New radiometric dating of water management features at the prehistoric Purrón Dam Complex,Tehuacán Valley,Puebla, México

Recent investigations at the prehistoric Purrón Dam Complex in the Tehuacán Valley of southern Puebla, México applied radiometric dating to more securely date the complex. Ceramic-based dating in the 1960′s placed the Dam's origin to the Formative Period. While Formative Period origins are widely accepted, the chronology lacks resolution and direct dates. Samples from impounded sediments behind the dam and from prehistoric canal fill were dated through Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) as well as both standard ¹⁴C and accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) assays. These samples directly date the functioning of the water management features within the complex. The results confirm the Formative Period origins of the Purrón Dam, and offer new insights into the construction and functioning of the dam and irrigation system.     

关于夏商周碳十四年代框架

中国历史教科书将翻开新的一页,因为新的夏商周三代年表公布了,它将中国有确切纪年的历史向前推进了 １２２９年。 由历史学、天文学、考古学和Ｃ测年技术等学科的２００多位专家参加的我国建国以来社会科学领域规模最大的科学研究项目—夏商周断代工程,历经４年多的时间,终于实现了既定的目标,建立了三代年表。这标志着我国在年代学方面的研究又迈上了新的台阶。 夏商周三代年表从西周共和元年的公元前８４１年到公元前２０７０年跨越中国早期的三个朝代,总年数长达１０００多年,中间涉及了许多重要的年代定点和时段。其复杂性、其…     

清末民初的“纪年”变革与国家建构

清末,中国传统时间思维受到西方线性时间观念的冲击而发生根本变革,纪年变革就是这种变化最为直接的表现。知识分子将纪年视为建构＂现代国家＂的重要方面,并为争夺纪年所具有的政治资源展开激烈论争。民国建立之后,革命党人将建构新纪年体系视为革新政治的重要标志,并在社会上大力播扬新纪年的意义,此做法却受到了普通民众的抵制。时间观念及与之相伴的生活习俗与现实政治之间的复杂关系是近代社会变革的重要论题。     

Expanding the utility of Uranium-series dating of speleothems for archaeological and palaeontological applications

Uranium-series (U-series) dating of speleothems is frequently used for palaeoclimate studies but its archaeological and palaeontological applications are limited to stratigraphically significant speleothem formations, such as flowstones, to provide maximum and minimum temporal points. This study targeted soda straw stalactites for U-series dating. In contrast to other speleothem formations, soda straw stalactites are fragile, have typically short life spans (usually only years but rarely up to a few hundred years) and are frequently incorporated into cave deposits. Results of thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS) U-series dating of soda straw stalactites from palaeontological excavations at Blanche Cave, South Australia, show that small, dense, clean straws tend to yield ages closest to the time of stratigraphic deposition. A correlation between soda straw U-series ages and radiocarbon ages of charcoal from the site is shown. Multiple soda straw age determinations for a single stratigraphic unit are required in order to verify age concordance. In conjunction with other dating methods, U-series dating of soda straw stalactites may help to significantly constrain the age of stratigraphic units and associated archaeological and palaeontological deposits in order to provide more robust chronologies. Here we advocate the collection of soda straw stalactites at future excavations of limestone cave sites.     

夏商周断代工程与夏商考古学文化研究

学习和了解自己的历史是每个国家的共同追求。中华文明是人类历史上少有的独立起源的古代文明之一 ,绵延流传 ,从未中断 ,世所罕见。无论是战乱、暴政或外族入侵及水旱灾疫 ,都未能阻止中华文明的持续发展和进步。历史的长河培育了伟大的民族精神 ,造就了民族的伦理道德 ,形成了强大的民族凝聚力。数千年来 ,我们的祖国虽然经过多次分裂 ,继之而来的是又一次的大统一。但中国历史还缺少夏商周以前和夏商周大部分的确切年代 ,我国古书记载的上古确切年代 ,只能依照司马迁的《史记·十二诸侯年表》追溯到西周共和元年即公元前 84 1年 ,再往上…     

Developing a Landscape History as Part of a Survey Strategy: A Critique of Current Settlement System Approaches based on Case Studies from Western New South Wales,Australia

In Australia, geomorphological change since the late nineteenth century ensures surface artifact visibility but the contribution of full coverage regional survey to an understanding of past landscape use is limited by the lack of easily datable artifacts. Here, we describe a multi-stage survey strategy based around intensive archaeological, geomorphological and chronological studies as an alternative to traditional site-based approaches. We view the formation of the archaeological record as a sedimentary process and use a geomorphological approach to understand the history of landscape use from surface artifact scatters. We pay particular attention to recording datasets with reference to the timescales over which they have accumulated, and we discuss the types of behavioral inferences that can be drawn from the results of intensive survey, illustrated using the results from our western New South Wales research.     

反山、瑶山墓地:年代学研究

本文主要通过随葬玉器的分析,对反山、瑶山墓地的墓葬作出了年代学的研究,认为瑶山墓地的起始和结束年代比反山墓地要早。     

Tree-rings and archaeology: some problems explained

Some uncertainty amongst archaeologists about dendrochronology has prompted an explanation of some of the points which cause most concern. These include the probability of obtaining a date for a wood sample and the reliability and accuracy of that date. Uses of tree-ring analysis, other than for dating, are also mentioned.     

浙江温州市瓯海杨府山土墩墓的年代及相关问题

杨府山土墩墓出土的青铜礼器、乐器和兵器的年代和性质,对探讨南方地区文化的互动、交融乃至民族的交往具有重要意义。通过对该墓所出鼎、簋、铙、短剑等的具体分析,可以断定这应是一批具有浓郁地域特色的南方系青铜器,时代应在商末周初,墓葬的年代最晚应为西周早期。     

The Palaeolithic of the Middle Son valley, north-central India: Changes in hominin lithic technology and behaviour during the Upper Pleistocene

The Middle Son valley in north-central India preserves extensive Quaternary alluvial deposits. A long history of archaeological and geological research in the valley has resulted in the discovery of lithic assemblages ranging from Lower Palaeolithic to microlithic, a rich corpus of fossilised faunal remains, and ash deposits from the 74,000 year-old Toba supereruption. This paper reviews the chronology and stratigraphy of the valley’s Quaternary sediments, and presents a model that hypothesizes the temporal sequence of important lithic assemblages from excavated and surface contexts. Artefacts in these assemblages are analysed and changes in lithic technology through time are described; this evidence is used to propose shifts in hominin behaviour and demographic structure in this region during the Upper Pleistocene. Recognising gaps in our understanding of the Middle Son record, future avenues of research are recommended that will build upon previous research and address questions of palaeoanthropological significance. The Middle Son valley preserves a long and rich record of hominin occupation from all periods of the Palaeolithic that is rarely paralleled by other sites in India.