Genetic sexing to determine the optimal discriminant functions for the analysis of archaeological remains from El Hierro (Canary Islands)

A correct sex assignment of a given bone or bone fragment is of paramount importance for the archaeologist, anthropologist and in forensic medicine. Discriminant functions, combining several anthropometric measurements obtained from individuals with known sex are useful tools for this purpose, but it is essential to know exactly the sex from which the measures are obtained. This is an easy task in modern populations, but it is problematic in ancient ones, since even when the entire skeleton is available, diagnosis of sex is not 100% accurate. Sexing by genetic methods by amplifying the first intron of the amelogenin gene constitutes a much more accurate method for sexing bones and may be the gold standard for further elaboration of discriminant functions which may serve for sexing new bones dug up in future excavations. With this aim we have genetically sexed 52 (out of 59) tibiae belonging to the prehispanic population of El Hierro, in the Canary Islands, identifying 18 women and 34 men, and then, performed discriminant functions combining several anthropometric variables. These functions show a high accuracy in sex diagnosis (94.2%; area under ROC curve = 0.954 with the best of the functions), so that they allow correct sexing of tibiae or tibiae fragments (only proximal third, distal third or midshaft). Thus, genetic sexing obviates the problem of finding an accurate gold standard for the elaboration of discriminant functions for ancient bones. This method could be applied to other populations of different antiquity and different ethnicity.     

The effect of charring and burial on the biochemical composition of cereal grains: investigating the integrity of archaeological plant material

Stable isotope analysis of charred archaeobotanical cereal grains has the potential to provide direct evidence of crop growing conditions in the past and to refine palaeodietary predictions. If isotope values of archaeobotanical material are to be considered robust, it is necessary to characterise the compositional changes associated with their charring and burial. This study used a suite of analytical techniques, including FT-IR and solid state ¹³C NMR, to characterise changes in the biochemical composition of modern einkorn grains with heating at 230 °C for 2 h, 4 h, 8 h and 24 h, encompassing conditions that replicate their undistorted ancient counterparts. The biochemical composition of archaeobotanical charred einkorn grains was also investigated by FT-IR and solid state ¹³C NMR in order to assess the changes in composition which occur during burial. Results of FT-IR and solid-state ¹³C NMR show that heating of modern einkorn grains resulted in Maillard reactions between cereal proteins and starch, forming high molecular weight melanoidins, which contain both alkyl and aromatic carbon. Loss of low molecular weight carbon and nitrogen-containing volatiles resulted in a slight but non-systematic increase in the δ¹³C values and a systematic increase of 0.8‰ in the δ¹⁵N values of the charred einkorn grains. Solid-state ¹³C NMR shows that the ancient charred einkorn grains consisted entirely of aromatic carbon and retained a similar proportion of nitrogen to their modern 24 h charred counterparts, despite a significantly lower concentration of amino acids. This indicates that the amino acid nitrogen in the ancient charred grains was retained in the stable melanoidins whose polymeric structure makes them resistant to subsequent degradation.     

郑绷王守仁表彰《古本大学》的表彰

郑珍《古本〈大学说〉序》描述了这样一个过程《大学》如何从古本到二程改本,到朱子章句,再到后世诸改本“纷纷益不可胜记”,以至成为笑柄。然见邻水甘秩斋《大学说》,不仅赞叹,以为虽“又一新异本”,实与王守仁《大学古本序》“大义复不相乖忤”。郑珍遂表彰王守仁“复古之功不可没”。守仁复古本之思萌自龙场,经多年思考和反复论证,于正德十三年刻《古本大学序》,正式公布了他表彰古本正当性的观点。     

徽派版画中的名作《古歙山川图》作者考

本文对徽派版画中的《古歙山川图》的作者做了比较详尽的考证。     

安徽省南陵县江木冲古铜矿冶炼遗物自然科学研究及意义

本通过对江木冲冶炼遗址古铜矿、古炼渣、古铜锭及青铜器的对比研究,利用矿床学、冶金学等理论,探索利用自然科学手段解决其输出路线问题,提出了判别其产物(铜锭)的特征微量元素和其它综合判别标志,同时也为青铜器其它矿料来源(尤其锡矿)难题的解决进行了技术路线探索和方法研究。     

古陶瓷完整器元素成分无损分析的实现（二）——设备改建和定量分析方法

为了真正实现古陶瓷完整器的元素成分无损分析,就要建造能容纳常规大小古陶瓷样品的真空靶室,以及建立弯曲表面古陶瓷的定量分析方法。本文报道了本实验室QuanX型能谱仪真空靶室改造的整体设计和加工,以及针对弯曲表面古陶瓷样品定量分析的处理方法。大量的测量工作表明所改装的能谱仪完全适应古陶瓷完整器的元素成分无损分析的需要,同时证明古陶瓷样品在较低真空条件下的测量分析是完全无损的;所提出表面弯曲古陶瓷的定量分析处理方法具有简便易行,精确度较高的特点。     

考古学与中国上古史重建

中国近代考古学建立之初,不免材料不足并有先天局限,但随着考古学的发展和壮大,其对中国上古史之重建的作用日益显现。以顾颉刚为代表的古史辨派对旧古史系统进行了摧毁性的批判,傅斯年、李济等人继之而起,开辟了重建之路。傅斯年为重建中国古史提供了体制保证并指明方向,李济则在理论和方法上提出了系统的方案。然而,李济等人限于当时条件,具体实践工作并不理想,而中国大陆考古学者们则做出了切实的贡献。经过60年的发展,中国田野考古学取得极大的成就,苏秉琦等学者据此提出考古学文化"区系类型理论"和中国文明"多元一体格局说",中国上古史重建已进入切实展开的时期。     

潮州古城旅游社区主客活动秩序研究

个体日常活动行为的时空特征及秩序反映出个体对空间利用的时空需求。本文选取潮州古城作为案例地,以周末为典型日,采用日常活动地图收集居民与游客活动数据,基于活动分析法及Arc GIS空间分析从流动、分布与状态三个方面探究大型旅游社区的主客活动秩序。研究结果表明:古城的空间功能在原有的生活功能基础上演化出旅游功能,并保持着主客活动的秩序性,但其流动模式由于交通管制条例的约束及主客的共同占用,暗藏潜在矛盾;由于主客活动意图的不同,决定了活动安排上时间与空间的错位,在时空资源配置上表现出"分时共地"、"共时异地"的嵌合特征;"共时共地"之时,由于古城的空间足以容纳主客的活动,加之"商业性好客"的驱使,使得主客活动仍能保持秩序化。由于潮州古城具有着相对独立的社区结构,社区旅游发展成为社区秩序重构的重要机遇,合理的规划内容和途径能有效促进旅游社区生活功能与旅游功能的协调,在利益主体的协商与适应中构建了主客活动的新秩序。     

古墨的制作工艺及保存问题的探讨

采用近代分析方法研究墨坯锤打过程中的物理化学机理,结合古墨的结构形貌分析,对其保存问题进行初步探讨。