马家窑文化人物形象分区分期及同时期区域对比研究

马家窑文化包含丰富的不同工艺、纹饰人物形象,本研究在人物形象分类的基础上,首先对马家窑文化人物形象进行了考古学分期、以及人物形象区域分布研究,其后选取东部、中亚地区同时期的人物形象作了对比研究。研究发现:马家窑文化人物形象可分为两期,一期以动物拟人纹与人物形体纹为主,其中,鲵人纹与舞蹈纹是此期特色,器口人面塑中出现了哭泣、惊讶的面部表情。二期出现蛙人纹,大量其他彩绘人物形体消失,继承一期以器口作人面的技法,对面部的五官塑造更加细致,表情更加多样,出现了精致又寓意非凡的裸体人像彩陶壶。马家窑文化人物形象可分为三区,从东往西传播与发展;与东部、中亚同时期人物形象对比,马家窑文化人形象种类和技法更具本地源流,且与其他地区异中有同。本研究为研究马家窑文化的来龙去脉、以及不同文化间相互交流提供参考和依据,对后续分析文化人物形象内涵等均有重要意义。     

Contribution to the geology of Failaka Island,Kuwait: Evidence from sedimentological and petrographic data from the NE part of the island

Kuwait–Georgian archaeological work at Failaka Island showed the need for geological study. Analysis of sediments related to drinking water-collecting cisterns was performed on a Late Islamic settlement (NE part of the island) in 2018. Field sedimentological, grain size and XRD analysis of the sediment profiles showed that the shallow (about 1 m deep) cone-shaped wells are dug in the loose, porous, cross-stratified calcareous coarse-grained quartz sandstones. Three upper layers of quartz sandstones in the profile have high infiltration rate and provide a rare yet ideal material for water retention. The fourth dense layer below, composed of very fine sand and silt fraction, tends to hinder water movement and forms a relatively impermeable water-resistant surface. Thus, the distribution patterns of clay content, grain sizes and porosity of the well-hosting sediments are favourable for freshwater infiltration and harvesting. An additional petrographic analysis was conducted on different types of rocks discovered on the archaeological site, used as building material and fragments of stone artifacts to identify their origin. It was established that archaeological building material is of local origin, whereas the source rocks for stone artifacts were imported.     

Reflections into Ptolemaic glass: Colorless,white, blue,and green inlays from the workshop of Tebtynis

Inlays range among the most aesthetically pleasing and technically challenging glasses produced in the Ptolemaic period. Despite the central role of this phase in the history of glass technology, little is known about the recipes and the technological knowledge of the Egyptian artisans. This paper will thus focus on the study of the materials from the secondary workshop of Tebtynis (Fayum oasis, Egypt). We report the first multi-methodological study comprising textural, chemical, and mineralogical analyses (optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive system, electron probe microanalysis, and μ-Raman spectroscopy) on a set of 81 colorless, white, blue, and green samples carefully selected among the 800+ glasses from the craft area now stored at the Museo Egizio, Turin (Italy). Our study offers the biggest compositional database of well-dated Ptolemaic glasses currently available in the literature, highlighting some interesting novelties regarding the silica and alkali sources, and the coloring and opacifying techniques employed. The results suggest a specialized craft of traditional origin, but open to innovation and experimentation, as expected from transitional phases.     

Variation in human bone bioerosion during the Late Eneolithic/Bronze Age in Moravia (Czech Republic): A novel approach to BSE-SEM image quality and quantity assessment

Human bones from Late Eneolithic graves and Bronze Age settlement pits in Moravia (Czech Republic) were studied to reconstruct their post-mortem histories based on the distribution of their microbial destruction. Backscattered electrons in a scanning electron microscope (BSE-SEM) were used for visual assessment of bioerosion. Visual data from the histological analysis were transformed into quantitative data using the Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA) toolkit. The results show that the presence of bioerosion is different between the two groups of samples. The bones from settlement pits display extensive bioerosion whereas the bones from graves display no or arrested bioerosion. The absence of bioerosion in graves is most probably linked with tomb burials of Corded Ware Culture. Given the tombs are frequently not preserved archaeologically, the state of bone bioerosion may serve as an indicator of their existence.     

Forts or agricultural estates? Persian period settlement in the territories of the former kingdom of Judah

ABSTRACT

The territories of the former kingdom of Judah were only sparsely settled during the Persian period, as exemplified by the extreme rarity of domestic structures unearthed in excavations. Viewed against this background, the large number of excavated forts and isolated administrative buildings from this period is remarkable, and they apparently outnumber the period's excavated dwellings. Not only is this an extremely unlikely situation, but various lines of evidence, pertaining to specific sites as well as to the phenomenon as a whole, render the possibility that all these structures were forts or administrative buildings re-examines implausible. Consequently, this article reexamines the phenomenon within the social landscape of the region in particular, and of the Achaemenid empire in general, in an attempt to embed those unique buildings within the broader demographic and political reality of this time. Given the location of many of the sites and the finds unearthed in them, and in light of the demographic reality in the region and of the broader Achaemenid imperial policy, the article suggests that most of the so-called forts were estates, created in the process of the resettlement of this previously devastated region.     

Chronicle of an early demise,surname extinction in the fifteenth and the seventeenth centuries

It has been amply demonstrated that individuals' reproductive capability is the key explanatory phenomenon for understanding onomastic disappearance during the early modern period. This article analyzes the evolution and consequences of surname extinction in a specific population: Catalonia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In this article two aspects are examined. First, the observed disappearance of surnames is estimated through historical data collected in the Llibres d'Esposalles (Marriage Books) from 1481 to 1600 at Barcelona Cathedral. Second, the estimated natural extinction of those surnames registered in 1481 is forecast by applying a statistical branching process.     

汉代复色低温铅釉陶器初探

复色釉陶是汉代低温铅釉陶中的一个特殊品种,其施釉烧制工艺系在普通单色釉陶的基础上,于一件器物上施加两种及以上釉料,以低温一次入窑烧制而成,呈现出绚丽的艺术效果,达到了汉代釉陶的高峰。此类釉陶主要分布于宝鸡、济源和延安及其周边地区;最早出现于西汉中晚期,流行于西汉晚期至东汉初期。就施釉工艺而言,其多色施釉技术与北魏时期的二色釉陶一脉相承,并在北齐时期与新出现的"瓷胎铅釉陶"二次烧制技术相结合,形成了北齐特有的多色瓷胎铅釉陶器,为后来唐三彩的出现奠定了技术基础。     

青海都兰县哇沿水库古代墓葬2014年发掘简报

哇沿水库坝址位于青海省都兰县热水乡扎麻日村东南约2公里处,为配合哇沿水库的建设,2014年4～9月,青海省文物考古研究所与陕西省考古研究院合作,发掘了库区内的25座墓葬、5座殉马坑。这批墓葬虽盗扰严重,但出土文物依然丰富。墓葬形制、葬俗、殉牲方式及随葬品特点均体现出吐蕃文化因素的特征,为研究这一时期都兰地区的历史、吐蕃王国疆域变迁及唐、蕃文化的交流提供了重要实物资料。     

Living on the Edge? Transformation of a Marginal Pleistocene Landscape Into a Settlement Area in the Northeastern Part of the Netherlands

ABSTRACT

This paper will examine settlement location during the Iron Age in the northeast part of the Netherlands, an area shaped by Pleistocene geology. In recent years, a number of Late Iron Age/Early Roman settlements situated on the low lying slopes of sand ridges and nearby stream ridges revealed traces of an earlier Iron Age occupation. Palynological data revealed that this part of the landscape was used by humans before it was transformed into an area of settlement. An analysis of excavation data from two key sites at Denekamp-De Borchert and Groningen-Helpermaar, as well as other known sites, lead to the conclusion that the transformation of ‘peripheral landscapes’ into permanent settlement locations was preceded by a phase of arable cultivation which left no trace of permanent habitation. It is also suggested that the impact of human behaviour on the natural landscape in the Early and Middle Iron Age was much bigger than previously anticipated. When excavating this type of settlement areas dating to the Late Iron Age, archaeologists must be aware that only of a small group of archaeological features exist. The proposed model for the choice of settlement location may be more widespread, because of similarities in landscape between the study area presented here and other landscapes in Northwest-Europe (e.g. parts of Germany and Denmark).     

Report on the pottery from Tell Sufan in Nablus,Palestine

ABSTRACT

This research report aims to give detailed information on the pottery from the 1999 and 2013-16 excavation campaigns taking place at the Tell Sufan site in Nablus, Palestine. These were conducted by the Department of Antiquities at An-Najah National University (ANU) in Nablus. It is of note that this ancient pottery has never previously been the subject of research nor has any literature been published on it. Our methodology consists in: analysing the pottery by identifying it, typifying it, and giving it a function; providing chronological information on the site; comparison of the pottery with that from other sites in Palestine, using archaeological information from the site; and contextualising our findings with other historical and archaeological studies. Examination of the functional use of the pottery allows us to demonstrate human activity at the Tell Sufan site, giving information on the most prosperous phases of occupation in regard to economic aspects, through the late Bronze Age, Iron Age and Byzantine-Early Islamic periods.