The mineral wealth of ancient Arabia and its use I: Copper mining and smelting at Feinan and Timna – comparison and evaluation of techniques, production, and strategies

Near Eastern fieldwork in mining archaeology and archaeometallurgy began at Timna (Israel) in the 1960s and 1970s and continued in Feinan (Jordan) in the 1980s and 1990s. For the first time, Bronze Age copper mines were excavated and cleared and importance was given to the slag recovered. At both sites copper was produced for over 5000 years, from the Chalcolithic to the Mamluk periods. Although the broad outlines of technical development can be traced, much remains to be learned in future studies.     

关于“夜郎文化”的思考

本文通过对被认为属于"夜郎文化"的威宁中水、赫章可乐、普安铜鼓山等遗址和墓地的出土遗物的对比研究,指出过去所认定的"夜郎文化"实际上是包含了三种不同的青铜时代文化类型,由此得出的"夜郎文化"并非严格上的考古学文化,而仅是一个大杂烩。     

邳州车夫山汉画像石墓初步研究

江苏邳州车夫山汉墓是一座绘画内容繁缛、雕刻精美的画像石墓。该墓墓葬形制较为完整,砖石混合结构,有东汉中晚期墓葬特点。对图像资料的内容进行了分类和阐释。     

2002年度香港西贡沙下遗址C02区和DⅡ02区考古发掘简报

20 0 2年 ,香港古物古迹办事处和河南省文物考古研究所联合在香港发掘西贡沙下遗址 ,发掘面积达 70 0平方米。发现有新石器时代晚期、青铜时代和宋元代的遗存。遗迹中属新石器时代晚期有房址、灰坑等 ,青铜时代有房址、灰坑、石器制造场、灰沟等 ,宋元代有灰坑。遗物中有不同时代的石器、陶器、硬陶器、瓷器、釉陶器等。     

试论作为长城"原型"的北方早期石城带

在新石器时代和青铜时代早期,长城沿线的内蒙古中南部、陕北、内蒙古东南部、辽西等地分布有若干石城带,这些石城带基本上都位于当时农业、半农业文化区的北缘,受到气候环境变迁的影响而南北略有移动,其重要功能之一是为了防御北方民族的南侵。由于这些特点与长城有可比之处,故可称其为长城的"原型"。     

论马家浜文化之前太湖地区的地理埋藏环境

近年来,地处东部沿海的浙江和山东地区陆续发现了距今11000～7000年间新石器时代中期和早期遗址,因此探讨江苏地区马家浜文化之前的地理埋藏问题也是必要的。本文重点探讨了长江下游太湖地区更新世晚期和早全新世时期的地理埋藏环境,并认为本区也应该存在新石器时代早中期的遗址。     

论黄河流域先秦时期腰坑墓葬俗文化——兼说与长江流域同类墓葬俗的关系

腰坑墓流行于黄河流域中原地区的墓葬中,学者们多把对其研究的焦点集中在对这一葬俗文化起源问题的讨论上,并较一致地认为该葬俗最早起源于河南地区。本文对发现的有关材料进行梳理,围绕中原地区先秦时期腰坑墓的起源、用途、性质、发展演变等进行了分析,以澄清过去研究中存在的一些模糊认识。认为,腰坑墓的葬俗最早可以追溯到新石器时代,而其起源亦非河南地区。     

石质文物病害机理研究

导致石质文物产生病害的因素很多,其中近年来日益加剧的环境污染带来的病害加速问题引起文物保护工作者的广泛关注。精确的病害诊断是文物保护的先决条件,因此,多学科综合研究和新技术不断引进到病害机理研究方面。对各种可能的病害原因从最初的定性分析逐渐转变到定量模拟分析方面。目前,石质文物病害研究从地质勘察、室内试验、现场试验等各个方面展开,但是由于各个试验条件不同,会出现不一致,甚至相悖的结论。在对石质文物病害的研究现状进行了总结后,认为试验体系标准的制定可以使得文物保护工作者的研究具有可比性,从而可以得出较具一般性的结论,这也是进行病害机理研究的基础。由于文物完整性保护的特殊要求,无损检测技术的发展及检测结果的判定是整个的试验体系中一个重要方面。同时,由于室内实验存在时间及尺寸等比例效应问题,室外长期观测试验应是今后的研究方向。最终将病害严重程度及发展趋势的判定和有效预防发展成为一个科学体系。     

Two medieval ‘trepanations’ – therapy or swindle?

During the 1991–1992 excavation of the ruins of the medieval cathedral in Hamar, Norway, the broken skull of an elderly man was found, showing evidence of an incomplete trepanation. The ‘surgeon’ had obviously tried to penetrate the skull surface around bregma in an irregular circle of 23 × 21 mm. Upon investigation, the skull revealed a reactive‐pathological area of the internal surface of the occipital bone, which probably represents a respite after a meningeal disorder (a tumour or an infectious process), causing us to suggest that the trepanation was meant to cure the patient's increasing headache. However, as a second skull with similar marks was found in the same churchyard, another explanation seems possible. Because the brain tumour in the first case may have altered the patient's mental state, we may surmise that these incomplete operations were an attempt to remove from these patients' heads the ‘Stone of Madness’, which was then commonly considered to be the reason for psychiatric diagnoses as well as persistent headache, and often depicted in European art, most notably in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. The second skull, revealing an even more incomplete attempt, did not show any skeletal pathology at all. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prehistoric dental modification in West Africa – early evidence from Karkarichinkat Nord,Mali

This paper reports the earliest securely dated evidence for intentional dental modification in West Africa. Human remains representing 11 individuals were recovered from the sites of Karkarichikat Nord (KN05) and Karkarichinkat Sud (KS05) in the lower Tilemsi Valley of eastern Mali. The modified anterior maxillary dentitions of four individuals were recovered from KN05. The dental modification involved the removal of the mesial and distal angles of the incisor, as well as the mesial angles of the canines. The modifications did not result from task‐specific wear or trauma, but appear instead to have been produced for aesthetic purposes. All of the filed teeth belonged to probable females, suggesting the possibility of sex‐specific cultural modification. Radiocarbon dates from the site indicate that the remains pertain to the Late Stone Age (ca. 4500–4200 BP). Dental modification has not previously been reported from this region of West Africa and our findings indicate that the practice was more widespread during prehistory. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.