Shifts in Neandertal mobility,technology and subsistence strategies in western France

We propose a reassessment of Neandertal mobility strategies by crossing technological and zooarchaeological data. A broad comparative approach to the Middle Paleolithic series from western France shows that the Levallois and laminar flaking systems, the Mousterian of Acheulian Tradition (MTA) shaping system and the Quina and discoidal-denticulate flaking systems, vary significantly in terms of duration of reduction sequences, blank versatility and tool maintenance. These technological systems, which prevail in this context over different time periods, reflect distinct mobility strategies as a response to differing hunting practices. This new approach to Middle Paleolithic technologies and related mobility patterns gives new insights into Mousterian diversity. It also highlights the determinant role played by large game hunting strategies in the organization of late Neandertal societies.     

Estimating original flake mass from 3D scans of platform area

This study confirms the increased capacity to predict flake mass that arises from more accurately measuring surface area in three dimensions using a digital scanner. We also reveal the existence of significantly different relationships between platform area and flake mass for flakes with different platform types and ventral and dorsal morphologies. These different relationships between platform surface area and mass have not been previously identified, and reveal the complexity of platform/mass relationships. Using multivariate regression of 3D platform surface area and external platform angle we improve the accuracy of predictions of original flake mass. We propose a method for studying reduction intensity on retouched flakes, based on comparing predictions of the initial mass of the flake with measurements of the mass following retouching to estimate the amount of mass removed through retouching. We name this approach the Initial-/Terminal-Mass Comparison, or ITMC. Our experiments demonstrate that the capacity of the 3D platform scans to predict flake mass, and by implication the capacity of the ITMC to estimate mass loss, rivals or exceeds the capacity demonstrated for existing reduction measures.     

莫维斯线与中国旧石器时代早期文化的研究

以莫维斯线为焦点的中国旧石器时代早期文化的探索和研究已有九十年的历程。本文从中国旧石器早期工业特点的探索、东西方文化关系的讨论和区域性特点成因三方面进行了回顾与思考,对手斧问题也提出了一些认识。     

无边界学习、多媒体技术运用与远程教育

教学中社会与学校、教师与学生、课程与生活、知识与经验等二元结构是客观存在的,也是无法从根本上剔除的。一位优秀的教师是要承认二元的存在,同时又协调二元的关系,也就是我们时常讲的“对立统一”。借助信息技术（多媒体教学）做到“对立统一”是一个极好的方法。无论运用何种手段。只要能够打破教学中的时间、地点、人物、任务和结果的单一性,真正做到“社会即学校”、“以学生为师”、“生活即学习,学习即生活”,这就叫“无边界学习”。“多媒体技术运用”和“远程教育”都不能讲是“无边界学习”。     

Identifying King Stephen’s artillery

References to artillery in sources for English history from 1066 to 1189 are typically vague. Eschewing the technical Latin terms ballista, mangonel or onager, medieval writers in the period tended towards generic words like machina. This habit prohibits the positive identification of specific weapon types present at Anglo-Norman/Angevin sieges and thus full interpretations of the engagements themselves. This essay suggests an alternative, contextual methodology. After first assessing the physicality of a siege zone (landscape, topography and fortification architecture), it applies knowledge about artillery type and operation (range to target, trajectory, shot type and size) in order to see what weapons could and could not have been deployed in the zone. When such contextual information is available, the method can help identify weapon type in the absence of specific terminology. The examples presented here are King Stephen’s sieges of Lincoln in 1141 and Faringdon in 1145.     

Geoinformation Modeling of Environments Favorable for Prehistoric Humans of the Altai Mountains

Geoinformation technologies are applied to an analysis of the living environments of Paleolithic people, using a territory along the route of a future gas pipeline planned for construction in the Altai Mountains as an example. GIS modeling of a paleoenvironment is based on the notion of a paleolandscape's geological and morphological framework. The SRTM digital model of terrain, and geological maps of scale 1: 200,000 were used. The main factors that control localization of sites have been selected: the presence of flat, even grounds suitable for settlement; proximity to sources of raw materials; good conditions for sun exposure; and water availability across the territory. Verification of known Paleolithic sites showed the adequacy of GIS-modeling and its suitability in the optimal search for new sites.     

The Bohunician in Moravia and Adjoining Regions

The Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in the Middle Danube area is characterized by the presence of two transitional technocomplexes, the Bohunician and the Szeletian, together with the early appearance of the Aurignacian. The Bohunician lacks a local predecessor and seems to be intrusive to the area. Both the Bohunician typology and technology combine Middle and the Upper Paleolithic components. Although the Bohunician sites are mostly concentrated within the Brno basin, collections with characteristic traces of Bohunician technology have been documented during the same interval in surrounding areas, as well as far to the south and east. A preliminary comparison of the sites indicates a high degree of similarity among assemblages and may represent the same expansion event hypothetically associated with anatomically modern humans.     

The Kulbulak Bladelet Tradition in The Upper Paleolithic of Central Asia

The article describes lithic industries of the Upper Paleolithic levels of Kulbulak, Uzbekistan, a key site in southwestern Central Asia based on materials from excavations at several sites in the western and northwestern Pamir– Tien Shan region (Kulbulak, Kyzyl-Alma-2, Dodekatym-2, and Shugnou). A new cultural and technological tradition is introduced, for which the authors suggest the name Kulbulakian. Its distinctive features are the bladelet technique and a microlithic set including backed pieces and triangular microliths. Stages in the evolution of the Kulbulakian tradition are reconstructed: origins, development, peak, and disappearance of the carinated technology. Industries belonging to this tradition have shaped the general appearance of the Upper Paleolithic in the area in question.     

Historical Perspectives on Pre-Colonial Irrigation in Southern Africa

Abstract

One of the basic areas of interaction between water as natural resource and human societies as agents of cultural transformation is the technology of irrigation. In Africa at least 66 per cent of the available water is used for purposes of irrigation. For more than 4 000 years irrigation has secured food supplies for humans on a continent that is noted for its relative shortage of sufficient natural water supplies.

There is a remarkable hidden power of water in the history of southern Africa. This is particularly the case when we consider the development of early irrigation technologies of Iron Age farmers. The small irrigation furrow of the subsistence farmer was just as important to an insular community of Bantu-speaking people in pre-colonial times, as is the sophisticated irrigation technology in present-day South Africa. Currently there is a paucity of information about pre-colonial indigenous irrigation technology. This can be ascribed to a number of factors of which the invasion of modern Western traditions in the nineteenth century is perhaps the most important. A number of other factors for the apparent blind-spot is also presented in this study.

In southern Africa there are traces of indigenous pre-colonial irrigation works at sites such as Nyanga in Zimbabwe; the Limpopo River Valley; Mpumalanga; and South Africa's eastern Highveld. Reference is also made in this article to specific strategies of irrigation used by Iron Age communities, prior to the advent of a colonial presence. Finally, attention is also drawn to pre-colonial land tenure and state formation against the backdrop of Wittfogel's theories on hydraulic society.     

X-CT结合AR技术在出土青铜文物修复中的应用

随着计算机断层扫描(CT)技术的精度不断提升,高精度的工业级CT系统集现代化射线检测技术、自动化控制技术和计算机处理技术于一身,并在青铜文物保护与修复领域体现出日益明显的优势。本工作通过南京出土春秋青铜鼎的修复案例,将高精度工业级CT技术运用到传统青铜文物修复中,并将检测影像数据与视觉增强现实(AR)相结合,为文物修复方案的制定提供了更为准确的依据,为修复实施提供了更为直观与便利的操作环境,也是对传统青铜器修复技艺的发展进行的新探索。