Machu Picchu Report
Wednesday December 31, 2003
BBC News reports on the latest information from teh ongoing political debate over the development / preservation issues at Machu Picchu:
Row erupts over Peru's tourist treasure
Santa Rita B (Peru)
Wednesday December 31, 2003
May 31 - July 15, 2004 (two sessions). Metropolitan State College of Denver, California Institute for Peruvian Studies and Universidad Nacional de Trujillo; excavations in northern coastal Peru in the ... Read More
An Old Wine
Wednesday December 31, 2003
The Independent is reporting 8,000 year old ceramic wine carafes from the former Soviet republic of Georgia
Now that's what you call a real vintage
Chastiye Kurgany Burial Mound (Russia): 2004
Wednesday December 31, 2003
July 18 - August 8, 2004 (two sessions). Centre for the Study of Eurasian Nomads, Rostov University, and the Donskaya Arkheologia journal. Scythian, 5th-4th centuries BC; Khazar, 8th-9th centuries AD; ... Read More
A Theory for Flake Creation
Tuesday December 30, 2003
A new paper from Tony Baker, summarizing his years of work on experimental archaeological tests on stone tool production.
Reports from Oxyrhynchus
Tuesday December 30, 2003
The Daily Telegraph reports on the latest findings from the Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus:
The Daily Telegraph
Sudan Emergency Excavations
Tuesday December 30, 2003
Archaeologists at the University of Calgary are spending their holidays conducting salvage excavations in the Sudan, according to this story in the CBD:
Calgary archaeologists race to save Sudan artifacts
Limpopo River Valley Field School-2004
Tuesday December 30, 2003
3 June-30 June and 26 July-22 August, 2004. University of Witswatersrand. Tours, classes, and excavations at paleoanthropological sites in the Makapan Valley of South Africa.
Estancia La Maria, Argentina
Tuesday December 30, 2003
Spring and Fall 2004. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Ranch in the Patagonian region of Argentina, with rockshelters and sites dated beginning in the late Pleistocene. Offers ten-day courses at ... Read More
Shipwrecks in Lake Michigan
Monday December 29, 2003
Article in CNN reports on several of shipwrecks identified in Lake Michigan:
Shipwrecks lure divers to Great Lakes
History and Archaeology at the Borderlines
Monday December 29, 2003
John Noble Wilford on the irony of the archaeological investigations at Khirbat Hamra Ifdan, within the political no-man's land between the Negev of Israel and southern Jordan:
A Border Whose Roots ... Read More
Bam Site in Danger
Monday December 29, 2003
25,000 people killed in the town of Bam, Iran; and a Safavid period (1502-1722) historic fortress is also in danger, according to this story in Scotland on Sunday:
Unesco wants ... Read More
Hawkcombe Head Mesolithic Site (England): 2004
Sunday December 28, 2003
12 July-30 July 2004. University of Bristol. Landscape archaeology at a Mesolithic site on the coastal fringe of Exmoor
Baga Gazaryn Chuluu, Mongolia Field School
Sunday December 28, 2003
June through July 2004. Center for the Study of Eurasian Nomads. Pedestrian survey and small-scale excavation at the site of Baga Gazaryn Chuluu; occupations dated from the Upper Paleolithic to ... Read More
Scanteia and Tropeum Traiani (Romania): 2004
Sunday December 28, 2003
July 16-August 8, 2004. San Francisco State. Two sites in Romania, one a Late Neolithic village and one a alte Roman city.
Marana Mound, Arizona 2004
Sunday December 28, 2003
January 14 - May 7, 2004. University of Arizona and the University of Hawai'i. The Marana Mound site near Tucson is a Hohokam center of the early Classic period (A.D. ... Read More
Pompeii: 2004
Saturday December 27, 2003
July 3-August 7, 2004. University of Bradford (Anglo-American Project in Pompeei). In 2004 we will again address the wide social range of Insula VI,1. We will continue investigating the second ... Read More
AeoScreen
Saturday December 27, 2003
A screen-making outfit out of Silver City Nevada is advertising a 90-day guarantee on its wares.
Stephen Dedalus (James Joyce) on how he feels about history
Saturday December 27, 2003
From James Joyce's classically confusing novel, Ulysses.
Golden Hills Khazar Fortress (Russia): 2004
Saturday December 27, 2003
June 20 - July 11, 2004. Center for the Study of Eurasian Nomads. Khazar period fortress located in the lower Don River region, about 70 km east of Rostov-na-Don.
Savannah, Antigua 2004
Saturday December 27, 2003
May 22 to June 19, 2004. University of Calgary. Savannah is an early colonial plantation site near the village of English Harbour, and some of the earliest colonists settled here. ... Read More
Excavate Petra 2004
Friday December 26, 2003
The American Expedition to Petra (AEP) is pleased to announce its 21st season of research and excavation of the Nabataean "Temple of the Winged Lions" and the adjacent area in ... Read More
Camille Paglia on voyages to the past
Friday December 26, 2003
From an article in the Wall Street Journal in September 1999, entitled "Mummy Dearest: Archeaology is unfairly maligned by trendy academics." Who'da thunk?
Dhar': PPNA site in Jordan
Friday December 26, 2003
Summers 2002-2005. University of Edinburgh. Pre-Pottery Neolithic A period (c. 11,700 - 10,500 calendar years before present) sedentary, agricultural, community in the Near East.
Belize Valley Archaeological Projects
Friday December 26, 2003
June 6 - August 7, 2004. (two sessions). The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project will once again be conducting research at several sites in western Belize.
Excavate This Year in Uzbekistan
Friday December 26, 2003
September 2004. University of Sydney Central Asian Programme. Two major sites in western Uzbekistan: the fortified centre of Kazakl'i-yatkan and the religious fire temple complex of Tash-k'irman-tepe. The sites date ... Read More
A classic insult from Alexander Dumas
Thursday December 25, 2003
My favorite evolutionary insult.
Cape Field School (South Africa) 2004
Thursday December 25, 2003
February and March (annually). SUNY at Stony Brook. The aim of the De Hoop field school excavations is to locate and excavate a Middle Stone Age site that will complement ... Read More
Woolley on the effects of business
Thursday December 25, 2003
From Woolley's great text, "Excavations at Ur: A record of 12 year's work."
West Point Foundry, New York: 2004
Thursday December 25, 2003
May 17-June 25, 2004. Michigan Technological University. The first session will investigate the site of the West Point Foundry is in Cold Spring, New York, in the Hudson River Valley ... Read More
Moishe Shokeid, on melding anthropologist and informant
Wednesday December 24, 2003
From Shokeid's 1997 article in Current Anthropology, called "Negotiating Multiple Viewpoints: The cook, the native, the publisher, and the ethnographic text."
Belize Archaeological Project Fieldschool 2004
Wednesday December 24, 2003
February 2-June 22, 2004 (two sessions). University of Texas at Austin. The field school program involves survey, excavation at several Maya sites, and laboratory experience working directly with excavated Maya ... Read More
Poplar Forest, Virginia: 2004
Wednesday December 24, 2003
June 6-August 8, 2004 (3 sessions). Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest and the University of Virginia. Inclusing one session for teachers and one on art restoration.
Paa-ko, New Mexico: 2004
Wednesday December 24, 2003
June 21 to July 30, 2004. University of Chicago. This summer will be the 9th field season of a long term research project based in the Middle Rio Grande Valley ... Read More
Jamestown, Virginia 2004
Tuesday December 23, 2003
June 7 - July 16, 2004. APVA, the University of Virginia, and the National Park Service . Excavations on Jamestown Island, the site of the first permanent English settlement in ... Read More
Nathan Light on the mental prison of modern myths
Tuesday December 23, 2003
From Light's 1999 article in the now-defunct Discovering Archaeology called "Tabloid Archaeology: Is television trivializing science?"
Cahokia Palisade Project 2004
Tuesday December 23, 2003
July 12 - 30, 2004. University of Missouri at St. Louis. Cahokia is the largest prehistoric Native American city north of Mexico, and the center of economic, social, political, and ... Read More
Archaeology and Geophysical Survey in Indiana 2004
Tuesday December 23, 2003
May 24-July 2, 2004. University of Notre Dame. Remote sensing at two archaeological sites in Indiana, the Removal period Collier Lodge site and Hopewellian Mud Lake site.
Alexandria, Virginia Field School 2004
Tuesday December 23, 2003
May 18-May 29, 2004. George Washington University. A ten-day introductory course in field and laboratory methods conducted by City of Alexandria archaeologists in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Students will learn ... Read More
Feltville, New Jersey 2004
Monday December 22, 2003
June 28 - July 20, 2004. Montclair State University. Intensive training in archaeological survey, testing and excavation, with geoarchaeology and laboratory components, conducted in a 19th century industrial utopian village ... Read More
Excavate at Ferry Farm
Monday December 22, 2003
The first of the field school announcements for the 2004 field season is from George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation and University of South Florida. Students will excavate at Ferry Farm, a ... Read More
Chaco Canyon Agriculture
Monday December 22, 2003
Archaeology magazine is reporting new findings from Chaco Canyon on the administrative capabilities of the central place:
Chaco's Far-Flung Corn Fields Come to Light
A. L. Kroeber on anthropology's charm.
Monday December 22, 2003
Suggested by Sharlotte Neely's anthropology page at Northern Kentucky University.
Solstice 2003 at Newgrange
Sunday December 21, 2003
From Knowth.com, images of sunrise on the Winter Solstice this year at the megalithic site of Newgrange:
Winter Solstice sunrise at Newgrange
The Late Classic City of Cacaxtla
Sunday December 21, 2003
If you're going to Tlaxcala, you should visit Cacaxtla, an Olmec and Xicalanca culture site with one of the longest painted murals in Mesoamerica.
Surf Clam Ridge Site
Sunday December 21, 2003
Story in the Florida News-Press on investigations at the Calusa site of Surf Clam Ridge at the Pineland site:
Calusa built round homes
Burial Box, Again
Sunday December 21, 2003
A news story in the Guardian this week describes the latest article in Biblical Archaeology Review supporting the authenticity of the Burial Box:
Geologist Refutes Jesus Inscription Claim
Michael Goodchild on maintaining intellectual depth
Friday December 19, 2003
From a 1998 interview of the geographer with Nadine Schuurman, published in Environment and Planning D: Society and Space in 1999.
Nature Weighs In
Friday December 19, 2003
Another report on this story making the roundson Nicholas Conard's discovery of ivory sculptures in Germany, this time from Nature magazine:
Oldest sculptures unearthed: Carvings show early Europeans' prodigious skill.
Scientific American: Ivory Figurines
Friday December 19, 2003
Another article on the 30,000 year old ivory sculptures found in Germany, this time from Scientific American:
Sculptures Reveal Artistic Mastery of Prehistoric Europeans
Early Human Artwork
Thursday December 18, 2003
John Noble Wilford writing in the NYT reports on the bone art work recently reported found in Hohle Fels Cave, Germany, and dated to 30,000 years ago:
Figurines Found in ... Read More
Where is Amelia Earhart?
Thursday December 18, 2003
From National Geographic, a long article describing three theories about the mysterious disappearance of the aviatrix in 1937 off Howland Island.
Where Is Amelia Earhart?—Three Theories
John Hoopes on the future of the past
Thursday December 18, 2003
From his 1997 article "The future of the past: archaeology and anthropology on the world wide web" in Archives and Museum Informatics.
Voynich Manuscript Doubted
Thursday December 18, 2003
According to a news story in Nature this week, the Voynich manuscript by be a 16th century hoax:
World's most mysterious book may be a hoax: The Voynich manuscript may ... Read More
Climate Studies for Past Millennia
Thursday December 18, 2003
A couple of guys at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies are reporting on some climatic data for the past few thousand years:
Scientists 'reconstruct' earth's climate over past millennia
Doel and Clarke on post-modern fatigue syndrome
Wednesday December 17, 2003
from their 1999 article in Environment and Planning D: Society and Space called "Dark panopticon, or attack of the killer tomatoes."
Colosseum Study Shows Machinery
Wednesday December 17, 2003
The London Telegraph reports on studies into the machinery underlying the Roman Colosseum:
Ancient machinery drove cruelty at the Colosseum
Library at Alexandria
Wednesday December 17, 2003
Al-Ahram visits the history of the famed Library at Alexandria this week:
The Mouseion revisited
Iron Age City in Be'er Sheva
Tuesday December 16, 2003
Article in Ha'aretz this week describes the identificaiton of a Canaanite city:
A biblical city next to the Bedouin market
Randall Jarrell on seeing the world through gold-colored glasses
Tuesday December 16, 2003
From American poet Randall Jarrell.
Na Wahi Kapu o Maui
Monday December 15, 2003
Interview in the Honolulu Star Bulletin of photographer Anne Kapulani Landgraf on her new book of photographs of archaeological and cultural sites in Hawai'i:
Forbidden Places
Sarah Tarlow on negotiating between rocks and a whirlpool
Monday December 15, 2003
From her 2000 article in Current Anthropology called "Emotion in Archaeology"
What George Lucas said when he first saw Tikal
Monday December 15, 2003
A joke for the Mayanist crowd: Tikal was used for some of the landscape in the very first Star Wars movie (1977).
Shopping Archaeology
Monday December 15, 2003
Cafe Press sells articles of clothing, cups, lunch boxes, all kinds of gewgaws for small businesses that want to earn a little money for their website by having their logos ... Read More
Finn on authenticity
Sunday December 14, 2003
From her 1997 article in Antiquity called "Leaving more than footprints: Modern votive offerings at Chacko Canyon prehistoric site".
Mardonio's Fleet Found?
Sunday December 14, 2003
According to Kathimerini, a joint Canadian and Greek expedition in the Mediterranean has found part of the Persian fleet that sank in 493 BC:
ekathimerini.com | Archaeologists find the traces of ... Read More
Scientific News Sources
Sunday December 14, 2003
Ever wonder how in the world your guide keeps up with news in the archaeology world? Check here for the best sources.
The Stomachion Decoded
Sunday December 14, 2003
NYT article by Gina Kolata on the latest work coming from being able to read the Archimedes Manuscript:
In Archimedes' Puzzle, a New Eureka Moment
James Whitley on fishy ideas
Sunday December 14, 2003
From a Malone, Stoddart and jJames Antiquity editorial in 1999.
Abydos
Saturday December 13, 2003
Summary article in the University of Chicago Chronicle on the Oriental Institute's investigations at Abydos:
Abydos: A place with many ancient stories to tell
Markenfield Hall Discovery
Saturday December 13, 2003
A news story in "This is Richmond" reports on the discovery of a medieval-period fireplace hidden by centuries of remodeling at Markenfield Hall, North Yorkshire:
Medieval fireplace uncovered
Global Repatriation
Saturday December 13, 2003
Article by Nathan Vardi in Forbes.com discusses the current status of the movement to return cultural heritage bits to their countries of origin:
The Return of the Mummy
Paul Bahn on Being an Archaeologist
Saturday December 13, 2003
From Bahn's Bluff Your Way in Archaeology, which holds a special place on my book shelf.
What Happened to the Neanderthals?
Saturday December 13, 2003
Jay's Journal on EXN reports on the human vs Neanderthal, uh, I suppose the word is "debate" about why humans survived while Neanderthals died out:
Long Gone Neanderthals
Alice Beck Kehoe on tolerance for ambiguity.
Friday December 12, 2003
From Kehoe's 1998 book The Land of Prehistory: A critical history of American archaeology.
Visiting Sita Kotuwa
Friday December 12, 2003
The Sri Lanka Daily Mirror gives a travelogue to the site of Sita Kotuwa, a little known site in Sri Lanka:
Of limestone caves and little known archaeology
Qafzeh Cave Report
Friday December 12, 2003
The BBC news reports on a 100,000 year old burial stained with red ochre in the Qafzeh Cave Report, which may be a rituarl burial:
Cave colours reveal mental leap
Liverpool Mummies May Go Home
Friday December 12, 2003
Article in Cheshire Online reports that mummies stored at the Liverpool Museum may be repatriated to Egypt:
Mummies may go home
Burying the Evidence
Thursday December 11, 2003
From the edgy Spiked magazine, an article by Tiffany Jenkins on the repatriation movement and some conspiracy theories:
Burying the evidence
Warrior of Lattes
Thursday December 11, 2003
BBC News reports on an Antiquity article on a Celtic stone statue of a warrior:
Stone warrior delights experts
Howard Winters on the meaning of civilization -
Thursday December 11, 2003
From an unpublished paper at the Midwest Archaeological Conference at Lexington, KY in 1994
Neanderthal Site in Wiltshire
Thursday December 11, 2003
An article in Guardian Unlimited reports (briefly) on the identification of what must be a Neanderthal site in Wiltshire, which is at least slowing down road construction:
Lembudu Cave
Wednesday December 10, 2003
A cave in Indonesia contains a burial dated to 18,000 years before the present; this report in the Sydney Morning Herald of excavations by Susan O'Connor:
Our own Amazon princess ... Read More
David Hurst-Thomas on the meaning of discovery
Wednesday December 10, 2003
From his book Archaeology, published in 1989.
Song Dynasty Terra Cotta Warrior found
Wednesday December 10, 2003
A new terracotta warrior has been found, this one in the Sichuan province and apparently painted, according to this story in The People's Daily:
Tricolor terra-cotta warrior unearthed in SW ... Read More
Gosack Site
Tuesday December 9, 2003
New article in Scientific American describes the Gosack site, thought to be a 7,000 year old observatory:
Circles for Space -- German "Stonehenge" marks oldest observatory
Tommaso Marinetti on our most dangerous prevaricator
Tuesday December 9, 2003
Italian playright Marinetti, from We Abjure Our Symbolist Masters, a mind-boggling title if I ever heard one...
Megafaunal Extinctions: Chicxulub Meteor
Tuesday December 9, 2003
New work on the impact of the Chicxulub Meteor disaster of 65 millions years ago is making some waves (pun, anyone?). Article in Nature:
Roast dinosaur off the menu?: Giant ... Read More
Neanderthal Art Found
Monday December 8, 2003
A flint object was found on the banks of the Loire is considered a Neanderthal art object, dated to 35,000 years ago. Story in the BBC News:
Neanderthal 'face' found ... Read More
Stone Age Research Center opens
Monday December 8, 2003
Nicholas Toth and Kathy Schick of Indiana University opened the doors on their long-awaited CRAFT Stone Age Institute:
Yahoo! News - Stone Age Research Center Opens in Indiana
Mapping Egypt's Sites
Sunday December 7, 2003
Egypt Today has a progress report on the Finnish-Egyptian project to build a database of all of Egypt's cultural heritage: Mapping the nation's treasures
Marquardt on unearthing support
Sunday December 7, 2003
From William Marquardt's 1996 article in teh Chronicle of Higher Education
Oseberg Boat DNA Study
Sunday December 7, 2003
Reuters has a story on some plans to disinter the Viking woman buried in the Oseberg longboat:
Viking queen may be exhumed for clues to killing
Han Dynasty Documents Found
Sunday December 7, 2003
Story in China View this week describes some new Han Dynasty documents from Juyan:
Joan Gero on distinguishing the past from the present
Saturday December 6, 2003
From her 1985 American Antiquity article called "Socio-politics and the woman-at-home ideology".
William Least Heat-Moon on the lack of yesterdays on the road
Friday December 5, 2003
From the 1983 best seller, Blue Highways.
Ancient World Mapping Project
Friday December 5, 2003
From the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a project "to promote cartography and geographic information science as essential disciplines within the field of ancient studies;" more or less ... Read More
Spender on Wooden Ships
Friday December 5, 2003
The poet Stephen Spender has a nice analogy for what history does best:
Stephen Spender on wooden ships
The Stonehenge Project
Friday December 5, 2003
This website is designed to help make Stonehenge more accessible to the public; by providing information about the proposed changes to the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. Contains some information about ... Read More
Ancient India at the British Museum
Friday December 5, 2003
A new online display from the British Museum, is meant for middle school students and teachers, but interesting for nearly anybody on the cultures of India.
Mount Vernon Excavations
Thursday December 4, 2003
Postings continue for Archaeology Magazine's interactive dig at the historic home of US President George Washington:
Interactive Dig Mt. Vernon: Distilling the Past
Inge on why archaeology is a great occupation
Thursday December 4, 2003
And why historians have it easy: from his 1929 book on Assessments and Anticipations.
Pompeii: The Novel
Thursday December 4, 2003
Brett Leslie Correa reviews Robert Harris' new novel set in Roman era Pompeii at the time of the Vesuvius eruption; in Archaeology Magazine:
Love Among the Ruins
Shipwreck at Playa Damas
Thursday December 4, 2003
Latest video from the Archaeology Channel is on the 16th century shipwreck found off the coast of Panama which maybe La Vizcaina:
The Archaeology Channel
Andrew Jones on perceiving the Neolithic
Wednesday December 3, 2003
From Jones' 2001 book, Archaeological Theory and Scientific Practice.
Machu Picchu: A Home in the Clouds
Wednesday December 3, 2003
On a cloud-draped ridge between the two peaks lies the site of Machu Picchu, part of the estate of the Inca king Pachacuti, one of the glories of the ancient ... Read More
Parthenon Frieze Repatriation
Wednesday December 3, 2003
An article in last week's Guardian Unlimited discusses the case for returning Lord Elgin's marbles (swiped from the Parthenon in the mid-10th century) back to Athens--or not:
Moving the marbles
Indo European Discussions
Wednesday December 3, 2003
Article in Nature reports on a new theory from linguists concerning the origination of the Indo-European family of languages:
Language tree rooted in Turkey: Evolutionary ideas give farmers credit for ... Read More
New Museum/Archive for Chapel Hill
Wednesday December 3, 2003
Vincas Steponaitis's lab just got a big fat grant to build a museum/archive for the collections at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; in this story from the ... Read More
Be Sure to Learn GPS Navigation
Tuesday December 2, 2003
Not your average archaeology story, but this Cincinnati Enquirer news story turned up today, about some people who are working with GPS equipment to keep WWW sites like MapQuest and ... Read More
Emperor Qin's Soldiers
Tuesday December 2, 2003
Article in ScienceNews online on the terracotta soldiers' dilemma concerning the preservation of their polychrome finish:
The March of History: Terra-cotta warriors show their true colors:
Timothy Kaiser on the politics of archaeology in the Balkans
Tuesday December 2, 2003
From Kaiser's 1994 article "Archaeology and ideology in southeast Europe" in the Kohl and Fawcett book Nationalism, Politics, and the Practice of Archaeology.
Violin Quality related to Climate
Tuesday December 2, 2003
An article in Dendrochonologia reported in EurekAlert this week describes some work done on 17th and 18th century violins, suggesting that one of the reasons Stradivarius violins sound so wonderful ... Read More
Cultural Resource Technologies
Tuesday December 2, 2003
Scales, north arrows, and drawing scales for field investigations for sale at this web site; they also plan to add additional archaeology field equipment in the future.
Ephesus
Tuesday December 2, 2003
Ephesus was an Ionian colony in western Turkey, first occupied in the 10th century and continuously occupied through Roman times.
Machu Picchu
Monday December 1, 2003
A visit to Peru should not be undertaken unless you plan on visiting the fabulous fabled City of the Clouds, Inca Machu Picchu.
Sinclair Lewis on authenticity among scientists
Monday December 1, 2003
From Lewis' 1924 novel of science and scientists called Arrowsmith.
Cave Paleontology Book
Monday December 1, 2003
Science Daily gives a brief blurb on a new book by Blaine Schubert on Ice Age vertebrates recovered from caves "Ice Cave Faunas of the Americas":
Book Offers Overview Of ... Read More
Bagan Tower Underway
Monday December 1, 2003
According to a Guardian Unlimited story dated 11/30, a tall viewing tower is being built in the middle of ancient Bagan, Myanmar, despite outcry from the World Heritage Organization:
Controversial ... Read More