Playful heritage: excavating Ancient Greece in New York City

This article examines how concepts of ‘play’ can be used within studies of cultural heritage to build an alternative to the dominant use of consumer-orientated models within current scholarship. Using the example of how the traditions, motifs and history of Ancient Greece have been reused within New York, from the nineteenth century to the present day this work demonstrates that this is a heritage that has been ‘played with’ by successive generations as a means of establishing identity within the metropolis. Whilst the ideals of Athenian democracy and classical learning inspired the formation of the early American republic, these associations were brought into wider usage in New York with the arrival of significant Greek immigration into the city during the twentieth century. This provided a new opportunity of a playful use of Ancient Greek heritage as this émigré community built new identities and became established in the metropolis. The Greek American enclave of Astoria, located in the borough of Queens, will be the focus of this study as the site where this playful use of heritage has taken place, undertaken both by members of the Greek American community and also by individuals and groups responding to their presence.     

古代世界的共和主义

古代世界的共和主义首先是一种政体实践,以罗马共和国为典型。发端于希腊的古典政治思想把它归结为混合政体,和君主制以及民主制严格区分开来。因此,它不仅是对君主制的反对,也是对民主制的反对。以此来看,古代共和主义和现代共和主义具有十分不同的意味。     

Ancient DNA in human bones from Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in Greece and Crete

Attempts were made to detect ancient DNA (aDNA) in samples of 88 human skeletons from eight Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in Greece and Crete. Ancient DNA was absent in specimens from Nea Nikomedia, Lerna, Karaviádena (Zakro), Antron Grave Circle A and Mycenae Grave Circle A. For each of three skeletons from Antron Grave Circle B that were sampled, polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) gave products for nuclear but not mitochondrial DNA, but amplicon yield was low and inconsistent with replicate PCRs failing to give reproducible results. With specimens from Mycenae Grave Circle B, evidence for mitochondrial aDNA was obtained for four of the 22 skeletons that were studied, and at Kouphovouno evidence for mitochondrial and/or nuclear aDNA was obtained with eight of the 20 skeletons that were examined. We conclude that, although aDNA might be present in some Eastern Mediterranean skeletons from later centuries of the Bronze Age, it is not commonly found in material from this period and is likely to be absent from older material.     

古希腊政治文化的生成基础

古希腊政治文化是研究现代西方政治文化的重要逻辑起点,古希腊政治文化以其对民主、法治、自由、平等等内在价值理念的追求对现代政治文化的形成和发展产生了深刻的影响。本文从自然地理、经济、社会和政治四个维度对古希腊政治文化产生的基础进行了探讨,力求从源头上对古希腊政治文化的生成环境给予全景性的呈现。     

Ancient woodland boundaries in Europe

In Western and Central Europe, many woods are clearly separated from the surrounding countryside by permanent physical boundaries. While such boundaries are now out of use, in the past they were widespread and important landscape features. This paper argues that many woodland boundaries originate from the Middle Ages and perhaps even more from the Early Modern Period. Their existence was connected to a specific form of woodland management (coppicing) but also to ownership structures and through these to grazing regimes. With their various forms, permanent woodland boundaries served to separate woodland from the surrounding countryside both in a legal and physical sense. There are four basic types of permanent woodland boundaries: woodbanks, walls, stone rows and lynchets, all of which can still be studied in the landscape today. Because of their varied state of preservation and also because of the difficulties in creating relative chronologies, dating woodland boundaries is a very challenging task. However, even a basic typology can provide valuable information for a number of scientific disciplines, including landscape history, historical geography, archaeology and ecology. Permanent woodland boundaries are a part of European cultural heritage. They should be recognised and protected similarly to all other ancient landscape features.     

Ancient Greece: Recent developments in Aegean archaeology and regional studies

This review begins by defining the diverse field of Greek archaeology. Based on our own expertise, we focus on recent advances in the study of ancient Greece, especially the prehistoric Aegean, and on regional approaches, primarily those associated with archaeological surface survey. General developments in method and theory are addressed as they relate to several major topics: social complexity, Aegean chronology, writing systems, exchange, and regional studies.     

Office Cultures and Corporate Memory: Some Archaeological Perspectives

It is only when one moves home or office that one really thinks about what gets left behind, what is discarded, and what we decide to keep. How we deal with this in our personal lives is interesting enough, where senses of loss and discard are potentially heightened given the intimate heritage which many familiar objects and items possess. But what happens when the transition is corporate, when an organisation moves? Here, briefly, is an archaeological perspective on the move English Heritage made in 2006, from its long-time HQ in Savile Row (London, UK) to new accommodation in Holborn and elsewhere.     

关于重构中国古代史体系的思考

关于古史分期的问题已经讨论70多年了。虽然学者们并无达成共识,但大多数人已放弃了奴隶社会主张。通过分析国家的特征,我认为应把中国历史分为酋邦时代、封建王国时代、转型时期和专制帝国时代等几个时代,其中专制帝国时代又可分为汉民族第一帝国时期、汉民族第二帝国时期和多民族帝国时期三个时期。     

A Regional Approach to Ancient Urban Studies in Greece Through Multi-Settlement Geophysical Survey

The systematic exploration of large archaeological sites in the Mediterranean has evolved considerably since the “big dig” excavations. Pedestrian field surveying and remote sensing applications, including satellite and airborne image analysis, are now practical and relatively cost-efficient methods of characterizing large and diachronically diverse landscapes on regional scales. However, the use of geophysical techniques as a means for exploring manifold archaeological contexts is still in its infancy. In this paper, we highlight the advantages of archaeological geophysics to conduct regional surveys in the Mediterranean. Through a multi-site geophysical fieldwork campaign to investigate the patterns and dynamics of ancient cities in Greece, we show how geophysics offer new opportunities for characterizing the spatial attributes and regional dynamics of urban landscapes, and, in doing so, we make an argument for its wider adoption on regional survey projects.     

Ancient soil resources of the Usumacinta River Region,Guatemala

In this study we present the results of a combination of methods used to identify possible agricultural activity of the ancient Maya in the Usumacinta River Basin in Guatemala. These methods included stable carbon isotope analysis of bulk soil organic matter, soil profile investigations and a spatial model of gentle slopes and well-drained soils to identify favorable agricultural conditions. Stable carbon isotope analysis of bulk soil organic matter in particular offers potentially direct evidence of agricultural activity. The δ¹³C results suggest that there is a strong signature of C₄ plants, such as maize and tropical grasses, throughout the study area. Further, the current soil conditions and extent of relatively gently sloped areas are favorable to agriculture. Overall, the results are supportive of the hypothesis that the area, located between the polities of Piedras Negras and Yaxchilán, was agriculturally important to surrounding areas.     

New Middle Palaeolithic sites from the Mani Peninsula,Southern Greece

We here report the first results from a systematic research project in Mani (Southern Greece), which includes survey and test excavations. Forty-six caves, rockshelters and open-air sites in lowland settings were surveyed. Geomorphological data were collected in order to assess how geological processes affect the preservation of sites and bias site distribution patterns. Artifacts manufactured from non-local rock indicate potential raw material transfers and suggest links among the different regions of Mani, related to mobility patterns. Our research in the Mani has nearly doubled the number of known Middle Palaeolithic sites from the region and confirmed that the peninsula has the strongest ‘Neanderthal signal’ identified to date in Greece. Almost all sites are located at coastal areas. Despite the influence of Pleistocene landscape dynamics, this distribution emerges as a persistent pattern, perhaps indicating a preference for coastal locations. The Neanderthal occupation of Mani can illuminate important aspects of Middle Palaeolithic adaptation in one of the southernmost coastal regions of Europe.     

Housing People in Medieval Greece

Despite the large number of publications related to house architecture in Greece, usually post-Medieval rather than Medieval, scholars have rarely examined domestic space as a boundary and, in particular, a system of activity organization. Architects, the scholars who most commonly investigate houses, have mainly been interested in the physical appearance of structures rather than the social and organizational aspects of housing in Greece. The goal of this paper is to look at the uses of space within houses in the Middle Byzantine and Frankish periods, reconstructed from excavation and survey plans.     

大殖民运动对希腊经济发展的影响

公元前8至前6世纪希腊的大殖民运动不仅解决了人口过剩问题,同时也开拓了海外市场,刺激了希腊商业贸易的发展。殖民运动对希腊经济发展产生了推动作用,促进了希腊经济的繁荣。     

Ancient Greek Mercenaries: Facts,Theories and New Perspectives

This article presents an overview of the historiography of Greek mercenaries and the proliferation of the phenomenon during the fourth century BC. It evaluates theoretical approaches to the political, economic and military roles that mercenaries played in Classical Greece during that century. In doing so, it considers the ways that interstate relations between the poleis shaped the development and recruitment of this form of soldier. The article disentangles the mercenary from a rich body of scholarship in economic history, demonstrating that analysis of the roles and functions of this figure can shed light on other dimensions of the Classical period, including international relations. Finally, it signals paths that the study of Greek mercenaries might take in the coming years.     

Apollo and the Virgin: The Changing Meanings of a Sacred Site on Anafi

The ruins of an ancient Greek temple on a Cycladic island form part of an Orthodox Christian shrine. To local people and returning migrants, the site is that of their patron saint; its pre‐Christian past is irrelevant except in so far as it establishes their specific link with the ancient world, and thus with national claims of unbroken continuity between modern and ancient Greece. To early travellers and antiquarians, and to today’s archaeologists, it has been primarily the ancient site which is of interest, while tourists are more concerned in finding “an unspoilt island”. A historical survey of information about the ancient and the Christian site reveals ambiguities and confusions about both. These multiple meanings for locals and scholars are discussed.     

东北古史分期探赜

本文认为东北地区是中华文明重要的起源地之一 ,从东北古史自身的发展阶段和特点出发 ,可将东北古史分为五期 ,即蒙昧至文明开端时期 ;东北各民族及地方政权分立迭起时期 ;隋唐王朝羁縻统治时期 ;辽金北方王朝统治时期 ;元明清中央王朝统治时期     

古陶瓷科学技术研究在科技考古中的三例应用

利用多元统计分析方法研究了从杭州古中河南段采集的月白釉瓷片,浙江临安天目山地区发现的黑釉瓷片和景德镇历代青花瓷片的胎、釉化学组成和青花色料的变化规律。从而讨论了杭州古中河南段采集的瓷片可能就是凤凰山下万松林附近的修内司官窑制品;指山临安天目山地区新发现的窑群和黑釉瓷才是名副其实的天目窑和天目瓷;发现了元代以及明初洪武和永乐朝青花瓷所用的料可能是来自西域的进口料,而宣德青花瓷所用的色料多数可能是国产的粘土矿。     

Geoarchaeology of Ancient Aulis (Boeotia,Central Greece): human occupation and Holocene landscape changes

This article presents the results of a coring operation which brought to light new evidence for the evolution of the coastal plain of Aulis (Boeotia, Central Greece) in the Holocene. Thanks to Homer, Aulis is best known as the gathering point of the Achaean fleet before it sailed to Troy and a sanctuary of the goddess Artemis. Ancient sources and archaeological evidence suggest the presence of an ancient marine bay, potentially used as a harbor. In the course of investigation, we drilled two cores, to a maximum depth of 4.20 m in the marshy lowlands and performed mollusc and micro-paleontological identifications, laser grain size analyses, and magnetic susceptibility measurements in order to reveal the facies evolution of the area. We obtained a chronostratigraphy sequence through a series of seven AMS ¹⁴C radiocarbon dates. Our study shows that the area was affected by a shallow marine incursion from the first half of the 6th millennium BC and gradually turned into a succession of shallow marine/lagoon environments from ca. 5000 cal. BC to the 2nd Century AD, and into a confined lagoon environment during the Roman and Byzantine periods.