Evidence for a Neolithic Age fire-irrigation paddy cultivation system in the lower Yangtze River Delta,China

Establishing stable cropping systems was vital in antiquity, assuring certain yields and enabling ancient people to settle, thus possibly causing various modern food habits and culture to form around the world, especially in cereal-cultivation-dominated countries. China, one of the most famous ancient agricultural countries, has a long history of rice planting, and the fire-irrigation paddy cultivation system is prevalent in the lower Yangtze region, which is considered a rice domestication center. However, its origin and cultivation pattern remain unclear. We studied a famous agricultural vestige, the Chuodun site, involved in rice planting in the lower Yangtze River Delta in eastern China, during the Neolithic Age. Clear evidence from archaeology, paleobiology, pedology and biogeochemistry suggest both that the rice fire-irrigation cultivation system formed during the Neolithic Age and that ancient peoples lived there steadily. Under this extensive cultivation system, soil structures and properties changed significantly; in particular, it left more black carbon in the soil and increased the organic carbon soil stability, which can be used to reconstruct prehistoric environments. Meanwhile, the prevalent fire-irrigation paddy cultivation system used by farmers in this area, though for a different purpose than ancient people, may be inherited from the Neolithic Age.     

Identifying of buried archaeological remains with ground penetrating radar,polarized microscope and confocal Raman spectroscopy methods in ancient city of Nysa,Aydin – Turkey

The aim of this study was to image buried remains and appoint buried Hellenistic street system, and identify minerals and rock types of the ancient city of Nysa, one of the most important historical sites of Turkey. This study used polarized microscope and confocal Raman spectroscopy (CRS) ground penetrating radar (GPR) method, to identify the buried remains, rock types and minerals.     

A new Late Silurian plant with complex branching from Xinjiang,China

Wang Yi, Fu Qiang, Xu Honghe, & Hao Shougang, June, 2007. A new Late Silurian plant with complex branching from Xinjiang, China. Alcheringa 31, 111-120. ISSN 0311-5518.

A new fossil plant is described from the middle part of the Wutubulake Formation (late Pridoli) of Xinjiang, China. This plant demonstrates at least two orders of branching. The first-order axis has pseudomonopodial branching with alternately attached second-order axes. Fertile units are alternately inserted along the second-order axis, and consist of a branching system and two sporangia at each tip. Sporangia are narrowly obovate with rounded apex and tapering base. This plant is characterized by more complex branching than other Silurian and Early Devonian plants, and is named Wutubulaka multidichotoma gen. et sp. nov., and placed under open higher-order nomenclature.     

Becoming imperialist: Italian colonies in Fascist textbooks for primary schools

The essay explores the way in which primary school textbooks in Fascist Italy played an important part in disseminating the colonial discourse. Starting from a brief overview of the education system and textbooks in Liberal Italy, the essay reviews the changes made by the Fascists after 1922: Gentile's reform; the national commission for primary school textbooks; the introduction of the testo unico di Stato (single state-approved texts). These changes reveal the increasing emphasis on colonial topics and the development of the ‘new Italian man’. The impact of 1936 as a turning point in Fascist colonial policy following the conquest of Ethiopia and the proclamation of the empire of Italian East Africa is highlighted by the ways in which primary school textbooks reflected Fascist ambitions to imbue pupils with a new imperial consciousness.     

Arguing for a worldwide perspective: Italy and the reform of the international monetary system between transatlantic cooperation and European integration (1971–73)

The end of the Bretton Woods system, following the US decision of August 1971, and the simultaneous re-launch of the European integration with the enactment of the Werner plan came at a critical moment of internal weakness for Italy. This article highlights how the Italian government and the monetary authorities – while not always on the same wavelength – tried to tackle these challenges with a view to preserving the principles of multilateral cooperation that had promoted the country's recovery in the post-war years. By launching the project denominated ‘Global Approach’ in the summer of 1972, Italy tried to interconnect the modification of the Werner plan with the reform of the international monetary system within the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to restrain the growing trends towards unilateralism. However, despite all efforts, both initiatives were doomed to failure while the country entered a dramatic period of political instability and social unrest.     

基于性别制度的中国城市结构的历史演变

本文从中国性别制度和城市结构的历史变迁出发,通过对中国封建社会、半殖民地半封建社会、社会主义计划经济时期、社会主义市场经济时期四个历史阶段的女性生活和城市特征进行考察,分析了不同的性别结构与城市空间结构之间的关系,即:以及在不同的性别制度下女性社会生活在城市空间中的具体体现,即:集权制城市中女性空间的附属性、二元城市中女性空间的隔离性、单位制城市中性别空间的同一性、消费性城市中女性空间的主导性。随着消费文化的发展,女性将对中国城市化进程和空间结构演化产生越来越重要的影响。     

淮海经济区区域系统动态协调发展研究

基于区域协调发展的判定标准,构建区域协调发展的指标体系,通过线性加权模型和离差系数法得到淮海经济区在1995-2006年间区域系统的综合发展水平得分和淮海经济区、苏北鲁南豫东皖北四大板块及所辖20个市的协调度。通过对淮海经济区协调发展的时空演变进行分析,得出以下结论:(1)协调度多处于基本协调和比较协调类型;(2)区域协调发展类型呈阶段式演进;(3)市域协调发展类型分化明显;(4)板块协调发展度呈东高西低格局;(5)协同作用决定区域系统协调度的高低。     

中国古代风水模式的文化地理视野

对于风水的研究,目前有两种倾向:一是视之为迷信,二是力图用"科学"释之。这两种方式皆失之于偏颇。笔者认为:风水是中国古代的一种历史文化地理现象,其中包含了一些朴素的科学思想,也存在大量封建迷信糟粕。本文从文化地理学的角度,通过对中国古代风水模式的分析,力图展示风水模式的地理形制中所蕴涵的精神空间和显示的文化意义。风水模式体现了古人出于生殖崇拜的生命追求、安全心理的本能需求、美学欣赏的愉悦感受,表达了天人合一的宇宙理念,同时还是宗族社会血缘关系的纽带。风水思想对中国古代村落的形成发展产生了极大影响,甚至可以说是中国古村落规划中永恒的主题。     

岭南文化区域系统分析

从整体的发展历程来看,岭南文化是中华民族文化中最具特色、最活跃的区域文化之一。岭南文化区域在历史上曾是中国经济文化最发达的地区之一;本世纪末的改革开放20年来,岭南地区成了一块经济发展的热土,使岭南文化一跃成为推动中国经济发展的高势能文化之一。岭南文化在其孕育、成长、定型和演变过程当中受自然与社会环境的影响很大,构成了其特有的文化整合与演变模式。本文从区域系统分析的角度对岭南文化进行初步研究,得出结论:(1)岭南文化是山水型的实用文化;(2)岭南文化是开放性和兼容性极强的区域文化;(3)重实践,讲创新,少说多干是岭南文化的精髓;(4)岭南文化系统在发展变化过程中,形成了独特的南国文化景观。     

东北经济区人地关系地域系统区划的初步研究

本文以东北经济区自然、经济和社会文化的地域分异特征为基础,以人地相互作用理论为指导,通过探讨人地关系地域系统区划的原则和方法,对东北经济区人地关系地域系统的区划做了初步研究。