The value of empire: tenth-century Bulgaria between Magyars,Pechenegs and Byzantium

The article seeks to explain the connection between the migration of the Magyars and Pechenegs in central and south-east Europe, in the late ninth and early tenth century, and the conflict between Byzantium and Bulgaria during the same period. Through reference to anthropologists discussing the relations between nomadic and sedentary societies (Khazanov, Barfield), and historians studying medieval rituals (Buc, Althoff, Koziol), the article interprets the aggressive policy of the Bulgarian tsar Symeon as a consistent effort to displace Byzantium as major partner of the nomadic polities in the area. By subverting the principles of Byzantine diplomacy and political culture, Symeon turned his own kingdom into a society-structuring factor in the nomadic world. The article evaluates the very meaning of imperial claims not so much in legal terms, as an effort to guarantee Bulgaria’s sovereignty in a Byzantium-centred world, but in the real-time capacity of a ruler to make use of imperial symbols and act upon the dynamically changing conjuncture.     

The fish of Lake Titicaca: implications for archaeology and changing ecology through stable isotope analysis

Research on past human diets in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin has directed us to investigate the carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of an important dietary element, fish. By completing a range of analyses on modern and archaeological fish remains, we contribute to two related issues regarding the application of stable isotope analysis of archaeological fish remains and in turn their place within human diet. The first issue is the potential carbon and nitrogen isotope values of prehistoric fish (and how these would impact human dietary isotopic data), and the second is the observed changes in the fish isotopes through time. Out of this work we provide quantitative isotope relationships between fish tissues with and without lipid extraction, and a qualitative analysis of the isotopic relationships between fish tissues, allowing archaeologists to understand these relationships and how these values can be applied in future research. We test a mathematical lipid normalization equation to examine whether future researchers will need to perform lipid extraction procedures for Lake Titicaca fish. We also analyze a number of aquatic plants to better understand the range of isotopic signatures of the Lake Titicaca ecosystem. We use these data to better understand prehistoric human diet and the role that fish may have played in the past as well as potential changes in local lake ecology through time.     

Intensive El Niño and the Iron Age of South-eastern Africa

Burnt daga structures in Iron Age villages serve as proxies for severe drought on the plateau of southern Africa. The distribution of burnt daga remains in two other rainfall areas, KwaZulu-Natal and the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone over Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, establishes a sequence of simultaneous burnings that parallels the severe droughts recorded for the interior plateau. These widespread correspondences suggest a common cause. Another correspondence with natural proxy data from South America indicates that intensive El Niño events most likely caused the droughts.     

Specialization of ceramic production: A sherd assemblage based analytic perspective

One expectation of emergent complexity is that as ceramic craft specialization increases it is reflected by increasingly homogeneous products due to the modified organization of craft production by specialists. This question has most often been addressed by analysis of sub-sets of larger ceramic assemblages consisting of intact vessels from idiosyncratic contexts. However, excavations often do not yield appropriate whole vessel sub-sets. In order to evaluate the changing context of the organization of ceramic production, we engage a robust methodological approach to the analysis of ceramic sherd assemblages, rather than intact vessels, rooted in cluster analysis but which we rigorously evaluate by other means. We successfully employ this method to assess changes in the organization of ceramic production through a 1000 year sequence leading to the emergence of the Tarascan state, and conclude in this case that no significant reorganization of ceramic production occurred with Tarascan state formation.     

Near infrared spectroscopy as a tool for archaeological wood characterization

Archaeological wood, as most of natural materials, is slowly decomposing on the archaeological site due to various biological factors. Rapid and accurate estimation of the degradation level is extremely important for optimal restoration and conservation. The goal of this research was to verify the effectiveness of Fourier transform near infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy for archaeometry. The important advantage of the NIR spectroscopy is its accuracy, simplicity and ability to perform very high number of tests without needs of any destruction to the workpiece. Five oak pieces of the archaeological wood collected from waterlogged sites in Poland have been used. Cellulose and lignin contents, as well as crystallinity and the degree of polymerization were measured with standard reference methods and compared to the contemporary wood. The near infrared spectra represent all the physical/chemical changes of the wood due to waterlogging. This technique was successfully validated in rapid estimation of the cellulose and lignin contents. The method explored in this research might be a novel tool assisting experts in evaluation of the degradation state of archaeological and historical wooden materials.     

The meals in a Tuscan building yard during the Middle Age. Characterization of organic residues in ceramic potsherds

The characterization of organic residues found in ceramics objects coming from the Carmine Convent in Siena (Central Italy), probably built in the second half of the 13th century, is described. The nine objects analyzed in this study are pots, casseroles, and lids and they were used as filling material of the vault of one room of the convent.     

The plant landscape of the imperial harbour of Rome

The research concerns the Tiber delta area, about 3 km far from the present seacoast, where the remains of the ancient harbour of Rome are located. In 42 AD, Claudius started the construction of the harbour and Nero completed it in 64 AD. Then, the emperor Trajan went on to add a hexagonal basin to the former structure, which had gradually silted up. The imperial harbour was connected to the Tiber River and ultimately to the city of Rome through the Trajan channel. During the imperial period, most of the supplies imported from the Mediterranean provinces reached the city of Rome through Portus.     

略谈宋代官窑瓷器研究中存在的问题

宋代官窑是中国古陶瓷研究中的重要内容之一。长期以来,由于对相关历史文献的理解不同以及考古发掘的局限性,致使在宋代官窑瓷器研究中存在许多悬而未决的问题,诸如何为北宋官窑,北宋朝廷是否在都城汴京设置过官窑,北宋官窑是否就是汝窑,河南汝州张公巷窑是否是北宋官窑,南宋修内司官窑的称谓是否准确,南宋官窑是否只有郊坛下官窑一处,何为文献上所说的内窑,老虎洞窑是修内司官窑还是文献上所说的续窑,等等。本文在对专家学者们对上述问题的看法进行疏理的基础上,指出对宋代官窑瓷器的研究离不开传世宋代官窑瓷器、现代科学技术手段和考古发掘资料,只有将这三者结合起来开展综合研究,才能最终解决上述问题。     

清末民初广州城市的环卫制度与环境整治

清末民初是中国历史上一个重要的转型时期,广州城市环卫制度的构建随着这一时期政治制度的变革而展开,经历了从清末新政以前的缺失,到新政以后至1920年代逐渐形成的过程。与此同时,广州城市环境卫生的整治,在形成中的环卫制度指导下,向制度化、规范化的方向转变。从此以后,广州市的环境整治由民间的无序行为,走向以政府或政府指导下有序的法治化轨道。清末民初广州市的城市环卫制度与环境整治方式的改变,对民国时期乃至新中国初年的广州城市环境卫生的管理均产生了重要的影响。