Evidence from the Yana Palaeolithic site,Arctic Siberia,yields clues to the riddle of mammoth hunting

It has become commonplace to talk about humans hunting mammoths, and overhunting is thought to have been one of the causes of the mammoth extinction. However, definite evidence of mammoth kills by humans remains surprisingly scarce. Here we show convincing evidence of mammoth hunting in the Siberian Arctic between 29 000 and 27 000 ¹⁴C years BP. Our data set, from the Yana Upper Palaeolithic site (Siberian Arctic), includes the following: fragments of lithic points and ivory shaft embedded in two mammoth scapulae; two identical holes made by projectiles in a mammoth scapula and a pelvic bone; mammoth tongue bones found in the cultural layer far away from the main mammoth bone accumulation, indicating the consumption of fresh mammoth meat; and a narrow mammoth bone size distribution, implying hunting selection based on animal size. The data suggest that Palaeolithic Yana humans hunted mammoths sporadically, presumably when ivory was needed for making tools. Such non-intensive hunting practiced by humans over millennia would not be fatal to a sustainable mammoth population.     

“大遗址”保护与利用相关研究述评

随着国家对"大遗址"保护的高度重视和相关实践的开展,近年来与"大遗址"保护相关的研究激增,成果日丰。主要集中在"大遗址"保护与展示利用基本概念和理论探讨、文化和社会价值阐释、保护利用思路和实践总结,以及对典型遗址、重点案例的分析研究方面。在广泛搜寻、系统整理的基础上,就"大遗址"保护理论与实践中的关键问题展开述评,提出"过程跟踪"对于推进大遗址保护相关理论研究与实践工作的重要性。     

大遗址价值评估体系研究

古遗址是重要的一种文化遗产形态,大遗址则是具有中国特色的一种与文化历史价值、行政管理、政府决策密切相关的保护对象。显然大遗址的价值判定和评估是这一特殊对象有效保护的基础。本文通过国内外评估体系的比较分析、国内资料、现状的调研分析,确立评估要素,进而结合价值评估体系构架的方法,对我国大遗址价值评估体系进行了初步研究。     

陕西横山县大古界遗址动物遗存分析

大古界遗址位于陕西榆林市横山县雷龙湾乡沙峁村张油坊组,2010年发掘时出土了大量的动物遗存。按照出土单位对所有的动物骨骼进行了科学的收集以及分类、测量和鉴定。通过系统的分类和研究表明至少代表12个属种,包括蚌类、喜鹊、鹤、草兔、狗、貉、狗獾、黄鼬、猪、鹿科、狍、绵羊等。根据对出土动物骨骼的分析结果表明:当时遗址周围的环境以草原为主,不远处有一定面积的疏林、灌丛,草原、疏林间分布着一定面积的水域。家养动物猪和狗占的比例较少,主要以捕猎野生动物野兔和狍子为肉食来源。     

三杨庄聚落遗址与汉代户籍问题

三杨庄聚落遗址发现的庭院内的房屋建筑,符合汉代一般民户建筑的"一堂二内"的记载,也与汉代"五口之家"的家庭规模相适应;张家山汉简《二年律令·户律》规定"一宅"的面积是"大方卅步",约相当于今天1700多平方米。三杨庄聚落遗址中庭院面积近2000平方米,基本符合《二年律令·户律》中普通民户"一宅"的面积。这表明汉代关于住宅大小的规定,可能是一项长期实行的比较稳定的制度。汉代人所抨击的"田宅逾制"问题,是说"田"、"宅"都不能"逾制",其中"宅"的面积大小的规定必定是长期存在的;三杨庄庭院遗址,可能就是《二年律令·户律》中"民宅园户籍"中"宅园"的真实再现,"民宅园户籍"应是记载民户家庭人口情况、住宅及其附属物"园"情况的综合簿籍。     

新郑铁岭墓地M1404、M1405发掘简报

新郑铁岭墓地M1404、M1405为东西向大墓,南北相距2米,均出土成套青铜礼器与陶器。铜器墓紧临,这在铁岭墓地还是首次出现。周围大中型墓葬,也多出土有成套的陶器。其北、其西40米开外的墓葬极少随葬器物,说明这一带可能为一个家族墓地。     

Late Pleistocene Crocuta crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss, 1823) clans as prezewalski horse hunters and woolly rhinoceros scavengers at the open air commuting den and contemporary Neanderthal camp site Westeregeln (central Germany)

Late Pleistocene Ice Age Crocuta crocuta spelaea ( Goldfuss, 1823) hyenas from the open-air gypsum karst site Westeregeln (Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany) is dated into the early to middle Late Pleistocene. Hyena clans apparently used the karst for food storage and as “commuting den”, where typical high amounts (15% of the NISP) of hyena remains appear, also faecal pellets in concentrations for den marking purposes. Additionally small carnivores Meles, Vulpes and Mustela appear to have used some cavities as dens. Several hundreds of lowland “mammoth steppe fauna” bones (NISP = 572) must have been accumulated primarily by hyenas, and not by Neanderthals at the contemporary hyena/human camp site. Abundant caballoid horse remains of “E. germanicus Nehring, (1884)” are revised by the holotype and original material to the small E. c. przewalskii horse. Woolly rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquitatis remains are also abundant, and were left in several cases with typical hyena scavenging damages. Rangifer tarandus (11%) is mainly represented by numerous fragments of shed female antlers that were apparently gathered by humans, and antler bases from male animals that were collected and chewed in few cases (only large male antlers) by hyenas. The large quantities of small reindeer antlers must have been the result of collection by humans; their stratigraphic context is unclear but such large quantities most probably resulted from schamanic activities. The hyena site overlaps with a Middle Palaeolithic Neanderthal camp, as well as possibly with a later human Magdalénian site.     

AN EVALUATION OF THE STRONG GROUND MOTION RECORDED DURING THE MAY 1, 2003 BINGÖL TURKEY,EARTHQUAKE

An important record of ground motion from a M6.4 earthquake occurring on May 1, 2003, at epicentral and fault distances of about 12 and 9 km, respectively, was obtained at a station near the city of Bingöl, Turkey. The maximum peak ground values of 0.55 g and 36 cm/s are among the largest ground-motion amplitudes recorded in Turkey. From simulations and comparisons with ground motions from other earthquakes of comparable magnitude, we conclude that the ground motion over a range of frequencies is unusually high. Site response may be responsible for the elevated ground motion, as suggested from analysis of numerous aftershock recordings from the same station. The mainshock motions have some interesting seismological features, including ramps between the P-and S-wave that are probably due to near- and intermediate-field elastic motions and strong polarisation oriented at about 39 degrees to the fault (and therefore not in the fault-normal direction). Simulations of motions from an extended rupture explain these features. The N10E component shows a high-amplitude spectral acceleration at a period of 0.15 seconds resulting in a site specific design spectrum that significantly overestimates the actual strength and displacement demands of the record. The pulse signal in the N10E component affects the inelastic spectral displacement and increases the inelastic displacement demand with respect to elastic demand for very long periods.     

SEGMENTAL CROSS-SPECTRUM AS A NEW TECHNIQUE IN SITE RESPONSE ESTIMATION USING SPECTRAL RATIO ANALYSIS

Different aspects of spectral analysis for site response evaluation are investigated in this study. The segmental cross-spectrum is proposed in spectral analysis of earthquake ground motions. The performance of segmental cross-spectrum in contrast with the conventional methods is investigated through the mathematical modelling, numerical analysis and application to earthquake data recorded at Chiba and Shinfuji downhole arrays in Japan. In analysis of earthquake data, the soil amplification function is identified using both uphole/downhole (U/D) and H/V spectral ratios. The advantage of seg-mental cross-spectrum is assessed by comparing identified amplification functions using different spectral methods and theoretical soil response. The reliability of site response estimations obtained by H/V spectral ratio using segmental cross- and Fourier spectra is also examined by means of cross-validation with the U/D spectral ratio of earthquake motion and theoretical soil response. Furthermore, the application of segmental cross-spectrum in nonlinear soil response is examined by comparing the amplification function of weak and strong motions for both methods. The results validate the advantage of segmental cross-spectrum in both linear and nonlinear soil response, particularly, when it used with H/V technique.     

SOIL-STRUCTURE AND SOIL-STRUCTURE-SOIL INTERACTION: EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE AT THE VOLVI TEST SITE

This paper shows the results of two passive experiments carried out at the European Volvi test site where a scaled building has been constructed. The first experiment was performed to study the motion of the structure excited by two small earthquakes. For one month, six strong-motion recorders were installed within the structure, at the top and at the basement. The analysis of the deformation of the structure has been assessed by computing the spectral ratio between the top and the bottom, with a special focus on soil-structure interaction. An analytical model was then proposed to reproduce the structure and soil-structure system behaviour. The soil-structure interaction was accounted for by using impedance functions. During the second experiment, we concentrated our efforts on the effect of the building vibration on the surface ground motion. An explosive shot was fired and several strong-motion recorders were installed on the ground close to the structure that allowed us to clearly identify a monochromatic wave coming from the building, in the time and frequency domains. This experiment allows us to demonstrate the non-negligible effect of the soil-structure-soil interaction that may disturb the surrounding ground motion.