The Materiality of Social Power: The Artifact-Acquisition Perspective

This paper explores the materiality of social power relationally through study of social interactions with artifacts. Specifically, it is argued that acquisition of an artifact instantiates social power by imposing interactions on groups taking part in that artifact's life-history activities. We introduce the “performance-preference matrix,” an analytic tool for systematically studying the effects of such acquisition events on activity groups. The use of the performance-preference matrix is illustrated through an example: the acquisition of electric-arc lights for lighthouses in the 19th century. Suggestions are offered for analyzing culture-contact situations and for handling singularized artifacts such as heirlooms and monuments.

China's Emergence and Impact on Technology in East Asia: The Case of Machinebuilding

Two Taiwan-based economists estimate the technology content of exports by the machinebuilding industry of the East Asia region during 2004-2008, using comparative analysis to clarify changes in the relative competitiveness of four East Asian nations (China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) accompanying the formation of a regional trading bloc and production networks. In particular, they examine the technology content of these countries' machinebuilding sub-industries' exports within the Southeast Asian market (documenting the rise of the machinebuilding industry in China) as well as the penetration of Japanese, South Korean, and Taiwanese sub-industries into China's market. The results point to areas of emerging competition among China, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan for East Asian markets, which can only be expected to intensify in the future. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F14, F15, F36, O14, P23. 7 tables, 36 references.     

我国考古和文物保护工作中物探技术的应用

20世纪80年代以来,物探技术在考古和物保护方面应用越来越多,在古墓探查、大型古建筑地下遗存现状探查、重要古建基础状况探查、古遗迹断代等方面,地球物理技术都找到了发挥作用的机会。本通过地球物理技术在云冈石窟、龙门石窟、克孜尔石窟、北京故宫紫禁城、嵩岳寺塔、古泗州城遗址、风阳明中都等的物理探查实例,以及查找古墓、古遗迹断代等方面的工作,介绍了我国在考古和物保护领域应用地球物理技术的进展,并指出了物探在用于考古和保时的特点和展望。     

运用科学技术方法对清代珐琅的研究

作者运用原子发射光谱、扫描电子显微镜、偏光显微镜和金相显微镜,对故宫博物院藏清代珐琅残片进行了实验分析。研究中.对构成珐琅的硅酸盐材料、铜材料、焊接材料以及镀金层的元素组成进行了测试;对珐琅残片断面的焊接层和镀金层的微观形貌、焊接层的金相组织进行了观察和鉴别。在此基础上,运用结晶学、矿物学、金属学和金相学的基础理论对珐琅原料种类、各种原料的作用、珐琅料的熔制与烧蓝、铜材料与焊接材料的合金属性、焊层的金相组织、掐丝珐琅的烧制工艺等问题加以探讨,试图藉现代科技手段揭示清代珐琅所包含的科学技术内涵。     

安图沙金沟旧石器遗址发现的石器研究

安图县沙金沟遗址于2006年发现,遗址位于沙金河右岸第Ⅲ级阶地上,在地表和含角砾的黄色亚黏土层中共发现石器82件,原料以黑曜岩为主,包括石核、石片、石叶、细石叶、二类和三类工具(刮削器、雕刻器、尖状器和砍砸器等)。遗址的地质年代推测为晚更新世的晚期,即旧石器时代晚期。     

Siberia at the Last Glacial Maximum: Environment and Archaeology

This article focuses on the presence of humans in Siberia and the Russian Far East at the coldest time of the Late Pleistocene, called the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and dated to c. 20,000–18,000 rcbp. Reconstruction of the LGM environment of Siberia, based on the latest models and compilations, provides a background for human existence in this region. Most of Siberia and the Russian Far East at c. 20,000–18,000 rcbp was covered by tundra and cool steppe, with some forest formations in the river valleys. Climate was much colder and drier than it is today. Eighteen Upper Paleolithic sites in Siberia are radiocarbon dated strictly to the LGM, and at least six of them, located in southern parts of western and eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East, have solid evidence of occupation during that time span. It seems clear that southern Siberia was populated by humans even at the height of the LGM, and that there was no dramatic decline or complete disappearance of humans in Siberia at that time. The degree of human adaptation to periglacial landscapes in the mid-Upper Paleolithic of northern Eurasia was quite high; humans coped with the cold and dry environmental conditions using microblade technology, artificial shelters, tailored clothes, and megafaunal bones as fuel. An erratum to this article can be found at     

New Fathoms in Scientific Exploration: The DeepWrecks Project

Modern technology lends itself to holistic exploration and widely accessible outreach. New technology allows scientists studying our planet either from space or deep under the seas, to explore and reveal both natural and cultural resources that have previously escaped our scrutiny. However, the use of these new technologies is expensive and often the exclusive tool of industrial research. Yet, these new technologies can lead the way to greater collaboration, better science and more public access. In 2003 and 2004, a landmark project, combining government agencies, industrial technology and outreach set new standards in collaborative scientific exploration. The project focused on six shipwrecks at depth in the Gulf of Mexico. The questions posed by the project illuminate how science and industry can collaborate to produce remarkable results. The papers presented in this issue form a model for deepwater exploration.     

Skill Matters

Skill is a challenging topic for archeologists because it requires balancing the biases of cultural relativity with the commonsense understanding that some humans are more able than others. Using the content and results model of technology, this paper identifies skill as a variable of technological knowledge with recognizable material results. Late Paleolithic Japanese blade and microblade assemblages suggest that skill differentials exist on the cognitive, operational, and motor levels. These examples, together with ethnoarcheological consideration of modern potters suggest material reflections of technical skill. These include regularity in performance and product, skilled tools, and obvious signs of practice.     

Blank Concerns: Issues of Skill and Consistency in the Replication of Scottish Later Mesolithic Blades

Skill is central to the identification of the individual within lithic analysis. Modern replication tends to focus on the proficient flintknapper, and emphasises complex, technically demanding implements and high quality raw materials. Yet, acquiring lithic skill is a universal process that manifests itself in various ways depending on technological strategy and raw material. This paper presents the results of a programme of experimental replication that explores notions of consistency and identity. Based on Mesolithic blade technology, using direct percussion reduction and variable pebble resources, it compares knappers with different experience and identifies some salient parameters of individual performance.     

再读跨湖桥

在《跨湖桥》考古报告的基础上,本文运用浮选、孢粉和非孢粉微化石、PIXE技术和拉曼光谱等多种分析手段,对跨湖桥遗址的人工制品和生态物进行了分析,复原了当时人类的居住环境及变迁、古食谱和制陶技术,从文化生态的角度探讨了先民的生存方式。文章认为,8000年前跨湖桥的富裕环境很可能促使复杂采集狩猎经济的发展,并出现比较复杂的社会结构,而水稻栽培和猪的驯养很可能与这类社会常见的仪式和宴享活动有关。