Black Death in the rural cemetery of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse Aude-Languedoc,southern France, 14th century: immunological evidence

An excavation carried out in 2007 in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse (Aude-Languedoc, southern France), revealed a medieval rural cemetery used during the 8th–14th centuries. One hundred and forty nine graves were identified. Amongst those, three burials radiocarbon dated to the 14th century contained the remains of several individuals. No paleotraumatological evidences of violence due to warfare or to a civil massacre were identified in the exhumed skeletons. Therefore, we hypothesized that the simultaneous inhumations could have occurred during the “Black Death” outbreak or during one of its resurgences. A rapid diagnostic test for the detection of Yersinia pestis F1 antigen was applied to the nine putative plague victims to authenticate the cause of their death. Seven of the nine individuals tested from the three graves were positive to Y. pestis F1 antigen. We additionally tested fourteen skeletons from single graves archaeologically dated to the 13th–14th centuries. Four of them were positive to Y. pestis F1 antigen, thus showing a higher mortality rate due to plague than originally expected. The Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse plague victims are the oldest samples from which Y. pestis F1 antigen has been, hitherto, identified. Few rural French cemetery containing plague victims have previously been identified and amongst them, only one dates to the 14th century. In the present report, we provide suggestive evidence of a second rural cemetery from southern France where victims of Y. pestis infection were buried. Our findings provide new information about the management of the plagued corpses during the “Black Death” in small rural communities.     

Kinship and mobility in 11th-century A.D. Gammertingen,Germany: an interdisciplinary approach

Excavation in and around a Medieval church in Gammertingen, Germany, revealed the skeletal remains of eight individuals dating to the 10th and 11th century AD. Archaeologists hypothesized that the individuals were the first members of a family later known as the Counts of Gammertingen, a medieval high nobility family. In an interdisciplinary approach, Strontium isotope and ancient DNA techniques were performed in order to test the hypothesis that the church was used as a family burial site and to investigate the provenance of family members. Seven of the eight individuals can be placed in a three-generation genealogy. The isotope analyses establish that the eighth individual had a different birthplace and possibly became a member of the Counts of Gammertingen through marriage. Further, genetic data revealed that distant relatives of the paternal lineage are still present in this area today. Thus, the combined results lead to a very detailed knowledge about a 1000-year old noble family.     

南北战争期间的黑人士兵心态研究

黑人战士在南北战争中的心态及心路历程经历了一系列变化。作为黑人的代表,他们在战争中体验了加剧的痛苦、伤心、愤怒、绝望、兴奋和成就感,而他们的总体心态是委曲求全,并且使得美国种族歧视在这一历史巨变时刻达到悲剧性高潮和根本转变时刻。     

A Death in the Family: Bishop Archibald Campbell Tait, the Rights of Parents, and Anglican Sisterhoods in the Diocese of London

Anglican sisterhoods gained popularity in nineteenth-century England because of the numerous opportunities they offered to women, but some bishops feared that these sisterhoods might become Roman Catholic in letter and spirit. Episcopal control might counteract this tendency. As Bishop of London from 1856 to 1868, Archibald Tait acknowledged the value of Anglican sisterhoods, but he also recognized the necessity for ecclesiastical supervision over these convents. Bishop Tait, as the episcopal Visitor of several London convents, insisted upon parental permission before a woman entered a sisterhood. Tait's belief in the importance of the family emanated in part from the tragic deaths of five daughters in 1856. By demanding the consent of the parents before a daughter entered a religious community, Tait wanted to preserve the unity of the family and to save the parents from the same anguish he had experienced through the loss of his children.     

Henriot,Christian.Scythe and the City.A Social History of Death in Shanghai

Much has been written on Chinese death and funerary culture by anthropologists—far less by historians.This book is therefore a much-welcome attempt to fill this gap in the field of Chinese modem history.Its chronological scope encompasses one century:from the 1860s to the eve of the Cultural Revolution,but it is clearly more focused on the twentieth century due to the availability of a much greater amount of source materials from that period.     

Patterns of Foreign Direct Investment in Mongolia, 1990-2003: A Research Note

This paper delineates the pattern and structure of foreign direct investment (FDI) in a land-locked transition economy, Mongolia, situated strategically between Russia and China. The assessment is based on publications of major international financial institutions, official statistical publications of the Mongolian Government, and a unique dataset of 1,035 FDI firms based on a database compiled by the Mongolian office of the World Bank. A structured analysis of the dataset and government statistical publications makes it possible to ascertain patterns with respect to FDI country origin, sectoral composition, mode of entry, firm capitalization, composition of foreign and local partners, entry date, and location of the investment (core versus periphery). Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: E60, F21, P33. 5 figures, 3 tables, 34 references.     

大河三角洲历史河网密度格网化重建方法——以上海市青浦区1918-1978年为研究范围

本研究以2004年上海市青浦区为研究范围,基于GIS技术构建格网体系,提取1918年和1978年2份军用地形图中的湖荡面积、河网密度、河流长度等指标,比对两者相关指数的分布状况和变化程度发现1918-1978年本区河网密化最主要的原因在于开挖新渠的同时大量保留地表原有水体。通过本个案研究总结出大河三角洲历史河网面貌的复原方法包括图形资料实测情况判断、实际分辨率分析、误差来源探讨、调校误差、格网体系构建等步骤。     

清代昆明地区(1721-1900年)冬季平均气温序列的重建与初步分析

本文利用清代档案中的相关资料,建立冬季降雪和干季降水的双因子回归方程,重建了1721-1855年间昆明的冬季平均气温序列,并利用其它资料补出了1856-1900年间的10年冬季平均温度序列。分析表明,18-19世纪昆明皆处于偏冷的时期,其间又有一定的波动,大致可分为4个冷期和3个偏暖的时期。且昆明气温变化存在跃升现象。而和全国其它地方比较,在大的冷暖方面基本一致,但也有很多差异。