Teaching Historical Research Skills to Undergraduates: Thoughts on Microcomputers and the Classroom

Abstract. In a classic article written in 1994, Robert Fogel assumed that the distribution of calories per head is log normal and that the variance of income per head is greater than the variance of calories per head. Using these assumptions, Fogel was able to conclude that approximately 50 percent of the economic growth since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution is due to changes in nutrition. The author tests those two assumptions with the 1888 cost of living survey (U.S. Department of Labor 1890). Although he finds that the variance of income is greater than the variance of calories per head, distributional tests reveal that the distribution of calories per head is not log normal. In particular, the calorie distribution is skewed to the left, and the tails of the distribution are thicker than those of a log-normal distribution. Graphical tests, however, show that the log-normal assumption is appropriate, and departures from log normality are quite modest. Kernel density estimates further confirm that the distribution of calories per head is approximately log normal. Given the nature of the departures from log normality, Fogel's calculations may understate the role that nutrition has played in economic growth.     

Moving metals or indigenous mining? Provenancing Scandinavian Bronze Age artefacts by lead isotopes and trace elements

The aim of this study is to further the discussion as to whether copper was extracted locally or imported to Sweden during the Bronze Age or if both of these practices could have coexisted. For this purpose, we have carried out lead isotope and chemical analyses of 33 bronze items, dated between 1600BC and 700BC. Among these are the famous Fröslunda shields and the large scrap hoard from Bräckan and other items from three regions in southern Sweden which are also renowned for their richness in copper ores. It is obvious from a comparison that the element and lead isotope compositions of the studied bronze items diverge greatly from those of spatially associated copper ores. Nor is there any good resemblance with other ores from Scandinavia, and it is concluded that the copper in these items must have been imported from elsewhere. The results furthermore indicate that there are variations in metal supply that are related to chronology, in agreement with other artefacts from Scandinavia as well as from other parts of Europe. Altogether these circumstances open up for a discussion regarding Scandinavia’s role in the maritime networks during the Bronze Age.     

中国古代琥珀艺术——商至元

琥珀作为艺术载体在我国的出现,至少可以追溯到距今三千余年前的四川广汉三星堆遗址时期,其使用一直延绵不断。本文主要利用考古出土材料,并结合文献,对自商至元(不包括辽代)历代琥珀制品的题材、造型、工艺、使用及其文化内涵作全面的梳理和探讨。文章认为,琥珀在我国古代是作为与水晶、玛瑙、琉璃、犀、玳瑁、玉石、金等相当的贵重物品进入人们视野的。其使用多限于皇室、贵族和高官,是使用者地位、财富和奢华生活的象征。琥珀主要作为小件饰品使用,其次用作印章。至于琥珀用作杯、盅、盏、枕、碟、盒等实用器皿,虽有记载,但非常罕见。琥珀制品的造型,与同时代其他贵重材质器物的造型相同或相似,其制作以圆雕为主,少量片雕、镂雕,加刻简单的阴线表现细部特征。历代琥珀艺术呈现的面貌各不相同。     

古埃及墓葬彩绘材料研究

分析研究了八件古埃及墓葬出土器物,这些器物包括部分传统殡葬遗存,包括木乃伊裹尸、面具、木棺和礼仪器具等。时代大约为古埃及晚期（公元前800到公元400年）,展现出不同的彩绘工艺和风格。本文将提供有关颜料、充填物、调合剂的分析结果。还将讨论古代工艺、时代、老化以及保护问题。另外,还对多种颜料分析手段进行了评估。     

Choice Flowers and Well-Ordered Tables: Struggling Over Gender in a Nineteenth-Century Household

Historical archaeologists have generally considered households as isolated,bounded entities, and not as sets of social relations. Consequently, the household has gone unrecognized as an arena of struggle. Analysis of documents associated with the household of nineteenth-century reformer Gerrit Smith challenges this approach. At his Peterboro, New York estate, a struggle ensued between family members because of conflicting ideologies of self-presentation, and between worker and employer on account of the period's shifting gender ideology. In order to access the meanings of objects excavated, the material remains associated with the Smith household must be considered in light of these struggles.     

Book Reviews

Books Reviewed:
Don Mitchell, Cultural Geography: a critical introduction
Lesley Head, Cultural Landscapes and Environmental Change
F Driver and D Gilbert, Imperial cities: landscape, display and identity     

山东济阳刘台子西周墓的史前遗玉

山东济阳刘台子西周六号墓出土一件玉鹰虎饰,与同墓的玉雕风格迥异,却与龙山-石家河化玉雕风格一致。从玉雕工艺及化交流方面考证此件玉鹰虎饰为史前遗玉。     

“南澳Ⅰ号”出水陶瓷器脱盐技术对比研究

为了对“南澳Ⅰ号”明代沉船出水的大量陶瓷类文物进行安全高效的脱盐保护处理,选取“南澳Ⅰ号”出水的3种不同窑系的陶瓷文物作为研究对象,对其胎体理化性能进行分析检测与对比,并在常温静水浸泡、加热静水浸泡、超声波与加热-超声波4种方法11种不同技术参数下分别进行脱盐实验,并作对比研究。研究发现,加热与超声波技术相比常温浸泡法可以大幅度提高脱盐的速率,但是随着温度的继续升高与超声波频率的增加,脱盐速率增加幅度不大。实验中发现超声波对比较脆弱的陶瓷文物的釉面与胎体会产生一定影响。在对比实验基础上提出了3种不同窑系的陶瓷文物相应的最佳脱盐参数,以期为安全高效地完成“南澳Ⅰ号”出水的2万多件陶瓷器的保护脱盐提供研究支持,并为其他沉船陶瓷器保护提供借鉴。     

新中国农村五保供养制度的变迁

五保对象是农村困难群体中最缺乏生存能力、最需要帮助照顾的弱势群体,为他们提供五保供养是有中国特色的农村社会保障体系的重要组成部分。50年来,在我国工业化、市场化和现代化进程中,农村五保供养制度大致历经了三次模式的更替：1956～1978年主要依靠集体公益金运行,是由生产队或生产大队组织实施的集体供养模式;1979～2001年是以村提留和乡纹筹为其经费和实物来源的集体供养模式;2002年以来以国家财政供养为主,集体保障、土地保障和社会帮扶为辅的现代社会保障模式。这三次模式的转变,既是我国五保供养工作进一步制度化、规范化和法制化与五保对象供养水平逐步提升的过程,也是五保供养从村民互助自养式的供养模式转变为由政府公共财政负担的财政供养模式的过程,又是探索建立农村现代社会保障制度的过程。     

金玉同盟——东周金器和玉器之装饰风格与角色演变

除了延续自前代的风格传统与工艺技术外,东周玉器与源自于他类材质器物的启发关系尤其密切,其中金器扮演了关键性的角色。东周金器对玉器装饰风格的影响,主要表现在纹饰布局、纹饰母题以及追求浮雕的空间表现等几个方面。此时玉器和金器在风格上的相互转换与兴替消长,不仅导致金玉材质间的相互置换,更重要的是,它们的装饰形式也因应被模仿对象的材质特性而改头换面,并且发展出新的审美价值和象征意蕴。