旧石器时代遗址发掘与记录方法讨论

随着技术的发展和研究理念的转变,旧石器时代考古遗址的发掘和记录方法也发生着变化。20世纪30年代周口店遗址发掘方法的改革是中国旧石器时代考古发掘史上的重大转折,奠定了中国旧石器时代考古发掘、记录方法的基础。90年代,中美联合考古在泥河湾地区的开展使中国旧石器时代考古遗址的发掘和记录方法与国际接轨,更加规范化、科学化。进入21世纪,新技术、新理念的应用使旧石器时代考古遗址发掘的记录方法更加多样化、提取的遗存信息更加科学化、综合化。本文以周口店遗址和泥河湾盆地旧石器时代遗址的发掘历史为主线,简要回顾旧石器时代考古发掘记录方法的变革;以东谷坨遗址的新发掘为例,介绍该遗址发掘和记录的一般规则和具体方法,呼吁建立具有科学性和包容性的旧石器时代遗址考古发掘操作规程。     

关于旧石器时代遗址发掘报告撰写的思考

考古发掘报告是遗址原始资料公布的主要形式,重要性不言而喻。目前,以专著形式发表的旧石器时代遗址发掘报告相对较少,且随着从业人员的多样化,旧石器时代遗址发掘报告体例和内容不一,部分报告缺失基本信息,不利于构建有效的学术交流平台。本文在回顾中国旧石器时代遗址发掘报告发展历史的基础上,讨论旧石器时代遗址发掘报告编写的基本框架。本文认为,在以遗址和人类行为为中心的研究视角下,遗址发掘报告需“由表及里”地报道遗址的基本信息。内容至少应包括遗址的地理位置,发现、发掘和研究历史,地质、地貌,发掘方法和流程,地层、年代和古环境,出土遗存（遗迹和遗物）情况等。作者希望本文可促进同行思考旧石器时代遗址发掘报告的编写方式,以达成及时有效交流新考古发现所蕴含考古信息的目的。     

俄罗斯马特盖奇克遗址、卡缅内洛卡遗址试掘简报

2017年8~9月,重庆市文化遗产研究院同俄罗斯科学院西伯利亚分院考古学与民族学研究所组成联合考古队,对西伯利亚两处旧石器时代遗址进行考古调查与试掘。通过调查与试掘,在叶尼塞河支流—阿巴坎河流域确认了一处旧石器时代晚期遗址—马特盖奇克遗址,该遗址石制品主要包括石核、石片和石器,原料主要是火山岩、燧石和石英岩。通过阶地比对,初步认为该遗址时代为旧石器时代晚期。另外,对库尔塔克卡缅内洛卡遗址的再次发掘出土了44件石制品,包含石核、石片和石器,原料主要是燧石、石英岩和火山岩。此次发掘进一步充实了该遗址的考古材料,也有利于进一步完善该遗址的考古年代学序列。     

汪宇平与萨拉乌苏遗址

<正>在萨拉乌苏遗址考古百年史上,内蒙古自治区博物馆研究员汪宇平先生潜心笃志,躬体力行,书写了至关重要的一笔,值得永远铭记。作为中国旧石器时代考古学家、内蒙古文物考古博物馆学界奠基人之一,他所做的工作,开启了新中国成立后我国学者对萨拉乌苏遗址进行旧石器时代考古调查、发掘研究的先河,也促使萨拉乌苏遗址考古工作从此进入一个新的历史阶段,实现了新的突破,具有划时代的重要意义。     

辽宁营口金牛山旧石器文化的研究

金牛山旧石器时代文化遗址的地理位置、地层及古生物已有报导,不再赘述。本文主要是研究该地点下部地层出土的旧石器材料,并兼述上部地层出土的两件磨制的骨器。解放前,辽宁几无可靠的旧石器材料的发现。建国以来,在党的领导下,辽宁考古事业得到较快的发展,古人类和旧石器文化的研究也得到相应的发展。1957年夏,辽宁省博物馆在文物普查过程中,在建平县南地乡找到过一件在形态上与河套人、山顶洞人较近似的人上臂骨化石,1972年发现了凌源八间房旧石器时代晚期的文化地点;1973和1975年两次发掘喀左县鸽子洞旧石器时代中期的文化遗址;1974和1975年对金牛山洞穴遗址进行了发掘,使我们在辽宁首次获得了旧石器时代早期的材料。目前,在辽宁省境内已有了旧石器时代早、中、晚期的代表地点。     

水洞沟记趣

公元2003年7月24日-9月4日,中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所和宁夏考古所联合组织了对位于宁夏银川市郊的水洞沟旧石器时代考古遗址的大规模发掘。古脊椎所的高星老师是发掘领队。期间来自上述两个科研与考古单位和中科院地质地球物理所、地球环境研究所、北京大学环境学     

鄂尔多斯乌兰木伦遗址第2地点下层脚印化石模型的制作

正乌兰木伦旧石器遗址位于鄂尔多斯市康巴什新区乌兰木伦景观湖畔,是一处属于旧石器时代中晚期的古人类活动遗址,获评"2011年度中国六大考古新发现"。自2010年发现并连续开展考古发掘以来,不断涌现的考古新发现和研究成果,如出土于遗址地层中的保存基本完整的披毛犀骨骼化石和披毛犀软肋骨化石,都是世界范围内的首次发现;对遗址出土石制品拼合与埋藏成因的研究、剥片技术研究、工具类型与修理技术     

2004年新疆旧石器考古调查简报

2004年5-6月,中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所和新疆文物考古研究所联合组队,在新疆北部和中部进行了旧石器时代考古调查。发现24个石器地点和数千件石制品,采集和试掘出500余件石制品;绝大多数石制品来自于地表,少数出自原生地层。石制品类型多样,包括普通石核与石片、棱柱状石核、石叶、两面器、细石叶石核、细石叶、勒瓦娄哇石核与石片等;原料种类多样,尺寸、形态、技术变异大。从技术与类型判断,这些不同地点的文化材料时代跨度较大,较早的可能属旧石器时代晚期之初,甚至旧石器时代中期,较晚的则可能属于新石器时代早中期。较早阶段的石制品组合与中亚、西伯利亚阿尔泰地区同期遗址的文化面貌有相似之处,也与我国水洞沟遗址的石叶遗存有一定联系。骆驼石遗址及其丰富的勒瓦娄哇制品及大型石叶制品是本次调查的最大收获。本次调查的成果表明,新疆地区在旧石器时代晚期是人类迁徙和生存演化的活跃地带,留下丰富的文化遗存,对研究当时人类技术、文化特点和适应生存能力提供了重要材料与信息;很多地点具有与欧洲、俄罗斯阿尔泰地区旧石器时代中、晚期相似的文化遗存,对研究当时欧亚大陆古人群的迁徙、融合和文化交流具有重要价值;该地区具有发现更多、更重要的旧石器时代遗址并开展深入的考古发掘与研究的巨大潜力。     

神农架犀牛洞旧石器时代遗址发掘报告

本文记述犀牛洞旧石器遗址的发掘收获及初步研究成果。该遗址在我国南方旧石器时代遗址中是比较重要的。其文化性质为深入研究南方旧石器的文化类型增添了新材料。遗址海拔2102m,向人们显示出高海拔山地旧石器考古的良好前景。遗址动物群丰富,可使人们对动物群的演变与生态有更深的认识。     

河南淅川坑南遗址调查发现的石制品

河南淅川坑南遗址位于丹江口库区,丹江口库区是近年来旧石器考古发掘和研究的重点地区。2016年对坑南遗址发掘前,在周边调查发现旧石器时代石制品209件,石制品类型包括石核、石片、石叶和石器等。剥片方法有锤击法和砸击法。石器毛坯类型多为片状,少量为块状、砾石。石器修理方式以正向为主,其次为反向和复向。初步判断其时代最早能到旧石器时代中期。新发现对于探讨晚更新世南北旧石器过渡地带的特点,具有重要意义。     

Engaging students through online video homework assignments: A case study in a large‐enrollment ecology and evolution course

Online educational videos have the potential to enhance undergraduate biology learning, for example by showcasing contemporary scientific research and providing content coverage. Here, we describe the integration of nine videos into a large‐enrollment (n = 356) introductory evolution and ecology course via weekly homework assignments. We predicted that videos that feature research stories from contemporary scientists could reinforce topics introduced in lecture and provide students with novel insights into the nature of scientific research. Using qualitative analysis of open‐ended written feedback from the students on each video assigned throughout the term (n = 133–229 responses per video) and on end‐of‐quarter evaluations (n = 243), we identified common categories of student perspectives. All videos received more positive than negative comments and all videos received comments indicating that students found them intellectually and emotionally stimulating, accessible, and relevant to course content. Additionally, all videos also received comments indicating some students found them intellectually unstimulating, though these comments were generally far less numerous than positive comments. Students responded positively to videos that incorporated at least one of the following: documentary‐style filming, very clear links to course content (especially hands‐on activities completed by the students), relevance to recent world events, clarity on difficult topics, and/or charismatic narrators or species. We discuss opportunities and challenges for the use of online educational videos in teaching ecology and evolution, and we provide guidelines instructors can use to integrate them into their courses.     

The effectiveness of web-based, multimedia tutorials for teaching methods of human body composition analysis

This study examined the effectiveness of a series of Web-based, multimedia tutorials on methods of human body composition analysis. Tutorials were developed around four body composition topics: hydrodensitometry (underwater weighing), dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, bioelectrical impedance analysis, and total body electrical conductivity. Thirty-two students enrolled in the course were randomly assigned to learn the material through either the Web-based tutorials only ("Computer"), a traditional lecture format ("Lecture"), or lectures supplemented with Web-based tutorials ("Both"). All students were administered a validated pretest before randomization and an identical posttest at the completion of the course. The reliability of the test was 0.84. The mean score changes from pretest to posttest were not significantly different among the groups (65.4 plus minus 17.31, 78.82 plus minus 21.50, and 76 plus minus 21.22 for the Computer, Both, and Lecture groups, respectively). Additionally, a Likert-type assessment found equally positive attitudes toward all three formats. The results indicate that Web-based tutorials are as effective as the traditional lecture format for teaching these topics.     

Education about dementia. Effectiveness of a public lecture

Memory and dementia are often topics of educational activities, however there is only limited information about the effectiveness of this education. In this study the effectiveness of a lecture, as part of a series of lectures about dementia, has been evaluated. The results showed an improvement in knowledge after the lecture and the participants were satisfied afterwards. Finally, it showed that there is a need for this kind of education; for professionals and for people who were worried about their memory or their partners' memory.     

Patterns in Benthic Biodiversity Link Lake Trophic Status to Structure and Potential Function of Three Large,Deep Lakes

Relative to their scarcity, large, deep lakes support a large proportion of the world’s freshwater species. This biodiversity is threatened by human development and is in need of conservation. Direct comparison of biodiversity is the basis of biological monitoring for conservation but is difficult to conduct between large, insular ecosystems. The objective of our study was to conduct such a comparison of benthic biodiversity between three of the world’s largest lakes: Lake Tahoe, USA; Lake Hövsgöl, Mongolia; and Crater Lake, USA. We examined biodiversity of common benthic organism, the non-biting midges (Chironomidae) and determined lake trophic status using chironomid-based lake typology, tested whether community structure was similar between the three lakes despite geographic distance; and tested whether chironomid diversity would show significant variation within and between lakes. Typology analysis indicated that Lake Hövsgöl was ultra-oligotrophic, Crater Lake was oligotrophic, and Lake Tahoe was borderline oligotrophic/mesotrophic. These results were similar to traditional pelagic measures of lake trophic status for Lake Hövsgöl and Crater Lake but differed for Lake Tahoe, which has been designated as ultra-oligotrophic by traditional pelagic measures such as transparency found in the literature. Analysis of similarity showed that Lake Tahoe and Lake Hövsgöl chironomid communities were more similar to each other than either was to Crater Lake communities. Diversity varied between the three lakes and spatially within each lake. This research shows that chironomid communities from these large lakes were sensitive to trophic conditions. Chironomid communities were similar between the deep environments of Lake Hövsgöl and Lake Tahoe, indicating that chironomid communities from these lakes may be useful in comparing trophic state changes in large lakes. Spatial variation in Lake Tahoe’s diversity is indicative of differential response of chironomid communities to nutrient enrichment which may be an indication of changes in trophic state within and across habitats.     

Head Lice Surveillance on a Deregulated OTC-Sales Market: A Study Using Web Query Data

The head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis, is an obligate ectoparasite that causes infestations of humans. Studies have demonstrated a correlation between sales figures for over-the-counter (OTC) treatment products and the number of humans with head lice. The deregulation of the Swedish pharmacy market on July 1, 2009, decreased the possibility to obtain complete sale figures and thereby the possibility to obtain yearly trends of head lice infestations. In the presented study we wanted to investigate whether web queries on head lice can be used as substitute for OTC sales figures. Via Google Insights for Search and Vårdguiden medical web site, the number of queries on “huvudlöss” (head lice) and “hårlöss” (lice in hair) were obtained. The analysis showed that both the Vårdguiden series and the Google series were statistically significant (p<0.001) when added separately, but if the Google series were already included in the model, the Vårdguiden series were not statistically significant (p = 0.5689). In conclusion, web queries can detect if there is an increase or decrease of head lice infested humans in Sweden over a period of years, and be as reliable a proxy as the OTC-sales figures.     

Formation of Sperm Entry Holes in the Vitelline Membrane of Hydroides hexagonus (Annelida) and Evidence of their Lytic Origin

Electron micrographs of inseminated eggs of Hydroides hexagonus previously had shown that in the immediate vicinity of the penetrating spermatozoön a small portion of the vitelline membrane regularly was absent, and it had been suggested that this area was a hole made by lytic activity of the individual spermatozoön during the course of its passage through the membrane. This deduction would receive support if it could be established that a sperm entry hole does form in living material. During the present study a hole repeatedly observed and photographed in the membrane of living eggs was found to arise as the spermatozoön penetrated the membrane. Gently compressed eggs formed exovates only through this hole. The holes, and exovates, were not found except at sperm entry sites. It was concluded that this hole is the counterpart of the area from which the membrane is absent in the electron micrographs cited above, and that the spermatozoön makes this hole. In an electron micrograph two spermatozoa which had penetrated the membrane at separate but closely neighboring points now occupy a single hole. It is argued that if each spermatozoön had displaced the membrane mechanically to make its hole, then there should be two holes, with a partition of membrane between them, but if each had eroded the membrane by applying lysin, a single hole should have formed as the eroded areas expanded and finally merged into one. The latter view agrees with the facts of the electron micrograph. It is concluded that lysis is the most probable means by which the individual spermatozoön makes its hole.     

Barcelona conference on epigenetics and cancer: 50 years of histone acetylation

The Barcelona Conference on Epigenetics and Cancer (BCEC) was held in Barcelona, Spain, on October 1^st and 2^nd, 2014. The meeting was co-organized by the Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program (PEBC-IDIBELL) and B·Debate, an initiative of Biocat, with the support of "la Caixa" Foundation. The scientific committee was comprised of leading scientists in the field of epigenetics: Dr. Manel Esteller, director of PEBC-IDIBELL, Dr. Alejandro Vaquero and Dr. Esteban Ballestar, from PEBC-IDIBELL, Juan Ausió from the University of Victoria (Canada), and Marcus Buschbeck, from the Institute of Predictive and Personalized Medicine of Cancer (IMPPC), as BCEC series coordinator. This meeting was the second edition of the BCEC series, which was launched by 5 leading Barcelonan institutes to bring together leading investigators in the fields of epigenetics and chromatin research. The topics discussed during the meeting included the current challenges, opportunities, and perspectives surrounding the study of histone modifications (focusing in acetylation), chromatin structure and gene expression, and the involvement of histone acetylation in physiology and diseases, such as cancer or neurological diseases.     

Genetic Diversity of Five Local Swedish Chicken Breeds Detected by Microsatellite Markers

This study aimed at investigating the genetic diversity, relationship and population structure of 110 local Swedish chickens derived from five breeds (Gotlandshöna, Hedemorahöna, Öländsk dvärghöna, Skånsk blommehöna, and Bohuslän- Dals svarthöna, in the rest of the paper the shorter name Svarthöna is used) using 24 microsatellite markers. In total, one hundred thirteen alleles were detected in all populations, with a mean of 4.7 alleles per locus. For the five chicken breeds, the observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.225 to 0.408 and from 0.231 to 0.515, with the lowest scores for the Svarthöna and the highest scores for the Skånsk blommehöna breeds, respectively. Similarly, the average within breed molecular kinship varied from 0.496 to 0.745, showing high coancestry, with Skånsk blommehöna having the lowest and Svarthöna the highest coancestry. Furthermore, all breeds showed significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Across the five breeds, the global heterozygosity deficit (F_IT) was 0.545, population differentiation index (F_ST) was 0.440, and the global inbreeding of individuals within breed (F_IS) was 0.187. The phylogenetic relationships of chickens were examined using neighbor-joining trees constructed at the level of breeds and individual samples. The neighbor-joining tree constructed at breed level revealed two main clusters, with Hedemorahöna and Öländsk dvärghöna breeds in one cluster, and Gotlandshöna and Svarthöna breeds in the second cluster leaving the Skånsk blommehöna in the middle. Based on the results of the STRUCTURE analysis, the most likely number of clustering of the five breeds was at K = 4, with Hedemorahöna, Gotlandshöna and Svarthöna breeds forming their own distinct clusters, while Öländsk dvärghöna and Skånsk blommehöna breeds clustered together. Losses in the overall genetic diversity of local Swedish chickens due to breeds extinction varied from -1.46% to -6.723%. The results of the current study can be used as baseline genetic information for genetic conservation program, for instance, to control inbreeding and to implement further genetic studies in local Swedish chickens.     

Report on the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology: "Membrane Proteins in Health and Disease"

The meeting "Membrane Proteins in Health and Disease" featured 6 sessions and 2 satellite meetings. At the opening session, Gunnar von Heijne delivered a plenary lecture entitled Insertion of Membrane Proteins into the Endoplasmic Reticulum. The following session topics were Membrane Protein Trafficking and Folding, Regulation of Membrane Proteins, Membrane Protein Structure, Membrane Proteins in Diverse Species, and Membrane Proteins and Diseases. The satellite meetings discussed bicarbonate transporters and Na+/H+ exchangers. Together the 21 lectures and 106 posters presented at the meeting spanned the full spectrum of current research into membrane protein structure and function.     

A second gene for autosomal dominant Möbius syndrome is localized to chromosome 10q, in a Dutch family.

Möbius syndrome (MIM 157900) consists of a congenital paresis or paralysis of the VIIth (facial) cranial nerve, frequently accompanied by dysfunction of other cranial nerves. The abducens nerve is typically affected, and often, also, the hypoglossal nerve. In addition, orofacial and limb malformations, defects of the musculoskeletal system, and mental retardation are seen in patients with Möbius syndrome. Most cases are sporadic, but familial recurrence can occur. Different modes of inheritance are suggested by different pedigrees. Genetic heterogeneity of Möbius syndrome has been suggested by cytogenetic studies and linkage analysis. Previously, we identified a locus on chromosome 3q21-22, in a large Dutch family with Möbius syndrome consisting essentially of autosomal dominant asymmetric bilateral facial paresis. Here we report linkage analysis in a second large Dutch family with autosomal dominant inherited facial paresis. After exclusion of >90% of the genome, we identified the locus on the long arm of chromosome 10 in this family, demonstrating genetic heterogeneity of this condition. The reduced penetrance suggests that at least some of the sporadic cases might be familial.