Risky business: historical archaeology of the Dutch salt enterprise on La Tortuga Island,Venezuela (1624–38)

SUMMARY: In the decades of the 1620s and 1630s the Dutch engaged in salt extraction on the island of La Tortuga, Venezuela, erecting a wooden fort, portable cannon emplacements, jetties and semi-industrial solar saltpan production facilities. The relative paucity of the archaeological record juxtaposed with the wealth of detailed documentary data and fieldwork experiences led to the operationalization of the heuristic tool of ‘scapes’. A critical construction of these socially alive portions of the island landscape and seascape demonstrates 1) how north-western European conceptions of the cultural control of nature were embodied in Dutch orderliness and industriousness; 2) how the strategy of maximization of extractive practices and minimization of risk was evidenced in the overall ephemerality of structures; and 3) how these structural imperatives were imbricated in the prose of human life and death that was unfolding from one small-scale event to another on this desolate island.     

Combined pollen and macrofossil data as a source for reconstructing mosaic patterns of the early medieval urban habitats – a case study from Gdańsk,N. Poland

Plant macrofossils, pollen, fungal spores and other non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), were analyzed in three archaeological exposures established in a small area in the oldest part of the historic city of Gdańsk. One of the aims was to investigate how precisely the combined pollen and macrofossil data may reflect the diversity of local habitats within an urban archaeological site and to compare the range of information obtained using each of the methods separately. The other aim of the study was to reconstruct the environmental conditions in the earliest occupied area of the historic centre of Gdańsk. The repeatable composition and, in many points, consistency among pollen and macrofossil data in all three profiles strongly suggest that the apparently biased structure of these fossil remains in fact reflects a mosaic pattern of the vegetation in the area of the site. The combined pollen and macrofossil data enabled separation of local elements from those transported to the site by different means. The results show that already at the beginning of the 12th c., the area was almost totally deforested, but up to the mid-13th c. the settlement organization was still relatively loose, resembling a rather rural structure with well-developed ruderal plant communities and patches of semi-natural vegetation. At the coring area, strongly eutrophic riparian vegetation was bordering patches of dry grassland on a sandy holm. The large proportion of pollen of various entomophilous plants mostly from meadows and pastures is explained as a result of the presence of dung, as confirmed by the abundances of coprophilous fungal spores. The study indicates that parallel pollen and macrofossil analysis is essential for correct interpretation of fossil assemblages. Application of both methods enables broadening of the range of remains representing various organisms and obtaining more precise tools for environmental reconstruction and better understanding of the taphonomic processes at the archaeological site.     

袁世凯与民初“党争”

从表面观之,民初党争运动发生在立宪派和革命派之间,居于幕后操纵的却是袁世凯。民初党争,与其说是西式的“政党政治”,不如说是中式的“派系政治”。在中国,最高权力一直掌握在君主手中,无论是西式的三权,中式的中央与地方,都是在下面分,最高权力则不能分。辛亥革命后,虽然没有了君主制,如何集权则是袁世凯面临的主要问题。袁的“不党主义”,及其他凌驾于党争之上的举措,似乎均与此有关。进言之,袁之后的中国最高统治者都面临这个问题：一方面是掌握了话语霸权的西式民主、选举、分权、权力制衡,另一方面是对不可分割的最高权力的“路径依赖”。     

漢武帝“廣關”與河東地區侯國遷徙

西漢元鼎年間的"廣關"政策,是武帝爲拓展關西地域範圍而采取的重要舉措。爲配合"廣關"的實行,漢王朝對拓展地域內的行政構建進行一系列調整。本文通過對西漢河東地區侯國分佈狀況的考察,指出元鼎年間河東地區侯國分佈存在劇烈變動。此變動與"廣關"直接相關。"廣關"政策實行後,河東地區的侯國被集中遷出。而河東不封置侯國的局面一直延續到西漢末年。     

宋代富弼家族墓志史料价值刍议

2008年,宋代名臣富弼家族墓葬发掘出土了14方墓志,其中有12方墓志为传世文献所无,是迄今为止发现的墓主人惟一的传记资料;有7方墓志铭文又是迄今为止发现的墓志铭作者的惟一作品。富弼家族墓志不仅有数量多、价值大、保存完好的特点,而且有正史、补史的文献价值。     

简论薛尚功的金石学研究

宋代金石学家薛尚功著有《历代钟鼎彝器款识法帖》二十卷和《广钟鼎篆韵》七卷。《款识法帖》以摹录铭文为主,并做释文和考说,逐一对器物的制作年代进行断定,开创了后世考释类金文著作的通例。考释文字方面,基本使用了对照法、推勘法和偏旁分析法,已经能释出大部分常用金文,对金文构形特点和古文字发展的一些普遍规律也有所认识。古器物学方面,提出了器物断代的几个标准,对器物的用途也有比较准确的认识,表现出了比较高明的识见。     

Scientific investigation of the paint and adhesive materials used in the Western Han dynasty polychromy terracotta army,Qingzhou, China

A royal tomb of early period of the Western Han dynasty (206 B.C–8 A.D) was excavated by archaeologists in Qingzhou County, Shandong Province in 2006. Over 2000 polychromy terracotta soldiers, horses, chariots, servants etc. were unearthed from the tomb. All the terracotta figures are one quarter or one sixth as large as the livings, most of them were painted with well designed patterns. In order to gain complete information about the materials and techniques used for the polychromy on the terracotta army, five samples from the painted areas were taken. In addition, one sample from the area to adhere one leg to the ploychromy horse body was also obtained. The analytical techniques applied include XRF, FTIR, Py-GC/MS and GC/MS. Chinese purple, cinnabar, lead red and ochre were used as pigments, while animal glue was identified as binding medium and adhesive in the polychromy terracotta army in the Han Dynasty. The results definitely will provide new evidence about the materials and technologies used in Han Dynasty. Especially, the binding medium identified is different in comparison with Qin Shihuang's terracotta army (259–210 BC).     

四川早期崖墓及相关问题探讨

东汉时期前后,四川盆地及其周边的一些地区流行崖墓这一独特的墓葬形式,本文仍沿用"四川崖墓"这一传统概念统称分布于四川、重庆及相邻地区的崖墓[1]。与同时期的砖石墓相比,四川崖墓的形制更加复杂多样。目前,学术界对四川崖墓的形制演变还缺乏足够认识[2],对四川崖墓的分区研究也尚     

萧散清逸 神韵淡远 江西省博物馆藏查士标山水册赏析

查士标（1615—1698年）是我国明末清初著名的山水画家,新安画派的杰出代表,同时也是一位遗民诗人。他与同乡的弘仁、汪之瑞、孙逸画名相齐,世称＂新安四家＂。新安画派以学倪瓒为主,而查士标在此基础上参入米氏、董其昌笔意,旁涉诸家,同时又注重写生,形成了荒寒淹润而又放逸的画风,树立了当时画坛的一面旗帜。查士标存世的纪年作品,多集中于十七世纪60年代后期至80年代。这一时期是他人生绘画创作的高峰期,     

Human-planted alder trees as a protection against debris flows (a dendrochronological study from the Moxi Basin, Southwestern China)

Large debris flows have destroyed the infrastructure and caused the death of people living in the Moxi Basin (Sichuan Province, Southwestern China). Inhabitants of the Moxi Basin live on the flat surfaces of debris-flow fans, which are also attractive for farming. During the monsoon season debris flows are being formed above the fans. Debris flows can destroy the houses of any people living within the fan surfaces. In order to prevent the adverse effects of flows, people plant alder trees (Alnus nepalensis) at the mouths of debris flow gullies running above debris flow fans. Alders are able to capture the debris transported during flow events. Trees are well adapted to surviving in conditions of environmental stress connected with abrupt transport and deposition of sediment from debris flows. Numerous wounds, tilting and bending of alder trees caused by debris flows only very rarely cause the death of trees. By dating scars and dating the time of alder tilting (through the analysis of annual rings), we have determined the frequency of debris flows occurring at the mouth of the Daozhao valley. In 1980–2012 within the studied debris-flow fan and the Daozhao gully, 2 large debris flow events occurred (1996, 2005) and some smaller events were probably recorded every 2–3 years.