Laboratory Excavation of a Neolithic Grave from Avignon-La Balance-Ilot P (France): Burial Practices and Garment Reconstruction

The grave of La Balance-Ilot P, in Avignon, southern France, is an individual and isolated burial, attributed in the 1970′s to the Mesolithic or the Early Neolithic. The grave, partially unearthed, was exhibited and stored at the Calvet Museum until its rediscovery and laboratory excavation in 2009. We used 3D laser recording and field anthropological methods, followed by a multidisciplinary approach. The deceased, an adult male, was buried in primary deposition without any architectural features preserved. For the first time in the Mediterranean early Neolithic, this study led to the identification of a garment adorned with sophisticated embroidery using 158 red-colored Columbella rustica shells and 16 red deer canines. Calibrated AMS dates allow us to reliably place it in the early 5th millennium b.c. reinforcing evidence for long distance intercultural relationships in Europe during the Neolithic.     

黑水靺鞨的装饰品及渊源

黑水靺鞨装饰品体系由A系、B系与C系组成.A系具有土著特色,B系来源于唐文化,C系来源于突厥文化.黑水靺鞨装饰品从一个侧面反映了黑水靺鞨文化的多元性.     

匈奴腰饰牌及相关问题研究

匈奴腰饰牌特色鲜明,是匈奴文化的重要组成部分。对于没有文字的匈奴民族来说。这些腰饰牌是人们了解和认识匈奴社会以及匈奴民族与周边其他民族关系的一扇窗口。本文以匈奴遗迹出土腰饰牌为主要考察对象。辅以匈奴传世腰饰牌,通过考古类型学分析将其划分为A、B两大组群八个类型,初步勾勒出了匈奴腰饰牌的总体面貌和特征,指出了其中的地域差异。进而对匈奴腰饰牌进行了文化渊源之探讨。通过对匈奴遗迹和西汉墓葬出土腰饰牌的对比分析,总结出它们各自在空间分布和传播上的特点,认为A群组腰饰牌属于匈奴文化系统。它们源自早期草原文化带扣和骚饰牌。B群组腰饰牌存在着不同的文化系统Ba型腰饰牌属于匈奴文化系统,Bb型和Bd型腰饰牌属于汉文化系统,Bc型腰饰牌是这两大文化系统腰饰牌的混合体,且匈奴Ba型腰饰牌源自Bb型和Bd型腰饰牌。本文同时指出,中国北方地区是匈奴草原文化系统腰饰牌与汉文化系统腰饰牌的交汇地。     

茂陵出土错金车马器保护技术与方法的探讨

针对茂陵发掘出土错金车马器文物表面锈蚀覆盖严重、装饰无法辨识的现状。本工作分别从保护原则、操作思路入手,并且结合文物具体的保存状况,相应采取化学方法软化、机械除锈、水溶液深度清洗、BTA溶液浸泡、高分子有机材料表面封护的方法,有效保护了这批文物,还原了文物的历史、艺术与研究价值。通过这批文物修复保护的实践表明,每项具体的文物保护工作,必须从个体差异的角度、针对性确立保护方案,才能有的放矢地保护好文物。结果显示,所用方法和工艺可为类似文物的保护处理提供参考。     

Material Movement in the Near Eastern Epipalaeolithic: Implications of the Shell and Stone Beads of Direkli Cave,Turkey

Direkli Cave is an Epipalaeolithic site in the central Taurus mountain range in southeastern Turkey that was used by mobile hunter-gatherer communities. The assemblage of beads from the cave, made primarily from shell (marine and freshwater) and stone, shows new evidence both that bead materials were brought to the site from the shores of the Mediterranean and that the material culture of the site has relationships to the Levant, northern Mesopotamia, and inner Anatolia. This article questions how such a bead assemblage should be interpreted in the light of existing evidence for the Near Eastern and Anatolian Epipalaeolithic and what it adds to our understanding of the better known contemporary Natufian culture of the Levant. It considers the long-distance movement of materials, interregional material cultural influences, and the way the Epipalaeolithic period is conceptualized more broadly.     

一批楚墓包金金属饰片金箔成分及制作工艺的科学研究

出土于湖北当阳赵巷M12和曹家岗M5春秋晚期楚墓的金属饰片部分外包有带纹饰的金箔,该批饰片数量较大,类型丰富,材质多样,制作精良,在楚墓所出类似文物中规格较高。为对金箔的元素含量、厚度、颜色、光泽度、纹饰和制作工艺等方面展开系统的研究,本研究采用扫描电镜、X射线荧光分析显微镜、激光共聚焦显微镜、三维视频显微镜、色差仪、光泽度仪以及气质联用色谱等分析手段对194片金箔进行科学的分析。研究表明,这批楚墓金箔为金银合金,Au含量为82%～95%,Ag为5%～18%,厚度7～35μm,与先秦时期其他墓葬出土的金箔、金片相比,其厚度最薄,金含量相对较高,金箔表面更光亮,打磨抛光较为明显,纹饰种类更为丰富,纹饰刻划更加细腻、繁缛。显然,其制作工艺达到较高的水准。同时,对该批金箔的冶炼技术和制作工艺过程进行了探讨。研究结果可为了解中国传统金箔和纹饰制作工艺提供重要的参考依据。     

Symbols of rank,leadership, and power in traditional cultures

Headmen, chiefs, kings, and emperors, the titled leaders of numerous traditional cultures in the Pacific Islands, sub-Saharan Africa and lowland South America, wear necklaces of large canines from the most powerful and ferocious animals in their respective environments. These formal badges of office symbolize their power, leadership, rank and authority in society. This generalized theme is predicated on the thesis that a leader's power is equivalent to that of the animal from which the teeth were extracted; that is, cultural man has borrowed a model from nature on which to base his power. The fact that humankind uses this same conceptual model in numerous places around the world indicates that the human mind functions in much the same way everywhere. Regarding the method used in this work, in each example presented, the presence of a visual image is considered fundamental to the overall process of gathering documentary evidence in support of this thesis. In each instance too, published data are used to confirm the title, culture, place, and, where possible, the name of the individual wearning the tooth necklace, and the circumstances under which it was worn. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing the Accidental Versus Deliberate Colour Modification of Shell Beads: a Case Study on Perforated Nassarius kraussianus from Blombos Cave Middle Stone Age levels

Colour plays an eminent role in beadwork. Colour modifications are reported on early shell beads from Middle Stone Age sites. However, identifying the colouring agent and demonstrating the intentional nature of the colouring process is not straightforward. Here, we provide analytical data on colour and structural modifications observed on Nassarius kraussianus (Nk) collected in modern thanatocoenoses and on shells of the same species experimentally heated in oxidizing and reductive atmospheres. Comparison with Nk shell beads from the 72 ka old Middle Stone Age levels of Blombos Cave, South Africa, and contextual analysis of other malacological remains from the same levels that were not used as ornaments identify the mechanisms responsible for the change of colour in modern Nk thanatocoenoses and heated shells, and show that although some Nk shell beads were heated, intentional heat treatment of shell beads is not demonstrated.