Analysis of resinous material present on an alabaster lid excavated from Nabataean Moa in the Arava valley

An alabaster lid with a resinous accretion burnt or stuck next to the handle and on the base was uncovered in the Nabataean rest stop in Moyat Aawad (Moa) in the Arava valley in Israel. The analysis of this resin sample utilising GC‐MS revealed several types of compounds. The chemical analysis revealed compounds typically present in pine tar and plant lipid material (probably oil). The use of pine resin, tar and pitch derived from plant resins is documented in antiquity, not only as a sealant or caulking material but also as medicines, antiseptics and ritual balms.     

Systematic position of two Early Devonian sinistral heterostrophic gastropods from the Garra Limestone,New South Wales

Two Early Devonian gastropod genera, Garraspira gen. nov. and Anoriostoma from the GarraLimestone, with sinistrally heterostrophic shells, share several shell features and are placed in the new tribe Anoriostomatini within the subfamily Agnesiinae. In contrast to the other members of the latter subfamily these genera represent a lineage in which the apertural slit was lost during evolution. This fact supports the opinion that the presence or absence of the apertural slit does not necessarily have significance for high-level taxonomy. Morphology of the gerontic whorl in Anoriostoma sinistra and Garraspira imtsitata suggests their limited mobility during the last ontogenetic stage.     

The grotesque in the plays of Enda Walsh

This article attempts to outline the aesthetic of Enda Walsh's dramatic oeuvre, viewing it as fundamentally grotesque. Plays such as The New Electric Ballroom, The Walworth Farce, and Penelope have generally enjoyed a most enthusiastic reception; however, reviewers and critics have remained largely baffled as to where exactly these intoxicating pieces have left them. A plausible way of addressing the distinctive combination of citationality, the intermingling of genres, linguistic brilliance, circuitous structure, pathological interaction between characters, and the darkest humour, may consist in juxtaposing Walsh's technique with concepts of the grotesque as outlined, alternately, by Mikhail Bakhtin and Wolfgang Kayser. The consequent observations on the grotesque in Walsh's plays are followed by a query as regards the moral dimension of Walsh's aesthetic, focusing on their position in relation to Bakhtin's assertion of the liberating potential of the grotesque as opposed to Kayser's insistence on the grotesque coming across as essentially bleak and hopeless.     

关于济南大辛庄商代遗存年代的思考

济南大辛庄商代遗存的上限约当二里岗上层晚段,下限已到殷墟文化末期。由大辛庄遗存看鲁西地区商文化上限,将有助于商族起源、“中商文化”乃至岳石文化下限和去向等重大课题的研讨;其下限的判定则可为商周文化断代提供标准。     

取士与取官:以筹办洋务时期同文馆学生奖励为例

科举取士为清代士子入仕正途,筹办洋务时期,近代学堂开始兴起,科举取士逐渐为学堂取士所取代.近代学堂取士仿中国传统学校例而加以变通,具有取士与取官混而为一的特点.筹办洋务时期新式学堂初创时取士章程规定与实际运作的探索,影响了随后新式学堂的发展乃至新政时期学堂奖励规制的最终制定.     

尊崇与承继:陈作霖对卢前的影响

中国的传统文化、乡邦文化的魅力,是靠一代代的文化人继承、延续和发展的。陈作霖(可园)是保存近世南京文化的典型代表。民国时期,文学和戏剧史论家卢前对陈作霖的贡献推崇备至,以其为民国初年东南耆硕之魁率,认为陈作霖从历史的废墟和陈迹之中爬梳、挖掘和勾画出江苏和南京的历史文化的面貌,对发掘与整理江苏南京文献居功至伟。陈作霖对故乡南京历史文化的热爱,也影响了卢前的一生。在担任南京通志馆馆长和文献委员会主任期间,卢前主持编纂了26册的《南京文献》,延续了南京文化人对地方文献特别关注的传统。     

建设镇村风物地情馆 打造乡情文化新名片——“海安:故乡风物地情馆”项目实施报告

随着乡村振兴步伐的加快,城乡建设进入跨越式发展阶段,构成人们乡愁记忆的无数故乡传统和风物风习也在逐渐消失和淡化。海安市委史志工委鼓励并指导镇村挖掘利用地情文化资源,创新打造"让城市留住记忆,让人们记住乡愁"的系列地情馆,发挥地情文化的社会效益,形成地方文化自信,为处理继承与发展关系,让历史文化和现代生活融为一体,进而推动地区经济社会发展做出了有益探索。"海安:故乡风物地情馆"项目入选2019年江苏省地方志工作十大创新项目。     

岷江上游新石器时代的文化景观与环境动因

岷江上游位于我国西南横断山脉东缘,自然和人文地理特征鲜明,是藏彝民族走廊中最独特的一个区域。本文以岷江上游新石器时代为时间断面,从文化景观的角度,探讨文化源流、聚落建筑、生产生活、文化习俗以及文化传播等要素的呈现,并分析背后的环境机制以及景观呈现对环境的响应。     

The technology of jades excavated at the Western Zhou,Jin Marquis cemetery,Tianma-Qucun,Beizhao, Shanxi province: recognition of tools and techniques

This paper is concerned with the technology of a small but representative sample of thirty nephrite jades from the burial assemblages of the Jin Marquisate excavated at Tianma-Qucun, Beizhao, Shanxi province, north-central China. The jades date mainly from two Bronze Age cultures, the Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1050–771 BC) and the previous Shang dynasty (c. 1600–c. 1050 BC). They include unfinished and finished carvings. The carvings were examined at Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Houma: following an optical survey of the tool marks, detailed silicone moulds were made from twelve jades bearing evidence of working techniques. The moulds were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at the British Museum, London. Consideration of several characteristics of the moulded features for comparison with moulded experimental standards provided evidence for the tools employed for several stages of working. Extensive use was made of non-rotary rigid saws and thicker files for shaping many parts of the jades, and pointed tools for incising pieces. Use was also made of rotary solid drills for working narrow perforations for openwork and the suspension of jades, and broader tubular drills. Although no evidence of non-rotary string saws, rotary circular saws or smaller incising wheels was seen on the jades, there was evidence for the use of rotary lathes, on which jades were mounted for shaping.     

The Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in Southeastern Central Europe (Czechoslovakia and Hungary)

Southeastern Central Europe is quite rich in finds of progressive Neandertals from Middle Paleolithic contexts and early modern humans associated with evolved Upper Paleolithic (Aurignacian and Pavlovian). There are no human fossils that can be related to the transitional Middle-Upper Paleolithic units (the Bohunician and the Szeletian); thus, from anthropology we know only that the transitional period began with Neandertals and ended with modern humans. The archaeological record is more complex. The Jankovichian industries of Hungary differ from the mostly non-Levallois Middle Paleolithic of Central Europe in the presence of some Levallois; they seem to be technologically related to the Levallois-Leptolithic Bohunician industries of Moravia, dated to 43,000–38,000 B.P., which are the first transitional Upper Paleolithic unit. The appearance of the Szeletian before 42,000 B.P. in Hungary and at about 39,000 in Moravia represents a technological variation of the transition, although retaining marked local Middle Paleolithic elements. The date of the appearance of the typical Aurignacian, the first culture clearly related to modern humans, is unclear, but it certainly developed after 36,000 B.P. and has several dates between 35,000 and 30,000 B.P.