Excavating Zarathustra: Ernst Herzfeld's Archaeological History of Iran

This article analyzes the work of the German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld (1879–1948) and its influence on the writing of Iranian national history in the 1920s and 1930s. Herzfeld's life and work illuminates the relationship between Germany and Iran and between orientalist scholarship and nationalist history in the first half of the twentieth century. Through the method of what he called “archaeological history,” Herzfeld wrote an interdisciplinary history of Iran and its Aryan foundations that contested the assumptions of decades of European orientalist scholarship.     

Review - Matthew Johnson: Archaeological Theory: An Introduction

Hans Ame Jensen: Seeds and Other Diaspores in Soil Samples from Danish Town and Monastery Excavations, dated 700–1536 AD. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. Biologiske Skrifter 26, Copenhagen 1986. 107 pp, 11 Tables, 10 Figs. 5 Pl.

R. Haaland &; P. Shinnie (eds.): African Ironworking: Ancient and Traditional. Norwegian University Press 1985. 212 pp.     

The History of African Village Chickens: an Archaeological and Molecular Perspective

The history of the introduction and dispersal of village chickens across the African continent is a subject of intense debate and speculation among scholars. Here, we synthesize and summarise the current scientific genetic and nongenetic knowledge in relation to the history of the species on the continent. Sociocultural, linguistic, archaeological and historic data all suggest a complex history for the species in Africa, characterized by multiple maritime and/or terrestrial introductions over time and several dispersal routes towards and within Africa. Molecular genetics information supports these observations and in addition suggests possible Asian centers of origin for African domestic chickens, including South Asia and Island Southeast Asia. However, both sets of data were until now too limited in their geographic scope, both within Africa and in comparison with chickens from Asia, to unravel the history of the species in detail. We anticipate that further continent-wide studies combining archaeological, ancient and/or modern genetic information may shed new insights on the history of the species. These will contribute to a deeper understanding of the history of trading networks and human interactions within Africa and between African and Asian societies, at the root of the development and expansion of African civilizations.     

Introduction: Archaeological Approaches to Lithic Production Skill and Craft Learning

This paper introduces the volume by considering what skill is and how archaeologists have looked at issues of skill in stone tool production, along with anthropological and archaeological approaches to the ways in which individuals become skilled craftworkers. Archaeological studies of flintknapping skill tend to be isolated from most larger debates, but both the archaeological and the nonarchaeological literature highlight how intimately skill and craft learning are woven into the fabric of society, although they also highlight significant methodological and interpretive issues.     

Snapshots of History and the Nature of the Archaeological Image

By its very definition, archaeology is situated at the intersection of the material and the temporal worlds. Photography is similarly positioned, and yet it can be manipulated to produce constructed contexts according a photographer’s agenda. In order to explore how the abilities and limitations of archaeology and photography are entwined I examine the representational power of the photograph and the phenomenon of Japanese tourist photography. I then discuss the construction of archaeological photographs, both in practice and in the prescribed theory contained archaeological methods textbooks, as well as how photographs are used to represent the embodied, physical performance of archaeology.     

解构与重建:历史类博物馆展陈中考古文物信息的跨学科解读

考古文物是我国历史类博物馆的核心展品,在其主要社会职能中扮演了举足轻重的角色.随着考古学阐释理念的不断发展和完善,以物证史法、情境展示法、关联阐释法等已被逐渐应用到博物馆展陈中.但以传统考古学为核心的阐释方法在公众传播过程中仍然存在着单一视角与多元需求的矛盾、学科思维与展陈逻辑的矛盾、学术规范与启发教育的矛盾.对于历史...     

康巴草原通路的考古学调查与民族史探索

四川省文物考古研究院和故宫博物院组织的2005年康巴地区民族考古调查,取得了丰硕的收获。从古代民族活动的区域和路径来认识相关信息,可以获得交通史的新知。康巴草原在古代中国西北地区和西南地区的文化交往过程中发挥过重要的作用。石棺葬墓群的分布以及典型北方草原风格特征的青铜动物纹饰牌等文物的出土,都为这一历史文化现象的认识,提供了物证。如果从交通考察的视角分析考古学调查和民族史研究获得的相关资料,或许也有益于揭示有些历史疑案的谜底。     

The Holocene History of the Southern Lake Chad Basin: Archaeological, Linguistic and Genetic Evidence

Archaeological evidence indicates a complex history of settlement of the southern Lake Chad Basin from the mid-Holocene onward, in parallel with the gradual desiccation of the Sahara and reduction of lake and river systems in the region. These archaeological data can be compared with a growing body of data from historical linguistics and genetics, and the southern Lake Chad Basin is one of few areas in Africa where such comparisons can be undertaken. This paper will serve as a preliminary consideration of some of the issues generated by an initial comparison of archaeological, genetic and linguistic evidence for the peopling of the Lake Chad Basin. It focuses on the contexts of initial encounters between ancestral Nilo-Saharan and Chadic populations south of Lake Megachad and subsequent population expansions and diversifications around the Mandara Mountains.     

全球史视野下的秦汉考古学体系重构

秦汉考古学是中国考古学的重要组成部分,自近代西方考古学传入中国以来,秦汉考古就一直备受学界关注和重视,先后编撰出版了一系列秦汉考古教材,但由于理论构建与体系建设的滞后,阻碍了秦汉考古学的学科发展,重新构建秦汉考古学体系已刻不容缓。全球史从一种编纂世界历史的方法演变成为研究历史的一种新的视角,为从动态角度研究文化和历史变迁提供了新方法。在秦汉考古学体系的重构与建设中,我们在坚持唯物史观为指导的同时,应有选择地吸收借鉴全球史的理论方法。     

A Short History of Archaeological Sieving at Franchthi Cave,Greece

Abstract

Excavations at the Franchthi Cave in SE Greece, under the direction of Dr. Thomas Jacobsen, have revealed a long habitation sequence of considerable interest to students of the early history of the Aegean Basin. The earliest recoverable deposits date to about 25,000 B.P. The most recent radiocarbon dates indicate that the latest deposits belong to the period around 3000 B.C.

The excavations themselves were carried out over the years 1967–1976. During that time, excavation techniques used at the site evolved considerably. Object recovery by various methods of archaeological sieving forms a major component of this evolution. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to discuss the standards of object recovery at Franchthi and the adaptation of sieves designed elsewhere to the situation at Franchthi, as well as to serve as a guide to other excavations planning a program of archaeological sieving.