香港新石器时代斧、锛生产系统的重建:以西贡沙下遗址为例

本文以近年发现的香港西贡沙下遗址出土物为例,借助于新几内亚民族志中有关石斧锛制造的记录,运用"操作链"的分析路径对沙下遗址新石器时代石斧锛作坊的生产系统进行了初步重建。将石斧锛的制造过程分为原料采备与毛坯预制、粗坯整形、研磨成器三个阶段,对各生产阶段产品的变化以及香港新石器时代石器专业作坊的兴衰做了讨论,认为在香港新石器时代晚期,石斧锛生产已趋于专业化。     

Clearances and Clearings: Deforestation in Mesolithic/Neolithic Britain

Clearances, interpreted from pollen records during the Mesolithic and Neolithic of Europe, are generally ascribed to purposive deforestation which is compatible with the transition model, whereby early Neolithic economic strategies are a development of late Mesolithic intensification of wild plant food husbandry. This paper considers the role of natural processes in creating clearings and the role of inadvertent impact of human activity on forest processes, including woodland regeneration. The role of climate, wind-throw and lightning strikes in creating clearings and forest instability is emphasised and the evidence discussed from sites which may be interpreted as resulting from opportunistic human use of natural clearings. Unfortunately, regional pollen diagrams lack sufficient spatial resolution to detect the size of isolated clearings or establish the spatial variation in forest composition that was intimately related both to forest ecology and the effects of subtle human impacts. This may be the major reason for an apparent contradiction between pollen evidence of Neolithic impact and the archaeological record. Moreover, early Neolithic agricultural activity may have been concentrated in valley bottoms, which is undetectable in regional pollen diagrams. Alternative models need to be considered, which include culturally specific exploitation of the local environment, along with the inadvertent ecological repercussions of pre-agricultural and early-agricultural human activities in naturally dynamic woodlands.     

Comparing Axe Heads of Stone,Bronze, and Steel: Studies in Experimental Archaeology

Abstract

This paper presents inferences based on the results of an experimental project comparing the effectiveness of stone, bronze, and steel axes in felling trees. The study shows that bronze is as efficient as steel for this task, and therefore the two material types can be considered equivalent when comparing technologies. We support the findings of other studies indicating that metal axes are more efficient than stone axes in a number of ways other than effort expended. Other variables that affect tree felling efficiency are discussed. Tree type, tree diameter, and axe type are the most important, but other factors may also be significant. The use of regionally specific estimates for tree felling time is suggested when making cultural inferences based upon experimental data.     

Non-Megalithic Long Barrows and Allied Structures in the British Neolithic. By Ian Kinnes

This paper reviews the evidence for sophisticated designed landscapes in medieval England. It argues that the claims made for such landscapes have been exaggerated, and suggests that while medieval elites clearly altered the surroundings of their residences on a grand scale, such activity was generally concerned with the display of symbols of lordly status, usually involving the control of superior resources of production. There is little evidence for the complex approaches, carefully composed views, contrived sylvan settings or abstract aesthetic schemes suggested by many archaeologists, and ‘designed landscape’ is a term best reserved for post-medieval contexts.     

中国新石器时代遗址的分布规律

中国幅员辽阔,不同地区的地形、地貌及生态环境都直接影响史前遗址的分布。武夷山至南岭一线以南的华南地区,石灰岩洞穴较多,新石器时代早中期多洞穴遗址;新石器时代晚期洞穴遗址基本消失,贝丘、台地、沙丘、山岗遗址增多。长江流域,新石器时代早期有少量洞穴遗址;新石器时代中期遗址大多分布在大的山脉与两湖平原的过渡地区,新石器时代中期晚段和新石器时代晚期遗址大多扩展到两湖平原和长江下游平原。黄河流域,新石器时代早中期遗址分布于太行山和豫西山地与华北平原的交汇区,新石器时代晚期遗址则扩展到渭河平原、华北平原和黄淮平原。北方沙漠草原地区,新石器时代遗址大多分布在既有利于狩猎上,又有利于农业的河流沿岸。     

新石器时代石材绳切技术研究

本文通过对小南山主峰上新石器时代墓葬出土的一件石材的照片的展示与文字描述,论述了人类前金属时代发明的最高级的石质材料切割技术--绳切技术的两种形式,以及它们各自的技术原理与加工方式和加工对象,提出弧线绳切技术和直线绳切技术概念;通过对弧线绳切技术加工痕迹的深入研究,提出弧线绳切技术加工痕迹的判定标准.