“A Little Gravy in the Dish and Onions in a Tea Cup”: What Cookbooks Reveal About Material Culture

Six British colonial and Anglo-American cookbooks from the period 1770–1850 provide insights into the ways in which items of material culture often were used in the past. The multiple functions of many items suggest the need for critical reconsiderations of the functional typologies and status markers so heavily relied upon by historical archaeologists, as well as rethinking of gender associations for some items of material culture.     

Partitioning chi-square for the analysis of frequency table data: an archaeological application

Archaeologists often wish to compare observed frequency distributions with expectations generated by a model. We describe a technique of partitioning chisquare which yields information about goodness of fit to a model and about homogeneity among populations simultaneously, and which is often superior to other commonly used methods of evaluating frequency data. The technique is demonstrated with data from the Upper Paleolithic rockshelter Le Flageolet I. The results suggest selective raw material use by the Aurignacian occupants.     

Material Choices for Fibre in the Neolithic: An Approach through the Measurement of Mechanical Properties

Studies of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Europe have focused on plants and animals exploited for food. However, the exploitation of plants for fibres underwent a significant change with the addition of domestic flax as a fibre crop. While the technology of flax fibre processing is increasingly understood by archaeologists, its material value as a fibre crop in comparison to indigenous fibre is less well explored. We examine the mechanical properties of flax and two indigenous fibres (lime bast, willow bast), by testing fibre strips for tensile properties and discuss the results in the light of material choices in these periods.     

The Medieval Building Sequence and Dating of Clevedon Court,North Somerset

The construction date of the medieval manor house at Clevedon Court has long been said to be ‘c. 1320’, but no explanation or justification has ever been published. Stylistic, documentary and archaeological evidence is assembled to show that, following three distinct building phases, the house was completed during the decade ending in 1320. Analysis of the development of reticulated tracery helps to determine the date of the iconic chapel window. Other elements of the medieval house are considered and explained.     

Building the nation of the future,one waiting room at a time: hospital murals in the making of modern Mexico

Abstract

Mid-twentieth century Mexican hospitals – the buildings themselves and their interior and exterior walls – became stages that depicted national hopes and aspirations. Hospitals and clinics became ideal spaces that married science and medicine with the state’s version of a triumphant social revolution. Visitors and patients to hospital waiting rooms, lobbies and auditoriums would see, indeed be surrounded by, depictions of the complicated hopes placed on science and medicine as interpreted by politicians, architects, and artists. Hospital walls became contested spaces where art depicted Mexico’s embrace of modern technology and medical practices while also showcasing, in vivid color, citizens challenging the government’s broken revolutionary promises, especially the right of all to health and social security.     

古建油饰彩画的制作技术分析研究

为了对中国特有的古建油饰彩画制作技术加深了解,促进古建油饰彩画传统工艺科学化,采用X射线衍射仪、X射线荧光光谱仪、扫描电镜、体视显微镜等仪器对采自蒙古博格达汗宫博物馆、北京颐和园、甘肃嘉峪关、山西太符观等古代建筑的油饰彩画样品的制作技术进行了分析研究。结果表明,测试的样品分别采用了一麻五灰、一布四灰、单披灰等多种工艺制作地仗;麻纤维广泛应用于样品纤维层中,仅样品YHY-22使用了棉布;颐和园和博格达汉宫博物馆的样品以砖灰作为地仗无机填料,嘉峪关样品使用了白土粉,而山西古建样品则可能使用当地的土壤。可以得出结论:几个地区古建油饰彩画的制作材料和技术是有所不同的。     

Introductory Remarks

The author introduces the articles in this special issue of the journal, which draw on historical and architectural data to interpret the past and focus on French identity in the New World. The introduction stresses the importance of interdisciplinary studies to historical archaeological interpretation.     

试析20世纪40年代中国马克思主义史学家对史料和历史考证方法的重视

20世纪30年代,经过中国社会史论战而迅速扩大影响的中国马克思主义史学,存在着明显的教条化和公式化、轻视史料与考证的缺失。40年代的中国马克思主义史学家对此进行了积极的反思和纠正,而且还从理论上论述了史料及考证方法在历史研究中的重要性,阐述了理论观点与材料方法间的辩证关系,极大地促进了马克思主义史学的中国化和学术研究的中国化。     

台湾古建筑维修的原则与技术

介绍了台湾古建筑维修的程序与原则,根据维修原则开展调查研究、修护设计、实质施工、修护记录四项工作,从而达到“保存原有之色彩、形貌”。最后,依据《物保护法》不改变原状的原则,对今后古建筑维修提了一些建议。     

Status and Role of Formation Theory in Contemporary Archaeological Practice

Since Binford appropriated the term “middle-range theory,” it has signified the process of reasoning from the extant material record to the cultural past. Merton's sociological concept of middle-range theory is relevant to archaeology, but does not mean what Binford denoted by it. More accurately, Binford's domain should be called “formation theory.” By whatever name used, archaeologists differ greatly in our views of its role and status. Somehow, formation theory has come to be viewed as method but not theory, and as intrinsic to materialism, but irrelevant if not antithetical to other ontologies. Yet it is as critical to the contextual understanding of the past sought by many archaeologists today—a role that, among others, belies formation theory's marginal status in academic practice.