WAC Reflections Through Maori Eyes

For a while now issues surrounding ethics in archaeology have occupied my thoughts, as have case studies of ethical misconduct. In fact a large part of why I gravitated toward archaeology is rooted in past instances of poor ethical practice instigated against my people, and the overwhelming personal need I have, to seek redress and change for Iwi Maori. Part of my commitment to both of these endeavours, is expressed through my association with WAC, with whose present code of ethics and principles i find affinity with.     

Heritage Ethics for a Present Imperfect

Lynn identifies three critical discussion that framed the Stanford workshop. First, the language of the code, which she feels should reflect our acknowledgement that archaeologists are not the primary stakeholders for most situations and using core values instead of codification as a starting point. Second, the recognition of particular histories and the consequences of colonial encounters, with the acknowledgment that colonialist relations continue to exist in many places. Third is the issue of how WAC positions itself in relation to issues of social justice. Lynn points out that while WAC could be an active vehicle for attaining social justice on a global scale, the ethical implications of taking any kind of interventionist stance need to be fully thought through, lest they be seen as telling people what to do—a stance that would only serve to mirror imperialist and colonialist practices. We need to ask people what they want in regard to their heritage and be prepared to listen, even if archaeology is not immediately important for them or they suggest directions that we find challenging.     

What Happened at the First Meeting of the World Archaeological Congress Committee of Ethics?

Herrera reflects on the committee’s deliberations in how to approach developing a framework for ethics in tune with the aims and ethos of WAC. He points out the importance of a foundation of meaningful principles, embedded in the thread of the actions of individuals acting in specific cultural and historical social contexts and based on core values that at the same time acknowledge the contradictions inherent in diverse standpoints. The committee faces major questions of how to define social justice and appropriate ethical behaviour for people and institutions embedded in different social and historical contexts across the globe.     

‘WAC-y’ Reflections: Perspectives from the 2007 Stanford General Code of Ethics Meeting

Long-time WAC member Jill Reid sat in on days two and three of the meetings at Stanford. For her, the greatest value of the meeting came in the exposure to many different perspectives and the opportunity to reflect on the way archaeology is done in her own work situation. Jill cautions the committee not to replace familiar or widely used terms with others that may create confusion or require explanation. Based on her experiences in Australia, she discusses a situation where deference to cultural heritage laws creates ethical dilemmas and promotes injustice and hopes that whatever process is outlined will be able to take such complexities into account.     

We Were Sitting Around the Table…

Alejandro comments on the sense of indeterminacy that pervaded our discussions, notably over what “archaeology” even consists of and over the dilemmas created when the principle of respect for the local community contradicts ethical principles that the archaeologist feels are universal in scale. He tells the story of Carlos Bruch, an early archaeologist in the Catamarca Region, recounting how Bruch portrayed local people and discounted their conceptions of the past, then constructed his own version, contributing to the official version in archaeological discourse. This continues to have ramifications today in the disenfranchisement of local voices in global colonialist projects. Alejandro saw our indeterminancy and quandaries over dilemmas faced by archaeologists as a positive development—a symptom of archaeology changing its pre-theoretical pre-understandings. He emphasizes the importance of local people enacting their own techniques of social memory and their own vocality.     

Conversation with Ernestina Mamaní

This paper records a conversation that took place on Thursday 23rd November 2006 at the Museo del Hombre de Antofagasta de la Sierra (Museum of Man of Antofagasta de la Sierra), Catamarca, Argentina. The conversation involved different research groups co-investigating, each formed by a student of archaeology and a member of the personnel of the museum and/or other areas of the culture of the municipality of Antofagasta de la Sierra. Each presented the state of his/her enquiry into a particular object in the museum collection. The task was to tie stories to objects: stories by the elders of the town, the people who had discovered the item, the personnel of the museum and the texts written by archaeologists. This paper focuses on the conversation with Ernestina Mamaní, about a stone slab by Antofagasta elder, Don Anacleto Cháves, which she and Laura Roda had chosen to research.

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Résumé Cet article rapporte une conversation qui a eu lieu le jeudi 23 novembre 2006 au Museo del Hombre de Antofagasta de la Sierra (Musée de l'homme d'Antofagasta de la Sierra), Catamarca, Argentine. La conversation mettait en scène différents groupes de recherche travaillant conjointement, chacun constitué d’un étudiant en archéologie, d’un membre du personnel du musée et/ou d'autres secteurs du service de la Culture de la municipalité d'Antofagasta de la Sierra. Chacun a présenté l'état de ses recherches autour d’un objet particulier des collections de musée. Il s’agissait d’accoler des récits aux objets: histoires rapportées par les anciens du village, les personnes ayant découvert l'objet, le personnel du musée et les rapports écrits par les archéologues. Cet article relate particulièrement la conversation avec Ernestina Mamaní, au sujet d'une dalle de pierre faite par un ancien d'Antofagasta, Don Anacleto Cháves, qu’elle même et Laura Roda avaient choisie pour leur recherche.

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Resumen Esta ponencia registra una conversación que sucedió el jueves 23 de noviembre de 2006 en el Museo del Hombre de Antofagasta de la Sierra, Catamarca, Argentina. La conversación involucraba diferentes grupos de co-investigación, integrado por una estudiante de arqueología y un miembro del personal del museo y/o otras areas de cultura de la municipalidad de Antofagasta de la Sierra. Cada una presentaba el estado de su indagación acerca de un objeto particular de la colección del museo. La consigna era anudar historias a cada objeto, historias ofrecidas por los ancianos del pueblo, los descubridores de la pieza, el personal del museo y los textos escritos por arqueólogos. Esta ponencia se focaliza en la conversación con Ernestina Mamaní, sobre una laja encontrada por un vecino de Antofagasta, Don Anacleto Cháves, que ella y Laura Roda habían elegido para investigar.

     

思想是考古学的工具--论俞伟超的考古学理论与实践

俞伟超考古学思想历程可以分为三个阶段,马克思主义考古学解释体系的初步探索;考古学文化与族群关系的文献与实物的二重证据推定;考古学文化遗存的技术、社会和观念的三重解读以及以此为方法论核心的考古学新体系的建立。     

Reflections on Ukraine's Current Economic Dilemma

A prominent specialist on economic transition in the former Soviet Union presents an overview of Ukraine's economic dilemma in the aftermath of the most recent elections in that country. The author, a former economic advisor to Ukraine's government and co-chair of the UN's Blue Ribbon Commission for Ukraine, relates his insights into the causes of three acute problems (inflation, corruption, and the lack of structural reforms). Focusing on the state of economic affairs in 2008, the paper, which includes data on economic growth and exchange rates, discusses inter alia the hryvnia's peg to the dollar and the potential consequences of rising food and commodity prices. Included in the analysis is a comparison with Russia. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: E58, E60, O52, P26. 34 references.     

陕西高陵杨官寨遗址考古发掘现场遗迹劣化机理初步研究

杨官寨遗址位于高陵县姬家乡杨官寨村四组,地处泾河下游北岸的一级阶地上,南距泾河约1公里,海拔498.5米,面积约为80万平方米,为关中地区新石器时代中晚期所罕见中心聚落遗址。2004年以来陕西省考古研究院对该遗     

Imperial Intersections: Archaeologists, War and Violence—Comments

This is a commentary on a series of papers presented in the Imperial Intersections: archaeologists, war and violence session at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The session addressed issues surrounding archaeology, war and violence and the ethical responsibilities of archaeological practitioners. The papers in this volume have created more questions than answers, but as with all ethical scenarios, I was inspired to think and to examine critically aspects of archaeology that may have eluded past contemplation. In attempting to find commonalities and themes in the submissions I realized that almost every paper is concerned with the production of knowledge—how much access should there be; who should have access to knowledge; how should knowledge be disseminated; and when and if the knowledge should be reproduced. The central debate of “in whose best interest is this knowledge produced” is also explored in this review?     

利用Arcgis和Adobe Illustrator软件绘制遗迹图的方法及其应用

文章介绍了应用ArcGis和Adobe Ilustrator软件进行考古田野绘图的方法,并分析了利用该方法绘图的优点,同时对其在考古工作、研究和文物保护等方面拓展应用及意义进行了剖析。     

The design of effective and efficient trial trenching strategies for discovering archaeological sites

This paper reports a study on the effectivity and efficiency of trial trenching strategies for site discovery within the context of Dutch archaeological heritage management. It discusses the principles of site discovery by means of trial trenching, and suggests the optimal strategies for trial trenching survey, based on the results of simulations. Effective and efficient strategies for discovering different groups of archaeological sites are given, according to their presumed size, shape and feature density. The recommended strategies will be included in the Quality Norm for Dutch archaeology.     

考古发掘现场智能预探测系统的统计与应用

鉴于考古工作中发掘现场情况的不确定性,为改进我国古墓葬遗址等发掘现场的传统探测方法,探讨利用自动化技术,设计开发一套考古发掘现场智能预探测系统,在无考古人员进入墓葬发掘现场的情况下实现预探测功能。该系统主要面向古墓葬遗址的发掘考古需求,由远程监控端、机器人及传输线缆组成。采取分体模块化设计小尺寸机器人,使其可简便拆装成直筒式或车体式两种外形,以适用小直径手工探洞或大直径盗洞两种不同形式的发掘入口。机器人本体集成视频采集及气体传感等环境检测功能模块．实时采集数据并通过传输线缆发送至远程监控端。远程监控端提供窗口化的监控界面软件,该软件在Micro Visual Studio 2005开发平台下完成,在显示并记录采集所得图像和数据的同时,可对机器人的部分模块进行控制。该考古发掘现场智能预探测系统设计制造后在陕西省三个古墓葬遗址进行了实地测试。研究结果显示,数据采集准确及时、视频图像清晰可靠、整体系统运行稳定、可操作性强,基本满足了考古发掘现场的实际需要,推进了考古发掘工作的科技化进程。     

铁器文物保护中锈层化学稳定转化的研究

出土铁器文物在脱盐清洗后,运用化学稳定转化处理的方法将表面不稳定的铁锈转化成稳定、致密的锈层,然后进行钝化封闭,提高耐蚀性,最后进行防锈封护和表面消光处理。通过各种腐蚀性能测试,证明耐腐蚀性能有显著提高,综合处理的结果达到了文物铁器的保护要求。     

Gender Goes Global: Women's Lives in Transnational Perspective

Archaeologists are often remiss in publishing the results of their field excavations in a timely manner. Stanley South is one of the few archaeologists who have actually fulfilled their vow to write up or revise projects done in past decades. The early fieldwork of South, a seminal figure in historical archaeology, served as the basis for his important theoretical contributions. The publication of this early work allows scholars to examine the raw data supporting his theories and South to ease his conscience.     

东晋墓葬制度的考古学分析

东晋墓葬等级制度仅限于高级官员,中下级官员至庶民墓葬等级差异不明显。东晋家族内部墓葬等级差异也不明显,但各家族墓葬的形制和规格似有一定规则,而与家族地位之高低不甚关联。东晋帝王陵墓家族墓葬化,乃当时现实政治之曲折反映。东晋墓葬制度状况与东晋门阀世族社会的现实等级差异不甚相符,此认识对东晋历史研究有一定价值。     

奈达“功能对等”理论下考古发掘报告的翻译

考古发掘报告是中西方考古界交流的重要途径之一,故使其英译为外国学者理解、接受就成为译者主要的翻译目的。一、功能对等的翻译理论尤金.奈达(Eugene A.Nida)认为翻译是跨语言、跨文化的交际活动。目的是使交际各方     

考古现场墓葬壁画信息提取方法探讨

墓葬壁画是我国重要文化遗产,承载着灿烂的文明与古代科技,体现着当时社会先进生产力,是能让文物"活起来"的典型代表。壁画类文物的保护研究与价值阐释,是国家文化自信建设战略的重要组成部分。基于墓葬壁画本身材质的脆弱性以及较低的环境耐受性,目前墓葬壁画的保护手段还是以现场揭取、搬迁等异地保护方法为主。在这一过程中壁画承载的信息难免流失,保护壁画的材料亦为后续研究带来了干扰。故而,建立起一套墓葬壁画现场信息提取方法体系,在考古发掘现场第一时间提取表面信息、挖掘隐藏信息,开展综合研究十分必要。本工作参考了石窟、建筑壁画、考古现场遗迹信息提取方法,结合墓葬壁画自身特点,针对墓葬壁画信息提取不全面、不深入的问题,以多座陕西地区墓葬壁画以及四川、江西、河北、宁夏等地墓葬壁画为研究对象,开展了墓葬壁画信息提取方法研究,提出了全面的墓葬壁画现场信息提取的思路与方法。首先,开展有效环境监测,从而提出合理的小环境控制手段,以延缓壁画劣化;然后,通过有效组合各种照相技术和光谱技术,开展从宏观到微观,从可见光到多光谱全方位、多维度的画面信息提取,全面深入记录画面信息;联合多种便携检测设备,在科学选点基础上,提出由表及里、由点及面、重点关注逐层深入、互相补充的材质工艺研究思路,有效获得壁画的制作材料组成、工艺特征;最后,综合以上多重结果,通过观察与仪器检测,对壁画进行多角度、多层次病害调查,准确掌握壁画壁画病害分布、病害程度。此外提出了以研究需求与标本保存为目的各类标本采集要求与方法。墓葬壁画考古现场信息提取是现场科学保护和后续考古学研究的关键部分,其积累的大量影像资料、数据资料为壁画保护提供了支撑,为考古学研究提供了重要证据,为壁画价值的深入挖掘提供科学依据;极大地提高了考古学家对现场信息提取的重视程度,促进学科交叉融合。本研究弥补了墓葬壁画信息提取手段单一,缺乏方法体系的不足,为行业发展提供技术支持,为实现壁画文物的有效保护发挥作用。