Funerary practices and kinship in an Early Bronze Age society: a Bayesian approach applied to the radiocarbon dating of Argaric double tombs

The main aim of this paper is to test the hypothesis on kinship relations (affinity/marriage vs descent/consanguinity, and matrilocality) expressed in the funerary record of the El Argar Bronze Age society (South-east Iberia, 2200–1550 cal BCE), taking into account the absolute chronological dimension of double adult tombs. A set of 23 double tombs having radiocarbon dates for both skeletons were selected, and radiocarbon calibration and Bayesian probability analysis was conducted. The results support the ‘descent’ hypothesis, since for most of the cases the chronological distance between individuals buried together was larger than two decades. Finally, several guidelines for future research are suggested in order to overcome shortages in current chronological and archaeological data.     

首阳斋藏■器与西周宗法社会的贵族教育

本文对新近公布的首阳斋藏西周早期簋铭文作以考释,认为其反映了西周早期宗法社会贵族的教育问题,并得出了庶子虽不能直接继承祖考职事,但才艺考核优秀者亦可被任以官职的结论。簋铭文为研究周代贵族子弟尤其是庶子的教育和任官问题提供了新材料。     

Fugela Feđerum in Archaeological Perspective – Eider Down as a Trade Commodity in Prehistoric Northern Europe

Abstract

Eider duck down is a raw material used in northern coastal areas. In Norway the resource has been of special importance in the archipelago of Helgeland, where there is a specialized production developed and managed by women. There, the eider duck is seen as part of the livestock. The local people build houses for them, tend their nests and look after them during brooding. The down left in the nests by the birds is gathered, dried and cleaned in a very demanding, labour-intensive process. The eiderdown is then used in down quilts and pillows. Down is known from written sources as an important trade item, particularly from the end of the Middle Ages. The increasing bourgeoisie wanted the light and warm down quilts for their beds. Already around AD 890 Othere from Hålogaland (North Norway) told King Alfred in England that the Saami paid him fugela fe?erum (feathers or/and down) in tax. However, the use of down as a raw commodity used in trade must have started earlier, something the archaeological record might reveal. In any case, pillows and quilts of feathers or down are known from high-rank burials from Late Iron Age Scandinavia and Western Europe.     

Trust,business groups and social capital: building a Protestant entrepreneurial network in nineteenth-century Naples

Abstract

This article explores the behaviour of a group of foreign entrepreneurs (mainly Swiss and Germans) who settled in southern Italy during the nineteenth century, establishing cotton manufacturing, creating a religious community, importing technologies, machines and patterns of management. These entrepreneurs shared a high level of training and culture and they all belonged to Protestant denominations. In the context of this foreign entrepreneurial community, the article examines the role played by friendship, kinship, origins, education and religion in shaping the network that linked groups of Protestant businessmen across Europe, emphasizing how these manufacturing firms relied on forms of cooperation, solidarity and physical proximity that were consolidated and perpetuated across more than three generations.     

读西安出土唐姚无陂墓志

本文在全文释读唐姚无陂志文的基础上,根据志文中提供的家族信息,将墓主放在南朝至唐前期吴兴姚氏家族的大环境下,对姚无陂其人及志文中的相关问题作了探讨,阐明了该墓志在唐前期贵族政治、边疆关系、科举考试等研究中的意义。     

乡村旅游精英的权力维度及其阶段性呈现特征——以袁家村为例

精英的权力是社会分层和领导者研究领域的重点问题。随着乡村旅游的蓬勃发展,旅游精英成为带领农民致富的领路人,但旅游精英的权力却未获得足够关注。本文采用建构主义扎根理论方法,基于乡村旅游地居民的访谈资料和网络资料,探索旅游精英的权力维度如何呈现,并深入研究乡村旅游精英的权力是否会随旅游地生命周期呈现动态变化特征。研究发现:(1)旅游精英在乡村旅游发展中呈现六维权力:全局掌控权、制度制定权、空间生产权、声誉权、人情权与魅力权,进而以六维权力深入剖析了旅游精英带领村民致富的内部机理;(2)乡村旅游精英的六维权力处于动态演变中,在引入期、成长期、成熟期权力呈现特征显著不同。     

仰韶文化半坡类型单人二次扰乱葬研究

对于仰韶文化半坡类型墓葬的基础研究一直以来都是埋葬方式研究;且较多地关注于埋葬姿势的解读,但埋葬姿势与埋葬方式并不是一个对等的概念。本文通过对半坡类型单人葬人骨埋藏特征与形成原因以及埋葬过程方面的分析,认为在半坡类型单人葬中二次扰乱葬是普遍存在的,这对于研究仰韶文化墓葬埋葬方式有很重要的意义。     

Human remains from a post‐Hellenistic grave‐chamber in Dibba al‐Hisn (Sharjah,UAE)

Human skeletal remains of sixteen individuals found at Dibba al‐Hisn in the Emirate of Sharjah (UAE) are analysed with regard to standard anthropological criteria. They represent the poorly known pre‐Islamic period of the first centuries AD. Remains of at least fifteen individuals were recovered from a semi‐subterranean grave‐chamber together with rich archaeological grave‐goods. An additional, almost complete skeleton was found in the open area near the chamber. While the size and nature of the sample prevent demographic analyses, skeletal features studied with the help of macro‐ and microscopic as well as radiographic methods provide details on individual life histories and living conditions, as well as mortuary habits and taphonomic processes. Of special interest is a case of intentional tooth mutilation as well as two cases of skull trauma apparently caused by violent inter‐personal conflict. The results of the analysis of the faunal remains from the grave‐chamber and its surroundings are presented in an appendix .     

Does foreign policy represent the views of the public? Assessing public and elite opinion on New Zealand's foreign policy

This article1 1. We would like to thank Philip Nel, Robert Patman, Steve Hoadley and Chris Rudd for their advice and overall contribution to this research project. We would also like to thank the anonymous referees for their comments and suggestions. View all notes investigates public opinion on New Zealand's foreign policy, drawing on the findings of a comprehensive poll of general public and elite opinion conducted in 2008. It analyses what New Zealanders think about a range of foreign policy issues and whether public opinion matches actual foreign policy. It argues that the majority of the public support the broad parameters of official policy, but that there are significant differences of opinion in some specific areas, particularly trade agreements and defence. These differences correspond in particular to political orientation and age, gender and income level. The article also outlines the key differences between public opinion and the opinion of the positional elite. Overall, it is argued that the New Zealand public does have clear opinions on foreign policy issues and that these are generally consistent. The article proposes more frequent polling and more public debate over foreign policy.     

Areni-1 Cave,Armenia: A Chalcolithic–Early Bronze Age settlement and ritual site in the southern Caucasus

Abstract

The beginning of the Bronze Age in the southern Caucasus has been thought to coincide with the appearance of the Kura Araxes (KA) culture around 3500 cal b.c. KA artifacts are known not only from the southern Caucasus but also from sites in Anatolia, Iran, and the Levant. Recent discoveries from Areni-1 Cave in the Vayots Dzor region of Armenia demonstrate that the origin of the distinctive KA artifact assemblage lies in the Late Chalcolithic of the late 5th to early 4th millennia b.c. The cave contains rich assemblages of desiccated botanical remains that allow the site to be precisely dated and that demonstrate that its inhabitants exploited a wide variety of domesticated and wild plants. It would appear that from 4000 cal b.c. onwards, people used Areni-1 Cave for habitation and for keeping goats, storing plant foods, and ritual purposes; unusual for this time period are ceramic vessels containing the skulls of children.