Clipmarks | JohnWaterman's archeology collection

Jerusalem's ancient walls unveiled

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:13:45 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Archaeologists in Jerusalem have given a first glimpse of what they say is a newly-exposed section of the city walls built 2,100 years ago.

Enlarge Image

Clip Source: www.antiquities.org.il

built by the Hasmonean kings and

destroyed during the Great Revolt

also the remains of a city wall from the Byzantine period (324-640 CE) which was built on top of it

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

The walls were first located through tunnels by 19th Century researchers, whose beer bottles were also found.

"The fact that after 2,100 years the remains of the wall were preserved to a height of three meters is amazing," he said.

The researchers believe the walls show the ancient city's boundaries when it was at its largest, with a circumference of 6km, compared to the 4km of walling surrounding what is now the Old City.

The researchers also found a range of artefacts from before and after the Second Temple period, including female fertility figures from the early Israelites who, according to the Bible, were prohibited from worshipping idols.

DNA tests for Tutankhamun's unborn daughters

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:30:00 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Egyptian scientists are to carry out DNA tests on two mummified foetuses found in the tomb of Tutankhamun to determine whether they are daughters of the young pharaoh, Egypt's supreme council of antiquities said yesterday. The foetuses, discovered in the tomb in Luxor in 1922, may be his stillborn children.

Until recently there had been no archaeological indication that the pharaoh who died more than 3,000 years ago aged about 19, left any offspring. Zahi Hawass, the head of the Egyptian antiquities, said the tests will also try to determine Tutankhamun's family lineage, a source of ambiguity among many Egyptologists.

Scholars believe that Tutankhamun married his half-sister, Ankhesenamun - the third daughter of the pharaoh Akhenaten by his wife Nefertiti, when he was 12 but that the couple had no surviving children

the mummified foetuses have been kept in storage at the Cairo school of medicine and have never been displayed

ambitious plans for DNA testing all the royal mummies

2,000 year old prince halts building work

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:28:40 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.theargus.co.uk

Land soon to become a new housing estate has yielded an unexpected treasure – a 2,000- year-old skeleton, believed to be that of a prince, a warrior or a priest.

But before the work could go ahead, an archaeological survey had to be carried out

What the team from the Thames Valley Archaeological Services found was beyond their wildest dreams.

just below the surface was a burial mound containing a well-preserved skeleton of a man that had lain undisturbed for about 2,000 years

grave goods

three large pottery jars placed at the end of the grave, presumably containing offerings to the gods or food for the journey into the afterlife, an iron knife and several items made of bronze

a helmet

a shield boss

two bronze latticework sheets highly decorated, perhaps used to cover a shield

Clip Source: www.worthingherald.co.uk

Grave before removal of jars

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Clip Source: www.littlehamptongazette.co.uk

Team in North Bersted C081621-1

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Video

VIDEO: click here to view, double click for full screen

The Mississippian Moundbuilders And Their Artifacts

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:03:02 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.mississippian-artifacts.com

Mississippian Chief

At a time when Europe was plunged into the Dark Ages and crusaders fought holy wars to gain Jerusalem for the Church, a Native American culture thrived in what is now the Midwest and Southeast United States.These Native Americans are known today as the Mississippian Moundbuilders.

Clip Source: www.mississippian-artifacts.com

Human Stirrup Bottle.
H: 10"
Mississippi Co., MO.

Clip Source: www.mississippian-artifacts.com

Tripod Compound Bottle.
H: 10"
Scott Co. MO.

Clip Source: www.mississippian-artifacts.com

Head Pot.

Clip Source: www.mississippian-artifacts.com


Screaming Quapaw. Red and buff. White Co., AR.

Human Effigy.

Clip Source: www.mississippian-artifacts.com

Double-Headed Dog Teapot.

Clip Source: www.mississippian-artifacts.com

Clay Elbow Pipe.


An Array of Fine Southeastern Clay Pipes. Southeast US

Various Coles Creek and Caddo Pipes.

Clip Source: www.mississippian-artifacts.com

Monolithic Axe.

Clip Source: www.mississippian-artifacts.com


	Tennessee Style. Single Cup Variety. D: 4.8" Rhea Co., TN.

Clip Source: www.mississippian-artifacts.com

Notched Hoe.
Kaolin Flint.
H: 6.5"
Jackson Co., IL.
Notched Hoes.
Mill Creek Flint.
H: 6.5"
Monroe Co., IL.

Flint Mace.

Clip Source: www.mississippian-artifacts.com

Spiro Pulley-Style Earspool.
D: 3"
Le Flore Co., OK

Shell Earplugs.
L: 1.5" - 2"
Southeast US
Shell Earplugs.
L: 5"
Southeast US
Feldspar Earplug.
L: .75"
State of Arkansas

Clip Source: www.mississippian-artifacts.com

Fenestrated Rattlesnake.

Clip Source: www.mississippian-artifacts.com

Shell Beads.

Clip Source: www.mississippian-artifacts.com

Ancient Inventions

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:42:49 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: More and info for each at the site.

Clip Source: www.smith.edu

Distaff
Deep Antiquity

Warp-Weighted Loom
7000 BCE

Woven Cloth
7000 BCE

String Skirt
6000 BCE

Clip Source: www.smith.edu

A person who spins needs two things, in addition to time: the raw material (wool, flax, cotton) that is to be spun, and a spindle or wheel with which to spin it.

Throughout history, most spinners have also used a simple device called a distaff. A distaff is a wooden board, sometimes plain but often intricately carved, to which the raw material is tied, and from which the spinner draws as she spins. (Most spinners, in all times and places as far as we know, have been women. That's why the matrilineal side of your family is called the "distaff side".)

Clip Source: www.smith.edu

Earth-fired Pottery (fragment)
5000 BCE

Eyeliner
4000 BCE

Sumerian Bull Lyre
3200 BCE

Cuneiform Cylinder Seal
3000 BCE

Clip Source: www.smith.edu

a different animal head protruding from the front of the sound box to denote its pitch: the bull lyre was bass, the heifer lyre was tenor and the stag lyre was alto

Clip Source: www.smith.edu

Sumerian Harp
2500 BCE

Coiled Ceramics
2500 BCE

Potter's Wheel
2400 BCE

Rare Mummy Found in Peru With Strange Artifacts & Tattoo

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:39:24 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: More info. and a video at the source site

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Disemboweled and decorated with scarlet paint, metal eye plates, and a tattoo, an exquisitely preserved, thousand-year-old mummy has been discovered in Peru. (See photos.)

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

The metal and red paint on the thirtysomething's face indicate elite status, and the presence of elites in Rontoy suggests the mysterious Chancay held a tighter grip over the Huaura River valley region than previously believed

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Until now most Chancay remains have come from sites that had been looted or bulldozed for expanding farms, making the specimens' context and origins uncertain.

That spotty record makes the discovery of the new mummy in an untouched, corncob-lined tomb in the Chancay farming village of Rontoy a breakthrough.

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

A long, thin black tattoo follows the angle of the mummy's knee joint

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

The mummy was wrapped in layers of finely-woven textiles and a gauzy material. Offerings were embedded throughout the layers

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

metal plates over his eyes and one in his mouth

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

specially built, brick-lined tomb

Fathers of the zodiac tracked down

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:51:12 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.redicecreations.com

Using modern techniques — and some rocks — a US astronomer has traced the origin of a set of ancient clay tablets to a precise date and place. The tablets show constellations thought to be precursors of the present-day zodiac.

The tablets, known collectively as MUL.APIN, contain nearly 200 astronomical observations, including measurements related to several constellations. They are written in cuneiform, a Middle-Eastern script that is one of the oldest known forms of writing, and were made in Babylon around 687 BC.

But most archaeologists believe that the tablets are transcriptions of much earlier observations made by Assyrian astronomers. Just how much older has been disputed — the estimates go back to 2,300 BC.

Now Brad Schaefer, an astronomer at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, says he has dated the observations to 1,370 BC, give or take a century.

"It's like a big hour hand in the sky,

the ancient observers lived within roughly 100 kilometres of 35.1° N

Ninova and Asur

5000 year old house found near Windsor Castle

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:17:05 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Archaeologists have found the site of what they believe is one of England's oldest houses.

The Stone Age house was unearthed at Kingsmead Quarry in Horton, close to Windsor Castle, and is thought to be more than 5,000 years old.

The find is thought to date to about the 37th century BC

Archaeologists also found flint tools, arrow heads and a bronze-age pin on the Berkshire site during the excavation

He said only about a dozen Neolithic or Stone Age houses had been discovered in England and the Horton house was one of the most complete examples yet found.

Archaeologists believe the walls of the 33ft (10m) by 16ft (5m) building were made of split logs and the pitched roof consisted of reeds or grass.

We used to think of the Neolithic as the time when people started to farm

"The evidence we now have, shows that hunting and gathering wild foods was still important. Crops were grown, but on a small scale. We can also see that cattle, pig and sheep were herded."

Digging up the forgotten past of ordinary Egyptian folk

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:10:40 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Archaeologists have long fixed their sights on the grandeur that was ancient Egypt, the pyramids, temples and tombs. Few bothered to dig beneath and beyond the monumental stones for glimpses into the living and working spaces of ordinary Egyptians.

That is changing slowly but steadily. In the last two or three decades, excavations have uncovered urban remains and swept aside the conventional wisdom that the Egypt of the pharaohs, in contrast to Mesopotamia, was somehow a civilization without cities.

We can now confirm that this was not the case,

discovery of a large administration building and seven grain silos buried at the site of an ancient provincial capital on the Upper Nile

This is a really amazing site, at the cutting-edge of recent Egypt archaeology

Digging into towns, you get the full range of life, not the very narrow view of society as seen from the top, from the rich and elite

Where there are temples

they were surrounded by towns which have usually been overlooked

Who were the Hurrians?

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:51:35 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.archaeology.org

Urkesh

on the dusty plains of what is now northeastern Syria was a spiritual center for a puzzling people called the Hurrians

their origin remains obscure

were far more than just another wandering tribe in the fractious Middle East.

strongly influenced the language, culture, and religion of later peoples

may have been present 1,000 years earlier--just as nearby Mesopotamians began to create the first cities

idea is at odds with a long-held belief among scholars that the Hurrians arrived much later from the Caucasus or some other distant region to the northeast, drawn to the fringes of civilization after the rise of the great southern Sumerian centers of Ur, Uruk, and Nippur

Hurrian, like Sumerian, is a language unrelated to Semitic

that dominated the region during and after the third millennium B.C

a sophisticated city with monumental architecture, plumbing, stonework, and a large population contradicts the idea that Hurrians were a roving mountain people in a strange land

Ancient laborer burial ground excavated near Rome

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:00:48 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

First-century burial grounds near Rome's main airport are yielding a rare look into how ancient longshoremen and other manual workers did backbreaking jobs, archaeologists said Monday

Most of the 300 skeletons unearthed were male, and many of them showed signs of years of heavy work: joint and tendon inflammation, compressed vertebrae, hernias and spinal problems

Judging by the condition of the skeletons, archaeologists concluded that the men likely carried loads on their backs at a nearby port during the early years of Imperial Rome

Finding a necropolis near ancient Rome is not rare, but most of them have been the burial grounds of the privileged classes

Also excavated was a skeleton of a man whose lower jaw was fused to his upper jaw.

Study indicated "how for all of his life this individual was fed, likely through the care of his family" with liquids or semisolids "introduced through a hole made through his teeth

working-class community

humble

strong ties and solidarity among its members

The Eridu Genesis and the great flood

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:02:11 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.livius.org

The Eridu Genesis is written on a Sumerian cuneiform tablet of which about two thirds are now lost. The missing parts can be reconstructed from texts like the Sumerian King List and Berossus: first the creation of men, then the kings who ruled before the Great Flood, and finally the Flood itself, culminating in an offer of eternal life to the Sumerian Noah, Ziusudra. It is essentially the same story as the "Priestly document" that appears to have been a source of the canonical version of Genesis

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Eridu

was the earliest city in southern Mesopotamia, founded ca. 5400 BC

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Clip Source: www.atlastours.net

Clip Source: www.livius.org

the creation of men (now lost);
their miserable condition;
creation of kingship;
the first cities;
the kings who ruled before the Great Flood (lost)
the supreme god Enlil's decision to destroy sinful humankind (lost);
Ziusudra learns of the approaching calamity;
building of the Ark (lost);
the Great Flood;
Ziusudra's sacrifice;
an offer of eternal life to Ziusudra.

Clip Source: www.crystalinks.com

Clip Source: lexicorient.com

Ancient man killed 'love rivals'

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:14:04 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Prehistoric man may have executed rivals from neighbouring tribes to steal their women, research has found

A study of 7,000-year-old skeletons

found that one of the burial groups consisted only of men and children

This indicated that the women were spared and their capture could have been the motive for the attack

Marks on the skulls showed they had been hit by an axe

The 34 skeletons were discovered in the 1980s, but new studies of different types (isotopes) of atoms in their teeth show that they came from three groups - locals, cattle-herders and a "family" of a man, woman and two children

All the skeletons bore marks to the left side of the skull showing that they were hit in the head with an axe, indicating they were executed while bound.

It seems this community was specifically targeted, as could happen in a cycle of revenge between rival groups

ocal women being regarded as somehow special

"It's crucial for a group which has a very small population to have access to mates."

Mystery Object - The Standard of Ur

Sat, 31 May 2008 16:20:48 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.mesopotamia.co.uk

Leonard Woolley made many exciting discoveries while excavating the 'Royal tombs' at Ur. He learnt a great deal about how people lived and what they believed by studying the burials.

Clip Source: www.mesopotamia.co.uk

Explore the plan below and discover the 'Standard of Ur'.

Clip Source: www.britishmuseum.org

'Peace' panel

Clip Source: www.britishmuseum.org

'War' panel

Clip Source: mosaicartsource.wordpress.com

function is not yet understood

the excavator at Ur, imagined that it was carried on a pole as a standard, hence its common name. Another theory suggests that it formed the soundbox of a musical instrument

The main panels are known as ‘War’ and ‘Peace’. ‘War’ shows one of the earliest representations of a Sumerian army. Chariots, each pulled by four donkeys, trample enemies; infantry with cloaks carry spears; enemy soldiers are killed with axes, others are paraded naked and presented to the king who holds a spear.

mosaic of shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli

The ‘Peace’ panel

a banquet

wearing woollen fleeces or fringed skirts, drink to the accompaniment of a musician playing a lyre

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Iraq's cuneiform tablets getting "virtual life"

Fri, 30 May 2008 14:20:38 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

May 29, 2008 -- A technology normally used in reconstructive surgery to create prosthetic limbs is now being applied to create reproductions of Iraq's precious and fragile cuneiform clay tablets, according to an Italian team of researchers.

Thousands and thousands of artifacts were stolen and broken at Bagdad's museums following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, in what has been called the most catastrophic theft of antiquities since World War II.

Called "Duplication and Rebirth," the project consist of an electronic catalogue with bibliographical references, photographs, and when possible, 3D images of the tablets. These three-dimensional models can then produce exact replicas of the original relics.

While scholars estimate that roughly five million of the tablets are still buried in the mounds of Iraq, some 500,000 are kept in museum and private collections worldwide.

Tags: archaeology, iraq, mesopotamia, writing, cuneiform, technology, science