During the works for the construction of a road on the outskirts of Obra village in Chatra district (Jharkhand state, India) Subhashis Das, a local megalith expert, came across a...
Megalithic site in India may date back to 3300 BCE
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Non-Fiction and Fiction Recommendations for 2011
Should you be looking for an end of the year holiday gift or some reading for yourself for vacation, here are two of my favorite ancient/classical history books read and ...
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Open Access Journal: Archaeobios
[First posted in AWOL 20 September 2009. Updated 11 December 2011]
Archaeobios
ISSN: 1996-5214
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Archaeobios
ISSN: 1996-5214
Desde el año 2007, Arqueobios viene brindando a toda la comunidad su revista de investigación Archaeobios, con el fin principal de mostrar las investigaciones a las cuales está avocada y contribuir a la diversificación de la misma para todos sus visitantes e investigadores.
Since 2007, Arqueobios been providing the entire community his research journal Archaeobios, the primary purpose of showing the investigations which are doomed and contribute to the diversification of the same for all visitors and researchers.
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See the full List of Open Access Journals in Ancient Studies.
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Pictures from da hood i.e. the nearby wood
If you ever wondered were I live this is it; the suburb Bergshamra.
Just a few minutes walk from my apartment in Stockholm I’m more or less in the wood and by the waterfront – yet I’m only a 10 – minute ride by the subway to down town Stockholm. Today we took a Sunday walk around the northern parts of Bergshamra down to the royal castle of Ulriksdal and home again.
Back in civilization again – only 13 days til Christmas and no snow in Stockholm!
Magnus Reuterdahl
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Blogosphere ~ New Widget: Greco-Roman Myths and Legends
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Blogosphere ~ Animal Metamorphosis in Celtic and Classical Myth
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Blogosphere ~ On This Day in Ancient History – Septimontium
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Blogosphere ~ Round Up of Most Popular 2011 Articles
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How Book Prices Have Changed! Or Have They?
I was just reading an old book review on a collection of published papyri (P.Mert. vol. 1) written in the middle of the last century and was surprised by what, in the mind of the reviewer, was considered back then to be such an expensive book that it was basically out of the price range even of specialists (in this case, papyrologists). The reviewer, Naphtali Lewis (1911-2005), said this in Classical Weekly, 44 (1951), 152-153, here 152:
Since its price places it beyond the reach of many or most of those who work with papyri, it is to be hoped that copies of this most useful publication will be found in all our large university libraries.
Now, this is a fairly common statement to find in a review on an over-priced volume, but what was the cost of the book? £12! After the initial shock, however, I quickly realized that the effects of inflation over the past half century should probably be taken into consideration. I did some research therefore and found out that £12 in 1950 was worth about $34, which today would be equivalent to about $283! So, I guess Lewis was right: while scholars today don’t normally make a huge amount of money (relative to other educated professionals anyway), the volume itself would certainly have been a bit out of my budget and probably that of most scholars. But that’s why we do book reviews, right Dr. Lewis?!
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Bring out the Clowns
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The US is considering renewing the bilateral cultural property![]()
agreement with Cyprus pursuant to the US being a state party to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property'. This is the occasion of the inception of yet another parade of moron logic from US collectors of dugup ancient coins. The first public comment has been published on the e.gov website. The author writes:
Vignette: "Lovers of Metallic Art" - binman Michael Carroll ('chavtastic chavdom')![]()
The US is considering renewing the bilateral cultural property
agreement with Cyprus pursuant to the US being a state party to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property'. This is the occasion of the inception of yet another parade of moron logic from US collectors of dugup ancient coins. The first public comment has been published on the e.gov website. The author writes: U.S. import restrictions [on illegally exported artefacts] will not, in any case, deter looters because there will always be a world market for coins. [...]. These import restrictions will, however, undermine a hobby of great value to historians, numismatists, lovers of metallic art and your people. I hope you will oppose import restrictions.It is not clear to whom this person thinks he is writing, it looks ("your people" suggesting he imagines he is addressing the Cypriot government) as if he will be surprised to learn that he was addressing to the Washington-based Cultural Property Advisory Committee. It looks like he is unaware also of the fact that the import restrictions are already in place and here are merely up for renewal (his lack of awareness on this raises the question of what actual - rather than imagined - effect the measures are indeed having on US collectors if some of them do not even know they exist). Probably the author of this comment would also be equally surprised to learn that the 1970 UNESCO Convention rather than "looting" is about "the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property". This rather reduces the impact of his suggestion (unthinkingly cut-and-pasted from Peter Tompa's instructions):
To prevent looting of coins, medal (sic) detectors are the thing to regulate not trade in coins.In what way does the writer of this advice to the CPAC think that the use of metal detectors to search for collectables on the archaeological sites of Cyprus is not "regulated", and how would deregulating trade in dugup artefacts (that is allowing an unmonitored free-for-all) "prevent looting"? The attitude of coiney collectors over in the US to metal detectors (the tool) and metal detectorists (those who use them for seeking various things - including meteorites) seems wholly ambiguous. Why "regulate metal detectors" and not - for example "spades"? In what way is the Washington CPAC entitled to dictate the rights and restrictions of Cypriot citizens the other side of the world? Why anyway should any Cypriot government listen to a bunch of collectors of decontextualised ancient bric-a-brac to some and potentially to a large extent dug up while trashing archaeological sites in foreign countries and smuggled out of them in defiance of antiquity preservation and export legislation? These people seem hardly in a position to dictate anything to anyone, still less a foreign government. It seems to me that in withdrawing the funding for UNESCO at the end of October this year (in response to democratic voting by representatives of most of the world's governments), the United States of America has forfeited its ability to have any influence (still less exercise moral leadership) on the heritage policies of any other sovereign nations. Regulate yourselves, your own citizens, don't try to impose your will and values on others until you have your own house fully in order.
Vignette: "Lovers of Metallic Art" - binman Michael Carroll ('chavtastic chavdom')
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Open Access Journal: Archeomatica
[First posted in AWOL 6 January 2009. Updated 11 December 2011]
Archeomatica
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Archeomatica
Archeomatica è una nuova rivista multidisciplinare, stampata in Italia, dedicata alla presentazione e alla diffusione di metodologie avanzate, tecnologie emergenti e tecniche per la conoscenza, la documentazione, salvaguardia, conservazione e valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale.La rivista si propone di pubblicare articoli di valore significativo e duraturo scritti da ricercatori, archeologi, storici, conservatori e restauratori coinvolti in questo settore, per la diffusione di nuove metodologie specifiche e dei risultati sperimentali. Archeomatica solleciterà il dibattito costruttivo sulle ultime applicazioni scientifiche, per il confronto di idee e delle scoperte relazionate ad ogni aspetto del settore dei beni culturali.Archeomatica è destinata anche ad essere una fonte primaria di informazioni multidisciplinari e di divulgazione per il settore del patrimonio culturale.La rivista è divisa in tre sezioni Documentazione (Indagine e documentazione), Rivelazioni (analisi, diagnostica e monitoraggio) e Restauro (Materiali e tecniche di intervento), completata da rubriche dedicate a temi particolari come ad esempio l'informazione internazionale EU & Word Heritage o al connubio tra Arte e Scienza.Sono graditi articoli in lingua inglese.
| 2009 | |||
 Numero 0 - Novembre 2009 | |||
| 2010 | |||
 Numero 1 - Marzo 2010 |  Numero 2-Giugno 2010 |  Numero 3 - Settembre 2010 |  Numero 4 - Dicembre 2010 |
| 2011 | |||
 Numero 1-Marzo 2011 |  Numero 2 - Giugno | ||
See the full List of Open Access Journals in Ancient Studies.
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Two Lost Episodes of Doctor Who Recovered!
In some happy news for Doctor Who fans, two long missing episodes of Doctor Who have been found. One is part three of “Galaxy 4″ from the William Hartnell era, which I blogged about recently. The other is part of “The Underwater Menace” with Patrick Troughton.
Here’s a clip from the former:
Click here to view the embedded video.
You can watch clips from both episodes at Doctor Who News Online.
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Sad news out of Iran...
This link takes you to a Tehran Times article (brought to my attention by Museum Security Network) discussing the on-the-ground looting situation at the ancient city of Dastvar, Khuzestan Province, Iran. After five excavation seasons spanning the 1960s-1990s, it appears that what's left of the city and its cemeteries are being looted away at a frightening pace. Part of the Elymais (Elam) city-state east of the Tigris, historical and numismatic records have illuminated the reigns of at least 27 Greek and/or locally born kings spanning c. 147BC-224AD, and a few key events reported by scribes of later (or successive) Empires, after the fact. As always with large sites such as these, much remains unexcavated and/or not fully understood, especially in regards to daily life and deathways for non-elite individuals.With each hole dug by a looter's spade as opposed to an archaeologist's trowel, another piece of what's knowable about the city's rise and fall is erased forever. Every burial recklessly opened represents another individual life that archaeological science will never be able to bring to light. This has all been explained before, and yet such blatant looting to feed the international trade continues, with local and foreign professionals feeling powerless to stop it. Are we? As this example of Parthian artifacts for sale attests to (also here...note the VCoins connection), it is arguable that dealers and buyers in demand-side countries have yet to accept full responsibility for their part in this vicious cycle. We're waiting...
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Unesco assessments on Ayutthaya flood damage
Another story on the initial assessment of the flood damage to Ayutthaya by UNESCO experts.
UNESCO experts voice concern over flooded Ayutthaya World Heritage Site
MCOT News, 09 December 2011
International experts of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) expressed concern about the stability of the monuments, foundations and decorative works at Thailand’s historic city of Ayutthaya after it was hit by the country’s most disastrous flooding in decades.
“There is a need to closely monitor the condition of the sites and the affected monuments, especially in the next few months as foundations and structures dry out, as well as, of course, over the long-term,” said Tim Curtis, chief UNESCO’s Bangkok culture unit.
Full story here.
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Blogosphere ~ The stone throwing crane of Archimedes
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Blogosphere ~ Myths and Legends: Diomedes and Glaucus
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Blogosphere ~ Marriage and Strife in Euripides’ Andromache
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Blogosphere ~ Organisation of the Roman Clothing and Textile Industry: Skill, Occupation, and the Gender-Segmented Workforce
History of the Ancient World ~ Organisation of the Roman Clothing and Textile Industry: Skill, Occupation, and the Gender-Segmented Workforce.
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AAMD Issues New Statement Deploring Fisk’s $30-Million Crystal Bridges Deal
Dan Monroe, President of the Association of Art Museum DirectorsAt the end of my recent report on the Tennessee Court of Appeals' regrettable approval of Fisk University's proposed $30-million sale of a half-share of its Stieglitz Collection to Alice...
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Crystal Bridges Challenge: Molding Moshe Safdie’s Arki-tecture into Art-chitecture
Wall text about Moshe Safdie at the inaugural installation of Crystal BridgesAs I mentioned in my previous post, Moshe Safdie, the Haifa-born, Montreal-bred architect (now based in Boston and Jerusalem) is on a roll in this country, having recently completed...
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More Pages to Explore .....
