考古发现的水井与“凿井而灌”

据《路史》卷五载:昔黄帝“经土设井,以塞争端,立步制亩,以防不足,使八家为井,井设其中。”这段记载虽说的是与“井田制”相关的问题,但在原始社会时期的炎,黄二帝时代就“设井”即人工开凿水井,并用于原始的农业灌溉,这确实是值得重视和探讨的问题。凿井技术的发明,在人类社会发展史上具有极其重大的意义。关于人工凿井之始及“凿井而灌”的问题,从古文献记载和我国考古上发现的古代水井中可以找到端倪。     

河南南阳汉墓出土陶井明器的区域特征

水井的发明与人类的定居生活和农耕生产的发展密切相关。《周书》曾提到古有“黄帝穿井”、“尧民凿井而饮”,说明凿井历史的久远。目前考古发现也证实了在新石器时代黄河中下游及长江下游地区人类文化遗存中已开凿和使用水井^[1]。至汉代水井设施更被广泛地使用,考古发现的汉代居住、农业及手工业遗址中出有大量的水井遗迹,如河南安阳内黄三杨庄庭院建筑遗址中家庭生活用井^[2]、河南南阳北关瓦房庄冶铁遗址中用于冶铁的水井群^[3]等。此外两汉墓葬中也多随葬陶井模型明器,是模仿现实中的水井设施,将之形制尺寸微缩做成模型埋入墓中供死者享用。     

解读"井"的学问--读《中国的井文化》

世间有各种各样用途和形制的井,而水井,自古以来是人们须臾无法离开的,一旦没有了水井,人们的生命就会受到威胁。而如今在城市里生活的人,通常吃的水是水龙头里流出来的“自来水”(实际上并非“自来”,吸取自江河之水者有之,吸取自井水者亦有之),对于他们(特别是青少年)来说,吃水的水井,大概是比较陌生的事物了。但我敢说,在我国的大部分农村里,水井却依然是人们生存的必需之物。     

中国活字印刷術的发明和发展

一、引言印刷術是中国古代四大发明之一,它是造纸術发明后,我国人民对于世界文明又一次的重大贡献。印刷術发明以后,随着纸张的大量生产,若干部的书籍可以同时印成,对人类文化的传播与普及,起着非常重大的作用,大大地增广了书籍的流通量,社会经济文化得到了更高的发展。我国印刷術发明年代,柳玭“训序”说在唐中和三年(883年),自从甘肃省敦煌4佛洞发现了咸通九年(868年)王玠所刻的“金刚般若波罗密经”把印刷術的发明年代,提早了15年。自从英国所派来华文化间谍匈牙利人斯坦因,由新疆省吐鲁蕃吐浴盗掘了高昌“延昌卅四年甲寅(594     

丝绸之路的出现和开通

丝绸,是我国古代人民的伟大发明,它很早以前就输送到了西方。根据古代罗马地理学家斯特拉波的著作,大约在公元前三世纪时,西方已经把中国称作“赛里斯”。“赛里斯”是由希腊“赛尔”一词而来,“赛尔”是蚕丝的意思。“赛里斯”即是“丝国”。既然称中国为“赛里斯”,说明中国丝绸在当时已输入了西方,也就必然出现了通往西方的丝绸之路。此外,印度憍胝     

“阳江风筝”考

—“许多许多的历史才可以培养一点点传统,许多许多的传统才可以培养一点点文化”。[1]文化是人类历史进程中凝聚和留存的各种物质与非物质形态传统的反映和折射。作为最早由中国人发明的风筝,是中华民族向西方国家传播的科学发明之一,它与“四大发明”一样,是我国古代劳动人民     

火柴非“洋火”

近代中国,洋货大量输入,许多都被冠以“洋”字,与千家万户有着密切联系的火柴则被称为“洋火”。然而,可能很多人不知道的是,火柴最早是由中国人发明的。     

北京胡同趣闻

虽然经多年考证,但对“胡同”这个词的来因含义仍是各有高见、莫衷一是。对胡同含义的解释主要有三种：第一,蒙古语、突劂语、女真语、满语等少数民族“水井”大致是huto这样的音,井泉是居民生命之源,所以胡同的引申为街巷;第二,元朝时把街巷称为“火弄”、“弄通”,所以“胡同”是由“火弄”、“弄通”演变而来的;第三,这种解释有点政治色彩,     

云南古代镍白铜初探

本文简要介绍了镍白铜的性质及用途,指出了镍白铜是由云南滇东北一带最早创造和发明的。回顾了18、19世纪“云白铜”西传的历史。     

中国古代印刷术和书籍

我国是世界上最先发明印刷术的国家.在印刷术发明之前,最古老的书只有手抄本,没有印刷的书.中国古代的书起先是抄写在“绢帛”、“竹简”上面.到汉代发明了纸以后,纸就成为抄写书籍的主要材料.在纸上抄写书,一次也只能抄写一部,抄一部书要几个月,大部头的书要抄写几年甚至几十年才成.其笨拙和艰难情形,是我们生活在机电化了的印刷书籍的现代所难想象的.     

Production and subsistence strategies at El Zafrín (Chafarinas Islands,Spain): new data for the early Neolithic of North-West Africa

Until a few years ago North-West Africa was ignored in our hypothesis on the neolithization of Western Mediterranean. Moreover, the few excavations focused exclusively on the test of stratigraphies in order to obtain chronological sequences. Recently developed archaeological projects allowed the inclusion of this region in the scientific debate on the origin and evolution of its Neolithic, on the contacts with the Iberian Peninsula through the Strait of Gibraltar, as well as on the documentation of ways of live, habitation structures, and economic strategies. The open area excavation of Zafrín, in the Chafarinas Isles – an archipelago located a short distance from the North African coast – and the full analysis of its lithic industry (technology, typology and use-wear), here presented, represents a novelty on the Neolithic research in North Africa. This in turn will permit us to approach subsistence strategies and the way of life developed by the Neolithic communities of the region.     

NEOLITHIC AXES FROM ROMAN SITES IN BRITAIN

Finds of Neolithic axes are usually regarded primarily as evidence for Neolithic occupation in the area of the findspot. Neolithic axes from Roman contexts are also usually regarded in this way, often being classed as residual material. However, a study of axes from Roman sites in Britain has shown that they may well have been deliberately collected, in the Roman period, for religious or superstitious reasons. Many have been found on sites of a religious nature (an aspect well documented for temple sites on the Continent) and the beliefs associated with such axes may have been widespread.     

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。     

Neolithic occupation and mid-Holocene soil formation at Encosta de Sant'Ana (Lisbon,Portugal): a geoarchaeological approach

Excavations at the archaeological site of Encosta de Sant'Ana (Lisbon, Portugal) uncovered a mid-Holocene buried alluvial soil associated with early Neolithic occupation layers. Routine laboratory analyses and micromorphological observations were undertaken on the soil material. Humic acids from its Ab horizon, as well as Neolithic ecofacts, were radiocarbon dated. The dates obtained indicate that soil was formed between c. 8.0 and 6.0 cal ka BP and that the pedological evidence fits the record of the North Atlantic Holocene IRD events (“Bond events”) and the so-called “Holocene climate optimum”. The geoarchaeological record reveals that Neolithic inhabitants settled upon a stable surface, still affected by soil formation that was suddenly interrupted by slope wasting, probably in correspondence to Bond event 4, at c. 6.0 cal ka BP.     

Ancient DNA insights from the Middle Neolithic in Germany

Genetic studies of Neolithic groups in central Europe have provided insights into the demographic processes that have occurred during the initial transition to agriculture as well as in later Neolithic contexts. While distinct genetic patterns between indigenous hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers in Europe have been observed, it is still under discussion how the genetic diversity changed during the 5,000-year span of the Neolithic period. In order to investigate genetic patterns after the earliest farming communities, we carried out an ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis of 34 individuals from Wittmar, Germany representing three different Neolithic farming groups (ca. 5,200–4,300 cal bc) including Rössen societies. Ancient DNA analysis was successful for six individuals associated with the Middle Neolithic Rössen and observed haplotypes were assigned to mtDNA haplogroups H5, HV0, U5, and K. Our results offer perspectives on the genetic composition of individuals associated with the Rössen culture at Wittmar and permit insights into genetic landscapes in central Europe at a time when regional groups first emerged during the Middle Neolithic.     

Mobility and the diversity of Early Neolithic lives: Isotopic evidence from skeletons

Isotopic analyses of tooth enamel from early Neolithic skeletons in southern Germany adds diversity to the picture of the Neolithic transition in central Europe, which has often been described as a wholesale shift in diet and technology. Over the past decade, these isotopic studies have suggested some degree of immigration from nearby indigenous groups, as well as social differences within early Neolithic communities that correlate with immigration patterns. In general, there emerges pattern a pattern of patrilocal kinship that is consistent with independent genetic evidence, and anthropologically consistent with the potential identification of Neolithic ‘nuclear families’; and finally, specialisation of subsistence activities, such as livestock herding and cultivating, probably along hereditary lines.     

TRITON'S TRUMPET: A NEOLITHIC SYMBOL IN ITALY

Summary. The distribution and uses of triton shells in Italy from the Neolithic to modern times are described in detail, along with a summary of examples from the Neolithic and Copper Age of Central Europe and the central and eastern Mediterranean. Attention is then focused upon the triton shell trumpet, which is interpreted both as a Neolithic visual symbol and an oral signal, and suggestions are offered concerning its changing meaning in historical and more recent times.     

Neolithic rock art in context: Landscape history and the transition to agriculture in Mediterranean Spain

Rock art is one of the most salient features of Neolithic societies in eastern Spain and an explicit form of landscape history. This paper summarizes current debates of Mediterranean rock art chronology and interpretation and explores the contextual differences in two areas of Neolithic settlement with rock art: the Canyoles Valley (Valencia) and the Alcoi Basin (Alicante). Large-scale survey of the Canyoles Valley resulted in a clearer understanding of agricultural land use during the Neolithic that contrasts with evidence from the Alcoi Basin. By analyzing Neolithic rock art in its archaeological context, we discuss the significance and limitations of rock art analysis for understanding and characterizing landscape histories and the transition to agriculture in the region.     

The Age of Clay: The Social Dynamics of House Destruction

This study provides some fresh insight into Neolithic domestic architecture through the analysis of architectural technology and the control over the practice of house construction and destruction. Examined on a regional or local level, architecture of the Neolithic is often presented as a fairly homogenous social practice over the large area of Southeast Europe. In viewing the Neolithic houses as homogenous and uncontroversial material culture, archaeologists have overlooked not only the possible variation and multimeaning of the Neolithic houses but also their striking and extensive means of destruction. The role of house conflagration, a practice that lasted during the entire Neolithic of Southeast Europe, has not been addressed in archaeological investigations. Indeed the phenomenon of burned houses has been treated as a series of lucky accidents during the Neolithic, which are primarily responsible for the preservation of Neolithic sites. Contrary this view, I argue that it is unlikely that the houses were burned as a result of a series of accidents or for any structural and technological reasons but rather that they were destroyed by deliberate burning and most likely for reasons of a symbolic nature. The causes for the practice of house firing and house abandonment as observed through the architectural evidence at the site of Opovo are believed to have been related to the need for house replacement and securing its postutilitarian visibility in order to show social and material continuity of the Neolithic society. In my view, a struggle for social and material continuity might have been a leading mobilizing force in creating and maintaining social practices and beliefs in the Neolithic society.     

湖北省麻城余家寨遗址调查简报

余家寨遗址位于湖北麻城市,面积8300平方米。1991年,麻城市修建106国道将余家寨遗址西部边缘破坏,省、市、县文物部门对该遗址进行了全面调查勘探。遗址包含有新石器时代和西周两个时代的文化堆积。新石器时代标本中的主体是石家河文化,还兼有屈家岭文化、薛家岗文化及樊城堆文化等多种文化因素。在新石器时代遗址之上筑有一座面积约15000平方米的西周城堡,夯土城墙及护城河大部分保存完整。余家寨遗址为研究长江中下游原始文化之间的关系及南方商周文化与中原商周文化的关系提供了重要资料。