Geochemical evidence for the manufacture,logistics and supply‐chain management of Emperor Qin Shihuang's Terracotta Army,China

Non‐invasive materials characterisation of reconstructed statues of Emperor Qin Shihuang's Terracotta Army has revealed distinct micro‐geochemical patterning within the clay paste used in their manufacture. The significance of this is explored in terms of the production sequence, logistics and supply‐chain management involved in the construction of this enormous funerary assemblage. Of particular interest is a compositional distinction between figures marked with the names ‘Gong’ (宫) and ‘Xianyang’ (咸阳). These seem to represent the products of two workshops involved in the supply of ceramic objects for this ambitious, large‐scale building project undertaken by the Qin Empire during the third century bce .     

Picking up the Pieces: Goa's endangered traditional craft

Three sewn boats surveyed in 1838 are used to evaluate traditional Goan sewn craft. Types additional to those recorded in the 19th century were located during fieldwork. The West Coast provided an abundance of raw materials exported to countries which lacked them; unknown is the extent of the export of local expertise. A consistency of sewing methods, materials, waterproofing, and antifouling are evidence for an indigenous boatbuilding tradition. In Goan pirogues the weight of the crew and nets is carried at the level of the sheer‐strake seam. In prehistory large pirogues of Goan type could have made long‐distance voyages using an outrigger to confer stability. To date archaeological evidence is lacking.     

The technology and production of glazed ceramics from Middle Islamic Jerash,Jordan

Jerash in northern Jordan was, despite a focus on its classical heritage, also active in the Middle Islamic period, but little is known about actual developments during this period. This study represents the first study on the Middle Islamic glazed pottery from the site using scanning electron microscopy energy‐dispersive spectrometry (SEM‐EDS) and thin‐section petrography. The results show that two production traditions existed, each with different provenances. The local production is characterized by a non‐calcareous ceramic body and the use of a high‐lead glaze coloured with iron and copper oxides, whereas the turquoise‐glazed samples, likely imported from Mesopotamia, have a calcareous ceramic body and alkali or alkali‐lead glaze.     

Creative geographies of ceramic artists: knowledges and experiences of landscape,practices of art and skill

This paper argues for a conception of art as an embodied and creative material practice. It draws on research conducted with seven professional ceramic artists who deal with landscape in their work to explore their processes of art-making through interview and (filmed) observation. It demonstrates the distributed range of embodied and relational more-than-artistic practices which inform how landscape is encountered, known and ultimately represented. It argues that artists’ self-expression in art is based upon material, social and political knowledges which interweave in artists’ lives. By studying ceramicists’ making this paper demonstrates both the non-conscious skill and the conscious technical knowledge needed to make art. It shows chance to have a triple role in practices of making, as something to work alongside, to work against and to draw on as a creative resource. This paper both argues for and demonstrates the value of an approach to art-making that frames it as a complex of both conscious, socio-cultural, technical knowledges and non-conscious skills which together (in)form works of (ceramic) art.     

Mississippian monumentality in the Yazoo Basin: recent investigations at the Carson site (22CO505), northwestern Mississippi

Investigations at the Carson site (22CO505), located in Coahoma County, Mississippi, have uncovered data on the development of a large Mississippian mound center dating to the period from A.D. 1200 through European contact. Recent sediment coring, excavation, artifact analyses, and radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating shed light on earthworks and household structures at Carson, and on Mississippian culture in the Yazoo Basin more generally. Sediment coring demonstrates a laterally transgressing Mississippi River system deposited coarse sandy ridges and clay-filled swales underneath a surface horizon comprised of variously coarse to medium-fine sediment originating from generalized overbank flooding. In some instances, flood-borne sediments were found on mound flanks, indicating that at times river-based flooding may have interrupted mound construction. Sediment coring and trench excavation also demonstrate that Carson’s Mound D was built in four stages, with Stages II and III comprising the major stages of earth moving. Excavations on the mound summit reveal evidence of several superimposed structures that were burned in place and likely used for the production of stone, shell, and wooden craft items, perhaps related to Mississippi Ideational Interaction Sphere (MIIS) paraphernalia. Here we describe recent investigations at Carson and present preliminary findings; forthcoming publications will emphasize strategies of power, monumentality, craft production, and Mississippian exchange systems.     

The Archaeology of California

Stimulated by several important, recent empirical advances, California archaeologists are engaged in a series of lively debates. These advances include new discoveries about the early peopling of western North America and sustained occupation of the California coasts as early as 12–13,000 BP. There also have been significant new developments in the role of paleoenvironmental change in cultural evolution, the emergence of long-distance interaction spheres, the presence of intensive craft specializations, and the appearance of sociopolitically complex hunter–gatherers. This article addresses these issues—and several others—with a view to the general interests of scholars worldwide. The exceptional heterogeneity of California ecosystems (from deserts to dense redwood forests to bountiful offshore islands) and the remarkable cultural diversity exhibited by the dozens of major groups who made these lands their home combine to produce a complex indigenous sociopolitical picture. Current understandings reveal myriad trajectories of cultural change across nine major subregions of the state.     

盱眙东阳汉墓两件木胎漆器髹漆工艺探讨

江苏盱眙县境内的东阳秦汉古墓群是一处重要的秦汉遗址.迄今为止,墓葬出土了大批精美的漆器,为了解汉代广陵国髹漆工艺提供了珍贵的资料.为了解其髹漆工艺特点,采用了切片技术、X射线衍射光谱(XRD)、X射线荧光光谱(XRF)和傅立叶红外吸收光谱(FTIR)等分析方法对其中两件木胎漆器进行了分析研究.漆膜切片显示素色漆器的漆膜由漆灰层和黑色漆层构成,而彩绘漆器由三层结构组成.分别为灰地、底漆层和色漆层;XRD图谱发现漆灰层中的填料主要为石英(AiO2)和钠长石(NaAISi3O8),漆膜中的红色颜料为朱砂(HgS);红色漆膜的XRF显示了其主要元素是Hg和S,包括Ca、Si、Cu和Fe等微量元素.漆膜的FTIR分析数据显示漆膜中在1630cm-1和1576cm-1处存在着可能是苯环骨架振动的红外吸收峰.研究结果说明了本地髹漆工艺主要分为三个步骤:1)髹漆灰,漆灰层是由生漆调和研磨成细粒的钠长石矿物构成,它能制作出厚度约0.1～0.2 mm薄漆灰层;2)髹底漆,厚度约为0.02～0.09 mm;3)彩绘,红色漆膜中的颜料为朱砂,朱砂含有微量的Ca、Si、Cu和Fe等杂质,表明其来自矿采.     

青铜文物保护技术的传承与发展

本文回顾了二十世纪青铜文物保护技术及相关的问题,随着二十一世纪的到来,现代社会的高度发展,提出了青铜文物保护即保护技术与工艺研究二个部分,并应制定相应的法律保护传统工艺的设想。     

手工业生产专业化的考古学研究

手工业生产专业化的程度和形式被认为是衡量社会复杂化程度或文明化进程的重要指标.本文首先对西方有关手工业生产专业化的考古学研究作了简单回顾,提出近二十年来相关研究表现出三个特点:一是研究视野的扩展:二是日益重视运用多种手段从考古资料中榨取相关信息;三是解释理论日益多样化.文章对国内的相关研究也进行了回顾,提出应加强对早期...     

The Re-Assessment and Reconstruction of Excavated Boats

In response to papers by John Coates and by Owain Roberts, the author re-evaluates mid- to late-20th-century reconstruction drawings and models of prehistoric sewn-plank boats Ferriby 1 and Brigg 2. He concludes that an impartial and informed group should re-examine all surviving evidence for these boats and then build a small-scale 'as-found' model of each one. After being subjected to criticism, these models could become the basis for generally-agreed reconstruction models of the original form and structure of these two boats. A similar process would be the best way ahead for the Dover sewn-plank boat.
© 2007 The Author