Robert J. Braidwood: More Than Just One Man
One cannot study prehistoric archaeology without encountering the name Robert J. Braidwood. An innovator of archaeological method and inquiry, Braidwood pioneered new ways of investigating the prehistoric past. He found an interest in that unique period of human history that marks a transition from hunting and gathering into food production through agriculture (Redman 1978; Harms [...]
A Decade of Pseudoarchaeology
Here are six pseudoarchaeological topics that I encountered on the internet since the beginning of the millennium. I think most of them I dealt with on this blog, others I probably encountered on various internet forums that I used to hang out on. These days, by the way, I usually stick to just The Science [...]
Call for Submissions
Tomorrow is the day for the Four Stone Hearth: My birthday edition!
That’s right, I pass another annual milestone and will celebrate by sharing some wonderful anthropology writing around the net. If you have a blog post of interest to the anthropology (archaeology, ethnology, linguistics, physical anthropology / bioarchaeology) then shoot me the link. If you [...]
Artificial Cranial Modification: Head Shaping
Image via Wikipedia
In addition to cranial surgery, another artificial modification of the human skull present in the archaeological record, which is perhaps better known, is skull shaping. Like trephination, this practice of modifying the shape of the human skull is present on every inhabited continent and at various periods in human history and prehistory[1]. It [...]
Artificial Cranial Modification: Trephination
Image by Luciana Christante via Flickr
The practice of artificially modifying the human skull has been a part of human culture as far back as 45,000 years BP[1], and it has been shown to occur on every inhabited continent . Two primary forms of artificially modifying the human skull include trephination, the deliberate and surgical creation [...]
How to make casts of bone and stone
In the United States, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 mandates special care and treatment of Native American cultural remains, particularly human remains. The single best discussion on the internet that includes the most sources of clickable information that I’ve found on NAGPRA is on Larry J. Zimmerman’s site[1]. I [...]
Online Comic About Archaeology
If you like comics, the internet, and archaeology, you really must check out this short online comic.
The Secret in the Cellar: A Written in Bone forensic mystery from colonial America.
This webcomic is based on a very real forensic case that was investigated regarding a 17th century male who was probably an indentured servant who met [...]
The ‘Ancient Underwater Ruins’ of Yonaguni, Japan
One of the pseudo-archaeological claims that I see from time to time on the intertubes is the speculation that there are underwater ruins of an ancient civilization off the coast of Yonagumi.
This by itself isn’t such a fantastic claim. There are countless settlements and remnants of civilizations as old as the neolithic and before that [...]
Alien Skulls? Not even close!
If you’ve ever spent any time browsing a UFO forum or website, you’ll eventually run into a link or claim that the ancient Mesoamericans and Incaor worshiped aliens as gods. The “proof” is usually a skull much like the one you see depicted here. And it does look alien! Indeed, this must have completely [...]
Three cool things about archaeologist Larry Zimmerman
1) Archaeology of Homelessness: Zimmerman, along with student Jessica Welch, recently presented the findings of a study they completed which examined the material culture of the homeless.The presentation was at the World Archaeological Congress in Dublin, Ireland. The study was conducted near downtown Indianapolis.
What they found was that they can derive new information about the [...]
