explorator 12.31

[rogueclassicist]

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explorator 12.31 November 22, 2009
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Thanks to Arthur Shippee, Dave Sowdon, Donna Hurst,
Edward Rockstein, Hernan Astudillo, John McMahon, Joseph Lauer,
Mike Ruggeri, Jack Linthicum, Kurt Theis, Rick Heli, and
Ross W. Sargent for headses upses this week (as always
hoping I have left no one out).

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EARLY HUMANS
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Latest on homo floresiensis is that it is a genuine human species:

http://www.physorg.com/news177828426.html
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-11/w-aa111709.php
http://www.cornellsun.com/node/39817 (awkward headline)
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/hobbit-was-ancient-human-species-study-suggests/1683208.aspx?src=rss

Pondering the 'humanity' of Ardi:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-humanlike-was-ardi
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ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
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Evidence that the Zerqa Valley (Jordan) has been inhabited and
irrigated for at least 13 000 years:

http://www.physorg.com/news177784568.html

A spectacular Parthian burial from Iraq:

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2009-11-19\kurd.htm

Plenty of (self-satisfied?) coverage that assorted mummy scans
have revealed that ancient Egyptians had hardening of the
arteries and other evidence of heart disease:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8363200.stm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-11/uoc--hdf111209.php
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-mummy18-2009nov18,0,1946567.story?track=rss
http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/1890113,CST-NWS-Mummies18.article
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20091117/mummies-had-heart-disease-too
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/nov/17/heart-disease-ancient-egyptians%20X-rays
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091118/wl_mideast_afp/healthusegyptdiseaseheartsciencearchaeology_20091118100841
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171304.php
http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/egypt-mummies-heart-disease.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091117161017.htm
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120510925
http://www.agencia.fapesp.br/materia/11373/divulgacao-cientifica/problema-moderno-e-antigo.htm

A seal bearing the name of Hammurabi has been excavated from
Tal El-Daba'a:

http://www2.sis.gov.eg/En/EgyptOnline/Culture/000002/0203000000000000001223.htm
http://www.drhawass.com/blog/press-release-new-discovery-tel-el-daba?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Drhawasscom-New+%28DrHawass.com+-+What%27s+new%3F+Feed%29
(photo)
http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report_remains-of-hammurabi-seal-discovered-in-cairo_1314883

There's a new online map which shows archaeological activity in
the environs of Jerusalem:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/11/a-searchable-map-detailing-40-years-of-israeli-archaeological-work-in-the-west-bank-and-east-jerusalem-developed-for-the-usc.html
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/11/map-of-7000-hol.html
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/boynter-149142.aspx
http://cbs2.com/wireapnational/USC.UCLA.Middle.2.1326749.html

cf: http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/wbarc/

Plenty of coverage for a UNESCO conference focussing on saving
Israel's (and other) sites from natural disasters:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258566463480&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=1128396
http://www.antiquities.org.il/about_eng.asp?Modul_id=14
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/134489
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258027305654&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
(Acre)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1128295.html (Acre)

Feature on the Canaanites as art collectors:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/sciencefair/2009/11/canaanites-the-art-collectors-of-their-day.html

Another feature on the DSS:

http://www.thestar.com/living/religion/article/727097

Fallout from *The Invention of the Jewish People*:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258027296653&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

They've come up with a King Tut martini to coincide with an
exhibition at the AGO:

http://www.thestar.com/living/food/recipes/article/727126--king-tut-martini

Reviewish sort of thing of Eric Cline, *Biblical Archaeology*:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article6917740.ece

Review of Mary Gordon, *Reading Jesus*:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/books/review/Anastas-t.html
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ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)
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Coverage of Alun Salt's work on the orientation of Greek
temples:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6922248.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article6922195.ece

... and here's Alun's article:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0007903

A call for better protection for Roman military sites in Scotland:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8366746.stm
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/So-that39s-what-the-Romans.5842559.jp

Interesting rhyton (and other items) find from Bulgaria:

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=110099
http://www.balkantravellers.com/en/read/article/1588
http://paper.standartnews.com/en/index.php?d=2009-11-18
http://www.balkantravellers.com/en/read/article/1584

Latest on the search for Cleopatra's tomb (nothing new):

http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/world/2009/11/18/33903/Dominican-archaeologist-closes-in-on-Cleopatra-top-Egyptologist-says

Nice feature on some Roman mosaics at Cirencester:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-1228256/When-archaeologists-Roman-mosaics-building-site-owners-faced-planning-puzzle.html

Somewhat late coverage on the discovery of Hadrian's Academy:

http://blastmagazine.com/the-news/world-news/2009/11/hadrians-academy-unearthed/

Feature on Roman painting:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/great-works/great-works-still-life-with-peaches-c-ad50-anon-1823826.html

Time Magazine buys into the Cambyses Lost Army claim:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1938822,00.html?xid=rss-world

Review of Adrienne Mayor, *The Poison King*:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/19/AR2009111903942.html?hpid=sec-artsliving

More on the Etruscan roots of the Twilight saga:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/the-etruscan-roots-of-the-twilight-saga-1824664.html

More on Roman remains on the site of the Marlowe theatre:

http://www.zeenews.com/past/2009-11-16/579340news.html

Latest reviews from Scholia: http://www.classics.ukzn.ac.za/reviews/

Latest reviews from BMCR: http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/recent.html
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EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
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Feature on a talk about some Paleolithic remains found in
Scotland:

http://www.hamiltonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local-news/lanark-and-carluke-news/2009/11/19/hunters-remains-earliest-known-51525-25199478/

A Neolithic burial site on Skye found during house construction is
going to be moved:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8368932.stm

Vague item on evidence for early wine production in Armenia:

http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=39414

Bronze Age (and other periods) remains near Moscow:

http://www.zeenews.com/news580630.html

Nice payday for the finders of the Staffordshire hoard:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6926946.ece

Ewloe Castle is up for sale:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_east/8364611.stm

Restoration of St James Priory is set to start:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/8362098.stm

Feature on 'historical' food from the UK:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/nov/19/british-food-from-the-past

More on those Mesolithic "weapons" found in Leicestershire:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091116114256.htm
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ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
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That recent tsunami on American Samoa damaged some sites and
revealed some new ones:

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=50384

Interesting copper plate inscription sheds light on the Alupas:

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/19/stories/2009111951260300.htm

Remains of a 8th/9th century pond from Japan:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2009/11/15/Ancient-pond-remains-found-in-Japan/UPI-50691258315518/

Not sure if this story about the Indus Valley Civ's 'financial
exchange system' is the same as the 'volumetric system' story
from last week:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/6584160/Indus-Valleys-Bronze-Age-civilisation-had-first-sophisticated-financial-exchange-system.html

Feature on and photos from the Shangri-La Cave:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091117-shangri-la-secrets-tibet-treasures-caves.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/photogalleries/shangri-la-cave-treasures/index.html
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NORTH AMERICA
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Clovis folk are off the hook (for now) in regards to mammoth
extinction:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/nov/19/hunters-mammoths-extinction

... this is a sort of different spin on the same story:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120592967
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/science/24fauna.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8368485.stm

Interesting dig going on in the Cascades:

http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/1037115.html(s)

Native American remains found during construction of a Philadelphia
casino:

http://cbs3.com/local/artifacts.sugarhouse.philadelphia.2.1324229.html

Pondering the fate of the Adena/Hopewell people:

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/11/15/john15.ART_ART_11-15-09_B4_V9FM6MM.html?sid=101

Latest Civil War ship being searched for is the USS Westfield:

http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=6fe187a0a16c96b0

Assorted items being found during sewer construction in Davenport
(Iowa):

http://www.qctimes.com/news/local/b98b8882-d59a-11de-9061-001cc4c03286.html

Lincoln wrote to an eight-year-old:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/17/us/AP-US-Lincoln-Letter-Sale.html

On the politics lf 'landmark' status:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/arts/design/19goodrich.html

Outhouse as time capsule:

http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/newyorkteacher_13758.htm

Salutory tale of the price/cost of preservation:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/arts/design/17historic.html

Review of Robert Merry, *A Country of Vast Designs*:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/books/review/Wilentz-t.html

Review of Madison Bell, *Devil's Dream*:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/books/review/Wineapple-t.html

Review of James Bradley, *The Imperial Cruise*:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/books/19book.html

More on artifacts from the Queen Anne's Revenge going on display:

http://www.wvec.com/news/regional/70603572.html
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CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
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Feature on the Maya paintings at Calakmul:

http://www.physorg.com/news177582245.html

Feature on the Mayan calendar:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/04/15/2217547.htm

... and iff you're bored, you might want to play with this interactive
Mayan long count calendar thingy:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/16/science/20091116-maya.html
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OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
================================================================

The latest on the Shroud of Turin is that it contains a 'death
certificate':

http://www.physorg.com/news177954765.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091121/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_shroud_of_turin
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6925371.ece
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iEpbatbYlTMk7i4ydVWEnJ0SU4OAD9C3BCFO0

It was a week for body parts in the news ... first, Galileo's
fingers and tooth:

http://www.physorg.com/news178009204.html
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/Hallados/relicario/dedos/diente/Galileo/elpepusoc/20091120elpepusoc_23/Tes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091121/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_galileo_s_fingers

... and bits of Mussolini's brain are apparently up for sale
on the interweb:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/europe/8371171.stm

... and I suppose we can mention Cromwell's tongue scraper here too:

http://www.huntspost.co.uk/content/hunts/news/story.aspx?brand=HPTOnline&category=News&tBrand=HertsCambsOnline&tCategory=newslatestHPT&itemid=WEED12%20Nov%202009%2013%3A58%3A19%3A490>

Not sure how to classify this one ... the Crux Vaticana has been
restored:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/world/europe/20briefs-CrossBrf.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/18/world/AP-EU-Vatican-Restored-Cross.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/19/world/AP-EU-Vatican-Restored-Cross.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/6607247/Crux-Vaticana-restored-to-its-former-glory.html

In case you know someone who is buying into the 2012 doomsday
nonsense:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/science/17essay.html

Hobbes' Leviathan has been translated into Hebrew:

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/hobbes-in-hebrew-the-religion-question/

Interesting feature on Tolstoy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/movies/22station.html

A nice award for Vincent J. Scully:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/17/us/AP-US-Lincoln-Letter-Sale.html

Review of Ben Yagoda, *Memoir: A History*:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/books/review/Shulevitz-t.html
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BLOGS AND PODCASTS
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Archaeology Briefs:

http://archaeologybriefs.blogspot.com/

Naked Archaeology Podcast:

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/archaeology/

Taygete Atlantis excavations blogs aggregator:

http://planet.atlantides.org/taygete/
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TOURISTY THINGS
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Naxos:

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2009/nov/20/treasures-naxos-island-cyclades-greece/

Sicily:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/travel/live-and-learn/story-e6frg8rf-1225799269213

Tony Perrottet takes us on a 19th-century food-based tour of
Paris:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/travel/22Grimod.html
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CRIME BEAT
================================================================
Latest guilty plea in that Utah case:

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13834724
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EXHIBITIONS, AUCTIONS, AND MUSEUM-RELATED
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Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/11/19/hidden-treasures-from-a-lost-city/

Iraq's Ancient Past:

http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/20063/

Fal-Nameh/Book of Omens:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/arts/21iht-melik21.html

Bronzino:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/arts/design/20vogel.html

Still-life or Trompe l'Oeil?:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/arts/21iht-conway.html

DaVinci's Workshop:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/arts/design/20leonardo.html

The Origins of El Greco:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/arts/design/20greco.html

Moctezuma:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/16/power-moctezuma-mexico-british-museum

Carnegie Furniture galleries:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/arts/design/20antiques.html

Terracotta Warriors (in Washington):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2009/11/18/GA2009111802677.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/exhibits/terra-cotta-warriors-guardians-of-chinas-first-emperor,1154989.html?hpid=goghttp://www.washingtonexaminer.com/entertainment/Terra-cotta-warriors-invade-National-Geographic-8548711-70328292.html

... and they're coming to Montreal:

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2009/11/19/musee-montreal.html

There's a new National Museum of Chinese Written Language:

http://news.alibaba.com/article/detail/business-in-china/100201231-1-ancient-characters-immortalized.html

... and an interesting Arts museum in Armenia:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/arts/design/19abroad.html

... and they're planning a new museum for Alicante (I think
it's in the planning stages; my Spanish tenses are weak):

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/Comunidad/Valenciana/Almenas/destilan/historia/elpepucul/20091117elpval_15/Tes

A German auction house has pulled a painting which possibly has
Nazi-loot-taint on it:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/21/arts/AP-EU-Germany-Nazi-Art.html

OpEd on ownership of the Rosetta Stone etc.:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/science/17tier.html
http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/who-should-own-the-rosetta-stone/

Interesting ritual to mark the return of some Maori relics:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8361347.stm
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iiEuDc5BTQc2K0W8DsinkCH_-jRQ

More on Sweden returning skulls to Hawaii:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8361011.stm

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PERFORMANCES AND THEATRE-RELATED
================================================================
Sholom Aleichem:

http://theater.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/theater/reviews/18sholom.html

Bright Star:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/nov/22/keats-rome-poet-bright-star

Twelfth Night (with marionettes):

http://theater.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/theater/reviews/20night.html

Ensemble Caprice (Bach and gypsies again):

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/arts/music/18bach.html

Kepler:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/arts/music/20kepler.html

Interesting feature on Polk Miller:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120398673
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