Minimum numbers: a consideration

This paper evaluates the various methods used to determine the numbers of individual animals from the numbers of bone fragments found in archaeological sites. It concludes that there is no single “best” method, since the one that is chosen depends upon the result that is desired, and on the particular features of the site and excavation.     

在旅行社和《纵览》之间 以职业的敬意和力量,牵手!

<正>国际上一般认为,旅行社是为旅游者的旅行和游览提供有关服务的企业。在中国,1985年5月11日国务院发布的《旅行社管理暂行条例》第二条中定义:     

Considerations of minimum numbers: a response to Horton

This paper discusses a recent evaluation of bone assemblage quantification methods based in large part upon a critique of our own published work. We aim to show that the critique reveals a misunderstanding of our proposals and of the aims of quantification techniques in this field.     

敦煌、居延汉简中的数词和数量表示法

本文主要以敦煌、居延汉简中的数词和数量表示法为研究对象,归纳分析了敦煌、居延汉简中的数词和数量表示法的种类和各自的使用特点。在敦煌、居延汉简中已经出现了发、下和通三个动量词。这表明动量词出现的时代应是两汉时期,而非传统观点所认为的魏晋南北朝时期。     

Early fetal maturity assessed from patterns of ossification in the hand and foot

The assessment of fetal age at death is fraught with many complications and often the determination of the maturity of the fetus is a more realistic solution to the question of fetal viability. This study examines the pattern of appearance of primary centres of ossification in the fetal hand and foot, in an attempt to construct a maturity continuum. The results show that completion of ossification in the hand precedes that in the foot and generally occurs in a more regular pattern. The method proves useful at assessing fetal maturity between the third and tenth months of intra-uterine life. In addition, the relationship to other major centres of ossification is considered.     

从历代目录看《寒山诗》的流传

本主要通过唐、宋、元、明、清的历代目录以及外国目录中的录,探究《寒山诗》版本流传的详细情况。     

The use of large numbers of variables to measure the shape of a restricted area of bone

A series of 28 “depth” measurements, from a fixed plane to a bone surface (the frontal bone of the human skull), is presumed to contain information about shape. Data are presented for three groups of skulls and a few problematic single ones. A simple method for reducing the 28 measurements to a few shape contrasts is described. Reasons why the data are unsuitable for a canonical analysis are discussed and possible problems arising from the uncritical use of canonical analysis in general are pointed out. Some general comments are made as to the relative morphological affinities of the comparative groups selected, and especially the single more controversial specimens.     

Entitlement through numbers: nationality and language categories in the first post‐Soviet census of Kazakhstan*

Abstract. The post‐independence censuses in virtually all post‐Soviet states have become contested tools of nation‐building and ethnic entitlements. No state was politically more determined and psychologically more anxious to conduct its population census than Kazakhstan, in which the eponymous Kazakhs did not constitute a majority. The article points at political and identity pressures that made it inevitable that the first post‐Soviet census produce the ‘right’ numbers and officialise the anticipated majority status of Kazakhs in the multiethnic state. By analysing the census data on language, it shows how the state has constructed a politically desirable form of linguistic reality by altering the established category ‘native language’ in the census. This not only offers a compelling rationale for ethnic and linguistic entitlements, but also seeks to demonstrate the ‘success’ of the state's language policy.     

The utility of hand and foot bones for the determination of sex and the estimation of stature in a prehistoric population from west-central Illinois

This study focuses on hands and feet as indicators of sex and stature for Native Americans, hitherto relatively neglected in this regard. The study was performed on a large, well-preserved prehistoric skeletal sample from west-central Illinois. Discriminant functions are presented which determine sex with accuracies exceeding 87%. Those functions are then tested on three other Native American samples and found to have similar high degrees of accuracy. The utility of hand and foot bones for estimation of femur length (and subsequent inclusion in stature estimation equations) is also explored. While indirect estimation of stature is determined to be possible in this manner, it is suggested that these and other stature estimation techniques that have large standard errors may be of limited archaeological or forensic value. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prehistoric hand stencils at Fern Cave, North Queensland (Australia): environmental and chronological implications of Raman spectroscopy and FT-IR imaging results

Raman spectroscopy and FT-IR imaging analyses of cave wall pigment samples from north Queensland (Australia) indicate that some hand stencils were undertaken during a dry environmental phase indicating late Holocene age. Other, earlier painting episodes also took place during dry environmental periods of the terminal Pleistocene and/or early Holocene. These results represent a rare opportunity to attain chronological information for rock art in conditions where insufficient carbon is present for radiocarbon dating.     

Growth curves of immature bones from a Scottish island population of sixteenth to mid-nineteenth century: Limb-bone diaphyses and some bones of the hand and foot

Growth curves were prepared for length of the diaphyses of the six major long bones of the limbs and for length of the calcaneus, talus, cuboid and the first metacarpals and metatarsals, of ages up to 20 years including several immature and many full-term fetuses. Most curves showed what appears to be a consistent adolescent growth spurt at about 17 years, but the number of specimens supporting these parts of the curves is too small for the validity of this spurt to be beyond doubt. The fetal diaphysis lengths were similar to those of Fazekas and Kósa and other recent populations but, compared with curves prepared from the Maresh radiographic data for recent caucasoids, the island diaphyseal growth rate, starting at about 4 months after birth, fell progressively behind so that, by 18 years for example, the femur was 90 mm shorter and the humerus 60 mm shorter than the Maresh equivalents. These findings accord with the short stature of the island adults (male mean 166.2 cm). The growth curves were closer to those of some ancient peoples, Amerindian, caucasoid and negroid, than to contemporary caucasoid. There is evidence of a secular change in growth in this island region because the calculated mean height at 18 years of this earlier island population is at the present time achieved by boys by about 14 years of age. Thus it is argued that the earlier population was affected by stunting factors. Although there is no skeletal evidence of malnutrition, there is plenty of evidence that the way of life was full of hardship in which the children shared. They took a full part in the arduous work involved in farming marginal-quality land; the houses were damp, cold, smoky and dark; they were overcrowded although, mainly because of the high infant-mortality rate, families were not large.