Stylistic Change as a Self-Organized Critical Phenomenon: An Archaeological Study in Complexity

Archaeologists can learn from models of evolution as a self-organized critical phenomenon. Self-organized critical systems are large, interactive systems that organize into a critical state where minor events can trigger chain reactions. Such systems demonstrate power-law distributions in the size of changes, or avalanches, that occur. The theory of self-organized criticality is important in that it implies that the evolution of complex systems may be driven more by interactions between agents than by external events or natural selection. Stylistic changes may be examples of avalanches of interconnected events. Evidence for self-organized criticality is shown for stylistic evolution in historical pottery styles from New York State and is used to evaluate the nature of a prehistoric pottery typology from the Southwest.     

“杨各庄”等地名的地理分布及其音变的历史意义

华北地区及华东地区地名中多见“X各庄”和“X家庄”。该地区中,从西北部到东南部,“X各庄”的比例逐渐增多,而“X家庄”的比例逐渐减少,形成了一个语音渐变的地理连续体。这种特殊现象的形成是由于该地区西北部较频繁地受到北方阿尔泰语系诸语言的影响,而相对来说,东南部则较少受到这种影响。地名中的“各”仍然保留了中古汉语“家”的舌根音塞音声母[k-]。这种明显的地域互补分布表明了北方汉语方言前高元音前面的舌根声母转变为舌面音的力量来自于外部的人文影响,而非内部语言音变。     

老虎山文化的扩张与对外影响

大约以公元前2200年为界, 老虎山文化可分为前、后两大期.前期稳定发展,对外影响有限;后期向南强烈扩张,其陶双鋬鬲、卜骨和细石器镞更流播至黄河中下游广大地区.老虎山文化后期对外扩张的加强和这一时期气候日渐干冷有关.     

关于利用历史文献信息进行环境演变研究的几点看法

针对如何更好地利用我国丰富的历史文献记录,开展历史时期环境演变研究,本文提出四点看法:从地球系统科学与全球变化研究的前沿中寻找研究的主题,在诸多不确定中寻找确定性答案,构建历史文献信息共享的环境演变研究平台,培养文理兼备的复合型人才。     

洛、许名士与汉魏之际的学风演变

玄学之形成于北方,是和汉魏之际中原地区整体学风的变迁分不开的.对比董卓之乱前洛下士人的矛盾心态与董卓之乱后许下士人的精神风貌,可以看出这时人们的思维方式心态、价值观念等等方面都已经发生了剧烈的转型.也正是这一转型的完成,为其后魏晋思想的大解放奠定了基石,为南方荆州新学所带来的玄学种子提供了适宜的气候与土壤.     

环渤海地区的早期新石器文化与海岸变迁──环渤海环境考古之二

从世界范围看,人类历史进入新石器时代是伴随距今１２０００年前后全球气候变暖全新世到来之际才发生的,而在环渤海地区,这一过程还伴随着渤海从陆地到海洋的剧烈环境变迁。如果说渤海的这一沧桑巨变过去离我们还非常洪荒遥远的话,那么在环渤海地区不断发现早期新石器文化遗址的今天,它已越来越走近我们的视野了②。９０年代以来,相关考古资料进一步增加并趋细化系统化,使深入考察环渤海地区早期新石器文化的发展与海岸变迁的互动关系成为可能并日显迫切。笔者不揣浅陋,拟在前人基础上从分析兴隆洼文化与小珠山下层文化的关系入手,…     

Dating the Trollesgave site and the Bromme culture – chronological fix-points for the Lateglacial settlement of Southern Scandinavia

The Bromme culture belongs to the Lateglacial, the period when people settled in the recently deglaciated Southern Scandinavia. Until now there have been only a few imprecise fix-points relating to the chronological position of this archaeological culture. This situation can now be improved with the aid of research results from a Bromme culture settlement at Trollesgave in SE Denmark. Using pollen and plant macrofossil data, Lateglacial lacustrine deposits containing waste material from the settlement can be assigned to the end of the climatically mild Allerød period. A series of ¹⁴C dates establishes the age of the settlement as c. 10 826 ± 49 ¹⁴C years BP (12 871–12 590 cal yr BP). By correlation with climate data from the Greenland ice cores, the occupation can be assigned to the early part of the cold climatic zone GS-1, thus demonstrating that the global ice-core climate zones are not absolutely synchronous with the regional division into biozones.     

The Green Economy Research Centre – positioning geographical research in Aberdeen to address the challenges of green economy transitions

ABSTRACT

The necessity to address climate change has resulted in a widespread debate about the need for a transition to a ‘greener’ economy. How such an economy emerges, by what drivers and at what scale is a significant source of speculation amongst the geographical research community. In the context of longstanding contributions to environmental geography from scholars working at Aberdeen University, this paper outlines a novel research agenda for the Green Economy Research Centre (GERC). The contours of the green economy are examined in the context of economic sectors of food production, tourism, energy and the blue economy. Cross-cutting themes of green transitions, governance, people and place and ecosystem services inform our academic contribution to this evolving and controversial societal issue.