Demography and the extinction of European Neanderthals

Causes previously suggested for the sudden extinction of Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) in Europe, starting around 35,000 years ago, comprise food shortage, climatic effects and violence from Modern Humans. The aim here is to formulate a demographic model with reconstructed fertility and death rates, capable of modelling the population development under conditions of changing climate and prey availability, from the early appearance of Neanderthals in Europe about 260,000 years ago to their demise. Parameter variation studies are made for the parameters considered to have the highest uncertainty. Finally, the option of regional migration between northern, middle and southern Europe is added, in order to capture population movements away from a region in response to deteriorating or improving climate. This model accounts for population developments, including the re-population of the Middle and Northern regions of Europe during and after the warm Eem period. However, parameter choices that give plausible results during the initial 210,000 years also predict that the Neanderthals should have survived the latter part of the Weichselian ice age, despite competing for food with Modern Human newcomers during the last part of the period. The conclusion is that other reasons for extinction than climate or starvation must be sought.     

Non-dietary Marks in the Anterior Dentition of the Krapina Neanderthals

A sample of 82 anterior teeth from Krapina (Croatia) was studied using a light binocular microscope and a scanning electron microscope to document the presence of non-dietary dental scratches. The patterns of distribution, location and orientation of these marks suggest two different aetiologies: scratches on the labial-occlusal enamel border appear to be related to the action of clenching abrasive materials between teeth, while the scratches primarily in the centre of the labial face correspond to cutmarks as described by other researchers. These scratches may have been produced when flake tools involved in processing materials held between the anterior teeth came into contact with the labial enamel face. Alternatively, they may simply reflect some consistent operation which pulled hard objects across the labial surfaces of the anterior teeth. In either case, the marks on the central face of the labial surface provide evidence for manual dexterity in the Neanderthals. Of the seven Krapina individuals which show a predominant pattern, one shows a pattern of left oblique marks, while six provide evidence of right-handedness. Coupled with other Neanderthal or Upper Pleistocene individuals with these patterns, right-handedness is the dominant pattern in 90 per cent of the documented cases. One complicating factor in the analysis of these scratches in the Krapina hominids is that marks of a similar morphology are found in several anterior teeth of Ursus spelaeus from the site. While resembling the marks on the hominid incisors, the scratches on the bears lack a dominant orientation on the labial face and appear to be more variable in their widths. Despite the occurrence of some similarities in the enamel scratches between ursids and hominids at Krapina, the study of anterior dental marks provides information about manipulative activities which are unique to ancient humans. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Osteoarchaeol., 7 : 133–149 (1997) No. of Figures: 9. No. of Tables: 5. No. of References: 34.     

论欧洲认同和欧洲一体化中的认同问题

欧洲在历史上曾经有过以基督教为基础的文化上的同一性,但并非完全意义上的"欧洲认同".近代以来,民族国家的认同成为欧洲人们的主要和基本的认同.当代欧洲一体化中始终存在是否坚持民族特性/认同的斗争,一体化进程没有取消民族国家认同,也没有形成真正超越民族国家的欧洲认同.但是,欧洲民族国家的认同发生了变化,变得具有开放和兼容性.这对于当今时代人们对待"认同"问题,具有启示意义.     

Comparisons and the Case for Interaction among Neanderthals and Early Modern Humans in the Levant

There is good reason to believe that both archaic and anatomically modern humans occupied south-west Asia at the same time. On the assumption that this was indeed the case, this paper attempts to draw comparisons between the Neanderthals and their modern contemporaries and to examine the possibilities of interaction between the two.     

The Neanderthals of Okladnikov Cave Altai: Environment and Diet Based on Isotopic Analysis*

The discovery of a Mousteroid industry in the northwestern Altai represents a major finding in Eurasian Paleolithic studies. Isotopic analyses of bone collagen of late Western European Neanderthals have repeatedly indicated that they were extremely carnivorous. However, no corresponding information was previously available for the Neanderthals of the Altai. With this in mind, an isotopic study was conducted to assess the diet of the Middle Paleolithic inhabitants of Okladnikov Cave. Collagen was extracted from seven well preserved bone samples of adults and children and 13С/12С and 15N/14N ratios were calculated. The δ13С content suggests that all individuals were members of a local trophic chain based on plants of the moderate climatic zone. However, the δ15N content demonstrates that their trophic level was high. These findings suggest that the lifestyle of Neanderthals in the northwestern Altai was similar to that of the late European Neanderthals. Both evidently subsisted by hunting large herbivores.     

论中世纪晚期英国议会政治

在学术界,似乎有一个不证自明的定论,即：作为近代资本主义政治制度核心构件的议会政治是与中世纪封建社会无缘的。但事实上,在特定历史条件下,两也完全有可能联系在一起。英国由于在早期历史中形成了政治协商传统和初步成型的议会协商机制以及相应的社会化理念,从而为中世纪晚期出现议会政治奠定了必要的历史基础;但历史基础仅仅提供了议会政治早产的可能性,而将这种可能变为现实的决定性力量则是当时各种具体的特殊原因和个人因素构成的偶然机缘。换言之,中世纪晚期英国议会政治的早产是一种历史偶然现象。由此可见,偶然因素也是一种应当给予充分重视的历史决定性力量。     

清末商部的职权运作与局限性

商部创设后,为了推动工商实业的发展,逐渐在地方各省建立了自己的垂直机构,力图通过它们来实现、落实自己振兴实业的政策措施。由于清末特殊的历史环境和体制因素,使得商部的职权在实际运作过程中不能有效地发挥,反映了商部制度安排的历史局限性。     

浅析战后欧洲一体化理论

第二次世界大战以后,欧洲一体化的理论丰富多彩。如果按照民族国家在一体化中的作用来分,大致可分为超国家主义理论和国家中心主义理论。前者包括联邦主义、功能主义和新功能主义;后者包括邦联主义、政府间主义、自由政府间主义和民族国家选择论。本文对这几种理论分别进行了介绍和分析,以加深对欧洲一体化的理解。     

清末黄辅相之死摭疑

晚清名宦黄辅相的生平见于《清史稿》.但关于他的死亡记载,《清史稿》与他的行状存在不少歧出现象.本文比较歧出,根据红旗报捷制度的缺陷和行状作者黄彭年的背景进行分析,对不同记载的真实性进行了初步判定.     

晚清政府关于外国教会在华持有武装政策述论

关于外国教会在华持有武装问题,晚清政府实行的是有限禁止政策。这种政策由不同层次的基本政策和具体政策构成。造成这种政策的表面原因是《大清律例》自身的法律弹性和近代中外大局下的政教互动关系,根本原因还是晚清时期国力孱弱,政府无能。实施这种政策的目的是为了实现社会控制、维持中外相安、借用先进技术三个方面。该政策从1853年起步,至1908年成形,实施到1912年清政府灭亡结束。其中,以1901年为界,分为前后两个阶段。两阶段相比较,政策呈现出类型由简单而丰富、内容由粗疏而详明、执行由松弛而严格的三大特征。     

论欧洲一体化运动发生发展的基本历史动因

欧洲一体化运动是一场史无前例的人类工程。它诞生的前提条件是欧洲在本世纪前半期所经历的毁灭性灾难。欧洲人从中认识到了民族主义发展模式的危害,开始寻求共同发展、共同繁荣的道路。欧洲的历史为这个选择奠定了观念上、化上和社会形态上的基础。冷战的爆发使这一运动的发展获得了加速度。     

西欧骑士制度的社会影响

骑士制度是西欧中世纪社会的重要内容,它对中世纪社会的经济、政治、军事、生活方式、思想文化等都产生了深刻影响。由于它的存在,西欧中世纪社会具有许多与之相关的特征。     

清末教案频繁发生原因探析

清末,教案频繁发生。其原因有：政治利益的冲突;外来宗教与中国本土儒教、佛教的信仰冲突;传教士与中国官僚阶级、平民、会党等阶层的利益冲突。     

论湘军对晚清国家政权的影响

湘军,从1853年开始组建,至1864年攻陷天京,曾国藩将其解散为止,在近代中国的历史舞台上活跃了12年之久,在大清王朝镇压太平天国农民起义军中扮演了重要角色,挽救了清廷即将覆亡的命运。然而事情的发展往往带来出人意料的后果,湘军在征服太平天国的同时,也对晚清的国家政权产生了深刻而巨大的影响。     

Dry-bone manifestations of rickets in infancy and early childhood

Rickets and osteomalacia are the subadult and adult expressions of a disease in which the underlying problem is a failure to mineralize bone protein (osteoid). The most common cause of this disease is a physiological deficiency in vitamin D. The associated problems include deformed bones and this condition is well known in pre-modern medical texts and documents as a fairly common cause of morbidity. Given these facts, it is surprising that the literature on palaeopathology provides very little evidence of this disease in archaeological human skeletal samples. The medieval sample (N=687) of human remains from Wharram Percy, North Yorkshire, England contains a remarkable subsample of eight burials in which a spectrum of pathological features is expressed. The subsample includes infants ranging in age from 3 to 18 months at the time of death. Ten abnormal bone features were identified in the subsample, including: (i) cranial vault porosity; (ii) orbital roof porosity; (iii) deformation of the mandibular ramus; (iv) deformation of arm bones; (v) deformation of leg bones; (vi) flared costo-chondral ends of ribs; (vii) irregular and porous cortex of the costo-chondral ends of the ribs; (viii) abnormality of the growth plates of long bones; (ix) irregular and porous surfaces of the metaphyseal cortex; (x) thickening of the long bones, particularly in the metaphyseal areas. Not all of these features were found in all of the cases. Nevertheless, the overall pattern of skeletal abnormality fits well with the anatomical and radiological conditions associated with rickets. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.