THE DATE AND SEQUENCE OF USE OF NEOLITHIC FUNERARY MONUMENTS: NEW AMS DATING EVIDENCE FROM THE COTSWOLD-SEVERN REGION

Summary.   In this paper we discuss 26 new Neolithic AMS dates obtained from human and animal bone from four previously undated funerary monuments in the Cotswold-Severn region. By strategically targeting particular portions of these skeletal assemblages, a number of valuable inferences are made concerning the extent of variation in apparently co-existing burial practices both within and between monuments. Of particular interest is the observation that variations in the extent to which interments have become disarticulated cannot necessarily be equated with chronological relationships regarding their deposition. This project has also obtained dates from cremated bone, which establish that the range of funerary treatments in practice during the earlier Neolithic also included cremation. Additionally it is observed that whilst some, apparently primary, deposits may in fact be later insertions, other material in apparently secondary contexts may actually return earlier Neolithic dates.     

THERMOLUMINESCENCE DATING OF POTTERY: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE DOSE-RATE FROM RUBIDIUM

The naturally occurring radioisotope ⁸⁷Rb makes a small contribution to the total dose-rate. Assuming an average potassium:rubidium ratio of 200:1 the contribution is estimated at 2.9% of the B dose-rate From potassium. The effect will be negligible in quartz inclusion dating because of the strong attenuation of the B- emission from ⁸⁷Rb. In fine-grain dating the omission of the ⁸⁷Rb contribution will overestimate the age of a pottery sherd by not more than 2% and this is regarded as of minor importance when the total error in the technique is at least 15%.     

THE ECONOMIC LAW OF MARKET AREAS: A FURTHER DISCUSSION*

ABSTRACT. The Economic Law of Market Areas, so named by Fetter, is concerned with the division of a territory between two competing centers. It is argued that this Law can be conveniently examined in terms of six cases, each of which is specified by a combination of differentials in freight rates and prices at the two centers. The locational significance of each case is considered, along with the form and dimensions of the market-area boundary between the two centers. Three of the cases are each shown to subsume a special case. It is further shown that for any case except one, a reversal of the differentials between the two centers, while resulting in a symmetrically-equivalent outcome, requires a different (and usually substantial) respecification of the case.     

THE LION ORTHOSTATS FROM HAZOR: AN ADDENDUM TO THE PAPER OF SHLOMIT BECHAR

In a paper recently published in this journal, Shlomit Bechar (2021) analyzed the appearance and use of basalt orthostats in Canaanite and Israelite Hazor. The present paper is an addendum to Bechar's paper, elaborating the subject of the basalt lion orthostats found at Hazor. These lion orthostats formed an inseparable component of the ‘orthostats architecture’ characteristic of several monumental buildings in the Canaanite city. The paper discusses their original position, date, style, function, and fate following the destruction of the city.     

OBSIDIAN HYDRATION DATING: AN IMPROVED OPTICAL TECHNIQUE FOR MEASURING THE WIDTH OF THE HYDRATION RIM

A simple optical method is described that will enhance the color contrast between the outer birefringent hydration rind and the inner unhydrated core on obsidian thin sections used for hydration dating. The technique utilizes a gypsum nccessory plate. The gypsum plate rotates all incoming light by 550nm causing the black isotropic core of the nhsidian to become transparent first-order pink and interacting with the transmitted light from the birefringent rind, by either addition or subtraction. to produce a second-order blue or a first-order yellow color.     

评《蒋祈〈陶记〉著作时代考辨》——与刘新园先生商榷

一前言《陶记》是中国第一部有关陶瓷生产技术、管理及其行销等方面的论著,对其进行深入的理解和断代有益于中国陶瓷史、科技史的研究,故我国老一辈陶瓷研究学者傅振伦、陈万里、冯先铭等先生都对《陶记》给以关注,傅振伦先生在耋耄之年(1979年)还对《陶记》进行了译注。约与《陶记》同时期,伊朗人阿布尔·卡西姆于1301年著有《阿布尔·卡西姆有关陶瓷的论     

TL DATING OF BURNT LITHICS FROM BLOMBOS CAVE (SOUTH AFRICA): FURTHER EVIDENCE FOR THE ANTIQUITY OF MODERN HUMAN BEHAVIOUR*

This paper presents the first TL dates for burnt quartzites and silcretes from the Still Bay layers of Blombos Cave (South Africa). These layers contained engraved ochres and marine shell beads that could be an early manifestation of symbolic and thus ‘modern’ behaviour by the Middle Stone Age humans. The procedure devised to calculate the ages is presented in detail, particularly with regard to internal microdosimetry, because the problems faced in estimating the dose rates require an approach different from the one usually used on flints and sediments. A mean age of 74 ± 5 ka was obtained for five burnt lithics unearthed in the BBC M1 member of the Still Bay layers. This result is in good agreement with both ESR dates on teeth and OSL dates on sediment, and demonstrates the great antiquity of the archaeological remains discovered at Blombos Cave.     

THE CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY AND GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF AN ALLUVIAL GEOARCHIVE: COMPARATIVE OSL AND AMS 14C DATING FROM GREECE*

The Basin of Phlious in southern Greece is known for its thick colluvial and alluvial deposits from the Holocene. It offers a good opportunity to reconstruct the history of Holocene soil erosion and its interaction with historical farming activities. In this study, we present new results based on optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating from the Basin of Phlious. The comparison between OSL and ¹⁴C AMS ages shows good agreement, and demonstrates the need for the detection of insufficiently bleached OSL samples in order to obtain accurate results. The discovery of a Neolithic site, buried under thick alluvial deposits, confirms the hitherto postulated Neolithic human impact on the landscape.     

THE FORMATION OF EARLY NEOLITHIC COMMUNITIES IN THE CENTRAL ZAGROS: AN 11,500 YEAR‐OLD COMMUNAL STRUCTURE AT ASIAB

Communal buildings have been reported from a number of early Neolithic sites from the Levant and Anatolia, but none were known from the central Zagros. Here we report on the recent excavations at Asiab, Kermanshah province, Iran, and argue that the principal feature found during Robert Braidwood’s excavation at the site in 1960 should be interpreted as an example of a communal building. We discuss the results of the previous and recent excavations, highlight the key features of this building, and the implications for our understanding of the early Neolithic in the ‘eastern wing’ of the Fertile Crescent.     

旅游者符号实践初探——以杭州西湖“西子”诗词为例

旅游者符号实践概念的提出旨在进一步凸显旅游者在旅游吸引物符号建构中的主体性。本文以杭州西湖的"西子"诗词为例,初步探讨了旅游者符号实践概念的基本内涵、理论支撑与研究价值。旅游者符号实践并不是对已有符号记忆的被动接受,而是借助旅游者的亲身体验,不断将其运用到旅游实践中去加以检验、深化和再创造的动态演进过程。符号学理论、实践理论和(身体)现象学理论构成了旅游者符号实践研究的三大理论支撑。符号实践是旅游者符号体验过程中主观与客观、过去与现在、已知与可能、我者与他者、代表物与对象等诸多二元关系的中间环节和关键枢纽,既关系到旅游者的符号体验质量,也与旅游目的地可持续发展息息相关,因而具有一定的研究价值。     

DATING OF THE HOMINID (HOMO NEANDERTHALENSIS) REMAINS ACCUMULATION FROM EL SIDRÓN CAVE (PILOÑA,ASTURIAS, NORTH SPAIN): AN EXAMPLE OF A MULTI‐METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE DATING OF UPPER PLEISTOCENE SITES

The age of Neanderthal remains and associated sediments from El Sidrón cave has been obtained through different dating methods (¹⁴CAMS, U/TH, OSL, ESR and AAR) and samples (charcoal debris, bone, tooth dentine, stalagmitic flowstone, carbonate‐rich sediments, sedimentary quartz grains, tooth enamel and land snail shells). Detrital Th contamination rendered Th/U dating analyses of flowstone unreliable. Recent ¹⁴C contamination produced spurious age‐values from charcoal samples as well as from inadequately pretreated tooth samples. Most consistent ¹⁴C dates are grouped into two series: one between 35 and 40 ka and the other between 48 and 49 ka. Most ESR and AAR samples yielded concordant ages, ranging between 39 and 45 ka; OSL dating results permitted adequate bracketing of the sedimentary layer that contained the human remains. Our results emphasize the value of multi‐dating approaches for the establishment of reliable chronologies of human remains.     

STONES FROM MEDIEVAL GLASSMAKING: A SUITABLE WASTE PRODUCT FOR RECONSTRUCTING AN EARLY STAGE OF THE MELTING PROCESS IN THE MT LECCO GLASS FACTORY*

The Mt Lecco glass factory was one of the most important production centres in Liguria (Italy) during the 14th and 15th centuries. Archaeological evidence indicates that the whole production cycle took place here. During the glassworking process, production defects such as ‘stones’ were identified and discarded. Stones are partially melted, glass‐coated relics of raw materials or fragments of crucible. The study of the microtexture of stones together with microprobe analyses of phases provides a key for understanding the glassmaking procedure carried out in the Mt Lecco glass factory. The melting rate can be inferred from the compositional variability of glass, which suggests fractional melting of the batch. Glass composition indicates that the Mt Lecco production was a mixed‐alkali one, probably made of quartz‐bearing material as vitrifying agents, plant ashes as fluxing agents and dolomitic limestones as stabilizing agents.     

THE ‘FRYING PANS’ OF THE EARLY BRONZE AGE AEGEAN: AN EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH TO THEIR POSSIBLE USE AS LIQUID MIRRORS*

The so‐called ‘frying pans’ are peculiar vessels, most of them made of terracotta, flat and shallow, usually decorated on the outside part and dated to the Early Bronze Age. They were unearthed mostly in the Cyclades, in Crete and on the Helladic mainland. There are also a few artefacts made of stone and of bronze, from the Cyclades and Asia Minor, respectively. The intended purpose of these objects is disputed. Several interpretations exist for their function, the earliest one being that of liquid mirror vessels. We investigated the mirror hypothesis experimentally, by testing trays with attributes similar to those of the original ‘frying pans’, filled with a series of liquids familiar to the people of the time and the place where those vessels were made. The criterion employed was the contrast of mirror images. We conclude that, provided that some minimal prerequisites are met, the ‘frying pans’ are quite appropriate as liquid mirror vessels.