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WHAT'S NEW?
Random Roundup Archives
A clearinghouse of Random Roundup files
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September 2 - 30, 2007 |
September 30, 2007 Archaeology and DNA - in the news: The two female bodies originally discovered in the Oseberg Viking ship burial back in 1904 (or thereabouts), who were reburied in 1948 (or thereabouts), have been exhumed for DNA testing; the goal is to determine whether the two women were related, or whether the younger female was a servant who had been sacrificed to accompany the Queen in the afterlife. And in Lebanon, geneticist Pierre Zalloua took DNA samples from 1,000 volunteers and discovered some interesting results about the Phoenician ancestry of "native" Lebanese. The Saga of Seahenge Now removed from its Norfolk location for preservation after much controversy and court battles, the 2000 year old wooden Seahenge circle will be show-cased in a special permanent display at King's Lynn Museum. Were seafarers living here 16,000 years ago? Dr. D. P. Sharma has put together a lavishly illustrated catalog, Harappan Art, reviewed by The Hindu online. Available from Eastern Book Corporation. New theories, reappraisals and promised upheavals are in the news as archaeologists release new research and apply new techniques and new approaches in analyzing prior knowledge: Excavations at Tell Brak in Syria may reveal new theory about how the first cities grew (another article here) From the remote shores of Budrinna on Lake Fezzan in Libya, and Melka Konture on the banks of the River Awash in Ethiopia, a series of stunning discoveries made by Professor Helmut Ziegert of Hamburg University are set to challenge the originality of the Neolithic Revolution
Stave Church at Fantoff, Norway, 12th century CE. This site offers a listing of many stave churches in Norway with photos - the serpent motif is evident on the roofs of many of the churches. This site offers an intriguingly idiosyncratic history of gnostic belief in Viking territory and why the serpent is featured in the most ancient of the stave churches (before Roman Catholicism became prominent in the 1400's).
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September 23, 2007 Dr. McCoy Goes Volcano Hunting Geophysicists say the Thera (Santorini) eruption occurred in about 1645 B.C., but archaeologists prefer 1500 B.C. Dr. McCoy is combining geology and archaeology into a new discipline -- geoarchaeology -- to try to settle the controversy. The date of the eruption has profound implications for ancient history... A buried cache of 10,000 ancient Chinese coins weighing 1.5 tons uncovered in Changzi County, north China's Shanxi Province. Tomb raiding - a time-honored profession. It seems the Bulgarians are taking this "fine art" to new heights. The theory about the Giza Plateau original having two sphinxes is back in the news. Archaeologist Bassam El Shammaa has his own website about his views. A gaming piece has been discovered in a Roman burial at Bury Mount (aptly named) in Towcester, Northampshire, England. Chess in Alf's Cards? Not exactly the way Culin would have it - but - the imagery is there to behold. Alf Cooke was an important producer of playing cards and card games in the UK during the period 1920-1970. A collector with a few interesting items for sale. Scroll down a bit for a number of placards and assorted chesswares...
Does this painting of the "Last Supper" show a female next to Jesus? The famous scene has been painted by numerous artists in the ages since Christ's death. Dan Brown's The da Vinci Code propelled Leonardo da Vinci's painting/fresco "The Last Supper" (completed in c. 1498 CE) into the consciousness of millions of readers worldwide, along with the storyline that the figure portrayed to the left of Christ in that painting is Mary Magdalene who, so the story goes, was Christ's wife and who bore him a child. This painting post-dates da Vinci's by about 60 years: at Girona Cathedral (Spain), by Perris de la Roca, circa 1560 CE. Some observers thing the figure under Jesus' arm is a woman. |
September 16, 2007 A couple of articles about the latest look at evidence concerning the migration of people: New Evidence from Texas Pushes Entrance Date Back and Unravelling Mysteries of Ancient Human Migrations. Chicken Bones Suggest Polynesians Found Americas before Columbus An intact burial was discovered in March (first being publicized now) in a much-looted Tiwanaku pyramid in Bolivia. The Ancient and Mysterious History of Tattoos A fascinating look at this ancient art form. According to Joann Fletcher, research fellow in the department of archaeology at the University of York in Britain, tattooing in ancient Egypt was restricted to women who, she believes, used the symbols as talismans against the dangers of child-bearing. Is Ancient People's End a Warning for the Future? A look at the most recent archaeological findings points to sustained drought as the demise of the Anasazi culture. Gateway on the western border of China to the Tarim Basin (home of the mummies of Urumchi and other mummies of a European-featured people who lived in the Basin area beginning c. 4,000 years ago), the ancient city of Dunhuang is threatened as never before by climate change.
She is one of the most recognized faces and one of the most beautiful women of all time. New findings have now revealed that the famous bust of Nefertiti (Egyptian Museum, Berlin, Germany), wife/queen of the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten, underwent at least four different modifications, one of which gave her slight wrinkles around her eyes..
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September 9, 2007 Chess with God (and others) The Guardian has an entertaining review of three books about chess: David Shenk's "The Immortal Game: A History of Chess," Michael Weinreb's "The Kings of New York: A Year Among the Oddballs, Geeks, and Geniuses Who Make Up America's Top High School Chess Team,", and Kasparov's "How Chess Imitates Life." China's "First Emperor" The British Museum will be hosting a new exhibit from September 13, 2007 through April 6, 2008 on China's "first emperor." This once-in-a-lifetime exhibition will explore one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century and provide an insight into China's First Emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, and his legacy. Objects featured in the exhibition will include a number of the world-famous terracotta warriors from Xi'an, China, which were buried alongside the First Emperor in readiness for the afterlife. Rare find of textiles in mass grave excavated in China, including evidence of vermillion-dyed cloth, some thousand years before the Arabs discovered a technique for dying cloth vermillion (in the 8th century CE). Several human remains were recovered from the mass burial site, including the bodies of four young women who were probably buried alive as a sacrifice. A Hunting We Will Go...Hi Ho the Merry-o a Hunting We Will Go Hunting modern-day ocean-going pirates at the Smithsonian Magazine online. And hunting treasure - "Profiteers on the High Seas" at Archaeology Magazine. You can keep your Bluebeards and your Blackbeards. The most successful pirate of all time controlled a fleet of more than 1,500 ships and upwards of 80,000 sailors -- and she did it all without the help of facial hair. MORE! Words to the Wise... www.historyworld.net www.harappa.com/script Sold at Sotheby's (London, New Bond Street), on November 2, 2001, Lot 1 in Sale L01292 for GBP 5,760.
Description: Persian, 9th/10th century four ivory chess pieces of geometric form, the knight of conical shape with beaked protuberance and decorated with concentric rings, the rook with deep cut in the centre creating two castle-like projections 3 to 4cm., 1 1/8 to 1 1/2 in. Compare with related pieces in the Ashmolean Museum and those excavated at Nishapur in the Metropolitan, Museum, New York illustrated by A. Contadini. Related Literature: A.Contadini, 'Islamic Ivory Chess Pieces, Draughtsmen & Dice' in Islamic Art in the Ashmolean, Oxford Studies in Islamic Art, Volume X, Part I edited. J.W.Allan.
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September 2, 2007 Blogs - love 'em or hate 'em, they're probably here to stay, but they also come and go like the wind, here today, gone tomorrow. Here are a couple of blogs on archaeology in Egypt: trained archaeologist and grad student Andie Byrnes' Egyptology News and Egyptologist Margaret Maitland's The Eloquent Peasant (the name is from an old Egyptian tale) - excellent content! Have you ever wondered what your name "means?" Behindthename.com has first names in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Italian, India, other languages and different categories (i.e., Irish names, Biblical names, names from mythology, etc.) Author and former reporter Shun Akiba wants to know why the Japanese authorities are deliberately hiding the existence of secret tunnels under Tokyo - or are they... Words to the Wise Compiled by Archaeology Magazine - some useful sites at Ancient Scripts. Part of the Arc of Ancient Civilizations Pyramid News
CAIS reports that Iranian archaeologists working on the Kangelu Fortress in northern Iran's Mazandaran Province have put forward the idea that the Sasanian fortress was built to be waterproof as a suitable site for holding rituals in honour of Anahita, the Zoroastrian deity of fertility, water and rivers.
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