ASU archaeologist Curtis Marean wants to learn more about modern human evolution by gaining a better understanding of the physical environment in which ancient peoples lived. Marean says relatively little is known about the environment that drove the evolution of modern humans.
To remedy that situation, Marean, who recently received a $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, is bringing archaeologists together with scientists specializing in caves, ancient dune systems, chemical dating methods and other topics relevant to human evolution and ecological studies. The team will try to reconstruct the ancient ecological factors that likely influenced the evolution of Homo sapiens, and see what that might tell us about our species' future.
$(*^$@(%@*$ looters. . . Looters dig up human bone fragments in search for artifacts
Looters apparently digging for American Indian artifacts left behind piles of dirt littered with human bone fragments and animal bones, authorities said.
Conservation Officer Mark Farmer said human skeletal remains are often found with Indian artifacts, such as pottery shards or ancient tools. No artifacts were found at the Ohio River site in southeastern Indiana, he said, suggesting that looters who violated state and federal law carried them off.
Harrison County has several rock shelters near the Ohio River where archaeologists with the state Department of Natural Resources say Indian hunters established winter camps in prehistoric times and as recently as four centuries ago.
It worked! Almost. . . Reconstructed Stone-Age circle in Germany catches sun's rays
A reconstructed 'temple of the sun' in Germany caught the morning rays of the sun through its eastern gate early Wednesday, just as it is believed to have done after it was built by a lost culture 6,800 years ago.
Archaeologists say the 75-metre-diameter Goseck Circle, on a flat river plain in eastern Germany, was built to help Stone-Age priests discern the solstice, the point in the year when the days begin to become longer and farmers look forward to spring planting.
. . .
Scientists said the gap in the fence that was aligned to the December 21 sunrise proved to be perfectly positioned, but heavy cloud in the evening made it impossible to test the sunset angle.
A powerful light lent by a German television station provided a mock sunset, to cheers from about 1,000 people crowded into the ancient circle and warmly dressed against temperatures 3 or 4 degrees above freezing.
Guess a spotlight is the next best thing when you have to wait 365 days for the next go 'round.
But what'd the ancients do when it was cloudy on the day it was supposed to do this?
News from the EEF
Press report: "Plans unveiled for $550 million museum near the Pyramids"
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article01.asp?id=116
"The Great Egyptian Museum will display 100,000 artefacts and hopes to attract five million visitors a year. (...) The GEM will open in 2010. (..) Work on the main museum building
should start in 2007. (...) the cost of GEM having risen to $550 million." Plus an outline of its design.
Hmmmmm. We thought the new EM was supposed to be sited elsewhere. This sounds like a good place for it though, in view of the pyramids. The artists' conception of it looks very nice, too.
End of EEF news Kinda sparse this week.
And finally. . . .Say, what a nice idea.