Starch grains analysis of stone knives from Changning site,Qinghai Province,Northwest China

Plant residues recovered from prehistoric stone artifacts can be used to help explain tool function and plant use. At the Changning site in Qinghai Province, Northwest China, dating from 4000 yr BP, we examined starch granules extracted from three slate stone knives. A total of 153 starch grains were retrieved from three stone knives, from which we identified starches from legumes, the Triticeae tribe, foxtail millet (Setaria italica), broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), roots and tubers. These results indicate that the stone knives may have been used for a variety of activities that included reaping grasses and food processing. The species of starch grains retrieved from the study sample reveal that diverse crops were cultivated at the Changning site 4000 years ago.     

Common good and private justice: letters of marque and the utilitas publica in fourteenth-century Marseilles

Political debate, even in medieval Europe, has often centred upon the relationship between individual liberties and the greater good. Fourteenth-century town councils had to think about protecting private property while ensuring the greater public good. The council registers of late medieval Marseilles offer the opportunity for insight into this public–private dichotomy through an examination of the council's decisions to suspend temporarily the execution of letters of marque. In fourteenth-century Marseilles, letters of marque helped citizens gain restitution from foreign debtors through a judicial authorisation to seize foreign assets. The suspensions, justified in the language of the utilitas publica, were declared for two reasons: to protect the integrity of the town's market by ensuring an ample supply of labourers and victuals, and to protect the town's honourable reputation when dignitaries visited. Study of these suspensions illustrates an overarching philosophy in urban government – that the public good must be safeguarded against private advantage.     

Integrating Geomorphological Assessments and Oral Histories in Catchment Management: Implications for the Mulgrave River,Northeastern Australia

The dramatic decline in the integrity of Australian river systems in recent decades has seen the development of landcare and catchment management groups across the continent as the main facilitators of river rehabilitation works. There is growing concern for the need to develop adaptive management frameworks that assist informed decision making through the integration of social and geomorphological knowledge into catchment planning. In the Mulgrave River Catchment of northeastern Queensland, difficult management decisions have to be made with limited access to knowledge of natural processes and baseline geomorphological data. To date management decisions have been based almost exclusively on oral histories that state that point bars are accreting and the river is becoming shallower due to bank erosion. As a result bank stabilisation and removal of sand from within the channel have been recommended in the absence of any geomorphological assessments. This study compares oral histories of river bank erosion in the Mulgrave River with geomorphic evidence to highlight the need for integrated landscape scenario planning. The results of grain size analysis of bank and bed material from 27 locations, involving 47 samples, suggest that bank erosion cannot be delivering sediments to point bars. Furthermore, qualitative analysis of historic parish maps and aerial photographs shows that there has only been moderate bank erosion at three locations along the Mulgrave River since European settlement. The study demonstrates the important role that geomorphological investigations have for catchment management and the need for management frameworks that integrate geomorphological processes and landholder priorities for sustainable river management.     

腐蚀青铜器中纯铜晶粒形成机理的初步研究

本文以吴国青铜兵器的金相检测为基础,利用电子显微镜对样品中出现的纯铜晶粒进行检 测分析,从矿物转化及自然铜形成机理解释了纯铜晶粒的形成,讨论了可能形成纯铜晶粒的条件。 结果认为纯铜晶粒的析出并非是筒单的电解分解与电解析出,这个过程涉及到合金的矿化产生不 稳定的中间腐蚀产物向析出自然铜的稳定态转变,这种转化由原子在矿物质中的反应扩散完成。这 个过程相当漫长,非实验室条件所能摸拟。从矿物转化析出机理考虑,纯铜晶粒中的“李晶”结构可 解释为自然铜的双晶形态,与合金本身,加工工艺以及腐蚀产生的微小体积变化无关。     

“新工艺运动”说辨

1875～1910年间新工艺运动的发展可分为两个阶段,新工艺运动如何从中国化内部寻找现代美术的变革途径,并从非主流的工艺技术层面开辟对内和对外交换的资源系统,在一定程度上动摇了中国传统美术的化价值观。     

The Bakau wreck: an early example of Chinese shipping in Southeast Asia

Very few early Chinese shipwrecks have been discovered in Southeast Asia, despite the enormous volume of trade with China. This article describes the surprising hull features of one such wreck, and its diverse ceramic cargo. The Bakau Wreck dates to the early 15th century, and was bound from southern China to Indonesia via a Thai entrepot port.     

留学生与中国美术教育的现代转型

中国美术教育的现代转型始于辛亥革命时期,一批从日本和欧美回国的留学生为中国传统的美术教育过渡到现代美术教育作出了重要的贡献,蔡元培、徐悲鸿、林凤眠等就是其代表人物。他们不仅是西方现代美术教育思想在中国的主要提倡者,而且是中国现代美术院校的主要创办人和主要师资,还是中国现代美术社团的主要发起者和主要成员。在他们的身体力行下,中国美术教育的现代转型于20世纪30年代初得以完成。     

陈云与粮食统购统销

陈云是20世纪50年代起实行的粮食统购统销政策的提出者和设计者。他提出和制定这一政策,可以追溯到抗战时期在陕甘宁边区对棉花、食盐实行统购统销的尝试。陈云提出该政策的最初动机是为了解决当时粮食供销矛盾,但其根本目的,则是要将这些商品的生产和分配纳入国家计划之内。粮食统购统销实行后,陈云向中央提出“三定”办法,平息了统购统销过程中国家与农民的冲突。该政策最初是一种临时性、过渡性的政策,但后来逐渐演变为一种经济运行体制,成为社会主义计划经济体制形成的一个重要标志。     

Roman traces in Germania magna: New thermoluminescence and pIRIR290 data from a lime kiln at Bergisch Gladbach,Germany

The applicability of a post‐infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIRIR₂₉₀) protocol and two different thermoluminescence (TL) protocols—a single aliquot regeneration (SAR) and a multiple aliquot additive dose (MAAD)—was tested on six polymineral fine‐grain (4–11 μm) samples extracted from the wall remains of a Roman lime kiln and a Roman roof tile. These remains had been excavated close to Bergisch Gladbach, which was at that time part of Germania magna. For the pIRIR₂₉₀ measurements, no dependence of D_e on first‐stimulation temperature was detectable, and the standard first stimulation temperature at 50°C was adopted. Fading tests and dose‐recovery tests were made for all samples. Background subtracted glow curves were recorded up to 480°C for TL after a preheat of 220°C for 120 s. A‐values were determined for all TL and pIRIR measurements. The results for all three protocols were fairly consistent, and TL and pIRIR₂₉₀ protocols are shown to be suitable to estimate reliable equivalent doses for the fired kiln walls. The resulting ages are in agreement with the expected time range—Roman Iron Age—and with independent age control provided by radiocarbon ages of animal bones and charcoal from the firing chamber.     

The settlement mounds in Divtasvuona/Tysfjord,North Norway. Traces of a Sami fisher-farmer economy

In Tysfjord Municipality, North Norway, written sources mention Sami farms in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The farms had a mixed economy, with an emphasis on agriculture, fishing, hunting and gathering. On some of these farms there are documented settlement mounds. Minor excavations have been carried out on several of these archaeological sites. A pollen sample has also been taken from one of these locations. By using radiocarbon dating and artefact analyses it is possible to date the settlement mounds back to the Early Middle Ages. The establishment of these cultural monuments documents a change in the economy, with animal husbandry becoming more important. During the Middle Ages, cultivation of barley arose as a new element of the economy. The article addresses the question of whether this change in the economy can be linked to a Sami or a Norwegian population.