MARINE RESOURCES IN THE MESOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC AT THE GROTTA DELL’UZZO (SICILY): EVIDENCE FROM ISOTOPE ANALYSES OF MARINE SHELLS*

Oxygen isotopes in shell carbonate samples from the marine rocky‐shore intertidal gastropod Monodonta turbinata (Born) are investigated in both modern analogue specimens and in archaeological specimens from the Grotta dell’Uzzo (Sicily). Variations in shell edge values of δ¹⁸O in living specimens collected monthly over two years are closely correlated with monthly seawater temperatures measured at the time of collection, showing that the species can be used for palaeoseasonality studies. Analyses of shell edge δ¹⁸O values in archaeological specimens, from Mesolithic through to early Neolithic phases at the Grotta dell’Uzzo, enabled the inference of various seasons of collection of shellfish and how such seasonality varies between the different phases of occupation. Interesting similarities and differences exist between the seasons of marine shellfish exploitation and the seasons inferred from the vertebrate zooarchaeological assemblages. A major inference drawn from the analyses and discussion is that the exploitation of all marine resources (fish and shellfish) increased in the later Mesolithic and early Neolithic periods.     

CHRONOLOGICAL INSIGHTS, CULTURAL CHANGE, AND RESOURCE EXPLOITATION ON THE WEST COAST OF SWEDEN DURING THE LATE PALAEOLITHIC/EARLY MESOLITHIC TRANSITION

In this paper, we attempt to shed light on a probable cause of cultural change via a new avenue of approach. In brief, the paper represents a micro-study that addresses the Ahrensburgian culture group during the close of the Late Palaeolithic in north central Europe, and its relationship to the Hensbacka group found in central Bohuslän on the coast of western Sweden. Although we do not disagree that environmental conditions are a 'prime mover' of cultural change, we hold that it is not the only 'mover'. In addition, we also discuss the distinct possibility that the term 'microlithization' cannot be used as a synonym for the Mesolithic. The foundation of our micro-study is based on interdisciplinary concepts from the fields of archaeology, economic anthropology, geosciences, and marine zoology.     

THE MAGDALENIAN SANCTUARY OF THE CAVE OF LABASTIDE (HAUTES-PYRÉNÉES, FRANCE)

Summary. The parietal art in the cave of Labastide was discovered in 1932 by Norbert Casteret, the spelaeologist, but another 50 years were to pass before an exhaustive inventory was made of these figures, followed by their publication. The study of the parietal art has revealed a sanctuary with a predetermined layout in which the main panels were specially devoted to large figures representing a central Bison-Horse theme. The cave is also of interest because of the discovery of traces of 'Magdalenian IV' occupation (14,260 b.p.): about twenty small, engraved stone slabs display stylistic analogies with the parietal art, and are the best means of dating it.     

UNRETOUCHED BLADES IN THE LATE MESOLITHIC OF SOUTH SCANDINAVIA. A FUNCTIONAL STUDY

Summary. While most microwear analyses of flint artefacts have involved formal retouched tools, this paper concentrates on unretouched blades from 4 South Scandinavian Mesolithic sites, seeking to establish how frequently and on what materials such pieces were used and whether they were selected for identifiable morphological reasons. The results are based on a study of 496 specimens, from various archaeological contexts. The materials processed ranged from soft to medium hard and most blades were used once only, as disposable tools. Their role relates more to 'manufacturing'than 'subsistence'activities. Blades seem to have been selected mainly according to their edge angles, with specific tasks in mind (a situation for which ethnographic parallels can be quoted), and they were evidently deliberately struck with a view to use rather than being chosen from random débitage. Various aspects of these conclusions are discussed.     

THE MESOLITHIC of the CHANNEL ISLANDS: ECONOMY and SETTLEMENT IN A CHANGING LANDSCAPE

Summary: Results of recent surveys, combined with a re-evaluation of lithic assemblages from earlier surface collections, suggest the existence of several Mesolithic sites in the Channel Islands. the lithic assemblages from these sites find parallels on the mainland of North-Western France, suggesting that most of the Channel Island sites date to the 'Middle Stage'Mesolithic (c 8500-10,000 BP). the evidence for Mesolithic activity in the island is discussed in the context of the evidence for changing sea-levels and environmental conditions. It is argued that sites were preferentially located at the junction of several ecozones and that, for a short period of time during the 8th & 9th Millennia BP, sea-levels and environmental conditions in the area were particularly favourable for the exploitation of a broad range of resources.     

POTTERY TECHNOLOGY AT THE CHALCOLITHIC SITE OF TELEILAT GHASSUL (JORDAN)

Sherds from the Chalcolithic levels at Teleilat Ghassul show evidence of a considerable degree of sophistication in pottery technology and design. The bodies are almost certainly made from a siliceous illitic clay which contained some calcium carbonate, and was obtained locally. Some unusual, yet common, sherds are composed of highly vitrified black bodies with a surface wash of a refractory white clay. These sherds indicate the production of one of the earliest known totally vitrified ceramic fabrics. The latter sherds have been examined in some detail by chemical, thermal and X-ray analysis, and optical and scanning electron microscopy.     

MODELLING OF THE GROUND MOTION AT RUSSE SITE (NE BULGARIA) DUE TO THE VRANCEA EARTHQUAKES

An approach, capable of synthesising strong ground motion from a basic understanding of fault mechanism and of seismic wave propagation in the Earth, is applied to model the seismic input at a set of 25 sites along a chosen profile at Russe, NE Bulgaria, due to two intermediate-depth Vrancea events (August 30, 1986, M _ω=7.2, and May 30, 1990, M _ω=6.9). Accordingly to our results, once a strong ground motion parameter has been selected to characterise the ground motion, it is necessary to investigate the relationships between its values and the features of the earthquake source, the path to the site and the nature of the site. Therefore, a proper seismic hazard assessment requires an appro-priate parametric study to define the different ground shaking scenarios corresponding to the relevant seismogenic zones affecting the given site. Site response assessment is provided simultaneously in frequency and space domains, and thus the applied procedure differs from the traditional engineering approach that discusses the site as a single point. The applied procedure can be efficiently used to estimate the ground motion for different purposes like microzonation, urban planning, retrofitting or insurance of the built environment.     

THE BODY AT WAR

This book is one of the truly original contributions in historical writing to appear during the centenary of the outbreak of the war in 1914. The authors' central argument is that at the time of the Great War, scientists and physicians reconfigured the human body as both a living organism and a site of meaning. They developed the notion that the body was an integrated set of self-regulating systems, the precariousness of which threatened all of us with death every single day. The authors term this the “integration–crisis duet.” Although the origins of this formulation long antedated the war, the problem of treating thousands of men who suffered from various forms of shock—wound shock, surgical shock, shell shock—brought this new configuration of the human body into high relief during and in the decades after the war. The metaphor of homeostasis, or self-regulation, Geroulanos and Meyers claim, was so powerful that it spread well beyond the domain of physiology and medicine to facets of psychoanalysis, political thought, cybernetics, philosophy, and anthropology.     

最接近东方的SPA

按摩、能量、经络,以及草药,想到中国医学,你还能想到什么别的名词？五种中药粉末：姜、樟树籽、酸角、八角、薄荷,或者还有更多的药材。有些巴厘岛式的SPA中甚至会加大枣和苍耳,但是其目的都是为了散寒聚热,排除体内的寒气。这点在北方的一月尤其重要。     

A TOWN AT THE CROSSROADS: SITE-WIDE GRADIOMETRY SURVEYING AND MAPPING AT OLD TOWN RIDGE SITE (3CG41) IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS

Abstract

Gradiometry survey at the Old Town Ridge (3CG41) site, a stockaded Middle Mississippian period town in the central Mississippi River Valley of Arkansas, demonstrates the efficacy of a broad-coverage, site-encompassing remote sensing methodology for initial interpretation of intrasite organization and complexity. Site access, time constraints, deep plow furrows, and cotton plant “stubble” associated with ongoing agriculture at the site defer the efficient use of a site-wide multisensor prospection methodology. However, a gradiometry survey identified multiple anomalies consistent with prehistoric structures, earthworks, earthquake liquefaction, and other interpreted features encompassed within the remains of a 7-ha, rectangular enclosure. Aerial photography, topography, and preliminary archaeological ground truthing provided additional information for analysis and interpretation.     

NEW RADIOCARBON ACCELERATOR DATES ON ARTEFACTS FROM THE EARLY MESOLITHIC SITE OF STAR CARR,NORTH YORKSHIRE*

For the well‐known early Mesolithic site of Star Carr, dating of organic artefacts by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) has been hampered by treatment of bone and antler recovered during the original excavations with preservatives. Some, untreated, artefacts were, however, collected after Clark's excavation in 1950. Four of these artefacts were AMS dated in 1995, but two of the dates were significantly younger than the others, and were questionable due to their low collagen yields. These suspect samples have now been re‐analysed, demonstrating that all four artefacts are of similar date. The significance of these dates for the chronology of Star Carr is discussed.