The archaeology of Byzantium is the archaeology of an empire whose chronological bounds, broadly speaking, spanned the fourth through fifteenth century AD. The authors whose works are collected in this handbook examine methods and practice of Byzantine archaeology as well as the materials typically encountered in artifacts produced within the imperial boundaries. Byzantine archaeology is still a relatively young discipline, and, while vast in its scope and ambition, work in the field tends to be challenging to access. This volume aims to remedy this situation by providing current views of the nature of Byzantine archaeology, exploring crucial studies which elucidate salient features of the empire’s people, as well as offering glimpses of how things may develop in the near future.

Background

The first legal code of modern Nepal, the Muluki Ain, promulgated in 1854 by Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana, systematized every aspect of Nepalese society, from criminal and religious law to the caste system and property rights, reinforcing existing social structures that benefitted the dominant caste-Hindu elites. Largely influenced by ancient Sanskrit treatises and Brahminical social ideas and practices, the Muluki Ain labeled Nepal's Tamang community, along with several other lower-caste and Indigenous groups, as masinya matwali (enslavable alcohol-drinker) and murmi-bhotiya (people from the border [P. Tamang 2018: 45–46]). This categorization further deteriorated their social status, legally sanctioning their oppression, domination, and strategic exclusion in Nepal. They were converted into mere slaves or bonded laborers and subjected to compulsory labor (rakam) and porterage (Holmberg and March 1999: 6). The Tamang community had to bear the terrible sense of loss of their caste status and remained identity-less almost a century because of the exploitative and exclusionary attitude of the Nepali state toward them. The Tamangs had to wait till 1932, nearly 80 years after the promulgation of the Muluki Ain, to get back their caste status and ethnic recognition. In this regard, A. Hofer (2004) reminds us, “A decree signed by King Tribhuvan and the then Rana Prime Minister Bhim Samser lays down that, instead of the hitherto employed designations Lama and Bhote, henceforth the designation Tamang may be used officially” (Hofer 2004: 125). Although this allowed the Tamangs the permission to write their surname – “Tamang” – and be recognized as an ethnic group with their distinct culture and history, it was only the beginning of a long struggle for equal rights (P. Tamang 2018: 55).

The chapter explores the impact of the use of AI in civil dispute resolution on the public/private divide. It argues that the introduction of digital technologies, and particularly AI, complicates traditional boundaries between public and private institutions, reshaping both values and institutional dynamics. The chapter unveils a dual trend: on the one hand, private-sector involvement in public courts can result in a creeping privatisation, impacting the allocation of technical expertise, the power to shape procedural law, and the ability to affect fundamental rights. On the other hand, technology can also drive a publicisation of private dispute mechanisms, with private actors adopting public-oriented goals. The chapter identifies three AI-driven disruptions of the public/private balance: (a) the extraction of value from publicly generated legal data by private AI developers; (b) the potential of AI to constrain judicial discretion and independence by reinforcing precedent-based reasoning; and (c) the lack of context sensitivity in AI systems, which necessitates a broader understanding of human–machine interactions. Therefore, the chapter argues for a careful delimitation of AI’s role in civil dispute resolution, so as to protect fundamental rights and values, as well as ensuring that human judgement remains central.

Of the crimes making contemporary news, mass shootings occur too frequently and result in a tremendous loss of life. Many represent offenders attempting to get even with immigrants, minorities, and others they think have hurt mainstream American culture. Sex offenders include trusted adults such as scout leaders, physicians, and politicians who victimize children, patients, and employees. Some offenders are highly educated and behave as though they are entitled to violate norms and laws. These contemporary offenses involve either exploitation or retaliation in response to a grievance. Both these behavioral responses are associated with the personality style known as narcissism.

Pointing, and the joint attention between agents that it establishes, play a foundational role in human communication and cooperation. How this capacity emerges is therefore a central question for our understanding of human development and evolution. Here we face two mysteries. The first is where does pointing come from. There are many candidates in early infancy that could be precursors of pointing – including reaching, touching, and copying others. The second is how does pointing support infants’ understanding of others’ communicative intentions, which seems, paradoxically, to develop after pointing has emerged. This chapter argues that some automatic aspects of human behaviour – namely touch exploration in infants, and adults’ automatic tendency to look at what they touch – lead to early pointing behaviour. This process does not initially require either the infant or the adult to infer each other’s intentions, providing a cognitively lean account of pointing. Once this behaviour begins, it sets up a ‘joint attention triangle’ between agents that provides a natural platform for our understanding of others’ communicative intentions to develop.