09e2854cbe8 Maddux, W. W., Bivolaru, E., Hafenbrack, A. C., Tadmor, C. T., Galinsky, A. D. (2014). Expanding opportunities by opening your mind: Multicultural engagement predicts job market success through longitudinal increases in integrative complexity.Social Psychological and Personality Science,5(5), 608-615. Masoumi, A. (2015).Academic Career Panel: Application Process Job Expectations(Doctoral dissertation, Babson College). McGuinness, S., Wooden, M., Hahn, M. (2014). The perceived probability of job loss and future labour market outcomes.Industrial Relations Journal,45(4), 329-347. Rodell, J. B. (2013). Finding meaning through volunteering: Why do employees volunteer and what does it mean for their jobs?.Academy of Management Journal,56(5), 1274-1294. SEEK. (2017). Retrieved 6 September 2017, from https://www.seek.com.au/service-coordinator-jobs van Dijk, D., Manor, O., Carey, L. B. (2014). Publication metrics and success on the academic job market.Current Biology,24(11), R516-R517. Warren, L. A., Patel, T. Y., Layman, M. S., Patel, M. Y. (2015). The job market of the future: how will the recent change in boards influence the job market for new graduates?.Journal of the American College of Radiology,12(2), 206-207.