Reburial of shipwrecks in marine sediments: a long-term study on wood degradation

Historical shipwrecks in marine environments are continuously decomposed by wood-degrading organisms, adapted to this specific environment. To protect the wrecks from degradation and to preserve the unique remains for future generations, reburial of wrecks using various covering materials has been suggested as a long-term preservation method. The following experiment was carried out to study the bio-protective effect of sediment. Sound oak, pine, and birch samples were buried above and within marine sediment in Marstrand harbour, and retrieved for analysis after 6, 12, 24, and 36 months. Macroscopic as well as light-microscopic examinations were carried out on each occasion. Marine borers (shipworm, Limnoria), soft rot and tunnelling bacteria were wood degraders immediately above the seabed; soft rot, tunnelling bacteria, and erosion bacteria were active 10 cm below the seabed; erosion bacteria were the only degraders at a depth of 43 cm below the seabed. The wood species had different durability towards the decay agents. After 3 years, wood samples above the seabed were totally decomposed, whereas wood was highly protected at 43 cm depth in sediment. In the sediment, decay decreased significantly with depth of burial. The results suggest that reburial of shipwrecks in marine sediment can be recommended as a simple and efficient method for long-term preservation of the wooden cultural heritage.     

北京城区博物馆时空间分布特征分析

通过对北京城区市级以上博物馆的时空间分布研究,得出其空间分布随着时间的变化经历了以天安门、故宫为中心的集聚阶段(1949年-1979年)、沿主干道和环线向外扩展阶段(1980-1995年)、沿东北-西南轴向集聚阶段(1996-2007年)三个历史发展阶段,并呈现出不同的空间分布特征,在此基础上概括总结出北京城区市级以上博物馆在空间分布上具有:(1)向心集聚显著,即约占总数50%的博物馆高度集中在主城区,并主要沿长安街两侧分布;(2)北密南疏,即约占总数75%以上的博物馆分布在长安街及其延长线以北地区,形成了明显的南北城差异;(3)主城区以外沿环线分布等特征。同时,探讨了导致这一分布特征的主要因素是历史惯性、经济拉动和交通便捷程度以及由此分布产生的问题;最后,对北京博物馆未来空间布局的发展进行预测,并提出相应的对策和建议。     

Time,Waste, and the City: The Rise of the Environmental Industry

In many US cities, especially those in the Rust Belt, the environmental goods and services (EGS) industry has played a significant role in restructuring local economies to promote new, flexible, and “creative” forms of service‐based labour. And yet much of the environmental work conducted in these cities has been directed at an industrial past, cleaning up the waste left over from long‐departed manufacturing sectors. Returning to David Harvey's earlier work on the urban process, this paper develops a theory of waste switching that situates EGS within a larger renegotiation of space and time across city landscapes. This theory is fleshed out in case studies of the EGS industry in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee, where new cycles of accumulation have been built on refuse, toxins, and dead labour. These “toxi‐cities” and their cleanup challenge traditional conceptions of urbanisation as spatially—but also temporally—bounded.     

Built environment and tourism as road safety determinants in Benidorm (Spain)

The rise in the number of urban road accidents is a challenge shared by all European cities, which seek to improve mobility while reducing transport problems. In recent years, urban road accidents in Spain have been constantly increasing and now account for a larger share of the total number of road accidents. This paper aims to analyse the impact of urban factors on road accidents. For this purpose, a small-scale analysis of land use and road infrastructure has been conducted in the town of Benidorm, one of the main tourist destinations in Spain. In addition, a regression analysis has been carried out using a Negative Binomial distribution. The results show that factors such as the level of mixed land uses, population density and road infrastructure are related to urban road accidents. The findings also reveal that tourism environments have a positive impact on pedestrian road safety. Small-scale analyses, particularly those related to exclusively-oriented environments, such as tourism developments, should be studied in detail in order to promote safety, liveability and sustainability in our cities.     

城市空间扩展视野下的近代上海河浜资源利用与环境问题

本文将中国近代城市化的首发之地——上海作为研究对象,以开埠后租界城市空间扩展的微观过程为视角,系统探讨其河浜资源利用与相关环境变迁的内在机制与驱动力,并对深层的制度背景进行分析。本文的研究结论是:从城市建立的初期开始,租界工部局就仅出于实用目的对自然河浜的排水功能加以利用,以私人化的地产分布、地产开发需求以及马路的拓建规划为基本导向,对河浜进行无序填没和管道化改造,而忽略了方格状感潮河网的环境脆弱性以及河浜除排水以外的其他生态功能。这种受城市空间扩展自然驱动的河浜利用方式,导致了严重的河浜形态破碎与功能紊乱,成为近代以来上海地区黑臭河道不断产生的主要原因。其制度根源主要在于:租界直接承袭了19世纪英国城市环境改造理念,并受到自治市制度的局限。     

汉代黄河流域麦作发展的环境因素与技术影响

汉代冬小麦的推广与普及,具有自东向西的时空特点。麦作发展是区域自然环境与技术条件交互作用的结果,其中自然环境条件是影响汉代黄河流域冬麦普及过程的基本因素。不论是黄河下游地区冬麦种植的较早普及还是关中地区冬麦推广的迟滞,均首先与当地的自然环境有关。在黄河下游地区,人们利用冬麦的生长特性趋利避害,减少和防止河汛水患的影响,保障粮食生产,麦子得以广泛种植。在关中地区,干旱的困扰一度制约了冬麦的推广和普及。在自然因素推动下的汉代麦作推广与普及,促进了黄河流域抗旱耕作及粮食加工技术的发展,影响深远。     

从营销环境看近代中国第一个铁厂的破产

洋务运动时期,贵州当地政府在镇远创办了中国最早的近代化重工业企业——青溪铁厂。然而,由于营销环境的缺失,青溪铁厂创办不久即以失败告终。     

Lead Use on Roman Ships and its Environmental Effects

Underwater surveys along the Israeli coast have yielded numerous lead artefacts recovered from Roman shipwrecks, found due to sand shortage caused by nature and man. Unique site-formation processes resulted in intact and preserved assemblages of lead artefacts unaffected by prior salvage. These included hull sheathing, anchors, fishing gear, cooking equipment and containers. Most lead was in objects intended only for nautical use. The finds indicate that people on board ships were exposed to more lead than the general Roman population. Thus the Roman ship was a mobile source of lead pollution contaminating people and the marine environment.
© 2007 The Authors     

从环境的历史到环境史——关于环境史研究的一种认识

By and large, there are three kinds of research on environment: the history of environment as a field of natural history studies, the history of environment as within the scope of history of society studies, and environmental history as the study of the relationship between human and nature. The methodological perspective of the relationship between humanity and environmental distinguishes the third from the previous two. From this perspective, when we probe the mutual effects between human and nature, we will stress on their interactions. The new era and the realities of contemporary society foster the rise of environmental history, which has not only theoretical values but also practical significance. Translated from Xueshu Yanjiu 学术研究 (Academic Research), 2006, (9):12–22     

民俗类博物馆与非物质文化遗产展示

本文结合河南省安阳市民间艺术博物馆近年来的工作实践,就当下非遗保护展示在综合类博物馆中展示位置日益靠前的普遍现象,论述民俗类博物馆在非遗保护、研究、收藏、尤其是展示中应该发挥的重要作用.