Late Middle Palaeolithic occupations in Ciemna Cave,southern Poland

Recent excavations in Ciemna Cave in the Pr?dnik valley near Ojców, southern Poland have brought to light new stratigraphic and techno-typological evidence concerning Late Middle Palaeolithic groups and their cultural affinities. In 2007, excavations began in the hitherto-unexplored main chamber of Ciemna Cave, with the goal of clarifying the results of previous work in other parts of the cave. During excavation the rocky floor of the cave was reached. About 1000 stone artifacts have been collected to date. Three cultural traditions have been documented: Mousterian, Taubachian, and Micoquian. Within the Micoquian tradition, three cultural levels were observed, which enriches the previous understanding of occupational phases at the site. These findings permit revision of the traditional terms “Pr?dnik industry” and “Pr?dnik technique.”     

Designing a socially efficient cultural policy: the case of municipal theaters in Warsaw

While public support for culture has become a less self-evident privilege than in the past, the economic evidence for benefits a society gains from these goods has become essential for both cultural economics and cultural policy. The aim of our study is to investigate socially preferred ways of allocating scarce public resources among municipal theaters in Warsaw. The problem investigated is a current issue for local policy-making, but in a broader sense, it illustrates how state-of-the-art stated preference methods can be employed to support cultural policy. We find that inhabitants of Warsaw assign a positive value to the broader accessibility of the theaters, and their willingness to pay for making them a truly public good (by introducing a program of highly discounted tickets) exceeds the costs of such a policy. However, we also find that the cost-benefit relationship varies across theaters with different types of plays in their repertories. Our results imply a different level of socially efficient support for experimental, drama, children’s and entertainment theaters.     

Epipaleolithic/early Neolithic settlements at Qinghai Lake,western China

Transitions from terminal Pleistocene Upper Paleolithic foraging to Holocene Neolithic farming and pastoralist economic orientations in the northern Tibetan Plateau are examined from the perspective of Epipaleolithic sites located near Qinghai Lake, Qinghai Province, western China. Jiangxigou 2 is an artifact-rich, multicomponent midden site with the main period of occupation dating ca. 9000–5000 cal yr BP, containing abundant flaked stone artifacts including a substantial proportion of microlithic tools, abundant faunal remains including gazelle, deer, and sheep, and a small number of ceramics, including the oldest known on the Tibetan Plateau. Heimahe 3, on the other hand, is a brief hunter's camp dating ca. 8450 cal yr BP, with evident affinities to late Upper Paleolithic camps in the same region that date several thousand years older. The two distinctively different sites are probably nodes within a single Epipaleolithic foraging system that developed on the margins of the high Tibetan Plateau during the early Holocene, and that served as a basis for colonization of the high-altitude Plateau at that time. Jiangxigou 2 appears to be connected to early Neolithic agricultural settlements along the upper Yellow River (Huang He) drainage during the middle Holocene, and may provide insights into forager–agriculturalist interactions that lead to the development of pastoralist systems in the region.     

清宫扎什琍玛造像的来源及像式类型分析

扎什琍玛佛像因特征明确、像式丰富、工艺精细,在故宫珍藏的佛教造像中独树一帜。清宫的扎什琍玛像多附有皇家特有的黄条题记。本文从这些黄条所记内容入手,结合档案资料,对此类造像进行来源、类型及题材风格的细化探究,并进一步说明扎什琍玛对清宫佛教造像风格的深刻影响及其在促进西藏与内地政治、经济、文化联系方面曾经发挥的历史作用。     

清宫大白伞盖佛母信仰探析

清代宫廷对白伞盖佛母的崇拜出现了显著的发展,特别在乾隆时期,除在宫中大量制作白伞盖佛母像外,还在北京及其周边地区的各大寺庙制作供奉精美的绘画和雕塑,甚至专门兴建寺院来供奉白伞盖佛母像。其信奉目的和崇拜方式等方面的特点,目前尚很少有专门的论述见诸文献。本文借助清宫档案及现存清代原状佛堂内白伞盖佛母的陈设情况,试图说明清代宫廷是将白伞盖佛母作为重要的福寿保护神来供奉的,并不是简单地继承元代的信仰传统而是另有传承和发展。     

唐宋西南、岭南瘴病地理与知识阶层的认识应对

唐宋时期瘴气、瘴病主要分布于西南山区,瘴病主要分布于四川南部泸、黎、戎州一线、长江三峡地区、云贵高原及岭南广西盆地,瘿病主要分布于秦巴山区、川西北山区及长江三峡一带。本文通过对大量历史文献的考察认为,唐宋时期知识阶层经历了对以瘴病为主的地方性疾病由盲目恐惧悲观到不懈地探索及医学应对转变过程,其中对瘴气的地理学认识、瘴病的预防及辩证治疗最有成就,从一个侧面加深了对西南、岭南地区地理复杂性的了解。更为重要的是在对付瘴病方面士人积极进行移风易俗运动,从根本上倡导文明进步的应对观念行为,不仅对西南、岭南疾病地理有了较为科学的认识,而且在应对以瘴为主的环境疾病,推动西南、岭南地区社会文明进步方面产生了深远影响。     

毕仲衍《中书备对》目录的发现及其意义

北宋毕仲衍所修的《中书备对》今已散佚,传世的一些文献尚存其中少数内容。《四库全书》文津阁本《西台集》中收有一篇题名为《毕仲衍〈上编次官制卷目稿札子〉》的奏议。据考证,它是毕仲衍进呈《中书备对》时所上的奏议,与元丰新官制无关。其中的“卷目”,正是《中书备对》的目录。这个目录的发现,对考证此书的卷数、了解该书的内容和辑佚这部残存文献有重要价值。     

清初八旗索伦编旗设佐考述

八旗索伦的编旗设佐早在其南迁内徙之前即已开始进行。八旗索伦旗佐组织的编设有一个发展过程,从清太宗崇德年间开始至清世宗雍正年间一直没有停止过,其旗佐组织的编设大致经历了三个发展阶段,并有如下几种不同的情况:南迁之前索伦牛录的编设、顺治初年南迁之后布特哈八旗佐领的编设、黑龙江将军设镇后驻防八旗佐领的编设。清政府八旗索伦编旗设佐,其根本原因主要是考虑清朝北部边疆防务的需要,以及八旗索伦精于骑射、骁勇善战的民族特点。清政府对八旗索伦大规模的编旗设佐、实行八旗制度,不仅对清朝巩固和稳定东北边疆并防范沙俄侵略有着现实意义,而且对清代八旗索伦的历史发展也产生了深远影响。     

深化边疆理论研究与推动中国边疆学的构筑

一、三次研究高潮与三次学术研讨会中国边疆研究具有悠久的历史、优良的传统、丰硕的成果,可用“千年积累、百年探索”来概括中国边疆研究的发展历程。我们在研究、总结前辈研究的历史遗产后,认为自19世纪中叶迄今,中国边疆研究曾出现三次研究高潮。19世纪中叶至19世纪末,西北边疆史地学的兴起是中国边疆研究第一次高潮的标志。20世纪20年代至40年代边政学的提出与展开,是第二次中国边疆研究高潮的突出成就。20世纪80年代以来中国边疆研究第三次研究高潮出现的     

河南灵宝西坡遗址动物群及相关问题

本文对河南灵宝西坡仰韶文化中期遗址2000年和2001年度出土的动物骨骼进行了分析,试图复原该区域当时的生态环境和经济生活。结果表明,家畜已取代野生动物成为人们肉食消费的主要对象,这一变化与仰韶文化中期该地区人口规模和密度的显著增大同时发生,其深层次原因需从多学科角度进一步研究。