XRF analysis of glass beads from the Mycenaean palace of Nestor at Pylos,Peloponnesus, Greece: new insight into the LBA glass trade

In recent years there has been a growing interest in Mycenaean glass among archaeologists and scientists. Scholars have traditionally thought that all Mycenaean glass was imported either in finished form or as ingots and simply shaped or worked at the Mycenaean sites. Chemical studies of other Mycenaean glass (50 and 43) support the hypothesis that glass was imported into Mycenaean Greece, but there is also indication for glass production in mainland Greece at the palace of Thebes (Nikita and Henderson, 2006). There is no evidence for glass making or working at the Palace of Pylos, yet there is an abundance of glass beads there. The aim of this paper is to identify the technology and source for the glass of these beads and thus to ascertain how Pylos was connected to the broader Mycenaean and Mediterranean economies. The composition of the glasses was determined by means of portable XRF analysis and compared to that of other Late Bronze Age glasses from Egypt, Mesopotamia and mainland Greece. Four blue beads coloured with cobalt and one blue bead coloured with copper have Ti and Zr compositions consistent with an Egyptian origin of manufacture while five other beads show Ti and Zr concentrations consistent with a Mesopotamian origin (Shortland et al., 2007). Based on the dearth of Egyptian and Mesopotamian imports in Pylos, the presented data support the hypothesis that Pylos was receiving via internal Greek trade routes foreign-produced glass, which may have been worked abroad or in Greece.     

Addressing seasonal site use through ancient DNA species identification of Pacific salmon at Dionisio Point,Galiano Island,British Columbia

We use ancient DNA analysis to identify Pacific salmon vertebrae to species in order to provide an important line of evidence that helps to establish the timing of seasonal residence at a Pacific Northwest Coast village site. Ancient DNA results from House 2 at Dionisio Point allow a characterization of the salmon fishery. Ten of eleven randomly selected smaller-sized salmon vertebrae were positively identified as sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) while only a single pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) was identified. Of the 322 whole salmon vertebrae identified from House 2 occupation deposits during zooarchaeological analysis, 58 percent measure less than 8.0 mm and 70 percent are less than 8.5 mm in maximum transverse diameter. Together with documented aspects of the material record from Dionisio Point, most notably the vertebrate fauna from House 2, the indication that sockeye was the primary focus of the Dionisio Point salmon fishery suggests the site was inhabited during the spring and summer. This approach to the identification of season-specific site occupation has the potential for application over much of the Northeast Pacific.     

江苏苏州市木渎春秋城址

2010年,对江苏苏州市木渎古城进行发掘,发现五峰村北城墙和城壕遗迹、新峰村南水门遗迹,以及东、西城墙遗迹等,出土遗物有原始瓷器、陶器等。初步推断北城墙修建于春秋晚期,南水门使用时期为春秋晚期。木渎古城应是一座春秋晚期具有都邑性质的城址,木渎古城的发掘为探索吴国都城所在提供了重要线索。     

Canary islands aborigin sex determination based on mandible parameters contrasted by amelogenin analysis

Sex determination using mandible parameters is population dependent. In order to assess which measurements better characterize sex in prehispanic individuals from the Canary Islands, we blindly contrasted the results obtained by visual inspection and osteometric measurements with those obtained by molecular sexing using amelogenin ancient DNA analysis on teeth from the same material. Unambiguous sex classification was achieved by amplification of sex specific amelogenin alleles in 56 out of 76 mandibles (73.78% of the cases). Visual inspection led to a correct diagnosis in 66.04% of cases, with a greater proportion of errors for female (54.17%) than male (17.24%) mandibles. Osteometric measurements were able to assign sex correctly in 72.2% in the best of cases (mandibular height), a proportion similar to that obtained using a discriminant function (71.2%). By logistic regression analysis, ramus breadth, index ramus breadth/ramus height and mandibular length were the parameters independently related with a mistaken diagnosis of female sex, whereas bigonial width, ramus height and mandibular length were the parameters more closely and independently related to a mistaken diagnosis of male sex. In conclusion, diagnosis based on visual examination of the mandible or on its metric measurement only serves to roughly estimate sex with an accuracy of around 70% or less, at least among the prehispanic population from Gran Canaria. Amplification of amelogenin alleles leads to unambiguous identification of male and female alleles in 73.68% of cases, at least among the prehispanic population from Gran Canaria.     

与张之、王世恩论安阳与七大古都书

我国自有文字记载的商代以来,历代王朝的都城都是全国的政治、经济和文化中心。而历史上各代都城规制的变化,因为能反映一个时代经济、文化特征的变化,成为史学研究中的一个重要部分。我国历史上做过都城的城市有几十处,为研究其典型性,20世纪20年代,学术界将西安、洛阳、北京、南京、开封并列为“五大古都”。20世纪30年代又将杭州列入,成为“六大古都”。20世纪80年代,谭其骧先生提出将安阳(殷、邺)也列入大古都为“七大古都”。当时引起学术界的热烈讨论,最后得到了学术界的首肯,成为都城史研究界的共识。这里整理的三封信为谭其骧先生20世纪80年代后期与安阳地方学者讨论此问题的通信,从中也可以看出老一辈学者对学术的认真态度和科学精神。     

Debating the Age of Serpent Mound: A Reply to Romain and Herrmann’s Rejoinder to Lepper Concerning Serpent Mound

The debate over the age of Serpent Mound (33AD01) is important because without a cultural context it is impossible to make meaningful statements about what this monumental effigy mound might have meant to its builders. In this response to Romain and Herrmann’s rejoinder, we clarify the provenience of the samples, which yielded the radiocarbon dates that contribute to our argument for a post–Late Woodland age for the effigy. In addition, we extend our critique of Romain and colleagues’ arguments to include the results of an independent study of soil cores extracted from the Serpent and surrounding landscape, which fails to corroborate Romain and colleagues’ assertion that a buried A horizon underlies the mound. Finally, we suggest that the construction of Serpent Mound may be historically linked to droughts in the Mississippi Valley that began at around AD 1100, which resulted in an influx of Mississippian refugees into the region.     

Serpent Mound: Still Built by the Adena,and Still Rebuilt During the Fort Ancient Period

Radiocarbon dates from the base of Serpent Mound in Ohio demonstrate that it was built 2,100–2,300 years ago during the Adena period but was subsequently rebuilt or repaired about 900 years ago during the Fort Ancient period. We describe the basis for supporting the chronology of this building sequence, why it is the best and most complete explanation from the data at hand, and discuss the errors and misconceptions that critics of it have put forth. Our interest is in establishing a chronology of mound construction in order to address questions about cultural continuity/discontinuity, appropriation, and reuse of cultural monuments and religious/political symbols. We also plead that researchers jointly collect new data from Serpent Mound to end the back-and-forth questioning of chronological context and research competence.     

新记电灯公司与近代太原电力照明事业

电力照明是近代太原早期城市基础设施建设富有成效的事业之一,其在经历太原电灯公司到新记电灯公司改组重建之后稳步发展起来。重组之后的新记公司由地方大员接办,在借鉴现代企业股份制基础上完成企业股本融资,壮大了公司实力。与之结合,建立了完善的管理制度,涉及业务经营、红利分配、运维章程等内容,有效维系了企业的良性运行及盈利收益;又通过持续购进生产设备提高企业产能,满足了太原城市建设和市民基本需求。基于在此过程中所呈现的具体特征,公司可分创立运营、业务拓展和繁荣鼎盛三个阶段。在其照明事业扩展之时,亦促进了太原城市空间向外围拓展并突破城墙的物理阻隔,实现了"南延北扩"的格局,提升了市政基础设施建设的整体质量和服务水平。特别在其照明事业发展中,个人用户不断攀升,更体现了市政基础设施的本义。     

顶杆热膨胀法测定古陶瓷烧成温度的应用研究

目前,顶杆热膨胀法在测定古陶瓷烧成温度中应用最为广泛。本研究首先对该方法研究现状进行了详细梳理,再通过中国古代陶器、白瓷、黑瓷的具体应用实例,详细分析了它们的热膨胀曲线特征,并结合对高铁胎的模拟实验研究,提出应从800℃以下的早期低温陶器样品、800℃以上且具有明显收缩转折点样品和高温没有收缩只有膨胀转折点样品这3种类型来进行具体分析。利用切线计算烧成温度只有在800℃以上且具有收缩转折点情形下正确率较高,而高温阶段的膨胀转折点温度只能作为参考;同时,也要利用较完整的烧结步骤曲线从化学组成等方面研究其原料特性,并结合吸水率等物理性能指标来进行验证。这些结果为该方法的进一步应用提供了参考依据。     

闪光灯对博物馆内染色丝织品的影响

闪光灯在博物馆内总被禁止使用,但其对藏品的影响存在争议。国内外在这方面的研究较少,且已有的实验不能真实反映游客在博物馆内使用闪光灯的情况,除此之外评价指标集中在色度,较为单一。 为正确评价闪光灯对博物馆内藏品的影响,前期实地调研了博物馆内闪光灯使用情况,以游客众多的陕西历史博物馆为代表,经调研数据分析,约2.4%的游客会对特定文物使用一次闪光灯。 实验部分以符合《博物馆照明设计规范》的荧光灯作为博物馆陈列光源,以植物染料花青染色的丝织品为例模拟光敏感型藏品,根据博物馆调研的数据,分别进行荧光灯和闪光灯对染色丝织品的老化实验,共予以荧光灯组样品823 011 lx·h曝光量照射,闪光灯组样品350 166次闪光灯照射。使用色差计、万能材料试验机、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和傅里叶变换红外光谱仪(FTIR)检测样品的老化程度,探究闪光灯对染色丝织品的影响程度。2组实验条件下,研究结果显示:1)样品色差值ΔE皆小于1.0,外观基本没有变化。2)样品抗拉强度都有所下降,降幅低于10%,其中荧光灯组样品损失率为9.56%,闪光灯组样品损失率为2.54%,荧光灯组下降幅度更大。3)扫描电镜观察样品的纤维没有断裂,样品微观形貌老化前后没有明显差异。4)傅里叶变换红外光谱结构分析,2组光老化使样品975 cm-1处的—Gly—Gly—肽链结构发生了降解,荧光灯组比闪光灯组降解更多;2组光老化均没有使样品产生—CH₃对称变角振动;2组光老化使样品产生氧化降解,且荧光灯组氧化降解程度更大;二级结构分析中,结晶区的β-折叠均发生了轻微降解,且荧光灯组相对含量下降更大。 研究结果表明:在陈列光源照度50 lx,博物馆游客日流量10 000人的情况下,荧光灯给丝织品带来的影响大于闪光灯对丝织品带来的影响。从全国博物馆数量和游客参观数据来看,平均307.98年才能达到的游客1 449万人次参观博物馆所使用的闪光灯对染色丝织品的影响是轻微的。传统观点认为“闪光灯对文物影响很大”,而本研究表明,基于调研中的我国博物馆目前的参观情况,符合《博物馆照明设计规范》要求的荧光灯灯源影响更甚于闪光灯。