Saving the Sweet Track: The in situ preservation of a Neolithic wooden trackway,Somerset, UK

Abstract

The Sweet Track is the oldest known wooden trackway in Europe. Part of the trackway is preserved in situ in a nature reserve under an active system of hydrological management, designed to prevent damage to the monument from desiccation. The English Heritage-funded project, reported here, was established to assess the condition of the monument and the effectiveness of the management regime. The results have shown that although the trackway is highly deteriorated it still holds a wealth of archaeological information. The decay of the wood probably occurred gradually over several thousand years but the present management regime should be able to ensure its continued survival.     

HMS Colossus,an Experimental Site Stabilization

Abstract

HMS Colossus, a 74-gun warship, sank in the Isles of Scilly in 1798. The stern half of this vessel became exposed on the seabed some time around 2001. The timbers of the wreck were in excellent condition when first exposed but quickly began to deteriorate, mainly due to attack by wood-boring organisms. In 2003 English Heritage commissioned a two-year stabilization trial project on the site. These trials were aimed at determining the most effective method of protecting the exposed timbers of the wreck. Three different methods of protection were trialled, all of which had been used previously elsewhere. One of these methods, a Terram 4000 mat, was clearly the most effective on this site. In 2008, a small area of the wreck was covered with a Terram 4000 mat to determine the long-term efficacy of this means of site stabilization. Prior to installation the area to be covered was recorded in detail, along with an adjacent area as a control, to facilitate future comparison of the condition of the ship's timbers. This work, too, was commissioned by English Heritage (Camidge 2008).     

Partial Solutions to Partially Understood Problems — The Experience of In Situ Monitoring and Preservation in Somerset’s Peatlands

Abstract

The peat moors of lowland Somerset contain a wealth of waterlogged archaeological sites, including some of the most significant prehistoric monuments in the country. There has been a long history of attempts to preserve archaeological sites in situ and monitoring of the burial environment began in 1982. The monitoring has become more complex over time, but the results suggest the same continuing problem of a drop in the water table over the summer months across the whole landscape. With the sole exception of the portion of the Neolithic Sweet Track that benefits from an irrigation system, all the other known sites remain at risk of gradual destruction. The solutions must be found on a landscape scale using agri-environment payments to secure sustainable management of the peat resource. Unfortunately, short-term changes to these payments and long-term changes to the climate are likely to worsen the situation and eventually to require a more drastic solution to the problem. Evidence has been generated to support an ecosystems approach to sustainable peatland management.     

The diplomacy of extra-territorial heritage: the Kokoda Track,Papua New Guinea

The global interest in the memory of war in recent decades has brought challenges in managing and conserving extra-territorial war heritage: that is, sites of memory that have a greater significance for people outside the sovereign territory in which the sites physically reside. This article considers this issue in relation to the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, a site of central importance in the Australian national memory of war. The successful conservation of the Track throws new light on the practice of heritage diplomacy. Working mostly outside the more commonly explored arena of global heritage governance, the Australian and New Guinean governments employed bilateral diplomacy to manage domestic stakeholder expectations, and thereby identified a convergence of interests and mutual gain by linking heritage protection with local development needs. They have also encouraged the construction of a narrative of the events of World War II that in some respects might be described as shared. Thus, heritage diplomacy is underpinned by a transnational consensus about the heritage’s significance, at least at the government level, which arguably divests the Kokoda Track of its exclusively ‘extra-territorial’ quality.     

The fort in the doctor’s house: using tree-ring growth patterns to discover historic Fort Wayne,Indiana, USA

Local Fort Wayne, Indiana (USA) lore says that the Dr. Merchant Huxford House contains timbers from Fort Wayne, the US military outpost constructed in 1794 by General Anthony Wayne. The wilderness fort played roles in Native American and British conflicts and was the genesis for a city with a current population of more than 250,000. The doctor’s residence was built on the outskirts of the young city, but within 0.4 km of the fort site. Accounts contemporary to the house’s construction describe timbers being recycled from the fort for use in new building projects. This article describes the use of dendrochronological methods to establish a construction date for the Huxford House and attempts to confirm or dispel accounts that the house contains recycled timbers from the historic fort.     

Resource Exploitation and Wood Mobility in Northern European Oak: dendroprovenancing of individual timbers from the Mary Rose (1510/11–1545)

Dendrochronology has proved useful in suggesting the provenance of timbers in northern Europe, particularly for ship‐timbers, which may have originated from a distant source. Historical chronologies are usually derived from timbers of uncertain origin. In trying to provenance a new chronology, therefore, trends in the geographical distribution of statistical matches should be viewed, rather than individual strong matches. While it is usual to test a site‐chronology created from several individual timbers, in a situation such as the Mary Rose, where individual timbers may have been sourced from several regions, the matches of individual timbers may shed light on their origins. © 2010 The Author     

Iberian Dendrochronology and the Newport Medieval Ship

At the time of the discovery of the Newport medieval ship, it proved impossible to date the timbers used in its original construction through dendrochronology. Associated British timbers and artefacts provided dating to the mid 15th century, with the latter pointing to strong Iberian connections. The development of regional oak ring‐width chronologies in the Basque Country, and their extension back in time to overlap with the ring‐width mean developed for the Newport Ship, has allowed absolute dating and provenance of timbers used in its original construction. Further research is required to clarify the geographical source of the timbers and to develop a high‐resolution network of tree‐ring data for the region.     

A Model for Assessing the Reuse of an Ancient Place of Performance: The Bouleuterion of Teos

Ancient places of performance are often considered for reuse as a means of promoting archaeological sites. Therefore, local authorities and decision makers have a difficult task of balancing the conservation and management of the sites with the carrying capacity. In this paper, the bouleuterion, a ‘rediscovered’ structure, at the Teos archaeological site, in Turkey is evaluated and presented as a preliminary case study with the hopes that these issues will be taken into consideration by the managing body in the creation of a management plan for the site. The evaluation is made by assessing socio-economic and intangible heritage significance, policies guiding changes at the site, a qualitative survey at the site and by defining the structure’s carrying capacity. The site’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats are used to create criteria and make proposals for its reuse. The study concludes that the bouleuterion cannot be reused as a venue in its present condition and makes recommendations for future use.     

故宫武英殿建筑群木构件树种及其配置研究

我们从武英殿建筑群的武英门、武英殿、敬思殿、武英门东西值房、东配殿及北值房、西配殿及北值房、恒寿斋、井亭11座建筑的20余种木构件上,共采集1145个样本进行树种鉴定。结果表明,武英殿建筑群共使用了15个种或属的木材,其中有落叶松、软木松、硬木松、冷杉、云杉、黄杉、柏木、杉木、圆柏、金钱松等10种针叶材,桢楠、椴树、润楠、喃喃果、印茄等5种阔叶材。其中,杉木、桢楠和润楠是我国南方树种,喃喃果和印茄是东南亚进口材。武英殿主要承重木构件选用主要为北方树种中密度和力学强度较高的落叶松、黄杉和云杉,其他木构件则主要使用的是密度低、重量轻的软木松;敬思殿主要承重木构件使用的是云杉,其他木构件也以软木松为主,但使用的木材比较杂,角梁和爬梁全部使用了东南亚进口阔叶材;敬思殿在选材方面与武英殿的差异,可能是在光绪三十年重建时选材标准不如武英殿严格所致。武英门的木材,硬木松占了绝大多数,使用的都是强度较大的木材。所有配殿和值房的主要承重构件中,柱使用最多的是硬木松,其次是落叶松、软木松;月梁、三架梁和四架梁、瓜柱、四架梁随梁、抱头梁及其随梁木构件使用的是杉木,配殿、值房等建筑的梁没有使用强度高的木材。是以南方树种为主,其中某些主要构件还使用了珍贵的南方阔叶树种如桢楠、润楠等。这种情况表明,恒寿斋和井亭是武英殿几次大火后的仅存建筑,因而保留了明代建造时选材的历史信息。木材的使用差异具有一定的时代意义。从润楠在恒寿斋的柱和梁上,椴树、桢楠和润楠在斗棋上使用,以及根据构件的承重和位置不同进行树种配置,既考虑了对主要建筑结构材的强度要求,也考虑了尽可能减小其他木构件对主要构件的负荷,这种按照木材物理力学的性质和木材承重强度等因素进行选材的建筑原则,相当清楚地表明当时吉建筑在科学选材方面已达到很高的水平。在故宫维修工程中通过对各种木构件树种配置的研究,进行科学定性分析,将深层次地探索古建筑留给我们的历史痕迹和信息,揭示其科学性,为制定维修保护方案提供科学依据,并为故宫古建筑保护研究提供新的方法,丰富故宫历史档案资料。     

A Framework for Managing Diver Impacts on Historic Shipwrecks

Shipwrecks are becoming increasingly popular and, therefore important attractions for recreational scuba divers. Divers’ usage of these sites has the potential to create a range of adverse impacts on their cultural heritage values. Impacts associated with recreational scuba diving include boat anchor and mooring damage, impairment of site integrity and stability, the effects of intentional and unintentional contact with shipwrecks and artifacts, as well as divers’ exhaled air bubbles coming into contact with shipwrecks. While these consequences may not present a major threat in comparison to other human impacts, such as fishing activities, extractive industries or commercial salvage, their cumulative effect can be significant, particularly at sites where visitation levels are high. Unlike natural events such as storms, diver impacts can be controlled and managing these impacts is an important component of a heritage management strategy for any site. Heritage managers face the difficult challenge of, on the one hand, balancing divers’ access to important underwater cultural heritage sites, and on the other hand, protecting these sites. This paper outlines the causes and nature of potential recreational diver impacts on shipwrecks, briefly describing a range of management approaches that can mitigate such impacts, and presents a framework for the management of diver impacts on cultural heritage values of historic shipwrecks. The framework is designed to assist managers in deciding on appropriate management actions and priorities for particular sites.     

土遗址病害的评估体系研究

土遗址病害评估是对土遗址进行科学保护、管理、利用的一项基础性工作,但土遗址病害评估的体系还没有建立。为此,通过对土遗址病害的分析,借鉴地质工程、岩土工程的相关理论和方法,采用逐次分析的方法评估土遗址的载体和本体病害,探讨了土遗址病害评估体系。通过研究认为,可以从地质灾害、稳定性、表面风化三方面对土遗址病害程度进行评估。地质灾害和稳定性有其它学科相对成熟的理论和方法可以借鉴和采用。表面风化评估应考虑到风化剥蚀速率、遗址保存程度和文物价值三个方面,引进风化度和文物价值权重系数的概念,利用模糊数学原理对表面风化的危险程度进行综合评估是一种新思路。     

A simple Bayesian approach to tree‐ring dating

Tree‐ring dating involves matching sequences of ring widths from undated timbers to dated sequences known as ‘master’ chronologies. Conventionally, the undated timbers (from a building or woodland) are sequentially matched against one another, using t‐tests to identify the relative offsets with the ‘best’ match, thus producing a ’site’ chronology. A date estimate is obtained when this is matched to a local master chronology of known calendar age. Many tree‐ring sequences in the UK produce rather low t‐values and are thus declared not to have a ‘best’ match to a master chronology. Motivated by this and the routine use of Bayesian statistical methods to provide a probabilistic approach to radiocarbon dating, this paper investigates the practicality of Bayesian dendrochronology. We explore a previously published model for the relationship between ring widths and the underlying climatic signal, implementing it within the Bayesian framework via a simulation‐based approach. Probabilities for a match at each offset are produced, removing the need to identify a single ‘best’ match. The Bayesian model proves successful at matching in both simulated and real examples.     

The archaeology and paleoenvironment of an Upper Pleistocene hyena den: An integrated approach

Data of high resolution for reconstructions of archaeological site formation processes can be obtained only by the use of precise excavation methods and comprehensive recovery techniques using fine-mesh water screening, followed by meticulous sorting and quantitative studies of all the small organic components from the screens. These methods are generally used at human occupation sites, but are not often employed at paleontological or mixed human-carnivore sites. At the site of Bois Roche, an Upper Pleistocene hyena den, we have used these meticulous recovery techniques in combination with absolute dating, geoarchaeological observations, taphonomic analyses, studies of microvertebrates and pollen analysis. Correlation of the site environmental data from pollen and microvertebrate assemblages with the vegetation record of a deep-sea core taken in the Bay of Biscay have allowed us to constrain the ages provided by ESR dating of bovid teeth and to reconstruct the physical environment of the site with a degree of confidence rarely achieved by the use of fossil remains from archaeological sites alone.     

Underwater Excavation at Ederline Crannog, Loch Awe, Argyll, Scotland

A trial excavation was carried out on the near-submerged crannog at Ederline Boathouse, Loch Awe, in July 2004. A trench measuring 3 × 5 m was opened on the northern side, in c .3 m of water. Around 1 m of organic deposits was encountered, along with structural timbers and animal bones. Despite a previous 4th century BC radiocarbon determination from a structural timber, a sherd of E ware from a sealed context gives an Early Historic date for the deposits excavated in 2004. The results from this first intrusive investigation of a Loch Awe crannog demonstrate that these sites are complex and long-lived.
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

太仓半泾河古船船体用材鉴定与分析

为做好太仓半泾河古船保护修复工作、了解古船造船工艺及用材习惯,对船体龙骨、隔舱板、舱底板、侧板、船尾挡板、斜撑木、补强材、桅座和护舷板等31个样品的树种进行了鉴定。结果表明:太仓古船用材包括杉木(38.7%)、香樟(32.3%)、硬松(16.1%)、枫香(9.7%)和柏木(3.2%)等5个树种。经分析,古船用材均广泛分布于中国南方,其性能适合作为船体用材,说明古人造船就地取材但不单一选材。船体树种鉴定结果有利于后期针对性地进行船体保护工作。     

New Dating and Contextual Evidence for the Fragmentary Timber Remains Located in the Dor D Site, Israel

The laboratory report for a wood-sample taken from one of the ship-timbers discovered at the Dor D site for C14 analysis is completed. This dating result indicates a potential revision for the group of timbers in this deposit and, consequently, new chronological contexts for their construction characteristics. Subsequent excavation and survey in the lagoon has resulted in a revised interpretation for the components of the Dor D deposit. Taken together, this new dating and contextual evidence helps to clarify what these timbers can and cannot contribute to the understanding of trends in ship construction.
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

Native grasslands and the stabilization of earthwork archaeological sites on the middle Missouri River,North Dakota

Abstract

Site condition and management practices at six Missouri River archaeological sites are reviewed and the condition of the sites compared between observations in 1993 and 1998. Earthwork sites in a cover of prairie or pasture grasses that have been mown for interpretation purposes have become more infested with ground squirrels. Tall prairie or shrubland obscures site features but these animals are less numerous on sites with such cover. One mown site in an urban area had no ground squirrels, suggesting that the animals had been removed by local urban dwellers or their cats and had no chance to re-invade. The long-term stability of archaeological sites can best be achieved by allowing native prairie grasses to grow tall, leaving only small samples of the site area open, or by control of ground squirrel numbers.     

Understanding the historic legacies of empire from the timbers left behind: Towards critical dendroprovenancing in the British North Atlantic

The forests of British North America were integral to Britain's maritime empire. Many of these timbers exist today as wooden beams and flooring at historical dockyards and garrisons such as the Royal Naval Dockyard of Bermuda. In this paper, we investigate what timbers from this Dockyard can tell us about interconnections and empire-building throughout the North Atlantic region. To do this we drew from approaches of critical physical geography, historical geography, and dendroprovenancing by using timber as a way to interrogate collaboratively the changes in—and connections across—socio-ecological landscapes. We examined HM Customs records between 1825 and 1850 to determine the flow of timbers to Bermuda. We then sampled timbers from buildings constructed between 1825 and 1853 and analyzed them using isotopic and dendrochronological techniques to establish the probable location of origin of the timber samples. HM Customs records showed that prior to the 1840s, timbers primarily came from British North America, whereas post-1840 timbers primarily came from the southeastern United States, with some still coming from Europe and British North America. To establish whether timber use by the Royal Navy and Royal Engineers matched the pattern in the customs documents, we looked to the dendrochronological records. Dendrochronologic evidence showed that military construction followed the same pattern, with buildings constructed pre-1840 using material from British North America and buildings constructed post-1840 using timbers sourced from the southeastern United States. Finally, using this information we explore some of the connections between regions, in terms of resource use, and the implications of those uses—for example, that the British Admiralty continued to benefit from the practices of slavery through the use of products produced from enslaved labour in other parts of the North Atlantic well after emancipation.     

Notice of the Cross-Legged Sepulchral Effigies,Existing at Cashel

Evidence recovered on the site known from late ninth-century charters as Æthelred’s hithe illustrates successive phases in the early development of London as an international port. While two middle Anglo-Saxon female skeletons were found in foreshore deposits, coins and other metalwork, along with the remains of gangplank trestles, suggest the site was a trading shore from at least the later ninth century. Riverside construction followed by the late tenth century: several low waterfront embankments date to the late tenth and early eleventh century, the waterfront was divided into regular plots and timber buildings erected. Reused nautical and building timbers include fragments of a Frisian ship and an arcaded building.     

稻盛和夫的明心之路

稻盛和夫的形象已经通过媒体和畅销书进入了普通中国人的视野。本文从最新出版的《活法：开始你的明心之路》谈起,分析了家庭氛围和地方文化在稻盛和夫的成长中的作用,阐释了稻盛和夫的经营哲学对当前中国社会的意义。