Archaeology Actually

To round off my last post I gave a link to a pretty cool bit of research that was using X-Ray technology to read writing on carbonised scrolls from the Roman town of Herculaneum. Herculaneum, and the better known town of Pompeii, are extraordinary examples of archaeological site preservation - on August 24, AD 79 the eruption of nearby Mt Vesuvius, near the Bay of Naples in Italy, resulted in the burial of these towns, which lay largely preserved by a layer of ash and volcanic pumice for several centuries. The specific date, by the way, is thanks to a written down eyewitness account of the eruption by Pliny the Younger. Pompeii, one of the most frequently visited archaeological sites in the world, is the most extensive excavation of an urban site that has ever been undertaken (Alcock & Cherry 2009). Pompeii, with Mt Vesuvius in the background.  Image sourced here . There have been some absolutely remarkable archaeological finds at these sites - as well as the carbon...

The Amphipolis Tomb In my last post I reported that the results of the analysis of the bones from the tomb at Amphipolis, Greece had been announced. This, predictably, has led to a tidal wave of speculation about the identities of the five individuals. Speculation on this topic will continue for some time, and perhaps there will never be definitive answers. Alas, that is the nature of the beast. I think the following quote sums things up quite nicely actually: "Archaeology is like a jigsaw puzzle, except that you can't cheat and look at the box, and not all the pieces are there." More here . Applying Archaeology to Today's World: Part 2 A couple of posts back I started looking at how the findings of archaeological research might be applied to understanding contemporary issues and problems. Here is another relevant example: a review of an interesting looking book written by Eric H. Cline , a Professor of Classics and Archaeology at The George Washington Un...

The results of the analysis of the bones from the tomb at Amphipolis, Greece, widely regarded as one of the top archaeological discoveries of 2014 , have been announced overnight (NZ time): The bones appear to belong to 5 different people : The persons, whose bones were found inside the Amphipolis Tomb, after the research that was presented today: - One woman, over 60 years old - One man around 35 years old - One man around 45 years old  - One infant (sex not determinable) - One adult (man or woman), cremated For coverage on the BBC News website go here .