Current topics in archaeology, cultural heritage & historic preservation

Showing posts with label Stonehenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stonehenge. Show all posts

Sunday, August 1, 2010

King Tut! Howard Carter's Excavation Notes Released...and more!

KING TUT TO THE MAX - OXFORD RELEASES HOWARD CARTER'S EXCAVATION NOTES/PHOTOS

Photo courtesy of The Griffith Institute

The Griffith Institute of Oxford University has just published Howard Carter's notes and records from his excavation of King Tut's tomb reports the Chinook Observer. Thousands of articles from the tomb are cataloged along with related photos. The website also includes hundreds of photos, some in beautiful color. Definitely worth looking at if you're at all interested in Egyptology.

More on Howard Carter's notes at: http://goo.gl/z84D
Tut's Chariot Heads to New York: http://goo.gl/n3Y8






DARWINIAN ARCHAEOLOGY LECTURE
Dr. Eric Bangs
WillametteCRA offices
623 SE Mill Street
Portland, OR 97214

Friday, August 6, 7:00 pm.
Refreshments provided

Frontiers are contact zones between cultures. The upper Rhine river valley was just such a contact zone when the Romans arrived in the first century BC. Over the next 500 years, the Romans engaged in a complex cultural interaction with the non-Roman inhabitants that eventually resulted in a creolized frontier society. A model derived from Roman authors suggests that this society was replaced by the arrival of the Alamanni in the late third century AD who, in turn, were replaced by the Merovingians in the sixth century.

The replacement model of cultural interaction in the upper Rhine is tested using a methodology based in Darwinian and meme theory. Seriations were created of stylistic elements from ceramic vessel assemblages from 14 archaeological sites in southwest Germany. The seriations suggest that non-Roman inhabitants in the first century AD did adopt aspects of Roman culture but only in the realm of emotionally charged ritual. For their day-to-day existence, the artifacts they used appear to have changed little and they maintained an identity adopted centuries before. In evolutionary terms, these practices had a high fitness relative to the cost of learning new ceramic manufacturing techniques.

ROUND-UP EXHIBIT TO OPEN AT TAMASTSLIKT
Museum-goers are invited to join in the excitement of the iconic
Pendleton Round-Up Rodeo by visiting Tamástslikt Cultural Institute’s
next exhibit, Tall in the Saddle: One hundred years of the Pendleton
Round-Up. The exhibit opens July 23 and runs through January 2011.
Starting in 1910, the Pendleton Round-Up was the event that made Oregon
a rodeo destination nationally and around the world. The exhibit,
developed in partnership by Tamástslikt, the Oregon Historical Society,
and author Michael Bales, imparts the rich sense of Round-Up history
from its modest beginnings as a small town harvest festival.
“Tamastslikt joined forces with OHS and Michael to present an
impressive exhibition not unlike the partnership between our Tribal
people and the citizens of Pendleton that makes the Round-Up unique,”
said Bobbie Conner, Tamástslikt director. Contact Tamástslikt Cultural
Institute at (541)966-9748 or visit www.tamastslikt.org for more
information.

THE HIGH DESERT MUSEUM’S 1st AUDIO TOUR: SIN IN THE SAGEBRUSH
The first audio tour at the High Desert Museum allows visitors to
experience the Sin in the Sagebrush exhibit with its creator, Curator of
Western History Bob Boyd. The exhibit marks the first in-depth look at
how communities of the American West formed around saloons, gambling
halls, and bordellos. The audio tour is rich with details, from how a
tent bordello was used, to how to produce an ace from your sleeve.
Visitors may download the tour at home from
Contact: Cathy Carroll, communications and promotions manager
541-382-4754, ext. 300; ccarroll@highdesertmuseum.org;
www.highdesertmuseum.org

NEW HOUSE AND LANDSCAPE DISCOVERED AT FORT VANCOUVER
National Park Service and University archaeologists have discovered one
of the homes of the multicultural village associated with Fort
Vancouver. The Village was home for 600 to 1000 Hudson’s Bay Company
(HBC) employees, their families, and visiting traders and travelers
during the fur trade period.

“Explorations in this house and its surrounding landscape will shed
new light on the lives of the diverse population that served this
colonial capital of the Pacific Northwest in the 1830s and 1840s,”
said Doug Wilson, National Park Service Archaeologist and Faculty Member
of the Department of Anthropology at Portland State University. Wilson,
who is directing the field school that is excavating the site,
identified tiny glass trade beads, buttons, musket balls, bottle glass,
and colorful Spode transfer print ceramics as evidence of the house and
its immediate surroundings. “The people living in the village, in
contrast to the “gentlemen” and their families inside the fort, left
no written records. This excavation is a way to recover the history of
this incredible community, which included people of many ancestries:
American Indians from many tribes, Native Hawaiians, French Canadians,
Europeans, Americans, and those of multiethnic origin - the Métis.”


NEW BASKET EXHIBIT FEATURED AT WARM SPRINGS
The Museum At Warm Springs is pleased to present "Baskets Tell A Story", exhibiting baskets from the Columbia River Plateau and beyond. The exhibit shows until October 10.

Baskets from the Museum's collection are featured, together with baskets on loan from the High Desert Museum, the Hallie Ford Museum and the Jan Musial Collection. The exhibit honors the Northwest Native American Basketweavers Association (NNABA) gathering October 1-2 at Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort on the Warm Springs Reservation.

The exhibit and its programs are funded by an Oregon Arts Commission Community Grant and the Oregon Cultural Trust.

NAVIGATING THE PAST DAY CAMP AT COLUMBIA RIVER MARITIME MUSEUM
This week of August 9-13 theme is “On the River.” During the week,
campers will be immersed in activities relating to the cultures and
animals that depend on the river for survival. There will be an
introduction to the Chinese and Native American cultures with crafts,
games and legends. Children will be able to make their own baskets.
Campers will take walks to explore the river and surrounding area to
identify wildlife that call the river their home. Seeing the world from
a bald eagle’s perspective and building an eagle nest are part of the
activities planned. Boat races are part of the fun during this session.
Campers will also make a paddle wheeler. A field trip to Cape
Disappointment State Park is included. The week will conclude with a jet
boat ride and a swim at the Astoria Aquatic Center.

For more information, call Jackie Welborn at 503-325-2323 or email
welborn@crmm.org

STONEHENGE TIMBER TWIN REVEALED IN SHOVEL-LESS DIG
The Christian Science Monitor
By Danna Harman, July 23, 2010

Stonehenge had a twin nearby made of timber, say archaeologists who made the new discovery. But this dig was done with magnetometers, radar, and video game 3D technology. Without digging up one shovel of earth, or dusting off one rock with a toothbrush, Gaffney and the other members of the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project have uncovered an incredible find – a mere two weeks into a three-year mission to map 5.5 square miles of land around Stonehenge...(sorry, couldn't resist using the tourist photo :-)

Read the whole story at: http://goo.gl/6TEU



Friday, June 19, 2009

Cathlapotle Plankhouse, Pre-Stonehenge Complex, and an FBI Bust!

THE CATHLAPOTLE PLANKHOUSE...A CULTURAL BONANZA!
Taking my own advice from a previous posting ("What to do...over the long weekend! " May 22, 2009) I headed for Ridgefield, WA and the Cathlapotle Plankhouse on Sunday, June 14 to check it out. I wanted to see the presentation on rock art by the famous Dr. Jim Keyser and the native pigment demonstration by Greg Robinson (Chinook) and Greg Archuleta (Grand Ronde).

Having been to the plankhouse once before (when it was closed) I was confident that I could find it again...all I had to do was follow the signs to the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge...right? Fancying myself something of a navigator I smoothly found the town of Ridgefield and quickly latched onto the prominent "National Wildlife Refuge" directional signs.

Within minutes I found the huge welcoming sign for the Refuge,
turned down the gravel road and headed for the Plankhouse. I came upon a prominent kiosk that offered a very nice brochure and informed me I should stop and pay the $3.00 entry fee to the Refuge. Not seeing anything resembling the Plankhouse...and observantly noting that nothing around me looked that much like it did on my previous visit, I turned to the map in the brochure. I quickly found that I was in the Refuge's "River S Unit"...but...the Plankhouse is in the "Carty Unit" just down the road...OOPS!

As retraced my steps and headed back into Ridgefield I blithely noted the "Plankhouse" directional signs that I missed the first time and followed them right to the spot. Really, its easy to find, just don't get tricked by the first "Wildlife Refuge" signs, note the "Plankhouse" signs, go on into Ridgefield where the road will make a right turn and lead you to the correct location. You can find a ton of information...and even a map...on-line at http://www.plankhouse.org.

The Plankhouse is striking as you can see in the photo. You can enter through the traditional circular "Chinook door" or through a less traditional "ordinary" door to the right. Being adventuresome I took the circular door route and was rewarded with a great view of the full interior of the house...all natural cedar, huge beams, draped animal skins, incredible carved wood images, people everywhere...you have to watch the video below to really get the experience.

I cruised the display area and talked to Chinook artist Greg Robinson (who also managed construction of the Plankhouse). Greg had a few pieces of his art on display and was working with Greg Archuleta showing interested people how pigments and paints were ground from minerals, mixed with oils and applied to wood, etc. Really fascinating. I was most impressed with the art. You can see more of Greg's work at http://gregarobinson.com.

At 2:00 pm Jim Keyser started his talk on Columbia Plateau Rock Art. I have to say he entranced his audience of 50-some people. Jim is one of the best archaeological speakers I've heard and I'm sure everyone left both entertained and enlightened.

Share a small part of my experience in this video which I've titled "Ancient Images: Cathlapotle Chinookan Plankhouse". Music courtesy of Tom Mauchahty-Ware. Hope you enjoy it!



All in all a great experience and well worth the short trip north from Portland, OR!


HUGE PRE-STONEHENGE COMPLEX FOUND VIA "CROP CIRCLES" (...sort of...Ed.)
James Owen in London
for National Geographic News
June 15, 2009

Given away by strange, crop circle-like formations seen from the air, a huge prehistoric ceremonial complex discovered in southern England has taken archaeologists by surprise.

A thousand years older than nearby Stonehenge, the site includes the remains of wooden temples and two massive, 6,000-year-old tombs that are among "Britain's first architecture," according to archaeologist Helen Wickstead, leader of the Damerham Archaeology Project...

Read the rest of the story at: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090615-stonehenge-tombs-crop-circles.html?source=email_wn_20090619

More on the story at: http://www.ogleearth.com/2009/06/in_search_of_br.html


FBI CHARGES 24 IN AMERICAN INDIAN ARTIFACT LOOTING CASE
Feds: Southern Utah history stolen from the Four Corners area.
By Patty Henetz
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 06/11/2009

For two years, someone close to a large network of archaeological looters in southeastern Utah was wired with an audio-visual recorder when buying ancient baby blankets, stone pipes, seed jars, digging sticks, pots, even a pre-Columbian menstrual pad.

This "Source," as he or she is identified in a search warrant affidavit unsealed Wednesday, is an insider who worked with U.S. Bureau of Land Management and FBI special agents to nab two dozen suspects in the theft and sale of more than 250 American Indian artifacts from the Four Corners area...

Read the whole story at: http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_12561194


SEXY ARCHAEOLOGY!
This is a fun new website with interesting stuff (don't worry, its not even PG13). In their own words...SexyArchaeology.org seeks to entice future generations of archaeologists by utilizing the image that popular media has created of archaeologists; brave, adventurous, attractive and intelligent. The program is interested in making archaeology attractive to people of all ages and sexes and proudly supports the promotion of smart archaeology and archaeological education.

Check it out at: http://sexyarchaeology.org/

(Thanks to Oregon Heritage News, National Geographic, and the Salt Lake Tribune for some of the information contained in this post).