范仲淹的“育将观”

北宋康定元年(1040),宋夏战争爆发,范仲淹挺身纾难,出任延州边帅。面对宋廷"右文抑武"国策所致军事人才匮乏之弊,范仲淹选将以智勇、育将以仁爱,成功地提拔、培养了一批勇猛善战的军事干将。而其中所体现的正是范仲淹独特的"育将观"。     

古玺印菁华释地三则

古官玺中涉及的地名颇多,其研究对古文字、古地理及古玺分域研究等方面都具有重要价值。本文从玺文的形体分析角度出发,对《古玺印菁华》收集的三方官玺予以考证,提出一些新的观点。     

“采铜于山”与学术原创性思维

顾炎武以"采铜于山"的话,形象地说明了学术原创性的重要性.原创性的研究不只是要从原始史料上入手,从思想史研究上说,从原著、代表作入手,要站在一个时代的理论高度从根本上进行阐释,与此同时,也要看到学术与社会现实的关联.要注意到"述"与"作"的关联、"众手修书"与"成一家之言"的关联,还要注意到比次之业、考索之功与独断之学的关联.学者应有原创性研究的自觉意识,意识到这是关系到学术发展的大事.     

杨向奎与清代学术史研究

杨向奎在晚年,用十年时间撰写了总计350万字左右的八卷本《清儒学案新编》,该书具有清代学术思想史和清代学术思想史料选辑的双重作用,由此可窥见清代学术思想发展的渊源及流派。杨向奎赞扬清初学者治学的博大精神,认为他们都具有学究天人,自立门户的特点,可比先秦诸子。杨向奎还重点对纵贯清代二百多年的显学——乾嘉学派进行了深入研究,他高度评价乾嘉学者的学术成果并盛赞其实事求是的治学态度。杨向奎同时认为与乾嘉朴学派之考据并起的,有常州学派之经学,这两派,如双峰对峙、泾渭分流,至清末不衰。     

Mast-Step Coins among the Romans

The archaeological evidence of more than a dozen ancient shipwrecks indicates that the tradition of placing a coin inside the mast-step of a ship's hold probably originated with the Romans. The mast-step coin phenomenon, which persisted through the Middle Ages and continues in various forms today, has often been characterized according to the modern concept of 'luck'. The custom was, however, not one of an exclusively maritime nature; rather, it was ultimately derived from a long-standing religious tradition that can be traced back to the consecration of the earliest Greek temples.
© 2007 The Author     

Are Teeth Better? Histological Characterization of Diagenesis in Archaeological Bone–Tooth Pairs and a Discussion of the Consequences for Archaeometric Sample Selection and Analyses

Teeth are often the preferred source material for isotopic and genetic assay involving ancient biomolecules. The assumption is that dental tissue preserves better due to its anatomically protected location, the enamel cap, and lower porosity compared to bone. However, this assumption has not been widely tested. Some similarities in diagenetic processes are to be expected due to similarities in structure and chemical composition of dentine and bone. This has led to the suggestion that bone can be used as an indicator of dental preservation, as a pre‐screening technique in the selection of suitable samples for biomolecular studies. Thus, direct testing of the correlation between bone and tooth preservation and diagenesis is needed. This paper reports the results of the histological characterization of diagenetic alterations within 25 human femur–tooth pairs, from a Medieval to modern (AD 1850) cemetery in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The results showed that teeth do indeed preserve better overall, but not always, and that this was dependent on the main diagenetic factor(s) at the burial location. Furthermore, good correlations are found between the microstructural preservation of bone and teeth; similar processes of decay were observed within bone and teeth of the same individual. Overall, the study demonstrated that histological analysis of bone is useful for the identification of degradation processes that affect biomolecular preservation in skeletal material. In this way, sample selection and analytical strategies can be optimized. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Alveolar bone status of some pre-seventeenth century inhabitants of Taumako,Solomon Islands

The alveolar bone condition of 34 pre-seventeenth century Solomon Island Polynesians aged 20–35 years was investigated from dental remains. The distance between the cementoenamel junction and the alveolar crest (CEJ-AC distance) was measured for six index teeth. The mean CEJ-AC measurements for each tooth, which ranged from 3.9 to 7.9 mm, greatly exceeded the distance of 2 mm frequently cited as representative of teeth supported by healthy bone. Many pathological bony defects were seen, suggestive of episodes of acute periodontitis with remissions to a quiescent phase.