Restoration of the 1824 Wissekerke Iron Suspension Footbridge: Construction Details Revealed

The wrought iron suspension footbridge, built in 1824 at the Wissekerke Castle in Kruibeke (Belgium) is the oldest surviving chain footbridge in continental Europe. As the footbridge shifted from private to public use, the condition of the footbridge was surveyed and assessed. During restoration works, which started in the winter of 2011, new construction details were revealed. The original foundation was excavated giving insight into the applied-anchorage system of the suspension cable. The iron bridge was blast-cleaned, revealing not only its connections, but uncovering assembly and production stamps. These new findings not only broaden the insight in the construction of the 1824 Wissekerke footbridge, they also contribute to the overall knowledge of early construction in wrought iron.     

江苏盱眙县泗州城遗址出土大铁锅的现场保护

江苏盱眙县泗州城遗址考古出土的大铁锅迅速发生锈蚀,需要采取现场保护措施。为此,经现场XRF检测并取样后进行铁锅材质金相分析、锈蚀物拉曼光谱(LRS)分析。结果显示,铁锅为灰铸铁铸成,锈蚀物主要成分为Fe_2O_3、Fe_3O_4、γ-FeOOH。由于不稳定锈蚀物的存在,铁锅有继续腐蚀的趋势。因此,在遗址现场,通过去锈、清洗、涂刷型磷化液缓蚀、微晶石蜡封护等措施对铁锅进行了保护。处理后的铁锅状况稳定,没有出现继续腐蚀。该现场保护措施,可为考古出土大型铁器的保护提供一定的借鉴作用。     

试论楚国铁器的使用和发展

我国出土的早期铁器大都集中于楚国,目前出土的楚国早期铁器从上个世纪70年代的10余件增加到40余件,时代上限从春秋晚期上溯到了春秋中期。楚国最早的铁器发现在今鄂西,开始使用的铁器主要为农具,还有一些小型利器。至春秋晚期,楚国已有了锻造的铁器。楚国铁器,从战国初开始容器变大,刀剑变长,新器形大量出现。到战国中期,精工铁器和铜铁合铸的铁足铜鼎流行。楚国大约从春秋中期开始冶铁、用铁,到春战之交,社会已进入了铁器时代。     

汉诸侯王陵墓出土铁器的比较

对徐州狮子山西汉楚王陵、永城保安山西汉梁王墓等7座汉王陵出土铁器的种类、材质、制作技术及功能进行了比较研究,探讨了汉代钢铁技术的发展状况、技术特征等问题。狮子山楚王陵5件炒钢制品的发现表明西汉早期(公元前2世纪中叶）已经发明了炒钢技术,是迄今为止最早的;块炼铁、块炼渗碳钢、生铁、铸铁退火、铸铁脱碳钢、炒钢、局部淬火、冷加工等多种钢铁冶炼和热处理工艺在西汉王陵出土铁器中都得到了广泛的应用,表明西汉时期钢铁技术有了较大发展,当时工匠对钢铁性能的认识提高到新的水平。     

Elite Strategies and the Spread of Technological Innovation: The Spread of Iron in the Bronze Age Societies of Denmark and Southern Korea

I look at the process and speed of innovation spread, examining the economic aspects from the perspective of those who adopt the innovation. Defining innovation adoption as an investment which requires initial cost and risks, I argue that at the time of introduction of a new technology that is expected to have socioeconomic importance, elites of adopting societies try to avoid the initial cost and risks of adoption, actively intervening in the process of its spread. Thus, it is crucial to analyze the strategies and needs of elites, which strongly influence the speed of spread. One of these strategies is to change innovation's role by locating the innovation in a different realm of economy. Comparing the spread of iron technology in the Danish and southern Korean Bronze Ages, I demonstrate that differences in what elites needed to obtain through iron technology in different contexts critically affected the speed and process of iron spread into the two regions.     

汉代岭南农业发展的地域差异

汉代岭南农业发展的地域差异体现在时问、农作物、农业技术以及特定地域范围等众多方面。汉代岭南地区按农业发展水平的高低,可依次分为东部、中部和西南部三大地域。东部地域主要指南海郡,这是汉代岭南地区农业发展水平最高的地域,其中尤以番禺一带更为突出;中部地域主要包括苍梧郡、郁林郡和合浦郡等,这是汉代岭南地区农业发展水平较高的地域;西南部地域主要包括交趾郡、九真郡、日南郡和今海南岛等,这是汉代岭南地区农业发展水平较低的地域。     

鲁山望城岗冶铁遗址的冶炼技术初步研究

本文通过对河南鲁山望城岗,台铁遗址出土和采集的冶铁遗物的综合分析,证明该遗址是个集冶炼、铸造和炼钢为一体的大型工场,持续时间较长,具体工艺表现为采用选好的褐铁矿在高炉中炼出生铁,然后铸成器物,存在脱碳制钢的处理工艺,并且在冶炼时可能使用了煤炭作为燃料。     

Early ironworking in Iron Age South India: New evidence for the social organization of production from northern Karnataka

Abstract

Iron production was integral to political and ritual practices during the South Indian Iron Age (ca. 1200–300 b.c.), yet the investigation of the social relations of metals production during this period has been overshadowed by studies of iron consumption, particularly of iron objects in megalithic mortuary contexts. Recent archaeological research in the Tungabhadra River Corridor, Karnataka, has revealed iron production debris within and between settlements in more ephemeral occupational contexts, such as rockshelters. One notable discovery is the earliest ironworking facility in South India at Bukkasagara. The regional pattern suggests that iron production involved at least two classes of specialist producers—smelters and smiths—who exercised varying degrees of control over the practice and products of their craft. It also suggests that iron production was an important component in the construction and negotiation of Iron Age social differences, affiliations, and inequalities.     

Mapping the Middle East from Within: (Counter‐)Cartographies of an Imperialist Construction

Abstract: The “Middle East” is a readily accepted geographical category throughout much of the world. However, within this ambiguous geographic entity, both the term and the idea of the “Middle East” are often rejected as western‐imperialist constructs. Through a critical examination of an extensive sample of maps produced within several Arab states of the “Middle East”, I found that the regional designation “Middle East” is nearly nonexistent, while the Arab Homeland is unequivocally a more common regional category. However, the “Middle East” did occasionally appear in a few maps. This paper provides an explanatory examination of the normative cartographic discourses in this region, and more focused analysis of the atypical maps of the “Middle East”. My analyses render unique insights into how the “Middle East” is both contested and re‐created from within a western‐imperialist defined region.     

The Sail of the Swedish Merchantman Jeanne‐Élisabeth,Wrecked off Montpellier,France, in 1755

A folded sail was found stowed in the hold of the Swedish‐registered merchantman Jeanne‐Élisabeth, which ran aground off Montpellier in a storm in 1755. Surviving sails from any period are rare. The structure of the recovered portion of sail and its associated cordage is described and discussed in the context of differing traditions and technological evolutions of the period. Recovery, recording and initial conservation techniques are discussed in an appendix . © 2011 The Authors