And now. . . .the news from the EEF
The German refusal to lending the Nefertiti bust to Egypt:
http://www.eux.tv/article.aspx?articleId=6374
"Generally speaking we welcome loans of objects within the
international museum community. But experts have voiced
considerable reservations about a lengthy transportation of
Nefertiti from a conservation and restoration point of view."
[But note that in 2003, the museum allowed artists to
temporarily attach the bust to a bronze statue...]
-- Other press reports about this:
http://snipurl.com/1h77m
[http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&
sid=a3TFUp1cnxqM]
http://snipurl.com/1h77o
[http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel
_id=52&story_id=38746]
http://snipurl.com/1h77z
[http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=
20070416-041304-1311r]
The Egyptian reaction to this refusal:
http://snipurl.com/1h783
[http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=588&
art_id=nw20070415235514842C565378]
"(Egypt) will never again organise antiquities exhibitions in
Germany if it refuses a [renewed] request, to be issued next
week, to allow the bust of Nefertiti to be displayed in Egypt for
three months," antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass said."
-- Another, rather different, press report about this:
http://snipurl.com/1h786
[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/07041
8-nefertiti-egypt.html]
""They fear we will be like Raiders of the Lost Ark and we will
take it and not give it back," said Hawass (...) "It will be a
scientific war" [if the request is refused]. (..) Hawass said Egypt
didn't consider the Nefertiti bust to be a looted antiquity. (..)
"Still, it is one of a handful of truly singular Egyptian antiquities
still in foreign hands. "I really want it back," he said. " [Note
that under II.b, ZH says that the Germans have smuggled the
bust to Germany in 1914 and that he will reclaim it if the
loan request is denied... Under II.e, the Germans say the bust
was exported in 1913, with all the needed paperwork and
stamps of the Egyptian authorities.]
Press report: "Dig this: Forget the mummy's curse. The real
power of ancient objects lies in their ability to piece together
the past"
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/564409.html
Interview with Caroline Rocheleau, "who, as a curatorial
research fellow at the N.C. Museum of Art, helped put
together the new "Temples and Tombs: Treasures of
Egyptian Art From the British Museum" for its Raleigh run. "
Press report: "Mummy's the word for museum meeting.
Native digs deep, finds answers to local historical treasure."
http://snipurl.com/1h79u
[http://www.pal-item.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/
20070414/NEWS01/704140303]
"Bonnie M. Sampsell has been a super sleuth, helping the
Wayne County Historical Museum answer many questions
about its mummy and its Egyptian collection; (..) last summer
she began cataloging the artifacts, researching the collection
and updating the mummy's display.(..) The mummy has long
been believed to be a priestess because of the markings on
the sarcophagus, but the expert in Egyptian skeletons that
Sampsell consulted in Cairo believes the mummy is a man."
[Video of (AFAIK) this mummy at
http://www.waynecountyhistoricalmuseum.com/exhibits.htm#Mummy ]
Press report: "Restoring Djoser's Step Pyramid"
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/841/he1.htm
Description of the complex and the plans with it.
"Now, following three years of archaeological and
scientific studies, a comprehensive restoration project
to save and preserve this great pyramid from further
destruction has been outlined." The three phases
of the project are sketched.
Press report: "University researchers study mummy
using modern technology"
http://snipurl.com/1h7a5
[http://media.www.studlife.com/media/storage/paper337/
news/2007/04/18/News/University.Researchers.Study.
Mummy.Using.Modern.Technology-2848779.shtml]
"Washington University researchers have recently made
a series of important discoveries based on examinations of
the bones and DNA of a mummy recently added to the
permanent collection of the St. Louis Science Center. (..)
>From the scan, the scientists determined that the baby
mummy was a boy (..) between seven to eight months old (..).
The baby's mitochondrion sequencing suggests that his
mother was from the haplogroup which was found in Europe.
Hildebolt said that this conclusion fits. "Greeks and Romans
often adapted burial practices of the Egyptians, it is
certainly possible that the mother was Greek or Roman." "
The 'Internet Archive' website has a lot of digitized material:
http://www.archive.org/index.php
If you search under 'All Media Types' with "ancient Egypt",
then you get several 19th c./ start 20th c. books, digitized
in several formats. E.g. books by John Wilson, Arthur Weigall,
James Breasted, and Henry Rhind.
The widest appeal may have:
Patrick Boylan, Thoth, the Hermes of Egypt: a study of some
aspects of theological thought in ancient Egypt (1922)
http://www.archive.org/details/thoththehermes00boyluoft
Unfortunately the books come in very large files.
Peter Dorman, Betsy Bryan (Eds.), Sacred Space and Sacred
Function in Ancient Thebes. SAOC 61, Oriental Institute
Chicago, 2007. List of contributors at:
http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/electronic.html
The book is available as PDF (7,58 MB) at:
http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/saoc61.pdf
Proceedings of a session of the Theban Workshop held
at the British Museum in September 2003.
[Submitted by Chuck Jones ]
The 11 plate volumes and 9 text volumes of the monumental
'Description de l'Egypte' have been digitized and put online:
http://descegy.bibalex.org/
End of EEF news
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Semi-non-archaeological book review The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error that Transformed the World by Ken Alder. Publisher's Weekly summary:
That's a good summary. The ultmate goal of the book is really an explication of the origin of our modern ideas about measurement error. It's really a perfect setup though: and attempt to obtain precise and accurate measurments to make a precise and accurate device to measure by.
The first half may lose some readers as the ultimate point of all their measurements is not inherently clear; although Mechain and Delambre's adventures in immediately post-revolutionary France are certainly interesting in and of themselves, it can be tedious going. On the other hand, I for one would have liked some more detail on how exactly they were carrying out these measurements, how the circles really worked, etc. Although that would have lost even more general readers, surely. It's important to read the section on the error itself closely or you will miss it and its significance.
It's a good introduction as to how the metrc system came about and how it was initially adopted. The ultimate goal was to have based the meter on an actual physical object, in this case the size of the Earth. On one hand, it wasn't really essential that the meter be based on anything in particular, just that the standard and copies of it were created with precision and accuracy. After all, any standard measure will do, in theory. On the other hand, their pursuit was perfection in the ideal -- sort of an uber-essentialst position -- and perfection in that conceptual world was rooted in Nature with a capital N.
The second half of the book really gets going and explains what the significance of their measurements were and what it meant for developing the metric system. This is when we really see what the detailed descriptions of both Delambre's and Mechain's field methods were all about. From there Alder gives a brief history of how the metric system was adopted in various countries -- or not -- and provides good context for US readers as to how it came not to be adopted here (which is similar as to why it almost didn't become adopted at all).
See here for a timeline of the meter.
So, I'd recommend it. A good read if you can make it through the first half.
Alder delivers a triple whammy with this elegant history of technology, acute cultural chronicle and riveting intellectual adventure built around Delambre's and Mechain's famed meridian expedition of 1792-1799 to calculate the length of the meter. Disclosing for the first time details from the astronomers' personal correspondences (and supplementing his research with a bicycle tour of their route), Alder reveals how the exacting Mechain made a mistake in his calculations, which he covered up, and which tortured him until his death. Mechain, remarkably scrupulous even in his doctoring of the data, was driven in part by his conviction that the quest for precision and a universal measure would disclose the ordered world of 18th-century natural philosophy, not the eccentric, misshapen world the numbers suggested. Indeed, Alder has placed Delambre and Mechain squarely in the larger context of the Enlightenment's quest for perfection in nature and its startling discovery of a world "too irregular to serve as its own measure." Particularly fascinating is his treatment of the politics of 18th-century measurement, notably the challenge the savants of the period faced in imposing a standard of weights and measures in the complicated post-ancien regime climate. Alder convincingly argues that science and self-knowledge are matters of inference, and by extension prone to error. Delambre, a Skeptical Stoic, was the more pragmatic and, perhaps, the more modern of the two astronomers, settling as he did for honesty in error where precision was out of reach.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
That's a good summary. The ultmate goal of the book is really an explication of the origin of our modern ideas about measurement error. It's really a perfect setup though: and attempt to obtain precise and accurate measurments to make a precise and accurate device to measure by.
The first half may lose some readers as the ultimate point of all their measurements is not inherently clear; although Mechain and Delambre's adventures in immediately post-revolutionary France are certainly interesting in and of themselves, it can be tedious going. On the other hand, I for one would have liked some more detail on how exactly they were carrying out these measurements, how the circles really worked, etc. Although that would have lost even more general readers, surely. It's important to read the section on the error itself closely or you will miss it and its significance.
It's a good introduction as to how the metrc system came about and how it was initially adopted. The ultimate goal was to have based the meter on an actual physical object, in this case the size of the Earth. On one hand, it wasn't really essential that the meter be based on anything in particular, just that the standard and copies of it were created with precision and accuracy. After all, any standard measure will do, in theory. On the other hand, their pursuit was perfection in the ideal -- sort of an uber-essentialst position -- and perfection in that conceptual world was rooted in Nature with a capital N.
The second half of the book really gets going and explains what the significance of their measurements were and what it meant for developing the metric system. This is when we really see what the detailed descriptions of both Delambre's and Mechain's field methods were all about. From there Alder gives a brief history of how the metric system was adopted in various countries -- or not -- and provides good context for US readers as to how it came not to be adopted here (which is similar as to why it almost didn't become adopted at all).
See here for a timeline of the meter.
So, I'd recommend it. A good read if you can make it through the first half.
<>Homo hobbitus update Hobbit hominids lived the island life
Hawks has two posts on the island rule here and here.
A tantalising piece of evidence has been added to the puzzle over so-called "hobbit" hominids found in a cave in a remote Indonesian island, whose discovery has ignited one of the fiercest rows in anthropology.
. . .
In a study that appears on Wednesday in the British journal Biology Letters, evolutionary zoologists at Imperial College London believe the hobbits may well have achieved their tininess naturally, through evolutionary pressure.
The principle under scrutiny here is called the "island rule."
Hawks has two posts on the island rule here and here.
Pre-Incan Metallurgy Discovered
Metals found in lake mud in the central Peruvian Andes have revealed the first evidence for pre-Colonial metalsmithing there.
These findings illustrate a way that archaeologists can recreate the past even when looters have destroyed the valuable artifacts that would ordinarily be relied upon to reveal historical secrets. For instance, the new research hints at a tax imposed on local villages by ancient Inca rulers to force a switch from production of copper to silver.
Pre-Colonial bronze artifacts have previously been found in the central Peruvian Andes dating back to about 1000 AD, after the fall of the Wari or Huari civilization , the largest empire in the Andes before the Incas . However, it has been unclear how metallurgy had developed there, or whether or not these artifacts even came from the Andes, instead perhaps coming from trading with coastal villages.
Shaveblogging sidetrack
A couple of weeks ago I picked up a travel-size tube of Alba Botanicals:
Overall I'll give it a thumbs up. It's got the consistency of athletes foot cream (e.g., Lotrimin) for a guy reference. An interesting property is that you can't see it when it is applied; it doesn't foam up or anything. This means you have to pay attention when you're putting it on to make sure you have applied it everywhere. This also means that you don't have a marker to know where you have already shorn. Thus, one must pay some additional attention.
It seems to be developed more for modern multi-blade razors in mind. It feels okay with my old double-edge single blade, but regular canned goop reduces irritation more, IMO. It seems closer than the canned goop, too, probably because there is less stuff that can gum up the blade while it's being moved across the face. And, as indicated above, unless you have dark hair you have to pay attention to where you've already gone.
I'll have to have a go with it with the multi-blade that I keep around and see how that works. Otherwise, it has the ArchaeoBlog seal of approval.
A couple of weeks ago I picked up a travel-size tube of Alba Botanicals:
Overall I'll give it a thumbs up. It's got the consistency of athletes foot cream (e.g., Lotrimin) for a guy reference. An interesting property is that you can't see it when it is applied; it doesn't foam up or anything. This means you have to pay attention when you're putting it on to make sure you have applied it everywhere. This also means that you don't have a marker to know where you have already shorn. Thus, one must pay some additional attention.
It seems to be developed more for modern multi-blade razors in mind. It feels okay with my old double-edge single blade, but regular canned goop reduces irritation more, IMO. It seems closer than the canned goop, too, probably because there is less stuff that can gum up the blade while it's being moved across the face. And, as indicated above, unless you have dark hair you have to pay attention to where you've already gone.
I'll have to have a go with it with the multi-blade that I keep around and see how that works. Otherwise, it has the ArchaeoBlog seal of approval.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Archaeologists aim to uncover lost Crafta Webb hamlet
Herefordshire Council’s archaeologists are helping to uncover the mystery of the lost Crafta Webb hamlet.
The former settlement on Bredwardine Hill grew rapidly in the early 1800s as a result of the George Jarvis Charity.
Jarvis left £30,000 in his will to help the poor of the three villages of Bredwardine, Staunton on Wye and Letton and this led to the hamlet’s population growing to more than 400 by the mid 19th century.
Book Review: Underground! : The Disinformation Guide to Ancient Civilizations, Astonishing Archaeology and Hidden History
Lots of red flags there. . . . . .
Where did "modern" civilization begin? What lies beneath the waves? Do myths describe interstellar impact? How'd they lift that stone? Was the Ark of the Covenant a mechanical device? Were there survivors of an Atlantean catastrophe? Who really discovered the "New" World? "Hidden history" continues to fascinate an ever wider audience. In this massive compendium, editor Preston Peet brings together an all-star castof contributors to question established wisdom about the history of the world and its civilizations. Peet and anthology contributors guide us through exciting archeological adventures and treasure hunts, ancient mysteries, lost or rediscovered technologies
Lots of red flags there. . . . . .
Conversation: Lost Voices of Jamestown
In May 1607, English colonists sent by the Virginia Company landed at Jamestown Island and began building a fort to protect against Indian attack. Archaeologist Beverly ("Bly") Straube co-authored a study for the National Park Service that led directly to the discovery of James Fort in 1994. This spring Queen Elizabeth will visit Jamestown to celebrate its 400th anniversary. In anticipation of her arrival, Straube spoke with Archaeology about the wealth of finds unearthed at the site.
Mexico researchers find child sacrifices
Archeologists have discovered the remains of two dozen children who were apparent sacrificial victims to a rain god by Mexican Indians nearly a thousand years ago, researchers said Tuesday.
The bones of the children, dating from about 950 to 1150, were found on the outskirts of the Toltec archaeological zone of Tula, said Luis Gamboa, an archaeologist with the National Institute of Anthropology and History. The discovery about 40 miles north of Mexico City predates the Aztecs, an advanced civilization conquered by the Spanish in the 16th century.
The bodies of the children, who ranged in age from 5 to about 15, were found in a single pit during excavations that began last month near a police station just outside the archaeological site.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVER ROMAN TOMB
And don't forget to check out the Tomb Raider anniversary wallpaper! I dunno. I think she's had work done. . . . .
A team of archaeologists excavating a vaulted grave near the village of Fiscardo on Kefalonia have unearthed a collection of Roman gold jewellery, pottery and bronze offerings dating back to 146 BC, Associated Press reports today. Isolated traces of what may have been a small theatre was also uncovered.
According to Associated Press, the building housed five burials including a large vaulted grave and a stone coffin. Previous excavations in the area have uncovered the remains of houses, a bath complex and a cemetery, all dating to Roman times.
And don't forget to check out the Tomb Raider anniversary wallpaper! I dunno. I think she's had work done. . . . .
Seattlest Urban Archaeology Club: the Seattle Municipal Railway
It's a neat article with several photos. I drive within a block of this bridge every morning and work about a mile away from it. The last two are really classic archaeology pictures showing features beneath a removed stratum. Appears as if they just scraped and repaved, so it's all still preserved underneath.
Note the asphalt that has been scraped away. Were we prone to spewing post-modern drivel, we might utter something melodramatic like, "notice the thin veneer of modernity blanketting the ruins of the collective past that we so quickly forget!" Then we'd make a crack about the quick rise and fall of the automobile as an efficient means of tranport in the ever-increasing density of the city --and how we can look to the past to save us in the future. Oh, History!
It's a neat article with several photos. I drive within a block of this bridge every morning and work about a mile away from it. The last two are really classic archaeology pictures showing features beneath a removed stratum. Appears as if they just scraped and repaved, so it's all still preserved underneath.
Amateur archaeologist illuminates past
One would hope he's not just looting.
It was almost 17 years ago when Van Dinh Thanh, while panning for gold on the banks of the Po Co River in Sa Thay Commune, reached down and picked up what he thought was a golden nugget. On closer inspection he discovered that the object was a worked piece of stone. Later he was to learn that it was a prehistoric stone hammer. The discovery fired his passion for ancient artefacts and was the start of the young gold prospector’s new life as an amateur archaeologist.
"I found this stone so strange. It thought it can’t have been naturally shaped the way it was so I decided to ask other people about it. After talking to a number of tribal elders and archaeologists, I discovered that my stone had been worked in prehistoric times. From that moment on, I started my quest for more stone artefacts," said Thanh.
One would hope he's not just looting.
MEET THE ANCESTORS...
Four skeletons have been found on a building site in Plymouth's city centre.The bones - thought to date back to the late-1600s - were unearthed last week on the former Crescent Cars site at the junction of Athenaeum Street and Notte Street.
The first set of bones was found over a week ago. However, two or three more skeletons were discovered by archaeologists working on the site on Thursday and Friday last week.
A team of experts from Exeter Archaeology has been investigating the remains and the team is planning to move the bones this week after it acquires a burial licence. History experts from Plymouth City Council have also been involved.
It's nice to be appreciated Our Opinion: Archaeologists dig our past
In appreciation we will not comment on the lame joke. That's the whole thing, too.
Thank heavens for archaeologists. Those digging near the old Mission San AgustÃn uncovered 2,000-year-old arrowheads mere feet from a 1930s barbecue pit.
The project by Desert Archaeology Inc. gives more evidence to the belief the Tucson area is the longest continuously inhabited region in the U.S., stretching back at least 4,000 years.
The new evidence also shows multiple eras of human beings in one spot going back 2,500 years or more.
The work precedes reconstruction of the mission as the crown jewel in Tucson Origins Heritage Park for the Rio Nuevo development.
Many findings now being unearthed in the core of our city are priceless relics of our extraordinarily deep roots. Tucson is wise to ensure such exploration before construction.
In appreciation we will not comment on the lame joke. That's the whole thing, too.
Whoops HOW ROMAN FORT FELL TO DIGGER
It seems it's an archaeology firm that dug the trench. But it's only a 3-foot trench, so it doesn't appear as if the whole site was gouged out, they just lost the opportunity to dig the trench by hand.
THEY came, they saw, they conquered. Or in this case, destroyed.
Diggers at an archaeological site took just minutes to do what the ancient Britons failed to manage.
A Roman fort had withstood the ravages of time and tribesmen until heavy-handed experts mistakenly decided to uncover its secrets with a mechanical excavator.
It seems it's an archaeology firm that dug the trench. But it's only a 3-foot trench, so it doesn't appear as if the whole site was gouged out, they just lost the opportunity to dig the trench by hand.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
New Archaeology Channel video This from Pettigrew:
The ruins of Pompeii are crumbling, but the
digital imaging project known as CyArk is generating a
three-dimensional record of the site that will be available for
future generations. This part of the ambitious CyArk Project is
described in Pompeii: A CyArk Case Study, the latest video feature on
our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel
(http://www.archaeologychannel.org).
Pompeii exemplifies CyArk, a project of the Kacyra Family Foundation
that is preserving the world's most valued cultural heritage sites in
three-dimensional digital form. Buried in A.D. 79 beneath a thick
mantle of volcanic deposits by an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, much of
Pompeii has been uncovered, only to decay steadily from natural and
human causes. This video shows how CyArk is preserving the site in
digital imagery through laser scanning technology and the most
accurate 3D models possible today.
Ministry of silly links You might have heard of these archaeologists
But read through to the end.
GIOVANNI BATTISTA BELZONI (1778-1823). Italian. Belzoni removed the colossal bust of Ramesses II at Thebes for shipment to England, where it's on display at the British Museum.
FLAVIO BIONDO (1392-1463). Italian. Regarded by some as the first archaeologist, Flavio explored and documented the ruins and topography of ancient Rome.
HOWARD CARTER (1874-1939). British. His 15-year search led to the discovery of the century: the well-preserved tomb of King Tutankhamun, which Carter unearthed in 1922 at ancient Thebes. The British Museum's "Treasures of Tutankhamun" tour, which ran from 1972 to 1979, was America's first museum blockbuster.
But read through to the end.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND EVIDENCE ROMANS USED LINCOLN AQUEDUCT
Why might they build such a thing and never use it? You have to read a bit further down:
And apparently there is an uphill component to the system, so it is plausible that it could have been built for this purpose, but they were unable to make it function as designed. Should be interesting to see if it really could have worked.
Archaeologists unearthing parts of an underground Roman aqueduct in Lincoln have found the first evidence that it was actually used, contrary to previous thinking.
The aqueduct, near Lincoln’s Nettleham Road, has been known about for centuries, and archaeological investigations of it were carried out in the 1950s and 70s, with no firm evidence for their ever carrying water being found. However, with the recent start of a housing development on the site, the time came for sections of the piping to be removed and studied thoroughly.
Why might they build such a thing and never use it? You have to read a bit further down:
The Roman plumbing system is constructed from a series of terracotta pipes surrounded with ‘Roman concrete’, a lime mortar mixed with brick dust and chips (opus sigininum). The sealed construction meant that theoretically, water could be pressurised and transported uphill.
And apparently there is an uphill component to the system, so it is plausible that it could have been built for this purpose, but they were unable to make it function as designed. Should be interesting to see if it really could have worked.
Del. Archaeologists Wrap-Up Artifact Find
Friday is the last day Delaware archaeologists will recover artifacts from a ship that sank in 1774.
Daniel Griffith leads the Lewes Maritime Archaeology Project. He said he and a team of archaeologists have recovered thousands of items from the Severn in the last two years.
The cargo ship sank 233 years ago off the coast of Delaware. Griffith said it was hauling all kinds of products from Britain to America to be sold.
We do that to (certain) people Mayor puts faith in convict town
MENTION the word archaeology to Joe Khattar, a property developer, and his grumble is audible. Late last year building was halted for three months on his retail and residential project on the edge of Parramatta's CBD, as archaeologists sifted through the site for signs of European and Aboriginal settlement.
They found nothing. "It's a waste of time," Mr Khattar said.
Parramatta is on the cusp of a big redevelopment. A newly published city plan aims to create 50,000 jobs in four years. Mr Khattar's 140 apartments and 9000 metres of office space are part of that plan.
Still a mystery: Archaeologists tour recently found site
Quick! Someone with access to Google Earth get a close up!
When Colington resident Scott Dawson came upon an earth-works while exploring the dense woods on Roanoke Island some weeks ago, heart rates soared and imaginations took flight. Had someone finally found the site of Fort Raleigh?
Southeast Archaeological Center scientists from the National Park Service (NPS) combed the forest this week, with other local park service employees, and admitted they've never seen anything quite like the network of rutted trails that spread seemingly without rhyme or reason throughout the woods. However, they were skeptical that the find is 16th Century.
The historian for the NPS's Outer Banks Group, Doug Stover, said, "We think it's either Civil War era, or something linked to the Freedman's Colony, because Fort Huger was just north of this area, and the main residences of the Freedman's Colony were only a short distance south if it."
Quick! Someone with access to Google Earth get a close up!
TV dinners 'are today's campfire'
That seems a bit weird, especially the bit about poor Neanderthals eating alone in caves. That and the "12 different ages of human existence". Still, an interesting venture into gastronomic archaeology.
Got that link from Junkfood Science. It also reminded me of another article wherein a guy decided to eat like a Victorian for a week. Read the link for the vast quantities and types of food. There was also an episode of the History Channel's Our Generation that looked at what the "typical American family" ate in something like 1776, 1876, and 1950 or thereabouts. Those things are always a little iffy because there's really no such thing as a "typical American family" from whatever period. In this case, they used more or less upper middle class urban dwellers as their typical, which left out probably the vast majority of the country (though in fairness, they were probably more interested in what today's middle to upper middle class would compare to then).
The television is a "virtual campfire" for today's generation, according to an academic at Cambridge University. It is a place where people gather to discover relevant information as they eat, echoing the behaviour of our ancestors who met around the campfire to share food and tell stories.
Martin Jones, a professor of archaeology, claims that eating in front of the television is "a natural consequence of human evolution".
The findings are based on archaeological evidence from 12 different ages of human existence, spanning half a million years. Prof Jones found that, as humans evolved, their lives became more complex and how they ate together reflected this.
Primitive Neanderthals ate alone in their caves while "hunter-gatherers", who relied on co-operation to catch food, ate in groups.
That seems a bit weird, especially the bit about poor Neanderthals eating alone in caves. That and the "12 different ages of human existence". Still, an interesting venture into gastronomic archaeology.
Got that link from Junkfood Science. It also reminded me of another article wherein a guy decided to eat like a Victorian for a week. Read the link for the vast quantities and types of food. There was also an episode of the History Channel's Our Generation that looked at what the "typical American family" ate in something like 1776, 1876, and 1950 or thereabouts. Those things are always a little iffy because there's really no such thing as a "typical American family" from whatever period. In this case, they used more or less upper middle class urban dwellers as their typical, which left out probably the vast majority of the country (though in fairness, they were probably more interested in what today's middle to upper middle class would compare to then).
Monday, April 16, 2007
Two on gobs of tombs found in China
50 more ancient tombs unearthed in central China
Ancient tombs in N. China recall past glories
50 more ancient tombs unearthed in central China
Chinese archaeologists have discovered a complex of 50 tombs, most of which date back 1,800 years, in Jiaozuo City, in central China's Henan Province.
Some of the tombs date from the Han dynasty (206 BC to 220), others belong to the Eastern Jin dynasty (317 to 420), the Northern Dynasties period (386 to 581) and the Tang dynasty (618 to 907).
Archaeologists unearthed more than 200 historical artifacts, including pottery utensils, china objects, bronze basins, iron items, jade articles and pearl ornaments.
Ancient tombs in N. China recall past glories
Archaeologists have unearthed 146 cultural relics from a complex of 17 tombs dating back to the dynasties of Song (960 to 1279) and Jin (1115 to 1234) in north China's Hebei Province.
The archaeologists say the tombs are found during construction of a power plant in Shexian County.
The historical relics include 126 coins, seven porcelain jars, four ceramic bowls, a silver earring, two bronze rings, a jade bead and a brick bearing a warrior's portrait.
Jawbone found in Norman is more than 100 years old
That's the whole thing.
An archaeologist says a human jawbone found in Norman this week is 100 to 150 years old.
The bone was found at a construction site and turned over to police.
Police Captain Leonard Judy says the archaeologist believes the jawbone is from a woman and is probably not from an American Indian.
Judy says investigators believe the bone came from sand that was collected from near the North Canadian River near Oklahoma City and taken to the construction site.
That's the whole thing.
Archaeologists looking for treasurers[sic] of Revolutionary War hero
Searchers found a brass candleholder, a small British cannonball and horse gear as they search for details about the state's craftiest Revolutionary War hero, Francis Marion.
Marion was known as the Swamp Fox for hiding in Lowcountry bogs while organizing attacks on the British. His hideouts still are a mystery.
But archaeologists are opening one site where Marion may have spent a few weeks in 1780.
Point State Park find may be part of Fort Pitt
Crews digging in Point State Park may have unearthed a true treasure.
While excavating in the park recently, workers discovered a piece of log that appears to be part of the original Fort Pitt, said Christina Novak, spokeswoman for the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the park's owner.
But members of one local group critical of the way the Downtown park's renovation work has been handled said the state initially did not know what a priceless find it had on its hands. They're worried it might not take adequate measures to document and protect such treasures.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Non-archaeological book review
In this month's American Scientist. It's a review of two books on the epidemiologist John Snow, famous for what many have called the first scientific epidemiological study of disease transmission:
The review is about two books on Snow, which the reviewer thinks tend to gloss over the complexities of the scientific milieu in which Snow operated and how his views eventually came to be accepted:
I've blogged on this scenario before, what I usually call the Hollywood view of science. I admit I have something of a negative bias against these sorts of explanations of How Science Really Works, probably from my early days of being a young, green scientist reading S.J. Gould with rapt attention (note: when in academia, one learns rather quickly that quoting Gould as some sort of scripture doesn't impress too many actual academics). Gould wrote on this a lot, mostly taking on the Hollywood stereotype, which he generally ascribed to some sort of textbook phenomenon that he gave a name to, but which I can't remember right now (how's that for a Dickensian sentence!). He would trace certain textbook presentations of how a scientific revolution came about, going farther back into the literature and showing how and when the story first developed and was then passed on uncritically throughout many editions and authors until the story became more legend than anything else. So we end up with a story of the bold truth-seeking revolutionary scientist going up against and eventually prevailing over the establishment thinkers of the day -- mired in their old-fashioned ideas about how the world ought to work -- while the hero becomes the beacon of yet another new age of reason.
One wonders how this script came about, and whether it's a later last-couple-of-centuries Western concept or somethng basic to human nature. I tend to think the latter since we have this kind of thing all over the literature. Prometheus bringing fire and wisdom to mankind -- and being rather brutally punished for it -- springs immediately to mind. Come to think of it, there were a couple of Star Trek episodes devoted to something of a debunking of the mythology of a man. They both had to do with Zefram Cochrane who invented the "warp drive". In the original series, they found him marooned on some planet and tried to convince him to come back to civilization, but he refused after hearing what sort of a hero society had made out of him. The second was one of the Next Generation movies where they went back in time and found him to be a hard-drinking womanizer rather than the brilliant and upstanding scientist everyone on the crew thought he was.
Anyway, back from sidetrack:
This "presentism" is very common in popular histories of science, taking what we know now and projecting that back on Snow's contemporaries. How could they not see the truth of Snow's ways and the error of their own? Why, it's so obvious! They must have had some selfish and sinister reason for refusing to listen to reason. But as Hamlin argues, and Gould did this remarkably well also, they had reason for believing the way they did. As Kuhn has argued, existing paradigms are in place for a reason: they seem to work. This also gave them reason to question Snow's methods, some in terms of their own paradigm, others that are stll true today. For example, Hamlin notes that even in our own day, Snow's hypothesis had some serious methodological difficulties:
So, not quite the slam dunk that we are led to believe.
As I said, I'm more or less biased in this regard, and though I have some experience in clinical trials and epidemiology, I'm no expert, so take my comments and the reviewer's with appropriate doses of NaCl. But the article at the link is free (as are several others in the current issue) so read the whole thing yourselves.
UPDATE: Also part of my bias, and I think some explanation for it: In our first-year theory classes with RC Dunnell, we spent a lot of time on the New Archaeology and its contrast with the Old Archaeology, the culture historians. Dunnell made a point of defending the culture historians against the charges of the new archaeologists that the former were atheoretical and "unscientific" (which they, of course, were, explicitly). There's much to be said for those "old archeologists" who developed a number of methods, notably seriation, that were highly quantitative and methodologically rigorous, if developed more or less inductively rather than through deduction like we usually decribe the scientific method (though I suppose one could do a whole blog on THAT).
In this month's American Scientist. It's a review of two books on the epidemiologist John Snow, famous for what many have called the first scientific epidemiological study of disease transmission:
. . .Snow focused on a sudden eruption of cholera within a single densely populated neighborhood. He showed that use of water from the Broad Street pump was a common factor in almost all of the cholera deaths and also that nonuse of that water was a characteristic of two groups (workhouse residents and brewery workers) that suffered little from the disease. In likening the behavior of the apparent cholera agent to a living thing, Snow is often listed as a pioneer of the germ theory.
The review is about two books on Snow, which the reviewer thinks tend to gloss over the complexities of the scientific milieu in which Snow operated and how his views eventually came to be accepted:
The form is as follows: a protagonist, an outsider representing truth and virtue (qualities that are linked through some unexplained dynamic of reciprocity), takes on entrenched intolerance.
I've blogged on this scenario before, what I usually call the Hollywood view of science. I admit I have something of a negative bias against these sorts of explanations of How Science Really Works, probably from my early days of being a young, green scientist reading S.J. Gould with rapt attention (note: when in academia, one learns rather quickly that quoting Gould as some sort of scripture doesn't impress too many actual academics). Gould wrote on this a lot, mostly taking on the Hollywood stereotype, which he generally ascribed to some sort of textbook phenomenon that he gave a name to, but which I can't remember right now (how's that for a Dickensian sentence!). He would trace certain textbook presentations of how a scientific revolution came about, going farther back into the literature and showing how and when the story first developed and was then passed on uncritically throughout many editions and authors until the story became more legend than anything else. So we end up with a story of the bold truth-seeking revolutionary scientist going up against and eventually prevailing over the establishment thinkers of the day -- mired in their old-fashioned ideas about how the world ought to work -- while the hero becomes the beacon of yet another new age of reason.
One wonders how this script came about, and whether it's a later last-couple-of-centuries Western concept or somethng basic to human nature. I tend to think the latter since we have this kind of thing all over the literature. Prometheus bringing fire and wisdom to mankind -- and being rather brutally punished for it -- springs immediately to mind. Come to think of it, there were a couple of Star Trek episodes devoted to something of a debunking of the mythology of a man. They both had to do with Zefram Cochrane who invented the "warp drive". In the original series, they found him marooned on some planet and tried to convince him to come back to civilization, but he refused after hearing what sort of a hero society had made out of him. The second was one of the Next Generation movies where they went back in time and found him to be a hard-drinking womanizer rather than the brilliant and upstanding scientist everyone on the crew thought he was.
Anyway, back from sidetrack:
The failure to explain how Snow is relevant to us reflects a broader cognitive failure, jointly of historical analysis and the representation of epidemiological reasoning. The chief historical fallacy is presentism. Retrospectively, the story is so simple: good versus bad, truth versus error. Our post-Koch conviction that Snow was on the right track makes it seem as if his arguments should have been enough for his contemporaries too, had they only been honest. Both authors struggle to label those who disagreed with Snow.
. . .
They characterize the therapeutics of Snow's age as errant quackery uninformed by experience or theory. Some of it was. But medical theories were rational (if, in retrospect, partial or erroneous); doctors developed, and shared experiences; and, for many, their commitment to patients or to science cost them their lives. Snow was not the only hero.
This "presentism" is very common in popular histories of science, taking what we know now and projecting that back on Snow's contemporaries. How could they not see the truth of Snow's ways and the error of their own? Why, it's so obvious! They must have had some selfish and sinister reason for refusing to listen to reason. But as Hamlin argues, and Gould did this remarkably well also, they had reason for believing the way they did. As Kuhn has argued, existing paradigms are in place for a reason: they seem to work. This also gave them reason to question Snow's methods, some in terms of their own paradigm, others that are stll true today. For example, Hamlin notes that even in our own day, Snow's hypothesis had some serious methodological difficulties:
First, many, even most, who presumably drank bad water did not get the disease. . . .Second, since the drinking of bad water had long preceded the epidemic, it could not be its cause.
So, not quite the slam dunk that we are led to believe.
As I said, I'm more or less biased in this regard, and though I have some experience in clinical trials and epidemiology, I'm no expert, so take my comments and the reviewer's with appropriate doses of NaCl. But the article at the link is free (as are several others in the current issue) so read the whole thing yourselves.
UPDATE: Also part of my bias, and I think some explanation for it: In our first-year theory classes with RC Dunnell, we spent a lot of time on the New Archaeology and its contrast with the Old Archaeology, the culture historians. Dunnell made a point of defending the culture historians against the charges of the new archaeologists that the former were atheoretical and "unscientific" (which they, of course, were, explicitly). There's much to be said for those "old archeologists" who developed a number of methods, notably seriation, that were highly quantitative and methodologically rigorous, if developed more or less inductively rather than through deduction like we usually decribe the scientific method (though I suppose one could do a whole blog on THAT).
Friday, April 13, 2007
And now. . . .the news from the EEF
Press report: "A royal destruction"
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/839/heritage.htm
A history of damages done to the VoK tombs, plus a
worthwhile interview with Dina Bakhoum of the TMP.
Press report: "Egypt Tomb Paintings Imaged in Hi-Res"
http://snipurl.com/1g736
[http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/04/06/egypttomb_arc.
html?category=archaeology&guid=20070406140030&
dcitc=w19-502-ak-0000]
"Italian publisher De Agostini is working on a project which
aims to produce the most complete digital archive of Egypt's
ancient art and architecture. New imaging technology can
detect and even revive faded paintings. The technology has
yielded, for the first time, accurate reproductions of the tombs'
scenes (...) The pictures are published by De Agostini in
Hawass's new book, "The Royal Tombs of Thebes: A
Gateway Through Eternity," the first of a series of three
books on the Egyptian heritage."
Slide-show:
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/04/06/egypttomb_slide.html
Press report: "Legacy of the Pharaohs: Welcome to the
treasure dome "
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2426221.ece
Report on the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) at Giza.
Press report: "Egypt's Karnak Temple to be archaeological site"
http://www.ansamed.info/en/egypt/news/ME05.YAM09411.html
"We shall soon formalise the decision to transform the site of the
Al Karnak temple in archaeological site with the purpose to
preserve it for the future and allow it to enjoy the internationally
and locally recognised privileges to the sites of archaeological interest."
Press report: "Only Egyptians to have access to mummies"
http://www.ansamed.info/en/egypt/news/ME03.YAM12531.html
"Only Egyptian archaeologists will have access to ancient Egyptian
mummies while the foreigners will be allowed to examine them
only in the presence and under the supervision of their Egyptian
colleagues."
Press report: "The inside story"
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/839/eg6.htm_
About Houdin's pyramid theory. Nothing new, except:
"To prove Houdin's theory, an international team is now being
assembled to probe the pyramid using radar and heat-detecting
cameras supplied by a French defence firm. However, Zahi
Hawass has turned down Houdin's request to have his theory
proved. Hawass said Houdin had issued his request using an
Egyptian "cover institution" that did not have the proper expertise
to examine the Great Pyramid. " So no support by ZH after all...
-- Another press report about the SCA's "No!":
http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070411-035121-2808r
Press report: "Roman theatre unearthed in Egypt"
http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20070406/101268.shtml
"Near the site of the excavated fortress [in N. Sinai],
archaeologists have also been excavating the site of a
5th Century, Roman amphitheatre. They say it is one of
the largest ever to be discovered in Egypt. The amphitheatre
was once supported by 30 columns. (..) The amphitheatre is
currently in the process of being restored. Authorities intend
to rebuild the wooden stage and seating area. "
[Also some garbled pumice/fort stuff in there.]
Zahi Hawass, A Group of Unique Statues Discovered at
Giza I: Statues of the Overseers of the Pyramid Builders, in:
Rainer Stadelmann, Hourig Sourouzian (eds.), Kunst des
Alten Reiches: Symposium im Deutschen Archäologischen
Institut Kairo am 29. und 30. Oktober 1991, (Sonderschrift
des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo,
vol. 28), Philipp von Zabern, Mainz, 1995, pp. 91-95,
4 pls. - pdf-file (7.5 MB)
http://snipurl.com/1g76p
[http://www.gizapyramids.org/pdf%20library/
hawass_va_10_1995.pdf]
Thus endeth the EEF news
Press report: "A royal destruction"
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/839/heritage.htm
A history of damages done to the VoK tombs, plus a
worthwhile interview with Dina Bakhoum of the TMP.
Press report: "Egypt Tomb Paintings Imaged in Hi-Res"
http://snipurl.com/1g736
[http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/04/06/egypttomb_arc.
html?category=archaeology&guid=20070406140030&
dcitc=w19-502-ak-0000]
"Italian publisher De Agostini is working on a project which
aims to produce the most complete digital archive of Egypt's
ancient art and architecture. New imaging technology can
detect and even revive faded paintings. The technology has
yielded, for the first time, accurate reproductions of the tombs'
scenes (...) The pictures are published by De Agostini in
Hawass's new book, "The Royal Tombs of Thebes: A
Gateway Through Eternity," the first of a series of three
books on the Egyptian heritage."
Slide-show:
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/04/06/egypttomb_slide.html
Press report: "Legacy of the Pharaohs: Welcome to the
treasure dome "
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2426221.ece
Report on the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) at Giza.
Press report: "Egypt's Karnak Temple to be archaeological site"
http://www.ansamed.info/en/egypt/news/ME05.YAM09411.html
"We shall soon formalise the decision to transform the site of the
Al Karnak temple in archaeological site with the purpose to
preserve it for the future and allow it to enjoy the internationally
and locally recognised privileges to the sites of archaeological interest."
Press report: "Only Egyptians to have access to mummies"
http://www.ansamed.info/en/egypt/news/ME03.YAM12531.html
"Only Egyptian archaeologists will have access to ancient Egyptian
mummies while the foreigners will be allowed to examine them
only in the presence and under the supervision of their Egyptian
colleagues."
Press report: "The inside story"
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/839/eg6.htm_
About Houdin's pyramid theory. Nothing new, except:
"To prove Houdin's theory, an international team is now being
assembled to probe the pyramid using radar and heat-detecting
cameras supplied by a French defence firm. However, Zahi
Hawass has turned down Houdin's request to have his theory
proved. Hawass said Houdin had issued his request using an
Egyptian "cover institution" that did not have the proper expertise
to examine the Great Pyramid. " So no support by ZH after all...
-- Another press report about the SCA's "No!":
http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070411-035121-2808r
Press report: "Roman theatre unearthed in Egypt"
http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20070406/101268.shtml
"Near the site of the excavated fortress [in N. Sinai],
archaeologists have also been excavating the site of a
5th Century, Roman amphitheatre. They say it is one of
the largest ever to be discovered in Egypt. The amphitheatre
was once supported by 30 columns. (..) The amphitheatre is
currently in the process of being restored. Authorities intend
to rebuild the wooden stage and seating area. "
[Also some garbled pumice/fort stuff in there.]
Zahi Hawass, A Group of Unique Statues Discovered at
Giza I: Statues of the Overseers of the Pyramid Builders, in:
Rainer Stadelmann, Hourig Sourouzian (eds.), Kunst des
Alten Reiches: Symposium im Deutschen Archäologischen
Institut Kairo am 29. und 30. Oktober 1991, (Sonderschrift
des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo,
vol. 28), Philipp von Zabern, Mainz, 1995, pp. 91-95,
4 pls. - pdf-file (7.5 MB)
http://snipurl.com/1g76p
[http://www.gizapyramids.org/pdf%20library/
hawass_va_10_1995.pdf]
Thus endeth the EEF news
Rio Nuevo dig yielding "layer cake" of history, prehistory
Archaeologists are having a field day with their trowels, scraping away layers of dirt just outside what was the outer wall of the Mission San AgustÃn.
Three weeks of excavation uncovered 2,000-year-old arrowheads. These lie a few feet from the first mission-era American Indian home discovered in Tucson, and they're only a few feet away from a 1930s barbecue pit.
"I can't think of anywhere in the United States where you have this layer cake of cultural change," said Michael Brack, project director at Desert Archaeology, which is doing the dig.
Dig lured history buffs to Pineywoods
By midmorning, voices, laughter and the sound of shovels scraping at smooth earth arise from deep within the Davy Crockett National Forest in Houston County.
Emerging from a bend in the trail, the thick hues of green and brown are interrupted by colorful groups of individuals who have traveled to this prehistoric spot in the woods from all corners of the nation, clustering around and beneath bright blue tarps.
Each is a participant of the Passport in Time archaeological program with the U.S. Forest Service.
UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Showcases 'Death Pit' at Open House May 5
In south-central Turkey, the locals call the earthen mound Domuztepe, Turkish for pig hill. But a team of UCLA and University of Manchester archaeologists know that the former stomping grounds of wild boar had a less bucolic past — thanks to the discovery of a mass burial site they call the "death pit."
Between 1997 and 2002, the team painstakingly excavated the remains of more than 40 decapitated and dismembered people who met their end some 7,500 years ago. Although the mound is one of earliest mass burial sites ever discovered, the archaeologists still aren't sure what they have on their hands.
Digging Up Delaware's History
UPDATE: More here with some photos.
Archaeologists are digging for answers about who lived on Delaware farmland in the early 19th and 20th century.
So far, more than 25,000 artifacts have been unearthed in just one month's time.
"That's one of the neat things about this site. Every day there's something new that adds a little bit more to what we know," said archaeologist Kimberly Morrell.
Clay marbles tell something about the Middletown site, and so does the leg of a doll. Children once lived here in what is believed to be the entire brick foundation of a sharecropper's house built in the late 1800's.
UPDATE: More here with some photos.
Protein links T. rex to chickens
It's actually bone collagen that was preserved in trace amounts. Unclear why it should have survived this long and the article doesn't give any specific reason. Maybe anoxic conditions in the mud?
[Please note: No innocent chicken jokes were harmed in the making of this post]
Researchers compared organic molecules preserved in the T. rex fossils with those of living animals, and found they were similar to chicken protein.
The discovery of protein in dinosaur bones is a surprise - organic material was not thought to survive this long.
A US team of researchers have published the finding in Science journal.
The team says their technique could help reveal evolutionary relationships between other living and extinct organisms.
The finding is consistent with the idea that birds can trace a direct evolutionary line to dinosaurs.
It's actually bone collagen that was preserved in trace amounts. Unclear why it should have survived this long and the article doesn't give any specific reason. Maybe anoxic conditions in the mud?
[Please note: No innocent chicken jokes were harmed in the making of this post]
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Experts back away from Jesus's tomb claims
OOOOooooo. . . .so unexpected!
Several scholars who appeared in the documentary The Lost Tomb of Jesus — which purported that a tomb found in a Jerusalem suburb was that of Jesus of Nazareth — have backtracked on their claims, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.
The controversy comes two months after the documentary, produced by Canada's James Cameron and shot by Toronto filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici, aired on the Discovery Channel.
The documentary explored the theory that a tomb in the suburb of Talpiot is that of Jesus of Nazareth and his family, including his mother, a wife who filmmakers believe to be Mary Magdalene and a son.
OOOOooooo. . . .so unexpected!
! ! ! ! ! Archaeologists find 3 prehistoric bodies in SE Mexico
Errrrrr. . . .badly written article. Not sure about the dating of these things, whatever they turn out to be. Certainly a 14,000-year old body would be big news.
Mexican archaeologists found remains of two women and a man that can be traced to more than 10,000 years ago in the Mayan area of Tulum, Mexico's National Anthropology and History Institute said in a statement on Tuesday.
The remains were being examined by laboratories in Britain, the United States and Mexico, all of which had said the remains were people between 10,000 and 14,500 years ago, said Carmen Rojas, an archaeologist quoted in the statement.
"This makes southeastern Mexico one of the few areas with a proven prehistoric presence in America," said Rojas.
Errrrrr. . . .badly written article. Not sure about the dating of these things, whatever they turn out to be. Certainly a 14,000-year old body would be big news.
Expert: ‘We are losing archaeology ...’
Can you imagine living in an era where hobbies include carving canoes from mere conch shells? Florida’s ancestors have done that and more.
As part of Florida’s archaeological month, the Seminole Historical Society gathered March 29 at the Seminole Community Library to hear a program on early ancestry.
The guest speaker was Loren Blakeley, former president of the Florida Anthropological Society, who has had an unyielding interest in artifacts since very young, even as his parents would plead with him to stop collecting his “garbage bags” full of fossils and artifacts. His interest continues today.
“Regionally we are losing archaeology due to our development,” said Blakeley. “Everyone must make an effort to preserve heritage, so we all should become preservationists.”
Antiquities Market update In the U.S., a clash of concerns in the antiquities market
Some good points brought up in there, such as whether the import restrictions should/do apply to anything old or just "culturally significant" items.
The rumor swept through the aisles of the Seventh Regiment Armory in New York as art dealers traded gossip with collectors: Dina Powell was going to China.
Normally a routine overseas trip by a government figure - Powell is an assistant secretary of state - would hardly warrant attention from experts on Song dynasty ceramics or Buddhist statuary. But in their minds, this time their very livelihoods were at stake. The fear was that Powell, who heads the State Department's bureau of educational and cultural affairs, was going to Beijing to announce a sweeping ban on the import of Chinese art and artifacts predating 1911. The Chinese requested the ban in 2004, arguing that American demand for such objects was spurring the looting of valuable archaeological sites in China.
. . .
At the center of the controversy is not a ranking official but an obscure State Department advisory panel that has become the bête noire of collectors of everything from Roman vases to African statuary. The panel, the Cultural Property Advisory Committee, has been the focus of fierce battles between archaeologists, who say that the art market fosters the looting of historic sites, and dealers, who say that broad import restrictions threaten collecting by private individuals and museums in the United States.
Some good points brought up in there, such as whether the import restrictions should/do apply to anything old or just "culturally significant" items.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
More SEX at ArchaeoBlog Ethiopia: Ancient Phallic Stones Uncovered
Okay, no photos and t's not clear what these 'phallic' things are. Sounds like they're just stela.
Some 16 phallic stones have been uncovered in Gedeb Woreda, Gedo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples State, the Zonal Trade and Industry Department said.
The discovery of the stelae adds to attractions in the area for tourists to come and marvel at, especially in connection with the Ethiopian Millennium celebrations, it said.
Okay, no photos and t's not clear what these 'phallic' things are. Sounds like they're just stela.
On the orientation of Roman towns in Italy
It's a paper. I have not read it.
As is well known, several Roman sources report on the existence of a town foundation ritual,
inherited from the Etruscans, which allegedly included astronomical references. However, the
possible existence of astronomical orientations in the layout of Roman towns has never been
tackled in a systematic way. As a first step in this direction, the orientation of virtually all
Roman towns in Italy (38 cities) is studied here. Non-random orientation patterns emerge
from these data, aiming at further research in this field.
It's a paper. I have not read it.
Hmmmmm. . . . . Roman-style column bolsters Han Dynasty tomb
No more text than that. But there is a picture:
I don't actually know what to make of that.
Archeologists excavate near a Roman-style column in a newly found Han Dynasty tomb (202 BC - 220 AD) in Xiao County, east China's Anhui Province, April 3, 2007.
No more text than that. But there is a picture:
I don't actually know what to make of that.
Cavemen Chose Caves on Five Criteria
House buyers today usually peruse properties with a checklist of desired features in mind. This aspect of human behavior has apparently not changed much over the millennia, according to a new study that found prehistoric cave dwellers in Britain did exactly the same thing when choosing their homes.
The recently released three-year-long survey of approximately 230 caves in the Yorkshire Dales and 190 caves in the northern England Peak District determined that people there from 4,000 to 2,000 B.C. selected caves based on at least five criteria.
"There was a higher frequency of prehistoric usage of those caves with larger entrances and deeper passages, also of caves that were higher in altitude and caves with entrances that faced towards the east or to the west," co-author Andrew Chamberlain of the University of Sheffield’s Department of Archaeology told Discovery News.
FSU anthropologist finds earliest evidence of maize farming in Mexico
he shift from foraging to the cultivation of food was a significant change in lifestyle for these ancient people and laid the foundation for the later development of complex society and the rise of the Olmec civilization, Pohl said. The Olmecs predated the better known Mayans by about 1,000 years.
"Our study shows that these early maize cultivators located themselves on barrier islands between the sea and coastal lagoons, where they could continue to fish as well as grow crops," she said.
During her field work in Tabasco seven years ago, Pohl found traces of pollen from primitive maize and evidence of forest clearing dating to about 5,100 B.C. Pohl's current study analyzed phytoliths, the silica structure of the plant, which puts the date of the introduction of maize in southeastern Mexico 200 years earlier than her pollen data indicated. It also shows that maize was present at least a couple hundred years before the major onset of forest clearing. Traces of charcoal found in the soil in 2000 indicated the ancient farmers used fire to clear the fields on beach ridges to grow the crops.
The evolution of sex roles
It's a fairly long article. I remember this coming up a while ago, but I can't find any of my posts on it. I did locate one of John Hawks' though and he seemed none too impressed by the whole thing. There are a couple of bits in the article that piqued my interest though. This first was Olga Soffer suggesting that it was the recognition of different sexes that led to symbolic thinking:
Later on, Richard Klein notes that
I suppose, logically, nothing says that the latter precludes the former, if one grants that maybe gender recognition is a result of that genetic change.
Still, with the possible exception of the fracture patterns in both Neanderthal sexes being similar (I haven't seen the paper so I don't know how extensively this was examined), I still tend not to see much convincing argument that one can sex artifacts as far as which gender made or used them.
(HT to Patrick at TPW)
Some anthropologists make a case that our extinct female cousins hunted alongside the males during an epoch when our own ancestral women were gathering plants and doing other (essential) work. They argue that the appearance of gender roles was critical to humans' eventual domination of the globe - and that the importance of the women of the Pleistocene period has been vastly understated.
It's a fairly long article. I remember this coming up a while ago, but I can't find any of my posts on it. I did locate one of John Hawks' though and he seemed none too impressed by the whole thing. There are a couple of bits in the article that piqued my interest though. This first was Olga Soffer suggesting that it was the recognition of different sexes that led to symbolic thinking:
Olga Soffer, an anthropologist at the University of Illinois and an author, with Adovasio and Jake Page, of The Invisible Sex, says it was our ancestors' understanding of gender and gender roles that made us fully, cognitively human as recently as 40,000 to 50,000 years ago - the time that cave art and jewelry start to appear.
Later on, Richard Klein notes that
Gender distinctions, in his more mainstream view, go back more than a million years. He believes a genetic change spurred artistic and cultural advances.
A mutation in the DNA, he says, might have reorganized the brain without changing its size. It may have helped humans create more complex communication - thus offering an advantage that would spread through the population.
I suppose, logically, nothing says that the latter precludes the former, if one grants that maybe gender recognition is a result of that genetic change.
Still, with the possible exception of the fracture patterns in both Neanderthal sexes being similar (I haven't seen the paper so I don't know how extensively this was examined), I still tend not to see much convincing argument that one can sex artifacts as far as which gender made or used them.
(HT to Patrick at TPW)
Monday, April 09, 2007
San Antonio trench thought to be pre-Alamo Mexican bunker
Historians say an old trench discovered in San Antonio might have been used by Mexican soldiers as fortification against Texan rebels during a siege that preceded the Battle of the Alamo.
Workers found the trench off Main Plaza, San Antonio's historic city center, as they were digging up the street a couple of weeks ago to install a storm-water line, city officials said.
Archaeologists think the trench was built by Mexican forces under the command of Gen. Martin Perfecto de Cos. From October to December 1835, the city was under siege by Texas rebels in an early campaign of the Texas Revolution.
2,200-year old amphoras contained wine
Parts of amphoras believed to be 2,200 years old uncovered in a Bosnia-Herzegovina swamp are suspected to have carried wine, experts said Monday.
Snjezana Vasilj, head of a Bosnian team of archaeologists, said a preliminary analysis showed amphoras, found at what are believed remains of the first-ever discovered Illyrian ships, were used for transporting wine, the Bosnian news agency FENA reported.
Late in March, Vasilj and her team found what they believed were the Illyrian ships in the Desilo location, more than 20 feet under the water level of the Hutovo Blato swamp, near Capljina in southern Bosnia.
Mystery of the fat Venus
More on the idea that these were little porno figurines. I remain unconvinced.
We all know about those hand-sized Ice Age women carved in stone – those plump ladies with huge breasts and behinds, tiny heads, artful hairdos and no faces.
They're known as Palaeolithic Venuses and they raise a lot of puzzling questions: How come these almost identical figurines were found all the way from France to Siberia? How come this stylised carving tradition was practised and passed down over 20,000 years? What purpose did they serve?
There are as many answers to these questions as there are archaeologists and art critics. Frankly, the Venuses are a mystery. But the mystery has just deepened and widened.
More on the idea that these were little porno figurines. I remain unconvinced.
Indiana Jones IV update Sir Sean is saying "maybe" to Indiana Jones 4
Directors George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are hoping the 76-year-old will feature in the fourth instalment.
Sir Sean, who has not appeared in any films since 2003, has apparently said he would consider returning if he liked the script.
Harrison Ford has already signed up to return as the daring archaeologist.
Archaeologists preserve history while building future
When Julia Mae Avery was a student at Colorado Women’s College in Denver, she was working on a paper dealing with the early history of Pueblo. Avery asked her dad, Pueblo dentist Willard S. Avery, for advice and he suggested she talk to a group of people in town that met regularly to discuss archaeology and history.
It was about the time that Western State University archaeologist C. T. Hurst and others from the Gunnison area had formed a group on the Western Slope that would be the beginning of the Colorado Archaeological Society and encouraged local groups to become official chapters.
By 1938, the Pueblo Archaeological and Historical Society officially had become a chapter of CAS and Avery, now 89, has been a dues-paying member ever since, even when her career as a school teacher took her to the coal camps of Northern Colorado.
Crew Finds Human Bones in Oakland County
That's the whole thing.
Two sets of human bones that are believed to be at least hundreds of years old were found in Oakland County by an excavating crew clearing a site for a baseball field.
State Archaeologist John Halsey said the bones of an adult and child are likely 700 to 2,000 years old. The bones were found March 26 on White Lake Township property owned by the White Lake Presbyterian Church. The bones were turned over to the Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office.
"That's been a migratory path for native people for thousands and thousands of years," Township Supervisor Mike Kowall said of the area.
That's the whole thing.
New Archaeology Channel video Richard Pettigrew emails their latest film. This week it's Amelia Earhart.
Eh. I'm sure it's a fascinating film, but the whole "Where Is Amelia Earhart" issue leaves me cold. I wonder how many other 1-2-person aircraft or boats have gone completely missing over the years and no one bats an eye. Probably thousands. If Joe and Jane Schmoe's plane is flying over the Pacific and doesn't make it to its destination, we assume it had some sort of mechanical problem, fell into the ocean and sank to the bottom, unreachable except perhaps by some chance rendezvous with a deep-sea expedition. But let it be someone famous and every little tidbit of information leads people scurrying to test out their latest theory.
That's just kind of a generalized curmudgeonly rant, by the way. Whatever floats your boat (or sinks your plane!) I always say.
[Edit] At the time I am posting this, that video hasn't been put up yet.
The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) is
hot on the trail of clues that may lead to an answer to the question
of what happened to Amelia and her navigator, Fred Noonan, on that
fateful day, July 2, 1937. Two of the chief TIGHAR reseachers are
Ric Gillespie, co-founder and Executive Director of the organization,
and Dr. Tom King, TIGHAR Senior Archaeologist. In late March 2007,
TIGHAR announced the discovery of a previously unknown diary of an
Associated Press reporter who was on the scene of the disappearance.
This news rekindled widespread media interest in the Earhart
mystery. TIGHAR's hypothesis that Earhart and Noonan landed and were
marooned and died on the tiny Pacific island of Nikumaroro elevates
archaeology to a chief research tool in the research. TIGHAR plans
its fifth expedition to Nikumaroro during July 2007.
Eh. I'm sure it's a fascinating film, but the whole "Where Is Amelia Earhart" issue leaves me cold. I wonder how many other 1-2-person aircraft or boats have gone completely missing over the years and no one bats an eye. Probably thousands. If Joe and Jane Schmoe's plane is flying over the Pacific and doesn't make it to its destination, we assume it had some sort of mechanical problem, fell into the ocean and sank to the bottom, unreachable except perhaps by some chance rendezvous with a deep-sea expedition. But let it be someone famous and every little tidbit of information leads people scurrying to test out their latest theory.
That's just kind of a generalized curmudgeonly rant, by the way. Whatever floats your boat (or sinks your plane!) I always say.
[Edit] At the time I am posting this, that video hasn't been put up yet.
YouTube goes experimental archaeology
Came across this video of some guy knapping a substantial chunk of flint/chert into a bunch of good sized blades using a horn core and an hammerstone. The technique is interesting; I'd never seen indirect percussion used like that before (with the antler held on his knees).
Doesn't appear to be any information about who made it, who the knapper is, or why it was done though.
Came across this video of some guy knapping a substantial chunk of flint/chert into a bunch of good sized blades using a horn core and an hammerstone. The technique is interesting; I'd never seen indirect percussion used like that before (with the antler held on his knees).
Doesn't appear to be any information about who made it, who the knapper is, or why it was done though.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Archaeology project goes national
An archaeology project involving middle school students from the University of Wyoming Lab School that began in the fall of 2005 is making news across the country.
Four of the 101 students involved in the “Unlocking Secrets in the Soil” project this school year have been selected to attend The History Channel-sponsored Save Our History National Youth Summit May 14-16, according to instructor and archaeologist Cynthia Webb. Webb said there were many students deserving of the honor to attend the summit, but The History Channel invited 10 grant winners, asking for representatives from each winner. Expenses are being paid by The History Channel.
Artifacts dug up near Main Plaza
Workers renovating Main Plaza have unearthed an old trench that might have protected Mexican troops from Texian rebels in the winter of 1835, a few months before the Battle of the Alamo.
If archaeologists are right, the discovery is a fortification built 172 years ago by soldiers under the command of Mexican Gen. MartÃn Perfecto de Cós, whose surrender to the Texians on Dec. 9, 1835, set the stage for Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna's siege of the Alamo.
"Amazingly, just totally amazingly, we're pretty sure we've got about a 6-foot-wide section of that thing that's intact," said Mark Denton, an archaeologist with the Texas Historical Commission.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
And now. . . .the news from the EEF
Press report: "Culture Minister announces start of restoration
of Zoser step pyramid"
http://snipurl.com/1f82g
[http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/EgyptOnline/Culture/000001/
0203000000000000000733.htm]
Press report: "On site heroes"
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/838/he1.htm
"The SCA has marked a day of homage to those archaeologists
who spent their lives exploring, enriching, documenting and
preserving Egypt's heritage, (...) "The First Day of Archaeologists"
(..) From next year on, the day will be held annually on 14 January. :
Press report: "Show Me the Mummy. USC Orthodontist Investigates 2,000-Year-Old Girl"
http://www.ladowntownnews.com/articles/2007/04/02/health2/health04.tx
The mummy of a 4- or 5-year-old Egyptian girl in the Rosicrucian
Egyptian Museum in San Jose was examined by an orthodontis.
"Utilizing three-dimensional imaging software used in the School
of Dentistry's orthodontic clinic, Mah and Jack Choi of
Anatomage - manufacturer of the software - discovered tooth
fragments lodged in the throat and the nasal pharynx of the mummy."
Press report: "Hungarian archeologists to excavate
sites in Nile delta"
http://snipurl.com/1f7vu
[http://english.mti.hu/default.asp?menu=1&theme=2&cat=
25&newsid=237778]
"A team of ten Hungarian archeologists will soon begin
excavations at two sites in northern Egypt's Nile river delta,
(..) in June a tomb dating back to the 12th century BC and
a large archeological site in the middle of a village now called
Kom Truga, near Alexandria."
Article: "Joan of Arc's relics exposed as forgery.
Perfume experts help unmask remains as Egyptian mummy."
in: Nature, vol. 446 (April 5, 2007), p. 593
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070402/full/446593a.html
"The relics of St Joan of Arc are not the remains of the
fifteenth-century French heroine after all, according to European
experts who have analysed the sacred scraps. Instead, they
say the relics are a forgery, made from the remains of an
Egyptian mummy. A vanilla smell of the alleged remains from
Joan of Arc suggested natural decomposition, not burning."
Some more conventional tests were also done.
-- Some newspaper reports about this:
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/04/04/joanofarc_his.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070404-joan-arc.html
"In medieval times and later, powdered mummy remains were
used as medicine "to treat stomach ailments, long or painful
periods, all blood problems."
Press report: "Ducks fly home"
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/838/eg9.htm
About the return to Egypt of two MK duck-shaped alabaster
food boxes. The article contains a color photo of one box.
[No, it is not the side-view of a beheaded&plucked duck --
it is a living duck seen from _above_.]
For a large photo of this very beautiful object, see:
http://www.guardians.net/hawass/SCA/artifacts_return_to_egypt.htm
Press report: "Say it with flowers. Pharaonic flowers
and funeral vases are the latest news from Luxor"
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/838/he2.htm
About the recent find in the tomb of Djehuty: 42 clay vases
and 42 flower bouquets., with details of the earlier
finds in the area (like Djehuty's wooden duck-hunting tablet
and the tomb of Hery).
Press report: "Egyptians Head To France To Get Stolen Mummy Hairs"
http://www.javno.com/en/lifestyle/clanak.php?id=31032
"Egypt sent an archaeological team to France on Thursday
to retrieve 3,200-year-old strands of hair from the mummy
of Pharaoh Ramses II." [cf. EEFNEWS (434)(447)]
-- Other (near identical) press reports on this:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10431639
http://english.people.com.cn/200703/30/eng20070330_362400.html
-- Another press report speaks of the arrival in Egypt on Monday:
http://snipurl.com/1f803
[http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070402-0316
-egypt-mummy.html]
Bernard V. Bothmer, Egypt 1950. My First Visit, edited
by Emma Swan Hall, Oxbow Books, Oxford, 2003. xviii,
168 pp. - pdf-file (5.9 MB)
http://www.gizapyramids.org/pdf%20library/bothmer_diary_1950.pdf
"And then there is the Diary 1950, one of Mr. Bothmer's last
projects. He improved it as he went along and would have gone
further had time permitted. The Egypt he describes was very
different from what it is now. With a lot of help from the Egyptians
he met, he achieved a great deal. He kept the Diary every day
for three months, taking copious notes on sites and photographing
along the way. It is possible to see, aside from the hours of waiting
for transportation, by bus and by train, and having to suffer from
the winter weather, indoors and out, how triumphantly he fared
at every turn." (editor)
Clarence S. Fisher, The Minor Cemetery at Giza, University
Museum, Philadelphia, 1924. xxiii, 170 pp., 55 pls., 3 plans -
pdf-file (39 MB)
http://www.gizapyramids.org/pdf%20library/fisher_minor_cemetery.pdf
"This volume ... will record the results of the excavations made
from 1915 onward by the Eckley B. Coxe Junior Expedition. It deals
with the work done on a small area in the royal cemetery at Giza ...
Dr. Reisner suggested that the University Museum undertake the
clearing of a small area of the great Giza cemetery for which he
held the concession. The area available lay to the west and north
of a section of the royal cemetery already excavated by him. His
work had shown that probably here would be found tombs of
some of the smaller officials of the court of the Fourth to the
Sixth Dynasties."
Panagiotis I.M. Kousoulis, "Magic in Greco-Roman Egypt:
The Semiotics of a Gradual Interpenetration of Egyptian and
Greek Ritual Beliefs", in: Mediterranean Archaeology and
Archaeometry, Volume 2, No 2 (December 2002).
In PDF, 3,89 MB.
http://snipurl.com/1f80g
[http://www.rhodes.aegean.gr/maa_journal/docs/volume
2%20No2%20Dec2002/kousoulis%20paper.pdf]
Ludwig D. Morenz, Apophis: On the Origin, Name, and
Nature of an Ancient Egyptian Anti-God, in: JNES, vol. 63,
pp. 201-205 (2004) - HTML, ps, pdf versions
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/resolve?id=doi:10.1086/424771
"Apophis is an impressive supernatural figure. This anti-god
and enemy of order surely deserves to be studied in a monograph.
Here, however, I offer a brief study of only some of his attributes."
[NB: Somehow the article was downloadable earlier this week,
but now it needs the usual subscription again. But you could
always try - perhaps the lucky moment may return. (The article
mainly deals with possible etymologies of the name Apophis.)]
End of EEF news
Press report: "Culture Minister announces start of restoration
of Zoser step pyramid"
http://snipurl.com/1f82g
[http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/EgyptOnline/Culture/000001/
0203000000000000000733.htm]
Press report: "On site heroes"
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/838/he1.htm
"The SCA has marked a day of homage to those archaeologists
who spent their lives exploring, enriching, documenting and
preserving Egypt's heritage, (...) "The First Day of Archaeologists"
(..) From next year on, the day will be held annually on 14 January. :
Press report: "Show Me the Mummy. USC Orthodontist Investigates 2,000-Year-Old Girl"
http://www.ladowntownnews.com/articles/2007/04/02/health2/health04.tx
The mummy of a 4- or 5-year-old Egyptian girl in the Rosicrucian
Egyptian Museum in San Jose was examined by an orthodontis.
"Utilizing three-dimensional imaging software used in the School
of Dentistry's orthodontic clinic, Mah and Jack Choi of
Anatomage - manufacturer of the software - discovered tooth
fragments lodged in the throat and the nasal pharynx of the mummy."
Press report: "Hungarian archeologists to excavate
sites in Nile delta"
http://snipurl.com/1f7vu
[http://english.mti.hu/default.asp?menu=1&theme=2&cat=
25&newsid=237778]
"A team of ten Hungarian archeologists will soon begin
excavations at two sites in northern Egypt's Nile river delta,
(..) in June a tomb dating back to the 12th century BC and
a large archeological site in the middle of a village now called
Kom Truga, near Alexandria."
Article: "Joan of Arc's relics exposed as forgery.
Perfume experts help unmask remains as Egyptian mummy."
in: Nature, vol. 446 (April 5, 2007), p. 593
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070402/full/446593a.html
"The relics of St Joan of Arc are not the remains of the
fifteenth-century French heroine after all, according to European
experts who have analysed the sacred scraps. Instead, they
say the relics are a forgery, made from the remains of an
Egyptian mummy. A vanilla smell of the alleged remains from
Joan of Arc suggested natural decomposition, not burning."
Some more conventional tests were also done.
-- Some newspaper reports about this:
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/04/04/joanofarc_his.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070404-joan-arc.html
"In medieval times and later, powdered mummy remains were
used as medicine "to treat stomach ailments, long or painful
periods, all blood problems."
Press report: "Ducks fly home"
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/838/eg9.htm
About the return to Egypt of two MK duck-shaped alabaster
food boxes. The article contains a color photo of one box.
[No, it is not the side-view of a beheaded&plucked duck --
it is a living duck seen from _above_.]
For a large photo of this very beautiful object, see:
http://www.guardians.net/hawass/SCA/artifacts_return_to_egypt.htm
Press report: "Say it with flowers. Pharaonic flowers
and funeral vases are the latest news from Luxor"
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/838/he2.htm
About the recent find in the tomb of Djehuty: 42 clay vases
and 42 flower bouquets., with details of the earlier
finds in the area (like Djehuty's wooden duck-hunting tablet
and the tomb of Hery).
Press report: "Egyptians Head To France To Get Stolen Mummy Hairs"
http://www.javno.com/en/lifestyle/clanak.php?id=31032
"Egypt sent an archaeological team to France on Thursday
to retrieve 3,200-year-old strands of hair from the mummy
of Pharaoh Ramses II." [cf. EEFNEWS (434)(447)]
-- Other (near identical) press reports on this:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10431639
http://english.people.com.cn/200703/30/eng20070330_362400.html
-- Another press report speaks of the arrival in Egypt on Monday:
http://snipurl.com/1f803
[http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070402-0316
-egypt-mummy.html]
Bernard V. Bothmer, Egypt 1950. My First Visit, edited
by Emma Swan Hall, Oxbow Books, Oxford, 2003. xviii,
168 pp. - pdf-file (5.9 MB)
http://www.gizapyramids.org/pdf%20library/bothmer_diary_1950.pdf
"And then there is the Diary 1950, one of Mr. Bothmer's last
projects. He improved it as he went along and would have gone
further had time permitted. The Egypt he describes was very
different from what it is now. With a lot of help from the Egyptians
he met, he achieved a great deal. He kept the Diary every day
for three months, taking copious notes on sites and photographing
along the way. It is possible to see, aside from the hours of waiting
for transportation, by bus and by train, and having to suffer from
the winter weather, indoors and out, how triumphantly he fared
at every turn." (editor)
Clarence S. Fisher, The Minor Cemetery at Giza, University
Museum, Philadelphia, 1924. xxiii, 170 pp., 55 pls., 3 plans -
pdf-file (39 MB)
http://www.gizapyramids.org/pdf%20library/fisher_minor_cemetery.pdf
"This volume ... will record the results of the excavations made
from 1915 onward by the Eckley B. Coxe Junior Expedition. It deals
with the work done on a small area in the royal cemetery at Giza ...
Dr. Reisner suggested that the University Museum undertake the
clearing of a small area of the great Giza cemetery for which he
held the concession. The area available lay to the west and north
of a section of the royal cemetery already excavated by him. His
work had shown that probably here would be found tombs of
some of the smaller officials of the court of the Fourth to the
Sixth Dynasties."
Panagiotis I.M. Kousoulis, "Magic in Greco-Roman Egypt:
The Semiotics of a Gradual Interpenetration of Egyptian and
Greek Ritual Beliefs", in: Mediterranean Archaeology and
Archaeometry, Volume 2, No 2 (December 2002).
In PDF, 3,89 MB.
http://snipurl.com/1f80g
[http://www.rhodes.aegean.gr/maa_journal/docs/volume
2%20No2%20Dec2002/kousoulis%20paper.pdf]
Ludwig D. Morenz, Apophis: On the Origin, Name, and
Nature of an Ancient Egyptian Anti-God, in: JNES, vol. 63,
pp. 201-205 (2004) - HTML, ps, pdf versions
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/resolve?id=doi:10.1086/424771
"Apophis is an impressive supernatural figure. This anti-god
and enemy of order surely deserves to be studied in a monograph.
Here, however, I offer a brief study of only some of his attributes."
[NB: Somehow the article was downloadable earlier this week,
but now it needs the usual subscription again. But you could
always try - perhaps the lucky moment may return. (The article
mainly deals with possible etymologies of the name Apophis.)]
End of EEF news
Forgotten Grave Discovered
Workers excavating for a new retaining wall in Deadwood's Presidential District this morning unearthed what could be one of the city's first burials.
Shortly before 9:30 a.m., a crew using a backhoe on the corner of Jackson and Taylor Streets spotted what appeared to be a human skull embedded in the hillside. Terri Bruce, an archaeologist who was monitoring the digging, confirmed the find and ordered a halt to the construction work.
It's the first time that Bruce, who works for the South Dakota State Archaeological Research Center, has personally observed the discovery of human remains while monitoring an excavation. Nevertheless, she wasn't surprised.
"We were watching carefully, because we knew this was the old Ingleside Cemetery," Bruce explained.
Pre-Colonial burial site uncovered
A forgotten pre-Colonial burial site was uncovered near uptown Charlotte.
Carolinas Medical Center-Mercy is working on a new office building in the Elizabeth neighborhood. Two weeks ago they uncovered evidence of a burial site from Charlotte’s history as a colonial town in the 1770s.
“You never know what you're going to find when you start doing construction,” said CMC’s Scott White.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Ancient Primates Thrived in...Texas?
A team of anthropologists said their study of South Texas fossil deposits revealed evidence including ancient teeth that shows the area was home to numerous types of primates 42 million years ago.
Lamar University Professor Jim Westgate and two colleagues announced the discovery of three new genera and four new species of primates based on their examination of material removed from Lake Casa Blanca International State Park near Laredo and the Mexican border.
Westgate said the Laredo area was a coastal lagoon during the stage of geologic history known as the Eocene Epoch, which was when primates were becoming extinct on much of the continent.
Did the Red Sea part? No evidence, archaeologists say
Well, he's not exactly tactful. . . . .
On the eve of Passover, the Jewish holiday that celebrates the story of Moses leading the Israelites through this wilderness out of slavery, Egypt's chief archaeologist took a bus full of journalists into the North Sinai to showcase his agency's latest discovery.
It didn't look like much — some ancient buried walls of a military fort and a few pieces of volcanic lava. The archaeologist, Dr. Zahi Hawass, often promotes mummies and tombs and pharaonic antiquities that command international attention and high ticket prices. But this bleak landscape, broken only by electric pylons, excited him because it provided physical evidence of stories told in hieroglyphics. It was proof of accounts from antiquity.
That prompted a reporter to ask about the Exodus, and if the new evidence was linked in any way to the story of Passover. The archaeological discoveries roughly coincided with the timing of the Israelites' biblical flight from Egypt and the 40 years of wandering the desert in search of the Promised Land.
"Really, it's a myth," Hawass said of the story of the Exodus, as he stood at the foot of a wall built during what is called the New Kingdom.
Well, he's not exactly tactful. . . . .
Online paper! Earliest evidence of modern human life history in North African early Homo sapiens
Pretty neat. I haven't read it yet though.
Recent developmental studies demonstrate that early fossil hominins
possessed shorter growth periods than living humans, implying
disparate life histories. Analyses of incremental features in
teeth provide an accurate means of assessing the age at death of
developing dentitions, facilitating direct comparisons with fossil
and modern humans. It is currently unknown when and where the
prolonged modern human developmental condition originated.
Here, an application of x-ray synchrotron microtomography reveals
that an early Homo sapiens juvenile from Morocco dated at
160,000 years before present displays an equivalent degree of
tooth development to modern European children at the same age.
Crown formation times in the juvenile’s macrodont dentition are
higher than modern human mean values, whereas root development
is accelerated relative to modern humans but is less than
living apes and some fossil hominins. The juvenile from Jebel
Irhoud is currently the oldest-known member of Homo with a
developmental pattern (degree of eruption, developmental stage,
and crown formation time) that is more similar to modern H.
sapiens than to earlier members of Homo. This study also underscores
the continuing importance of North Africa for understanding
the origins of human anatomical and behavioral modernity.
Corresponding biological and cultural changes may have appeared
relatively late in the course of human evolution.
Pretty neat. I haven't read it yet though.
Ancient human unearthed in China
Also here.
And here, too.
The remains of one of the earliest modern humans to inhabit eastern Asia have been unearthed in a cave in China.
The find could shed light on how our ancestors colonised the East, a movement that is only poorly understood by anthropologists.
Researchers found 34 bone fragments belonging to a single individual at the Tianyuan Cave, near Beijing.
Also here.
And here, too.
Etruscan update Origins of the Etruscans: Was Herodotus right?
It mentions the cattle data posted here earlier and also another bit of work on modern inhabitants of a town that supposedly contains Etruscan descendents. The "Page 2" of the article isn't coming up for me though.
Geneticists have added an edge to a 2,500-year-old debate over the origin of the Etruscans, a people whose brilliant and mysterious civilization dominated northwestern Italy for centuries until the rise of the Roman republic in 510 B.C. Several new findings support a view held by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus - but unpopular among archaeologists - that the Etruscans originally migrated to Italy from the Near East.
Though Roman historians played down their debt to the Etruscans, Etruscan culture permeated Roman art, architecture and religion. The Etruscans were master metallurgists and skillful seafarers who for a time dominated much of the Mediterranean. They enjoyed unusually free social relations, much remarked on by ancient historians of other cultures.
Etruscan culture was very advanced and very different from other Italian cultures of the time. But most archaeologists have seen a thorough continuity between a local Italian culture known as the Villanovan that emerged around 900 B.C. and the Etruscan culture, which began in 800 B.C.
It mentions the cattle data posted here earlier and also another bit of work on modern inhabitants of a town that supposedly contains Etruscan descendents. The "Page 2" of the article isn't coming up for me though.
Greek archaeologists unearth rich Roman tomb on western island
Archaeologists on a Greek island have discovered a large Roman-era tomb containing gold jewelry, pottery and bronze offerings, officials said Wednesday.
The building, near the village of Fiscardo on Kefalonia, contained five burials including a large vaulted grave and a stone coffin, a Culture Ministry announcement said.
The complex, measuring 8 by 6 meters (26 by 20 feet), had been missed by grave-robbers, the announcement said.
Thera eruption rocks Egypt. Maybe.
"Egyptian archeologists say lava from ancient Greek volcano found"
http://snipurl.com/1eynu
[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/02/africa/ME-GEN-
Egypt-Ancient-Eruption.php]
"Egyptian archaeologists on Monday presented white stones
of pumice that they believe a tsunami in ancient times carried
850 kilometers (530 miles) across the Mediterranean to north
Sinai. The pumice was discharged by a volcanic eruption in the
ancient Greek island of Santorini in the 17th century B.C. Traces
of this solidified lava foam that floats have been found in Crete
and southwestern Turkey, but Egypt's archaeologists believe it
also reached this site in the Sinai desert, about 7 kilometers
(4 miles) south of the coast. (...)
Archaeologists (..) excavated this desert site northeast of Qantara
(..) [and] earlier this month, they uncovered the remains of
an 18th dynasty fort, which featured four rectangular towers
built of mud bricks."
This doesn't seem quite right. A tsunami wouldn't carry a bunch of junk halfway across the Med; a tsunami is only a few inches high in deep mid-ocean water and would therefore just move through any floating debris, not carry it along like a surfer. Not to say that it couldn't have been carried there due to normal currents though. But then how could it have gotten so far inland?
Here's a few more links showing the evolution of the story:
"Egypt says has evidence volcano destroyed cities"
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L02409086.htm
A very different report:
"Ancient Egypt Cities Leveled by Massive Volcano, Ash Find Suggests"
http://snipurl.com/1eyo0
[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070402-
egypt-volcano.html]
"Egyptian archaeologists today announced that they have unearthed
traces of volcanic ash on the northern coast of Sinai that date to
around 1500 B.C.â~@~T supporting accounts that a number of ancient
Egyptian settlements were buried by a massive volcanic eruption in
the Mediterranean. The archaeological team, led by Mohamed
Abdel Maqsoud of Egypt's SCA found houses, military structures,
and tombs encased in ash near the ancient Egyptian fortress of
Tharo, on the Horus military road (..) close to El Qantara. (..)
The archaeological mission also found a fort with four mud-brick
towers dating to Egypt's 18th dynasty (around 1550 to 1307 B.C.).
(...) Ikram added that the site also contains some of the earliest
known remains of horses found in Egypt. "
HT to Aayko at the EEF.
"Egyptian archeologists say lava from ancient Greek volcano found"
http://snipurl.com/1eynu
[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/02/africa/ME-GEN-
Egypt-Ancient-Eruption.php]
"Egyptian archaeologists on Monday presented white stones
of pumice that they believe a tsunami in ancient times carried
850 kilometers (530 miles) across the Mediterranean to north
Sinai. The pumice was discharged by a volcanic eruption in the
ancient Greek island of Santorini in the 17th century B.C. Traces
of this solidified lava foam that floats have been found in Crete
and southwestern Turkey, but Egypt's archaeologists believe it
also reached this site in the Sinai desert, about 7 kilometers
(4 miles) south of the coast. (...)
Archaeologists (..) excavated this desert site northeast of Qantara
(..) [and] earlier this month, they uncovered the remains of
an 18th dynasty fort, which featured four rectangular towers
built of mud bricks."
This doesn't seem quite right. A tsunami wouldn't carry a bunch of junk halfway across the Med; a tsunami is only a few inches high in deep mid-ocean water and would therefore just move through any floating debris, not carry it along like a surfer. Not to say that it couldn't have been carried there due to normal currents though. But then how could it have gotten so far inland?
Here's a few more links showing the evolution of the story:
"Egypt says has evidence volcano destroyed cities"
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L02409086.htm
A very different report:
"Ancient Egypt Cities Leveled by Massive Volcano, Ash Find Suggests"
http://snipurl.com/1eyo0
[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070402-
egypt-volcano.html]
"Egyptian archaeologists today announced that they have unearthed
traces of volcanic ash on the northern coast of Sinai that date to
around 1500 B.C.â~@~T supporting accounts that a number of ancient
Egyptian settlements were buried by a massive volcanic eruption in
the Mediterranean. The archaeological team, led by Mohamed
Abdel Maqsoud of Egypt's SCA found houses, military structures,
and tombs encased in ash near the ancient Egyptian fortress of
Tharo, on the Horus military road (..) close to El Qantara. (..)
The archaeological mission also found a fort with four mud-brick
towers dating to Egypt's 18th dynasty (around 1550 to 1307 B.C.).
(...) Ikram added that the site also contains some of the earliest
known remains of horses found in Egypt. "
HT to Aayko at the EEF.
In the ArchaeoBlog mailbag today
reidulv Coddens ("PMMost bother knowhow agoNow")
grasp believe ("Top See Whats New")
Heinrich F. Stingily ("Chase Security Measures")
Patio Door ("ME CHOOSE OPTIONS Whats")
LAUREN Literacy: ("Low-price Viagra and other medicines")
Modernism E. Coward (no subject)
Veining H. Montesquieu (no subject)
And finally, one that was at least refreshingly candid:
spam ("We are ready to give you a loan")
reidulv Coddens ("PMMost bother knowhow agoNow")
grasp believe ("Top See Whats New")
Heinrich F. Stingily ("Chase Security Measures")
Patio Door ("ME CHOOSE OPTIONS Whats")
LAUREN Literacy: ("Low-price Viagra and other medicines")
Modernism E. Coward (no subject)
Veining H. Montesquieu (no subject)
And finally, one that was at least refreshingly candid:
spam ("We are ready to give you a loan")
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Update on the spiraling pyramid: Bob Brier did a piece at Archaeology.org on it and he seems quite taken with it:
How to Build a Pyramid
Mark Rose of Arch.org also seems to think it's a pretty good piece of work. He apparently spent a couple hours with Houdin on it.
How to Build a Pyramid
Far from being just another theory, the internal ramp has considerable evidence behind it. A team headed by Jean-Pierre Houdin and Rainer Stadlemann, former director of the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo and one of the greatest authorities on pyramids, has submitted an application to survey the Great Pyramid in a nondestructive way to see if the theory can be confirmed. They are hopeful that the Supreme Council of Antiquities will grant permission for a survey. (Several methods could be used, including powerful microgravimetry, high-resolution infrared photography, or even sonar.) If so, sometime this year we may finally know how Khufu's monumental tomb was built. One day, if it is indeed there, we might just be able to remove a few blocks from the exterior of the pyramid and walk up the mile-long ramp Hemienu left hidden within the Great Pyramid.
Mark Rose of Arch.org also seems to think it's a pretty good piece of work. He apparently spent a couple hours with Houdin on it.
Monday, April 02, 2007
ASU archaeologist examines environmental missteps of past
Not much of an interview really.
Think environmental problems are a modern-day phenomenon? Think again.
In his book Human Impact on Ancient Environments, archaeologist Charles Redman, director of Arizona State University's Global Institute of Sustainability, dispels the notion that our society is the first to exploit its surroundings.
Using examples as diverse as the Mesopotamians, the Mayans and the Hohokam, Redman writes about ancient societies that eventually broke down because they misused their natural resources.
The Republic sat down with Redman at his Tempe office to talk about the lessons we can take from ancient civilizations.
Not much of an interview really.
Fight! Fight! (sorta) High time to exploit that cunning plan
It's actually an article about the "Time Team" program in the UK.
“Anything which makes the past more accessible to people living in the present has got to be a good thing, and we're very proud of what we do.”
The show hasn't always been as well received by archaeologists as it has by the public, however. Several years ago, the Time Team Big Dig encouraged people to dig one-metre test pits all over the country to provide an archaeological snapshot of Britain.
Critics claimed the plan could send out the “wrong” message that people could become “instant archaeologists” and that delicate historical remains could be damaged by gung-ho attitudes and a lack of delicacy.
So, I ask Robinson, who have the bigger egos? Archaeologists or actors?
“It's a close-run thing. Both can be very precious, but I had no idea that archaeologists could be so spiteful. Time Team has made archaeology popular, and there's no doubt that some academics don't like it; they want it kept in the hallowed halls of a university,” he said. “Then again, some actors can be total ar*eholes.”
It's actually an article about the "Time Team" program in the UK.
800-year-old tombs unearthed in N.China province
Chinese archaeologists working in Shexian county in north China's Hebei province have discovered a group of 800-year-old tombs from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and Jin Dynasty (1115-1234).
Archaeologists with the Hebei provincial cultural relic research institute say that the tomb group, which covers an area of 2,600 square meters, comprises 17 tombs.
The archaeologists have unearthed 146 historical artifacts from the tombs, including 126 copper coins, 15 china utensils, one silver earring, one copper ring, one crystal bead and a brick bearing a man's portrait.
Finding traces India's maritime history
That date seems wrong. It's an update on an earlier post though.
Scientists from India's National Institute of Oceanography have found artefacts near Dwarka island, off the coast of west Indian state Gujarat, indicating links between ancient Indian and Roman civilisations, reports said on Friday.
"During excavation, we found artefacts dating back 37 500 BC [! ! !] which indicate that India's maritime history is much older and Indians used to travel by sea even before Vasco da Gama touched Indian shores," K H Vora, deputy director of marine archaeology and project leader, told news agency PTI.
"During archaeological excavations at Dwarka, the western-most part of India, we came across amphorae shreds of Mediterranean origin," Vora said, referring to remnants of clay containers used by Romans to transport wine.
That date seems wrong. It's an update on an earlier post though.
Archy photos Exclusive Archaeological Stock Photography: Old Ruins and Ancient Media Content Now Live at SitesandPhotos.com
The photos are there for urchase, not free use. I browsed through a few of them and they are mostly classical archaeology sites (Petra, Inrael, etc.).
Sites & Photos rolls-out SitesandPhotos.com � the world’s first dedicated, searchable and customizable online collection of archaeological photographs and video. With over 80,000 photographs of old ruins and other archaeology images combined with 1300 DV-quality videos covering more than 400 archaeological sites across the Mediterranean basin, SitesandPhotos.com stakes its claim to be the largest and fastest growing online archaeology stock photography stock photography media resource.
The photos are there for urchase, not free use. I browsed through a few of them and they are mostly classical archaeology sites (Petra, Inrael, etc.).
Bronze Age finds
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have found small settlements dating from the late Bronze Age on the Harlow North site where there are plans to build 8000 new homes.
L - P: Archaeology, which works for Ropemaker Properties Ltd, discovered evidence of settlements dating back 3000 years.
The team believes Iron Age folk lived in at least three agricultural settlements. Artefacts found in the evaluation trenches include a bone comb, Roman ironwork, a knife, a brooch, large quantities of pottery and three cremation deposits.
Gold! 2,500 Year-Old Wreath On Display
Not much else there, but it sounds cool.
A spectacular golden wreath dating back to the fourth Century B.C. is due to go on display at the National Archaeology Museum in Greece.
The Macedonian wreath has been returned to Athens by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
Greece fought for 10 years to prove it had been illegally excavated and smuggled out of the country.
Not much else there, but it sounds cool.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Ancient riddle of the Great Pyramid's construction is turned inside out
This has been getting an awful lot of coverage in the news and I waited to post it until I looked at it some more. In some respects, it's not much different from any other theory that has been put forward over the years. The one new angle involves some empirical evidence that forms the basis of his idea:
This doesn't seem paticularly bizarre, as many have posited the whole winding ramp theory, and it makes some logical sense that they wouldn't bother filling in construction elements that wouldn't be seen. The trouble with this, and every idea that has come up before, is showing it archaeologically in a way that both supports one's own theory and refutes others directly. Statements of the 'if and only if' variety. Could haves are a dime a dozen.
A French architect believes he has finally solved one of the most puzzling construction problems in history by working out how the ancient Egyptians built such a massive structure without the benefit of iron tools, pulleys or wheels.
In Paris tomorrow, Jean-Pierre Houdin will unveil the fruits of eight years' work by describing at a conference how the pyramid of the pharaoh Khufu was built from the inside out. He will propose that the Egyptians carried the building blocks up an internal ramp that formed a spiral tunnel within the structure's outer wall. These tunnels, he believes, must still exist today.
With the help of sophisticated computer software developed by the French company Dassault Systemes, M. Houdin has been able to reconstruct a three-dimensional simulation of how the great limestone and granite blocks of the pyramid were put together stone by stone.
This has been getting an awful lot of coverage in the news and I waited to post it until I looked at it some more. In some respects, it's not much different from any other theory that has been put forward over the years. The one new angle involves some empirical evidence that forms the basis of his idea:
The crucial piece of evidence in support of an internal network of spiral tunnels comes from a microgravity test carried out in 1986, he said. French scientists found a peculiar anomaly - a less-dense structure in the form of a spiral within the pyramid.
This doesn't seem paticularly bizarre, as many have posited the whole winding ramp theory, and it makes some logical sense that they wouldn't bother filling in construction elements that wouldn't be seen. The trouble with this, and every idea that has come up before, is showing it archaeologically in a way that both supports one's own theory and refutes others directly. Statements of the 'if and only if' variety. Could haves are a dime a dozen.
Mexico opens windows on buried treasures\
Archaeologists in Mexico City announced plans Friday to hold tours of inaccessible buried ruins via glass-covered shafts looking down on the sites.
Two daylong guided tours of the sites, known as "archaeological windows," are scheduled for April, and will take visitors to about 20 sites currently open to the public, as well as 20 more "windows" hidden beneath stairwells, floors and patios of buildings normally not open to the public.
The underground ruins — some swallowed or encased by the foundations of the Spanish buildings constructed atop them following the 1521 conquest — cannot be fully excavated without destroying the crumbling colonial buildings above them.
SEX at ArchaeoBlog Prehistoric women: Not so simple, not so strange (Review of Adovasio et al.'s The Invisible Sex: Uncovering the true roles of women in prehistory)
Seems rather critical (!) but I tend to think (not having read the book) it's probably close to accurate. Gender studies in archaeology are just lain difficult to support because the gender of the users of artifacts don't preserve very well. We like to say we "study human behavior" but we don't; we study artifacts and their patterning.
The roles of women even in our own time are not easy to define; yet our intrepid threesome has encapsulated more than 3 million years of human femaleness in fewer than 300 pages, rather too many of which are taken up with moaning about the sex bias of anthropologists of yore.
Palaeontologists disagree just as often and as radically as economists do, and yet they insist on describing what they do as science. The trail of inference that leads from fossil fragments to conclusions about sex, gender and social structure has more in common with the Da Vinci code than with scientific method. The only way the authors of The Invisible Sex can uncover women’s true roles is by assuming that a certain class of objects is associated with women. At the same time they want to dispute the generally accepted notion that weapons are boys’ toys.
Seems rather critical (!) but I tend to think (not having read the book) it's probably close to accurate. Gender studies in archaeology are just lain difficult to support because the gender of the users of artifacts don't preserve very well. We like to say we "study human behavior" but we don't; we study artifacts and their patterning.
Clovis update Clovis artifacts do not end debate over first Americans
Way back when, Clovis was also the driver of the Overkill model of Late Pleistocene extinctions and this sort of finding would have severly undermined, if not invalidated that theory. Now, not so much.
Michael Waters, director of the Center for the Study of the First Americans, and Thomas Stafford, director of Stafford Research Laboratories, argue that "in as few as 200 calendar years, Clovis technology originated and spread throughout North America."
This is a major advance in our understanding of the peopling of the Americas for two reasons.
First, there are many non-Clovis sites in North and South America that either are older than 11,050 years or are more or less contemporary with Clovis. Therefore, the sudden appearance of Clovis technology no longer can be linked to the original discoverers of America.
. . .
Second, the short duration of the Clovis culture means it?s unlikely to represent a homogenous group of people that rapidly spread from one end of the hemisphere to the other.
Way back when, Clovis was also the driver of the Overkill model of Late Pleistocene extinctions and this sort of finding would have severly undermined, if not invalidated that theory. Now, not so much.
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