江西仙人洞遗址两万年前陶器的年代研究

陶器的出现使得人类生存和社会行为发生了重要转变。我们对江西万年仙人洞遗址出土陶器进行了年代研究、对陶片和碳十四测年样品层位关系开展地层显微结构分析,结果显示遗址出土最早的陶片年代为距今19,000～20,000年,比东亚和其他地区的陶器早了2000～3000年。洞穴内遗存证明这些陶器是在末次冰盛期由采集狩猎者所制造,可能被用做炊煮器。说明陶器在农业出现以前一万年甚至更早就被制造和使用了。     

试论山东地区新石器时代早期遗存

扁扁洞遗址和黄崖遗址是考古工经考古发掘,扁扁洞遗址发现了烧土面和灰坑等遗迹,出土了陶片、石磨盘、石磨棒等具有新石器时代早期特征的遗物.黄崖遗址则仅采集了少量的兽骨,并出土了较多的陶片.以其陶片特征看,其年代与扁扁洞遗址相近.据扁扁洞内采集的人头骨碎片的14C年代测定数据,其年代距今9600～11000年.扁扁洞和黄崖新石器时代早期遗存的发现为探索山东新石器时代文化的起源及早期发展提供了重要线索.     

河北省平山县张家庙遗址H3试掘简报

2013年10月,河北省文物研究所等对平山县张家庙遗址做了试掘,遗存年代包括新石器、战国和明清等。发掘灰坑3座。其中H3属新石器时代,出土陶片700余片,复原陶器2件,年代为从仰韶文化向龙山文化过渡时期到龙山文化早期。这是冀中首次发现这一时期的遗存。     

变破碎为完美——蒋道银先生的修瓷技艺

走进上海博物馆陶瓷陈列厅,展柜里一件件历朝历代精美的陶瓷器,展示出中华文化的博大精深。展台上有江西省万年县仙人洞出土的距今约8800年的早期陶片;有浙江省余姚县河姆渡出土的距今约6800年的灰陶器,有仰韶文化繁盛时期的代表陕西半坡型彩陶器;还有上海本土发现的距今5500年     

广西革新桥遗址出土的石拍研究

革新桥遗址是一处新石器时代石器制造场遗址。2002年10月至2003年1月发掘,出土数以万计的石制品,还发现两座墓葬。年代为距今6000-5500年前。本文对该遗址中出土的一件石拍进行观察,并就其制作工艺及功能和用途进行探讨。     

罗家坝考古与"巴賨文化"

罗家坝地下保存着有新石器时代晚期的聚落遗存和东周时期的墓地遗存.遗址堆积甚厚,故年代跨度较大.早期文化层出土大量陶片,笔者从工地陈列的陶片及复原的几件陶器看,文化面貌近于川东峡江地区新发现的"哨棚嘴文化",年代也应相近,由于未见到出土高规格的器物,可能属于一般性的村落遗存.     

略谈湖南名窑与陶瓷器的主要特点

湖南是陶瓷的故乡。过去,学术界对我国制陶技术的起源问题众说纷纭:《中国陶瓷史》说:“早在八千年前的新石器时代,我国的先民就已经会制造使用陶器”。由于湖南道县玉蟾岩洞穴遗址中出土了拍印编织纹等陶器,经鉴定,其相对年代,距今约一万四千年。这个惊人的数字,将“八千年”的历史提前了6个世纪。所以,湖南称得上是“陶瓷的故乡”!     

浙江平湖戴墓墩良渚文化遗址发掘简报

戴墓墩遗址位于浙江省平湖市乍浦镇,遗址总面积约16万平方米。2001年3月,平湖市博物馆对遗址进行了小范围的发掘,已发现1处良渚文化红烧土堆积和5座良渚文化墓葬,随葬器物有陶器、玉器、石器等。发掘表明,这是一处良渚文化祭坛和墓地的复合遗址,5座墓葬的年代为良渚文化中期。此次发掘出土了一批精美的陶器,其中带盖宽把陶杯是良渚文化陶器中的精品。     

跨湖桥古船遗址遐思

浙江杭州萧山区的湘湖北部有一处近年来出土的古人类文化遗址———跨湖桥遗址。该遗址的发现和发掘曾经是2001年全国考古历史上的重大事件。遗址距今8000年左右,历史年代早于钱塘江流域的河姆渡和良渚两个人类文化遗址。它的发掘把钱塘江三角洲人类活动的年代又向前推进了1000年。这不能不说是中华民族历史的又一大重要发现。     

四川乡城县卡心坝遗址调查简报

2008年9月,康巴藏区民族考古综合考察团在四川甘孜州乡城县洞松乡木因村卡心坝采集到早期陶片.根据出土陶片判断,该遗址年代当在距今4000年或更早.卡心坝遗址为金沙江上游四川境内发现的首个新石器时代晚期遗址.     

PETROGRAPHIC AND GEOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE FOR LONG‐STANDING SUPPLY OF RAW MATERIALS IN NEOLITHIC POTTERY (MENDANDIA SITE,SPAIN)

Pottery from the Neolithic Mendandia site has been studied. The radiocarbon dating of the site corresponds to a range of dates from 7488–7546 cal bc to 5283–5437 cal bc : the first occurrence of pottery is dated at 5968–6040 cal bc for the lower level III, and up to 5386–5560 cal bc for level II. The antiquity of the potsherds places them within the oldest pottery production sequences in the Iberian Peninsula, which adds to the interest of this study. Ten potsherds from level II and five from level III are analysed for their petrographic and chemical characterization. The petrographic data show two different methods of raw materials manufacture—intentionally tempered pottery (ITP), using calcite and/or limestone and grog, and naturally or non‐intentionally tempered pottery (NTP). According to the matrix paste features, on the basis of the amount, shape, and average or size range of the mineral inclusions, clayed (type A) and sandy (type B) paste types were established and related to two different source areas. The chemical features also indicate two raw material sources and are in agreement with the petrographic paste types. The absence of significant chemical and mineralogical differences between the pottery from levels II and III suggests two contrasting areas for raw materials supply that lasted for at least 600 years.     

Implications of Petrographic Temper Analysis for Oceanian Prehistory

Petrographic examination of prehistoric Pacific potsherds in thin section allows robust distinctions to be drawn between indigenous temper sands derived from islands where sherds were collected and exotic temper sands derived from other islands, except that calcareous temper sands of reef detritus are undiagnostic of origin. Ceramic transfer or movement of ceramic raw materials from island to island can be detected because small islands serve as virtual point sources of noncalcareous terrigenous sands, and local island geology is controlled by systematic and well-known geotectonic patterns. Prehistoric Oceanian pottery was made locally on multiple islands, rather than being dispersed from a discrete number of ceramic centers, but limited ceramic transfer was widespread within nearly all island groups. As temper analysis is independent of ceramic typology, sherd tempers in common with obsidian artifacts and other manuports provide unambiguous physical evidence for migration, trade, or exchange within and between island groups.     

THE PROVENANCE AND PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY OF BRONZE AGE AND IRON AGE POTTERY FROM TELL MISHRIFEH/QATNA (SYRIA)*

This work deals with the archaeometric study of the Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery from Tell Mishrifeh/Qatna (central‐western Syria), where the complete cycle of ceramic production is well documented. Petrographic, chemical and diffractometric analyses were carried out on both potsherds and a clayey material found in a separation basin within the area of the workshops. Petrographic groups were defined and maximum firing temperatures and redox firing conditions were estimated, providing constraints on identifying the production technology and its evolution with time. The studied potsherds turned out to be locally produced, with only a few cases of possible similarities with those described for other localities along the Orontes Valley, and in a couple of cases with evidence of pottery exchange.     

Excavation on Nimowa Island,Louisiade Archipelago,Papua New Guinea: Insights Into Cultural Practices and the Development of Exchange Networks in the Southern Massim Region

Small-scale excavation was undertaken at the Malakai site on the small island of Nimowa, located in the Louisiade Archipelago, Massim region, Papua New Guinea. This is the first excavation to be reported in detail from the archipelago, with the Malakai site providing insight into cultural practices on the island and pottery exchange in the southern Massim region. A stratified deposit was revealed with dense cultural material, first inhabited from 1350 to 1290 cal. BP, with a subsequent period of settlement within the last 460–300 cal. years. Pottery, shell, and stone artifacts were recovered, as well as human skeletal remains in a primary burial context, which contributes to understanding regional patterns of prehistoric mortuary activity. It is argued that Nimowa was already part of an exchange network that encompassed many of the southern Massim islands when the Malakai site was first occupied. There is increased diversity in the number of vessel forms in later prehistory, but with remarkable continuity in the decorative motifs over time, suggesting some degree of regional social cohesion in the southern Massim. It appears that the northern Massim islands were not a major supplier of pottery to Nimowa. The implications for the prehistory of the wider region are subsequently discussed.     

Rice chaff in ceramics from the archaeological site of Sumhuram (Dhofar,Southern Oman)

The identification of the chaff used as temper in ancient ceramics represents a possible source of information about the area of origin of the pottery. This paper studies the occurrence of rice (Oryza sp.) chaff in potsherds from the archaeological site of Sumhuram (Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman). The information gathered at the site offers insight into commerce routes and networks to which the town belonged in the first centuries AD. The analysis of the plant material in the pottery and potsherds can also furnish interesting data on the ancient technologies of pottery production.     

A NEW METHOD FOR EXTRACTION,ISOLATION AND TRANSESTERIFICATION OF FREE FATTY ACIDS FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTTERY

This paper presents evidence for increased recovery of organic residues from archaeological pottery through use of a microwave‐assisted liquid chromatography protocol. C_16:0 and C_18:0 saturated fatty acids were obtained from archaeological potsherds recovered from nine Neolithic settlements in the Middle East dating between 4700 and 7300 cal bc , including materials that had not produced evidence for the survival of any lipid species through use of ‘conventional’ solvent extraction techniques. Compound‐specific isotopic analyses of C_16:0 and C_18:0 fatty acids in potsherd extracts subsequently revealed δ¹³C/δ¹²C compositions consistent with modern subcutaneous fats of wild boar and goats pastured on lands adjacent to the Jordan Valley, and residues from a modern pottery vessel used in the manufacturing of butter, cheese and yogurt in central Turkey. These results are presented as an illustration of capabilities of the microwave‐assisted recovery protocol. The reclamation of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids from archaeological pottery fragments recovered from a number of the earliest ceramic horizons in the Middle East is herewith reported, and the extraction methods and instrumental analytical techniques are described.     

Computerized morphological classification of ceramics

A novel morphological analysis of ceramic assemblages is presented using objective, automatic and computerized method for clustering and classification. The analysis is based on the entire shape of the potsherds, as expressed by three mathematical representations of their profiles. The similarity between profiles is mathematically defined in terms of the above mentioned representations. Cluster Analysis and Discriminant Analysis are used to reveal a hierarchical classification of pottery assemblages. The method is illustrated here by a detailed analysis of an assemblage which was classified previously by a pottery expert. A quantitative comparison of the two typologies reveals the power and archaeological sense of the new method.     

Refuse patterning and behavioral analysis in a pinniped hunting camp in the Late Jomon Period: A case study in layer V at the Hamanaka 2 site,Rebun Island,Hokkaido, Japan

During the Dobayashi New Phase (ca. 1450 cal BC–1300 cal BC), the Jomon maritime hunter–gatherers established pinniped hunting camps at the Hamanaka 2 site on Rebun Island, Hokkaido, Japan. They used the camps for animal processing and possibly cooking meat or processing fat using pottery vessels. Concentrations of conjoinable pottery around hearth features reveal that hearths were centers of activity. Analysis of conjoinable pottery within the excavated areas also indicates that artifacts were moved for the purposes of maintenance and cleaning of the hearths and activity areas.     

山东新石器时代早期考古新收获

山东地区的史前考古工作,始于1930年举世闻名的章丘市龙山镇城子崖龙山文化遗址的发掘.至80年代末期止,经过近60年的艰难探索,几经高潮,逐步建立了距今7300年至2200年左右,前后承袭、持续不断的北辛文化、大汶口文化、龙山文化、岳石文化和齐鲁文化的考古学文化发展谱系,表明……     

How Did Mississippians Prepare Maize? The Application of Compound‐Specific Carbon Isotope Analysis to Absorbed Pottery Residues From Several Mississippi Valley Sites

A newly developed compound‐specific stable carbon isotope technique allows the detection of maize in absorbed organic pottery residues. This method was applied to absorbed organic residues from a variety of Mississippi Valley potsherds, and successfully identified maize components. Maize was cooked in sampled vessels less often than expected, but otherwise fitted expected patterns of maize use derived from stable carbon isotope analysis of human bone from the region. Absorbed organic pottery residue analysis is useful in determining pottery use, particularly in concert with other analytical methods.