Arthur's refusal to eat: ritual and control in the romance feast

Arthur's refusal to begin feasting before he has seen a marvel or heard a tale of adventure is a recurring motif in medieval romance. Previous comment on this ritual has suggested that the source for such a taboo on eating may be found in earlier narratives in the Celtic languages. This paper argues that, although the ritual almost certainly originates in pre-chivalric society, romance authors adapted and developed it to reflect the courtly-chivalric preoccupations of their own world. Arthur's ritual gesture may be seen as a means of containing and controlling both interior moral threats and exterior physical peril, and is intimately connected to the courtly conception of the feast. This study draws on the evidence of religious writing and courtesy manuals and explores some highly-developed treatments of the motif in romance in order to suggest that literary engagements with Arthur's refusal to eat have much to say about contemporary ideas of ritual and reality as mediated through the symbolically-charged arena of the medieval feast.     

The Medieval Building Sequence and Dating of Clevedon Court,North Somerset

The construction date of the medieval manor house at Clevedon Court has long been said to be ‘c. 1320’, but no explanation or justification has ever been published. Stylistic, documentary and archaeological evidence is assembled to show that, following three distinct building phases, the house was completed during the decade ending in 1320. Analysis of the development of reticulated tracery helps to determine the date of the iconic chapel window. Other elements of the medieval house are considered and explained.     

Building the nation of the future,one waiting room at a time: hospital murals in the making of modern Mexico

Abstract

Mid-twentieth century Mexican hospitals – the buildings themselves and their interior and exterior walls – became stages that depicted national hopes and aspirations. Hospitals and clinics became ideal spaces that married science and medicine with the state’s version of a triumphant social revolution. Visitors and patients to hospital waiting rooms, lobbies and auditoriums would see, indeed be surrounded by, depictions of the complicated hopes placed on science and medicine as interpreted by politicians, architects, and artists. Hospital walls became contested spaces where art depicted Mexico’s embrace of modern technology and medical practices while also showcasing, in vivid color, citizens challenging the government’s broken revolutionary promises, especially the right of all to health and social security.     

古建油饰彩画的制作技术分析研究

为了对中国特有的古建油饰彩画制作技术加深了解,促进古建油饰彩画传统工艺科学化,采用X射线衍射仪、X射线荧光光谱仪、扫描电镜、体视显微镜等仪器对采自蒙古博格达汗宫博物馆、北京颐和园、甘肃嘉峪关、山西太符观等古代建筑的油饰彩画样品的制作技术进行了分析研究。结果表明,测试的样品分别采用了一麻五灰、一布四灰、单披灰等多种工艺制作地仗;麻纤维广泛应用于样品纤维层中,仅样品YHY-22使用了棉布;颐和园和博格达汉宫博物馆的样品以砖灰作为地仗无机填料,嘉峪关样品使用了白土粉,而山西古建样品则可能使用当地的土壤。可以得出结论:几个地区古建油饰彩画的制作材料和技术是有所不同的。     

Introductory Remarks

The author introduces the articles in this special issue of the journal, which draw on historical and architectural data to interpret the past and focus on French identity in the New World. The introduction stresses the importance of interdisciplinary studies to historical archaeological interpretation.     

明弘治十二年礼部会试舞弊案

弘治十二年(1499)春,唐寅以南京乡试第一名的成绩参加在京城举行的礼部会试。是次考试后来由于主考官程敏政和考生唐寅、徐经涉嫌鬻题舞弊而成为明代历史上一次受人关注的会试。唐寅也因为这场舞弊案而被废为吏,由此直接影响了唐寅后来的人生道路,特别是他的艺术创作。关于这场舞弊案,历来模糊难辨。本文试图从一些新的角度,如该试另一主考官李东阳与徐经家族的关系、《明孝宗实录》纂修以及关于此事的评价、对舞弊案所涉官员傅瀚、华昶以及唐寅友人都穆的考察等,来重新审视这一事件,这对研究中国绘画史上“明四家”之一的唐寅的个人思想无疑是个关键。     

台湾古建筑维修的原则与技术

介绍了台湾古建筑维修的程序与原则,根据维修原则开展调查研究、修护设计、实质施工、修护记录四项工作,从而达到“保存原有之色彩、形貌”。最后,依据《物保护法》不改变原状的原则,对今后古建筑维修提了一些建议。     

Late Preceramic Peru

This paper presents a synthesis of current knowledge of Late Preceramic Peru (ca. 4450–3800 B.P.), a field of study that is less than 50 years old. A brief history of investigations and discussion of chronological systems are presented. A review of Late Preceramic achievements concentrating on subsistence economies and technology is followed by discussion of the social world of Late Preceramic Peru and current consensus and disputes regarding culture processes. Extensive long-distance exchange, farming, and social complexity are first clearly seen in the archaeological record during this time period. Nevertheless, the significance of this evidence with regard to the nature and intensity of the culture practices and processes that they represent is currently under investigation and in contention.     

市内激励源对古建筑振动的影响

为了分析在不同激励下振动对古建筑的影响,选择苏州市省级文物保护单位——玉涵堂古建筑进行振动测试。记录了环境振动、地下轨道交通激励、人群社会活动激励和音响激励四种工况时一座两层砖木阁楼的振动信号。发现经过严格振动控制的地下轨道交通激励对古建筑振动的贡献可以忽略;环境振动和音响激励时段古建筑横向振动速度达标,而人群社会活动激励时段横向振动速度超标。从古建筑的建筑结构和功能区域划分以及人的激励形式三个方面对通常被忽视的人的因素进行了探讨,并提出了相应的减振措施。研究成果为其它类似两层砖木阁楼古建筑防护提供依据。     

Considerations for the identification of ritual deposits of animal bones in Iron Age pits

Although ritual practices amongst human groups are well documented, there are often great difficulties in deducing that ritual behaviour was one of the processes leading to the deposition of prehistoric animal bones. This paper examines developments in recent British literature, particularly those related to the interpretation of certain bones found in Iron Age pits and notably at Danebury hillfort. It discusses a set of arguments or criteria on which the growing literature on ritual is based. In most instances the criteria cannot be restricted to a solely ritual interpretation and a wider range of taphonomic explanations are possible. More rigorous excavation records and discussion of evidence are required to identify ritual satisfactorily.