ROCK PHYSICS AND THE NEOLITHIC AXE TRADE IN GREAT BRITAIN*

This paper is concerned with the products of a number of Neolithic quarries in highland Britain. It investigates the claim that the scale of axe distribution was partly the result of social factors which resulted in these artefacts gaining an added value in areas remote from their sources. One case study considers the sequence of production in Cumbria, in relation to the tensile strength of the rock quarried in different parts of the region. It shows that these considerations had only a limited influence over the choice of stone source and the scale on which it was worked. A second study compares the tensile strength of the main raw materials used for making non-flint axes with the extent to which these sources were actually exploited. Again there is only a limited relationship between the two, suggesting that social factors may indeed have been important.     

DETECTING AND QUANTIFYING HEAT TREATMENT OF FLINT AND OTHER SILICA ROCKS: A NEW NON‐DESTRUCTIVE METHOD APPLIED TO HEAT‐TREATED FLINT FROM THE NEOLITHIC CHASSEY CULTURE,SOUTHERN FRANCE

Heat treatment of lithic raw material is known from the Middle Stone Age to the Neolithic. These findings require archaeometric techniques and methods for detecting the heat‐induced effects within lithic artefacts. However, the existing methods are often cost‐intensive and time‐consuming, and most of them are destructive. Here, we present a new method using the infrared spectroscopic measurement of the strength of H‐bonds formed between surface silanole groups (SiOH) and H₂O molecules held in open pores of the samples. The reduction of H‐bond strength in chalcedony is shown to be strongly correlated with the loss of open pores induced by heat treatment. Hence, the method is based on measuring one of the transformations aimed for by the instigators of the heat treatment: the reduction of porosity that modifies the rock's mechanical properties. A first application to heat‐treated material from the Neolithic Chassey culture (southern France) shows that flint was heated to temperatures between 200°C and 250°C in this period. This has important implications for the study of the procedures used and the heating environments. Our new method is non‐destructive, rapid, cost‐effective and allows for detection of the used annealing temperatures.     

THE FORMATION OF PATINA ON FLINT

All known factors influencing the rate and character of flint patination have been investigated. They include the pH of the surrounding solution and the presence in it of sodium ions and chemicals of organic origin. After each treatment the flints were studied with a scanning electron microscope to determine the nature of the surface. The correct assessment of the above factors is essential for the derivation of reliable archaeological information from flint patinas.     

NEOLITHIC THESSALY AND THE SPORADES

Summary. Aghios Petros in the Sporades Islands is one of the earliest and most thoroughly excavated settlements in the Aegean. It was a permanent settlement of the end of the 6th millennium BC, and a unique cultural centre, with influences from Thessaly, Anatolia and the Balkans. In the present study, the degree of contacts and influence between Aghios Petros and the neighbouring well-known Neolithic settlements of Dimini and Sesklo is examined on the basis of trace element analysis by INAA. Cluster analysis, based on Th, Sc, Cs, Fe, Co and Eu, reveals distinct differences, Aghios Petros sherds forming a quite separate group. There also exist three sub-groups within the Sporades material. This result is substantiated by archaeological evidence and reinforces the view that Aghios Petros is a site of particular cultural interest and of semi-autonomous development, which flourished in the middle of the 5th millennium BC.     

NEOLITHIC AND BRONZE AGE SETTLEMENT ON THE BURIED FLOODPLAINS OF RUNNYMEDE

In reviewing the evidence from excavations at Runnymede Bridge this paper illustrates the potential of floodplains as archaeological resourceS. The topographic development of the local floodplain is outlined in relation to Flandrian sea level changes in the Thames estuary. Consideration is given to the role of the Middle Neolithic and Late Bronze Age occupations and the influence of physiographical and hydrological factors.     

博物馆中的南海知识生产与地理想象

地理想象是通过文化媒介对特定地方的地理“现实”的转录与重构,而博物馆是达成地理想象的一个代表性媒介。博物馆不只是一个展品陈列的空间载体,其中还包含着地理知识的生产。本文以南海博物馆为例,采用参与式观察、半结构式访谈、话语分析方法,探讨中国（海南）南海博物馆对“南海”的呈现。研究表明,南海博物馆对南海的地理想象不仅是话语建构,同时也是一种国家领土主权在话语层面上的实践。地名、地物、地图、地景是南海地理想象的构建基础,中国（海南）南海博物馆通过对“过去”资源的空间组织,构建了“南海”的地域想象、边界想象以及地缘想象。     

中国新石器时代的人地关系及其特点

地理环境对中国新石器时代文化的影响作用表现为对文化发展历程的影响、对文化发展速度的影响、对文化特征的影响、对文化格局的影响、对中华文明早期发生发展的影响等5个方面,中国新石器时代先民对于自然环境的利用与改造体现在农业生产活动的开展、采集渔猎经济的存在、家畜饲养业的发展、对居住地的选择、因地制宜的居宅建筑、生产生活用具的制造、对原有生态系统的干预等7个方面。新石器时代的人地关系具有人对地依赖性强、地对人制约严格、相互作用极为直接等特点。     

新石器时代环形饰品研究

目次一序言二环形饰品的分类三新石器时代腕臂环饰资料分析四环形饰品的时空变化五环形饰品的社会功能及佩带习俗六结语一序言装饰品起源于旧石器时代,即使人们还在为生存与大自然搏斗的艰苦时代,他们也没有忘记用动物骨骼、贝壳、石头等信手拈来的材料做成装饰品。提起腕臂环饰,也许首先想到的是晶莹的水晶或各色美玉,而那些曾流行于距今7000年前的新石器时     

NEOLITHIC ‘GREENSTONE’ AXE BLADES FROM NORTHWESTERN ITALY ACROSS EUROPE: A FIRST PETROGRAPHIC COMPARISON*

Neolithic polished stone axe blades, manufactured with uncommon lithologies such as Alpine eclogites, jades and other HP metaophiolites, were exploited from primary and secondary occurrences in Piemonte and Liguria and dominate the north Italian and south‐east French polished stone blades used as functional tools (for deforestation and woodworking). In other European countries the same lithologies are found less frequently or only occasionally as axe blades; in north‐west Europe they were frequently used for manufacturing ceremonial axes that have shapes that are not present in the Italian Neolithic tradition. This paper undertakes a preliminary examination of the case, prevalently from a petrographic point of view, comparing the well‐established Italian petroarchaeometric knowledge with the rather poorer petrographic basis of the European eclogite/jade axes. A provisional picture of the distribution of these axes in Europe is provided and some interim interpretations and open problems are discussed.     

LE GARDIEN DU TOMBEAU: FURTHER REFLECTIONS ON THE INITIAL NEOLITHIC

Summary. The unique carving of an armed human figure on a capstone in the Déhus passage grave, Guernsey, has been known for some 70 years but has hitherto eluded parallels and explanation. With the stimulus of recent researches in Brittany, it is now possible to suggest that here too is an example oficonoclasm and incorporation associated with the inception of the Neolithic and the formative stages of megalithic traditions.     

THE LATEGLACIAL FAUNA FROM THE ROBIN HOOD CAVE, CRESWELL CRAGS: A RE-ASSESSMENT

Summary. Re-study of the fauna recovered in 1969 during excavations by John Campbell in front of the West Entrance to Robin Hood Cave, Creswell Crags, Derbyshire, England, shows it to include components of different ages. Arctic hare is the only species certainly exploited by humans and it is suggested that the position and character of cut-marks preserved on bone surfaces documents the processing and possible consumption of uncooked meat. It has not been possible to identify the time(s) of year when these hares died. Radiocarbon results for cut-marked bones are important for dating the Creswellian.     

EXPLORING IDENTITY AND PLACE: AN ANALYSIS OF THE PROVENANCE OF PASSAGE GRAVE STONES ON GUERNSEY AND JERSEY IN THE MIDDLE NEOLITHIC

Summary. This study examines the provenance of rock types used in the construction of Middle Neolithic passage grave stones on the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, focusing on the social dimensions of stone selection. The use of stones in passage grave construction includes both local and non-local rock types, which at some sites are organized in distinctive patterns. It is argued that the choice of stones was bound by concepts of identity, and that the communities which gathered to build these monuments may have used specific rock types to represent their community and their local mythologies. The relationship between identity and stone selection is supported both by analogy and by research into the role of landmarks in the development of local landscapes and ideology. The success of megalith provenance studies on Guernsey and Jersey suggests considerable potential for future research in other geologically diverse regions.     

AN UPPER PALAEOLITHIC FLINT AND CHERT ASSEMBLAGE FROM HOWBURN FARM,SOUTH LANARKSHIRE,SCOTLAND: FIRST RESULTS

This paper describes the discovery of the first open‐air Upper Palaeolithic site to be found in Scotland, at Howburn, near Biggar in South Lanarkshire. An account is given of the composition and distribution of the lithic assemblage, which is discussed in terms of its British and north‐west European context. Provisional parallels drawn are with the Late Hamburgian (Havelte) sites and assemblages of southern Scandinavia, northern Germany and the Netherlands. There is no absolute dating evidence for the site, but an age in the region of 12,000 ¹⁴C yr BP, towards the end of the earlier (Bølling) Lateglacial Interstadial stage, is proposed on the basis of the lithic artefacts.     

HISTORICAL PRESERVATION AND IDENTITY: THE ALAMO AND THE PRODUCTION OF A CONSUMER LANDSCAPE

Historical preservation often reveals more about contemporary culture than about history. The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, is just such a case. No other large US city is so dominated by a single historical event, and the Alamo plays a central role as a cultural icon for regional Anglo identity, a symbol of the Anglo-dominated social hierarchy. Its preservation and restoration have coincided with modern identity formation contextualized by commodities. Thus, a critical part of this project is the development of a consumer landscape as an economic extension of the Alamo that promotes consumption by harmonizing with prevailing Anglo conceptions of ethnic identities; not simply a strategically located commercial zone, but an integral part of the pilgrimage to the monument, providing a mechanism for socialization, including "racialization", contextualized by commodities.