Living on the Edge? Transformation of a Marginal Pleistocene Landscape Into a Settlement Area in the Northeastern Part of the Netherlands

ABSTRACT

This paper will examine settlement location during the Iron Age in the northeast part of the Netherlands, an area shaped by Pleistocene geology. In recent years, a number of Late Iron Age/Early Roman settlements situated on the low lying slopes of sand ridges and nearby stream ridges revealed traces of an earlier Iron Age occupation. Palynological data revealed that this part of the landscape was used by humans before it was transformed into an area of settlement. An analysis of excavation data from two key sites at Denekamp-De Borchert and Groningen-Helpermaar, as well as other known sites, lead to the conclusion that the transformation of ‘peripheral landscapes’ into permanent settlement locations was preceded by a phase of arable cultivation which left no trace of permanent habitation. It is also suggested that the impact of human behaviour on the natural landscape in the Early and Middle Iron Age was much bigger than previously anticipated. When excavating this type of settlement areas dating to the Late Iron Age, archaeologists must be aware that only of a small group of archaeological features exist. The proposed model for the choice of settlement location may be more widespread, because of similarities in landscape between the study area presented here and other landscapes in Northwest-Europe (e.g. parts of Germany and Denmark).     

古代江南地区圩田开发及其对生态环境的影响

江南地区的圩田大致滥觞于三国之际,迅速发展于两宋,全盛于明清,是我国江南人民在长期治田治水实践中创造的农田开发的一种独特形式。文章以大量历史文献资料为基础,全面考察了江南地区圩田开发的历程与特点,研究了江南圩田兴盛的历史因素和自然条件,并简要分析了圩田的作用。在此基础上,具体探讨了圩田开发对生态环境所造成的影响,认为因过渡围垦破坏了江南地区原有的湖泊河流水文环境,造成“水不得停蓄,旱不得流注”的严重局面,这便给圩田大大增加了防患水灾的压力;历代地方政府在圩田管理方面也是各自为政,各地圩田缺乏相互间的协作,使因破圩而形成的局部水灾年年有之;大量构筑圩田,使湖泊面积大为缩小,影响其调节水量的功能,破坏了本地区的生态条件,致使灾害频频发生。此外,围湖特别是废湖以后,使众多的水生资源也遭到了严重破坏。     

北京紫禁城背景环境及其保护

伴随文化遗产诞生与发展的历史过程,其周围的历史人文和自然景观环境构成文化遗产的背景环境,应该加以妥善的保护。紫禁城的背景环境经过长时期的积累,明清北京城的整体格局是它的骨架,传统城市设计与建筑和前人对北京地区自然环境的开发成果构成它的美学和景观特色,众多文物古迹是其中的重点元素。北京城市性质发生革命突变以后,在城市规划上的缺陷造成紫禁城背景环境的改变与破坏。北京历史文化名城保护规划的确定和故宫缓冲区的建立,将净化和恢复紫禁城背景环境。     

Of Navies and Navels: Britain as A Mental Island

In this paper, the conception of .Great Britain. — a wholly unsatisfactory nomenclature — as an island nation is examined. In this case, a relatively small land mass acted as an originary point of departure for outward‐bound Great Power projections across the open spaces of seas. This paper further explores the varied implications for nationalism within Britain of the diverse island ‘roots’ of the British navel and the ‘routes’ of British navalism. Three themes recur in the popular mobilization of British maritime island nationalism: the besieged island, the island as universal exemplar of civilization, and the navy as national protector. Some consideration is given to the significance of island symbols such as Britannia as a marker of the fate of great island nationalism.     

Marked occupational dental abrasion from medieval Kent

A medieval male skeleton displays marked dental abrasion which is considered to be occupational, possible related to carpentry. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Watercourses and Discourses: Coalmining in the Upper Hunter Valley,New South Wales

ABSTRACT Water is a resource that both unites and divides people in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales, where many communities are facing the prospect of large‐scale open‐cut coalmining developments on productive mixed use land, or already live in proximity to mines and power stations. This article analyses conflicts over a proposed coal mine at Bickham in the Upper Hunter Valley, by contrasting the various protagonists' discourses of water scarcity, supply, and connectivity. It examines the ways in which the terms of opposition are narrowed to the arena of state and industry supported science and economic development, marginalising other cultural values and environmental ethics that are integral to opponents' discourses. Opponents have achieved some measure of success through contestation of the uncertain science of hydrological modelling, bolstered by the context of drought and increasing public acceptance of climate change science.     

明清时期汉水下游地区的地理环境与堤防管理制度

明清时期国家对于汉水下游的水利管理制度经历一个变迁的过程,与这一区域的水利问题的日益突出密切相关,垸田的发展以及带来的问题是主要的因素。钟祥至沙洋的汉江干堤极易溃决,并且关系到整个下游地区的安全,因此在人力组织、资金筹集、岁修维护上,国家的政策表现出明显的倾斜性,相对于沙洋以下的区域,给予了充分的重视。沙洋以下,天门、潜江、沔阳等州县所在区域主要以垸田为主,国家将这一区域的堤防修筑与维护主要交由地方来进行。垸堤岁修维护采取堤甲制的组织形式,由垸民完成,一方面没有固定的资金,另一方面在正常年景之下,垸民可以获得基本的物质生存,因此垸堤的维护面临相当的困难。