The Devastation of Iraq's Past. "Since the looting of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad in April 2003, the international press has accorded considerable space to the country's imperiled ancient heritage. Much of this coverage, however, has been devoted to the museum, the impressive campaign to recover its stolen works, and the continued struggle to reopen its galleries. Only occasional, anecdotal reports—mostly from the first year of the conflict—have borne witness to
large-scale plunder of archaeological sites, to which the damage is irreversible."
posted by homunculus
on Jul 23, 2008 -
9 comments
Archaeology Magazine
lists its top ten discoveries of 2007, with nine runners up. Among the discoveries listed are the
discovery of Nebo-Sarsekim tablet that confirms some of the details of the Biblical book of Jeremiah (while
casting doubt on other details),
evidence that chimpanzees used basic stone tools 4,000 years ago that suggests that the primates may have passed "cultural" information through generations, and evidence of
Polynesian chickens in Chile that
may confirm Francisco Pizarro's report of chickens in Peru.
posted by Pants!
on Dec 30, 2007 -
19 comments
Scientists find a 'mummified' Hadrosaur in North Dakota "He looks like a blow-up dinosaur in some parts," said Phillip Manning, a paleontologist at the University of Manchester in England who is leading the inquiry. "When you actually look at the detail of the skin, the scales themselves are three dimensional. . . . The arm is breathtaking. It's a three-dimensional arm, you can shake the dinosaur by the hand. It just defies logic that such a remarkable specimen could preserve."
[more inside]
posted by Uther Bentrazor
on Dec 3, 2007 -
52 comments
Ever wonder how flaked stone tools such as the famous 12,000 year old
Clovis spear points were made? A series of videos from youtube user
flintknappingtips leads you through
primary shaping,
blank preparation,
blank shaping, thinning, and
fluting of a Clovis point. Total manufacturing time is about 40 minutes. Unscrupulous flintknappers have sold such replicas for
tens of thousands of dollars (PDF), leading to a micro-business of stone tool authentication, after which, naturally,
fake authentication papers started to appear came to light.
posted by Rumple
on Nov 14, 2007 -
23 comments
"Proposition. We are all archaeologists, even if we don't realize it. An archaeological sensibility - working on what is left of the past, heritage, museums, collecting culture, antiques, retro styling, family genealogy, local history, tourists visiting the past - is a vital part of the contemporary zeitgeist.
Archaeography and
Archaeographer are photoblogs that explore the connections between photography and archaeology." Mining a similar vein is
The Nonist's Archeography Project.
posted by Kattullus
on Oct 24, 2007 -
6 comments
Derinkuyu wasn't discovered until 1965, when a resident cleaning the back wall of his cave house broke through a wall and discovered behind it a room that he'd never seen, which led to still another, and another. Eventually, spelunking archeologists found a maze of connecting chambers that descended at least 18 stories and 280 feet beneath the surface, ample enough to hold 30,000 people. [flickr]. [wiki].
posted by dersins
on Aug 31, 2007 -
48 comments
Re-thinking the "cradle of civilization". New discoveries at dig sites in Middle Asia are
challenging the archaeological worlds idea that civilization began in Mesopotamia. Sites in modern-day Iran and Russia suggest that a vast network of societies together constituted the first cities, along with the potential discovery of a new writing system.
posted by stbalbach
on Aug 14, 2007 -
20 comments
The Etruscan civilization flourished in central Italy around the 6th century BC before the rise of the Roman Empire. Known for high art and high living, some say the Etruscans were influential in molding Roman and western civilization, however it has always been an enigma on where the Etruscans originally came from.
DNA evidence has probably
solved the mystery, confirming what Greek historian Herodotus first said over 2,500 years ago.
posted by stbalbach
on Jun 24, 2007 -
33 comments
The Thirteen Towers of Chankillo in Peru may be the Western Hemisphere's oldest known
full-service solar observatory, showing evidence of early, sophisticated
Sun cults, according to
archaeoastronomy professor
Clive Ruggles. The 2,300-year-old complex featured 13 towers running north to south along a ridge and spread across 980 feet to form a toothed horizon that
spans the solar arc. Last year, another ancient observatory was discovered in Peru by
Robert Benfer.
The Temple of the Fox is 4,200 years old, making it
1,900 years older than the Chankillo site, but wasn't a complete calendar.
posted by homunculus
on Mar 3, 2007 -
8 comments
The Perfume of Garbage: an archaeology of the world trade centers (pdf). What do the the
godfather of
garbology, a leading
post-modern archaeological
theorist (
blog), and
a "space archaeologist"(cf. space junk) think about the WTC? Obviously as a ruin and as an archaeological site - but much more. An intriguing analysis placing the WTC ruins into archaeological context, and, most particularly, responding to the Smithsonian's
exhibition of artifacts from the events of September 11, 2001. Also, a
commentary (pdf) responding to garbage, space and the WTC.
And yes, garbology goes well beyond Mick Jagger ephemera.
posted by Rumple
on Nov 5, 2006 -
7 comments
