Bog buddies, just more tourist tat?

Archaeologists are used to the ethical questions involved with bog bodies.....but what about tourist tat?

An industrious company has set up to sell "Bog Buddies", little characters and motifs (men, women, sheep, hearts, shamrocks) carved from bog materials. Not a terrible idea considering the lack of enterprise following the recession, and the fact that tourists will buy anything. They look nice enough when framed, but really, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of skill in the carving, and certainly not enough to justify the €14 price tag for the smallest piece in the cheapest box, or €40 for a small framed heart. 

I also wonder if they really thought through the name "bog buddies" - did they actively seek association with millenia-old corpses?

OME does it again: another bullion-laden vessel found

****CORRECTIONS NOW ADDED AS PER REQUEST BY OME's PR COMPANY, BRUNSWICK ARTS****


Greg Stemm must be rubbing his manicured hands together in glee. His team of researchers and salvors have discovered another sunken ship with a cargo of silver. Found in the Atlantic, the British cargo ship was sunk by a German U-Boat during the Second World War (details below).

The numbers are already in and it is said to be worth £155 million; the so-called 'World's Most Valuable Shipwreck'. I have a little bit of an issue with that phrase as it determines value only in monetary terms, rather that in archaeological, historical or cultural ones. The ever-eager-to-capitalise-on-heritage-British Government (specifically the MoD ***CORRECTION MoT***) get 20% of the loot, cha-ching!


****You may note the subtle emphasis on gold and silver on their website's banner by clicking here http://www.shipwreck.net/images/banner.jpg *****

For those of you unfamiliar with this type of arrangement, this is typical of dealings between the Ministry of Defence and Odyssey Marine Exploration (OME). Luckily for OME, the British Government are happy to hand over large tracts of its heritage for cold hard cash. This is unlike OME's dealings with Spain: just last month, a federal appeals court in Florida ordered OME hand back some £250 million worth of gold and silver coins to Spain as it was illegally obtained (it's a complicated scenario involving disputed international waters and OME's disregard for Spain's national heritage, despite numerous warnings).

Maybe not the best thing to have an entire government hate you

Want to know the kicker in this entire story? The ship isn't even in British waters - it's in Irish waters, which doesn't seem to be complicating the matter at all.****CORRECTION, APPARENTLY THE WRECK IS TECHNICALLY IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS, see further correction, below**** There is no dispute that the wreck belongs to the Crown, not Ireland, but maybe Ireland could ban OME from our waters? Just a suggestion HINT HINT. (It has been reported Independentt), erroneously, that Ireland will get percentage from OME's plundering profits.

Good old Greggy loves him some historic saleable gold

Not that Greg Stemm is all about the money, somewhere deep down it's also about the history and archaeology.... except that part is less easy to sell for millions upon millions. For now, poor Greg will have to settle for selling 'salvaged' silver coins and artefacts to hungry collectors, and maybe put on an travelling exhibition, which the public will gladly pay for. It will feature a historical overview and lots of pictures of coins, just like his other million-dollar exhibitions. The man knows how to sell history well by preying on the public's sense of greed, good one Greg.

I see Giorgio Tsoukalos when I look at this photo of Greg Stemm

I met Greg Stemm once at a conference, shook his hand and took his gold-embossed card. He is charming, successful, well-spoken and media savvy. He comes across as a nice guy and is adept at answering tricky questions. When I asked him (politely) about archaeological reports which had never been published, he assured me that the work was done impeccably but that a series of court proceedings had delayed everything ***UPDATE, as stated at the top of this article, OME's PR firm claims this is no longer the case, but it was true at the time I spoke to Greg a few years ago (not implying that nothing had been published)****. He also kindly invited me to visit his USA-based archives any time I wanted to consult the research I asked about. It may help Greg to know that if he didn't keep annoying entire nations (i.e. Spain) he might have less court trouble and more people would like him if he cared less about investors and more about the archaeology he is destroying.


****CORRECTION: OME's PR FIRM CLAIM THAT ALL PUBLICATIONS OF EXCAVATION REPORTS ARE UP TO DATE - THEY HAVE SENT ME COPIES OF THESE REPORTS TO REVIEW. Ireland's international waters extend to ~230miles (200 nautical miles), though the UN has granted Ireland the right to extend its protection further, see http://www.independent.ie/national-news/new-un-resolution-allows-ireland-to-extend-its-territorial-waters-42433.html) Particularly relevant is the clause: 
A clause in the convention stipulates that the exclusive economic zone can be extended to up to 350 nautical miles if countries can scientifically prove that their continental shelf extends beyond the 200-mile boundary. *****


ABOUT THE WRECK (from the Telegraph's article)

The SS Gairsoppa set sail from India in December 1940 carrying a consignment of 240 tonnes of silver, iron and tea.

It was headed for Liverpool but was forced to break away from its military convoy off the coast of Ireland as weather conditions deteriorated and it began to run out of fuel.

As the merchant steamship tried to make it to Galway it was attacked by the German submarine U101, 300 miles southwest of the Irish harbour.

On February 17, 1941, a single torpedo sank the ill-fated vessel, killing all 85 crewmen except one.

Spectacular preservation - mummy of an Inca girl

From some angles she looks alive. This is certainly one of the most amazing accidents of preservation on earth!

500 years ago this 15 year old girl and 2 others were left on a frozen mountain top as part of sacrificial rites. Known as the Llullaillaco Maiden", her remains were found 22,000 feet up a volcano. Internal organs were preserved perfectly, along with some blood in the heart and lungs. The mummification process was entirely natural, caused by the stable cold, dry conditions. The ritual called for only the most perfect children to be chosen to inter in small niches, waiting to join their ancestors and watch over the living.

I have some concerns, as ever, with the display of human remains in museums; more acute given that these are the remains of a child. However, local Inca groups seem content with moving limited numbers of remains from the mountain region. The original article doesn't go into detail about the ethical debates, but I can only hope that due consideration was given.

Ireland's utter stupidity when it comes to its heritage

Prepare for sarcasm and rage.

Some genius has come up with an idea to get rid of that pesky need to protect historic buildings by removing them from a protected register. The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht want all structures from 1700 taken off the Record of Monuments and Places. Just a blanket removal - you know, because nothing interesting or important was built after 1700 (grrrrrr) (canals, industrialisation, Georgian-era architecture, etc.). The Department made some hazy comment about not all counties being consistent in their recording of such buildings, is that meant to be an excuse for this ridiculous planned change? This type of "standardisation" will not, as they posit, "ensure that all elements of the built heritage continue to be adequately protected". The whole thing smacks of budget cuts and sneaky back door planning deals.

I'm sure a rage comic could be made of this fiasco

I am so full of rage about all this! It is utterly disgraceful. Compare this, like another archaeologist quoted in the original article did, to American or Australian heritage and how they treasure the last 300 years. They have heritage from much farther back than that, but they also understand that the past few hundred years shaped the modern world they live in. Every aspect of the past should be treated with the same regard, whether 10,000 years ago, 1,000 years ago or 100 years ago. Setting such a cut off point is arbitrary and destructive. It states, in effect, that history and archaeology from the last 300 years is less important than what came before.

In my own experience, many archaeologists excavating sites tend to disregard the 18th century in their reports, preferring to focus on the medieval, bronze age, etc. (based on my reading of archaeological reports from Limerick city). This proposal justifies that bias.

As an example of this bias even before such a proposal has been sanctioned:

In Askeaton, Co. Limerick, the Office of Public Works (OPW) was instructed to repair the unstable quay walls of the 18th century Hell-Fire Club (one of only two such clubs in Ireland), in addition to repairs to the castle (13th-16th century) on the same site. This year when I went to visit the site for some recording work, one of the wonderful men working there informed me that budget cuts were now in force. All the repairs to the 18th century building were cancelled, while work still continued on the castle. The men on site, fearing for the club house thoughtfully left some scaffolding lattice over the brickwork which had been partially cleaned and destabilised. Preference was given to protecting the castle. When I asked for any reports on this, any evidence of discussion and justification for the work, it seemed that that doesn't really exist in the public domain (I'm going to try to track it down with gusto soon). I'm not annoyed that they are repairing the castle, it needs and deserves it. It is just terribly worrying that such an unusual building as the Hell-Fire Club is left to crumble because it is from a later time period.

I don't want to just focus on my own studies, so here is an unbiased Wikipedia recounting of some important things that happened in the last 300 years, unedited:

I'm under the impression that some of these events took place in "buildings" and that the "structures" may be deemed important by some people

I could rant some more, but I think it's best if I stop now. Still fuming. May return to this topic in the future.

EDIT: Loads more useful information on the issue here http://irisharchaeology.ie/2011/09/proposal-to-de-list-archaeological-and-historical-sites-that-post-date-1700/

Limerick Hell-Fire Club

While back home, I was lucky enough to get a trip out to Askeaton Co. Limerick. Work is currently under-way restoring Askeaton Castle, but funding has run out on the 18th Century build beside it, the Limerick Hell-Fire Club. It is such a shame, as the building really needs some serious TLC. Very unusual in design and one of only two buildings in the country associated with the Hell-Fire Clubs, it looks like the heritage board just don't see it as a priority. The town is more famous for its island Castle, initially built in the late 12th century, the majority of the building now dates to the 15th century and was in use until Cromwellian forces dismantled it in the late 17th century.

The Limerick Hell-Fire Club:

Limerick's continuing destruction of heritage

I'll let this article speak for itself, source here . Thanks to Emily for notifying me of this.

Check out the comments section on his article for more info... Angry Bock is angry:

Limerick City Council — Destroying Your Heritage One Cellar At A Time

Another big round of applause to Limerick City Council for smashing in the hidden treasures beneath our feet. This is what happens when a local authority has no conservation officer, no archaeologist, no heritage officer and no architect. It puts hundreds of years of history at the mercy of an ignorant lout with a digger.

Under our town, there’s another hidden city of subterranean caverns, 200 years old, which the city council is busy demolishing. In a grown-up country, some official would see that this is a resource and would plan a way to use it for the common good, but not here in Ireland.

In this country, we give such decisions to roads technicians — people who wouldn’t know heritage from a hole in the ground.

Breaking into history...

I know very few archaeologists who haven't broken into their fair share of archaeological sites, out of general interest and just to have a poke around.

Sometimes, people get a little carried away and climb on things they shouldn't (pictured), or, even worse scratch their names on 3000-year old sites!

If you decide to get up to such mischief while in India, watch out for their new CCTV system, click here to read more.