Mortality date estimation using fetal pronghorn remains

Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) fetal remains are sometimes recovered from archaeological contexts. Pronghorn have consistent reproductive schedules so their remains may provide information on seasonality of site occupation and number of mortality events. To investigate the reliability of fetal remains for seasonality and mortality event assessment, bone size and tooth eruption were measured in a sample of modern fetal pronghorn remains with known mortality dates. Results indicate a strong correlation between bone size and mortality date, but no significant correlation between tooth eruption level and mortality date. Fetal bone size was used to estimate a late April or early May mortality date at both the Oyster Ridge (48UT35) and Trappers Point (48SU1006) archaeological sites. The number of mortality events at Trappers Point was also investigated. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Nation in Utero: Translating the Science of Fetal Education in Republican China

As Chinese nationalists grappled with the political and military weakness of the young Republic of China, some sought to strengthen the Chinese race by advocating a return to the ancient practice of fetal education. Fetal education held that every sight, sound, and flavor that a pregnant mother took in through her senses, as well as her emotions and demeanor, directly affected her fetus. This paper examines how the text Taijiao, Song Jiazhao’s 1914 Chinese translation of Shimoda Jirō’s Japanese work Taikyō, presents a modern reformulation of fetal education that draws upon both modern Western science and East Asian medicine. As the text uses modern biology and psychology to explain and demonstrate the efficacy of fetal education, it also narrows the scope of fetal education to focus almost exclusively on the mother’s psychological state. Similarly, as the text turns to instruct women on the practice of fetal education, it draws upon Edo and Qing gynecological principles to emphasise the importance of the pregnant mother’s emotional self-control. Ultimately this text represents a neo-traditionalist response to modernity as it presents a Neo-Confucian vision of fetal education focused on a pregnant mother’s moral self-cultivation and emotional self control.     

《推定儿女法》与中古辨胎术

《推定儿女法》为俄藏黑水城出土金代占卜类写本文献,其文本来源于《孙子算经》,特殊性在于通过算术方法并结合阴阳五行思想卜算胎儿性别。以《推定儿女法》为代表的祈男辨胎思想和孕育信仰曾长期流行于中国古代社会,是研究古代社会民生与民间信仰的珍贵资料。在历史发展过程中,《推定儿女法》逐渐渗透到医学与命理学文本书写中,反映了阴阳五行思想主导下,中国古代数术、巫术与医学思想的相互影响与交流融合。