A Brief Overview of the Evolution of Historical Archaeology in Argentina

This introductory chapter presents a brief overview of the evolution of Argentine historical archaeology as a scientific discipline, starting from the first pioneering work until its consolidation and future prospects. It also includes a summary of each of the paper presented.     

Archaeological Perspectives on the Ranquel Chiefdoms in the North of the Dry Pampas,in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

In this article, I present some results of the archaeological study about the cultural manifestation of the Ranquels. This Indian group occupied the north part of the province of La Pampa, Argentina, from the late eighteenth century until the end of the nineteenth century. Through a perspective that links the theoretical and methodological purposes of historical archaeology of the landscape, I analyze the settlements' distributions, the access to natural resources, the methods of circulation, and the strategies of interethnic conflict with the national army and the colonists on the border area. Taking into consideration the archaeological record and its contrast with written sources, I have defined some indicators about the process of culture change. My special interest concerns changes in nineteenth-century Ranquel material culture produced before the dissolution of the ethnic groups because of the military actions of the “desert conquest.”     

“汉代文明国际学术研讨会”纪要

在2008年北京奥运会到来之际,为了更好地服务于人文奥运,展现中华民族悠久灿烂的历史文化,由北京市文物局主办,中国社会科学院考古研究所、北京大学考古文博学院、中国秦汉史研究会、北京市文物研究所、首都博物馆等单位协办,北京市大     

The Not So Peaceful Civilization: A Review of Maya War

The first Maya encountered by Europeans in the early sixteenth century were exceedingly warlike, but by the 1940s the earlier Classic Maya (AD 250–1000) were widely perceived as an inordinately peaceful civilization. Today, in sharp contrast, conflict is seen as integral to Maya society throughout its history. This paper defines war, reviews the evidence for it in the Maya archaeological record, and shows how and why our ideas have changed so profoundly. The main emphasis is on the Classic period, with patterns of ethnohistorically documented war serving as a baseline. Topics include the culture history of conflict, strategy and tactics, the scope and range of operations, war and the political economy, and the intense status rivalry war of the eighth and ninth centuries AD that contributed to the collapse of Classic civilization. Unresolved issues such as the motivations for war, its ritual vs. territorial aims, and sociopolitical effects are discussed at length.     

When the Revolution Reached the Countryside: Use and Destruction of Imported Wares in Alta Gracia,Córdoba, 1810

During the 1970s, excavations were conducted in Alta Gracia, Córdoba, Argentina, in a compound that once was a seventeenth and eighteenth-century Jesuit Convent and is presently a museum. During the excavation, an amazing amount of historic material never studied before was discovered inside a sealed privy. After studying the material, we were able to identify the objects as once belonging to Santiago de Liniers, a man who successfully resisted and expelled British invaders from Buenos Aires. As a result, he was appointed Viceroy, though eventually he was shot in 1810 for confronting the Independence movement. Our hypothesis is that these objects were thrown into the privy as a gesture of contempt associated with his capture and execution.     

文明与国家起源研究的理论问题

根据对西方和中国文明与国家起源研究的历史回顾,文章探讨了中国考古学和历史学在国家与文明起源研究中的一些问题和现状。文章认为,中国的文明与国家起源研究应当超越以编年为目的的研究范例,将这项课题置于社会科学的整体框架中来进行研究,成为一个多学科交叉的探索领域。     

基佐文明进步史观述论

文明进步史观是基佐史学思想的主要组成部分。他从文明一词的多层面分析入手,强调了文明进步的持续性,并进而提出多种势力的矛盾斗争、多种要素的协调发展共同推动了欧洲文明的逐渐进步。这种从长时段出发,关注文明进程中的各种事件的因果性、规律性等特点,体现出基佐文明史观与伏尔泰文明史观的相异性及对伏尔泰文明史观的发展性。     

先秦中国和古代希腊文明起源的地理环境之比较

文明起源的地理环境可以分为整体地理环境和中心地理环境。前者指文明整体能力所及的极限地理范围,后者指文明主体的主要活动区域。从这两个角度分别进行比较,将有助于解释希腊和中国文明侧重于陆地或是海洋发展的原因。     

文化生态史观视野下的文明化进程——中原地区与太湖地区的比较研究

"文化生态史观"是一种系统观点,它强调研究文化进程的发展,必须综合分析文化、环境诸因素在历史过程中的作用.中原与太湖地区文明化进程的结果不同,源于中原地区文化生态系统中某些因素的优越性,战争机制促成的社会组织、开放性的文化特质、务实的社会意识、多样的生态环境与公元前三千纪末期的应时发展,这些都促使中原地区逐渐确立了文化上的强势地位.相比之下,太湖地区宗教特色的社会组织,面对危机缺乏变通;保守的文化特质,使文化缺乏革新和灵活性;务虚的社会心理,浪费了大量的社会资源;单一的生态环境,使社会面对自然灾害缺乏灵活的应对.最终,新石器时代末期,文化的一蹶不振,环太湖地区彻底丧失了发展时机.     

Review Essay: Taking the Pulse of Emerging Modernity

The archaeology of the development of modernity as it emerged out of the Middle Ages is potentially one of the most important and powerful areas of study that can be pursued today. A number of historical archaeologists in Europe have taken up the difficult task of examining this transition, and are currently providing insights into the shift from feudalism to mercantilism and capitalism. This topic is both important to the understanding of history and to providing tangible proof that historical archaeology has the potential to contribute to knowledge about the globalization process. Three recent books in particular are especially significant in this archaeological endeavor.     

Zooarchaeology and Historical Archaeology: Progress and Prospects

This review assesses the development and current status of zooarchaeological research in historical archaeology. Analytical issues in recovery, identification, quantification and interpretation are discussed with particular reference to assemblages from historical sites. The results section summarizes the substantive contributions zooarchaeological studies of historical assemblages have made to our understanding of past diet, food production systems, social and cultural variation, and archaeological interpretations. The last four decades of research has provided a strong basis for future analyses that draw together diverse strands of zooarchaeological, historical, scientific, and anthropological evidence.     

Reconceptualizing Resistance in the Historical Archaeology of the British Isles: An Editorial

The present resonates with the harmonics of past events. Our archaeologies, because they deal with the everyday materiality of life, should not neglect to concern themselves with the domination of past people, since many similar forms of oppression persist. Moreover, we should consider the resistance to such domination. Rather than seeing resistance as simply reactive a problem which has generated much criticism—we can reconceptualize it to encompass a more nuanced understanding of the volition and agency of people in inferior positions of power. This lends new strength to the role of archaeologists in representing historical narratives of resistance.     

Archaeology, History, and Historical Archaeology in South America

This paper discusses the relationship between history and archaeology in general, their common concerns and links with historical archaeology. It deals with the development of historical archaeology in three related South American countries, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, and pays attention to recent trends in the theory and practice of the discipline in the area.     

Toiling in the Vale of Tears: Everyday Life and Resistance in South Uist, Outer Hebrides, 1760-1860

Following the 1745 rebellion, agrarian capitalism rapidly transformed subsistence practices in the Outer Hebrides. Landowners increased rents, enclosed common lands, and replaced crofters and cattle with sheep-ranges. Population growth, the demise of the kelp industry, and crop failures compounded the problems of the peasantry. Widespread emigration commenced in the 1770s and peaked in the 1850s, when entire communities were exiled to British North America—the so-called Highland Clearances. This article traces the development of agrarian capitalism on the Isle of South Uist, explores the agricultural improvements undertaken by successive landlords, and considers modes of resistance adopted by the island's population.     

马克思、恩格斯文明理论与中国"早期文明"

在中国文明发展史上,夏、商、西周文明是一个特殊阶段,这个阶段的文明,从国家形态的角度看,与西方文明具有明显的不同。     

Archaeological Explorations of Cultural Identity and Rural Economy in the North of Ireland: Goodland,County Antrim

Renewed examination of an enigmatic settlement site perched atop a cliff above Murlough Bay in Goodland Townland, County Antrim, Northern Ireland calls into question long held ideas about Gaelic rural economy on the eve of the Ulster Plantation by reintroducing the complex cultural and political relationships between the north of Ireland and the Scottish isles. Long interpreted as temporary post-medieval booley huts associated with seasonal transhumance, recent re-evaluation of the site suggests instead that Goodland represents a permanent seventeenth-century Highland Scottish village. Although the medieval linkages between the north of Ireland and the Scottish isles have long been acknowledged, twentieth-century sectarianism has subjugated awareness of the Highland (Roman Catholic) Scots focusing upon the legacy of the in-migration of Protestant Lowland Scots during the Ulster Plantation. Material evidence at Goodland re-introduces the Highland Scot to the contested landscape of contemporary Ulster identity, while also facilitating analysis of continuity, change, and cultural complexity in the rural economy of early modern Ireland.     

“古蜀文明保护传承暨纪念桂圆桥遗址发现十周年”学术研讨会综述

2019年11月4日至11月5日,由四川省文物考古研究院、什邡市博物馆等单位联合举办的"古蜀文明保护传承暨纪念桂圆桥遗址发现十周年"学术研讨会在四川什邡市召开。近百位专家学者齐聚一堂,以纪念桂圆桥遗址发现十周年为主题,并就古蜀文明的保护传承展开全方位深入讨论,议题涉及桂圆桥遗址及相关古蜀文明遗址的发现、发掘与重要意义、古蜀文明与周边区域的文化交流、聚落考古工作与研究以及科技考古研究等几个方面,成果丰硕。为开展桂圆桥遗址今后的考古工作、研究、保护以及实施"古蜀文明保护传承工程"提供了诸多有益思路和中肯建议。     

Strength without Mercy: Winston Churchill on Technology and the Fate of Civilization

Abstract

Churchill's lifelong meditation on scientific progress led him to search for ways in which its transformative power could be moderated and guided for the preservation of civilization. The increasing role of scientific discovery and technological innovation in maximizing the destructive potential of warfare, Churchill believed, had brought a moment of decision for humanity: Whether to foster and maintain the moral and political principles that formed the foundation of civilized life or to trust wholly in an amoral science. He found guidance in the study of the humanities, Anglo-American constitutionalism, and Christian ethics.     

中原文明的起源与形成

总观全国各地新石器时代文化的发展,中原地区以它强大的文化根基,在文明起源和形成过程中始终走在前面.中原地区文明的起源是相当早的,在龙山时代晚期,中原地区已进入文明时代.