Multiple Optima in Hoabinhian flaked stone artefact palaeoeconomics and palaeoecology at two archaeological sites in Northwest Thailand

High resolution analyses of flaked stone artefact technology coupled with palaeoecological reconstruction from oxygen isotope analyses of freshwater shells from two rockshelter in the highlands of Northwest Thailand are described. Previously undocumented scales of technological variation are observed in response to environmental variation across the prehistoric landscape and through time. Three models of human behavioural ecology are used to test predictions about how foragers adapted their stone artefact technology to variation in climatic conditions and proximity to stone resources. These models are found to be problematic and are modified by including multiple optima that reflect the specific ecological conditions under consideration.     

The context,form and significance of the MSA engraved ostrich eggshell collection from Diepkloof Rock Shelter,Western Cape,South Africa

Broken ostrich eggshells are commonly found in Middle Stone Age sites of southern Africa, presumably collected for food consumption, and later used as artefacts. At Diepkloof Rock Shelter, Middle Stone Age inhabitants used ostrich eggshells as a medium to convey abstract depictions. Since 1998, excavations at Diepkloof have recovered 408 engraved pieces of ostrich eggshells. The study of these shows that Diepkloof inhabitants applied a restricted set of geometric engraving patterns, with the dominance of 2 main motifs, one using a hatched band and the other sub-parallel to converging lines. These motifs coexisted, but shifted in frequency toward the latter through time. Together with evidence that ostrich eggshells were used as containers, these patterns support the hypothesis that engravings were made with respect to clear but flexible social conventions and were part of a complex system of visual and symbolic communication. Since our last report (Texier et al., 2010), a few engraved pieces have been found in lower stratigraphic units, expanding substantially the time-range of the engraving practice on ostrich eggshells at Diepkloof. The earliest engravings appear at the end of the Early Howiesons Poort phase, but become numerous only during the Intermediate and Late phases of the Howiesons Poort. The collection from Diepkloof is presently unique and likely underlines the existence of regional traditions within the Howiesons Poort. Interestingly, and significantly in our view, the engraving disappears at the same time as the Howiesons Poort technology. We argue that this disappearance may reflect a modification in the way late Middle Stone Age inhabitants interacted with one another.     

Statistical means for identifying hunter–gatherer residential features in a lithic landscape

Techniques are described for extracting circular rock features from landscapes dominated by clasts of the same type from which cultural features are composed, using as a test case a large stone circle residential site in western Wyoming, USA. Methods consist of point plotting all relevantly-sized culturally and naturally-deposited clasts in the field and identifying potential cultural features using point density analyses tools in ArcGIS. Potential rings are either accepted or rejected as cultural features by comparing clast frequency, density and distribution in internal, feature-ring, and external spatial buffers to ethnoarchaeological data recording stone circle size and morphology and to similar data generated from a control sample of off-site, naturally-occurring clasts. The results of the analysis are used to discuss group size, mobility type, and duration of site occupation and to explore problems of assessing such at surface archaeological sites resulting from palimpsest-type site formation processes.     

《石鼓文新解》辩

《石鼓文新解》言“将十鼓全文补全、全文注译”,并考证了“石鼓制作年代、作者、书者和埋藏时间”。本文分析论证后指出该书存在如下问题:1、其对制作年代等的考证存在比附史实、证据不足、推测想象等嫌疑;2、其杂糅东坡伪本、宋拓善本校订、补缀石鼓的“填充题式”做法值得商榷,其《鼓文补全》的“学术成果”更有待检验;3、其“按纪事时间先后和轻重缓急”重新排定的“序次”仍需深入考证;4、其注释鼓文也存在“瑕疵”:“六书”术语的运用欠准确;解字释义往往于文献无据,似较主观随意等。因此,“序”文称《石鼓文新解》为“卓有成就的考古专著”、“研究成果较之以往各家,包括马叔平(衡)、郭沫若、唐立庵(兰)先生所著,有较大的突破”等,很值得商榷。     

Early evidence of complexity in lithic economy: core-axe production,hafting and use at Late Middle Pleistocene site 8-B-11, Sai Island (Sudan)

Wear analysis indicates that Sangoan core-axes from site 8-B-11 at Sai Island, Sudan, were used while hafted. The middle Sangoan occupation level at 8-B-11 served as a locale where specialized activities were performed, including core-axe manufacture and hafting. Newly manufactured quartz core-axes served as replacements for exhausted items that were mostly fabricated out of raw materials other than quartz, which were carried back to the site in their hafts for re-tooling. The hafted core-axes appear as highly mobile, curated tools, being transported across a large territory. The evidence indicates that the Sangoan is the archaeological reflection of a complex behavioural system involving economic specialization, which appeared in this part of Africa for the first time around 200 ka ago.     

Source provenance of obsidian artifacts from the Early Stone Age (ESA) site of Melka Konture,Ethiopia

The source provenance of 10 Early Stone Age artifacts from the localities in Melka Konture has been determined by EDXRF. Results show that the early to mid-Pleistocene makers of the artifacts derived the raw material from a source located in their proximity, supporting the previously proposed short distance transport of raw material for the time period.     

粉尘对云冈石窟石雕影响的研究

为了解云冈石窟大气中粉尘污染的现状,用X射线衍射、扫描电镜(EDAX)和显微镜对大气中粉尘的主要物质成分进行了分析。选择SO2和粉尘两个标志作为变动因素,通过室内模拟试验就粉尘对石雕的影响进行了探讨。结果表明,粉尘对石雕的影响既有物理作用,又有化学作用,物理风化和化学风化长期存在,交替作用,互相促进,致使云冈石窟石雕遭受严重的风化。     

露天石质文物的风化和加固保护探讨

探讨了石质物风化的诸因素,认为主要来源于石材原料、物理因素、化学因素、生物因素和人为破坏等儿个方面,阐述了目前用于石质物加固保护的无机加固剂、有机加固剂的特点、应用及其加固技术,该工作对石质物加固保护具有指导意义。     

Governor Stone: Analysis of an 1877 Two-masted Schooner from the Gulf of Mexico

This article details the historic preservation documentation and construction analysis of the 1877 American 2-masted schooner Governor Stone , a National Historic Landmark. Governor Stone 's construction reflects its intended use as a general freight and oyster schooner, and to a lesser degree its geographic origin along the Gulf of Mexico. While the physical environment of the Gulf Coast necessarily constrained the size of these vessels, 2-masted schooners of the Gulf Coast generally exhibit similarities with their contemporary functional equivalents of other American regions rather than stylistic elements unique to their geography.
© 2004 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

Wild or domesticated? An ancient DNA approach to canid species identification in South Africa's Western Cape Province

The fragmentary remains typical of archaeological fauna can prove impossible to identify when confronted with closely related sympatric species. In southern Africa domesticated dogs (Canis familiaris) and black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) pose just such a problem, rendering difficult an accurate assessment of the timing of arrival of domesticated dogs in the region. Contextual evidence has suggested that canid remains from four Later Stone Age archaeological sites were likely to be domesticated dogs rather than jackals, and were subjected to ancient DNA analyses to determine species. Every tested specimen proved to derive from black-backed jackals. These data provide not only an unexpected window on southern African prehistory, but also highlight the value in applying ancient DNA techniques to archaeological species identification.