Vagueness and Archaeological Interpretation: A Sensuous Approach to Archaeological Knowledge Formation through Finds Analysis

The rapid development of natural scientific methods coupled with the recent popularity of new materialist philosophies in archaeological theory has raised discussion about the possibility of a return to empiricism in archaeology. While empiricism as a pragmatic philosophy is in line with archaeology’s hands-on character, the recent development has left some concerned about the vanishing role of vagueness and ambiguity in archaeological interpretation. In this setting, the exactitude of natural scientific methods is seen as a process of simplification that compromises the tacit dimensions of archaeological knowledge. This article discusses vagueness as an elementary part of all archaeological knowledge formation, with a particular emphasis on the role of perception and senses in finds analysis. Archaeological finds analysis is explored as an example of epistemologically vague and creative hypothesis formation.     

New Story of Red River Valley

Legend has it that it was some500 years ago when the localleader Qoigyi Raodun GuisangParba built on Gyangze’S Zong-shan Hill the first palace calledGyikarze,from which the county’S     

赣江流域宋代葬俗的考古学观察

赣江流域宋代墓葬随葬品以瓷器为主,堆塑瓶是其中最有特点的器物。墓葬形制以砖室墓居多。这一葬俗的形成,主要是受儒、释、道三教的影响,是宗教信仰因素、地理位置因素和文化交流因素结合的产物。     

山东北部小清河下游2010年盐业考古调查简报

小清河下游是山东北部沿海盐业考古的重点区域。2010年2～4月,山东大学盐业考古队在该区域进行了一次较大规模的全覆盖式盐业遗址调查,调查面积约200平方千米,涵盖广饶县丁庄镇、寿光市羊口镇及东营市广北农场。共新发现和复查单个遗址点340余个,采集各类遗物标本1600余件,可分为龙山、晚商至西周、东周、汉代以后共四个大的阶段。本文介绍了此次调查的主要收获。     

Development and Decline of the Bampur Valley,Based on the New Archaeological Evidence from Prehistoric Period

This paper consists of some of the findings of the authors during their research at prehistoric sites of Bampur and its surrounding areas in August 2011. These areas, which have been introduced as Bampur-related sites, comprise an area about of 5–10 kilometers and belong to the Bronze Age. The paper introduces, categorizes and analyzes the archaeological findings in relation to the Bampur collection. The archaeological findings show that: (1) unlike the previous belief, there existed a peak settlement dated back to the Chah Husseini period which was prior to Bampur I; (2) in fact, Bampur II–IV had larger populations due to growth of trade and commerce and their relations with Yahya and Mesopotamia; (3) the later periods of the Bampur collection show a decreasing number of sites at Bampur VI.     

New Archaeological Books and Journals

Abstract

As part of a research program aimed at clarifying the date of the Middle Paleolithic in Greece and its relationship with contemporary industries in the Balkans, a survey of the Larisa area of Thessaly for Paleolithic remains was undertaken in 1987. The results of this survey are reported, along with a reinterpretation of the available evidence in Greece for the date of the Middle Paleolithic. The banks and terrace system of the Peneios River were systematically searched along with those parts of Thessaly with deposits old enough to contain prehistoric artifacts. In 1987, we discovered 32 find spots and collected211 lithic artifacts. The lithic artifacts are Middle and Upper Paleolithic types, and are dated by their association with the fluviatile deposits exposed by downcutting of the river. Radiometric dates for the fluviatile deposits indicate an age of 45–27 KYA (thousands of years ago) for the Paleolithic finds. Other dates for the Middle Paleolithic in Greece are on the same order. The Thessalian Paleolithic industry is a Levallois-Mousterian facies with bifacial leafpoints, side Scrapers, Mousterian points, denticulates, andAurignacian-type end scrapers, burins, retouched Blades, and bifacial leafpoints with rounded bases. The Thessalian industry with its mixture of Middle and Upper Paleolithic types, is similar to other assemblages in Greece. The Greek Levallois-Mousterian resembles the Szeletian of Hungary and is of approximately the same age. It was perhaps produced by late Neanderthals in contact with an anatomically-modern human population. Late Upper Paleolithic Epigravettian and Mesolithic industries were not identified in Thessaly and are rare in Greece. Some areas may have been uninhabited or little used until 9 KYA when the first Neolithic settlements appear in Thessaly.     

New Archaeological Books and Journals

Abstract

In 714 B.C., Sargon II, king of Assyria, conducted a major military campaign across the Zagros Mountains into western Iran. It was the eighth campaign of his reign, and the fourth into Iran. This time, Sargon's main goal was to contain the state of Urartu within its territory and to subdue its allies. The itinerary of the Assyrian army and the events of the campaign were written in the form of a long letter from the king to the god Assur, and it is preserved almost in its entirety. The text is of great importance because it gives one of the most extensive itineraries of an Assyrian campaign and, unlike other Assyrian reports, it mentions by name, and often describes, a large number of cities and fortresses as well as many geographical features.

For over 70 years scholars have attempted to reconstruct the route of Sargon from Assyria to Iran and to identify by epigraphical and archaeological research and survey the cities and features he mentions. Unfortunately, there has been little agreement among the modern researchers with regard to the specific directions taken by Sargon and equally so with attempts to link a site on the archaeological map with one mentioned in the ancient text. The present article gives a summary of the various solutions offered over the years and argues for the identification of two archaeologically known sites with two of those mentioned by Sargon.     

西拉木伦河流域考古的新进展

西拉木伦河流域位于北纬43°-44°,西自大兴安岭南段东麓,东至科尔沁沙地北缘。这里主河道及支流沿岸有固定或流动的沙丘与甸子地相间分布,稍远的山地沟壑纵横。由于多旱少雨,地表极易受风力降水侵蚀,生态环境较为脆弱。现在村落多分布于河谷平原,生业状况表现为农业与畜牧业兼营的土地利用方式。自1930年,著名考古学家梁思永先生在林西和阿鲁科尔沁旗采集到一批新石器时代遗物①,先后又有汪宇平、李逸友、郑隆、吕遵谔等诸位先生赴西拉木伦河流域进行过考古调查②。以此为开端,开始了我国考古学者对该地区史前文化的探寻工作。1960—1961年…     

Arade River Archaeological Complex: Dredges and Archaeology

Situated on the southern coast of Portugal, the Arade River mouth has been visited and inhabited for over three millennia. Dredging operations, in the first and last decades of the 20th century, brought up the importance of Arade's cultural heritage and triggered a large-scale project of study, survey, and archaeological excavation. This project is conducted by Centro Nacional de Arqueologia Náutica e Subaquática, the Portuguese agency for nautical archaeology, under the direction of Francisco Alves, and with the support of both local and state authorities. This paper is a preliminary assessment of the finds made so far.
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

Publications New Archaeological Books and Journals

Abstract

An electrical resistivity survey and accompanying soil analyses were performed over an exposed but unexcavated prehistoric house in Peoria loess in westcentral Illinois. Positive resistivity anomalies occur along the trenches for the house walls and within the house and distinctive patterns in contoured resistivity data occur over the house.

Soil analyses show that quartz, kaolinite, montmorillonite, illite, and hematite are the main mineral constituents in the soil. Within the house basin, the soil is dark gray in color because of the presence of organic carbon. Prominent positive electrical resistivity anomalies occur where the dark soil is thickest.

Analyses of the resistivity and soil data enable the identification of several anthropogenic features within the house and suggest that electrical resistivity data would be helpful to archaeologists in doing both detailed and reconnaissance work. For example, the mean amplitude and fabric patterns in contoured resistivity are distinctive over the house relative to areas outside the house. This fact suggests that similar analyses of reconnaissance resistivity data might be helpful in exploration for large archaeologic activity areas such as whole villages or camps. Also, detailed analyses of the resistivity and soil data, in conjunction with information already available from other excavated structures at Orendorf village, suggest that the electrical resistivity technique can serve as a valuable, but ancillary, tool to help archaeologists focus their efforts and decide which of the many structures in a village should be excavated.     

Publications New Archaeological Books and Journals

Abstract

In 1938 Erich Schmidt, taking time out from his major work at Persepolis, excavated for three weeks the site of Surkh Dum in eastern Luristan, in western Iran. Although very little has been published on the finds and architecture, aside from two brief and summary reports by Schmidt and Maurits van Loon, Surkh Dum is recognized by Iranian archaeologists to be one of the most important sites in Luristan, and in Iran in general. Not only was Surkh Dum a settlement site, rather than a cemetery—which is the typical circumstance in the archaeological history of Luristan—but many hundreds of objects of bronze, ivory, bone, faience, and terracotta, as well as about 200 cylinder and stamp seals, were recovered. To date, only seven of the objects have been published, and nothing has been published about the two buildings partially uncovered. In 1943 The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired 41 objects excavated at Surkh Dum, only five of which had previously been published. Because of the importance of the material for modern knowledge of the art and archaeology of Luristan, an area plundered since the late 1920s, and the source of countless thousands of unexcavated objects, the presentation of even a small group of excavated artifacts from Luristan is considered to be of great value. The present paper offers a history of our present knowledge of the site, a tentative discussion of its chronology, and a catalogue discussion of the Surkh Dum material in The Metropolitan Museum of Art.