Sex estimation using cervical dental measurements in an archaeological population from Iran

Sex estimation of skeletal remains is one of the major components of forensic identification of unknown individuals. Teeth are a potential source of information on sex and are often recovered in archaeological or forensic contexts due to their post-mortem longevity. Currently, there is limited data on dental sexual dimorphism of archaeological populations from Iran. This paper represents the first study to provide a dental sex estimation method for Iron Age populations. The current study was conducted on the skeletal remains of 143 adults from two Iron Age populations in close temporal and geographic proximity in the Solduz Valley (West Azerbaijan Province of Iran). Mesiodistal and buccolingual cervical measurements of 1334 maxillary and mandibular teeth were used to investigate the degree of sexual dimorphism in permanent dentition and to assess their applicability in sex estimation. Data was analysed using discriminant function analysis (SPSS 23), and posterior probabilities were calculated for all produced formulae. The results showed that incisors and canines were the most sexually dimorphic teeth, providing percentages of correct sex classification between 86.4 and 100 % depending on the measurement used. The combination of canines and other teeth improved significantly the level of correct sex classification. The highest percentages of sex classification were obtained by the combination of canines and incisors (100 %) and canines and molars (92.3 %). The present study provided the first reference standards for sex estimation using odontometric data in an Iranian archaeological population. Cervical measurements were found to be of value for sex assessment, and the method presented here can be a useful tool for establishing accurate demographic data from skeletal remains of the Iron Age from Iran.     

Identifying handedness at knapping; an analysis of the scatter pattern of lithic remains

Determining hand laterality during human evolution is important in order to identify brain hemispheric lateralization for motor tasks and, indirectly, to gain information on the complex cognitive functions of the human brain. In this paper, we present a new method for inferring handedness from lithic evidence. The study is based on an analysis of the scatter patterns of lithic remains from stone-knapping episodes. An experimental programme was carried out by 14 knappers (eight right-handed and six left-handed), ranging from individuals that had never even struck two pebbles together to individuals who were quite familiar with prehistoric tools and had some degree of practice. The results of the experiment show that the material scatter patterns of right- and left-handed knappers at group level are different, but they do overlap at certain intervals. At the individual level, the probability of falsely ascribing left- and right-handedness has also been estimated. In addition, we have adapted this method to be applied to the archaeological record. In this case, only well-preserved knapping events with no post-depositional alterations can be used to assign left- or right-handed knappers, with the former being more reliably detected than the latter.     

明显陵与湖广政区的演变

明显陵是嘉靖帝在湖广为其父母修建的陵墓。因显陵的肇建与扩建,承天府、兴都留守司、荆西道相继设立,显陵所在的监察区也得以改变。显陵政区及其相关都司卫所的变更过程,亦是显陵地区逐步脱离旧有政区层级,建立以显陵为核心的新政区层级的过程。相较于汉代迁移人口因陵设县,明王朝偏重于调整各级政区及其相关都司卫所的组合方式,以保障统治重地的物资人力供应和附近军民的集中统一管理。而明王朝以某地为中心进行一系列政区的变更,很有可能预示着某一区域内的统治重心发生了改变。     

Home divided,home reconstructed: children in rural–urban migration in contemporary China

This article is centred on the geographies of Chinese children in contemporary China – an area which has been problematically overlooked in geographical literature on childhood. In employing unique mobile research methods by tracking migrant children through the migration cycle, the author conducted an extensive ethnographic study of rural migrant children aged 8–17 in China. The article explores rural children's everyday lived experience of migration and how migrant children negotiate and articulate home and belonging while on the move. The study demonstrates the dynamic environment that migrant children inhabit, the fluid, contextual and mobile nature of their life in rural migrant households, their migrancy and their active involvement in homemaking.     

Chemical and Microscopic Study of Masonry Mortar in Ancient Pagodas in East China

Ancient mortars played a crucial role in the construction of historical architectures due to their physical and chemical compatibility with traditional building materials such as stones and bricks. Therefore, the analysis and optimization of the ancient mortar formula are significant in the restoration and preservation of historical sites. In this work, 20 mortar samples selected from five ancient stone pagodas in Zhejiang Province, China, were analyzed. The results showed that mud, lime-soil mortar, lime-sand mortar, and lime-gypsum mortar were used as binders in these pagodas. The Ca(OH)₂/aggregate ratio ranging from 0.3 to 2.7 was usually used to prepare lime mortar. Protein and polysaccharide were also found in some samples.     

Potential Use of Foamed Mortar (FM) for Thermal Upgrading of Chinese Traditional Hui-Style Residences

The Hui-style residence is an important architectural heritage of China. The hollow wall structures are widely used to build its exterior wall system. However, the thermal performance of the hollow wall is no longer able to meet the new energy-saving and environmental requirement. This article describes a laboratory study of the development of foamed mortar (FM), with the potential for use in thermal upgrading of the Hui-style hollow wall system without dramatically changing its traditional structure. The key early age, physical, mechanical and thermal properties were systematically measured. Two extended models were respectively developed to calculate compressive strength and thermal conductivity, as a function of porosity. Environment chamber test was also employed to investigate the effectiveness of this novel thermal upgrading approach and the results show that filling the voids with FM can effectively improve the overall thermal resistance of the hollow wall system by 44%, which is almost equal to the overall thermal resistance when using the more expensive commercial inorganic stucco system. In addition, the combination of these two methods yielded an overall thermal resistance of 0.701 m²·K/W, which is even higher than 0.67 m²·K/W for the code required in the hot summer/cold winter climate zone.     

“罗马和平”时期石碑的保护修复

罗马帝国初期的200年(公元前27年~公元2世纪)是罗马的鼎盛时期,开创了经济、文化、军事、艺术前所未有的高峰,被称为"罗马和平"时期。本文保护修复的几件"罗马和平"时期的石碑原本收藏在意大利罗维纳市的Lapidario博物馆,后委托意大利博洛尼亚KRITERION文物修复公司进行保护修复,进行了清洗、补全、封护等保护修复工作。     

“季诺维也夫信”事件

1924年英国大选期间发生了"季诺耶维夫信"事件,英国《每日邮报》在大选前四天发表了一封事后被证明是伪造的"季诺维也夫信"。然而,该信的发表在当时造成巨大影响,它对英国大选及工党政府的黯然下台、英国社会"红色恐怖"情绪的发展以及《英苏协定》的困难进程等事件都产生了重大的影响。     

修志应重视口述资料的运用

第二轮修志面临资料缺失问题,而作为资料补充渠道之一的口述史,在地方志领域并没有得到足够的重视。第二轮修志应重视口述资料的运用,使其在志书资料补充收集中发挥更大的功用。口述资料能补充志书关键资料、微观资料、一手鲜活资料,以及印证文献资料。同时,使用口述史资料也面临一些问题,解决这些问题有七项举措:一是研究理论,加大理论指导力度;二是建立制度,提供规范化保障;三是指导工作,推动开展口述资料收集;四是实施项目,投入具体口述史实践;五是实现数字化,使口述资料得以妥善保存、信息共享;六是加强口述史人才队伍建设;七是扩大宣传,提高口述史知名度和在修志中的影响力。     

南朝宋皇太子監國有司儀注的文書學與制度史考察

南朝宋皇太子監國有司儀注,反映了魏晉南北朝時期的公文形態。但是,現有中華書局點校本《宋書》、《通典》的儀注文本及標點,均有不完善之處,需要重新校録文本和標點。在對儀注進行了文書學與制度史考察之後可知,儘管尚書臺(省)自西晉以後就已取得了作爲宰相機構的職權,尚書令、僕射也已被視爲宰相,但是遲至南朝宋時,尚書臺仍然未成爲一個層級分化、結構規整、分工明確、各有權限的外朝宰相職司。在兩漢至隋唐間三公制—三省制的體制轉軌還沒有基本完成之前,尚書臺所得的宰相職權,並沒有及時反映到律令常典和公文形態中。尚書臺作爲文書傳遞機構的性質,仍在相當長一段時期內體現在南北朝公文書式中。就現有研究而言,尚書省及令、僕射所獲得的宰相職權在律令和公文制度中得到反映,恐怕要到南北朝後期,甚至是隋初纔實現。