Sepulchral Barrows at Broad Down,Near Honiton,and an Unique Cup of Bituminous Shale there Found

The principal characteristics of the earthworks known as pillow mounds—artificial rabbit warrens—are discussed, together with the evidence for their date and purpose. Several aspects of their location and construction have caused considerable confusion to archaeologists in the past, and examples are suggested of current misidentification of these earthworks as prehistoric features. The need for a discussion of pillow mounds has recently become especially urgent due to the recognition of certain types of Neolithic earthwork of similar general appearance.     

辽宁大连市土龙子青铜时代积石冢群的发掘

2005年,对辽宁大连市土龙子4～7号积石冢进行清理。各冢均由数座长方形石砌墓室组成。墓室铺垫地石,再以石板、石块砌筑四壁,墓顶用多块石板封盖,墓室之上再积石堆垒。埋葬方式为多人二次或多人多次葬。出土遗物以陶片为主。冢群的年代应为庙山青铜时代遗址上层文化时期,距今约3000年。     

Walsingham Priory,a Memoir Read at the Meeting of the Institute in Cambridge,June, 1854 : With an Account of Recent Discoveries

The conventional wisdom on the origins and purpose of homestead moats is that they functioned as indicators of status. But that makes no distinction between manorial and homestead moats, and fails to take account of the combination of circumstances in early fourteenth-century England that resulted in a subsistence crisis of devastating proportions: the worst, it is now believed, in our recorded history. In 1300, many rural areas were already dangerously overcrowded. But it was the Agrarian Crisis of 1315–22, starting with back-to-back harvest failures and the Great European Famine of 1315–17, that caused the starving ‘undersettles’ to turn to crime and brought a tide of criminal violence to the localities. Harvests improved, but the violence continued until the Black Death (1348–49), fuelled by poverty and unprecedented taxes. And it is the argument of this paper that homestead moats, far from being the trophy assets of a would-be gentry class, were in reality precautions against the criminal activity to which all well-off householders were exposed.     

Non-Megalithic Long Barrows and Allied Structures in the British Neolithic. By Ian Kinnes

This paper reviews the evidence for sophisticated designed landscapes in medieval England. It argues that the claims made for such landscapes have been exaggerated, and suggests that while medieval elites clearly altered the surroundings of their residences on a grand scale, such activity was generally concerned with the display of symbols of lordly status, usually involving the control of superior resources of production. There is little evidence for the complex approaches, carefully composed views, contrived sylvan settings or abstract aesthetic schemes suggested by many archaeologists, and ‘designed landscape’ is a term best reserved for post-medieval contexts.     

大汶口文化的新发现

新见在江苏邳州大墩子大汶口遗址出土的一些重要器物,其中阳鸟石璧和骨雕鸟上的阳鸟刻画,从考古遗存上对夷族的太阳崇拜和鸟图腾说提供了证据.獐牙勾形器柄上的刻符与<系辞>中八卦卦形符号相同,证明八卦起源于五千年前的大汶口文化时期,比通常认为易学萌芽于商用之际早两千余年.为研究东夷文明增添了宝贵的新资料.     

苍洱考古拾零

这几年由于承担了教育部人文社会科学基地"滇东黔西的青铜文化"的研究课题,我经常到云南,尤其经常到云南西部的大理白族自治州一带.这里的苍山洱海、风花雪月、南诏大理遗迹和白族村镇都给我了极其深刻的印象,苍洱地区及其邻近一带因此成为我最喜爱的地方.由于这个缘故,我常常翻阅有关滇西的文献资料,多次到大理州参观考古遗址和文物古迹,并走访了一些当地白族的村落,所见所得顺手做一些记录.现将其中无需单独成文却还可能有点学术价值的部分读书札记摘出,冠以<苍洱考古拾零>的题目发表,以引起人们对苍洱考古某些问题的关注.     

STONE AGE CULTURE:New Discoveries in Tibet

ＳＴＯＮＥＡＧＥＣＵＬＴＵＲＥ：ＮｅｗＤｉｓｃｏｖｅｒｉｅｓｉｎＴｉｂｅｔＬＩＹＯＮＧＸＩＡＮＭｏｓｔｏｆｔｈｅｓｉｔｅｓａｒｅｌｏｃａｔｅｄａｔ４,０００ｔｏ５,０００ｍｅｔｅｒｓａｂｏｖｅｓｅａｌｅｖｅｌ,ｗｉｔｈｏｎｌｙａｆｅｗｆｏｕｎｄａｔａ...     

Integrated Analytical Techniques for the Study of Colouring Materials from Two Megalithic Barrows

We have determined the composition of rock art pigments from two megalithic barrows located in the north of Portugal. The use of XRD, SEM–EDS and FT–IR spectroscopy confirmed the presence of hematite and kaolinite in the red pigments from the Eireira barrow, and kaolinite in the white pigment from the Leira das Mamas barrow. The organic composition of the pigments was studied by GC–MS, suggesting that the red sinuous lines and dots from the Eireira barrow were prepared with cooked or heated algae and/or aquatic plants, with egg as binder, while the white pigment from the Leira das Mamas barrow revealed a mixture of vegetable oils for kaolinite moulding, which could be stabilized by temporary exposure to high temperatures. The multi‐analytical approach used on this study of megalithic pigments allowed the recovery of important data about north‐western prehistoric communities, namely the way in which they exploited existing resources and their ability to transform them.     

Communication of Discoveries of Medieval Paintings,Etc

Abstract

Until 1965 Holy Trinity parish church, Much Wenlock (Shropshire), was believed to be wholly Norman and later. In that year it was proposed that the south chancel chapel and south nave aisle were Anglo-Saxon. Two vertical strips of squared stones, built into the upper part (a later heightening) of the aisle's south wall, were interpreted as Anglo-Saxon pilaster strips of the type later classified by Dr H. M. Taylor as ‘long-and-short’. If the upper part of that wall was Anglo-Saxon, the lower part must have been earlier Anglo-Saxon, and so must the chapel south wall, which is integral with the lower part of the aisle wall. The Norman nave and chancel must have been added to an-existing Anglo-Saxon structure.

We believe, however, that the aisle and chapel must have been added to an existing Norman structure, for the Norman nave had originally a south-east external clasping buttress. Structural and documentary evidence shows that the strips are probably of the later thirteenth or earlier fourteenth century. Moreover similar strips occur in another part of the church that is probably of that date or later. ‘Pilaster strips’ of ‘long-and-short’ appearance may evidently be looked for elsewhere in twelfth-century or later contexts, especially in the heightened parts of unsupported rubble walls.     

镇江营文化的发现和认识

镇江营文化是一支分布于太行山东麓、燕山南麓,以河北平原为腹地的前仰韶文化遗存,距今约7000年左右,可分为三期:早期主要分布于燕山南麓的北京一带,中期开始伸入河北平原中部,到了晚期,又将冀南豫北的安阳和濮阳地区纳入势力范围。镇江营文化的形成与北辛文化向北发展有关,后岗一期文化是镇江营文化的主要流向。