Comparing seeds/fruits and pollen from a Middle Bronze Age pit in Florence (Italy)

The recovery of a Middle Bronze Age pit in Florence offered the opportunity of studying seeds/fruits and pollen coming from the pit fill layers. Both datasets resulted similar in their mixed composition of cultivated, synanthropic, and wild plants. They represent different traces coming from the plants which were stored and voluntarily or involuntarily introduced into the structure. Foodstuff and fodder storage activities are testified in the pit. Particularly, plant gathering is better represented by seed/fruit remains, while fodder procurement is mainly clarified by pollen. In this study, the use of pollen as evidence of economic activity is validated by the hypothesis that the origin of the pollen in the pit is from the stored plant material more than from the pollen rain. Therefore, comparing these datasets proved to be useful to assess the sources of the plant remains found in the pit, to interpret the origin of the fill layers and make some inferences on the structure and its uses, and to attempt some palaeoethnobotanical considerations.     

略论商周时期关中地区腰坑葬俗

自从确定“腰坑”这一考古学术语以来,腰坑葬俗文化已逐渐成为考古学、民俗学研究者所关注的课题,近年来对此葬俗做过研究的有郜向平、王志友、杨毕、谢日万、朱海仁、胡庆生、彭文等,以及日本学者井上聪。最近,笔者曾对陕西地区腰坑葬俗的情况进行过肤浅的研究。而此文撰写的目的,是通过对商周时期关中地区腰坑葬俗的具体探讨,以期理清该葬俗在周族、殷族中的变化。     

徐州地区西汉陶俑的发现及初步研究

徐州地区西汉陶俑可分为兵俑、乐舞俑、仪仗俑、侍俑四个大类。并由俱象写实向形神兼备的方向演变,其乐舞俑生动的形象栩栩如生,成为汉代陶俑的经典之作。     

When a ‘Waterhole’ Is Full of Dung: An Illustration of the Importance of Environmental Evidence for Refining Archaeological Interpretation of Excavated Features

Prehistoric field systems sometimes encompass excavated, pit‐like features which are difficult to classify due to the complex stratigraphies resulting from reuse, infilling and collapse. They are frequently classified as wells and watering holes, but other potential uses for excavated depressions are rarely cited. We argue the need for environmental archaeology in the interpretation of features of this nature, and present a case study from a Bronze Age site at Pode Hole, near Peterborough (UK), where fossil insect material clearly contradicts the archaeological interpretation. We present empirical evidence for a sealed context filled with dung which cannot be interpreted as a water source. This evidence strongly contrasts with other superficially similar features at the site.     

西安鱼化寨遗址仰韶文化土坑墓发掘简报

一、遗址概况鱼化寨遗址位于西安市雁塔区鱼化寨街道鱼化寨村西北侧,皂河西岸的二级台地上,今西安外事学院北校区西北部。遗址东、北两侧被皂河环绕,地势中心高,周围低(图一)。2002年～     

Sasanian glass from Veh Ardašīr investigated by strontium and neodymium isotopic analysis

A collection of 31 glass fragments, dated to the 3rd to 7th century AD and excavated in Veh Ardašīr, (modern Iraq), were analysed for their Sr and Nd isotopic compositions with the aim of deepening our knowledge on glass circulating within central Mesopotamia during Sasanian times and to highlight the merits of isotope ratios for the definition of the production scenery. Based on the elemental composition of the samples, two groups related to the exploitation of different plant ashes were previously distinguished, and also a change in the silica source in the course of the 4th century AD emerged. The determination of isotopic distributions of Sr and Nd offers a deeper insight. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope ratio, together with the Sr elemental concentration, confirms this use of different plant ashes, and permits one to distinguish distinct glass batches, although the isotopic Sr signature does not allow us to highlight evidences of different provenances for the samples of different composition. Moreover, the ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd isotope ratio suggests the use of sands belonging to a common geological area, and also allows the identification of a set of samples that were possibly produced exploiting a further different sand source. As a whole, Sr and Nd isotope ratio values for the samples considered, i.e. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70833 to 0.70916 and ?Nd = −8.69 to −4.98, differ from the published isotopic data on middle Eastern glass samples and can therefore define a characteristic Sr–Nd signature for plant-ash Sasanian glass excavated in Veh Ardašīr.     

河南渑池笃忠遗址2006年发掘简报

为配合郑西客运专线工程建设,2006年6月至10月,河南省文物考古研究所对渑池县笃忠遗址进行了考古发掘,共清理灰坑104个,墓葬2座,灰沟1条。除墓葬和灰沟的年代较晚外,其余104个灰坑皆属新石器时期遗存,是此次发掘的主要收获。     

南京秦淮区宝塔顶10号院战国墓发掘简报

2007年,南京市博物馆在中华门外宝塔顶10号院发掘清理了一座战国末期的土坑墓,这是南京主城区战国墓葬的首次发现,为南京城市发展史的研究提供了较为重要的新资料。     

The volcanic eruption of Thera and its effect on the Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations

Since Professor Sp. Marinatos linked the eruption of Thera with the destruction of Cretan sites, difficulties have been met in reconciling the dates of the two incidents which, based on pottery, were c. 1520 BC and 1450 BC, respectively, giving a “time gap” of 70 years. None of the mechanisms proposed for the Cretan site destructions-tsunamis, ash fallout, earthquakes, civil disturbances or invasion can be reconciled with the magnitude of the simultaneous site destructions. Therefore, an alternative theory is proposed that the Cretan holocaust was caused by “nuées ardentes” emanating from Thera. It is postulated that these were released through a “split” in the cone wall, of limited area, generating a high velocity jet of tephra fluidized in a red hot gas stream. Such a jet is immensely destructive and lethal, causing death by pulmonary oedema. The shape (like a blowtorch) and course of the ash fallout, as measured by deep sea cores, shows that these nuées ardentes passed over the eastern part of Crete, causing severe destruction and depopulation. The geological record confirms that tephra deposits from such Peléan eruptions have travelled for 160km, or more, and that normally the main eruption is preceded by a preliminary one of lesser intensity, with a time gap ranging from 51 to 203 years. Settlements on or at the base of the volcano would have been abandoned at the time of the preliminary eruption/earthquakes (c. 1520 BC). A time gap of 70 years would be reasonable, fitting with the Cretan catastrophe around 1450 BC. In the meantime, reoccupation had commenced, but was terminated by the final eruption. Apparently, Knossos on the periphery of the blast was severely damaged by fire (possibly again in LM II) and rebuilt, being finally destroyed in late LM IIIB. During this time span some “blurring” of pottery dating may be attributed to recovery and use of pottery “heirlooms”. The nuée ardente theory explains the simultaneous destruction of sites by fire and blast, the Cretan depopulation, as well as the time gap. In general ¹⁴C results confirm the dates proposed. So far tephra deposits have not been identified on Crete itself, but grains of it have been found at Pyrgos. It is suggested that cores from lake bottoms should be examined for the area, and that Cretan soil samples should be checked for tephra particles by employing the flotation technique, used in mining, for separating them.     

枣阳九连墩车马坑翻模及部分车马复原、复制研究

2002年9月,为配合“孝襄”高速公路建设,经国家文物局批准,湖北省文物考古研究所对九连墩战国时期车马陪葬坑翻模,部分车马和车马器进行复制、复原。该文对翻模复制、复原等工艺流程进行初步探讨和研究。