MetaFilter posts tagged with archaeology and science

A Moment in Time

nola — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:53:18 -0800

AronRa has done some really nice YouTube vids on science (previously). In this latest vlog An Archaeological Moment in Time, he take(s) a look at how different societies are advancing at different rates on the same date in the distant past.

Secret Archaeology

univac — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:32:10 -0800

Archaeologists and Native Americans race against the border fence. The REAL ID act authorized government agencies to bulldoze long-standing environmental, cultural and anthropological standards. But a team of activists worked delicately behind the scenes to win millions of dollars in federal funding and the go-ahead for a last-ditch effort to study ancient artifacts. Archaeologists have faced similarly rushed projects elsewhere along the fence route.

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.

Gobekli Tepe

homunculus — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:30:10 -0800

Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple? "Predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years, Turkey's stunning Gobekli Tepe upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization."

Mayan Muons and Unmapped Rooms

homunculus — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:34:04 -0800

Ghost Particles & Pyramids: How physicists and archaeologists “see” inside ancient monuments.

Of Beer And Chocolate

amyms — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:07:09 -0800

Chocolate and the Beer of the Ancients. New archaeological evidence suggests that primitive beer brewers were the first to discover the goodness of chocolate.

Long Lost Leo

ScottUltra — Thu, 13 Jan 2005 12:56:41 -0800

"Researchers have discovered the hidden laboratory used by Leonardo da Vinci for studies of flight and other pioneering scientific work in previously sealed rooms at a monastery next to the Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata, in the heart of Florence."

Oetzi the Ice Man

talos — Thu, 06 Mar 2003 05:58:41 -0800

"Over 5000 years ago, a man climbed up to the icy heights of the Schnalstal glacier and died. He was found by accident in 1991, with his clothes and equipment, mummified and frozen: an archaeological sensation and a unique snapshot of a Copper Age man. For several years highly specialised research teams examined the mummy and the articles found with it. They have been on exhibit since March 1998 at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology." Apparently he suffered of arthritis and heart disease.
via baloney.com

skallas — Thu, 02 Aug 2001 17:50:10 -0800

Great, yet unsettling, CGI reconstruction of a Neaderthal child's head. (via robotwisdom)

lagado — Thu, 11 Jan 2001 04:00:27 -0800

DNA analysis of a 60,000-year-old skeleton from Lake Mungo in Australia throws doubt on the "Out of Africa" theory of human evolution.