Baltic Amber 5,000 Years of International Trade

Baltic amber is the name given to a specific type of natural fossilized resin that was the focus of international long distance trade throughout Europe and Asia beginning at least 5,000 years ago: it was collected and used by humans first in the Upper Paleolithic period, perhaps as long ago as 20,000 years. What Is Baltic Amber? Plain old amber is any natural resin which oozed its way out of a tree and eventually fossilized at any time from recent times back to the Carboniferous Period of some 300 million years ago. Amber is generally yellow or yellow-brown and translucent, and it is pretty when polished. In its fresh form, the resin has been known to collect insects or leaves in its sticky clutches, preserving them in visually perfect splendor for thousands of years—the oldest amber-preserved insects so far are Late Triassic-aged specimens of 230,000 million years ago. Resins ooze out of certain kinds of pine and other trees (a few conifers and angiosperms), almost everywhere in the northern hemisphere of our planet. Baltic amber (known as succinite) is a specific subset of amber that is found only in northern Europe: it accounts for some 80% of the known amber in the world. Between 35 and 50 million years ago, sap oozed out from a forest of conifers (probably either false larch or kauri) in the region now covered by the Baltic Sea, and eventually hardened into clear lumps. Shoved around northern Europe by glaciers and river channels, lumps of genuine Baltic amber can still be found today on the eastern coasts of England and Holland, throughout Poland, Scandinavia and northern Germany and much of western Russia and the Baltic states. Baltic amber is not necessarily preferable to any other kind of amber—in fact, amber researcher and organic chemist Curt W. Beck comments that it is visually indistinguishable from the local varieties found elsewhere. Baltic amber is simply available in vast quantities in northern Europe, and it may have been a matter of supply and demand that fueled widespread trade. The Attraction Archaeologists are interested in identifying Baltic amber as opposed to locally available amber because its presence outside of its known distribution is an indication of long-distance trade. Baltic amber can be identified by the presence of succinic acid—the real thing has between 2-8% succinic acid by weight. Unfortunately, chemical tests for succinic acid are expensive and damage or destroy samples. In the 1960s, Beck began using infrared spectroscopy to successfully identify Baltic amber, and because it only requires a sample size of about two milligrams, Becks method is a much less ruinous solution. Amber and Baltic amber were used in Europe beginning in the early Upper Paleolithic, although no evidence for widespread trade that long ago has been discovered. Amber was recovered from the Gravettian period La Garma A cave site in the Cantabrian region of Spain, but the amber is of local derivation rather than Baltic. Cultures which are known to have actively traded in amber included Unetice, Otomani, Wessex, Globular Amphora, and, of course, the Romans. Large deposits of Neolithic artifacts made of amber (beads, buttons, pendants, rings, and plaquette figurines) have been found at the Juodkrante and Palanga sites in Lithuania, both dated between 2500 and 1800 BC, and both of which are near Baltic amber mines. The largest deposit of Baltic amber is near the town of Kaliningrad, where it is believed that 90% of the worlds Baltic amber can be found. Historic and prehistoric hoards of raw and worked amber are known from Biskupin and Mycenae and throughout Scandinavia. The Roman Amber Road Beginning at least as long ago as the end of the third Punic War, the Roman Empire controlled all ​the known amber trading routes through the Mediterranean. The routes became known as the amber road, which crossed Europe from Prussia to the Adriatic by the first century AD. Documentary evidence indicates that the main emphasis of the Roman-era trade in amber was Baltic; but Dietz et al. have reported that excavations at Numantia, a Roman site in Soria, Spain recovered Sieburgite, a very rare Class III type of amber, known only from two sites in Germany. The Amber Room But the gaudiest use of Baltic amber has to be the  Amber Room, an 11 square foot room constructed in the early 18th century AD in Prussia and presented to the Russian czar  Peter the Great  in 1717.  Catherine the Great  moved the room to her summer palace in  Tsarskoye Selo  and embellished it about 1770. The Amber Room was looted by the Nazis during WWII and although pieces of it have turned up in the black market, what must have been tons of original amber have completely disappeared, and were probably destroyed. In 2000, customs officials from Kaliningrad donated 2.5 tons of newly mined amber for the restoration of the Amber Room, which is what is illustrated in the photograph on this page. Amber and aDNA Despite the early notions of amber preserving ancient DNA (aDNA) in captured insects (and leading to popular movies such as the  Jurassic Park  trilogy),  it isnt likely. The most recent studies suggest that although extant DNA may possibly exist in amber specimens less than 100,000 years old, the current process used to retrieve it destroys the specimen and may or may not successfully retrieve aDNA. Baltic amber, for sure, is too old to make this possible. Sources This glossary entry is a part of the About.com Guide to the  Raw Materials,  Characteristics of Ancient Civilizations, and part of the  Dictionary of Archaeology. Ancient myths about amber include the Greek Phaethon and his  sisters tears  shed as he died. Volume 16, issue 3 of the  Journal of Baltic Studies  was subtitled  Studies in Baltic , and is worth looking at if youre doing research on the subject. NOVA has a good page on amber called  Jewel of the Earth.Amber Beck CW. 1985. Criteria for amber trade:  The evidence in the eastern European Neolithic.  Journal of Baltic Studies  16(3):200-209. Beck CW. 1985.  The role of the scientist: The amber trade, the chemical analysis of amber, and the determination of Baltic provenience.  Journal of Baltic Studies  16(3):191-199. Beck CW, Greenlie J, Diamond MP, Macchiarulo AM, Hannenberg AA, and Hauck MS. 1978.  The chemical identification of   Journal of Archaeological Science  5(4):343-354.baltic amber at the Celtic oppidum Starà © Hradisko in Moravia. Dietz C, Catanzariti G, Quintero S, and Jimeno A. 2014.  Roman amber identified as Siegburgite.  Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences  6(1):63-72. doi: 10.1007/s12520-013-0129-4 Gimbutas M. 1985.  East Baltic amber in the fourth and third millennia B.C.  Journal of Baltic Studies  16(3):231-256.. Martà ­nez-Delclà ²s X, Briggs DEG, and Peà ±alver E. 2004.  Taphonomy of insects in carbonates and amber.  Palaeogeography  203(1-2):19-64., Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology Reiss RA. 2006.  Ancient DNA from ice age insects: proceed with caution.  Quaternary Science Reviews  25(15-16):1877-1893. Schmidt AR, Jancke S, Lindquist EE, Ragazzi E, Roghi G, Nascimbene PC, Schmidt K, Wappler T, and Grimaldi DA. 2012.  Arthropods in amber from the Triassic period.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  Early Edition. Teodor ES, Petroviciu I, Truica GI, Suvaila R, and Teodor ED. 2014.  The Effect of Accelerated Alteration on the Discrimination between Baltic and Romanian Amber.  Archaeometry  56(3):460-478. Todd JM. 1985.  Baltic amber in the ancient near east: A preliminary investigation.  Journal of Baltic Studies  16(3):292-301.

Why You Must Build A Strong Culture As A Cio - 1016 Words

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Baldwin Bicycle Company putting Financial Impact on an Organization

Question: Discuss about the Financial Impact on an Organization for Baldwin Bicycle Company . Answer: Introduction: The present assignment presents the accounting and financial impact on an organization Baldwin Bicycle Company currently, operating in business of bicycle and proposing to include new range of bicycle. In a marketing strategy introduction of new production leads a company to rise in growth and sustainability of the business as well as cannibalization of existing market share of sales of products. In the assignment impact on additional profit, non- recurring additional costs, additional assets and related carrying cost is been chalked out. Additionally, impact on the overall profit and various financial returns has also been measured. 1: Baldwin Bicycle Company included 10 models of bicycle of two different ranges in the year 1989 proposed to enter into business with the buyer Hi- Value. Currently, the sales revenue of the Baldwin Company is around $10 million per year whereas gross profit from the sale of product is around $ 2.8 million (DeFond and Park, 2012). From the new range of products the expected profit in context to the tender provided by the buyer in first year i.e. 1989 is determined below: Expected added profit from the challanger line: As per the proposal of Hi- Valu Particulars No. of units Amount per unit $ Amount $ Price of bikes (a) 25,000 92.29 2,307,250.00 Estimated first year cost: Materials 25,000 39.80 995,000.00 Direct Labour 25,000 19.60 490,000.00 Overhead: 25,000 24.50 - Variable @40% of Overhead 25,000 9.80 245,000.00 Fixed overhead 60% based on 100,000 units 367,500.00 One time cost $ 2,500 per month - - 30,000.00 Total cost (b) 25,000 2,127,500.00 Profit to be earned (a-b) 179,750.00 Reasons: The above calculation is done by considering the proposed data given by Hi- value for 25,000 bicycles for a year before escalated price. It is provided that the inflation escalation will take place after first year hence the prices are taken before the escalation adjustment. Overhead cost incurred for the new range of products is partly variable and partly fixed which is based on 100000 bicycles. Variable cost is 40% of overhead and fixed cost is 60%. Additionally, the onetime cost given is according to per month basis hence the cost is taken as fixed cost and derived for 12 months @2500 $ per month. Therefore, additional expected profit earned by the Baldwin Company will be $ 179,750/- 2: Cannibalization in the marketing strategy means the decrement in the sales volume or sales turnover of existing product due to the production or trading of new product range. In the given case, Baldwin Bicycle Company is into the business of bicycle since 40 years which introducing the new product range of bicycles to its business. This introduction will get the company an additional turnover as well as market growth but subsequently will decline the existing product market share (Bain, 2013). At present, the sales turnover of the entity is around $10.00 million per year while cost of sales per year is around $ 8.00 million and net income after considering other expenses and taxes is $ 0.25 million. The impact on this existing income structure will be against the existing product if we consider Gross income i.e. sales revenue less cost of sales but the impact would be in favour of the net income is considered. This is because the fixed cost allocation will spread from 100,000 units to 125,000 units, which in turn would decrease the cost per unit as fixed cost for any production does not change (Moorthy and Png, 2012). On the other hand, introduction of new products enable a company to grow and develop its business and sustainability in the market structure provided the new product range match as per the quality of the existing product. 3: One-time costs refer to those costs, which are non- recurring in nature and are not considered while measuring the operating expenses of an enterprise. Further, there are some costs, which are one time yet to be included for measuring operating expenses (Hanlon, Lester and Verdi, 2015). For example, fixed overhead costs, onetime costs for a particular parts of products, registration costs etc. In case of Baldwin Bicycle Company, there are certain costs to be recorded and reported as one time basis only. Fixed overhead cost, which is 60 % of the total overhead cost of the product, based on 100,000 units of bicycles. Apart from this cost, Baldwin is required to record estimated non- recurring cost on new range of bicycles i.e. cost of research and development of the proposed bicycles designs, arrangement of sources for fenders, seats and other few parts of the bicycle at the rate of $ 2,500 per month. Apart from these costs, onetime costs also include loss on revenue due to inflation escalation price, which is reported by the company if the buyer provides such adjustments (Dugar and Tripathi, 2015). In the case given, Hi- Value (buyer) has provided Baldwin the tender for inflation escalation clause, which affects the total cost per unit $ 83.90 to $ 92.29. 4: In accounting, the most important aspect for a company in the financial statement is assets, liabilities and inventory. Assets and liabilities of an organization presents a financial position of a company at the end of the accounting year for the useful information for its users. Moreover, inventory is also an important aspect of a financial statement, which is reported on carrying cost, states the value of products remained unsold at the year end. Inventory provides the impact on the efficiency and marketing strategy of the companys performance in the entire accounting year (Bain, 2013). In case of Baldwin Bicycle Company, present non- current asset plant and equipment at a carrying cost of around $ 3.6 million where as current assets valuing at around $4.00 million and inventories at carrying cost $ 2.8 million. On the introduction of new range of products, Baldwin would incur additional assets at related carrying cost which effects the financial position of the company for the year 1989. Proposed project will incur asset related costs in the form of annual variable cost as a percentage of dollar value for pretax cost of funds, record keeping costs, etc total valued at 23.0 percentage of dollar value i.e. 8.092 million $ * 1.23 = $ 9.953 million. Further, added inventory costs incurred will be at an average of two months production for work in progress as well as finished products. Given, 1000 bikes for work in progress and 500 bikes as finished products at carrying cost in proportion to $ 2.7 million *( 0.6%+6.0%)= $0.1782 million (Hanlon, Lester and Verdi, 2015). 5: On taking new production of products by an organization maximum impact falls on the overall profits of the company as well as earnings on assets and equity. Profit is the earnings of a company from the sale of its products considering recurring and non- recurring expenditure. Whereas return on sales is computed by taking net income before interest and taxes to sales which states the efficiency of an entity on generating its profits. On the other hand, return on assets indicated on efficiency of profitability in terms of total assets and return on equity indicates earnings to the equity shareholders of the company (Dugar and Tripathi, 2015). Hence, in case of Baldwin, the overall impact of earnings in various financial terms is as follows: Impact of Return: Amount $ a Profit in the year 1988 255,000.00 Addition profit for 1989 179,750.00 Total profit 434,750.00 b Return on sales: Total profit 434,750.00 Add: Interest 473,000.00 Add: tax 218,000.00 Net Income before interst and tax: (i) 1,125,750.00 Sales ($10,872+ $2,307) (ii) 13,179,000.00 Return on sales (i/ ii) 8.54 c Return on assets: Net Income before interest and tax: (i) 1,125,750.00 Total Assets ($8,092 * 1.23) (ii) 9,953,160.00 Return on assets (i/ ii) 11.31 d Return on equity Net Income (i) 1,125,750.00 Total equity (ii) 3,102,000.00 Return on equity (i/ ii) 36.29 Hence the impact of overall profits and returns of Baldwin is favourable and at an increasing rate (Dugar and Tripathi, 2015). The net profit shows the increase in value at around $ 0.179 million and proposed return on total sales at 8.54 % and return on assets and equity at 11.31% and 36.29% respectively. 6: As per the given case study, in the strategic deal between Baldwin Bicycle Company and Hi-Value, there are some risks and rewards available to both Baldwin as well as Hi-Value. In case of Baldwin, the company needs to sale the bicycles to Hi-Value at a lower price if it enters in to the deal. This may decrease the normal profitability of the company, which is a risk for the company (Bansal and Kaur 2016). However, as the market demand and countrys economic situation are at declining stage, the company can at least sale its inventory and can get a permanent buyer in the market. On the other side, in case of Hi-Value, if the company makes the deal with Baldwin, then it can grab the sports bicycle market in a better way. At the same time, the company can buy the bicycle of Baldwin at a price which is lower than the market price. Therefore, these two are the rewards for the company. However, the main risk for Hi-Value that is associated with this particular business deal is the declined market demand. Due to this, the company may face problem to sell the bicycles after purchasing from Baldwin. On the other side, it may also happen that the market price of the bicycles gets down because of the poor economic situation in the country (Coskun and Kulali 2016). Therefore, this is very important for both the companies to make the business deal by analyzing the overall situation properly. 7: In order to avoid the risks in the business deal with Hi-Value, Baldwin needs to take some steps and these steps are as under: At first the company needs to select the price range by keeping a standard profit level. Otherwise, if the prices of the raw materials certainly increase, then the company may face loss for 6 months because as per the deal no company can break the deal before giving 6 months notice period. Another step that the company may take is the company needs to improve its present capacity of producing bicycles. This is very important in order to decrease the cost level of the company (Peng 2015). If the company increases its capacity and decreases its level of costs, then the company can earn a good amount of profit after selling the bicycles to Hi-Value at a price lower than the market price. The company must maintain a standard level of inventory so that if in any particular month the demand in the market increases, then it can supply the products that is bicycles in the market (Coskun and Kulali 2016). At the same time, as Hi-Value wants to maintain their inventory level for two months, the company that is Baldwin must maintain the inventory level in order to meet the inventory requirement of Hi-Value. Therefore, from the above, it can be said that if Baldwin goes for the business deal with Hi-Value, it needs to take some necessary steps in order to reduce the level of future risks. Conclusion: The above case has been dealt with the derivation of additional and overall profit of the company, Baldwin Bicycle on entering in the production of new range of bicycles from the financial year 1989. The introduction of new products in agreement with the proposed buyer Hi- value states the impact on various financial factors relating to the quantity and quality of the products. Before the introduction of new products, sales of the company were around $ 10.8 million per year which increased to $13.00 million per year approximately. Apart from the additional sales, company had to incur few one- time costs related to research and developments, drawings and other sources of marketing. Moreover, Baldwin had to incur additional costs on assets as percentage to dollar value which increased the overall cost of the company. However the introduction of the new product spread a good and favourable impact on the earnings to equity shareholders of Baldwin at around 36.29 % while return on sales a t 8.54 %. Reference List: Bain, J.S., 2013. Relation of profit rate to industry concentration: American manufacturing, 1936-1940.The Quarterly Journal of Economics, pp.293-324. Bansal, A. and Kaur, A., 2016. A risk and return analysis of selected unit linked insurance plans of selected public and private sector insurance companies.International Journal of Economics and Business Research,11(1), pp.83-99. Coskun, M. and Kulali, G., 2016. Relationship between Accounting Based Risk and Return: Analysis for Turkish Companies.International Journal of Business and Management,11(4), p.240. DeFond, M.L. and Park, C.W., 2012. Smoothing income in anticipation of future earnings.Journal of accounting and economics,23(2), pp.115-139. Dugar, P. and Tripathi, V., 2015. Convergence to IND AS 16: Changes and Implications.IUP Journal of Accounting Research Audit Practices,14(3), p.7. Hanlon, M., Lester, R. and Verdi, R., 2015. The effect of repatriation tax costs on US multinational investment.Journal of Financial Economics,116(1), pp.179-196. Moorthy, K.S. and Png, I.P., 2012. Market segmentation, cannibalization, and the timing of product introductions.Management Science,38(3), pp.345-359. Peng, L., 2015. The risk and return of commercial real estate: A property level analysis.Real Estate Economics.

Kristin Christoffersen Essays (224 words) - Igbo People, Ethnicity

Kristin Christoffersen Honors English pd 1 9/27/14 Ethnocentrism paper Ethnocentrism is based on the on the belief that your culture is the best; therefore it causes one group to stereotype another group. Ken Barger , an anthropologist with Indiana University, explains that it is "Judging other groups as inferiors to one's own," ( Barger 1). As a result, a person will often judge someone based on their background or ethnicity without actually knowing the individual. People are ethnocentric and do not realize it. Barger goes on to insist, "Everyone is ethnocentric, and there is no way not to be ethnocentric it cannot be avoided" Barger 1). Since we can't avoid it, we most be aware of it. Our beliefs an ethnocentrism comes from what we experience everyday, and what we learn growing up. Being ethnocentric can affect the way you think of a person. Chimamanda Adichie shares her story of being a victim of ethnocentrism and also being a culprit of ethnocentrism, "All I had heard of them was how poor they were, so that it had become impossible for me to see them as anything else but poor," ( Adichie 1). With only hearing one side of a story all Adicihie knew was what she thought to be true and she judged them based on her beliefs.

a compromise for the future essays

a compromise for the future essays As America enters the new millennium, our nation faces an enormous challenge. This challenge is to enable the economic expansion of recent years to continue and to reach even higher levels of prosperity. In order for this to happen, many factors will have to be examined and new policies must be implemented that will help the economy strive. In an era that has seen many changes in the regulatory policies of the American government, the future must hold an atmosphere of open-mindedness that will encourage cooperation between the major industries and those people on capital hill. They will decide what direction regulatory policies will travel towards in the new century. In the past, U.S. policy towards big industry has been aimed at giving the average consumer an edge against those companies that seek to reap the profits of business by digging deep into the pocket books of Americans. The first industry to be targeted by regulatory policies was the railroad industry. Starting with the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1887, the government decided to try and prevent the monopolistic exploitation of passengers by limiting fares and routes as well as entrance into the market. At the time, there were no interstate highways, no buses, and no airplanes to compete with the railroad companies. A century later, this became a matter for deregulation because railroads were not able to compete with these alternate forms of transportation that arose. The evolution of the railroad industry, as well as the regulations imposed on it, are perfect examples of why policy makers need to have an open mind when deciding on today's regulat ory policies. We live in a time that is witnessing an unprecedented surge in technology and innovation. Therefore, thinking about regulating, or for that matter deregulating industry, should not be taken lightly. As the 21st century begin ...

Procurement Control Systems Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Change Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

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