Study and restudy of curated skeletal collections in bioarchaeology: A perspective on the UK and the implications for future curation of human remains

This paper considers the bioarchaeological study and restudy of human skeletal remains in museums and other institutions that curate human remains from archaeological sites. Papers published from 1990 to 2009 in the Journal of Archaeological Science, Journal of Paleopathology, American Journal of Physical Anthropology and International Journal of Osteoarchaeology were considered and contributions dealing with skeletal remains from UK archaeological sites were assessed. There were 258 papers published that matched these criteria and 352 instances when a skeletal collection had been analysed. Seventy‐nine per cent of the papers were based on skeletal samples curated in five geographic areas, London, Bradford, Portsmouth, Canterbury and York; the two sites that were most used were those of Wharram Percy, North Yorkshire, curated in Portmouth at English Heritage, and Christ Church, Spitalfields, curated at the Natural History Museum, London. Reasons for this concentration of research are suggested. It is recommended that the ‘use load’ should be better and more evenly spread around skeletal samples in other geographic areas of the UK in order that knowledge is not limited just to a few skeletal collections, and that a centralised database of skeletal collections curated by different institutions would contribute to this aim. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

3D reality-based artefact models for the management of archaeological sites using 3D Gis: a framework starting from the case study of the Pompeii Archaeological area

This work describes the procedures, the different techniques and the pipeline used for creating a digital framework that should assist the Superintendence of Pompeii in the digital reconstruction, classification, management and visualisation of archaeological finds inside an advanced 3D web-based repository of reality-based data. Specific topics have been focused on the quality assessment procedures adopted to ensure consistency and reliability of data throughout the whole 3D models acquisition and pipeline creation, as well as on the particular semantic reality-based structure adopted to develop an information system into a knowledge one. The main purposes of our framework have been the usage of 3D digital models as a restitution of the real object and as a metaphor for navigating through the data; 3D models were used as archaeological cognitive systems and developed as a collection of structured objects, identified through a precise terminology that allows to easily extend the concept of 2D GIS to 3D GIS. In addition, the system was developed as a scalable application that allows the use of the same database by different users, simply filtering the data according to the specific requirements, and can operate both as standalone and web-based application.     

现代旅游信息管理系统(TIMS)的构建

旅游信息管理系统的开发与应用是推动当前旅游业发展的一重要因素。本文根据目前我国众多已投入使用的旅游信息管理系统的现状,就该类系统的功能改进、数据库重新设计及系统建设和运行机制等问题,提出了自己的一些新看法。在具备传统的基本功能基础上,现代旅游信息管理系统要加强为企业经营决策、区域旅游开发决策服务的功能;旅游信息数据库的设计也要以这一功能的实现为目标做出相应调整;在系统的建设过程中要坚持政府统筹管理、景区自主开发的原则。     

The ARchaeological Organic residues Literature Database (AROLD): Construction of a tool for reviewing and querying published lipid data in organic residue analysis

The first attempts to identify amorphous organic substances in archaeology date to the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The 1960s saw the development of infrared spectrometry, and then separative and mass spectrometry analyses were implemented in the 1980s. But it is only since the 1990s that extended and systematic research programmes were devoted to these substances. The number of publications has not stopped growing and is becoming exponential. To get an overview of the lipid studies in archaeology, we conceived the ARchaeological Organic residues Literature Database (AROLD) as a first structured and collaborative research tool. This paper describes the challenges of setting up such a database, details its architecture, presents the choices involved in its implementation, and discusses the possibilities of sharing and evolving this tool.     

使用FileMaker构建个性化文物管理数据库的实践

"三普"软件作为文物数据的采集软件,其数据全面、完整,但在基层文物单位日常工作中,其操作性不佳、使用不便。为了更好地整合、利用这些多元的信息,研究使用FileMaker数据库构建个性化的文物普查数据利用环境,增强系统的操作性和便捷性,实现普查数据在移动终端上的共享,提升文物信息资源的发掘利用水平,让文物工作者可以轻松自制文物数据管理系统。结果表明,量身定制一套符合自身实际工作需求的文物管理系统,是让少量科研经费发挥较大效用的一个切实有效的方法。     

Consumption of Chinese goods in southwestern Europe: a multi-relational database and the vicarious consumption theory as alternative model to the industrious revolution (eighteenth century)

This article discusses the application of new technologies, software coding and computer analysis in the social sciences and humanities, mainly in the field of economic history. In the last two decades, the use of new computer technologies among historians to develop theories and solve questions has fostered a vibrant historiographical debate. However, these new digital tools have largely been used as an end in themselves, rather than as a means to develop hypotheses and answer questions. This has prevented researchers from fully exploiting such technologies in their field. In this article, I discuss how I designed a new multi-relational database using the “Access” package and SQL language to test the “industrious revolution” hypothesis and present the “vicarious consumption” theory as an alternative model for analyzing the eighteenth-century circulation of Chinese goods in the Western Mediterranean region. It presents the cross-referencing method I used to analyze the historical information I collected, mainly from probate inventories and trade records. This method makes it possible to navigate through the data in a way that goes beyond the traditional use of “excel” tables.     

Creating the 1831 Canadian Census Database

The 1831 census database is the newest addition to the series of 19th century Canadian census microdata available for social science research, thanks to a collaboration between the Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH) and FamilySearch. This article presents the work undertaken to prepare this database and the main challenges encountered in the course of this work. While the data extracted from the 1831 census are an invaluable tool for demographic research, particularly on account of the agricultural and industrial questions included in this census, cleaning these data have required particular attention to the age-sex-marital status tallies of the household co-residents. Additional efforts were devoted to integrating missing data for Montréal’s Notre-Dame parish and for other parishes.     

Surveying for Mars Analogue Research Sites in the Central Australian Deserts

In anticipation of a future crewed mission to Mars, the international non‐profit organisation known as the Mars Society is currently establishing four mockup bases at which planetary surface operations simulations, equipment testing and personnel training exercises will be conducted over the next decade. These should provide valuable design data for, and raise public awareness about, plans to explore the red planet. One of these bases, which are organised around a habitat of the kind that is likely to serve as shelter for surface‐dwelling astronauts, is to be sited in central Australia under the name MARS‐OZ. To find a suitable location, the Mars Society Australia has conducted a ground‐truth survey of 15 potential sites as practical scientific analogues of the Martian surface, recording these in a specialised database. Each site was assessed on a set of geomorphic, science/engineering, logistic and visual analogue criteria. Six circular exploration zones 200 km in diameter were identified as clusters of the most significant, observed, comparative planetological features. These zones were then ranked to recommend a series of ‘landing sites’, at which future field seasons of exploratory science may be conducted.     

中国大陆华侨华人研究的文献计量分析报告

为了如实、客观地反映改革开放以来大陆华侨华人研究的宏观水平和微观绩效,本文依托“华侨华人文献信息专题数据库”,利用文献计量学的理论和方法,重点对1980-2003年在大陆发表的华侨华人研究论文,从年代、主题、期刊、地区、作者等方面进行了分析和评价。结果表明1990年代中期论文数量最多,之后处于平稳期;研究主题上,“经济”、“文化”一直是研究热点,华侨史研究数量减少,侨务研究数量增加;研究地区以东南亚和北美为主;载文期刊分布广泛,核心期刊载文率较低;活跃作者群已经形成。由此得出结论,华侨华人研究经历起步、发展、高峰,现处于成熟平稳阶段,其研究的领域在不断扩大,多学科交叉的研究趋势凸显。但论文的质量还有待提高,“偏食现象”应引起重视。