Increasing Societal Discomfort About a Dominant Restrictive Planning Discourse on Open Space in Flanders,Belgium

The specific spatial context in the densely urbanized northern part of Belgium, Flanders, offers a sort of laboratory conditions to study, design and plan fragments of open space in an urbanizing context. A chronological analysis of documents in three periods relevant to Flemish spatial planning policy allows us to conclude that one single planning discourse has reigned spatial planning in Flanders already since the design of the first zoning plans 45 years ago. This planning discourse considers city and countryside as two separate and separated entities. Today, however, the validity of this dominant discourse is increasingly under pressure. An obvious societal need appears to be growing to turn around the perception of a possible contradiction between city and countryside. In a densely urbanized spatial context, alternative planning discourses should be based on the idea of open spaces that offer complementary services within a partnership between city and countryside.     

Palaeodiet of Mesolithic and Neolithic populations of Meuse Basin (Belgium): evidence from stable isotopes

The human diet was investigated using the carbon and nitrogen isotopic signatures of 93 Mesolithic and Neolithic specimens (∼10,000–2000 BC) from the Meuse Basin (Belgium). During the Ancient Mesolithic period (∼9300–8000 BC), the environment was generally open and the main dietary protein was provided by hunted terrestrial mammals, with the possible addition of freshwater resources. Human remains are not available in the Meuse Basin from around 8000 BC to 4300 BC, thus preventing the study of the Mesolithic-Neolithic dietary transition in this region. Throughout the Middle Neolithic (∼4300–3000 BC), hunting was more difficult and less productive due to a densely forested environment. The contribution of freshwater resources to the diet increased, with the remaining proteins provided by terrestrial wild and/or domestic mammals, indicating that non-agricultural resources were not eliminated in this region during the Middle Neolithic period. The contribution of freshwater resources seems negligible in the Middle/Late and Late Neolithic periods (∼3300–1700 BC), with isotopic results revealing a diet composed of agricultural products. The δ¹⁵N values of infants are compatible with a weaning age at around 2 years. This study documents the dietary changes that occurred in Belgium during the first part of the Holocene, and reveals the subtle dietary distinction between wild and domestic terrestrial resources and freshwater resources.     

Mesolithic Site Formation and Palaeoenvironment Along the White Nile (Central Sudan)

The Mesolithic period represents a key stage in the human history of Sudan, but its complexity is not yet fully understood. Since the beginning of prehistoric research in this region, efforts were made to understand Mesolithic site formation processes and post-depositional disturbances. Responsibility for the destruction of most Mesolithic sites’ deposits rests mainly on later use of the ancient mound-like settlements as burial places by Meroitic and post-Meroitic people. Excavations at several sites in the El Salha and Al Khiday areas (White Nile, south of Omdurman) have provided recent progress in our knowledge of Mesolithic living structures in their palaeoenvironmental contexts. Detailed stratigraphic and geoarchaeological investigations enabled us to distinguish, within the sequences identified at excavated mounds, the existence of basal archaeological strata still in situ that had remained unaffected by subsequent anthropogenic disturbances and to understand the functional aspects of several archaeological features associated with Mesolithic living floors. This offers the opportunity to reassess the Mesolithic cultural sequence in the region and reconsider some statements on the economic and social aspects of Mesolithic life and landscape exploitation strategies.     

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis on human remains from the Early Mesolithic site of La Vergne (Charente-Maritime,France)

We report here the results of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human and faunal remains from La Vergne (Charente-Maritime, western France), a rare Early Mesolithic burial site (ca. 8500–8000 cal BC). The results for nine humans (average δ¹³C = −19.3‰; δ¹⁵N = 9.4‰) indicate a strongly terrestrial diet, dominated by animal protein, with the possibility of, at best, a slight contribution of marine-derived protein. Given lower sea-levels in the early Holocene, the site would have been some 60–80 km from the sea at the time of its use; nevertheless, contacts with the coast are shown by the presence of numerous marine shell beads in the graves. In the light of the stable isotope results, it is suggested here that such contacts most likely took the form of exchange with coastal communities whose remains now lie underwater.     

陕西华阴兴乐坊遗址动物遗存分析

一、前言兴乐坊遗址位于陕西华阴市桃下镇兴乐坊村南侧,北依渭水,南靠秦岭山脉。2009年3～7月,陕西省考古研究院和渭南市文物保护考古研究所在该遗址发掘了约1000平方米,发现庙底沟文化时期的灰坑52个、窑址3座、墓葬1座、瓮棺葬1座,出土丰富的遗物。同时对遗址中采集     

从二里头遗址看华夏早期国家的特质

二里头文化作为东亚地区首次出现的强势核心文化,多数学者相信中原地区至此已迈入了真正的国家阶段。二里头遗址这一当时东亚地区最大的聚落所显现出的作为国家权力中心的都邑的特征,比如都邑的庞大化与人口的高度集中,都邑布局的规划性以及大型礼仪建筑与青铜、玉礼器的独占,表现出高度的集权、社会阶层分化和行政机构内部专业分工,这正是早期国家所应有的特征。     

Hunting,gathering, fishing and herding: Animal exploitation in Sandy Flanders (NW Belgium) during the second half of the fifth millennium BC

Abstract

At Doel, in the lower basin of the river Scheldt, excavations have revealed camp sites of the Swifterbant culture dating back to the second half of the fifth millennium BC. They document the transition period from the Late Mesolithic to the Early Neolithic in Sandy Flanders (NW Belgium). The sites were situated on the top of sandy ridges which were covered with an alluvial hardwood forest vegetation and surrounded by wetlands. Only burnt animal remains survived at the sites, illustrating (seasonal) fishing and hunting. In addition, botanical evidence indicates the herding of domestic mammals. The finds are of importance for the reconstruction of the chronological development of the food economy of the Swifterbant culture.     

Local knowledge is required: a rhythmanalytical approach to the late Mesolithic and early Neolithic of the East Anglian Fenland, UK

This is a paper about blurring the boundaries between people, land and water in the past and of appreciating the importance of the wider environment in our accounts of prehistory. Maritime approaches to time/space are shown to offer new ways of looking at how people engage with the world around them. Informed by these approaches, and building on Lefebvre’s concepts of lived space and rhythm, current tensions within archaeology between cartesian and phenomenological approaches to the past will be shown to be unconstructive. These issues are all addressed in relation the late Mesolithic and early Neolithic of the East Anglian Fenland. Here a rhythmical, maritime approach will be shown to offer us a subtly different view of life during this period.     

白石村遗址与胶东半岛新石器时代早期文化

胶东半岛是一个相对独立的地理单位,目前,对于半岛地区新石器时代的早期文化,存在着不同的认识.通过考察白石文化的文化特征及其与周边文化的联系,可以推定白石文化是胶东半岛新石器文化的源头.     

山东省菏泽市定陶区何楼遗址大汶口早期动物资源利用初探

何楼遗址位于鲁西南地区,遗存的年代分别属于新石器时代、汉代及金元时期,其中新石器时代遗存十分丰富,有助于认识和了解这一地区考古学文化格局的演变。何楼遗址出土了较为丰富的动物骨骼遗存,其中哺乳动物以猪为主,鹿等野生动物也占有一定的比例,此外还包括少量的贝类、鱼类、爬行类和鸟类等。通过动物遗存研究,对于认识该地区的古代自然环境、古人对动物资源的利用和当时的生业特点具有重要意义。     

The Early Mesolithic Haverbeck site,Northwest Germany: evidence for Preboreal settlement in the Western and Central European Plain

Archaeological sites dating from the Preboreal are of special interest since they mark the turning point in the transition between the cultures of the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene. In spite of their relevance only few sites in the Western and Central European Plain have become known, thus providing an inhomogeneous basis for further hypotheses. In particular, sites in the widespread aeolian landscapes have been neglected for a long time due to their uncertain genesis, dating problems and obviously insufficient preservation. Our investigations of the Haverbeck site, situated in sandy aeolian substrate, seek to enhance knowledge about the Preboreal Mesolithic. The well-preserved archaeological spatial, technological and functional patterns and the geoarchaeological site formation were studied. Sedimentological and palaeopedological analyses, supported by ¹⁴C and OSL dating results, revealed that artefacts were deposited during the Preboreal on sands which had accumulated during the Younger Dryas and were reactivated in subsequent periods (Atlantic, Subboreal, Subatlantic). In spite of these processes, the artefacts remained unimpaired in their relative horizontal positions, enabling spatial analyses, which show a zonal differentiation and a prevalence of retooling and replacing activities. These results offer an insight into spatial and functional differentiations of the local Early Mesolithic subsistence, evidently including particular places for gathering and processing raw material. A comparison between the microlithic spectrum left behind and the number of points produced as concluded from the microburins indicates a greater typological differentiation than previously assumed for the Early Mesolithic. The remarkable variability of scraper forms obviously intentionally abandoned in a high number and replaced by new tools emphasizes the strong influence of functional elements on the typological assemblage composition. It is suggested that Early Mesolithic assemblages could display rather functional requirements or tasks performed than significant chronological or regional influences.     

Mesolithic plant exploitation at the Roc del Migdia, Catalonia

Charred plant remains from the mesolithic site of Roc del Migdia have been analysed in detail. Hazel shell and endocarp fragments of sloe (Prunus spinosa L.) have been identified by incident light microscopy and an attempt has been made at the identification of quantities of parenchymatous plant remains through the use of the scanning electron microscope. A number of different classes of tissue are described and the implications of the results discussed.     

河南荥阳薛村遗址早商人骨种系研究

本文对出土于河南荥阳薛村早商时期墓葬和灰坑的人骨材料进行了人类学的考察。该组颅骨在种族特征上应归属于亚洲蒙古人种的东亚类型,薛村早商组的人骨种系特征,在若干古代对比组中,其体质特征与瓦窑沟组和游邀组最为接近。     

吉林镇赉北山遗址发现的石制品研究

1998年5月,吉林大学考古系的部分师生和镇赉县文物管理所的同志对该遗址进行复查时,发现石制品111件。经整理研究,将石制品划分为细石器和非细石器两类。发现的石制品中有石片、细石叶、细石叶石核、刮削器、石镞、雕刻器、舌形器和磨制石器等,是新石器时代早期的典型细石器工业,为新、旧石器时代的过渡研究提供了一批宝贵的实物资料。     

The Early Man Site at Warm Mineral Springs,Florida

Abstract

An excavation in stratified sediment more than 13 m. below the present surface of Warm Mineral Springs in Florida has yielded human remains 10,000 years old. Samples of wood from the same level of sediment in the spring in which a human vertebra was discovered provided a radiocarbon date of 10,260 ± 190 years: 8310 B.C. (Gak-3998). Wood samples from the next two superior 0.10 m levels of the test also yielded dates in excess of 10,000 radiocarbon years. A second human bone, a fragmentary ilium, was recovered a few centimeters outside the excavation in the sedimentary zone. These specimens may represent the earliest closely dated human skeletal remains so far discovered in North America.

Results of a geological study are in agreement with the archeological information. Radiocarbon dates on selected charcoal samples are only slightly younger than those reported above. The stratified deposit containing the human remains accumulated on a ledge between 10 m. and 12 m. below present sea level as a series of leaf deposits interbedded with calcitic muds containing fresh-water and land snail fauna. This lower leafy bed represents a stage of fluctuating water level in an open cenote. An overlying calcitic mud with only minor amounts of terrestrial plant debris represents a higher stand of the water table in the cenote. An upper algal sludge layer represents subsequent conditions of a flowing connate spring.

It is evident that the rising potentiometric water level in this large feature correlates with the post-Wisconsin eustatic rise in sea level. The fluctuations suggested by the lowest bed containing the human remains probably indicate variation in amount of precipitation. However, even the calcitic mud and tufa encrustations and formations that formed at the highest stand of water within this event are indicative of a climate considerably more arid than now existing.

Summary geological and archeological data acquired at two other similar solution features in Florida, Little Salt Spring (8 So 18) and Devil's Den (8 Lv 44), where unarticulated human skeletal material and artifacts dating from the late Paleo and A rchaic periods have been found, are included to extend and strengthen the interpretation of the geological sequence and the theory advanced that these sites were primarily utilized as water sources during periods when surface water on the peninsula was less available. There is no evidence that the sinkholes were utilized for habitation or sites of primary burials as has been suggested.

The recovery effort marks the first successful adaptation of standard archeological techniques to the excavation of a submerged prehistoric site.     

宜昌中堡岛遗址大溪、屈家岭和哨棚嘴三种文化因素的分析

由于鄂西峡江地区的新石器时代晚期遗存面貌复杂,对于该地区是否存在屈家岭化长期以来存在激烈的争论。本选取湖北宜昌中堡岛作为典型遗址入手,运用化因素分析法,对该遗址的新石器时代遗存材料进行了分析,区分出大溪、屈家岭、哨棚嘴三种化因素,并进而对三种化因素的关系进行了探讨,其结论对于该地区相当于屈家岭化时代遗存的辨识和定性具有重要的参考作用。     

河南焦作府城遗址陶器研究——对二里头·二里冈文化陶器数量分析的尝试

序言 在夏商考古学研究中,人们历来将目光聚焦于洛阳、郑州、安阳和晋西南地区.因为这些地区不仅有郑州商城、安阳殷墟和东下冯、垣曲商城等城郭遗址,而且也有像二里头那样的大型宫殿基址和随葬青铜器的墓葬.然而对连接这四者之地的中轴--焦作地区的夏商考古状况却较少顾及.自20世纪50年代至今,这一地区也曾有过一些调查、普查或试掘性的发掘与研究工作,但正式大规模的发掘工作除80年代早中期北京大学在修武李固和武陟赵庄的发掘外,基本处于空白状态.     

朱开沟遗址出土遗存分析

学界对于朱开沟遗址出土遗存的性质,一直分歧较大.本文在对已发表的朱开沟遗址资料进行了系统的梳理和分析的基础上,把朱开沟遗址出土遗存分成两组,认为此两组遗存分别代表了年代不同、性质相异的两种考古学文化.