Comparison of bone artifacts from the Schöningen site in Germany and the Lingjing site in China

Similarities play an important role in the reconstruction of human physical,cultural and technological evolution.The two sites presented in this paper,the Middle Palaeolithic site Lingjing in China Layer 10 and 11 and the Lower Palaeolithic site Schöningen 13Ⅱ-4,the socalled Schöningen Spear Horizon in Germany,show striking similarities.The archaeological record of both sites includes lithic artifacts as well as a very large assemblage of fossil bones.The preservation of the material at both sites is excellent and the faunas encountered at both sites show many similarities.The faunal lists of both sites include a diverse carnivore guild,an elephant species,two different rhinoceros species,two different equids,different cervids and large bovids.Both sites also yielded bone retouchers as well as a unique record of bone hammers that show identical,unusual flaking and percussion damage.These similarities are remarkable if one takes into account the difference in age(ca 200 kaBP)and the geographical distance between the two sites of ca 8000 km.Therefore,we do not assume a close cultural link between the hominin populations active at both sites.The authors assume that the observed similarities show more or less identical,opportunistic hominin behaviour at both sites located in a comparable environment with more or less similar taphonomic conditions.

OSL chronology of a Palaeolithic site in a humid subtropical mountainous area of southeast China

The timing of Palaeolithic human activities in South China is still controversial because of the lack of a reliable chronology of archaeological sites.The Longdengshan Palaeolithic site(LPS),located close to the Wuyi Mountain of South China,represents the first discovered and scientifically excavated Middle Palaeolithic site in the Fujian Province.This site is of considerable significance for studying the diffusion and cultural connotation of early Homo sapiens in southern China.In this study,we present optically stimulated luminescence(OSL)ages obtained from medium-grained quartz collected at the LPS.The single-aliquot regenerative-dose measurements of red soil deposits collected at the same site yielded internally and stratigraphically consistent ages and similar errors,indicating a potential ability of the technique,and also reflecting the influence of various sedimentary facies on the test results.Our results indicate that the 38–63µm quartz grains were generally partially-bleached and had large values of over-dispersion in the palaeo-reticulated laterites of west Fujian.Some samples yielded unsatisfactory results,suggesting that the degree of bleaching of diluvial and alluvial deposits should be properly assessed before dating.We did not detect any enrichment/depletion of U,Th and radioactive disequilibrium.The effect of chemical weathering on the dose rate estimation was negligible.Therefore,we used a central age model and the maximum age model to calculate the age of two samples,respectively,and the minimum age model to calculate the ages of the rest of the samples.The OSL ages of the samples ranged from 27.09±2.30 ka to 54.65±7.39 ka for the 38–63µm quartz size fraction,and roughly corresponded to the Marine Isotope Stage 3.In addition,three ages out of five are based on the calculation of minimum ages in this research,which needs to be further verified by other dating methods.

Towards Understanding Paleosols in Southern Levantine Eolianites:Integration of Micromorphology,Environmental Magnetism and Mineralogy

纸在沿海的 eolianites 在 paleosols 的形成探讨泥土大小的灰尘的角色的争论问题，以色列。在 Habonim 类型节，以前考古学和光标明日期到 45 135 ka 的 pedocomplex 显示出至少三 paleosols，没由非土壤沉积分开。最旧的微红的 paleosol (显然与 MIS 5 有关) 有磁力地被提高，从碳酸盐沥滤，与 bioturbation 和强烈年老的泥土涂层的符号。使红由于很好， ∼20 nm，糟糕结晶，超级顺磁(SP ) 赤铁矿由 Mössbauer 研究决定了。在心土， eolianite 的石版印刷遗物被发现。随着时间的过去，土壤表面 aggraded 由于加速的好灰尘累积在本地的斜坡洗。在更年轻的材料上形成了有磁力地弄空的 vertisols，由绿土类型统治了可扩充的顺磁的泥土。在薄节，强壮的点画有斑点、有条纹的 b 织物由于缩小胀大处理的 vertisols 展览，树脂浸渍木材土著人方解石小瘤和 Fe-Mn 再分配。最高氢气的 vertisol 显示出周期性的方解石和 Fe 降水的并列特征的最强壮的表示。这 paleosol 在塌积的土壤材料上发展了，由泥土混合石英和方解石 allochems 的涂、非常的 ated 谷物证实了。Mössbauer 系列表演高在泥土结构合并的 Fe (III ) 总计， SP goethite 的低数量和 SP 赤铁矿的缺席。虽然磁性的危险性在 vertisols 落下到最小的价值，磁性的谷物尺寸增加的含铁。与在微织物特征的层次的差别一起的后者为可能源于的石版印刷逻辑断绝作为指示被拿连续，可变、低紧张的虽然，从遥远的 Saharan 和本地人的 eolian 泥土的输入采购原料，对粗略地过时对最后的中间的部分更早冰川。

Four Rare and Unusual Dedications From Areas of Viminacium and Nais

In the areas of Viminacium and Nais four rare and unusual votive dedications were identified.These are the dedications Deus Aeternus,Dii Angeli,Hero(Viminacium),and Atta(Naissus).The dedications Deus Aeternus and Dii Angeli may perhaps indicate Christianity,while the dedications Hero and Atta may indicate settlers of Greek origin.The dedication to goddess Atta could have been made by a freed man,since her cult was to an extent related to the cult of Heracles who,thanks to his loyal service to Omphale,where he was to repent his sins,was freed from slavery,and thus was also a protector of freed man.Main methodological approach in this paper is the analysis of cults as well as their backgrounds as conditions for their realisation.Until now for the territory of Serbia there was not corpus of analyzing cults.There is only corpus of grave and votive monuments for the territory of Serbia with very rare and sporadic comments of cult.So,the main topic of this article is analyzing of cults.It includes the main meaning of the cult,dateing of monuments and historical and archeological backgrounds of the cults.At the same time it was the main method in the analyzing of the mentioned votive monuments.By this method as the result appeared the dateing of the monuments and improvement of existing Greek settlers.At the same time there were the main research questions which should be ensolved.For ensolved the dateing of the monuments was used the system of analyzing syllabic formulae and for the improvement of existing Greek settlers the method of“healty mind”and connections of analogies.As a result the dateing of monuments of Deus Aeternus,Dii Angeli,and Hero was early 2-nd century,and for Atta from the beginning of 2-nd to the end of 3-rd century.

Preliminary Analysis of Tectonic Deformation Phenomena in Some Archaeological Sites in Shandong Province

Earthquake archaeological research was conducted in recent years at four archaeological excavation sites in Shandong,focusing on the identification and analysis of the tectonic deformation phenomena. The non-tectonic deformation phenomena were distinguished at the site of the Shang Dynasty ruins at Daxinzhuang in the Jinan suburbs. In Longshan,sand vein-filled cracks were recognized in the cultural layers of the Chengziya site,Zhangqiu City. Sand veins on the trench wall and sand tubes at the trench bottom were found densely distributed at the Shang and Zhou Dynasty cultural layers,at Qinhuangtai site,Binzhou City. The tectonic and non-tectonic origin cracks were identified on the city wall of the Site of Capital of State Qi,Linzi City. In Rizhao city,parallel distributed sand vein fracture groups were found in the cultural layer of Longshan-Warring States-Han Dynasty at Yaowangcheng site. Typical conjugate shear fractures were identified on the city wall of the ancient city of the State of Xue, Tengzhou City. The above natural deformation phenomena are concentrated in the culture layers of the Spring and AutumnWarring States-Han Dynasties and before, and characterized by seismic sand-soil liquefaction traces,which indicate that these regions might have been in the seismic active episodes in the corresponding periods. The above inference has been confirmed by microscopic data analysis.

Archaeobotanical Data for Research on the Introduction of Wheat into China

After being introduced into China from West Asia,wheat gradually replaced such varieties of millet as Setaria italica and Panicum miliaceum to become the main dry-land farming crop in northern China,forming China’s current agricultural production pattern of rice in the south and wheat in the north.To date,there have been dozens of reported archaeological discoveries about early wheat remains.According to these newly unearthed findings,wheat was introduced into China through at least two routes between 4500 and 4000 years ago.One is the grassland route from West Asia,through Central Asia,the Bronze Age cultures of the Eurasian Steppe,the Northern Cultural Zone in northern China to the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.The other is the oasis route from West Asia,through Central Asia,Pamir’s oases on both sides of the Tarim Basin,the Hexi Corridor,to the Loess Plateau of northern China.

Hereditary constitution analysis of Shaolingyuan ancient human in Xi’an, northwestern China

In order to identify the kinship of Shaolingyuan ancient human excavated from Shaolingyuan archaeological site with high level of certainty, and infer racial origins more clearly and reliably, this paper analyzed the hereditary constitution of this population. We used the “Reverse root canal technique” to extract ancient DNA from 28 teeth in 28 skeletal remains (3057-2784 BP) of Shaolingyuan archaeological site, obtained the sequences of mtDNA Hypervariable region I (HVR-I) by PCR amplifications;then used MEGA 5.5 software to construct phylogenetic trees and compared the sequences among the sequences of interraces, intraraces. The phylogenetic tree showed that there were two major clusters, Cluster 1 with 16 individuals, and Cluster 2 with 5 individuals. Either the genetic gap or the geographic position of the individuals was small. The frequency of SNP site 16223 T > C was 71.4%, significantly higher than other sites. The comparisons of different population demonstrated that there is no significant difference among them. All of them shared the same haplogroup L1’2’3’4’5’6, close to African. Finally, we confirm that there is a very close genetic relationship between some individuals in this cemetery. We regarded Shao-lingyuan Western Zhou cemetery as a family cemetery, and these people belong to East Asia lineage.

Results from Multi Technique Investigation of Pottery from Different Early Neolithic Sites in Albania

The archaeological excavations of the Neolithic sites in Albania show that this area has been the center of the confluence of different cultures with various levels of development and social organization. This is reflected in the pottery manufacturing, which during early Neolithic is classified in three major groups. The pottery from the Early Neolithic site at Kolsh, situated in north east, shows similarities with all the other cultures of central Balkans, the shards from the site Blaz in the north-west region show an Adriatic-Mediterraean character, while the south culture represented by Vashtemi and Podgorie sites appears to show cultural report with early Neolithic in the area of Thessaloniki. During the last years, the Institute of Applied Nuclear Physics of the University of Tirana and the Institute of Archaeology of the Center of Albanian Studies have initiated a cooperative study of the ceramic finds which aims at a better characterization and classification of the ceramic finds. In this context Optical Microscopy (OM), EDXRF, micro-XRF and XRD were used for the elemental and structural characterization of ceramic samples. Some data on the fabric texture, inclusions, decoration materials and elemental composition of the shards from pottery samples belonging to the mentioned Early Neolithic sites in Albania will be presented.

Investigation of Pottery from Different Neolithic Sites in Southeast Albania Using Various Analytical Techniques

In this paper we will consider the results of the investigation of ceramic shards from four Neolithic sites located in the south-east of Albania using different analytical methods. The sites of Vashtemi, Podgori, Dunavec and Maliq, situated at the plateau of Korca, represent the Neolithic culture at the different stages from Early Neolithic to Eneolithic. The application of EDXRF, micro-XRF, XRD and Optical Microscopy (OM) allowed us to collect data on the mineralogical and elemental composition of the ceramics and the materials used for the external decorations. The results indicate that coarse to medium coarse, non-calcareous clays were used for the ceramic manufacture in all the sites. Mineral inclusions rich in Si, Ca, K, and Fe were identified, some of which could have been intentionally added to the clays during the production process. The similarities of the elemental composition of the shards indicate that the ceramics in each site were prepared from different clay deposits that should have been close to each site. Minerals rich in Ca, Fe and Mn have been used respectively for the white, red and dark brown surface decorations, while bitumen has been applied after the firing in a black decoration.

Amelioration of habitat since the early Holocene contributed to the origin of agriculture in the farming-pastoral zone of northern China

The origin of agriculture in the farming-pastoral zone of northern China remains in dispute.The central region of the Inner Mongolia Plateau is located in the core area of the farming-pastoral zone;thus,it is a critical region for exploring the origin of the dryland farming system in northern China.This study selected the Yumin Site and Banan Site,which belong to the Yumin Culture-the beginning of Neolithic culture in Inner Mongolia-as the research objects.Based on the quartz optically stimulated luminescence(OSL)dating on the sedimentary sections from the Yumin site(YM)and Banan site(BN1 and BN2),the Holocene chronology framework of each section was established.After that,by identifying carbonized grains in the Yumin site and the multi-proxy analysis of each section,we investigated the relationship between the origin of agriculture and climate change in this region.The results revealed that the timing of the origin of agriculture recorded in the Yumin site lagged behind the timing of a significant increase of precipitation during the early Holocene but coincided with the timing of a significant increase of vegetation around 8.4 ka.This phenomenon was further confirmed by the published high-resolution paleoenvironmental records from the surrounding area of the Yumin Culture.We propose that with the gradual amelioration of hydrothermal conditions since the beginning of the Holocene,the regional ecosystem had been improved,resulting in the gradual conversion of the land surface from infertile sand to organic-rich soil,providing an appropriate environmental foundation for the origin of dryland farming in northern China around 8.4 ka.This study highlighted that the“accumulative environmental effects”during the early Holocene played a vital role in the origin of agriculture in northern China and provided a reference for agricultural management in the context of future climate change.

Searching for the production Site of Terracotta Warriors

Xu Weihang gr aduated from theDepartment of Archaeology of JilinUniversity and is a researcher atthe Shaanxi Provincial Institute ofArchaeology. He has participated in theexcavation of the Terracatta Warriorsand Horses of the Mausoleumof QinShi Huang for more than 20years.served as the leader of the thirdexcavationof the No.1 pit, and iscurrently the archaeological leaderof the Xianyang City Ruins Projectin Qindu. He has been engaged inarchaeological research of the Qin andHan dynasties for more than 30years,has deeply realized the importanceof ellig Chinese stories well. andstives to popularize archaeologicalachievements to the public with hisown meager efforts;Shen Shen is a Master of Cultural Relicsand Museums and the 9th NationalTop Ten "Outstanding DisseminatorsofChinese Cultural Relics Stories."

宋代铁钱的中子衍射研究

利用飞行时间法中子衍射技术(time of flight neutron diffraction)对3枚陕西出土的宋代铁钱进行了无损的相分析,采用英国卢瑟福实验室的高分辨率中子衍射仪GEM(General Materials Diffractometer),定量地揭示了铁钱的相组成、合金成分与主要锈蚀产物的成分。分析结果表明铁钱的主要物相为铁素体、渗碳体(还含有Fe3P),主要锈蚀产物为棕黄色针铁矿(α-FeOOH),没有发现铁素体晶粒的织构化,表明铁钱系铸造而成。中子衍射这种完全无损且量化的物理实验技术在中国文化遗产的科学分析与保护研究中具有广阔的应用前景。

萨拉乌苏河发现的人类膝关节病变古病例

桑志华1923年在萨拉鸟苏河采集的人类股骨（PA62），外侧髁前上方存在明显由摩擦形成的象牙样光滑面，其面积约950平方毫米，纵向有1-1．5毫米深的两条沟槽，分别长为26毫米和32毫米，宽为6毫米和5毫米，光滑面边缘的骨质增生形成骨赘，这是膝关节炎病变的结果。这件股骨过去有人将它归属于化石“河套人”，现在测定其年龄为200—300年，大致位于清代中期。在中国，目前未见更旱时期人类膝关节炎病例的考古报道。

三门峡虢国墓地M2009出土铁刃铜器的科学分析及其相关问题

三门峡虢国墓地出土铁刃铜器是中原地区较早的用铁证据。利用金相显微镜、扫描电子显微镜—能谱仪(SEM-EDS)、电子探针(EPMA)等多种方法,对三门峡虢国墓地M2009出土的3件铁刃铜器进行了科学检测分析。结果显示,铜骹铁叶矛(STG001)铁质部分可见硅酸盐与氧化亚铁共生夹杂,且沿着加工方向拉长,其材质为块炼铁。铁刃铜削(SGT002)和铜内铁援戈(SGT003)残留铁金属颗粒中均检测出较为显著的Ni和少量Co,SEM-EDS线扫描分析显示Ni和Co在各相之间存在高低交错的分布特征,判断其材质为陨铁,其Ni含量处于铁陨石ⅢC和ⅢD之间,原始结构应属极细粒八面体铁陨石(Off)或无纹铁陨石(Ataxite)类型。样品STG001和SGT002铜质部分均保留较为典型的锡青铜铸造组织形态,基体为已腐蚀的α固溶体,残余(α+δ)固溶体均匀分布,铜铁结合处无明显的晶粒变形和再结晶现象,显示该区域未经历铸后的冷热加工。由此推断,铁刃部分应是先锻打加工成形后,嵌入铸造铜质部分的组合陶范,通过铸接的方式与铜质部分紧密结合而形成铜铁复合器物。简要梳理了中国早期铁金属的使用证据,指出陨铁和人工冶铁制品在虢国墓地的同时出现,显示了该时期在研究中国铁冶金技术起源和传播中的重要地位。西北地区在早期块炼铁技术传播中扮演了重要角色,而生铁技术在中原地区的产生则与商周青铜铸造技术传统关系密切。

湖泊沉积物磁学特征指示的埃及Faiyum盆地全新世以来的环境演变

利用埃及北部Faiyum盆地获得的高取芯率沉积物岩芯,进行沉积物多种磁性参数的测量,结合有机碳、介形虫、粒度等分析,在AMS14C加速器测年的基础上,建立全新世以来湖泊沉积物磁性特征变化的时间序列.结果表明,粒度效应以及沉积后的各种次生作用对沉积物的磁性特征没有明显的影响,磁性变化主要反映了沉积物不同来源组成的相对变化.全新世前沉积物磁性较弱,主要含不完全反铁磁性矿物,与周边沙漠的物质相似,结合其粒度特征,沉积物来源应以近源物质为主.全新世早中期(约10 5.4 ka BP)沉积物磁性变化相对稳定,有机质含量也较高,指示了来自尼罗河较为稳定的物质供应;而大约5.4 ka BP尤其最近约4.2 ka BP以来,磁性的明显变化反映了流域降水减少情况下,来自青尼河物质贡献的相对增加;最近约2.0 ka BP以来沉积物的磁性变化,则更多地与盆地人类活动的强化有关.总体而言,Faiyum盆地全新世以来的环境演变主要受控于全新世以来尼罗河与盆地的水力学联系.即:全新世前盆地未与尼罗河连通时,沉积物主要来源于周边沙漠的风成物质;而受全新世早-中期来流域季风降水增加的影响,泛滥的尼罗河为盆地提供了相对稳定的物质供应,湖泊也处于高湖面;全新世晚期以来,随着流域干旱化的加剧,尼罗河与盆地的连通性开始减弱,来自高磁性的青尼罗河物质贡献开始相对增加.最近约2.0 ka BP以来,虽然仍有人工运河连接尼罗河与盆地,但沉积物磁性的显著变化更多地反映了盆地人类活动的不断强化.

中国古代家养动物起源的动物考古学研究

通过确立科学判断中国古代家养动物起源的系列依据(如形体测量、病理现象、年龄结构、性别比例、数量比例、考古现象、食性分析和DNA研究),可以断定:距今约10000年,在河北省南部出现狗;距今约9000年,在河南省南部出现猪;距今约5600~5000年,在甘青地区出现绵羊;距今约5000年,在甘肃省东部出现黄牛;距今约4000~3600年,在甘肃省东部出现马;距今约3300年,在河南省东部出现鸡。这些家养动物分别起源或出现于不同的时间和不同的地点,但基本上都位于中国的北方地区。

Digitizing the Undigitized: Converting Traditional Archaeological Records into Computerized, Three-Dimensional Site Reconstruction

Archaeological excavation involves disintegration, removal, and reassembly of the archaeological record;as such it is considered by many to be an unrepeatable, destructive activity. This perception has contributed to an advancement in archaeological practice, namely, the development of computerized recording systems that digitally record archaeological excavations spatially and volumetrically during fieldwork. This paper is concerned with those archaeological sites where digital field recording has not been done. These sites, recorded by traditional methods, should not be excluded from attempts to restructure the spatial, volumetric, and stratigraphic archaeological data. A thorough methodology for the conversion of traditional records into digitized data is presented, including the detailed procedures required for three-dimensional plotting of recorded data—both the excavated material and the drawn site maps and cross-sections. Finally, the use of these methods is demonstrated on a complex Early to Middle Pleistocene site, illustrating the benefits of digitization and three-dimensional reconstruction in resolving stratigraphic and spatial questions.

稻作农业起源过程的四个阶段

近些年来,由于浮选法的普遍应用,长江中下游地区发现了大量与稻作农业起源研究相关的植物遗存。通过对这些新资料的研究发现,稻作农业起源是一个漫长的渐变过程,历经数千年,期间可划分为四个阶段:距今1万年前后是孕育阶段,人类社会尚处在采集狩猎阶段,但考古发现了人类利用甚至耕种稻属植物的证据;距今9000~7000年是初期阶段,考古发现了稻作农业的证据,如定居村落、栽培稻、农耕工具等,但当时的生业经济依然是以采集狩猎为主,属于农业生产范畴的水稻种植和家猪饲养仅是辅助性的生产活动;距今7000~5000年是转变阶段,采集狩猎在生业经济中的比重日渐降低,而稻作农耕的比重日渐提高;距今5000年前后,长江中下游地区相继完成了由采集狩猎向稻作农业的转变,人类社会进入农业阶段。