Here Comes the Archaeologists: Stock up on Beer and Wine for the 76th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA)

Ok, so not all archeologists like beer and wine. I myself am partial to a Sapphire Martini, straight up, extra dirty, with some dirty on the side-smile.

Once a year, archaeologists from the United States, Central and South America, and Britain, dress up like Indiana Jones and head to the nearest deli, stocked with every beer and wine you can think of and they trade field stories. Ok, so that's not what really happens.  They do this after their meetings.

The SAA annual meeting brings together great minds, and a few archaeologists, maybe 3000+, to talk about the latest news and findings in the archaeological field, while drinking ancient beverages.

At a 1993 convention in St. Louis, a hotel where the archaeologists stayed ran out beer, he said. "No one could believe the city of Anheuser-Busch ran out of beer," Czaplicki said.

Another archaeologist remarked, "it was illegal to make objects with ivory from endangered elephants, but mammoth ivory was fine". Bruce Bradley, from the University of Exeter in England

Archaeologists are funny with a few light refreshments. Sounds like more of a party than an anuual meeting, but as Stueber remarks, "At the end of the day, you get a beer". 

 

"It's a pursuit of knowledge, he proclaims. 

 

I love this field!!!

Source

 

The Modesto Bee

Excavations at Attirampakkam in India Reveal An Amazing Prehistoric Past

Leave it up to timing as the topics of my recent studies seem to all fall into the subject of Indian history.

In my Archaeology of Sex class, I'm reading about women in India. I just recently published my ethnography with Artira Dutta, and now, the discovery of stone tools dating to 1.5 million years ago have been discovered in India.

The excavations took place at a prehistoric site near Chennai and may change how we look at the evolutionary patterns of humans from Africa to India.

Stone hand-axes and cleavers from Attirampakkam have been dated to at least 1.07 million years old using two dating methods including Cosmogenic nuclide burial dating.

12 years of painstaking work The extensive excavations at Attirampakkam have brought to light a deep stratified sequences of occupation by prehistoric populations.

The excavations at Attirampakkam show a deeply stratified sequence of occupation.The Tamil Nadu site was first discovered in 1863 by British geologist Robert Bruce Foote, and has been excavated at various times since then.

Archaeologists Shanti Pappu and Kumar Akhilesh from the Sharma Centre for Heritage Education have spent the last 12 years continuing to excavate the site and have now found 3,528 artefacts that bear a distinct similarity to prehistoric tools discovered in western Asia and Africa.

The tools fall into a class of artefacts called Acheulian that scientists believe were first created by Homo erectus – ancestors of modern humans – in Africa about 1.6 million years ago.

Read the Full story about The 1.5 Stone Tools Discovered in India @ Past Horizons

Picture ©  Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, India

Monday Ground Up: Anthropological Work of Penny Patterson with Lowland Gorilla Koko

We're all familiar with the gorilla Koko. I grew up in elementary school, middle school, and high school science classes, watching documentaries and reading about this linguistically enabled gorilla, raised in captivity by Penny Patterson. Koko is a lowland gorilla born in 1971 and at the tender age of one, started The Gorilla Language Project with his teachers.

During the course of the study, Koko has advanced further with language than any other non-human. Koko has a working vocabulary of over 1000 signs. Koko understands approximately 2,000 words of spoken English. Koko initiates the majority of conversations with her human companions and typically constructs statements averaging three to six words. Koko has a tested IQ of between 70 and 95 on a human scale, where 100 is considered "normal." Michael, the male silverback gorilla who grew up with Koko, had a working vocabulary of over 600 signs.

Studying gorilla intelligence and behavior will lead to a greater understanding of the species' physical and psychological needs. Only through knowledge can humans take the necessary steps to improve the treatment of captive gorillas and protect free-living gorillas from extinction.~Gorilla Foundation

The amount of effort and research Penny Patterson has completed is astounding, giving us incite into the incredible world of the lowland gorilla. There are, however, several critics of her style, even saying she’s molding Koko to be more humanlike, when in actuality, this is virtually impossible.

I recently watched the movie entitled “Conversation with Koko” which follows Penny Patterson and Koko through a rigorous and daunting anthropological study. I have also read an article by Rebecca Bishop, who has her own incites on the practices used to educate Koko.

Conversation with Koko

The film about Koko features on Penny Patterson’s works, arriving at the conclusion that Koko has a strong sense of self, ego, can be silly, has a sense of humor, and can be stubborn when exchanging information. Patterson believes a relationship based on trust, love, and respect can assist humans in evolving gorillas to become more human. “We are one in the same. We are apes. It’s a surface thing. They are like us inside.”

According to Bishop, this act of gendering and communicating with apes is not a new concept. In fact, it has an interesting resonance with the historical visions of subjects that exist at the edge of animality and the periphery of the human (2010). The Great ape has always assumed a role of the betwixt and between status of EuroWestern imaginary.

Koko is a product of nature and years of evolution, marked by a politics of gender. Bishop further explains that Koko’s affect and desire is always ascribed a historically feminine line of flight, her behaviors and communication. Actions are represented in the context of historical conceptions of gendered subjecthood and assumptions. This subjecthood is inherently tied up in historical discourses, whereby an animal is being forced to assume a new role, or a new species.

When animals are culturally confined to an area, just like any psychological experiment, the subject will never act as normal as they would in their own environment. Furthermore, Koko’s actions will be attributed to a motivation and purpose that fits within a broader conception of females.

According to Bishop, “some have accused the researchers of conducting a populist and sensationalistic science, an ‘academic Barnum and Bailey act’ without strict methodological criteria” (2010).

Researchers were in fact treating the subject (Koko) like a humanized child, whose role is to assume language capabilities and behaviors at a certain age, evoking the same thoughts of twentieth century experiments. Furthermore, researchers are assigning gender roles to Koko; behaviors a culture assigns to the sexes.

In sum, Bishop concludes Koko’s actions are ascribed and based upon gendered assumptions that her researchers have chosen for her.

Does this change your opinion of Penny Patterson's work? Why or why not?

Sources

• Koko and Penny Patterson Picture
• Koko and Kitten Picture
• Bishop, Rebecca, 2010 Some other kind of being: Human nature and animal subjects in ape language research. Massey University. New Zealand.

Extinct Plant Eater with Saber Teeth Discovered

March 26, 2011-Researchers have discovered a long extinct plant eater with saber teeth. A strange and perplexing adaptation for a dog sized animal, named Tiarajudens eccentricus, that lived some 260 million years ago in what is now Brazil.

"Large saber canine [teeth] are unexpected in a herbivore," wrote the authors of the study that describes the new anomodont, a member of the therapsid group (which produced some lines that eventually led to mammals).

And these fangs weren't subtle. The saber teeth were more than half the length of the animal's 22.5-centimeter-long skull—proportionally bigger even than those of a carnivorous contemporary, the Inostrancevia.

Check out the story What was a South American herbivore doing with saber teeth?

Edited From Scientific American

Past Preservers teams up with Crimson Bamboo to develop historical tours for iPhone app

NEW YORK CITY and CAIRO—March 24, 2011-Past Preservers and Crimson Bamboo LLC announced today that they would be teaming up to develop tours for Rama, Crimson Bamboo’s flagship augmented reality app for iPhone.

Named by BBC Travel in 2010 as one of the ten best new travel apps, Rama is a mobile phone platform that takes users on historical walking tours which not only tell the story behind the stops on the tour, but also show archival images of how those locations once appeared. Past Preservers, a historical and archaeological consultancy that has previously provided support for programming for such major television networks as the History Channel and Al-Jazeera International, will tap into its considerable media connections and expertise to produce innovative new tours on locations around the world, which will be sold directly to users on Rama.

“We are very excited to work with Past Preservers on offering new tours for Rama,” Michael Carroll, co-founder of Crimson Bamboo, stated. “We founded our company with the mission of delivering top-quality content to users while also providing authors with new tools for telling—and showing—history’s greatest stories. Past Preservers has one of the largest networks of historical and new media experts in the world and we are sure that the tours we produce with them will continue to expand Rama’s reputation for providing users with the opportunity to understand and experience history like never before.”

Both companies also stressed that, in addition to providing a new form of immersive content for users, the collaboration would also focus on serving the authors of the tours.

“Past Preservers has always been dedicated, first and foremost, to helping academics and professionals to earn money doing the things that they are most passionate about,” said Past Preservers’ president, Nigel Hetherington. “Rama not only offers the perfect opportunity to reach new audiences using one of the most cutting-edge platforms available, but also offers our clients a new opportunity to write first-class historical content that they can sell directly to customers. This is a truly innovative publishing model that we are convinced will really serve our clients’ interests.”

Historical walking tours jointly produced by the two companies will be available for purchase within the Rama app, and are generally priced between $0.99 and $2.99. Rama can be downloaded on iTunes here.

Crimson Bamboo is a New York City-based Limited Liability Company founded in March 2010, with the mission of creating new convergences between people, data, and the world.

Past Preservers, founded by Nigel J. Hetherington in 2005, taps into its extensive network of archaeologists, historians, Egyptologists, engineers, geologists, and other specialists to provide historical and archaeological consultancy and professional support to the media industry. With offices in Cairo and London and representatives throughout the Middle East, North America, and Europe, Past Preservers has a strong hold in the international media scene, having completed assignments for the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel, Al-Jazeera International, TLC, and Living Channel.

Edited From Past Preservers

South American Vs Old World Complex Societies: Similarities and Differences

The civilizations of the Old World were in fact derivatives of the first ancient cultures, even dominating their ancient counterparts in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China. They did so by utilizing new forms of agriculture and technology, improving upon the methods previously noted. The South American societies paralleled the Old World ancient societies in that they exhibited advanced architecture, powerful armies, social hierarchies, and intensive farming systems.

Agriculture

In Mesopotamia, China, and Egypt, the citizens were “inextricably tied to the irrigation system fed by the great river through canal systems, controlled by the government” (Wenke and Olszewski 2007). This was not the case in South America, as citizens of the civilization worked as a collective, to provide the community with ample resources.

Relatively simple agricultural villages in South America grew mostly maize, beans, squash, and peppers and the abundance of the Pacific Ocean didn’t require the reliance on one staple crop. Overall the impact on the land was relatively low as opposed to their Old World counterparts, who utilized hoofed animals for intensive agriculture. Domesticates in Peru, or rather the role of these animals (llamas and guinea pigs) is unclear.

Sites like Tucume thrived, raising crops and animals and formulating a complete infrastructure including waterways and manmade watercourses, like the advanced systems we observed in Mesopotamia. The advancement of irrigation in this society located in Peru is fascinating. Why? The extreme environment and dry arid lands required physical and cultural adaptations.

South Americans “partially solved” a long standing Old World agricultural problem regarding tubers, developing a method of freeze drying potatoes for storage. In Old World Africa, the use of tubers was limited, as they were never brought under cultivation. Furthermore, tubers were also under cultivation in ancient China, India, the Near East and the Mediterranean Basin.

In sum: Old World societies relied on one staple crop, whereas South American complex societies saw crops as a supplement, utilizing maize, beans, potatoes, quinoa, fish from the nearby Pacific, and squash, to sustain the populations.

Class and Social Hierarchy 

Culturally, Old World societies were a bit different than South America. There was social inequality as sited by the hierarchical organization of class systems. State religions provided, as Wenke and Olszewski (2007) noted, the “context of life”. We saw temples in Mesopotamia which clearly indicated some sort of social hierarchy. The Shang society was headed by a king, who ruled through hierarchically arranged nobility (p 446). Consequently, the Erhlit’ou culture, as evidenced archaeologically, consisted of large abodes, middle sized lodging, and small villages, suggesting an administrative hierarchy.

There was relatively little evidence to suggest social inequality or hierarchy in Peru, as “people seem to have participated in collective labor without developing strong differences in access to resources. Michael Moseley suggested that these Peruvian societies living in villages along the water exhibited “simple social stratification” on the basis of fishing.

In the case of Chan Chan, however, there was clear evidence of a class system much like the districts are separated today. Social classes were sectioned off in nine "citadels" where they lived, worked, and carried on with their daily lives. Evidence at Chan Chan’s reflects a strict political and social strategy, marked by the city's division. The Inka were organized into a stratified class society under a monarch.

In sum: The beginnings of South American complex societies may have not exhibited social inequality, however as advanced architecture was created, farming techniques grew more dependent on labor and class divisions became apparent. This movement towards a more hierarchical class based system was seen in the Old World as well. As technology and agriculture became more advanced so did the need for a political entities and polities to control the new system.

Trade

Old World trade typically happened in the lowlands by the river valleys. This was seen in Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, and Huanghe. If we consider Peru, however, there were populations living in both the highlands and lowlands. Two separate environmental zones were utilizing trade, and not always via waterways. In fact, there is no evidence of boats being used along the Andean coast, so we can assume in fact that seafaring trade was absent.

Technology

Unlike the Old World, the Inka were the only Pre-Columbian civilization to lack or develop a written language. Furthermore, the Inkas and the New World civilizations developed or utilized the inventions of the Old World including wheeled vehicles, making farming and trade much for efficient and thus allowing the Old World civilizations to have overwhelming power.

The Egyptians, although many are unaware, were excellent seafarers, building boats for exchange with other societies via waterways. On the other hand, no boats have ever been found at any sites along the Andean coast, therefore we can assume trade was occurring between highland and lowland societies on foot.

Economics

In Old World Egypt, the resources were similar along the Nile Valley and Delta, however in Andean South America, different natural resources, ocean and farm, gave way to an economic advantage when both resources were utilized.

Final Thought

Although the civilizations of the Old World and South America were quite varied, there was a fundamental similarity between the two. The evolution of the “social institution” gave way to exploitation of peoples, even using the excuse that it was the civic or religious duty of the citizens to conform to this new structure.

Resources

• Wenke and Olszewski: Patterns of Prehistory 2007

Monday Ground Up: Nonverbal Ethnography With Aritra Dutta From Kolkata, India

I met Aritra through my fiancé, as he’s in the graduate program at UCF for mathematics. He gained a Master’s Degree in India, but has been placed in the same classes he had already completed back home, giving him both an edge over his classmates and sense of our own education system. Although culturally, Aritra and I came from the same middle class background, our customs, languages, and view of the world, in retrospect, are slightly different. We spoke about family, work, education, UCF, holidays, American and Indian culture, and their differences, traditions, and religion. I informed him I would be reading his body language as opposed to the details of his answers. I also asked if I could use his name in my research, and he humbly replied with “of course” and a delightful grin, as if he nothing to hide and he was proud of his heritage.

We sat down at a table facing each other, about an arm’s length away. He sat up straight and looked positive, as the sides of his mouth shaped into a crescent, delighted to oblige.

I asked Aritra why he came to America. He immediately shifted in his seat side to side and his posture was a bit slumped. “I felt isolated”, as he lowered his head to his feet, shuffling his body in uncertainty. Was you’re upbringing an influence of your decision to move to America? A concrete “yes” and a serious expression translated that he had very little choice, but he was steered this way because his parents ultimately always wanted what was best for him.

I asked “what is the biggest difference you’ve noticed about American culture as opposed to Indian culture?” Aritra immediately put his hand to his brow and with a squint his eyes, looked to the right in deep contemplation. His eyes were down and as he looked up to make eye contact, his posture was more upright. “It’s hard to decide” he replied. He rested forward, as closer social distances are customary in India, and described the use of space and how Americans are uncomfortable about their personal distance with strangers.

I then asked if there was any aspect of American culture that he preferred over Indian culture. He immediately leaned back and with delicate smile and ease stated “independence”. He gestured and illustrated his point with his right hand, making a wave like motion. Why? Perhaps because the independence he perceives watching American culture is not set in stone. It’s always fluctuating and moving. He added, “There’s space in thinking in America.” He then placed his elbows on the table and looked into my eyes with certainty, explaining that “work is different in India”. The boss’s opinion is the only opinion and there’s no room for a personal voice. He then took his elbows off the table and his proximity to me once again shifted as he reclined back.

The last question I posed in our culture discussion was, do you feel you’ve lost any of your cultural identity (a sense of your own culture unique to India) since you’ve been in America? He shook his head immediately and replied “no”. He crossed his hands and reached for his metaphorical batons ready to lead his orchestra. He had music in him, and like a classical piece of Mozart playing in the background, waved his hands like a conductor. Music was a large part of his heritage and it flowed through his veins, even now while I sat in awe of his musical dance.

As I informed Aritra that we were shifting topics to school, he peered over at a friend and gave him a great smile of appreciation. I then asked Aritra about his favorite things about UCF. As his shoulders raised and the corners of his mouth turned upwards, he said his friends. He became quite animated, smiling and shaking his head, and started using both hands to communicate the social aspect of working with a group of such diverse individuals. “What do you like least about UCF?” I asked. “Nothing”, Aritra replied, with a fixed grin. I knew, judging from his proxemics as he stood up straight and beamed about his friends, that they should feel the same way about him. I asked Aritra how his classmates typically perceived him. “Happy”, he replied. “Always laughing”, as the corners of his mouth stretched as high as his eyebrows. Twisting in his chair as if dancing to a James Brown song.

Aritra’s persona was infectious as I felt myself laughing and smiling so hard my eyes closed tightly. His demeanor changed as he described what he had no tolerance for. Although people usually perceive Aritra as a happy go lucky person most of the time, there is one type of behavior that is not tolerable to him, that being humiliation. He leaned towards me, changing our proximity once again, and started to point his finger and shake his head. He explained that professors who shame students when they answer a question incorrectly or a person openly degrading others is just not an acceptable behavior. To some people this may be a trait common to Aritra’s culture, respect I mean, but in all honesty, this is and should be universal in all cultures.

As I wrapped up my school discussion with Aritra I asked if he noticed differences in universities in America as opposed to India. He confidently sat up straight and with a sense of self described his dormitory days in India. Dorms were often referred to as hostels in India, and it was in these places that bonds would grow strong. As he smiled he described the jokes they would tell in the hostel and the long talks they conducted. It was a brotherhood of men, much like the fraternities we have here in America. There is, however, a big difference. As he crinkled his brow and looked slightly away from me, as if to understand why others are so bothered when people impede on personal distance, or even touch in a platonic way. “There is no concept of gay” in this scenario. If you’re in a hostel and a brother puts a hand on your shoulder, no one thinks anything of it. Looking me straight in the eye and leaning forward, Aritra exclaimed that “when you’re distressed you need this type of brotherhood”. He shook his head in disbelief and explained that a situation such as this would be very different in America. I had to agree.

Aritra and I moved on to our next topics which were traditions, religion, and family. I asked him about his family and what they did in India. His composure and posture immediately changed, as he started to describe his parents. As I mentioned before, Aritra’s father was a chief person in politics and the union while his mother worked at home.

He placed his finger to his temple, squeezing his brow as he spoke about motivation and how his parents, especially his mother, always pushed him to be the best at anything he ever did. “She did a good job raising me”, Aritra replied with a delicate smile. His family suffered a lot, but they were always able to confide in each other about everything. No subject was off limits. As he spoke about his mother and how she would scold him, he leaned forward in his seat and pointed his finger at me. A display or representation of the act in progress I suppose.

I followed with a series of questions pertaining to traditions, asking how he typically celebrated his birthday. He calmly said “with family”. It was hard for him to answer, as he looked down at his hands resting on his legs. “Sometimes there was a cake and a big meal”, and waving his right hand, using it as an illustrator, spoke about his twenty-fourth birthday. When Aritra was a teenager his near and dear ones presented him money on his birthday. When I asked how Aritra used his money, he shook his head in disbelief. He would never think to keep the monies and always told his parents to keep it at the end of the day, as they needed it more than he did. To Aritra, this was the true bondage between him and his parents and which does not hover around the daily mundane material needs.

As we spoke about the traditions of Christmas, he slouched in his chair, with arms on his legs and smiling, described how his mom would bake a cake and make coffee in the morning. The westernized view of Christmas was not observed in India, as Aritra described the lack of Christmas trees, tinsel, and presents. I figured this would be the right time to discuss his religious views and philosophy and Aritra certainly had a brilliant outlook on the matter.

He sat up straight and spoke about every religion. There was light in his eyes and passion in his gestures and voice. He appreciated and treasured all religions. He had a great respect for all facets of the inner workings. However, when we started discussing Christianity, Aritra’s posture and manner was much more serious. He shook his head and looked down as he spoke of the crusades. He pointed his finger and spoke of how religion kills because people were “misguided”. He became a bit more animated, using his hands to draw a circle of life in both directions. It was at this time that my posture and overall perspective changed as he described gods.

Aritra explained that if someone worships water; a certain tree; a beach; a mountain, then they may consider these objects their god. He kept drawing a circle on the table, pressing harder into the wood, as his eyes traced the outline he was making. He then looked up and with an overwhelming sense of clarity, spoke of the spirit of self, meaning we really invent what we want our god to be. Sometimes, we are the gods. Aritra became engulfed in this present conversation and focused on an outward showing of prayers as he leaned backwards and forwards with his eyes closed. I allowed him to finish, as he was in his element, and I was almost in a trance like state, trying to decipher the words.

I asked Aritra about his name and what it meant. The Bengali translation means “one who saves someone from the enemy”, he replied proudly with a smile. He fervently spoke of Krishna, which his name is derived from. He created a bow and arrow with his arms, shooting the arrow, and I asked what it represented. He told the story of Arjuna’s, whose arrow struck Karna’s Chariot, and in turn, Karna strikes Arjuna’s chariot. Krishna praises Karna for his abilities and asks Arjuna to compare Karna’s chariot with Arjuna’s own which consisted of the Universe in the form of Lord Krishna. The moral of the story is that neither held an upper hand in the battle.

I then asked Aritra, if there anything else he’d like to add about Indian culture? Its uniqueness? Aritra pondered for a moment and with complete calmness, opened his eyes widely and with a glimpse of absolute conviction replied that India was the oldest civilized country in the world. India had never invaded another country and his voice, as it calmly fluttered, was in awe of this notion. “Everyone has an oath or an existence to that debt. People need to contribute to the goodness of the world and keep pace with everyone else”, Aritra replied. I was perplexed with this answer, as I lowered my eyelids in slight misperception for a moment. Aritra eyes read like he was aware of the state of my uncertainty, and for clarity sake, he spoke of the history.

He described Alexander the Great in detail, making charging arm motions of a leader. Alexander entered India and noticed a monk, rather a “Gymnophist”. Alexander asked him “what are you doing?” The Gymnophist answered, “I am experiencing nothing” then the Gymnophist asked Alexander “What are you doing?” and he came to know that Alexander is a great conqueror. Each one thought that the other was the fool. The Gymnophist thought why is he conquering the world? It’s pointless and Alexander thought why is he experiencing nothing? Why waste time? Aritra then described that to understand the difference in their viewpoint we have to understand the subjective truth of Alexander. He lived his life by simple works, as simple to him was controlling the army, life, women, etc. With light in his eyes and clarity in his words, Aritra continued to explain that Alexander had been told to be a spectacular winner since his childhood and a man of destiny. Like Greek heroes, he always desired to live an extraordinary life and wanted to enter in the heaven of heroes. Aritra drew a river with his finger, and as he crossed the river, he made a fist. “Grab everything”, he replied and “Life is one”, he added, with optimistic and passionate eyes. That was the belief of Alexander because that was the way he developed the idea of his mythology. On the other hand the Gymnophist had this belief from his childhood, developing from his mythology, that life is an infinite journey.

Aritra included much of his philosophy in his interview with me, which was illuminating and rousing, as shown by his gentle body sway.

You have to cross the river of life to and fro again and again and again because nothing lasts for ever in India not even the death so what goes around always comes around and this rule is applied not just to man but also to the God. Not you will get infinite life but the same life lived an infinite number of times to get the point of it all. Two different mythologies and two different ways of looking at the life, one linear and other cyclical. So the denominator of Alexander’s life was one and the value of his life was the sum total of his achievement. The accomplishment and the denominator the Gymnosophist’s life was infinity so no matter what he did the outcome is nothingness or an absolute zero. Their belief was influenced by their behavior and you cannot say which one is the absolute truth. So all we can do is develop the realization of every religion and experience the light in the different forms which enlightens the heart of everyone.

As we started to finish our conversation, Aritra contracted his face and spoke of Rama and the pain in his life, but his prayers that he spoke in his native tongue, were like musical notes dancing off the page. He started to chant about Krishna and Atman Brahman, which is a representation of our true self and our soul that resides in the spirit within our bodies. Aritra closed his eyes and once again moved his body delicately to the words, describing whole love of the gods, reaching out with his right arm, and grabbing at life with his hand. “AUM pUrNamadaH pUrNamida.n, pUrNAt.h pUrNamudachyate, pUrNasya pUrNamAdAya, pUrNamevAvashiShyate”, he chanted. In English, this translates to “That is whole; this is whole; From that whole this whole came; From that whole, this whole removed, What remains is whole.

My conversation with Aritra opened my eyes to a philosophy I’ve always deeply appreciated and aspired to attain. We share the same middle class background, a positive and happy outlook on our lives, and the love of family and friends. Aritra is full of life and animated by nature and culture. Although I believe I am as well, he projects this with every word and gesture that comes from his spirit within. The minor differences I did observe were trivial at best.

There was lack of a Christmas tree during the holidays, which I don’t attest to be a Christian tradition, but for me, a love of the season. Aritra’s holiday affairs were certainly lacking in pretension, where westerners flaunt their material wealth instead of partaking in a humble existence. The Bengali language was an obstacle, even I understand that. However, I reverted back to Chomsky’s beliefs in this instance. The human brain contains a limited set of rules for organizing language, what he calls “universal grammar”. The structural basis of all languages is the same; so to say a divide exists in communication between Aritra and myself, would be an untruthful statement. Why? Even though he spoke his prayers in Sanskrit, his body language translated into the words of my native language. To me that’s inspiring!

Picture Sources

1. Kolkata - Kalighat Red Light Area
2. Victoria Memorial
3. Man in street doing laundry in Kolkata
4. Hindu temple in Kolkata

Ethnography With Aritra Dutta Part One

© Source

It was a long and challenging road to actually speak with my willing participant as his sister, two days prior, fell off in the elevator shaft at a construction site in India and died. My interview was with Aritra Dutta, born in Kolkata, India. Aritra comes from a middle class family. His father is a chief serviceman, working in a government organization and a dedicated union leader and involved in active politics and his mother is the “house maker”. He speaks the Bengali language, his prayers in Sanskrit, which is the Official State Language. The language is centuries old, dating to about 1000AD and wasn’t documented until about three hundred years ago. Bengali, which is a form of ancient Sanskrit, is derived from Magadhi Prakrit and Pali, the earliest recorded spoken languages in the region and the language of the Buddha.

Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest the divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. We can do this either by work or by philosophical practice – by one or all of these and to me this is the whole of religion. Doctrines or dogmas or rituals or forms or sects are but secondary details. They count for little compared with the essence of existence in each man, which is spirituality. We can show by your life that religion does not mean words or names or sects, but that it means spiritual realization.

The embodiment of freedom, the master of nature is what I call God. Everything beautiful, everything truthful, everything free and everything being and becoming is what I call God. The religion can only be attained by the Union of all existence and we have to hold on to that. The debt, which the world owes to our motherland, is immense. Taking country with country there is not one race on this earth to which the world owes so much as to the patient Hindu, the mild Hindu. To many Indian thought, Indian manners, Indian Customs, Indian philosophy, Indian literature are repulsive at the first sight; but let them persevere, let them read, let them become familiar with the great principles underlying those ideas and their charm will come over them and fascination will be the result.

I am truly moved by that charm and fascination that’s why I never fear to lose my cultural identity. But the older I grow, the better I seem to think of these time-honored institutions of India, as each tradition is the embodiment of centuries. We have yet something to teach to give to the world; this is the very reason, which this nation has lived on, in spite of hundreds of years of persecutions and nearly a thousand years of foreign oppression. The nation still lives; the reason is that, it still holds to god.

Stay tuned for the Monday Ground Up: Nonverbal Ethnography With Aritra Dutta From Kolkata, India

Social Complexity of the Ancients: A Brief Overview

The concept of isolation is among one of the most significant ideas for social complexity, in that all complex societies were never “truly isolated from each other” . If this was the case, all complex societies would or could have, adopted a similar social organization, with the exception of the people living in Shandong Province as the Dawenkou culture, mentioned as having a limited or different access to resources, therefore aiding to a slight variation in organization.

What some of these societies do have in common, evidently, is there location, approximate in distance to rivers or water resources. However, Huanghe River’s annual flooding aided in rice production, yet the peoples didn’t depend on this resource, since grain millet (tolerant of dry climates) was grown in the same area as well. In actuality, reliance of some kind on agricultural subsistence, whether millet, pigs, rice, corn, wheat, wild plants and animals, chickens, and so on, were all present.

Social Hierarchy

As evidenced in Mesopotamia, the temples which held the gods, and ziggurats, which on many occasions, state officials called home, were clearly depictive of a social hierarchy.

Erhlit’ou
 
The same can be said for the Erhlit’ou culture, as archaeological evidence consisting of large abodes, middle sized lodging, and small villages, suggesting an administrative hierarchy. Albeit, there’s no written record to suggest this was the actual organization of the site.

Angang

 

Angang exhibited another settlement pattern; however, extensive looting has destroyed much of the evidence. What is evident is that there was a central palace, and several specialty workshops for prized items such as jade, bone, and bronze. If there were craftsmen who made these items then there had to be a central area for them to be accommodated. Although, the manufacture of these particular items was watched closely, so it is possible the individuals who made them resided within the walls of the palace.

Crete

 

The settlement patterns in Crete were a bit more perplexing considering the peoples were living in small villages without clear evidence for political authority extending beyond the village scale.

At the Palace at Knossos, there’s a series of rooms holding storage jars and documents, as well as a room for rituals by gods and goddesses. A throne room is present at Knossos, however there’s no clear evidence of the type of political unit once present. Furthermore, even the villas situated on the outskirts of Knossos have been rumored to be part of agricultural units, but this still does not indicate a single ruler of the area. The Goddess figurine from Knossos is depicted in artwork elsewhere in Crete and at Knossos and probably represents an important early divinity, similar to the Sumerian relation of king and gods.

Uruk


Historians believe priests and priestesses of several early city-states played an essential role in ruling in Uruk. Sumerians believed kings derived their power from the gods, and in so doing, were agents of the gods. Therefore, ruling power was primarily in the hands of kings.

Shang



Wenke and Olszewski (2007) mentioned that archaeological evident and written documents after the Shang period indicate that Shang society was headed by a king, who ruled through hierarchically arranged nobility (p 446). This is further explained by the relationship between the king and Di (god), mirrored by relationships between the king and his living servants and vassals: as the king served Di, so living people served the king.

Burials

The Chinese shared the custom of burials with Mesopotamia, as seen at the Royal Tombs of Ur. Not only were chariots and rice buried with the dead, but ruler’s wives, servants, guards, and other staffs were present as well, to aid him in the afterlife. Oddly, this custom wasn’t widely adhered to in Egypt, as we tend to see more material items: pottery, gold, necklaces, clothing, etc., in the tombs of Pharaohs.

Burials in eastern Crete contained valuable times like gold diadems and other forms of personal adornment. Consequently, the M10 Tomb at Dawenkou exhibited vessels and pig bones from feasting during funerary activities, although the scraps from swine don’t seem like an offering, rather an individual’s attempt to climb the social ladder while erasing someone’s past. Throwing out the garbage per se. Of course, this is not what it seems.

Final Thought

China's political authority consisted of small polities which didn’t span the vast areas like its counterparts in Mesopotamia. Like Egypt, there was evident inequality and large river valleys for trading and irrigation. However, in the case of both Egypt and China, eventually “a geographically large political unit was created. Consequently, social organization in Minoan Crete is poorly understood and within reason. There’s insufficient evidence. Like China, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, there was social inequality and some type of political authority. There were no city-states in Minoan Crete, but rather small polities like China. Authority was rumored to be in the hands of elite families and divinities, rather than one single ruler.

Sources

Bronze Artifact (Bronze two-sided mask, Late Shang Period (c. 1200-1050 B.C.)
Jiangxi Provincial Museum, Nanchang)

An Irish Blessing and Otherworld Story For St. Patrick's Day

One of my most precious pieces from my grandmother is an Irish Blessing encased in an old golden cloth-like frame, with the glass so old, the dust hast clung to it without repeal. I happened to peer at the words today and remembered a time when things were simple.  days were spent watching the horse races with my grandfather and the smells of pierogies and or clams and spaghetti filled the air.

On this special day, I'm wishing you all, with even a smidgen of Irish in you, a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

“May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.”

Here's a bit of Irish history, or rather a favorite tidbit of mine, which I published back in 2009, but I found it was quite appropriate for this special holiday.

The Irish Celtic Otherworld

Caesar believed that the Celtic Druid's of the Otherworld preached immortality of the soul, and it would allow them to be fierce warriors. However, many believe that their souls migrate to different vessels, allowing them to live for centuries.

This belief of reincarnation is quite different than Hinduistic rituals where reincarnation affected all those that were worthy. The druids believed that their souls, even when they were long gone, would be able to control their body in the otherworld.

The otherworld was believed to be a place where men and women lived in complete happiness in a land that was lush and plentiful. Not to be confused with the underworld which was filled with pale wanderers and gloomy landscapes.

During the 17th century, poets painted the otherworld as a "Land of the Living", where beautiful woman are plentiful and bright birds fly with ease through the river valleys. Once there, you will overcome all. However, when you leave, your hair will turn gray and your skin will shrivel.  

Interestingly enough, when you take note of the lyrics of Irish verse or musical expressions, it’s reaped in color and descriptions of green pastures and marvels of beauty.


Source

It was said to be a world within a world below the ground or under the sea, as was the land of Atlantis. A paradise where one never aged and all that resided were completely equal of value and importance, as was the fountain of youth.

Cave of Cruachan

Source

Rathcroghan

Source

There were passages to enter, or rather secret portholes only allowed by the insight of your mind. The Cave of Cruachan was a possible entrance referenced in the story of Nera’s Adventure.

Source

The otherworld is not free of aggression or war, for many Irish and welsh tales tell of the conquering of Kings or the kidnapping of precious treasures.

In the tale of the Adventure of Laegnaire, a man appears out of mist before the King of Connacht asking for assistance to claim his wife who he has lost in a battle. The son of the King sets out with 50 men to overcome his enemies and reclaim the mans wife. He returns the wife to the King, although he leaves immediately because his men have taken wives from Magh Da Cheo(The Plain of the Two Mists-name given to the otherworld by the Irish) and they wish to stay there to avoid the mortal world.

Newgrange

Source (Dwelling of the Divine Oenghus)

The otherworld has also been clearly referenced as an abode in the Irish countryside where it welcomes limitless guests to feast on whatever they desire. Food is often refurbished by reincarnation. This picture of obscurity is often compared to the “Land of the Dead”.

In the story of the “Destruction of the Hostel of Da Derga”, King Conaire is drawn to a house “bruidhen”, however on his way there he meets the three “Reds”. Their steeds are of the Donn Detscorach from the otherworld. This confirmed that Derga and Donn were one being, the “God of the Dead”, and he who enters his abode is either foredoomed or dead already.

The Feast of Samhain, which happened on the 1st of November was initially where this sombre image of death predominated.

Source

The duration of the Samhain celebration according to the Celts was filled with a peculiar supernatural energy and within that they have concentrated many of their mythical events. During this time, the universe is suspended and all things supernatural and natural have no barriers. There is a “Sidn” that remains open for spirits to move freely amongst the living, sometimes with hostility. Mortals are strongly urged not to venture within its precinct.

In the “Spoils of Annan”, it tells of a rather disastrous expedition by Arthur and his knights. The world becomes a fortress of glass where none of the occupants have a response, and in Celtic traditions this is surely the mark of the dead.

The otherworld has not been widely accepted by scholars with the inconsistencies in the history and the folklore. The belief that only kings and nobles were able to access a world of music and fables and ordinary men were far from it’s reaches being less fortunate in the afterlife, was always questionable.

Critical Role The Irish Had In The West

Montana-based historian David Emmons' new book offers a different portrait of the often idealized American West.

"Beyond the American Pale: The Irish in the West, 1845-1910" examines the role of the Irish in westward expansion.

The Irish didn't fit into the western myth or image, Emmons says during a recent phone interview. "There aren't any cowboy movies where John Wayne plays a hard rock miner in Lead, S.D., or a meat packer in Sioux Falls or South Omaha."

Read More about the Critical role Irish had in West

1100 Year Old Saltwater Dugout Canoe Discovered

Saltwater canoes usually don't survive as drifting up on shore allows the elements to take hold or the ocean simply chews up the vessel.

Harry Koran found the canoe after walking up the shorline of Pinellas County in Tampa Bay. Koran knew it was man made because of the straight lines, slopped sides, and evidence of burning. Dug our canoes were made by the Native Americans by using controlled burns inside the tree. Afterwards, the remains are dug out.

Archaeologists underwent exploratory excavations and sent a piece to the lab for radio carbon dating. The resulting date was 890 AD.

Watch the full video of the history of this vessel and where it's future will be.

Mexican Settlement Near the Presidio Discovered By Archeologists

Archaeologists  at the Fourth Annual Redmond Kernan Lecture Series disclosed their findings of a one-time valley known as El Polin. The valley was discovered beneath four feet of landfill and dates to hundreds of years ago.

The Presidio, site of the first Mexican settlement in San Francisco, will be transformed into an educational walking trail, according to Presidio Trust officials. A classroom deemed the "El Polin Loop" will provide students the opportunity to study the archaeological finds up close.

“This is hot off the presses,” Kari Jones said, referring to the approval of the loop. “I’m so excited, this is wonderful. The great thing about Presidio archaeology is that we get to bring it to the public. Normally archaeologists dig up some artifacts, interpret them and then bury them again.”

Restoration efforts in the wetlands will tranhsform the landscape, reminiscent of the Presidio’s Mexican era. Presidio's history has been poorly understood, so archaeologists are thrilled with this new find, whi9ch will shed light on the Mexican settlements.

This seems to be the first physical evidence of Mexican settlements outside The Presidio, Jones said. The El Polin settlements were on the main trail that extended from El Presidio to Mission Dolores. These were the only established settlements at the time, which was around the 1810’s. Under Mexico rule, El Presidio housed the Mexican governor of California.“That’s why it so important,” Jones said. At this time you were either a soldier or a missionary. Both were very structured societies, and to live outside of those establishments was unheard of until then, Jones added.

Archaeology Dig At Brisbane's City Hall Reveals Pioneering Treasure

Archaeologist Phillip Habgood explains his surprise, when excavating below the city hall in Brisbane, turned up some 19th century treasure. Evidence of horse stables and a street have been excavated at the archaeology site that date to the 1850's. The findings are being deemed the most significant archaeological find in the city's history.

At the present time, the city hall in Brisbane is undergoing restoration work so archaeologists were brought in as part of the $215 million refurbishment. Students from University of Queensland are assisting archaeologists with the excavation and have "uncovered an intact drain, building roofs, old horse shoes and bottles".

Archaeologist Phil Habgood said details of the city's past spanning as much as 80 years, up until City Hall was built in 1930, could lie underneath the historic building."We've got evidence of corrugated iron buildings [underneath City Hall]," he said."The buildings were made from porphyry [stone] then they added concrete and bitumen throughout the area. We think there's probably a large 1850-60s stone drain.

The Brisbane Lord Mayor, Campbell Newman, calls it "a sensational find".

Blarney Castle: The Legends and History

The Blarney Castle was constructed in 1446 by Cormac Laidhir MacCarthy, Lord of Muskerry. The tower, which measures 85 feet high, is above the river and curious dungeons and caves reside below. At the time of construction, the MacCarthy family was in power in Ireland. The third Earl of Clancarty and James II were exiled during the 17th century, ending the families hold on Blarney Castle.

Blarney House

The Blarney House, situated 200 yards south of Blarney Castle, was constructed by the Colthurst family in 1874 in the Baronial style. Deterring from the cold and uncomfortable accommodations, the Colthurst family built the house to feel more at home. During the 19th century, wishing steps were created in the gardens. It’s been said in order for a wish to come true you had to negotiate your way down the steps with eyes closed in order for your dream to come true.

The Blarney Stone

The Blarney Castle is most famous for the Blarney Stone. One would hang upside down from the battlements after climbing 100 steps to the top, and if a kissed was placed upon the stone, the gift of eloquence was conferred upon them. In 1912, in fact, Winston Churchill kissed the stone, and what came next was history.

“Wishing Steps” At Blarney Castle

The legend of the Blarney Stone is unknown, but folklore tells of Jacob in the Bible, who rested his head upon the stone when he saw angels ascending and descending a ladder to heaven. Some believe the wishing steps in the garden are reminiscent of the ladder as well.

During the Celtic revival, the term Lia Fail was used to describe the illustrious stone by enthusiasts. When High kings were crowned at Tara during Pagan times, the stone would scream when the rightful successor touched it.

Another legend describes a time between Elizabeth I’s reign and Cormac MacCarthy when the queen looked to destroy the power of the Irish lords. MacCarthy was evidently playing deception so the queen remarked that his protestations were “more blarney”.

Today, thousands of patrons walk the grounds of Blarney House and the famous gardens, trying to catch a glimpse of anything out of the ordinary.

Beautifully maintained gardens of lawns, shrubs, flower beds and trees, which gently slope towards the lake, providing a perfect setting for special occasions. Herds of cattle browse peacefully beneath ancient lime, oak, beech and gnarled walnut trees. ~Blarney Castle

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Camping in the Buff

The title may get the wheels rolling in your head, it might even make you smirk for a moment, but I have to confess, it's not what you think. My fiance and I are on Spring Break this week, and I, being the first one to do something spontaneous, started to think of a cheap and super fast holiday for a few days. I finished up my discussions and anthropology participant observation paper and thought, why not go camping? It's a perfect time to go, albeit the mosquitoes here in Florida are like T-Rexes on steroids.

I went to the storage unit outside and grabbed my tripod camping grill leaning in the corner and my
tiki torches. I know, torches will attract the not so welcome mosquito raptors, but these torches repel the critters with their lovely and deadly smell. I started stumbling around for, looking for anything that resembled camping gear. To be quite honest, it has been close to 15 years since I've actually camped, so I'm a bit green I suppose. Not to mention, I had a funny experience several years ago when I was life guarding, and 100 of us, camped in the woods.

I went straight too the campsite after work. I still had my bathing suit on and had brought a pair of sweats, a tank top, sports bra, some Columbia hiking shoes, socks, and some deodorant. I was roughing it back then. No makeup! No hairbrush! I suppose I was getting some practice in before I actually became an archaeologist. Besides the point, however. I placed my bag inside a my tent and grabbed a drink. The night pressed on and before I knew it, I was ready for a good night's sleep.

I took off my swimsuit and hung it from a clothespin. I pulled up my sleeping bag over my head, and went to sleep in some underclothes. No sooner did I fall asleep and it was morning. I reached for my bag which was oddly missing and so was my bathing suit. My hiking shoes and socks were still by the opening of the tent. I yelled out and said "ok guys, not funny". No one was there. I heard some laughter coming from the creek, and low and behold, the scene was more than comical. My friends, maybe, were swinging from a rope and landing in the water, in the semi buff. Ok, so not all of them, but a choice few.

I was informed the only way to get my clothes back was to join in their so called fun. A sort of initiation I guess since this was my first summer as a guard. You only live once, so I happily grabbed the rope without hesitation, still in my underclothes mind you, and swung into the water, losing my top in the process.

So, you can imagine my hesitation when it comes to camping with friends. Actually, camping with anyone. You're never to young to pull a fast one. Why is it that the craziest things always happen when you go camping? Do you have a funny camp story?

Archaeology Discovery: 1100 Year Old Friezes Found In Peru

The 1100 year old temple dates from the ancient Lambayeque culture and was home to hundreds of human sacrifices. Today, archaeologists discovered several spectacular polychrome friezes in the temple that are beautifully preserved.In two weeks, the temple located in the Chotuna archaeological complex, will be open for public viewing.

"Now that the friezes have been uncovered, the archaeologists are fighting to preserve them and directed the construction of a roof to protect the works from the sun and rain. The Lambayeque, or Sican, culture flourished on Peru's northern coast 1,200 years ago. Countless archaeological finds made the area a magnet for looters for many years".

Source
3News

Archaeological Discovery: Rare Human Skulls Found At Annigeri

Scores of human skulls found have been termed a ‘rare find' by archaeologists and historians.They reckon that it is a mass grave, but what makes it unique is the manner in which the skulls are arranged. 

Addressing a press conference here, Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad Darpan Jain, Director of the Department of Archaeology and Museums R. Gopal and historian M.S. Krisnamurthy said there was no report on the existence of such a mass grave so far.

Initially, only 50 skulls were found next to a drain after the ground was dug up for clearing the silt. As the finding caused a sensation, the administration cordoned off the area and requested the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums to conduct a study. A team of experts, led by Mr. Gopal and Professor Krishnamurthy, visited the site, but put off excavation because the area was damp. The excavation began on January 12 after the drain was diverted so as to allow the ground to dry. 

Read: At Annigeri, a rare find of human skulls  

Sunday Round Up: Archaeology and Anthropology News 3/06/2011

Discovery by Oregon archaeologist looks 12,000 years into past at people who settled the West Coast

A trove of Stone-Age tools, discarded shells and animal bones unearthed by a University of Oregon anthropologist and others open a new window on lives of the long-vanished people who settled the West Coast more than 12,000 years ago.

Gettysburg work tracks Civil War remains Contractors are taking extra precaution when they dig up streets in Gettysburg this summer, as part of several multi-million dollar roadway upgrades. After all, this is historic Gettysburg, and you never know what crews may unearth. “Everybody is just a little bit more careful when they do road work or projects around here, because it’s Gettysburg,” says Borough Manager Florence Ford, previously of nearby Cumberland Township.

Roman remains found at Weston College but will not proceed to examine Weston College has said it will not pay for a full study of a skeleton, coins and stone foundations uncovered during a six-week dig at its Knightstone Campus. The decision comes despite archaeologists proclaiming the dig as the first clear evidence of a Roman settlement in the town. This week, the college, which paid for the initial excavation under a planning agreement to refurbish its Hans Price building, said ‘the investigation was complete’.

Altar of the Twelve Gods sees the light Renovation work on the aged Piraeus-Kifissia electric railway (ISAP) on the stretch between the central Athenian neighborhoods of Monastiraki and Thisseio have brought to light one of the most exciting archaeological discoveries of recent years.

Antiquities at risk in Arab world Though reportedly safe for now, as the tension escalates in Libya, the fate of the country's archaeological heritage is increasingly uncertain, experts say. Meanwhile, in Egypt, threats to national treasures may resurface, after a pause. The last of the foreign archaeologists working in Libya were evacuated Feb. 26, according to Nature News. The 11 archaeologists with the Italian-Libyan Archaeological Mission in the Acacus and Messak are studying ancient archaeology and rock art in the country. Doing Anthropology-MIT Cultural Anthropology is a social science that explores how people understand - and act in - the world. But what, exactly, is it that Cultural Anthropologists do? How do they approach their research? In this short film, three members of MIT's Anthropology Department, Stefan Helmreich, Erica James, and Heather Paxson, talk about their current work and the process of doing fieldwork.

"S" Twist Handaxes, a Palaeolithic enigma, a close examination of these evocative items

Egyptology: Zahi Hawass confirms resignation Egypt's chief antiquities official, Zahi Hawass, has confirmed his resignation late this week from his post, amid political turmoil and the looting of antiquities.

Signs of early life found in Alaska Some 11,500 years ago one of America's earliest families laid the remains of a three-year-old child to rest in their home in what is now Alaska. The discovery of that burial is shedding new light on the life and times of the early settlers who crossed from Asia to the New World, researchers report in the journal Science . The bones represent the earliest human remains discovered in the Arctic of North America, a "pretty significant find," said Ben A. Potter of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Post colonial Archaeology Takes Over the World By Michael Smith I really dislike postcolonial theory and postcolonial archaeology, so I was not thrilled to see that the current issue of World Archaeology is devoted to this topic. Issue editor Peter van Dommelen (2011) contributes an introduction to the papers.

Click on the keywords for the full articles. Have a great Sunday from Ancient Digger.

Can Humans Survive In An Even Warmer World?

During the Pleistocene ice sheets close to 2 miles thick covered the earth, the ground temperature was much cooler, and sea temperatures were 3 to 4 degrees cooler than they are today.

Change of a single degree in ocean temperature can cause irreversible changes or cessation in the movement of ocean currents. Florida and the Bahamas are a perfect example used to demonstrate the drop in sea level during the Pleistocene.

As you can see by the picture, sea levels dropped close to 300 feet in Florida, exposing larger land mass, aiding large animals in their transition from South America to North America via the Great American Biotic Interchange (Florida Museum).

Pleistocene land mammals were probably the single most important food source for Upper Paleolithic humans. On the contrary, depending on who you talk to today, people are sustaining a healthy lifestyle by living off the land or eating a diet rich in meatless protein, such as legumes.

Grasslands and cooler environments are indeed favorable for large land mammals, as the case was with megafauna during the Pleistocene, but today we don’t depend on them for survival.

Although it’s easy to have faith in humankind that we will find a way in a warmer world, I can’t help but question the actual facts presented by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Read this excerpt from the article, Global Surface Temperature Change, by J. Hansen, R. Ruedy, M. Sato, and K. Lo, and see how your outlook for humans in a warmer world changes.

The 12-month running mean global temperature in the GISS analysis has reached a new record in 2010. The new record temperature in 2010 is particularly meaningful because it occurs when the recent minimum of solar irradiance (defined as the amount of radiant energy emitted by the Sun over all wavelengths that fall each second on 11 sq ft (1 sq m) outside the earth's atmosphere) is having its maximum cooling effect. At the time of this writing (July 2010) the tropical Pacific Ocean is changing from El Nino to La Nina conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean. It is likely that global temperature for calendar year 2010 will reach a record level for the period of instrumental data, but that is not certain if La Nina conditions deepen rapidly (Hansen et al 2010).

Each decade that passes, global warming continues without any fear of slowing down. Temperature anomalies furnished by NASA and NOAA, effectively illustrate the never declining warming trend of the earth that is occurring on decadal time scales.

In essence, let’s consider our situation here in Florida. When temperatures rise to over 90°, what kind of clothing do you see people wearing? What if the temperature rose to 120°? 150°? and how about 200°? Is there any question in your mind whether you could cope in such conditions?

Unless there’s a way to shield our bodies from the sun, whether that’s by protective clothing or underground living spaces, I fail to see how we’d ever be prepared for such an event. We won’t experience these changes in our lifetime, but generations of humans, plants, and animal species after us might.

This is my opinion. So what's yours? Please leave comments below.

Resources

Global Surface Temperature Change
Florida Image

Geoglyphology, A New Tool for the Archaeologist

Contributed By Arthur D. Faram

Over the past several years The Faram Foundation has been involved in the research and development of a new and emerging science. That science has been named Geoglyphology. Research has shown that this science has the power to rewrite history as we know it. During our research it was discovered that civilizations have secretly passed down a legacy of geoglyphs on the shores and highlands of land masses around the world. A well known example of this is the Nazca Lines in Peru. The reason the Nazca lines and other Geoglyphs were not discovered until recently is that they are too large to be seen from the ground. And so it is with most geoglyphs.

Until now the majority of the information available to the Archeologist is gleaned from the information recovered at the dig site. We discovered that a great majority of the ancient architectural, monolithic and geoglyphic structures built around the world had something in common. That commonality is that the structures were aligned in such a manner that the study of their linear alignment unveils a much larger story and immensely expands the data available to the archeologist and the related disciplines.

Extensive research on these geoglyphs, which exist on every continent and many islands around the world, have shown that, no matter when or where they were constructed, they all tie into a worldwide network of civilizations that have progressed, prospered and suffered setbacks for millennia. These glyphs range in age from the 10,000 year old Yonaguni Pyramid in Japan, to the 250 year old streets of Washington, DC USA.

Data recovered from these studies includes obtaining the geographical range of the culture being studied, the level of sophistication that existed in relation to their understanding of mathematics and geometry, their knowledge of world geography, the discovery of other archeological sites that were unknown prior to the studies, and the dating of the culture itself by the data collected at the offsite locations and the sophistication of the geoglyphs identified at the other dig sites.

It is our mission to assist the Archaeologist, and the related disciplines, in identifying any collateral data related to the dig site that might assist the Archaeologist in understanding the culture, or in expanding the search area.

More information can be obtained at: http://www.thefaramfoundation.com .

Arthur Faram's Biography

Arthur Faram was born in Fort Worth, Texas and moved with his parents, at the age of 13, to California. He later graduated from high school in Anaheim California. After graduation he joined the Marine Corps, serving 9 years and receiving the Purple Heart in Vietnam. When discharged from the military he was employed as a Computer Analyst and Certified Cartographer by the US Government. Upon retirement Arthur finished College and attended Law School to prepare himself for starting his own business.

Now that Arthur is retired he has the time to research the stories that his grandfather told him about the Faram family when they lived in England. He not only found out that the stories were true but was led into a family history that is more amazing than anything he could have imagined. It was while compiling and verifying his family history that he discovered the Geoglyphs which now form the nucleus of his research.

Brother-Sister and Father-Daughter Marriage in Ancient Egypt

I recently read an article by Russell Middleton titled "Brother-Sister and Father-Daughter Marriage in Ancient Egypt". Upon studying the inner workings of Egypt and the Mesopotamian kings, I stumbled upon this piece and thought I would share the main points.

Brother-Sister and Father-Daughter Marriage in Ancient Egypt Overview

Anthropologists recognize that marrying one’s sister, brother, father, or mother was quite common in Ancient Egypt. Marriage of kin functioned "to preserve the purity of the royal blood line," to keep privilege and rank rigidly within the group .

The greatest instance of Pharaoh-sister marriage occurred during the Pharonic period. De Rouge called attention to evidence that Ramses II married two of his sisters and at least two of his daughters. This evidence was refuted by Erman, stating the title of "Royal Wife," bestowed upon daughters, was of mere ceremonial significance. There were no documented cases of brother-sister marriage during this period.

The Ptolemaic kings adopted the royal custom of sister-brother marriage, even though the union wasn’t actually permitted. Middleton mentions, of the thirteen Ptolemaic kings, seven contracted such marriages. Of those unions the most famous being between Ptolemy XIII, married to their sister, and the famous Cleopatra VI. Brother-sister marriage during the Greek period in Egypt seems to have been restricted to the royalty.

Commoners were practicing brother-sister marriage during the Roman period. Documents of a technical character have an "indisputable precision”, to attest to this fact. Most of the marriages were between full sisters.

Ultimately, this act of near kin marriages was a result of cross cultural influence, or rather the “diffusion hypothesis”. Middleton (1962) noted, this hypothesis does not answer the question of why the custom developed in the original host culture or why it was later adopted in a secondary culture.

Your thoughts?

Middleton, Russell. 1962 Brother-Sister and Father-Daughter Marriage in Ancient Egypt. American Sociological Review, Vol. 27, No. 5:603-611.

Also check out:

• The Art and History of Ancient Egyptian Jewelry
• Serapeum: The Tomb of the Apis Bulls
• In the Days of Pharaohs and Deities 
• Evidence for Pharaonic Seagoing Ships in Egypt 
• Mortuary Temple of The Pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut 
• The Mummified Bubastis Cat