ArchaeoBlog

New posts below this one. Busy last couple of days, what with ArchaeoWife recovery and Thanksgiving and such. We had a Snoopy and Woodstock Thanksgiving with just a roast chicken, stuffing/dressing, and some broccoli stuff. First time I ever made stuffing actually; turned out pretty well, if a bit too. . .rubbery. But it was easy to blend with some chicken to be edible without chewing. She’s up to walking around the block a couple of times a day, and we even went to a couple of stores shopping today.

Scientists end dig, move indoors with findings of Winnipeg archeological site

A major archeological dig at the Forks in downtown Winnipeg has come to a close, and the project moved indoors as archeologists analyze their findings.

The dig was necessary to clear the area at the Forks, where the Red and Assiniboine rivers meet in central Winnipeg. The end of the dig clears the way for construction of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

The next stage of the archeological research will be carbon-dating objects that were found.

An Embalmed Corpse of a King was discovered in Kurdistan-Iran

On November 19, 2008, six corpses were discovered in Kurdistan-Iran. Archeologists believe the corpses were buried some 3000 years ago. The corpses belonged to a king and five of his bodyguards, who were buried around him. According to a myth, they were buried around him to protect their king even in death. As the picture shows, the king was buried with jewelry and his crown. A fish plaque with ancient writings placed on his chest requires a scientific study by unbiased archeologists to come up with an authentic and undistorted translation of the historic message.

Response to Comment on “Climate-Driven Ecosystem Succession in the Sahara: The Past 6000 Years”

The Lake Yoa record and archaeological data provide adequate evidence that mid-Holocene aridification did not occur abruptly across all of North Africa. Modeling results on the issue of abrupt versus gradual desiccation of the Sahara are sufficiently diverse that paleoecological data from a continuous natural archive can usefully guide the evaluation of model parameters responsible for this diversity.

It’s a rare free link to Science, in this case a response to an article.

Medieval Bishop’s palace discovered in Ross

A CENTURIES-old search for a lost palace has ended at one of Herefordshire’s best-known beauty spots, where a time team unearthed its second stunning find in nearly as many months.

The remains of what was the medieval Bishop’s Palace that once dominated Ross-on-Wye were revealed by archaeologists digging at the site of a Roman temple uncovered there earlier this year.

An exact location for the palace has eluded local historians for some 300 years. It’s a find that not only has a big part to play in the future for Ross, but also further boosts the reputation of the town’s biggest benefactor.

Researchers find oldest-ever stash of marijuana

Researchers say they have located the world’s oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb in a remote part of China.

The cache of cannabis is about 2,700 years old and was clearly “cultivated for psychoactive purposes,” rather than as fibre for clothing or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany.

The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China.

Pretty interesting actually. An organic non-food product. Interesting they didn’t find the delivery method, such as a pipe or a brownie pan.

Excavations uncover 15th century coins

Excavations in the Netherlands have uncovered 30 coins that date back to the 15th century, archaeologists say.

Radio Netherlands said Thursday that archaeologists suspect a traveling salesman may have left the silver coins in the Dutch town of Coevorden at one point in history.

Not much else there.

‘Buddha’s skull’ found in Nanjing

The pagoda found in Nanjing is crafted from wood, gilded with silver and inlaid with gold, coloured glass and amber. It matches a description of another of Ashoka’s pagodas which used to be housed underneath the Changgan Buddhist temple in Nanjing.

A description of the contents of the pagoda was also found: a gold coffin bearing part of Buddha’s skull inside a silver box. Although scans have confirmed that there are two small metal boxes inside the pagoda, experts have not yet peered inside. The pagoda is currently on display in the museum.

Qi Haining, the head of archaeology at Nanjing Museum, told state media: “This pagoda may be unique, the only one known to contain parts of Buddha’s skull”.

Apparently, one other was found with an iron box supposedly containing a lock of the Buddha’s hair, but it wasn’t opened. Probably a good idea since exposure to air would probably turn it to dust within seconds. Better to wait for some kind of imaging to see inside.

US funding boost for web-based archaeology journal

FUNDING from a New York-based foundation will help York University make academic research material available online.
The Andrew W Mellon Foundation has awarded 250,000 US dollars to the study led by Julian Richards, head of the university’s department of archaeology and co-director of online journal Internet Archaeology.

Prof Richards is looking at ways of using online publication to allow researchers to link their work to databases, video, audio and other information as well as stimulating academic debate.

The online journal is here. I don’t recall posting about it before, probably because it’s subscription based, though it looks like some of the articles from Issue 1 are freely available.

New research sheds more light on Ohio’s ancient earthworks

High Bank Works is an ancient earthwork built along the Scioto River Valley in Ross County nearly 2,000 years ago by the Ohio Hopewell culture. It consists of an enormous 20-acre circle connected to an octagonal enclosure that is nearly as large.

Originally, the walls of the earthwork were 12 feet tall, but after decades of plowing, they have been reduced to a few bumps in a cornfield. The remnants of the earthwork are preserved as part of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park.

High Bank Works was featured in two presentations given this month at the fall meeting of the Ohio Archaeological Council. N’omi Greber, of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, described her recent investigation of the earthwork using archives, geophysical remote sensing and test excavations.