Vulnerability Index: A New Approach for Preventive Conservation of Monuments

A new approach is developed for vulnerability analysis of monuments based on a matrix model and the relationships with static and structural factors, climatic conditions, air quality, urban planning and social agents for preventive conservation of cultural heritage in urban centers.

The objective is to provide tools for decision-makers in the current recession to allow them to prioritize strategies for cultural heritage preservation in a town, where territorial policies are applied and regions where restoration budget is distributed. This new tool allows to classify monuments in order to prioritize restoration and is useful in deeper analysis associated to risks assessment.

The degradation of building materials and structures is mainly due to deterioration caused by structural instability, weathering, pollution, and anthropogenic damage. The vulnerability approach of each monument (vulnerability indexes) was calculated, based on a Leopold matrix that depends on intrinsic variables and the life of the monuments. For the very first time, the influence of different deterioration agents has been balanced with a Delphi forecast based on architects’ opinions.

The result is a new pre-Artificial Intelligence tool that enables users to reproduce human reasoning to study relations between vulnerability factors, risk factors, and the historical parameters of the monuments.     

Communism and cultural heritage: the quest for continuity

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the theoretical genealogy and main uses of heritage in actually existing communist countries. This is performed by carrying out a critical review of Èleazar Aleksandrovi? Baller’s Communism and Cultural Heritage, (1984, Progress, Moscow). The analysis of Baller’s work reveals that the logics of heritage in communist countries differed in various ways from capitalist countries, mainly because of the almost total state control over the heritage apparatus and the subordination of heritage policies to Marxist–Leninist ideology. Heritage was fundamental in dealing with the problem of change and continuity with the traditions, narratives and identities of previous society, and in the process of transforming citizens into ‘new men’ through the cultural revolution and the inculcation of ideology through museums and monuments.     

化学材料在石质文物保护中的应用

综述了目前石质文物保护中所用化学材料的种类、特点及应用,探讨了一些在石质文物保护中有发展潜能的化学材料。有机硅材料、纳米材料和仿生材料具有较好的应用前景。深入研究保护材料与石材的相互作用的微观机理,对于开发适用的石质文物保护材料是非常重要的。     

概述石质文物保护

目前,在整个博系统中存有为数众多的石质物,而大量的石质物由于自然环境的原因而面临毁坏,本主要阐述了一般石质物从清洗、粘接、修补到封护的整个保护过程,在整个过程当中运用了具有较好作用的化学材料,并说明了具体的操作工艺。     

东汉铜镜和画像石的图像比较

东汉时期的铜镜和画像石是两种不同质地、不同用途,分别处在阴阳两间的文物资料,然而,两者却有着相同的图案装饰,其创作设计的出发点都是为人生服务的。     

Bedding, hearths, and site maintenance in the Middle Stone Age of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Micromorphological analysis of sediments from the Middle Stone Age site of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, provides a high-resolution sequence and evidence of site formation processes of predominantly anthropogenic deposits. This methodology allows for a detailed interpretation of individual anthropogenic activities, including the construction of hearths and bedding and the maintenance of occupational surfaces through the sweep out of hearths and the repeated burning of bedding. This analysis also provides a context for evaluating other studies at the site relating to magnetic susceptibility, paleobotany, paleozoology, anthracology, and studies of ochre.     

Remains of the day-preservation of organic micro-residues on stone tools

Here I report on the decay processes of microscopic organic residues left on stone tool surfaces after their use. Residue analysis on ancient stone tools facilitates reconstruction of past activities. This study enables predictions about the circumstances under which ancient residues preserve. Experimental tool sets with modern residues were buried for a year in separate deposits at Sterkfontein, Sibudu (South Africa) and Zelhem (the Netherlands) whose pH and geomorphology varied, they were then analysed using light microscopy. Biological weathering mainly causes residue decay. In unstable environments rich in microbes and micro-organisms, residues decay quickly. From an archaeological perspective this means that sites that are stable, desiccated, waterlogged, extremely acidic or alkaline and extremely cold or hot sites. Different residue types have different preservation optima and this may lead to a preservation and perhaps interpretation bias. The preliminary predictive models presented in this paper could aid in the considered selection of sites and samples.     

Use-wear analysis of obsidian artifacts from Later Stone Age shell midden sites on the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea,with experimental results

This paper presents results of use-wear study on lithic artifacts from two Later Stone Age sites (Gelalo and Misse) on the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea. The sites produced large quantities of lithic artifacts in association with mollusk shells and ostrich eggshell beads, but it is unclear if all the stone tools were required for bead and mollusk shell processing. The study involved recording of microfracture damage traces in order to infer the use-material and the manner in which the artifacts were used. A large percentage of the analyzed samples from Gelalo and Misse preserve wear patterns suggestive of human use. The diagnostic wear types include: (1) dense step, snap (crushing) and hinge fractures typically confined on the working edges, and (2) feather scars organized in a scalar manner visible on the ventral and dorsal surfaces of the active parts. The observed damage patterns suggest cutting and engraving medium to hard materials. The evidence is incomplete for more generalization about the specific activities carried out at the sites. A brief experimental study involving ostrich eggshell drilling, oak twig sawing and bark scraping, meat slicing, and mollusk shell sawing and drilling was carried out to aid interpretation of wear features observed on the archaeological specimens. Wear traces produced by sawing mollusk shell and oak wood showed close affinity to those observed on the archaeological specimens. The study contributes important information about early Holocene site use on the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea. The close association of used lithic artifacts, symbolic objects (beads) and broken shell remains indicates that the sites were habitation areas.     

磨制石器类型学的分类原则与术语界定——以大辛庄商代石器为例

<正>对事物的分类是古代人类社会文化生活中的一种重要的比较自觉的行为和客观现象,人们在从事生产和生活时都会根据自己的标准进行自觉的分类活动。当然这些标准产生于特定的文化社会背景和思想意识,这就给我们今天的探寻以实际上有效的线索。所以考古研究中的器物分类是我们研究和复原古代文化的一条重