Archaeology News: November 30, 2011

Glasswork from the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires has been discovered during the Marmaray excavations in Istanbul. Experts previously believed Ottomans did not develop a unique glasswork style.

A century ago, European explorers reported finding mummies with European features in Central Asia’s Tarim Basin. The mummies dated back up to 4000 years. During the classical period, several references to Europeans living in the region appear. In all likelihood, Europeans migrated eastward and formed settlements in the region.

Archeological research of pagan graves in the valley Þegjandadalur in Suður-Þingeyjasýsla county in northeast Iceland support the theory that ritual human sacrifice was practiced during paganism in Iceland.

An ancient tomb more than 2,000 years old has been recently excavated by archaeologists in Northeast China's Liaoning Province. This archaeological discovery is expected to break traditional views on ancient civilizations in that part of the country.

Earlier this year, programmer Justin Ouellette picked up an 11-inch 1983 VT220 terminal and, after a little bit of wrangling, got it to display the command line for his 2010 Mac Pro, running 2011 OS X Lion.

The three buildings of the Istanbul Archaeology Museums, home to thousands of artifacts from ancient times to the Ottoman Empire, are preparing for an earthquake. Officials at the Istanbul Archaeology Museums are continuing work to protect the facility’s cultural treasures in the event of a possible earthquake.

For almost 100 years Queensland’s Historical Society was oblivious to the precious artefacts buried literally on its doorstep. It took a burst water main during January’s flood to unearth one of the most notable finds in recent years, right outside the entrance of the Historical Society’s Brisbane headquarters. The gushing water pushed over two retaining walls between the edge of William Street and the 1829 convict-built Commissariat Store – home to the Historical Society. Century old bottles, bones and broken plates started falling out of the wall.

Archaeologists and, in turn, citizens may soon learn more about Pocahontas, the Native American woman who has, without question, become an American legend. Dr. William Kelso, the Director of Archaeology for Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA), says he’s unearthed the church where Pocahontas and tobacco planter John Rolfe were married.

Skeletons and colonial-era uniform buttons discovered on Rogers Island in 2006 probably mark the place of a military cemetery dating to the French and Indian War, according to a report compiled by the New York State Museum. “There’s clear evidence of additional burials nearby,” said state archaeologist Lisa Anderson.

The second Bogazköy Sphinx, which was taken to Germany during World War I, has returned to Turkey. The other was returned sometime between 1924 and 1937.

Researchers say they've found two pits to the east and west of Stonehenge that may have played a role in an ancient midsummer ceremony. The discovery suggests that the 5,000-year-old circle of stones we see today may represent just a few of the pieces in a larger geographical, astronomical and cultural puzzle.

Should Stonehenge be lit up in the evening? The monument was lit up at night in the 1970s and early 1980s, but English Heritage stopped the practice because of an increase in car accidents caused by distracted drivers on the nearby A303.

True Confessions: Why Archaeology?

I began Ancient Digger as a hobby. I wanted to share archaeology and history news with all of you, and yet, it’s turned into a platform for me to share my path to becoming a Doctor of Archaeology. Every once in a while I have to step back and ask myself if I’m making the right decision. I have these moments. Moments in which I reflect back on my restaurant days and the passion I had. It’s a deep seeded fire which, every so often, lurks around the corner, starring me down, as if to say, “why archaeology”?

It’s important for me to share my doubts and fears about the field of archaeology, because honesty about your future goals makes the path so much clearer. As I move closer to graduate school, I’m starting to think that I have too many interests within the field. I abhor the fact that I have to choose one such path. One subject. I think that’s ultimately the underlying reason for my apprehension.

People always ask me what area of archaeology I want to study and I tell them a different answer every time. This scares me! Over the past year I’ve started to really appreciate anthropology as opposed to archaeology. The outlook of Herbert Spencer and Karl Marx and the honest and forthright opinions of Margaret Mead, have led me to question as to whether I have a voice, and will archaeology ultimately stifle it? It’s a tough situation when you hit that time right before graduate school. You start doubting yourself and your abilities. You start thinking your 4.0 GPA is a façade and you are not really worthy of it.

Why all of this crazy talk Lauren? Well, I had a moment today. I asked my fiancé whether I should go back to restaurants and he just looked at me with bewilderment. These past years of hard work would be for nothing. Well, not entirely nothing. That’s a strong statement. I suppose I feel as though the fact that I can’t choose an area of expertise makes me a weak candidate for the field. Is this true? On the other hand, as an archaeology blogger, this has given me a niche, or rather an area that sets me apart from other students.

One of my anthropology professors remarked to me that having an expertise, and being recognized for it, would set me apart. However, choosing an area is essential for graduate school, so he also told me to just choose. Sometimes this fact is impossible to face. I feel as though I will be tied to this discipline, archaeology that is, and I won’t be able to stretch my legs. I suppose I want to have a voice and shake things up, and my question to all of you is, is archaeology the right choice? Or should I stick with anthropology? I’d love to hear some opinions.

Archaeology News: November 28, 2011

First it was the Dambusters raid, now Cambridge University’s Dr Hugh Hunt has helped to recreate ‘The Great Escape' from Germany’s infamous Stalag Luft III. What I think we learned from attempting to do something similar ourselves is the magnitude of the task; it’s simply amazing what they achieved given how difficult it was."

Occupy Wall Street plagued by the hierarchy it seeks to destroy-While it is true our ancestors — in their small, nomadic hunter-gathering communities — thrived on co-operation for much of human history, some anthropologists believe these egalitarian political arrangements were unnatural and required massive effort to sustain. Christopher Boehm, a social anthropologist and author of Hierarchy in the Forest, surveyed 50 bands and tribes to see how egalitarian they were, and why.

Neal Rockwell sat down with David Graeber while he was in Montreal last week. They talked about a number of topics from Graeber's book Debt: The First 5000 Years. These ranged from precapitalist economies, to markets which during certain periods have prevented rather than fostered capitalism and to how our contemporary concept of freedom originated from Roman property law and slave ownership.

Coins discovered beneath Jerusalem’s Western Wall prove that Herod the Great did not even come close to completing construction on the Temple Mount compound. The coins, stamped around 17 C.E. with the name of the Roman proconsul Valerius Gratus, were found inside an earlier ritual bath (mikveh) that had been filled in to support the construction of the Temple Mount’s western wall—some two decades after Herod’s death.

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a medieval church, said to date from some time in the 12th to 14th centuries, and the front gate of the ancient city on the location of today’s Sozopol, on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.

In a shallow cave on an island north of Australia, researchers have made a surprising discovery: the 42,000-year-old bones of tuna and sharks that were clearly brought there by human hands. The find, reported online today in Science, provides the strongest evidence yet that people were deep-sea fishing so long ago. And those maritime skills may have allowed the inhabitants of this region to colonize lands far and wide.

Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History announced the discovery at the site of Comalcalco of a brick bearing a fragmentary reference to the end of one era and the beginning of another in the Maya Long Count calendar. “Some have proposed it as another reference to 2012, but I remain rather unconvinced,” said David Stuart of the University of Texas at Austin.

Sheep wool, dog hair, and mountain goat hair have been identified in some of the blankets and robes woven by people living on the Pacific Coast of North America before the arrival of Europeans. “Dogs have a long history of interaction with humans, from companionship to guarding and hunting; but raising dogs for fiber production was a unique cultural adaptation in the Pacific Northwest,” said Caroline Solazzo of the University of York.

A report in the current Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice notes looting in 18 states has been perpetrated by methamphetamine addicts. “Archaeological fieldwork has become an increasingly dangerous occupation around the world,” it states.

In Ireland, the skeleton of a young man whose skull had been pierced by an iron arrowhead was found in a shallow grave, near an underground passage dating to the ninth century.

The Melian Dialogue: Its Place in Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War

Thucydides has fundamentally represented his personal view of policy, while keeping to his chosen convention of objective narrative in the History of the Peloponnesian War. The notes on Athenian intervention in the Peloponnese in support of Argos, which Thucydides has woven into the narrative of the last stages of the Melos affair, show that the Athenians were consciously following a policy which carried the risk of war with Sparta-a policy which was carried even further when Athens was already fully engaged in the war in Sicily . Essentially, the Melian Dialogue takes place against this backdrop of growing political polarization in the Greek world. It’s a classical dispute consisting of a false sense of honor and uncertainties over imperial expansion. However, the speech and form is comparable to Alcibiades' in Book Six; it may be tragically contradicted by events like the Pericles’ Funeral Speech; it may, like the Plataeans' speech, be a miserable attempt to avert a predetermined doom .

There is, however, an interesting diversion from the narrative, yet consistent with the oligarchic political Spartan character. The Melians "did not invite [the Athenian] representatives to speak before the people [as would be the custom in a democratic state like Athens], but asked them to make the statement for which they had come in front of the governing body and the oligarchic few" . Subsequently, A.B. Bosworth explains that Athenians use highly traditional arguments and the Melians who chose a position of sophistication. The language of the Melian Dialogue comes quite close to that used in “Thucydides’ criticism of the wisdom of the cities which swallowed Brasidas' propaganda and revolted after his capture of Amphipolis” .

The parallel within the text seems to be a false sense of honor and neorealism. Thucydides is not seen as a champion for neorealism but he does approach the Melian Dialogue using critical approaches to international relations theory. The Melians assume they can look into the future or cling to their liberty, which their city has enjoyed from its foundation for 700 years. Uncertainties had led the Melians to falsified realities, and thus, they are “judging the issue by the clouded eye of volition rather than calculations based on security, and following the human tendency to back their desires with uncritical hope and use sovereign reason only to reject what they find unpalatable” .

Thucydides’ Melian Dialogue shows us the eminent failure of the Melians to avert destruction through appeals to justice, essentially dramatizing the confrontation between naked power and morality. The Athenians have essentially made clear that if they are remain on friendly terms with the Melians, their subjects would regard it as a sign of weakness. Therefore, the hatred the Melians show towards the Athenians only solidifies the power that the Athenians have. In verse 89, the Athenians state, “since you know as well as we do that, when these matters are discussed by practical people, the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel” . Thus, power and the individuals who possess it defined what justice and morality represented. Those that had the power used it and those that didn’t accepted it. Consequently, power is actualized in political environments "where word and deed have not parted company, where words are not empty and deeds are not brutal, where words are not used to veil intentions but to disclose realities, and deeds are not used to violate and destroy but to establish and create new realities" .

The first conversation of the Melian Dialogue shows the interchange of practical realism and emotive moralizing. The Melians accept the Athenian invitation to discuss the crisis step by step but protest against their situation. It was hardly a humanitarian discussion. A.B. Bosworth argues that the Melian Dialogue was not humanitarian at all because of the brutality the Athenians used against Melos. However, he also argues that it could be humanitarian because, "they could only confront them with the reality of their position in the bluntest terms” . The dialogue initially steers the Melians into quite a predicament. They have to choose to surrender or have their nation destroyed for the sake of independence. It would seem that Thucydides’ point of view during the Melian Dialogue was biased in favor of the Melians because of his exile from Athens. W. Liebeschuetz, however, argues that the Athenians were fundamentally deluded because of their lack of morality in Melos’ destruction but also because the Athenians were perfectly right that the Melians’ own interest required that they should yield to the Athenians since they had not the strength to resist successfully .

The Melians came to the conclusion that, in order to win the debate between the Athenians, they had to appeal to justice. There’s no hope of survival based upon their resources, so calling upon justice as their defense in lieu of the Athenians potential, and expected attack, is amusing to the Athenians. The Athenians explain, “in our opinion you are unique in taking from these deliberations the conviction that future events are plainer than the situation before your eyes and viewing what is uncertain as a present actuality in your volition” . The Melian’s opinion of their own status according to the Athenians represents the ultimate triumph of hope over expediency, and the appeals to justice are simply an evasion of reality . The Athenian’s approach in the Melian Dialogue sets the stage, or rather deters the Melians from asking for justice. They have cunningly represented themselves and the Melians as equal parties, creating an illusion in the face of brute facts. This misconception cannot hide the fact that Athens holds the power whereas the Melians only hope is surrender, and they must simply endure this fact.

The Melian Dialogue, like many of the speeches within The History of the Peloponnesian War, allows readers to understand the way in which Athens created their empire. It’s not about the morality of the event or the confrontation, but about the Melian response to the Athenians’ first demand, that Melos should submit. Thucydides wants the reader to understand the contemplation and arguments between the parties, instead of the actual aftermath of the affair. Also, he wrote it in this manner simply because a dialogue really took place. In so doing, Thucydides deliberately used a sophistic dialectic in the writing of this dialogue. AB Bosworth doesn’t recognize the sophistic form and content, but he does explain that the dialogue allowed Thucydides to juxtapose the two perspectives more subtly than was possible in a single pair of contrasting speeches . Additionally, it enabled him to emphasize the weakness of the Melian position, as “every argument is dismissed as irrelevant, and the folly of resistance is illuminated from a variety of perspectives. Practicality not sophistry governs the debate” .

In Melian’s weakness they professed that “we who are still free would show you ourselves great cowards and weaklings if we failed to face everything that comes rather than to submit to slavery” . This statement, while poetic and prolific in its own right, is meant to convey a point or reinforce the Melian’s ideas of independence, pride and power. Their idea of power was the ability to face any such obstacles of politics and war, and they saw this as good enough reason for the Athenians to take haste and leave them be. The fact of the matter is that the Melians were weak. Their weakness compels Athens to incorporate them in her empire. There is no sanction they can invoke and no alliance or treaty to give them protection. Under such conditions justice is an irrelevancy and there is no point invoking it .

More Related Articles

Greek Week: Pericles 101
Aristocratic Life and Values in Homeric Greece
The Ionian Cultural Revolution

Resources

1. Alker, Hayward R. Rediscoveries and Reformulations: Humanistic Methodologies for International Studies. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
2. Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958.
3. Bosworth, A. B.. "The Humanitarian Aspect of the Melian Dialogue." The Journal of Hellenic Studies,. 13. (1993): 30-44. http://www.jstor.org/stable/632396 (accessed November 20, 2011).
4. Liebeschuetz, W. "The Structure and Function of the Melian Dialogue." The Journal of Hellenic Studies. 88. (1968): 73-77. http://www.jstor.org/stable/628672 (accessed November 20, 2011).
5. Macleod, C.W. "Form and Meaning in the Melian Dialogue." Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 23. (1974): 385-400. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4435410 (accessed November 20, 2011).
6. Rustin, Jeffrey S. Oxford Readings in Classical Studies: Thucydides. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
7. Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. London: Penguin Books Ltd, 1972.

Top 10 Posts: Week of November 26

Find out what archaeology news and articles visitors are sharing every week on Ancient Digger. These posts are the most popular and read articles for the week, starting on Sunday and ending on Saturday.

Best Graduate Schools, Universities, and Colleges for Archaeology and Anthropology
I have compiled several lists in order to help you determine the top graduate colleges and universities with the best programs for archaeology, as well as the top undergraduate colleges, universities and school programs for anthropology and archaeology.

The Best Schools For Nautical, Maritime, and Underwater Archaeology in the US
Education Portal has compiled an extensive list of Nautical, Maritime, and Underwater Archaeology schools for any student looking to break into the field. One of my professors is an expert in Caribbean Piracy, receiving his Ph.D from the University of Florida, which has a highly competitive department for Underwater Archaeology. I know many of the institutions here in Florida have fascinating, ongoing research in the field, so by all means, have a look when you can.

Monday Ground Up: The Mystery of the Pyramids Revealed in Coral Castle
The architecture of the pyramids is a combination of revolutionary masonry work and a focus on the heavens, in which the structures face the sky in an attempt to possibly appease the gods. So what do the pyramids have to do with Coral Castle in Homestead Florida?

Monday Ground Up: Greek Architecture
Initially, there was a borrowing of Asian ideals which evoked structures that were both wholly and represented simplicity; moreover, the specific design spread from Sicily to India, making the Greeks cultural exporters.

Archaeology News: November 21, 2011

Best Graduate Schools for Classical Archaeology
Classical archaeology is a deeply interesting subject that has enchanted researchers and students for ages. Quite simply, it is the study of archaeological excavations from Ancient Greece and Rome. However, some only consider it to be the study of the Roman and Athenian civilizations, but it can include other subjects such as Minoan and Crete civilizations. This field involves not only excavations in the Mediterranean, but the analysis and research into the artifacts, deciphering the ancient texts, and learning about the history of the region. Completion of graduate programs for classical archaeology can mean careers in teaching and writing at major research universities, working at a museum as a curator, or even doing research and excavations.

Planes used during World War I
Although Kitty Hawk North Carolina would become home to the first manned flight of human kind, the Germans would take these physical parameters into a whole new realm. As the skies offered another battlefield in which to kill and mame, countries that did not embrace this new arena were quickly left behind. During the first world war, the Germans would gain an early edge over most of the Allies as concerned with WWI aircraft. Planes used during World War I became designed around the many German models, which would help the Allies win many later battles of the global war. There are many WW1 planes that were important during the war although some played far greater roles than others.

Leoninus and Perotinus: The First Polyphonic Music
In the central portion of Paris, France there lies an island in the middle of the river Seine. There you will find the huge Cathedral at Notre Dame which was built around 1200. NotreDame is one of the most magnificently architectural locations in all of Europe.

Monday Ground Up: Roman Achievements in Law and Engineering
Although the Romans had depended greatly on the ideals of the Greeks when adopting their art and literature, they themselves developed some of the most innovative of inventions that succeeded Western Civilization. The evolution of Roman law which brought about the idea of a systematic principle for justification, the invention of roads allowed for easier transit for soldiers and citizens, as well as the construction of Roman bridges that still stand today.

What happened to the U-boats after World War II?
Near the end of World War II, Germany took a direct approach to hide and even completely destroy its fleet of U-boats before their surrender to the allies. Operation Deadlight was the code name for the destruction of more than 121 U-boats in abysmal water off Lisahally, Northern Ireland or Loch Ryan, Scotland in late 1945 and early 1946. The remaining 145 U- boats were surrendered to the allies.

Archaeology News: November 21, 2011

Elad, the Jerusalem-based group that operates the City of David archaeological park, has begun a new initiative to map, photograph and record all of the Jewish tombstones from the Mount of Olives, some of which may date back several millennia.

New CT scans revealed a deep incision on the right eye of Ötzi the Iceman. Experts disagree about whether an arrow wound killed the Iceman, or if a fall or blow to the head did him in.

Graffiti daubed on the walls of a flat by the Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten could be as important as the discovery of early Beatles recordings - or even the prehistoric Lascaux cave paintings.

A study of human bones from the ruins of Harappa has revealed signs of lethal interpersonal violence and challenged current thinking that the ancient Indus civilisation was an exceptionally peaceful realm for its inhabitants.

A man has been arrested for bulldozing the Priddy Circles, a set of Neolithic earthworks in southwestern England. “What has happened is outrageous, this sort of vandalism is shocking. It is serious, we will never be able to get this back,” said MP Tessa Munt.

In northeastern Poland, skeletal remains of some 350 people have been found in a forgotten cemetery during the construction of a new road. Some are thought to have been soldiers who died after Napoleon marched on Moscow in the early nineteenth century.

A large kitchen area stocked with over-sized cooking tools has been unearthed at the Maya site of Kabah in southeastern Mexico. “We think large quantities of food were cooked in palaces,” said Lourdes Toscano of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.

A seal stone made of red jasper was uncovered at the Minoan sanctuary at Vrysinas on the Greek island of Crete. It is carved on all four sides with Minoan hieroglyphs.

The search for a colonial-era tavern in south-central Pennsylvania yielded more than 30,000 artifacts, including copper and silver coins, a religious medal, pottery, plaster, window glass, and iron nails.

In 1962, Philip Smith of the University of Toronto discovered rock art on the banks of the Nile River while looking for ancient Egyptian settlements ahead of the construction of the Aswan Dam. “They were everywhere on the rock. But we weren’t able to date it directly. At that time there was no way of dating art on the cliffs themselves,” he recalls. American and Belgian scientists recently dated that rock art to between 15,000 and 19,000 years old.

Anthropology Study: Pierre Bourdieu

There is no singular argument I can posit from Bourdieu’s research. It’s evident that Bourdieu believes that anthropology is filled with diabolically obsessing theoretical forces and that culture is neither the “exclusive product of free will nor of underlying principles” (Moore 2009: p326). Culture is not the exclusive product of any such code or rule, but a dynamically changing force, which meets the needs of those who construct the boundaries. I do, however, have several observations.

First, Bourdieu explains the “game”, which is not the individual’s actions or a sole strategy. A game is, in my opinion, a practice and can have such codes and rules. Furthermore, a game can only be won using strategy, and the person who created the rules in the first place often enforces that strategy. Is there confusion in the game? There’s always some level of confusion within strategy, but Bourdieu postulates that strategy exists without confusion. No game, strategy, or practice is without its obstacles in my humble opinion.

Second, Bourdieu had a structuralism agenda. That agenda allowed him to observe Algerian society by contrasting the rudimentary structures of the phenomena in a system of binary opposition. There is nothing wrong with this approach, but it does create contradictory social observations within society. These contradictory results forced, or rather, irked Bourdieu is such a way, that he sought for “perfect coherence in the system” (Moore 2009: p330). He took opposing ideas in structuralism, rather than using ethnographic evidence from Kabyle society.

In actuality, Bourdieu should have used his ethnographic evidence to understand the meanings of east and west and north and south. There were clearly contradictions in the way the Kabyle observed direction and what it meant, from a ritual and social aspect. Yet, Bourdieu believes that the creation of systems of knowledge is always politically based and this is hardly the case, especially when you read the geographic details of specific situations within Kabyle culture. What are some examples of this?

Why is it that seating a guest on the eastern wall is an offense? The Kabyle call this “the wall of darkness” (Moore 2009: p337). You would think, since east is associated with the sun rise, the source of all prosperity and the cardinal direction for ritual, that east would we associated with a completely alternative meaning that Bourdieu has explained. Furthermore, is there an assumption that guests who sit on the eastern wall, which is associated with a sinister area of the house, can remove or derail prosperity from the homeowner?

In essence I believe the Kabyle are a society who make their culture through practice, but I don’t believe that Bourdieu understands the opposing strategies that the Kabyle use to explain simple rituals or rules, because he was seeking equilibrium outside of structuralism. I also believe that Bourdieu is misusing the concept of culture because contradictory situations like the geographical explanations for sharing one’s abode, is not recognized as a masking of a society member’s actual objectives.

Best Archaeology Projects and News Feeds on Twitter

Guess what? Twitter is not just for those obsessed with modern technology. For the lovers or students of history, and especially archaeology, there are plenty of places on the web that you can explore the latest news, theories and discoveries. As well as learning about the old ones that you might not know about.

See? The Internet isn't just spam and Lolcats.



But one rather unexpected place to find information is Twitter, the social networking 160-character site that everyone seems to use. There are a number of news pages, organization accounts and more for you to check out. Here are some of the best that are must follows for any archaeology lover.

Archaeology News

This is Twitter's home for archaeology and history news. They update often, usually every few hours and sometimes even sooner. They provide a ton of links to interesting stories in the news, often from sources like Topix and EurekaAlert about the latest discoveries and theories.

ArchaeologyDaily

A wider science news source, they provide headlines on archaeology, paleontology, anthropology and fossils. They only update every few days, but when they do they provide a large list of updates through that day. They have a tendency to find more obscure news not usually in the main journals.

Rosella Lorenzi

You might know Rosella from her place on the Discovery News correspondent team. She specializes in archaeology, and provides links to her own stories on Discovery News, among others. She hasn't updated in a few weeks, which is unfortunate. But she is worth a follow.

Talking Pyramids

Videos, photos and links related to ancient Egypt are regularly shared here. They are big updaters, so you will often get four or five links in a single hour. You can also find some decent reblogs, which give you more information from well known institutes and experts in the field of the Egyptians.

David Connolly

Famous archeologist (who often refers to himself as a "loose canon") David Connolly is very well known for his work in the field. He has his own Twitter account, which he updates almost obsessively with a ton of information from himself and others. He has some great comments on current projects that he keeps people current on. Plus, he occasionally follows.

Culture 24

For a more focused look on overall culture, including museums, galleries and heritage sites, this UK based organization is great to watch. Their updates are a little random, as they will post a dozen links on day and then nothing for a few days. But they have some great information through here.

Campus Archaeology

This is the official Twitter of Michigan State Universities archaeology department. They comment on current projects and studies, recent news, what is going on at MSU and general comments on the field of study.

The Gabii Project

A smallish project based on ancient Gabii in Central Italy, this group of archeologists don't get nearly enough exposure. You can help change that by becoming their Twitter follower. They have a collection of updates on the project itself, while informing of others that need support.

NE Asia Archaeology

These Harvard affiliated archeologists cover NE Asia, specifically China, Japan, Korea, Russian Far East, Eastern Siberia and Mongolia. They update semi regularly with relevant and interesting bits of news in the region, such as the recent uncovering of the oldest known human remains in Japan.

The Archaeological Box

This networking hot spot for archaeological foundations and projects covers news, profiles, events, field schools and study programs, which is aiming to connect people for easier information sharing. They update a lot, and they have some news I haven't seen anywhere else. It is like a hub for various societies.

Conclusion

Twitter is an unexpected place to find the latest Twitter news and connect with others who have the same interests. What are some of your favorite social hotspots for archaeology chat? Let us know in the comments.

Jessy is a creative guest blogger for Life Insurance Finder, the free resource on finding best insurance plans. We create lots of educational material as well like this article on Sickness and Accident Insurance.

Image credits: 1, 2.

Anthropology Study: Shoshoni Transformations

The Shoshoni can change their beliefs and rituals in line with newly received visions or dreams of supernatural power. We see this when individuals receive certain visions in a dream where they are in contact with puha or supernatural power of guardian Spirits. Whereas individuals, in the earlier forms of Shoshoni religion, would seek a vision and receive a guardian spirit, a long and arduous procedure, persons in recent times could use dreams as a means of obtaining supernatural power.

Shoshoni myths are not transformed into ritual behaviors, whereas beliefs are. “Mythology represents an older worldview and thus does not reflect everyday religious reality, with a few exceptions.” The Sundance ritual is based on legend, however it’s a creation of the Plain's religions and has nothing to do with myth. It was developed when the Shoshone were part of the Great Basin cultural area. Consequently, Shoshone take the same approach to animal ceremonialism, which hasn’t actually disappeared entirely, but has been conveniently compartmentalized and reinterpreted to suit the dominant religious pattern, the vision complex.

Shoshoni religion incorporates various historical influences while forming a distinctive worldview. The individual, using a whole worldview, experiences doctrines present in Shoshoni tradition in a completely different perspective depending on certain criterion. The worldview can change depending on environment, social constructs and new cultural practices. As Moore notes, “There is no codified theology," and yet the Shoshoni worldview presents a clear and consistent picture of religious reality. Accordingly, the Shoshoni continued their ancient traditions and rituals, like rites of passage, even after their transformation into mounted, well-disciplined warriors along the lines of Plains Indians.

It was a combination of preservation of rituals and observance, adherence to earlier customs, new worldviews, and overall contact with other tribes, which allowed the Shoshoni to suit or transform their rituals to different situations.

Picture © FirstPeople.us

Archaeology New: November 14, 2011

The buried remains of the only 18th century Illinois frontier log fort not to have been washed away in floods long ago or destroyed by modern construction have been found beside Illinois 155 near the Fort de Chartres State Historic Site.

In 2010, the Hong Kong organization Noah’s Ark Ministries International or NAMI announced they had discovered the legendary vessel on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey and were subsequently accused of perpetrating a hoax. Now, a professional archaeologist states there is significant merit to their discovery.

Taiwanese and Spanish researchers have been cooperating on an excavation project to find an "embryo city" built by the Spaniards in Taiwan nearly 400 years ago. The excavation, co-funded by Taiwan's National Science Council (NSC) and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), began in early October at Heping Island in the northeastern city of Keelung, where construction of a city named San Salvador began in 1626 during Spain's 1626-1642 occupation of northern Taiwan.

Archaeologists have deciphered a grey marble slab whose 800-year-old Arabic inscription makes it the only Crusader artifact in that language ever found in the Middle East, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said Monday.

Scientists have found two 'sunken islands' off WA - part of the Gondwana land link. Researchers from the University of Sydney, Macquarie University and the University of Tasmania say the islands were once above water and formed part of the last link between India and Australia.

Richard Hunter, a Trenton-based archaeologist, joined the Trenton Historical Society and Trenton Museum Society at the Ellarslie Mansion in Cadwalader Park yesterday to discuss the importance of preserving the archeological site of Petty’s Run.

Bulgaria's National History Museum will put 10, 000 "extremely valuable" archaeological finds and artifacts on display.The finds in question were seized from a treasure hunting and antiques trafficking crime group back in 2004, and are now being transferred from the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office to the ownerships of the National History Museum in Sofia.

Metaphor’s Do Exist in Victor Turner’s Work

I've spoken about Victor Turner before in my articles Comradeship As A Factor In The Liminal Period and Characteristics that Distinguish Priests, Prophets, Shamans, and Mediums. Turner's work is insightful and educational and he remains one of the world's most celebrated ritual specialists. However, there are some aspects of Turner's work, especially his argument that he never succumbs to metaphors, that perplex me.

Victor Turner is typically associated with rites of passages and was regarded as a ritual specialist. I personally don’t have an objection to many of Turner’s practices, but many of the terms and phrases used to explain such simple ideas puzzled me, as I assumed the words were used in the context reflective of his religion. In fact, most of Turner's work focused on 'Christian culture' and how it might be shown to transcend historical, geographical and social boundaries (Turner 1978).

The use of the word communitas, a term Turner and his wife had coined to explain an experience of “losing one's old identity and freely and spontaneously encountering others on pilgrimage” (1978) was compared to a timeless condition enacted by performers. It was an eternal now he explained, as a “moment in and out of time”, or as a state to which the structural view of time is not applicable (Moore 2009; pg 247). I reverted back to my days in language class and recollected my professor’s definition of the word communitas.

Communitas, as far as what I’ve been taught, is a coming together of like minds for the greater good of the people. There is no set structure of this voluntary coming together. Can community really exist outside of a moment? The key ingredient is a common goal, so eventually there will be a coming together, but the time of the union is undefined, and sometimes renders no title or distinction.

Consequently, another term or phrase that caught my eye was “betwixt and between”. Ironically the last time I heard the phrase used was in a journal article written by Rebecca Bishop describing the Great ape. An animal who has always assumed a role of the betwixt and between status of Euro Western imaginary (Bishop 2010). The reason a reference the Great Ape is because it is often regarded as moving through somewhat similar stages or passages. Is there a set model of relationships within an ape community? That’s hard to say.

Although animal relationships can be observed using a comparative psychological or even sociological approach, there’s no way to get inside an animal’s brain and ask them why they have the relationships they have. Nor is it possible to define the amount of relationships humans might have with each other. It’s like constructing gender. There’s an infinite amount of variables, which could give rise to new relationships, which have no defined status. In contrast to Turner’s use of the phrase, he wrote about a “structure of positions”, a defined set of stages that many societies use to ritualize social and cultural transitions (Moore 2009: pg 255).

I object to the idea that a type of model defines human relationships and that the word communitas refers to an “in and out of social structure”. I’m aware that Turner is not caught up in metaphors, but by definition, his explanation of two models of human relationships and their commonalities, is a metaphor.

Sources

1. Some Other Kind of Being By Rebecca Bishop
2. Visions of Culture By Jerry D Moore.
   

Archaeology News: Exploring the Maternal Home of Buddha

Nepal's Department of Archaeology (DoA) and Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) in unison are trying to ascertain whether Lumbini-based Devdaha was the maternal home of Gautam Buddha. As many of you already know, no artifacts have ever been discovered to solidify the claim that Devdaha was the maternal home of Buddha.

The matter has shrouded in mystery since the fifth century after an archaeologist named Fasyan first mentioned in his travelogue that the maternal kingdom of Buddha and Sudhdhod-han was the Kwaliyar state (now called Devdaha).

According to Prakash Darnal, chief of National Archives under DoA, archaeologists and travellers including Fasyan (in fifth century), Wehn Sang (in seventh century) and Hoey ( in 1962) have mentioned this fact in their writings.

As cross cousin marriage was popular then, some archaeologists have also dropped a hint that Buddha’s mother Mayadevi and his wife Yasodhara came from the same family in Kwaliyar.

[ Edited From Sri Lanka Guardian]

Anthropology Focus: Edward Wilson and Sociobiology

My Question: Can Sociobiology Exist Without the Consideration of Culture?

Reading and deciphering Edward Wilson’s biological and anatomical jargon was like being back in Anatomy class, only this time around, I hadn’t a clue what the professor was talking about. I tried to find the anthropological focus in Wilson’s research, but it seems to me that his focus is purely on the anatomical makeup of a person’s mind. Attributing behaviors and actions to the hypothalamic-limbic complex of a highly social species. A man, “knows”, or more precisely it has been programmed to perform as if it knows, that its underlying genes will be proliferated maximally only if it orchestrates behavioral responses that bring into play an efficient mixture of personal survival, reproduction, and altruism. What a statement and where to start!

I hate to break it to this poor chap, but the hypothalamus is nowhere near as glamorous as Wilson is making it out to be. Furthermore, the limbic system, or rather the idea of its function, is completely erroneous and obsolete. It’s true; the hypothalamus is responsible for regulating body temperature, fat and carbohydrate metabolism, and several psychological drives like sex and hunger. I can’t believe I remembered that from Anatomy class! It’s difficult, however, to attribute the triggers of those drives to something purely biological. Environment and culture both play a part in the entire complex system.

Consequently, Wilson’s anatomical perspective carries over to his views on sociobiology, which he believes is the basis of all social behavior . His focus includes animals as well as man and their social behaviors. I see no issues with this, as many of our behaviors are similar to the behaviors of animals. There’s a problem, however. Animals don’t have culture, and culture is not biological. To study sociology one must study culture. To study sociobiology, one must still use culture, but now the biological characteristics of behavior are considered.

Wilson speaks of sociobiology like one describes phenotypes-that behavior is no more than the physical expression of genetic information. He’s essentially saying that our genetic makeup is entirely the cause of our actions. This is, of course, incorrect. If human behavior were this easily described, there would be no need for psychologists, anthropologists, or sociologists. Human behaviors are a reaction, or can be affected by, several environmental, economic, materialistic, cultural, genetic, and social factors.

In my opinion, it’s much easier to observe similar patterns in human culture than it is to decipher the biological similarities we share with certain species. Wilson is more than welcome to observe the behavioral differences and similarities in vertebrate and invertebrate species, but comparing an ant colony and kinship groups in human culture makes no sense whatsoever. Furthermore, studying the division of labor in an insect society is a stretch, I believe, from the characteristics of labor in human society. There are parallels in the societies mentioned, but I can’t ignore the strong biological basis for every point argued by Wilson.

Archaeology Fieldwork Opportunity: Ancient Maya Site of Blue Creek

The Maya Research Program is a U.S.-based non-profit organization (501C3) that sponsors archaeological and ethnographic research in Middle America. Each summer since 1992, we have sponsored archaeological fieldwork at the ancient Maya site of Blue Creek in northwestern Belize. In 2012 we again offer opportunities to participate in our field program and learn about the Maya of the past and today.

The Blue Creek project is open to student and non-student participants, regardless of experience. The field school is certified by the Register of Professional Archaeologists and participants will receive training in archaeological field and laboratory techniques.

Academic credit and scholarships are available.
(http://www.mayaresearchprogram.org)

We invite students and volunteers to participate in the Maya Research
Program’s 21st year of our Blue Creek archaeological project in
Belize.

2012 Field Season Dates:
Session 1: Monday May 28 - Sunday June 10;
Session 2: Monday June 11 - Sunday June 24 ;
Session 3: Monday July 2 - Sunday July 15;
Session 4: Monday July 16 - Sunday July 29

For additional information please contact the Maya Research Program:
www.mayaresearchprogram.org
1910 East Southeast Loop 323 #296
Tyler, Texas 75701
817-831-9011
mrpinquiries@gmail.com

Anthropology Focus: Sherry Ortner's Contradictions

I had an incredibly difficult time finding fault with Sherry Ortner’s research. Yes, she’s a feminist who has contended that women are universally devalued, and in some degree, inferior to men. Some women are inferior to men in brutal strength and intelligence, but it’s also the other way around. The fact, according to Ortner, that this idea is culturally universal is grossly erroneous. Ortner later retracts some of her earlier arguments about the inferiority of women in a previous paper, in her retrospective essay.

Ortner admits that gender equality is more difficult to assess than she originally thought because cultures are more contradictory and dynamic. Why the sudden change and reflection? The fact that she has succumbed to criticism and revised her own work to satisfy the masses is for lack of the better sense, a copout. Part of doing anthropology is having your own opinion, and pushing the limits is just want you want to do, not avoid.

Additionally, I believe that her studies involving symbolism have given her a skewed outlook of what they really represent. Ortner’s symbolic studies have virtually blinded her to what certain symbols could represent, instead of what the masses as a whole, and based on hundreds of years of assimilation, agree on what they stand for. Take for instance American culture in the 1950’s. Ortner is a child of the 50’s. What exactly was happening at this time? Were there equal rights for women? Class and racial inequality? Was the middle class actually shrinking at this time? Was Marx right? Evidently, Ortner’s research has given me so many questions and concerns I don’t know where to start. Remember, I like agendas. Ortner’s views from the 50’s can hardly be compared to now. Why? You can’t really make a comparison if nothing has changed.

Ortner says herself that the United Sates is described “as a nation where anyone can grow up to become president”. It’s a contradiction to be truthful because we know not everyone can. My concern, however, is why doesn’t Ortner take more of her experiences from high school and compare them to how society had changed, or how it hasn’t? Explaining why everyone can’t be president. The American Flag, a summarizing symbol at Ortner notes, representing freedom and democracy, and national superiority, is a contradiction. Why do I think it’s a contradiction? To some Americans it represents the complete opposite. Why doesn’t Ortner use the American flag and describe it from a 1950’s point of view? Maybe I can’t tell the difference between a 1950’s opinion of America or a 21st century opinion.

In closing, you can never summarize a symbol, because it will always have more than one interpretation. Furthermore, those symbols can always be contradicted by different viewpoints. The key is to never falter and give in to criticisms because without your voice, you’re just another conformist.

Top Archaeology News: November 9, 2011

New evidence of a lost civilization in an area of the Sahara in Libya has emerged from images taken by satellites. Using satellites and air photographs to identify the remains in one of the most inhospitable parts of the desert, a team from the University of Leicester in England has discovered more than 100 fortified farms and villages with castle-like structures and several towns, most dating between AD 1 to 500.

The site of what is now Rotterdam’s Yangtzehaven was inhabited by humans in the Middle Stone Age. At a depth of 20 metres, in the sea bed, unique underwater archaeological investigation found traces of bone, flint and charcoal from around 7000 BC.

It is prehistoric mystery that has baffled scientists for decades and sparked a long-running debate with archaeologists. But new DNA evidence from ancient horse bones has proved the horses depicted in prehistoric cave paintings actually existed 25,000 years ago.

The colorful history of Minneapolis’ Tangletown area, including the remnants of a long-gone mill, is influencing construction and prep work for a new Lyndale Avenue bridge over Minnehaha Creek.

More than four centuries after English adventurer Sir Francis Drake went to his watery grave off Panama's coast, archaeologists believe they have found two of the last ships he commanded.
In emerald Caribbean waters where the privateer is said to lie buried in a lead coffin, explorers using deep sea oil technology found three large ship sections offering strong clues that they belonged to Drake's Elizabeth and Delight.

Larry Grantham, an archaeologist with the Missouri Department of Transportation's Environmental Studies and Historic Preservation department, said his team has discovered a pair of Native American archaeological sites bookending the Mo. 168 bridge over the North River just west of Palmyra.

In a new examination of Laetoli in northern Tanzania, where a 3.6-million-year-old track of footprints of the bipedal human ancestor Australopithecus is preserved, researchers now argue that the classic understanding of this site is mistaken. The footprints have been buried since the mid-1990s for preservation, but a section recently opened for study as Tanzanian officials make plans for a museum on the site.

The University of Salford has announced a four year archaeology project which will see 9,000 people involved in digs. Dig Greater Manchester, which will also include a study in Blackburn, will see volunteers work alongside experts at 11 sites.

Utah Archaeology Week, to be held May 5-12, 2012, celebrates Utah's rich archaeological and cultural resources with a special week of statewide lectures, programs, activities, demonstrations and tours.

A rare stone sculpture depicting a bullock cart has been found by professor and students of Government First Grade College, HD Kote. The sculpture is assumed to be of the Punnata era.

Does a Flaw Exist in Eleanor Burke Leacock’s Research?

I’ve searched and tossed about the pages of Leacock’s research to find a flaw or argument that I can sincerely disagree with. The problem seems to be that Leacock never received the recognition she deserved for her evolutionary research with the Labrador. Furthermore, due to her radical roots and political experiences, she managed to hide her Marxist ideals at a time when it was dangerous to admit her interest in capitalism and its affects on the female gender. I did, however, question her personal reflection, tracing it back to her “radical roots”, as she so eloquently noted, most likely to her parents.

I decided to look at her father’s work to find a source of her feminist motives and Marxist agenda. Burke argued, in Language as Symbolic Action that “this definition of man, means that “reality” has actually been built up for us through nothing but our symbol system" . He further explains that without our encyclopedias, atlases, and other assorted reference guides, we would know little about the world that lies beyond our immediate sense experience. I understand that historical texts are important, just like the archaeological record should be preserved in the pages of publications for further analysis, but first hand fieldwork is essential for understanding symbolism and the culture tied to it. Leacock wasn’t using symbols like her father, nor was she dependent on text. So where did her radical political views stem from really? Her father or anthropologists most like her?

Eleanor never approached her study with the Labrador based almost entirely on books, or unpublished data from Frank Speck’s ethnographic work. Her work and opinions were largely based on the research of Tylor, Engels, Morgan, Marx and many others. But her research is in opposition to their work in my opinion. In this sense I don’t believe she was as radical as she seems to believe she was. I think she’s found a way to oppose male anthropologists, which simply sets her up for recognition, as the feminist who opposes anthropological norms in order to establish a place in the historical narrative.

Leacock does discuss the amount of female autonomy in egalitarian societies, explaining that many anthropologists have conveniently “contended that female inferiority was cross-cultural”. She disagrees with this statement of course. I’m curious as to why. Could it be that the anthropologists she speaks of were males and only offered a male perspective of female inequality, based on their own class society?

In closing, the observations Leacock made while studying the Labrador were a combination of feminist fulfillment and consequences of capitalism and colonialism. I appreciate the fact that Leacock recognized that postcolonial contact was not the only factor that caused cultural change during aboriginal times. Her counterparts posited that European contact was the primary catapult for the new culture changes in foraging peoples. In truth, Leacock’s perspective provides us with an understanding of cultural context and assumptions about aboriginal patterns.

Patroclus’ funeral games, Greek aristocratic culture and values.

Homer discusses the Patroclus’ funeral games in Book 23 of the lliad. Patroclus, a great companion of Achilles, is cremated and his bones are collected into a golden urn in two layers of fat, and buried. His body is surrounded with jars of honey, and of fragrant oil, nine large dogs, two to attend their lord, and then the fire, which inflamed the fallen Trojans, was lit in a common blaze. “Smeared with the bloody rites, he stands on high. And he called the spirit with a dreadful cry: “All hail, Patroclus! Let thy vengeful ghost Hear and exult, on Pluto’s coast”. The way in which Patroclus’ body is treated reminds me of a royal funeral. The body becomes ash and the wind takes it to gods, where it recomposes into a spirit form. A form in which will haunt Achilles in his dreams, and essentially force him to remember his comrade.

It’s essential to understand the relationship that Achilles and Patroclus had before we can truly understand why the funeral games existed. Patroclus was originally accused of manslaughter and was brought into Achilles’ family as a mentor. Achilles and Patroclus had a pederastic relationship, which involved educating Achilles on: Homeric poetry, music and heroism, how to play, dance, athletics, public speaking, warfare and combat, and philosophy. “Achilles' attachment to Patroclus is an archetypal male bond that occurs elsewhere in Greek culture: Damon and Pythias, Orestes and Pylades, Harmodius and Aristogeiton are pairs of comrades who gladly face danger and death for and beside each other .”

The funeral games are a diversion from grief, and to overcome it, the men are, feasting, competing, sporting, and sharing in each other's company. What does this tell us about the values or culture of the Greeks? It tells us that while the body may not live on, the memory and soul of a victor or honorable man, will live in the hearts of all men who have encountered him. A celebration of Patroclus’ life was the perfect way to remember who he was and what he represented while he was alive. He was an honorable man, loved by all, and after mourning his death, they hold a competition to celebrate his life, and all of the wonderful things he did, in and out of battle. Yet, grief and sadness is a way for these men to stand together. “Lost is Patroclus now, that wont to deck. Their flowing manes, and sleek their glossy neck. Sad, as they shared in human grief, they stand. And trail those graceful honors on the sand! Let others for the noble task prepare. Who trust the courser and the flying car” .

In honor of Patroclus, Achilles institutes the funeral games: the chariot-race, the fight of the crestus, the wrestling, the footrace, the single combat, the discus, the shooting with arrows, and darting the javelin. Essentially, the funeral games are a diversion from grief. A celebration of Patroclus’ life. Furthermore, the funeral games of Patroclus represent one of the most significant values of Greek aristocratic life: individual honor. In a sense, the contests of the Funeral Games sum up Homer's method of character-portrayal in the poem as a whole . Simply, the characters, or rather, the personalities and personal attributes of these men portrayed throughout the lliad, are once again seen in the funeral games. For instance, the third game involved wrestling. Only the strongest and most confident of men would have volunteered for such a sport. Is it really a surprise that Ajax and Odysseus came forward in hopes of winning a tripod worth 12 oxen for first prize, and a woman worth 4 oxen for the loser? We see these affirmations of personal honor throughout the funeral games.

Finally, the funeral games are a way for them to pay respect to Patroclus. They hold these competitions in his honor, and each man who competes is not just battling for some inconsequential prize; they are battling in honor of a fallen warrior and a comrade. Achilles counts himself out of the games, as his immortal status gives him an edge, and so the competition would not be fair. It’s important to note, however, that Homer created the men involved in the games, their reputations, and the foundations of those, throughout the lliad. He molded their attributes in a way that reflected their capabilities in the funeral games. What exactly does this have to do with Patroclus funeral games? The values these men had on the battlefield translated to the games. For example, the spear throwing competition created by Achilles involves Agamemnon and Meriones, however, Achilles tells Agamemnon to sit down because there would be no contest since no one is better than he is. He can just take the first prize. Agamemnon gives the prize to his herald. Even in sports, Agamemnon is given his prize without working, so not to create any petty arguments.

The funeral games of Patroclus shed light on the personal relationships between men in aristocratic Greece. We have to look through the prism of the institution and recognize the fact that honorable men were born and bred out of these close ties. Older men taught honor and education to the feeble minded, youthful men, and in the end, it was the teacher that received the greatest tribute. Consequently, we have to look at the classification of arête, no longer from the perspective of the man that was born with it, but from the warriors that met this man in battle and on the political front. Arête is the epitome of personal honor, and although the “Sophists claimed to teach arête, or excellence and efficiency in the conduct of public and private life” , it was something a man possessed at birth. The true nature of arête was evident in the Patroclus games, when honorable men in life, honored another in death. Yes, the games allowed the men to exhibit brute strength and agility, but the funeral games simply allowed honorable men to express what morality, character and integrity, really meant.

History 101: Herodotus’ Account of Greek Victory Over The Persians

Greek culture, society, and politics were a measure of Greek identity. The idea was, essentially, that Herodotus wrote his historical account from the view of a Greek citizen, therefore his biased account embraced the idea that all non-Greeks were inferior. Herodotus’ concept of the Greek’s view of Persians served as a model from which the Greeks could assess their own society. Greek victory over the Persians symbolized the bravery and the supremacy of Greek society over the sand dwelling Persians, therefore reinforcing their concept of cultural identity and political excellence. Herodotus’ depiction of the Greeks as a community of peoples, clinging to their identity, culture, and politics created on the basis of equality, was the perspective we are presented in order to understand the Persian defeat by a more simple minded people.

The Persian Wars, according to the Histories of Herodotus, were significant to the Greeks because they preserved Greek identity. In Book One of Herodotus, a Lydian named Sandanis gives Croesus advice, prior to his campaign into Cappadocia where he would destroy Cyrus. Sandanis explains that these men who where leather don’t eat what they want, but what they have. They don’t use wine, but are water drinkers, and they don’t have exotic fruits to nibble on such as figs . Essentially, the Persians are seen as having nothing, so defeating them in battle will not result in any spoils. This contrived image of Greek superiority reigns throughout Herodotus, and when the Persians were defeated, the image of what a non-Greek represented, was destroyed.

It’s true. The Persians were poor prior to the Lydian invasion, so in affect, Herodotus’ view of their efforts against the Greeks may have been different if their economic status had not changed. Since Persian wealth and luxury were used as a characterization of the barbarians, it’s of no consequence that Herodotus viewed their acquisition of an empire, along with the immense wealth and foreign luxury that this brought them, as an erosion of their former toughness and it made them soft. “Just as Cyrus had been defeated by the Massagetae and Darius by the Scythians, the Persians were once again worsted by a hardier and simpler people.”

In the case of warfare, Grecian hoplites were armed with long spears fitted with iron tips, which were significantly longer than Persian spears, and a sword. The heavy armour consisted of a bronze breastplate, helmet with plume and opening in the center, and a shield measuring one meter across. Essentially the longer spears made them superior in hand-to-hand combat. Yet, this was the first time the Athenians warriors encountered the Median garb and the men who wore it. Herodotus says that the Persians borrowed the attire of the Medes because it was more beautiful than their own . Later on Aristagoras of Miletus ridicules men who fought
'wearing trousers and turbans'; and at Plataea it is their clothing that causes them the most harm and which the Greeks totally disregard as booty once the battle is over . Even considering the Persian’s fanciful garments, confidence in numbers, and their belief that most inferior peoples are the ones who live the farthest from them, they still essentially failed at Marathon.

The historical account of the Battle of Marathon may be entirely different than what Herodotus had proposed. Since the Greeks relied heavily on the opinions of the gods, it’s of no surprise that Herodotus hints at their involvement, or rather their assistance, at defeating the Persians. Herodotus states “if the gods be but impartial, that either the enemy shall not attack you at all, or, if they do, shall be greatly to their own detriment.” Interestingly enough, after this statement, Philippedes has a vision. Philippedes has met Pan on Mount Parthenium where Pan shouts to him, “Why do you pay no heed to Pan, who is a good friend to the people of Athens, has been many time serviceable to you, and will be so again?” Till then the Greeks were terrified even to hear the names of the Medes, but Philippedes vision may have prevented panic among the Athenians, allowing them to move forward through the sea of Persian arrows at Marathon.

Herodotus’ criterion of a historical cause of the Greek’s triumph during the Persian wars is primarily political. Herodotus’ culturally biased depiction of Persian politics reinforces the Greek’s lack of knowledge of Persian society. What they did know was that a non-Greek system of politics, or a non-democratic government, was far inferior to their political organization. Herodotus explains that the monarchy, an ideal championed by Persian powers, and represented by Darius, was by far less predominate than Greek democracy . In Herodotus, democracy represented freedom and a monarchy represented slavery. The idea put forth by Herodotus was that when all of the democratic city-states united against invaders from a Persian monarchy, they would prevail.

Finally, according to Herodotus the Greeks had more motivation. Flowers explains that Herodotus was not entirely uninformed of the biases of his own culture, and even if he were the plot line demanded that the Greeks be the defenders of liberty against Persian aggression. This essentially explains why the fault, or lines of historical causation, runs though the Histories of Herodotus . Persian kings may have sought retribution for the capture of Sardis by Athenian and Eretrian forces and the Greeks were determined to defend their homeland because they were inherently tied to equality. Regardless of motivations of both sides, Herodotus attributed the Greek victory to virtue. Their meek and unpretentious existence was entirely relative to the Persians, who were dripping in riches. In Book 8.26 of Herodorus’ Histories, the Arcadians explain that the Greeks are at present celebrating the Olympic games. Tigranes burst out with the words words, “What, Mardonius! What sort of men have you led us to fight against, who contend, not for money, put purely for the sake of excellence?” Clearly, it was part of the Greek’s strength, Herodotus believed, to be victorious in battle because of their wisdom, laws and customs. Ideas in which were foreign in the eyes of the Persians, concerned with the spoils of war and their own personal ideals of wealth.

Herodotus, often called the “Father of History”, appears to have drawn on the Ionian tradition of story telling to write the action filled trials of the Persian wars. The stories contain folk like stories of action and adventure and war and politics, but even so, there’s a substantial amount of facts relating to geography, anthropology and history, all compiled by Herodotus in an entertaining style and format . The Greek cities, according to Herodotus, refused to bow down before the barbarians. The Greeks were skillful in battle and resourceful and they utilized their relationship with the gods to defeat the enemy. One might say the armies of Persia and Greek were equally matched and either side could have prevailed, but Herodotus clearly represents the Greeks as undefeatable.

Also check out:

Greek Architecture
Greek Week: Pericles 101
Aristocratic Life and Values in Homeric Greece
The Ionian Cultural Revolution

Resources

1. Grene, David. Herodotus: The Histories. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.
2. Flowers, Michael. Herodotus and Persia. The Cambridge Companion to Herodotus. Edited by Carolyn Dewald and John Marincola . New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
3. Murray, Oswyn, J.Boardman, J.Griffin. The Oxford History of the Classical World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.

Fredrik Hiebert, Archaeology Fellow for the National Geographic Society, delivers “The Quest for Noah’s Flood” Lecture at Penn Museum

If you missed the lecture “The Quest for Noah’s Flood” by Fredrik Hiebert, you can read the reactions here.

Hiebert’s lecture covered his expeditions of the Black Sea, and submerged landscape which mirror inland settlements, rumored to be associated with the Biblical Flood. The expedition is currently working on developing SONAR technology to fully access the structures.

“We are hoping to resolve the mystery of this ancient flooded landscape, which can tell us more of the story of the great flooding that occurred there and its tie to the Biblical story,” Hiebert said.

The lecture was followed by a question-and-answer session, in which Hiebert reaffirmed that his expedition was not looking for Noah’s ark, but rather Noah’s “house,” and answered questions about the technological, political and future aspects of his exploration.

Continued…

Short Bio Blurb

Hiebert completed his doctoral dissertation at Harvard University in 1992 and held the Robert H. Dyson chair of archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania before joining the National Geographic Society in 2003. He rediscovered the lost Bactrian gold in Afghanistan in 2004 and is currently the curator of National Geographic's exhibition Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul touring the major museums in the United States and internationally.

[via National Geographic]

Picture via Becky Hale

Archaeology News: November 3, 2011

Ancient Digger is your spot for the latest archaeology news and headlines.

A newly proposed solution to an ancient enigma is reviving debate about the nature of a mysterious prehistoric site that some call the Holy Land's answer to Stonehenge.

Scientists believe they have discovered the oldest case of prostate cancer in Egypt after scans on a 2,250-year-old mummy showed the man died a slow and painful death from the disease.

Over the past three years, diggers have discovered approximately a shoe box full of glass beads. Experts on Late Medieval Spanish culture have determined that these beads date from the 16th or early 17th century. Such beads have also been found in large quantities along the coast of Georgia, where there were at least 21 Spanish missions, and in northwest Georgia, where the de Soto Expedition is known to have spent much of the summer of 1540.

An audience of about 200 filled the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology to hear an award-winning National Geographic Society archaeologist talk about his expeditions regarding Noah’s ark.

Dan Davis, Luther College visiting assistant professor of classics, will present a Classical Society lecture Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. in the Franklin W. Olin Building, Room 102, on the Luther campus about underwater archaeology in the Black Sea.Egyptian customs police seized ancient and Islamic artifacts from a 50-year-old Sudanese man at the High Dam Port in Aswan. The authorities still have to determine if the objects are genuine.

New dates for Homo sapiens fossils indicate that modern humans occupied Europe between 42,000 and 44,000 years ago, a few thousand years earlier than previously thought.

A combination of factors led to the extinction of Ice Age animals, according to a large-scale study led by Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen. Overhunting by humans alone was not responsible for their demise.

A 2,000-pound cannon hauled up from the wreck of Blackbeard’s flagship off the North Carolina coast last week has stirred more interest in the infamous 18th-century pirate and brought more visitors to Beaufort, a small seaport near the site of the wreck. And since state funding for the excavation on the Queen Anne’s Revenge has all but dried up, archaeologists may have to rely on that public interest to resume work at the shipwreck next spring.

BBC News offers photographs of World War I artifacts unearthed from trenches in northern France. This video explains the tunnel excavation project conducted by British and French archaeologists.

When a metal detector enthusiast in southern England found a Bronze Age spearhead, she contacted the archaeological authorities. They unearthed more than 100 bronze items estimated to be 2,700 years old. “You could count on two hands the number of Bronze Age hoards which have been recorded professionally by archaeologists in this way,” said Adrian Green, director of the Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum.