Characterizations of palace lantern tassels preserved in The Palace Museum,Beijing, by UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF

Palace lanterns were important and highly visible decorations in the imperial palace in Beijing, China, during the Qing dynasty (1636–1912). Most lanterns had colourful tassels made of fibres. The study performed a comprehensive investigation of the materials and dyes used for palace lantern tassels preserved in The Palace Museum, Beijing. Eight samples with different colours, including yellow, green and red, from five palace lanterns were analysed. By using ultra-performance liquid chromatography combined with time-of-flight mass spectrometry, the compositions of the dyes were identified quickly, and thus the dyes' origins were explored. A X-ray fluorescence spectrometer assisted in the detection of whether a mordant was used during the dyeing process. As a result, the tassels were all made of silk, discovered through the use of microscopic observation and micro-Fourier transform infrared spectrometry analysis. Different dyeing techniques were found in these tassels: yellow tassels were dyed by cork tree or turmeric by a direct dyeing method; greens were dyed by pagoda bud with an iron mordant, or by the combination of cork tree and indigo using multi-dyeing method; and red tassels were coloured with different acid red industrial dyes. These results provide valuable data for the conservation of ancient textile tassels and contribute to the investigation of other hanging tags.     

《析津志·名宦》史源考——兼考元初中书官员刘肃的官职

元末熊梦祥所撰《析津志》(现仅存辑佚本)的"名宦"部分,从木华黎到刘因等47人的记载,是从《元朝名臣事略》中辑录而得,二者之间存在史源关系。确立了史源关系后,进一步梳理其中的内容,发现《析津志》和《元朝名臣事略》对元初中书官员刘肃的官职记载亦有误,应为"左三部尚书"而非"右三部尚书"。深入考察后进一步发现,《元史·百官志》对元初左右三部设置时间的记载亦有误,应为中统二年,而非中统元年。     

Rediscovering regional science: Positioning the field's evolving location in science and society

This study aims to provide a comprehensive examination of the evolution of regional science, a scholarly domain in the social sciences that applies analytical and quantitative approaches and methods to understand and address urban, rural, or regional problems. We conducted a bibliometric analysis of 8509 articles published in six regional science flagship journals (including the Journal of Regional Science, Annals of Regional Science, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Papers in Regional Science, Regional Science Policy and Practice, and International Regional Science Review) from 1958 to 2021. The analysis presents an objective data-driven and unprecedented visualization of the field's intellectual, social, and conceptual structure and trends from the beginning to the present. It also provides a rich portrayal of the epistemology of regional science and illuminates matters related to regional science education and training. We find that regional science has moved well beyond its origins, shifting away from a heavy focus on theory and abstraction to modeling/simulation, empirical analysis, and policy research. We also find that there has been increasing attention to “people” in regions and the spatial characteristics of social problems, and some important shifts in the regional science community itself, particularly in terms of patterns of collaboration and the geography of scholarship. The findings of this paper provide implications for future directions of research and education for regional science.     

史前漆膜的分析鉴定技术研究

研究了漆膜分析的三种主要方法：裂解质谱,红外光谱,裂解色谱。通过大量实验比较了各种方法的适应性和可靠性,建立了以裂解色谱／富里叶红外光谱联用技术来鉴定漆膜,并对影响裂解反应的因素及色借条件进行了深入的研究,获得了可以重复,具有特征性的漆膜高分辨裂解色谱图,同时对裂解色谱图中主要组分作了定性鉴定,提高了裂解色谱法分析漆膜的可靠性。该方法具有灵敏度高,样品用量小,共存杂质影响小,操作简便等优点。应用核分析技术对河姆渡,良诸庙前遗址出土的二件红色涂料样品进行了鉴定。分析结果证实了河姆渡出土的红色涂料木碗上的涂料是我国至今发现的最早的生漆漆膜。     

明墓出土历书的揭取与复原

明墓出土的历书,粘连固结成块,脆硬易于折断。通过实验分析研究,探明其主要原因可能是木质素选择性地吸附的钙铁离子与蛋白质的分解物形成复杂物质,沉积在纸上,渗入书内所致。故揭取该历书的关键是去除钙离子,EDTA二钢,碱性过氧化氢、气相二氧化硅等的分步处理,使脆硬的纸张软化,再逐页分离揭取,然后再去除色素沉淀物,终于恢复了书的原貌。     

The Chemical Composition and Production Area of Early Western Zhou Proto‐Porcelain Unearthed from Yejiashan Cemetery,Suizhou, China

The bodies and glazes of 27 early Western Zhou proto‐porcelain samples from Yejiashan cemetery, Hubei Province, were analysed using LA‐ICP–AES, SEM, XRD, a thermal expansion instrument and other analytical methods. The results indicated that the bodies of all samples were characterized by high silicon and low aluminium, and were made with porcelain stone raw materials found in the south of China. The glazes are typical of high‐temperature calcium glazes of the CaO (MgO) – K₂O (Na₂O) – Al₂O₃ – SiO₂ series, with relatively high Mn and P content, which was probably caused by the addition of plant ashes. The physical properties and phase compositions of Yejiashan proto‐porcelain show that firing processes were still in the early stages of development in ancient China. Multivariate statistical analyses indicated that Yejiashan proto‐porcelain might have come from the Deqing area, in Zhejiang Province. These results provide new archaeological evidence for research on issues related to material flow in the Western Zhou dynasty.     

Land Snail Shell Beads in the Sub-Saharan Archaeological Record: When,Where, and Why?

Shell beads are well established in the archaeological record of sub-Saharan Africa and appear as early as 75,000 BP; however, most research has focused on ostrich eggshell (OES) and various marine mollusc species. Beads made from various land snails shells (LSS), frequently described as Achatina, also appear to be widespread. Yet tracking their appearance and distribution is difficult because LSS beads are often intentionally or unintentionally lumped with OES beads, there are no directly dated examples, and bead reporting in general is highly variable in the archaeological literature. Nevertheless, Achatina and other potential cases of LSS beads are present at over 80 archaeological sites in at least eight countries, spanning the early Holocene to recent past. Here, we collate published cases and report on several more. We also present a new case from Magubike Rockshelter in southern Tanzania with the first directly dated LSS beads, which we use to illustrate methods for identifying LSS as a raw material. Despite the long history of OES bead production on the continent and the abundance of land snails available throughout the Pleistocene, LSS beads appear only in the late Holocene and are almost exclusively found in Iron Age contexts. We consider possible explanations for the late adoption of land snails as a raw material for beadmaking within the larger context of environmental, economic, and social processes in Holocene Africa. By highlighting the existence of these artifacts, we hope to facilitate more in-depth research on the timing, production, and distribution of LSS beads in African prehistory.     

An Interview with James Kwesi Anquandah

Professor James Kwesi Anquandah was Ghana’s first archaeologist. He was also the first Ghanaian to become head of the Archaeology Department at the University of Ghana, which was the first archaeology department in sub-Saharan Africa, established in 1951. Dedicating his life to Ghanaian archaeology, particularly during the difficult years in Ghana in the 1980s and early 1990s, Anquandah had a significant impact on the development of archaeology in Ghana. In addition to his research, advisory and curatorial work, Professor Anquandah was instrumental in the training of three generations of Ghanaian archaeologists. During the course of a professional career that spanned nearly six decades, Professor Anquandah made archaeology relevant and accessible to all Ghanaians.     

The Middle Neolithic of Morocco’s North-Western Atlantic Strip: New Evidence from the El-Khil Caves (Tangier)

The period comprising the end of the Early Neolithic and the Middle Neolithic, dated broadly within the fifth millennium cal BC, corresponds to an interval that remains largely unknown in the extreme north-western tip of Africa. This situation contrasts with that of the Early Neolithic, a period characterised by the earliest evidence of the diffusion of a productive economy, cultivated plants and domestic animals. The paucity of data for these later phases can be explained in part by the lack of secure contexts and sequences based on radiocarbon datings of short-lived samples. The current study presents the results of the excavations of El-Khil Caves B and C that yield materials allowing re-evaluation of the chronology of a type of ceramic known as Ashakar ware. The study also identifies two traditions in the northern Moroccan Middle Neolithic. The first is heir to the so-called Impressa Mediterranean ware and rooted in the Cardial Neolithic, while the second is characterised by roulette cord impressions, red slip and tunnel lugs and probably rooted in the region of the Sahara, and has no technological precedents in the study area.