The flint daggers of Denmark: Studies in chronology and cultural relations of the South Scandinavian Late Neolithic

A main topic in this issue of Norwegian Archaeological Review is the book Die Flintdolche Dänemarks. Studien über Chronologie und Kulturbeziehungen des südskandinavischen Spätneolithikums by Ebbe Lomborg. The Scandinavian Late Neolithic has not been a subject of discussion for many years, and this publication is an important contribution to the study of this formative period in the prehistory of the Scandinavian countries.

Comments by Niels Bantelmann, Jay J. Butler, Klaus Ebbesen, and Märta Strömberg are followed by a reply from Ebbe Lomborg.     

An investigation of the fractal properties of flint microwear images

This paper reports on an investigation into the fractal dimensions of flint microwear images which has been carried out in an attempt to resolve the existing controversy over the possibility of identifying microwear types from visual inspection of high magnification images, and describes a new method for flint microwear image analysis based on fractal geometry. Fractal dimensions of surface images, which are known to relate well to human visual perception of roughness, have been computed for various types of microwear. No significant correlations have been found between the fractal properties of the digital flint images and the contacted materials.     

Gloss and use-wear traces on flint sickles and similar phenomena

Using a scanning electron microscope, the high optical polish or gloss and other use-wear traces on the edges of sickle blades are characterized and compared with polishes on other artifacts and natural pieces. The photomicrographs of the surface features and cross sections of the sickle blades as well as laboratory simulation tests, show that the gloss does not form an additive surface layer. Instead, polish formation is considered to be the result of surface alteration caused by frictional mechanisms. Use-wear traces also suggest evidence of how and on what crop the sickles were used.     

Microwear analysis of experimental flint tools: a test case

Recent attempts to infer the functions of prehistoric stone tools have centred on the study of microscopic traces of wear on the surfaces of these tools. One method of “microwear analysis” involving high magnification and an incident light microscope is tested in this paper. Modern flint tools made and used in ways thought relevant to prehistory were produced by a lithic technologist and after cleaning given to the microwear specialist who attempted to infer their use. A high degree of agreement between inferred and actual uses was achieved and this encouraging result has important implications for the study of microwear on prehistoric tools where no such independent check is available.     

Comments on the Guovdageaidnu seminar

Sammendrag

Forfatteren var selv en av deltakerne på NAVF's forskningsseminar i Kautokeino om minoritetsforskning sett fra humanistisk og samfunnsvitenskapelig side. I denne artikkelen gjør han rede for målsettinga med seminaret, som var en del av Forskningsrådets program for samisk og kvensk språk, historie og kultur. Han tar her saerlig for seg de grunnlagsproblem og forskningsetiske problem som generelt reiser seg i forskning som gjelder minoritets‐befolkninger, og setter seminaret i sammenheng med en pågående debatt ført av filosofer og sosialantropologer. Avslutningsvis gir forfatteren også en kortfattet vurdering av innleggene på seminaret sett i et slikt forskningsperspektiv. Hans eget innlegg på seminaret stod trykt i Acta Borealia nr. 1 1984.     

Crystallographic and structural transformations of sedimentary chalcedony in flint upon heat treatment

The early occurrence of intentional heat treatment of silica rocks has recently become a key element in the discussion about the cultural modernity of prehistoric populations. Lithic vestiges are the only sources that remain of this process and the understanding of the material’s properties and transformations are essential for reconstructing the conditions and parameters applied during heat treatment. Several models of the structural transformations upon heating have been proposed in the current literature. These models are often contradictory and do not account for the most recent structural and mineralogical data on chalcedony. In order to propose a new model, we elaborated an experimental procedure and applied different techniques involving infrared spectroscopy, solid state NMR, X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. The results show that the major transformation to happen is the loss of silanole (SiOH) and the creation of new Si-O-Si bonds according to the reaction: Si?OH HO-Si → Si-O-Si + H₂O. This reaction starts between 200 °C and 300 °C and causes an increase in the hardness of the rocks. The maximal annealing temperature and the ramp rate are the functions of the ability of the structure to evacuate newly created H₂O and depend on the size of the specimen and the volume of its porosity. These results also show that the annealing duration at maximum temperature can be relatively short (<50 min) for a sufficiently large amount of transformation to be accomplished.     

Testing for the presence of thermal pretreatment of flint in the mesolithic and neolithic of Sweden

Through ethnographic accounts, the method of heat treatment of silica materials to improve the flaking qualities is shown to have been known almost worldwide. Some mesolithic and neolithic flint artifacts from southern Sweden were examined in order to determine if they too were heat treated. From several methods proving or indicating thermal alteration of flint, analysis using scanning electron microscopy was chosen. Two samples were taken from each artifact, one being examined unaltered, the other being heat treated. No two samples from the same artifact had the same kind of surface appearance. Thus these analyses prove that the artifacts examined had not been heat treated.     

Comments on comments

This article is a comment on: Tubridge et al., 2012. Decennial reflections on a ‘geography of heritage’ (2000). International Journal of Heritage Studies, DOI: 10.1080/13527258.2012.695038     

电视节目低俗化现象之评析

在现代技术文明和商业文化背景下成长起来的电视文化,加快了传统文化中高雅文化和商业文化的分化速度。但在电视文化通俗化的发展道路上,低俗化的倾向日益显现。本文通过分析低俗化现象产生的原因,提出了遏制电视节目低俗化的路径。     

“百家讲坛”讲史平议

中央电视台"百家讲坛"宣讲历史有三点应当注意:一是贴近历史,开发历史文化。文史兼顾,但应尊重历史事实。二是传播历史,发扬光大祖国丰富的历史文化遗产,但不可颠倒是非,以伪乱真。三是再讲历史,创新资治通鉴。司马光写史,以史为鉴,欲以益世。现在讲史,应当创新,有益于世,"青出于蓝"。     

Further Comments on the Simla Conference

Early in the period of the Republic of China,inAugust 1913,the Government of the Republic of Chinaheaded by Yuan Shikai sent a delegation to participatein tripartite talks in British India between China,Brit-ain and Tibet.This was under pressure from the Brit-ish Government and the aim was to“solve”the so-called Tibetan issue.Being held in Simla,the confer-ence was remembered by history as the SimlaConference.After long-drawn-out negotiations,noagreement was reached.The conference ended in fail-     

陶澍的方志学思想述论

陶澍是清末名的政治家和改革家,曾倡修《安徽通志》,参与编修过多部县志,并为多部志书撰写序言,在方志理论方面有所建树。陶澍与司马光和章学诚的观点相近,认为“邦国之志”和“四方之志”都是方志源头;方志是历史书,属于历史学范畴;方志三大功能中,“资治”十分重要。陶澍还对资料的采集和甄别,修志人员的素质等方面提出了自己的看法。     

小议志书之交叉

新方志交叉多的原因在于：事物密切联系的客观反映;各类体裁交叉重复记述;新增门类过多,升格不当;贪多求全,同项兼容;分类层次过多过细。规避分志间交叉重复要科学设计纲目、力避重名标题,按照事物性质取舍资料,保持实体的完整性记述,正确处理好志书诸体之间的关系等。     

评刘琨

刘琨在北方活动的时期正值西晋末十六国初期。这个时期北方民族矛盾上升为主要矛盾,刘琨在北方与少数民族贵族政权的斗争代表了汉族人民的利益．在一定程度上保护了汉人的生命、财产;刘琨的斗争也使少数民族贵族政权在一定程度上改变了对汉族人民和大族的政策。对汉人,变肆杀为安抚;对大族,变屠杀为重用。同时。刘琨的斗争对牵制北方少数民族贵族政权兵力。阻止其南下也起了一定作用。     

Comments on relative chronology

Post‐Processualism's influence is waning in Britain, linked to the decline of its parent Post‐Modernism. Both lost credibility through attempting to dominate discourse, and their negative implications for human rights. Modernism and its offspring Processualism had reflected the scientism and socio‐economic centralism that dominated the 20th century up until the 1970s. Jameson and Harvey have exposed their Post‐Modernism as a superficial aesthetic movement spawned by Post‐Fordist economics. Perceived from the History of Ideas this temporal succession is the recurrent opposition between Positivist and Idealist philosophies. Wittgenstein's philosophy shows a ‘third way’ where objective and subjective approaches are complementary tools for scholarship. In Cognitive Processual archaeology a pragmatic merger arises from these formerly competing traditions.