Technological Characterization of Campanian Pottery of Type A,B and C and of Regional Products from Ancient Calabria (Southern Italy)

Sherds of Campanian pottery were studied by SEM‐EDX. SEM images show that slips of Campana C are scarcely sintered and are thicker than the well vitrified coatings of Campana A and B and imitations of Campana B. Slips of products with a grey slip on a grey body are very thin and well vitrified. EDX analyses indicate that slips are richer in aluminium and iron, and poorer in silicon and calcium, with respect to the bodies. Higher potassium is also found in all of the coatings except those of Campana A. Here relatively high sodium makes the total alkalis comparable with those of the other products, except Campana C, where it is somewhat lower. Measurement of thermal expansion and X‐ray powder diffractograms suggest that firing temperatures were mostly in excess of 900°C, but some samples of Campana C seem to have been fired below 800°C.     

New Perspectives on Sincu Bara, a First Millennium Site in the Senegal Valley

The 67-ha site of Sincu Bara was discovered and extensively excavated in the 1970s. Three primary aspects of its archaeological interest were its vast size, its location in the Middle Senegal Valley, where some of the earliest regional polities in West Africa arose, and the extensive and diverse assortment of copper-based metal artifacts it produced. Deposits with brass appeared to be associated with radiocarbon dates as early as the fifth century AD. It appeared that most of the deposits related to a single, long-lasting occupation by people who arrived with sophisticated copper-based metallurgy in the fifth century and remained at least until the eleventh century, without discernible modification in their material culture. Results of new excavations in 1991–1992 indicate that this interpretation must be substantially modified, since considerable change in material culture, including the introduction of copper-based metals between AD 800 and AD 900, has now been documented. This article summarizes the data from these new excavations and suggests that earlier interpretations were based largely on material from disturbed, severely mixed deposits, which gave a false picture of homogeneity through time.Les soixante sept héctares constituant le gisement du Sincu Bara étaient découverts et fouillés dans les années soixante dix. Son intérêt archéologique est lié aux trois aspects: sa grande superficie, sa location dans la vallée moyenne du Sénégal où les premières unités politiques de l'Afrique de l'Ouest existaient, et finalement, la diversité des objets métalliques en cuivre que le site a livrée. Il apparaît que la plupart des dépôts appartient à une seule occupation de longue durée par un peuple qui est arrivé pendant la cinquième siécle AD, en possession de la connaissance de métallurgie à base de cuivre et qui montrait au moins jusqu'au onzième siécle peu de modification dans leur culture materielle. Les résultats des fouilles de 1991–1992 montrent que cette interpretation doit être modifiée, car il y a eu du changement considérable dans le matèriel, comme l'introduction des métaux à base de cuivre entre AD 800–900. Dans cet article, nous avons résumé les résultats des nouvelles fouilles et nous suggérons que les anciennes interpretations ont été largement fondées sur du matériel perturbé, des dépôts mixtes qui donnaient une image fausse de l'homogenité pendant cette période.     

唐代“投匦奏事”制度初探

“投匦奏事”制度是唐代监察制度的重要补充形式之一。“投匦奏事”始于唐武则天垂拱年间,从此,作为一种制度一直沿用到唐末。考察唐匦的沿革、匦使院知匦使、理匦使的设置及其职责、对投匦人及其奏事方式的规定和要求,无疑将有助于我们对唐代监察制度的进一步了解和认识。     

两汉时期的济源及其陶器─—济源汉代陶器图说之一

河南省济源市位于豫西北一隅,北依太行,南带黄河,是中国古代四渎之一的北渎济水的发源地。早在战国时期,济源已被视为“有夏之居”,坐落在市郊济水东西二源之间的原城遗址,面积达８０万平方米,文化内涵丰富,被学术界推定为夏代帝杼所都之原。西周时武王曾封其胞弟原叔于此,作为拱卫京师的帝胄采邑。东周以原为王畿属地,后来周襄王以原赐晋,晋文公令大夫赵衰为原伯在此长期经营,原因此得到进一步的发展,原城遗址的龙山时代及东周时期的遗存,证实了此地曾经的繁荣。战国时期济源另一处较为发达的地区是位于原城西南的职。软与原…     

咸阳地区出土汉代彩绘陶器表面颜料的科学研究

为了掌握陕西省内陶质彩绘文物的基本情况、受损现状及保护现状等基础数据,我们开展了“陕西省陶质彩绘文物调查研究项目”。通过对咸阳地区汉景帝阳陵、杨家湾汉墓、汉武帝茂陵、窑店三义村等大型汉代墓葬出土彩绘陶器表面颜料进行研究,从颜料物质成分、彩绘工艺等方面进行了科学检测和分析,为彩绘陶器的保护修复提供了依据。     

浅议新砦残器盖纹饰的复原

本文对新砦遗址出土的残器盖纹饰的复原,其结果与台北故宫所藏鹰纹圭上的高羽冠神像非常相似。它具有鲜明的时代特征,对探讨二里头文化铜牌饰乃至商周青铜器较常见的“高羽冠饕餮纹” 的渊源具有重要学术价值。     

An analytical study, using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometry, of samian and colour-coated wares from the Roman town at Colchester together with related continental samian wares

Over 200 sherds of samian and colour-coated pottery of late 2nd or early 3rd century date have been analysed by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) emission spectrometry. Most of this material was excavated at Colchester, England; the remainder is related East Gaulish material. Some clay samples were also analysed. The material divides, after multivariate statistical analysis, into 11 clusters. These accord well with known archaeological evidence and suggest assignments of origin where these are uncertain. In particular, the archaeological evidence for a link between Colchester and the Sinzig potters is supported.     

Leftovers: The presence of manufacture-derived aquatic lipids in Alaskan pottery

Lipids preserved within the walls of ancient pottery vessels are routinely analysed to reveal their original contents. The provenience of aquatic lipids in pottery is generally connected to vessel function (e.g., for cooking or storing fish, shellfish and aquatic mammals). However, ethnographic reports from early historic Alaska mention the use of aquatic oils for waterproofing low-fired pottery. Results of lipid residue studies on Alaskan pottery reflect an exclusive function of pottery to process aquatic resources. However, can one be sure these residues are the product of vessel function and not a remnant of the manufacturing process? The study presents the results of an experiment where the preservation of aquatic lipids during the firing process at different temperatures was measured. It was found that nearly all lipids were removed at firing temperatures of ≥ 400°C. Petrographic analysis of Alaskan pottery samples indicates that firing temperatures were generally > 550°C but < 800°C. The contribution of pre-firing manufacture-derived lipids to samples fired at these temperatures may be regarded as negligible. While the possible presence of aquatic lipids from post-firing surface treatments cannot be excluded, such treatments appear unnecessary for well-fired pottery.     

Western technical traditions of pottery making in Tang Dynasty China: chemical evidence from the Liquanfang Kiln site,Xi'an city

This study is based on the SEM-EDS and LA-ICP-AES analyses of a sample of twenty-nine Tang sancai sherds unearthed from the Liquanfang site, Xi'an city. The results indicate that ceramics with yellowish bodies are calcareous and those with red bodies were made of ferruginous clays. The use of calcareous clay in Tang sancai bodies is otherwise unknown in Chinese history, which suggests that the technique of Tang sancai making at this site might have been influenced by ceramic technology from the Near East or Central Asia. The paper therefore argues that the traditional approach of treating calcareous clay as the main characteristic of pottery made in the ancient Near East or Central Asia is not necessarily accurate. It is likely that some calcareous Tang sancai ceramics were made in the capital city of the Tang dynasty.     

渭河流域老官台文化的分期研究

The Laoguantai Culture is used to describe the archaeological remains distributed in the Wei and Han River Valley during the Middle Neolithic Period. This article is mainly dealing with the chronological sequence of the Laoguantai Cul- ture in the Wei River Valley. Based on the stratigraphical relationships and the characteristics of ceramics, the author subdivides the archaeological remains into two major periods and five phases, and generalizes the chronological idiosyncrasies of the Laoguantai Culture. This paper then lies down a solid foundation for the studies of settlement, demography and teelmology during the Middle Neolithic Period.