Site of the Day: Pont du Gard and the Aqueduct of Nîmes
Wednesday October 31, 2007
There really is nothing as impressive as a Roman aqueduct, an engineering marvel built to bring water from a reservoir to the urban cities of the Romans.
Pont du Gard, ... Read More
Quote of the Week: Kage Baker Imagines Flinders Petrie
Tuesday October 30, 2007
I recently ran across the science fiction writer Kage Baker who uniquely folds in the entirety of human history, a neat trick, in her "Company Novels". One of her short ... Read More
Site of the Day: Pasargadae (Iran)
Monday October 29, 2007
Pasargadae (which I can never spell the same way twice in the same sentence but will endeavor to do so for the space of this blog entry)
Tomb of Cyrus, ... Read More
Material of Interest: Bitumen
Sunday October 28, 2007
Bitumen is a naturally occurring substance, a black, oily or viscous goo or liquid
Asphalt (Bitumen) Deposits at La Brea Tar Pits Photo Credit: Stephen Mihalcik
derived from organic matter, that ... Read More
Amalgamated Friday #33
Friday October 26, 2007
Reviews
Castles & Fortresses, Melissa Snell reviews the new book by Robin S. Oggins on Medieval and Renaissance History at About.com
‘Most Haunted Live: Pirates’ Curse’. An Archaeology of Haunted Houses?, ... Read More
Archaeology Dig 2008: Jones Mill, Arkansas
Thursday October 25, 2007
Focus on the Field School
The Arkansas Archeological Survey and Arkansas Archeological Society will cosponsor a Training Program in Archaeology June 13-29, 2008, at the Jones Mill Site (3HS28) in Hot ... Read More
Emperor Qin's Terracotta Army
Wednesday October 24, 2007
This week's photo essay is a fun one for me--it's on Qin Dynasty emperor Shihuangdi's fabulous terracotta army. There's something so over-the-top about building a life-sized army of soldiers and ... Read More
Quote of the Week: Flannery on the Most Fun You Can Have...
Tuesday October 23, 2007
At a rough guess, most archaeologists of my generation remember vividly when they first read Kent Flannery's 1982 article called "The Golden Marshalltown". The article is an allegory, with iconic ... Read More
Niah Cave (Borneo) - Site of the Day
Monday October 22, 2007
I've been mucking around in the Paleolithic literature off and on for the past few months and stumbled across some pretty interesting sites. Niah Cave in Borneo is important because ... Read More
Maya Blue: Material of Interest
Sunday October 21, 2007
What is it about ancient colors that makes them such a source of fascination?
Mural at Bonampak Photo Credit: Nick Leonard
Artifacts recovered from archaeological sites are, by their very nature, ... Read More
Amalgamated Friday #32
Friday October 19, 2007
James Watson
Proving that you can be a genius and an idiot at the same time, James Watson (one of the Nobel Prize winners for mapping the double helix of DNA) ... Read More
Site of the Day: Stallings Island
Thursday October 18, 2007
The very first pottery known in the Americas was found at sites of the Stallings culture of Georgia and South Carolina, which are dated about 4500 years ago. It seems ... Read More
Photo Essay: Death and Commemoration
Wednesday October 17, 2007
My main reason for doing this website (if you don't already know it) is to provide the general public reasonable access to the academic literature. Lots of really cool stuff ... Read More
Archaeology Quote: John C. McEnroe Discussing the Past
Tuesday October 16, 2007
I've been doing a lot of reading of the literature recently, and I've run across a few new quotes about archaeology to add to our collection. So, being that kind ... Read More
Site of the Day: Wadi Hammeh 27 (Jordan)
Monday October 15, 2007
The site of the day is a Natufian site, Wadi Hammeh 27, in Jordan. Archaeologists commonly use a number after a site name when there are a bunch of archaeological ... Read More
Wootz Steel - Material of Interest
Sunday October 14, 2007
Many cultures are known for the aggressive development of iron and steel weaponry.
Medieval Blacksmith Reenactor, Archeon 2005 Photo Credit: Hans Splinter
The 6th century Celts, the 11th century Vikings, the ... Read More
Amalgamated Friday #31
Friday October 12, 2007
Anthropology and War
An article in the NYT on October 5 described the embedding of anthropologists in the war in Iraq. This situation has created a firestorm amongst anthropologists, because, ... Read More
Focus on the Field School: Balkan Heritage 2008
Thursday October 11, 2007
Balkan heritage (BH) field school by BYC Association-Bulgaria has operated since 2003 implementing projects in the areas of study, protection, restoration and promotion of sites, artifacts and practices presenting cultural ... Read More
Photo Essay: Archaeology of South Africa
Wednesday October 10, 2007
This week's photo essay is of a few of the important archaeological sites of South Africa, Klasies River Caves, Boomplaas, Sterkfontein, etc etc. The essay has been greatly enhanced by ... Read More
Tombos (Sudan) - Site of the Day
Tuesday October 9, 2007
Tombos is a New Kingdom period colony in Sudan, where both Egyptians and locals apparently shared the rule. Archaeological investigations of late at Tombos have probed the idea about who ... Read More
Site of the Day: Mawangui (China)
Monday October 8, 2007
Today's site is Mawangui, a Han Dynasty city in a suburb of Changsha, Hunan Province, where three tombs belonging to the Marquis of Dai, Li Dang [died 186 BC]; Lady ... Read More
Materials of Interest: Faience
Sunday October 7, 2007
There are a couple of interesting articles in the Journal of Archaeological Science on the technical aspects of that artificial jewelry the Egyptians made called faience.
Bibi Jawindi Tomb Photo ... Read More
Amalgamated Friday #30
Friday October 5, 2007
Number 30? How the heck is THAT possible? Here's your (more or less) weekly roundup of news in archaeology from the blogs, etc.
Around About.com
How Assyria gained independence, from NS ... Read More
Site of the Day: Oc Eo, Vietnam
Thursday October 4, 2007
Thursday's Site of the Day is Oc Eo, which is a great name for anything, let alone this early pre-Angkor civilization site in Vietnam. In addition to being inherently cool ... Read More
Photo Essay: Archaeological Fieldwork Illustrated
Wednesday October 3, 2007
This week's photo essay was engendered by a letter from a reader who wanted to know if there were any changes to the archaeological profession and practice since she gave ... Read More
Site of the Day: Laetoli (Tanzania)
Tuesday October 2, 2007
Probably one of the most well known archaeological sites in the world is that of Laetoli, where in the 1970s Mary Nicol Leakey discovered the footprints of three of our ... Read More
San Pedro de Atacama (Chile): Site of the Day
Monday October 1, 2007
The archaeological site of San Pedro de Atacama in Chile,
The Atacama Giant Photo Credit: Luis Briones (c) 2006
Monday's Site of the Day, is an outlier of the Tiwanaku empire, ... Read More