ROSIÑSKI A., NOWACZEWSKI S., KONTECKA H., BEDNARCZYK M., ELMINOWSKA-WENDA G., BIELIÑSKA H., M¥CZYÑSKA A. 2006. Analysis of the laying rhythm and reproductive traits of geese. Folia biol. (Kraków) 54: 145-152.The aim of the performed investigations was to analyse the laying rhythm and reproductive traits of Ko³uda ® white geese from the W11 reproduction strain and to determine the heritability of these traits as well as correlations between the laying rhythm traits and reproductive traits. The total number of geese participating in the experiment included 383 one-year old layers from the control flock (the first year of reproductive utilisation). The following traits characterizing the laying rhythm were assessed individually for each layer: the number of 2 and 3-egg clutches or more, length (in days) of 2-or more egg clutches as well as the length of intervals between the laid eggs during the entire laying period. The following reproductive traits were also assessed individually for each bird: age at sexual maturity, initial number of eggs (eggs laid during the period from January, 1 st to April, 30 th ), number of eggs during the whole laying period, laying intensity (the total number of eggs x 100 / length of the laying period in days) as well as the length of the reproductive period. It was found that Ko³uda ® white geese laid most of their eggs (on average 70.2 %) singly and not in clutches. With regard to egg clutches, it was found that 2-egg clutches constituted 85.3 % of eggs laid in clutches. Moderate or high variability of traits associated with the laying rhythm and reproduction were demonstrated. The observed moderate heritability of the laying rhythm traits indicate that they may be utilised in the selection programs for geese. On the other hand, the reported high, positive genetic correlation coefficients between the number of egg clutches and the initial and total egg number as well as laying intensity confirm the existence of interactions between these traits. This fact may be helpful in breeding programs for determining the optimal selection systems for geese.

The societies occupying the Nile Delta in the 4th millennium BC were not cut off from the neighboring regions of Upper Egypt and the Southern Levant. The Nile River, which served as a transport route between southern and northern Egypt, and the geographical proximity of the Southern Levant to the Nile Delta were probably both factors that allowed contact to occur between the regions. Whilst a significant number of Southern Levantine and Upper Egyptian imports have been found at Lower Egyptian cultural sites, the quantity of Lower Egyptian items from the same period found in the Southern Levant and in southern Egypt is more limited. This state of affairs did not occur by chance, which suggests that the scarcity of northern Egyptian finds outside Lower Egypt can probably be attributed to the nature of trade and the position of the Nile Delta in this period.Although our knowledge of the contact of the Delta with Upper Egypt and the Southern Levant is constantly expanding, many issues still remain unclear, including that of trading patterns. Archeological research currently being conducted in northern Egypt (mainly at Tell el-Farkha, Tell el-Iswid, Sais and Buto) has provided us with new material that adds to our understanding of the field. From the most recent excavation results, it would appear that from the very beginnings of its existence, the Tell el-Farkha site in the eastern Delta was as an important exchange center where the influence of the east and the south came together.The aim of this paper is to portray the interaction occurring between the Delta, Upper Egypt and the Southern Levant in the 4th millennium BC on the basis of material found at the excavation site of Tell el-Farkha in the eastern Nile Delta and to explain the role of the Nile Delta in political and cultural relations between these regions.

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