A geography of residents' worry about the disruptive effects of contaminated sites

While the links between contaminated sites and adverse effects on human health and well‐being are being increasingly recognised, some argue that the magnitude of the health problem is inadequately addressed because it is largely invisible. Health geographies literature has sought to highlight this invisibility by focusing on the link between contaminated sites and health. This study adds to health geographies by presenting unique insights into the geography of residents' worry about the disruptive effect of environmental contamination on health and well‐being. It analyses a sample of residents (n = 485) living near 13 contaminated sites across Australia. Ordinal logistic regression analysis of closed‐format survey questions was combined with coding of open‐ended survey questions to reveal the geography of residents' worry about contamination from nearby sites. First, the study explores some of the main relationships between residents, their environs, and contaminants from nearby source sites, which determines their levels of worry: residents' demographics, residents' proximity to sites, contaminant boundaries and borders, and type of contaminant. Second, the study investigates how worry affects residents' health and well‐being, ranging from effects on their personal functioning through to their sense of ontological security, which depends in part upon their perceptions of contaminants' impacts. Despite having identified a range of diverse and negative effects of worry about contamination on residents, we found that worry for contamination can also prompt coping strategies and problem‐solving, reinforcing the need for more research on this subject.     

The Wadi al‐Hijr (Sultanate of Oman) in the third millennium BC

In 2010–11 a pedestrian survey of the western end of Wadi al‐Hijr in northern Oman identified 1507 archaeological features in a 124 km² area. Data were collected on each feature's architectural characteristics, associated artefact assemblages, topographic and environmental locations, condition of remains, and relations to other archaeological features. The majority of datable features belong to the third millennium BC and divide unequally between the Hafit and Umm an‐Nar periods. While the majority of these third‐millennium BC features were tombs, other feature types were identified, including towers, settlements, quarries, dams, enclosures, and possible platforms. Third‐millennium BC features were organised into clusters and ranged considerably in size, from a few features to several hundred. All of the clusters established during the Hafit period were maintained in the Umm an‐Nar period, suggesting a continuity throughout the third millennium. Some preliminary hypotheses regarding settlement patterns are suggested.     

Epipaleolithic/early Neolithic settlements at Qinghai Lake,western China

Transitions from terminal Pleistocene Upper Paleolithic foraging to Holocene Neolithic farming and pastoralist economic orientations in the northern Tibetan Plateau are examined from the perspective of Epipaleolithic sites located near Qinghai Lake, Qinghai Province, western China. Jiangxigou 2 is an artifact-rich, multicomponent midden site with the main period of occupation dating ca. 9000–5000 cal yr BP, containing abundant flaked stone artifacts including a substantial proportion of microlithic tools, abundant faunal remains including gazelle, deer, and sheep, and a small number of ceramics, including the oldest known on the Tibetan Plateau. Heimahe 3, on the other hand, is a brief hunter's camp dating ca. 8450 cal yr BP, with evident affinities to late Upper Paleolithic camps in the same region that date several thousand years older. The two distinctively different sites are probably nodes within a single Epipaleolithic foraging system that developed on the margins of the high Tibetan Plateau during the early Holocene, and that served as a basis for colonization of the high-altitude Plateau at that time. Jiangxigou 2 appears to be connected to early Neolithic agricultural settlements along the upper Yellow River (Huang He) drainage during the middle Holocene, and may provide insights into forager–agriculturalist interactions that lead to the development of pastoralist systems in the region.     

Analysis of adhering organic residues of two “coupes-à-socles” from the Neolithic funerary site “La Hougue Bie” in Jersey: evidences of birch bark tar utilisation

The “coupes-à-socle” (footed cups) are ceramics which can be found in domestic Neolithic contexts in Brittany (Castellic, Auzay-Sandun), but more generally in non-domestic areas. Their ceremonial function has often been evoked, in particular as a perfume burner. The analysis by GC and GC/MS of two samples from the “Hougue Bie” (Jersey) passage graves showed the presence of vegetable fatty acids, degraded n-alkanes and terpenoïds, biomarkers of birch bark tar. The presence of such substances could be explained either by the use of the “coupes-à-socle” for burning birch bark tar as an odoriferous product or their use as an everyday vessel for heating and increasing tar plasticity. However, the limited occurrence of this type of ceramic in habitat sites supports the former utilisation. This first report of the presence of birch bark tar in “coupes-à-socle” thus suggests use of this tar as an odoriferous product, in addition to its numerous, previously recognised, more technical uses.     

Coast–inland mobility and diet in the Danish Mesolithic and Neolithic: evidence from stable isotope values of humans and dogs

Here we present the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen measured in bone collagen extracted from humans, dogs, herbivores and fish from Mesolithic and Neolithic coastal and inland sites in Denmark. Bones of freshwater fish from several Early Mesolithic lake-side sites have δ¹³C values surprisingly similar to those seen in marine fish. We propose a model, based on δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N, for the correction for both marine and hard water reservoir effect in radiocarbon dates. A strong reliance on aquatic protein is demonstrated for the Mesolithic inhabitants of the region from the middle of the Early Mesolithic onwards. A significant part of the protein in the diets of the dogs and humans from the Middle and Late Mesolithic was of marine origin, even at inland sites. This observation points to a high degree of (seasonal) coast-inland mobility. The isotopic evidence indicates that during the Neolithic small quantities of aquatic foods were still common sources of dietary protein.     

New light on early caprine herding strategies from isotope analysis: a case study from Neolithic Anatolia

The measurement of stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotopes of caprine bone collagen from the Neolithic sites of Çatalhöyük and Aşıklı Höyük in south-central Anatolia have allowed examination of exploitation and herding practices of sheep and goats. The isotope values from protodomestic caprines at Aşıklı Höyük suggests that these animals were consuming very similar foods to each other and were all confined to the same or similar environments with no access to C₄ plants. At Çatalhöyük, the results show how the caprine management strategy develops from the strategy seen at Aşıklı Höyük into a more varied practice at an early stage as the site grows with an increasing dietary contribution obtained from C₄ plants. No change in diet is isotopically discernible at Aşıklı Höyük. Interestingly, no distinction could be made between the diets of sheep and goats at either site. Therefore, such studies are a useful method of examining the development of early herding or management strategies of caprines in the Near East.     

1998年鹤壁市、淇县晚商遗址考古调查报告

1998年7月,中国社会科学院考古研究所等对淇县境内和鹤壁市直接管辖区域内的一批晚商遗址进行了调查,以期从考古材料出发,寻找殷都朝歌遗存的线索,为今后围绕朝歌这一期望的目标所进行的考古工作提供科学依据。调查发现有新石器时代、商周遗址,但没有找到商代朝歌遗址及其切实存在的证据。     

论长江中游地区新石器时代晚期的生计经济与人口压力

长江中游地区新石器时代晚期的主要生计方式是稻作农业,因渔猎所占比重不同而又可细分为山地型与平原型。水田稻作农业具有集约化程度高,产出也较高的特点。稻田耕作系统的形成与维护需要大量劳力,从而刺激人口迅速增长,结果造成人口压力。自然环境的数次波动更加剧了这种压力。因人口压力而引发的移民、战争和社会重组等,成为推动初期社会复杂化进程的主要原因。     

尉迟寺出土陶鬶的启示

史前陶鬶发展的主流看法是起源于海岱地区,然后向周围传播。但是,蒙城尉迟寺遗址出土的陶鬶现象给这种观点带来了难解的课题。本文通过对尉迟寺出土陶鬶的验证,再次肯定了陶鬶应该发源于太湖地区。并且,尉迟寺遗址也是陶鬶发展过程中的关键区域,为陶鬶的传播研究提供了宝贵的资料。     

湖北省麻城余家寨遗址调查简报

余家寨遗址位于湖北麻城市,面积8300平方米。1991年,麻城市修建106国道将余家寨遗址西部边缘破坏,省、市、县文物部门对该遗址进行了全面调查勘探。遗址包含有新石器时代和西周两个时代的文化堆积。新石器时代标本中的主体是石家河文化,还兼有屈家岭文化、薛家岗文化及樊城堆文化等多种文化因素。在新石器时代遗址之上筑有一座面积约15000平方米的西周城堡,夯土城墙及护城河大部分保存完整。余家寨遗址为研究长江中下游原始文化之间的关系及南方商周文化与中原商周文化的关系提供了重要资料。