An Interdisciplinary Human-Environmental Examination of Effects Consistent with the Anthropocene in the Lower Illinois River Valley

Using archaeological and ecological data of animal communities, and fish communities in particular, we test for evidence consistent with the Anthropocene in the lower Illinois River valley across millennia. Environmental impacts by preindustrialized peoples may be minor compared to current alterations; however, this hypothesis is untested and should be assessed. Using the relative abundance of fish taxa, we tested for differences among archaeological and modern time periods, taking advantage of published zooarchaeological data sets and newly analyzed data. Collections from all archaeological time periods differed significantly from modern collections, but the relative abundance of fishes did not differ significantly among archaeological time periods. Sociopolitical context, material culture, plant-based subsistence patterns, and the use of animal classes shifted temporally, but these differences did not extend to the relative abundance of fish families. Our results suggest that dominating human influences on fish communities did not occur prior to the Late Woodland period in the lower Illinois River.     

An Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Greenbank,Darlington

NORTH of the R. Tees pagan Anglo-Saxon cemeteries are only conspicuous by their virtual absence; and, from the ten undoubted examples known,¹ both the quality and quantity of the objects recovered do little to illuminate the Anglo-Saxon element in the culture of Bernicia—a kingdom which probably owed much of its numerical strength to native British survival.² In view of the scant evidence available, it is surprising that the finds from Darlington, the richest cemetery N. of the Tees, have never been fully published before.³ This paper seeks to make good this omission.     

拉卜楞寺藏印考述(英文)

A seal is an historical witness,a symbol of power as well as an important cultural relic for the study of history.Seeing those seals made of various materials,it is very natural to wonder how Jamyang(vjamdbyangs)living Buddhas in past dynasties developed     

An Anglo-Saxon dog from Salter Street,Stafford

A dog skeleton from a well-dated eleventh century context was recovered from a kiln in Stafford. The animal exhibits particular morphological characteristics, identified metrically, and their similarity to modern comparative animals is discussed. The disposition of the animal in the structure is also described and the possible circumstances of the burial considered. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating human skeletal growth: An Anglo-Saxon example

Cross-sectional growth data were obtained from the skeletal remains of non-adults from the Raunds Anglo-Saxon site. Standard measurements of the diaphyseal lengths of the long bones of the upper and lower limbs and the maximum breadth of the ilium were recorded in order to construct skeletal growth profiles (SGP). In addition regression equations were used to estimate diaphyseal length from proximal and distal shaft widths, and epiphyseal breadth data for fragmentary remains. The skeletal measurements were then plotted against age estimates determined by the dental formation standards of Moorrees, Fanning and Hunt, and Anderson, Thompson and Popovich. The growth data were compared with sixth to seventh century German, ninth century Slavic and modern Caucasian data. With the exception of the ancient Slavic material, the Anglo-Saxon remains demonstrated the smallest rates of growth. Diaphyseal ageing curves derived from the Anglo-Saxon sample were tested for applicability on the non-adult cohorts of the Berinsfield and Exeter Anglo-Saxon/Early Medieval samples. Differences were observed between diaphyseal age as determined from the skeletal growth profiles for Raunds and calcification age assessed for individuals within the test samples. It is proposed that variation in long bone growth as well as dental age confounds consistent and reliable ageing of skeletal remains based on diaphyseal length. Assessment of changes in health and evaluation of methodological problems inherent to studies of skeletal growth from archaeological populations are discussed. Population comparisons for changes in general health are recommended over individual assessments.     

晋城青莲寺塔幢建筑分析

青莲寺,初名硖石寺。坐落于山西省晋城市区东南17公里的硖石山腰。寺分上、下两院,坐北面南。环境幽雅,群峰兀立,站在硖石山,东观浮山,群山拥列;南望珏山,双峰拱翠。一河丹水于深壑间飘然而流。青莲寺建置于此与周围环境自然而和谐地融为一体,形成了典型的巾国北方园林化山野建筑。     

石楼殿山寺彩塑艺术赏析

殿山寺也称后土圣母庙,位于山西石楼县城西40公里的前山乡张家河村西南2．5公里的殿山半山梁上。殿山寺坐北朝南略偏西,占地面积2375平方米,建筑面积约1500平方米。寺内建筑由中轴线呈对称分布,依次为正殿、戏台、山门和仿临汾魏村牛王庙戏台所修戏台一座;两旁分别有东西配殿、厢房及排列不太对称的十一孔窑洞(图一)。殿山寺古建筑群除了两侧的厢房部分塌损外,其它建筑保存完好。虽然其规模小大,但其布局整齐唯美,殿宇造型奇特,是一处不可多得的明代古寺庙建筑群。     

Sceattas in Anglo-Saxon Graves

ANGLO-SAXON SILVER PENNIES (sceattas) are rare as gravegoods, but their provision was a regular element of burial practice in a small minority of later 7th-century-furnished inhumations and later burials. Although the number both of coins and burials is very small, they show patterns of deposition and treatment that have both a cultural and a broader chronological significance. This sample provides a window on social and symbolic attitudes to the coinages as elements of the broader material culture of contemporary society, and constitutes important corroborating evidence that the Primary Phase issues embodied a new degree of monetisation in 7th-century England.     

A Lama's life in the Monastery

TheworldknowsTibetboastsnumerousmonasteriesandlamas.However,manyintheworldhavenoideaastohowlamasfareinthesemonasteries.Ihavebeenstudyingthisverysubjectfordecades.Inthelateautumnof1985,IwenttoGangdelinTownshipinthewesternsuburbsofLhasatovisitmyfriendQambalhasang.Asluckwouldhaveit,hehaddrivenhistractortothenomadicareaofDamxungtobuycattle.YexeiTangsang,hisuncle,whowasalamawiththeZhaibungMonasterybuthasalreadyresumedsecularlife,greetedmeenthusiastically.Sittinginthenewly-builtTibetan-stylebu…     

Anglo-Saxon women and the law

Scholarly investigations of Anglo-Saxon social history have usually drawn the conclusion that women during that period enjoyed a favourable position in comparison with their successors in post-Conquest England. The following study aims to qualify this view, by demonstrating that the position of women was more complicated than is usually acknowledged. An examination of the Anglo-Saxon legal documents shows that the position of women varied according to circumstances such as rank, marital status, and geographical location. However, an overall improvement between the early and late period is clear. In fact, this improvement is so considerable that there is a much closer resemblance between the situation obtaining in late Anglo-Saxon England and post-Conquest England than there is between the early and late Anglo-Saxon period. Thus, to describe Anglo-Saxon E England as a time when women enjoyed an independence which they lost as a result of the changes introduced by the Norman Conquest is misleading.     

Hospitality in pre-viking Anglo-Saxon England

This article studies the question of Anglo-Saxon hospitality, that is, in the first place, the gift (from a host to a guest) of food, fodder, roof and bed for a night or for a longer term. Contrary to Romantic visions, it was nothing like a spontaneous and free practice: Marcel Mauss and other anthropologists after him have shown that giving and receiving were obligations, compulsory acts in pre-market societies. In Anglo-Saxon England, hospitality was always a duty, strictly limited and framed by custom. It may have been provided to a single traveller, to a member of a formal or informal network (particularly ecclesiastical), to a king or to his agents in the form of a pastus or feorm: a kind of 'guesting' or compulsory hospitality which was progressively given up by kings as they booked lands to religious institutions. The forms and beneficiaries may vary, but the opposition between 'spontaneous' feasting and 'compulsory' guesting must not be stressed too much: hospitality was always a kind of binding exchange, even when it assumed the shape, the aspect, and even the values of a free and open practice .     

Visting Xaqun Monastery in Autumn

Enteringthefallof1998,farmerswerebusyharvesting.WetookaartotheXaqunMonasterv'Afterhavingcoveredsome100km,wediscovereddeepchannelsatthesideoftheroadwhichweweretoldwereusedtodisperseheavyhailstorms.Intheevening,ourcarbegantoclimbupahighmountainflankedbydeepravines.Ipokedmyheadoutofthewindowandfoundnothingbutbot-tomlessdarkness.Myheartjumpedintomythroat.Fortunately,thedriverwasveryexperiencedinl1ightdriving.Wecon-tinuedourjourneysafely,withthebrightmoonsmilingdownonuswithawelcominggesture.When…