Phallic find of the day

Sometimes archaeology is just hilarious. I just stumbled across this gem while doing some reading.

Source: Taverns and other entertainments in the City of London? Seventeenth- and 18th-century finds from excavations at Paternoster Square By SADIE WATSON and JACQUELINE PEARCE with ANNE DAVIS, GEOFF EGAN and ALAN PIPE / Post-Medieval Archaeology 44/1 (2010), 172–208

Quote of the day: on the men and women of Ireland

Looks mattered in the past. Quoting from Thomas Dineley's tour of Ireland in 1797, this paragraph details the look of men and women in Ireland:

He paid more attention to the women...well-bottomed, ever growing, strangely proportion and with enormous legs... Thanks Dineley!

35,000 years old archaeology kicks ass...

Xzibit helps archaeology keep it real

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Photo: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.150023071682921.30804.149716745046887&type=1 Source: Probably © Universität Tübingen

[Source] and find out more here: http://donsmaps.com/vogelherd.html

The greatest book of all time?

As far as fabulous books go, this one is high on the list. It's title summons visions of Bette Midler as a wicked witch. It draws you in with promises of how to get rich quick, how to play with the animals (including cats). For the adventurous types, it dazzles with promises of balancing two knives on the brim of a glass (useful as a new parlour trick). Even parents get a look in as they can teach their children to read by using dice. You can become immune to the rascalous pick pockets, make fireworks and booze, and fix up the house with some plastering.

How is this not the greatest selling book of all time? Well, it's free. Download it now!

Why coffee is better than wine or ale

Stumbled across a great poem from the late 17th century, all about the virtues of coffee over the detrimental effects of boozing:

Coffee

When the sweet Poison of the Treacherous Grape

Had acted on the world a general rape; 

Drowning our Reason and our souls 

In such deep seas of large o'erflowing bowls, 

When foggy Ale, leavying up mighty trains

Of muddy vapours, had besieg'd our Brains,

Then Heaven in Pity

First sent amongst us this All-Healing Berry,

Coffee arrives, that grave and wholesome Liquor,

That heals the stomach, makes the genius quicker,

Relieves the memory, revives the sad, 

And cheers the Spirits, without making mad. 

-- Anon. (1674)

Golden Oldie Book Titles

They just don't write book titles like they used to... but, at 69 words, this might be a bit much!

A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, comprising the several counties, cities, boroughs, corporate, market, and post towns, parishes and villages with Historical and Statistical Descriptions; embellished with engravings of the arms of cities, bishopricks, corporate towns, and boroughs; and the seals of the several municipal corporations; with an Appendix describing the electoral boundaries of the several boroughs, as defined by the Act of the 2d & 3d of Willian IV

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this is rather short in comparison to the longest known title that contains some 1086 words. Eek! And, no, it's not some archaic tome, rather a book from within the last decade. 

Whimsical challenge from the early 19th century

Searching through some catalogues today, I found a wonderful mention of something silly:

Whimsical anecdote relative to a challenge posed by actress Mrs. Humby, defying Theodore [Edward] Hook to make a rhyme to her name.

So, this is the challenge - think of a rhyme to Mrs. Humby's name. In the spirit of the early 19th century, keep it witty!

Later in July, I'll be visiting the Royal Irish Archives and will check out Mr. Hook's original response and post it. Let's see how today's witty minds compare!

Source

Hipster Indiana

What puts the mmm in Medieval?

Lots of currenty commentary on overly skinny v curvy figures has created interesting debate and pictorial comparisons like this:

So, I was most amused to see this pic play on the issue!

If gives you food for thought, to ponder how the female form has been idealised, stylised, revised, and denigrated in so many different ways, through art, the media, personal choice, and cultural dictates. The topic has been well researched and such variance carefully mapped, yet modern journalists rarely seem to use such source material in their commentaries on the latest celebrity who lost 5lbs, gained 20, or just got over that "baby weight" in record time.
The above comparison doesn't really take into account that the top row of classic beauties were posing to look attractive, whilst the bottom row were posing for posterity in a way that fitted in with the artistic and social traditions and constraints of their time.

Hold the presses! UPDATE - it just got funnier!

Teaching insights

Did some teaching last term and some of this certainly rang true (though the video demonstrates less reliance by students on mobile phones to get attention during class *cue disapproving stare from TA*)

Why bother studying the past?

So that stupid things like this are never taken as true. ha!

Archaeology, Sci-Fi & Time Travel

While correcting first year essays today, the following occurred to me:

Insanity of the internet

I don't even....

Minecraft and Archaeology?

Combining two of my favourite things? Almost, not quite, not really... Some fellow gamer decided to visit an abandoned server and treat it like an archaeologist. Mostly he just looked around and guessed what things might have been. So, yes, in some ways like an archaeologist would, but there was no methodology, ha! Anyway, here is his diary entry:

First day of real archaeology (rage comic)

The Indiana Jones controversy

Scumbag Indiana

Rome: A trip down memory lane

It appears I didn't just fall accidentally into archaeology. When I was a kid, my parents brought my cousins and I to Rome and we visited every archaeological site it had to offer. Here are some ridiculous photos of me back in 1991 in either the hideous yellow tartan outfit or the pink and blue shell suit, early 90s fashion at its best...

In the catacombs. We were locked in here for 5 hours while our guide went out for lunch and got drunk...

Temples, temples everywhere

More archaeological sites!

On the Spanish steps, I was not impressed

Chilling, 90s -style, at the Roman Forum

Chasing pigeons at the Vatican

At the Colosseum

New Discovery: Minoan Double-Axe-Head found outside of Crete

While driving around Bristol the other week, saw this:

(Funny) Pic of the day!

This is bloody hilarious! Here's a snippet about the piece:

In the Jack Reese Galleria of the great Hodges Library of the University of Tennessee the art and artifacts of the Centaur excavation at Volos has found a permanent home. This reconstruction of a Centaurian burial site was assembled by Professor William Willers of the University of Wisconsin in the mid-1980s before being moved to the University of Tennessee. This controversial reconstruction has -as intended-- provided the catalyst for countless discussions about (for example) biological possibilities, mythological realities, cultural transmission, psycho-dynamic representations, and occasionally the possibility of an elaborate hoax. As the embodiment of the ideal integration of physical, spiritual, and intellectual strengths, the Centaur is a prominent candidate for University mascot.

Read more here and a bit more here

Young child discovers hair from extinct Mastodon

I hope this story gets used to get kids excited about volunteering on projects - that they could be the next to discover a really fun find!

Read the full story here