Underwater Excavations at the Etruscan Port of Populonia

Abstract

The 1987/1988 field season at the U-shaped civic ceremonial center of Cardal in the Lurin Valley, Peru, included mapping and excavation of public and domestic architecture. Occupied from 1150 to 800 b.c., Cardal provides evidence of a more elaborate ground plan than was previously recognized, including dual causewayed plazas, and 10 semisubterranean circular courts. Excavations of the public architecture revealed the periodic burial and construction of ritual buildings, including a steep central stairway and an atrium whose exterior wall was decorated with a polychrome mural of a gigantic mouth band with massive fangs and interlocking teeth. The investigations on the pyramid summit also yielded evidence of a free-standing building with a dual altar, and a burial area. Information on domestic architecture and subsistence recovered from behind the public complex is also discussed. Finally, Cardal is compared to Garagay, a coeval U-shaped center in the neighboring Rimac Valley, and it is argued that the evidence available does not support the hypothesis that these monumental centers were constructed by “complex societies” in the traditional sense of the term.     

归义军时期敦煌寺院的吊孝活动

敦煌寺院会计文书不但记载了寺院所进行的吊孝活动,而且还保存了有关世俗人员的吊孝行为。本文主要利用这些文书的记载,并结合书仪等对吊孝礼仪的相关记载,对归义军时期敦煌寺院所进行的吊孝活动做了初步探讨,进而在一定程度上展现了当时敦煌社会中吊孝礼俗的实况。     

省城隍庙考

省城隍庙为建于省城供省级官员拜谒的城隍庙。自邓嗣禹作《城隍考》至今六十余年 ,迄无专文探讨。笔者不揣浅陋 ,试从始建时间、建立始末及称都城隍庙问题三个方面 ,对省城隍庙的历史作一简要考察 ,以就正于方家。一省城隍庙始建于何时 ,史无明文。从文献资料看 ,清初始有省城隍庙的记载 ,顺治《祥符县志》所记河南“省城隍庙” ,为文献所见较早的一座。这是否为省城隍庙之始 ?有文献说明代无省城隍庙 ,比如田艺蘅《留青日札》(成于隆庆年间 )记载 ,天下布政司 (省 )无城隍庙 ,省城隍神皆配享于京都城隍庙。① 朱国桢《涌幢小品》 (成于天启…     

Compositional characterization of Etruscan earthen architecture and ceramic production

This study presents the results of new research into Etruscan technology for earthen architecture as well as ceramic production in the upper Tiber Valley in central Italy, using as a case study the Etruscan settlement of Col di Marzo (Perugia). It determines the compositional differences of the raw material employed as building material and for ceramic production by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTG), Fourier-transform infrared analysis (FTIR) and geotechnical analyses. The research also advances the knowledge of ceramic manufacturing technology, with a focus on impasto production, at Col di Marzo between the fifth and mid-third centuries bce and the surrounding territory on the left bank of the River Tiber. The compositional analysis of building material compared with the ceramics provides answers to questions related to their sourcing and deepens the understanding of the exploitation of natural resources .     

The Volterran Urns: Etruscan Painting and Travertine Supply

The artistic evolution of the Volterran cinerary urns is a good representation of Etruscan painting from the fourth to the first century bc . The interest generated by this type of object directed our research towards the study of the Volterran artefacts, including the analysis of the pigments as well as that of the rocks used for the coffers. The entire colour range shown by the painted urns has been sampled and investigated through Raman microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Rock samples were taken both from the urns and from outcrops in ancient carbonate rock quarries near Volterra, from where they may potentially have been sourced. A set of 30 samples was collected and submitted to stable carbon and oxygen isotope analyses. The results obtained showed that the pigments used for the decoration of the Volterran urns were basically constituted by red ochre, Egyptian blue, carbon black and gypsum. The identification of lead‐based pigments and barium sulphates further informed us about old restorations undergone by several urns. As far as the provenance issue is concerned, the isotopic data indicate that the rocks used for the four urns were favourably comparable to those outcropping at Pignano, while two other urns were more similar to those sampled along the Elsa River at Colle Val d'Elsa.     

Evolution of Hindu Temples in Calcutta

Traditional norms of temple buildings, especially the form and location of Hindu temples, were meticulously standardized by Sanskrit texts to conform with a basic idea that a temple is the personal dwelling place of a deity.

This study, using a historical comparison method, presents tangible exndence of changes in the form and location of Calcutta's temples and the erosion of the old ideology within the urban milieu. A classification of temples according to their organizational characteristics provides insight into the nature of their changes, their cause and implications.     

Discovery of a Saxon Interment at Long Wittenham

Plans for garden-restoration by English Heritage at Kirby Hall provided the opportunity to increase the understanding of the site by combining the consolidation of its physical remains with a detailed archaeological examination. The results from investigation carried out between 1987–94 contribute important evidence for the development of the series of formal gardens from Elizabethan origins towards an apogee in the late seventeenth century, when they enjoyed the reputation of being among the finest gardens in England. The creation of the Great Garden and its terraces caused a major transformation of scene at around the beginning of the seventeenth century. Preparatory clearance and other earthmoving involved the demolition of part of the old village of Kirby, though some remains became incorporated in the new West Terrace and a mount preserved part of the site of the former church and associated graveyard. Alterations and later remodelling attest changes in gardening fashion, culminating towards the end of the century when surrounding walls were pulled down, architectural features were moved, and the West Terrace was given the appearance of a grass-covered bank. At the same time the adjacent garden floor was relaid with designs picked out in cutwork. A range of contemporary documents corroborates the impression of an increase in gardening activity and elsewhere the results of other excavation, allied with widespread geophysical prospection and other analytical non-destructive field survey, provide evidence of further garden-areas, different usage, and the overall landscape effect. In addition, a series of lost structural features associated with the Elizabethan and later house has been identified. The scale of investigation and its results arguably place the research at Kirby Hall in the vanguard of Garden Archaeology as a particular discipline, and it is therefore opportune to review the value of such types of investigation.     

云游青海古刹之间(组诗)

瞿昙寺瞿昙寺是青海省著名的藏传佛教寺院,也是西北地区保存最完整的明代建筑群,位于乐都县城南21公里处,最早建于公元1393年,现存明、清皇帝所赐匾牌、象牙等许多珍贵文物,厢廊400平方米壁画久负盛名。该寺被列为全国第二批文物保护单位。     

金钱·庙宇·经济

近日有机会到河北南部的一个县城小住,在那里考察与乡村生活方式变迁有关的课题.我们从农民的口中了解到,他们现在的生活比起十几年前要好得多的多,一位中年男子风趣地对我说,家里去年存着3000多斤的粮食,今年又收了几千斤,今后即使有三年的自然灾害,颗粒不收,老百姓也不会被饿死.不过在吃的问题解决之后,他们想的更多的还是希望手头更多一些零花钱,这些钱积攒下来,一方面可以用来盖房子,另一方面也可以使他们过得更体面一些.在农民的心里,钱似乎变得越来越重要了,因为他们逐渐发现,光有粮食换不来钱,生活一样没有着落.