浙江仙居岩画的微腐蚀断代

微腐蚀测年通过观测矿物晶体上的"石亏"来获知岩画的制作年代,是一种无损的"直接断代法"。仙居岩画的测年工作主要在送龙山和小方岩两处地点开展,经过观测,研究人员从岩画刻槽中取得了十一组石亏微腐蚀数据,以及两组来自吴芾墓附属石刻的校准数据。由校准后的年代计算结果可知,小方岩岩画的制作开始于东吴末年,贯穿了两晋及南北朝时期,一直延续至唐初,而送龙山岩画则为唐代作品。     

基于HSI彩色模型灰度分量的宁夏岩画断代研究初探

岩画是古代先民生产、生活、祭祀等活动的生动记载,是人类文明的史诗,岩画的断代一直是岩画研究的难点,文中提出了一种基于色度、饱和度和灰度(HSI)彩色模型的数字图像处理技术提取岩画灰度值(I)的方法,利用岩画灰度值与岩画作画年代之间的线性可比关系,测定岩画的年代。此方法能提取整个岩画中的灰度值,避免了手工提取有限个点的缺陷。试验结果表明此方法能为岩画的断代提供一种可参考的、简便的、快速的计算机解决方法,但测定年代的准确性依赖于选取的岩画标尺年代的准确性。     

Rock art on Socotra,Yemen: the discovery of a petroglyph site on the island's south coast.

Recent fieldwork on the south coast of the island of Socotra, Yemen, has revealed a hitherto unknown petroglyph site. This site represents the first rock art to have been recorded on the south coast, an area generally regarded as being unpopulated up until the recent past. The corpus of recorded petroglyphs includes feet, cupules, anthropomorphic figures and geometric motifs, whose designs parallel those from known rock‐art sites on the north coast. The importance of this site is that it provides us with the first glimpse into the religious and socio‐political lives of the inhabitants of the previously unknown southern half of Socotra. Placing these petroglyphs within the broader context of rock‐art studies on the island of Socotra has also allowed us to begin to disentangle the skewed view of Socotra's inhabitants.     

Socioreligious context and rock art in east-central California

Interpretations of rock art typically focus on the symbolic meaning of the art, treating the paintings and engravings implicitly as passive iconographic texts. Rock art, however, is the product of active ritual and ceremony. As such it played an important role in the socioreligious lives of its creators and users. Here I provide a study of the socioreligious contexts of the pictographs and petroglyphs of eastern California, North America, emphasizing the painted art of the Tubatulabal and Coso Shoshone territories and the petroglyphs of the Coso region and using only archaeological data. This requires, first, establishing the chronological placement of this art. Based on a variety of lines of evidence the pictographs and some of the petroglyphs are argued to be historic in age. An ethnography of communications model is then used to provide a conceptual basis for investigating socioreligious contexts and ritual functions of the art. Message content is studied using a factor analysis of painted motif types and an examination of the distribution of sites predominated by certain factors. Two motif complexes, or message content groups, are identified: a Tubatulabal ritual community, employing geometric designs, and a Coso Shoshone community, exhibiting a predominance of representational pictographs. Analysis of message form, channels, settings, and inferred ritual participants suggests that Tubatulabal art resulted from community rituals, in which all the inhabitants of a hamlet would have directly or indirectly participated. Knowledge of the rules for creating and interpreting the parietal art would have been common to all in the community. In contrast, pictographs of the Coso Shoshone were the result of private rituals, with limited numbers of participants and witnesses. The message communicated in the ritual and the painted art would have necessarily been arcane, and few in the community at large may have even known of the creation of this rock art. The Coso petroglyphs, also created by the Coso Shoshone but apparently by a different ritual community within the population, had a different set of rules for ritual actions and symbolic interpretation. The ceremonies creating the engravings were commonplace, yet logically were conducted in private or with few participants, suggesting that the knowledge concerning the means for undertaking and interpreting this type of ritual was widely known throughout the population.     

土遗址病害的评估体系研究

土遗址病害评估是对土遗址进行科学保护、管理、利用的一项基础性工作,但土遗址病害评估的体系还没有建立。为此,通过对土遗址病害的分析,借鉴地质工程、岩土工程的相关理论和方法,采用逐次分析的方法评估土遗址的载体和本体病害,探讨了土遗址病害评估体系。通过研究认为,可以从地质灾害、稳定性、表面风化三方面对土遗址病害程度进行评估。地质灾害和稳定性有其它学科相对成熟的理论和方法可以借鉴和采用。表面风化评估应考虑到风化剥蚀速率、遗址保存程度和文物价值三个方面,引进风化度和文物价值权重系数的概念,利用模糊数学原理对表面风化的危险程度进行综合评估是一种新思路。     

Inscribed landscapes in the Black Desert: Petroglyphs and kites at Wisad Pools,Jordan

Petroglyphs are well known in the Negev, eastern and southern Jordan, and the Arabian Peninsula. Intensive documentation of hundreds of petroglyphs at the site of Wisad Pools in the Black Desert of eastern Jordan records animals, humans, hunting traps and geometric designs, connecting people and places to the larger landscape. These were recorded at the landscape scale with drones and photogrammetry, and the local scale through the construction of a database combined with GPS recording and terrestrial photogrammetry. Petroglyphs of animals and hunting traps are significant because the site is located within a landscape that includes enormous and enigmatic hunting traps (desert kites). Mapping these depictions highlights typological distribution, association of types, and relation to landscape features as well as the topography of the basalt boulders on which they were pecked. The depictions of animals and hunting traps provide clues about the use of desert kites, the social role of hunting, communal gatherings, and feasting in the region.     

The Use and Deployment of Modern Wood Samples as a Proxy Indicator for Biogeochemical Processes on Archaeological Sites Preserved in situ in a Variety of Environments of Differing Saturation Level

Abstract

In situ preservation of archaeological sites is becoming an ever increasing trend as a means of preserving our cultural heritage. In connection with this the environmental conditions, such as water level, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH and water chemistry, of a site are often monitored. It is generally agreed that a waterlogged and anoxic environment is essential for optimal preservation conditions but the set-up and maintenance of an environmental monitoring programme can be costly.

This paper discusses the design and use of a system whereby modern samples of wood can, with a minimal disturbance of the soil, easily be deployed and retrieved from archaeological sites. The system was deployed in an unsaturated environment, an environment with fluctuating water levels and a fully saturated peat bog. The samples were assessed after two years using microscopic, physical and molecular biological methods, and the types of wood-degrading organisms seen were compared with the results of environmental measurements. Modern wood samples were used, as the microbial ecology of wood-degrading organisms in these different types of environments is relatively well documented. Preliminary conclusions show that the deterioration processes of modern wood samples in these environments act as a good proxy indicator of the environmental conditions and biogeochemical processes ongoing at a site.     

Red marals at Satakular in the Alai

The article focuses on a newly discovered petroglyphic site on the Satakular River, Ongudai Region, Altai Republic. Rock art images were found in two areas on the walls of a natural groove running through a huge monolith rock. The images include several pecked representations and two unique red paintings of Siberian deer (marals). The images have parallels in the petroglyphs of the Minusinsk tradition in the middle reaches of the Yenisei River, the Afanasyevo culture at Kalbak-Tash Mount, and the Kuilu rock shelter. An analysis of Kalbak-Tash analogies suggests that the Satakular petroglyphs represent a pair of male and female maral deer. The painted images themselves demonstrate expressed artistic skill and the rock monolith with its unusual groove represents a unique site.     

A FIELD METHOD FOR INVESTIGATING the DISTRIBUTION of ROCK ART

Summary: Recent studies of prehistoric rock art have analysed its position in the landscape and have suggested that it played an important role in a mobile pattern of settlement. But the distribution of petroglyphs is usually taken as given, with the result that it is difficult to assess the significance of this kind of patterning. We argue that such evidence should be compared with the distribution of uncarved rocks across the surrounding area, and illustrate this procedure by two case studies from northern England. In these examples rock carvings were carefully sited at viewpoints and may have overlooked important routes across the landscape.     

ROCK ART SITES IN JAMAICA AND THEIR ETHNOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION

26 sites with Pre‐Columbian (Taíno) rock art are known in Jamaica, most with petroglyphs only, but there are four with painted images, and three of these are discussed: Mountain River Cave, Potoo Hole, and Spot Valley Cave. In addition, an account is given of the Warminster rock shelter, which has petroglyphs described as among the best remaining in Jamaica. Spot Valley Cave was newly surveyed in 2005, with the help of the Jamaican Caves Organization, and in the same year a rescue operation to restore the Warminster petroglyphs was carried out, in cooperation with Dr Johannes Loubser. Comparisons are made, where appropriate, to Taíno artefacts in different materials, and also to Pre‐Columbian images on other islands in the Caribbean, notably Puerto Rico. The interpretation of the Taíno images, in Jamaica and elsewhere, relies to a considerable extent on the “Account of the Antiquities of the Indians”, compiled by Fray Ramón Pané in 1494–1498, on the express instructions of Columbus. Whatever the shortcomings of a narrative compiled by an outsider, we would be much worse off without it.     

Humayma's notched peak: a focus of Nabataean and Roman veneration and civic identity

The most distinctive landscape feature at the southern Jordanian site of Humayma is Jebel Qalkha's highest peak, which is split at the top by a wide notch. The Nabataean town of Hawara (Roman Hauarra/Hauara) was built on the plain immediately east of this peak. This paper draws on the site's foundation myth, petroglyphs, betyls and religious and civic structures to illustrate the significance of this notched peak for the site's ancient populations. The evidence suggests that this distinctive peak served as a focus of veneration and a marker of civic identity for Humayma's Nabataean and Roman inhabitants.     

PERSPECTIVES ON THE DATING OF PREHISTORIC GREAT BASIN PETROGLYPHS BY NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS

The possible relative dating of petroglyphs by nuclear measurements on desert varnish is explored. The abundances of 30 major and trace elements in desert varnish samples from the Grimes Point petroglyph site in western Nevada were measured by neutron activation analysis techniques. Samples of both desert varnish and heart rock from a non-artifactual test boulder of andesite were studied and the elements tungsten, arsenic, antimony, thorium, uranium, manganese and cerium exhibited the greatest enrichments in the surface samples and may be of use for dating purposes.     

Rock art survey in the ancient oasis of Salūt (northern Sultanate of Oman): a variegated iconographic record

The systematic survey of petroglyphs in the area of the ancient oasis of Salūt, in central Oman, highlighted a rich repertoire of representations that are here discussed against the background of Arabian rock art in general. The region displays an extremely rich number of engravings along the slopes of the Jabal Hammah, north of the main site of Salūt. The majority of the petroglyphs find abundant fitting comparisons in the region. The notable exception of the motif of the “man with halberd” is presented, as it appears to be significantly rare and underlines interpretative issues concerning the so-called T-shaped signs, ubiquitous in Arabian rock art. One of its occurrences was radiocarbon dated to before the mid-first millennium BCE. This and other, relative hints for reconstructing the chronological context of the petroglyphs are discussed, indicating that engravings can be broadly dated from the second millennium BCE onwards.     

Methodological problems in the analysis of fossil non-artifactual wood assemblages from archaeological sites

The analysis of fossil wood fragments is often undertaken in relation to the archaeological excavation of a site. However, such analysis does not yet appear to have the strong methodological foundation that the investigation of many other classes of palaeoenvironmental evidence (e.g. seeds and pollen) have. Consequently, it is difficult to evaluate the value of fossil wood analysis at an archaeological site. Using data regarding non-artifactual wood assemblages at one site in southern Scotland, the relative merits of possible analysis are described and discussed. The results from such analyses tend to fall into two broad groups: (I) those of relatively high reliability, and (2) those of relatively low reliability. The results in the former group are often based on moderately secure methodology and tend to provide relatively non-interpretative information (e.g. species lists). On the other hand, those in the latter group are more often based on insecure interpretive methodology and provide relatively more stimulating information, such as evidence for prehistoric woodland management. There are many reasons for this situation, and these are discussed. In conclusion, it is argued that to increase the reliability of results in the second group (in particular), a full understanding of the taphonomy of non-artifactual fossil wood assemblages is needed, and that once this is available attention can then be paid, as elsewhere in environmental archaeology, to the problems of providing statistically valid samples for analysis.     

Deep-Water Shipwreck Initial Site Formation: The Equation of Site Distribution

Deep-water shipwrecks and associated debris often sit on the bottom with relatively little disturbance, except for the natural bio-chemical deterioration. The distribution of shipwreck material can often be calculated mathematically as a function of heading, speed, time, and water depth. The Equation of Site Distribution is a method aimed to better understand deep-water site formation and the wrecking events themselves. With the use of a few relatively simple formulas, key elements of a site can be discovered, as well as greater insight of the overall wrecking event achieved.     

The Petroglyphs of Shenah

Shenah is an area of high biological and geological diversity, supporting an active and developing population. Its resources include extensive archaeological sites, of which the petroglyphs, beehive tombs and other archaeological sites deserve more detailed study to determine their importance. Some light is thrown on the former occurrence of wild ungulates in the region. The area has potential for tourism but the petroglyphs are highly vulnerable to damage.     

Artificial Intelligence, 3D Documentation,and Rock Art—Approaching and Reflecting on the Automation of Identification and Classification of Rock Art Images

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory - Rock art carvings, which are best described as petroglyphs, were produced by removing parts of the rock surface to create a negative relief. This...     

A NEW METHOD TO DATE PETROGLYPHS

A new calibrated method based on erosion phenomena is presented for the dating of petroglyphs (rock carvings and engravings) and geomorphic surfaces. In contrast to previous methods of petroglyph dating, which sought to determine the age of various mineral and organic deposits coating the art, microerosion analysis attempts to ascertain the time of mark production itself, by creating a geomorphologically based time frame. The method involves the establishment of calibration curves for the crucial variables to be considered. These are the rock type and climate of a particular region, microerosional indices and age. The theory, practical application, and prerequisites of the method are considered, and the paper concludes by defining the disadvantages and advantages of the method.     

Monitoring through replication: Design and evaluation of the monitoring reburial at the Laetoli trackway site

Abstract

How is it possible to monitor the condition of a site or artefact after it has been reburied? In the case of the reburial of the extremely fragile and remote site of Laetoli in Tanzania this problem was addressed by creating a replica reburial close to the site in 1995. The method and materials used to rebury the trackway are replicated in the monitoring trench, which thus provides a ‘window’ on the condition of the trackway. A series of samples and indicator objects of different materials placed in the trench are intended to provide an understanding of the burial environment over the long term. Additionally, triangular recesses with sharply defined edges were cut into the floor of the trench to allow determination of the mechanical stability of the tuff to deformation under the reburial overburden. The trench was lined with root-inhibiting Biobarrier® geotextile and then reburied in the same manner as the trackway; existing acacia trees at the edge of the trench were allowed to remain. In 1997 excavation of part of the trench was undertaken. Of particular interest was the fine detail of the topography of the floor of the trench and the effectiveness of the Biobarrier®. Geosynthetics showed no evidence of deterioration, but severe degradation of all wood samples without preservative chemical treatment and of indicator objects indicated a very aggressive environment. Many of the findings, such as survival or deterioration of the indicator objects, use of geosynthetics and the efficacy of Biobarrier®, have relevance to a broader understanding of buried environments.     

Eco-Archaeometry: Interdisciplinary Applications in Egypt

Abstract

One of the problems currently faced by modern society is the worldwide catastrophic deterioration of archaeological and cultural sites directly exposed to the action of the environment. Frequently, it has proved difficult to identify the processes responsible for these deteriorations, which are often the result of an abrupt change in site specific environmental conditions. To understand them a broad interdisciplinary approach is needed, and consequently, a substantial input from several disciplines, such as archaeology and archaeometric, environmental and conservation sciences, is necessary. Such interaction is particularly necessary on a basic research level, and can best be achieved if the relevant disciplines are drawn together a priori on equal footing into a complementary effort in eco-archaeometry. The primary goal of eco-archaeometry is to identify and quantify physicochemical processes which cause the deterioration of ancient cultural patrimony. Its findings are essential prerequisites for the development of optimum, safe methods for conservation and preservation of ancient monuments. Some examples of the eco-archaeometric approach in Egypt are summarised and it is demonstrated that without an interdisciplinary approach such studies would not have been successful.