河南焦作聂村商代晚期墓地人骨研究

通过对河南焦作聂村商代晚期遗址出土的人骨进行观察、测量和数据统计分析,结果表明,聂村商代晚期墓地所出人骨的死亡年龄主要集中在中年期,颅骨种族特征与古中原类型的殷墟中小墓(2)组最近似,成年男性居民平均身高为165.41厘米。在聂村商代晚期人骨上还发现筛状眶与多孔性骨肥厚、骨性关节炎等骨骼病理,两性在龋病患齿率上存在显著差异,女性明显高于男性。     

从“社”到“庄”:清代前期山东寿光县顺庄法的推行

清康熙年间,山东寿光县为缓解"大差"负担,将"大差"由轮当制改为下放给各社自理,但这进一步加重了民间劈社的窘境。乾隆年间知县王椿在缺少土地记录的情况下,采用"顺庄法"重整地方组织,缓解赋税征收的困境。以百姓实际居住的"庄",取代官方登记的里甲组织"社",作为税收登记与征收的基本单位。同时,这也形成了山东以"村庄"为基层组织的地方社会。因南北土地分布状况的差异,顺庄法在山东与江南显示出不同的形态与结果。     

青海互助县金禅口遗址发掘简报

2012年7月至9月,为探索麦类作物和外来畜养动物的传播途径,青海省文物考古研究所对位于青海互助土族自治县加定镇加塘村的金禅口遗址进行了考古发掘。共揭露齐家文化时期房址5座、灰坑15个、墓葬1座和陶窑2座,出土陶器、石器、骨器、铜器、木器等200多件及大量动、植物遗存。本文对其中的典型遗存进行了详细介绍。通过与邻近地区的同类文化遗存进行比照,本遗址出土的齐家文化典型器型与其存在许多相似之处。选取炭化植物种子10个样品,小麦、大麦、粟和黍,经北京大学考古文博学院碳十四实验室进行测年,数据结果的年代范围在2200~1750BC。综合考虑基本上反映了金禅口遗址齐家文化聚落的绝对年代。遗址中出土的众多细石器和大量动物骨骼反映了发达的畜牧业和狩猎经济。而通过对遗址中采集的土样轻浮物进行鉴定,显示碳化农作物种子10163粒,占出土碳化植物种子总数的90.4%,表明采集业是当时经济生活的重要补充,但农业仍是主要的生计方式。由此可见,金禅口遗址所处的自然环境决定了齐家文化时期先民的生业模式复杂多样。     

成都博物馆藏东汉陶仙山插座初探

成都及周边地区东汉晚期墓葬中出土有一种明显为仙山造型的陶质插座,倾向于为摇钱树的树座。其整体的三山、平台、洞穴造型及其上较为丰富的人物、羽人、伏羲、女娲、西王母形象应是当时观念中以昆仑、西王母为中心的神仙信仰的表现。将其制作为专门的丧葬用品,一方面反映了当时丧葬文化中的神仙信仰成分和超越死亡的升仙愿望,另一方面也再次印证了西南地区流行的摇钱树的主要内涵应与升仙有关。     

驰骋西北的平阳商帮

平阳商帮作为晋商的一支,明清两代是其发展的重要阶段,清末民初逐渐由繁盛走向衰落。平阳商帮经贸西路,其经营地点基本为丝绸之路沿线城市如西安、兰州、银川、武威、酒泉、西宁等,其经营行业涉及盐业、冶铁业、布业、烟业及茶叶等。明朝"开中法"的实施为平阳商人经贸西路拉开了序幕,丝路贸易的繁荣吸引平阳商人前去经商,"互通有无"的商业模式给平阳商人提供了商机,便利的交通亦是平阳商人经贸西路的重要条件。     

Ceramic Production and Interaction in the Northern Range of Trinidad

Regional syntheses based on data recovered mostly from outside of the Northern Range have characterized the mountainous region in northern Trinidad as a boundary between two distinct interaction spheres during the Early Ceramic Age (ca. AD 350–650/800) (Boomert 2000 Boomert, A. 2000. Trinidad, Tobago and the Lower Orinoco interaction Sphere: An Archaeological/Ethnohistorical Study. Alkmaar: Cairi Publications. [Google Scholar]). Changes occurring on Trinidad, other islands of the southern Lesser Antilles, and the South American mainland resulted in the disintegration of these earlier style zones during the final centuries of the Early Ceramic (Boomert 2000 Boomert, A. 2000. Trinidad, Tobago and the Lower Orinoco interaction Sphere: An Archaeological/Ethnohistorical Study. Alkmaar: Cairi Publications. [Google Scholar], 2010). This period of Late Ceramic cultural realignment was characterized by climate change, the renegotiation of political and social networks, and demographic transformations. We consider newly recovered ceramic evidence from the central Northern Range in order to evaluate the characterization of the region as a boundary and the region's role in broader Caribbean trends. We examine participation in interaction spheres to provide a more nuanced understanding of regional dynamics as they were expressed locally. Ceramic data indicate that occupants of the central Northern Range interpreted regional styles using locally derived materials, thus simultaneously engaging regional traditions and constructing local patterns of resource exploitation.     

Cleft Lip Case in a Middle Bronze Age Young Man from Altai,Russia

Oral cleft (OC) is a common congenital anomaly in humans, which occurs in approximately one per 700 live births. However, cleft skulls are found relatively seldom in archaeological specimens, especially for the bc period. Mortality of infants with OC was apparently high because of breastfeeding difficulties and culturally sanctioned rejection of them in the past. This paper presents one of the most ancient cases of OC in Eurasia. The finding comes from the Middle Bronze Age pastoralists' cemetery in Altai, Russia. The skeletal remains have been radiocarbon dated to 1883–1665 cal bc . Cranial and dental measurements, computed tomography and radiography have been used to examine this malformation. The facial sculpting reconstruction has been performed to visualise the ante mortem appearance of the cleft face. Besides, δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N isotope analysis was used for a comparative study of the diet of the cleft individual. It has been established that a young man from Altai was affected by complete bilateral cleft lip and alveolus, which is a very rare form of typical OC. This defect is associated with dental anomalies such as hypodontia, microdontia, and ectopia as well as with dysmorphology of the facial complex outside the cleft area, including mild hypertelorism, hypoplasia of nasal bones and antheroposterior maxillary deficiency. Furthermore, aplasia of the frontal sinuses and the sacral spina bifida occulta have been observed. These findings are consistent with clinical data indicating strong correlation between development of a major defect and multiple minor anomalies. The results of the study also suggest that there was tolerant attitude towards the facial deformities among the ancient Altai pastoralists. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nami's Middle Bronze Age Suburb: The Coastal Settlement at Site 104–106

This study presents a late 19th to early 18th cent. BCE, MBIIA settlement in the immediate vicinity of Tel Nami on the Carmel Coast of Israel. Site 104–106 has been all but destroyed by modern agricultural activity as well as quarrying, but a large number of ceramics and small finds were salvaged during a 1985–6 survey of Tel Nami?'s hinterland as well as subsequent geoarchaeological research of the area. Little of the site remains, and the current study functionally amounts to a salvage project for an MBIIA coastal site, which was mentioned in an earlier survey. Geomorphology reveals how the sandstone kurkar ridges in this area of the coast governed the dynamic relationship between Tel Nami and its hinterland. Comparable ceramic chronology for Site 104–106 presented derives from Aphek-Antipatris, Megiddo, Kabri, Tel Ifshar, Tel Nami itself, and other MBIIA coastal sites of the Southern Levant. The ceramics include well-produced local wares as well as imports from coastal Lebanon, Syria, and Cyprus confirmed by petrographic analyses. Finds suggest a small agro-industrial site in the immediate periphery of the coastal Tel Nami.     

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.     

Iron Age Landscapes of the Benue River Valley,Cameroon

The Iron Age settlements of northern Cameroon were dispersed across the landscape, taking advantage of different eco-climatic zones to exploit a variety of natural resources. Situated at the interface of the upper and lower terraces of the Benue River, mound sites in the area around Garoua have occupation histories spanning multiple centuries. The site of Langui-Tchéboua displays evidence for rapid accumulation of sediments approximately 700 years ago, which may have been a deliberate construction strategy that would have allowed the site’s inhabitants to exploit resources in both floodplain and dryland contexts. The combined use of multiple dating methods and micromorphology provide novel insights into both the mechanisms of anthropogenic landscape change and possible motivations governing those choices.