Quantification of dental caries by osteologists and odontologists—a validity and reliability study

As in modern populations, dental caries in early populations is linked to diet and general health. In order to record not only advanced disease states with frank cavitation of teeth but also early lesions, indicating the presence of the disease in a population, it is important that the archaeologist can correctly detect and classify lesions of varying severity. The present study compares and contrasts quantification of dental caries by osteologists and odontologists. Four osteologists and four odontologists undertook visual and radiographic inspection of 61 teeth from three different sources: medieval, 19th century and modern. Separate sets of criteria were applied to disclose observer confidence in detecting a lesion and in estimating lesion extent. For validation of visual assessments, the teeth were sectioned. Radiographic assessments were validated by a specialist in dental radiography. The results disclosed that the odontologists in general showed greater sensitivity than the osteologists, correctly identifying carious lesions, but the osteologists had higher specificity, correctly identifying healthy teeth. Thus, the osteologists tend to overlook carious lesions (under‐diagnosis), while the odontologists tend to incorrectly record lesions in healthy teeth (over‐diagnosis). For both osteologists and odontologists, correct assessment was poorer for radiographs than for visual inspection. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Visual and radiographic assessment of dental caries by osteologists: a validity and reliability study

In the skeletal remains of earlier populations, the presence and severity of dental caries preserves evidence about general health and diet. The quality of the data collected on dental caries is highly dependent on the diagnostic skills of the examining osteologist. A major barrier to more detailed data is reliance on visual inspection only. The present study compared quantification of carious lesions by osteologists, using both visual and radiographic inspection. Four osteologists with varying experience of caries diagnosis registered the presence and extent of dental caries on the crown and root surfaces of 61 teeth sourced from three different samples: archaeological, anthropological and modern. The teeth were subsequently sectioned to provide a control or standard reference. The interobserver differences were calculated as sensitivity (observer correctness in identifying teeth with caries disease). The two observers with more experience of dental paleopathology showed higher agreement with the standard reference than the other two observers, i.e. they correctly diagnosed more carious lesions. The most pronounced interobserver difference was for radiographic inspection of root surfaces. The recordings by the two experienced observers conformed much more closely with the standard reference than those of the less experienced observers. The results confirm that experience has a major influence on practical observations in dental paleopathology. The quality of collected data on dental caries could be enhanced by improving osteologists' knowledge of the disease process and the application of uniform, unambiguous criteria for registration of carious lesions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An investigation of climatic change in the holocene epoch using archaeological charcoal from Swaziland, Southern Africa

A methodology is described for the analysis of Holocene charcoals excavated from a rock shelter in the Lubombo Mountains of northeast Swaziland. Scanning electron microscopy was used to compare these with modern reference woods. Of the ancient material 96·6% could be identified, in some cases at specific level. It is in such a subtropical area, where the woody flora is so rich, that assemblages of local taxa can be used in palaeoclimatic reconstructions. The changing taxa indicated by the charcoal fragments from the rock shelter clearly reflect minor shifts in Holocene climate, from moist to dry and back to moist in recent times. This is of relevance to the fluctuations in Stone Age populations in southern Africa. The wider use of such evidence to complement other palaeoenvironmental and archaeological data is advocated.     

关于川渝地区船棺葬的族属问题

本根据成都平原等地和重庆地区葬具的发展线索,认为船棺葬为蜀人的固有葬俗,巴县冬笋坝和昭化宝轮院的船棺葬是受蜀化影响的结果。巴人本来无船棺葬的习俗。     

秦印复姓初步统计

在秦玺印、封泥、陶文中保留了大量的姓氏资料,这对研究先秦、两汉姓氏的源流及其制度有积极的作用。本文主要统计了秦印中五十多种复姓,并对其加以简单的考证,以求有助于对先秦复姓的综合研究。     

带锈青铜器真伪的鉴别

本就在观察分析带锈青铜器锈蚀物的基础上,应用扫描电子显微镜和X-射线粉晶衍射仪检测分析,确定中提及的4件带锈青铜器为伪器。同时中对青铜器锈的真伪辨别方法进行了论述。     

汝城非物质文化遗产的景观基因识别——以香火龙为例

以汝城香火龙为例,论文结合传统聚落景观基因理论开展非物质文化遗产的景观基因识别研究。论文首先提出了分析比较法、资料记录法和观察法三种非物质文化遗产的景观基因识别方法,认为可以从传承载体、表现形式、文化信仰和意象特征四种途径识别出非物质文化遗产的特征基因并构建了相关的识别指标。结合收集的研究资料,论文进行了汝城香火龙的景观基因识别。本文的相关研究工作可以为今后开展区域性非物质文化遗产的文化基因详查、建立相关数据库并促进其保护与传承等具有一定的参考价值。     

Do temporal size differences influence species identification of archaeological albatross remains when using modern reference samples?

Zooarchaeological remains have been identified to species, using identification criteria based on specific morphological variations among modern specimens. However, temporal size changes in bones, due to micro-evolution and/or phenotypic plasticity, could distort identification of archaeological remains according to these criteria. We developed species identification criteria for North Pacific albatrosses (Short-tailed, Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses) using both mensural- and DNA-based analysis and actually identified many archaeological remains from a site using these criteria. Our mensural-based criteria could accurately discriminate the modern Short-tailed Albatross from modern Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses and indicated that the archaeological remains included both Short-tailed and Laysan or Black-footed Albatrosses. DNA-based criteria, however, suggested that all remains were Short-tailed Albatross. The most plausible explanation for this inconsistency would be misidentification using mensural-based analysis, due to temporal size changes in bones or existence of birds from extinct population(s) or breeding region(s) with mensurally different bones from recent birds. This is the first study that suggests temporal size changes in bones may distort the species identification of archaeological remains according to modern size variations. Further studies are required to judge if this pattern is unusual or not.     

物联网技术在博物馆藏品管理中的应用分析——以秦始皇帝陵博物院为例

随着智能化时代的来临,藏品管理工作也需更加高效、灵活地进行。利用物联网及相关技术,能快速、准确地对文物信息进行采集,对文物存放环境进行监测,对出入库人员信息进行识别。通过系统软件平台对采集到的数据进行分析和处理,最终实现了文物的动态管理、清点及信息查询,加强了环境监测水平以及对出入库人员的控制管理。将物联网技术引入藏品管理工作中来,不但提高了工作效率,增强了安全性,更为实现文物智能化管理提供了新思路、新手段。     

The stable isotopic composition of historical black powder applicable to a Japanese Tanegashima matchlock

The objective of the present study is to employ stable isotope ratio measurements (δ¹⁵N, δ³⁴S and δ¹³C) of the nitrogen, sulphur and carbon in black powder (a mixture of saltpetre, native sulphur and charcoal) as a means of source identification. A sum total of 20 samples of historical black powder applicable to matchlocks were collected from six locations throughout Japan. This classic type of hand gun prevailed up to the introduction of the modern rifles, with quicker loading and higher efficiency, in the mid‐to‐late 19th century. δ¹³C_{charcoal carbon} values showed the predominant use of C₃ plants as a source material. Except for a few unusual samples with a probable exotic origin, δ¹⁵N_{saltpetre nitrogen} values were largely consistent with those of domestic products using classical biotechnology. The isotopic analysis for native sulphur (δ³⁴S_{native sulphur}) indicates a complicated marketing route.