The Dover Boat—a Reconstruction Case-Study

The Bronze-Age Dover boat, reconstructed and published by Owain Roberts in 2004, is discussed in regard to the general considerations of reconstructing ancient boat structures in the previous paper. The archaeological evidence shows that the boat had a bottom shape different from that shown in the 2004 reconstruction, and various other aspects, such as the general shape and strength of the hull and the calculation of potential speed when paddled, are questioned, partly drawing on the author's experience with the reconstruction of the Hjortspring boat. A re-assessment of the evidence is called for before any attempts to build a full-scale version of the Dover boat for sea-trials.
© 2006 The Author     

善待地球 保护好生命的承载之舟

<正>水能载舟亦能覆舟地球是人类的家园,也是我们生命的承载之舟。尽管地球是太阳系中一颗普通的行星,但它在许多方面都是独一无二的。比如,它是太阳系中唯一一颗面积大部分被水覆盖的行星,也是目前所知唯一一颗有生命存在的星球。人类是地球上的新客,从早期智人的出现算起,至今只有20多万年的历史。这段时间与地球46亿年的悠久岁月相比,不过是短暂的一瞬。地球为人类的生存、繁衍和发展提供了必要的资源和生态环境,它孕育了智慧的人类,铸就了我们健康的身心,从而使我们在发展经济的事业中精力充沛,创造无数的文明奇迹。人类一出现,就与地球形成     

The Secret Society's Secret: The Invoked Reality of the Tiandihui

This essay examines two sets of reports in the Qing-dynasty Jiaqing and Daoguang periods (respectively 1796-1820 and 1821-45) in order to understand better the perceived reality of the Tiandihui.The first set,found among the papers of Jiangxi governor Xianfu (1809-14),allows a comparison of a criminal gang that invoked the Tiandihui ceremony with one that did not.The second set includes the diary of Taihe county magistrate Xu Dihui (in office from 1824) that recorded various events which came to be reported to the senior officialdom as having been conducted by secret societies.By collating the incidents as reported in the diary and memorials to the emperor,the authors argue that the pressure of the administrative process was responsible for the ultimate acquiescence by the Hunan governor Han Wenqi (in office 1825-29) in the perception of an indisputable connection of the incidents with secret societies.Moreover,both sets of reports show that participants in secret-society ceremonies and officials who suppressed them knexv that the acclaimed networking of the Tiandihui as implied in its folklore was very far from the reality.     

端午节应优先恢复其原文化形态

端午节俗称端阳节，是我国多民族的民俗大节。两千多年来，不仅汉族家家户户要在城乡村寨举行丰富多彩的节庆活动；同时，还有26个少数民族也都在庆祝这个盛大节日。实际上，这个节日最早一直是以祛除病瘟、躲避兵鬼、驱邪禳灾为主要目的的。在端午节的活动中，汉族用五彩丝缠粽子、缠手足腕、用槲叶包米粽。     

The Thaikkal-Kadakkarappally Boat: an Archaeological Example of Medieval Shipbuilding in the Western Indian Ocean

Recent excavations at Kadakkarappally in Kerala, south-west India, have unearthed the remains of an iron-fastened boat, believed to predate the earliest known records for the use of iron in South Asian boatbuilding. The design departs significantly from the traditional view of Indian watercraft, although the use of locally available timber and the suitability of the design for use in the backwaters that characterise the region suggest that it was built and used in India. This is the first excavation of its type to take place in Kerala and contradicts the belief, widely held in Kerala, that the survival of organic remains has been negated by the tropical climate of the region.
© 2004 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

玉树大救援

2010年4月14日,青海玉树发生7.1级强烈地震。同胞罹难,家园被毁,"三江"泣血,大地呜咽。救人!救人!不惜一切代价救人!在海拔4000米以上的生命高地——青