New video The Archaeology Channel has a new video up:

This film is a parody of the very popular television series, Digging
for the Truth, which is broadcast by the History Channel. The
episode parodied is Mystery of the Anasazi. In this light-hearted
commentary, Bradley Garrett and Adam Fish highlight certain
superficial aspects of the television production and question its
authenticity and authoritativeness. In the process of poking fun,
they allude to issues of concern surrounding the presentation of
archaeological knowledge through the style of modern day popular
television.

Admittedly, I haven't watched the whole thing, just the first 1/3 or so. I just give this one an "Eh."

Ruins in Athens May Be an Ancient Market

Archaeologists have discovered extensive remains of what is believed to be an ancient marketplace with shops and a religious center at the southern edge of Athens, the Culture Ministry said Friday. The finds, in the coastal neighborhood of Voula, date from the 4th or 5th century B.C.

"It is a very large complex," the ministry said. "It was a site of rich financial and religious activity, which was most probably a marketplace."

Marketplaces _ or agoras _ teemed with shops, open-air stalls and administrative buildings, and were the financial, political and social center of ancient Greek life.

More here.

Cubans traded their gold for cheap brass pendants

Recent research in Cuba has highlighted the contrast between European and ancient American values. Cheap brass dress accessories from Western Europe traded for many times their price in gold with Caribbean natives who prized the alloy more than the pure metal.

“It would have been impossible for the first Europeans arriving in the Caribbean to envisage the colossal value that their metal would accomplish in trade with the indigenous population,” write Marcos Martin-ón-Torres and his colleagues in the Journal of Archaeological Science. “Early chroniclers report that pure gold or caona was considered the least valuable metal, significantly less esteemed and less sacred than copper-based alloys.”

You know, I never really considered how valuable gold was considered in the New World. It seems to have been mostly associated with royalty, but was it the most valuable metal, or just the most common?

Homo hobbitus update Surviving the Hobbit Wars

Dr Mike Gagan will be getting into more than one of the world's most exciting archaeological digs when he abseils down to an ancient graveyard on the Indonesian island of Flores in June.

The Australian National University palaeoclimatologist will also be entering a drama that has a reputation for fierce personal and ideological rivalries, international intrigue, stolen goods of priceless value, broken and mended agreements, intense media interest, and a central theme which raises questions about the very nature of what it means to be human.

Arrrrrrr. . . . Officials Plan 3-Year Excavation of Sunken Ship Believed to Be Blackbeard's

A shipwreck off the North Carolina coast believed to be that of notorious pirate Blackbeard could be fully excavated in three years, officials working on the project said.

"That's really our target," Steve Claggett, the state archaeologist, said Friday while discussing 10 years of research that has been conducted since the shipwreck was found just off Atlantic Beach.

The ship ran aground in 1718, and some researchers believe it was a French slave ship Blackbeard captured in 1717 and renamed Queen Anne's Revenge.

Builders Discover 46 Ancient Tombs in Colombia

A group of construction workers stumbled upon 46 ancient tombs, between 1,500 and 2,500 years old while digging to build a new soccer stadium in Deportivo Cali in southwestern Colombia, an archaeologist team said on Wednesday.

The tombs were found in Malagana, on the basin of the Cauca River. Anthropologist Jose Rodriguez, who headed a team from Colombia's National University, said that the tombs showed evidence of cannibalism and warrior activities.

There's nothing really in the article about how they determined any of this stuff. Except for a bit about a female "shaman".

Unearthed after 28 centuries

An ancient tree trunk unearthed by a landslide in southeastern Switzerland nearly two years ago is more than 28 centuries old, local authorities said Thursday.

The white pine was formally dated by scientists to 808 BC, about 2 815 years ago, Mathias Seifert of the archaelogical service in the canton of Graubuenden told the Swiss news agency ATS.

The tree was found on the banks of the Landquart river near the resort of Klosters in August 2005 following a spate of bad weather that caused flash floods and landslides in the mountainous area.

Seifert said he sent the trunk for radio carbon dating after examining the tree rings, which usually betray the age of a tree. The white pine had probably been preserved by a glacier or ice, he added.

That's the whole thing.

Sorry about the lack of blogging. Been fighting off some dreaded disease. And not sleeping enough because of it. Posting will resume shortly.

In the mail Got this a couple of days ago, F Anyone's I:

I am contacting you from Morningstar Entertainment. We are trying to
find a REAL ARCHEOLOGIST for the show host for a new cable series that we
are producing.
This is what we are looking for:

Male/female, 20's-50's, dynamic, interesting,roguish, someone who stands
out. A PHD & MA is a plus.

Salary will be discussed at audition.

We are looking for people from all over the United States or Britain.

If you know of anyone who would be right for this, they should:
- Please send headshot & resume or cover letter & photo ASAP via email
to: tinacasting789@yahoo.com

or to:

Tina Seiler Casting
PO Box 2001
Toluca Lake, CA 91610

Thank you.

Tina Seiler
Casting Director
818/382-7929

Be famous!

Greek archaeologists find Hera statue

A 2,200-year-old statue of the goddess Hera has been found in a wall of a city under Mount Olympus, mythical home of Greece's ancient gods, archaeologists announced Thursday.

The headless marble statue was discovered last year during excavations in the ruins of ancient Dion, some 50 miles southwest of Thessaloniki.

Archaeologist Dimitris Pantermalis said the life-sized statue had been used by the early Christian inhabitants of the city of Dion as filling for a defensive wall.

But where'd the head end up?

Underwater archaeology update Science Team to Search Gulf of Mexico

Famed undersea explorer Robert Ballard is leading a team of scientists heading into the Gulf of Mexico for a weeklong examination of Texas' ancient shoreline to see if anybody may have lived there.

Ballard, whose discoveries include the wrecks of the Titanic and the German battleship Bismarck, is among dozens of geologists, biologists and marine archaeologists exploring the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, a protected area of underwater salt domes that are topped with reefs that host brightly colored sponges, plants and other marine life.

But 15,000 or more years ago, with much of North America locked in the last Ice Age, water levels of the Gulf of Mexico were 200 feet lower, meaning the area was the Texas shoreline some 100 miles south of where it is now.

I've been skeptical they'll find anything. One would assume sediment desposition over this time would have buried stuff pretty deep. Maybe they know something not in the article.

Don't sink the boat

Ever since its discovery in 1954, the magnificent 4,600-year-old wooden funerary barge of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid, has been kept in poorly managed conditions. Its progressive deterioration has been calamitous. At long last, however, the responsibility of preparing a condition and conservation report on the vessel has been handed to Hani Hanna, chair of the International Conference on Heritage of the Naqada and Qus region, Egypt 2007.

. . .

The list seemed endless, and eyebrows were raised when Hanna told his audience at the international conference that extensive damage had also resulted from defective former restorations, and the metamorphosis of consolidation, coating and restoration materials. Much to everyone's astonishment, he added: "there are several oil paint spots resulting from the painting of the interior of the museum building."

Just goes to show, it's tough to preserve something better than it had been for 3,000 years.

Errrrrrr. . . . How Vikings Might Have Navigated on Cloudy Days

Vikings navigated the oceans with sundials aboard their Norse ships. But on an overcast day, sundials would have been useless. Many researchers have suggested that the on foggy days, Vikings looked toward the sky through rock crystals called sunstones to give them direction.

No one had tested the theory until recently.

A team sailed the Arctic Ocean aboard the Swedish icebreaker Oden and found that sunstones could indeed light the way in foggy and cloudy conditions.

OTOH: Unlike with Viking sundials, archaeologists have yet to find any remnants of sunstones. You'd think if they were so important to navigation, someone would have been buried with one in one of those way cool ship burials.

Peruvian citadel is site of earliest ancient solar observatory in the Americas

Chankillo is a large ceremonial center covering several square kilometers in the costal Peruvian desert. It was better known in the past for a heavily fortified hilltop structure with massive walls, restricted gates, and parapets. For many years, there has been a controversy as to whether this part of Chankillo was a fort or a ceremonial center. But the purpose of a 300meter long line of Thirteen Towers lying along a small hill nearby had remained a mystery..

The new evidence now identifies it as a solar observatory. When viewed from two specially constructed observing points, the thirteen towers are strikingly visible on the horizon, resembling large prehistoric teeth. Around the observing points are spaces where artifacts indicate that ritual gatherings were held.

The current report offers strong evidence for an additional use of the site at Chankillo � as a solar observatory. It is remarkable as the earliest known complete solar observatory in the Americas that defines all the major aspects of the solar year.

The photos at that link give a good indication at how it was used.

More here, too.

Geico Cavemen update

TV is So Easy, Even a Caveman Can Do It

ABC is looking to an unlikely place to find the next big television show: Geico TV commercials.

Yes, the net is developing a half-hour comedy based on the cavemen characters from the popular insurance ads. The show would revolve around three pre-historic men who must battle prejudice as they live their day-to-day lives in modern Atlanta. Who smells Emmy?

Not much more at the link. I'd been meaning to post that I thought a sitcom had to come out of these guys, but too late now to look prescient. Nevertheless, I predict it will be difficult to succeed. The gimmick seems to work well in small doses, but I suspect it will be tough to pull off on a regular basis. They're kind of "normal" in the commercials, but what sort of caveman quirks will they have on TV? Anything like the Beverly Hillbillies' schtick? Great physical strength, befitting Neanderthals? A proclivity to eat raw meat despite their suave demeanor? The writers will also have to be very clever working in the predjudice angle. And will they work some cool archaeology gags in anywhere? Do they need a technical advisor? Call me!

And sayeth Patrick, will they kill and eat the Gecko?

And now. . . .the news from the EEF

Press reports: "France to return 'pharaoh's hair' to Egypt"
http://snipurl.com/1boji
[http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070226/wl_mideast_afp/
franceegyptarchaeology_070226154815]
http://snipurl.com/1bojj
[http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=
20070226-013711-2645r]
http://snipurl.com/1bojk
[http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/
0,9294,2-11-1447_2075336,00.html]
"France is to hand over to Egypt a lock of hair said
to belong to the mummy of Ramses II that was put on sale
on the Internet last year. (..) French authorities recently
wrapped up a judicial investigation into the case, but are
not[!] expected to press charges against the seller."
[For the surfacing of this hairy scandal, see EEFNEWS (434).]

Press reports: "5-year-old gives up her year's savings
for U of M mummy-- $6.75 "
http://snipurl.com/1bojm
[http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/
0,2845,MCA_25340_5376781,00.html]
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Quirks/20070225-014557-9651r/
"Geni Gallant is 5 years old and passionate about ancient
Egypt. She's so passionate, in fact, that when the Oklahoma
native found out that the University of Memphis' Institute
of Egyptian Art and Archeology needed money to buy
new cases for its mummy collection, she saved up for a
whole year to donate to the cause."

Press report: "The tragedy of Isadora in pictures"
http://news.gom.com.eg/gazette/tourism/detail_8_88.shtml#
About the tomb of Isadora in Touna el-Gebel, and the
story of this Roman Period lady as told by the tomb scenes.

Press report: "Egyptian obelisk to be be erected in Beijing"
http://www.ansamed.info/en/egypt/news/ME09.YAM19102.html
"An [newly constructed] Egyptian obelisk will be erected in Beijing
as part of the ceremonies to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the
relations between Egypt and China."


The Australian Centre for Egyptology, Macquarie University,
Sydney Australia, has begun to put online (as PDF files) some
of its 'out of print' publications. Two have appeared:
-- ACE Studies I: The Family in the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt,
by Sheila Whale, 1989
http://www.egyptology.mq.edu.au/Studies%201.htm
-- ACE Reports 8: The Teti Cemetery in Saqqara, Volume I,
by N Kanawati and A Hassan, 1996
http://www.egyptology.mq.edu.au/REPORTS%208.htm
-- And don't overlook their section of downloadable selected
newsletter articles, the full Newsletters archive, and the Reports
of previous excavation and research:
http://www.egyptology.mq.edu.au/resourcematerialtext.htm

Shannon McPherron has put up some relevant papers on
her website - about prehistoric Egypt mostly:
-- Shannon R. McPherron, Deborah Olszewski, Harold
L. Dibble, Jennifer Smith, Utsav A. Schurmans, "High
Desert Paleolithic Survey at Abydos (Egypt): Preliminary
Report", in: Journal of Field Archaeology vol. 30 (2005),
pp. 283-303; in PDF (3.17 MB)
http://snipurl.com/1boko
[http://www.eva.mpg.de/evolution/staff/mcpherron/
pdf/olszewski_et_al05.pdf]
-- Shannon R. McPherron, Harold L. Dibble, "Using
Computers in Adverse Field Conditions: Tales from the
Egyptian Desert", in: The SAA Archaeological Record 3(5)
(2003), pp. 28-32; in PDF (1.24 MB)
http://snipurl.com/1bokq
[http://www.eva.mpg.de/evolution/staff/mcpherron/pdf/
mcpherron_and_dibble_2003.pdf]
-- Shannon R. McPherron, Deborah Olszewski, Harold L.
Dibble, Marie Soressi, "Middle Egypt in Prehistory: A
Search for the Origins of Modern Human Behavior and
Human Dispersal", in: Expedition 43(2) (2001), pp.31-37;
in PDF (6.30 MB)
http://snipurl.com/1boku
[http://www.eva.mpg.de/evolution/staff/mcpherron/pdf/
Expedition2001.pdf]
-- For the Abydos Survey for Prehistoric Sites (ASPS) project,
mentioned in the above papers, see EEFNEWS (397).

End of EEF news

Archaeologists unearth gasworks

Investigators have uncovered a major example of Scottish industrial archaeology in the middle of Edinburgh.

They have found the remains of the capital's original gasworks, which was opened almost 200 years ago.

The site, which was discovered during redevelopment of the area, lies to the east of Edinburgh's Waverley station.

A brothel? What came before the schoolhouse?

Before the Silver City Schoolhouse was built in 1867, something else stood in its spot. What it might have been is anybody's guess.

But residents who spent last weekend digging under the older, southern wing of the schoolhouse discovered a rock wall that did not belong to the schoolhouse.

On the wall was a pair of 19th-century children's shoes.

"The wall appears to be older than the school," said Ron Reno, a Silver City resident who is also an archaeologist with Zeier & Associates of Minden.

Medieval burial ground unearthed

Human remains have been found by developers building a new hotel and student block in Preston.

The bones, discovered in Marsh Lane, are believed to be from a medieval burial ground.

Five coffins and a number of skeletal remains have been uncovered, along with medieval glass and floor tiles thought to be up to 700 years old.
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The site has been fenced off and work halted to allow archaeologists to examine it.

Looters pillaging Native American sites in Palm Beach County

Piece by piece, year after year, relics that tell the history of Palm Beach County are vanishing.

Development along the coast and expanding westward has paved over countless sites once home to Florida's earliest civilizations. The sites that remain along the western edge of the county are being pillaged by thieves, who've dug up centuries of unrecorded history in search of lucrative clay pots, tools and jewelry that can be sold to collectors.

It's a practice that's illegal at the local, state and federal levels, but one, county officials admit, they're largely powerless to stop. The ancient sites, some thought to be burial mounds dating back thousands of years, are too remote and too inaccessible to be patrolled every day. Despite limited exposure, researchers have already uncovered some artifacts -- crystal-beaded necklaces, metal figurines and gold beads -- that hint at a thriving civilization that lived off the land and traded with early explorers around the time of Shakespeare and the Renaissance in Europe.