Abstract This article focuses on one of the rare workshops for the production of small copper-based alloy objects in the late Middle Ages documented by archaeology. Located in Brussels and dating from the early 15th century, the workshop produced a serial and varied production of dress accessories and other personal objects, mainly in brass, by casting or plastic deformation. These metal objects, most fashion accessories, had an important place in the medieval material culture. They are mass-produced and widely spread throughout Europe: the market is therefore very large and the techniques are adapted to satisfy this demand. This paper focuses on a workshop that adapted to this expansion while of those production structures are still largely unknown in the archaeology of northwestern Europe, the only one currently in the Low Countries that offers the possibility of knowing the practices and supplies. By identifying workshop practices, this contribution addresses, in particular, the properties and the supplies of the earth used, but also the different ranges of alloys and the evidence of the brass production by the cementation process, by combining several analysis methods (petrography using PLM and SEM, Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy, PIXE, X-ray diffraction). This approach highlights different supplies, local and extra-local, as the distance was not an obstacle for the supply of high-quality crucible clay and zinc ore for brass production. These results associated with the written sources places the Brussels workshop in a wider network of circulation of raw materials and know-how related to their use. This also shows the interaction between techniques, materials and more broadly with the economy of the late Middle Ages that goes beyond the local sphere. Keywords: Brass foundry, Supplies, Workshop practices, Late medieval, Brussels, Low Countries
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Recently, the World Health Organization recognized that efforts to interrupt schistosomiasis transmission through mass drug administration have been ineffective in some regions; one of their new recommended strategies for global schistosomiasis control emphasizes targeting the freshwater snails that transmit schistosome parasites. We sought to identify robust indicators that would enable precision targeting of these snails. At the site of the world’s largest recorded schistosomiasis epidemic—the Lower Senegal River Basin in Senegal—intensive sampling revealed positive relationships between intermediate host snails (abundance, density, and prevalence) and human urogenital schistosomiasis reinfection (prevalence and intensity in schoolchildren after drug administration). However, we also found that snail distributions were so patchy in space and time that obtaining useful data required effort that exceeds what is feasible in standard monitoring and control campaigns. Instead, we identified several environmental proxies that were more effective than snail variables for predicting human infection: the area covered by suitable snail habitat (i.e., floating, nonemergent vegetation), the percent cover by suitable snail habitat, and size of the water contact area. Unlike snail surveys, which require hundreds of person-hours per site to conduct, habitat coverage and site area can be quickly estimated with drone or satellite imagery. This, in turn, makes possible large-scale, high-resolution estimation of human urogenital schistosomiasis risk to support targeting of both mass drug administration and snail control efforts.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
