Human activity and its impact on the landscape at the Xishanping site in the western Loess Plateau during 4800–4300 cal yr BP based on the fossil charcoal record

The taxonomic identification of fossil charcoal can be a useful archaeobotanical tool, as it can reveal information about prehistoric humans' use of plant resources and other factors. In this study, we quantify the fossil charcoal in a cultural sequence from Xishanping in the western Loess Plateau of China representing 4800–4300 cal yr BP to consider aspects of humans' impact on this landscape. The fossil charcoal assemblages reveal that the relative abundances of Picea, Betula, Acer, Ulmus and Quercus decreased markedly after 4600 cal yr BP. This suggests a marked decline in the mixed coniferous-broadleaved forest after this time. Concurrently, an increasing abundance of Bambusoideae charcoal has been suggested to reflect the expansion of the bamboo forest. The marked changes in the vegetation after 4600 cal yr BP were not obviously influenced by climate; they may be a better reflection of the results of human activity. Furthermore, other genera that provide important resources to humans also increased after 4600 cal yr BP, including Castanea, Cerasus, Padus and Diospyros. It is nearly certain that nuts and berries were an important food resource and that fruit trees were managed by prehistoric humans in the late Neolithic. This work suggests that the scale of prehistoric human impact on the western Loess Plateau landscape during the late Neolithic was much greater than was previously believed.     

上海市青浦区青龙镇遗址2010年发掘简报

青龙镇遗址位于上海市青浦区,是唐宋时期上海重要的对外贸易港口。2010年上海博物馆考古研究部首次对青龙镇遗址进行了考古调查与发掘,发现了唐宋时期的房基、瓷片堆、水井、灰坑等遗迹及大量的遗物,为今后的工作奠定了基础。     

甘肃岷县占旗寺洼文化遗址发掘简报

岷县占旗遗址是甘肃岷县洮河沿岸新发现的一处寺洼文化遗址,该遗址共发现各类墓葬66座,以及房址、灶坑、灰坑、祭祀遗存等遗迹近20处。出土器物包括陶器、铜器、石器、骨器和装饰品等。占旗遗址墓葬层位清晰,时代序列鲜明,出土器物丰富多样,特别是铜器,制作精美,形制独特。岷县占旗遗址的发现,对于进一步认识寺洼文化的特点具有重要意义。     

On the pharyngeal tooth remains of crucian and common carp from the neolithic Tianluoshan site,Zhejiang Province,China, with remarks on the relationship between freshwater fishing and rice cultivation in the Neolithic Age

The pharyngeal tooth remains of crucian and common carp from the Tinaluoshan site of the Hemudu Cultural Stage, Zhejiang Province, China, were analysed. The body‐lengths (BLs) of the fish were estimated from tooth size and plotted as bar diagrams. Based on these, we infer that Neolithic dwellers used gill nets to efficiently catch fish of a specific size during the breeding season. The BL distribution of common carp there is similar to those from Jomon sites in Japan, and we therefore infer that the technology for controlling water for rice cultivation in paddy fields had not yet been developed. The abundance of tooth remains of crucian carp unearthed at the Tianluoshan site is reminiscent of similar finds in Western Japan, and we thus infer that the culture trait of utilizing crucian carp as a major protein resource was distributed from the Yangtze River basin to Western Japan. Analysis of pharyngeal tooth remains of carp at various Japanese archaeological sites shows that freshwater fishing was conducted quite differently before and after the establishment of paddy fields. With this fact in mind, one of the present authors tried to model the development of freshwater fishing, with reference to the relation of fishing to rice cultivation (Nakajima, 2010 ). In Phase I, artisanal fishing became an active and technically developed endeavour, and people began to cultivate rice at fishing site. In Phase II, people began to cultivate rice purposefully in irrigated paddy fields while also fishing there. Comparing the present results of the pharyngeal tooth remains from the Tianluoshan site with those from the Jomon Period, we see that the Tianluoshan site was in the same stage as the end of Phase I in Japan, which rice cultivation was done as a supplementary activity at fishing site. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling agricultural potential in Chaco Canyon during the Bonito phase: a predictive geospatial approach

This study presents a geospatial analysis of surficial hydrology and geomorphology and their relationship to potential agricultural productivity in order to better understand the economic role of water in Chaco Canyon during the Bonito Phase (ca. AD 850–1150). Defined as the Natural Agricultural Suitability Analysis, the foundation of this study is a hierarchical geospatial analysis that integrates six key natural factors: slope, soil texture, soil depth, non-catastrophic overbank flooding potential, drainage flow length, and drainage proximity and flow potential. These factors are combined through a raster weighted overlay function to generate composite suitability map that offers a testable proxy for variability in relative agricultural potential during the Bonito Phase at Chaco. The rationale for including this set of natural factors is based largely on ethnographic and modern agricultural studies, but the predictive model differs from previous studies of agricultural potential in that it is independent of the specific archaeological distribution of evidence of agriculture in the study area. The results of this analysis suggest that previous models of Chacoan agricultural productivity have underestimated local production capacity. Previous studies have focused solely on floodplain contexts, whereas this study points to a more comprehensive and geographically distributed use of the landscape.     

A PXRF-based chemostratigraphy and provenience system for the Cooper’s Ferry site, Idaho

Correlating archaeological finds with their associated stratigraphic context is elementary to modern excavation methods. Although micro-contextual approaches can provide invaluable perspectives, ascribing primary depositional status and associative context has traditionally been a qualitative exercise. To improve the empirical nature of this process as part of new excavations at the Cooper’s Ferry site in western Idaho, we established a chemostratigraphic framework that enables us to quantitatively relate the elemental geochemistry of sediments associated with artifacts and other samples back to a master lithostratigraphic sequence. We subjected a total of 151 PXRF readings from six lithostratigraphic units to multiple discriminant function analysis, which led to the identification of characteristic elements. To test the site’s chemostratigraphic framework, we collected PXRF readings from an infilled rodent burrow, which visually appeared to contain mixed sediments from multiple lithostratigraphic units. Statistical analysis could not relate the rodent burrow’s sedimentary geochemistry well to any of the known lithostratigraphic units, thus marking it as potentially disturbed. This methodological approach allows us to make quantitative correlations between stratigraphic units across the site and most importantly, enables us to independently evaluate whether objects from any part of the site are in direct association with “anomalous” or “regular” sediments.     

试论中商文化的分期与年代

目前学者一般将中商文化分为三期,但其中尚有一定的年代缺环。据郑州、河北、安阳三地的中商期典型遗址,我们研究提出了新的四期分法,同时对中商分期与都邑、王年的对应关系开展了初步探讨。     

Is it really bridging the gap? Fiber internet's impact on housing values and homebuyer demographics

Fiber internet expansion represents a path to improved economic vitality for Americans, but it is unclear who benefits from it and by how much. We examine the effects of subsidized fiber internet expansion on home prices and homebuyer demographics using data from Wisconsin and an IV approach to correct for fiber network endogeneity. We find fiber internet increases urban and rural housing values by 1.83% ($3,462) and decreases the likelihood a homebuyer is white by 2.88%, but in urban areas only. Fiber internet therefore does not appear to drive minority homebuyers away but may contribute to the urban-rural racial divide.     

Formation of the Florisbad spring and fossil site – an alternative hypothesis

In considering that fossilization could not have taken place in the areas of the spring vents at Florisbad, and that the spring-water was not responsible for fossilization, this hypothesis provides an alternative environment for the fossilization of faunal remains. Based on examination of the site, studies on various aspects of the site, as well as previous hypotheses on the formation of the site, an alternative theory on the formation of the Florisbad spring site is presented. It is contended that a large spring pan developed around the springs, which was later largely covered, and transformed into a dam, by the migration of the Florisbad sand dune. When the water rose to near the top of the Florisbad dune dam, the eastern arm of the dune was breached, evacuating the contents of the dam in a flood of water and sediments. This caused the ephemeral drainage line to the east, to be modified into a flat-bottomed marshy vlei, where the majority of the dam sediments were deposited. Previously largely unanswered and debatable questions such as the erosion of the eastern side of the spring site, the 7 m of clay deposits recorded in the modified vlei area, and aspects of the Peat IV layer are addressed. The importance and influence of the panveld and sand dunes in the formation of the spring site are also examined.     

双墩碗底刻文与大汶口陶尊文字

双墩遗址出土的许多碗底刻划文字类符号,多为与人们生活相关的写实性图像类刻划文字,说明我国的古代文字最初是因人们生产活动的直接需求而创造的,并不是因为某种宗教信仰所需而为。而较双墩遗址年代晚的刻划文字则已经脱离了写实性阶段,进入我国古代文字发展的第二个阶段,文字的使用权已被掌握在少数上层统治人物的手中,文字已经走上了神坛。双墩遗址碗底刻划文字类符号的发现为研究古史传说中的伏羲氏提供了很有价值的考古资料。