Hindu cosmology and the orinetation and segregation of social groups in villages in Northwestern India

This paper presents a cultural analysis of the directional orientation and segregation of castes in villages in a part of the northwestern plains of India. It interprets the built environment in terms of Hindu cosmology. Recent literature in cultural geography interprets the landscape as text or through symbols. The symbolic approach has greater relevance for traditional societies where clear schemata are discernible in built environments. This paper attempts a critical appraisal of Hindu cosmology as a schema for interpreting built environments in Indian villages.
Challenging the widely held view that Indian villages lack order, the paper demonstrates that there is a religiously ordained order in the landscape. The order is manifested in the form of orientation of several features of landscape, especially the caste mohallãs (wards) to the cardinal directions. Orientation of caste mohallãs to the 'sacred' directions in a settlement follows a system evolved by Indian civilization to harmonize the fractured social order with the segmented cosmic order. The paper also demonstrates that segregation is an inherent characteristic of orientation.
As a background for regional diversities, empirical evidence reveals that in the study region Hindu cosmology is impressed on villages, though often in a modified form. Villagers believe that the social space known as khenúã slopes down from west to east, while the southern sector is the 'lowest' segment of the village. Dominant castes characteristically reserve for themselves the best western site of the village and low castes are placed in lower social spaces, with scheduled castes being generally placed in the south.     

Small prey hunting technology and zooarchaeological measures of taxonomic diversity and abundance: Ethnoarchaeological evidence from Central African forest foragers

Archaeological analyses of faunal assemblages often rely on rationale derived from the prey choice model to explain temporal and spatial changes in taxonomic measures of diversity and/or abundances. In this paper, we present analyses of ethnoarchaeological observations and bone assemblages created by Central African Bofi and Aka forest foragers which show that different small prey hunting technologies target specific suites of prey and that hunters vary their technological choice depending on their foraging goals. Analysis of ethnoarchaeological bone assemblages produced by the Bofi and Aka shows that variability in target prey can create spatially distinct, but contemporaneous, faunal assemblages with different diversity values and abundance indices. These data reveal important variation in how individuals within a contemporary human population rank prey and challenge current assumptions about the meaning of diversity and abundances measures in archaeological contexts. We argue that the use of diversity and abundance indices can obscure important intrasite variability in prehistoric foraging effort and suggest strategies that might enhance current techniques.     

我国历史文化遗产保护科技成果推广转化现状及对策研究

从我国历史文化遗产保护科学技术研究和科技成果推广转化现状出发,分析了在历史文化遗产保护领域中科技成果推广转化存在缺少政策法规的建立、组织系统不健全等问题,对进一步作好历史文化遗产保护科技成果推广转化提出了运行机制和激励机制的建议。     

海岱地区新石器时代玉料来源及琢玉工艺初探

关于海岱地区新石器时代的玉器,此前已有学者从不同角度作过研究.但对于玉料来源及琢玉工艺从未做过专题分析.本文根据考古学以及矿物学的最新研究进展,从考古学文化的分区、文化因素分析、制作工艺等角度进行了尝试分析.     

On the provenance and manufacture of red-slipped fine ware from ancient Cassope (NW Greece): evidence by X-ray analytical methods

Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy was used to characterize red-slipped pottery (2nd–1st century BC) from ancient Cassope, north-western Greece. The compositional data were statistically treated by principal component analysis and chemical groups were established, representing locally produced and imported items. Mineralogical investigation by X-ray diffraction indicated firing temperatures in the range from 850 to 1000 °C for most of the sherds, while one group consisted of over-fired items, possibly in excess of 1050 °C. The morphology and elemental composition of the ceramic bodies and surface slips were examined through scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The analyses revealed that different pottery groups exhibit surface slips of different nature, in terms of thickness, degree of vitrification and elemental composition. Overall, the diversity in technological characteristics of the examined sherds is indicative of the socio-economic conditions prevailing in Cassopaea during the late Hellenistic period.     

现代科学技术对中国文物保护的影响和启示

中国文物保护事业的发展是紧紧伴随着现代科学技术的发展而发展的.经过清末的国门被打开、建国后的现代化建设以及改革开放后的科学发展,现代科学技术数度冲击促进着我国的发展,推动文物保护工作上了三个台阶,并具有显著特征.展望现代科学技术在文物保护中应用研究的同时,我们也要认识到建立文物保护理论体系和文物保护技术方法的重要性.     

Socio‐cultural currents affecting heritage site consideration: The impact of human values on people's attitudes and behaviour

Abstract

Many heritage site directors think of market research in simple ‘who, what, when, where’ terms; who came to their site, what did they see, when did they come, and where did they come from? Some also have employed qualitative techniques to probe ‘why’, asking groups of visitors to tell moderators why they were attracted, or not, by some specific exhibit, site or display. Research can offer a far deeper understanding than this basic marketing information. After a brief introduction focusing on the impact of demographics in the next few years, and recent trends in visits to British attractions, the analysis of key attitudinal statements regarding the psychological impact of heritage and technology is examined to see which socio‐cultural trends affect attitudes to these concepts.     

Science and Technology at the World Bank, 1968–83

The World Bank was an important supporter of science and technology during the period 1968–83. President Robert McNamara’s poverty oriented strategy created challenges that led to technological research, technology assessment and technological innovation in agriculture, forestry, civil works construction, sanitation, and many other fields of development. The Bank also pioneered in financing governmental mechanisms to stimulate industrial innovation. On the other hand, its support to science and technology was limited by lack of an overall policy and systematic support from top management, as well as by cumbersome procedures designed for large infrastructural projects. Even so, its financial independence, its strong leadership, its experienced and non‐political technical staff, and its ability to scale up successful innovations through its project lending, made it an important promoter of appropriate technology in the developing world.     

Effect of heat treatment on siliceous rocks used in prehistoric lithic technology

Stone tool manufacture by many prehistoric and recent societies was characterized by deliberate heating of fine grained siliceous rocks to improve their flaking properties. Extensive mechanical testing of heated and unheated cryptocrystalline and macrocrystalline quartz lithologies has shown that thermal treatment causes a consistent marked reduction in fracture toughness. This mechanical property can be used as an objective measurement of the flaking qualities of stone materials, and a reliable criterion for the recognition of intentionally heated artefacts in the archaeological record. X-ray diffraction studies and scanning electron microscopy have demonstrated that the change in fracture toughness with heating is the result of recrystallization. The poorly ordered, strongly interlocking cryptocrystalline fabric of the unheated samples becomes more equigranular and better crystallized with thermal treatment. As a consequence, fractures propagate more readily in heated samples, accounting for their better flaking properties.     

郑州地区商代建筑夯土材料的科技分析与研究——以郑州商城和郑州小双桥遗址为例

本研究以郑州商城和小双桥遗址发现的不同建筑类型的夯土材料(城墙、高台基址、建筑基础、水井等)为对象,利用显微观察、拉曼光谱分析、粒度分析、磁化率测定、烧失量测定等科技方法,结合形貌特征比对开展综合研究。研究初步探析了郑州地区商代各类型夯土材料的结构、组成和物性特征。通过土壤微形态分析等方法有效识别了夯土的微观结构、组分和微构造,揭示了先民夯筑行为对原生土壤的改造现象,进而探讨了夯土在建造和使用时期的人地关系。