From dmeadows@idirect.com Sun May 19 07:34:16 2002 Received: from mailscan2.cac.washington.edu (mailscan2.cac.washington.edu [140.142.33.16]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.12.1+UW01.12/8.12.1+UW02.01) with SMTP id g4JEYFw3046670 for ; Sun, 19 May 2002 07:34:15 -0700 Received: FROM mxu3.u.washington.edu BY mailscan2.cac.washington.edu ; Sun May 19 07:34:14 2002 -0700 Received: from ares.idirect.com (ares.idirect.com [207.136.80.180]) by mxu3.u.washington.edu (8.12.1+UW01.12/8.12.1+UW02.01) with ESMTP id g4JEYE9n027136 for ; Sun, 19 May 2002 07:34:14 -0700 Received: from on-ham-a53-01-143.look.ca (on-ham-a53-01-143.look.ca [216.154.51.143]) by ares.idirect.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id KAA01059; Sun, 19 May 2002 10:33:56 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 10:28:23 -0400 From: dmeadows@idirect.com X-Mailer: The Bat! (v1.54 Beta/45) Personal Reply-To: dmeadows@idirect.com X-Priority: 3 (Normal) Message-ID: <15517370854.20020519102823@idirect.com> To: explorator@yahoogroups.com Subject: Explorator 5.3 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ================================================================ explorator 5.3 May 19, 2002 ================================================================ Editor's note: Depending on your mail software, some urls may wrap (especially those from the Telegraph) which will require you to rebuild the url at your end; if you get a 'file not found', check to see if the url wrapped on you. Most urls should be active for at least eight hours from the time of publication. ================================================================ ================================================================ Thanks to David Detrich, John McMahon, Sally Winchester, Bill Kennedy, Arthur Shippee, Michael Oberndorf, Gene Barkley, Mark Morgan, John Hill, W. Richard Frahm, Jorn Barger, and Brennus Legranus for headses upses this week (a.a.h.i.h.l.n.o.o.) ================================================================ AFRICA, EUROPE, AND ASIA ================================================================ The big news this week appears to be the discovery of a 'king's' grave near Stonehenge (the first item is from the Wessex Archaeology website): http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/projects/amesbury/archer.html http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-297694,00.html http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/england/newsid_1990000/1990859.stm http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992288 http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_588546.html http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=295560 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=624&ncid=624&e=3&u=/ap/20020516/ap_on_sc/britain_bronze_age_archer_1 http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/page.cfm?objectid=11873739&method=full&siteid=89488 http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,4333365%255E912,00.html There's an AP Wire story circulating on the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative: http://www.msnbc.com/news/753796.asp http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020518-72712351.htm http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=624&ncid=624&e=1&u=/ap/20020517/ap_on_sc/cuneiform_library_2 cf: http://www.cdli.ucla.edu/ At least once a year we get a report on a DNA study of migrations of people; this year it's on the various movements of Jewish communities: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/14/science/social/14GENE.html An interesting piece on the guys who bring you the "Mummy Road Show": http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/cybernews/story/0,1870,119416,00.html Al-Ahram has a touristy piece on Heliopolis: http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2002/585/tr1.htm Here's a sort of overview piece on recent finds in Egypt's Behira Governate: http://www.uk.sis.gov.eg/online/html7/o160522e.htm A brief item on the discovery of some Ptolemaic era tombs in Alexandria: http://www.uk.sis.gov.eg/online/html7/o160522t.htm http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/020517/2002051751.html A neolithic site has been found at Attiki Odos (scroll down a bit): http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=16524 A major Roman site (with saltworks) has been discovered in Cheshire: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/england/newsid_1993000/1993496.stm Here's an interesting piece on archaeologists' efforts to restore the pigment on the 4th century B.C./B.C.E."Can Sarcophagus" found near Troy (the first one includes photos): http://www.uc.edu/news/sarco.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/05/020513074736.htm cf: http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/troia/st/eleven/ab/english/ab5eng.html A number of Buddhas discovered in Iran's Fars province were probably smuggled from Afghanistan: http://www.asahi.com/english/international/K2002051700326.html The Hermitage has finally put on view a display of 14th century stained glass windows which are devoted to "the life and times of the AntiChrist": http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/19/arts/design/19WALL.html We've reported on this before (Explorator 4.43 and 3.13), but it's in the news again ... the Swedish ship Vasa is wasting away in a museum: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/14/science/14VASA.html Folks might be interested in a piece on 'gestural theory': http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/18/arts/18GEST.html .... and how ancient Indian texts are being used in a modern military context: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1986000/1986595.stm More closures at the British Museum: http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/arts/newsid_1630000/1630004.stm ================================================================ THE AMERICAS ================================================================ Here's a nice article on the role of caves in Mayan ritual: http://www.sciencenews.org/20020518/bob9.asp Another DNA study ... this time in search of living relatives of Inca mummies: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_586478.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$ZU0EPMAAAC15HQFIQMFSFFOAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2002/05/13/winca13.xml The remains of Fort Horn may lie in Chesapeake Bay: http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/annearundel/bal-ar.horn17may17.story?coll=bal%2Dlocal%2Darundel What happened to New York's "Arbitration Rock"?: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/16/nyregion/16ROCK.html The site of the Battle of Milk Creek is causing controversy: http://www.denverpost.com/framework/0%2C1413%2C36%257E53%257E606158%2C00.html An early incident of archaeology in Canada is somewhat farcical at times: http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/story.asp?id=%7B8508ABDB-20DC-4A83-A010-FFEEB02FFAB5%7D An interesting arrangement between a museum and a group of native Americans for display of artifacts: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/19/national/19MUSE.html ================================================================ CRIME BEAT ================================================================ The Netherlands has (have?) returned a purloined statue of Amenhotep III to Egypt: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020518/ap_wo_en_ge/egypt_antiquities_1 A French waiter had an interesting hobby: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/05/17/MN166733.DTL ================================================================ AT ABOUT.COM ================================================================ Tom Huntington, *Bad King Herod*: http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/prm/blkingherod1.htm ================================================================ REVIEWS ================================================================ Tracy Lee Simmons, *Climbing Parnassus: A New Apologia for Greek and Latin* http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A63056-2002May9?language=printer Robert Flaceliere, *Daily Life in Greece in the Time of Pericles*: http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=12962&m=A38&aa=2&eidos=S Ian Pears, *The Dream of Scipio* (novel): http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=295094 ================================================================ EXHIBITIONS ================================================================ Eternal Egypt (Kansas City): http://www.pitch.com/issues/2002-05-02/art.html/1/index.html Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur (Cambridge, Mass.): http://www.absolutearts.com/artsnews/2002/05/17/29929.html ================================================================ CLASSICIST'S CORNER ================================================================ This one just turned up in the scan (what took it so long?); it appears that {classicist?) Jim Holt has been engaging in "an email conversation about news of the day": http://slate.msn.com/?id=2065324&entry=0&device= One I missed: Latin is on the rise in Britain again: http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=292549 http://argument.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/story.jsp?story=292568 Apparently-related (with a translation contest): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/main.jhtml?xml=/education/2002/05/11/telat11.xml&sSheet=/education/2002/05/11/iefeduleft.html Antigone in Palestine: http://www.uk.sis.gov.eg/online/html7/o130522b.htm AthensNews has a touristy piece on Ikaria: http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=12962&m=A24&aa=1&eidos=S Some potentially specious claims in this one?: http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=12962&m=A15&aa=1&eidos=S Once again John Carr leaves one saying "eh?": http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=12962&m=A99&aa=3&eidos=S Classicists *do* go to movies, apparently: http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0510/p13s01-almo.html Another installment in the 'what do you do with a classics degree' department: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/arts/newsid_1866000/1866403.stm Proof of the sorry state of classical studies in Canada: http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20020518/269589.html Dot Wordsworth: http://www.spectator.co.uk/article.php3?table=old§ion=current&issue=2002-05-18&id=1879 Radio Finland's Nuntii Latini http://www.yle.fi/fbc/latini/trans.html U.S. Weather in Latin: http://latin.wunderground.com/ ================================================================ OBITUARIES ================================================================ Diane Buitron-Oliver: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18466-2002May1.html Bargil Pixner http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=295924 ================================================================ FOLLOWUPS ================================================================ In Explorator 5.2 we provided links to reports on the discovery of a ca. 30,000 year b.p. skeleton found in Northern Africa. As reported in the various newswires, there were some inaccuracies which one of the excavators mentioned on the EEF list. I have obtained permission of the excavator (Peter Vermeersch) to reproduce his text below: >> Dear Sir, > >> I had been informed that some discussion is going on related to an >> ABC News Online. Here some information that is needed. > >> I was indeed very surprised to read in ABC News Online >> http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/scitech/SciTechRepublish_550172.htm >> following text: >>>>Anthropologists have set his, or her, age to be between 30,000 and >> 33,000 years ago," Zahi Hawass, director of Egypt's Supreme Council >> of Antiquities, said. >> It was the oldest skeleton ever found in northern Africa, Mr Hawass said. >> A team from the University of Leuven found the skeleton buried in a seated >> position facing east, with the head turned upward, the director of the >> council's excavation department, Attiya Radwan, said. >> It was found in a mountain cavern in Dandara, 550 kilometres south of >> Cairo, along with shards of pottery from the same period, he said. >> The pottery debris could be the oldest in the world after some found in >> China, going back 35,000 years, he said. << > >> I informed the SCA in Egypt of following: >> There seems to be some misunderstanding about the burial that we >> discovered in 1994 and that was reported in our excavation report. >> The skeleton was found on the Taramsa hill, somewhat south of Dandara. >> The Taramsa hill is on open air flint extraction site where a child had been >> buried in one of the extraction pits. The age of the skeleton is not yet >> clear but we published in Antiquity (1998, 277: 475-84) a suggestion for an >> age of 55,000 years. This is indeed the oldest burial in northern Africa, >> but not the oldest skeleton. Older skeltons have been found in Marocco, but >> not in burials. The importance of this skeleton is the fact that it is a >> clearly modern man, albeit a child of 8 years old. Modern man in Europe >> is at least 20,000 years younger. >> There is no asociation at all with pottery as suggested in your >> communication. The cultural environment is entirely Middle Palaeolithic. > >> I hope that these data will give you a better view on the importance of >> the discovery. > >> Yours sincerely, > >> Prof. dr. Pierre Vermeersch, >> Director of the Belgian Middle Egypt Prehistoric Project of Leuven cf: http://www.uk.sis.gov.eg/online/html7/o180522a.htm Other followups: 'New' Pyramid: http://www.guardians.net/hawass/new_pyramid_discovered_at_abu_ro.htm Excavating Herculaneum: http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/2002/05/15/0514conn.html Peruvian 'Shantytown' Mummies: http://www.suntimes.co.za/2002/05/12/lifestyle/travel/travel01.asp ================================================================ EXPLORATOR is a weekly newsletter representing the fruits of the labours of 'media research division' of The Atrium. Various on-line news and magazine sources are scoured for news of the ancient world (broadly construed: practically anything relating to archaeology or history prior to about 1700 or so is fair game) and every Sunday they are delivered to your mailbox free of charge! ================================================================ Useful Addresses ================================================================ Past issues of Explorator are available on the web at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Explorator/messages To subscribe to Explorator, send a blank email message to: mailto:Explorator-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To unsubscribe, send a blank email message to: mailto:Explorator-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com To send a 'heads up' to the editor: mailto:dmeadows@idirect.com ================================================================ Explorator is Copyright (c) 2002 David Meadows. 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