MetaFilter posts tagged with Archaeology and mummies

Games and resources from museums for children

paduasoy — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 08:33:46 -0800

Show Me is a site collecting games and resources for children from UK museums. Online games include: what it is like to be a bat; the Fire of London; Darwin's Fooststeps; Joust; Nit Fit; decorating a Greek pot; MP for a week; Egyptian mummies; Victorian house; Pest Detective; Treasure Hunt; dressing a Victorian; Victorian millionaire; portraits; Roman coins (needs sound); Thingdom and Roman baths. Other resources linked to, or articles on the site itself, include: exploring an Anglo-Saxon village; archaeology at a school in Essex; video about the history of writing; smells at Jorvik; making your own picture of a mythical creature (Word file); child life in Victorian Wales; legend about a Viking stone; and resources about the Romans. There are also natural history jokes and emails from children. There is a lot more on the site, though there are some broken links (all the ones above are working at the moment).

Screaming Mummies!

amyms — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:26:54 -0800

Why do mummies scream? Are screaming mummies really testaments to horrific deaths? Or are they the result of natural processes, botched or ad hoc mummification jobs, or the depredations of tomb robbers? Archaeology Online examines the science and history behind the gape-mouthed "masks of agony" seen on some mummies, and explores their portrayal in entertainment and pop culture. The article includes lots of interesting and informative additional links.

Haven't heard from your Mummy lately?

grapefruitmoon — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:34:23 -0800

Mummy News : All that's new with mummies. Well... not exactly "new." Some highlights: Can't find your favorite Pharoah? A list of Royal Egyptian Mummies and where they are. Or where we think they are. The saddest mummies of all: the mummified kittens of Egypt Find out which celebrity has a tattoo of Ötzi the Iceman (Who is that Iceman, you ask? Well, you can find out about that, too.) A full line-up of Bog Bodies, including Yde Girl and Tollund Man Mummies around the world - including Chachapoya Mummies from Peru And some... accidental... mummies as well.

Kalmykia and Takla Makan migrations

homunculus — Sun, 29 Dec 2002 15:04:01 -0800

The republic of Kalmykia is a unique place. A member of the Russian Federation, it was settled in 1608 by Mongols from what is now the Chinese province of Xinjiang. It is the only state in Europe where Buddhism is the dominant religion, and probably the only state in the world whose president claims to have created an "extra-sensory field" around it. Kalmykia's spiritual leader, Telo Rinpoche, is an American from Philadelphia who was appointed by the Dalai Lama. There has been a long history of migrations between Europe and Asia. In one really intriguing case, 3000-year-old mummies with reddish-blond hair, Caucasian features and wearing tartans similar in design to Celtic ones, were discovered in the Takla Makan Desert in Xinjiang. If these ancient Caucasians were absorbed by the population of Xinjiang, then perhaps the Kalmyk migration might have unknowingly been a return to their ancestral lands. [First link via plep].

A story that only gets stranger and sadder.

lagado — Fri, 25 May 2001 00:14:57 -0800

A story that only gets stranger and sadder. A gold-masked mummy, whose sensational discovery last year sparked an ownership row between Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, has turned out not only to be a modern fake but also the apparent victim in a macabre murder mystery.

The Mummies of the Tarim Basin

lagado — Mon, 07 Aug 2000 05:37:42 -0800

The Mummies of the Tarim Basin were discovered fifteen years ago by Chinese archaeologists working in the salty deserts of far western China. These bodies date from between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago and have been preserved so well in the extremely dry salty conditions that some of them look like they're still alive. Even more remarkable is that their clothing is still intact including tapestries and tartans. Finally these people were six feet tall, had long noses and fair hair and there is strong evidence that they spoke a language whose closest relatives are Celtic and Latin.