Visualising Traces of the Past in Latin America*

The articles included in this special issue address the shifting relationship between traces of the past and photography in Latin America from the nineteenth century to the present day. Looking at different forms of materiality and trace in Latin America, from pre-Columbian remains to body art and industrial ruins, this issue also understands photographs as material objects that ‘act’ within particular visual economies. In this introduction, we offer some brief reflections on ruins and ruination in Latin America, and on the relationship between photography and the past.     

关于清代的苏钟

“苏钟”是清代苏州所制钟表的简称,一般认为,苏州地区钟表制造的起源甚早.水平很高。但以往对苏钟的研究推测演绎成份居多,影响了我们对苏钟乃至中国钟表史的整体认识。本文即在前人研究之基础上,从文献和实物等方面对苏钟历史进行重新考察,从而获得对苏钟历史较为客观的描述,纠正了以往研究者对苏钟认识的偏颇之处。     

Report on Finds from the Saint-Quay-Portrieux Wreck, France

In 1987, some divers discovered the cargo of a merchant ship which was wrecked off the rocks of the Saint-Quay Islands in Brittany. Several expeditions were conducted by the discoverer, DRASSM and the Art and History Museum of Saint-Brieuc on the site between 1987 and 2003 but the wreck remains unidentified. The ship is believed to have traded with Africa in the first part of the 18th century. Though no remains of the ship's structure were found, the artefacts recovered, including trading goods, ship's equipment, and domestic utensils, allow comparisons to be made with other contemporary materials.
© 2004 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

《北梦琐言》与五代实录

《北梦琐言》是五代学者孙光宪撰写的一部史料性笔记小说,具有较高的史料价值。在《北梦琐言》与五代实录的关系问题上,有关学者存在着分歧。把《北梦琐言》与《旧五代史》等加以比较,以及查核《北梦琐言》的行文后,可知该书曾摘抄过五代实录。从荆南政权与中原王朝的关系及孙光宪的创作实际来看,孙光宪有可能看到并抄录五代实录。     

ANALYSIS OF PORE PRESSURE GENERATION AND DISSIPATION IN COHESIONLESS MATERIALS DURING SEISMIC LOADING

The earthquake loading of a shallow foundation resting on top of a cohesionless layer creates cyclic variations in the shear force and overturning moment acting on the supporting soil. These loads induce a tendency for volume change which, in turn, depending on the drainage conditions and material permeability, may cause in addition to a cyclic pore pressure variation a progressive pore pressure buildup. The paper develops an efficient and elegant way, based on a multiple time scale analysis, of solving this fully coupled problem. The theoretical solution is implemented in a finite element code and is applied to predict the pore pressure development and dissipation under a bridge pier foundation for which it was essential to limit the pore pressure increase.     

The ethnic versus the economic frontiers of Poland

The soil which has developed at any given location is considered to be the result of five interacting factors: parent material, time, climate, topography and biotic factors. This paper discusses the role of these factors in the development of Scottish soils, which fall into three broad categories: leached soils, gley soils and organic soils. The intention is to provide a context for the case studies that follow in later papers.     

A Blaze in the Northern Sky: Black Metal and Crimes Against Culture

Abstract

This paper focuses on an act that can be seen to typify what heritage organizations might con?dently describe as a ‘crime against culture’: the deliberate destruction by ?re of a twelfth-century wooden stave church at Fantoft in Norway in 1992. This paper uses the case study of Fantoft to challenge the ways in which heritage organizations (in this case Norway’s Directorate of Cultural Heritage) establish and protect mono-cultural narratives and push interpretative agendas predicated on an uncritical concept of universal ‘value’ and its equation with material authenticity. It also examines how distinct minority communities construct new meanings, values, and traditions without reference to institutional narratives, a process that, whilst arguably initiating a more meaningful dialogue with the past, brings in train a new set of problems.     

媲美刘禹锡竹枝词的大型民族风物组诗——论舒位《黔苗竹枝词》的民族史料价值与艺术特点

清中叶著名诗人舒位的大型民族风物组诗《黔苗竹枝词》五十四首,从族源、民居、语言文字、饮食、歌舞乐器、服饰、婚配、丧葬祭祀、商业工艺、社会结构等内容,对黔苗的民族风物进行了全方位的描绘和抒写,在艺术风格上典雅清丽而充满趣味,具有珍贵的民族史料价值和极高的文学艺术价值。《黔苗竹枝词》的规模、内容和艺术特点,可勘媲美刘禹锡竹枝词,产生了很大影响。     

Evaluating inputs to models of hominin raw material selection: map resolution and path choices

Selection of an appropriate scale is an important decision in study design in many branches of science, since perceived patterns often change with the scales of spatial extent or resolution of an analysis. In previously published work, we created a resource selection model to determine the importance of several independent variables for the selection of lithic materials by hominins at a Middle Palaeolithic site in southern France. Two of these independent variables (calories exerted and difficulty of the terrain covered in travel from source to site) were calculated using elevation data extracted from maps. In the present paper, we examine the differences in model performance when the variables ‘Calories’ and ‘Difficulty’ are calculated using 1) three base maps for elevation that differed in map resolution (from finest to coarsest: a 1:25,000 topographic base map, SPOT DEM, and SRTM DEM), and 2) two different methods for determining the route from source to site (straight-line route and least-cost route; both methods exclude areas with slopes >60% from travel). Our best model was the one that used data calculated using the topographic base map; however, the SRTM DEM-based data produced models of essentially equal quality. Regardless of map scale, models that used data calculated using a straight-line route always outperformed models that used data calculated using a least-cost route. This supports our previous finding that a straight-line route is a more appropriate measure for the path from lithic source to site than a least-cost route. We conclude that the map resolution of each of the base maps used here is appropriate for analyses involving spatial data pertaining to Neandertal activity because this type of data is essentially always coarse-grained.     

Paper 5: Historic Mortars from the Coudenberg Archaeological Site: Characterization and Source of Raw Materials

Abstract

The characterization of historic mortars by means of a concise methodology of material analyses can provide crucial information with regard to the origin of the raw materials and the ancient mortar technology. For the analysis of the historic mortars of the Coudenberg archaeological site, the methodology consists of optical and scanning electron microscopy, simultaneous thermal analysis, and an acidic treatment. These analyses were carried out on a total of seventeen samples lifted from various areas in the site, in function of the building chronology resulting from a historic built investigation. The type of binder and aggregate as well as their volumetric ratio were determined.

Both binder and aggregate present distinctive features, which made it possible to identify the probable geological provenance of the raw materials. The observations are verified with available historical records regarding the construction of the main banqueting hall — the Aula Magna — and the use of raw materials such as limestone and sand for the production of lime and construction purposes.