The connectivity of pore space in mudstones: insights from high‐pressure Wood's metal injection,BIB‐SEM imaging,and mercury intrusion porosimetry

Study of the pore space in mudstones by mercury intrusion porosimetry is a common but indirect technique and it is not clear which part of the pore space is actually filled with mercury. We studied samples from the Opalinus Clay, Boom Clay, Haynesville Shale, and Bossier Shale Formations using Wood's metal injection at 316 MPa, followed by novel ion beam polishing and high‐resolution scanning electron microscopy. This method allowed us to analyze at high resolution which parts of a rock are intruded by the liquid alloy at mm to cm scale. Results from the Opalinus Clay and Haynesville Shale show Wood's Metal in cracks, but the majority of the pore space is not filled although mercury intrusion data suggests that this is the case. In the silt‐rich Boom Clay sample, the majority of the pore space was filled Wood's metal, with unfilled islands of smaller pores. Bossier Shale shows heterogeneous impregnation with local filling of pores as small as 10 nm. We infer that mercury intrusion data from these samples is partly due to crack filling and compression of the sample. This compaction is caused by effective stress developed by mercury pressure and capillary resistance; it can close small pore throats, prevent injection of the liquid metal, and indicate an apparent porosity. Our results suggest that many published MIP data on mudstones could contain serious artifacts and reliable metal intrusion porosimetry requires a demonstration that the metal has entered the pores, for example by Wood's metal injection, broad ion beam polishing, and scanning electron microscopy.     

Metal Ties in Genoa,Italy: Manufacture,Trade, and Use from the 15th to the 18th Century

The article deals with the use of metal ties in an ancient and stratified urban context, the city of Genoa, starting from the notarial documents preserved in its State Archives. The work has different objectives: to show the results that can be obtained, on an urban scale, thanks to a research path that compares indirect sources of different types with the observation of historical buildings; to highlight the “weight” and the role that the ties, often hidden, had in buildings, and not only the monumental ones; to increase knowledge of the production process of this constructive element. The wide and diversified use of metal ties found in Genoa seems to proceed in parallel, in the 15th century, with the development of a flourishing productive and mercantile business based on the commercial monopoly of the hematite of the island of Elba by the city oligarchy and, between the 16th and 17th centuries, with the huge investments in the construction sector highlighted by the abundant documentary sources.     

Experimental Characterization of Ancient Metal Tie-Rods in Historic Masonry Buildings

Metal tie-rods play a decisive role in the control of horizontal thrusts in historic masonry buildings. The main goal of the present study is to investigate the relationship between metallurgical and mechanical properties of original tie-rods in order to contribute to a wider study on ancient building stability and their restoration protocols. This article presents the results of an experimental test campaign carried out on 14 historic tie-rods (dating back from 16^th–19^th century) recovered from restoration works or building demolitions. Stress-strain mechanical tests showed that the elastic modulus of the material is comparable to that of modern structural steel, while the strength and the elongation capability are significantly lower, with a large scatter. Further analyses based on metallography allowed us to assess that this mechanical behavior depends on the heterogeneous nature of the material, which can eventually be compared to a composite with vitreous elongated particles in a ferritic or ferrito-pearlitic matrix. The origin of such metallurgical condition is related to the iron making based on direct smelting from ores.     

Traces of Early Austronesian Expansion to East Indonesia? New Discovery of Dentate-Stamped and Lime-Infilled Pottery from Central Sulawesi

This short article report about the new findings of finely made dentate-stamped and lime infilled potteries from the Goa Topogaro site in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Most of them are red-slipped pottery decorated with dentate-stamped, lime infilled, and can be identified as burial potteries as they are excavated with secondly burials of the Early Metal Age possibly dated around 2000-1800 years ago. When comparing these finds with common decorative patterns seen in early dentate-stamped pottery assemblages in the Philippines, Mariana Islands, and early Lapita sites, the Topogaro dentate-stamped pots lack some common early patterns, but exhibit a wider variety of designs. It is now argued that dentate-stamped decorations at Lapita sites mainly disappeared by around 2800 BP or at least by 2000 BP in the Pacific, but the Topogaro dentate-stamped sherds may indicate that this pottery tradition continued and further developed in Island Southeast Asia or Sulawesi at least until the Early Metal Age. The detailed analysis of these new finds and further comparative study on production technique, variety of design, forms, and styles of both dentate-stamped ceramics in Southeast Asia and Oceania is required.     

广州增城墨依山玉器材质和受沁过程分析

为综合研究出土玉器的风化机理,正确评估玉器的保存状况,本研究采用物相、成分和电镜等方法对2016年广州重要考古发现——增城墨依山玉器进行了材质和结构分析,确认了墨依山玉器材质为透闪石。在此基础上,对玉器周边土壤进行了物相、成分、结构和酸碱度等分析,并结合玉器本体和遗址气候条件,综合探讨了强酸性环境下墨依山玉器的受沁过程。本研究有助于丰富对玉器风化机理的认识,有利于科学制定玉器的保护措施。     

Conjuring Boundaries: Inferring Past Identities from Religious Artifacts

A detailed examination of commonalities between folk religion beliefs and practices of African American and European American ethnic groups raises intriguing issues. Interpretations concerning the ethnic group association of conjuration artifacts uncovered at eighteenth- and nineteenth-century sites in the mid-Atlantic region must be based on a clearer articulation of the interplay of three issues: the general dynamics of ethnic group boundedness; how material culture communicates such ethnic identities; and how conjuration practices support or subvert ethnic group boundaries. A variety of protective and malevolent conjuration practices likely functioned in different ways in intergroup and intragroup settings.     

珠海宝镜湾岩画年代的界定

珠海宝镜湾岩画年代从其刻凿内容、刻凿手法以及户外摩崖的选择与遗址出土玉石、陶器等形态的比较中,推论距今约4200年～4500年之间。     

Archaeology and Folklore of Material Culture, Ritual, and Everyday Life

Archaeologists often make distinctions between ritual material culture and everyday or utilitarian material culture. I examine this differentiation model for understanding the complex relationships among material culture, ritual, and everyday life. Using folklore recorded in Scotland in the seventeenth to twentieth centuries, I suggest another, continuum-based model, and suggest how this model can enrich archaeological understanding of the meanings and beliefs that form the cultural contexts for the artifacts, features, sites, and landscapes we study.     

王士琦墓出土金银器的样式与工艺

明代王士琦墓出土金银器百余件,为人熟知的金带銙一副二十枚、金镶玉带具一件是王士琦物,其余则以女子首饰为多。本文对王士琦墓出土的金银器,尤其是其中的女子首饰,作了大致的梳理,包括对这些器物予以重新命名,兼及对式样和工艺的讨论。     

四川绵阳出土的西汉饱水漆木器的前期保护工作

为保护四川绵阳出土的西汉饱水漆木器,使用脱水定型法对20件物进行了保护。选用甲醇脱水,十八烷醇加固定型的方法,继而作旧,封护。结果表明,经保护处理的物,其弦向平均收缩率为8％左右,径向平均收缩率为1％左右,说明保护处理是成功的。实验说明,甲醇一十八烷醇脱水定型法具有普遍的推广意义。