Ortoiroid Culture
Tuesday May 31, 2005
The Ortoiroid culture is a preceramic culture of the Caribbean Sea, generally dated concurrent to and after the Casimiroid culture, and thought to have resulted from people migrating north from ... Read More
Castel del Monte (Italy)
Tuesday May 31, 2005
The World Heritage site Castel del Monte is a medieval period castle, built by Frederick II between AD 1229 and 1249.
Click on through to read more about Castel del Monte. ... Read More
Casimiroid Culture
Tuesday May 31, 2005
The Casimiroid culture is an Archaic period culture of the Caribbean Sea in Central America, with the type site found on the island of Casimira in the Dominican Republic.
Voices of the Society for American Archaeology
Tuesday May 31, 2005
An audio and visual tour of what the Society for American Archaeology meetings are like, with commentary and slides of attendees to the 2005 Salt Lake City meetings.
Carthage (Tunisia)
Monday May 30, 2005
Carthage was a Phoenician colony located in what is now the country of Tunisia about 15 kilometers from the capital city of Tunis.
Carnac (France)
Monday May 30, 2005
Carnac is a town on the Morbihan coast of the Bretagne region of France, the vicinity of which is known world wide for abundant Neolithic megalithic structures.
Cardiff Giant (USA)
Monday May 30, 2005
The Cardiff Giant was a famous nineteenth century hoax, which paid off handsomely to its perpetrators.
Capernaum (Israel)
Monday May 30, 2005
The town of Capernaum is mentioned several times in the New Testament of the Judeo-Christian bible, as the home of several apostles.
Canterbury Cathedral (UK)
Sunday May 29, 2005
The Canterbury Cathedral is probably among the most famous church edifices in the world, partly because of its famous archbishops including St. Augustine, Thomas Cranmer, and Thomas Becket
Cannibalism
Sunday May 29, 2005
One of the early and rare practices of human beings, cannibalism involves a range of behaviors in which one human consumes another or parts of another, for dietary or ritual ... Read More
Canaan
Sunday May 29, 2005
Canaan (also called Phoenicia) is the name of a Bronze Age culture and country in what is now Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, and the southern portions of ... Read More
Can Llobateres (Spain)
Sunday May 29, 2005
Can Llobateres is a Middle Miocene site in Spain, where fossilized remains of the extinct ape Dryopithecus fontani were recovered and have been to between 9-10 million years ago.
Castelluccio Culture
Saturday May 28, 2005
The Castelluccio Culture is a Bronze Age (2000-1400 BC) culture of Sicily, and the name of the type site.
Calico Hills (USA)
Saturday May 28, 2005
Calico Hills is an area of the Mojave Desert in California and the location of the attempts by paleoanthropologists Louis Leakey and Ruth Simpson to find evidence of early humans ... Read More
Cajamarca Culture
Saturday May 28, 2005
The Cajamarca Culture was a small polity in the Peruvian highlands, ca. AD 500-1450
Cairo (Egypt)
Friday May 27, 2005
The Islamic city of Cairo is, oddly enough, one of the newer cities in Egypt, founded in the 7th century AD as a military outpost.
Nok Art
Friday May 27, 2005
Nok art describes the sculpted ceramic art of northern Nigeria between 500 BC and AD 200
Tegdaoust (Mauritania)
Friday May 27, 2005
The archaeological site of Tegdaoust is a Berber site in Mauritania, and probably represents the historical town called Awdaghost, a site on the crucial caravan trade network in Saharan Africa ... Read More
Taxila (Pakistan)
Friday May 27, 2005
The World Heritage site of Taxila is located in Punjab Province of what is now Pakistan, about 30 kilometers from Islamabad.
Click on the link to learn more about Taxila.
Tautavel Cave (France)
Thursday May 26, 2005
The site of Tautavel Cave (also called Caune de l'Arago) is an ancient karst cave in the Tautavel valley of France containing over 40 very old occupations
Taung (South Africa)
Thursday May 26, 2005
The Taung site is a limestone quarry located in the Transvaal region of South Africa.
Taruga (Nigeria)
Thursday May 26, 2005
The archaeological site of Taruga is located in northern Nigeria, and it is one of a few iron smelting sites associated with the Nok cutlure between 500 BC and AD ... Read More
Tarascan Culture
Thursday May 26, 2005
The Tarascan culture or empire is the name given by the Spaniards to the Phurhépecha state of central America, dated to the Late Post Classic, between 1100 and 1530 AD.
Von Daniken's Chariots
Wednesday May 25, 2005
An article by John T. Omohundro from the Skeptical Inquirer of 1976 discussing the amazing popularity of Erich von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods:
Von Däniken's Chariots: A Primer in ... Read More
Walter Willard Taylor [1913-1997]
Wednesday May 25, 2005
American archaeologist Walter W Taylor was born in Chicago and studied at Yale.
Myriam Noemi Tarragó
Wednesday May 25, 2005
Myriam N. Tarragó is an archaeologist from Argentina, best known for her work on colonial societies in Buenos Aires.
Archaeology Quiz: Obsidian
Wednesday May 25, 2005
What do you know about obsidian? Try this quick quiz and find out.
Cahal Pech (Belize)
Tuesday May 24, 2005
The site of Cahal Pech is an early Middle Formative to Classic period Maya site in Belize, occupied pretty much continuously between 900 B.C. to A.D. 800.
Unhenged
Tuesday May 24, 2005
Cambridge University's Mim Bower wanted to make a place where the farflung members of the archeaeological research community could stay in touch. Unhenged is a set of resources on journals, ... Read More
Cactus Hill (USA)
Tuesday May 24, 2005
Cactus Hill is a buried multicomponent site on the Nottaway River of Virginia, with archaic, Clovis and, below the Clovis and separated by sterile sand, an apparent Pre-Clovis occupation.
The American Colonization: Can 70 people have populated an entire continent?
Tuesday May 24, 2005
In the June 2005 issue of the open source journal Public Library of Science Biology (PLoS Biology), Rutgers geneticist Jody Hey reports that the founding population of the New World ... Read More
Maurice Taieb
Monday May 23, 2005
During the 1970s, Tunisia-born French geologist Maurice Taieb explored the entire Afar region of Ethiopia, seeking paleontological remains; one of the sites he identified was the Hadar site.
Greece Museums
Monday May 23, 2005
Greece Museums is a guide for the prospective visitor to Greece listing information about all the museums, state and privately owned. From Aris Pantazopoulos.
Archaeology of Latvia
Monday May 23, 2005
A comprehensive, academic bibliography in English, German, Russian and Latvian on environmental archaeology, ancient materials and technology, physical anthropology and dendrochronology in Latvia. The site is maintained by Valdis Bērziņš, ... Read More
Cairn
Monday May 23, 2005
A cairn is, in essence, an intentionally-laid pile of rocks.
Cai Beo (Vietnam)
Monday May 23, 2005
Cai Beo is an archaeological site and the name of the related Hoabinhian period culture in Vietnam.
Cahuachi (Peru)
Sunday May 22, 2005
Cahuachi is a major ceremonial center of the Nasca civilization in Peru, occupied from between AD 1-500.
Field School: Middle Island (Michigan USA)
Sunday May 22, 2005
July 11-22, 2005. PAST Foundation. Excavation will be conducted at the Middle Island Life Saving Station, which was built in the early 1880s following the establishment of the U.S. Life ... Read More
Journal of Caribbean Archaeology
Sunday May 22, 2005
Free online open access to articles on Caribbean archaeology; what more can one ask of the Internet?
Cadiz (Spain)
Sunday May 22, 2005
The modern port city of Cadiz (originally called Gadir or Gardes) in the Andalucia region of Spain was a Phoenician colony of Tyre founded at least by the 9th century ... Read More
Archimedes Manuscript Progress
Saturday May 21, 2005
An article in this week's Nature reports on the progress made deciphering the hidden Archimedes' manuscript called "The Method", obscured for centuries beneath a medieval forgery:
news @ nature.com - ... Read More
Mladec Cave (Czech Republic)
Saturday May 21, 2005
The cave site of Mladec in the Czech Republic contains modern human remains, Mladec-type projectile points and other artifacts in a European site that would otherwise be assigned to the ... Read More
Cacaxtla (Mexico)
Saturday May 21, 2005
Cacaxtla was a Late Classic to Epiclassic (AD 600-900) city in the Puebla Valley, Tlaxcala, Mexico, with a population of about 10,000 at its peak.
C-Group Culture
Saturday May 21, 2005
The third segment of the terms used by archaeologists to define Nubian culture, the C-Group lasted from about 2000-1700 BC.
PreClovis Culture
Friday May 20, 2005
PreClovis culture is the term used by archaeologists to refer to the admittedly controversial evidence for human occupations in the Americas before 11,200 years before the present.
Tappeh Sialk (Iran)
Friday May 20, 2005
The archaeological site of Tappeh Sialk is an important Early Neolithic site near the modern town of Kashan in Iran, with occupations dated to as early as 6000 BC.
Ciudad de Dios and Cerro Leon, Peru
Friday May 20, 2005
June 25 - July 25, 2005. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Fieldwork will involve the excavation of a sample of elite and commoner dwellings at the sites of ... Read More
Tang Dynasty
Friday May 20, 2005
The Tang Dynasty in China lasted between AD 618 and 907, with its capital sited at Chang'an on the Silk Road.
Tana Tradition
Thursday May 19, 2005
The Tana tradition pottery (also known as 'Triangular Incised Ware'), is found in archaeological sites along the east coast of Africa between the 8th and 11th centuries AD.
Taltheilei Shale Tradition
Thursday May 19, 2005
The Taltheilei Shale Tradition is the name given to the material culture of the late prehistoric western subarctic culture, dated between 750 B.C. and A.D. 1000.
Takrur Empire
Thursday May 19, 2005
The Takrur empire was an early kingdom of west Africa, including much of Ghana and the western Sahara desert.
Early Cities at NAS
Thursday May 19, 2005
This week, the National Academy of Sciences is presenting a colloquium on early urban settlements at the NAS Building in Washington DC. The three day program (May 18-20, 2005) includes ... Read More
Taj Mahal (India)
Thursday May 19, 2005
The Taj Mahal, at Agra, India, must be the most famous grave monument in the world.
Taino Culture
Wednesday May 18, 2005
The Taino people were one of the cultures in the Caribbean that had the misfortune to meet Christopher Columbus
Taima Taima (Venezuela)
Wednesday May 18, 2005
The site of Taima-Taima is located within deeply buried, stratified beach sand deposits in northern Venezuela, and consists of lithic tools (including paleoindian-era El Jobo points) in contact with a ... Read More
Archaeology Quiz: Troy
Wednesday May 18, 2005
How much do you know about the ancient site of the Trojan War? Test your wits on the Trivia Quiz.
Archaeology and Amelia Earhart's Fate
Wednesday May 18, 2005
Amelia Earhart's disappearance in 1937 has long been a fascinating mystery. In this article, Thomas F. King, Senior Archaeologist of the TIGHAR project, reports on recent archaeological evidence concerning what ... Read More
Boyne Valley (Ireland)
Tuesday May 17, 2005
The Boyne Valley in Ireland, called 'Brugh na Bóinne'in Gaelic, is an important region in Europe.
Boylston Street Fish Weir (USA)
Tuesday May 17, 2005
The Boylston Street Fish Weir is a Late Archaic fish trap located within the town of Boston, Massachusetts.
Syalakh Culture
Tuesday May 17, 2005
The Syalakh Culture is the name archaeologists have given to an Early Neolithic (6500-5200 BP) culture of Siberia
Swartkrans (South Africa)
Tuesday May 17, 2005
Swartkrans is a Lower Paleolithic cave site in South Africa, discovered in 1948 by Robert Broom and excavated by C.K. Brain in the 1960s.
Sutton Hoo (United Kingdom)
Monday May 16, 2005
The archaeological site of Sutton Hoo consists of a group of at least fourteen burial mounds, located in southeastern Suffolk, England, one of which is an Anglo-Saxon period ship burial ... Read More
Beth Alpha Synagogue (Israel)
Monday May 16, 2005
The site of Beth Alpha in Israel is a Jewish synagogue dated to the Byzantine period.
Berry-au-Bac (France)
Monday May 16, 2005
The site of Berry-au-Bac is a Neolithic site in the Paris Basin of France.
H3, Al Sabiyah (Kuwait)
Monday May 16, 2005
The region of As-Sabiyah in what is now Kuwait is the home of nearly sixty archaeological sites belonging the Mesopotamian period, including evidence of early sailing at the Ubaid period ... Read More
Snaketown (USA)
Sunday May 15, 2005
The archaeological site of Snaketown belongs to the Hohokam culture of the American southwest, and is located on the Gila River in the Sonoran Desert of central Arizona.
Hohokam culture
Sunday May 15, 2005
The Hohokam culture is the name given to farming people of the American southwest between AD 200 and 1450.
Fish Weir
Sunday May 15, 2005
A fish weir or fish trap is a step forward in fishing technology, used in North America for the past several thousand years.
History of China
Sunday May 15, 2005
From Leon Poon at the University of Maryland, a vast and amazing resource on the history of China.
Archaeology News Weblog
Saturday May 14, 2005
Archaeology news compiler weblog, containing news stories from numerous sources, from Ron Rule.
Byzantium (Turkey)
Saturday May 14, 2005
Byzantium is the name of the state, culture and capital city of the eastern Roman empire, which outlived the Roman empire, from Roman times through the 15th century AD.
Bushmen
Saturday May 14, 2005
The Bushmen is a collective term for a modern cultural group in subsaharan Africa, primarily the Kalahari Desert.
Burzahom (India)
Saturday May 14, 2005
The site of Burzahom is a Neolithic settlement and cemetery in the Kashmir state of India, occupied between about 3000-1500 BC.
Burials and Graves in Archaeology
Friday May 13, 2005
Archaeological research into death includes mortuary behaviors, grave goods, cemetery plans, mortality, morbidity, and diet and health.
Burgwall culture
Friday May 13, 2005
"Burgwall" translates to "castle wall or barrier" in German, and the term refers to the medieval slavic culture of central Europe of the 11th century AD.
Budakalász (Hungary)
Friday May 13, 2005
The archaeological site of Budakalász is a Baden culture (Bell Beaker, 3500-3000 BC) occupation and cemetery
Bronze Age
Friday May 13, 2005
The Bronze Age is a fairly arbitrary technological stage invented as part of a three-part system (Stone, Bronze, and Iron).
Click on the link to read more on the Bronze ... Read More
Bromme Culture
Thursday May 12, 2005
The Bromme culture is the name given to an early prehistoric reindeer-hunting culture of Scandinavia
Bushmen
Thursday May 12, 2005
The Bushmen is a collective term for a modern cultural group in subsaharan Africa, primarily the Kalahari Desert.
Boxgrove (UK)
Thursday May 12, 2005
The Boxgrove site is a Middle Stone Age site located in a stone quarry in West Sussex England.
Fossil Legends of the First Americans: A Book Review
Thursday May 12, 2005
Adrienne Mayor's Fossil Legends of the First Americans is interesting, both for its detailed descriptions of the legends and investigations of paleontological data by Native American people, but also for ... Read More
Bourbon Excavations
Wednesday May 11, 2005
In 1738, Charles of Bourbon, King of the Two Sicilies and founder of the House of Bourbon, hired antiquarian Marcello Venuti to work at the sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii.
Bordesley Abbey (United Kingdom)
Wednesday May 11, 2005
Bordesley Abbey is a Cistercian Medieval monastery complex, built in the 12th century AD in Warwickshire, England.
Border Cave (South Africa)
Wednesday May 11, 2005
Border Cave is a rockshelter in the Lembombo Mountains between South Africa and Swaziland, in Kwazulu Natal of South Africa.
Bonampak (Mexico)
Wednesday May 11, 2005
Bonampak is a Classic Maya site in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, occupied from about 650-800 AD.
Donald Grayson Honored
Wednesday May 11, 2005
The Desert Research Institute awarded its 2005 Nevada medal to paleoecologist Donald Grayson:
DRI awards 2005 Nevada Medal to University of Washington archaeologist Donald K. Grayson
Walenty Szwajcer
Tuesday May 10, 2005
Polish high school teacher Walenty Szwajcer was the discoverer of the archaeological site of Biskupin.
Sweet Track (UK)
Tuesday May 10, 2005
Sweet Track is the name given to the earliest known trackway in northern Europe, built, according to tree ring analysis of the wood, in the winter or early spring of ... Read More
Synagogues
Tuesday May 10, 2005
A synagogue is, of course, a religious structure that can be identified with the Jewish faith; the earliest synagogues probably developed during the Byzantine period of the 6th century BC.
Archaeology Quiz: The Tomb of Shi Huangdi
Tuesday May 10, 2005
Who was Shi Huangdi and what did archaeologists find in his tomb?
Sandia Cave: The Elephant in the Parlor
Monday May 9, 2005
Tony Baker has a personal history with Sandia Cave, not to mention a 4.5-hour oral history taken with one of the excavators. Here's his extensive analysis of what went wrong ... Read More
Choosing an Archaeology Tour
Monday May 9, 2005
A planned itinerary tour of archaeology sites is a great way to spend your vacation learning about the past. But how do you choose among them to find a tour ... Read More
Susquehanna Tradition
Monday May 9, 2005
The Susquehanna Tradition is a Late Archaic period (ca. 5,900 to 3,200 years ago) cultural group of the northeastern United States and including Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Elam (Iran)
Monday May 9, 2005
Elam was the name of ancient Near Eastern kingdom in what is now southwestern Iran, beginning about 3100-3000 BC.
Bin Bir Kilisse (Turkey)
Sunday May 8, 2005
The site of Bin Bir Kilisse, also called Maden Sheher, was a Byzantine city, described by British archaeologist Gertrude Bell as the "City of a Thousand and One Churches"
Bibracte (France)
Sunday May 8, 2005
The archaeological site of Bibracte is an Iron Age site located on Mont Beuvray in France near Autun.
Bilzingsleben (Germany)
Sunday May 8, 2005
Bilzingsleben is a Lower Paleolithic open air site with fabulous preservation, located in in Thuringia, eastern Germany and dated between 320,000 and 412,000 years ago.
Biblical Archaeology
Sunday May 8, 2005
Traditionally, biblical archaeology is the name given to the study of the archaeological aspects of the history of the Jewish and Christian churches as provided in the Judeo-Christian bible.
Safety First: Tick, Tick, Tick
Saturday May 7, 2005
It must be that time of the year again--time for a refresher course on protecting yourself from the bane of all archaeologists everywhere: the tick.
Archaeology Quiz: Hohokam
Saturday May 7, 2005
Who and what were the Hohokam? Another archaeology trivia quiz for your edutainment.
The Raging Cow: An Atlatl Throwing Contest Among the Corn
Saturday May 7, 2005
The atlatl throwing contest called the Raging Cow is an opportunity for students and enthusiasts alike to learn about ancient hunting techniques using a competitive sport.
Kennewick Man (USA)
Saturday May 7, 2005
The Kennewick Man is the name given to a nearly complete male human skeleton found eroding out of the bank of the Columbia River near Kennewick, in Washington State in ... Read More
Opal Phytoliths
Friday May 6, 2005
An opal phytolith is a tiny, three-dimensional copies of a plant cells created by a plant as a product of taking in water with dissolved silica.
Subsistence
Friday May 6, 2005
Subsistence, to an archaeologist anyway, refers to the suite of behaviors that humans use to feed themselves.
So click on through to the definition to find out what those behaviors might ... Read More
Subsurface Testing
Friday May 6, 2005
Archaeologists use the term 'subsurface testing' to mean exploration of an archaeological site using shovels or mechanical equipment.
Sui Dynasty
Friday May 6, 2005
The Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618) of China, is best known for putting the pieces of China back together again, after the fall of the Han Dynasty.
Click on through to read ... Read More
Sumer and Sumerians
Thursday May 5, 2005
Sumer was one of two Early Dynastic period communities in southern Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (the other was Akkad).
Sungir (Russia)
Thursday May 5, 2005
The Sungir archaeological site is an enormous Upper Paleolithic archaeological settlement and cemetery located outside of Vladimir, Russia
Robert Carl Suggs [b. 1932]
Thursday May 5, 2005
American anthropologist Robert Suggs is best known for his ethnography-backed archaeological investigations in the Marquesas Islands.
Eliezer Sukenik [1889-1953]
Thursday May 5, 2005
Polish born archaeologist Eliezer Sukenik emigrated to Palestine in 1912.
Pedestrian Survey
Wednesday May 4, 2005
The archaeological technique of pedestrian survey, also called surface survey or reconnaissance survey, involves walking the surface of an archaeological site or large region in stratified patterns.
Boghazkoy (Turkey)
Wednesday May 4, 2005
Boghazkoy is the site of a major Hittite capital called Hattusas, in what is now Turkey, some 100 kilometers from the Black Sea and 150 miles from Ankara.
Bog Bodies
Wednesday May 4, 2005
The term bog bodies is used to refer to human burials, some likely sacrificed, recovered from peat bogs of Denmark, Germany, Holland, Britain, and Ireland.
To read more about Bog Bodies, ... Read More
Bodo Cranium (Ethiopia)
Wednesday May 4, 2005
The Bodo Cranium is a nearly complete hominin skull recovered from a site in the Middle Awash region of Ethiopia.
Archaeology Quiz: Black Death
Wednesday May 4, 2005
And who says a major catastrophe can't be a giggle? Test your knowledge about the Black Death.
Blombos Cave (South Africa)
Tuesday May 3, 2005
Blombos Cave is a Middle Stone Age (MSA) site located in the southern Cape, South Africa, that contains excellently preserved MSA deposits that date to older than 70,000 years.
Read all ... Read More
Black Mesa (USA)
Tuesday May 3, 2005
Black Mesa is the name given to a large upland area in the American southwestern state of Arizona, upon which hundreds of archaeological sites have been identified.
Black Death
Tuesday May 3, 2005
The Black Death was the name given to an episode of the devastating bubonic plague in Europe between 1348 and 1351.
Biskupin (Poland)
Tuesday May 3, 2005
The Biskupin site is a fortified settlement in Poland, occupied between the Late Bronze and early Iron ages, and belonging to the Lausitz (Late Bronze age) and Hallstatt C (Early ... Read More
Bipedal Locomotion
Monday May 2, 2005
Bipedal locomotion means walking on two legs in an upright position.
Axum Obelisk Returned
Monday May 2, 2005
According to news stories making the rounds, the Axum obelisk has been returned to Ethiopia:
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Obelisk returned to Ethiopia after 68 years
Glyph Doctors
Monday May 2, 2005
University of Chicago PhD candidate Nicole Hansen has assembled an interesting set of online courses on Egyptology and hieroglyphic writing, as well as an active chat room and other resources. ... Read More
Bigo Bya Mugenyi (Uganda)
Monday May 2, 2005
Bigo Bya Mugenyi is a late Iron Age settlement in Uganda, the capital of the Kitara or Chwezi Dynasty
Donner Party Investigations
Monday May 2, 2005
Small fragments of bone at a Donner party hearth is being studied to determine if they're human or not, according to this story in the Fort Wayne, Indiana Journal Gazette: ... Read More
African Burial Ground Memorial
Sunday May 1, 2005
According to this NYT article, a design has been selected memorializing the African Burial Ground site in New York City, but it's not making everybody happy. Requires a free log ... Read More
Otto Nikolaevich Bader [b. 1902]
Sunday May 1, 2005
German born archaeologist and paleontologist Otto Bader excavated the important paleolithic sites of Sungir and Kapova Cave.
In the Wake of the Jomon: A Book Review
Sunday May 1, 2005
Jon Turk's In the Wake of the Jomon is an adventure romance of a modern man attempting to reconstruct a possible sailing voyage around the northern Pacific rim from Japan ... Read More
Nellie Longsworth Reports on Proposed Section 106 Changes
Sunday May 1, 2005
Although the vote on the proposed changes to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act has not yet taken place, historic preservation's guiding light Nellie Longsworth reports that the ... Read More
Archaeology Quiz: Abu Simbel
Sunday May 1, 2005
What do you know about Abu Simbel? Test your archaeology trivia know-how.