华沙渠道与中美关系解冻:华盛顿决策内幕

在冷战的国际大背景下,尼克松政府对苏实施的“缓和”战略使得华盛顿打出“中国牌”,致力于改善同北京的关系。而1969年3月中苏边界武装冲突则为美提供了一个契机。在寻求同中国对话的渠道上,华盛顿首先想到的是华沙渠道,即第135次和136次中美大使级会谈,并为此做了充分的准备。尽管史实证明:华沙渠道的进展不像华盛顿期望的那样顺利,但基本上完成了预期的任务:表达了改善对华关系的愿望,并阐明了不会同苏联合作主宰东亚事务的立场。在华沙渠道完成了既定任务之后,华盛顿又将同北京的联络转为巴基斯坦渠道。     

楚文化研究又一新成果--《新蔡葛陵楚墓》读后

河南新蔡葛陵楚墓,是近年来淮河流域考古中新发现的一座战国中期大型墓葬。其墓主人为平夜君成,是与楚王关系密切的重要封君。墓葬结构复杂,并有陵寝建筑遗存。出土有包括青铜器、玉器、漆木器和大量竹简在内的各类随葬品,还有人殉现象。在科学发掘和整理的基础上出版了《新蔡葛陵楚墓》一书,详细介绍和分析了考古资料所反映的楚国历史、葬俗、礼制、历法、手工工艺、书法艺术等诸多信息,是我国楚文化研究又一新成果。     

Uranium series dating reveals a long sequence of rock art at Altamira Cave (Santillana del Mar,Cantabria)

The rock art in Altamira Cave was the first ensemble of Palaeolithic parietal art to be identified scientifically (Sautuola, 1880). Due to the great thematic, technical and stylistic variety of the art in the cave, which constitutes one of the most complete Palaeolithic art ensembles, Altamira was listed as World Heritage by UNESCO in 1985. Uranium-series dating has recently been applied to figures on the decorated ceiling in the cave. Several motifs are partly covered by thin layers of calcite precipitates, whose formation process is datable by this method. The results provide the date when the calcite formed, which gives a minimum age for the underlying depictions. These results confirm that the parietal art at Altamira was produced during a prolonged period of time, at least 20,000 years (between 35,000 and 15,200 years ago), and that part of the ensemble corresponds to the Aurignacian period.     

An Archaic Human Ulna from Chagyrskaya Cave Altai: Morphology and Taxonomy*

Excavations at the Chagyrskaya Cave site in Gorny Altai have revealed a Mousteroid industry along with fragmented human remains. This study focuses on a left ulna from stratum 6a. Its size, proportions, symptoms of disease, and indicators of muscular activity, point to Neanderthal affinities. The bone is large, linking the individual with certain Near Eastern Neanderthal males such as Shanidar. Symptoms of what might be diagnosed as Forestier disease suggest likewise.     

张家山汉简《二年律令》新编（二则）

胡家草场M12汉简律典的年代晚于张家山M247汉简《二年律令》,内容上相似,但在竹简容字等方面存在差别。本文借助胡家草场汉律,对《二年律令·盗律》《传食律》有关律文的编联进行调整,对于正确认识和理解《二年律令》具有重要意义。     

DAUGHTER DISCRIMINATION AND FUTURE SEX RATIO AT BIRTH IN INDIA

This paper examines recent trends in sex ratio at birth in all the major states of India, based on three rounds of the National Family Health Survey. It finds evidence of an increase in the ratio, particularly at the second-order birth among women having a first daughter in many states in the northwestern region of the country. Also, there are signs of daughter aversion emerging in Odisha, an eastern state. Based on parity progression ratios and the trend in sex selection, an attempt is made to estimate the peak of sex ratio at birth in India. With moderate intensification in sex selection in the northwestern region, sex ratio at birth is expected to reach a peak of 117–119 males per 100 females around the period 2021–2026. If, in addition, sex selection spreads further in the southeastern region, the sex ratio at birth in India could even increase to a level of 124.     

Factors affecting female age at marriage in South Asia

In contrast to East and South-east Asia, changes in marriage patterns have played a small role in reducing fertility in South Asia. While age at marriage for women has risen, it remains early, with the exception of Sri Lanka, and change has been slow. Except in Sri Lanka, the region has shown few signs that there will be a sizable population that will never marry. South Asia's marriage patterns reflect its cultural context and lesser socio-economic change but their precise effect is not simple or always predictable. The paper examines these issues in Bangladesh, where age at marriage is very early, and Sri Lanka, where it is much later. The study areas, Dhaka city and south-western Sri Lanka, are ones of great economic and social change. A particular examination is made of the way in which changes in the arrangement of marriage affect age at marriage.     

Comparison of fluoride and direct AMS radiocarbon dating of black bear bone from Lawson Cave,Missouri

Abstract

After a 20-year hiatus (1955–1975) during which few archaeologists discussed fluoride dating, the method again received attention in the 1980s and 1990s when some argued for its validity. As a dating method, fluoride dating depends on the rate at which fluorine ions replace hydroxyl ions in osseous tissue. The rate of replacement is influenced by the properties of the skeletal part (SP), sediment chemistry (K), and sediment hydrology (H), and the replacement rate influences estimates of time. Calibrated AMS radiocarbon assays of 10 black bear (Ursus americanus) femora from a natural-trap cave in central Missouri are weakly correlated with fluorine concentrations, determined by neutron activation analysis in the 10 femora. Despite minimal variation in SP, K, and H, results indicate fluoride dating can be considered a valid dating method only in cases when the chronological validity of its results are confirmed with independent chronometric data. As similarities in fluorine amounts across specimens increase, provenience information and bone orientation data as well as fine resolution data on K and H become critical to the application of fluoride dating.