ArchaeoBlog

From the EEF wires:

Student bloopers are needed, for a book to be published by Mitch Allen
and Left Coast Press. Any and all areas desired: history, archaeology,
English, science, etc. Bloopers already collected from student essays,
exams, and research papers include gems such as “The Israelites…
wondered in the dessert for 40 years.” Please send via email to Eric
Cline at the address “ehcline” at “gwu” dot “edu” [email busted up for spammers. ed.]. Please also include a statement giving
express permission to include the bloopers in the book. Apologies
in advance for cross-listing; please feel free to forward this message.

I’m not sure I have any good ones.

BTW, EEF site seems to be listed as Unsafe.

Some people lose faith – but only bureaucrats can lose an Indian temple

The custodians of India’s archaeological treasures are to hire 10,000 attendants to patrol historical sites after an audit found that 34 monuments, including a cave temple, had “disappeared”.

Questions tabled in the Rajya Sabha, the Indian equivalent of the House of Lords, showed that several protected heritage sites had been buried under illegally constructed buildings. Others had been submerged by reservoirs or looted by art thieves. Officials admitted that the whereabouts of some had simply been forgotten because of poor record keeping.

Gotta love that headline.

Researchers Find the First Horse Whisperers

Paleolithic hunters in Europe and Asia began exploiting horses for meat thousands of years ago when the last continental glaciers disappeared, yet the origin of horse domestication long has eluded archaeologists – for some captivating reasons.

One of the biggest reasons is that for many centuries, horse skeletons did not significantly differ in size or physical structure from those of their wild ancestors, making early taming and use of the animal more difficult to identify.

But as part of an international team of archaeologists, my colleagues and I may be getting closer to the beginnings as we look for clues in Kazakhstan.

Kind of a quickie summary of the evidence presented earlier.

Not mine: Dig to start at Shakespeare site

Archaeologists are preparing to excavate the site of Shakespeare’s final home to find out more about the history of the building.

The New Place, in Stratford-upon-Avon, was built in 1483 and is thought to be where the playwright died in 1616.

The building itself was demolished in 1759, but it is thought remains of the old house are still underground.

I posted this elsewhere because I couldn’t place the theme song. It’s a Mexican commercial for the Mustang Cobra II:

It sounded familiar, but my only thought was Starsky and Hutch, which wasn’t it. Another poster came up with it within a couple of hours. Any guesses?

Staffordshire Anglo-Saxon treasure hoard valued at £3.3m

The largest and arguably most beautiful hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found in Britain has been valued at nearly £3.3m by a panel of experts, a reward that will be shared between the amateur metal detectorist who found it and the Staffordshire farmer in whose pasture it lay hidden for 1,300 years.

Professor Norman Palmer, chair of the treasure valuation committee, whose members pored over 1,800 gold, silver and jewelled objects in a day-long session at the British Museum, said: “It was breathtaking – we all agreed that it was not only a challenge but a privilege to be dealing with material of such quantity, quality and beauty. It was hard to stop our imaginations running away with us.”

1,500-year-old Korean girl reconstructed by scientists

A scientific team has unveiled the restored model of a 1,500-year-old Korean girl, whose body was found two years back.

According to a report in JoongAng Daily, in December 2007, archaeologists discovered the complete remains of the girl and partial remains of three others in a tomb in Changnyeong County, South Gyeongsang.

SHOW A PHOTO OF THE RECONSTRUCTION.

Digging for Cherokee fort

Archaeologists scouring the soil in LaFayette found enough “negative evidence” to determine that a Cherokee removal fort in the downtown area may not have been where it was originally thought to be.

The team studying the area near Big Spring last week found few artifacts, telltale soil stains or underground features that normally indicate such structures, according to archaeologist Erin Andrews Drake, who headed up the dig.

Vermont archaeologists seek War of 1812 hospital

Archaeologists from the University of Vermont are searching for the remains of a War of 1812 hospital near Battery Park in Burlington.

The archaeologists are using a grant from the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program to try to learn more about the encampment where 5,000 soldiers were stationed.

Not really much there. I do note, however, it is the Nashua Telegraph. Why do I note this? Historical purposes: anyone remember the old Nashua floppy disks?

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That box is for 5.25″ disks, but I remember them for the 3.5″ disks. Man, I used up gobs of those back in the day. I still have a bunch (probably not Nashua though) down in the basement.

UPDATE: Also see Colonial-era skull to get military burial in Conn.

UPDATE II: More here.

Review of “King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs” showing in Toronto.

They DO have the Steve Martin video though! Probably not for very long.

Well, heck, it’s on YouTube again: