Travel Guide: 10 Resorts Around the Globe

Gamirasu Cave Hotel

Gamirasu Troglodyte Hotel is located in the heart of Cappadocia, Turkey near Urgup. The hotel boasts 18 rooms that have been completely restored and reopened in 1999. The hotel is situated in a retreat that has been there for over thousands of years. This hotel is a perfect honeymoon and wedding destination.

Marqués De Riscal

This luxury hotel located in Elciego, Spain is nestled in the “City of Wine”. There are 43 guest rooms, including 11 suites that overlook the spectacular views of the country. There are fantastic restaurants, an indoor swimming pool, indoor Jacuzzi, and 14 spa rooms specializing in “wine therapy” treatments.

Blue Lagoon in Iceland

This lagoon is one of Iceland’s most inimitable attractions. The lagoon uses geothermal seawater that is scientifically known to clear the complexion and aid in healthy skin. The trip will be a purely spiritual one filled with nature, scenery, and air that is clean and fresh.

Daintree Ecolodge

Located in Queens land, Australia, this resort is nestled in one the oldest living rain forests boasting 15 lovely villas in a tree house setting. It perfectly secluded for romantic honeymoons and secret rendezvous’.

Magic Mountain Hotel

Located in Panguipulli, Chile this lovely secluded hotel contains 13 rooms, and 11 cabins that can easily accommodate 4-6 guests. The name of the hotel was derived from Commander Pepe who called this hotel his home in the 70’s and 80’s.

Machu Pichu Sanctuary

This ancient hotel boasts some of the most spectacular views of this historical Inca settlement in Cusco, Peru. The lodge is the only hotel located within the sanctuary of the Manchu Picchu Ruins. It has 29 rooms and 2 suites which have the most spectacular views of this sacred place.

Woodland Park: The Hobbit Motel

Located in Otorohanga, New Zealand, Woodland Park is more like a motel for the more modest traveler. Woodland Park has 3 amazing options for sleeping quarters that include a “1950’s Bristol Freighter Plane fully refurbished into 2 beautiful self contained motel units.” A 1950’s Rail Carriage spectacularly redesigned into a completely self enclosed unit. The last sleeping quarter is an underground motel known as the “First Hobbit Underground Motel” with spherical glass windows.

Check out 10 Spectacular Resorts around the Globe for some more Travel destinations.

An Archaeological Look at Bog Bodies: Tullund Man

Ima Write brings us the story of the Tullund Man, found in a peat bog in 1950 in Denmark. His 2,000+ year body was unbelievably preserved, and the contents of his last meal were found in his stomach! Find out how the bog preserved this amazing piece of the past.

In Northwest Europe the peat bogs tell an interesting tale. Most bodies found in the bogs are remarkably from the Iron Age. The bodies that were preserved were usually victims of sacrifice, or were executed criminals. Their lifeless bodies were not given the traditional burial or cremation of the time, but instead thrown into the peat bog. Read More

About Me

Anyone can appreciate and learn about history and archaeology when it’s taught in a way that appeals to all generations. Whether you’re a stay at home mom, academic, archaeologist or anthropologist, historian, professor, or student, Ancient Digger is striving to teach all of you about world heritage.

Ancient Digger is an avenue for me to share my experiences when I way studying archaeology and anthropology.  Many of you have personally contacted me about becoming an anthropologist or archaeologist, and some of you, I won't name names, have called me an inspiration. For that I am truly humbled. It's important to teach others what you've learned along the way, and that's essentially why I started Ancient Digger.

Ancient Digger is deeply involved and committed to Archaeology and Preservation, Ancient Languages, Second Language Acquisition, Discourse, and Teaching. My passion is helping others with their research, as well as guiding high school students prior to them applying to schools. For the past four years, I have working with international students in the private sector. Many of those students have moved on to some of the top universities in the world and are thriving there.

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Enjoy Ancient Digger and thanks for stopping by!

The Evolution of a Petroglyph

Petroglyphs are carvings in stone which are  largely associated with Pre-historic civilizations.

The word originally came from the Greek words petros meaning "stone" and glyphein meaning "to carve" (it was originally coined in French as pétroglyphe)."

The oldest petroglyphs are dated around the Neolithic and late Upper Paleolithic boundary, about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, if not earlier.

The main purpose of these writings was for communication, and although times changed as pictographs and ideograms began to appear, the Petroglyphs still lived on until the 20th century.Petroglyphs are found all over the globe including locations such as: Africa, Scandinavia, Siberia, southwestern North America and Australia.

Rock carving known as "Meerkatze" (named by archaeologist Leo Frobenius), rampant lionesses in Wadi Methkandoush, Mesak Settafet region of Libya.

Composite image of petroglyphs from Scandinavia (Häljesta, Västmanland in Sweden). Nordic Bronze Age. The glyphs have been painted to make them more visible.

Happy Fathers Day!

glitter-graphics.com

The Bizarre and Ghostly Grounds of San Marco's, St. Augustine

St. Augustine is home to some of the most notorious ghost stories and ghost walks in the nation. So, it's only fitting that I would dive into the controversy and visit one of the most famous ghostly locations in the United States.

I remember taking a trip when I was 8 years old with my mom and sister to San Marcos . We examined the separate rooms, the barracks for the troops, and the secret dungeons buried deep within the fort.

Well, I had that pleasure once again today when I explored the grounds 23 years later. It was different this time, however. As my hands grazed across the coquina shells, I could only imagine the time it took to construct such a grand fortress, that had withstood the elements, and stands as solid as it did in the 1600's.

After the 1668 attack of Robert Searle (English pirate), Queen Regent of Spain, Mariana ordered a masonry fortification be erected in order to protect the city. October 1672, construction began on the Castillo de San Marcos. The Castillo de San Marco's was known from 1821 to 1942 as Fort Marion and Fort St. Mark from 1763 until 1784 while under British control.

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Six Notable Archaeological Forgeries in History

This post has been removed as the story was linked to a site that is no longer online. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Check out Archaeology.org's extensive list of Hoaxes, Forgeries, Fakes, and Strange Sites:

Archaeology's Hoaxes, Fakes, and Strange Sites

Most Vicious and Cannibalistic Prehistoric Creatures

During the Pre-Historic Era, certain creatures and species were limited in their access to food supplies, and so they were forced to feed on their own kind, giving them the ability to sustain their lives a bit longer.

Majungatholus

 

In 1998, paleontologist/anatomist Scott Sampson from the New York College found a Majungatholus skull, making it the most well preserved dinosaur skull ever found. Sampson said, "It's the kind of face that only a mother could love. It had textured, convoluted bone all over the surface of the skull which probably had skin tightly adhering to it. It had this horn-like structure on the top of the head between the eyes and another projection at the back of the skull as well."

Image via Wikipedia

Teeth marks along with serrated smaller notches were found embedded on the Majungatholus measuring the same width as the teeth on the dinosaur itself, implying that it may have been involved in a struggle with the same species.

Neanderthals

Source

Around 43,000 years ago, the Neanderthals were turning to cannibalism—even brain-eating. Discoveries of fossil remains suggest that these prehistoric humans looked entirely different from their northern counterparts. The Osteology of this species clearly suggests signs of dismemberment and skinning.

Image via Wikipedia

Source

Cannibalistic actions included cutting of the flesh, using small stone tools and smashing open the skull using larger tools to access the brain and marrow.

Image via Wikipedia

 

Source

“Reports of the Neandertals (often spelled "Neanderthals") ate their own kind, says paleoanthropologist Antonio Rosas of the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid. Rosas is the lead researcher for the study, which is published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”

Anasazi

MesaVerde

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Around 900 AD in the Chaco Canyon, the Anasazi of the southwestern U.S. routinely "processed their colleagues . . . skinned them, roasted them . . . severed their joints . . . and put the pieces into pots. This gives an entire new meaning to vicious and bizarre." Unfortunately, history has continued to be a distressing chronicle of man's inhumanity to man. Today, Chaco Canyon is a Mecca for New Agers. They like to believe that Anasazi existed in full harmony with nature. However, the archaeological evidence is exceedingly “inconvenient for those who argue that man in his natural state was good and that civilization as we know it is evil.”

Cave Bears

Source

Scientists have always believed that these creatures were gentle, feeding solely on vegetables and fruits. However, bones were discovered in the Carpathians - the mountains where Dracula supposedly dwelt – suggesting that cave bears could have also been cannibals. Ongoing studies of their bones and other accessory organs suggest that only a certain cave bear, dwelling in the Carpathians were carnivorous. They had high levels of Nitrogen 15 in their bones, which was highly bizarre considering that cave bears normally had low levels of Nitrogen-15.

Ultimately, Cave bears died out around 20,000 years ago when the ice had dominated the earth.

Mysterious Inscribed Slate Discovered at Jamestown

Archaeologists from Jamestown have just discovered a 400 year old transcribed slate tablet from America's first English Settlement. The slate is covered with writings, numbers, and drawings of people, plants, and birds that its owner likely encountered in the New World in the early 1600s.

The tablet was found a few feet down in what may be the first well at James Fort, dug in early 1609 by Capt. John Smith, Jamestown's best known leader, said Bill Kelso, director of archaeology at the site. If the well is confirmed as Smith's, it could help offer important insights into Jamestown's difficult early years.

Records indicate that by 1611, the water in Smith's well had become foul and the well was then used as a trash pit. Archaeologists discovered the slate among other objects thrown into the well by the colonists. Read More ~~

National Geographic

Photography of Utah: Somewhere in the Canyons

Believe it or not, I took these photo's when I was 12 years old. If I had known then what I know now, I would have appreciated them much more.

These photo's are from an old black Kodak camera that I used when I was a kid. I don't think digital camera's were even out yet when I was a kid. In fact, I think the coolest camera to have back then was a Polaroid. You know, the ones that give instant gratification. lol

Sorry for the blur. These pictures are close to 20 years old. Man I'm getting old.

Salt Lake City Utah

The Dolmabahçe Palace in Turkey

I knew there was a reason that I loved this country. A new discovery for me, the Dolmabahçe Palace located on the European side of the Bosporus.

The palace served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1853 to 1922. Not only was the palace built with a price tag of five million Ottoman gold pounds, the equivalent of 35 tons of gold, but there are over 14 tons of gold in the form of gold leaf used to gild the ceilings of the palace.


The Dolmabahçe Palace was built in the style of "Baroque, Rococo and Neo-Classic traditions blended with Ottoman traditional art and culture to form a new approach. Functionally, on the other hand, it is appropriate to the traditional Ottoman palace life and also to the Turkish House features."

The Treasures of an Abbey in Ruins: Orval

Patrick Bernauw, a very well know Flemish writer, specializes in historical mysteries, faction and fiction, supernatural stories and fantasy novels. In his recent article, he explains his trip to
the Abbey of Orval (Belgium) together with Kathleen McGowan, who writes extensively about Countess Mathilde of Tuscany in "The Book of Love". Mathilde founded the abbey in the 11th century, and she - as the abbey itself - are shrouded in mystery.

The wedding ring of Mathilde of Tuscany accidentally had fallen into a well. She prayed to the Lord and suddenly a trout rose to the surface with the ring in its mouth. "This truly is a Valley of Gold!" Mathilde exclaimed, and so she built the abbey of the Golden Valley, the Val d'Or, Orval... out of an act of gratitude. Here is Kathleen McGowan standing by the miraculous "wishing well" of Mathilde: if you throw a coin in the water, you may make a wish... as Mathilde did. Read and See More

Copyright by embee, used with permission

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The Tomb of Qin Shi Huang Di

Bren Parks Discusses the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang Di, where thousands and thousands of life size clay warriors stand in silent and eternal defense of the amazing ancient tomb.

The tomb of the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang Di is called the most spectacular archaeological find of the twentieth century. Qin Shi Huang Di began his reign in China in 221 B.C. at the age of thirteen.

One of his first official acts was to begin the construction of his tomb. Another great work this emperor was responsible for was the Great Wall of China.

What makes the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang Di so fascinating is 8,000 life sized clay soldiers and horses that stand in Read and See More of the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang Di

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This post has been removed due to blog quality updates.

Florida Radio Station says Pyramids are Unimpressive

The Pyramids? Unimpressive By Who's Standards?

Yesterday, I was listening to a local radio station and one of the DJs was speaking about their trip to Egypt to see the pyramids and how very unimpressive they were. I was completely shocked that someone would ever make this type of observation. Of course, coming from my historical perspective and to say it quite simply, are you kidding me?

Their argument, which was of course on the air for rating purposes, was this:

The pyramids were built by the Jews (slaves that worked to build the most important structures of our time). There was blood and turmoil, sweat and many tears.

Yes, there was sweat and tears, but it was more for triumph than pain. The slaves were not the only builders of the pyramids. In fact, Khufu's father moved more stone in terms of volume than any king or slave in Egyptian history. Not only that, excavations by Lehner and his mapping of the builders of the Giza pyramid complex in the last decade have solidified the ownership of the town.

The pyramids represent many things, but to say that a structure that has lasted for thousands of years is unimpressive, well, I just find that utterly ridiculous.

What do you think? What the pyramids mean to you?

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