辽宁东港市山西头青铜时代遗址发掘简报

2002年和2003年,对辽宁东港市山西头遗址进行了发掘。发掘面积250平方米,发现房址5座、灰坑4个、灶址2处。5座房址中有4座为土坑半地穴式,1座为石筑半地穴式。出土遗物以石器和陶器为主。遗址的年代大约相当于中原地区的商代。该遗址的发掘,为研究辽东南地区青铜时代文化提供了重要资料。     

Specialization and social inequality in Bronze Age SE Arabia: analyzing the development of production strategies and economic networks using agent-based modeling

This paper investigates the role of specialized production strategies in the development of socio-economic inequalities in Bronze Age south-eastern (SE) Arabia, and particularly, the ways in which a localized, internal exchange economy may have produced stress and instability in the SE Arabian socio-economic system. While archaeological research has established that the communities of SE Arabia participated in a widespread Bronze Age exchange system that included areas of the ancient Near East, South Asia, and Central Asia, it is unclear to what degree this interaction fostered the broad-scale socio-economic changes seen in the Early Bronze Age of SE Arabia. Here we present the results of an agent-based model that suggest the nature of the internal exchange economy in SE Arabia itself may have precipitated the social conditions necessary for change by allowing individuals to profit disproportionately. We thus emphasize the importance of local production strategies in generating socio-economic change, in addition to the well-established economic and cultural contacts with the wider Bronze Age world.     

Ancient DNA analysis of desiccated wheat grains excavated from a Bronze Age cemetery in Xinjiang

Wheat has been one of the most important crop in Eurasia since the Neolithic period. Understanding the spread of wheat cultivation is crucial to understanding the spread of agriculture as a whole and the interactions between prehistoric populations across the Eurasian continent. However, the routes by which wheat cultivation spread eastwards have been poorly understood to date, due to the scarcity of plant remains recovered from archaeological sites. Desiccated wheat grains excavated from the Xiaohe cemetery in Xinjiang, and dated to the early Bronze Age, show excellent DNA preservation. Here we present an ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis of wheat (Triticum sp.) grains excavated from Xiaohe and provide the first definitive evidence for bread wheat in China during the Bronze Age. The nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS1 and ITS2) and the intergenic spacer region (IGS) were amplified. The IGS region within the D genome of wheat has a 71 bp insertion that is absent from corresponding regions in the A and B genomes. The results showed that the Xiaohe wheat showed most sequence similarity to hexaploid bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), including the characteristic insertion into the D genome. The presence of bread wheat at the Xiaohe cemetery is discussed in relation to it having spread into Xinjiang by the Bronze Age, providing new insight into the origins of bread wheat in East Asia.     

An archaeological signature of multi-level social systems: The case of the Irish Bronze Age

Recent research suggests that contemporary human social groups are structured according to principles of fission and fusion that are also observed in some of our primate relatives, raising the possibility that such social systems have been a feature of hominin society throughout prehistory. The current paper examines the possibility of identifying archaeological signatures of multi-level social structures through the examination of site size distributions. Data on the sizes of Irish Bronze Age stone circles and predictions for the size of aggregations they could accommodate are compared with simulations parameterized using data on modern human groups. The results suggest that the presence of hierarchically inclusive, multi-level social structures provides a better explanation for the data than more traditional archaeological accounts based on the rank-size rule and related inferences concerning the emergence of political elites.     

试析中国先秦时期透空蟠龙纹青铜器铸造技术的发展与传播

为探讨中国先秦时期透空蟠龙纹青铜器铸造技术的发展与传播途径,本工作根据已有资料分析了先秦时期透空蟠龙纹青铜器的六个特征,结合其特征将铸造工艺的发展分为四个阶段:即以芮国墓透空龙纹方盒、新绛蟠蛇纹镂空鼎为代表的摸索阶段,愠儿盏、许公宁透空附饰为代表的形成阶段,淅川下寺铜禁、曾侯乙尊盘为代表的成熟阶段和以陈璋壶为代表的高级阶段。从这些透空蟠龙纹青铜器的出土地点及考古学家对其年代的考证,其传播的路径大约由韩国至楚国,再传播到其它地方,即今天的陕西至河南、湖北、湖南、江苏、河北等省。     

An Interdisciplinary Study on the Environmental Reflection of Prehistoric Mining Activities at the Mitterberg Main Lode (Salzburg,Austria)

A multi‐proxy study by palynological, geochemical, archaeological and dendrochronological analyses discloses the mining activities at the Mitterberg Main Lode. By these means, several mining phases with varying intensity are recorded during the Bronze and Early Iron Age, whereupon a west to east shift of the mining activity at the Mitterberg Main Lode can be observed. The initial mining phase (Phase II), from the 21st to the 15th centuries bc , is characterized by an opening up of the forest vegetation and, additionally, by slightly elevated heavy metal deposition. Phase III shows a first bloom phase of the chalcopyrite mining during the 14th and 13th centuries bc . Pollen analyses disclose extensive clearings used for pasture and settlement. The increased human impact and higher heavy metal pollution suggest intensive mining activity, which is corroborated by the dendrochronological and archaeological data. Phase IV is characterized by mining activities in progress during the 12th century bc . The pollen data reflect a stabilization of the vegetation and slightly elevated As/Cu/Sb to Sc ratios. During Phase V, in the 11th century bc , new clearings indicate a re‐intensification of the mining activities at the Mitterberg Main Lode. Phase VI, from the ninth century bc onwards, describes a human impact with lower intensity at the mining site. This interdisciplinary study at the Mitterberg Main Lode contributes new environmental data for an important area of past metal mining and extends our understanding of the relationship between miners and their landscape.     

三星堆遗址二号坑出土部分青铜器表面附着丝绸残留物的发现与研究

四川省文物考古研究院等单位运用超景深显微镜、扫描电子显微镜、显微红外光谱等分析技术,对三星堆遗址二号祭祀坑出土的部分青铜器表面进行了显微观察和检测分析。显微观察结果表明,青铜器表面附着有经纬组织明显的纺织残留物,根据保存状况可以分为纺织实物、炭化物和泥化物;扫描电镜分析结果显示纤维表面光整、截面呈三角形;结合显微红外分析结果,可以确定残留物的原料为蚕丝。实验结果证实了三星堆文化时期丝绸的存在,也探明了丝绸的发现位置,根据赋存状况,推测丝绸与青铜器、金器共同构建了三星堆祭祀文化体系。     

Characterization of organic media in the wall-paintings of the “Palace of Nestor” at Pylos,Greece: evidence for a secco painting techniques in the Bronze Age

This paper presents the results of an investigation of organic binding media detected in samples from the Mycenaean wall-paintings at the “Palace of Nestor” in Pylos (Western Messenia, Greece): samples dated from the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1200 BC). This is the first scientific study to be conducted on organic binding media in Mycenanean painting, and it is a study that aims to contribute significantly towards our understanding of the original painting techniques used during the Bronze Age. The analytical procedures employed for the detection and characterization of the organic substances preserved within the paint layers (proteinaceous materials, lipids and plant gums), were based on chromatography/mass spectrometry techniques (PY–GC/MS, GC/MS). The most significant results, highlighting an a secco painting technique, are herein reported and discussed.     

High-Altitude Agro-Pastoralism in the Kyrgyz Tien Shan: New Excavations of the Chap Farmstead (1065–825 cal b.c.)

ABSTRACT

The highlands of Central Asia posed considerable challenges to early agriculturalists, yet the processes of human subsistence strategies there remain poorly understood. In this paper, we present results from the excavation of the Chap in Kyrgyzstan. The recovery of a rich macrobotanical assemblage consisting of several crop species and crop processing debris, together with skeletal remains of pastoral livestock, indicate a localized agro-pastoral complex at 2000 masl dating to 1065–825 cal b.c. Aerial photogrammetry, magnetometry, and topographic modeling reveal local irrigation systems, while stone artifacts are linked with cultivation and crop processing. Furthermore, the ceramic assemblage reveals a local production tradition and stylistic similarities with communities of neighboring regions. Overall, data from Chap contribute to a new understanding of human ecology and agricultural development in the mountains of Central Asia, suggesting that domesticated plants and animals were integral for the intensive occupation of high-elevation valleys in Central Asia.     

Defining the Early Bronze Age landscape: a remote sensing‐based analysis of Hafit tomb distribution in Wadi Andam,Sultanate of Oman

High‐resolution, freely available Google Earth software was successfully utilised in a remote‐sensing survey to locate and map thousands of Hafit tombs in a study area centring on Wadi Andam in the Sultanate of Oman. This dataset was refined for reliability with ground‐based fieldwork, and was analysed in the landscape using GIS software. The tombs are not randomly distributed across the study area; rather, the hydrology of the area appears to have been a dominant determining factor in the location of the graves. The structures were constructed in elevated, highly visible locations, possibly in an attempt to mark ownership of the landscape. The distribution of Hafit tombs is likely to provide some insight into the utilisation of the landscape in this period, with the evidence from Wadi Andam tentatively suggesting the presence of a nomadic pastoralist population. The development of this rapid, accurate and cost‐effective methodology has the potential to greatly facilitate the survey and analysis of Hafit tombs across the Oman peninsula.