Toward More Continuous and Practical Artifact Analyses: Defining and Learning From Key Dimensions of Fort Ancient Triangular Projectile Points in the Miami Valleys

Artifact typologies are routinely created, debated, and modified, but too rarely is the goal to focus on small geographic regions and to define key axes of variation. Our goal is to further this practice by examining the utility of a long-standing artifact typology from the U.S. Midwest, one associated with discerning temporal changes in triangular projectile-point forms. Our samples are derived from nine well-dated Fort Ancient villages along the Great and Little Miami Rivers of southwest Ohio and southeast Indiana. Our approach statistically explores numeric and nominal measurements of projectile-point morphology. Findings reveal significant differences among formal variables that are consistent with most of the typology as recently amended by other researchers. However, by focusing on numeric variables, we also have found that there are a series of additional significant temporal changes. Collectively, we identify a series of distinctions in temporal, morphological, and geographical variation among triangular projectile points. Various hypotheses are discussed regarding cultural transmission of the observed changes in projectile points.     

Radiocarbon Dates on Textile and Bark Samples from the Central Grave of the Adena Mound (33RO1), Chillicothe,Ohio

The Adena Mound (33RO1) is the type site of the Adena culture, yet there have been no radiocarbon dates to place it reliably within a temporal framework. Fortunately, the artifact collection, curated by the Ohio Historical Society, includes objects that are highly suitable for radiocarbon dating, including fragments of textiles and tree bark associated with the central burial. We selected a textile fragment and two bark fragments for radiocarbon dating. The textile exhibits alternate pair twine with very fine yarns probably composed of cellulose bast fibers. The bark is from a black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) tree. The results of the radiocarbon dating indicate that the Adena Mound was constructed between the end of the second century B.C. and the beginning of the first century A.D., placing it near the midpoint in the sequence of radiocarbon-dated Adena culture sites. This study demonstrates the value of museum collections for gleaning new data from curated materials.     

江苏金坛县薛埠镇上水土墩墓群二号墩发掘简报

2005年南京博物院考古研究所在金坛县薛埠镇上水村发掘了4座土墩墓,其中二号墩发现的遗迹包括器物群、墓葬、土台和房址。墓葬和其中3个器物群出土有硬陶坛、瓿、碗、施釉硬陶豆和夹砂陶鼎、泥质陶瓿等,年代为西周晚期,其他5个器物群含商代早期陶器,推测为修筑土墩墓时有意放置的。     

浙江温州市瓯海杨府山土墩墓的年代及相关问题

杨府山土墩墓出土的青铜礼器、乐器和兵器的年代和性质,对探讨南方地区文化的互动、交融乃至民族的交往具有重要意义。通过对该墓所出鼎、簋、铙、短剑等的具体分析,可以断定这应是一批具有浓郁地域特色的南方系青铜器,时代应在商末周初,墓葬的年代最晚应为西周早期。     

Phosphates, plowzones, and plazas: a minimally invasive approach to settlement structure of plowed village sites

Inferences about settlement structure play an important role in explanations of social and political change in Late Prehistoric eastern North America, but ethical and logistical challenges posed by extensive horizontal excavations mean that archaeologists must develop low cost, minimally invasive methods for investigating key properties of village structure. There are two important components of most villages in the region: 1) the peripheral distribution of middens; and 2) the size and location of formal communal spaces or plazas, each of which leaves traces in soil chemistry. In shallowly buried, plowed village sites where artifacts have been physically displaced, the chemical signature of middens may be more resistant to disturbance and provide an enduring signature of ancient settlement structure. We conducted a systematic soil phosphorus survey at the Reinhardt Site (33PI880) in central Ohio, the primary occupation of which occurred during the Late Prehistoric Period (ca. AD 1200-1450), to test for the presence and approximate size of a central plaza and the shape and distribution of peripheral midden deposits. Soil samples from the modern plowzone (N = 131) were analyzed for Mehlich II extractable phosphorus using molybdate colorimetry. The interpolated phosphorus distributions indicate a clear ring midden approximately 90 m across with an internal plaza that is roughly 30 m × 40 m. Artifact distributions from a shovel test pit survey and interpolations of plowzone magnetic susceptibility measurements identify the location of the village but are ambiguous with regards to village size and do not clearly distinguish the central plaza. Our results suggest that systematic surveys of soil phosphorus are a rapid, minimally invasive, and inexpensive method for generating data on the size and shape of villages and their plazas.     

略论昆明古城的历史沿革、文化特色及其底蕴

区,降及元初,虽“昆明”的族称在史籍中已逐渐被所谓“乌蛮”、“罗罗”取代,但很有可能在民间照常沿用而被官方采纳用作地名。其二是与唐初“昆州”、南诏“昆川”有明显的传承演进关系。对此,《元史·地理志》说:“昆明,中,倚郭。唐置(昆州) ,元宪宗四年,分其地立(昆明)千户二。至元十二年改鄯州,领(昆明)县。二十一年,州革,县名故。”从中不难发现,“昆州”与“昆明县”之间确有内在联系,而夹在其间的过渡性地名“鄯州”,则显然是从先前的“鄯阐府”转化而来。然而尽管这些解释已足够充分,且在边疆民族地区以当地少数民族的传统称谓用作…     

Ancient Maya wood selection and forest exploitation: a view from the Paynes Creek salt works,Belize

Ancient building construction wood preserved in a peat bog below the seafloor in a shallow mangrove lagoon in Paynes Creek National Park, Belize, provides an exceptional record of Classic Maya wood use. Identifications of construction wood at Early Classic Chan B'i, and Late Classic Atz'aam Na, are reported and discussed to assess forest exploitation and species selection over time. Black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) dominates the Early Classic assemblage. The Late Classic assemblage is characterized by greater variability and an absence of mangrove species. When considered in the environmental context, identified species conform to principles of optimal foraging. The change in the wood assemblage over time suggests overexploitation of forest resources, resulting in deforestation of the local landscape and subsequent adaptation of foraging behavior. Deforestation is linked to the wider social context in which growing inland populations created demand for salt, putting greater pressure on the forest resources exploited by the Paynes Creek salt works for fuel and timber.     

Ancient Solomon Islands mtDNA: assessing Holocene settlement and the impact of European contact

Archaeologists, linguists and geneticists generally agree that Near Oceania was subject to two major pulses of human dispersal: a Pleistocene occupation around 40,000 BP and a Late-Holocene migration at 3500 BP commonly associated with the Austronesian expansion out of Taiwan. The latter led to the development of the Lapita cultural complex in the Bismarck Archipelago which resulted in the settlement of Remote Oceania and there are a variety of competing models (express train, slow boat, entangled bank, etc.) used to explain this. Recent genetic studies have focused on this issue, but none of them have taken into consideration the bias possibly introduced by 19th-century historically reported population decline caused by European contact.     

A radiological and histological investigation into the mummification of cats from Ancient Egypt

An examination has been carried out on a series of wrapped mummified cats from Ancient Egypt that are held in the British Museum (Natural History). The cats, which were unprovenanced and undated, were presented by Sir Flinders Petrie at the beginning of this century, but they were not registered in the collections and have never been described. Radiocarbon dates have now been obtained for two of the cats and radiographs have been taken of each one to establish its identification and age at death. Attempts were made to reconstitute the skin tissue and samples of hair were studied by electron microscopy.     

Ancient DNA in archaeological wheat grains: preservation conditions and the study of pre-Hispanic agriculture on the island of Gran Canaria (Spain)

The recovery of ancient DNA from archaeological wheat samples under different preservation conditions was assessed using a number of genetic markers. It was possible to amplify nuclear DNA from desiccated grains but not from charred. The desiccated grain was from a pre-Hispanic grain silo in Gran Canaria and showed excellent DNA preservation, enabling the amplification of the ribosomal DNA markers IGS and ITS, the upstream region of the HMW-glutenin locus and single-locus nuclear microsatellites. Our results demonstrated the presence of both durum and bread wheat in an assemblage of naked grain. We were also able to identify different genotypes in durum wheat and compare these with extant landraces, providing insights into the agrarian practices of the ancient Canarians and the origin of their crops.     

康雍乾时期的贵州山地文化观

清代康雍乾时期派到贵州地方官员的奏折、疏言、著述和皇帝的上谕、朱批、圣旨等所构成一系列对治理贵州的决策及实施过程,正记述了对贵州山地、山地民族和山地文化及其特征的认识过程,形成了独特的贵州山地文化观,在贵州社会历史发展中起到了重要作用,至今仍有参考价值。     

土墩墓考古:新收获,新思考——在江苏句容、金坛土墩墓群抢救性发掘考古成果汇报会上的讲话

2005年江苏句容、金坛土墩墓群抢救性发掘考古成果在一墩一墓、一墩多墓、向心结构等土墩墓重大学术问题上取得了突破性进展,并为田野考古科学操作提供了典范。从方法论和考古学理论角度思考,土墩墓的发掘和研究还需进一步深化。     

潮湿环境下古象牙的现场提取与保护——以三星堆遗址三号坑出土象牙为例

2020年10月,三星堆遗址新发现祭祀坑正式启动考古发掘工作。随着发掘工作的推进,大量象牙相继出土。由于长期埋藏于潮湿的地下环境,象牙基本处于饱水状态,保存状况较差。为了使象牙保持相对稳定的状态,在考古发掘现场针对不同象牙的发掘情况,采用高分子绷带进行固形处理,然后整体提取回实验室清理。清理完成的象牙,经过保湿杀菌处理后存放至低温高湿专用库房。三星堆遗址三号祭祀坑出土象牙的成功提取与保护,表明医用高分子绷带具有超越石膏提取法的应用优势,对类似出土遗物的现场保护工作有一定的借鉴作用。     

Fossil dogs and wolves from Palaeolithic sites in Belgium,the Ukraine and Russia: osteometry,ancient DNA and stable isotopes

Using multivariate techniques, several skulls of fossil large canids from sites in Belgium, Ukraine and Russia were examined to look for possible evidence of the presence of Palaeolithic dogs. Reference groups constituted of prehistoric dogs, and recent wolves and dogs. The fossil large canid from Goyet (Belgium), dated at c. 31,700 BP is clearly different from the recent wolves, resembling most closely the prehistoric dogs. Thus it is identified as a Palaeolithic dog, suggesting that dog domestication had already started during the Aurignacian. The Epigravettian Mezin 5490 (Ukraine) and Mezhirich (Ukraine) skulls are also identified as being Palaeolithic dogs. Selected Belgian specimens were analyzed for mtDNA and stable isotopes. All fossil samples yielded unique DNA sequences, indicating that the ancient Belgian large canids carried a substantial amount of genetic diversity. Furthermore, there is little evidence for phylogeographic structure in the Pleistocene large canids, as they do not form a homogenous genetic group. Although considerable variation occurs in the fossil canid isotope signatures between sites, the Belgian fossil large canids preyed in general on horse and large bovids.     

扩张与困顿：从警政经费看晚清地方警政建设

警政建设是清末国家权力向州县以下地区进行扩张的一次重要尝试。但是由于中央政府的财政已经捉襟见肘。因此不得不谕令地方自筹经费开办。在实际的运作过程中,地方政府因财力不济,不得不采取加重捐税、增加税种以及和地方士绅合作等办法开办警察。由于经费筹措的困难和税源结构的重大调整,清末的警政建设在经历了一段时间的扩张之后,逐渐走向了困顿与萎缩。兴办警政助长了士绅力量的膨胀,冲击了原有的国家权力结构。     

Abbots and Aristocrats: Patronage,Art and Architecture at Hailes Abbey in the Late Middle Ages

This article focuses on the art and architecture of the Cistercian abbey of Hailes, home of a famous relic of the Holy Blood, in the two centuries before the Suppression. It is intended to be a contribution to evolving literature on late medieval monasticism, showing the enduring spiritual vitality and relevance of Hailes between the 14th and early 16th centuries. The article discusses the planning and architecture of the late medieval monastery, the extent of and motives for the internal and external patronage and the relationship of the monastery with its sister Cistercian houses, especially those in northern England.     

Valuing an Ancient Palaestra in the Centre of Athens: The Public,the Experts,and Aristotle

Abstract

This paper investigates the values assigned to the archaeological site widely known as ‘Lykeion’ of Aristotle’ — the famous ancient Greek philosopher — by experts and non-experts. The paper revolves around the premise that values should be holistically conceived as both the ‘what’ is valued and the ‘whys’ that drive the ‘whats’. Based on semi-structured interviews and quantitative questionnaires, the diverse values attributed by professionals, such as architects, archaeologists, or conservators, and the wider public will be unveiled. It will be demonstrated that values vary fundamentally not only between experts and non-experts but also within groups of experts. Furthermore, it will be argued that the conduct of in-depth research aimed at exploring experts’ and non-experts’ values and meanings, prior to interventions for the enhancement of any archaeological site, is vital for managing potential tensions and for offering an integrated interpretation strategy.     

Palaeopathology in late Pleistocene and early Holocene Central Plains bison: dental enamel hypoplasia,fluoride toxicosis and the archaeological record

Multiple formative agents are cited for dental enamel hypoplasia (DEH) in modern and fossil mammals. Here, four late Pleistocene-early Holocene bison assemblages from the Central Great Plains are analyzed for DEH and other bone pathologies to investigate the possible influence of chronic fluoride toxicosis, a condition that may have presented a long-term source of duress for prehistoric bison and devalued them as nutritional resources to human hunters. Although DEH is present in all the analyzed assemblages, the lack of corroborating dental and post-cranial anomalies consistent with chronic fluoride toxicosis speaks against it as a primary factor of DEH formation or general ill health in these bison. Rather, maternal nutritional stress, weaning, and seasonal forage condition are invoked as probable promoters of DEH formation. Other identified abnormalities are discussed in reference to their contribution to reduced feeding efficiency and lameness, as are their roles in developing palaeoecological models applicable to archaeological questions about ancient human lifeways.