Searching for Ancient Shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea: the Discovery of Chios and Kythnos Hellenistic Wrecks with the Use of Marine Geological-Geophysical Methods

This paper presents the results of two deep-water archaeological surveys recently conducted in the Aegean Sea, and the advantages of using conventional marine geological techniques in deep-water archaeology. Two Hellenistic wrecks were discovered: one in the Chios-Oinousses strait at 70 m, was a concentration of over 400 amphoras in a 1.5-m-high, high-backscattering, morphological high; the second, west of Kythnos island, at 495 m, consisted of a few amphoras scattered in a 20 × 20-m-wide area. Side-scan sonar was integrated with high-resolution sub-bottom profiling, and the integration of the two data-sets proved to contribute significantly to realistic interpretation of the sonar targets.
© 2007 The Authors     

Mitochondrial DNA Analysis of Ancient Domestic Goats in the Southern Caucasus: A Preliminary Result from Neolithic Settlements at Göytepe and Hacı Elamxanlı Tepe

This study presents preliminary results of mitochondrial DNA analyses of modern and ancient domestic goats in the southern Caucasus in order to examine their phylogenetic relationship with modern and ancient goats. For this purpose, seven ancient samples were obtained from two early agricultural villages in west Azerbaijan (Göytepe and Hacı Elamxanlı tepe, dated to ca. 6000–5500 cal bc , the Pottery Neolithic period), in addition to five modern goat samples in the same region. In the study, mitochondrial DNA segments of the control region (216 bp for the Neolithic samples and 481 bp for the modern samples) were amplified, and phylogenetic analyses were performed using previously published reference DNA sequences. As a result, all the haplotypes found in this study were grouped in the haplogroup A of goats. The finding of the haplogroup A among domestic goats in the southern Caucasus in the early sixth millennium bc can be interpreted as part of the geographic expansion of this lineage from the areas of initial domestication to surrounding areas that include also South and Southeast Europe. In the southern Caucasus, the haplogroup A probably continued to be a major lineage among domestic goats since their emergence in this area to the present. In contrast, this lineage has not been detected among local wild goats including Capra aegagrus , indicating the external origin of domestic goats. This possibility is consistent with archaeological records that indicate sudden appearance of agricultural lifeways in the southern Caucasus and cultural connections with northern Mesopotamia. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

商周时期南北方铜矿开采技术比较研究--以鄂赣交界地带和辽西地区为例

本文选取了鄂赣交界地带和辽西地区的4座晚商至西周早中期的古铜矿遗址,分别从探矿技术、开采技术、开采工具、相关配套设施和选矿技术等方面对南北两区域古铜矿的开采技术进行全面比较,并试图从两地的自然环境、矿物品质以及生产组织方式等不同方面来解释出现这种差异的原因。     

First discovery of ancient soft‐stone (chlorite) vessel production in Arabia: Aqir al‐Shamoos (Oman)

Soft‐stone vessels are a prominent feature of ancient culture throughout south‐east Arabia and the Gulf. Chlorite and steatite occur naturally in the al‐Hajar Mountains of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman; but until now, apart from the discovery of a few unfinished pieces, ancient production of soft‐stone vessels had yet to be documented in Arabia. This paper reports the discovery and preliminary analysis of soft‐stone vessel production at the site of Aqir al‐Shamoos. At this small and secluded mountain village, a range of soft‐stone vessels that are well known in the south‐east Arabian Iron Age were produced on a scale far beyond what was needed for local consumption.     

The Series Formation and Interpretation of Old Testament Literature

A combined review of three volumes in the series Formation and Interpretation of Old Testament Literature. If these volumes intend to give an impression of the discussion among scholars of the Deuteronomistic History, and of the composition of the Pentateuch, the series is a failure, presenting mostly one side of the debate. On the other hand, the articles on the ancient reception history (nothing modern here) are excellent introductions into that discussion.     

论“苏州片”失蜡铸造工艺的特色及其价值

"苏州片"是我国传统失蜡铸造的代表性工艺,以其法制作的仿古铜器,以精绝、乱真闻名于世,研究者与苏州艺人经数年的密切合作,成功复原此工艺。"苏州片"仿古铜器工艺蜡料配方独特、制范技艺考究、制作过程精细缜密,不仅具有历史人文价值,而且具有一定的经济、科技价值。传统手工艺要揭示其科学内涵,保护传承的同时注重创新,紧跟时代特色,走向产业化,才能在现代社会赢得生存空间。     

Locating the “People Without History” in Histories of the Ancient Near East

Three books discussed here illustrate multidisciplinary approaches to studying ancient civilizations and a range of methodological and theoretical perspectives. They suggest that in addition to the traditional focus on elites and urban origins, we should analyze nonelites and smaller scale communities. I concur that focusing on elites gives an incomplete and inaccurate picture of life and culture in the ancient Near East. Instead, these books shed light on the “people without history” in the ancient Near East. This “social history” must be integrated into economic and political models of past cultures to fully understand ancient civilizations.     

Urban law—II

This paper explores the political thought of Andrew Michael Ramsay with particular reference to his highly acclaimed book called A New Cyropaedia, or the Travels of Cyrus (1727). Dedicated to Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, to whom he was tutor, this work has been hitherto viewed as a Jacobite imitation of the Telemachus, Son of Ulysses(1699) of his eminent teacher archbishop Fénelon of Cambrai. By tracing the dual legacy of the first Persian Emperor Cyrus in Western thought, I demonstrate that Ramsay was as much indebted to Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet's Discourse on Universal History (1681)as he was to Fénelon's political romance. Ramsay took advantage of Xenophon's silence about the eponymous hero's adolescent education in his Cyropaedia, or the Education of Cyrus (c.380B.C.), but he was equally inspired by the Book of Daniel, where the same Persian prince was eulogised as the liberator of the Jewish people from their captivity in Babylon. The main thrust of Ramsay's adaptation was not only to revamp the Humanist- cum-Christian theory and practice of virtuous kingship for a restored Jacobite regime, but on a more fundamental level, to tie in secular history with biblical history. In this respect, Ramsay's New Cyropaedia, or the Travels of Cyrus, was not just another Fénelonian political novel but more essentially a work of universal history. In addition to his Jacobite model of aristocratic constitutional monarchy, it was this Bossuetian motive for universal history, which was first propounded by the German reformer Philipp Melanchthon in his Chronicon Carionis (1532), that most decisively separated Ramsay from Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke, author of another famous advice book for princes of the period, The Idea of a Patriot King (written in late 1738 for the education of Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, but officially published in 1749).     

Identity and Image of Indian Geography: The People's Perspective

Geography is among the late beginner subjects at higher education level in India. As revealed in scholarly writings, this discipline had been subjected to discrimination for colonial reasons and continues to lurch even today. There have been many academic writings on Indian geography. This paper is an attempt to look at the discipline from the people's side. Against the backdrop of a brief history of Indian geography and current debates therein, various issues are discussed as revealed by ordinary people during a questionnaire-based survey across different sections of society and also focused informal discussions.     

由清华简释解古文字一例

在1998年公布的郭店简《成之闻之》简30有一个字,旧皆不得其解,经过与新公布的清华简《保训》简1的一个字相对比,郭店简的那个字可隶定为"",读为"贵",是"贵重"之意。这是利用清华简考释旧未能释出的古文字的一个例子。