Technological traditions inferred from iron artefacts of the Xiongnu Empire in Mongolia

Iron objects excavated from sites of the Xiongnu Empire (3rd century BC–2nd century AD) in Mongolia have been examined using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the Xiongnu iron tradition may be characterized by the use of low carbon iron and carbon control by carburization. Cast iron was also used in the Xiongnu Empire, but only in very limited applications and with no convincing evidence of its use for the production of low carbon iron. The Xiongnu iron technology seems to have been established on the basis of the bloomery technique, without much influence from the Chinese style of technology, based on cast iron.     

The red-stained flint crescent from Gesher: new insights into PPNA hafting technology

A red-stained flint crescent found in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (ca. 9000 BC) site of Gesher, Israel, provides us with a unique opportunity to study the hafting technology of a particular tool type in the Levant. We present here a reconstruction, based on chemical and mineralogical analyses, of the hafting technologies and materials employed in the process. Use will also be made of relevant studies of the archaeological record. Local material was used for the production of an elastic adhesive paste, mud plaster, which was then hardened to hold the crescent securely in the haft. The study contributes insight into the hafting technology that was most probably implemented in the production and maintenance of composite tools during the Early Neolithic period.     

从出土实物和模拟实验看商周青铜器纹饰技术的发展脉络

通过对出土实物的观察和做模拟实验的发现,笔者认为,商周青铜器的纹饰技术伴随其范铸分型技术的进步而不断发展,同时它也引起铭文技术随之变化。商周青铜器纹饰技术具体的发展脉络为:夏代青铜器制模、制范技术不规范,纹饰技术处于摸索阶段。商早期青铜器范铸分型技术已具成熟的工艺设计思想,在素范面压塑纹饰的"纹饰压塑技术"出现;商中期青铜器纹饰技术有了划时代的进步,出现了"纹饰堆塑技术",且与"纹饰压塑技术"兼容并用;商晚期青铜器纹饰技术达到顶峰。西周青铜器范铸分型技术无明显进步,纹饰制作技术显示退化趋势;春秋中期以后,青铜器范铸工艺分型增多,纹饰技术发生改革,发明了单元纹饰范拚兑技术。     

The Analysis of Stone Tool Procurement, Production, and Maintenance

Researchers who analyze stone tools and their production debris have made significant progress in understanding the relationship between stone tools and human organizational strategies. Stone tools are understood to be morphologically dynamic throughout their use-lives; the ever-changing morphology of stone tools is intimately associated with the needs of tool users. It also has become apparent to researchers that interpretations of lithic analysis are more productive when the unique contexts and situations for which lithic artifacts were made, used, modified, and ultimately discarded are considered. This article reviews the recent literature on stone tool production with an emphasis on raw material procurement, manufacturing techniques, and tool maintenance processes as they relate to adaptive strategies of toolmakers and users.     

Raw material quality and Oldowan hominin toolstone preferences: evidence from Kanjera South,Kenya

The role of raw material quality in Oldowan technology has not been fully explored. There are numerous studies suggesting Oldowan hominins preferred certain types of stone for artifact manufacture. Previous studies of the artifact assemblage from the early Pliocene Oldowan locality of Kanjera South (South Rachuonyo District, Kenya) show that raw material selection and transport was an important aspect of Late Pliocene hominin adaptations. Yet the exact properties of stones that hominins were selecting remain enigmatic. Two potentially important features of artifact raw material are durability and fracture predictability. We investigate fracture predictability through mechanical tests of stone and investigations of the affect of stone properties on fracture patterns in archaeological collections. We investigate stone durability with actualistic studies of edge attrition combined with further mechanical tests of various lithologies. Oldowan hominins at Kanjera appear to have selected raw materials based on their durability. The ability for a stone to fracture consistently does not appear to be as important in hominin toolstone preference as previously assumed. Hominins that produced the assemblages at Kanjera South appear to have incorporated an extensive understanding of various attributes of raw material in the transport and production of stone artifacts. When combined with previous research on the transport patterns at Kanjera, the results of this study provide evidence for a more complex raw material acquisition strategy than has previously been suggested for Late Pliocene Oldowan hominins.     

数字技术辅助博物馆展陈的若干思考

数字展览与互动技术是博物馆展陈的重要辅助手段,提高了用户参观趣味性,增强了用户体验,达到了参观个性化的目的。     

对搞好农牧区“广播电视村村通”工程的几点认识

“广播电视村村通”工程是农牧区广播电视事业发展的载体,是解决边远山区农牧民群众看不到电视、听不到广播难题的“民心工程”。要因地制宜,探索建立农牧区广播电视公共服务体系,搞好“广播电视村村通”工程建设。     

Small shifts in handedness bias during the Early Mesolithic? A reconstruction inferred from Microburin technology in the eastern Italian Alps

This study discusses the existence of a variability recorded in lateralization indexes of proximal microburins, a by-product of the individual manufacture of microliths, in a sample of Sauveterrian sites from the Italian Eastern Alps. At first glance, such variability may appear to support the existence of customary handling, pertaining perhaps to an ensemble of normalized technical procedures accomplished by the members of the human group regardless of site type, context and economic activities. However, plotting the patterns in lateralization index against the regional Sauveterrian chrono-cultural sequence reveals a diverse correlation emerges and indicates how the early settlement phase involved greater functional differentiation among sites used by selected human groups compared with the successive phases, when this pattern vanishes. This trend may correspond to the decrease in lateralization observed on skeletal markers from the Upper Paleolithic to the Mesolithic, linked to the change in technological models and techniques employed in food gathering. The implications of this research at different levels are also discussed.     

E-learning for Geography's Teaching and Learning Spaces

The authors embed their advocacy of educational technology in a consideration of contemporary pedagogy in geography. They provide examples of e-learning from a wide range of teaching and learning contexts. They promote the idea that considering best practice with reference to educational technology will increase the versatility of teaching geography in higher education. On the basis of reviewing the pedagogic options associated with e-learning using a variety of technologies, and their promotion of versatility in the use of e-learning approaches, they find and illustrate the new spaces that have become available to teachers and learners of geography.