Jared Diamond’s new book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, is neither “superb” (The New Statesman), “incisive” (The Washington Post), “magisterial” (BusinessWeek), nor “insightful and very important” (Boston Herald). It is, instead, a telling example of how a smart man can be terribly misled by a fixation on one big idea. In this case, Diamond, a biologist, is trying to apply biology’s master narrative to human societies.
Discussing Diamond (especially negatively) is generally akin to shooting a water pistol at a beehive. Thus, we will simply link to the article and let the reader decide its merits.
Lost
A VETERAN archaeologist, hailed as Scotland's "Indiana Jones", has discovered one of Egypt's most elusive ancient sites 3,000 years after it was buried in the desert sand.
Ian Mathieson, 78, director of Saqqara Geophysical Survey Project, has located part of a seven-mile ceremonial burial route to the Step Pyramid of Djoser, near Cairo.
Treasure hunters have long tried to pinpoint the Serapeum Way, and in 1798 Napoleon sent 1,000 men.
We met Mathieson a couple of years back while in Egypt. His team has been producing wonderful maps of subsurface features around Saqqara.
News from Mehr French archaeologists investigate Kura-Araxes culture in northwestern Iran
A team of Iranian and French archaeologists recently visited northwestern Iran to search for evidence of the Kura-Araxes culture in the region, an expert of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (CHTO) announced on Tuesday.
Karim Alizadeh said that the team led by French archaeologist Catherine Marro visited the Bazargan, Chaldiran, and Jolfa regions and the plains of Khoy and Marand in West Azerbaijan Province.
The Kura-Araxes culture was an important Chalcolithic (copper-stone age) and Bronze Age culture that flourished in the Caucasus, eastern Anatolia, and northwestern Iran from about 4000 BC to 2200 BC.
Movie corner Jackie Chan says he wants to produce
Chinese action star Jackie Chan says the next step in his successful film career will probably be film production.
Chan, 51, in Malaysia to promote 'The Myth,' said he will most likely stop acting within five years, then turn to producing, directing and teaching the next generation to keep the action genre flowing, BBC reported Monday.
The Hong Kong native started his career as a stuntman and directed his first picture in 1980.
Hmmmmm. . . .no archaeology yet. . . . .
After making a series of Hollywood blockbusters including 'Rush Hour' and 'The Cannonball Run,' Chan announced last year he was 'taking a break' from Tinsel Town to make Chinese movies.
Still none, but if you have a chance, go rent Cannonball Run (first one). Ab.Sol.Utely Hil.arious.
The Myth' stars Chan as an ancient general who is reincarnated as a archaeologist.
And there you have it. That's the whole thing.
Families dig archaeology
A dozen archaeology buffs spent two sweltering August weekends digging in a farm field for artifacts of an ancient culture, and were rewarded with a rare prize: a stemmed quartz knife that dates back at least 3,000 years.
The event, Family Archaeology Weekend, was hosted by the Institute for American Indian Studies, which is located in nearby Washington. The weekend included an orientation session on a Friday night and four days of digging in the soil over two weekends. Participants were evenly divided between adults and children.
Archaeologist and anthropologist Dr. Lucianne Lavin, who has been director of research at the institute for a year and a half, held several such weekends when she taught at a community college. This was the first Family Archaeology Weekend held by the institute, and Lavin hopes to make it an annual event.
Sounds like a great program.