一路探戈到南极

几只傻乎乎的企鹅居然朝我走过来,但根据《南极条约》我只能选择退让,保持着“礼貌”的拜访距离。于是,你退我进,你进我退,外来者和“本地绅士”跳起南极探戈,虽然彼．此之间距离不够亲密,但对于来自南北半球最遥远距离的宾主双方来说,这已经是最“热情”的探戈了。     

THE END OF AMERICA: THE BEGINNING OF CANADA - A RESPONSE

In his recent article entitled 'The end of America: The beginning of Canada,' Patrick McCreevy (1988) asserts that the Falls at Niagara act as a visible border or 'wall,' which separates two vastly different places. Since the American Revolution, however, Canadians and Americans residing along the Niagara frontier have made every effort to reach across the river which separates them. By means of either improved transportation and communication facilities, by marriage, or the free trade agreements of 1854 and 1989, local Niagarans have overcome the physical barrier of the river. In fact, in the summer of 1989, Canadians and Americans paid tribute to two centuries of 'openness' and peace along the Niagara Frontier with a four-day 'friendship festival' held in July.     

THE END OF AMERICA: THE BEGINNING OF CANADA -A REPLY TO THE COMMENTARY

I presented 'The End of America: The Beginning of Canada' as a speculative piece of geographical interpretation. Judging by the length of the foregoing commentary and the number of written responses I have personally received, it is evident that my speculations have aroused considerable interest. I welcome the opportunity to clarify my argument. Rather than replying point by point to all the issues raised in the commentary, I will focus my remarks on what I take to be the central objection.     

THE END OF AMERICA: THE BEGINNING OF CANADA -A REPLY TO THE RESPONSE

The author of the foregoing response provides some welcome factual clarification but seems to misunderstand the broader issues raised by the article. Here I will respond briefly to each of the author's major questions.     

THE EARLY STATE MODULE: A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT

The Early State Module model predicts specific, archaeologically testable, spatial attributes for early states. Further, it suggests that social complexity develops as a result of interaction between equal-sized polities, and that degree of complexity and territorial size are related. The spatial patterns of some early states presented to support the ESM model are tested statistically and are found not to satisfy the predictions of the model. Case studies of non-state and state societies indicate that the spatial attributes of ESMs are not unique to early states, that interaction does not always lead to state formation, and that territorial size and complexity are not necessarily directly related.     

NORTH AND SOUTH AT THE END OF THE MYCENAEAN AGE: ASPECTS OF AN OLD PROBLEM

Summary. The end of the Mycenaean age calls for an explanation outside the immediate Aegean area. The evidence is more likely to come from changes in habit than in the importation of objects of bronze or pottery. In order to understand events it is necessary to look beyond Greek frontiers to the Danube and Balkans. Among important changes are those in fighting tactics with a return to the sword in the Aegean and new workshop practice in Europe with more bronze forging against casting. Evidence for actual arrival of people is never likely to be conclusive; various alternatives are considered.     

明末白银存量的估计

一、前言明末兴盛的对外贸易,以及因之流入的大量白银,对中国产生了一些重要影响,例如明政府在16世纪中期后税收的货币化、政府支出的大幅成长、东南沿海经济之更繁荣等。另一方面,西欧和中国的贸易,对推动西方朝向资本主义发展起了很大的作用。但到底有多少白银在明季流入中国,并没有完整的记录。虽然过去许多学者做了估计,国内一些从事明季中国海外贸易主题研究的学者,在其著作中也引用了一些白银输入量的估计数据来佐证当时贸易的盛况,但欠缺全面而有系统地计算与推演,并从未与中国自产白银进行数量上的对比,因此无法得知海外流入白银占…     

OBSIDIAN IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND THE NEAR EAST: A PROVENANCING SUCCESS STORY

Obsidian provenancing studies comprise one of the most productive and successful research programmes of archaeological science. Obsidian characterization has been successful because workable obsidian is homogeneous on a small scale, analysable by a large number of methods, and is restricted to a small number of mainly readily distinguishable geological sources. Analytical, dating, source, and trade studies within the western Mediterranean, central and eastern Europe, the Aegean, and Anatolia and the Near East during the last 30 years or so are reviewed. Research has shown that distributions are mainly separate in the four regions examined, and that obsidian was traded up to 900km in the prehistoric period. Publications on obsidian in the areas under review reached a peak of frequency in the later 1970s and 1980s, but have now decreased in number. This may reflect changing fashions in archaeometric studies, and a current lack of routine application of the provenancing methods developed.     

THE OLIVE IN THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN: THE EVIDENCE FOR DOMESTICATION IN THE EARLY BRONZE AGE

Summary. In 1972 Colin Renfrew suggested that the rise of Mycenaean civilization may have been made possible by the development of a polycultural triad of wheat, vine and olive in the Early Bronze Age. A careful examination of the botanical and archaeological evidence for the domestication of the olive lends little support to this aspect of the thesis. The palynological evidence from various points in Greece is inconclusive, but for most areas it would seem to suggest that the intensive cultivation of olive began in the Late Bronze Age or even later.
No conclusive archaeological evidence for processing or storage of olive oil exists for any period in the Bronze Age. The question of when olive domestication took place must remain unanswered until more data are available from Early and Middle Bronze Age contexts and more conclusive botanical data have been collected.