Faecal biomarker and archaeobotanical analyses of sediments from a public latrine shed new light on ruralisation in Sagalassos, Turkey

A public latrine in the ‘Imperial Baths’ of Sagalassos was transformed into a dump site in the early Byzantine period. Several layers of urban waste, including ceramics, bones, glass and perhaps excrements were deposited on the floor. Faecal biomarker analyses and archaeobotanical analyses were conducted to reconstruct the history of the room. 5β-stanols of human origin, such as coprostanol, were found in the sewage channels together with mineralised plant remains, indicating a human faecal context. The botanical remains are furthermore representative of the Roman diet of the Sagalassians. Soil layers, deposited on top of the latrine floor and dating to the early Byzantine period, contained herbivore derived 5β-stanols, such as 5β-stigmastanol and epi-5β-stigmastanol. Additionally, a clear predominance of epi-5β-stanols over 5β-stanols showed that the animal dung has been subject to composting. In this period, the former latrine was clearly used as a manure production site which is further confirmed by stratigraphic evidence of large amounts of urban waste artefacts, which were commonly collected together with manure before application on the fields. The results of the present study support the theory that off-site potsherd scattering can be used as a proxy for manuring events. Additionally, the data show key evidence for vertical migration of 5β-stanols and presumably also for the leaching of bile acids.     

Characterization of prehispanic cosmetics found in a burial of the ancient city of Teotihuacan (Mexico)

The present paper reports the chemical data obtained on samples of pigmenting materials contained in 31 miniature vessels found in a burial found in Teopancazco, a multiethnic neighborhood center located in the southeastern sector of the archaeological site of Teotihuacan (Central Mexico) and the analytical protocol established for the complete characterization of these archaeological materials. For this purpose a multi-technique approach based on the combination of several non destructive and micro-destructive instrumental techniques, namely, light microscopy (LM), scanning electron microscopy-X-ray microanalysis (SEM-EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), voltammetry of microparticles (VMP), X-ray microdiffraction (μXRD), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis spectrophotometry, FTIR spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has been developed in an attempt to completely characterize these materials. These instrumental techniques provide reliable and complementary data including elemental and mineralogical composition, identification of functional groups as well as speciation studies of electroactive species. Among the most relevant findings, volcanic pyroclastic rocks and clayey soils, most probably, from the Teotihuacan valley as well as galena, jarosite and mica from other provenances in Mesoamerica, have been identified. Charcoal and Ocote resin have also been identified. The chemical composition of the samples is discussed with a view to the possible function as cosmetic materials and their use in funerary rites. The results have been critically compared with those others obtained in other ancient civilizations. The study carried out on the materials found in the burial 105 is especially relevant insofar it represents the first evidence, scientifically characterized, of the use of cosmetics in Mesoamerica at this early period (AD 200-550).     

浅析东南亚地区出土(水)的龙泉青瓷——遗址概况、分期及相关问题分析

近年来在东南亚地区的一些陆地遗址以及相关海域的沉船遗址中发现了数量颇多的龙泉青瓷,年代从南宋早期延续到明代中期。龙泉青瓷器在东南亚地区的发现一定程度上反映了历史上龙泉青瓷器对该地输出的情况。东南亚地区出土(水)龙泉青瓷器器形有碗、盘、洗、瓶、香炉、罐、梅瓶、高足杯、盆、盒、壶、匜等,其中以碗、盘、罐较为多见,在当地主要的用途为:生活用器、祭器、随葬用器、葬具和陈设器等。龙泉青瓷大量外销东南亚地区,对当地的制瓷手工业产生了很大的影响。     

Norwegian and Soviet/Russian World War II Memory Policy During the Cold War and the Post-Soviet Years

Abstract

World War II has played a significant role in using “memory” in all kind of “memory politics” in Europe as well as in the USA. Using examples from Norway and the Soviet Union, later the Russian Republic, this article shows how successfully, but also how contradictorily, historical events can be used as memory politics. We will also see what “memory culture” and “memory policy” is predominant in circumpolar Norway and the Soviet Union/Russia after World War II. We are introduced to the concept of “memory agents”, the producers and directors of “memory politics”. The case is first and foremost the battle of Narvik in Norway in the spring of 1940. We also take a look at the circumpolar borderland between Norway and the Soviet Union during World War II, where the German “Gebirgsjäger” from the Narvik front regrouped and continued their assault on Soviet Union in Murmansk County from the summer of 1941. In what way were the war events useful in the post war era, and how could they directly affect Soviet–Norwegian relations during the Cold War? In addition we ask how memories contributed to the justification of different approaches to the foreign policy in both countries. Besides, the article demonstrates how the memory policy of World War II was affected after the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union in Norway and Russia, respectively.     

＂莲花＂与＂妈姑＂：清代最大矿厂名实考辨

黔铅的采炼是清代矿业兴盛的主要表征之一,其在开采时间、规模、作用与影响方面堪比滇铜,但其研究却显得极其滞后。当前学术界对清代黔铅最大矿厂的认识仍然不清,大多数学者将威宁州属莲花、妈姑并列为两大铅厂。笔者经过对名称、厂址、产量的考证和两者之间关系的考察,发现二者实为一厂,而“一厂二名”现象表现出不同类型文献记载上的差异,这对于研究黔铅的产量与规模至关重要。     

宋代安南使节广西段所经路线考

宋代是中越双边关系的草创期,各种外交制度和模式都处在摸索和调适之中,其中就包涵了安南使节使宋路线的选择。廉州道是北宋前期安南使节优先选择的路线,但钦州道后来居上,取而代之,成为宋代安南使节使宋的主要线路,邕州道凭借其全程陆路的优点,地位亦有日益增重的趋势。路线选择背后蕴含着深刻的历史和自然背景,如历史的惯性,交通干线和贸易中心的变迁,接待花费与交通成本,以及气候、地形和路线距离等自然因素。     

贾湖骨笛复原新技术研究

贾湖骨笛是迄今为止我国历史上最早、形态完整、现今仍可演奏的吹管乐器,是9000～7500年前中国古代科技文明最重要的实物载体之一。由于骨笛经历数千年的埋藏,出土时多数已经破损。如何对破损的贾湖骨笛进行精确复制,是学界急待解决的难题。我们巧妙地利用CT扫描、数据处理、三维模型重建、虚拟复原与激光快速成型技术,复原出与M494:2号骨笛实物十分接近复原品。这种利用计算机虚拟修复的思想与技术为破损贾湖骨笛的复原开辟了一条新的技术途径。     

试论宋代的葬期

通过对南、北方地区出土墓志、地券中记载宋人葬期的统计,得到了对宋人葬期的一些初步认识。根据这些认识提出了宋人葬期过长是宋代的普遍现象,并且探讨了这一现象的原因。     

Rethinking Canaanite Palaces? The Palatial Economy of Tel Kabri during the Middle Bronze Age

Here we explore aspects of Canaanite palatial economy through an analysis of finds from the Middle Bronze Age palace at Tel Kabri, a 34 ha site located in the western Galilee of modern day Israel. The palace was founded in the middle part of the MBA I period, and continued without interruption until an advanced part of the MBA II period. Despite the fact that the Kabri palace was vast (perhaps up to 6000?sq?m), functioned as the center of a polity, and could commission wall and floor paintings in an Aegean style, there are no signs of literate administration, or even administrative use of sealings. Patterns of animal husbandry, textile production, pottery manufacture and consumption, and storage within the palace all provide evidence that the palace behaved economically much more like an estate than a redistributive center. Our hypothesis is that the palace had aspects of an Oikos economy, i.e., that it functioned as a large household—richer and more populous than other households of the period, but with minimal involvement in the economy of the private sector. This contrasts with the contemporary polities in Syria, such as Alalakh and Ebla, as well as possibly its neighbor to the east, Tel Hazor, which had literate administrations and redistributive economies during this same period.     

Cooking Pots as Burial Urns

Abstract

Large ceramic vessels used as burial urns occasionally have been found in Late Mississippian/protohistoric contexts in Alabama and Mississippi. Ethnohistorical documents suggest that large vessels were used for cooking in a domestic context. A systematic examination of three urns from east-central Mississippi shows multiple uses prior to their final deposition with burials. Vessel size analysis of a temporal sequence of sherds from midden contexts used sherd thickness and curvature data to show that large vessels became more common. Three explanations are examined to better understand the use of large vessels during this time: bet hedging, costly signaling, and changing technology. The results confirm the use of burial urns in domestic contexts before their final use as interment containers, making technological change the most viable of the three hypotheses.