夏商周断代工程中的多学科合作

《夏商周断代工程》是由人社会科学和自然科学的专家联合实施的系统工程,以多学科合作方式联合研究攻关,取得了一系列重要成果。1)根据考古系列样品的年代测定,得出考古学的^14C年代框架。2)依古献的天象记录,天计算定出懿王元年为公元前899年：武王克商年为公元前1046年;武丁登基年为公元前1250年;均与^14C测年结果相合。3)根据西周青铜器铭的纪时词语,排出金历谱,在年代框架内排出西周王年表。4)根据殷墟的甲骨和化分期,商后期的周祭祀谱,武丁年代和献记载,在年代框架内排出商后期王年的大致情况。5)商前期主要根据郑州商城和偃师商城的考古分期与年代测定,结合献,估定夏商分界的年代。6)夏代主要是根据二里头化分期和年代测定,王城岗化分期和年代测定,以及结合献和参考夏代的五星连珠、仲康日食等的天推算,估定夏代的始年。     

FROM SUSA TO ANURADHAPURA: RECONSTRUCTING ASPECTS OF TRADE AND EXCHANGE IN BITUMEN‐COATED CERAMIC VESSELS BETWEEN IRAN AND SRI LANKA FROM THE THIRD TO THE NINTH CENTURIES AD*

In contrast with artefactual studies of long‐distance trade and exchange in South Asia during the Prehistoric and Early Historic periods ( Ardika et al. 1993 ; Gogte 1997 ; Krishnan and Coningham 1997 ; Tomber 2000 ; Gupta et al. 2001 ; Ford et al. 2005 ), few scientifically orientated analyses have focused on artefacts from the region's Historic period. During excavations at the ancient city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, a number of buff ware ceramics with a putative organic coating on the interior were recovered ( Coningham 2006 ). Dated stylistically to between the third and ninth centuries ad , analysis of the coatings using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and stable isotope analysis (carbon and deuterium) confirmed that the coatings are bitumen—an organic product associated with petroleum deposits. There are no known bitumen sources in Sri Lanka, and biomarker distributions and isotopic signatures suggest that the majority of the samples appear to have come from a single bitumen source near Susa in Iran. The relationship between the bitumen coatings and the vessels is discussed, and it is suggested that the coatings were used to seal permeable ceramic containers to allow them to transport liquid commodities. This study enhances our knowledge of networks of trade and exchange between Sri Lanka and western Asia during Historic times.     

DETERIORATION ASSESSMENT OF WATERLOGGED ARCHAEOLOGICAL LIGNOCELLULOSIC MATERIAL VIA 13C CP/MAS NMR*

This study investigates the residual chemical composition of waterlogged archaeological lignocellulosic material found in Greece. Hazelnut pericarps and oak wood found in a 16th‐century wreck, along with endocarps of olives dated at 300 bc , were examined. ¹³C CP/MAS NMR was applied to compare fresh and waterlogged archaeological materials. Results show qualitative alterations in their composition. The virtual absence of peaks at ~21 ppm and ~173 ppm, corresponding to hemicelluloses in all archaeological materials, indicates that these constituents can be an important indicator in assessing the type and degree of deterioration.     

Changing growing conditions for crops during the Near Eastern Bronze Age (3000–1200 BC): the stable carbon isotope evidence

The analysis of carbon isotope discrimination (Δ¹³C) in crop plant remains from seven Bronze Age sites in northern Mesopotamia and the Levant shows clear differences in water availability between the different geographic areas and throughout the different periods (3000–1200 BC). Amongst the different moisture variables modelled precipitation minus evaporation (P-E—using a macrophysical climate model (MCM)) results in very high correlation (0.74) with Δ¹³C values in barley, supporting the significance of climate parameters (effective moisture) in carbon fixation in this species. The comparison of Δ¹³C values of different crops in different periods confirms increased aridity during the Middle Bronze Age (2000–1600 BC), compared to the later Early Bronze Age (2700–2000 BC) particularly in the north-eastern Syrian territory with generally lower Δ¹³C values during the Middle Bronze Age, as has been documented in palaeoclimate proxies, and in agreement with the MCM. Standard deviation in Δ¹³C values from grains or seeds of one species originating from different samples of an individual site may be understood as variability in moisture conditions during the grain-filling period around the considered location. Large standard deviations occur preferably in sites with low mean annual precipitation (e.g. at Emar) and suggest that in these sites, at least some of the crops were irrigated.     

Human subsistence strategy at Liuzhuang site,Henan, China during the proto-Shang culture (∼2000–1600 BC) by stable isotopic analysis

Since the discovery of the proto-Shang culture, created mostly by ancestors of the Shang clan from the late Neolithic Age to the early Shang period (∼2000–1600 BC), the subsistence strategy and lifestyle of humans in China during their movement southwards have been a great focus. Chinese literature and archaeological findings suggest that the proto-Shang societies were composed of different cultural groups and had various subsistence strategies. For example, at the Liuzhuang site, three types of burials, i.e., stone coffin, wooden coffin and earthen shaft-pit, are found. The wooden coffin and earthen shaft-pit burials had been adopted locally in the Central Plains since the Neolithic Age while the stone coffin burials were usually used by people living in Northeast China and had never been found in the Central Plains before. In this study, stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic analyses were performed on human bones from the Liuzhuang site and animal bones from Zhangdeng site in Henan province, China to determine whether different social groups had various accesses to food resources and whether their dietary difference was related to inequality in social status. Humans have mean δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of −7.6 ± 0.6‰ and 9.6 ± 1.0‰ (n = 19) respectively, which strongly indicates that humans rely primarily on C₄-based food. The main contribution of C₄-based food in their diet is from millet agriculture or animals that consume millet by-products. The isotopic spacing of carbon and nitrogen isotopic values between pigs and humans, between dogs and humans, and between cattle and humans, all imply that these animals were the main meat resources for humans. Surprisingly, the δ¹³C values and δ¹⁵N values of humans with different types of burials are quite close, indicating that they had equal access to food resources. This result suggests that the proto-Shang humans had adapted to the local subsistence strategy, and the local cultural factors in the Central Plains were very well integrated into proto-Shang culture.     

STABLE CARBON ISOTOPE MEASUREMENTS OF THE CARBOXYL CARBONS IN BONE COLLAGEN*

In order to explore the possibility that intramolecular differences in the δ¹³C value of bone collagen can provide useful infomation for isotopic dietary analysis, a method for reliably measuring the δ¹³C value of the peptide-bonded carboxyl carbons in collagen was developed and applied to a wide range of modem and ancient species, including humans. Carboxyl carbons were selectively removed as CO₂ by decarboxylation of collagen hydrolysates with ninhydrin (2,2-dihydroxy-l,3-indanedione). Carboxyl carbons were usually isotopically heavier than the total carbon in the collagen, with differences ranging from -0.9 to 4.0%c. Animals at higher trophic levels and with more positive δ¹⁵N values usually had smaller differences than the lower animals while humans had the largest range, reflecting their larger range of diets.     

《广舆记》与卫匡国《中国新图志》城址经纬度推定过程研究

近代欧洲刊行的第一部中国分省地图集《中国新图志》(Novus Atlas Sinensis)1655年在阿姆斯特丹出版,对当时欧洲人对中国的认知产生重大影响。《中国新图志》的地图与图说主要是由耶稣会士卫匡国(Martino Martini)基于返欧时随身携带的《广舆记》编制的。通过解读现存于梵蒂冈图书馆的《广舆记》“工作本”上的卫匡国亲笔批注,结合适当推理,可以尝试重构卫匡国在工作本分省图上推定城址经纬度的方法与过程。卫匡国仅以极少量控制点的实测或预设经纬度值为基础,为其余一千七百多个城址做了经纬度赋值,这是其制图的核心步骤。虽不具备充分“准确性”,却成功地将中文分省舆图有效地转化成符合当时欧洲制图业标准的西式地图集。     

真实与虚构:《福尔摩沙的历史与地理》中的知识来源

荷兰在台湾殖民统治结束后,西方对台湾的关注并未因此中断,相反始终存在一种“福尔摩沙情结”。1704年萨玛纳札所著《福尔摩沙的历史与地理》出版,在满足读者猎奇心理的同时,亦与严肃的宗教、政治议题连结,引发了持续的争论,作者真假参半的台湾人身份始终扑朔迷离。厘析各方分歧,不仅可察知18世纪初期欧洲的台湾知识流布概貌与渠道,也能管窥不同国家在相异宗教信仰下对知识采取的迥异态度。     

A Tale of Two Train Journeys: Lawrence Bragg,C. P. Snow and The ‘Two Cultures’

It was during two train-journey meetings with the physicist William Lawrence Bragg (1890–1971) that both Charles Percy Snow's (1905–1980) civil service career and, if the anecdotal evidence is to be believed, the ‘two cultures’ metaphor originated. The first part of this paper is concerned with the background, consequences and significance of the first of these journeys: Kettering station in 1939. It will address the somewhat hazy record of Snow's wartime work found in existing accounts, and argue that Snow's wartime experience helped shape his characterisation of the scientific side of his ‘two cultures’. The second part of this paper deals with Bragg's intellectual influence on Snow, tracing the former's interest in ‘two cultures’ arguments prior to probable encounters between the two on the Cambridge to London train in the late 1940s and early 1950s, including a historically hazy one in which together they allegedly coined the famous phrase. In examining their early relationship, it becomes clear that Bragg was a key influence and support in Snow's career as an administrator and as a cultural commentator.     

The Dwarf,the Goetzen and C. S. Forester’s African Queen: A Reassessment of Naval Operations in First World War Africa

Public awareness of the African theatre in the Great War stems largely from C. S. Forester’s 1935 novel The African Queen, and its subsequent 1951 film adaptation. Long thought to have been inspired by British activities on Lake Tanganyika, Forester’s novel more closely resembles events in Cameroon where German missionary Alphons Hermann attempted to sink HMS Dwarf using homemade torpedoes.