Early Historic Period Research Articles

The Southern Ocean marine ice record of the early historical, circum-Antarctic voyages of Cook and Bellingshausen

Abstract. The circumnavigations of Cook (second voyage, 1772–1775) and Bellingshausen (1819–1821) were attempts to find any great southern land mass poleward of ∼ 50° S and consequently involved sailing for three or two summers, respectively, in polar latitudes around Antarctica. Extensive sea ice eventually blocked each voyage's southern probes, although Bellingshausen, unknowingly at the time, saw the Antarctic continent. However, these attempts meant sea ice and iceberg records from the early historical period were collected nearly simultaneously from around much of Antarctica. Here, these records are extracted from journals, analysed, and compared to each other and the modern satellite record of both forms of marine ice. They generally show an early historical period with a more northerly record of both forms of marine ice than normal for today, but to a geographically varying degree. However, the early historical period in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean saw marine ice generally within the range of modern observations for the same time of year, but the Weddell Sea and Indian Ocean marine ice, particularly on Cook's voyage, then extended several degrees further north than in today's extreme ice years.

Cartographies of warfare in the Indian subcontinent: Contextualizing archaeological and historical analysis through big data approaches

Some of the most notable human behavioral palimpsests result from warfare and its durable traces in the form of defensive architecture and strategic infrastructure. For premodern periods, this architecture is often understudied at the large scale, resulting in a lack of appreciation for the enormity of the costs and impacts of military spending over the course of human history. In this article, we compare the information gleaned from the study of the fortified cities of the Early Historic period of the Indian subcontinent (c. 3rd century BCE to 4th century CE) with the precolonial medieval era (9-17th centuries CE). Utilizing in-depth archaeological and historical studies along with local sightings and citizen-science blogs to create a comprehensive data set and map series in a “big-data” approach that makes use of heterogeneous data sets and presence-absence criteria, we discuss how the architecture of warfare shifted from an emphasis on urban defense in the Early Historic period to an emphasis on territorial offense and defense in the medieval period. Many medieval fortifications are known from only local reports and have minimal identifying information but can still be studied in the aggregate using a least-shared denominator approach to quantification and mapping.

The Challenges of teaching the Subject “Archaeology” in Regional Universities, using the Example of Vanadzor State University

Key words: archeology, archeology of Armenia, teaching, museum practice, excavations, methods of teaching archeology, archeology textbook In regional universities of the Republic of Armenia, the course “Archaeology” is part of the general academic program within the specialization of “History.” The number of hours allocated for this subject may vary depending on the educational institutions. At Vanadzor State University, “Archaeology” is taught for a total of 58 academic hours. We have developed educational materials, including lectures and textbooks, to prepare a curriculum that covers the fundamentals of archaeology and the archaeological periods of Armenia, ranging from early historical periods to the late Middle Ages. Various teaching methods are employed during the learning process, including lectures, seminars, discussions, debates, and practical exercises. Classroom sessions utilize methods such as problem-based lectures, dialogical lectures, discussion-based lectures, seminar discussions, and others, depending on the specific topic and methodology. One of the challenges in teaching “Archaeology” is the absence of a suitable textbook that fully aligns with the curriculum. To address this issue, we propose the development of an interdisciplinary textbook that encompasses the basics of archaeology, geology, and geography. This textbook should cover archaeology from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages, based on contemporary technologies and scientific advancements, while complying with the educational standards of universities. To enhance the effective teaching of “Archaeology” and the preparation of future archaeologists, it is suggested to increase the number of credit hours allocated for this subject in universities and to offer it over two semesters in the first year. This approach will establish a comprehensive link between “Armenian History” and historical periods of the Ancient East.

Cross-Cultural Exchange of Visual and Material Cultures: Case Studies from the North Indian Terracotta Figures

This article offers an investigation into sculptural artefacts from the early historic period. Most of the objects under study are small in size and are often found dismembered or in pieces. This is partly because of the fragility of the material—baked clay—but more often, because of the techniques of manufacture—whether owing to a weak armature (where used), incomplete baking or/and the pressing together of elements in the mould that has yielded to the passage of time and rough handling. The following analysis seeks to locate these fragments by contextualising them in the spaces/regions they were found in, as well as in the estimated time periods. This contextualisation is specifically attempted through some typologically categorised case studies pursued through the lens of ‘transculturality’ and ‘materiality’.

Examining trade routes through the Thai–Malay Peninsula: A simulation analysis

An important area for understanding human movement and trade routes during the Early Historic Period in Southeast Asia is the Thai–Malay Peninsula where external records date back 2300 years. Early east–west trade could be routed around the peninsula or sailing time could be reduced by taking terrestrial shortcuts across the peninsula. However, spatial research, particularly on transpeninsula routes, is insufficient to supplement the gaps between written historical records and excavated archaeological sites. This study aimed to simulate transpeninsula routes across the entire Thai–Malay Peninsula using a digital elevation model (DEM) to eliminate human biases when exploring the actual terrain. The simulation results reveal some intriguing characteristics of potential routes that can be used to divide the Thai–Malay Peninsula into five zones. This zonation is associated with external historical records and archaeological evidence before the twelfth century AD to assess the efficacy of different transpeninsula routes. These data are also utilized to propose potential areas of undiscovered archaeological sites within the Thai–Malay Peninsula.

Prehistoric Stone Ornaments from Phromtin Tai, Central Thailand: New Perspectives on Workshop Traditions through the Study of Drilling Methods

abstract: The multi-component site of Phromtin Tai, Thailand is notable for its long occupation from the Late Bronze Age (ca. 700–500 b.c.e.) through early historic periods (ca. c.e. 500–900). Multiple field seasons of excavation in burial and habitation areas at the site have recovered a large number of glass and stone beads. Here we present the study of 57 stone beads from the site using qualitative and quantitative methods that demonstrate the presence of multiple stone ornament workshop traditions. Examination of perforations from beads and pendants made from regionally available raw materials of marble, nephrite, serpentine, and other undetermined stone have identified the use of metal drills with abrasives and diamond drills. These drilling techniques along with the distinctive shapes of some finely made beads, as well as the reworking of older broken beads suggests the presence of different scales and organization of local production in Southeast Asia. The different shapes and production processes of carnelian and banded agate beads also may represent various workshop traditions. Some of these latter beads may have originated in South Asia, while others may have been made in different regions of Southeast Asia. This study demonstrates that careful examination of ornament production techniques, and especially bead perforation technology, can be used to identify the presence of different workshop traditions allowing for more fine-grained consideration of inter- and intra-regional bead exchange networks in Southeast Asia. The presence of many semi-precious stone beads of different materials and having morphologically and technologically distinct features at Phromtin Tai demonstrate the active consumption of the beads by social elites at the site. These diversified and exotic status markers represent an intensification and acceleration of the economy and social complexity at Phromtin Tai.

Prehistoric Stone Ornaments from Phromtin Tai, Central Thailand: New Perspectives on Workshop Traditions through the Study of Drilling Methods

The multi-component site of Phromtin Tai, Thailand is notable for its long occupation from the Late Bronze Age (ca. 700 - 500 B.C.E.) through early historic periods (ca. C.E. 500 - 900). Multiple field seasons of excavation in burial and habitation areas at the site have recovered a large number of glass and stone beads. Here we present the study of 57 stone beads from the site using qualitative and quantitative methods that demonstrate the presence of multiple stone ornament workshop traditions. Examination of perforations from beads and pendants made from regionally available raw materials of marble, nephrite, serpentine, and other undetermined stone have identified the use of metal drills with abrasives and diamond drills. These drilling techniques along with the distinctive shapes of some finely made beads, as well as the reworking of older broken beads suggests the presence of different scales and organization of local production in Southeast Asia. The different shapes and production processes of carnelian and banded agate beads also may represent various workshop traditions. Some of these latter beads may have originated in South Asia, while others may have been made in different regions of Southeast Asia. This study demonstrates that careful examination of ornament production techniques, and especially bead perforation technology, can be used to identify the presence of different workshop traditions allowing for more fine-grained consideration of inter- and intra-regional bead exchange networks in Southeast Asia. The presence of many semi-precious stone beads of different materials and having morphologically and technologically distinct features at Phromtin Tai demonstrate the active consumption of the beads by social elites at the site. These diversified and exotic status markers represent an intensification and acceleration of the economy and social complexity at Phromtin Tai. KEYWORDS: stone beads, bead drilling, bead production, Central Thailand, Iron Age.

From “Gestural Language” to “Language Gesture”: André Jolles, Aby Warburg, and the Morphology of Mass Media

Abstract André Jolles’s Simple Forms (1929), widely regarded as a classic of genre theory, examines a range of folkloric and nonauthorial forms, such as the fairy tale, the riddle, and the joke, as part of an ambitious attempt to reground literary theory in a “morphological” approach to language inspired, ultimately, by Goethean science. This article argues that Jolles’s study should also be recognized as an important early work of media theory. Simple Forms includes a striking number of examples drawn from the mass-market newspapers of Jolles’s day. In turning to mass media, Jolles followed in the footsteps of the art historian Aby Warburg, whose Mnemosyne Atlas (1924–29) similarly juxtaposed mass-media images from newspapers with works of art from earlier historical periods. The article details how Warburg’s morphological method helped Jolles expand the boundaries of literary study to include mass media by providing him with a morphological version of the motif concept that still has generative applications.

Wild foods, woodland fuels, and cultivation through the Ceramic and Early Historical periods in Araucanía, Southern Chile (400–1850 ce)

Wild foods, woodland fuels, and cultivation through the Ceramic and Early Historical periods in Araucanía, Southern Chile (400–1850 ce)

Superficies in foreign countries: history and modernity.

The institution of superficiality originated in Ancient Rome and exists in various models today in the legal systems of many countries, which proves the high value and universality of this legal structure. He was analyzed as classics of the law of the past centuries, and there are modern leading civilists. However, as our research has shown, not all the achievements of foreign specialists in the field of civil law are available to domestic theorists. This is explained both by the significant amount of accumulated information itself and by the difficulty of choosing it when preparing specific scientific publications. The author understands the monumentality of the raised problem and sought to focus on those aspects of it that other Russian scientists do not always pay attention to in their publications. The novelty of the undertaken research is the introduction into the domestic scientific circulation of modern English-language publications on the legal regulation of superficies in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe and Japan. The relevance of the article is seen in an attempt to use the examples of foreign legislation to assess the prospects for using this concept to improve Russian legislation. In addition to the formal legal method, which is traditionally the main tool for the author, the comparative legal method, typology and classification were used in the preparation of the article. The object of the study is legal relations mediated by the institute of superficies. The subject of the study is the legislative acts of modern foreign states and the norms of law governing super-official relations in earlier historical periods.

Population dynamics in Taiwan from the Neolithic to early historic periods (5000–100 cal BP): Linking cultural developments and environmental change

To reconstruct population dynamics in Taiwan between 5000 and 100 cal BP, we analysed spatial-temporal changes in archaeological site abundance and size (area). The results suggest that population growth was discontinuous throughout the study region and that the main spatial differences in population trends were between eastern/northern and western Taiwan. Comparison of settlement data shows that population trends in Taiwan and different regions in continental China were partly parallel. We contrast these data with political, economic, settlement, and climatic developments in continental China, when considering possible factors that influenced these demographic relationships. In addition, we examined published palaeoenvironmental time series from the broader study region to explore human-environment interactions. This revealed that proxy records of human activities (agriculture, deforestation) correlate with the derived trends in site abundance and area. Furthermore, we hypothesise that the inferred sparse settlement in eastern Taiwan during 2700–1800 cal BP is related to climate change. An increase in seasonal rainfall and high-intensity precipitation events in late summer and autumn, due to long-term changes in summer monsoon precipitation and El Niño–Southern Oscillation intensity, likely resulted in unfavourable hydrological conditions for crop cultivation in this part of the study region.

Illness, Pain, and Health Care in Early Christianity

Illness, Pain, and Health Care in Early Christianity

Earthquakes and Archaeological Heritage Sites: The Case of February 6 Earthquakes

Earthquakes, one of the most destructive disasters in the world and in our country, occur as a result of tectonic movements in the earth's crust. Earthquakes have an important place among the natural disasters that occur on earth and have affected many civilizations throughout history. Archaeological heritage sites are valuable resources for understanding and preserving human history and past cultures. Earthquakes are disasters that have serious impacts on archaeological heritage sites. Earthquakes cause structural and non-structural damages to cultural heritage sites and even their complete destruction. Archaeological sites are particularly vulnerable to the effects of earthquakes. Damage such as collapse of walls, collapse of columns or damage to foundations threaten the integrity of archaeological heritage sites. Turkey has been home to various civilizations throughout history due to its location, fertile soils and favorable climate. Therefore, it has many important archaeological heritage sites. However, Turkey is one of the countries with high earthquake risk worldwide. Its archaeological heritage sites are also under earthquake risk. The recent earthquake of February 6, 2023 was one of the most important earthquakes in Turkey. The region affected by the earthquakes is a region with cultural continuity since the early periods of history. Archaeological sites in the region were also damaged by the earthquakes. In this study, it is aimed to examine the effects of earthquakes on archaeological heritage sites and to evaluate the conditions of archaeological heritage sites in the earthquake zone in the earthquake zone in the context of the February 06, 2023 Earthquakes.

COMPARATIVE RHETORIC IN SOME EPICS OF THE EDE PEOPLE IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS OF VIETNAM

The Ede epic is a part of the epic of the Central Highlands, Vietnam, created by the Ede people in the early period of history. This is a genre filled with fictional, beautiful colors; its language has rhymes, and rhythms, describing heroic feats in labor and combat; monumental and majestic images of major events taking place in the life of the community. The epic of Ede comprehensively reflects the economic, and social life and customs of Ede people. It, simultaneously, expresses a desire of the nation for a happy and prosperous life; praises love, nobility, and human courage before the trials of nature and in the struggle against evil. On the basis of the theory of comparative and rhetorical comparison; the structure of rhetorical comparison, the article studies the art of rhetorical comparison in some epics: Dam San, Xing Nha, Khing Ju of the Ede people in the Central Highlands of Vietnam; Clarifying the elements of rhetorical comparison, such as: The element to be compared; Comparative aspect factor; Comparative relation elements – comparative words; Comparative factor. Thereby clarifying the value of the art of rhetorical comparison in the Ede epic for the content of the work and showing the cultural features of the Ede people in ancient times.

ARCHAEOPHYTES IN THE FLORA OF EUROPEAN RUSSIA

The division of alien species into groups according to the time of invasion is widely used in biogeographic and floristic studies, but such information is not available for many regions of Russia. Based on the analysis of regional floras of European Russia (ER), 184 species of archaeophytes (i.e., alien species intentionally or unintentionally introduced by humans in the early historical period, until the end of the 16th century) were identified for ER regions. The substantiation of the prescription of their invasion was carried out by a number of criteria (type of habitat, presence of fossils and historical evidence, geographic distribution, frequency of known naturalizations, identification of possible means of introduction, human use). Some species are archaeophytes only for a part of the ER regions; in neighboring areas, they can be either species of natural flora or alien neophytes according to their status. Eighty one species of the archaeophytes are confirmed by archaeobotanical data belonged to some of the early historical periods, mostly to the Middle Ages, but from a limited number of regions. Taking into account the peculiarities of natural conditions, as well as the history of the development of anthropogenic cultures, the territory of the ER is divided into six regions: Karelian-Kola, East-Baltic, Dvina-Upper-Volga, Volga-Don and South-Eastern. For each of the big regions, the more or less unified set of archaeophytes has been proposed. For the entire group of archaeophytes in ER as a whole, it should be noted 1) the great similarity of the composition of archaeophytes with other European regions, 2) the low diversity compared to European countries, given the large area of ER, 3) the heterogeneity of the status of species in different regions and differences between different parts ER by species composition, 4) a large proportion of segetal weed species as a result of high contamination of crops with weed species at the beginning of the development of agricultural culture, 5) a significant percentage of species of Asian origin as evidence of the influence of eastern vectors on the formation of flora, including the eastern centers of agricultural culture. For a significant part of the species from the list of archaeophytes, species factsheets are presented according to the criteria mentioned above.

Agricultural Intensification and the Evidence from Offsite Survey Archaeology

The enhancement of crop yields through manuring has been attested since early farming prehistory in many parts of the world. This article reviews the history of research into the potential archaeological evidence for this practice in Europe, the Mediterranean lands and the Near East. The focus is on the interpretation of ceramic data recovered in surface field surveys conducted since 1950 and what sorts of activities may be plausibly inferred from them. The article examines the origins of the model, objections to it, and recent analyses which again strengthen it. A particular case-study analyses the evidence for the protohistoric and early historic periods in Greece. The methodological and empirical arguments tend to strongly reaffirm the importance of artificial manuring in agrarian regimes of all periods, and its significance in furthering understandings of economic and demographic history and prehistory.

중서부지역 원삼국·삼국시대 토기유물군의 성격: 물질적 변이·기술·생산조직의 상관성

중서부지역 원삼국·삼국시대 토기유물군의 성격: 물질적 변이·기술·생산조직의 상관성

The ideological underpinnings in university English textbooks in China: A critical discourse analysis and corpus linguistics approach

ABSTRACT China has had an ambivalent policy for the learning and teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) over much of its history. The explicit and implicit implementation of language policy has had a significant impact on the content of EFL textbooks and the ideologies underlying them. However, studies exploring such ideologies remain sensitive areas in which little work has been done to date. By applying a combination of critical discourse analysis and a corpus linguistics approach, this paper critically investigates the ideological underpinnings embedded in 10 current English language textbook series that are officially approved and widely used in Chinese universities. Results show that the significantly overused semantic domains are ‘Education in general’, Science and technology, and ‘Language, speech and grammar’, and the most underused concepts are ‘Politics’, ‘Warfare’, and ‘Government’. Unlike the English language textbooks in earlier historical periods, no explicit political philosophy is captured in current textbook series, reflecting China’s more recent focus on some concepts of education and the development of science and technology. This study may contribute to our understanding of the ideological underpinnings in English language textbooks worldwide, with the hope of offering insights into language teaching materials development.

Language Plurality as Cultural Characteristics of Southeast Asia: A Review of John F. Hartman’s Thesis

John F. Hartmann (1986) argued that the spread of the Indic languages in Southeast Asia took place in different overlapping periods, through which the region underwent a process of indinization. Hartmann’s thesis is very important to help understand the making of cultural networks in Southeast Asia. However, the scope of his thesis was limited by its sole focus on the Indic languages, on the mainland Southeast Asia, and on the early historic period of the region. Taking Hartmann’s thesis as a starting point, the present paper examined the spread of languages in Southeast Asia as a cultural network. By using a comparative bibliography method and by analyzing existing studies on the pre-historic and the historic stages of language development in Southeast Asia, this paper argues that the indinization as suggested by Hartmann comprised only the first phase in the overall making of the language-based cultural network in Southeast Asia. Bibliographical sources show that the language-based cultural network in Southeast Asia involved at least three other periods in addition to indinization, that is chinaization, arabization, and europeanization. In Southeast Asia, the spread of the cultural network depended not so much on a lingua franca – a language of unity – as on the plurality of languages. The successive phases in the spread of different civilizations created a Southeast Asian plural society, in which various linguistic branches molded as one of the most remarkable cultural notions of the region. Hence, the idea to have one regional language of integration, for example in the current context of ASEAN, contradicted against the cultural history of Southeast Asia. It is because Southeast Asia has become integrated through a pluralization, not unification, of languages.

Work is the Curse of the Drinking Class

The archaeology of beer has received significant attention in the last three decades. However, many studies focus on the special role that beer played in sumptuous prestige feasts and for conducting commensal politics with an emphasis on elite motivations. In this paper, I view the production of beer as a cornerstone of state exploitation in the early states of Egypt and Mesopotamia. I will briefly outline the archaeological and glyptic evidence for beer production in the early historic periods of the ancient Near East and its role in providing for the workforce of the early state. The consumption of beer as payment for state-sponsored labor projects changes the commensal dynamics of society. Repeatedly consuming daily rations of beer at the location of labor creates an identity as worker and subject; that is, one who works for someone else for their subsistence. In this sense, beer may have been crucial in creating class identity for the worker, as well as providing the means of subjugation for the elites in society who controlled its production and distribution.