Paviland Cave - The Red Lady Burial of Wales

Paviland Cave - The Red Lady Burial of Wales Definition: Paviland Cave, also known as Goats Hole Cave, is a rockshelter on the Gower peninsula of South Wales in Great Britain that was occupied for different periods and in different intensities from the Early Upper Paleolithic through Final Paleolithic, approximately 35,000 to 20,000 years ago. It is considered the oldest Upper Paleolithic site in Great Britain (called British Aurignacian in some circles), and it is believed to represent an inmigration of early modern humans from mainland Europe, and currently associated with the Gravettian period. The Red Lady It must be said that the reputation of Goats Hole Cave has suffered somewhat because it was discovered before the science of archaeology had a strong foothold in antiquarian research. No stratigraphy was apparent to its excavators; and no spatial data was collected during the excavations. As a result, its discovery nearly 200 years ago has left a fairly muddled trail of theories and suppositions about the age of the site, a trail only clarified the first decade of the 21st century. In 1823, the partial skeleton of a person was discovered within the cave, buried with mammoth (extinct elephant) ivory rods, ivory rings and perforated periwinkle shells. All of these items were heavily stained with red ochre. At the head of the skeleton was a mammoth skull, complete with both tusks; and marker stones were placed nearby. The excavator William Buckland interpreted this skeleton as a Roman-period prostitute or witch, and accordingly, the individual was named the Red Lady. Later investigations have established that this person was a young adult male, not a female. Dates on the human bones and charred animal remains were in debatethe human bones and associated charred bone returned quite different datesuntil the 21st century. Aldhouse-Green (1998) argued that this occupation should be considered Gravettian of the Upper Paleolithic, based on similarities of the tools from sites elsewhere in Europe. These tools included flint leaf points and ivory rods, both common in Upper Paleolithic sites. Chronology Aurignacian In 2008, re-dating and comparison with other sites with similar stone and bone tools indicated to researchers that the Red Lady was buried some ~29,600 radiocarbon years ago (RCYBP), or about 34,000-33,300 calibrated years before the present (cal BP). This date is based on a radiocarbon date from an associated charred bone, backed up by similar aged tools elsewhere, and has been accepted by the scholarly community, and that date would be considered Aurignacian. The tools within Goats Hole Cave are considered late Aurignacian or Early Gravettian in appearance. Thus, scholars believe that Paviland represents an early colonization of the now-submerged Channel River valley during or just before the Greenland interstadial, a brief warming period about 33,000 years ago. Archaeological Studies Paviland Cave was first excavated in the early 1820s, and again in the early 20th century by WJ Sollas. The significance of Paviland is clear, when the list of excavators is obtained, including Dorothy Garrod in the 1920s, and JB Campbell and RM Jacobi in the 1970s. Re-investigations of the previous excavations were conducted by Stephen Aldhouse-Green at the University of Wales, Newport in the late 1990s, and again in the 2010s by Rob Dinnis at the British Museum. Sources This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to the Upper Paleolithic and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Aldhouse-Green S. 1998. Paviland Cave: Contextualizing the Red Lady. Antiquity 72(278):756-772. Dinnis R. 2008. On the technology of Late Aurignacian burin and scraper production, and the importance of the Paviland lithic assemblage and the Paviland burin. Lithics: The Journal of the Lithic Studies Society 29:18-35. Dinnis R. 2012. The archaeology of Britains first modern humans. Antiquity 86(333):627-641. Jacobi RM, and Higham TFG. 2008. The â€Å"Red Lady† ages gracefully: new ultrafiltration AMS determinations from Paviland. Journal of Human Evolution 55(5):898-907. Jacobi RM, Higham TFG, Haesaerts P, Jadin I, and Basel LS. 2010. Radiocarbon chronology for the Early Gravettian of northern Europe: new AMS determinations for Maisià ¨res-Canal, Belgium. Antiquity 84(323):26-40. Also Known As: Goats Hole Cave

The power of pull Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

The power of pull - Essay Example to goods and services that is different from yester years, indeed the 21st century organization is sitting on â€Å"melting iceberg†, oblivious of the urgency needed to make changes to the new business model that would ensure their survival. Hagel, Brown, and Davison (2010) have analyzed the paradigm shift that has been occurring in the world of business over the past decades, especially the past two decades. Indeed, the current business environment is characterized with endless stream of knowledge, interconnected workforce, blurred borders with increased global movement of knowledge, talent and capital, and a shift in power balance, where the power has moved from corporations to the consumers, and employees have also have power without necessarily being in trade unions. All these changes have mainly been due to changes in technology and liberalization of the business world. Organizations are increasing finding newer ways to attract, retain and develop talent, even as employees’ priorities and motivations change with changes in generations. It is only in this new business environment that you find employees working as a virtual team or a big percentage of an organizations employees working from home. It is in thi s business environment that sales made online for a given business may by far exceed offline sales. However, despite these quite clearly notable changes, most organizations, especially those that have existed for a long time, are still focused on doing things the way they have always done. They still hold on to the old culture oblivious of the changing business landscape. Like the penguins in Kotter and Rathgeber (2005) work, the organizations are complacent in the way things have always been done, and are unaware that their iceberg is melting. Newer emerging 21st century organizations are coming up and taking advantage of the shift and surpassing older established organizations in business performance. Such include the Amazon which in only a few years

National Gallery Still Life Assignemnt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

National Gallery Still Life Assignemnt - Essay Example Still life painting began in the 16th century and became a serious art form in the 17th century when artists began to realistically dramatize their works (Charles 49). Most still life painting of the early painters got used to convey messages about the futility of worldly life and material decay. Early painters of still life centralized around moral and religious themes when painting their work. The church represented a strong influence upon early still life painters. An analysis of Michelangelo Merissi Da Carravaggio ‘supper at Emmaus’ is of great use in understanding still life painting. ‘Supper at Emmaus’ is an example of a still life painting carried out in 1601 by Caravaggio (Charles 68). In the painting, the artist includes arrangement of fruit, wine, bread, and cooked fowl. The table in the painting gets used to lay out the still-life meal. A closer look at the fruit basket in the painting will reveal to the viewer of its precarious position at the table’s edge. The painting depicts a story from the bible where Jesus Christ is said to have appeared incognito to two of his disciples who failed to recognize him after his resurrection. Later, Christ appeared to the disciples at a supper meal in Emmaus where he blessed the meal and shared it to them. When the disciples began to recognize him, he disappeared. Caravaggio’s painting depicts the moment when Christ blesses the bread, and in turn revealing his true identity to the two disciples. Christ is shown beardless in the painting. The artist provides a further emphasis on the still life meal on the table. The gestures and expressions of the disciples reveal their intense emotion at recognizing Christ. The depiction of a beardless Christ at the table may be confusing to the viewer at first instance of viewing. The viewer might think that Christ is just any other person or disciple at the table. This depiction of Christ makes the viewer to feel a participant in the

Water Crisis in Middle East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Water Crisis in Middle East - Essay Example Still, conflicts related to water management have not been avoided. Current paper presents the various aspects of water crisis in Middle East. Reference is made, as example, to the water management problems of Israel, Palestine, Syria and Jordan. The academic studies developed in this field reflect different perceptions for the criteria on which water management should be based. This phenomenon could be explained by the following fact: the high development of technology has affected ‘the perception of people on nature’ (Selby 2005, p.332). Therefore, the terms under which water available in a particular area is characterized as a ‘resource’ have been differentiated today, compared to the past (Selby 2005). In this context, the rights of a state on its water resources are difficult to be fully defined while the support provided by international organizations for such issues is often inadequate (Selby 2005). On the other hand, the water resources worldwide fac e a continuous shrinkage, mostly because of the pollution but also because of the increasing global population. In certain countries, such as those of Middle East, the problem is more intense. In fact, there are countries in the particular region that can be characterized as ‘water – poor countries, meaning that their water production, per capita, is below 1000 m3/yr’ (Hadadin et al. 2010, p.197). ... 2. Water crisis in Middle East 2.1 History The lack of adequate water resources is not a recent problem. In addition, there are certain regions where the specific problem is quite critical: Africa, South and East Asia and Middle East are the regions that are mostly characterized by water shortage; in certain areas of these regions water shortage can be extreme leading local populations to survival concerns (Kummu et al. 2010, p.4). The water crisis developed in the above regions is characterized by the following trend: water shortage in each of these regions has been developed in different rate. More specifically, up to 1900s water shortage was extreme in Africa while from 1960s and up today water shortage is expanded across South Asia and Middle East (Kummu et al. 2010, p.4). In other words, the appearance and the rate of development of water shortage cannot be foreseen in advance (Kummu et al. 2010). In countries of Middle East water shortage is a common problem. For example, in Jo rdan ‘the drying of streams has led to the lowering of water levels across the country’ (Hadadin et al. 2010, p.197). In the above country, water shortage first appeared about 1960s and has highly expanded since then (Hadadin et al. 2010, p.197). The two factors that have been considered as enhancing the country’s water shortage problem are the following: a) the extremely dry climate and b) the rapid economic development of the country supported the increase of population, which, in its turn, led to the increase of need for water (Hadadin et al. 2010, p.197). In a recent report, where the ability of countries to cover their needs for water through their own

Case Study for Canady vs Walmart Essay Example for Free

Case Study for Canady vs Walmart Essay 1. In your own words, what does pretext mean? Pretext is a reason given in justification of a course of action that is not the real reason. 2. Write a paragraph that supports the argument that Canady’s dismissal was based on racial discrimination. Canady’s would say that his dismissal was based on racial discrimination because Smith a manager introduced himself as a slave driver. Next Smith, ask Canady â€Å"What’s up, my nigga?† and was also referred to as a â€Å"lawn jockey†. He also claimed that Smith made states that all African American look alike, and that his skin color wiped off on towels. Since Canady did not report these comments when Smith made them; Smith continued to use the phase from the Rush Hour movie. He could also believe that the day we was left in the department by himself that management was discriminating against him because he was left to do all the work with no help. 3. Write a paragraph that supports that argument that Wal-Mart’s decision was based on Canady’s insubordination. Wal-Mart’s decision was based on insubordination for one Canady was eating in an area where there are policies in place that prohibits easting in the food preparation area. When asked to stop eating in the prohibited area Canady started an argument with management. After the store manager was called to help with the situation Canady continued argue loudly in front of customers and other associates. Candy did not follow the policy that does not allow employees to eat in the food preparation area and he was arguing with management in front of other was insubordination. 4. Research the case. How did the court rule? Why did they rule in this manner? The wrongful termination claim, that claim fails to make out a prima facie case in that Canady failed to establish the fourth prong (i.e. that there are facts that permit an inference of discrimination). Alternatively, even if Canady made out a prima facie case, he failed to present sufficient evidence of pretext. The fact that Smith made racially offensive remarks is of no consequence because those remarks were made outside of the decision making process. The ruling on the hostile work environment claim, the Court found that Smith’s comments are not sufficiently offensive to the actionable. The Circuit Judge Lay dissents.

How Ministry Of Tourism Develop Tourism Industry Malaysia Philosophy Essay

How Ministry Of Tourism Develop Tourism Industry Malaysia Philosophy Essay The Ministry Of Tourism Malaysia can help to develop tourism in Malaysia by hosting different international events, giving discounts on holidays seasons, special packages, discounts for the elderly and childen, develop more natural attractions such as the lime stone mountins in Ipoh, preserving the natural beauty of the many natural attractions that Malaysia has to offer, start developing the infrastructure of Malaysia (meaning the transport system, public toilets, road safety is expected). Better night entertainment and to solve the corruption problem in Malaysia. Clean up all the dirty beaches, cheaper airline tickets for holiday seasons. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ by doing so customers from other countrys would be attracted to come to Malaysia for a holiday visit and therefore causing the tourism industry in Malaysia to increase thus bringing in more profit to the country for future developments and planning. one. In your opinion how Ministry Of Tourism can develop the tourism industry in Malaysia. The Ministry Of Tourism in Malaysia will be able to develop the tourism industry in Malaysia if they are willing to give out special discounts for familys who do not earn as much so has to purchase a ticket for a holiday to Malaysia at a lower price. By hosting a international concert with famous overseas celebrities will help to attract forigners to come and see the concert. Fans may even go on tour with them and follow them around therefore increasing tourism income in Malaysia. Giving discounts for holiday seasons, discounts for the elderly and children. Along with full packages for familys. Sometimes most familys want to take their parents or children on holiday with them but are unable because of the high price on airline tickets. Also to allow familys of working class (economic class) able to afford to come on holidays at lower prices. Full packages meaning accomodations travel guides and moreà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ giving them the experience to sight seeing without any problems. Touri sts who have problems while on holiday can now be able to go to various tourist spots. Tour guides will help them to get around easily. By preserving and developing the natural environment in Malaysia for example Ipohs lime stone mountains which is a natural beauty that can attract tourist from other countries to come and visit Malaysia. By developing some free land to build some kind of entertainment for example a water theme park or dry theme park can also attract familys to come and enjoy relaxation. At the moment most of the natural attractions of Malaysia are being destroyed for profit and also causing pollution. By stopping the destruction of the natural attractions however you can develop something better for example a water theme park or exploration activity to entertain tourists. Cheaper alcohol entertainment. Tourists will want to enoy a good night out where alcohol is at a decent price. Most places nowadays the beer is very expensive and tourists are not able to enjoy a g ood night out without spending a lot of money. The prices of alcohol is important to attract tourists to a club or pub for a drinking session. Another main point is to start developing the infrastructure of Malaysia meaning that tranports (taxis, trains, buses) public rest room anything that a tourist is able to use. A tourist is not going to use a dirty rest room and this may create a very bad experience in Malaysia. Taxi fares are another major problem because many taxi drivers are taking advantage of foreigners causing them a lot of money on transportation. Overall only taxis are cheating tourists, buses and train systems are better than the taxis. The many night markets where stalls are selling fake jewellery or perfumes which have been tampered with. I had this experience before where I bought a perfume in a famous night market in Penang when I was a tourist here myself many years ago. Where I bought a bottle of Hugo Boss perfume that smelled like an ointment used for curing cramps and muscle aches. So by developing the infrastructure of Malaysia will help to increase tourism in Malaysia where tourist will not be taken advantage off. Corruption in Malaysia is a big issue where corrouption has taken its toll on tourism where illegal items are being sold, harrasment from corrupted police where foreigner have to pay or something. Solving corrouption will help to improve tourism in Malaysia. Tourists come to Malaysia wanting to enjoy water sports however there are only a few beaches where tourists can enjoy sports but are disgusted by the dirty beach itsself. So making sure that tourists are pleased with beaches is very important. so cleaning up the beaches are important for successful tourism in Malaysia. Many tourists are unable to purchace air tickets from foreign countries. Therefore lowering air tickets also help the poor touriststo be able to come to Malaysia for holiday. By doing all this will help to increase tourism rate will increase tremendously. Conclusion With all this knowhow the Ministry Of Malaysia should have no problem to increase tourist rates. So by allowing discounts for flights to Malaysia will encourage familys of the lower income to come for a holiday. Along with having cheaper airline tickets for all customers will also help with promoting tourism in Malaysia and also to attract tourists. Having discounts for the elderly and children. In most cases where tourists want to go on holiday they cannot do so because they cannot afford to buy many tickets and this is a problem for them to come with their children and grand parent. With special discounts for touists where children and elderly citizens gain a discount in price of the tickets thus encouraging tourists to come. Giving special packages to tourists will help them find their way around for example having tourist guides and so on. Giving tourists the best experience they can possibly get which will then encourage tourists to come. Develop more natural attractions such as the lime stone mountins in ipoh and preserving the natural beauty of the many natural attractions that Malaysia has to offer for example all the caves and lime stone mountains which are being destroyed for natural resources. Start developing the infrastructure of Malaysia (meaning the transport system, public toilets, road safety is expected) by developing all the transportations tourists will have no problem getting from A to B . Better alcohol entertainment in most places for night enjoyment, solve the corruption problem in Malaysia, clean up all the dirty beaches. These all all the main key factors inorder to promote and increasing Malaysia tourism industry. Question 2 What is happiness? What constitutes happiness for one and not for another? Happiness is the feeling that one will feel when he/she is pleased or not. There are many ways that one can be happy or become happy for example when some one says something nice to you or compliments you. But must be careful on what you say to some one as for if said to you it be a nice thing but to another might see it as an insult. One man word can be another man poison. Making sure that the words you say are correct in the way you mean to say it. Another way of making some one happy is when you compliment their looks but do not sound sarcastic when complimenting someone. Happiness can be achieved in many ways complmenting, seeing something you like, receving something you always wanted and so on. There are many ways to make some one happy in order to be happy yourself. Question two answer: What is happiness well basically; what is the purpose of life? It is to become happy. The country or society that people live in, they all have the same desire to become happy. However there are many ideals as difficult to grasp as happiness, in our life we will experience happiness and unhappiness but we still are ignorant as to what happiness really is. They are many ways that one can say to make someone happy or that someone can do to make you happy. Happiness come in all shapes, sizes and forms. But there are many ways that one can get upset from complimenting and so on. For example sounding sarcastic when praising someone. So being careful on how you saythings to people even if your complimenting someone they can see it as sarcasm. They could find it offensive or disrespectful by the way you say it. The are many thing you can say to someone to make them feel happy for example complimenting ones looks, just saying something to someone who is depressed to make then feel better with themselves. There are also many things that one can do to make someone feel happy who is depressed. For example making a fool of yourself to make him/her cheer up. Inviting him/her out to hang out and have a drink. But you must always remember that one mans happiness can be another mans poison This basically means that praising one person can be equal to making fun of another. This is called back stabbing someone always try to avoid talking about people to try make someone feel happy. Happiness is not worth the trouble if one person is happy but by doing so you hurt another person in the process. Sure you can think that they would not know about it but you would be supprised. When talking with someone there are many ways where one can become happy where words or gestures can result in someone becoming happy or cheer up. The meaning of life I would say is to become happy with what your doing. For example friendship or popularity can make someone become happy for the time being. Where others can envy them or begin to hate. Having friendship will cause someone to be happy, having more friends to contact with, having friend to keep then happy or cheering them up. Friendship is an important fact that consistutes towards happiness, along with popularity, when being popular one can feel happy or more the fact of being appericiated by others. Popularity can also cause some to start to envy you even jealous can be an effect of ones popularity. So then popularity can have its pro for a person and con for others. Like they say one mans food can be another mans poison. Another cosisitution would be a security of jobs or secure income. For example a family who have children. More importantly mothers and fathers who work would look for work that has either a secure job position or secure salary. This is considered as happiness because a family will feel happy if they are able to hold a good job. Parents feeling happy that they are able to look after themselves and your children with ease.Holding a steady job and a steady salary can help some be become happy. Children and nephews of familys can also be a factor that constitutes towards happiness. Parents with children will feel the joy of happiness once they have given birth is completed the feeling of being over joyed. To the feeling of proudness and somewhat sadness when the once baby is now a young adult and has started his own adulthood. This is one of the factors that happiness can been gained for a family. The feeling of pampering a young child to arguing with a young adult is a main factor that consists towards the happiness of children. Satisfying the needs of a person, when someones needs has been fulfilled that person will feel the joy of happiness for example finishing an important task that you have been working on. The hard work of doing something and the outcome of that task.Example getting a raise or praised by superiors. Or the feeling of finishing reading or writing a book the feeling of proudness. All this can constitute towards happiness. Being a good listener to someone who is talking. By being a good listener to someone who is upset or just needs someone to talk to will cause that person to feel better. Listening to the persons feeling giving examples and advice to make him/her feel better about themselves. Also just the fact of being a good listener can help to make some one feel berrer. As they now have someone to talk to about all their problems. A good listener will change the mood and attitude of a person to become happy depending on how the conversation goes. Keeping someone who feels lonely and give that person company. Being a good friend by accompanying someone who needs a friends. Keeping someone company can help that person feel better and become happy. Just simply walking around or asking them out for a drink or game can help someone who is depressed become better. Happiness comes from the help of others. By simply being a good friend can help someone become happy. Happiness is about the state of ones mind. So just by being a good friend or accompanying someone can be considered as a factor of happiness. Love can also be a factor that constitutes towards happiness When finding love this can be found as a good factor that consists for ones happiness. When finding love it can help one feel the joys of a relationship, happiness and at times remorsful. When your are with partner you will surely feel happy having a romantic time or whatsoever the feeling will result in one being happy. Happiness can be found in the heart of all relationships. When with your partner or simply texting or messaging them will make one feel happy always. Relaxing When at home or anywhere just simply taking time off to relax yourself will help with encouraging happiness just simply enjoying yourself and have a good time. Taking a nap or sitting down after a long day work can release stress, taking time off doing things you want to do. All these can help constitute towards happiness. Relaxing oneself doing all the things that they want to do. Relaxation is a great way for one to become happy. Where a overly stressed man can take time off and relax himself, being relaxed therefore becoming happier. Religion and religious aspects. When one chose religion and all the many religious aspects to follow once in the religion one can feel have relaxed feeling of happiness and prosperity knowing that there are many ways to worship a certain god. If one belives that their god will protect them from harm and bad luck they will feel happy and safe from harm. Knowing that when they passed away they can go to a better place. Every religion has a diffirent god and diffirent views but in the end has the same outcome the safe feeling and happiness. So having religion and following the religious aspects of life is a good way to ensure happiness. A day/night out with friends When going for a day or night out with friends one will feel happy because you can enjoy the day or night either going for a drink with friends or fully enjoying the night or going to have a singing session or simply watching a movie with friends. There are many activities where someone can be happy and enjoy themselves. Being day time or at night friends with activities to do can end up in a great time making one happy so then hanging out wih friends can be a great way to achieve happiness. Time with your family. when spending time with your family for example a vacation or just simply at home or a outing one can easily enjoy a good time. It is proven that when spending time with your family with make others happy and yourself as well. For example doing things that you have always wanted to do as a family such as a vacation, enjoying beautiful views and etc Just simply having a good time with ones family is a factor that consistutes towards happiness. Vacations or holidays Taking time off on a holiday season to go on a holiday / vacation is a great way to achieve happiness, going places with ones family or alone just taking in the sights, good food or shopping all these and more activities can easily help in making one happy therefore having a good time. Some popular destinations would be Hawaii, Spain and so on. All these places also can have cultural diffirences for people who enjoy different customs. A lot good vacations are placed at good locations. So having a vacation or a holiday is a great way to achieve happiness. Question two conclusion. There are many ways that someone can become happy or that somebody can do to make you happy and the many ways to make yourself happy. There are many aspects towards happiness as for anyone will be able to please you or help you become happier. For example how you treat your friends and the tone of your voice. Being careful on how you say things as people can easily missunderstood your intentions, thinking that you are being sarcastic and knowing how to say the correct words and phrases to people. Along with the many various factors that can constitute towards happiness.Religion, friendship, love and so on all these factors can help one achieve happiness when depressed or sad. Happiness is in the eye of the beholder this mean that happiness can only be gained on how one looks at things. And also remembering that one mans food can be another mans poison. This mean to be careful on how you say things making sure that you say things correctly and not sounding sarcastic or rude.

Body and Nature as Signifying System in Jane Smileys A Thousand Acres :: Smiley Thousand Acres Essays

Body and Nature as Signifying System in A Thousand Acres The fascinating aspect of theories about the bodies, is that our bodies lie somewhere in the grey area between the physical and the intellectual realm (in itself testifying to the falsity of such dichotomies). On the one hand, they are biological; genetically programmed flesh. On the other, they are continuous sites of signification; embodying (no pun intended) the essentially textual quality of a human subject's identity. A Thousand Acres foregrounds issues raised by the perspective that one's body can be the vehicle for understanding of the self and the world. One of the ways this is done, is a part of a larger project of ecofeminist rhetoric, creating numerous analogies between the body and nature. This is first seen when Ginny utilizes nature by the Scenic. Not only are "the cattails green and fleshy-looking"(7, italics mine), but the natural scene forms a signifying system like her own body, a way to metaphorically internalize the problems of human interaction. Wonderfully incorporated into this is also the intertextual body created by A Thousand Acres and King Lear. In the storm scene, Lear calls Regan and Goneril "those pelican daughters" (III.iv.75, meaning that they feed on the parent's blood). By the Scenic, Ginny sees pelicans reemerging after supposedly being annihilated by her farmer ancestors, foreshadowing the reemerging of her self after a life of suppression. She can read nature like a text about her own suppression and the suppression and hiding of what is actually going on between the characters in this novel: "The view along the Scenic, I thought, taught me a lesson about what is below the level of the visible" (9). Nature, for Ginny, is understood by way of the intertwining of its and her body's past. She "was always aware [...] of the of the water in the soil, the way it travels from particle to particle", an awareness that eventually evolves into an understanding and identification. She reflects upon the millions of years and billions of "leaves, seeds, feathers, scales, flesh, bones, petals, pollen" (131) that constitute the soil they live on. The hope is that this is a large-scale development of corporeal transformation that transcends the petty exploitative farming of a patriarchal society, and that she is a part of it. After all, her body is not only a part of the soil, and vice versa, but of the poisoning of nature: "My inheritance is with me, sitting in my chair. Body and Nature as Signifying System in Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres :: Smiley Thousand Acres Essays Body and Nature as Signifying System in A Thousand Acres The fascinating aspect of theories about the bodies, is that our bodies lie somewhere in the grey area between the physical and the intellectual realm (in itself testifying to the falsity of such dichotomies). On the one hand, they are biological; genetically programmed flesh. On the other, they are continuous sites of signification; embodying (no pun intended) the essentially textual quality of a human subject's identity. A Thousand Acres foregrounds issues raised by the perspective that one's body can be the vehicle for understanding of the self and the world. One of the ways this is done, is a part of a larger project of ecofeminist rhetoric, creating numerous analogies between the body and nature. This is first seen when Ginny utilizes nature by the Scenic. Not only are "the cattails green and fleshy-looking"(7, italics mine), but the natural scene forms a signifying system like her own body, a way to metaphorically internalize the problems of human interaction. Wonderfully incorporated into this is also the intertextual body created by A Thousand Acres and King Lear. In the storm scene, Lear calls Regan and Goneril "those pelican daughters" (III.iv.75, meaning that they feed on the parent's blood). By the Scenic, Ginny sees pelicans reemerging after supposedly being annihilated by her farmer ancestors, foreshadowing the reemerging of her self after a life of suppression. She can read nature like a text about her own suppression and the suppression and hiding of what is actually going on between the characters in this novel: "The view along the Scenic, I thought, taught me a lesson about what is below the level of the visible" (9). Nature, for Ginny, is understood by way of the intertwining of its and her body's past. She "was always aware [...] of the of the water in the soil, the way it travels from particle to particle", an awareness that eventually evolves into an understanding and identification. She reflects upon the millions of years and billions of "leaves, seeds, feathers, scales, flesh, bones, petals, pollen" (131) that constitute the soil they live on. The hope is that this is a large-scale development of corporeal transformation that transcends the petty exploitative farming of a patriarchal society, and that she is a part of it. After all, her body is not only a part of the soil, and vice versa, but of the poisoning of nature: "My inheritance is with me, sitting in my chair.