The Possibility of Provenancing A Series of Bronze Punic Coins Found At Tharros (Western Sardinia) Using the Literature Lead Isotope Database

A sample set of 42 bronze Punic coins dating from the third century bc and excavated in the Phoenician, Punic and then Roman town of Tharros (western Sardinia) has been used to test the performance of the literature lead isotope database and to establish a well defined provenancing procedure. A selection from the available database, including Cypriot, Sardinian and Spanish ore deposits, has been used. The complete assignment has been carried out twice, using both statistical methods (linear discriminant analysis) and the conventional raw data plots. Three major and one minor disagreements have been found, suggesting that the two procedures, when properly employed, may be acceptably compatible. Almost one third of the coins exhibit a characteristic Cypriot signature, whereas only very few samples are compatible with Sardinian ores. However, the majority of the coins (c. 60%) cannot be associated with any known source, which suggests the possibility of extensive metal recycling.     

西方集群和集群政策的研究及其对中国的借鉴意义

自上个世纪90年代末以来,国内学者和政策决策者对集群的集群政策表现出日益浓厚的兴趣。由于现行的集群理论源自西方工业化国家,作为发展中的中国能否和如何吸收运用这些西方理论和研究经验成为讨论的焦点之一。本文的目的是通过探讨西方集群研究和集群政策的理论基础,以期能带给中国的相关研究一些有益的启示。本文首先对波特和经合组织两学派的集群概念的起源、发展和着重点进行了回顾。然后分析了集群起源和发展的条件、生命周期、发展机制、空间维度、类型等西方集群研究的要素,阐述了西方工业国家的集群政策概念及相关评判。相对于发达国家丰富的关于技术创新区域的研究而言,针对发展中国家创新系统和集群的理论性及经验性研究则要少得多。所以发展中国家的集群研究及集群政策需要更合适自身实际情况的理论。最后笔者以集群理论和中国实际情况为例,通过问题的分析、理论的分析和理论的调整三步骤说明新理论发展的可能途径。     

Egyptian Blue cakes from the Ayanis fortress (Eastern Anatolia,Turkey): micro-chemical and -structural investigations for the identification of manufacturing process and provenance

The microstructure and chemical composition of blue cakes, found during the archaeological excavation of the Ayanis fortress (Eastern Anatolia, Turkey), have been investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM–EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro-Raman (μ-Raman) and optical microscopy (OM) techniques. The analysis of the Ayanis cakes has shown the presence of Egyptian blue (i.e. CuCaOSi₄O₁₀, cuprorivaite), as the major component, intermixed with minor amount of other phases such as partially reacted quartz grains, an adherent glass phase and copper oxides. Since the finding of Egyptian Blue in Turkey has been never reported so far, great attention has been paid to its characterisation. The micro-chemical and micro-structural investigations of the Ayanis cakes have allowed a further insight into the manufacturing process and into the sources of the starting materials. The results of the characterisation have revealed some significant differences with respect to Egyptian blue cakes found in Egypt and Mesopotamia, as for instance the absence of tin excluded the use of bronze scraps or filings in their preparation differently from those produced in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Furthermore, some peculiarities of Egyptian blue found in Ayanis, as the detection of zinc in the cakes, allow to put forward the hypothesis of a local production considering that a large part of the bronze artefacts found at the Ayanis fortress is characterised by the presence of zinc as minor alloying element.     

Barriers to Co-Governance: Examining the "Chemistry" of Home-Care Networks in Germany, England, and Quebec

This article aims at studying the dynamics of organized home care and particular problems in the delivery of social services, analyzed against the background of the international recasting of welfare systems. Challenging an influential academic discourse on the advent of new forms of network governance thought to improve service provision, three jurisdictions—Germany, England, and Quebec—are compared with regard to how home-care networks are actually configured and the rationales which appear to shape the interaction between network members. The article argues that notwithstanding the extensive literature extolling the virtues of network governance or the possibility of reconciling different governance modes, home care operates through arrangements embracing conflicting rationales. Rather than providing for mutual adjustment and shared perspectives, contemporary home-care networks tend to produce tensions and outcome problems as a result of the "biased" interplay between various steering rationales within given institutional arrangements and different meta-governance regimes.     

Demography and the intensity of cultural activities: an evaluation of Funnel Beaker Societies (4200–2800 cal BC)

The Early and Middle Neolithic in Northern Central Europe and Southern Scandinavia is characterised by substantial changes in economic technology as well as in material culture in different periods. One of the main drivers for social development, but also for anthropogenic changes in the environment, is surely shifts in population density. To evaluate group sizes and population density we need archaeological proxies. Similar to other studies, we use ¹⁴C dates to reconstruct the intensity of prehistoric activities. A comparison of the human impact from pollen data with a quantification based on ¹⁴C dates proves a correlation which supports our appreciation of the value of sum-calibrated probabilities of radiometric measurements as a proxy for demographic developments. The large amount of usable dates in this study not only enables us to draw general conclusions on a supraregional level, but also makes it possible for us to compare the character of different areas on a regional scale. As a result, we reconstruct a significant rise in population between 4100 and 3500 cal BC and a degression around 3350–3100 cal BC, followed by a reiterated increase for the Funnel Beaker West and North Groups. On the Danish Isles, as well as in the Funnel Beaker North Eastern Group, different tendencies are observable.     

用电子束辐照加固秦俑彩绘

为有效加固秦俑彩绘,选择单体渗透、电子束辐照加固方法进行保护。在最佳辐照加固条件：以2-羟基甲基丙烯酸乙酯为单体,用1MeV2．0mA 60kGy电子束辐照可有效地加固秦俑彩绘层。加固后的陶俑表面没有出现光泽,彩绘层颜色鲜艳如初,生漆层、颜料层也再无起翘、脱落现象,干燥、自然。     

Wieder voll da: Der Arbeitskreis Wirtschaftsförderung

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The 'Ring of Nestor'

In the past the authenticity of the so-called Ring of Nestor has been debated mostly in terms of iconography. Arguments against its ancient origin rest chiefly on the presence or absence of certain motifs elsewhere in the surviving repertoire. Most if not all of these arguments can be countered; and we must remember that our knowledge of Minoan-Mycenaean iconography remains limited. Here new technical observations are presented which serve to support the authenticity of the Ring of Nestor. In 1995 the ring was once again placed on display in the Ashmolean Museum.