The domestic fowl and other birds from the Roman site of Mons Claudianus,Egypt

At the Roman quarry settlement of Mons Claudianus in the Eastern Desert of Egypt extreme aridity has preserved large amounts of organic matter. Amongst the faunal remains were several hundred bird bones, together with feathers and egg shell. The majority of the bird bones have been identified as domestic fowl Gallus gallus. Other species are rare: they include a few passage migrants and resident species. Finds of spurred tarsometatarsi and bones with medullary deposits indicate that both male and female domestic fowl are represented. It is likely that they were transported to the site from the Nile valley alive; some may have been kept at the settlement. Cut marks suggest that some at least were eaten, but the birds may have been used for different purposes, both secular and ritual. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Translocated Testudinidae: the earliest archaeological evidence for land tortoise in Britain

Abstract

This paper calls attention to the discovery of what is believed to be the earliest archaeological evidence for land tortoise in Britain. The specimen derived from a late 19th-century context at Stafford Castle and was associated with bones of cats and dogs, which may have been kept as pets by the castle's caretakers. The date accords with the historically attested rise in tortoise importation and with changes in attitudes towards pet animals.     

Istanbul’s intangible cultural heritage as embodied by street animals

ABSTRACT

Green, marginal, and sacred spaces in Istanbul host dogs, cats, and wild birds. In this essay, I argue that citizens enact embodied memories from the Ottoman era by caring for these animals. While birds are iconic representatives of the modern city, and street cats have become media denizens, the lives of street dogs are sadder. Animal rights activists are mobilized by the history of Ottoman administration efforts at eradicating them. Unlike actions inspired by this history, enactments of embodied memory are less conscious, such as residents cooking and distributing food to street cats. However, I argue that these are enacted social memories of compassion and charity and are an embodied form of intangible cultural heritage. Ottoman-era social practices of caring for street animals create an historical and legal foundation for justifying the right of street animals to live in the city.     

Cats of the Pharaohs: Genetic Comparison of Egyptian Cat Mummies to their Feline Contemporaries

The ancient Egyptians mummified an abundance of cats during the Late Period (664 - 332 BC). The overlapping morphology and sizes of developing wildcats and domestic cats confounds the identity of mummified cat species. Genetic analyses should support mummy identification and was conducted on two long bones and a mandible of three cats that were mummified by the ancient Egyptians. The mummy DNA was extracted in a dedicated ancient DNA laboratory at the University of California - Davis, then directly sequencing between 246 and 402 bp of the mtDNA control region from each bone. When compared to a dataset of wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris, F. s. tristrami, and F. chaus) as well as a previously published worldwide dataset of modern domestic cat samples, including Egypt, the DNA evidence suggests the three mummies represent common contemporary domestic cat mitotypes prevalent in modern Egypt and the Middle East. Divergence estimates date the origin of the mummies' mitotypes to between two and 7.5 thousand years prior to their mummification, likely prior to or during Egyptian Predyanstic and Early Dynastic Periods. These data are the first genetic evidence supporting that the ancient Egyptians used domesticated cats, F. s. catus, for votive mummies, and likely implies cats were domesticated prior to extensive mummification of cats.     

略论韩国百济故地出土的中国陶瓷

中国六朝各朝代一直与朝鲜半岛保持着密切的关系,尤其与百济之间有着不同形式的交往。迄今为止,在韩国百济故地已出土了不少中国六朝时期的陶瓷,这些器物可证实当时文化交流的部分情况。本文对其中保存较完整、时代较明确的几件器物进行了初步地分析和比较,并试图探讨这些器物的输人途径、烧制窑口、年代等问题。随着中国国内对该时代墓葬和陶瓷研究的进一步深入,必将对韩国的有关研究起到重要的参考和借鉴作用。     

Native grasslands and the stabilization of earthwork archaeological sites on the middle Missouri River,North Dakota

Abstract

Site condition and management practices at six Missouri River archaeological sites are reviewed and the condition of the sites compared between observations in 1993 and 1998. Earthwork sites in a cover of prairie or pasture grasses that have been mown for interpretation purposes have become more infested with ground squirrels. Tall prairie or shrubland obscures site features but these animals are less numerous on sites with such cover. One mown site in an urban area had no ground squirrels, suggesting that the animals had been removed by local urban dwellers or their cats and had no chance to re-invade. The long-term stability of archaeological sites can best be achieved by allowing native prairie grasses to grow tall, leaving only small samples of the site area open, or by control of ground squirrel numbers.     

日本民间故事中“猫”的形象

在日本猫与人有关联的民间故事,通过分析可找到三种类型,而产生这三种类型民间故事的原因与家猫的作用、作为食肉野猫的本性和家猫身上残留的野性及“猫又”传说有很大关系。在日本民间故事中,猫还有一个特性,就是常常与女性相关联。     

《嘉兴藏》与明清之际历史研究

明清之际佛书对考史有不可替代的作用。其一,许多明遗民迫于形势遁入空门,其记述论说逃过清朝严禁,以佛书的形式得以保存,故佛书成为研究他们的活动与思想不可或缺的珍贵资料;其二,清初顺治、康熙朝,若干僧侣入事朝廷,预闻要务,所以研究当时史事也离不开他们的作品,而这些著怍大多集中于《嘉兴藏》的续藏、又续藏部分     

Vegetation,land, and wood use at the sites of Bat and Al‐Khashbah in Oman (fourth–third millennium BC)

About 4200 charcoal fragments have been identified from the fourth‐ to third‐millennium BC archaeological sites of Bat and Al‐Khashbah in order to gain an understanding of plant resources available at the sites. Acacia sp., Ziziphus sp., and Tamarix sp. were the main taxa identified at both sites and indicate a similar vegetation composition as today. Phoenix sp. (date palm) charcoal also has been found at both sites. Whereas the cultivation of date palm for the 2700–2300 BC layers from Bat was likely, given other circumstantial evidence (i.e. local cereal cultivation and floodwater irrigation), it is unclear whether date palm was cultivated at Al‐Khashbah. Especially for the older periods (3300–2700 BC) it is possible that nomadic pastoralists were exploiting and/or managing wild date palms. The find of Avicennia marina at Al‐Khashbah indicates long‐distance contacts with the coast.     

On the Trail of the Oldest Domestic Cat in Poland. An Insight from Morphometry,Ancient DNA and Radiocarbon Dating

It is believed on the basis of archaeozoological research that the domestic cat appeared in Central Europe during the Roman Period. In Poland, the domestic cat is a common species in medieval deposits. Only a few finds of cat remains of pre‐medieval age have been reported from Poland to date, including several specimens from deposits older than the Roman Period, dated to the pre‐Roman Period and even the Bronze Age. To clarify the earliest history of the domestic cat in Poland, the paper presents a review of the available published cat remains and adds some data about newly discovered remains. Combined methods of morphometry and ancient DNA were applied to enable distinction of wildcats and domestic cats. The domestic cat remains were radiocarbon dated. In six cases of domesticated cat reported in the literature, five were positively taxonomically verified, both by morphology and by genetic analysis, and one was recognised as a European wildcat. According to radiocarbon chronology, the oldest studied find is dated to the fourth–third century bc and represents a wildcat. Only two individuals of domestic cat – skeletons from Łojewo and Sławsko Wielkie, both from Kuyavia region (central‐northern Poland) – represent the Roman Period (first–third century ad ), and they are the oldest confirmed domestic cats in Poland. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stray cats: Pets or pests? Cats and kittens everywhere in the medieval harbour site of Qalhāt (Oman)

The discovery of numerous cat remains, including many kittens, in various buildings (i.e., domestic house, cistern, mosque) of the ancient harbour of Qalhāt in Oman is unique among faunal assemblages in the medieval Arabian Peninsula. In this study, a zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis (ageing, skeletal element distribution, pathologies) is conducted to understand the origin of the cats and to deepen our understanding of human–cat relations. Thus, concerning the cats found in Qalhāt, two hypotheses may explain their presence: they took refuge in one of the buildings and died in situ before the complete destruction of the structures, or the corpses may have been dumped in the structures during a phase of their abandonment, very likely for health reasons.     

A Roman Skeleton with Possible Treponematosis in the North‐East of the Iberian Peninsula: A Morphological and Radiological Study

The main goal of this paper is to describe and discuss pathological lesions observed in a Roman skeleton (between 2^nd and 3^rd century AD) from the north‐east region of the Iberian Peninsula (St Nicasi 18–24 site. Gavà, Barcelona), which may be compatible with treponematosis. Most of the skeleton, with the exception of the neurocranium, was recovered. Only the left tibia was affected, whereas the rest of the recovered skeletal remains were unaffected. Macroscopic examination revealed a male individual between 25 and 30 years of age at death with a sabre‐shaped left tibia. The proximal half of the diaphysis was pitted and the bone overall enlarged. The surface of the tibia showed occasional vascular impressions where, in some instances, small raised plaques of new bone appeared to bridge over them, specifically in the most affected area of the proximal half of the tibia. No destructive lesions were observed. Radiographic examination and gross inspection at the cross section of the tibia showed encroachment into the medullary cavity of coarse cancellous bone and cancellization of the cortex. The observed lesions indicate that the tibia was affected by a chronic infectious disease. Differential diagnoses were considered, and these included other infectious diseases, fibrous dysplasia, Paget's disease, chronic varicose ulcers affecting bone and trauma, with the conclusion that the disease affecting the tibia could have been treponematosis. This could be significant in the history of the treponematoses being one of the oldest examples of treponematosis in pre‐Columbian Europe. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

贵州安顺宁谷龙滩汉墓清理简报

1994～2007年,先后在安顺宁谷龙滩清理了东汉晚期墓葬4座,其中2座石室墓(M29、M31),2座砖室墓(M30、M32),皆为带甬道的单室券顶结构,被盗严重,墓内残存少量随葬品。M31墓道内发现祭祀遗迹。     

山东章丘市大康遗址发掘简报

2001年 9月, 山东省章丘市博物馆对章丘市大康遗址进行了发掘, 发掘面积 50平方米, 发现龙山文化、岳石文化等遗存。该遗址面积较大, 为章丘市境内一处较为重要的古文化遗址。     

湖北襄樊市黄家村遗址周代灰坑的清理

2005年11月至2007年6月,对湖北襄樊市黄家村遗址进行发掘,其中2个周代灰坑H5、H19保存较好,出土鬲、甗、豆、盂、罐、罍、器盖等陶器共112件。H5的年代为西周晚期,H19的年代为春秋早、中期之际。黄家村遗址周代灰坑所出典型器物的形制演变序列清晰,这为探讨早期楚文化的来源提供了重要线索。     

Scienze credenze occulte livelli di cultura

The essay intends to find out why although many studies have focused on the three-year revolutionary period in Italy from 1796–1799, the Cisalpine Republic has never been studied in the same detail as the Neapolitan Republic. In reconstructing these events, the two republics are regularly presented in opposing terms. The Cisalpine Republic is portrayed as exemplifying subordination to the military protectorate and politics of France, while the Neapolitan Republic is put forward as the shining example of revolutionary resistance within Italy at the time. The essay intends to underline why the nineteenth and the twentieth century historiography has negatively and prejudicially judged the political experience of the Cisalpine Republic.     

明初察罕脑儿卫置废考

察罕脑儿卫是明初设立的蒙古军卫,应位于鄂尔多斯高原南缘的旧察罕脑儿城(即今陕西靖边县北与内蒙交界处的白城子——统万城遗址)。它与官山卫(今内蒙古卓资县北灰腾梁)一样都是洪武朝为安置降明的蒙古人而设立的羁縻军卫。本文对其建置沿革、与官山卫的关系、废置原因进行了考证,进而明确了明人在洪武朝对河套地区实施控制的主要方式。这对理解明初河套地区明蒙古关系以及当时的北边边防措施不无裨益。