Magnetic detection of ship ballast deposits and anchorage sites in King Herod's Roman harbour,Caesarea Maritima,Israel

Ballast stone deposits are a common feature of sediments in ancient harbour basins but are often overlooked as a potential source of archaeological information. Recent geophysical investigations at Caesarea Maritima in Israel have discovered a thick, laterally extensive ballast layer in the area seaward of the 1st c. BC Roman harbour. The ballast deposits were identified by low-relief mounds on the seabed with elevated magnetic intensities. Jet probing and excavation of magnetic anomalies at several locations revealed a 20–60 cm thick rubble layer containing large quantities of Late Roman and Byzantine pottery, local sedimentary boulders (kurkar sandstone, limestone cobbles) and foreign igneous and metamorphic boulders (granite, schist, volcanics; ca. 50%). The foreign boulders and pottery identify the rubble layer as ballast and ships refuse jettisoned by merchant ships outside the harbour. The strong magnetic contrast between the ballast deposits and the natural seabed sediments is attributed to the high magnetic susceptibility (>10⁻³ SI) of crystalline boulders and pottery materials within the ballast rubble.     

古代中国人造蓝紫硅酸铜钡颜料

这篇文章是对四件附着有硅酸铜钡颜料的中国古代器物的研究。其中三个样品是彩陶颗粒,来自甘肃省张家川马家源遗址,它属于战国晚期（474-221BC）。另外是对山东章丘威山汉墓壁画上的（206BC-8AD）单个晶体的单独研究。一个彩陶颗粒样品和单个晶体表明有中国深蓝（BaCu2Si2O7）存在,这是一关于硅酸铜钡的新发现。相对于已知道中国蓝（BaCuSi4O10）和中国紫（BaCuSi2O6）,这种BaCu2Si2O7成分被称为中国深蓝,该彩陶颗粒的颜料层也含有中国蓝中国紫。还运用了SEM和EDX对其表面形态的分析和通过拉曼光谱对中国蓝、中国紫元素成分的分析。x射线对单个晶体的分析知道了BaCu2Si2O7化合物的结构。通过现代仪器的综合分析研究,推断前期硅酸铜石英相谱图,白色Ba2CuSi2O7成分,仅有很小的可能性在历史遗迹中找到该颜料。     

Chemical composition and colouring agents of Roman mosaic and millefiori glass, studied by electron microprobe analysis and Raman microspectroscopy

About 100 fragments of Roman mosaic and millefiori glass were stylistically attributed to a Hellenistic type, a Ptolemaic and Romano-Egyptian period type and an early imperial period type. Twelve representative fragments were studied by electron microprobe analysis and Raman microspectroscopy. Eleven of them display a Na-pronounced recipe with low K, Mg and P contents, typical for the Roman period. Minor differences in composition are unsystematic, not reflecting the stylistic classification. Ionic colouring agents are Mn³⁺ for violet, Cu²⁺ for light blue, Co²⁺ for deep blue and Fe³⁺ for brown translucent colours. Calcium antimonates, lead antimonate and cuprite are the colourants responsible for white, yellow and red colours, respectively, and additionally serve as opacifiers. Mixing of ionic colouring agents and opacifying colourants led to a more differentiated palette of colours. Pb was used as yellow colouring agent, as a flux material and as a stabiliser for the colourant crystals. The remaining fragment consisting of a K-pronounced but still Na-bearing glass matrix was most likely produced during the Middle Ages or later.     

Post‐Depositional Elemental Alterations in Pottery: Neutron Activation Analyses of Surface and Core Samples*

From 38 sherds with ‘corroded’ surfaces, two samples per sherd were examined using Neutron Activation Analysis, one from the surface and one from the core of each sherd, in order to analyse post‐depositional alterations of minor and trace elements. The most striking effect was that a leaching of Ca could be found at the surface. Another group of elements that is severely affected are the alkali metals, with Cs and Rb showing the strongest changes. A third conspicuous group of elements are the Rare Earth Elements. Finally, the effect of such alterations on a statistical data evaluation to classify pottery according to provenance is investigated.     

Rivers of dreams: on the gulf between theoretical and practical aspects of an upland river restoration

This paper is concerned with development and application of a conceptual model of the river restoration process and, through a specific case study, a demonstration of the challenges that arise when combining ecological and geomorphological principles with social and economic issues. Thus, it demonstrates the difference between the ideal goals of river restoration and the practical determinants of the nature of a river restoration that derive from individual and community goals. It begins by exploring theoretically what a river restoration project might involve. It then introduces the options developed for restoration of a particular case study river and the associated decisionmaking process. As a result of strong community involvement, institutional and financial regulations, the location of the restoration site in a National Park, and the influence of governmental and non-governmental organizations, the actual decisionmaking process resulted in a practical river restoration that departed significantly from the idealized goals of a restoration defined in purely scientific terms. It is argued that these practical limitations are likely to remain the dominant influence upon the nature and scope of river restoration projects.     

Climate change and the expansion of the Scythian culture after 850 BC: a hypothesis

In south-central Siberia archaeological evidence suggests an acceleration of cultural development and an increase in the density of nomadic populations around 850 BC. We hypothesize a relationship with an abrupt climatic shift towards increased humidity caused by a decline of solar activity. Areas that initially may have been hostile semi-deserts changed into attractive steppe landscapes with a high biomass production and high carrying capacity. Newly available steppe areas could be invaded by herbivores, making them attractive for nomadic tribes. The central Asian horse-riding Scythian culture expanded, and an increased population density was a stimulus for westward migration towards southeastern Europe.     

Woman and Violence in Artistic Discourse of the Russian Revolution and Civil War (1917–1922)

This article examines visual and literary representations of violence against women produced during the period. The image of a woman suffering from violence is presented from different points of view in literary art works of the Revolution and Civil War time. It was created and circulated among Red and White camps mainly in accordance with the task of propaganda bodies. Among the object of violence there are allegoric women's figures, symbolising Russia, revolution, freedom, well‐known heroines from literature, historic personages and contemporary women – ordinary victims of civil confrontation and direct participants of the Revolution and war. Men or symbols traditionally personifying masculine origin were nearly always the perpetrators of violence, and the image of the female victim was exploited for the strong emotions it evoked. In most cases physical violence against women was treated as anomaly. But the control of the regime over the woman's emotional sphere had become a standard everywhere.     

Cross-Cultural Approaches in Archaeology: Comparative Ethnology, Comparative Archaeology, and Archaeoethnology

Cross-cultural approaches have been used widely in archaeological research. Comparative ethnology has provided a number of archaeological indicators of behavior, but large segments of the archaeological record have not yet been subjected to extensive comparative analysis. Comparative archaeology has aided in exploring variation among societal types (such as chiefdoms) and categories within the archaeological record (such as settlements). Diachronic comparisons have been used frequently by archaeologists, but these have often been based on unique samples and only rarely have employed statistics to aid in the discovery or testing of hypotheses. Archaeoethnology, comparative analyses of archaeological cases employing valid samples and statistical evaluation of theories and hypotheses, is introduced.     

Theophilos Kairis: the creator and initiator of Theosebism in Greece1

The views of the Enlightenment in European countries are in general well known, while the attempts to introduce the Enlightenment to countries in the periphery of Europe, like Greece, are not known in the same degree. How did the scientific revolution migrate to the Greek‐speaking regions occupied by the Ottoman Empire? How did the Greeks accept the truly revolutionary ideas of the French Revolution and liberalism? What were the reactions of the conservative Greek Orthodox Church and who sacrificed their lives in the cause of their ideas? Theophilos Kairis (1784–1853), a scholar, philosopher, and priest, was the tragic victim of clerical bigotry. The creator of Theosebism in Greece, Kairis suffered the tragic end reserved by fate for those who, being pioneers, tried to introduce to Greece the liberal ideas of Western Europe and the Enlightenment.