Braiiinnnnnnnnnnz

Archaeological brains that is! Incredible, rare find of a 2,500 year-old, mostly-intact, brain.

A 2,500-year-old human skull uncovered in England was less of a surprise than what was in it: the brain. The discovery of the yellowish, crinkly, shrunken brain prompted questions about how such a fragile organ could have survived so long and how frequently this strange type of preservation occurs.

Except for the brain, all of the skull's soft tissue was gone when the skull was pulled from a muddy Iron Age pit where the University of York was planning to expand its Heslington East campus.

"It was just amazing to think that a brain of someone who had died so many thousands of years ago could persist just in wet ground," said Sonia O'Connor, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Bradford. O’Connor led a team of researchers who assessed the state of the brain after it was found in 2008 and looked into likely modes of preservation.

"It's particularly surprising, because if you talk to pathologists who deal with fresh dead bodies they say the first organ to really deteriorate and to basically go to liquid is the brain because of its high fat content," O'Connor said.

When it was found, the skull — which belonged to a man probably between 26 and 45 years old — was accompanied by a jaw and two neck vertebrae, bearing evidence of hanging and then decapitation. Cut marks on the inside of the neck indicate that the head was severed while there was still flesh on the bones, O'Connor said. There is, however, no indication of why he was hanged, and the rest of his remains have yet to be found.

Full story from Wynne Parry, livescience.com here

Theologian proposes God had a wife in earlier versions of the Bible

As reported by Dean Praetorius ,The Huffington Post:

God's Wife, Asherah, May Have Been Edited Out Of The Bible Says Theologian

This might not exactly be the version of the Bible you remember from Sunday school.

Early versions of the Bible apparently featured a fertility godess, Asherah, who may have been God's wife, at least according to one British theologian. Back in 1967, historian Raphael Patai mentioned ancient Israelites worshiped both Yahweh and Asherah, according to Discovery.

Francesca Stavrakopoulou, who began her work at Oxford and is now a senior lecturer in the department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter, is shedding new light on the theory. However, even if she's right, the Bible's editors may very well have wiped her almost clean from the document, reports TIME.

What remains of God's purported other half are clues in ancient texts, amulets and figurines unearthed primarily in an ancient Canaanite coastal city, now in modern-day Syria. Inscriptions on pottery found in the Sinai desert also show Yahweh and Asherah were worshipped as a pair, and a passage in the Book of Kings mentions the goddess as being housed in the temple of Yahweh.

J. Edward Wright, president of The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies and The Albright Institute for Archaeological Research, backs Stavrakopoulou's findings, saying several Hebrew inscriptions mention "Yahweh and his Asherah."

It's all a bit Dan Brown-ish, but apparently there are still a few signs of her in the Bible.

Also significant, Stavrakopoulou believes, "is the Bible's admission that the goddess Asherah was worshiped in Yahweh's Temple in Jerusalem. In the Book of Kings, we're told that a statue of Asherah was housed in the temple and that female temple personnel wove ritual textiles for her."

Whether the goddess was actually edited out of the document is debatable, but Aaron Brody, director of the Bade Museum and an associate professor of Bible and archaeology at the Pacific School of Religion, told TIME the ancient Isrealites were, in fact, polytheists.

Stavrakopoulou's books and papers have become the basis for a documentary series in Europe where she discusses the Yahweh-Asherah connection.

Volunteers needed to help on my project

Email: aislingtierney@gmail.com

Site A

Reconstructed monastic site:

• Recon. survey 4th April
• Mag., Res., EDM., & building survey work 5th - 8th April (approx. dates, may take more or less time)

Site B

Artificial cave complex:

• Building survey and EDM survey
• (Exact dates to be confirmed pending permissions)

Practicalities:

• Landrovers will be taken from the University of Bristol carpark, leaving morning, returning evening. No overnight stays.
• Sites are approx. 2 hours drive from the University.
• Overall, the project should take 8 days to survey both sites.
• Attendance is flexible.

Further details coming soon.

Arnos Vale Cememtery survey

What a fantastic opportunity to test out the EDM equipment - thanks to Lindsay (pictured below) for letting me help out. You can read more about Arnos Vale here http://www.arnosvale.org.uk/

Happy St Patrick's Day

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh

First year archaeology classes with Stuart

The enthusiasm is palpable!

(In fairness, it was really cold that day)

Battle Practice, Blaise Castle

I was really lucky to tag along and make this little video! The gang had a crazy day, with very few injuries.

Lost city of Atlantis - new claims!

A U.S.-led research team may have finally located the lost city of Atlantis, the legendary metropolis believed swamped by a tsunami thousands of years ago in mud flats in southern Spain.

"This is the power of tsunamis," head researcher Richard Freund told Reuters.

"It is just so hard to understand that it can wipe out 60 miles inland, and that's pretty much what we're talking about," said Freund, a University of Hartford, Connecticut, professor who lead an international team searching for the true site of Atlantis.

To solve the age-old mystery, the team used a satellite photo of a suspected submerged city to find the site just north of Cadiz, Spain. There, buried in the vast marshlands of the Dona Ana Park, they believe that they pinpointed the ancient, multi-ringed dominion known as Atlantis.

The team of archeologists and geologists in 2009 and 2010 used a combination of deep-ground radar, digital mapping, and underwater technology to survey the site.

Freund's discovery in central Spain of a strange series of "memorial cities," built in Atlantis' image by its refugees after the city's likely destruction by a tsunami, gave researchers added proof and confidence, he said.

Atlantis residents who did not perish in the tsunami fled inland and built new cities there, he added.

The team's findings will be unveiled on Sunday in "Finding Atlantis," a new National Geographic Channel special.

While it is hard to know with certainty that the site in Spain in Atlantis, Freund said the "twist" of finding the memorial cities makes him confident Atlantis was buried in the mud flats on Spain's southern coast.

"We found something that no one else has ever seen before, which gives it a layer of credibility, especially for archeology, that makes a lot more sense," Freund said.

Greek philosopher Plato wrote about Atlantis some 2,600 years ago, describing it as "an island situated in front of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Hercules," as the Straits of Gibraltar were known in antiquity. Using Plato's detailed account of Atlantis as a map, searches have focused on the Mediterranean and Atlantic as the best possible sites for the city.

Tsunamis in the region have been documented for centuries, Freund says. One of the largest was a reported 10-story tidal wave that slammed Lisbon in November, 1755.

Debate about whether Atlantis truly existed has lasted for thousands of years. Plato's "dialogues" from around 360 B.C. are the only known historical sources of information about the iconic city. Plato said the island he called Atlantis "in a single day and night... disappeared into the depths of the sea."

Experts plan further excavations are planned at the site where they believe Atlantis is located and at the mysterious "cities" in central Spain 150 miles away to more closely study geological formations and to date artifacts.

(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Greg McCune) / Source

New Owner Sought for Historic Warship in Philly

The USS Olympia, a one-of-a-kind steel cruiser from the Spanish-American War, needs $2 million to $5 million in immediate repairs to stabilize it and an additional $10 million to $20 million for dry dock and restoration. The Independence Seaport Museum says it's looking for someone to take ownership of the National Historic Landmark.

The museum posted a transfer application Monday on its website. It's looking for a state, city or charitable organization that will assume ownership of the Olympia. Individuals and for-profit groups are not eligible to apply.

The museum is holding a summit at the end of March for potential buyers, and museum officials are hoping to have the transfer wrapped up by November 2012. They said they cannot afford the repairs and that the Olympia, purportedly the world's oldest steel warship still afloat, will be scrapped or scuttled if a new owner is not found.

The 344-foot-long protected cruiser ideally should have been dry-docked every 20 years for maintenance, but it has not been out of the water since 1945 and its hull has extensive damage at the water line. Its caretakers have said that without major repairs, the Olympia could sink at its moorings on the Delaware River.

Since taking stewardship of the floating museum from a cash-strapped nonprofit in 1996, the Independence Seaport Museum has spent $5.5 million on repairs, inspections and maintenance. About 90,000 people visit the 5,500-ton ship every year.

From Olympia's bridge on May 1, 1898, during the Battle of Manila Bay in the Philippines, Commodore George Dewey uttered the famous command: "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley." The Spanish fleet was decimated, making Dewey and the Olympia national heroes.

The ship later was active in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Mediterranean, served as a Naval Academy training vessel, and took part in the 1918 Allied landing at Murmansk during the Russian Civil War.

Its final mission was bringing home the body of World War I's Unknown Soldier from France in 1921.

Source: here

Independence Seaport Museum: http://www.phillyseaport.org

Archaeologists from INAH Conduct Research at Hoyo Negro Flooded Cave in Quintana Roo

MEXICO CITY.- The finding of a human skull and bones of Prehistoric mega fauna, among them a gomphothere, in a flooded cave at the Peninsula of Yucatan, motivated the implementation of the interdisciplinary research project coordinated by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) to continue exploration at the site and the study of these archaeological vestiges that could be more than 10,000 years old.

Archaeologist Pilar Luna Erreguerena, subdirector of INAH Underwater Archaeology, informed that after the ancient remains were discovered by 3 specialized speleodivers, a specific project will be formulated for the site known as Hoyo Negro, part of the Aktun-Ha flooded caves system in Quintana Roo.

“This might be a very ancient site, so we need to protect it with great care. According to images captured to conduct registration, materials present a good conservation state. Besides the skull, we found a large bone that might be a humerus”.

The INAH specialist mentioned that the finding took place after a long exploration stage that began 4 years ago. Speleodivers covered the 1200 meters long tunnel up to the entrance to a pool known as Hoyo Negro and then descended 60 meters, where they detected a human skull and long bone, remains of extinct mega fauna and ashes of a bonfire”.

She added that material was found at 3 different points of the flooded cave, “they were found 20 to 30 meters away from each other, so we cannot determine that they all correspond to a single event; it is necessary to conduct further studies. Vestiges cannot be connected yet with any culture nor establish its exact dating”.

Luna Erreguerena commented that while other findings of bone remains made in flooded caves at the Peninsula of Yucatan are dated 10,000 years old, this discovery’s age cannot be determined until morphological and DNA studies are completed.

“This will happen after the In-situ registration stage and sampling for their analysis is concluded. Based on a meticulous study, we will consider taking the vestiges off the water without damaging them”.

Pilar Luna commented that the multidisciplinary project will count on with the participation of archaeologists from the INAH Underwater Archaeology Sub direction (SAS), specialists in other disciplines and the speleodivers that made the discovery.

The SAS head remarked the role of the speleodivers that made the discovery, Alex Alvarez, Attolini Franco and Alberto Nava, who, facing the importance and fragility of the elements, gave notice to INAH to protect the site from alterations.

Pilar Luna commented that INAH has exhorted divers not to explore caves like Hoyo Negro or other caves with archaeological vestiges, since they are at risk of being damaged and even destroyed due to human activity.

Archaeologist Guillermo de Anda, from the National University of Yucatan (UAdY) commented that this is the first exploration of the flooded cave, implying a long registration and observation process, tasks that have required special water transportation devices and specialized speleodivers.

De Anda remarked the relevance of coordination been conducted by INAH, as well as the formalization of the multidisciplinary project, to investigate the remains that correspond to humans and mega fauna, among which a gomphothere has been identified.

Source: here

11,500 Year Old Human Remains Discovered in Alaska

Burial of 3-Year Old Child is the Earliest Example of 'behavior associated with the death of an individual' Yet Recovered

Some 11,500 years ago one of America's earliest families laid the remains of a 3-year-old child to rest in their home in what is now Alaska. The discovery of that burial is shedding new light on the life and times of the early settlers who crossed from Asia to the New World.

The bones represent the earliest human remains discovered in the Arctic of North America, a "pretty significant find," said Ben A. Potter of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

While ancient Alaskan residents were known to hunt large game, the newly discovered site shows they also foraged for fish, birds and small mammals, he explained. "Here we know there were young children and females. So, this is a whole piece of the settlement system that we had virtually no record of."

The site of the discovery, Upper Sun River, is in the forest of the Tanana lowlands in central Alaska, Potter and his colleagues report.

Read more here

Beguiling Blasphemy (invited lecture)

I will be presenting a lecture entitled "Beguiling Blasphemy: The Hell-Fire Clubs of the 18th Century", for the University of Bristol Archaeology and Anthropology Society.

Thursday 3rd Feb 2011, 5.30pm.

All welcome, wine reception to follow.

"Academic Journal" will publish your articles, for a hefty fee

Over at Antiqua they have come up with a cunning plan:

1. Send unsolicited emails to every academic address they can find.
2. Tell the academic that they can get their article (any article it would seem) published, quickly. [All academics want to have lots of papers published, it is just a slow and agonising process.]
3. Antiqua offer you the chance to write the article, send it to them along with €350 and keep your fingers crossed that they will publish it. Online. Only online....

I am not impressed.

Have a read for yourself here: http://www.pagepress.org/journals/index.php/antiqua/pages/view/why

Askeaton survey

I spent the day conducting an archaeological survey in Askeaton, Co. Limerick!

The circular enclosure measures 30m in diameter, and contains a walled internal section (pictured, badly!)

All the dry stone walls have collapsed over time. At their highest point the walls reach some 2m.

According to the locals, the walls were once much higher. Some stone has been removed by the locals and cows have flattened sections of the site.

Stones are scattered haphazardly throughout. The level of overgrowth is extensive.

Proper maps and pictures coming soon. If anyone has any idea of what the site is, please let me know - have you seen anything similar?

Dendrochronology find - German tomb

A 2,600 year old tomb in southern Germany contains the remains of oak wood in a suprising state of preservation. This offers the opportunity to accurately date the remains. Of course, international news has picked up the story as there is lots of shiny gold too ... !

Read more here.

TAGtastic

The 32nd TAG (Theoretical Archaeology Group) Conference went off without a hitch this weekend - thanks to all the organisers for all their hard work!

The (Mona Lisa) eyes say it all

Leonardo Da Vinci's 500-year-old Renaissance masterpiece has long been steeped in mystery, and even today the true identity of the woman with the alluring smile still far from certain.

Now members of Italy's National Committee for Cultural Heritage have revealed that by magnifying high resolution images of the Mona Lisa's eyes letters and numbers can be seen.

"To the naked the symbols are not visible but with a magnifying glass they can clearly be seen," said Silvano Vinceti, president of the Committee.

Read more here

Women and Religion - Conference Poster now online

View my conference poster here or check it out from this link http://www.archaeologyash.com/about-me (bottom of the page)

Robot films interior of Feathered Serpent Temple, Teotihuacan, Mexico

The first images of the interior of the tunnel found under the Feathered Serpent Temple, in Teotihuacan, captured by a small robot introduced by archaeologists of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), were presented to the media due to the relevance of the event in the history of Mexican archaeological research.

This is the first time a robot is integrated to archaeological exploration in Mexico; a similar devise was used in Egypt 10 years ago to explore a tomb.

Tlaloque 1, named after the mythological beings that helped Tlaloc, covered the first stretch of a tunnel that has not been walked for 1,800 years. Images reveal that the passageway built more than 2,000 years ago to represent the underworld, is stable enough to be explored by archaeologists soon.

During the presentation of the images to communication media representatives, the INAH national coordinator of Archaeology, Salvador Guilliem, was present. It was mentioned that this robotic device adds up to the technologies used by archaeologists in this project. Several weeks ago, geo radar was used to determine with precision that the tunnel conducts to 3 chambers, where the remains of important characters might have been buried.

Archaeologist Sergio Gomez Chavez, director of “Tlalocan Project: Underground Road”, informed that this is the first time that this kind of device is used in Mexico; “Apparently it had been used in Egypt, and us, as INAH researchers, are the first ones to develop it and use it in our country”.

Click here for a slideshow of images

Poster Presentation - Women and Religion Conference

I will be presenting a poster at the forthcoming Women and Religion conference, "Anti-Religion: Women of the Hell-Fire Clubs".

The First BIRTHA Postgraduate Women and Religion Conference will be held at Bristol University on 20 November 2010.   The keynote speaker will be Dr Carolyn Muessig, Reader in Medieval Religion in the Theology and Religious Studies department of the University of Bristol, and the concluding address with be given by Dr Martin Seeger, Lecturer in Thai Language and Culture, and Director of Thai Studies at Leeds University.  This conference brings together doctoral researchers and early career academics from a variety of disciplines and fields to explore the role and place of women in religion. Presenters will be coming from Universities in the UK and from Europe (France and Italy) and panels will include papers on the role and status of women in Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam both in the present and historically, and from a wide range of perspectives (textual, sociological, historical).  Registration is free but required as the number of places is limited. More information and registration form can be found at http://www.bris.ac.uk/arts/gradschool/community/conferences/