Induced metal-ion exchange in excavated human bone

Excavated human bone was exposed to aqueous solutions containing high concentrations of a single added metal ion in order to examine the extent of introduction of contaminating materials during burial. Variables included pH, temperature, ion concentration, state of bone (whole or crushed), structure of buffer, and counterion. Calcium and sodium showed little increase, and even a decrease in some cases. Strontium, zinc, lead, and magnesium showed large increases probably through heteroionic replacement of calcium. Manganese, aluminum, and potassium showed increases, particularly under neutral conditions, probably through infiltration into voids and defects.     

Ancient DNA typing shows that a Bronze Age mummy is a composite of different skeletons

Excavations at Cladh Hallan, a Bronze Age-Iron Age settlement on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland, revealed the skeletons of two adults, a sub-adult and a child buried beneath the foundations of three roundhouses. Osteological and isotopic evidence has shown that the male adult skeleton is a composite made up of parts of at least three different individuals. To test the hypothesis that the female skeleton was also a composite we examined ancient DNA from four of its components: the skull, mandible, right humerus and right femur. Seven polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) were attempted, these covering positions 15,996–16,420, 16–132 and 232–368 of the mitochondrial DNA hypervariable I and II regions. Three PCRs were successful for each sample and a total of 55 sequences were obtained from the cloned products. After exclusion of possible contaminating sequences, the remaining 34 were compared. It was concluded that the mandible, humerus and femur come from different individuals. Insufficient data were obtained to draw conclusions regarding the origin of the skull. The presence of two composite skeletons at Cladh Hallan indicates that the merging of identities may have been a deliberate act, perhaps designed to amalgamate different ancestries into a single lineage.     

Phylogeographic analysis of barley DNA as evidence for the spread of Neolithic agriculture through Europe

Results of analyses of the photoperiod response gene (PPD-H1) and simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in modern landraces of cultivated barley were used as evidence for the mechanism of agricultural spread in Neolithic Europe. In particular, we explored the usefulness of considering adaptive genes as indicators of past selective pressures acting on crops, during their spread through Europe. In some areas, such as the Alpine region, Britain and Scandinavia, we have evidence to suggest that the adaptation of crops to certain climatic conditions may have contributed to the timing of agricultural spread. At the northern fringes of Europe, and in higher altitude locations in central Europe, the introduction of more suitably adapted cereals may have facilitated successful agriculture to trigger agricultural expansion. This research opens up the possibility of investigating other genetic adaptations to climate, which would permit a fuller evaluation of the relative contributions of climate/crop and forager/farmer interactions in the process of agricultural spread.     

Recovery and analysis of human genetic material from mummified tissue and bone

Using sensitive techniques of molecular biology, we have been able to demonstrate the presence of genomic material of human origin in samples of mummified human tissue and bone from selected archaeological sites in Greenland. This result has far-reaching consequences for both evolutionary and archaeological studies of past human populations.     

南京图书馆馆藏古籍防霉防虫处理

本文主要介绍了南京图书馆古籍部古籍防虫防霉综合保护处理措施。     

From Greece to Babylon: The political thought of Andrew Michael Ramsay (1686–1743)

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. 380 B.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).     

A DNA test for sex identification in cattle confirms osteometric results

It is of vital importance to be able to sex identify cattle remains to understand the strategies and importance of cattle husbandry in an ancient society. This is usually done from osteoarchaeological assemblages and often relies on measurements of metapodials. The breadth measurement of the distal trochlea is considered an easy way to identify the sex. Bones from males appears to be easily distinguishable from female counterparts, although it has been complicated to find an external control for the morphological results. Here we investigate the reliability of these particular morphometrics for sex identifying cattle bones with molecular genetics. We use a sex discriminating single nucleotide polymorphism in the ZFXY gene and we apply it to DNA from the bones. To keep the fragment size short and suitable for ancient DNA we base the test on a SNP. The test confirms the osteological sex identification in all cases were DNA could be retrieved. This molecular method can also be used when no fragments suitable for osteological sex identification can be found or when the measurements are non-conclusive.     

On the elimination of extraneous DNA in fossil human teeth with hypochlorite

Elimination of extraneous DNA in fossil specimens is of paramount importance for the successful isolation and analysis of authentic DNA; this is especially true when the specimens are of human origin. Bones and teeth are commonly decontaminated with bleach containing the powerful oxidising hypochlorite ion. The procedures involve either submersion in or wiping with the chlorine agent. Using the radioactive isotope Cl³⁶ we showed that submersion of fossil teeth in solutions of small ions such as Cl⁻ or hypochlorite, ClO⁻, cause that they migrate right into the pulp. This may lead to the unwanted destruction of authentic DNA. However, using pairs of teeth from the remains of four ancient Europeans (1000–2000 YBP) as well as tooth and hair from an Inuit skull (>300 YBP) we provide evidence that at least some endogenous human fossil DNA survives in powdered pulp/dentin that has been submersed in 2% hypochlorite. Further, we show that powdered pulp/dentin deliberately contaminated with huge amounts of a 414 bp PCR product is effectively decontaminated by suspension in 2% hypochlorite for 5 min. Decontamination of fossil material from teeth may therefore be accomplished by a short direct action of hypochlorite on the powdered specimen rather than less controllable and less efficient external treatments of the whole specimen.     

Ancient DNA in human bones from Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in Greece and Crete

Attempts were made to detect ancient DNA (aDNA) in samples of 88 human skeletons from eight Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in Greece and Crete. Ancient DNA was absent in specimens from Nea Nikomedia, Lerna, Karaviádena (Zakro), Antron Grave Circle A and Mycenae Grave Circle A. For each of three skeletons from Antron Grave Circle B that were sampled, polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) gave products for nuclear but not mitochondrial DNA, but amplicon yield was low and inconsistent with replicate PCRs failing to give reproducible results. With specimens from Mycenae Grave Circle B, evidence for mitochondrial aDNA was obtained for four of the 22 skeletons that were studied, and at Kouphovouno evidence for mitochondrial and/or nuclear aDNA was obtained with eight of the 20 skeletons that were examined. We conclude that, although aDNA might be present in some Eastern Mediterranean skeletons from later centuries of the Bronze Age, it is not commonly found in material from this period and is likely to be absent from older material.     

一个不该被忽视的重要视点——也谈川端康成的《花未眠》

川端康成的《花未眠》进入人教版高中语文课本,在见仁见智的阐释中唯独缺少的是未把这篇散文放在川端在日本战败后的系列作品中,特剐是没有从与日本古美术作品的关系来理解,而这恰恰是一个不可忽视的重要视点。