An Archaeology of Landscapes: Perspectives and Directions

This review calls for the definition of a landscape approach in archaeology. After tracing the development of the landscape idea over its history in the social sciences and examining the compatibility between this concept and traditional archaeological practice, we suggest that archaeology is particularly well suited among the social sciences for defining and applying a landscape approach. If archaeologists are to use the landscape paradigm as a pattern which connects human behavior with particular places and times, however, we need a common terminology and methodology to build a construct paradigm. We suggest that settlement ecology, ritual landscapes, and ethnic landscapes will contribute toward the definition of such a broadly encompassing paradigm that also will facilitate dialogue between archaeologists and traditional communities.     

Industrial Archaeology in New Zealand

Abstract

Notwithstanding its isolation and very small population New Zealand has a remarkably interesting legacy of industrial archaeology. Early industries were stimulated by a rugged colonial self-reliance and in spite of the temporary nature of many structures there is a reasonable measure of visual evidence remaining. Fanning and gold-mining generated other industries, in particular the manufacture of agricultural equipment and mining machinery. In addition to shipbuilding, refrigeration of meat and dairy produce, timber milling, flaxmilling and coalmining there were many service industries leaving industrial monuments and relics. Unlike Britain there is only a very small number of people committed to the study, recording and preservation of industrial archaeology.     

Theory,Disciplinary Perspectives and the Archaeology of Later Medieval England

Abstract

In the year 2000, a lead canister and a penny of Henry III were recovered during a watching brief on a site in Colchester which is within 13 m of the find spots of two 13th-century coin hoards buried in similar canisters. While the container found in 2000 may have held a third such hoard (later recovered), it may also have been used as a floor safe. The site has connections with the Colchester Jewry, who were probably the principal agents in the handling of money and deposition of hoards on this site. The single penny may be simply a coin lost on a site where money changed hands in large quantities, or (speculatively) the only survival from a recovered hoard.     

公众考古学初探

随着中国经济的高速发展,经济建设和文化遗产保护之间的矛盾愈显突出,而目前中国公众对考古和文化遗产保护的认知还有待提高,在此背景下,如何建构中国的公众考古学也就成为一个迫切需要研究的课题。西方公众考古学的理论和实践经验可为他山之石,文章追溯了西方公众考古学源起、形成、发展的脉络,简要介绍了其基本的理论、理念和方法,最后,在结合中国国情的基础上,作者提出自己关于建构中国的公众考古学的思考。     

New Directions in Classic Maya Household Archaeology

Over the past two decades, household studies have coalesced into a recognized subfield within archaeology. Despite this relatively short history, household archaeologists are now taking a leading role in epistemological shifts that are placing people and their practices and differences at the center of archaeological interpretations of the past, rather than subsuming these into the noise of passive and depersonalized depictions of ancient social systems. As Maya archaeologists have played a critical role in the development of household archaeology, examining recent trends in Maya household research provides a perspective on the directions of both Maya studies and household archaeology more generally. This article explores three interrelated trends: (1) understanding ordinary people; (2) understanding social diversity among households; (3) understanding households in articulation with the broder social universe. Through a discussion of these three trends, this review uses Classic Maya household archaeology as a case study to illustrate how household research has led to the development of theoretically rich and empirically substantive understandings of an ancient society, which repeople the past and foreground the active roles of and structural constraints on ancient people.     

Approaches to the Archaeology of Ethnogenesis: Past and Emergent Perspectives

Recently, interest in the archaeology of ethnogenesis has surged. This renewed interest stems from innovations in the historical study of ethnogenesis, theoretical shifts favoring multidirectional agency, and relevant contemporary sociopolitical debates. Theoretical problems surrounding the appropriateness of the social science concept of “ethnicity,” however, have made the comparative study of ethnogenesis difficult. Drawing from past and emergent perspectives adds renewed vigor to comparative studies of ethnogenesis. A methodology that integrates the different types of theory can resolve the theoretical tensions in the archaeological study of ethnogenesis.     

新考古学论纲

考古学(Archaeology)一词源于古希腊文,意即研究古代或古代事物的一门科学.17世纪后,其涵义稍有改变,指对含有美术价值的古物和古迹进行的研究.严格说来,考古学是根据古代人类通过各种活动遗留下来的实物,以研究古代社会历史的一门科学,但这仅为狭义考古学的定义.广义考古学是指对考古调查发掘所发现的一切遗物、遗迹,包括对各种动植物、矿物等资料进行分析和研究的一门学问,它有充实的内容,周密的方法,系统的理论和明确的目标.上述为传统意义上的考古学,20世纪五六十年代以来,考古学家采用放射性碳十四测定年代法、统计分析和计算机模拟系统等先进科学方法,发展了一种更加精确的技术,应用于古代人类制品的研究.这些现代技术根本上改变了对历史证据的看法,标志着考古学从研究文化史到研究文化发展过程的转变,这便是新考古学.     

朝向民俗学的新视角

<正>2010年3月29日—4月9日,应中国社会科学院文学研究所民间文学研究室和北京师范大学文学院民俗学与文化人类学研究所的共同邀请,德国著名民俗学家和欧洲民族学家、柏林洪堡大学欧洲民族学研究所所长沃尔夫冈·卡舒巴(Wolfgang Kaschuba)教授前来北京进行学术交流,并先后在北师大和社科院举行了四场学术报告。     

Historical Archaeology of France in the New World

The author introduces this special issue of the journal that is focused on the historical archaeology of French colonial and post-colonial settlements in the New World. Case studies from widely separated regions reveal both the similarities and differences that existed in French colonial and descendant communities.     

An Overview of Alaskan Late Pleistocene Archaeology: Historical Themes and Current Perspectives

Alaska has long held an important role in the late Pleistocene prehistory of the New World. Alaska being situated at the juncture between the Old and New Worlds, scholars have long looked to the Alaskan archaeological record to provide clues into the initial peopling of the New World. As such, Alaska figures prominently in most models of the peopling of the New World. In recent years, however, it has become clear that the late Pleistocene archaeological record of Alaska is characterized by great technological and adaptive diversity, and no single interpretive model can adequately explain that diversity. This paper traces the development of Pleistocene Alaskan archaeology by outlining the history of site discoveries and interpretations. In so doing, it provides a historical perspective on current frameworks of Alaskan Pleistocene prehistory. Based primarily on a search for the first inhabitants of the New World, however, the research questions traditionally guiding Alaskan archaeology have tended to complicate rather than clarify the picture. In some cases, this has led to false expectations and oftentimes contradictory interpretations, many of which still persist, and which can only be resolved by addressing the Alaskan record on its own terms.     

Crossing the Maelstrom: New Departures in Viking Archaeology

Journal of Archaeological Research - This paper reviews the achievements and challenges of archaeological research on Viking Age northern Europe and explores potential avenues for future research....     

蒙古国突厥考古获重大新发现——毗伽可汗墓地出土大批文物

内蒙古文物考古代表团赴蒙古国国家历史博物馆考察证实,近几年来蒙古国在突厥考古方面取得了重大新成果。2001年8月,由蒙古国与土耳其共和国联合组成的考古队,在蒙古旧都——哈喇和林之北大约45公里的突厥毗伽可汗陵园,发掘出土了总计2800余件珍贵文物,并称其为“毗伽可汗的宝藏”(Treasure of BilgeKhagan)。目前,这批珍宝收藏在乌兰巴托蒙古国国家历史博物馆。共分为金器、银器、铁器、铜器、宝石、纺织品等六大类。其中,金器中包括金腰带、黄金动物雕像、金冠、金牌饰、金耳环。在这些金器中最为重要的是一项刻有鸟纹浮雕的金冠,上面还…     

New Developments in the Use of Spatial Technology in Archaeology

Spatial technology is integral to how archaeologists collect, store, analyze, and represent information in digital data sets. Recent advances have improved our ability to look for and identify archaeological remains and have increased the size and complexity of our data sets. In this review we outline trends in visualization, data management, archaeological prospecting, modeling, and spatial analysis, as well as key advances in hardware and software. Due to developments in education, information technology, and landscape archaeology, the implementation of spatial technology has begun to move beyond superficial applications and is no longer limited to environmental deterministic approaches. In the future, spatial technology will increasingly change archaeology in ways that will enable us to become better practitioners, scholars, and stewards.     

山东新石器时代早期考古新收获

山东地区的史前考古工作,始于1930年举世闻名的章丘市龙山镇城子崖龙山文化遗址的发掘.至80年代末期止,经过近60年的艰难探索,几经高潮,逐步建立了距今7300年至2200年左右,前后承袭、持续不断的北辛文化、大汶口文化、龙山文化、岳石文化和齐鲁文化的考古学文化发展谱系,表明……     

Historical Archaeology as Modern-World Archaeology in Argentina

Historical archaeology has grown at a remarkable pace in the last decade. South America has seen a major growth in historical archaeology, with archaeologists in Argentina playing a large role in the maturation of the discipline on the continent. Much of this archaeology can be characterized as “modern-world archaeology” because of the archaeologists’ interest in issues relevant to post-Columbian cultural history.     

Household Archaeology in Polynesia: Historical Context and New Directions

This review highlights archaeological investigations of precontact and historic house sites in Polynesia, a region noted for its diversity of chiefdoms in terms of scale and elaboration. Anthropological and historical perceptions of the Polynesian household have shifted over time, influencing the ways in which the household has been defined in archaeology. Early research emphasized houses as a unit of study within settlement pattern archaeology and as a means of delineating formal variability between sites and communities. Current studies stress a more holistic view of the household as a nexus of economic, social, and ritual activities. Diverse theoretical perspectives, such as the analytical concept of house societies, feminist archaeologies, landscape approaches, and agent-based models, have led to new archaeological approaches engaged with both the material and the nonmaterial aspects of the house and, in particular, how social relations structure the household. Current prominent themes include functional identification of house sites, understanding social variability, articulation of the household with the community, and comparative analyses of social complexity.     

Poverty in Depth: New International Perspectives

This volume on the archaeology of urban poverty arises from a three-day symposium hosted by York Archaeological Trust and the University of York in July 2009 to establish the wider intellectual framework for the investigation of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century archaeology of the Hungate neighborhood of York. In this opening article, the trajectory of medieval and post-medieval archaeology in Britain is contrasted with historical archaeology in the United States and Australia, and the influence of the pre-modern history of the Hungate neighborhood on its development since 1800 is explored.