Monday, January 03, 2005

We'll be posting stuff throughout the day to make up for the absence over the long new year's weekend. EEF news from last week will be up in a couple of hours, we think.

We've been looking for any archaeological angle on the recent tsunami stories, but have not seen any. Any such thing would be along the lines of forensic work -- recovering and identifying bodies -- but that's usually reserved for forensic anthro's anyway, especially since no real burial is involved. OTOH, there ought to be some analysis done of ancient tsunamis wreaking havoc on ancient settlements. Certainly the eruption of Thera would have caused some tsunami action within the Mediterranean basin. We'll keep looking.

Port Townsend update Klallam Indians left to care for ancestors' unearthed remains

Generations of Klallam Indians have been told of an ancestral village where their people danced in longhouses and fished off the coast of the Olympic Peninsula.

What they hadn't known was that their ancestors' remains lay in scattered pieces, devastated by decades of industrial development, discovered only recently during the state's project to replace the aging Hood Canal floating bridge.

As state officials face the difficult and expensive task of finding a new site to build the bridge pontoons and anchors, a young generation of Klallam is left to care for hundreds of remains already unearthed and lay to rest the disturbed spirits of their ancestors.


Update on Burnt City of Mehr New discoveries reveal mysteries of Burnt City

A team of Iranian and foreign archaeologists have excavated the Burnt City in seven stages over the past few years.

“The excavations have shed light on a number of great mysteries about the lifestyles and occupations in the ancient city,” said Mansur Sajjadi, the head of the archaeological team.

The discovery of some artifacts connected with games of skill indicates the high level of ingenuity of the people, he added.


More Mehr news here: Foreign archaeologists rushing to save 129 ancient sites of Tang-e Bolaghi

Teams of Italian, Polish, Japanese, French, German, and Australian archaeologists have been assigned to save 129 ancient sites in Tang-e Bolaghi which will be flooded by the waters of the Sivand Dam, an expert of the Parseh and Pasargadae Foundation announced on Sunday.

“The sites have been determined based on priorities and each team will be working on specific sites,” Alireza Asgari added.


An Egyptologist in our midst

His license plate reads "Egypt," a tribute to the ancient world that is his passion. Over the past seven years, Frank C. Caizzi, 63, has made seven trips to the Middle East, four of them to Egypt, to explore his interest in ancient history. His fascination for history began in the ninth grade, but his first archaeological exploration trip to Egypt didn't take place until 1997.


Kind of a fluffy, local piece about a guy interested in Med. basin archaeology.

Now here's a strongly worded headline: Stench of vice from vicinity of museum: Treasure chests drop guard

Calcutta, Jan. 1: Several suspects were questioned in the past two days, but police seemed clueless about the thieves of the Buddha head that went missing from Indian Museum and many archives appeared easy hunting grounds.

The priceless fifth century BC work went missing from a glass case in the Archaeology Long Gallery on Thursday, but city detective chief Peeyush Pandey said no “headway” has been made yet. “Investigation has proceeded… but I wouldn’t want to use the word headway. There have been no arrests or recovery,” said Pandey


Antiquities Market update Two artifacts returned to Egypt

An Egyptian legal team has retrieved two ancient artifacts from New York and returned them to Egypt, reported Egyptian news agency MENA.

Egyptian Minister of Culture Faruq Husni said the two artifacts, a pottery jar and a statue of ancient god Anubis, had been stolen from a store housing ancient pieces. They were eventually found in New York at the Metropolitan Museum and an auction house.

The chief of the Egyptology Department at the Metropolitan gave the Egyptian team the pottery jar at a news conference in New York. The piece, dated back to the First Dynasty, has been estimated to be about 5,000 years-old.

The Anubis statue, rescued from an auction house before it was sold, dates back to some time between 1070-940 B.C.


That's the whole thing.