Modern humans in Sarawak,Malaysian Borneo,during Oxygen Isotope Stage 3: palaeoenvironmental evidence from the Great Cave of Niah

During recent reinvestigations in the Great Cave of Niah in Borneo, the ‘Hell Trench’ sedimentary sequence seen by earlier excavators was re-exposed. Early excavations here yielded the earliest anatomically-modern human remains in island Southeast Asia. Calibrated radiocarbon dates, pollen, algal microfossils, palynofacies, granulometry and geochemistry of the ‘Hell Trench’ sequence provide information about environmental and vegetational changes, elements of geomorphic history and information about human activity. The ‘Hell’ sediments were laid down episodically in an ephemeral stream or pool. The pollen suggests cyclically changing vegetation with forest habitats alternating with more open environments; indicating that phases with both temperatures and precipitation reduced compared with the present. These events can be correlated with global climate change sequences to produce a provisional dating framework. During some forest phases, high counts of Justicia, a plant which today colonises recently burnt forest areas, point to fire in the landscape. This may be evidence for biomass burning by humans, presumably to maintain forest-edge habitats. There is evidence from palynofacies for fire on the cave floor in the ‘Hell’ area. Since the area sampled is beyond the limit of plant growth, this is evidence for human activity. The first such evidence is during an episode with significant grassland indicators, suggesting that people may have reached the site during a climatic phase characterised by relatively open habitats ∼50 ka. Thereafter, people were able to maintain a relatively consistent presence at Niah. The human use of the ‘Hell’ area seems to have intensified through time, probably because changes in the local hydrological regime made the area dryer and more suitable for human use.     

Short-chain n-alkanes (C16–20) in ancient soil are useful molecular markers for prehistoric biomass burning

The incorporation of plant biomass into soil usually leads to long-chain n-alkanes with a relative predominance of odd carbon numbered homologues. Contrastingly, an increase in short-chain even carbon numbered n-alkanes was found in charred biomass with progressing temperatures. We applied lipid analysis to buried ancient topsoils that contained charred organic matter and to corresponding control soils, which were characterized by a lighter color and lower contents of charred materials. Commonly, the proportion of lipid extracts was found to be lower in the ancient soil than in the control samples, which indicated an enhanced degradation of organic matter, e.g., by thermal degradation. All samples displayed a particular pattern of short-chain and even carbon numbered n-alkanes (maximum at n-C₁₆ or n-C₁₈). The ratios CPI (carbon preference index) and ACL (average chain length) for the investigated soil samples matched the ratios found for maize and rye straw charred at 400 °C or 500 °C, respectively. These molecular ratios indicate the presence of charred biomass. The predominance of short-chain and even carbon numbered n-alkanes was a result of thermal degradation of biomass. The degradation products were preserved in ancient soils and could be applied as molecular markers in archaeological or palaeoenvironmental research.     

A palynological investigation of a second millennium BC bank-system in the black moss of Achnacree

Evidence of agricultural activity in Scotland during the Bronze Age is sparse. A bank system of that date, covered by a deep peat accumulation, in Argyllshire, Scotland has preserved a podzolic palaeosol. Palynological investigation of the palaeosol allows a consideration of potential prehistoric land use. The existence of a well developed iron pan in the palaeosol divides the soil pollen into two contrasting groups, suggesting two quite distinctive periods of land use. Also discussed are the problems which the processes of podzolization cause pollen analysts, the dating of buried soils and the possibility of periodicity in pollen movement through a soil.     

Bushfire,prescribed burning,and non-human protection

Unprecedented bushfire activity is increasing around the world. A catastrophic bushfire event in the Australian summer of 2019–2020 burned over 18 million hectares. The Australian bushfires were just one set of events among many across the globe. Cumulatively, the losses are extraordinary: from losing over a quarter of the Pantanal wetland in South America to California’s Sierra Nevada and losses in the Amazon Forest. Bushfire destruction means a concomitant loss of biological diversity. Increased fire activity and frequency can adversely affect adaptive capacities of flora and fauna. Accordingly, across the globe, fire management practices and mitigation strategies are under increased scrutiny. In this article, we consider the extent to which one fire suppression strategy, prescribed burning, takes account of non-human considerations. Our examination of policy settings provides policymakers with a way to account for non-human interests. Our focus is Australia, specifically relating to one national park within New South Wales. Across the world, fire containment strategies must be reassessed to decipher how well non-human considerations are placed to withstand changing fire regimes. With likely increases in bush and wildfire activity across the globe, associated with Anthropocentric climate change, there is an urgent need to account for non-human interests in prescribed burning policies and regulations.     

A Mississippian conflagration at East St. Louis and its political-historical implications

Abstract

A walled portion of the extensive Precolumbian civic-ceremonial precinct of East St. Louis, near present day St. Louis, Missouri, enclosed a cluster of as many as 100 small buildings or huts. The huts were associated with a walled ritual-residential zone or elite compound dating to the late Stirling phase (a.d. 1150–1200) and, importantly, were burned in a single conflagration. The burning of East St. Louis may have resulted from a ritual commemoration, an act of aggression, or an accidental fire; circumstantial evidence primarily supports the first scenario. With strongly diminished mound and architectural construction at the site in subsequent decades, and with the coeval disappearance of key ritual-residential buildings from the regional landscape after the burning, the ancient East St. Louis fire was part of a larger pattern of historical events that mark a downward turning point in the social and political history of Greater Cahokia.     

魏晋南北朝时期的铜香炉——兼论魏晋南北朝时期的熏香习俗

魏晋南北朝铜香炉可分为熏炉和熏斗两大类,总体上为汉代铜香炉样式的延续和发展,而形制有所简化。装饰艺术方面有所创新,融合新的时代因素,与同时期的其他生活家居用品风格配套。尽管受到瓷器制造业兴起的影响,铜香炉仍在生活中占有一席之地。这一时期,熏香习俗更加普及,内涵更为丰富,生活用香和宗教用香在文献中有不少记载。香料、香具和熏香习俗也随着贸易和交往传播域外。     

中岳庙建置疑案考

在中岳庙的历史上,其创建时间、迁址问题、定址问题、明末被焚及其原因、当今庙制格局的确立等一直是困惑人们认知中岳庙的悬案。经过对中岳庙尘封历史的揭示,其疑案逐渐清晰。中岳庙始建于春秋,北魏没有迁址,唐开元非是定于现址的时间,明末战乱中岳庙被焚毁殿堂17座,乾隆十五年增修后奠定了当今庙宇的格局。     

Pyrophany on Mount Horeb: The Burning Bush

The burning bush is one of the most well-known and im-portant miracles in the Pentateuch. Numerous natural explanations have been offered in the literature and a few new ones have been added here, for the bush that burned but was not consumed. Some examples include hallucinogenic drugs, an active volcano, optical illusions, natural gas leak, subterranean fire, St. Elmo’s fire, a bush with red berries or flowers, and a bush that emitted flammable vapors. They have been broadly categorized here based on explanations involving the man Moses, events that might have occurred at the location (Mount Horeb), and explanations involving the bush itself. Those explanations are reviewed here from the perspective of a combustion engineer. The conclusion is that the best explanation for the burning bush is that it was supernatural.     

论越窑青瓷的装烧工艺

作者以实物资料为依据,总结了越窑瓷器的主要装烧工艺,并指出装烧工艺在越窑青瓷制作中所起的独特作用。     

Effect of heating on the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of bone collagen

The effects of heat on the stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios of collagen in bone were studied. Boiling or roasting did not change the δ¹³C and δ¹³N values by more than 1‰. More extreme heating, such as might occur if bones were burned or a body cremated, shifted δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values by as much as 5 and 4‰ respectively. These large shifts were accompanied by changes in the atomic carbon-to-nitrogen ratios of the collagen. These results indicate that collagen samples extracted from prehistoric bones which display anomalous atomic carbon-to-nitrogen ratios may have been subjected to heating extreme enough to have altered their ${}^{13}\text{C}{}^{12}\text{C}$ and/or ${}^{15}\text{N}{}^{14}\text{N}$ ratios and therefore should not be used for dietary reconstruction.