The Archaeologist.

Abandoned Amusement Park in New Orleans

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:59:09 -0400

Abandoned Amusement Park in New Orleans

Balancing Rocks in Central Oregon “Geologists explain that the...

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:55:43 -0400

Balancing Rocks in Central Oregon

“Geologists explain that the formations are the result of the aging, tilting and erosion of two layers of consolidated volcanic ash, known as tuff.

These ash flows originated from the Cascade volcanoes to the west many thousands of years ago. The top layer of tuff was tougher so to speak than the bottom layer, so as the ground tilted and cracked and the softer bottom layer was eroded by wind and water, top-heavy rock pedestals remained.

Discovered by surveyors way back in the 1850s, the unusual rocks were known to only a handful of people for many decades. They remained hidden in a forest of pine and juniper until a forest fire in 2002 denuded the area. Visible now from Forest Service roads and from boats on the popular Lake Billy Chinook below, the rocks are visited more frequently. Sadly, the formations pose an irresistible temptation to immature vandals and a few of the pedestals have been toppled. Fortunately, most are far more massive, stable and durable than they appear.”— Brad Goldpaint

archaeologyroadshow: In Pakistan, Secrets Of A 3,000-Year-Old...

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:53:28 -0400

archaeologyroadshow:

In Pakistan, Secrets Of A 3,000-Year-Old Cemetery

You Too Can Own A Piece Of Ancient History

The pairing of the Pakistan cemetery story with the Sythian gold piece for sale took my breath away. The first piece was a thoughtful overview of the Italian-led excavation in the Swat Valley that is carefully uncovering details about a long-gone culture, revealing remarkable things about Iron-age life and —- at the same time, helping a modern community heal from the ravages of war and conflict. Seconds after this story ended, Sunday Edition host Rachel Martin interviewed someone from Christies who was about to auction a ~5th century BC Sythian gold piece—a stark example of the antiquities trade. ARGH. The sale of artifacts on the open market promotes the looting of archaeological sites, undermining archaeological context and our ability to actually learn from the past. There goes the heritage of descendent communities as well. I know why the two stories were paired—-both were about “old stuff”. Sadly, the relationship is much more insidious. I wrote an email to NPR, hoping to get my letter on the radio but alas, no interest. So sharing it here…

Learn more about what archaeology gives us —- and how fragile it is at the June 2^nd Archaeology Roadshow at OMSI.

((Photo and articles belong to NPR))

Archaeological News: Archaeologists uncover Pagan skeletons at housing development near Stonehenge

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:52:46 -0400

Archaeological News: Archaeologists uncover Pagan skeletons at housing development near Stonehenge:...

Alabama city destroying ancient Indian mound for Sam's Club

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:52:07 -0400

Alabama city destroying ancient Indian mound for Sam's Club: llamastash: How is this...

Archaeologist will uncover Stonea Campâs secrets at special event

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:51:36 -0400

Archaeologist will uncover Stonea Campâs secrets at special event: willo-wisp: THE history of...

Archaeological News: Nepal's archaeologists discover Buddha relics during excavation

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:51:22 -0400

Archaeological News: Nepal's archaeologists discover Buddha relics during excavation:...

nullarysources: Israel Antiquities Authority press release: A...

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:49:51 -0400

nullarysources:

Israel Antiquities Authority press release:

A spectacular colorful mosaic dating to the Byzantine period (4th–6th centuries CE) was exposed in recent weeks in the fields of Kibbutz Bet Qama, in the B’nei Shimon regional council. The mosaic was discovered within the framework of an archaeological excavation the Israel Antiquities Authority is carrying out prior to the construction of an interchange between Ma’ahaz and Devira Junction, undertaken and funded by the Cross-Israel Highway Company.

The photo here is by Yael Yolovitch for the European Pressphoto Agency and I snagged it from NBC News’s PhotoBlog.

medievalistsnet: This excellent paper was the first given in...

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:49:36 -0400

medievalistsnet:

This excellent paper was the first given in the session on Early Medieval Europe. It looked at various archaeological excavations in Iceland and Denmark and the political role feasting played in pre-Christian Viking societies.

http://www.medievalists.net/2013/05/18/feasting-with-early-medieval-chiefs-locating-political-action-through-environmental-archaeology/

bluedodi: Evolutionary Answers from Prehistoric Ear...

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:49:19 -0400

bluedodi:

Evolutionary Answers from Prehistoric Ear Bones

According to a recent study, the bones of the middle ear could provide huge clues about our evolution and the development of modern-day humans. Darryl de Ruiter, a professor in the Department of Anthropology at Texas A&M, and colleagues from Binghamton University (the State University of New York) and researchers from Spain and Italy have published their work in the current issue of PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science).
The team examined the skull of a hominin believed to be about 1.9 million years old and found in a cave called Swartkrans, in South Africa. Of particular interest to the team were bones found in the middle ear, especially one called the malleus. It and the other ear bones - the incus and the stapes - together show a mixture of ape-like and human-like features, and represent the first time all three bones have been found together in one skull.
The malleus appears to be very human-like, the findings show, while the incus and stapes resemble those of a more chimpanzee-like, or ape-like creature. Since both modern humans and our early ancestors share this human-like malleus, the changes in this bone must have occurred very early in our evolutionary history.
“The discovery is important for two reasons,” de Ruiter explains. “First, ear ossicles are fully formed and adult-sized at birth, and they do not undergo any type of anatomical change in an individual lifetime. Thus, they are a very close representation of genetic expression. Second, these bones show that their hearing ability was different from that of humans - not necessarily better or worse, but certainly different.”
“Bipedalism (walking on two feet) and a reduction in the size of the canine teeth have long been held to be ‘hallmarks of humanity’ since they seem to be present in the earliest human fossils recovered to date. Our study suggests that the list may need to be updated to include changes in the malleus as well,” de Ruiters concludes.
de Ruiter recently authored a series of papers in Science magazine that demonstrate the intermediate nature of the closely related species, Australopithecus sediba, and provide strong support that this species lies rather close to the ancestry of Homo sapiens. The current study could yield additional new clues to human development and answer key questions of the evolution of the human lineage.

theolduvaigorge: On the horns of a mammoth dilemma Can the...

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:48:43 -0400

theolduvaigorge:

On the horns of a mammoth dilemma

Can the ancient tusks of the extinct species retrieved from Arctic ice tell us exactly why it died out?

by Dr. Alice Roberts

“The first time I met palaeontologist Dan Fisher was in a hotel in the Arctic frontier town of Salekhard, in Siberia. I was there to film an expedition to recover a new mammoth specimen with a crew from the BBC. We were keen to head north into the tundra of the Yamal peninsula, where we’d heard that new mammoth carcasses had been discovered. After sharing a large Mi-8 helicopter with a load of Siberian hunters, we landed at a reindeer herders’ camp, consisting of a few tepee-like “chums” on an island surrounded by ice-choked rivers. This was to be our base while the team tried to track down the mammoth remains said to be in the vicinity.

But fate was against us. One trail dried up as we got close. We knew a worker on the Gazprom railway had reported finding a mammoth, but it seemed that he had either forgotten the location or been offered a better price. We hoped to investigate other possible finds to the north, but were thwarted by the iced-up rivers. Eventually we had to give up.

Dan was philosophical about this turn of events. He’d been on many expeditions to Siberia, sometimes finding mammoths, often not. For him, the real prize was mammoth ivory – the same stuff that the reindeer herders searched for every spring as the ice loosened its grip. Most of this ancient ivory would be traded to the east, to markets in Japan and China. A very small proportion of it would find its way to scientists, who saw a value beyond its aesthetic appeal.

Later in the year, I visited Dan in his own habitat, the University of Michigan’s Museum of Palaeontology, to find out how he unlocked the secrets of mammoth ivory. He brought out a tusk he’d acquired on his recent trip to Wrangell Island in the Arctic Ocean, home to the last of the mammoths. This tusk was from an animal that had died a mere 6,000 years ago. We took it into a small room full of scientific paraphernalia – and a bandsaw – and started to cut. It was slow and painstaking work” (read more).

(Source: Guardian; bottom image Mammuthus.org)

theolduvaigorge: East meets West: the Middle Pleistocene site...

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:48:31 -0400

theolduvaigorge:

East meets West: the Middle Pleistocene site of Rodafnidia on Lesvos, Greece

by Nena Galanidou, James Cole, Giorgos Iliopoulos & John McNabb

Introduction:

“This paper introduces a new inter-disciplinary and international research project focused on the Palaeolithic site of Rodafnidia on the Greek island of Lesvos, located in the north-eastern Aegean Sea (Figure 1). Rodafnidia, near the village of Lisvori, is less than a kilometre away from the south-western shore of the large Kalloni Gulf. It is a prolific open-air site spanning the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic. What makes this site unique is the richness of its Acheulean lithic assemblage which, so far, makes it unparalleled in Greece (Galanidou 2004).

The island of Lesvos is separated from the Anatolian coast by two sea straits: Mouselim and Mytilene. A glacial sea-level drop of only 50m would be enough to expose the eastern strait and connect the island with the Asian mainland, allowing hominin and terrestrial animal migration. Several fossiliferous sites have been found in Early Pleistocene deposits on the south coast of the island with over 15 mammal taxa including the giant macaque (Paradolichopithecus arvernensis), which is characterised as continental (Lyras & van der Geer 2007) and reflects a proximity to Anatolia. The site of Rodafnidia introduces the human perspective into the rich palaeontological record of Lesvos and adds a new point to the Palaeolithic map of the north-eastern Mediterranean” (read more/open access).

(Open access source: Antiquity 087(336), 2013)

Despite secrecy, interest builds around mysterious First Temple find outside Bethlehem | The Times of Israel

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:47:54 -0400

Despite secrecy, interest builds around mysterious First Temple find outside Bethlehem | The Times...

sulinars: I am posting an update to the story I posted earlier...

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:47:03 -0400

sulinars:

I am posting an update to the story I posted earlier today concerning the Stone Mound in Alabama. I was so upset by the story I neglected to check the date. Old story.

Here is the most recent information I can find.

Still sad.

(via Anniston Star - Moving ground: Work crews begin relocating mound behind Oxford Exchange)

didoofcarthage: Limestone stela with images of the goddess...

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:00:27 -0400

didoofcarthage:

Limestone stela with images of the goddess Tanit

From the religious precinct known as the tophet

Carthage, North Africa

1st Century AD

British Museum

Archaeological News: Update: Fine for destruction of ancient Mayan pyramid? $5,000

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:50:50 -0400

Archaeological News: Update: Fine for destruction of ancient Mayan pyramid? $5,000:...

bayoread: Exaleiptron - A cosmetics holder. Aryballos - Used to...

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:50:30 -0400

bayoread:

Exaleiptron - A cosmetics holder.

Aryballos - Used to store perfume or oil.

Oinochoe - A wine jug.

Olpe - Liquid pourer.

Pyxis - A woman’s trinket box.

Alabastron - Used to store perfume or massage oil.

Askos - Mainly used for storing oil and refilling oil lamps.

Lekythos - Used for storing oil, mainly olive oil.

Hydria - A water carrier.

Kalpis - A water carrier.

Amphora - Used to store dry goods such as grain and liquids, mostly wine. Most amphora used for transportation have a pointed base.

Pelike - Stored oil and wine.

Loutrophorous - Water carrier used to bathe the bride before her wedding. It was also employed during funerary rites.

merz-republic: stonehenge

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:49:15 -0400

merz-republic:

stonehenge

aljazeera: Tackling ‘the big three’ We discuss malaria, TB and...

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:48:51 -0400

aljazeera:

Tackling ‘the big three’

We discuss malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS, three infectious diseases that account for 10 percent of all deaths worldwide.

Viking Valkyrie

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:48:29 -0400

Viking Valkyrie: This Valkyrie pendant is based on an original Viking age find from Oland in Sweden,...

The Archaeologist.

Abandoned Amusement Park in New Orleans

Balancing Rocks in Central Oregon “Geologists explain that the...

archaeologyroadshow: In Pakistan, Secrets Of A 3,000-Year-Old...

Archaeological News: Archaeologists uncover Pagan skeletons at housing development near Stonehenge

Alabama city destroying ancient Indian mound for Sam's Club

Archaeologist will uncover Stonea Campâs secrets at special event

Archaeological News: Nepal's archaeologists discover Buddha relics during excavation

nullarysources: Israel Antiquities Authority press release: A...

medievalistsnet: This excellent paper was the first given in...

bluedodi: Evolutionary Answers from Prehistoric Ear...

theolduvaigorge: On the horns of a mammoth dilemma Can the...

On the horns of a mammoth dilemma

theolduvaigorge: East meets West: the Middle Pleistocene site...

East meets West: the Middle Pleistocene site of Rodafnidia on Lesvos, Greece

Despite secrecy, interest builds around mysterious First Temple find outside Bethlehem | The Times of Israel

sulinars: I am posting an update to the story I posted earlier...

didoofcarthage: Limestone stela with images of the goddess...

Archaeological News: Update: Fine for destruction of ancient Mayan pyramid? $5,000

bayoread: Exaleiptron - A cosmetics holder. Aryballos - Used to...

merz-republic: stonehenge

aljazeera: Tackling ‘the big three’ We discuss malaria, TB and...

Tackling ‘the big three’

We discuss malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS, three infectious diseases that account for 10 percent of all deaths worldwide.

Viking Valkyrie

Archaeologist will uncover Stonea Campâs secrets at special event