Nephilim were very tall beings who appeared in the old Testament of the Bible, as descendants of Seth and Cain (or maybe fallen angels, depends on how you translate Genesis). They are currently the focus of an urban legend, recently debunked by About.com's esteemed guide to Urban Legends, David Emery.
Chrome Age Skeletons Discovered! Well, two chrome (or maybe aluminum) skeletons of a gorilla and a human peer at one another in an exhibit at the Edinburgh Zoo, anyway. Photo by Lee Carson
Supposedly, according to this urban legend, archaeologists have discovered a 15-foot tall skeleton in Greece. Don't ask me what the Nephilim were supposed to have been doing in Greece, but the photoshopped pictures are clearly evidence of something! David put together an hilarious photo essay of some of the faked photos of archaeological excavations with huge skeletal remains, and included the text of the emails making the rounds.
Worth a giggle, anyway!
Startling news from the Neanderthal Genome Project at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology may prove a watershed in the understanding of how our hominid ancestors left Africa, and just how many different human species shared our planet 40,000 years ago.
View of the Anui River valley and the archaeological camp below Denisova Cave. Photo by Johannes Krause
The report comes from Nature, and it involves a site in the Altai mountains of Siberia called Denisova Cave (pronounced de NEE soh va). The cave has been excavated since the 1970s and it has evidence of occasional human use beginning about 125,000 years ago. Of particular interest to this study is what Siberian archaeologists call the Altai Mousterian, or Initial Upper Paleolithic levels, dated somewhere between 30,000 and 45,000 years ago (uncalibrated years before the present).
Read more...This week's fieldwork in focus comes from Robert "Ernie" Boszhardt, director of the University of Wisconsin at Baraboo's archaeology 2010 field school in Trempealeau, Wisconsin, to be held between June 2 and July 9.
The University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County invites applicants to register for a six week/six credit archaeological field school in scenic Trempealeau, Wisconsin. Accepted students will participate in a National Science Foundation sponsored research project to investigate interactions between local Effigy Mound people and Middle Mississippians who ventured hundreds of miles up the Mississippi River nearly 1,000 years ago.
1880 Map of Trempealeau Mounds. Drawing by T.H. Lewis, Minnesota Historical Society files, courtesy the Mississippian Initiative
Students will: (1) learn techniques of archaeological survey, excavation, mapping, documentation, and field laboratory methods, (2) work independently and in supervised teams, (3) be assigned pertinent readings, engage in group discussions, and will take occasional field trips to regional archaeological sites such as Effigy Mounds National Monument. The work is physically demanding with hiking, shoveling, screening, and record-keeping in outdoor conditions that range from hot and humid to cool and dry, exposure to summertime bugs and plants (e.g., mosquitoes and poison ivy), and lots of dirt.
Trempealeau is an historic town located in the dramatic Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin. The town is situated along the Upper Mississippi River, 25 miles northwest of La Crosse. Prior archaeological research of the area has documented a rich archaeological record, including concentrated animal-shaped effigy mounds and a series of unique Middle Mississippian platform mounds. Local finds of red-painted pottery suggest a colony of Mississippian migrants into an Effigy Mound territory around A.D. 1050. Within a century of Mississippian contact, the Effigy Mound culture disappeared.
The UW-BSC field school will be taught by Robert "Ernie" Boszhardt. This field school is offered in conjunction with the Mississippian Initiative, a three-year National Science Foundation research project co-directed by Timothy Pauketat (University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign) and Danielle Benden (University of Wisconsin-Madison), and may include working alongside a University of Illinois archaeological field school.
Housing, Transportation, and Logistics
Trempealeau Wisconsin Field School, 2009. Photo by Mississippian Initiative
Transportation to and from Trempealeau is the responsibility of the student. Car pooling is encouraged. Crew lodging at Trempealeau has been arranged with a local hotel within walking distance of the sites. A class fee of $200 is in addition to the course tuition, and will help cover costs associated with lodging and project supplies. Food costs and communal cooking/kitchen duties are the responsibility of the students. There is a nearby laundry mat and post office. Cell phone coverage in Trempealeau can be good, but you should check with your provider for coverage.
Accepted students should plan on bringing eating utensils, a cooking pot/skillet, and personal toiletries. A portable chair is also handy. For camping trips, you will need to bring a tent (or arrange to share one with a fellow student) and sleeping bag.
Costs: $1291.76 (6 credits) + $200 Special Course fee = $1491.76 (total) [plus food]
Registration for ANT 370 is through the University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County Continuing Education Department. Prospective students should contact:
Cindy McVenes
Director of Continuing Education
UW-Baraboo/Sauk County
call her at 608-355-5234 or email cindy.mcvenes@uwc.edu
Applications should be submitted to Robert "Ernie" Boszhardt at rboszhardt@gmail.com before Friday April 2, 2010. Although this deadline may be extended, preference will be made to those who apply before April 2. Accepted students will be notified and provided additional instructions for registration and final details.
This past weekend, the famous Roman ruin called Hadrian's wall was lit up end to end, all 75 miles of it. A gimmick to kick of British Tourism Week, the lighting of the giant ribbon of wall was lit by over 1,100 volunteers to celebrate the 1600th anniversary of the collapse of the Roman Empire. It was a pretty amazing site, as you can see in the image below, and in this video from the Guardian.
Lighting Hadrian's Wall, March 14, 2010. Photo by Kristi Herbert
So, for the fun of it, I pulled together a little bit about what archaeologists have learned in the last 400 years about this amazing testament to imperial Rome.
New Stories about the Lighting
