A Behavioral Archaeologist Responds

The final contribution to the 2010 Society for American Archaeology Forum, “Assessing Michael B. Schiffer and his Behavioral Archaeology,” is Schiffer’s response to issues raised by Michael J. O’Brien and Alexander Bentley, Robert L. Kelly, Linda S. Cordell, Stephen Plog, and Diane Gifford-Gonzalez in their published contributions. This paper addresses several long festering issues, reiterates and clarifies some positions, and presents a few unpublished views.     

全球史视野下的秦汉考古学体系重构

秦汉考古学是中国考古学的重要组成部分,自近代西方考古学传入中国以来,秦汉考古就一直备受学界关注和重视,先后编撰出版了一系列秦汉考古教材,但由于理论构建与体系建设的滞后,阻碍了秦汉考古学的学科发展,重新构建秦汉考古学体系已刻不容缓。全球史从一种编纂世界历史的方法演变成为研究历史的一种新的视角,为从动态角度研究文化和历史变迁提供了新方法。在秦汉考古学体系的重构与建设中,我们在坚持唯物史观为指导的同时,应有选择地吸收借鉴全球史的理论方法。     

“公众考古学”和“公众考古理念”辨析

本文通过分析目前国际、国内关于Public Archaeology的研究现状和不同学术观点,提出Public Archaeology包括“公众考古学”和“公众考古理念”两个层面,并分别总结、归纳出公众考古学的研究内容和公众考古理念的内涵及其意义,提出我国应该重视公众考古学的学术研究,发展“有中国特色的”公众考古学。     

文博考古学科类属关系梳理

目前,在教育部学科分类体系和国家标准学科分类标准中,文博考古学科类属关系不统一。文物学始终没有获得科学界正式承认,给高校学科建设造成一定影响;考古学新升为一级学科,意味着"考古学与博物馆学"研究生专业名称面临调整,由此将出现"文化遗产与博物馆学"的二级学科;而将本科专业名称"博物馆学"改为"文物与博物馆学",又将使其与"文化遗产"学科分类不相同步。因此,文博考古学科类属关系需要统一,相关的专业名称与学科名称也应该一致。     

Introduction to Zooarchaeological Method and Theory: a Special Issue Honoring R. Lee Lyman

The Society for American Archaeology presented R. Lee Lyman with the Fryxell award for Interdisciplinary Excellence in Zooarchaeology in 2011. Lyman has produced over 120 journal articles or book chapters, and four single-authored books on the topic, and this issue honors his contributions to zooarchaeological method and theory with six original pieces by his peers. Arguably, his greatest impact has been in the field of vertebrate taphonomy and the development of a means to measure density-mediated bone attrition, but of equal importance was emphasis in the discipline that unit selection, or what one measures, should be linked to a particular research question. Lyman's work has also stressed the importance of making zooarchaeology relevant to modern issues of conservation biology.     

The material culture of the modern world

SUMMARY: We discuss results of a content analysis of material culture articles in Post-Medieval Archaeology in the context of the development of historical archaeology as a discipline. We conclude that the journal remains an important outlet for detailed field reports, but in recent years, influenced by social and anthropological theories, the discipline has matured and articles have changed from antiquarian artefact presentations to contextualized material culture studies. Expansion of the journal’s temporal frame to include the recent past has so far had little effect, but the journal has benefited from the broadened international range of articles and the intellectual and theoretical backgrounds they convey.     

传道授业 教泽惠远——在邹衡先生教导下成长

邹衡先生曾在北京大学考古系从事考古教学数十年,通过课堂教学和田野实习,培养了一批又一批的本科生和研究生。这些学生毕业后,多数为考古学研究不同程度地作出了贡献。因此,邹衡先生也是一位考古教育家。     

Archaeology as Anthropology Revisited

Anthropology was established in the USA during the middle of the nineteenth century. From the beginning, archaeology was considered a part of the discipline, a notion that continues to this day. However, over the course of the past 160 years, periodically, the place of archaeology within anthropology is questioned. Often, this has a reflection in the growth or shrinking in membership of the Archaeology Division of the American Anthropological Association. I explore these trends and try to explain them in terms of the history of anthropology.     

一个正在形成的考古学分支——读《杨鸿勋建筑考古学论文集(增订版)》

《杨鸿勋建筑考古学论文集(增订版)》已由清华大学出版社出版发行。该书是杨鸿勋先生数十年来致力于建筑考古学研究的总结,对建筑考古学学科的发展具有重要意义。     

The Tel Akko Total Archaeology Project (Akko,Israel): Assessing the suitability of multi-scale 3D field recording in archaeology

Abstract

Archaeology is a destructive discipline, and, unfortunately, the majority of methods employed by archaeologists to record and preserve the archaeological record consist of two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional (3D) subjects. Recent breakthroughs in 3D technology, however, have the potential to revolutionize the discipline. In recent years, multiple software suites capable of generating spatially accurate, photorealistic 3D models with a series of digital photographs have become available. Following a successful season of field testing in 2011, the Tel Akko Total Archaeology Project (Akko, Israel) expanded the use of Agisoft’s PhotoScan Pro—one of the commercially available software suites—to test the accuracy and suitability of the program for archaeological applications at multiple scales. After two years of field testing, it is clear that the implementation of PhotoScan Pro in archaeology facilitates unprecedented accuracy in field recording and digital heritage management, and provides a new outlet for the dissemination of archaeological data.     

Colonial Representations and Carthaginian Archaeology

In spite of the interest generated by Phoenician‐Punic Archaeology, this area of study has always been underestimated by comparison with Classical Archaeology. One of the main reasons for this is the persistence of a colonial representation of the ancient Mediterranean which assumes Greek culture to be the supreme expression of civilization. Other groups may imitate it through an acculturation process: Hellenization. As we shall see, this representation pervades even the Phoenician‐Punic history and archaeology university textbooks. Starting with the various reasons leading to this situation, I aim to focus on the interpretation given to the ancient excavations at Carthage and, specifically, to its architectural and urban record, since this was the area of study where the prejudices about the Phoenician‐Punic culture found an (albeit misunderstood) archaeological proof. I shall argue that the misinterpretation of these excavations is the key to understanding later developments and the general underestimation of Phoenician‐Punic Archaeology.     

河南灵宝市西坡遗址2001年春发掘简报

西坡遗址位于河南省灵宝市阳平镇西坡村西北 ,地处铸鼎原中部偏东 ,北距黄河约6公里 ,南约 2 5公里即为小秦岭北坡。遗址坐落于自西南向东北倾斜的黄土塬上 ,海拔 4 6 0米～ 4 72米。汇入黄河一级小支流沙河的夫夫河和灵湖河分别自遗址的东西两侧北流而去 ,优越的自然环境为古文化的发育提供了重要的基础。遗址跨西坡、许家、南涧、北涧等四个自然村 ,四周多为断崖。虽然现代村庄与道路等对遗址造成了一定程度的破坏 ,但现存面积仍达 4 0万平方米 ,为铸鼎原及其周围古遗址中规模较大者之一。(图一 )2 0 0 1年 3月～ 5月 ,由河南省文物考古…     

Trading Shovels for Controllers: A Brief Exploration of the Portrayal of Archaeology in Video Games

Archaeology has been a persistent theme for video games, from the long-running Indiana Jones and Lara Croft franchises to more recent uses of archaeology in games like Destiny and World of Warcraft. In these games, archaeology is often portrayed as a search for treasure among lost worlds that leads to looting and the destruction of cultural heritage. In this article, we review the current state of archaeological video games, including mainstream and educational games. While this is not an exhaustive discussion, it provides an introduction and overview to the current landscape. We propose that an understanding of current popular archaeological video games is important to archaeologists for three reasons: (1) it is a source of potentially dangerous misconceptions about the discipline that must be addressed; (2) it can be a source of inspiration for funding and a means to recruit new students to the discipline; and (3) games can be leveraged as teaching moments in classrooms and public discussions. It is important that archaeologists recognize the ways the discipline is being portrayed in such public contexts, in order to maximize the potential benefit for archaeology and to prevent further misconceptions about the subject.     

Voluntary regions and the case of Las Vegas

A shifting American cultural geography, stemming from clustering of like-minded people, has been much-discussed in recent years. The “voluntary region”, proposed by Wilbur Zelinsky in his path-breaking The cultural geography of the United States, is a regional construct relatively unexplored by cultural geographers that may help in their contributions to such conversations. As described by Zelinsky, voluntary regions are places that attract individual, like-minded people away from long-standing “traditional regions” based on a desire for amenity and economic opportunity. I review the concept and its sparse embrace in the literature and suggest that it has much to offer our discipline. Using Las Vegas as a paradigmatic example, I explore methods that can be used to explore the formation and character of voluntary regions. I argue that the voluntary region framework is an encompassing lens through which cultural geographers can examine the complex nature of place and regional construction at the hands of dynamic forces that lead people to resettle in new places.     

山西吉县挂甲山摩崖造像调查简报

2007年的调查发现,造像分布密集,范围不大,保存较好。雕凿手法有高浮雕、浅浮雕和线雕。龛窟可分五组:第一组有3个龛和1个题记,第二组有3个龛和4个题记,第三组有1个龛和3个题记,第四组有2个龛和4个题记,第五组有2个龛和2个题记。根据造像的特点等推断,其年代为北齐至宋金时期。     

黑龙江省绥滨县四十连遗址发掘报告

1978年,黑龙江省文物考古工作队对二九○农场四十连遗址进行了发掘,揭露面积200平方米,清理房址3座,发现了一些手制的陶器和少量的石器、铁器。该遗址是一处属于同仁一期文化的遗存。     

Liangzhu and Centennial Archaeology: The Underestimated Neolithic Age in China

The discovery in Yangshao, Mianchi, Henan in 1921 marked the beginning of modern Chinese archaeology. Nowadays, Chinese archaeology has gone through a full 100 years. Through the hard work of generations of archaeologists, Chinese archaeology has achieved sustained growth and development. Chinese archaeology has been advancing for a century and has made great contributions to the construction of Chinese history and culture. Archaeology has important practical significance in contemporary times. Archaeological exploration is not limited to discovering the past, but also lies in the thoughts of gazing at history in the current context. Chinese archaeology in the new era is committed to integrating the spirit of this discipline into cultural construction and social life, so as to learn the new by reviewing the past. After more than 80 years of archaeological exploration, many large tombs of the Liangzhu culture were discovered one after another, mainly including burial of jade, from the 1970s to the end of the 1980s. The ritual jade artifacts such as cong (a long hollow piece of jade with rectangular sides) and bi (jade disk), as well as the differences in the levels of tombs, all reflect the high development of Liangzhu society. The ancient city of Liangzhu was discovered in 2007, and the water conservancy system was confirmed in 2015, pushing the Liangzhu culture to the height of national civilization. In 2019, the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City was listed as a World Heritage site.     

An Archaeology of Community Life: Appalachia, 1865–1920

Archaeology has the potential to contribute significant information about community building in the lives of former enslaved laborers. In this article, I consider the role of race and racism in the creation, maintenance and material manifestation of community in post-emancipation Appalachia.     

内蒙古敖汉旗小河西遗址简述

1987年中国社会科学院考古研究所内蒙古工作队发掘了小河西遗址,共发掘了3座半地穴式房址,房址内出土遗物不多,有陶、石、蚌、骨器.小河西遗存代表了早于兴隆洼一期文化的类型,其年代早于距今8200年.     

Teaching Anti-Colonial Archaeology

Archaeology is deeply troubled, but students are unlikely to learn about it in their ARCH 100 class. Our experience with ‘World Prehistory’ and ‘Introductory Archaeology’ courses and reviewing common textbooks charts a discipline securely anchored in the 19th century ideological harbour that is science, evolution, imperialism and progress. This includes so-called ‘middle road’ and ‘post-colonial’ approaches, which reinforce the status quo by limiting political action. In our search for an alternative, we discuss here our attempts to teach an anti-colonial archaeology rooted in critical pedagogy, political activism and anti-oppressive practice. At its core are three tenets: archaeology is personal, political and all about the present. While we are gratified by the many students who relish this opportunity for critical enquiry, we are faced with this lingering problem: most people do not want to hear the “negative reality” of archaeology.