青海民和县寺沟峡岩画调查简报

2019年,丝绸之路南亚廊道调查队在青海省民和县寺沟峡内发现了4幅6组个体102个岩画,并对岩画进行了详细的调查、测绘和数字化扫描。从整个岩面的制作技法来看,有直接磨刻法和敲凿法。岩画主要以抽象图案为主,有少量人像、持物人物、鸟等具象形象。其形象与新石器晚期至青铜时代彩陶图案纹饰相似度较高,与中原地区岩画有着密切关系,为研究官亭盆地早期文化提供了新的突破口。     

Spatial and temporal variety of prehistoric human settlement and its influencing factors in the upper Yellow River valley,Qinghai Province,China

We report an investigation of forty-two prehistoric sites in the upper Yellow River valley located in Guide, Jianzha, Hualong, Xunha and Minhe, Qinghai Province, China, including forty-four new radiocarbon dates from twenty-four sites, review published archaeological surveys and radiocarbon dates, analyze landform features and discuss the reasons for spatial and temporal variety of regional prehistoric human settlement. Our results suggest that people occupied the upper Yellow River valley during the early Holocene, but a continuous archaeological record begins only after about 5500 Cal yr BP. Thereafter, the intensity of prehistoric human settlement in the area is varied. Neolithic human settlement spread northwestward to high altitude areas of the upper Yellow River valley during early-mid Majiayao and Qijia periods, but moved southeastward to lower locations in the area during late Majiayao period. During the Bronze period, two coeval archaeological cultures, the Kayue and Xindian, occupied the upper Yellow River Region. Kayue archaeological sites are numerous and widely distributed in the high areas of the upper Yellow River, while Xindian sites are restricted to the lowest basin of the region. Variation in site density and location are likely the result of changing paleoclimate and technology.     

Testing technological practices: neutron activation analysis of neolithic ceramics from Valencia,Spain

Using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) of prehistoric pottery, daub, and modern clay samples from Valencia, Spain, we tested expectations on changes in raw material use with socio-economic shifts during the Neolithic (ca. 5600–2800 BC). Elemental analysis identified three distinctive clay source groups used by Neolithic potters. Contrary to expectations, a shift in raw material use was identified between the Early and Middle Neolithic despite general similarities in technological practices. In the Late Neolithic, pottery production became more specialized, but potters used the same range of clay sources documented earlier. This study illustrates the utility of INAA for testing hypotheses of prehistoric craft production.     

甘青地区史前用玉特征与进程

甘青地区是史前时期重要的用玉地区之一,其用玉进程表现为从前仰韶时期至马家窑时期,一直处于相对沉寂的状态,而大规模和较成体系用玉文化的兴起应始于齐家文化。齐家文化巫玉色彩浓重,玉器更多被用来祭祀。从用玉进程和用玉动机看,甘青地区用玉文化并非独立起源,而是从东部和中原引进与兴起,同时促进了甘青地区玉矿的开发与利用。     

The palaeogeography and Neolithic archaeology of Herm in the Channel Islands

Abstract

The small Channel Island of Herm combines several distinct habitats ranging from steep rocky coasts and a rolling upland plateau in the south to a dune-fringed sandy lowland in the north. Where upland and lowland meet, a line of megalithic tombs constitutes the island’s most striking archaeological feature. Four seasons of fieldwork (2008–2011) have sought to determine the environmental history of northern Herm since the last glacial period and to place the tombs within the broader context of Neolithic activity. A series of trenches and boreholes has revealed the changing morphology of the prehistoric land surface that lies buried beneath the extensive deposits of aeolian sand that cover this part of the island. Results indicate that much of the lowland plain was initially occupied by a shallow marine inlet that was cut off from the sea and progressively infilled starting in the 4th millennium b.c. Pollen and soil sequences reveal how the wooded early Holocene landscape around the edges of this inlet was steadily degraded by human impact and climate. Traces of settlement and cultivation (plowmarks) suggest the megalithic tombs were situated within an agricultural landscape. This finding has relevance for theories that have proposed that islands were favored places for burial by communities visiting from the neighboring mainland. Herm was a locus for settlement and farming as well as for burial during the Neolithic period.     

新中国成立以来河南新石器时代考古发现与研究

本文简要回顾了新中国成立60多年来河南新石器时代文化遗存的主要调查、发掘工作,对新石器时代早期的李家沟文化、中期的裴李岗文化和晚期的仰韶文化、大汶口文化、屈家岭文化等的主要考古发现和基本研究历程、重要研究成果进行了概述,有些方面还略作评议。在总结以往发现与研究取得的巨大成就的同时,指出今后既要继续重视基础性的文化研究,又要更加广泛深入地运用聚落考古等方法,加强对古代社会多方面、多角度的研究,以期河南新石器时代考古获得新的更大的发展。     

史前至夏时期“华西系玉器”研究(中)

本文是此长文的中篇,主要探索黄河上中游地区,在公元前3000年—前1600年间的玉器文化。从考古资料可知,约于公元前2300年前,分布于六盘山周围的客省庄文化、常山下层文化、菜园文化、半山文化等与齐家文化的形成关系密切,笔者统称之为"先齐家诸文化"。齐家文化可能形成于公元前2600年前后,但约自公元前2300年以降,迅速发展成地域甚广的强势文化,尤其是在该文化晚期,已分布至陕北高原西侧,北达河套地区。承袭了可能萌芽于庙底沟文化时的"璧琮礼制",先齐家时期已在祭祀坑里将琮与璧上下叠压掩埋,此时玉石琮也有了浅圈形的射口,或是为了固定二器的叠压而设计。齐家文化遗址较多,本文从墓葬、房址、祭祀坑等各方面作了分析研究。     

Evidence for Earliest Olive-Oil Production in Submerged Settlements off the Carmel Coast, Israel

Thousands of crushed olive stones with olive pulp are concentrated in pits at the Kfar Samir prehistoric settlement off the Carmel coast south of Haifa. Observations at this site, and at other Late Neolithic to Early Chalcolithic offshore settlements in this region, record an olive-oil technology that began along the Carmel coastal plain as early as 6500 years ago. This is about 500 years earlier than previously held. These new finds help define the technology of olive-oil production and refine the chronological definition of cultural units along the southern Levant coast during the 7th millenniumbp, a time of major transition between the end of the Neolithic and beginning of the Chalcolithic.     

武汉市黄陂区张西湾新石器时代城址发掘简报

2008年,湖北省文物考古研究所等单位对张西湾遗址进行了发掘,这是长江中游地区已知时代最晚、位置最偏东的一处新石器时代城址。城垣大致兴建于石家河文化早期,至石家河文化中、晚期可能已被废弃。此项发现为认识史前城址的发展过程、兴废动因及长江中游史前文明化进程等提供了重要资料。     

A multi-layered prehistoric settlement structure (tell?) at Niederröblingen,Germany and its implications

At least 15 settlement layers, deposited above each other from the early Neolithic (ca. 5300 cal BC) until Roman Imperial Times (ca. 400 cal AD), have been discovered at Niederröblingen, Germany. Constituting the longest duration of prehistoric settlement in central Europe so far known (ca. 4000 yrs), the site is thought to represent the first multi-layered settlement mound (tell?) north of the Alps. This implicates that the occurrence of settlement mound is not limited to the circum-Mediterranean area. The detailed chronology, based on archaeological, radiocarbon and OSL dating and supporting a Bayesian model, shows one clear occupational gap (early Neolithic) and a possible hiatus (Roman Times). Erosion phases of the settlement mound and the deposition of alluvial sediments (since Roman Imperial Times) in the surroundings resulted in an almost complete disappearance of the mound from the recent scenery. Being difficult to detect, similar sites might be present, undetected, in central Europe. Their discovery and study would enable the precise reconstruction of the settlement history as well as of the prehistoric man–environmental interactions at a high resolution.     

Prehistoric Settlement,Mobility and Societal Structure in the Peak District National Park: New Evidence from Ceramic Compositional Analysis

Detailed compositional and technological analysis of a large assemblage of prehistoric ceramics from numerous sites situated within the Peak District National Park has been used to explore the settlement patterns, societal structure, mobility and interaction of the populations that inhabited this area during the Early Bronze Age to Early Iron Age. A surprising pattern emerges of the widespread dominance of a single, geographically restricted temper type, which appears to have been transported and mixed with locally procured clay and used to produce pottery at numerous different sites. The distribution of this and several other compositional groups are defined via thin‐section petrography and compared to raw material field samples. The resulting patterns are used to assess the validity of previous theories about prehistoric life in this region during the third to first millennia bc .     

湖北孝感市叶家庙新石器时代城址发掘简报

2008年,湖北省文物考古研究所等单位对叶家庙遗址进行了发掘,这是近年来长江中游史前城址聚落考古的一次重要发现。发现的文化遗存大致分为三期,相当于屈家岭文化早期、屈家岭文化晚期和石家河文化早期。城垣兴建于屈家岭文化晚期。城外墓地的使用时间则从屈家岭文化早期延续至石家河文化早期。     

Strofilas (Andros Island,Greece): new evidence for the cycladic final neolithic period through novel dating methods using luminescence and obsidian hydration

The recently excavated coastal prehistoric settlement of Strofilas on Andros Island (Cyclades, Greece) in the Aegean sheds new light on the transitional phase from the Final Neolithic to Early Cycladic period regarding masonry, fortification, and richly engraved rock art. The fortification possesses early evidence of preserved defensive architecture, as evidenced from the plethora of scattered finds from within and around the settlement. Important features are carvings on rock walls which mainly depict ships, animals, and fish. Initial archaeometric dating via the application of luminescence dating of two samples from the fortified wall bearing engraved ships, and by obsidian hydration of two blades employing the new SIMS-SS method (secondary ion mass spectrometry via surface saturation), has been undertaken to determine the site's chronology. The former yields an average date of 3520 (±540) BC and the latter an average date of 3400 (±200) years BC, both of which, within overlapping errors, suggest the main settlement occurred during the Final Neolithic.     

甘肃民乐五坝史前墓地发掘简报

为配合甘肃省民乐县五坝村道路工程顺利实施,甘肃省文物考古研究所、张掖市文物保护研究所、民乐县博物馆对五坝墓地所在一条东西向道路(墓葬密集区)进行了两个月的考古发掘。共清理史前墓葬53座,时代内涵丰富,包含半山类型、马厂类型、齐家文化与"过渡类型"遗存。对于构建黑水河流域史前文化发展序列,乃至探索河西走廊地区史前各文化或类型间的相互关系提供了新的考古学资料。     

HUMAN MOBILITY AT THE EARLY NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT OF VAIHINGEN,GERMANY: EVIDENCE FROM STRONTIUM ISOTOPE ANALYSIS*

As evidence concerning human mobility during the transition to agriculture in central Europe, we present the results of strontium isotope analysis of human skeletons from the Neolithic village of Vaihingen, Germany. We find significantly more ‘non‐local’⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values from humans buried in a Neolithic ditch surrounding Vaihingen than from those buried within the settlement. These results fit with previous studies showing a correlation between burial circumstances and strontium isotope signatures from LBK cemeteries of southwestern Germany ( Price et al. 2001 ; Bentley et al. 2002 ). A pilot study of Neolithic animal teeth from Vaihingen suggests that either ‘local’⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr signatures were more variable than the analysed human bones suggest, or that these domestic animals themselves were mobile, perhaps ranged by mobile pastoralists.     

The Urban Quandary and the ‘Mega-Site’ from the Çatalhöyük Perspective

This paper considers the phenomenon of urbanism and the ‘mega-site’ from the perspective of the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Anatolia. At 13 hectares, with 18 levels of Neolithic occupation spanning 1100 years, and peaking at around 8000 inhabitants, Çatalhöyük is considered to be an important source of evidence regarding the transition from settled villages to urban agglomeration. While parallels can be identified between spatio-temporally separated sites, we argue that traditional models of urbanism disregard divergent long-term trajectories. Thus, a comparative look at different types of sites has the potential to provide new insights into broader questions concerning highly populated permanent settlements in the prehistoric period and contemporary concepts of urbanism, providing a useful alternative to diffusionist or grand narratives. Here, we consider social and ritual practice, settlement layout and space, and social organization as they relate to the urban qualities of this prehistoric town and within the Middle Eastern Neolithic context.     

渭河流域老官台文化的分期研究

The Laoguantai Culture is used to describe the archaeological remains distributed in the Wei and Han River Valley during the Middle Neolithic Period. This article is mainly dealing with the chronological sequence of the Laoguantai Cul- ture in the Wei River Valley. Based on the stratigraphical relationships and the characteristics of ceramics, the author subdivides the archaeological remains into two major periods and five phases, and generalizes the chronological idiosyncrasies of the Laoguantai Culture. This paper then lies down a solid foundation for the studies of settlement, demography and teelmology during the Middle Neolithic Period.     

苏家村遗址烧土样品的过火温度研究

烧土制品作为最早的人工建筑材料,使人类的居住环境得到了根本性的改善。然而,学界关于烧土建筑的成因存在人为烘烤处理、缘自火焚、废弃习俗等多种观点。通过科技手段研究烧土制品的过火温度,有助于科学分析烧土建筑的成因,探讨与之相关的建筑工艺,丰富史前建筑史研究。磁学研究表明,考古遗址中的土壤及其他沉积物在受热后新生成了磁铁矿、磁赤铁矿等强磁性矿物导致磁性显著增强,且矿物成分和磁性几乎不会再发生变化;但当重烧的温度接近或大于原始烧成温度时,样品中原始矿物的破坏或新矿物的生成,会引起矿物磁性的改变。基于这一原理,实验室内分析受热黏土的磁化率随再加热温度的变化特征,可反映烧土制品的过火温度。苏家村遗址是大汶口文化晚期至龙山文化中期早段一处重要的聚落遗址,遗址中第5层为厚约20～40 cm的红烧土层且覆盖整个遗址,推测为房屋倒塌造成的建筑垃圾堆积层或人为堆积层,出土大量烧土块。本研究利用X射线衍射分析法、X射线荧光光谱分析法和磁化率法等对苏家村遗址出土的烧土样品开展了组成及构造特征和样品的过火温度的综合分析。结果表明,苏家村遗址烧土样品中的白灰层中人为地添加了白色陶土原料,土层中有意地添加了植物残骸作...     

THE PROVENANCE OF OBSIDIAN ARTEFACTS FROM THE WĀDĪ ATH‐THAYYILAH 3 NEOLITHIC SITE (EASTERN YEMEN PLATEAU) BY LA–ICP–MS

The geological sources of obsidian in the Red Sea region provide the raw material used for the production of obsidian artefacts found in prehistoric sites on both sides of the Red Sea, as far afield as Egypt, the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia. This paper presents the chemical characterization of five obsidian geological samples and 20 prehistoric artefacts from a systematically excavated Neolithic settlement in highland Yemen. The major element concentrations were determined by SEM–EDS analysis and the trace element concentrations were analysed by the LA–ICP–MS method, an almost non‐destructive technique capable of chemically characterizing the volcanic glass. A comparison of archaeological and geological determinations allows the provenance of the obsidian used for the Neolithic artefacts to be traced to definite sources in the volcanic district of the central Yemen Plateau.