MetaFilter posts tagged with archaeology

Philadelphia Underground

Rumple — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:08:35 -0800

Native American Sites in the City of Philadelphia is a superbly illustrated exposition of the historical development of Philadelphia, with a focus on those few surviving Native American sites which lie under the urban fabric. Lots more excellent Public Archaeology is available from the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum. Bonus link: Philly's lost creeks and streams. "Nay, it is very possible, that on the very site of Coaquanock, by the margin of the Dock Creek, on which their wigwams clustered and their canoes were sheltered, — on the very spot where Henry, Hancock and Adams since inspired the delegates of the colonies ... with nerve and sinew for the toils of war, — there may have been lighted the council fires of wary Sachems, and there may have pealed the rude eloquence of Tamanend himself, — and of the Shingas, Tadeuscunds and Glikicans of their primitive and undebauched age!" –John F. Watson, Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania in the Olden Time (1857), Vol 1: 41

The Virtual Museum of Iraq

homunculus — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 09:55:43 -0800

The Virtual Museum of Iraq.

This one goes to 27

Hardcore Poser — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:41:11 -0800

A companion to one of Europe's most eminent prehistoric monuments has been discovered just a mile away. Bluehenge has the same rough configuration as its sister site, Stonehenge, but with 27 stones instead of 56. It is speculated that the stones of Bluehenge may have been moved to aid in the making of Stonehenge. Bluehenge was discovered by Professor Michael Parker Pearson of Sheffield University, who also discovered evidence of housing near Stonehenge a few years back. The news may have leaked out early.

i think plastered skulls is a pretty cool guy. eh sits in the dirt and doesn't afraid of anything

Greg Nog — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:07:20 -0800

Plastered Skulls! In the Middle East in the early Neolithic, one common burial practice involved digging up a previously-buried body, removing the skull, and using plaster over the skull itself to sculpt an image of the face of the deceased. Many seem to think these skulls were made as a form of ancestor-worship, but some disagree. Three such skulls were discovered a little over a year ago at Yiftah’el, in the lower Galilee. Here's a short article about the find. Here's a brief overview of prehistoric and early historic art, which features a really swell picture of a plastered skull.

Knossos

homunculus — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:16:14 -0800

Knossos: Fakes, Facts, and Mystery. "The masterpieces of Minoan art are not what they seem... The truth is that these famous icons are largely modern. As any sharp-eyed visitor to the Heraklion museum can spot, what survives of the original paintings amounts in most cases to no more than a few square inches. The rest is more or less imaginative reconstruction, commissioned in the first half of the twentieth century by Sir Arthur Evans, the British excavator of the palace of Knossos (and the man who coined the term 'Minoan' for this prehistoric Cretan civilization, after the mythical King Minos who is said to have held the throne there). As a general rule of thumb, the more famous the image now is, the less of it is actually ancient."

I'll never let go

shakespeherian — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:32:05 -0800

Archaeologists find graveyard of sunken Roman ships. Information on how such a shipwreck is discovered available from the Aurora Trust site.

Via Aurelia

homunculus — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:00:20 -0800

The Roman Empire's Lost Highway: French amateur archaeologist Bruno Tassan fights to preserve a neglected 2,000-year-old ancient interstate in southern Provence.

The Hohle Fels Venus

homunculus — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:24:28 -0800

Ancient Venus rewrites history books: Female figure was carved from a mammoth tusk 35,000 years ago. [Via]

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.

Online archaeology and anthropology film from Penn

Rumple — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:28:19 -0800

The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology has put 675 reels of archival 16 mm film online via the Internet Archive. Most of the film is unedited, and stems either from Museum research, or was donated by interested amateurs. Much of it is silent, reflecting the technology of the day. One highlight are the four surviving reels of the long-running TV show 'What in the World" (look for the episode starring Vincent Price), but the archive is full of other hidden gems, such as the 1950s archaeological expedition to Tikal, a 1940 film "A 1000 Mile Road Trip Across America", and Glimpses of Life Among the Catawba and Cherokee Indians of the Carolinas (1927). The films are downloadable in various formats, including MPEG2, Ogg Video, and 512Kb MPEG4. Happy browsing! via.

Geology, Archaeology and History of Seattle

Rumple — Sat, 02 May 2009 09:32:20 -0800

Waterlines is a new online exhibit from the excellent Burke Museum at the University of Washington, Seattle. It tells the story of the land underlying Seattle, one of the United States' most geologically active city sites, and of the human attempts to engineer this landform. Closely related are the archaeology of West Point and Coast Salish Villages of Puget Sound (e.g., read the story of North Wind and Storm Wind).

Entropic Evidence for Linguistic Structure in the Indus Script

homunculus — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:05:24 -0800

Scholars at odds over mysterious Indus script. The Indus script is the collection of symbols found on artifacts from the Harappan civilization, which flourished in what is now eastern Pakistan and western India between 2,600 and 1,900 B.C. A new analysis using pattern-analyzing software suggests that the script may constitute a genuine written language. [Via]

The Eighth Wonder of the World

desjardins — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:37:03 -0800

3D laser scanning offers a fly-through view of the Eighth Wonder of the World. Carved directly into volcanic bedrock, the churches of Lalibela were built during the Zagwe Dynasty (1137-1270). YouTube video of the church and local villagers.

Craniosynostosis in the Middle Pleistocene

homunculus — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:38:11 -0800

Deformed skull of prehistoric child suggests that early humans cared for disabled children.

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.

Rome's Tremendous Tunnel

homunculus — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:15:13 -0800

The Ancient World's Longest Underground Aqueduct. "Roman engineers chipped an aqueduct through more than 100 kilometers of stone to connect water to cities in the ancient province of Syria. The monumental effort took more than a century, says the German researcher who discovered it." How Did the Romans Accomplish Such a Feat? [Via]

Horses Were Tamed, Milked, and Probably Ridden 5,500 Years Ago

homunculus — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:44:56 -0800

Riding with the first cowboys – in 3500 BC. Horses were tamed a millennium earlier than previously thought. [Via]

Digital Archaeological Atlas of the Holy Land

Rumple — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:12:57 -0800

The Digital Archaeological Atlas of the Holy Land is a comprehensive spatially-referenced database of current archaeological knowledge of all periods of Levantine history and prehistory. Spatial search is a good entry point, as are the Palestine Exploration Fund historic maps. You can also search by time period or dig into the many ancient Empires of the area. Or just look at everything in the database. The site is a work in progress, but a cool one powered by a consortium of over 30 professional archaeologists. May require Google Maps. via

The return of New Zealand's first people

Sonny Jim — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:50:51 -0800

In 1939, a 13-year-old boy discovered New Zealand's most significant archaeological site—the remains of a 700-year-old Māori village on the Wairau Bar, Marlborough ... Excavated in the 1940s and '50s, the site yielded a number of Māori skeletons, as well as the remains of now-extinct moa and giant eagles, which, with a wing-span of over 3 metres, were once the world's largest birds of prey. In January 2009, the Māori remains were re-interred, and new excavations carried out. Along this time was a blogger and photographer [warning: WindowsMedia].

Streets of fire, desire etc......

KevinSkomsvold — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 06:07:20 -0800

Amazing Archaeological Discovery! Hair-metal fans said to be stunned.

Best of Anthro 2008

homunculus — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 13:32:15 -0800

Neuroanthropology's Best of Anthropology Blogging 2008. [Via]

The digital collection of the Tokyo National Museum

Kattullus — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:08:24 -0800

The digital collection of the Tokyo National Museum is full of wonder. TNM is the oldest museum in Japan and collects archaeological objects and art from Japan as well as other parts of Asia. The collection can be browsed by type or region. Here are some of my favorites: Buddha's life, The name "Korin" given to pupil, Tale of Matsuranomiya, Coquettish type, Tea caddy in shape of bucket with handle, Mirror, design of sea and island, Traditionary identified as Minamoto no Yoritomo, Seated Monju Bosatsu (Manjusri) and attendants, Sword mounting of kazari-tachi type and (my current desktop background) Figures under a tree. This is but a small sampling of all that can be found in the digital collection

Solstice at Newgrange

homunculus — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 22:00:11 -0800

At dawn on the winter solstice, the passage and chamber of the megalithic passage tomb at Newgrange are illuminated for 17 minutes by a shaft of sunlight entering through the roofbox above the entrance. The builders of Newgrange achieved this precise alignment over 5,000 years ago, 1,000 years before Stonehenge. You can watch the sunrise illumination on a live webcast between 08:30 and 09:30 UTC on Sunday, December 21st.

Everything you wanted to know about pre-Columbian Central America but were afraid to ask lest your heart get ripped out and offered to Quetzalcoatl

Kattullus — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 12:49:00 -0800

The Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies is your one-stop shop for pre-Columbian Central America awesomeness. There are so, so many wondrous things on that site, I don't quite know where to begin. I suppose John Pohl's scholarly introduction is a natural place to start. But maybe you just don't have time to read anything and just want to dive into pretty, pretty pictures. Perhaps the most user-friendly databases are Justin Kerr's photographs Maya Vases (e.g. 1, 2, 3) and Pre-Columbian Portfolio (e.g. 1, 2a, 2b, 3). From there you can delve into the collection of Linda Schele's photographs (e.g. 1, 2) and drawings (e.g. 1, 2, 3). There are more image databases but let me direct you to the collection of old Maya, Aztec and Mixtec books which are simply stunning (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4 [last link pdf]). You can read more about Mayan and Mixtec codices and download high resolution versions of the entire books. There are also Maya dictionaries, glyph guides, linguistic maps and a who's who. There is also classic Mayan and Aztec poetry in translation. I'm telling you, that's not even half of what this amazing site has to offer.