Petrography as a technique for investigating Iroquoian ceramic production and smoking rituals

Petrographic data and macroscopic observations are used to examine some of the social contexts and functional considerations underlying the production of pottery containers and smoking pipes at Antrex, a Middle Ontario Iroquoian village site located in southern Ontario. Results suggest that while pottery was produced by small groups of people for widespread consumption within the community, pipes were made by individuals for their own personal use. Overall, this research supports the hypothesis that by the beginning of the Late Woodland period, a shift away from communal ritual practices led by ritual specialists or shamans had occurred. Smoking might have, in some contexts, become a solitary religious experience.     

郑州洼刘西周贵族墓出土青铜器

洼刘西周贵族墓葬位于郑州市洼刘遗址内,墓内随葬有一批珍贵文物.其中青铜礼器10余件,还有一批车马饰、蚌饰、贝币等.尤其是青铜礼器制作精美,造型奇特,在考古发掘中极少见到,是郑州地区近几年来西周考古的重要发现.     

清末民初广州城市的环卫制度与环境整治

清末民初是中国历史上一个重要的转型时期,广州城市环卫制度的构建随着这一时期政治制度的变革而展开,经历了从清末新政以前的缺失,到新政以后至1920年代逐渐形成的过程。与此同时,广州城市环境卫生的整治,在形成中的环卫制度指导下,向制度化、规范化的方向转变。从此以后,广州市的环境整治由民间的无序行为,走向以政府或政府指导下有序的法治化轨道。清末民初广州市的城市环卫制度与环境整治方式的改变,对民国时期乃至新中国初年的广州城市环境卫生的管理均产生了重要的影响。     

春秋郢都无城说

楚郢都故址所在,至今尚未解决,被学界认为有可能为楚郢都故址的江陵纪南城、当阳季家湖古城和宜城楚皇城,作为春秋早期楚始都之郢的可能性都不大。春秋郢都故址至今未能找到,应是被"城"所蔽。结合文献分析及考古实证,可知春秋郢都并没有城,没有城垣遗迹,只是一个大遗址。     

First Evidence Of The Use Of Freshwater Pearls As A Cosmetic In Ancient China: Analysis Of White Makeup Powder From A Northern Song Dynasty Lv Tomb (Lantian,Shaanxi Province,China)

The Lv family tombs in Lantian, Shaanxi Province are one of the most important archaeological sites of China in recent years, providing numerous objects and a wealth of information for the study of the history of the Northern Song dynasty. There were a large number of exquisite cultural relics unearthed from the tombs, including one porcelain box containing white powder, which was identified as women's makeup. The phase composition, microstructure, thermal properties and characteristics of the trace elements in the unearthed white cosmetic powder were comprehensively analysed by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry – thermogravimetry (DSC–TG), Fourier transform infrared (FT–IR) microscopy and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP–AES). The white makeup powder was determined to be a product made from high‐quality freshwater pearls. These results, for the first time, showed evidence that freshwater pearl powder was used as a cosmetic in ancient China using archaeological objects, providing scientific evidence and new clues to enrich and expand research into the ancient Chinese cosmetic materials.     

The End of Ayawiri: Abandonment at an Andean Hillfort Town of the Late Intermediate Period

As the south-central Andes came under Inca control, many hillfort towns and villages were abandoned in favor of low-lying, non-defensive settlements. Recent investigation at Ayawiri (Machu Llaqta), a fortified hilltop town in the Titicaca Basin of southern Peru, sheds light on how such sites met their end. Ayawiri was abandoned in the 15th century a.d. with no reoccupation and little to no scavenging afterwards. Excavated house structures have whole or reconstructible artifacts left in situ on floors, including bronze adornments and other valuables. Expediently-prepared throwing stones or slingstones were stockpiled and used near the outermost wall, suggesting that the abandonment may have been precipitated by enemy attack. While the evidence indicates rapid abandonment overall, there were distinct and varied micro-processes of abandonment that took place among different family groups at Ayawiri, who engaged differently in rituals, abandonment caching, and departure.     

河北正定县吴兴墓地战国墓葬发掘简报

吴兴墓地位于河北省石家庄市正定县新安镇吴兴村,距正定县城15公里。京广铁路在墓地东南2.5公里处南北向穿过,滹沱河在墓地南12公里处自西向东流,地势平坦(图一)。2006年,南水北调中线工程河北段考古发掘工作全面展开。受河北省文物局委托,辽宁省文物考古研究所与朝阳市博物馆     

Transition in the use of cobalt-blue colorant in the New Kingdom of Egypt

Cobalt-blue colorant was first used in the 18th Dynasty in the New Kingdom of Egypt. The source of this cobalt was cobaltiferous alum from the Western Oases of Egypt. The use of this alum, especially in glass, was suddenly limited at the end of the 18th Dynasty. There is little evidence of the production of cobalt-blue glass in the Ramesside Period (the 19th–20th Dynasties) in the New Kingdom of Egypt. In this study, we brought a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer to two archaeological sites located in the Memphite region and used it for onsite analyses of Ramesside cobalt blue-colored glasses and faiences. This method revealed that the compositional characteristics of the cobalt-blue colorant in these Ramesside glasses and faiences is different from the colorant derived from cobaltiferous alum used in the 18th Dynasty, based on the comparison of transition metal composition and alumina content with those of the cobalt blue-colored artifacts from the 18th Dynasty. This result suggests that a new cobalt source other than cobaltiferous alum from the Western Oases was utilized in Egypt during the Ramesside Period.     

重庆市大足区锅盖坡宋墓清理简报

2002年9月,为配合重庆市大足区城北环二路的修建,大足石刻研究院对报恩村锅盖坡发现的两座仿木建筑结构宋墓进行了抢救性清理,墓内发现花卉纹、启门、孩童嬉戏等雕刻,出土少量"祥符元宝"铁钱、棺钉及铁环、碎瓷片等物。孩童嬉戏雕刻与大足石刻北山摩崖造像136窟所刻极为相似,体现了大足地区石窟艺术的历史传承性,也为研究墓葬与摩崖造像的联系提供了实物资料。该墓葬发现铁钱、石狮托棺台和M2墓中独具特色的华拱藻井和"四叶花窗"图样,在大足境内宋代墓葬尚属首次发现,为研究大足两宋社会生活提供墓葬和实物的新材料。     

春秋时期祭祖范围研究

祭祀祖先的范围,即仪典中祭祀哪些祖先,不但是祖先崇拜的基本问题,并且还折射出生者与祖先之间的关系,以及人们对家族、血缘的认知等等。春秋时期是社会变动较为剧烈的时期,在这一变化的时代,祭祀对象发生若干变化,祖先崇拜也展现出新的特点。总体而言,春秋时人重视近祖,也注重远祖,在选择所祭对象时,春秋时人以满足现实需求为目的,祭祀祖先有其灵活的一面而并无统一的标准。可堪注意的是,春秋时人擅于追溯远祖,春秋金文中出现了对祝融、成汤等远祖的追记,而不再如西周时人一般只将祖先追踪至文王武王时代。此外,春秋时人对于英雄祖先十分崇拜,并将这一风尚提升至礼的高度予以阐述。春秋时人追忆远祖,对儒家"慎终追远"的观念有深刻的影响;春秋时人崇拜英雄祖先,对于这一时期人们创造出共同的英雄祖先有直接的影响。