INTRUSIVE BURIAL GROUPS IN THE LATE ROMAN CEMETERY AT LANKHILLS, WINCHESTER—A REASSESSMENT OF THE EVIDENCE1

This paper examines the evidence brought forward by the excavator to support his hypothesis that foreign ethnic groups were buried in the late Roman cemetery at Lankhills, Winchester, and that these groups are identifiable from their burial rites. The report is reassessed within the pattern of diversity which is the demonstrable norm of burial practice worldwide. The value of strongly theoretical explanations of funerary layout is questioned in the light of case-studies where historical sources add an otherwise unavailable dimension to the context of the known archaeological data.     

Constructing Identities in Early Iron Age Thessaly: The Case of the Halos Tumuli

This paper examines the Early Iron Age tumulus–cemetery of Halos in south–eastern Thessaly, with its unique cremation pyre–cairn combination. As there are no parallels for such combination of burial practices either in Thessaly or in any other area of the Greek world, it has usually been suggested that the tumuli were erected by people foreign to Thessaly, most probably of a northern origin. This paper presents evidence suggesting a local custom closely related to the desire to create a new identity.     

Skeletal remains of dogs unearthed from the Van‐Yoncatepe necropolises

A total of 15 dog skulls and a number of bones have been discovered in two burial chambers dating from 1,000 BC in the necropolises of the Van‐Yoncatepe Castle in eastern Turkey. The finds were a dog skeleton in burial chamber M5 and 14 dog skulls and plenty of bones in burial chamber M6. It was determined on examination that the skeleton found in burial chamber M5 was an 11–12‐year female dog, and that the skulls unearthed from burial chamber M6 belonged to dogs with an age range of seven to eight months to 12–13 years. In the latter chamber, however, except for one skull whose sex could not be determined, one was ascertained to belong to a female dog and the rest to males. Calculations of 20 different indices and ratios were made on the skulls. This showed that these skulls were of the dolichocephalic type. It was observed that there were signs of a widespread periodontal disease and alveolar recession. Enamel hypoplasia and abscess chambers detected on the teeth, and deformations observed in the hard palate were evidence enough to suggest that these were undernourished dogs. There were also some facial fractures, which were noticed to have occurred before death. On the other hand, examination carried out on the bones revealed that the dogs were of medium size, and that they were likely to have had a withers height of 50–55 cm. The data obtained from both the burial chambers brought to light the fact that these dogs were more of the hunting or working types. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

论黄河流域先秦时期腰坑墓葬俗文化——兼说与长江流域同类墓葬俗的关系

腰坑墓流行于黄河流域中原地区的墓葬中,学者们多把对其研究的焦点集中在对这一葬俗文化起源问题的讨论上,并较一致地认为该葬俗最早起源于河南地区。本文对发现的有关材料进行梳理,围绕中原地区先秦时期腰坑墓的起源、用途、性质、发展演变等进行了分析,以澄清过去研究中存在的一些模糊认识。认为,腰坑墓的葬俗最早可以追溯到新石器时代,而其起源亦非河南地区。     

Publications of the Society

Abstract

By summarizing briefly the existing facts and problems relating to the dolmens in Palestine and Transjordan, an attempt was made in this paper to establish the date and purpose of this important and imposing group of ancient monuments. The very nature of the existing archaeological evidence still necessitates certain hypotheses. We concluded that the free-standing dolmens fulfilled some function in secondary burial rites—presumably serving, wholly or partly, as primary burial places—in the Chalcolithic and Proto-Urban Periods, that is, in the second half of the fourth millennium. This conclusion is based upon some datable pottery finds and is supported by the evidence of burial rites in those periods. It is also strengthened by the virtually negative results of any serious attempt to attribute them to any other, earlier or later, period.

The dolmens were erected, in our opinion, mainly by nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoral people. Their zone of distribution, the evidence of secondary burial rites that are usually practised by such people, the population represented by the pottery finds in the dolmens and many parallels as to the economy of megalithic tomb builders in other areas, all point to this conclusion.

Our conclusions, however, are not based upon sufficient data and the dolmen problem in our region undoubtedly requires further systematic research and excavations. We hope that in future investigations, our working hypotheses presented in this paper may be of some help, as they do· not appear as yet fundamentally wrong, although this possibility should never be forgotten.     

老河口市柴店岗砖厂汉代窑址清理简报

1999年,老河口市博物馆配合柴店岗砖厂取土,抢救清理了1座西汉中晚期陶窑。窑为半地穴式建筑,3个烟囱,主要由窑前室、火门、火膛、窑床等构成。窑室东部低洼地堆积有丰富的窑内废弃物,主要有日用陶器、丧葬用陶、生产工具、建筑仞陶等。此窑应为专门烧制日用陶器、丧葬用陶及建筑用陶的民营私窑。     

埃及晚期的木基质彩画：赛加拉和法国博物馆

埃及文明在矿物方面的知识总是超出了我们的想象。这方面就包括使用多种黄色矿物绘制颜色相近的色彩。对这些颜料的准确鉴定将拓展人们在彩画方面的研究。画家所使用的颜料非常丰富,除了同时代直接从埃及地面采集的自然颜料外,还有大量像埃及蓝这类合成颜料的应用。对法国的这些藏品的研究将使人们可以追溯几个世纪以来这些颜料的演变和替代过程以及一些从其它地区尤其是东方国家引进颜料的过程。一些颜料的稳定性及其它特性使得其保存状况令人惊讶。卢浮宫博物馆在塞加拉的任务是进行一个埃及晚期（公元前378年一公元前341年）典型群葬墓的发掘工作。发掘出的木质棺材上记载了该墓葬的埋藏时间是Nectanebo二世法老执政的第2年,这是埃及第三十王朝的最后一任法老。该研究涉及以木质为基材的出土物,它包括二十个完整的或破碎成碎块的像盒子一样的棺材。研究通过在双筒显微镜下对文物进行微量取样,而后将样品进行扫描电子显微镜一能谱分析以及显微拉曼光谱分析,从而确定样品中矿物的成分。此外还对样品进行微量化学分析以确定其残存的痕量胶料。彩色颜料包括埃及彩画同时代的传统颜料一黑色,白色,红色,黄色,蓝色,绿色和镀金,同时还包括一些不常见的粉红色或橘色颜料,它是一种外来的、易碎的颜料,成分为五硫化二砷,又称雄黄。     

出土遗物现场应急处置方法

近些年来,考古出土遗迹和遗物的种类越来越丰富,利用何种方法手段去处置和保护,使这些珍贵的遗迹和遗物有效地保存下去是一个重要的研究课题。为此,介绍了一些对考古出土遗迹和遗物有效的处置保护措施与方法,为考古学科的开展和研究提供更加全面翔实的实物资料。     

Imagination beyond THE Ancient Cemetery on Mt.Le

Most people believe that the practice of sky burial is all- pervasive in Tibet.While some people may have a passing acquaintance with the rituals regarding sky burial in Tibet,others may be curious and seek more information. Nonetheless, they may not even know that earth burial prevailed in Tibet just before Buddhism was introduced into Tibet or as early as when the Shangshung     

岭南战国秦汉墓的“架棺”葬俗

在部分岭南战国秦汉墓葬中,随葬器物的空间分布和保存状态显示出"架棺"的迹象。结合广州汉墓中"架棺"和"架举棺室"的实例,以及部分岭南战国秦汉墓葬中墓底柱洞和凹槽的发现情况,推测"架棺"葬俗在战国秦汉时期岭南地区的越人墓葬中使用较为普遍。"架棺"的方式较为复杂,此葬俗的文化含义也值得深入研究。     

山西翼城大河口西周墓地M1034发掘简报

大河口墓地M1034是一座东西向长方形土坑竖穴墓,葬具为一棺一椁,椁下有两根垫木,墓底中部有一腰坑,坑内殉狗一只。墓主头向西,仰身直肢,男性,年龄为18~19岁。随葬品共计691件套,种类有青铜器、陶器、玉器、石器、蚌贝器、骨牙器和漆木器等。其中青铜礼器有鼎3件,簋2件,青铜兵器有戈、矛、剑、镞等,陶器仅有陶鬲1件。墓葬年代为西周中期早段,墓主为霸国中等贵族。     

拊葬墓与古代家庭

在以血缘为纽带的社会组织中,其成员死后的埋葬方式直接与家庭、家族和宗族相联系。“袝葬”现象揭示了以家庭为核心的生产关系和生活方式。拊葬墓是以一人为主,其他人从属,多人共用一墓的墓葬。考古学研究中墓室的多少常常与墓主人的身份、等级联系在一起。但袝葬现象直接表现在墓葬形制特征上,是墓葬类型的一种特殊形式,因袝葬需要出现的多室墓并非是墓主人身份的象征,不能作为判别墓葬等级的标准。汉代的袝葬墓一般不改变流行的墓葬形制,而是改变某些空间的功能,西晋以后袝葬墓影响到墓葬形制的改变。拊葬墓的流行,是因为社会组织中血缘关系密切的家庭的地位增强,土地所有制、生产经营和财产关系发生了变化。     

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 11 June 2009

Abstract

A total of 119 rock-cut burial caves of the Roman and Byzantine periods were surveyed in the study area, all of which had been subjected to robbing at some point in the recent past. This tomb raiding in the Saffa region has resulted in severe damage to a large number of rock-cut tombs, the desecration of several hundred ancient burials, and in the extraction of thousands of funerary objects from their original context. This study depends mainly on interviews with several of the raiders of these tombs and on a field survey carried out by the author in February and March 2011. The main aim of this study is to address three questions: What are the present and future challenges facing the tombs of the Roman and Byzantine periods in the study area? Could an ethnographical study help us to expand our understanding of the looting history of these burial caves and the kinds of looted objects that were found there? What can such an ethnographical study add to our understanding of the past?     

From the Sands of the Ogaden to Black Hawk Down: The End of the Cold War in the Horn of Africa

From the Ogaden War to the Black Hawk Down incident, the Horn of Africa was a theatre of events with far-reaching international consequences. This paper argues that the distinctive process leading to the end of the bipolar conflict in the Horn is crucial to understanding the role of this region both during and after the Cold War. Through an extensive analysis of the period 1985–1991, this article explains why only a few years after the ‘burial’ of SALT II in the sands of the Ogaden, the superpowers withdrew from the region which had been the symbol of the failure of détente. Similarly, an analysis of the end of the Cold War is paramount to understanding why, after the break-up of the USSR, the Horn of Africa hosted one of the most tragic episodes of post-Cold War US foreign policy.     

Excavations at the Quaker Burial Ground,Kingston-upon-Thames,London

Abstract

Excavations in a Quaker burial ground at Kingston-upon-Thames uncovered the remains of 360 individuals buried between 1664 and 1814. Historical records combined with the evidence from the excavations have provided an insight into burial rites and undertaking practices of an early Nonconformist community. The archaeological evidence suggests that the simplicity and plainness of Quaker lifestyle were to a large extent reflected in burial. A detailed osteological analysis indicated a healthy, thriving community.     

湖南望城风篷岭一号汉墓的年代与墓主

风篷岭M1是近年来长沙地区所发掘的最为重要的大型汉墓。本文以考古资料为基础,侧重从历史学角度对该墓的墓主身份、墓葬年代及相关问题进行探讨,认为该墓下葬年代当在西汉元、成帝之际,其上限为墓中出土铭文所云之长沙元年。此长沙元年当是孝王刘宗元年,即元帝初元三年(前46年)或四年(前45年)。墓主张姬最有可能是孝王刘宗之王后,且与长汤M1墓主张端君可能均出自富平侯张安世家族。     

徐州西汉墓陪葬陶俑述论

徐州作为两汉重要的诸侯王封国所在地,有较多西汉墓陪葬有陶俑。从总体上看,徐州西汉墓陪葬陶俑经历了萌芽、繁荣和衰落的全面发展过程,每一阶段都有其自身的特点和表现形式,并与社会的发展及葬制、葬俗的演进等密切相关。徐州西汉墓陪葬陶俑还与本地区东汉墓葬及周边地区西汉墓葬的陪葬陶俑存在一些相同和不同之处,综合反映出相关丧葬内容、物质文化等的时代特点及地域特征。     

Secondary burial cemeteries,visibility and land tenure: A view from the southern Levant Chalcolithic period

Off-site secondary burial cemeteries in the southern Levant are an innovation of the Chalcolithic period. Ethnographic studies suggest that location of burial places was one of the means used to establish and socially mediate ownership over the landscape. The current research examines whether the spatial pattern of burial sites during the Chalcolithic period in the southern Levant represents a land tenure system. Spatial analyses of burial and habitation sites located mainly along the central Israeli coastal area indicate that Ghassulian communities avoided locating their burial sites near habitation sites concentrations. Viewshed analysis indicates that the areas observed from burial sites are significantly larger than those observed from habitation sites, and that their location scattered across an area which increases rather than overlaps the size of area visible from the habitation sites. Furthermore, our results show that communities which wanted to claim land tenure over a larger territory use burial sites locations in order to maximize the observed area within habitation sites surroundings.     

Deciphering bone depositional sequences in caves through the study of manganese coatings

The presence of black-coloured bones in caves has been sometimes associated to the use of fire by humans, but more frequently the agent responsible for black colour is the natural deposition of manganese oxides. Manganese coatings were not usually studied once human action was discarded. However, they can provide valuable information about the origin and the sequence of formation of a palaeontological or archaeological deposit. In this paper, we present a quantitative and qualitative study of the manganese coatings that affect most of the bones recovered in the palaeontological site of Liñares cave (NW of Iberian Peninsula) together with other taphonomic marks. The manganese coatings are superimposed on other features previously existing on the surface of the bones. In turn, the coatings can be affected by other agents that modified them totally or partially. The combined interpretation of the different taphonomic marks provides us with valuable information on the sequence where the different taphonomic processes were produced, as for example the intervention of carnivores in the disarticulation of some elements before the burial, the preservation of anatomic connections until after the burial of the carcasses, and the existence of reworking processes in some parts of the infill.     

Tradition,myth and the dilemma of Australian foreign policy

For a middle power with a relatively short history of framing a self determined foreign policy, Australia has actively sought to engage with both its immediate region and the wider world. Elite agreement on this external orientation, however, has by no means entailed consensus on what this orientation might involve in terms of policy. Consequently, two, often conflicting, traditions and their associated myths have informed Australian foreign policy-making. The most enduring tradition shaping foreign policy views Australia as a somewhat isolated bastion of Western civilisation. In this mode Australia's myth is pragmatic, but uncertain and sees Asia as both an opportunity and a potential threat which requires the support and counsel of culturally similar external powers engaged in the region to ensure stability. Against this, an alternative and historically later tradition crafted a foreign policy that advanced Australian independence through engagement with a seemingly monolithic and increasingly prosperous Asia. This paper explores the evolution and limitations of these foreign policy traditions and the myths that sustain them. It further considers what features of these traditions continue to have resonance in a region that has become more fluid and heterogeneous than it was during the Cold War and which requires a foreign policy flexibility that can address this complex and strategically uncertain environment.