West Indian Archaeology. 3. Ceramic Age

Irving Rouse once calculated that more than 90% of all pre-Columbian artifacts from the West Indies are made of clay. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that the vast majority of research in the region has focused on the ceramic age cultures. The review begins by considering the early ceramic age peoples whose pottery is classified as part of the Saladoid series. These peoples entered the Antilles about 500 B.C. and settled all of the islands as far north as Puerto Rico. For as yet unknown reasons their northward progress was halted in Puerto Rico for nearly 1000 years. The post-Saladoid cultures of the Lesser Antilles, about whom very little is known, and the so-called Ostionoid peoples of the Greater Antilles and Bahama archipelago are discussed next. New, detailed studies of subsistence, settlement patterns, social organization, and iconography are contributing to a richer knowledge of the patterns and processes of cultural evolution in an insular setting.     

The Unflinching Mr. Smith and the Nuclear Age**

This article focuses on the U.S. diplomat and nuclear arms control negotiator Gerald (Gerry) Coat Smith in order to cast new light on the importance of diplomats in the context of the set of international activities currently labelled as “science diplomacy.” Smith, a lawyer by training, was a key negotiator in many international agreements on post-WW2 atomic energy projects, from those on uranium prospecting and mining, to reactors technologies to later ones on non-proliferation and disarmament. His career in science (nuclear) diplomacy also epitomized the shortcomings of efforts to align other countries’ posture on nuclear affairs to U.S. wishes. In particular, the unswerving diplomat increasingly understood that strong-arm tactics to dissuade other countries from acquiring nuclear weapons would not limit proliferation. Not only did this inform later U.S. diplomacy approaches, but it lent itself to the ascendancy of the new notion of “soft power” as critical to the re-definition of international affairs.     

A Bronze Age gold torc from Sudbrook, Lincs.

An important find of a Bronze Age gold bar-torc from Sudbrook, Lincs. is described. Study of its closer parallels suggests that it belongs to a sub-group of the much larger family of bar-torcs known from Britain, Ireland and France during the Middle to later Bronze Age.     

Sheep wool in Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe

This study presents the results of a series of wool measurements from Bronze Age and Iron Age skins and textiles from Hallstatt, and Bronze Age textiles from Scandinavia and the Balkans. A new method of classification that was set up and applied on mostly mineralised Iron Age material has now been applied to a large body of non-mineralised material from the Bronze and Iron Ages. Three types of microscopes were used and their advantages and disadvantages assessed. The results of the investigation cast new light on sheep breeding and fibre processing in prehistoric Europe, and suggest that different sheep breeds existed in Bronze Age Europe.     

迈锡尼时代--希腊英雄神话和史诗的摇篮

迈锡尼时代(约公元前1600-前1100年)是古希腊史前文化发展的一个十分重要而特殊的阶段,属于希腊本土青铜文化(希腊底文化)晚期,也是其鼎盛期,其文化持续发展达500年之久.