Development of Presentation Skills

Development of Presentation Skills 10 Effective Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills Home›Education Posts›10 Effective Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills Education PostsHow to Develop Better Presentation SkillsIn our fast and developing world, it is essential to have effective presentation skills, no matter in which sphere you are engaged. For example, students develop their presentation skills attempting to get higher grades and succeed in academic career. In addition, entrepreneurs improve the art of speaking aiming to attract new customers to their businesses, etc. If you also understand the benefits of working on yourself, check these tips on presentation skills.Defining PresentationPresentation is a special means of communication that can vary according to a certain speaking situation, for example, addressing a meeting, talking to a group, briefing a team, etcPreparing a SpeechThe success of any oral presentation depends on the preparation of a speaker. Thus, it is necessary to devote time for gett ing ready and to avoid possible short-cuts.Organizing the MaterialWell-structured and clear delivery is the primary goal of the successful presentation. So, if a speaker wants to have a lively conversation with the audience, it is necessary to organize the material in a logical and clear way.Writing the SpeechThis step is crucial for visualizing the presentation in a speaker’s mind. In addition, reading through the presentation before the due time will help the speaker to feel more confident.Choosing Presentation MethodDepending on the type of presentation (formal or informal), a speaker should choose the appropriate presentation method, venue and facilities that will be suitable for him/her and the audienceUsing Speaker NotesIf a speaker is not one of those who may deliver a presentation without notes, it is necessary to prepare notes on the cards, print full text or a mind map to use during the speech.Managing Visual AidsIf a speaker plans to use visual aids during the speech, h e or she needs to be prepared in advance to operate effectively and promptly. Visual aids help the speaker to increase comprehension and interest of the audience to the presentation.Presenting FactsEffective data and solid facts used in a presentation will ensure speaker’s authority. However, it is necessary to be careful when using statistics not to make professional and effective presentation.Managing the EventA speaker should figure out the technical details of delivering a speech before the event starts. This includes managing audio-visual equipment, sound systems, lecterns, etc.Answering QuestionsThe appropriate time for handling questions (during or after speech) should be indicated at the beginning of the presentation.It is easy to develop your presentation skills using the guidelines provided in the article. Start working on your self-improvement today and gain new speaking abilities by the time you need to prepare your next presentation.

With the increasing costs, both financial and ecological,...

With the increasing costs, both financial and ecological, of fossil fuels, fuel efficiency in vehicles has become an increasingly important factor. Vehicle manufacturers and designers are exploring alternative fuels, with electric, hybrid and hydrogen-powered vehicles being looked at as viable alternatives. Solar power has been somewhat overlooked but has the ability to become widely used because it is both clean and economical. The advantages over fossil fuels are obvious: Solar power is renewable, cannot be exhausted and doesn’t cause pollution. Fossil fuels are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. Solar seems like a logical alternative. As such, it is being considered by private companies and government think tanks as a partial†¦show more content†¦Battery packs are still heavy, bulky and expensive but the costs of solar power are coming down while the cost of gasoline keeps going up. A number of different vehicles from sports cars to vans to golf carts have had solar panels added to flat surfaces, primarily their roofs. Some of the vehicles are ordinary cars which have been modified for solar; others are highly futuristic. The picture below is a good example of a futuristic design. The vehicle, called â€Å"car on a stick† was designed to be used as a streetlight when not being driven, which accounts for the one sitting at a higher elevation in the picture, as opposed to the one on the ground. It would also save on parking. Of course, this design is only an idea at this point, but it gives some interesting possibilities for vehicles (and cities) of the future. Source: http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/solarpoweredvehicles.html Albuainain Page 2 of 5 So far, the size, weight and efficiency of PV panels, and the need for a storage battery, which is large and heavy, has limited the range of most such vehicles to 30-50 miles between charges (designboom). In order for PVCs to become more practical, engineers will have to increase their efficiency. Current cells have an average efficiency of about 20% (Perch 2013). Ideally, the efficiency would need to be at least 30% to be sufficient to provide enough energy to keep the car running for a reasonableShow MoreRelatedEnergy Efficiency And Renewable Energy1975 Words   |  8 Pageswhile also distributing it more effectively. The most rational way to create and produce energy is to generate it renewably by utilizing naturally reoccurring resources. Perhaps, that is why energy efficiency and renewable energy are gaining more and more attention from the largest names in the financial, energy, and industrial communities. Government, manufacturers, and the consumer are all involved in the renovation of the energy system towards one that is cleaner and more proficient. According toRead MoreSustainability in Mauritius7180 Words   |  29 Pagesbenefit local residents to the extent that it could† The current pace of development in the island not only severely challenges the integrity of our environmental, physical, ecological, social, cultural, and economic resources, but it also projects a negative image of Mauritius in the international market, impacting on both the demand and the supply side of the industry. * Ensure sustainable consumption and production: sustainable consumption and production can be defined as â€Å"the production andRead More Solutions to preventing the spread of global warming and its affects1632 Words   |  7 Pagestechnologies include things such as: factories, power plants, automobiles, etc†¦ this has made the human population very dependent and accustomed to all of these technological advances. The use of technology requires the energy of fossil fuels to keep it running. By using fossil fuel energy we are releasing harmful green-house gases into our atmosphere, we are slowly bringing forth climate changes and environmental issues to our society. To respond to these global warming issues, we must promote awarenessRead MoreNutrient Pollution : Causes, Impacts And Solutions1889 Words   |  8 Pagesairborne sources enter the water in high concentrations. This process results in water that is too rich in nutrients. This in turn causes a chain of events t hat can cause widespread ecological damage to both aquatic ecosystems. In order to reduce nutrient pollution to sustainable levels and prevent a manmade ecological disaster, mankind must stem the flow of nutrients into our waterways by regulating the sources that contribute to it. To address the problem of eutrophication, the causes must firstRead MoreGlobal Economic And Environmental Sustainability1989 Words   |  8 PagesSince 1940, the world population has nearly tripled. With this nearly exponential growth in population came a major growth in economic and financial activity that is increasingly more global and complex (Ayres et al., 2013). To compensate for this growth in population and economic and financial activity, the use of natural resources has risen at a similar rate. Although continuous economic growth is the primary goal of an economy, the finite amount of resources constrained by the capabilities ofRead MoreThe Report On Climate Change Dictates5048 Words   |  21 Pagescarbon-constrained world with a carbon budget beyond which the irreversible catastrophic impacts of global warming may not be avoidable. To have a 50% chance of staying below 20C of global warming, 62% of fossil fuels proven reserves, and 88% of coal reserves must stay in the ground. Huge new fossil fuel developments, like the Galilee Basin in Australia, the tar sands in Canada and new resources in the Arctic, cannot be developed. Oil majors are caught in a dilemma; the challenge of choosing betweenRead MoreA Research Study On Global Warming5887 Words   |  24 Pageschoice but to divest their assets in the carbon-intensive oil industry and shift their interest to low-carbon energy portfolios, their corporate strategies will have to either gamble on maximizing short-term profits in oil production while facing increasing climate change risks, or adapt their strategies in response to such risks and gain the advantage of a head start in low-carbon economy. This study examines an array of drivers in an attempt to model oil majors’ behaviour in addressing climate changeRead MoreClimate Change Is The Tip Of The Iceberg1497 Words   |  6 Pagesdriver for storm activity. As warm air collects precipitation forms, moist air is lighter than dry air; moist and dry air combined increase storm severity. Due to climate change, the air now collects more moisture than previously collected due to increasing temperatures. Australian Bureau Statistics (ABS) records steady atmospheric warming since 1950 at an average temperature increase of 0.9 °C, resulting in significant climate variations (2011). Increases provide additional heat and moisture, allowingRead MoreRenewable Energy : Solar Energy2471 Words   |  10 Pagesvigorously. The capture of the sun’s energy is underway but supplies only a small fraction of our current energy requirements. Non-renewable sources of energy have been the primary source of energy production throughout the industrialized world. Fossil fuel technology drives most of our economy. We power our cities, industries, and cars with petroleum based products such as gas and heating oil. In some areas there is still reliance from coal to generate power and heat. One downside if we keep usingRead MoreComponents Of Area Of Concentration And Learning Objecti ves Essay1991 Words   |  8 Pagesthe level of knowledge and the reasons why you wish to master such objectives) and list relevant various strategies (courses or other learning activities). The energy sector of Ghana is besieged with challenges ranging from the technical to the financial. These challenges have coalesced over time resulting in the current energy crisis and energy insecurity that plagues the country. This situation persist in many other African countries, despite the fact that Africa, and by extension Ghana has a

The New Israeli Nation between 1947-1967 Essay - 4173 Words

How was the new Israeli nation able to be born, to survive, and to prosper during the period of 1947-1967 despite being surrounded by hostile states? Introduction One of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century was the sudden creation of the Jewish state. It had been the dream of almost every Jew to have their own nation in which they would be free from persecution but its very creation appeared to be beyond human possibility. Almost 6 million Jews been viciously massacred under the â€Å"Final Solution† Plan of Nazi Germany and the remaining were dispossessed refugees. The small communities in Palestine faced fierce Arab resentment and British had disallowed any further immigration. Even when the state was finally declared in May 1948,†¦show more content†¦After the brutal anti Jewish pogroms in Russia in the 1880’s, Jews realized that remaining in Europe would no longer be an option. As a consequence, they decided to create their own nation-state. On of the first Zionist movements (Zionist; meaning advocates of returning to Palestine) was Hoveve Zion (Lovers of Zion). The movement originated in Russia in the 1880s. It established several Zionist towns in Palestine. Eventually, in 1893 the World Zionist Organization was founded by a correspondent of a Viennese newspaper, Theodor Herzl. He published a pamphlet; known as â€Å"The Jewish State† in which he argued that â€Å"since Jews were a nationality without land, they must attain land in order to construct a nation state.†(Mitchell, 2001) At the congress in Basel, Switzerland in 1897, the World Zionist Movement was established whose goal was to create a homeland for the Jewish people. Jews throughout the world donated 357 million in US dollars in its first year of existence. After unsuccessful attempts of negotiations with the Uganda and Argentine governments, they decided that the Jewish homeland would exist in Palestine. An old religious Jewish community known as the Old Yishuv had survived in Palestine throughout the rule of the Ottoman Empire and had virtually no conflict with their Arab neighbors (although there were laws which forbade Jews from building synagogues higher than mosques). In his book, A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Mark Tessler, aShow MoreRelatedIsrael Is A Small Democracy At The Eastern End Of The Mediterranean1349 Words   |  6 Pagessecular (profess no religion). Most Israelis and many non-Israeli Jews, as well as other supporters of Israel worldwide, see Israel as a refuge for Jews made necessary by the Holocaust, the Nazi-engineered genocide of approximately six million European Jews from 1941 to 1945. Most scholars acknowledge the existence of an ethnically distinct population of Arabs living in Palestine, the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, that predates Israeli independence. Arabs living in PalestineRead MoreThe Arab Israeli War ( 1948-49 ) A Political Conflict?1719 Words   |  7 PagesLuke Horsley Preliminary Modern History Mr. Powell Historical Investigation â€Å"To what extent was the First Arab-Israeli War (1948-49) a political conflict?† WORD COUNT: 1388 In order to assess to what extent the First Arab-Israeli war was a political conflict, a working definition of ‘political conflict’ is needed. In this essay, the phrase ‘political conflict ’ refers to conflict motivated or influenced by a nation’s government or by the power, interests and securityRead MoreConflict In Israel, Israel And The Arab War925 Words   |  4 Pagesthemselves as Palestinian before arabs and the new jewish zionist movement called for a jewish state. From the end of the first world war to 1947 both groups claimed the land as their own. That was until the Holocaust. The atrocities committed in the second world war against the Jews caused international support for the creation of a jewish state. The populus opinion led to the 1947 UN proposal of a two state solution. This divided the land between the groups with an international zone around theRead MoreThe Conflict Between Arabs And Jews1788 Words   |  8 Pages 1967: War in the Middle East Jose Manuel Santoyo Midterm Research Assignment History 3390 Sabri Ates The 1967 war, also known as the six day war, was a continuation of the conflict between the Arabs and Jews. This war is significant because it helped reshape the political landscape of the region, and the reconfiguring of the Israeli borders due to the occupation by Israel after they defeated the Arab states in six days. The war also established Israel as a superpower in the middleRead MoreA Brief Note On The World Book Encyclopedia1151 Words   |  5 Pageshistoric land in which both Judaism and Christianity were originated. It is considered â€Å"The Holy Land† because it is a sacred place to the Muslims and many stories in the Christian Bible take place in Palestine. Palestine’s geographical location between Egypt and southwest Asia has caused it to be the center of many wars for thousands of years. Arab and Jewish inhabitants of Palestine fought for control of the territory and in 1949 Palestine was split apart into Israel, Jordan, and Egypt makingRead MoreThe C reation of Israel was the Turning Point2997 Words   |  12 Pagespartition plan in 1947, the state of Israel was created in 1948. I will be discussing the extent to which the creation of Israel was a turning point throughout a hundred year period. The conflict can be split up into 3 different strands which include: Arab Israeli, Palestinian-Israeli, Western involvement. The Arab-Israeli conflict is the regional conflict that erupts in 1948 when the newly created Arab states invade Israel and is partially resolved by 1996. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is theRead MoreThe Israeli Palestinian Conflict : Israel Palestine Conflict Essay1516 Words   |  7 Pagesoccurred with the swift Israeli victory in the 6 day war of 1967, when Israel occupied the territories. Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories bar Gaza strip ( territorially miniscule) has morphed into a sort of colonialism as Israel has buil a number of settlements on the territories it found in control of after 1967, which practically amounts to an annexation of the land. Therefore, the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict is essentially a conflict over Israeli colonization, the onlyRead MoreThe Tumultuous Transformations Of The Arab World899 Words   |  4 Pagesroom resembled more of an auditorium packed with millennials, senior citizens and age groups in between, all with their full attention on the speaker. Throughout his talk, Khouri explained how the last century has been exceptionally problematic for the Arabians due to zero political development, the Arab Israeli conflict, and the Arabian revolution. Khouri’s main argument is that there is an entirely new situation at hand due to Turkey, Iran, Israel, and Saudi Arabia currently driving the actual developmentsRead MoreThe Middle East Conflict Essay1589 Words   |  7 PagesThe Middle East Conflict The country previously known as Palestine but now as Israel has sparked major military and political confrontations between Arabs and Israelis during the 20th century in the Middle East. The area, which both groups of people claim is rightly their homeland is smaller then Britain, surrounded on the West by the Mediterranean Sea and on the other sides by neighbouring Arab countries. The Israelis believe it is rightly their homeland becauseRead MoreArab Israeli Conflict 883 Words   |  4 Pages1.1 WHAT IS THE ARAB ISRAELI CONFLICT? The Arab-Israeli conflict is a hotly contested issue both in the Middle East and the broader global community.1 The modern conflict is essentially a dispute over the area known up until 1948 as Palestine, which is considered holy to all three major monotheistic religions.2 The primary parties in the conflict are Israeli (formerly Zionist) Jews and Palestinian Arabs (who are predominately Muslim).3 It is one of the unresolved problems bequeathed to the region

Powder Free Essays

Some say there is nothing stronger than a bond between a father and his son. The trying and heartwarming relationship between the father and his son is shown in the story â€Å"Powder† by Tibias Wolff. There are many differences and similarities between the father and his son, maybe a few more differences than similarities but that doesn’t stop them from spending time with each other. We will write a custom essay sample on Powder or any similar topic only for you Order Now To begin with, throughout the story the reader makes it clear the differences between the two characters. First off, the father has more of a rebellious, outgoing resonantly whereas the son likes to play more by the rules and stays more reserved. You see this not only in the second sentence where it talks about the father sneaking his son into the club but also when the father calls the state trooper to send him in the opposite direction so they could drive on the icy unfortified road to get his son home for Christmas dinner. You would think that all teenage boys would love a father who is willing to break the rules, but from the story it seems like this kind of actions from his father makes him more uncomfortable because it upsets his mom. Also the father was more of a risk taker where his son looked ahead and thought things out more. You can see this in the conversation In the car when the son talks about his success in school and always getting his home work while his dad Is taking a risk driving on the closed road. Even though there are major differences, the father and son do have some similarities. They both seem to care a lot about their families and their relationship together. Throughout the short story you see the wild and crazy actions of the father UT if you read deeper you see he Is only doing this to get his son home In time so his mother will continue to let him see his son. You can even tell the son cares about the relationship with his father because he’s doing things outside his comfort zone such as going on a ski trip and trusting his father to drive on the dangerous, winding road. You can even start to see them bonding In the last paragraph when the son starts to relax and actually for once enjoy the fun crazy adventure his dad Is taking him on Instead of being uptight and worrying. There’s many different ways to express your love to the closest people around you. Through the story â€Å"Powder† you see the father trying to show his love to his son by taking him on crazy adventures and showing him a good time. Through these you can see the many differences and saltcellars In the two, but through these differences and saltcellars you begin see them bond and develop a real father-son relationship. Powder By cylindering 123 more. You can see this in the conversation in the car when the son talks about his success in school and always getting his home work while his dad is taking a risk but if you read deeper you see he is only doing this to get his son home in time so his You can even start to see them bonding in the last paragraph when the son starts to relax and actually for once enjoy the fun crazy adventure his dad is taking him on instead of being uptight and worrying. See the many differences and similarities in the two, but through these differences and similarities you begin see them bond and develop a real father-son relationship. How to cite Powder, Papers

Accounting Assumption free essay sample

An economic entity can be any organization or unit in society. It may be a company, government unit, a municipality, a school district, or a church. The economic entity assumption requires that the activities of the entity be kept separate and distinct from the activities of its owner and all other economic entities (Weygandt, Kimmel, Kieso, Financial Accounting). The accounting profession has developed standards that are generally accepted and university practiced. This common set of standards are called generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), indicate how to report economic events. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the agency of the United States government that oversees U. S. financial markets and accounting standard-setting bodies. There are four principles of accounting. They are the cost principle. Business are required to record and report assets based on the actual cost incurred to acquire them rather than the free market value of the acquired asset themselves. We will write a custom essay sample on Accounting Assumption or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The idea behind this principle is that this method of recording and reporting is reliable and lessens the opportunity for factors such as biased market values to interfere with the accounting. However, this method may be viewed as irrelevant as it relates to the actual value of assets. The second principle is the accrual principle. Businesses are required to record and report revenue at the time it is earned and realized by the business, not when the cash for the revenue is received by the business. This method is known as accrual basis accounting. The purpose of this principle is to actually show what work has been completed and not what is to be done in the future. The third principle is the matching principle. This principle allows for real time analysis of the expenses and revenues. Using this principle will show just how well the business has done financially and how effective it was. Somewhat like the accrual principle, expenses in this case can only be recorded and reported when revenue is to which such expenses are related was earned. The fourth principle is the Disclosure Principle. The accounting records of a business must be disclosed so that judgment about the financial status of a business can be easily made. However, the disclosure of accounting and financial information should not cause the business to accrue unreasonable expenses or cause erroneous opinions (ezinearticle. com). The constraints of accounting refer to the limitations to providing financial information that exist in the financial reporting environment. Financial reporting must follow the generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP. The constraints of accounting permit certain variations from the basic accounting principles in reporting a company’s financial information. Financial reporting is not cost free because companies must spend time and money to collect, process, analyze, and disseminate relevant information. In deciding what to include in a financial reporting, companies must weigh the costs of providing particular information against the benefits that can be derived from using this information. Therefore, companies may not require particular accounting measurements or disclosures if the cost of implementing them exceeds the benefits accrued to users of the information. The GAAP does depend on principles, assumptions and constraints for sound financial reporting. The GAAP uses these accounting principles because such standards were needed to be established for the purpose of holding organizations responsible for truthful and relevant documentation and records.

Baseball Story Essays - Baseball Rules, New York Yankees Players

Baseball Story Baseball has been providing us with fun and excitement for more than a hundred and fifty years. The first game resembling baseball as we know it today was played in Hoboken ,New Jersey, on June 19, 1846. The New York Nine beat the New York Knickerbokers that day, 23-1. The game was played according to rules drawn up by Alexander J. Cartwright. A surveyer and amateur athlete. It is a myth that Abner Doubleday1 invented baseball. It was Alexander Cartwright, not Abner Doubleday, who first laid out the present dimensions of the playing field and established the basic rules of the game. The first Professional baseball team was the Cincinnati Red Stockings, who toured the country in 1869 and didn't lose a game all year. Baseball began to attract so many fans that in 1876 the National league was organized-the same National league that still exists today. Although the game was played in 1876 it was recognizable as baseball-nobody would confuse it with football or basketball-it was quite a bit different from baseball as we know it now. For example, pitchers had to throw underhand, the way they still do in softball;the batter could request the pitcher to throw a "high" or "low" pitch; it took nine balls, rather than four, for a batter to get a base on balls; and the pitching distance was olny 45 feet to home plate. The rules were gradually changed over the following 20 years, until by about 1900 the game was more or less the same as it is today. In 1884, the pitchers were permitted to throw overhand; in 1887, the batter was no longer allowed to request a "high"or "low" pitch; by 1889,it took only four balls to get a batter to a base on balls; the pitching distance was legthened to sixty- feet, six inches. And since that day in 1846 There have been many greats to make up the game baseball such as Ty Cobb who was born in a small town in Georgia in 1886. He threw right-handed but batted left-handed . He held his hands a few inches apart on the bat and learned to bunt or slap line-drive hits precisely where he wanted them. He made place hitting an art. In the summer of 1905, Cobb joined a major league baseball taem, the Detroit Tigers .On August 9, Ty Cobb registered his first base hit as a member of the Tigers. In the many years to follow he added over four thousand more hits. Along with them would come a national rep- utation. Another player who some have said "changed the game", is John Roosevelt("Jackie") Robinson2.On April 15, 1947 at two o'clock that tuesday afternoon when nine Brooklyn Dodgers sprang out thier dugout to take the feild to start the 1947 baseball season. It was a memorable event in basebaall history, indeed in American history. Undoubtedly Robinson was a great ballplayer. He was National league's Rookie of the year in 1947 and its Most valuable player (MVP) in 1949. He won the election in 1962 to the Bseball Hall of Fame, the first African- American ever chosen for that honor. And perhaps the greatest ballplayer of all time was Goerge Herman (Babe Ruth). During the 1920, Ruth's first season as a New York Yankee, he hit .376, not enough to win the American league batting championship but a figure far beyond what today is registered by major leagues leaders. He also hit safely in 26 consecutive games, clubbed 9 triples and 36 doubles, and batted in 137 runs. Despite his weight of over 215, he stole 14 bases. Most remarkably, however, Ruth slugged 54 home runs for the season. Closest to him in the American League was Goerge Sisler, with 19 homers, while the National League leader recorded a total of only 15. Almost every team in both leagues registered a total number far below the 54 of Babe Ruth alone. There have been many more talented and great ball- players in the game such as Ted Williams,Leo Durocher, Hank Aaron,Mickey Mantle,Roger Maris,Willie Mays,Joe DiMaggio and all these ballplayers have done their part to shape and mold the game of Baseball. And today, we now have a new generation of ball- players like Mark McGwire who in the 1998 season hit an unpresedented 76 home runs and was closely followed by Sammie Sosa with 70 homers which in the 1920 and 30's was un-thought of un-imagnable, to even hit 15 home runs now playes can hit 15 home runs by

Begash (Kazakhstan)

Begash (Kazakhstan) Begash is a Eurasian pastoralist campsite, located in Semirchye in the piedmont zone of the Dzhungar Mountains of southeastern Kazakhstan, which was occupied episodically between ~2500 BC to AD 1900. The site is located at about 950 meters (3110 feet) above sea level, in a flat ravine terrace enclosed by canyon walls and along a spring-fed stream. Archaeological evidence at the site contains information about some of the earliest pastoralist Steppe Society communities; the important archaeobotanical evidence suggests Begash may have been on the route which moved domestic plants from the point of domestication into the broader world. Timeline and Chronology Archaeological investigations have identified six major phases of occupations. Phase 6 (cal AD 1680-1900), HistoricPhase 5 (cal AD 1260-1410), MedievalPhase 4 (cal AD 70-550), Late Iron AgePhase 3 (970 cal BC-30 cal AD), Early Iron AgePhase 2 (1625-1000 cal BC), Middle-Late Bronze AgePhase 1 (2450-1700 cal BC), Early-Middle Bronze Age A stone foundation for a single house is the earliest structure, built at Begash during Phase Ia. A cist burial, characteristic of other late Bronze Age and Iron Age kurgan burials, contained a cremation: near it was a ritual fire pit. Artifacts associated with Phase 1 include pottery with textile impressions; stone tools including grinders and micro-blades. Phase 2 saw an increase in the number of houses, as well and hearths and pit features; this last was evidence of roughly 600 years of periodic occupation, rather than a permanent settlement. Phase 3 represents the early Iron Age, and contains the pit burial of a young adult woman. Beginning about 390 cal BC, the first substantial residence at the site was built, consisting of two quadrilateral houses with central stone-lined fire-pits and hard-packed floors. The houses were multi-roomed, with stone lined postholes for central roof support. Trash pits and fire-pits are found between the houses. During Phase 4, occupation at Begash is again intermittent, a number of hearths and trash pits have been identified, but not much else. The final phases of occupation, 5 and 6, have substantial large rectangular foundations and corrals still detectable on the modern surface. Plants from Begash Within soils samples taken from the Phase 1a burial cist and associated funerary fire pit were discovered seeds of domesticated wheat, broomcorn millet and barley. This evidence is interpreted by the excavators, an assertion supported by many other scholars, as indication of a distinct route of transmission of wheat and millet from the central Asian mountains and into the steppes by the late 3rd millennium BC (Frachetti et al. 2010). The wheat consisted of 13 whole seeds of domesticated compact free-threshing wheat, either Triticum aestivum or T. turgidum. Frachetti et al. report that the wheat compares favorably to that from the Indus Valley region in Mehrgarh and other Harappan sites, ca. 2500-2000 cal BC and from Sarazm in western Tajikistan, ca. 2600-2000 BC. A total of 61 carbonized broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) seeds were recovered from various Phase 1a contexts, one of which was direct-dated to 2460-2190 cal BC. One barley grain and 26 cerealia (grains unidentified to species), were also recovered from the same contexts. Other seeds found within the soil samples are wild Chenopodium album, Hyoscyamus spp. (also known as nightshade), Galium spp. (bedstraw) and Stipa spp. (feathergrass or spear grass). See Frachetti et al. 2010 and Spengler et al. 2014 for additional details. Domesticated wheat, broomcorn millet and barley found in this context is surprising, given that the people who occupied Begash were clearly nomadic pastoralists, not farmers. The seeds were found in a ritual context, and Frachetti and colleagues suggest that the botanical evidence represents both a ritual exploitation of exotic foods, and an early trajectory for the diffusion of domestic crops from their points of origin into the broader world. Animal Bones The faunal evidence (nearly 22,000 bones and bone fragments) at Begash contradicts the traditional notion that the emergence of Eurasian pastoralism was sparked by horse riding. Sheep/goat are the most prevalent species within the assemblages, as much as 75% of identified minimum number of individuals (MNI) in the earliest phases to just under 50% in Phase 6. Although distinguishing sheep from goats is notoriously difficult, sheep are much more frequently identified in the Begash assemblage than goats. Cattle are the next most frequently found, making up between 18-32% of the faunal assemblages throughout the occupations; with horse remains not present at all until ca 1950 BC, and then in slowly increasing percentages to around 12% by the medieval period. Other domestic animals include dog and Bactrian camel, and wild species are dominated by red deer (Cervus elaphus) and, in the later period, goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa). Key species at the earliest Middle and Bronze age levels at Begash indicates that sheep/goats and cattle were the predominant species. Unlike other steppe communities, it seems apparent that the earliest phases at Begash were not based on horse riding, but rather began with Eurasian pastoralists. See Frachetti and Benecke for details. Outram et al. (2012), however, have argued that the results from Begash should not be considered necessarily typical of all steppe societies. Their 2012 article compared proportions of cattle, sheep and horses from six other Bronze Age sites in Kazakhstan, to show that dependence on horses seems to varied widely from site to site. Textiles and Pottery Textile-impressed pottery from Begash dated to the Early/Middle and Late Bronze ages reported in 2012 (Doumani and Frachetti) provide evidence for a wide variety of woven textiles in the southeastern steppe zone, beginning in the early Bronze Age. Such a wide variety of woven patterns, including a weft-faced cloth, implies interaction between pastoral and hunter-gatherer societies from the northern steppe with pastoralists to the southeast. Such interaction is likely, say Doumani and Frachetti, to be associated with trade networks postulated to have been established no later than the 3rd millinennium BC. These trade networks are believed to have spread animal and plant domestication out of the along the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor. Archaeology Begash was excavated during the first decade of the 21st century, by the joint Kazakh-American Dzhungar Mountains Archaeology Project (DMAP) under the direction of Alexei N. Maryashev and Michael Frachetti. Sources This article is a part of the About.com guide to the Steppe Societies, and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Sources for this article are listed on page two. Sources This article is a part of the About.com guide to the Steppe Societies, and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Betts A, Jia PW, and Dodson J. 2013 The origins of wheat in China and potential pathways for its introduction: A review. Quaternary International in press. doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2013.07.044 d’Alpoim Guedes J, Lu H, Li Y, Spengler R, Wu X, and Aldenderfer M. 2013. Moving agriculture onto the Tibetan plateau: the archaeobotanical evidence. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences:1-15. doi: 10.1007/s12520-013-0153-4 Doumani PN, and Frachetti MD. 2012. Bronze Age textile evidence in ceramic impressions: weaving and pottery technology among mobile pastoralists of central Eurasia. Antiquity 86(332):368-382. Frachetti MD, and Benecke N. 2009. From sheep to (some) horses: 4500 years of herd structure at the pastoralist settlement of Begash (south-eastern Kazakhstan). Antiquity 83(322):1023-1027. Frachetti MD, and Maryashev AN. 2007. Long-Term Occupation and Seasonal Settlement of Eastern Eurasian Pastoralists at Begash, Kazakhstan. 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