Banana Agricultural Origins in Africa
Thursday August 31, 2006
Peter Robertshaw writing in September/October's Archaeology magazine reports on excavations at Munsa, Uganda, where he'd been working on archaeological evidence of colonial period Bunyoro sites. Deep core testing discovered opal ... Read More
Daily Quote: The Truth about Archaeology (Bill Watterson)
Thursday August 31, 2006
Archaeologists have the most mind-numbing job on the planet! (Bill Watterson, as Calvin, 1988).
Archaeology: The Next Fifty Years
Wednesday August 30, 2006
In the September/October issue of Archaeology magazine, writer Brian Fagan details what findings he believes the next fifty years will bring. An article abstract appears on the website, but as ... Read More
Daily Quote: Greatest Contributions (Groucho Marx)
Wednesday August 30, 2006
I've always had the idea that my retirement would be the greatest contribution to science the world has ever known. (Groucho Marx as Capt. Spaulding, 1930).
Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
Tuesday August 29, 2006
Easter Island, also called Rapa Nui, is one of the best known archaeological sites in the world, and no wonder. Recently I heard from archaeologist Jose Miguel Ramirez-Aliaga, who told ... Read More
Daily Quote: Resisting Culture (Mahatma Gandhi)
Tuesday August 29, 2006
I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown ... Read More
Tazumal: Deconstructing a Maya Pyramid
Monday August 28, 2006
When the 1950s-era cement restoration of the Maya pyramid of Tazumel in El Salvador collapsed in October 2004, a scandal erupted. The best known site in El Salvador, Tazumal had ... Read More
Living History Farms: St. Mary's City
Monday August 28, 2006
The latest addition to the Living History Sites collection is St. Mary's City, a 17th century settlement in Maryland. A living history site is a place where the buildings ... Read More
Daily Quote: Indispensable Warfare (Randall Jarrell)
Monday August 28, 2006
It happens as it does because it does.
It is unnecessary to understand; if you are still
In this year of our warfare, indispensable
In general, and in particular dispensable
As a cartridge, a ... Read More
Daily Quote: Models and Reality (Michael Coe)
Sunday August 27, 2006
I notice that archaeologists who come up with neat models for prehistoric cultural events seem to feel that they are presenting us with some sort of reality. It is lucky ... Read More
Daily Quote: The Real Problem in Archaeology... (Glyn Daniel)
Saturday August 26, 2006
The problem in archaeology is when to stop laughing. (Glyn Daniel, 1961).
Chinchorro Mummies of the Atacama Desert
Friday August 25, 2006
The archaeological site of Chinchorro is a cemetery site located on a beach in Arica, in northern Chile. Discovered by Max Uhle in the early 20th century, the site contained ... Read More
Daily Quote: Being Progressively Less Wrong (Paul Grobstein)
Friday August 25, 2006
In an enormous variety of distinct fields of inquiry the same general pattern is becoming clear: there is no such thing as "right," the very concept needs to be replaced ... Read More
Is the Flores Man a Homo Sapiens? Some Answers and a Rebuttal
Thursday August 24, 2006
To answer some of my questions about the new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Flores Man, I contacted Robert Eckhardt, the corresponding writer for ... Read More
Daily Quote: Creating Cultural Targets (John Chapman)
Thursday August 24, 2006
In a cultural war, the conquest of territories and the 'ethnic cleansing' of settlements is insufficient. Nothing less than the destruction of past historical identities is needed. If the identities ... Read More
Daily Quote: Real Solemn History (Jane Austen)
Wednesday August 23, 2006
History, real solemn history, I cannot be interested in.
I read it a little as a duty, but it tells me nothing that does not either vex or weary me. The ... Read More
Special Exhibition: Machu Picchu Controversy at the Peabody
Tuesday August 22, 2006
Stan Parchin, Senior Correspondent for Museums and Special Exhibitions for About's Art History page, has another great exhibit review piece, this one on "Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the ... Read More
Daily Quote: Voyages to the Past (Camille Paglia)
Tuesday August 22, 2006
Archaeology is our voyage to the past, where we discover who we were and therefore who we are. (Camille Paglia, 1999).
Is the Flores Man a Homo Sapiens?
Monday August 21, 2006
Is the new species discovered in 2004 and called Homo floresiensis simply a diseased Homo sapiens? An article entitled Pygmoid Australomelanesian Homo sapiens skeletal remains from Liang Bua, Flores: Population ... Read More
Çatalhöyük in Natural History
Monday August 21, 2006
In this online version of an article in Natural History this month, Ian Hodder describes ongoing investigations at Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic site in central Turkey occupied between 9,400 and 8,000 ... Read More
Daily Quote: An Authentic Scientist (Sinclair Lewis)
Monday August 21, 2006
He had never dined with a duchess, never received a prize, never been interviewed, never produced anything which the public could understand, nor experienced anything since his schoolboy amours which ... Read More
Archaeology of Greenland
Sunday August 20, 2006
What is known archaeologically about the cold crisp land of Greenland (called Kalaallit Nunaat in the local language) begins about 4,000 years ago, with Greenland's version of the Paleo-Eskimo culture ... Read More
Daily Quote: Becoming an Archaeologist (Carmel Shrire)
Sunday August 20, 2006
I became an archaeologist because I wanted to drive around in a big Landrover, smoking, cursing, and finding treasure. (Carmel Shrire, 1995).
Emperor Qin's Terracotta Army
Saturday August 19, 2006
A very brief news story in the Guardian this week reported on the new discovery of tiny figurines at the on-going excavations at the 3rd century BC mausoleum of the ... Read More
Daily Quote: Housing for the Ancients (Robertson Davies)
Saturday August 19, 2006
Archaeologists are rarely purchasers, Mr. Gilmartin. Scholars, you see. Not well-off.... When it comes to house-property, archaeologists rarely rise above what we call an Old World Cottage. Something half-timbered, and ... Read More
Archaeology Crossword: Peabody's Curse
Friday August 18, 2006
Seems like Friday is a good day for a puzzle of some kind; so let's keep on, at least through August. The puzzle this week is a crossword based on ... Read More
Daily Quote: Distinguishing Past and Present (Joan Gero)
Friday August 18, 2006
The archaeologist partakes of, contributes to, is validated by, and dutifully records present-day social and political structures in the identification of research problems and in the interpretation of findings. It ... Read More
Excavating Fort de Chartres, Illinois
Thursday August 17, 2006
About twenty years ago, I was one of a crew who excavated at the historic site of Fort de Chartres, located upriver from St. Louis, Missouri on the Illinois side ... Read More
Daily Quote: Beauty and Folsom Points (Donald Crabtree)
Thursday August 17, 2006
There seems to be an erroneous opinion that the Folsom was made for beauty and its flutes for decoration, or due to the desire of the worker to reserve for ... Read More
When Should Summer Vacation End?
Wednesday August 16, 2006
About's 'Travel with Kids' guide, Teresa Plowright, has given a great deal of thought to this subject, and has some information on the various pros and cons of returning to ... Read More
Daily Quote: Shades of the Past (Doug Charles)
Wednesday August 16, 2006
Archeologists are ... coming to appreciate that there are different pasts that can be (re)constructed. Anglo-American archeology has been largely defined within a male-oriented and capitalist society, but alternative interpretations ... Read More
Daily Quote: Bad Samples (David Clarke)
Tuesday August 15, 2006
[Archaeology is] the discipline with the theory and practice for the recovery of unobservable hominid behavior patterns from indirect traces in bad samples. (David Clarke, 1973).
Guide to Graduate Schools: Program Focus
Monday August 14, 2006
The About.com Guide to Graduate Schools in Archaeology (aka GGSA) once upon a time had a keyword component--with it, you could search for a university program that specialized in a ... Read More
Daily Quote: Investments in Science (Mark Twain)
Monday August 14, 2006
There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact. (Mark Twain), 1883)
Daily Quote: Our Honored Ancestors (J. William Schopf)
Sunday August 13, 2006
For four-fifths of our history, our planet was populated by pond scum. (attributed to J. William Schopf)
On Being a Scientist - Nikolaas van der Merwe
Saturday August 12, 2006
What does being a scientist mean? Archaeological chemist Nikolaas van der Merwe (Professor of Natural History, University of Cape Town) has given some thought to the question; and he recently ... Read More
Daily Quote: On True Science (Jennifer Hochschild)
Saturday August 12, 2006
True science, defined as real gains in knowledge and insight, consists in figuring out how to ask the right question even if it cannot be answered, understanding how people see ... Read More
Archaeology Crossword: Archaeoastronomy
Friday August 11, 2006
Another crossword puzzle? It must be the dog days of August. I must confess I actually constructed these crossword puzzles several years ago (when Michelle Yeoh was all the rage ... Read More
Daily Quote: Non-overlapping Magisteria (S.J. Gould)
Friday August 11, 2006
The text of Humani Generis focuses on the Magisterium (or Teaching Authority) of the Churcha word derived not from any concept of majesty or unquestionable awe, but from the different ... Read More
Society for American Archaeology's Public Archaeology
Thursday August 10, 2006
The long-anticipated website from the SAA has arrived. While there are several very useful pieces to this website, like sample lesson plans and Artifact of the Month, the best thing ... Read More
Daily Quote: Tourism in the Modern World (Edward Bruner)
Thursday August 10, 2006
In postmodern writings, contemporary American tourist attractions tend to be described in ways that replicate elements of the theory of postmodernism, emphasizing the inauthentic constructed nature of the sites, their ... Read More
Graduate School Fees in the UK?
Wednesday August 9, 2006
Reader Jennifer H writes: "I was wondering if you could tell me where I could get information on residency requirements and fees for British Universities. I am a British ... Read More
Daily Quote: The Immigrant Paradigm (Donna Gabaccia)
Wednesday August 9, 2006
France, Canada, Germany, Australia, and Argentina are just as much nations of immigrants as the United States is, yet none has generated an equivalent of the immigrant paradigm as symbol ... Read More
Ancient Writings Revealed! The Exploratorium
Tuesday August 8, 2006
Seriously, the Exploratorium at Stanford University is doing some of the most exciting public science I've ever seen. Last year they posted a webcast showing the summer solstice at Chichén ... Read More
TAC Video: Dancing with Scissors
Tuesday August 8, 2006
The latest video addition to The Archaeology Channel is called Atipanakuy, which means 'confrontation' in Quechua. Two dancers in Peruvian costume and holding open scissors trip fantastically over the Inca ... Read More
Daily Quote: The Chimerical Concept of Race (C. Loring Brace et al.)
Tuesday August 8, 2006
The old fashioned chimerical concept of "race" is hopelessly inadequate to deal with the human biological reality of Egypt, ancient or modern. But neither the use of clines nor clusters ... Read More
Domestication of Rice: Archaeology's Evidence
Monday August 7, 2006
A few weeks ago, I ventured to comment that I believed that, despite a published report to the contrary, fig trees were not the first plant domesticate, but that rice ... Read More
Daily Quote: The Looting in Iraq (Zainab Bahrani)
Monday August 7, 2006
The pattern of destruction [at the Iraq National Museum] made it immediately clear to me that this was not a case of random desecration by an oppressed population taking revenge ... Read More
Daily Quote: History's Truth (Plutarch)
Sunday August 6, 2006
So very difficult a matter it is to trace and find out the truth of anything by history. (Plutarch, ca. 46-120 AD).
Daily Quote: Bluffing Your Way in Archaeology (Paul Bahn)
Saturday August 5, 2006
It takes very special qualities to devote one's life to problems with no attainable solutions and to poking around in dead people's garbage: Words like 'masochistic', 'nosy,' and 'completely batty' ... Read More
Daily Quote: Digging Up Holy Places (Anubha Charan)
Friday August 4, 2006
How far are we prepared to go to right a wrong that might have been committed five centuries ago? Even if the Archaeological Survey of India's interpretation of Ayodhya is ... Read More
Crop Circle Art to a New High
Thursday August 3, 2006
Wired has this story today, with these lovely crop circle designs planted near archaeological monuments (like Wayland's Smithy and the Uffington Horse). Too bad for the farmer ('planted' being a ... Read More
Archaeology Crossword Puzzle
Thursday August 3, 2006
Okay, maybe I had too much time on my hands, but here is my first attempt at a crossword puzzle for archaeologists and fans of archaeology. Thanks kindly to Dave ... Read More
Daily Quote: Constructing Our Past (Robert Dodgshon)
Thursday August 3, 2006
No matter what sources of evidence are used to define the past--archaeological, ethnographic, documentary, published, oral, etc--they constitute traces of the past that have survived into the present so that ... Read More
More on the Pyramids at Giza
Wednesday August 2, 2006
Since I posted the new slide show on the Giza Pyramids, I've heard about a couple of websites on Giza that are well worth spending some time at.
The Giza ... Read More
Daily Quote: Why an Archaeologist Digs (Geoffrey Bibby)
Wednesday August 2, 2006
Every archaeologist knows in his heart why he digs. He digs... that the dead may live again, that what is past may not be forever lost, that something may be ... Read More
Homeric Questions: Archaeology and Ancient History of Homer's Trojan War
Tuesday August 1, 2006
Some of the greatest pieces of western ancient literature come down to us from Homer, the blind Greek poet of whom most school kids have heard; but ancient historians know ... Read More