Seismic vulnerability assessment and fragility analysis of stone masonry monastic temples in Sikkim Himalayas

Buddhist monasteries in Sikkim Himalayas constitute important religious and architectural heritage. These random rubble (RR) stone masonry structures located in high seismically active regions of the Himalayas have suffered varied degrees of damages in the past earthquakes. The study presents seismic vulnerability assessment of four archetypal monastic temples using finite element (FE) analyses. Linear and nonlinear analyses of these structures were conducted in Abaqus FE environment. These analyses identified the damage prone areas of the structures and provided load-deformation behavior under lateral loads. Fragility analyses indicate a high probability of collapse for the specified design level earthquake of the region. The study shows that performance of the structure can be enhanced by improving the strength and stiffness of the stone masonry walls.     

清宫扎什琍玛造像的来源及像式类型分析

扎什琍玛佛像因特征明确、像式丰富、工艺精细,在故宫珍藏的佛教造像中独树一帜。清宫的扎什琍玛像多附有皇家特有的黄条题记。本文从这些黄条所记内容入手,结合档案资料,对此类造像进行来源、类型及题材风格的细化探究,并进一步说明扎什琍玛对清宫佛教造像风格的深刻影响及其在促进西藏与内地政治、经济、文化联系方面曾经发挥的历史作用。     

Revealing the Monastic Kitchen: Chemical Analysis of the Soil Inside the Monastery of Cornellana (North‐West Spain)

The residues deposited on the floor of the kitchen of the monastery of Cornellana (Asturias, Spain), while it was still in use in the 18th century, have been analysed using different techniques, including the Kjeldahl method, phenol – sulphuric acid assay, FT–IR, SEM–EDX and LOI. This has allowed us to determine the areas of concentration of proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids, phosphorus and carbonates, and thus approach the interpretation of the layout of the different areas of activity related to the treatment and cooking of foodstuffs in the kitchen. In any case, and regardless of the fact that this is the first time that these techniques have been applied to study a monastic kitchen in the Iberian Peninsula, the aim of this research is to demonstrate their applicability to other case studies of this integrated set of analytical techniques, some of which are not used very often in the analysis of concentrations of residues and analysis of areas of activity on archaeological soils.     

Pottery Production in the Buddhist Communities in Central Asia: The Kushan‐Sassanian Pottery Workshop of Kara Tepe (Termez,Uzbekistan)

We present the first full archaeometrical study of Kushan‐Sassanian pottery from the Buddhist monastic complexes at Kara Tepe (Termez, Uzbekistan), recovered both in the pottery workshop and in the monastery, using a combination of analytical methods (XRF, XRD, SEM–EDS and OM). The study allowed the identification of the reference group, the correspondent fabric, the raw materials used for its productions, some of the technological processes involved in manufacture and several weathering processes. All the results confirm that the kiln was supplying the religious community of the monastery with pottery, made using local raw materials, and highlight the possibility that the kiln could have supplied the nearby monastic complexes, where no kilns have been found. Further archaeological evidence indicates the existence of specialized potters working itinerantly at the broader Bactrian area.     

青海省开展“平安寺院”建设的成功经验与启示

“平安寺院”建设作为构建和谐青海、“平安青海”的一项重要工作,领导重视、宗教界积极响应,成效十分显著。本文通过实地调查,在对青海省开展这一工作的主要做法与成功经验进行概括、总结的基础上,提出了青海省开展建设“平安寺院”活动的几点建议。     

青海瞿昙寺壁画的风格特点和艺术成就

青海瞿昙寺创建于明代初年,距今已有六百多年历史。其内具有很高艺术水平的巨幅彩色壁啬,布满各殿堂的大小墙面,成为这一时期国内保存比较完整、全面的艺术珍品。寺内壁画将西域等外来绘画技法与民族技法融为一体,在人物造型、赋彩以及场景的创作中表现出风格独具的艺术特色。它以其丰富的内容和精巧的技艺成为我国重要的非物质文化遗产。     

萨迦-元时期尼藏与藏汉金属造像存在阿尼哥风格吗?

在《元史》、《造像量度经》中对阿尼哥的评价较高,但现存能明确认定属于阿尼哥制作、具有"阿尼哥风格"的作品却几乎没有。本文通过比较世界各地保存的13世纪中期至14世纪上半叶制作的造像和绘画,考证出其中一些作品具有"阿尼哥风格"。阿尼哥风格是在纽瓦尔风格的基础上,融合波罗印度、西藏以及汉地本土的因素,由阿尼哥及其工作团队共同创造而形成,具有独特的波罗风格与"藏式元代"风格相结合的特点。从萨迦寺经大都到夏鲁寺,阿尼哥风格在"尼藏"和"藏汉"之间形成了一个完美的传播轨迹。     

Two possible cases of brucellosis from a Clarist monastery in Alcácer do Sal,southern Portugal

The Convent of Nossa Senhora de Aracoelli was a Clarist monastery located in Alcácer do Sal, southern Portugal, founded at the end of the 16th century and abandoned during the 19th century. This paper considers the presence of brucellosis in two lumbar vertebrae originating from an ossuary recovered at the Chapter House of the Convent. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Poisoned Arrows of Amor: cases of syphilis from 16th-century Iceland

While syphilis spread rapidly in Europe during the late 15th and early 16th centuries, scholars have doubted that the disease reached Iceland at that time. Still, discoveries of nine cases of venereal and congenital syphilis during a recent excavation on a monastic site, Skriðuklaustur (1496–1554) in East Iceland, indicate that the disease became an epidemic there, as it did worldwide. These findings may also be regarded as an important source of information on the contacts and communications of a country, which is commonly regarded as having been socially isolated from the outer world, with its neighbouring countries during the medieval times.