Pre-Columbian Amerindian Lifeways at the Sabazan Site,Carriacou, West Indies

Recent excavations at the Ceramic Age village site of Sabazan on Carriacou, Grenada, indicate long-term occupation spanning AD 400 to 1400. One of the earliest settlements in the Grenadines Archipelago, Sabazan's chronology corroborates late Saladoid colonization of the region with the timing of major developments at this location supported by a robust chronology of 26 radiocarbon assays. Investigation of deep, stratified midden deposits yielded abundant ceramic, shell, and stone artifacts, faunal remains, and burial and domestic features. Zooarchaeological evidence indicates a heavy reliance on marine resources and a well-developed tuna (Scombridae, Thunnini) fishery. While data point to sustainable resource exploitation over a millennium, shifts in foraging strategies are evident, including declines in the fish catch and increasing reliance on large or easily acquired mollusks, particularly queen conch (Lobatus gigas) and nerites (Nerita spp.). These trends may be driven by the greater aridity and warmer sea surface temperatures of the Medieval Warm Period (ca AD 900–1300). Exotic artifacts and the remains of introduced mammals at Sabazan provide evidence for inter-island and continental interactions. Here, I synthesize these findings and their significance for reconstructing West Indian colonization, tracing exchange and interaction networks, and understanding human ecodynamics and long-term adaptation to small island ecosystems.     

Ceramic Production and Interaction in the Northern Range of Trinidad

Regional syntheses based on data recovered mostly from outside of the Northern Range have characterized the mountainous region in northern Trinidad as a boundary between two distinct interaction spheres during the Early Ceramic Age (ca. AD 350–650/800) (Boomert 2000 Boomert, A. 2000. Trinidad, Tobago and the Lower Orinoco interaction Sphere: An Archaeological/Ethnohistorical Study. Alkmaar: Cairi Publications. [Google Scholar]). Changes occurring on Trinidad, other islands of the southern Lesser Antilles, and the South American mainland resulted in the disintegration of these earlier style zones during the final centuries of the Early Ceramic (Boomert 2000 Boomert, A. 2000. Trinidad, Tobago and the Lower Orinoco interaction Sphere: An Archaeological/Ethnohistorical Study. Alkmaar: Cairi Publications. [Google Scholar], 2010). This period of Late Ceramic cultural realignment was characterized by climate change, the renegotiation of political and social networks, and demographic transformations. We consider newly recovered ceramic evidence from the central Northern Range in order to evaluate the characterization of the region as a boundary and the region's role in broader Caribbean trends. We examine participation in interaction spheres to provide a more nuanced understanding of regional dynamics as they were expressed locally. Ceramic data indicate that occupants of the central Northern Range interpreted regional styles using locally derived materials, thus simultaneously engaging regional traditions and constructing local patterns of resource exploitation.     

Introduction: recent approaches to pottery and society in the Southeast

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the themes of this special edition of Southeastern Archaeology on modern pottery studies and summarizes the articles included in this edition. Southeastern archaeologists increasingly are applying new theoretical constructs and techniques to ceramic studies. These new techniques, in conjunction with traditional typological analysis, allow archaeologists to approach the study of past peoples from a broader perspective.     

Computer programmes for the correction of matrix effects in the XRF analysis of glass,ceramics and related silicate systems

The quantitative analysis of glass, ceramics and related silicate systems by means of energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry is considered and problems arising from the selective absorption of X-rays in multi-element specimens are discussed. A computer programme written in FORTRAN and based upon a “semi-fundamental parameters” approach to the correction of matrix effects in glass and chemically similar materials is fully described. Model data are provided to enable the programme to be run and tested. An “empirical coefficients” computer programme for the quantitative analysis of silicate systems is outlined and the limitations of this type of programme are pointed out. The importance of adequate sample preparation prior to X-ray spectrometric analysis is stressed.     

西汉早期出土金缕和丝缕玉衣部分玉料材质及其加工工艺特征管窥

广州西汉南越王墓和徐州狮子山汉墓是我国汉代最重要和出土玉器数量最多的两个王侯级墓地,两墓出土的丝缕和金缕玉衣是当时南方和中原汉王朝最重要的墓葬玉器之一。通过上手观察、显微镜拍照并利用环境扫描电镜和漫反射红外光谱、拉曼光谱技术对广州南越王墓及徐州狮子山汉墓出土玉衣部分玉片的质材和加工工艺进行了观察测试和对比分析。结果显示,两地玉衣的玉料均主要为透闪石质,从现存玉衣颜色及玉质结构上看,徐州狮子山汉墓出土玉衣玉料来源单一且玉质明显好于南越王墓,南越王墓玉料具有多来源的特征,玉衣中的“假玉”可能来自粤西。从南越王墓玉衣片部分切割痕迹判断,南越王墓所使用的切割工具可能接近当时的最高水平,也可能存在中原交换来源的玉材,无法排除南越王墓玉衣全部或部分在当地制作的可能;南越王墓和徐州狮子山汉墓出土玉衣加工工艺特征明显不同,显示两地玉衣系由不同 “玉作”体系加工完成,汉代可能存在多个不同的玉作体系,工艺水平参差不齐。     

成都市博物院几件院藏青铜兵器的分析研究

为了解巴蜀青铜兵器的制作技术及表面斑纹形成机理,采用金相显微镜分析,扫描电镜及能谱仪对成都市博物院的几件带斑纹的馆藏青铜兵器进行了分析。结果表明,两件截面样品均为青铜铸造组织,锡含量平均为11％。三件器物表面斑纹层均含锡和铜并具有一定抗氧化作用。斑纹工艺可分为二类：剑周99-1极可能为直接铸出凸凹不平的剑体,在凸起部位涂高锡合金膏剂,加热处理后得到。另一类可能先直接铸出金属基体,在欲成斑处涂抹合金膏剂或纯锡,加热处理打磨得到。分析结果可为深入研究巴蜀青铜兵器提供参考。     

Common ware production at Thamusida: dating and characterisation of Roman and Islamic pottery

Twenty-one samples of likely Roman, likely Islamic and unknown common ware from the archaeological site of Thamusida (Rabat, Morocco) were analysed in order to anchor selected types of pottery to a limited time span and, possibly, to a production area and technology. Analytical techniques were thermoluminescence, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray fluorescence. The results arising from this research are definitely useful for the study of the site of Thamusida as well as for all researchers involved in archaeological and archaeometrical research in Morocco. Chronologies proposed on a typological base have been denied twice: a likely Islamic cup dates back to the second century a.d.; vice versa, a stewpot, framed into the Roman period, resulted to be an eighth century a.d. production. Moreover, the identification of an eighteenth century ceramic production is of outstanding importance, as it characterises a completely unknown production. Regarding the production area, four samples of both Roman and Islamic periods have been recognised as local productions of Thamusida.     

The Social Role of Technology in Coastal Alaska

Novel technologies linked to women and men through identity-demarcated tasks and knowledge sets can potentially have differential and even long-term effects on each group. This study follows the trajectory of two significant imports into the coastal western Alaskan system, the firearm and the metal cook pot. These imports had different implications for coastal Yup’ik women and men, young and old. Over time the gun became an integral piece of a man’s tool kit and one that had the potential to boost production and thus a man’s access to status-building. However, these same tools had the potential to undermine the apprenticeship system of male authority. Likewise, the metal cook pot replaced the productive oversight and skill set of elder women’s ceramic production but created paths of independence for younger Yup’ik women. These changes in technology destabilized relative balances of gender and age based status, security, and authority and fashioned new gender and age based social and economic opportunities and limitations.     

崇庆寺宋代彩塑的病害调查与分析思考

为了科学保护山西省崇庆寺宋、明时期的彩塑文物,作者深入调查了该寺彩塑的现状与病害,分析检测了泥塑土的配比、成分与彩绘颜料,并对比分析了该寺不同时期彩塑的材质及工艺特点。结果表明,宋代彩塑的病害类型、严重程度等较其它时期的彩塑明显要少和轻。这一现象启示我们探讨这批彩塑的造型设计、制作技艺、材料选择等具有重要的现实意义。