UCSB History Scholar Translates and Interprets Ancient Chinese Legal Texts

From Santa Barbara Independent: UCSB History Scholar Translates and Interprets Ancient Chinese Legal Texts

In an ancient tomb in China's Hubei Province, archeologists discovered a basket of medical mathematical, and legal texts that date back to the late third and early second centuries B.C. A historian at UC Santa Barbara is working to translate and interpret the legal texts, of which there are two, and describes them as "a gold mine of social and legal history."

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“The finds are unprecedented,” said Anthony Barbieri-Low, an associate professor of history at UCSB. “They are as important as the Dead Sea Scrolls.”

Although the texts were first discovered at the end of 1984, they weren’t published in China until 2001 because the material, including the bamboo scrolls on which they were written, had broken down over time. “It took a while for Chinese scholars to conserve the materials and arrange the texts in proper order,” Barbieri-Low said. It’s taken even longer to get them translated into English.

Initially funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Barbieri-Low, an expert in the social, legal, and economic history of early imperial China, has taken on the task of translating the documents and making them accessible to lay audiences and non-specialists. “They’re too important not to do that,” he said. It is a painstaking process, however, that requires a huge amount of detective work and interpretation. “Part of the reason for that is the fragmentary condition of the texts,” he continued. “Another part is the language itself. It is succinct, but also very loaded. Each word has to be dissected to understand what it means in the legal context.”

Barbieri-Low is currently in the final stages of preparing a book manuscript, co-written with Robin D.S. Yates of McGill University. Forthcoming from the University Washington Press, the book will contain an annotated translation of both legal texts and an introduction to the legal process in ancient China.

According to Barbieri-Low, the two legal texts probably represent approximately 30 percent of the laws of ancient China. One of the texts contains a selection of statutes and a set of ordinances of the early Qin and Han empires. The statutes involve a wide range of legal issues, including assault, robbery, counterfeiting, property law, discussions of currency, and composition of judgments, among others.

The other text contains 22 legal cases that range in date from the 5th century B.C. to 196 B.C.“It’s actually case law,” Barbieri-Low said. “We can see how the statutes were applied, and how people argued real cases.” Among them are “The Runaway Indigenous Conscript,” “Stealing and Falsifying a Horse Passport,” “Corrupt Use of Convict Labor,” and “Theft of Grain by an Official.” All told, they provide a wealth of information about law, state, and society in early imperial China, he continued.

The texts discovered in the Hubei Province tomb are just a few of the thousands of texts and documents that have been found in China in the last 25 years, Barbieri-Low noted. “In the late 1990’s or early 2000’s, tens of thousands of administrative documents were found that had been dumped in a well,” he said. “They’re just now being published by the archeologist who preserved them. Hopefully, we can use some of that material for cross-referencing.”

Archeology as a state enterprise has been ongoing in China for 80 years. “Archeology is a state-mandated effort through universities and archaeological institutes,” Barbieri-Low explained. Many of the most valuable findings have been made in recent years, he added, because of the country’s economic growth and construction boom.

For scholars who place supreme importance on the written word, the texts are particularly valuable, he continued. “They are considered one of the holy grails.”

 

Parris Island officials, historical groups celebrate Ribaut landing

From Island Packet:  Parris Island officials, historical groups celebrate Ribaut landing

After nearly 20 years, archeologist Stanley South still remembers the response Marine Corps officials gave him when he first asked about trying to unearth the remains of Charlesfort, a Huguenot fort built on Parris Island in 1562 by Jean Ribaut and his men.

"He said, 'I suppose that we can let you ground moles do your thing,'" South said. "That began the great relationship we had with the Marine Corps. The more we found, the more supportive they became. In 1996, our crew of ground moles found Charlesfort."

South, an archeologist at the S.C. Institute of Archeology and Anthropology, joined Marine Corps officials and members of various state and local historical groups near the site Friday for an invitation-only ceremony honoring the 450th anniversary of Ribaut's landing and the establishment of Charlesfort, the first official European settlement in the United States.

Seated in front of a 15-foot stone monument erected in 1926 to commemorate the landing and Charlesfort, dignitaries spoke about the importance of the colony in regional and national history.
"We have to remember that America's oldest city, St. Augustine, Fla., never would have been established had it not been for Jean Ribaut's arrival in 1562," said Larry Rowland, history professor emeritus at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. "The establishment of Charlesfort was seen as a mortal threat to the Spanish empire in America."

Pascal Le Deunff, the consul general of France in Atlanta, attended the ceremony and said Ribaut's landing was the beginning of what would be a centuries-long bond between the U.S. and France.

"The U.S. and France owe each other their own existence as free countries," Le Deunff said. "We have long stood shoulder-to-shoulder and fought together to promote the values of freedom and democracy."

Having called Parris Island home for more than 100 years, Marines take great pride in caring for and preserving the site, said Brig. Gen. Lori Reynolds, commanding general of Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island.
"As long as the Marine Corps has known this is hallowed ground, we've sought to be good stewards of this historical site," Reynolds said. "As Marines, we have a deep sense of history and a deep sense of tradition, and having this site on the depot fits right into our ethos as a Corps."

The ceremony concluded with the unveiling of a poster highlighting the history of the Charlesfort site for the Marine Corps National Historic Landmark series, "Defending Our Cultural Heritage." The site on Parris Island is one of four national historic sites on Corps-owned property, officials said.

The other three are Marine Barracks Washington, D.C.; the Las Flores Adobe at Camp Pendleton, Calif.; and Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii.

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/05/25/2081725/parris-island-officials-historical.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/05/25/2081725/parris-island-officials-historical.html#storylink=cpy

 

DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum announces works by Jedediah Caesar as part of PLATFORM series

More Information: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=55629[/url]
Copyright © artdaily.org

DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum announces works by Jedediah Caesar as part of PLATFORM series

More Information: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=55629[/url]
Copyright © artdaily.org

DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum announces works by Jedediah Caesar as part of PLATFORM series

More Information: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=55629[/url]
Copyright © artdaily.org

 

Cracks on a historical highway

From the Indian Express: Cracks on a historical highway
Having traced the Agra-Lahore Mughal Highway and studied its architectural remains, Dr Subhash Parihar, Associate Professor, Centre of Museology, Archeology and Conservation, Central University, Bathinda, is unhappy over the government’s lack of interest in preserving this heritage.

Punjab’s lone expert in this field who first traced this entire 700-km route way back in 1979 as a part of his doctoral thesis, Parihar says he has lost count of the number of times he has travelled on this stretch to record what is left of the sarais (resting places for travellers), kos minars (milestones set up at each kos which measures to four kilometres), baolis (stepwells) and bridges built by the Mughals. His most recent trip was last year. Parihar has compiled his recordings in a collection called Land Transport in Muhgal India: Agra-Lahore Mughal Highway and its Architectural Remains. He has six books to his credit, including the soon-to-be-released Architecture of Punjab.

The Mughal route, more popularly known as the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) or National Highway I, says Parihar, was not built by Sher Shah Suri. “This road was referred to as ‘Uttar Path’ during the times of Kautilya. Travellers and invaders have been using this route much before Sher Shah Suri. Moreover, the concept of using bricks to construct the structures came in during the rule of Jahangir. Even Akbar did not construct brick structures along the highway. The original route begins from Agra and goes through Mathura, Faridabad, Delhi, Sonepat, Panipat, Karnal, Dhanesar and Ambala, entering Punjab at Shambhu. It then heads to Rajpura, Khanna, Ludhiana, Phillaur, Noormahal, Sultanpur Lodhi, Tarn Taran, Raja Tal and then, after travelling for some 24 kilometres, it ends at Lahore in Pakistan,” says Parihar.

What is left of the once rich heritage are sarais at Azmabad, Mathura (the army owns this sarai), Kosi, Chatha, Badarpur outside Delhi, Taraori, Thanesar, Shambhu (an intact sarai), Rajpura, Sarai Banaja (only a gate is left), Sarai Lashkar Khan and a sarai at Doraha, which became popular after Aamir Khan’s Rang De Basanti. Then there is a sarai at Phillaur, which is now a part of the Punjab Police Academy, one at Noormahal, village Mallian Kalan, Sultanpur Lodhi, Fatehabad (only one gate left), village Nurdi (only one gate left) and Sarai Amanat Khan.

“But we have close to 100 kos minars intact which can and should be preserved. Some of these kos minars are under the Archeological Survey of India and some under the state government. There are some like the one at the bus stand of Sultanpur Lodhi, which is falling apart and has become a garbage dump for residents. The government can pitch in to save what is left of our sarais and kos minars,” says Parihar.

“We need to protect our heritage . It is an integral part of our history. These structures tell us how buildings have changed over time. These structures also hold a great meaning in local history. I have seen mosques and old buildings where people who occupy them now have either painted them or torn down the old structure without realising its heritage value. The sarai at Doraha had some very beautiful inscriptions done in marble and even murals, but they are no longer there. Had some agency stepped in at the right time, we could have saved all this for our future generations to see. The land prices in Punjab have gone up so much that anyone who can, tries to grab whatever land is available and this becomes easy when there is no one checking them,” says Parihar.

He sounds a note of caution. “Old havelis, mosques, sarais and similar other structures built during the Mughal times are fast disappearing. Punjab needs to be more aware of this, especially since it doesn’t have too many heritage buildings or structures. This is all we have left,” says Parihar.

Engineers, doctors taking up archeology!

From IBN Live (India): Engineers, doctors taking up archeology!

HYDERABAD: Osmania University may be in the news often for all the wrong reasons. But there’s a brighter side to it and a few little known and surprising facets too. Its archeology department is a case in point. Contrary to popular perception, archeology seems fairly popular among youngsters. Otherwise, how else could one explain the fact that up to a dozen doctors and engineers had obtained doctorates, no less, for their research in different aspects of archeology from the university?

The reasons for their interest in archeology vary from job opportunities to sheer passion. Head of the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archeology at OU, Dr Om Prakash Pillai explains, “we have a lot students from different streams like medicine and engineering eager to study the courses we offer. About four to five doctors and over a dozen engineers have done their Ph.Ds here. Students from neighbouring countries like China and Iran are also interested in archeology and are pursuing courses here.”

Prof Pillai himself has done a research project on cultural tourism in the city and Ph.D scholars under him are doing field work on the conservation of the Qutb Shahi Tombs and other monuments in the city. Besides, the students are also involved in preserving antiques in state museums.

Prof NH Giridhar, one of the faculty members, is currently doing a project ‘Footprints from the past’ - an archeological, historical and cultural survey on monuments hitherto uncovered. According to Prof Pillai, the department offers courses in archival science, manuscriptology and museology which any graduate can pursue. Many students, who have taken these courses, are now working in museums across the state. One of the reasons for students’ interest in archeology is that the subjects taught put them in good stead when it comes to civil services exam.

A Ph.D scholar E Nagamani says, “my research topic is Shivism and I am studying how the Shiva cult had prevailed in the state. I am looking forward to field trips.”

Another Ph.D scholar S Madhuri is researching Ajantha paintings. She says, “I am given access to virgin fresco replicas of Ajantha paintings in the state archeological museum.” The department has 10 students who have cleared the national eligibility test and obtained the Rajiv Gandhi scholarships. “We have over 700 students writing different entrance exams for the courses in the department,” says Prof Pillai.

I crave your indulgence

My mother's sister is visiting for three days.


My mom's deaf as a post, my dad can't be bothered to get out of his chair, so I will be doing the entertaining - the chauffeuring and the talking and the communicating - for the next three days.


So I'll be posting back here Thursday.


Thanks for your patience.

Earliest wall art is found in France

From Google News: Earliest wall art is found in France
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WASHINGTON — A massive block of limestone in France contains what scientists believe are the earliest known engravings of wall art dating back some 37,000 years, according to a study published Monday.
The 1.5 metric ton ceiling piece was first discovered in 2007 at Abri Castanet, a well known archeological site in southwestern France which holds some of the earliest forms of artwork, beads and pierced shells.

According to New York University anthropology professor Randall White, lead author of the paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the art was likely meant to adorn the interior of a shelter for reindeer hunters.

"They decorated the places where they were living, where they were doing all their daily activities," White told AFP.

"There is a whole question about how and why, and why here in this place at this particular time you begin to see people spending so much time and energy and imagination on the graphics."

The images range from paintings of horses to "vulvar imagery" that appears to represent female sex organs, carved into the low ceiling that rose between 1.5 to two meters (yards) from the floor, within reach of the hunters.

The work is less sophisticated than the elaborate paintings of animals found in France's Grotte Chauvet, which was more remote and difficult to access, believed to be between 30,000 and 36,000 years old.
In contrast, the engravings and paintings at Castanet, which carbon dating showed were about 37,000 years old, are rougher and more primitive in style, and were likely done by everyday people.

"This art appears to be slightly older than the famous paintings from the Grotte Chauvet in southeastern France," said White, referring to the cave paintings discovered in 1994.

"But unlike the Chauvet paintings and engravings, which are deep underground and away from living areas, the engravings and paintings at Castanet are directly associated with everyday life, given their proximity to tools, fireplaces, bone and antler tool production, and ornament workshops."

However, even though the artwork is vastly different, archeologists believe the artists came from the same Aurignacian culture which comprised the first modern humans in Europe, replacing the Neanderthals. They lived from 40,000 years ago until about 28,000 years ago.

"Early Aurignacian humans functioned, more or less, like humans today," said White.
"They had relatively complex social identities communicated through personal ornamentation, and they practiced sculpture and graphic arts."

Co-authors on the paper came from leading archeology labs and universities in France and Britain.
In a separate study published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, French scientists described the paintings at Chauvet as "the oldest and most elaborate ever discovered."

Those finding were based on an analysis -- called geomorphological and chlorine-36 dating -- of the rock slide surfaces around what is believed to be the cave's only entrance.

Foreign scholars make suggestions to Chinese archeology

From English People daily: Foreign scholars make suggestions to Chinese archeology

On the afternoon of April 28, many top archeologists from different countries shared their views on Chinese archeology at a high level "Symposium on Chinese Archeology and the World Archeology" at Peking University Centennial Auditorium to warmly celebrate the 90th anniversary of the School of Archeology and Museology.

The School of Archeology and Museology under the Peking University is 90 years old in 2012 since the founding of the Archaeology Laboratory in 1922. As the cradle of Chinese archeology, Peking University not only has cultivated more than 2,000 talents of archeology and museology for China but also has been leading the Chinese archeological theory and practice.

Jessica Rawson

The traditional cooking promoted and improved the technology of Chinese bronzes and metal fabrication, making China ahead of the world in terms of this kind of technology and cooking arts.

Ofer bar Yosef

An important problem for the Paleolithic research of the future China is whether China can find Neanderthal fossils.

Stephen Shennan

He suggested that the Chinese archeology should pay more attention to the demographic study.

Lothar von Falkenhausen

He hoped that the field of Chinese archeology can appropriately cooperate with more foreign scholars to let Chinese archeology as an important part of world archeology.

Jessica Rawson, vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, gave a speech on "Early China and Its Innovative Technologies." Her research covers all areas of Chinese art archeology. Rawson compared the food processing tradition of China with that of the West Asia and said that the traditional cooking of the West Asia and China deeply affected the cultural development with each other. Chinese potteries are mainly used as cook meals, which reflected the cooking tradition in early China. The emergence of high-temperature ceramics in the Shang and Zhou dynasties shows that China had mastered the high temperature control technology, which brought rapid development of the bronze ware and iron ware in early China and formed the metallurgy different from the West Asia. The difference indicated the different rituals and beliefs between China and the West Asia. The traditional cooking of China promoted and improved the technology of Chinese bronzes and metal fabrication, making China ahead of the world in terms of this kind of technology and cooking arts.

Ofer bar Yosef from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, made a more forward-looking speech called "Chinese Paleolithic and Early Neolithic in the Next 20 Years." In his view, an important problem for the Paleolithic research of the future China is that whether China can find Neanderthal fossils. Another important issue is the impacts of people's lives and behaviors brought by the origin of agriculture and after the agriculture revolution. In the next 20 years of archeological activities, Chinese archeologists need to find more details about the transition period from Paleolithic age to Neolithic age and make a breakthrough in the issue of the origin of agriculture by making use of multi-disciplinary research. The agriculture and the economic life may be the bridge to understand the transition from the Paleolithic age to the Neolithic age.

Stephen Shennan, director of the Institute of Archaeology of the University College London and a theoretical archeology professor, stressed in his report that the study of cultural history should be regarded as a sport, finding the laws of the sport and making a quantitative analysis to it. For example, the cultural variation is similar to the biological variation and the inheritance and variation mechanism are both natural selection and human selection. Therefore, the cultural heritage is related with the positive selection. He believes that the analysis method of Su Bingqi, a Chinese archeologist, can separate different cultural elements including emblazonry and shape of wares and the types in different areas. This method has a profound influence on understanding the origin of Chinese civilization.

Different from other archeologists, Stephen Shennan specializes in statistics. He suggested that the Chinese archeology should pay more attention to the demographic study.

"Viewing the Current Chinese Archeology from the International Position" is a speech made by Lothar von Falkenhausen, a professor of the Institute of Archaeology and the Department of Art History of the University of California, Los Angeles. He highly valued his study in the School of Archeology under the Peking University in the 1980s and was impressed with the lessons by Zou Heng and Yu Weichao. Falkenhausen who can speak in English, Chinese, Japanese and German told the transition of Chinese archeology in the West from an unpopular research to a research obsessed by many Western scholars.

He also told the development of Chinese Archeology from traditional epigraphy to modern archeology. He said that the world archeology has undergone several normal transformation but these new ideas and methods are not widely used in China.

Falkenhausen hoped that more Chinese scholars can participate in archeological research abroad and Chinese archeologists can appropriately cooperate with more foreign scholars to make Chinese archeology as an important part of world archeology.  

FL: Discover endangered animals, native plants in preserves tucked in South Florida neighborhoods

From Sun-Sentinel: Discover endangered animals, native plants in preserves tucked in South Florida neighborhoods
Get a glimpse into Florida's past — before the people, subdivisions, condo canyons and air-conditioned shopping malls wiped them out.

Just off bustling Oakland Park Boulevard, explore an ancient beach dune where endangered gopher tortoises burrow and roam the white sugar sand. Pluck delicious wild huckleberries off a bush as native Zebra Longwings flutter about.

These and other treasures are quietly waiting to be discovered inside preserves and forests hiding in neighborhoods in Oakland Park, Boca Raton, Coral Springs and other South Florida cities.

Lakeside Sand Pine Preserve in Oakland Park has 5.4 acres of white, sugar sand with flowering native plants and burrowing tortoises and other wildlife. The park is west of Interstate 95, just a block off the busy road.

"Most of these [lands] were destroyed through development," say Charles Livio, horticulturist for the City of Oakland Park.

"Forty thousand years ago, this was a coastal sand dune," he says, pointing to the snowy sand carpeting the rare scrubland. "What's unique about this preserve is its soil. It's acidic. Most soil in South Florida is alkaline. Acidic soil supports special native plants, like huckleberry, wild muscadine grape, staggerbush and fetterbush. This sand pine scrub is rare because these were the first lands developed in Florida during the building boom."

Native trees and shrubs include South Florida Slash and Sand Pines, Silver and Green Saw Palmetto, Sand Live Oaks and Myrtle Oaks. The preserve is bordered by two fresh-water lakes, surrounded by businesses and homes.

Back on the trail, Livio points out black and yellow Zebra Longwings, which are the state butterfly, and White Peacock butterflies feeding on the nectar of a beautyberry flower.

Farther down the trail is a rare colony of Reindeer moss. "Those are tiny, primitive lichen that were used by Native Americas to thicken soups and stews," Livio says. "They absorb pollutants from the air like a sponge. They are uncommon to South Florida."

The park, which the city acquired in 2001 through a grant from the Florida Communities Trust overseen by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, is teeming with native fauna favored by burrowing gopher tortoises.

In December, the city adopted and released four of the endangered reptiles, the first in the state to do so under the Waif Tortoise Permit Adoption Program, according to city documents.

"The tortoises are our VIPs," Livio says. "They feast on gopher apple and flowering prickly pear cactus, which grows here in abundance. They only live in this type of habitat, which is hard to find."

Blazing Star
Until you arrive at the Blazing Star Preserve in Boca Raton, that is. Many of the same native plants and a colony of 25 or so tortoises can be found roaming free there, too. The preserve is one of seven in the city.

"Blazing Star is special because you can see how Florida was in the past. It's a little oasis in the middle of the city that's untouched by time," says Dawn Sinka, Boca Raton's horticulturist and arborist.

She says the 24-acre preserve was most likely a part of the same ancient sand dune found in Oakland Park. The land was acquired in 1997 through the Florida Communities Trust, she said.

"If you were standing at Blazing Star tens of thousands of years ago, you would have been looking at the ocean." Today, the view is I-95.

The preserve was named for the purple flowering plant that grows all over the open sunny areas in the park's sugar sand. They flower from September to October, she said.

Bordered by Sugar Sand Park to the west and noisy I-95 to the east, the preserve has 2 acres of wetland at its northeast end. The inaccessible 29-acre Cypress Knee Slough is to the south. The two were once connected before Palmetto Park Road separated them.

"It's special because you can see things that you can't see a quarter mile away. If you just open your eyes and look at them, they're just amazing and beautiful and rare. That makes it worth the trip to see it," Sinka says.

"Did you see the tortoise?" asks Nicolo Atria, pointing out the reptile basking just outside its underground nest. "I wonder how old he is."

Atria, who lives nearby, says he comes to the preserve twice a month. "I like the native trees. I visit botanical gardens and this is right in my own backyard."

Sandy Ridge
Head west to Sandy Ridge Sanctuary in Coral Springs and walk through a grove of more than 2,000 South Florida Slash Pines shading native plants and more than 30 gopher tortoises.

"It's [about] 40 acres of environmentally sensitive land right in the middle of the city," says Mark Westfall, Coral Springs' environmental coordinator.

The park, purchased by the city in 1996 through a bond program, is only open for guided tours on the first and third Saturdays of the month or by appointment. As you enter through locked gates, sweeping stands of native bracken ferns flank the paved trail. Blooming cardinal bromeliads blaze red and yellow high up in the Slash Pines.

"The lake at Sandy Ridge is one of the most beautiful places in the city. It's filled with fragrant water lily and 2,000 fish," Westfall said. Across the path, there's a stunning bald cypress standing sentry in the wetland. A wax myrtle grows nearby.

"The waxy cuticle of this fragrant plant was used by pioneers to make scented candles," Westfall explains as he cracks open a leaf. "It's special. It's intact habitat that's never been developed."

Lakeside Sand Pine Preserve
2820 NW 27th Ave., Oakland Park
954-630-4500; OaklandParkFl.org
Hours: 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Saturday; closed Sunday and holidays

Blazing Star Preserve
1751 W. Camino Real Road, Boca Raton
561-393-7810, CI.Boca-Raton.fl.us/rec/parks
Hours: 8 a.m. to sunset daily

Sandy Ridge Sanctuary
8501 NW 40th St., Coral Springs
954-345-2112, CoralSprings.org
Hours: Tours 9 a.m. on first and third Saturdays each month or by appointment only

Provo, Utah: Museum of Peoples and Cultures annual block party displays artifacts

From the Universe: Museum of Peoples and Cultures annual block party displays artifacts
You don’t have to be Indiana Jones and travel to Egypt to be an archeologist, which is what the Museum of Peoples and Cultures wants the public to learn through its annual block party this weekend.

This free event will feature demonstrations and artifacts from the Provo Tabernacle excavation, proving archeology happens the world over.

“We want to teach people that archeology and history is everywhere,” said Kari Nelson, Curator of Education for the museum. “People lived right here in Utah and we can learn about their lives through what they left behind.”

The party, in celebration of Utah Archeology Week, will feature booths with hands-on activities for the whole family as well as demonstrations. Visitors can also enjoy a performance of various Native American dances by the family and performing group Morningstar.

“I loved watching Morningstar last year,” said Amy Warner, a volunteer docent at the museum. “It is amazing what they can do. Even the little kids in the family are out there hoop dancing.”

The party will be Saturday, May 12th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 700 N 100 E in Provo. Go here for a full list of activities and demonstrations.

Oxford University team conducts archeological and climate studies in Saudi Arabia

From Al-Arabiya: Oxford University team conducts archeological and climate studies in Saudi Arabia
There is an ancient network of rivers and lakes in the Great Nafud Desert in northern Saudi Arabia, Professor Michael Petraglia, co-director of the Center for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture at Oxford University and head of an international scientific team conducting archeological studies in the kingdom said.

“The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) has granted a five-year permission to Oxford University to conduct archeological research and we started with the Jubba Oasis in the Nafud,” he told al-Eqtisadiah newspaper.

In Jubba, Petraglia explained, the team found the remains of an old lake that they found out dates back to the Paleolithic Age.

“We also found several buried archeological sites that date back to the Middle Paleolithic Age, around 75,000 years ago.”

For Petraglia, fishermen and harvesters most probably lived around this lake which was also surrounded by trees and grassland at that fertile time.”

Pictures taken by NASA and Google Earth showed that similar lakes and rivers dating back to the same era existed and that the areas around them were populated.

“Immigrations at the time were linked to water resources and future studies will reveal how densely populated those areas were.”

According to Petraglia, the climate in this area has undergone a lot of changes and has always ranged between the extremes of fertility and aridity.

“These climate changes continued in the past 100,000 years.”

Petraglia, who is studying with his team the past million years of human life, said that one of the most ancient archeological sites they found was in the Dawadmi area in Central Saudi Arabia and Wadi Fatma in the west.

“All those sites are extremely important in getting to know more about the history of humanity and Saudi Arabia has a lot of them. The kingdom is very rich as far as history and archeology are concerned.”

St Augustine, FL: Archaeology month celebrated at CPS

From St. Augustine.com: Archaeology month celebrated at CPS
Cathedral Parish School staged a Florida Archaeology Month celebration last month with a presentation by researcher Kathleen Deagan who presented “Archaeology in St. Augustine with a special emphasis on the Nombre de Dios Mission and Our Lady of Le Leche Shrine.”

The speaker was also be recognized by CPS principal Todd DeClemente, for her contribution to education in St. Augustine. Members of the School’s Archaeology Club gave Deagan tour of the school’s own “archaeological museum,” featuring historical artifacts found on site during campus excavations over the years.

The CPS Archeology Club was founded by students in 2010. In 2008 Cathedral Parish School was planning to build additional classrooms. As city code requires a professional exploratory dig and catalog of finds before building downtown, city archaeologist Carl Halbirt and his volunteers dug up hundreds of early Spanish shards and other artifacts, including gold. This excavation attracted the attention of not only the press, but CPS students as well. Current fifth grader Raphael Cosme Jr. had a good idea of what was beneath the school. Other students joined him in the recovery of historical shards from beneath the playground surface collecting more than 400 pieces in two years time, resulting in a small museum being established in the school’s library. The artifacts were classified by Raphael Jr.’s father Raphael Cosme using Deagan’s books and the digital collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Students of CPS believe they have the first archaeological school museum in St. Johns County. CPS parents Raphael and Perla Cosme have been working with DeClemente, CPS librarian Kate Poage, and the rest of the faculty to introduce students to the role of archeology in the community.

Special thanks to the Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park, St Augustine Historical Tours and Signs Now, for their support to this event.

Hands-On Activities Teach Kids About Archeology

From NBC Montana: Hands-On Activities Teach Kids About Archeology
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Kids in Bozeman got a chance to get their hands on real artifacts at the Museum of the Rockies' annual Junior Archeology day.

Organizers say it's a fun event that offers hands-on activities that showcase archeology in Montana and other cultures around the world.

They say it's important to be able to teach kids and adults alike the importance of archeology and preserving archeological sites.

Coordinator Crystal Alegria says artifacts are a good way to learn about the pre-history of Montana.

"The artifacts tell a lot of stories and they tell the story of how people lived here in the landscape in Montana many, many years ago so, this is a good way to do it and kids have a lot of fun and they learn a lot at the same time," says Alegria.

The event is just one way the museum of the rockies celebrates "Archeology Month".

Civil War shipwreck in the way of Ga. port project

From Yahoo News: Civil War shipwreck in the way of Ga. port project SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Before government engineers can deepen one of the nation's busiest seaports to accommodate future trade, they first need to remove a $14 million obstacle from the past — a Confederate warship rotting on the Savannah River bottom for nearly 150 years.

Confederate troops scuttled the ironclad CSS Georgia to prevent its capture by Gen. William T. Sherman when his Union troops took Savannah in December 1864. It's been on the river bottom ever since.

Now, the Civil War shipwreck sits in the way of a government agency's $653 million plan to deepen the waterway that links the nation's fourth-busiest container port to the Atlantic Ocean. The ship's remains are considered so historically significant that dredging the river is prohibited within 50 feet of the wreckage.

So the Army Corps of Engineers plans to raise and preserve what's left of the CSS Georgia. The agency's final report on the project last month estimated the cost to taxpayers at $14 million. The work could start next year on what's sure to be a painstaking effort.

And leaving the shipwreck in place is not an option: Officials say the harbor must be deepened to accommodate supersize cargo ships coming through an expanded Panama Canal in 2014 — ships that will bring valuable revenue to the state and would otherwise go to other ports.

Underwater surveys show two large chunks of the ship's iron-armored siding have survived, the largest being 68 feet long and 24 feet tall. Raising them intact will be a priority. Researchers also spotted three cannons on the riverbed, an intact propeller and other pieces of the warship's steam engines. And there's smaller debris scattered across the site that could yield unexpected treasures, requiring careful sifting beneath 40 feet of water.

"We don't really have an idea of what's in the debris field," said Julie Morgan, a government archaeologist with the Army Corps. "There could be some personal items. People left the ship in a big hurry. Who's to say what was on board when the Georgia went down."

Also likely to slow the job: finding and gently removing cannonballs and other explosive projectiles that, according to Army Corps experts, could still potentially detonate.

That's a massive effort for a warship that went down in Civil War history as an ironclad flop.

The Civil War ushered in the era of armored warships. In Savannah, a Ladies Gunboat Association raised $115,000 to build such a ship to protect the city. The 120-foot-long CSS Georgia had armor forged from railroad iron, but its engines proved too weak to propel the ship's 1,200-ton frame against river currents. The ship was anchored on the riverside at Fort Jackson as a floating gun battery.

Ultimately the Georgia was scuttled by its own crew without having ever fired a shot in combat.

"I would say it was an utter failure," said Ken Johnston, executive director of the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Ga., who says the shipwreck nonetheless has great historical value. "It has very clearly become a symbol for why things went wrong for the Confederate naval effort."

As a homespun war machine assembled by workers who likely had never built a ship before, the CSS Georgia represents the South's lack of an industrial base, Johnston said. The North, by contrast, was teeming with both factories and laborers skilled at shipbuilding. They churned out a superior naval fleet that enabled the Union to successfully cut off waterways used to supply Confederate forces.

Despite its functional failures, the shipwreck's historical significance was cemented in 1987 when it won a place on the National Register of Historic Places, the official listing of treasured sites and buildings from America's past. That gave the Georgia a measure of protection — dredging near the shipwreck was prohibited.

Still, a great deal of damage had already been done. The last detailed survey of the ship in 2003 found it in pieces and its hull apparently disintegrated. Erosion had taken a large toll, and telltale marks showed dredging machinery had already chewed into the wreckage.

Salvaging the remains will likely move slowly.

Divers will need to divide the site into a grid to search for artifacts and record the locations of what they find. The large sections or armored siding will likely need to be cradled gently by a web of metal beams to raise them to the surface intact, said Gordon Watts, an underwater archaeologist who helped lead the 2003 survey of the shipwreck.

The Army Corps' report also notes special care will be needed find and dispose of any cannonballs and other explosive projectiles remaining on the riverbed.

"If there is black powder that's 150 years old, and if it is dry, then the stability of it has deteriorated," Watts said. "You'd want to be as careful as humanly possible in recovering the stuff."

Once the remains of the Georgia are removed from the river and preserved by experts, the Army Corps will have to decide who gets the spoils. Morgan said ultimately the plan is to put the warship's artifacts on public display. But which museum or agency will get custody of them has yet to be determined.

Right now the Confederate shipwreck legally belongs to the U.S. Navy. More than 150 years after the Civil War began, the CSS Georgia is still officially classified as a captured enemy vessel.