Flores Man: The Compilation
Sunday September 30, 2007
The latest word about Flores
Homo floresiensis Photo Credit: Peter Brown
is that a scientific examination of the wrist bones suggests that the little hominid is not closely related to anatomically ... Read More
The World's Oldest Archaeological Sites
Friday September 28, 2007
The oldest archaeological sites in the world discovered to date, in the strictest sense of the word 'archaeology', are small stone tool working and butchering sites which are 2.5-2.7 million ... Read More
Site of the Day: Llangors Crannóg (Wales)
Thursday September 27, 2007
The Llangors (also spelled Llangorse) Crannóg is a medieval colony which was built on a stony man-made island (or crannóg) in the Llangorse Lake in Brecon Beacons National Park, near ... Read More
Photo Essay: Clovis at the Gault Site
Wednesday September 26, 2007
The photo gallery this week is called Clovis at the Gault Site.
Gault Site Excavations Photo Credit: D. Clark Wernecke
Gault is a Paleoindian archaeological site in central Texas that has ... Read More
Beeches Pit, UK - Site of the Day
Tuesday September 25, 2007
Today's site of the day is Beeches Pit, a Lower Paleolithic site located in Suffolk, England. Home of the hominin Homo heidlebergensis (I just had to use that Ho-Ho-Ho onomatopoeia, ... Read More
Site of the Day: Bosutswe, Botswana
Monday September 24, 2007
Monday's Site of the Day is the Toutswe Tradition (African Iron Age) site of Bosutswe in the modern country of Botswana.
Grain bin foundation, Bosutswe, Botswana. Photo Credit: James R. ... Read More
Autumnal Equinox at Loughcrew
Sunday September 23, 2007
Several photos of yesterday morning's sunrise at the Irish megalithic tomb site of Loughcrew have been posted at Knowth.com, along with a video from the 2005 sunrise.
Loughcrew Equinox September ... Read More
Amalgamated Friday #29
Friday September 21, 2007
Dmanisi
Early Homo Postcranial Fossils from Dmanisi, Kambiz on Anthropology.net
Dmanisi’s Paleoanthropological Importance, also from Kambiz
Fossils Reveal Clues on Human Ancestor, John Noble Wilford on the NYT
Dmanisi paleoecology, John Hawks
Losing Languages
5 Hotspots ... Read More
Selam (Dikika Infant) Video on TED
Thursday September 20, 2007
On TED this week, paleoanthropologist Zeresenay Alemseged gives a compelling lecture on Selam,
Selam, the Dikika Infant Photo Credit: Nature (c) 2006
the youngest child ever discovered, an Australopithecus afarensis also called ... Read More
Site of the Day: Great Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe)
Thursday September 20, 2007
If I ever actually get to Africa again, I plan to get myself to the Great Zimbabwe ruins,
Great Zimbabwe Ruins, Zimbabwe Photo Credit: Christopher T. Snow
located near the townof ... Read More
Great Churches of the World: A Photo Essay
Wednesday September 19, 2007
I have a thing for churches, and I don't think I'm alone in this amongst my archaeologist brethren.
Hagia Sophia, Turkey Photo Credit: Friedemann Vogel / Getty Images
Whether they are ... Read More
Site of the Day: Meadowcroft Rockshelter
Tuesday September 18, 2007
Meadowcroft Rockshelter was, I daresay, one of the first archaeological sites to be taken seriously as predating Clovis. It is also part of the Clovis First/PreClovis controversy, which continues to ... Read More
Butrint (Albania): Site of the Day
Monday September 17, 2007
Butrint is a World Heritage site located in Albania, remarkable for its unique blend of Greek and Roman and Byzantine and Venetian architecture. First occupied during the Bronze Age about ... Read More
Top 5 Marks of Domestication in Animals
Sunday September 16, 2007
How do archaeologists tell if an animal has been domesticated? Here are the top five ways:
Top Five Marks of Domestication
Body Morphology
Population Demography
Site Assemblage
Animal Burials
Animal Diet
Animal Domestication: Table of Dates ... Read More
Amalgamated Friday #28
Friday September 14, 2007
Viking Queens and Ships
Viking News, from Melissa Snell, on news stories about the recent disinterment of the women from the Oseberg Viking burial and a new Viking boat discovered in ... Read More
Merv Oasis (Turkmenistan) - Site of the Day
Thursday September 13, 2007
Today's site of the day is the Merv Oasis, one of the important stops on the Silk Road leading from Chang'An, China to the Roman and Persian Empires. The site ... Read More
Photo Gallery: Scenes from Paradise (Hamman Lif, Tunisia)
Wednesday September 12, 2007
This week's photo gallery is of the Jewish Mosaics at Hamman-Lif, Tunisia.
Roman Mosaic of Menorah with Lulav and Ethrog, 3rd century-5th century A.D., Tunis, Tunisia. Photo Credit: Brooklyn Museum
Hamman-Lif ... Read More
Lefkandi (Greece): Site of the Day
Tuesday September 11, 2007
After the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures of the Mediterranean fell, the "Dark Ages" of Greek civilization lasted between about 1200 and 750 BC. During this period, there is little ... Read More
Site of the Day: Mohenjo-Daro (Pakistan)
Monday September 10, 2007
Today's site of the day is Mohenjo-Daro, one of three known capitals of the Indus civilization of Pakistan and India.
Dancing girl of Mohenjo-Daro Photo Credit: Gregory Possehl (c) 2002
The ... Read More
Top Five Places to Conduct Literature Review
Sunday September 9, 2007
Literature review--finding out what has been previously written about a topic--is an essential part of writing an essay on an archaeological site or culture, or conducting background research in advance ... Read More
Amalgamated Friday #27
Friday September 7, 2007
Pigs and the LBK
Pigs and the Spread of Farming in Europe, Afarensis
A New Study of Pig DNA Clarifies Farming Pre-History, Kambiz on Anthropology.net
European domestic pigs, descendants of the European wild ... Read More
Site of the Day: Paquimé (Casas Grandes), Mexico
Thursday September 6, 2007
Everybody's heard of the Aztec civilization, and probably a few have heard of the Toltec civilization.
Villa Ahumada Polychrome owl effigy jar, Casas Grandes, AD 1200-1450. Photo Credit: Museum of Indian ... Read More
Site of the Day: Jericho (Palestine, Israel)
Tuesday September 4, 2007
The site of Jericho, located in the West Bank of Israel)
Domestication of Pigs and the LBK
Monday September 3, 2007
Was the pig a domesticate of Europe? Archaeologists have known for quite a while that the earliest domesticated swine
European domestic pigs, descendants of the European wild boar. Photo Credit: ... Read More
Lucy (AL 288, Ethiopia) - Site of the Day
Monday September 3, 2007
The identification of the first nearly complete Australopithecus afarensis skeleton occurred in 1974. Donald Johanson and his team called the skeleton Lucy--in the local Amharic language, she is called Denkenesh. ... Read More
Feast: Why Humans Share Food (a book review)
Sunday September 2, 2007
Archaeologist Martin Jones' new book, Feast: Why Humans Share Food, is a fascinating look at the impact that sharing food has had on our human natures, and vice versa.
Feast: Why ... Read More