In Search of Religion

Anthropology began with a concern for exploring religion. Over time it abandoned its interest in origins, including the origins of religion. The influence of Boas's cultural history approach and Malinowski's functionalism directed anthropologists into particularistic studies of religion as part of given cultural systems. There was a movement away from the search for universal themes and the psychic unity of humans. Most anthropologists contented themselves with heuristic definitions of religion, which aided them with fieldwork. This article examines the tension between theoretical and empirical, and humanistic and scientific impulses in anthropology and some of the major trends in the field.     

In Search of George Mallory

George Mallory(1886-1924),a graduate ofCambridge Universi-ty,was a middleschool teacher, andAndrew lrvine(1902-1924)was a third-year student ofCambridge University, whenboth of them climbedQomolangmo for the thirdtime as members of a UKmountaineering team in 1924.Sadly, they disappeared whileclimbing the highest peak inthe world from the Tibetanslope,leaving unsolved to thisday the question of whetherthey reached the summit.     

寻找冬虫夏草

很早以前,当中国东南沿海的人听说,青藏高原有一种冬天是虫,夏天是草的东西,便两眼放光,有人甚至根本不相信它的存在.这次进藏的旅途中,有两位加拿大医学教授与我们同行了一段,尽管在商店里他们见过也触摸过虫草,但还是一口咬定没有科学依据,怎么可能既是植物又是昆虫!     

探索古老的生育秘密

占里人自古以来,用自制草药施行生育调节.有避孕药、绝育药,据说甚至还有一种叫做"换花草"的调节婴儿性别的"仙草".占里的药方都是保密的,药师都是女性,她们从小学习医术,但必须到了中年以上才能给人用药.占里田野报告的说明.     

In Search of Middle Preclassic Lowland Maya Ideologies

Journal of Archaeological Research - Little is known about Middle Preclassic/Formative lowland Maya belief systems or ideologies, compared to later periods, but with increasing research at Middle...     

Recent French archaeological work In Syria and Jordan

Abstract

The French connection with the late antique and Byzantine archaeology of the Levant is now more than a century old. Between 1864 and 1877 Melchoir de Vogue published his great Syrie Centrale: architecture civile et religieuse, a work which revealed for the first time the great richness of the archaeological record for the period. With its superb drawings and elegant plans it remains indispensable, especially since it describes some buildings, like the praetorium at Mismiyya, south of Damascus, which have long since disappeared. In these days when so much worthless nineteenth-century travel literature about the Middle East has been reprinted, it is sad that this masterpiece remains unavailable. The French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon from 1921 onwards gave a great impetus to these studies. Although most attention was given to great classical sites like Palmyra or Crusader ones like Crac des Chevaliers, late antiquity was not neglected and there was a growing interest in the deserted towns of the limestone hills of the north from J. Mattern, li travers les villes mortes de Haute Syre (Beirut 1944) and J. Lassus' study of the ecclesiastical architecture, Sanctuaires chretiens de Syrie (1947). This activity culminated in G. Tchalenko's great work Les villages antiques de fa Syrie du Nord (1958) which was based on field work done before 1939.     

魔鬼守着的一千口棺材--寻找丝绸古道上的小河墓地

66年前,贝格曼在沙海中找到了小河墓地 公元4世纪中叶以前,楼兰在中国人心目中,不是一个一般的地方.它的地位就像今天的深圳和上海,是中国的经济中心和通向外部世界的重要通道.后来的两汉王朝为经营这条交通路线,花了很大气力在甘肃西部的河西走廊设置了河西四郡,在敦煌至罗布淖尔约500公里的戈壁沙漠上,选择有泉水的地方设置烽燧、驿站和邮亭.