Sibley's Fort (Missouri USA)
Saturday January 31, 2004
June 7-25, 2004. University of Missouri at St. Louis. Conduct an archaeological survey and testing to find the location of Sibley’s Fort (built 1813) in Saline County, Missouri and possibly ... Read More
Joan Gero on distinguishing the past from the present
Saturday January 31, 2004
From her 1985 article in American Antiquity, "Socio-politics and the woman-at-home ideology"
Paul Grobstein on being progressively less wrong
Friday January 30, 2004
From a letter published on Grobstein's thoughtful website, Serendip
Destination: Morbihan Coast, France
Friday January 30, 2004
The 3000 Neolithic menhirs, dolmens, passage graves and stone rows near the town of Carnac in the Bretagne region of France are among the oldest, if not the oldest of ... Read More
AURA
Thursday January 29, 2004
Getting ready for my next top five archaeological destinations to vist, I found this site, the Australian Rock Art Association web site; run by archaeologist Robert G. Bednarik and contains ... Read More
Camille Paglia on voyages to the past
Thursday January 29, 2004
From Paglia's defense of archaeology in the Wall Street Journal, called "Mummy Dearest".
Carl Sagan, on the loss of the library at Alexandria
Wednesday January 28, 2004
From Sagan's 1988 novel, Cosmos.
Nubians at Hierakonpolis
Wednesday January 28, 2004
The latest interactive dig from Archaeology magazine involves investigations at the largest site from the Pre- and Protodynastic period (3800-3100 B.C.), and the most important site for understanding the foundations ... Read More
Destination: Orkney Neolithic Heartland
Wednesday January 28, 2004
On the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland can be found the Standing Stones of Stenness, the Ring of Brodgar and the Neolithic ruins of the Barnhouse Settlement and ... Read More
What Killed the Neanderthals?
Tuesday January 27, 2004
A New Scientist article last week discusses the latest theory for the demise of one of our nearest relatives: Big chill killed off the Neanderthals
John Chapman on the archaeology of war in the Balkans
Tuesday January 27, 2004
From Chapman's 1994 article in Antiquity, "Destruction of a common heritage: The archaeology of war in Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina.
Salemi Sicily 2004
Monday January 26, 2004
May 23-June 30, 1994. Northern Illinois University. We will continue with last year's excavation in the modern town of Salemi. Our goal will be to continue excavations in the ancient ... Read More
Lauren Oya Olamina (Octavia Butler) on letting the past go
Monday January 26, 2004
From Butler's new classic science fiction book, the 1998 Parable of the Talents.
Destination: Malta Tombs
Monday January 26, 2004
Number 3 on our list of all-time great Megalithic sites to visit is the Mediterranean Islands of Malta and Gozo, colonized by Neolithic farmers around 4000 BC.
Shirley Jackson on why there's always been a lottery
Sunday January 25, 2004
From Jackson's memorable short story, "The Lottery," written in 1948 and still creepy.
Glyn Daniel gets a fit of the giggles
Friday January 23, 2004
Quoted from his 1961 untitled editorial in Antiquity.
Destination: Newgrange
Friday January 23, 2004
The Megalithic passage tombs of the Brú na Boinne (Boyne Valley) of Ireland together rate as #4 on our all-time greatest megalithic sites to visit.
Nietzsche on the chain of the past
Thursday January 22, 2004
It only makes sense that a nihilist would comment on the power of the past; this quote sounds like Nietzsche was reading Dickens at the time.
Endangered Glyphs in Northern Peru
Wednesday January 21, 2004
The online rock art bulletin known as TRACCE is reporting on a largely unknown rock art site which is currently being threatened by ongoing development. The bulletin asks for assistance ... Read More
Indiana Jones, on why archaeology will never make a good movie plot
Wednesday January 21, 2004
From the 1989 screenplay of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade:
Why isn't archaeology good for the movies?
Destination: Stonehenge
Wednesday January 21, 2004
The quintessential megalithic site for the western world, and Number 5 on our countdown of the world's greatest megalithic sites, is Stonehenge, where every solstice, modern day druids still celebrate ... Read More
Top Five Megalithic Sites
Tuesday January 20, 2004
Megalithic sites are awe-inspiring places to visit. Here's my vote for the five megalithic sites most attractive as destinations.
Walt Whitman on the teeming gulf, the infinite greatness of the past
Tuesday January 20, 2004
From Passage to India, in Whitman's 1900 poem Leaves of Grass
Will Shakespeare on prophesies
Monday January 19, 2004
From Henry IV, Part II, Act 3, Scene 1 (published 1596).
Doug Charles on shades of the past
Sunday January 18, 2004
From his article entitled Shading the Past, publised in American Anthropologist in 1992.
Sir Philip Sidney on why poets are better than historians
Wednesday January 14, 2004
From English poet Sidney's "Apology for Poetry," published in 1595.
University of Massachusetts at Boston Archaeology
Tuesday January 13, 2004
The University of Massachusetts at Boston has expanded their department: here's the latest program description from the Guide to Graduate Schools in Archaeology.
Tel Dor (Israel)
Tuesday January 13, 2004
June 29 - July 31, 2004. Hebrew University and University of California at Berkeley. Several objectives for the 2004 season include investigations into Iron Age and Hellenistic occupations.
Ironworks Found in Leominster
Tuesday January 13, 2004
This is Herefordshire reports on excavations at the Focus DIY development site found a pre-Roman iron working site in Leominster
Experts dig out an ancient ironworks
Coptic Church Excavations Reveal Long Hidden Paintings
Tuesday January 13, 2004
Al-Ahram Weekly reports on exavations at the Cave Church, a Captic church in Egypt, which has proven to have had fabulous murals:
Saints and martyrs in vivid colour
Looting the Jiroft Site
Tuesday January 13, 2004
The Art Newspaper reports that artifacts looted from the Jiroft site, Iran, are turning up on the antiquities market:
London and Paris markets flooded with looted Iranian antiquities
Subway Excavation Finds Roman Boat
Monday January 12, 2004
IOL reports on Italian excavations for a subway in Naples that have turned up a Roman shipwreck
IOL : Roman treasures unearthed during subway dig
Emerald of the World
Monday January 12, 2004
Newswise reports on the importance of the site of Bam, recently seriously damaged in an earthquake:
Even Today, the Ancient City of Bam is the Emerald of the Desert
Machu Picchu Damage Reported
Monday January 12, 2004
Article in Scotsman discusses the damage of the WHO site of Machu Picchu by annual tourism:
Final conquest of the Incas feared
Mass Grave in England Studied
Sunday January 11, 2004
The Observer reports on finding the victims of the Roland Jenks' curse, from the 16th century:
Return of the damned after 400 years
Forensic Archaeology in Iraq
Sunday January 11, 2004
BBC reports that the Inforce group is in Iraq excavating mass graves:
Archaeologists play key role in Iraq
William Penn on living with the moderns
Sunday January 11, 2004
A quote from the quintessential American Quaker, William Penn.
Abba Eben on men behaving wisely - Archaeology
Saturday January 10, 2004
Quote # 135
When Archaeology and Politics Mix
Saturday January 10, 2004
BBC news reports on the politics that get played in archaeology; particularly concerning the effect of the discovery of the tomb of Philip, father of Alexander the Great, on Macedonia ... Read More
Quipu Studies at U Buffalo
Friday January 9, 2004
Science Daily provides a summary of Galen Brokaw's research trying to unknot the mystery of the Inca writing system known as the Quipu:
ScienceDaily News Release: Professor Works To Unravel ... Read More
Marawah Island Excavations
Friday January 9, 2004
And, in Abu Dhabi, excavations on the island of Marawah have revealed stone houses built nearly 7,000 years ago:
Khaleej Times Online: 7,000-year-old housing units found in Marawah Island
Museum of London Repatriation
Friday January 9, 2004
Continuing discussion on the repatriation movement in London, this time at and about the Museum of London skeletal material excavated from Christian monasteries, on the Guardian Unlimited:
Museum urges reburial ... Read More
Zhou Dynasty Oracle Bones Found
Thursday January 8, 2004
China.org is reporting the recovery of some oracle bones form a site in Shaanxi province, dated to the Zhou Dynasty (1100-256 BC)
Precious Oracle Bones Unearthed
Conservation Technology
Thursday January 8, 2004
An article in the NYT this week describes the problems faced by museum curators, and some of the solutions.
Handling Artifacts Not Built to Last
Iron Age Chariot found in Edinburgh
Thursday January 8, 2004
The Scotsman reports on excavations for one of the oldest chariots in Britain, dating to 400 BC:
The 400BC Ferrari
Mesopotamian Exhibits Planned
Wednesday January 7, 2004
Two new exhibits are running on the art of ancient Mesopotamia, one at the Universitiy of Pennsylvania, and one at the Oriental Institute:
Eyes on Mesopotamian Glory
Ground Zero Cultural Resources
Wednesday January 7, 2004
The problem of what to do with the WTC site is nearly as emotionally draining as the Holocaust sites. Cultural resource management has become an integral component in determining how ... Read More
Jamestown Well Excavated
Wednesday January 7, 2004
A news story on Wavy.com describes the findings of the recent excavations of a well in the historic American colony of Jamestown:
Curator And Archaeologist Say Jamestown Well Yields Insights ... Read More
Hunley Drawn to Life
Wednesday January 7, 2004
An article in Newsday describes a new painting of the Hunley, the first submarine ever to sink an enemy vessel in 1864, based on archaeological and historical data:
Civil War ... Read More
Cultural Resources at WTC
Wednesday January 7, 2004
From the NYT, a discussion of the World Trade Center as a historically significant site.
Critic's Notebook: A Chance to Assess Ground Zero's Historical Significance
Easter Island Statue Project
Tuesday January 6, 2004
From long-time researcher Jo Anne van Tilburg, a new website on her project to map and investigate the moai on Easter Island. Includes images and information on the latest newly ... Read More
If Only...
Tuesday January 6, 2004
The concluding session of the International Conference of Pakistan Archaeology had a paper by Dr. Abdul Rahim Malik (Shah Abdul Latif University) about how archaeology might bring world communities together: ... Read More
Ultimate Safari: No archaeologists invited
Tuesday January 6, 2004
According to Egypt Today, a tour operator is running a search for Cambyses' army, to be conducted using 4 wheel drive vehicles searching the western Desert:
Army of Sand
Dexter Grouse Creek Kansas report
Tuesday January 6, 2004
The Winfield Courier reports on excavations at an Archaic site near Dexter, Kansas:
Dig finds could be thousands of years old, state official says
Stone Stele Found
Monday January 5, 2004
A stone inscription in Tamil identifying the city of Ezhuchur as Valima Nallur, the headquarters of the Nadu ca 920 AD, according to this story in the Hindu:
1,100-year-old ... Read More
Aztalan Revisited
Monday January 5, 2004
No, no, this is the one in Wisconsin: the Wisconsin State Journal reports on some preliminary development plans for the Mississippian period site named after the Aztec homeland for no ... Read More
Canadian Mounds Suspected
Monday January 5, 2004
The Toronto Star reports this week on possible mounds in the Red Hill Valley of Ontario that pose difficulties for a proposed road project, and that have not been determined ... Read More
16th Century "Diplomacy"
Sunday January 4, 2004
Article in the Telegraph today reports on correspondence between the Russian Czar Ivan the Terrible and Elizabeth I of England:
Ivan the terribly rude
Primate Skull Shakes Things Up
Sunday January 4, 2004
A story in Eureka Alert reports on the ramifications of that new species of primate discovered in Asia:
Scientist challenges interpretation of new find, the oldest primate fossil ever discovered
Siberian Site Artifacts
Sunday January 4, 2004
BBC News on the 30,000-year old site near the Bering Strait has pictures:
'New World' link to Arctic find
DNA Tests to be Used on Cemetery
Saturday January 3, 2004
Boston Globe last week reported on an African-American cemetery site in New Hampshire, where researchers plan to use DNA to identify some of the interments:
DNA may aid hunt for ... Read More
Tran Kings site found
Saturday January 3, 2004
Voice of Vietnam reports that a Tran Kings regime site has been found at Tam Duong
A discovery of the former Tran Kings regime
Bam Citadel to be Rebuilt
Saturday January 3, 2004
The Tehran Times reports that the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance plans on rebuilding the Citadel of Bam, destroyed during the earthquake last week.
Description of Selected News
Blue Creek Regional Political Ecology Project (Belize)
Saturday January 3, 2004
May 26-July 30, 2004 [4 sessions]. Maya Research Program. The BCRPEP conducts work at several sites in upper northwestern Belize and participants (minimum age 17) will help with excavation, survey ... Read More
Baltimore Sun on Yana Site
Saturday January 3, 2004
The Baltimore Sun has a story about the Science magazine report on the Yana site; reporter Dennis O'Brien talked to C. Loring Brace and James Adovasio:
Arctic dig unearths prehistoric ... Read More
Finding the Endeavour
Saturday January 3, 2004
The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Program is reporting that it may have located Captain James Cook's lost ship where it was lost:
The Advertiser: Has the Endeavour been found?
Ancient Site Hints at First US Settlers
Friday January 2, 2004
New Scientist is reporting on the latest archaeological investigations near the Bering Strait where a 30,000 year old site has been found by Russian archaeologists (from an article in Science):
Ancient ... Read More
Achill Island : 2004
Friday January 2, 2004
June 1-August 20, 2004 two modules). Achill Folklife Centre, investigations into the Post-Medieval Deserted Village 01600 - 1900 A.D.), Slievemore and at the Achill Folklife Centre, Dooagh, Achill, Co. Mayo.
Early Primate Skull in China
Friday January 2, 2004
Nature is reporting the recovery of an euprimate skull from China, representing a new species and the first fossil evidence of Asian Eocene primates:
Palaeontology: Chinese lantern for early primates
Bodies and Bones
Friday January 2, 2004
From the Why Files, a description of Forensic Anthropology, for middle and high school students.
Bodies and Bones
History of Archaeological Research in Central Africa
Thursday January 1, 2004
Bernard Clist's fabulous website on central African archaeology has found a new home, at last! Here is his bibliographic discourse on the history of research in the central African states. ... Read More
Torre d'en Gaumes (Spain): 2004
Thursday January 1, 2004
May 18 - July 29, 2004. Boston University. Excavations cover from the time it was first inhabited (ca. 2500 BC), through the Punic and Roman periods (from the 4th century ... Read More
Eridu, Iraq
Thursday January 1, 2004
From Timothy Kelley at the Massachusetts College of Art, a collection of temple reconstructions and site plans for the most ancient of Sumerian sites at Tell Abu Shahrain.
OMJ-PLP-179 Ecuador
Thursday January 1, 2004
June 24 - August 8, 2004. Florida Atlantic University. The 8th season at this beach-front site on the south bank of the Rio Chico, a river running westward into the ... Read More
Silver Creek, Arizona: 2004
Thursday January 1, 2004
May 29-July 11, 2004. University of Arizona and White Mountain Apache Tribe. Archaeological survey, mapping of Apache and Pueblo sites, ruins stabilization