Report of the Committee on Ancient Earthworks & Fortified Enclosures

The recent identification of two original drawings of the excavated remains of the east end of St Hugh’s choir at Lincoln Cathedral adds new information to that first published in 1887. A review of this information and fresh survey of the site, which includes information from grave slabs, will enlarge our understanding of what was discovered, including the fact that the foundations had been badly damaged by grave digging. The drawings themselves are revealed to be part reconstructions rather than accurate representations of what had actually survived. Nevertheless, they do allow a more accurate plan of the remains to be drafted and a new reconstruction of the building to be attempted. This is the aim of this article.     

Diversity of Pre-colonial Earthworks in the Brazilian State of Acre,Southwestern Amazonia

Amazonian earthworks, which are an important testimony to ancient anthropogenic landscape modifications, have a significant variety of structures and sizes, and are found in different geographical and ecological locations that indicate separate time periods, distinct cultural affiliations, and diverse purposes. We introduce data from diverse archaeological earthwork sites, geoglyphs, mound sites, and walled enclosures situated in the interfluves of the Purus River in the Brazilian state of Acre and propose a type definition for these sites. The abundant anthropogenic landscape features and their associated material culture indicate considerable human-induced environmental alterations and diverse earthworking traditions that are characteristic of the region of eastern Acre from at least ca. 2000 b.p. onwards.     

Annual Report of the Committee and Accounts for the Year 1981

Superstitious Beliefs and Practices of the Finns. I. Those relating to Hunting and Trapping. (Sttomen kansan mtiinaisia taikoja. I. Metsastys taikoja). Helsingfors, 1891, pp. 243.By John Abercromby.     

桐柏县几处古文化遗址调查简报

孤峰山遗址地处桐柏县西部,属汉水流域,是一处商周至汉代的遗址,其周代遗存以灰陶为主,文化面貌与随枣走廊和鄂东北地区较为接近,和襄樊地区同期遗存相比则有一定差异.古台寺遗址地处桐柏县东部,属淮河流域,是一处东周遗址,距月河养国墓地不远,可能与春秋时期的养国有关.     

安徽霍邱县王郢古墓葬发掘简报

所发现的1座西周墓和5座西汉墓,均为中小型墓,分为土坑、砖室两种。出土了陶器、铜器等50余件(组)。这次发掘为研究霍邱王郢地区的西周和西汉时期的葬制、葬俗及物质文化提供了新资料。     

青海都兰县哇沿水库古代墓葬2014年发掘简报

哇沿水库坝址位于青海省都兰县热水乡扎麻日村东南约2公里处,为配合哇沿水库的建设,2014年4～9月,青海省文物考古研究所与陕西省考古研究院合作,发掘了库区内的25座墓葬、5座殉马坑。这批墓葬虽盗扰严重,但出土文物依然丰富。墓葬形制、葬俗、殉牲方式及随葬品特点均体现出吐蕃文化因素的特征,为研究这一时期都兰地区的历史、吐蕃王国疆域变迁及唐、蕃文化的交流提供了重要实物资料。     

江西萍乡市田中古城遗址调查简报

田中古城位于江西萍乡市区北约4公里。城址建于萍乡市经济开发区田中管理处下辖的田中村东北约1200米的一座低矮土岭上。城址北依山坡,东邻萍水(又称萍乡河),南部有几处起伏的低丘,西面是开阔的平地(图一)。古城周边有三个自然村,分别称为土城坳上、土城坳下和何家圳。据当地民众回忆,田中古城所在的土岭     

山东平阴县古文化遗存调查简报

平阴县位于山东省西部,东北与长清县相接,东部与肥城市毗邻,南、西南与东平县为邻,西北隔黄河与东阿县相望,面积900平方公里。平阴地处泰山西翼,地势南高北低。中部为山区,以东为平原,以西为黄河滩区。境内主要河流自西向东有浪溪河、玉带河、安栾河等,均发源于南部山区,北流注入黄河。     

甘肃马鬃山区考古调查简报

2004年7月29日～8月28日,西北大学文化遗产与考古学研究中心和甘肃省文物考古研究所对马鬃山镇所属范围内的岩画资料进行记录和拓描,同时对和岩画密切相关的墓葬及古代居住遗址进行了调查记录。现将调查情况简报如下。     

A Statistical Study of Lunar Alignments at the Newark Earthworks

Abstract

Previous work has presented evidence that the Circle-Octagon Earthworks at Newark Ohio contain numerous features that are aligned to the lunar standstills (extreme rise and set points of the Moon). A Monte Carlo study of randomly constructed octagons is presented to investigate the statistical significance of this evidence. The study investigates the sensitivity of the statistics to a variety of plausible assumptions about the design of the earthworks, the capabilities of the builders, and the type and precision of the astronomical alignments. The results of the quantitative study establish that the statistical significance of the evidence for deliberate astronomical alignment over the entire range of plausible assumptions is far too high to be dismissed. The study reveals that the hypothesis of deliberate astronomical alignment predicts the otherwise unexplained shape of both octagonal earthworks constructed by the Hopewell Culture. The analysis compares the Newark dataset to hypothetical datasets which have no statistical significance, so that the difference is clearly established. We also show the evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that the astronomical alignments were established from observations made from high points where the effects of local horizons were negligible.     

Making Space for Energy: Wasteland Development,Enclosures, and Energy Dispossessions

This paper analyzes why and how wasteland development narratives persist through an evaluation of wasteland development policies in India from 1970 to present. Integrating critical scholarship on environmental narratives and enclosures, I find that narratives of wastelands as “empty” spaces available for “improvement” continue because they are metaphors for entrenched struggles between the government's shifting visions of “improvement” and communities whose land use practices contradict these logics. Since the 1970s, “improvement” has meant establishing different types of tree plantations on wastelands to ostensibly provide energy security. These projects have dispossessed land users by enclosing common property lands and by providing forms of energy incommensurate with local needs, a trend I term “energy dispossessions”. Factors enabling energy dispossessions include the government's increased attempts to establish public–private partnerships to carry out “improvement” and a “field of observation” constructed to obscure local livelihoods. Unveiling these logics will help to problematize and contest future iterations of wasteland development.