THE POETICS OF ANCIENT GREEK MEMORY AND THE HISTORICAL IMPERATIVE

This book examines Greek engagements with the past as articulations of memory formulated against the contingency of chance associated with temporality. Based on a phenomenological understanding of temporality, it identifies four memorializing strategies: continuity (tradition), regularity (exemplarity), development, and acceptance of chance. This framework serves in pursuing a twofold aim: to reconstruct the literary field of memory in fifth‐century bce Greece; and to interpret Greek historiography as a memorializing mode. The key contention advanced by this approach is that acts of memory entailed an “idea of history” that was articulated not only in historiography, but also in epinician poetry, elegy, tragedy, and oratory. The book offers a rich account of poetic conventions and contexts through which each of these genres counterbalanced contingency through the use of exemplary and traditional modes of memory. This fine analysis highlights the grip of the present on the past as a significant feature of both historiographical and nonhistoriographical genres. The essay argues that this work fills a disciplinary gap by extending the reflection on memory to a new period, Greek antiquity. The retrospective positioning of this period at the outset of Western historical thought brings Grethlein's investigation to the center of debates about memory, temporality, and the meaning history. In engaging with the book's argument, the essay suggests that historiographical memory emerged in Greece not as a first‐order encounter with time, but as a second‐order encounter with forgetting. This confrontation marked a certain separation of historiography from other memorializing genres. Whereas poetic and rhetorical memories were posited against contingency, historiography sought to retrieve those aspects of the past that may otherwise have been irretrievably lost and forgotten. In doing so, it formulated the historiographical imperative as a negation of forgetting that problematized the truth‐value of memory and the very act of remembering the past.     

关于中国古代疆域理论若干问题的再探索

本文是作者在20世纪80年代发表的有关讨论中国古代疆域的论文基础上,进一步阐述了古代中国疆域范围即古代中国统一多民族国家统一或分裂的政权所管辖疆域的观点;接着,对20世纪90年代以来有关中国疆域形成的新观点作了评述,并提出了对古代中国疆域形成、发展的阶段划分（即分期）以及规律和特征的四点认识。     

论气候变迁与中原文明中心地位的形成

新石器时代晚期到夏商时期是中国古代文明形成的关键时期,大体经历了由无中心向以中原为中心转变的"多源一统"过程.究其原因当有多种,气候变化是其中的一个重要方面.由于各地区的地理、环境和气候特点的不同,它们对气候变化的反应也不尽相同.干旱和半干旱地区在气候暖湿的时期发展较快,而湿润地区则在气候冷干的时期适宜发展.位于干旱地区的文明在长期冷干的气候条件下衰落了,位于湿润地区的文明在极端暖湿的气候时期中断了,唯有中原地区位于半干旱半湿润地区,适应极端气候的能力较强,不仅在暖湿时期发展较快,而且在冷干时期仍能持续发展,最终成为全国文明的中心.     

博物馆古建筑保护与功能提升——以南京博物院老大殿改造为例

南京博物院主体建筑老大殿,是中国近代建筑中唯一采用现代结构形式的仿辽代建筑。近年,南京博物院采用整体顶升、隔震加固等先进技术对其进行修缮保护,不仅有效增强了其抗震水平,还扩大了建筑的空间面积、提升了空间使用功能、丰富了展示内容和方式,为优秀古建筑的保护利用提供了新的技术思路,也为优秀古建筑的保护利用与博物馆馆舍建设及博物馆各项事业发展的相互促进积累了成功经验。     

The Rise and Fall of Alexander the Great – The Need for Medical Analysis: Reply to Commentaries

Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C. from an unknown cause. By elucidating the nature of his death, we can better interpret various aspects of Alexandrian history. Alexander’s death may have ensued from the sequelae of a congenital scoliotic syndrome. It would therefore be of significance to note that one of the greatest leaders in history who conquered much of the then known world may have been suffering from a physical disability.     

“FUTURE PAST”: TIME AND TELEOLOGY IN (ANCIENT) HISTORIOGRAPHY

The historian's account of the past is strongly shaped by the future of the events narrated. The telos, that is, the vantage point from which the past is envisaged, influences the selection of the material as well as its arrangement. Although the telos is past for historians and readers, it is future for historical agents. The term “future past,” coined by Reinhart Koselleck to highlight the fact that the future was seen differently before the Sattelzeit, also lends itself to capturing this asymmetry and elucidating its ramifications for the writing of history. The first part of the essay elaborates on the notion of “future past”: besides considering its significance and pitfalls, I offset it against the perspectivity of historical knowledge and the concept of narrative “closure” (I). Then the works of two ancient historians, Polybius and Sallust, serve as test cases that illustrate the intricacies of “future past.” Neither has received much credit for intellectual sophistication in scholarship, and yet the different narrative strategies Polybius and Sallust deploy reveal profound reflections on the temporal dynamics of writing history (II). Although the issue of “future past” is particularly pertinent to the strongly narrative historiography of antiquity, the controversy about the end of the Roman Republic demonstrates that it also applies to the works of modern historians (III). Finally, I will argue that “future past” alerts us to an aspect of how we relate to the past that is in danger of being obliterated in the current debate on “presence” and history. The past is present in customs, relics, and rituals, but the historiographical construction of the past is predicated on a complex hermeneutical operation that involves the choice of a telos. The concept of “future past” also differs from post‐structuralist theories through its emphasis on time. Retrospect calms the flow of time, but is unable to arrest it fully, as the openness of the past survives in the form of “future past” (IV).     

Building Monks Mound,Cahokia, Illinois,a.d. 800–1400

Abstract

Cahokia (a.d. 800–1400), located near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, was the largest settlement in ancient North America. Monks Mound occupies the center of Cahokia and provides both a modern and ancient focal point for the site. Past investigations of Monks Mound explored issues of mound chronology and use. Recent soil coring around the perimeter clarifies the geological context and degree of preparation necessary before the mound was built. The results suggest that the mound is not optimally positioned for stability and its location may ultimately accelerate deterioration. Moreover, evaluation of the mound features and fill indicates that maximization of the geotechnical potential of sediments was not a primary concern for the Cahokians. Although poorly engineered relative to modern standards, the suitability of the mound as a platform may have been secondary to other design choices made while building the largest single mound in ancient North America.     

茂县及岷江上游地区在古蜀文明形成中的重要作用与地位

"古蜀文明"即"三星堆文明",形成的时间大致在公元前1600年～前1500年之间。三星堆文明形成时期的代表性文明因素主要有3种:一是以三星堆城址城墙为代表的本土文明因素,二是以具有二里头文化特征的文化遗存为代表的中原文明因素,三是以具有齐家文化特征的文化遗存为代表的甘青地区文明因素。后二者是通过早在公元前3500年前后就已经形成的岷江上游地区的文化通道,由陇西南进入成都平原地区,并促使成都平原本土文化发生巨变,产生了三星堆文明,开始了古蜀文明的历程。三星堆文明的形成过程反映了岷江上游地区在古蜀文明的形成这一重大历史事件中,发挥了无可替代的桥梁作用。     

MIGRATION AND NARRATION: HOW EUROPEAN HISTORIANS IN THE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURIES TOLD THE HISTORY OF HUMAN MASS MIGRATIONS OR VÖLKERWANDERUNGEN

Historians’ interest in the history of human migrations is not limited to recent years. Migrations had already figured as explanatory factors in connection with cultural and historical change in the work of classical and ancient studies scholars of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the writings of these scholars, migrations acted as historical landmarks or epochal thresholds and played a key role in the construction of geo-historical areas. This model has been called “migrationism” and cannot be explained simply on the basis of the history of individual disciplines, but must be seen in its complex interaction with scientific and historical contexts. However, “migrationism” does not relate to fixed political and scientific positions or movements. For this reason, it cannot be explained adequately by using a historically or ideologically based approach. Relying on narratological approaches, this article examines migration narratives that historians of this period used to explain the rise and fall of ancient civilizations. Referring to contemporary historiographical representations of the ancient Near East, it distinguishes three main narratives that are still common today: narratives of foundation, narratives of destruction, and narratives of mixtures. In this sense, analyzing older migration narratives helps us to sharpen the critical view on the genealogy of our own views on the history—and present—of human migrations.     

Chemical and Microscopic Study of Masonry Mortar in Ancient Pagodas in East China

Ancient mortars played a crucial role in the construction of historical architectures due to their physical and chemical compatibility with traditional building materials such as stones and bricks. Therefore, the analysis and optimization of the ancient mortar formula are significant in the restoration and preservation of historical sites. In this work, 20 mortar samples selected from five ancient stone pagodas in Zhejiang Province, China, were analyzed. The results showed that mud, lime-soil mortar, lime-sand mortar, and lime-gypsum mortar were used as binders in these pagodas. The Ca(OH)₂/aggregate ratio ranging from 0.3 to 2.7 was usually used to prepare lime mortar. Protein and polysaccharide were also found in some samples.