Archaeology and alcohol story #2,993 ARCHAEOLOGY: FIRST COCKTAIL 5,000 YEARS OLD
The first cocktail ever was made in Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago, using wine, beer, apple juice and honey. Patrick McGovern defined the mix as "grog", an archaic drink in the United States is sold as the "Midas Touch". McGovern, a University Professor at Pennsylvania, one of the most important authorities in chemistry applied in archaeology, presented the results of a research on the banks of the Tigris between Iran and Iraq. This was said at the first day of the international convention on the archaeological study of wine organised in Scansano (Grosseto), land of the Morellino, by the City of Wine National Association and the University of Siena.
We make fun, but alcoholic beverages were probably quite widespread from early on and no doubt was used both for ritual and fun.
Archaeology society members like getting their hands dirty
They may come from all walks of life, but they share one thing - a love of archaeology.
The membership rolls of Cumberland Valley Chapter 27 of the Society for Archaeology Inc. include a teacher, an engineer, a janitor, a security guard, retirees and one person with a degree in archaeology.
The youngest member is 9 years old, and the oldest is about to turn 80.
"You name it. We've got it," said Doug Stine, president of the chapter, which was founded in Chambersburg in 1988.
Ancient drowned forest discovery
UNDERWATER archaeologists in Perthshire have made the incredible discovery of a drowned forest, thought to date from the neolithic period some 5000 years ago.
Stunned divers spotted the ancient wooded area as they worked in Loch Tay.
The eerie find is sure to excite scientists of all disciplines as it could represent the earliest surviving remains of Scotland’s native woodland.
As the article says, it's not particularly archaeological but should provide a lot of information on past climate and more dendro data for the region.
Jerusalem update A debate of biblical proportions
The recently ended season of excavations at the top of the City of David slope was accompanied by much excitement. With every passing day, more and more parts of an enormous building were unearthed. Dr. Eilat Mazar, the archaeologist in charge of the site, believes this could be the palace King David built after conquering Jerusalem from the Jebusites. The discovery has stirred up the old argument among archaeologists as to whether the events described in the Bible in fact occurred, and in this context, the importance and greatness of David himself.
In this case, the disagreement is more than an academic question: It touches on the roots of the connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel, and particularly Jerusalem, and could serve as ammunition in any argument over the future of the city.
We haven't commented on this story much, since Biblical archaeology is rather out of our purview, but it is one of those cases where archaeology has (potentially) great impact on contemporary problems. This article seems to get to the root of the archaeological problem which is (no surprise) the date of the remains. One would hope the interested parties can be assiduous in their presentation of arguments and supporting data.
Hurricane Katrina story #1 Cultural treasures lost in Katrina's wake
Add to the human toll of Hurricane Katrina a staggering cultural cost. Early reports document capricious and heartrending losses.
Historic houses were swept away, watercolors swamped. Museums survived, but heat, humidity and lack of security threaten individual works of art and major collections.
"I don't think we've ever in our history had an actual threat to our cultural patrimony of this scope," says Edward Able, president of the American Association of Museums, which is keeping a running online tally of treasures lost.
This ought to be on the minds of every museum curator in the country. This is precisely why so little remains of most of our past and the stuff we dig up or choose to archive needs to be preserved against almost imaginable destructive element. Check out the Mississippi Heritage Trust site for some before and after photos of some of the buildings.
A Middle Palaeolithic site with blade technology at Al Tiwayrat, Qena, Upper Egypt
During the 1990 survey by the Belgian Middle Egypt Prehistoric Project of Leuven University, we discovered a Palaeolithic site on top of a hill (figure 1). It was only during the 2003 campaign that we were able to visit the site again. As an important artefact concentration was found, we organised a simple survey with a single small trench. There was no time for a systematic excavation. The site proved to have suffered very extensive destruction by recent quarrying activities, but still some important observations could be made.
More of a scholarly report than news, so probably only of interest to professionals. It seems to be a quarry site.
Lost
Archaeologists are investigating two Notts fields to see if folklore about a lost settlement is true.
The scientists from the University of Oxford are examining land close to St Mary's Church in Greasley near Eastwood for signs of a medieval village.
A Countryside Agency grant of £30,000 paid for the research after dowsers said they found traces of buildings.
Local historians have always been intrigued by the site because there are remains of a castle but no dwellings.
Egyptian medicine update Secrets of the Mummy's Medicine Chest
The ancient Egyptians left proof of their scientific prowess for people to marvel at for millennia. Their engineering skills can still be seen at Giza, their star charts in Luxor, their care for head wounds on Fifth Avenue.
Head wounds? Yes, and the ancients treated broken arms, cuts, even facial wrinkles - vanity is not a modern invention - and they used methods as advanced as rudimentary surgery and a sort of proto-antibiotics.
As for Fifth Avenue, it, like the Valley of the Kings, is a place of hidden treasures. What researchers call the world's oldest known medical treatise, an Egyptian papyrus offering 4,000-year-old wisdom, has long dwelled in the rare books vault at the New York Academy of Medicine.
See here for a summary of the papyrus and a translation(?).
ILLINOIS STYLE: Illinois site shows life of Archaic Period
More than 9,000 years ago, nomadic hunters in Southern Illinois were handy with an atlatl, a Stone Age throwing gadget that gave their spears fast-ball speed. And when dense forests and the lack of meadow areas made deer harder to find, these wanderers adapted to eating more squirrels, fish and nuts.
During this era, there was no writing, pottery or known rock art in Illinois. The bow and arrow hadn't yet been discovered. Yet, as archaeologists have discovered, self-expression existed among these Stone Age people in the form of intricately carved designs on such mundane items as bone hairpins.
You can try reading an article from American Antiquity on Modoc by Steven Ahler with a free trial.
Looters strike again Raid of Ancient Peruvian City Unearths Ethical Questions of Exploration
Looters have plundered the ruins of Gran Saposoa, an ancient city that was recently discovered in the isolated mountains of Peru over 330 miles northeast of Lima, raising old questions about the ethics of exploration and discovery.
The ruins were first announced to the world in 1999 and were thought to be a major find for the study of pre-Incan civilization. However, an expedition to further explore and survey the ruins found several of the stone tombs destroyed and artifacts missing, including the stone head of a prominent sculpture in the most important set of ruins.
“It was very sad and disheartening to our teams because we are there to make known these areas so the government can protect them,” Sean Savoy, the leader of the 23-day August expedition, told Outside Online.