Evidence for local,regional and interregional exchange networks on Failaka: Some remarks on late Islamic pottery from Kharaib al-Dasht

The site of Kharaib al-Dasht, located on the northern coast of Failaka, is a late Islamic settlement with an extensive fishing infrastructure. It has been excavated since 2013 by the Kuwaiti-Polish Archaeological Mission. The ceramic assemblage collected so far exceeds 18,000 fragments. The sherds underwent technological and typological analyses, which demonstrated a wide diversity of local common kitchen wares, consistent with the needs of households specialised in fishing. A considerable percentage of imported vessels was brought to Failaka from the Arabian Gulf and Persia, though Far Eastern luxury tableware was also attested. This paper demonstrates the socioeconomic role of Kharaib al-Dasht in the context of trade exchange on the microregional (Kuwait) and macroregional (the Gulf, South and Eastern Asia) scales in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.     

Tracing the origin of Chinese early white porcelain in the late sixth century—evidence from Xing kiln

As the criterion used by archaeologists for determining early white porcelain is quite ambiguous, the origin of Chinese white porcelain remains a point of disagreement. In this study, we systematically investigate 61 typical Xing porcelains of the late Northern dynasties to the early Sui dynasty (550–600 CE) using spectrophotometer, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and analyze the differences between early white porcelain and celadon of Xing kiln in terms of their whiteness and raw materials characteristic. The results show that early white porcelain is a new type of ware that differs from celadon, which can be distinguished by whiteness, with a whiteness greater than 8% being early white porcelain and a whiteness less than 8% being celadon. It is assumed that the ancient potters created the whiter wares based on celadon by improving the glaze and selecting new raw materials for the body, but the production of this type of ware was short lived and subsequently refined in the Sui dynasty (581–618 CE) owing to the limited improvement in whiteness.     

NMR as a new tool for cultural heritage application: The provenance of ancient white marbles

Identifying the origin of marble used in antiquity brings back to light details of the economic, social and political organization of classical societies, and characterizing in depth the chemistry of marble is key to discovering its provenance. Beyond X‐ray diffraction, which could reveal the presence of discriminant secondary crystalline phases and the quantification of accessory minerals combined with a multivariate analysis approach, solid‐state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) enables one to recognize the local structure arrangement of both crystalline and amorphous materials by looking at one or more selected atoms. In present paper targets the ¹³C nuclide, and thus the major component of marble, calcium carbonate. Whatever their geological origin, marbles ¹³C‐NMR spectra present only one resonance corresponding to the carboxyl function whose intensity and line width vary from one marble to another. If the variation of the NMR signal intensity observed is the result of great T1 variations (from 220 to 5300 s) and is linked to iron content, the line width reflects defects in the calcite crystal in which calcium has been replaced by another element such as magnesium, aluminium or strontium. The specific profile of the NMR signal has been used successfully to help determine the origin of some archaeological items.     

The Finishing Technique of the Stone Monuments of Persepolis: Further Studies and New Findings Through the Use of Non‐Destructive Analytical Techniques

The studies on the finishing technique of the stone monuments in Persepolis (Iran) are part of the archaeological project jointly launched in 2008 by Iran and Italy, named ‘From Palace to Town’. The first experimental results, obtained on a very limited number of samples, revealed that the Achaemenid builders and sculptors used a white pigment, a kind of bone white, calcium fluorapatite, obtained by burning animal bones, to hide the dark grey colour of the stone. In order to verify these unexpected results, a new campaign was implemented to analyse a much larger number of samples. XRF spectrometry, a non‐destructive technique, was used and the experimental results were further elaborated by PCA. The presence of a white superficial layer was confirmed, and the use of fluorapatite was confirmed as well, but only on monuments attributed to the Xerxes period or later, while in the earlier monuments the white layer was obtained using gypsum.     

‘The white woman's burden’ – the racialized,gendered politics of volunteer tourism

Talking about race in volunteer tourism is like breaking a taboo. By critically exploring the racialized and gendered politics of volunteer tourism from the perspective of the ‘white savior complex,’ we seek to open new avenues of discussion to break this silence. We employ a postcolonial feminist theoretical framework to analyze volunteer tourism. The meanings, practices, and policies of volunteer tourism development are informed by the racialized, gendered logics of colonial thought. If older colonial logics were predominantly masculinist, it considers the largely (white) women participants in contemporary volunteer tourism as a window onto current transformations in historic racialized and gendered logics. Colonial logics and discourses have shifted over time, from the erstwhile ‘civilizing mission’ to the subsequent mandate for development to contemporary depoliticized social causes such as ‘saving the environment.’ Volunteer tourism is an exemplar of this third discourse, as global North volunteer tourists, through their depoliticized logic of ‘saving’ and ‘helping’ the less fortunate others in the global South, inherits such distinctions and reproduces them further. Given the predominance of young white women in contemporary volunteer tourism, beyond these continuities, we also point to compelling shifts in this logic from the masculinism of historic colonial processes. We also highlight the religious dimension, how Christian ideologies which were so central to formal colonial processes continue to play an important role in volunteer tourism today. Future studies on volunteer tourism need to examine its emergence, growth, and popularity (with young white women in particular) from the perspective of historic and ongoing power relations having to do with race and racialized gender, which will enable a critical conversation on volunteer tourism that adds significantly to our knowledge of contemporary neo-colonial processes and their gendered dynamics.     

唐代越窑青瓷刻划花之相关诸问题

本文探讨了有关唐代越窑青瓷刻划花的若干问题。作者以有明确纪年的唐代越窑刻划花青瓷以及相关的同一时期的有代表性的墓葬、窑址、遗址、沉船中发现的越窑刻划花青瓷为依据,总结了唐代此类瓷器工艺的演变规律和技法特征,分析了其与金银器的关系问题,并推测出此类瓷属于对外贸易的外销产品。     

南非白人政权的“分别发展”图谋和“黑人家园”的设立

20世纪60年代“班图斯坦”（黑人家园）的设立,是南非现代史上的一个重大事件。白人政权不遗余力地积极推行这一“创举”,在南非国内和国际上都引起了强烈的反响。“黑人家园”的设立可谓“意味深长”,它是种族主义的极端体现,在政治上“让步”的背后,是精心设计的经济上“分别发展”计划的实施。     

唐宋之际南方的白瓷生产与青白瓷的产生

本文结合考古学与陶瓷工艺学的成果,在梳理唐宋之际南方白瓷生产情况的基础上,认为青白瓷起源于南方地区早期的白瓷生产,并不是仿照青白玉的结果。青白瓷的产生体现了南北瓷业技术的结合,繁昌窑可能是最早大量生产青白瓷的窑场。     

青花瓷器产地判别研究

本项研究以江西省景德镇、云南省玉溪、建水、福建省平和的青花瓷器为主,结合香港清代碗窑以及德国、日本、泰国的现代青花瓷器,用能量色散X射线荧光（EDXRF）分析方法,在无损的情况下对其元素含量进行分析,得到了Ti、Mn、Fe、Co、Ni、Cu、Zn、Ga、Pb、Rb、Sr、Y、Zr13个元素的含量结果。用主成分分析方法对数据进行处理,利用第1主成分、第2主成分、第3主成分在三维座标系中绘制散点图,所得类群关系与已知情况完全相符。研究结果表明本文的研究方法可用于青花瓷器的产地判别。     

杭州出土白瓷制作年代与产地的研究

近年来,杭州出土了一批白釉瓷器残片,特别是一些具有定窑风格的白瓷样品引发了众多考古工作者和古陶瓷爱好者的关注与浓厚兴趣。为探究其制作年代和产地,采用热释光技术和X射线荧光无损分析技术相结合的方法对一批杭州出土具有定窑风格的白瓷样品进行了检测分析。测试结果表明,这批白釉瓷片样品制作年代约处在北宋末年到南宋早期,胎的化学组成中Al₂O₃含量较高,最低24.78%,最高达33.06%,具备北方瓷器特点;胎中微量元素Rb、Sr、Zr含量的比例以及钙镁碱釉的特征与河北曲阳定窑极为相似。综合文献及其它人文考证,这批杭州出土的白瓷应该为北宋晚期至南宋早期产自于河北的定窑瓷器。此分析结果也将为研究宋金贸易及文化提供科学依据。