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explorator 7.37 January 9, 2005
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Editor's note: Most urls should be active for at least eight
hours from the time of publication.

For your computer's protection, Explorator is sent in plain text
and NEVER has attachments. Be suspicious of any Explorator which
arrives otherwise!!!
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Thanks to Arthur Shippee, Bill Kennedy, Adrian Murdoch, Dave
Sowdon, Liz Griesman, Francis Deblauwe, Glenn Meyer, Hernan
Astudillo, Greg Kindall, Tony Jackson, Jason McLaren, Mark
Morgan, John McMahon, John Huizinga, Paul James Cowie, Joseph
Lauer, Rochelle Altman, W. Richard Frahm, and Yonatan Nadelman
for headses upses this week (as always hoping I have left no one
out).

Hope folks are enjoying/enjoyed the AIA/APA shindig ...
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AFRICA, EUROPE, AND ASIA
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Mousa Broch (an Iron Age tower) is being thoroughly studied:

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/30794.html

Nice coverage of the excavations at Beit She'arim:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/523071.html

Lots of excitement over the discovery of an apparent Roman
chariot racing track in Colchester:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1426248,00.html
http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh/ART25464.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/4148315.stm
http://tinyurl.com/6erec (EADT)
http://www.chn.ir/english/eshownews.asp?no=4496
http://tinyurl.com/4epfn (Daily Mail)
http://tinyurl.com/4atux (La Tercera ... Spanish)

... and Colchester is again asking for World Heritage Site
status as a result:

http://tinyurl.com/5rnzw (EADT)

... and one scholar had predicted the discovery a few
years ago:

http://tinyurl.com/489d7 (EADT)

The year in archaeology in Bulgaria:

http://www.sofiaecho.com/art.php?id=10575&catid=5

A followup to the sites-in-Iran-threatened-by-dam-
construction story:

http://www.mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=144700

A high status Viking artifact was found in Furness:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/4154729.stm
http://tinyurl.com/5bbrj (Gazette)
http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=167809
http://www.chn.ir/english/eshownews.asp?no=4511

Last week we reported on the 'tomb' of Genghis Khan ... the
article was a bit muddled (it seems), so here's a bit of
clarificatory (is that a word?) background:

http://www.china.org.cn/english/2004/Nov/113251.htm
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THE AMERICAS
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NPR's All Things Considered had an interesting interview all
about the Battle of New Orleans:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4273857

A sort of overviewish piece on archaeological finds from the
Crystal River area, past and present:

http://tinyurl.com/59xo3 (St. Petersburg Times)

Nice piece on the excavations at Chavin:

http://tinyurl.com/7ynph (StanMag)

Followup to the Port Angeles graving yard thing:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0105/p12s01-ussc.html

Was the Amazon rain forest home to complex societies?:

http://tinyurl.com/5fw5g (Boston Globe)
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ALSO OF INTEREST
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A paper (?) on the implications of ancient Mesopotamian
accounting systems:

http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=116691

Archaeologists in Jordan were apparently the target of a foiled
terrorist attack of some sort:

http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews5.htm
http://195.224.230.11/english/?id=12348
http://tinyurl.com/6rljx (LA Times)
http://tinyurl.com/65pdo (Canoe)

A pair of American archaeologists are the latest academics to
be accused of plagiarism:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1277690.htm
http://tinyurl.com/4xsub (AFP via Yahoo)
http://tinyurl.com/6s5yy

A fair bit of coverage of a CT scan of Tut's mummy to see
whether he was murdered

http://tinyurl.com/3wtva (AP via Yahoo)
http://tinyurl.com/4t2rb (CNN)
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/10573359.htm
http://www.indystar.com/articles/8/207310-4168-010.html
http://tinyurl.com/4tnhx (the Age)
http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=17492005
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050103/tut.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6791183/

... and ever-the-showman Zahi Hawass uses the occasion to
perpetuate the 'curse of Tut' thing:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6799098/
http://tinyurl.com/4n743 (Reuters via Arab News)

They're (finally) going to protect Cheops' 'sun boats' from
deterioration:

http://www.sis.gov.eg/online/html11/o111224l.htm

A followup of sorts to that story from a few months ago wherein
the Knights Templar were seeking an apology from the Vatican:

http://tinyurl.com/6yrlz (Guardian)

The Kalevala is the national epic of Finland ... interesting
account of how it was put together:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/arts/music/07scan.html

The stained glass from York Minster's east window is undergoing
restoration:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/4156547.stm

Latest theory on Oetzi's demise:

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050103/oetzi.html

2005 is the Year of Language:

http://www.kuow.org/defaultProgram.asp?ID=8224

Pondering whether our enthusiasm for historical epics is
waning:

http://tinyurl.com/4tabj (Guardian)

Nice feature on Matthew Bogdanos:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/267598p-229219c.html

Some news coverage of the AIA meeting:

http://tinyurl.com/56ogm (Daily News)

Interesting item in the Independent about renewed interest in
public lectures:

http://tinyurl.com/4nat7

A touristy thing on the Amalfi coast, with some interesting
comments from John Steinbeck:

http://tinyurl.com/6bj7u (Telegraph)

... and one on Alexandria:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/travel/10580905.htm

Coverage of the American Historical Association Meeting:

http://hnn.us/articles/9466.html

A recently-discovered portrait of Mozart sheds some light on
the physical effects of his lifestyle:

http://tinyurl.com/6omps (Telegraph)

The decline and fall of the femme fatale:

http://www.spectator.co.uk/article.php?id=5514&issue=2005-01-08

Coral dating:

http://tinyurl.com/46bf5 (Advertiser)
http://tinyurl.com/65wuw (SciAm)

... oh yeah ... they're still saying they're going to return
the Aksum obelisk soon:

http://tinyurl.com/4gjw2 (Guardian)

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MAGAZINES AND JOURNALS
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New Zealand Archaeology News:

http://www.nzarchaeology.org/netsubnews.htm
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ON THE WEB
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New items at Abzu:

http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/DEPT/RA/ABZU/AbzuNew12.2004.html

Step pyramid in China:

http://myhome.shinbiro.com/~kbyon/pyramid/zangkun.htm
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NEW ONLINE BOOKS
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Mommsen, *History of Rome*:

http://tinyurl.com/5sprk
http://tinyurl.com/6ovnl
http://tinyurl.com/5lg3s
http://tinyurl.com/632zc
http://tinyurl.com/6w8ed

Samuel Noah Kramer, *Sumerian Mythology*:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/sum/index.htm
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ON THE ARCHAEOLOGY CHANNEL
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The New Echota Traditional Cultural Properties Study:

http://www.archaeologychannel.org/
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CRIME BEAT
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A couple of years ago we covered the story of the arrest of a
'waiter' who was responsible for a pile of major art thefts; his
trial is about to begin:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/arts/07arts.html (scroll down)

Some followups to the James Ossuary charges (all different in
focus):

http://tinyurl.com/7y8oy (Telegraph)
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/050103/w010356.html
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/living/religion/10588752.htm
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=19843
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4249983

An opinion piece written in the wake of the Oded Golan et al.
indictment:

http://tinyurl.com/7x27p (News Observer)

... and it might be interesting to think about the Piltdown
Man thing at this time too:

http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=115705
http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=115710 (book review)

And as long as we're talking about fakes/hoaxes, that crystal
skull in the British Museum has been declared to be a 'fake':

http://tinyurl.com/6tbwr (Independent)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=9005853
http://tinyurl.com/49lhm (Evening Standard)
http://tinyurl.com/66ewf
http://tinyurl.com/6o7oc (Guardian)

... and I can't help thinking whether this is the U.S.
equivalent of the James Ossuary:

http://tinyurl.com/4r3x7 (Reuters via Yahoo)

The looting of Iraq continues (these are different):

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-01-06-voa5.cfm
http://tinyurl.com/5w58n (Boston Globe)

Some Iranian artifacts confiscated in London are to be returned:

http://www.payvand.com/news/05/jan/1059.html

A couple of idiots apparently tagged some ruins at Cuzco:

http://tinyurl.com/5svva (La Tercera ... Spanish)
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BOOK REVIEWS
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Ingrid Rowland, *The Scarith of Scornello: A Tale of Renaissance
Forger*:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/05/books/05grim.html

C.A. Tripp, *The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln*:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/books/review/09BROOKHE.html

Four biographies of Alexander:

http://tinyurl.com/6q5me (Guardian)

Umberto Eco, *On Literature*:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2102-1426734,00.html

Avraham Grossman and Jonathan Chipman, *Pious and Rebellious:
Jewish Women in Medieval Europe*:

http://tinyurl.com/6etae (JPost)

Elisheva Baumgarten, *Mothers and Children: Jewish Family Life
in Medieval Europe*:

http://tinyurl.com/3mnaf (JPost)
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PERFORMANCES
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Canterbury Tales:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4274913
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/arts/television/07heff.html
(scroll down)

Lysistrata:

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/724/cu4.htm
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DON'T EAT THAT ELMER (A.K.A. CVM GRANO SALIS)
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EXHIBITIONS, AUCTIONS, AND MUSEUM-RELATED
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Arnaud Bourdier de Beauregard:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/arts/design/07anti.html

James Gillray:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/arts/design/07john.htm

Surfaces (African Art):

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/08/arts/design/08cott.html

Castellanis:

http://tinyurl.com/722yt

Upcoming auctions of Old Masters:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/arts/design/07voge.html

Interesting Op-Ed piece on the role of museums:

http://tinyurl.com/4o472 (Providence Journal)

Trying to keep David from getting dirty again:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4144261.stm

A pair of Alaskan museums have purchased a rare spruce root
hat:

http://tinyurl.com/5k2zs (Seattle PI)

Assorted technological approaches to preserving art in Italy:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/4154219.stm

... cf. a UPenn Museum project to document Tiwanaku:

http://www.physorg.com/news2596.html
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CLASSICIST'S CORNER
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Oliver Stone admits he messed up Alexander:

http://tinyurl.com/4v563 (Telegraph)

... but he still blames the critics too:

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3965330
http://tinyurl.com/5y8vs (Reuters)

Allan Massie searches for the 'real' Alexander:

http://tinyurl.com/4ccqj (Independent)
http://tinyurl.com/5b9vh (Belfast Telegraph)

Other reviews from the UK:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1068-1430093,00.html

Have you visited our Classics blog yet?

http://www.atrium-media.com/rogueclassicism/

Tom Sienkewicz is in the news again:

http://tinyurl.com/4cyh7 (Review Atlas)

Peter Jones in the Spectator:

http://www.spectator.co.uk/article.php?id=5509&issue=2005-01-08

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OBITUARIES
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Martin Robinson:

http://tinyurl.com/4kdw4 (Telegraph)

Guy Davenport:


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/books/07davenport.html
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REPEATS
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Roman 'Service Station' in Germany:

http://tinyurl.com/4uqec (Telegraph)
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OTHER SOURCES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL NEWS
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About.com Ancient History (blog):
http://ancienthistory.about.com/

About.com Archaeology (blog):
http://archaeology.about.com/mbody.htm

Archaeologica:
http://www.archaeologica.org/NewsPage.htm

Archaeology in Europe (blog):
http://archaeology.eu.com/weblog/

Archaeology Magazine's Newsbriefs:
http://www.archaeology.org/magazine.php?page=0305/newsbriefs/index

Bible and Interpretation Breaking News:
http://www.bibleinterp.com/news.htm

CBA Newsfeed:
http://www.britarch.ac.uk/newsfeed/index.html

CBA Archaeoblog:
http://www.britarch.ac.uk/archaeoblog/

Classics in Contemporary Culture (blog):
http://www.people.memphis.edu/~mhooker/ccc.html

Cronaca (blog):
http://www.cronaca.com/

Egyptology News (blog):
http://www.egyptology.blogspot.com/

Francis Deblauwe's 'Iraq War and Archaeology' site:
http://cctr.umkc.edu/user/fdeblauwe/iraq.html

Maritime Underwater Archaeological News:
http://www.munarchaeology.com/munarchaeology/news/main.htm

Megalithic Portal
http://www.megalithic.co.uk

Michael Ruggeri's Ancient America and Mesoamerica News:
http://community-2.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/MIKERUGGERISANCIENT

Mirabilis.ca (blog):
http://www.mirabilis.ca

Paleojudaica (blog):
http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com

Stone Pages Archaeo News:
http://www.stonepages.com/news/

Texas A&M Anthropology News Site:
http://www.tamu.edu/anthropology/news.html

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