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"Mumba Cave, located near the highly alkaline Lake Eyasi in northern Tanzania, is a rich archaeological site noted for deposits spanning the transition between the Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age in eastern Africa. The transitional nature of the site has been attributed to the large presence of its large assemblage of ostrich eggshell beads and more importantly, the abundance of microlith technology. Because these type artifacts were found within the site it has led archaeologists to believe that the site could provide insight into the origins of the modern human behavior. The cave was originally tested by Ludwig Kohl-Larsen and his wife Margit in their 1934 to 1936 expedition. They found abundant artifacts, rock art, and burials. However, only brief descriptions of these findings were ever published. That being said, work of the Kohl-Larsens has been seen as very accomplished due to their attention to detail, especially when one considers that neither was versed in proper archaeological techniques at the time of excavation. The site has since been reexamined in an effort to reanalyze and complement the work that has already been done, but the ramifications of improper excavations of the past are still being felt today, specifically in the unreliable collection of C-14 data and confusing stratigraphy. The Kohl-Larsen excavation In 1938 Margit Kohl-Larsen returned to Mumba Cave in an effort to obtain a more complete understanding of the site. Although her work was considered a great triumph in African archaeology at the time, more recent work at the site has illuminated issues from the excavation. Most of the problems lie with the lack of study of the site's uncovered artifacts, soil samples, and faunal remains. Additional problems lie in that very little information from the site, most of which is now considered unclear, ended up being published by Ludwig Kohl- Larsen in 1943. Further excavations have revealed that there was a significant disregard for the lithic assemblage at the sites, making it clear that Kohl- Larsen favored large lithics above secondary or tertiary flakes. It has been calculated that only the largest 2% of the stones were collected. However, this is unsurprising since the presence of microliths was not yet realized as a hallmark of the Late Stone Age. All problems considered, archaeologists such as M.J. Melhman have stated that the importance of the site should not be downplayed. Site stratigraphy During the Kohl-Larsen excavation the stratigraphy and levels of the site were determined within its nine by twelve and a half meters area. Depth of the excavation varies between sources as bedrock has said to have been to be reached between nine and eleven meters. The site was divided into six beds that are now recognized as potentially problematic but still used for reference in present work and reanalysis. In later excavations, artifacts from each of the defined beds have been dated using radiocarbon dating techniques. Unfortunately, it has been difficult to confirm and fully understand the site due to heavily mixed deposits from the Kohl-Larsen excavations, few comparable sites, and lack of data on the past environmental conditions. Each bed has been C-14 dated; however, some scholars question these dates. =Bed I= Bed I is referred to as the surface level of the site. It has been noted to contains remnants of obsidian, ostrich eggshell beads, fireplace wood, pottery sherds, and arrowheads that are similar to those fashioned by the Hadza people. =Bed II= Artifacts from Bed II have been dated using radiocarbon to 381 ± 91 B.P. Amongst rockfall debris, this bed contains both human and animals bones, including the bones of turtles and fish, some of which have been carved. Other artifacts include ostrich eggshell beads, pottery, obsidian tools, red ochre. =Bed III= Bed III contains a particular rich assemblage with the presence of a kitchen midden made of several animal bones and broken pottery. The bed also includes decorated ostrich eggshell beads and pottery. Additionally several human burials found at the site were discovered within this bed. The ceramic artifacts found in this bed are attributed to a type known as "Kansyore Ware", associated with hunter/gatherer peoples. Also found were Neolithic "Narosura Ware" and Iron Age "Lelesu Ware." This bed has an associated radiocarbon date of 844 ± 78 B.P. =Bed IV= This Bed is recognized by archaeologists as sterile containing a large beach deposit. Dates from available material are 21530 ± 320 B.P. =Bed V= This bed contains fossilized bone and considerable rockfall debris. Cultural material recovered includes a grinder and the remains of a colored pigment. M.J Melhman attributed this bed to what he called the transitional "Mumba Industry" which contains both hallmarks of the Middle and Late Stone Ages. However, after reanalysis of Bed V, several archaeologists have suggested that the assemblages found within are better assigned exclusively to Late Stone Age technology. Radiocarbon dates on artifacts are estimated at 31,070 ± 500 B.P. =Bed VI= Bed VI contains the least amount of bone of all beds of the site, all of which are heavily fossilized. However, there is a large amount of naturally occurring raw materials and associated quartz artifacts. Furthermore, stone tools associated with the Sanzako Industry are present within the bed's assemblage. The Sanzako industry includes sided and notched scrapers, as well as are what described as "heavy duty" choppers and bifaces. Radiocarbon dates on available material are from 19820 ± 750 B.P. Lithics Recent archaeological experiments have confirmed that bipolar flaking, a form of lithic reduction, was used in the cave. These experiments further suggest that the site contains evidence for a transitional period between the Middle and Late Stone Age. Bipolar flaking is described as a hammer and anvil technique of stone tool production; it is an expedient process that produces significantly smaller flakes. This process has been an area of particular interest at Mumba, since there are a significant number of these smalls flakes between stratigraphic Beds VI to V and then in a plateau from Beds V to III. It is believed that the increase of bipolar reduction is a response to favorable climate change in the area, which lead to increased populations and thus territorial activities near Mumba which required more time. Faunal remains Mumba's geographic location may have been a strong factor in determining the overall appeal of the site to its past inhabitants. Along with the nearby lake, the cave is surrounded by various types of terrain including the Serengeti Plains to the west, as well as the Mubulu and Yada Highlands to the east. This diversity in environment brings with it an abundance of biodiversity. Presence of tilapia and catfish bones suggests both served as food resources, as well as snails confirmed by the presence of shell middens. These middens also suggests that Lake Eyasi had once reached to just outside the cave. Additionally, after paying closer attention to the faunal remains, several archaeologists have been able to conclude that the Mumba's past inhabitants took advantage of the terrestrial environment as well. Bones of several animals including baboons, rabbits, warthogs, dik-diks, lizards, and snakes have been found at the site suggesting exploitation of the nearby grassland, and terraces. Human remains Upon the excavation of Bed III the remains of eighteen individuals were discovered between 1934 and 1938. This discovery included twelve males, one female, three children, and two unknown individuals ranging from as young as two up to sixty years of age. Later examination of the available cranial remains revealed that these individuals exhibited Negroid characteristics. Further analysis, attention to context, and dating of the remains suggest these individuals lived in the time period between the start of the Late Stone Age to the start of the Iron Age and that they were most likely the makers of the Kansyore Pottery and ostrich eggshell beads found at the site. Contextual significance Mumba is recognized for its potential in providing evidence for a gradual change between the Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age in Africa. This is an important time period in human evolution, because many scholars believe that between the Middle and Late Stone Age is when the origin of modern human behavior began. Characteristics of modern human behavior include an increase in cognitive ability, evidence for the use of symbolism, and the origin of language. Examples of modern human behavior at the site include the presence of red ochre, the lithic artifacts, the wall art on the caves, and the overwhelming number of ostrich eggshell beads. The idea of Mumba Cave being an example of this transition was supported by M.J. Melhman and his formation of what he called the Mumba Industry that was largely based on the artifacts observed in Bed V. Archaeologists, however, still debate the validity of the Mumba Industry today. ReferencesExternal links *Mumba Cave * Category:Archaeological sites in Tanzania Category:Stone Age Africa Category:Caves of Tanzania "
"Blowtorch Entertainment is a new media company that was co-founded by Kelly Rodriques and Paul Schiff (producer of My Cousin Vinny, Rushmore, and Date Movie). In November 2007, multiple Hollywood trades reported that Blowtorch Entertainment had raised significant funding to produce and distribute movies and to build a series of social media tools."Blowtorch will ignite films", Variety, 15 November 2007."Biz Types Fire Up Blowtorch", The Hollywood Reporter, 16 November 2007 Blowtorch describes itself as "a media and entertainment company that creates, enables and distributes fun, authentic and provocative content. We go where our audience goes: online, theaters, live events and mobile." Blowtorch.com According to The Economist, Blowtorch is "making video content for 18- to 24-year-old" and "it will allow audiences to influence movies via the web.""Hollywood and the Internet: Coming Soon", The Economist, 21 February 2008. In the December 27, 2007 issue of Fortune, Blowtorch was featured as one of "Six Leaps of Innovation." According to Fortune, "Schiff is in charge of producing and acquiring a stable of low- budget (under $5 million) feature-length films. Rodriques's job is to build social networks around the movies, inviting 18- to 24-year-old audiences to gather online before, after, and during the film.""Six Leaps of Innovation", Fortune Magazine, 27 December 2007 Blowtorch Entertainment owns the rights to the film Spin, (previously titled You Are Here) starring Bijou Phillips, and is in post-production on the feature film Tenure. Tenure is a 2008 American comedy film, written and directed by Mike Million and starring Luke Wilson, Gretchen Mol, and David Koechner. The film was produced by Paul Schiff and is being released by Blowtorch as their first original production. Blowtorch will also be handling the U.S. theatrical release of the film Young People F***ing, which was initially released in Canada on June 13, 2008 and has received favorable critical reviews."Playback: Next 25" Blowtorch is setting up its own theatrical distribution network in the U.S., and the company's home-video distribution is handled by Vivendi Visual Entertainment."Luke Wilson heats up Blowtorch", Variety, 6 March 2008 As of July 30, 2009, Blowtorch Entertainment was all but shut down, after several of the hedge funds that invested a total of $50 million into the venture went out of business. Blowtorch Chief Executive Kelly Rodriques notes that the company's board of directors has mostly disbanded and that its search for movie deals has ceased. Most of the venture's financing came in the form of debt from undisclosed hedge funds and 90% of this money has been returned to the investors. Moving forward, Rodriques expects to pay back the remainder of the funding with proceeds from the two properties currently in development. Blowtorch does not currently have a functioning website. However, Blowtorch is currently being revived by two young film pioneers Alec Rodriques and Chris Madera. Alec Rodriques, the son of Kelly Rodriques, has taken on the company name, and in teaming up with fellow film fanatic Chris, they hope to take visual film media to the next level."Film Company Blowtorch Burned By Hedge Fund Flame-Out", Wall Street Journal, 20 July 2009 References External links * "Blowtorch Raises $50 Million to Launch a New Hollywood Studio", www.TechCrunch.com, 15 November 2007 Category:Film production companies of the United States "
"Looking south from the centre of St. John's Ward at Albert Street (Dundas Street) and Elizabeth Street. c. 1930 The Ward (formally St. John's Ward) was a neighbourhood in central Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Typically regarded, at the time, one of the earliest slums in Toronto, the neighbourhood was a location where many new immigrants first settled. It was bounded by College, Queen, and Yonge Streets and University Avenue and was centred on the intersection of Terauley (now Bay) and Albert Streets. Population Yiddish butcher shop sign in the Ward, circa 1910 For several decades of the late 19th and early 20th century, it was a highly dense mixed-used neighbourhood where successive waves of new immigrants would initially settle before establishing themselves. Characterized by authorities in the 19th century as a slum, it was the home of refugees from the European Revolutions of 1848, the Great Famine of Ireland, the Underground Railroad, and then refugees from Russia and Eastern Europe. It was the centre of the city's Jewish community from the late 19th century until the 1920s when the Jewish community moved west to Spadina Avenue and Kensington Market and was also, until the late 1950s, the home of the city's original Chinatown, of many of the city's original Black residents centred on the British Methodist Episcopal Church, at 94 Chestnut Street, and of the city's Italian community until it moved west along College Street to Little Italy. The city's Polish, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and numerous other non-Anglo-Saxon immigrants first established themselves in The Ward. Today, the area is considered a part of what the City of Toronto now calls the Discovery District, the area having been consumed by the central business district. The old neighbourhood has not wholly disappeared. The short restaurant strip on the south side of Dundas Street between University Avenue and Bay Street still retains many buildings which were part of the Ward. The building in the right of the lead photograph in this article is still standing at Dundas and Elizabeth (it is now home to a Japanese restaurant). The YWCA at 87 Elm Street was originally the Toronto House of Industry, a workhouse established in the centre of the Ward in 1848 to serve impoverished residents. Also, a small group of row houses still stands on Elm Street just west of Bay Street, on the south side - possibly the last surviving remnant of the ward's residential character. The area was officially known as St. John's Ward,Escaped slaves helped build T.O. one of the municipal wards that the city was divided into in the 19th century, but it quickly became known simply as "The Ward".Introduction History Pre- colonialism = The site where the Ward existed is the territory of the Huron- Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River (Ontario First Nations Maps, 2016). The area was also home to the Taddle Creek. Now a buried lake, it would have been a significant gathering spot for Indigenous people. =1800s= The first settler at the area was James Macaulay. He was granted 100 acres of land and divided up the land for houses. The area was named Macaulaytown in his honour. By 1834, the town was absorbed by the city and was renamed St. John's Ward. The house prices were fairly low and the town was considered a pleasant working-class neighbourhood. In the 1830s, Thornton Blackburn—an African American fugitive slave—began acquiring several properties in the neighbourhood. Blackburn also provided recently arrived fugitive slaves with inexpensive housing. By 1850, many Black families settled in The Ward; five years later, the total Black population grew to 539.Underground Railroad Exhibit: Teacher Resources - Backgrounder to UGRR - Lesson Plan One Reverend Mitchell Harriet Tubman Institute. Accessed on February 28, 2016. The earliest Jewish settlers in Toronto had come from Britain, the United States, or Western Europe. With only a few hundred Jewish citizens in the city, they settled in several neighbourhoods and mostly integrated with the rest of the city. In the 1890s, an influx of Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe began arriving in Toronto. For the several thousand new arrivals, mostly impoverished and unable to speak English, the densely packed houses of The Ward became their new community. The Ward was also home to Toronto's first Chinatown as Chinese railway workers settled along York and Elizabeth Streets north of Union Station. =1900s= The Ward, 1910 The development of the neighbourhood caused much consternation in Toronto, including anti-Semitic riots and government clearance efforts. In 1909, of The Ward were demolished to build the Toronto General Hospital. The neighbourhood also began to change in character. As the Jewish immigrants became more settled, they moved westwards to the Kensington Market area and the Ward increasingly became a centre for Italian immigrants, who were then arriving in great numbers.Zucchi, p. 36. Son to Italian immigrants, Johnny Lombardi was born in The Ward in 1915, and went on to found one of the first multilingual radio stations in Canada, CHIN in 1966. By the 1920s, most Italians had moved west of Bathurst Street and the College-Clinton area had emerged as the city's major Little Italy. By the Second World War, the Ward had become Toronto's first Chinatown. Central Neighbourhood House was established in 1911 as a settlement house to assist new immigrants in the Ward. In 1911, the City of Toronto's Department of Health began an investigation into the Ward. This was initially resisted by the Toronto City Hall, but was eventually overturned by then-newly appointed Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Charles Hastings who commissioned the in-depth study. The 1911 report detailed over 5, 000 homes that contained various health risks, from leaky roofs and peeling wallpaper to overflowing outdoor privies. A section in the report described the severity of overcrowding, due to both a housing shortage and subdivisions by landlords to extract the most money. It was common for the houses in the Ward to have six or more people share a single, "filth-ridden" room, and for families to build houses in their backyard to fit more people. The shocking report gave rise to various reforms for the Ward that can be seen as bitter sweet: While the response to the report birthed stricter housing regulations, food safety measures and education programs, the report also resulted in the livelihoods of the individuals and the communities in the Ward to be dispersed. Jewish missionary Henry Singer in the Ward. From the 1920s the Ward was slowly demolished as land was expropriated for office towers and hotels, and, most prominently, the first Chinatown, centred on Elizabeth Street, was expropriated in the 1950s to make way for Nathan Phillips Square, named after a mayor of Toronto. Most businesses there moved West to establish what is now considered the "old" Chinatown, centred at Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street. For many decades, the area was almost wholly commercial and institutional, but recent years have seen a return of residents to what used to be the Ward, with multiple condominium towers being erected in the area. Notable people * Thornton Blackburn – an African American fugitive slave who started Toronto's first taxicab company * George Ethelbert Carter – the first Canadian-born black judge * Rev. Thomas Henry Jackson – one of the last Ministers of the British Methodist Episcopal Church on 94 Chestnut St * Johnny Lombardi – an Italian Canadian who founded one of the first multilingual radio stations in Canada, CHIN, in 1966 * Edward Lye - a cabinet maker in England who turned into an organ-builder in Toronto, founded the Lye Organ Company * Edward and Donna Pasquale - Italian immigrant couple who founded Pasquale Brothers, a specialty food store, now known today as Unico * William C. Wong – a Chinese Canadian activist who advocated for the rights of the Chinese-Canadian community ReferencesExternal links *- Toronto's First Synagogues - Dr. Stephen Speisman *Historicist: Forgotten Urban Squalor of The Ward Category:Black Canadian culture in Toronto Category:Black Canadian settlements Category:Chinese-Canadian culture in Toronto Category:History of Toronto Category:Jews and Judaism in Toronto Category:Neighbourhoods in Toronto Category:Historic Jewish communities in Canada Category:History of immigration to Canada Category:Ethnic enclaves in Ontario Category:Chinatowns in Canada Category:European-Canadian culture in Toronto Category:Immigration to Ontario "