Posts

June 18, 2013

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9:15 PM | 'Lost' City Found Beneath Cambodian Jungle

Airborne laser scanning reveals a 'lost' 12-century city.

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12:20 PM | First 4-Wheel Wagon In Swedish East Coast Rock Art

Bronze Age rock art along Sweden’s south-east coast is rich but not as varied as that of the famous west-coast region. One motif that we have been missing is the four-wheel wagon. It isn’t common anywhere except on one site, Frännarp in inland Scania (below right), but we have had none whatsoever where I am.…

June 17, 2013

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12:20 PM | Swedish Metal Detector Legislation: No Improvement In Sight

Despite loud (and in my opinion, well argued) opposition to the Swedish restrictions on metal detector use by honest amateurs, our authorities are sadly not coming round to anything resembling the Danish legislation that works so well. My friend and fieldwork collaborator Tobias Bondeson is a skilled amateur detectorist who regularly publishes scholarly papers on…

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11:00 AM | Rickets in the Medici Children

While rickets is primarily thought to be a disease of industrialization, there was an earlier spike in prevalence especially within Europe. Rickets is primarily due to lack of exposure to ultraviolet B rays, caused by lack of sun exposure, poor environmental conditions or bad nutrition. The early post-modern period in Europe was plagued by low … Continue reading »

June 14, 2013

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5:40 PM | Medici Children Suffered From Rickets

The Medici children were malnourished and led a prolonged indoor life, a new study finds. Continue reading →

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3:27 PM | Society for Archaeological Sciences Summer Bulletin

For the newest issue of the Society for Archaeological Sciences Bulletin, my article discusses mortuary and bioarchaeology in the field. “As the summer approaches, many archaeologists’ thoughts turn to their field season, whether doing their own independent excavation, conducting survey prior to construction, leading or attending a field school. Fieldwork is an essential part of being an archaeologist, and for … Continue reading »

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1:32 PM | Not Dead Yet: Medieval Versus Modern Leprosy

The study of the DNA of vira is becoming increasingly popular to understand how it affected people in the past, how the disease evolved, and whether its modern equivalents are similar. Genomic studies of different variations of the plague have been in the news over the past few years. A recent study of the Justinian … Continue reading »

Schuenemann, V., Singh, P., Mendum, T., Krause-Kyora, B., Jager, G., Bos, K., Herbig, A., Economou, C., Benjak, A., Busso, P. & Nebel, A. (2013). Genome-Wide Comparison of Medieval and Modern Mycobacterium leprae, Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1238286

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June 12, 2013

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6:04 PM | Roy Zimmerman Updates “Hello, NSA”

No summary available for this post.

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3:10 PM | KALI-MA! Ritual Human Heart Extraction

If you’ve watched through the ‘Indiana Jones’ series, you probably have a very distinctive memory of the ‘Kali-Ma’ scene from the ‘Temple of Doom’. After unsuccessfully escaping a gang of Shanghai thugs, Indiana, Willie and Short-Round find themselves stranded in Mayapore, a village in Northern India. Exploring the village’s palace, they find underground tunnels that reveal … Continue reading »

Tiesler, V. & Cucina, A. (2006). Procedures in Human Heart Extraction and Ritual Meaning: A Taphonomic Assessment of Anthropogenic Marks in Classic Maya Skeletons, Latin American Antiquity, 17 (4) 493. DOI: 10.2307/25063069

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11:56 AM | 19th-Century British Shipwreck Found Off Mexico

The British ship was carrying mail to Bermuda when it sank off the Yucatan Peninsula 164 years ago. Continue reading →

June 10, 2013

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10:00 AM | Where can you find out more about the UNESCO Astronomy World Heritage Inititative?

For anyone searching for my name today, here’s the information you’re after. The bit I’m working with is the Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy. This is the part where all the public information is. There are pages about the initiative at UNESCO and the IAU. It’s excellent reporting by Andy Carling, so if I’ve [...]

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7:00 AM | Cave Art Shows Prehistoric Southern Living: Photos

The oldest and most widespread collection of U.S. prehistoric cave and rock art has been found in and around Tennessee.

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6:20 AM | 800 Years Of Human Sacrifice In Kent

British Archaeology #131 (July/August) has a feature by Pippa Bradley that caught my interest. It’s about a Wessex Archaeology dig in 2004-05 at Cliffs End farm in Thanet, a piece of north-east Kent that was an island up until the 16th century when silting finished connecting it to mainland England. What we’re dealing here is…

June 06, 2013

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12:04 PM | Bede, Burials, and Bamburgh: Testing Anglo-Saxon Migration

The traditional story of the settlement of England by the Anglo-Saxons is based on the writing of the Venerable Bede from 731 CE. He wrote: “These new-comers were from the three most formidable races of Germany, the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes… these heathen conquerors devastated the surrounding cities and countryside, extended the conflagration from the … Continue reading »

Groves SE, Roberts CA, Lucy S, Pearson G, Gröcke DR, Nowell G, Macpherson CG & Young G (2013). Mobility histories of 7th-9th century AD people buried at early medieval Bamburgh, Northumberland, England., American journal of physical anthropology, PMID: 23737109

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June 04, 2013

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2:45 PM | LAWDI and Mortuary Archaeology

Over the past four days, I was fotunate to be a part of the Linked Ancient World Data Institute (#LAWDI). The purpose was to discuss, share and explore linked data and open access as applied to Ancient World and Classical material. The attendees selected included a range of faculty and students from around the world, … Continue reading »

Roberts, C. & Mays, S. (2011). Study and restudy of curated skeletal collections in bioarchaeology: A perspective on the UK and the implications for future curation of human remains, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 21 (5) 626-630. DOI: 10.1002/oa.1175

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1:36 PM | Ancient Ball Player Statue Found in Mexico

A thousand-year-old statue found in Guerrero depicts a ball player of a yet-to-be deciphered ancient game. Continue reading →

June 03, 2013

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9:10 PM | New ?Guide Book To Medieval Stockholm

Historiska media is a publishing house in Lund. In recent years they have been putting out pop-sci guide books about Medieval Sweden, province by province. I’ve reviewed the volumes about Södermanland and Uppland provinces here. And now my friend and Fornvännen co-editor Elisabet Regner has written the first volume in the series that deals with…

June 02, 2013

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3:05 PM | Smuggler's Shipwrecked Steamer Found

U.S. explorers announced today that they found a 19th-century steamer known to have smuggled guns and carried hundreds of thousands of dollars and possibly gold.

June 01, 2013

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7:32 AM | May Pieces Of My Mind

Reading Kerstin Ekman I’m struck by how complicated a relationship her characters have to social class. And by how oblivious I have largely been to it through my life. I’ve always known that there are people with less money and power than my circle. And that there are those with more money and power. But…

May 31, 2013

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9:02 PM | Early Images of Egypt (Photographic Archive Collection of the Frank H. McClung Museum)

Frank H. McClung Museum University of Tennessee Knoxville http://kiva.lib.utk.edu/egypt/egypthome Images can be searched by title, author, theme, period, tags, etc. Catalogue very detailed. Many 1913 unpublished photos.

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8:51 PM | "Pharaoh: Reborn" Exhibition in Bristol (Considerations on Belzoni and Ricci)

20 April to 29 September 2013Bristol City Museum & Art Galleries From the website of the Bristol City Council: "Pharaoh: Reborn showcases some of our incredible watercolours made by Giovanni Belzoni and his team between 1817-1820. They’re the highlight of our extensive Egyptian Archaeology collection. [...] In 1821, the watercolours were exhibited in London and Paris. Huge crowds attended and Sety I’s tomb is now one of the most well known tombs in the Valley of the Kings. […]

May 30, 2013

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5:30 PM | Ancient Egyptians Crafted Jewelry From Meteorites

An iron bead found inside a 5,000-year-old tomb was crafted from a meteorite.

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4:22 PM | Roman Bioarchaeology Carnival XXIX

As always, the summer months are busy ones here at the Roman Bioarchaeology Carnival. Lots of excavations mean lots of dead people coming to light for the first time in millennia... New Finds Italy 7 May. Ancient Milan church yields tombs, coins from 4th century [ANSA.it]. At least two burials, one an infant and one an adult, have been found during excavations of the Church of Sts. James & Philip. This Roman community was called Nocetum, and coins from the burials place them […]

May 28, 2013

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7:00 PM | Child Abuse Evident in Ancient Egyptian Cemetery

The toddler died some 2,000 years ago, but fractures suggest violent shaking and direct blows.

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1:14 PM | Examining the Richard III Evidence

Richard III is a highly controversial figure from English history, and this legacy continues today. Shakespeare wrote of him as a villain, exaggerating his scoliosis and writing his malicious dialogue.“And thus I clothe my naked villainy. With odd old ends stol’n out of holy writ; And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.” (Richard III, … Continue reading »

Richard Buckley, Mathew Morris, Jo Appleby, Turi King, Deirdre O’Sullivan & Lin Foxhall (2013). ‘The king in the car park’: new light on the death and burial of Richard III in the Grey Friars church, Leicester, in 1485, Antiquity, 87 519-538.

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May 24, 2013

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3:15 PM | King Richard III Buried in Hasty Grave

Legendary royal's resting place was dug poorly and quickly, in contrast with other neat and tidy graves nearby.

May 23, 2013

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5:20 PM | In My Earbuds Lately

For months I subscribed to too many podcasts, and so wasn’t listening to a lot of music. But lately I’ve made an effort to rectify that. Here’s what I’ve been bopping to. Apples In Stereo – Travellers In Space And Time (2010). Lots of vocoder! David Bowie – Pin Ups (1973). Glam covers of 60s…

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11:00 AM | Modern Ways the Deceased are Memorialized

The dead are treated and remembered in a range of ways from a simple burial in the old family graveyard to more epic modern treatments like being cremated and shot into outer space. How we interact with our deceased and what occurs during mourning are determined by a range of social, religious, political and personal … Continue reading »

May 21, 2013

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10:41 AM | Cremation: The Hot Burial Trend

According to Tyler Mathisen of CNBC news, the hottest growing trend within the ”death care industry”, a $17- billion-a-year business in America, is cremation. Of the 2.5 million people who died in 2011 in North America, 42% of them were cremated. That means that the rate of cremation has doubled over the past decade and a … Continue reading »

May 20, 2013

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8:27 PM | Urban Decay in Istanbul

Last winter I was amazed by the poor upkeep afforded to buildings in central Marrakech. I spent part of last week in fascinating Istanbul, and there it was again: plentiful ruins of recent buildings in the middle of busy shopping and hotel districts. Istanbul is in even worse shape than Marrakech. Many older houses are…

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