A MULTI‐ANALYTICAL APPROACH FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF COMMODITIES IN A CERAMIC JAR FROM ANTINOE (EGYPT)*

This paper describes a multi‐analytical chemical study performed on the original, almost totally conserved, content of a small ceramic jar from the Antinoe archaeological site (fifth to seventh centuries ad, Roman Egypt) and now belonging to the archaeological collection of the Istituto Papirologico ‘Girolamo Vitelli’ (Florence, Italy). Scanning electron microscopy with an energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometer (SEM–EDX), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) were all used to characterize the inorganic components of the archaeological material. The organic substances were analysed using FTIR, direct exposure mass spectrometry (DE–MS) and gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The inorganic component essentially consisted of halite (NaCl). Among the NaCl crystals, lamellar elements were identified. They were chemically characterized by carbonato‐apatite and showed a concentric morphology typical of the scales of small fish. The most prevalent organic constituents of the sample were monocarboxylic acids, α,ω‐dicarboxylic acids, and cholesterol and its oxidation products. The organic material composition was consistent with the occurrence of lipids of animal origin. In addition, diterpenes related to pine pitch were also identified. The overall results suggest that the material recovered in the small ceramic jar found in Antinoe is a residue of fish‐based pickles such as garum, muria, allex and liquamen, which were commonly used in Roman times.     

STUDY OF ROMAN ANCHOR FROM THE DEAD SEA SHORE*

A wooden Roman anchor was discovered at the retreating shore of the Dead Sea, north of Ein Gedi. The anchor's wood material was coated by a thick veneer of aragonite and gypsum crusts. The wood was dated by radiocarbon to the early Roman time in the Levant. Lead isotope analyses carried out on the Pb–Fe–Cu anchor material (remains of the anchor's metal parts) yielded ratios that indicate origin of the metal in Italian ores (maybe Tuscan). For the wooden part of the anchor a local tree was used.     

The treatment of leprosy in 19th‐century London: a case study from St Marylebone cemetery

A young adult male, context [825], exhibiting a suite of proliferative and erosive skeletal changes, was excavated from the old burial ground of St Marylebone, London, in 2005 by the Museum of London Archaeology Service (MoLAS). Although pathognomonic rhinomaxillary changes were absent, a number of lesions were of a type previously recorded in individuals suffering from lepromatous leprosy, including resorption of the alveolar process of the maxillae and the digits of the right hand, osteomyelitis in the left ulna and collapse of the left ankle. Whilst this infectious disease was widespread in medieval Britain, it had declined by the 19th century, and has been identified in only one other post‐medieval archaeological context. The right leg of [825] had been surgically amputated. This form of intervention was a recognised treatment for the complications of the disease, where neuropathic damage of limbs led to life‐threatening infection. The healing of the amputation demonstrates the success of the operation, and the skill of the surgeon. Although the identity of the affected individual is unknown, burial within St Marylebone cemetery implies a level of status not frequently associated with leprosy sufferers in the past. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CALCAREOUS MICROFOSSILS IN BRONZE AGE AEGEAN CERAMICS: ILLUMINATING TECHNOLOGY AND PROVENANCE*

The calcareous skeletal remains of various microscopic organisms such as foraminifera and ostracods are a striking feature of thin sections of many archaeological ceramics from the Aegean Bronze Age. While the presence of these calcareous microfossils in pottery has been noted for some time, attempts to utilize them to further the aims of ceramic compositional analysis have been few in number. In the following paper, we take a first detailed look at the occurrence and utility of calcareous microfossils in archaeological ceramics. By presenting selected case studies from the Bronze Age of Crete, we demonstrate the potential of calcareous microfossils, especially the extremely small ‘nannofossils’ and the highly contextual geological information that they contain, in terms of the characterization and grouping of ceramics, the determination of their provenance and the reconstruction of ancient technology.     

60年代初工业支援农业的历史考察

在三年困难时期(1959—1961),由于政策上"左"的失误以及严重自然灾害的破坏,我国农业生产遭遇严重挫折,粮食产量连年大幅减少,给人民生活带来严重影响。为了促进农业生产的恢复,国家提出各行各业支援农业。其中,工业对农业的支援是其中一个重要组成部分。工业支援农业的内容主要有:压缩工业规模,增加生产农机、农具、化肥等。通过工业支援农业,农业生产得到一定程度的恢复。     

十世班禅与西藏和平解放及班禅问题的解决

班禅返藏问题,不仅是十世班禅自己的问题,也是和平解放西藏、实现国家统一和民族团结的一大核心问题。他首先争取中共中央对自己地位的承认,提出解决班禅问题的方案和意见;接着在和平解放西藏的谈判中使班禅问题的解决在协议中规定下来。十七条协议签订后,他又采取积极措施使书面规定得到具体实现,顺利返藏。班禅问题得以解决的根本原因是中国共产党维护国家统一和民族团结的决心与正确的方针、步骤,十世班禅也作出了积极的努力和贡献。     

皖南上海小三线职工的民生问题研究

上海小三线分布于皖南和浙西数百公里的山区,从1965年兴建到1988年移交结束,前后历时24年,人数最多时达到7.2万余人。小三线作为上海的后方基地和经济"飞地",自成一个社会体系。如何保障数万人的日常生活,解决他们面临的婚姻、户口、医疗、教育等问题,是小三线建设中的核心问题,也关涉到沪皖两地政府和职能部门的各项政策与协调。民生问题是研究小三线建设这一国家战略政策时不可忽略的重要方面。     

Boats and Boatbuilding in Tanzania (Dar‐es‐Salaam and Zanzibar)

A wide variety of traditional wooden boats and small ships can still be seen in use and being built on the mainland of Tanzania and the island of Zanzibar. This paper compares different accounts in the literature with observations made in 2012, and documents in detail the various stages of building wooden dhows on the beaches of Zanzibar.     

Asylum and the Post‐Political: Domopolitics,Depoliticisation and Acts of Citizenship

This paper explores the ways in which practices of asylum governance serve to depoliticise those seeking asylum in the UK. In critiquing claims over the “post‐political” nature of contemporary governance, the paper proposes a focus upon situated practices of depoliticisation which displace those seeking asylum through the production of specific sites of accommodation and specific discourses of risk, security and moralised concern. The paper questions the tendency within “post‐political” thought to strip the potential of modes of informal citizenship through arguing that minor acts of resistance are ineffectual and illusory. In response, the paper explores irregular migrant's “acts of citizenship”, and suggests that such prosaic acts can be powerful forms of political interruption through which new ways of seeing asylum are constructed. The paper concludes by suggesting that an incremental politics orientated around such acts of interruption is essential to challenge the material, affective and discursive closures of asylum domopolitics.     

On the Origin of the Green Colour of Archaeological Bone Artefacts of the Gallo‐Roman Period

Recent findings in the city of Reims have lead to the discovery of manufactured bone objects coloured in green throughout their entire volume. In order to discover the intentional nature of the colouration and to propose a colouration mechanism, modern ox bones have been coloured in the laboratory. Bones with a hue similar to that of the archaeological artefacts have been obtained by boiling in an acidic brine in a copper vessel. A combination of infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope observations did not reveal the speciation of copper, but allowed us to validate the colouration process and to discuss the intentional origin of the colouration.