New Light on the Korean War

It is the natural order of states and their governments to periodically upset the constructed balance of power and to subsequently seek out a ‘reset button.’ Such was the case following the First World War when the European map was redrawn and East Central Europe took on the appearance of a fractured and contested zone. What emerged from the confluence of four defunct empires was a collection of newly fabricated or reconstituted states vying for existence in a traditionally contested zone of influence. In October 1921, the Successor States of the Austro-Hungarian Empire convened a conference in the Adriatic town of Porto Rose to negotiate the details of commercial relations amongst themselves and to determine the broader economic character of the region. For Czechoslovakia – the most industrialized and arguably the most Westernized of these states – the conference presented an opportunity to promote its foreign economic agenda. This study represents a unique examination of the first international conference held among independent East European states and the importance it held for Czechoslovakia's foreign economic-policy objectives in the years following the First World War. At the same time, the study suggests connections with more recent overtures toward economic integration.     

New Light on the Medieval Gough Map of Britain

Remarkably little is known about the earliest surviving separate-sheet medieval map of Britain that takes its name from its former owner, Richard Gough (1735–1809), and that has been variously dated to between 1300 and 1400, and later. It presents a sophisticated cartographical image at a time when detailed maps of individual regions were almost unknown in Europe, yet nothing is agreed about its possible origins, context (ecclesiastical or secular), or why and how it was compiled. In the belief that historical interpretation has to stem from an intimate knowledge of the map as artefact—the state of the parchment, nature of the inks, palaeography—as well as image, an informal study group of historians and scientists (the Gough Map Panel) was convened in 2012 to examine the map through high resolution digital reproduction, hyperspectral analysis, three-dimensional analysis and Raman pigment analysis. Although the study is still ongoing, much that is new has been discovered, notably about the way features were marked on the map, Gough’s application to the map of a damaging reagent to render place-names readable, and the extent to which the original map (now dated to c.1400), although never completed, was nonetheless reworked on two different occasions in the fifteenth century, effectively creating two further maps. These and other findings are summarized here to encourage the further study of the map’s features that is needed before it can be fully understood.     

新中国成立以来的首都地铁建设

1953年9月,中共北京市委主持制定了《改建与扩建北京市规划草案的要点》,第一次明确提出“必须及早筹划地下铁道的建设”,从此拉开了北京地铁建设的序幕。北京地铁的建设一开始就与战备连在了一起,在线路方案和埋设深度等方面,军方的意见受到重视。与此同时,相关部门进行了一系列前期的规划与施工准备工作。但1961年由于经济困难,中央决定北京地铁建设暂时下马。此后由于国际形势趋于紧张,我国面临战争威胁,1965年北京地铁开始恢复建设,并成立了以军方领导人为主的地铁建设领导小组。1989年12月20日,地铁“一环一线”通过了国家验收正式投入运营。现在,北京地铁已从最初的“战备为主,兼顾交通”转变为以交通运营为中心,在城市交通中发挥着越来越重要的作用。     

The Levite's Concubine: New Light on a Dark Story

Previous commentators accept that an adulterous wife dared return to her father's house and a benign husband sought to retrieve her, or they stipulate a unique meaning for the phrase . By understanding in a sense attested elsewhere in the Bible, this essay both resolves the crux of implausibility and obviates the need for singular translation. A close literary reading also presents a new interpretation of the entire chapter, demonstrating that the theme of Judges 19 is neither hospitality nor the abasement of women but Israel's Sodom-like abnegation of commitment and compassion down to that last stronghold of security—the family unit. Contrary to other feminist readings, this feminist interpretation reveals the biblical author's empathy toward the concubine, his contempt for the guilty, and his imposition of punishment on the wrongdoers.     

Polarized Light Microscopy: An Old Technique Casts New Light on Māori Textile Plants

Understanding the composition of an artefact has ramifications for advancing human history and behaviour knowledge, providing cultural information about trade, agricultural practices and adaptation to new environments. However, accurate plant identification from artefacts is problematic, since textile production, age, dirt and/or conservation treatments obscure morphological features, and specimen size and/or ethical considerations hamper modern analytical methods. This study tested the efficacy of polarized light microscopy (PLM) in the identification of New Zealand plant species commonly used in Māori textiles, and demonstrates that morphological and birefringent features observed using PLM have the potential to distinguish between‐ and within‐plant genera.     

The Impact of Urbanisation on the Bed Sediments of South Creek,New South Wales

The textural and geochemical characteristics of the bed sediments in South Creek are examined. The bed substratum in the urbanised reaches differs from that of the rural reaches, in terms of the volume and size of the fine matrix sediment and the concentration of heavy metals. The impact of urbanisation on the river-bed sediment is variable, with less matrix than ‘expected’ within the substratum of the urban reach and more than ‘expected’ in the below urban reach. The urban matrix sediment is also significantly finer in comparison to the rural reach matrix sediment. Heavy metal concentrations within the urbanised matrix sediment are up to 800 times greater than background levels and are considered to be indicative of extreme contamination despite only SO years of urbanisation.     

新中国成立以来河南新石器时代考古发现与研究

本文简要回顾了新中国成立60多年来河南新石器时代文化遗存的主要调查、发掘工作,对新石器时代早期的李家沟文化、中期的裴李岗文化和晚期的仰韶文化、大汶口文化、屈家岭文化等的主要考古发现和基本研究历程、重要研究成果进行了概述,有些方面还略作评议。在总结以往发现与研究取得的巨大成就的同时,指出今后既要继续重视基础性的文化研究,又要更加广泛深入地运用聚落考古等方法,加强对古代社会多方面、多角度的研究,以期河南新石器时代考古获得新的更大的发展。     

开国奠基的1949年

1949年,是以闪光的金字、崭新的篇章写入中华民族历史的。这一年,是中国人民解放战争取得伟大胜利和宣告中华人民共和国诞生的一年;这一年,是全国民主力量的代表人物举行人民政治协商会议,通过立国的共同纲领,组织反映人民意志的人民政府的一年;这一年,是执政的中国共产党战胜内外敌人的破坏、封锁以及严重的旱灾、水灾造成的困难,在财政收支不平衡的状况下,尽可能地恢复生产和交通,取得可喜成绩的一年;这一年,是新生的人民共和国坚持独立自主的和平外交方针,开始屹立于世界民族之林的一年。总之,这一年是中国人民为实现国家繁荣富强、走上社会主义道路奠基的一年。     

美国建国初期的“自由”观念辨析

“自由”在美国是一个被不断创新的概念 ,本文从概念变迁的角度探讨了早期美国“自由”观的历史起源及主要内容和特点。     

试析杜鲁门总统民权委员会的活动

为了回应“两难困境”的挑战,杜鲁门总统颁布行政命令,创立了总统民权委员会。委员会对美国的种族关系和民权问题进行了全面的调研和评估,向总统提交了《保障这些权利》的报告。报告体现了战后美国政府和人们对种族问题的反思,也是对解决种族问题的探索和尝试。报告的大量发行和人们的竞相阅读,对增进美国民众的种族正义观念产生了重要的影响。