四川天府大道北延线(德阳段)新石器时代晚期至商周时期遗址调查简报

2019年5月至6月,为配合天府大道北延线(德阳段)建设,四川省文物考古研究院对道路施工区域进行了考古调查,共发现5处新石器时代晚期至商周时期遗址、1处汉代遗址、1处宋代遗址、7处汉代至宋代墓地以及27处零星遗存点,其中5处新石器时代晚期至商周时期遗址是此次调查最重要的收获,对于认识三星堆遗址周边区域的聚落形态及其与三星堆遗址关系具有重要意义。     

Holocene climatic change and past Irish societal response

The extent to which North Atlantic Holocene climatic perturbations influenced past human societies is an area of considerable uncertainty and fierce debate. Ireland is ideally placed to help resolve this issue, being occupied for over 9000 yr and located on the eastern Atlantic seaboard, a region dominated by westerly airflow. Irish bog and lake tree populations provide unambiguous evidence of major shifts in surface moisture through the Holocene similar to cycles recorded in the marine realm of the North Atlantic, indicating significant changes in the latitude and intensity of zonal atmospheric circulation across the region. To test for human response to these cycles we summed the probabilities of 465 radiocarbon ages obtained from Irish archaeological contexts and observe enhanced archaeological visibility during periods of sustained wet conditions. These results suggest either increasing density of human populations in key, often defensive locations, and/or the development of subsistence strategies to overcome changing conditions, the latter recently proposed as a significant factor in avoiding societal collapse. Regardless, we demonstrate environmental change is a significantly more important factor in influencing human activity in the landscape than has hitherto been acknowledged.     

Applying dynamics and comparing life tables for Pleistocene Equidae in anthropic (Bau de l'Aubesier,Combe-Grenal) and carnivore (Fouvent) contexts with modern feral horse populations (Akagera,Pryor Mountain)

In this study, we propose a method based on life tables currently used in population dynamics and ecology to compare the mortality curves of Equidae from anthropic and carnivore fossil assemblages with those from modern populations. The combined analysis of frequency (f_x) with various ecological parameters such as mortality rate (q_x), survival rate (l_x), fecundity rate (m_x), and killing factor (k_x), established for each age class, allows us to characterize the stability of fossil populations. These ecological parameters, developed in demography, correspond to many curves and constitute a complementary approach to interpret the two main mortality models, attritional and catastrophic, often evoked in zooarchaeology. The age structures of fossil horses from the anthropic sites of Bau de l'Aubesier (Vaucluse, France) and Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France) and the hyena den of Fouvent (Haute-Saône, France) are compared to typical catastrophic modern populations of Equidae from the National Park of Akagera (Rwanda). We also used data collected by the Bureau of Land Management for present day feral horses from Pryor Mountain (Montana, USA) which constitutes a reliable referential of a stable living population. The characterization of age structures in those different contexts is discussed as well as the impact of Neanderthals and hyenas on fossil assemblages.     

Use of ground penetrating radar to map subsurface archaeological features in an urban area

The ground penetrating radar (GPR) technique was used to investigate the subsurface in an urban area located in Mesagne (Italy) to obtain a map of the archaeological features in the ground. The GPR survey was undertaken at selected locations placed near (about 50 m) to a necropolis dating from the Messapian to the Roman imperial age, using a GSSI Sir System 2 incorporating 200 and 500 MHz centre frequency antennae. The selected areas (A and B) were surveyed along parallel 1 m spaced profiles using a 200 MHz antenna in area A and along parallel 0.5 m spaced profiles using a 500 MHz antenna in area B. For the selected areas the processed data were visualised in 3D space not only by means of the standard time slice technique, but also by means of a recently proposed approach, namely by iso-amplitude surfaces of the complex trace amplitude. The immediacy in revealing the spatial positioning of highly reflecting bodies, such as the anomaly interpreted as an old hypogeum room in area A, makes 3D visualisation techniques very attractive in archaeological applications of GPR. Their sensitivity to the signal/noise ratio is, on the other hand, highlighted by the quite poor performance in area B, where the only reliable result provided by all the techniques was the ancient living surface reflection, whereas none of them could effectively enhance the visibility of weak hyperbola reflections noted on 2D sections and probably related to the walls located on the ancient living surface. The performance of the various techniques in these two different situations allowed insights into their main advantages and drawbacks to be gained.     

Conversation with Ernestina Mamaní

This paper records a conversation that took place on Thursday 23rd November 2006 at the Museo del Hombre de Antofagasta de la Sierra (Museum of Man of Antofagasta de la Sierra), Catamarca, Argentina. The conversation involved different research groups co-investigating, each formed by a student of archaeology and a member of the personnel of the museum and/or other areas of the culture of the municipality of Antofagasta de la Sierra. Each presented the state of his/her enquiry into a particular object in the museum collection. The task was to tie stories to objects: stories by the elders of the town, the people who had discovered the item, the personnel of the museum and the texts written by archaeologists. This paper focuses on the conversation with Ernestina Mamaní, about a stone slab by Antofagasta elder, Don Anacleto Cháves, which she and Laura Roda had chosen to research.

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Résumé Cet article rapporte une conversation qui a eu lieu le jeudi 23 novembre 2006 au Museo del Hombre de Antofagasta de la Sierra (Musée de l'homme d'Antofagasta de la Sierra), Catamarca, Argentine. La conversation mettait en scène différents groupes de recherche travaillant conjointement, chacun constitué d’un étudiant en archéologie, d’un membre du personnel du musée et/ou d'autres secteurs du service de la Culture de la municipalité d'Antofagasta de la Sierra. Chacun a présenté l'état de ses recherches autour d’un objet particulier des collections de musée. Il s’agissait d’accoler des récits aux objets: histoires rapportées par les anciens du village, les personnes ayant découvert l'objet, le personnel du musée et les rapports écrits par les archéologues. Cet article relate particulièrement la conversation avec Ernestina Mamaní, au sujet d'une dalle de pierre faite par un ancien d'Antofagasta, Don Anacleto Cháves, qu’elle même et Laura Roda avaient choisie pour leur recherche.

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Resumen Esta ponencia registra una conversación que sucedió el jueves 23 de noviembre de 2006 en el Museo del Hombre de Antofagasta de la Sierra, Catamarca, Argentina. La conversación involucraba diferentes grupos de co-investigación, integrado por una estudiante de arqueología y un miembro del personal del museo y/o otras areas de cultura de la municipalidad de Antofagasta de la Sierra. Cada una presentaba el estado de su indagación acerca de un objeto particular de la colección del museo. La consigna era anudar historias a cada objeto, historias ofrecidas por los ancianos del pueblo, los descubridores de la pieza, el personal del museo y los textos escritos por arqueólogos. Esta ponencia se focaliza en la conversación con Ernestina Mamaní, sobre una laja encontrada por un vecino de Antofagasta, Don Anacleto Cháves, que ella y Laura Roda habían elegido para investigar.

     

‘WAC-y’ Reflections: Perspectives from the 2007 Stanford General Code of Ethics Meeting

Long-time WAC member Jill Reid sat in on days two and three of the meetings at Stanford. For her, the greatest value of the meeting came in the exposure to many different perspectives and the opportunity to reflect on the way archaeology is done in her own work situation. Jill cautions the committee not to replace familiar or widely used terms with others that may create confusion or require explanation. Based on her experiences in Australia, she discusses a situation where deference to cultural heritage laws creates ethical dilemmas and promotes injustice and hopes that whatever process is outlined will be able to take such complexities into account.     

Small things in perspective: the contribution of our blind tests to micro-residue studies on archaeological stone tools

Our blind tests are distinctive for they were conducted on replicated stone tools used for a variety of tasks that included the processing of animal remains and plants. The analyst was required to differentiate an array of residues from microscopic morphological characteristics, using light microscopy. The original aim of our first tests was to assess the analyst's ability to identify a variety of plant and animal residues, but issues and problems that arose during the testing process made it clear that greater value might be gained from the lessons that we learnt about methodology and the direction for future micro-residue research. We show that problems identified during our first tests stimulated research. Amongst other things, we learnt to distinguish plant and animal remains more confidently than previously. Our residue analyses are firmly embedded in wider archaeological research and our tests help to explain why there are sometimes contradictions between the evidence from archaeologically recovered remains and residues on stone tools. A further outcome of the tests is that we have adopted a multi-stranded approach that provides a cautious, but secure strategy for identifying and interpreting use-residues. Our studies of contaminants through replications have also been invaluable for distinguishing incidental residues from use-related residues.     

马家浜文化区的地理景观

马家浜文化区的环境研究,以往都以1000年左右为尺度,即把马家浜文化作为一个基本时间单元来分析,所得结论是粗线条或大趋势性的。在马家浜文化研究近半个世纪的今天,我们已经有条件提取更多信息,变趋势性考察为过程性研究,进而描绘这一时期更加细微的演化曲线,构建人地关系景观。     

The Archaeology of Regions: From Discrete Analytical Toolkit to Ubiquitous Spatial Perspective

In the 1970s and 1980s, regional analysis was an influential part of archaeological research, providing a discrete set of geographical tools inspired by a processual epistemological and interpretive perspective. With the advent of new technologies, new methods, and new paradigms, archaeological research on regional space has undergone significant changes. This article reviews the state of regional archaeology, beginning with a consideration of its history and a discussion of the fundamental issues facing regional investigations before focusing on developments over the last several years. On one hand, the diversification of archaeological theory has created new paradigms for thinking about human relationships with one another and with the physical environment across regional space; in this regard, historical ecology, landscape archaeology, and evolutionary theory have been particularly influential in recent years. This has led to a corresponding diversification of the traditional methods of regional analysis. Most notably, the advent of powerful digital technologies has introduced new tools, especially those from the geographic information sciences, that build on the quantitative methods of past approaches. The investigation of regional data is no longer based on a discrete toolkit of simple mathematical and graphical procedures for representing spatial relationships. Instead, regional archaeology has matured into a diversity of multiscalar spatial and geostatistical techniques that inform many areas of archaeological inquiry.     

Currents and trends in the archaeological sciences

Here I use ISI Web of Knowledge to build on a recent paper by Butzer (2009) and track current trends in the archaeological sciences. I researched eight thematic keywords replete in the title, abstract, keywords and main body of archaeological science literature for the period 1970–2008. For all keywords investigated a steady rise in archaeological science research is evidenced after 1980, with pronounced growth occurring after 2000. I attribute this pattern to the standardisation of research production and academic evaluation, in addition to the democratisation of new information technologies, notably the Internet. The evolution of 10 leading archaeological science journals was also tracked. Since the 1970s, the bibliometric data show that nine of the ten journals have successfully expanded on an annual basis. I found that the biggest growers (the Journal of Archaeological Science [JAS], the Journal of Human Evolution and the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology) are all published by Elsevier. In 2008, the JAS was ranked first for five of the eight thematic keywords by ISI, underlining the popularity and interdisciplinary scope of the journal. According to the 2008 Journal Citation Reports, the JAS ranks second for total citations (4219) in archaeological science and third for its overall impact factor (1.779).