Overview of Viking Trading and Exchange Networks

The Viking trade network included trading relationships into Europe, Charlemagnes Holy Roman Empire, into Asia, and the Islamic Abbasid empire. This is evidenced by the identification of items such as coins from North Africa recovered from a site in central Sweden and Scandinavian brooches from sites east of the Ural Mountains. Trade was a vital feature of the Norse Atlantic communities throughout their history and a way for the colonies to support their use of landnam, a sometime unreliable farming technique for environments the Norse didnt quite understand. Documentary evidence indicates that there were several groups of specific people who traveled between the Viking trading centers and other centers throughout Europe, as envoys, merchants or missionaries. Some travelers, such as the Carolingian missionary bishop Anskar (801-865) left extensive reports of their travels, giving us great insight to traders and their clients. Viking Trade Commodities The Norse traded commodities included slaves, but also coins, ceramics, and materials from specialized crafts such as copper-alloy casting and glass-working (beads and vessels both). The access to some commodities could make or break a colony: Greenlands Norse relied on trade in walrus and narwhal ivory and polar bear skins to support their ultimately failing farming strategies. Metallurgical analysis at Hrisbru in Iceland indicates that the elite Norse traded in bronze objects and raw material from the tin-rich regions in Britain. Significant trade in dried fish emerged near the end of the 10th century AD in Norway. There, cod played a significant role in Viking trade, when commercial fishing and sophisticated drying techniques allowed them to expand the market throughout Europe. Trade Centers In the Viking homeland, major trading centers included Ribe, Kaupang, Birka, Ahus, Truso, Grop Stromkendorf, and Hedeby. Goods were brought to these centers and then dispersed into the Viking society. Many of these site assemblages include an abundance of a soft yellow earthenware called Badorf-ware, produced in the Rhineland; Sindbà ¦k has argued that these items, rarely found on non-trading communities, were used as containers to bring goods to places, rather than as trade items. In 2013, Grupe et al. conducted stable isotope analysis of skeletal material at the Viking trade center of Haithabu (later Schleswig) in Denmark. They found that the diet of the individuals expressed in the human bones reflected the relative significance of trade over time. Members of the earlier community showed a predominance of freshwater fish (cod imported from the North Atlantic) in their diet, while later residents shifted to a diet of terrestrial domestic animals (local farming). Norse-Inuit Trade Theres some evidence in the Viking Sagas that trade played a role in the North American contact between the Norse and the Inuit occupants. Also, Norse symbolic and utilitarian objects are found at Inuit sites and similar Inuit objects in Norse sites. There are fewer Inuit objects in Norse sites, a fact which may be because the trade goods were organic, or that the Norse exported some Inuit prestige items into the wider European trade network. Evidence at the site of Sandhavn in Greenland seems to suggest that the quite rare co-existence of Inuit and Norse there was a result of the opportunity to trade with one another. Ancient DNA evidence from the Farm Beneath the Sand (GUS) site, also in Greenland, however, finds no support for the trade of bison robes, posited earlier from morphological examination. Viking and Islamic Trade Connections In a 1989 study of formal weights discovered at the Viking site of Paviken in Gotland near Vastergarn, Sweden, Erik Sperber reported three main types of trading weights in use: Ball-shaped weights of ironclad with a layer of bronze or solid bronze; these vary between 4 and 200 gmCubo-octaedric weights of lead bronze, tin bronze or brass; up to 4.2 gramsLeaden weights of different shapes and sizes Sperber believes at least some of these weights conform to the Islamic system of the Ummayyad dynasty leader Abd al Malik. The system, established in 696/697, is based on the dirhem of 2.83 grams and the mitqa of 2.245 grams. Given the breadth of Viking trade, it is likely that the Vikings and their partners may have utilized several trade systems. Sources: This glossary entry is a part of the About.com Guide to the Viking Age and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.Barrett J, Johnstone C, Harland J, Van Neer W, Ervynck A, Makowiecki D, Heinrich D, Hufthammer AK, Bà ¸dker Enghoff I, Amundsen C et al. 2008. Detecting the medieval cod trade: a new method and first results. Journal of Archaeological Science 35(4):850-861.Dugmore AJ, McGovern TH, Và ©steinsson O, Arneborg J, Streeter R, and Keller C. 2012. Cultural adaptation, compounding vulnerabilities and conjunctures in Norse Greenland. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109(10):3658-3663Golding KA, Simpson IA, Schofield JE, and Edwards KJ. 2011. Norse-Inuit interaction and landscape change in southern Greenland? A geochronological, Pedological, and Palynological investigation. Geoarchaeology 26(3):315-345.Grupe G, von Carnap-Bornheim C, and Becker C. 2013. Rise and Fall of a Medieval Trade Centre: Economic Change from Viking Haithabu to Medieval Schleswig Revealed by S table Isotope Analysis. European Journal of Archaeology 16(1):137-166.Sindbà ¦k SM. 2007. Networks and nodal points: the emergence of towns in early Viking Age Scandinavia. Antiquity 81:119-132.Sindbà ¦k SM. 2007. The Small World of the Vikings: Networks in Early Medieval Communication and Exchange. Norwegian Archaeological Review 40(1):59-74.Sinding M-HS, Arneborg J, Nyegaard G, and Gilbert MTP. 2015. Ancient DNA unravels the truth behind the controversial GUS Greenlandic Norse fur samples: the bison was a horse, and the muskox and bears were goats. Journal of Archaeological Science 53:297-303.Sperber E. 1989. The weights found at the Viking Age site of Paviken, a metrological study. Fornvannem 84:129-134.Wà ¤rmlà ¤nder SKTS, Zori D, Byock J, and Scott DA. 2010. Metallurgical findings from a Viking Age chieftain’s farm in Iceland. Journal of Archaeological Science 37(9):2284-2290.

The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1506 Words

Throughout the novel â€Å"The Great Gatsby† by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick uses the â€Å"I† in a past tense as he, the narrator, tells his story and at the end makes the realization that Gatsby and Nick share a commonality in life, therefore, Nick changes his world standpoint to include Gatsby, thus the â€Å"We† connection. In the beginning Nick starts off by telling us of the advice his father gave him (â€Å"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, â€Å"he told me, â€Å"just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.†). From his father’s teachings, Nick learns about what morality is, to be tolerant of the under privileged resulting in his identifying with the wealthy, which begins his â€Å"I† perspective. Thereupon, at†¦show more content†¦However, the Carraway’s tell the story that they were descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch, which is in fact a fallacy , making it appear to others that it is inherited wealth. Gatsby, on the other hand, came from a family of unsuccessful farmers and could not reconcile himself to his lot in life. He was born with the name James Gatz and reinvents himself into Jay Gatsby at the age of seventeen allowing him to have whatever past he chooses. His money, like Nick’s, was not inherited as he wanted others to believe, but in reality came from organized crime trading stolen securities and through bootlegging. When Nick returned from the war, he became restless after the totality of what he experienced there and wanted to escape the monotony of his mundane life. The hometown that he’d been accustomed to no longer appeared to be â€Å"the warm center of the world†. His dream was to create his own fortune and to bring substance back into his life. Therefore, he leaves the Middle West and goes east to become a bondsman. He, also, wanted the excitement that he thought he had been missing out on since the war and to be able to mingle with the elite wealthy. â€Å"My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor’s lawn and the consoling proximity of millionaires—all for eighty dollars a month.† F. Scott Fitzgerald, 5 Gatsby was also fleeing his

Cutco Case Analysis free essay sample

CUTCO Corporation must implement a long-range growth strategy by selecting and focusing on a growth driver as well as a strategic marketing channel for the next ten years. Alternative Evaluation 1. Acquiring a cutlery manufacturing company Cost = $10-15 million a. Advantage: Gain additional plant capacity required for growth expansion b. Disadvantage: The acquisition would divert attention away from the companys primary activities. 2. Expansion of Internet recruiting and new Internet technologies Cost = $5-10 million c. Advantage: Improving recruiting procedures and gaining knowledge of new internet technologies d. Disadvantage: Cost of hiring and training additional sales force 3. Expanding brand recognition and preference through increasing through public relations exposure Cost = $1-2 million f. Disadvantage: 4. Reenergizing major international marketing efforts g. Advantage: . Disadvantage: Substantial financial and personnel resources utilized 5. Expanding supplemental sales channels (catalogs and Internet sales) Cost = $3 million i. Advantage: High potential to generate increased profits J. Disadvantage: Cannibalization of revenue produced from college students 6. We will write a custom essay sample on Cutco Case Analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Expanding retail sales channel cost = $100,000 k. Advantage: High potential of increasing revenues threefold l. Disadvantage: Potential to devastate sales force, develop new skill set and core competencies Recommendation CUTCO Corporation should invest additional resources in Internet recruiting measures of college students. This method has proven to work in the past and the company could utilize social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn in order to gain new prospects. I do not feel that it is feasible to spend additional resources in overseas markets at the current time. The cost is too great and several past experiences have not been successful in markets abroad. I also feel that an acquisition of an additional company to increase product capacity would also be too great of a cost. The pilot retail store has a huge market potential in its current location and should be expanded into other markets. (Refer to Appendix for analysis)

SEABURY CONSTRUCTION CORP. V. DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION E

SEABURY CONSTRUCTION CORP. V. DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION COMMENT The price preference program for minority-owned and woman-owned business enterprises and qualified joint ventures in public works procurement projects with the City of New York was declared invalid by the New York State Supreme Court of New York County.1 The City had implemented a price preference procurement program under the authority of the New York City Charter (?NYC Charter?), which generally requires that all competitive procurements using sealed bids be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. Section 313(b)(2) of the NYC Charter has an exception to the general rule: The agency letting the contract ? shall ? award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder, unless the mayor shall determine ? that it is in the best interest of the city that a bid other than that of the lowest responsible bidder shall be accepted. In 1991, a new NYC Charter section was added which required the Department of Business Services to promulgate rules to ensure meaningful participation of minority-owned and woman-owned businesses in the City's procurement procedures. The rules which were promulgated established a 10 percent ?target percentage? for minority-owned and woman-owned businesses, and qualified joint ventures. If a bid from a minority-owned or woman-owned business, or a qualified joint venture was not the lowest bid, but was within the target percentage of the lowest bid, then the purchasing agency would forward that bid and the lowest bid to the Mayor for a determination as to whether it was in the best interest of the City to award the contract to other than the lowest responsible bidder. In early 1993, the Department of Environmental Protection awarded three projects to two companies that were qualified joint ventures. The lowest responsible bidder for these contracts had been submitted by Seabury Construction Corporation (?Seabury?). The two companies awarded the contracts submitted bids which were higher than Seabury's bids, but were within the 10 percent ?target percentage.? The City's Chief Procurement Officer, acting for the Mayor, had determined that it was in the City's best interest to accept the higher bid from the qualified joint ventures. Seabury then sued the City, claiming that NYC Charter ? 313(b)(2) violated section 103(1) of the General Municipal Law (?GML?). The relevant part of GML ? 103(1) reads as follows: Except as otherwise expressly provided by an act of the legislature or by a local law adopted prior to September first, nineteen hundred fifty-three, all contracts for public work involving an expenditure of more than twenty thousand dollars ? shall be awarded by the appropriate officer, board, or agency of a political subdivision ? to the lowest responsible bidder?. The court turned its attention to NYC Charter ? 313(b)(2) in an effort to determine whether that section of the NYC Charter was adopted prior to September 1, 1953. However, both counsel and the court appear to have overlooked a key statutory construction analysis which could have provided a colorable, though likely unsuccessful, argument contrary to the court's conclusion. GML ? 103 was enacted in 1953.2 The relevant part of the original statute read as follows: Except as otherwise expressly provided by an act of the legislature, or except in an emergency, all contracts for public work involving an expenditure of more than twenty-five hundred dollars ? shall be awarded by the appropriate officer, board, or agency of a political subdivision ? to the lowest responsible bidder?. The phrase, ?or by a local law adopted prior to September first, nineteen hundred fifty-three? is conspicuously absent from the original legislation. The department memorandum relating to the bill includes the following remarks: The primary objective of this bill is to harmonize and to extend the application of laws relating to public bidding on contracts let by counties, cities, towns, villages, school districts and district corporations?. Section 103 will apply ?except as otherwise expressly provided by an act of the legislature?. The quoted phrase was inserted in view of provisions in city charters and other laws of limited application which may prescribe different requirements with respect to public bidding.? The law was then amended in 1955.3 The amended law read as follows: Except as otherwise expressly provided by an act of the legislature or by a local law adopted prior to September first, nineteen hundred fifty-three, or except