The I.H.S. Monogram as a Symbol of Catholic Resistance in Seventeenth-Century Ireland

It has been suggested that the presence of religious images and scenes in secular buildings of sixteenth-century date can be viewed as an expression of resistance by the native Irish to English colonial activity in the aftermath of the Munster Plantation (J. A. Delle, 1999, International Journal of Historical Archaeology 3: 11–35). Such images, however, may merely represent a continuation into the early modern period of a Medieval tradition of adorning secular houses with devotional images. If a religious symbol of native Catholic resistance to English colonization and Protestantism in Munster is to be sought then perhaps a more appropriate image would be the I.H.S. monogram—a symbol associated with the Counter Reformation and the Jesuits. The paper presents an example of the monogram located within a tower house at Gortnetubbrid in County Limerick, Ireland.     

The Broken Past: Fractals in Archaeology

Many archaeological patterns are fractal. Fractal analysis, therefore, has much to contribute to archaeology. This article offers an introduction to fractal analysis for archaeologists. We explain what fractals are, describe the essential methods of fractal analysis, and present archaeological examples. Some examples have been published previously, while others are presented here for the first time. We also explain the connection between fractal geometry and nonlinear dynamical systems. Fractals are the geometry of complex nonlinear systems. Therefore, fractal analysis is an indispensable method in our efforts to understand nonlinearities in past cultural dynamics.     

La trame de la logique floue et l'usure du temps

Sans résumé à propos de: ClaudeRosental,La Trame de l'évidence. Sociologie de la démonstration en logique, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 2003, 15×22, 367 p., index (Sciences, modernités, philosophies).     

L'anthropologie des animaux

Traditional historiography sees Charles-Georges Le Roy as one of the first observers of animal behaviour in its natural habitat. This paper highlights the manner in which this empirical «ethology» of the Enlightenment used an elaborate and systematically organised body of anthropological knowledge. However, more was at stake than the simple projection, on animals, of human characteristics deemed to be universal. This seemingly empirical ethology mobilized in fact a common-sense anthropological knowledge, historically and culturally variable. The particular case study presented here points to the necessity of more research on the relationship between the empirical data accumulated by ethology and anthropological representations which underlie their interpretation.     

Provenancing East Mediterranean cedar wood with the <Superscript>87</Superscript>Sr/<Superscript>86</Superscript>Sr strontium isotope ratio

⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope ratios of cedar wood from forests in the East Mediterranean have been compiled in order to investigate the feasibility of provenancing archaeological cedar wood finds. Cedrus sp. forests furnished a great amount of wood in antiquity, for purposes ranging from ship to temple construction, and for fashioning cult statues and sarcophagi. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr signatures of archaeological cedar samples may be compared with the preliminary dataset presented here to help determine the geographic origin of wooden artifacts. Sample sites include two forest areas in the Troodos Massif of Cyprus, five in the Lebanon, and two in Turkey’s Taurus Mountains. Sr ratios for wood varieties (i.e., early heartwood, late heartwood, sapwood, and twig wood) demonstrate relative uniformity between the xylem types frequently recovered from archaeological contexts. As such, this pilot study also assesses important issues of archaeological sampling and the geographical factors that influence Sr uptake in cedar trees of this region. While the regional signatures are distinct in most cases, small sample sizes and range overlap indicate the need for additional methods to make a case for a certain source forest. Alone, this method continues to be best used to disprove assumed wood provenances.     

Isotopic evidence for the trade and production of exotic marine mammal bone artifacts at Chavín de Huántar,Peru

This study uses stable isotope analysis to identify the possible origin and taxon of unusually large worked bone artifacts recovered from the site of Chavín de Huántar in the central highland of Peru (3200–2200 BP). The site was traditionally considered to be an ideal trading point halfway between the Pacific coast and the Amazon jungle. The archaeological specimens were discovered in a workshop area located in the La Banda sector across from the main temple, and they were analyzed for the stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen. Results indicate that the worked bone artifacts are marine in origin and are likely from a cetacean or large pinniped. Their exotic origin and elaborate work have implications about ancient production practices and exchange, and they provide benchmark data and a comparative approach for future analysis of exotic bone artifacts.     

Holocene lithostratigraphy and its implementation in the geoarchaeological research of the Athenian Basin,Greece

The Athenian Basin is a very interesting area from an archaeological point of view, since it is inhabited from Neolithic time. The human impact on the landscape is shown by the ancient constructions such as the Long Walls and the canalization of the rivers in the area of the Athenian Basin and Piraeus. The aim of the study is to detect the paleogeographical evolution of this area. In order to manipulate all the available information obtained from literature review (topographic maps, geological maps, ancient maps and references) and the stratigraphic data from 227 boreholes from the Athenian Basin, a GIS database was established. After the interpretation of the stratigraphy from the boreholes, six lithostratigraphic units were defined. Maps and 3D models were designed to represent the succession of the lithostratigraphy of each period. Paleogeographic maps were created in order to represent the landscape for each lithostratigraphic unit of the Athenian basin, and extract results for the temporal and spatial changes of the paleo-landscape and the involvement of the human impact on the depositional process in the Athenian Basin during Holocene.     

竺可桢教育思想中的人文价值

本文论述了竺可桢教育思想的人文价值 ,指出理性精神与独立人格是其教育思想的内在依据 ,求是精神与牺牲精神是其核心 ,民主作风与开放意识是实现他教育思想的必要条件。对今天的教育启迪很大。