The archaeology of industry; people and places

The development of industrial archaeology over the last 50 years can be traced through articles published in PMA. The early stages of recording the standing remains of industrial activity were augmented by detailed studies of groups of structures which revealed the organization of the manufacturing process. From the late 1980s, developer-funded excavations became important following extensive remediation work on brownfield sites. Greater attention was paid to the social context of past industrial activity including workers’ housing and institutional buildings, and this has continued with studies of oral history. New challenges considered include studies of modern technologies, de-industrialization and the digital revolution.     

Tracing the origin of blue and white Chinese Porcelain ordered for the Portuguese market during the Ming dynasty using INAA

The existing documentary history of Chinese porcelain ordered for the Portuguese market (mainly Ming dynasty.) is reasonably advanced; nevertheless detailed laboratory analyses able to reveal new aspects like the number and/or diversity of producing centers involved in the trade with Portugal are lacking.In this work, the chemical characterization of porcelain fragments collected during recent archaeological excavations from Portugal (Lisbon and Coimbra) was done for provenance issues: identification/differentiation of Chinese porcelain kilns used. Chemical analysis was performed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) using the Portuguese Research Reactor. Core samples were taken from the ceramic body avoiding contamination form the surface layers constituents. The results obtained so far point to: (1) the existence of three main chemical-based clusters; and (2) a general attribution of the porcelains studied to southern China kilns; (3) a few samples are specifically attributed to Jingdezhen and Zhangzhou kiln sites. In a chronological point of view, for the studied samples we assist to an increasing improvement of the production procedure from late 15th till the 17th centuries of the Chinese porcelains sent to Portugal, especially enhanced by the association of late porcelains with refining processes of the original raw material, consistent with removal of more heavy minerals. In the case of some samples a kiln attribution was possible, but for the majority of the samples we haven't found yet the specific kilns.     

Reasoned use of chemical parameters for the diagnostic evaluation of the state of preservation of waterlogged archaeological wood

Waterlogged archaeological wood undergoes decay processes that depend on both the burial conditions and the constituting species, and which cause the depletion of the structural components of wood cells. To quantitatively assess the state of preservation of the decayed material, specific parameters are usually measured by means of both chemical and physical analyses. In this paper an innovative approach in the use of the data obtained from these kinds of measurements is developed. A series of 132 archaeological wood samples of different wood species, burial times and states of preservation, and coming from different sites in Italy, was analysed. Their residual chemical composition, maximum water content and basic density were measured, and a reasoned use of these parameters was carried out through their elaboration, with the aim of both evaluating eventual incongruence or anomalies in the raw physical and chemical data (which has never been accomplished so far) and directly comparing in a reliable way the analytical results obtained from archaeological samples with very different states of preservation. This approach allowed defining the effective values of chemical parameters related to wood decay according to a same reference basis of calculation among the various data. By this way, it was possible to state that lignin can be also attacked by the agents causing biotic decay, and that in hardwoods its decay is more related to the burial conditions than to the wood species. Instead, the mechanism of polysaccharide depletion is diversified: conifers showed a uniform behaviour whereas hardwoods were more species-dependent. Moreover, in addition to the chemical composition, also anatomical factors influence the carbohydrate rate of decay in waterlogged wood.     

Bronze technology of the ancient megalithic communities in the Vidarbha region of India

Metallographic examination was carried out on forty-nine copper and bronze objects from five megalithic sites located in Vidarbha, India. The artifact assembly consists of horse ornaments, kitchenware, bangles, rings, small bells and the hilt of an iron dagger. Results show that the technology involved is characterized by the use of bronze alloys containing approximately 10% tin based on weight and the application of forging as a key method of fabrication. No deliberate addition of lead was observed. Arsenic was detected, but very rarely and only as an insignificant minor element. The consistent selection of such specific alloys indicates that the megalithic communities in this particular region had established a fully developed and standardized bronze tradition optimized for the production of forged items. Their advanced technological status was also noted in a special technique applied to two forged high-tin bronze bowls. Such a unique bronze tradition, dedicated to sheet metal technology, was most likely a practical choice made by these people to take advantage of the changing role of bronze. Specifically, with the introduction of iron, bronze seems to have become a more prestigious material that could serve as an indicator of the appearance of a more rigid socio-economic stratification within the megalithic communities of the Vidarbha region.     

Potash - a key raw material of glass batch for Bohemian glasses from 14th-17th centuries?

The aim of this work is to verify or refute hypothesis of existence of basic/universal glass batch: quartz sand: potash: limestone, at a ratio of 2: 1: 1 used in Bohemian glass production since the middle ages onwards and to simulate the preparation of a potassium glass type with the composition used in medieval Bohemia. The chemical composition of Bohemian glass, which incorporated in the proposed glass batch for glassmaking on a laboratory scale, was evaluated by (a) findings directly related to glassmaking (samples from glasswork in Moldava dating back to the 15th century) and (b) information from publications.Experimentally produced glasses for the present paper were prepared from raw materials such as ash, leached ash, potash, limestone and quartz sand. The plant raw materials (spruce, beech and bracken ashes, raw and refined potash) were treated and prepared by methods similar to the production procedures used in the pre-industrial era.The main contrast was found in the CaO/K₂O weight ratio, which was determined in glasses that were characteristic of given periods. While this ratio was often below 1 in glasses of the 15th century, it reached values above 1 in glasses at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries. This result may indicate that the composition of the glass batch had changed.The results of the present study reject the current scholarly work dealing with glass batch composition during the 14th-17th centuries and confirm that glass produced in some Bohemian medieval glassworks could have been melted from a batch that included plant ash, making the use of limestone unnecessary. The traditional suggestion of the exact ratios of raw materials, often cited in historical literature, seems to be impossible. The glassmakers had to react to the variable composition of the raw materials, especially plant ash.     

田螺山遗址古菱角埋藏环境调查与保护对策的初步研究

本文运用多种化学分析方法分析了浙江省田螺山遗址的地层土壤和地下水环境,得出了不同地层中主要元素的分布规律：再对古菱角外壳遗存和现代菱角外壳进行扫描电镜和元素分析,总结古菱角经长期埋藏后,外壳结构和化学元素的变化规律：最后初步探索古菱角类植物遗存的科技保护时策。     

新中国民族区域自治制度的形成与发展

民族区域自治制度,是中国共产党解决国内民族问题的一项基本政策,同时也是我国人民民主国家的三大基本政治制度之一。采用这一制度是经过了几十年的探索,是历史和人民的选择。新中国成立以后,民族区域自治制度不断发展和完善,特别是改革开放以后逐步走上法制化的轨道。60年来,民族区域自治制度和基本政策的实施,使党的民族工作取得了举世瞩目的辉煌成就,少数民族地区经济与社会建设飞速发展的实践有力地证明了单一制国家中民族区域自治制确实符合中国国情,具有极大的优越性。     

抗日根据地时期中共基层干部群体——以晋西北抗日根据地为中心的研究

干部在中共抗日根据地政权建设中具有举足轻重的作用,或者说中共要达成自己的政权建设目标需要建立一个忠诚且有效的干部支持体系.1940年1月晋西北抗日民主政权建立后即开始自己的政权建设努力,试图通过民选方式和平且合法地改造基层政权,实现控制乡村社会、汲取乡村资源、服务抗战的目标.而越来越多的贫苦农民则依靠中共支持并借助"选举"渠道进入政权系统,由此构建了以中、贫农为主体结构的基层权力格局.这些新生干部尽管是中共在乡村社会最基本的依靠力量或中共革命事业最主要的承担者,但由于文化素质低下、行政经验缺乏、革命意识不强,似乎很难真正承担起中共的伟大理想.这亦充分说明干部队伍建设是中共需要不断努力破解的一道"难题".     

近代学生群体中文化教育与传统婚姻的冲突

学生婚姻中的冲突与矛盾,是近代学校教育兴起之后的特有现象。接受了西方自由平等观念之后,学生们崇尚婚姻自主,渴望知识女性。但受风俗所限,他们自身多数都被父母缔结了传统姻缘。具有新式价值观念的他们,无法再对旧式婚姻容忍和麻木,而打破僵局又会遭到家族与社会的责难。化教育与传统婚姻的冲突,在他们身上得到了最为典型的体现。     

超国家主义思潮与群体心理关系刍议

超国家主义思潮是一战后日本社会出现的一股右翼思潮。它以“改造与革新”为口号。它的形成与当时的国民心态密切相关。它是群体心理的集中反映。