Oxyrhynchus papyri update II We've just learned that way back in 2001, Virginia Postrel posted a link to a story in Reason Express on this very development: see "NEXT RENAISSANCE" here. Of course, ArchaeoBlog wasn't around then, but we're glad to see this story had some history behind it.
The
He had lain in his icy tomb on an Alpine glacier in northern Italy for 5,300 years, a perfectly preserved Stone Age warrior, complete with fur robes, leather shoes and bow and arrow.
But since being found 14 years ago, five of the people who came in close contact with Oetzi the Iceman have died, leading to the inevitable question: is the mummy cursed?
Konrad Spindler, head of the Iceman investigation team at Innsbruck University, died on Monday, apparently from complications arising from multiple sclerosis. But that has not stopped his name being linked to a string of strange deaths related to the mummy.
Obviously silly, but fun to read anyway.
They who smelted it. . . . Ancient Metalworkers Burned Out of History
Evidence for ancient metalworking is sparse, and now historians who recreated Bronze Age smelting techniques know why — the clues naturally disappear.
The finding explains why, despite the discovery of 10 British mines dating from 2050 to 1500 B.C., very few remains of actual metalworking sites have been excavated around the world.
For the study, students at the University of London's Birkbeck college conducted a number of smelting experiments, including the construction of crude furnaces, at Butser Ancient Farm Project in Hampshire.