Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Cavemen, Cave Bears Battled Over Turf : Discovery News

Cavemen, Cave Bears Battled Over Turf : Discovery News
This strikes me as a kind of "Man Bites Dog" story: it is possible that the cave bears died out because WE ate THEM. (They were vegetarians.) Also, someone points out (rather obviously), the bears and the humans had to have coexisted for at least some time, because the humans painted pictures of the bears on the cave walls: you don't paint pictures of animals that are already extinct! I'm not fond of the dual-use theory of the caves: bears sleep there in winter, humans in summer. Why do we need a cave in the summer? (And don't say, "Because the bears are up and about...")

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Obelisk in Central Park | drhawass.com - Zahi Hawass

Obelisk in Central Park drhawass.com - Zahi Hawass
I can't find when this was written--probably some time back, before Dr. H had a few other things on his mind. But it reminds us to look closer to home for antiquities that may need conservation: the Central Park obelisk ("Cleopatra's Needle") is indeed, as you can see from the pictures here, in terrible shape. Pollution, weather, etc., all conspire to eat away at it.

Evolution of Language Takes Unexpected Turn | Wired Science | Wired.com

Evolution of Language Takes Unexpected Turn Wired Science Wired.com
More on the computer analysis of linguistic evolution.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Sands, not lights, cover Gaza archaeology sites - Yahoo! News

Sands, not lights, cover Gaza archaeology sites - Yahoo! News Another place not conducive to proper digging, due to political troubles: Gaza. Israel was cooperating somewhat to preserve things, until Hamas took over. UNESCO seems to be trying to preserve things, too, but with little progress. Another reason to settle the mess in this reason.

Who killed the hill fort nine? Mystery find shakes our iron age assumptions | Science | guardian.co.uk

Who killed the hill fort nine? Mystery find shakes our iron age assumptions Science guardian.co.uk More rewriting of British history: the Iron Age (pre-Roman) was apparently not all sweetness and light. (If it had been, why the need for hill forts? huh?)

Hope Amid Ruins: Clues To The Future In Libya's Past : NPR

Hope Amid Ruins: Clues To The Future In Libya's Past : NPR Report from Cyrene, in the midst of Libya's civil war (or whatever it is). Interview even with an aged archaeologist, who remembers back when they could do proper archaeology in Libya.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Phonemic Diversity Supports a Serial Founder Effect Model of Language Expansion from Africa

Phonemic Diversity Supports a Serial Founder Effect Model of Language Expansion from Africa Abstract of the article mentioned in the NY Times story.

Languages Grew From a Seed in Africa, Study Says - NYTimes.com

Languages Grew From a Seed in Africa, Study Says - NYTimes.com You know how geneticists can figure out how long ago a mutation occurred because they think they know the "rate" at which genes change? (I don't, really, but I've heard something about it.) What if you could do something like that with language? Mathematical models show that languages have fewer phonemes the farther away they are from SW Africa--does that mean all languages originated in that area? Can this sort of analysis really be done on languages? Hmm. It would interesting if it could. See the link within this article to the original article in Science magazine.

Exclusive: Early Christian Lead Codices Now Called Fakes | LiveScience

Exclusive: Early Christian Lead Codices Now Called Fakes LiveScience Wrong kind of lettering and things like that.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Don't talk to British tabloids

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/04/10/czech.republic.unusual.burial/index.html?iref=obnetwork#
That is the lesson drawn from the archaeologists who reported on a Neolithic male skeleton found buried (in the Czech Republic) facing the direction usually used for female Neolithics in that area. Could he have been a person in a "special category"? When the tabloids pick this up, they label him "Gay Caveman." Much huffing by angry archaeologists ensues.

Friday, April 8, 2011

The clinical nature of modern warfare - World - CBC News

The clinical nature of modern warfare - World - CBC News Getting political on you for a moment, but this commentary contains some instructive numbers comparing ancient and modern warfare, taking the Battle of Cannae as a starting point. Can we even imagine war on that human scale any more? 48,000 dead (on one side) in a day. He even brings in some similar figures from World War I and compares those to modern, automated, drone-based, long-distance "clinical" warfare. Note reference to Robert O'Connell's book, "The Ghosts of Cannae."

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Race to save Buddhist relics in former Bin Laden camp | The Art Newspaper

Race to save Buddhist relics in former Bin Laden camp The Art Newspaper The Taliban continue their destruction of very old Buddhist sites: here a site with remains from the 3rd-7th centuries is going to become a copper mine (leased to a Chinese company). Archaeologists have been scrambling to survey and excavate the place first, but Kabul doesn't control this area: it remains in Taliban hands.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Catacomb of secret tunnels packed with mummified remains of EIGHT MILLION dogs is excavated in Egypt | Mail Online

Catacomb of secret tunnels packed with mummified remains of EIGHT MILLION dogs is excavated in Egypt Mail Online Last week we heard about the "Dog Catacombs" of Egypt, near Saqqara. This article has more detail, and more pictures. (Warning to Dog Lovers: Some details and pictures may be distressing. Join the club: We cat people have been dealing with this problem in Egyptology for years.) It also has a picture of the cutest, most canine statue of Anubis I've ever seen.

Nanotechnology to protect rock tombs in southern Turkey - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review

Nanotechnology to protect rock tombs in southern Turkey - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review Very high-tech nanochemical methods will be used to clean and restore the surfaces of these cliffside sites in Dalyan, Turkey, a square centimeter at a time. The Roman theater at Telmessos will be similarly treated. I wonder if we'll ever hear how this project comes out?

Ancient metal plates found in Middle East | Deseret News

Ancient metal plates found in Middle East Deseret News Uh-oh. Those lead codices that made the news last week from Jordan? Maybe fakes. (I pass over the irony of the "Deseret News" reporting a story of forged "ancient" documents. I say absolutely nothing about it.) Actually, other sources are skeptical, too.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Santa Pudenziana, Rome - Smarthistory

Santa Pudenziana, Rome - Smarthistory "Smarthistory.org" is actually "smARThistory"--I haven't used it before, but it looks like it might be an interesting thing to browse. This is the article on Sta Pudenziana, a special church in Rome for me, because of 1) the 4th-cent. mosaic of Christ in a purple-and-gold toga, and 2) the Filipino faith-healing service I stumbled onto there in 2007, when all I really wanted was a photo of the mosaic. I seriously considered having Father Suarez lay hands on my aching foot, but I was afraid I would then feel compelled to buy his CD. (The Rest of the Story: I then proceeded to Sta Maria degli Angeli, where I found a Spanish-language [Filipino?] Mass going on, complete with guitars and bongo drums. Bizarre contrast with a church interior occupying the ruins of a Roman bath, redesigned by Michelangelo. But I was really proud of myself for being able to instantly tell Spanish from Italian!) The lesson from both sites: never go church-sightseeing on a Sunday!