BHR-37
Brit-Am Historical Reports
9 May 2010 25 Iyar 5770
Contents:
1. Archaeology: Brit-Am Version of
Explorator
13.01
2. Dr Salima
Ikram
Talks Animal Mummification In New Heritage Key Video
3. Medieval black Briton found
4. In search of Muziris
[Ancient Egyptian Settlements in India ]
5. Archaeology: Brit-Am Version of
Explorator
13.02
1. Archaeology: Brit-Am Version of
Explorator
13.01
From: david meadows <rogueclassicist@gmail.com>
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explorator 13.01 April 25, 2010
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EARLY HUMANS
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Once again we read of the possibility of neanderthals interbreeding
with more 'modern' humans, but now it's happening 'twice':
http://www.physorg.com/news191047192.html
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100420/full/news.2010.194.html?s=news_rss
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1268003/We-little-bit-Neanderthal-study-finds-species-interbred-humans.html
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2010/04/early-humans-may-have-bred-wit.html
What we can learn from Neanderthal DNA:
http://www.physorg.com/news191172239.html
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AFRICA
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An African 'Jewish' tribe is displaying what it believes is
the Ark of the Covenant:
http://www.thejc.com/news/world-news/30865/african-jewish-tribe-displays-its-lost-ark
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ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
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Jerusalem has reopened the Jaffa Gate:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/21/AR2010042101707.html
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137131
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-ml-israel-jerusalem-renovation,0,6865675.story
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/04/21/1011689/jerusalems-jaffa-gate-is-reopened
http://www.antiquities.org.il/about_eng.asp?Modul_id=14
Mysterious lines in various desert environments in Israel, Jordan, etc.
were 'funnels' to direct wild animals to their demise:
http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/desert-lines-hunting-tool-kites.html
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ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)
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What David Davies is up to:
http://media.www.udallasnews.com/media/storage/paper743/news/2010/04/20/News/Davies.Gives.Lecture.On.Archaeological.Traces.Of.Lit.Trad.I-3910742.shtml
What Kathleen Coleman is up to:
http://www.physorg.com/wire-news/33112863/pushy-parents-in-a-competitive-society-how-ancient-roman-teens-h.html
On the popularity of sword and sandal flicks:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7629181/Hollywood-turns-to-ancient-warriors-and-legends-to-win-audiences.html
Review of Richard Miles, *Carthage Must Be Destroyed*:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2010/0424/1224269017171.html
Visit our blog:
http://rogueclassicism.com/
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EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
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Interesting stones from Devon:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/apr/19/ancient-stones-devon-dartmoor
A Bronze Age ditch in Hereford may have been a city boundary of sorts:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hereford/worcs/8632188.stm
A very successful metal-detectorist:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7606459/Pensioner-uncovers-500000-treasure.html
They're going to 'laser scan' Robin Hood's oubliette:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/nottingham/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8630000/8630926.stm
... and we have the obligatory 'real Robin Hood' piece:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/7611255/So-who-is-the-real-Robin-Hood.html
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NORTH AMERICA
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This week's DNA story is about its unauthorized use in regards
to the Havasupai people:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/us/22dna.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/us/22dnaside.html
Interesting bison find on Orcas Island:
http://qmackie.wordpress.com/2010/04/24/orcas-bison/
OpEd on ending the slavery 'blame game':
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/opinion/23gates.html
Review of a couple of tomes on 'imperial wars':
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/books/review/Steel-t.html
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CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
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On what we can learn about climate change from Peruvian mummies:
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/563625/?sc=rssn
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OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
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Not sure we've mentioned this Arab trading ship reconstruction:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8632302.stm
... while another group is set to recreate Captain Bligh's
'odyssey':
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/australiaandpacific/tonga/7610486/Adventurers-to-recreate-Captain-Blighs-odyssey.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8631607.stm
Interesting item on the mummification of Otzi ... on the molecular
level:
http://www.physorg.com/news190967981.html
That volcano in Iceland has stranded some archaeologists:
http://media-newswire.com/release_1116986.html
... and in case you're collecting photos:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html
... and a nice feature on the British Library's map collection:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/apr/24/british-library-magnificent-maps
Mark Twain had some interesting marginalia:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/nyregion/19twain.html
They're building a Stonehenge replica in Australia:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/7603347/Stonehenge-Down-Under-Australians-copy-Neolithic-rock-structure-to-draw-tourists.html
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CRIME BEAT
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Gaza is trying to keep its antiquities off the black market:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0424/Gaza-Strip-moves-to-preserve-its-abundant-ancient-treasure
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EXHIBITIONS, AUCTIONS, AND MUSEUM-RELATED
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Musical Instrument Museum:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/arts/design/24museum.html
The volcanic eruption has extended a Magna Carta exhibition in New York:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/magna-carta-enjoys-an-extended-visit-to-new-york
A Renaissance copy of the Mishneh Torah is restored and unveiled:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gbFwYtD7WgE2q14yRUZWc0FdbWxAD9F85JV00
A Paris museum's 'fakes' exhibition is causing controversy:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/7625683/Paris-museums-fakes-exhibition-condemned-for-vampire-plagiarism.html
2. Dr
Salima
Ikram
Talks Animal Mummification In New Heritage Key Video
http://heritage-key.com/blogs/malcolmj/dr-salima-ikram-talks-animal-mummification-new-heritage-key-video
Submitted by MalcolmJ on Tue, 09/29/2009 - 13:59
Dr Salima Ikram talks about Animal Mummification.
Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo Dr Salima Ikram
one of the world’s leading authorities on Egyptian religion recently chatted
to Heritage Key on the subject of the cult of animal worship in ancient Egypt.
In another exclusive new video interview, she dons her white coat and takes us
to the lab, for a fascinating insight into the practice of animal mummification.
Animals were deeply sacred in ancient Egypt, particularly from the 26th dynasty
around 700 BC until the end of Egyptian civilization and the advent of
Christianity by 400 AD. They were believed to be the living embodiment of gods,
so preserving their corpses after death became a matter of the utmost
importance. As Dr Ikram explains, Egyptian embalmers would go to painstaking and
expensive lengths to mummify everything, from ibis to cows, mice and fish. Cats
had particularly high status in Egyptian society, while mummified dogs have been
found by the thousands. Even lowly scarab beetles were carefully preserved.
With all the care and attention given to a deceased human, the animal's internal
organs would be removed and natron a naturally occurring combination of salt
and baking soda, found in the Wadi El Natrun applied to suck all the moisture
from the corpse and to deodorize and disinfect it (as much as that was
possible). It would then be oiled and wrapped in linen bandages, probably while
priests conducted prayer ceremonies.
Egyptian embalmers would go to painstaking and expensive lengths to mummify
everything from ibis to cows, mice and fish.
Dr Ikram author of books such as Divine Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient
Egypt and the Non-Human Mummies Catalogue points out that very little was
written or documented by the ancient Egyptians about this process, so the only
way she's been able to come to understand it is through experimental archaeology
on the corpses of newly deceased creatures.
MOVIE: How Animal Mummies were made, explained by Dr. Salima
3. Medieval black Briton found
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7113909.ece
Gillian Passmore
A SKELETON uncovered in the ruins of a friary is the earliest physical evidence
of a black person living in Britain in medieval times.
The remains of a man, found in the friary in Ipswich, Suffolk, which was
destroyed by Henry VIII, have been dated to the 13th century.
It is the first solid indication that there were black people in Britain in the
1,000-year period between the departure of the Romans, who had African slaves,
and the beginnings of the age of discovery in the 15th century.
The skull had African characteristics, and an isotopic analysis of the man’s
teeth and thigh bone traced his roots to north Africa.
The man is thought to have been captured by a nobleman who brought him back from
one of the last crusades in the 1270s. His burial on consecrated ground suggests
he was either a Christian or had converted.
He predates by 150 years the three black people previously known to have lived
in Britain. They were identified from tax records.
A team of experts for BBC2’s History Cold Case programme, to be broadcast at 9pm
on Thursday, has had the body carbon dated to 1190-1300. They have created a
full facial reconstruction based on the skull size and shape.
It is believed he may have been brought back from north Africa as a servant by
Lord Tiptoth, who had founded the friary before joining the ninth crusade.
4. In search of
Muziris
[Ancient Egyptian Settlements in India ]
Brit-Am Note:
Muziris is a form of the Hebrew
Mitsraim
(i.e. Egypt) and the Akkadian
Mutzri.
This to our mind indicates Ancient Egyptian Settlements in India.
http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/magazine/article418904.ece
A. Srivathsan
Muziris was a thriving port in the Indo-Roman trade in the First Century B.C.E.
And one day, it just vanished. Recent excavations have thrown up the possibility
that Pattanam, a small village on the Kerala coast, could be the lost port. What
happened all those years back?
# The flourishing town of Muciri where the large beautiful ships of the Yavanas
which bring gold and take pepper come disturbing the white foam of the little
fair Periyar of the Cheras. # Ahananaru (149), Tamil Sangam Poem datable to 2nd
C.E.
Pattanam, a small village 25 km north of Kochi is lush and quiet like many other
villages in Kerala. It is unhurried and looks deceptively unimportant. In one of
the narrow mud paved lanes lives Athira, a 10-year-old enthusiastic girl,
fragile looking with bright big eyes. Her house is small and sparsely furnished.
One of her prized possessions is a necklace made of many assorted beads.
The shapes of the beads are inconsistent and the colours are uneven. The
necklace looks ordinary till P.J. Cherian, an archaeologist accompanying me,
informs me that the beads could be 2,000 years old. Alongside the necklace,
Athira has carefully placed a cameo blank, a semi-precious stone used to make
craved jewellery for the Romans.
Annual bounty
Athira is no treasure hunter; she picked some of these ancient beads from her
backyard, some from the streets and a few others from the neighbourhood. “After
every rain, when the water rises from beneath, the beads surface with them. You
have to just pick,” confirms Dr. Krishnakumar who lives in a larger house near
Athira's. He too has a collection including a fragmented bright metal piece.
Pattanam is no ordinary village. Beneath the red earth is the ancient port town
extensively described as Muciri by the Tamil Sangam poets and frequented by the
Romans and recorded by them as Muziris.
This thriving trade centre was completely lost without trace (at least on
ground). What puzzled the archaeologists even more was their informed guesses
about its location turned wrong many times till they hit the first reliable
trail three years ago. How they reached Pattanam to reach Muziris is a story to
be told.
Trade between India and western emporia dates back to 6th century B.C.E. Goods
and people moved across land and sea, including the famous Silk Route that
connected Central Asia and China. It was probably when the Romans started to
dominate the trade from the 1st century B.C.E that the Kerala coast got busier.
While the journey from Muziris was easier with the northeastern winds, the
journey from Rome that used the rough south west winds was tough. The whole
journey was relatively quick but risky. Lionell Casson, a well-known
archaeologist working on Roman trade, thinks that the Romans had the right kind
of ships that were ‘designed for safety than speed'. The vessels usually arrived
in Muziris in September and were anchored till December or early January.
Gold coins, topaz, coral, copper, glass, wine and wheat were imported from Rome,
while pearl, diamonds, sapphire, ivory, silk, pepper and precious stones were
exported from the west coast. Casson estimates that a 500-ton ship could have
carried goods equivalent to the price of 2,400 acres of fertile farmlands in
Egypt. While another archaeologist, Federico Romanis, estimates that one ship
carried nothing less than 68,000 gold coins worth of goods.
The trade, it appears, was seductively profitable and worth the risk. As the
Vienna Papyrus, a rare document discovered about two decades back reveals, the
trade between Muziris and Alexandria was well worked out and traders from both
sides went to great lengths to secure it.
Muziris should have been a busy and large settlement to host this kind of trade.
But it suddenly vanished. Before the question as to why it disappeared could be
answered, archaeologists had to first find where it existed.
5. Archaeology: Brit-Am Version of
Explorator
13.02
From: david meadows <rogueclassicist@GMAIL.COM>
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explorator 13.02 May 2, 2010
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Editor's note: Most urls should be active for at least eight
hours from the time of publication.
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Heading into our fourteenth year of bringing you the best (and
much of the rest) of archaeo-historico-anthropo-miscellaneanews!)
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EARLY HUMANS
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Why bother with Neanderthal DNA?:
http://www.physorg.com/news191172239.html
... and here's the latest item on that sort of thing:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2010/04/phylogeography-of-deep-european-genetic-history/
More on interbreeding Neanderthals:
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0429/Study-suggests-humans-mated-with-Neanderthals
http://www.livescience.com/history/humans-interbred-with-neanderthals-100429.html
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AFRICA
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More on baboon mummies and the identification of Punt:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/baboon-mummy-analysis-reveals-eritrea-and-ethiopia-as-location-of-land-of-punt-1954547.html
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ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
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The big excitement this week was (alas) some religious group's
claims of having found Noah's Ark:
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0428/Noah-s-Ark-discovered.-Again
http://barthsnotes.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/hong-kong-evangelists-claim-they-ventured-inside-wooden-compartments-on-mount-ararat/
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/04/27/noahs-ark-found-turkey-ararat/
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/noahs-ark-found-10496395
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100426/lf_afp/hongkongturkeyreligionarchaeologynoahsark
... Eric Cline was among those questioning the claims:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1985830,00.html
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4171840/wheres-the-actual-site
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-Issues/2010/0428/Doubt-cast-on-Noah-s-ark-found-in-Turkey
... and now Turkey's Ministry of Culture is investigating things:
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-208841-101-culture-ministry-launches-investigation-over-noahs-ark-claims.html
Photos of some (recently-discovered?) crocodile mummies:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/photogalleries/100429-crocodile-mummies-egypt-science-pictures/
(very slow to load this a.m.)
Archaeologists working in North Sinai think they have found Tharu (strange
additional stuff at the end of this one):
http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/201004255634/Travel/archaeologists-unearthed-ancient-city-in-the-egyptian-eastern-borders.html
http://www.indiatalkies.com/2010/04/ancient-city-egyptian-eastern-borders-unearthed.html
The Gaza Strip is making efforts to preserve its antiquities:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0424/Gaza-Strip-moves-to-preserve-its-abundant-ancient-treasure
More on the reopening of the Jaffa Gate:
http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/57932/jerusalems-jaffa-gate-opens-after-renovation/
Dr Leen Ritmeyer's Blog:
http://blog.ritmeyer.com/
Paleojudaica:
http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/
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ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)
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More on the gladiatorial 'course' at URegensburg:
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/art/lifestyle/2010/04/26/253992/Learning-how.htm
More blaming of Islam for the demise of Classical Civilization:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/05/the_fate_of_the_library_of_ale.html
Visit our blog:
http://rogueclassicism.com/
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EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
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A 'stunning' Viking necklace from Clare:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0428/1224269222165.html
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/archaeologists-baffled-over-bizarre-viking-discovery-118393.html
Nice slideshow of a pile of digitized Anglo-Saxon manuscripts:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8648441.stm
Evidence of a 'medieval black Briton':
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7113909.ece
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ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
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Nice feature on the search for Muziris:
http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/magazine/article418904.ece
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NORTH AMERICA
================================================================
As Arctic ice recedes, archaeologists are finding all sorts of
things:
http://www.physorg.com/news191503421.html
http://www.canadaeast.com/rss/article/1029742
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36788692/ns/technology_and_science-science/
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/melting-ice-reveals-ancient-hunting-tools/story-e6frfku0-1225859107273?from=public_rss
http://www.timescolonist.com/technology/Amazing+weapons+finds+shed+light+ancient+life+North/2955566/story.html
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OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
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On the history of laughing gas:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126363998
More on the link between state expansion and growth of
bureaucracy:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100419172857.htm
Review of a couple of books relating to the history of medicine:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/health/27zuger.html
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TOURISTY THINGS
================================================================
Civil War Maryland:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/travel/30boonsboro.html
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BLOGS AND PODCASTS
================================================================
Taygete Atlantis excavations blogs aggregator:
http://planet.atlantides.org/taygete/
Time Machine:
http://heatherpringle.wordpress.com/
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GENERAL MAGAZINES AND JOURNALS
================================================================
CSA Newsletter (Spring 2010):
http://csanet.org/newsletter/#spring10
Biblical Archaeology Review (May/June 2010):
http://www.bib-arch.org/bar/contents.asp
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CRIME BEAT
================================================================
There was an attempt to steal the 'Stone of Destiny':
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/apr/30/stone-scone-targeted-thieves
... and Iraq wants its Jewish archive back:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/29/AR2010042904584.html
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EXHIBITIONS, AUCTIONS, AND MUSEUM-RELATED
================================================================
Horace Walpole:
http://www.tribunemagazine.co.uk/2010/04/30/collected-expressions-of-an-original-goth/
Ancient Rome and America:
http://constitutioncenter.org/rome/
http://www.philly2philly.com/culture/culture_articles/2010/4/27/33917/ancient_rome_and_america_exhibition_looks_ancient_rome_thro
Jews in Medieval Spain:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/arts/design/30biblical.html
Magnificent Maps:
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=37754
Discovering the Civil War:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/arts/design/30museum.html
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