山东济南刘家庄遗址商代青铜器科学分析研究

山东济南刘家庄遗址发掘出土一批带有铭文族徽的商代青铜器,其形制多与殷墟同类器物极为相似,表明晚商时期刘家庄地区居住着一支与商都殷墟有密切关系的氏族。针对该遗址出土动植物遗存、铜器铅同位素等方面已有学者开展了相关研究,取得了一定的研究成果。但总体上看,针对这批青铜器制作工艺、合金技术及矿料特征等科技分析数据偏少,与商都殷墟遗存的关系尚待进一步讨论分析。 本研究选取该遗址三座墓葬中29件青铜器(56个样品)为研究对象,利用扫描电镜及能谱仪、金相显微镜、VG Elemental型多接收电感耦合等离子体质谱仪和利曼Prodigy电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱仪,从青铜器合金组成、金相组织、铅同位素比值及特征微量元素等方面采集数据加以分析,再结合器物形制等考古学资料进行综合研究。 结果表明,刘家庄青铜器主要为铸造成型,合金组成为铅锡青铜、锡青铜、铅青铜、纯铜及铅砷青铜。大部分青铜器金相组织以α固溶体为基体,呈树枝状偏析,枝晶间分布(α+δ)共析体,部分共析体完全腐蚀,Pb相呈颗粒状零散分布或者完全腐蚀,局部区域如孔洞、枝干与缝隙间析出不规则形状铜晶粒。少数器物金相组织内部存在滑移线,推测器物可能经过铸后冷加工。铅同位素比值显示,此批青铜器高放射成因铅占比较高,与殷墟二、三期含高放射成因铅器物数据分布范围相对吻合,与殷墟一期、殷墟四期分布范围稍有差异。微量元素总体趋势以高含量Bi、As、Ag元素为特征,结果与殷墟青铜器微量元素分布模式相较接近。综合对比发现,刘家庄青铜器似乎与殷墟青铜器的主体原料相同。从器型上看,刘家庄青铜鼎、簋、觚形制与纹饰风格等,多与安阳殷墟青铜器尤其是与殷墟二期、三期保持较高的相关性。 本研究表明晚商时期海岱地区与殷墟中原地区交流密切,为商晚期青铜器生产来源与流通关系提供了新的证据。同时,该研究深化了对刘家庄商代青铜器本身的认识,补充完善了济南刘家庄青铜器科技分析内容及考古学研究信息,为深入了解商代时期海岱地区与殷墟之间的关系提供一个新的视角。     

Sebbersund: isotopes and mobility in an 11th−12th c. AD Danish churchyard

The important Viking Age and early Medieval site of Sebbersund in northern Jutland, Denmark, contains a large churchyard from the 11th–12th century AD. Sebbersund was an important trading center in this period and the location of one of the first churches in Denmark, perhaps an entry point for the introduction of Christianity to the country. Excavations have exposed almost 500 graves of an estimated 700 individuals in the cemetery. Here we report on the analysis of strontium isotopes in human tooth enamel from burials in the cemetery as a signal of place of birth. Some 19 samples have been measured and at least three non-local outliers identified. Futhermore, six archaeological fauna samples had been analyzed in order to define the local bioavailable strontium isotope baseline range and these values were compared to the more general bioavailable baseline range values for Denmark. The burials are evaluated in light of the available archaeological, chronological, anthropological, and isotopic information.     

Element localization in archaeological bone using synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence: identification of biogenic uptake

Trace element analysis related to archaeological bone is viewed as one way to determine levels of element exposure in past populations. This area of research is complex because there is the potential for the incorporation of trace elements from the burial environment into archaeological bone. We tested the hypothesis that matching the spatial distribution of trace elements within cortical bone with the biological structures would provide evidence of biogenic uptake. We examined samples from a non-segregated Royal British Naval cemetery (1793–1822) in Antigua, West Indies. A key historical question related to this population was the extent of exposure to lead and the resulting health effects. Images from conventional light microscopy (histological) analysis of the bone samples were matched with elemental maps of calcium, strontium, and lead that were created through the use of synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence (SR-XRF). Biogenic uptake of both strontium and lead was indicated based on the localization of these trace elements within discreet microstructural elements. The successful integration of histological information with XRF data is a powerful technique for the interpretation of past biological events through trace elements.     

Conspiracy theories in Republican Italy: the Pellegrino Report to the Parliamentary Commission on Terrorism

This article analyses the draft of the final report prepared by Senator Giovanni Pellegrino, who from 1994 to 2001 chaired the ‘Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on terrorism in Italy and on the causes of the failure to identify those responsible for the massacres’. The document was completed in 1995 and attempted a general interpretation of the causes of the political violence that had been a major feature of the history of the Italian Republic up to that point. The report was closely connected with what is often described as the moment of the transition between Italy's ‘first’ and ‘second’ Republic and, in keeping with revisionist theories current at the time, attributed responsibility for misdeeds and occult plots (real or imagined) that occurred in Italy over a period of forty years primarily to ideological division caused by the Cold War. This paper argues that this resulted in a highly distorted narrative of Italian history in which events appear to be determined almost exclusively by external factors to the exclusion of important internal dynamics.     

Lead concentrations in bones and soil

Lead concentrations were measured in 41 rib samples from the Romano-British cemetery at Poundbury and in two sets of soil samples from the graves yielding up the bones. The levels of lead in the soil were in no way exceptional (means for the two series were 16·7 and 24·8 μg/g dry weight) and there was no correlation between soil lead and bone lead concentrations.Since bone lead concentrations vary independently of those in the soil, it is unlikely that the bones are contaminated by lead in the soil, at least under the conditions prevailing at this particular site.     

Chemical and lead isotope analysis of some lead-barium glass wares from the Warring States Period,unearthed from Chu tombs in Changde City,Hunan Province,China

In the context of the present study, we have conducted chemical and lead isotope analyses on twelve ancient glass samples unearthed from Chu tombs in Changde City, Hunan Province. The results of the chemical analysis of these samples show that all samples are PbO–BaO–SiO₂ glasses, thus indicating that they are all traditional ancient Chinese glasses. The chemical results also suggest that all Bi wares may either share a common source or were produced according to similar recipes. In turn, the eye beads are different from the Bi wares for their distinct chemical composition. The chemical results indicate that silica, lead-bearing material, barium-bearing material, and sodium/lime-bearing material are the main independent components of the raw materials employed in the production of these glass wares.     

Diachronic dietary reconstructions in ancient Thebes,Greece: results from stable isotope analyses

Although isotopic applications in Greece are rapidly increasing, there is rarely the chance to investigate diet changes within a population over time. This is mainly because large burial grounds are seldom excavated systematically. Nonetheless, this study presents the isotopic results of human and animal bone samples from graves dating from 3000 to 300 BC, recovered in Thebes’ extensive historic cemetery. The unique opportunity is provided to correlate dietary with historic changes, and observe whether sociocultural parameters affect dietary choices and how this presents isotopically. Results show significant temporal trends.     

Calving seasonality at Pool,Orkney during the first millennium AD: an investigation using intra-tooth isotope ratio analysis of cattle molar enamel

The identification of dairying is essential if we are to understand economies of the past, particularly in northwest Europe, where a high degree of lactose tolerance suggests that fresh milk has long been a significant food product. This paper explores a possible link between economic focus and seasonality of calving. Although cattle (Bos taurus) can breed throughout the year, animals living in temperate regions with minimal or no human management tend to breed seasonally, their breeding behaviour being strongly influenced by the availability of food. In order to achieve a year-round supply of fresh milk in the past, it is likely that multiple-season calving was necessary, which would have required additional husbandry effort. Alternatively, for meat-focussed economies or those based on storable dairy products, a strategy of single-season calving in spring may have been favoured to maximise the utilisation of spring and summer vegetation. Cattle birth seasonality is investigated through isotope ratio analysis (δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C) of tooth enamel. Results for cattle from Pool, Orkney dating to the latter part of the first millennium AD suggest that calving occurred during at least three seasons implying that the continuous provision of fresh milk was of economic importance.     

Stable isotope analysis of 14 individuals from the Mesolithic cemetery of Vasilyevka II,Dnieper Rapids region,Ukraine

Bone collagen extracted from 14 humans from the Mesolithic cemetery of Vasilyevka II was analysed for their δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N ratios. This cemetery is one of only two later Mesolithic cemeteries from the Dnieper Rapids region, being dated to 7300–6220 cal BC on the basis of three radiocarbon determinations. This analysis provides insights into the nature of the diet of the Dnieper populations at the very end of the Mesolithic period, prior to the adoption of pottery in the region, and the assumed shift towards the exploitation of domesticates in the economies of the populations of the Dnieper region, and considers these in relation to broader temporal indicators of diet in the region.     

The 74 ka Toba super-eruption and southern Indian hominins: archaeology,lithic technology and environments at Jwalapuram Locality 3

Hominins living in southern India 74,000 years ago faced a deteriorating environment, as the global climate moved from interglacial into full glacial conditions. At the same time, South Asian populations witnessed the widespread deposition of tephra from the Sumatran Toba super-eruption, the largest explosive volcanic event of the past two million years. Here we report new data on the lithic technology and environmental context for a southern Indian site with hominin occupation in association with Toba tephra deposits: Jwalapuram Locality 3 in the Jurreru Valley. Sedimentological and isotopic studies demonstrate that a cooling trend was in effect in this part of southern India prior to the eruption, and that thick deposits of ash in the Jurreru Valley supported grassland communities before more wooded conditions were re-established. Detailed technological analyses of an expanded lithic sample from Locality 3 suggest cultural continuity after the eruptive event, and comparisons with lithic core technologies elsewhere indicate that Homo sapiens cannot be ruled out as the creator of these Middle Palaeolithic assemblages.