================================================================
explorator 9.42-43 February 18, 2006
================================================================
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================================================================
================================================================
Thanks to Arthur Shippee, Bill Kennedy, Croman mac Nessa,
Dave Sowdon, Diana Wright, Donna Hurst, 'Duke Jason',
Edward Rockstein, Rick Heli, Hernan Astudillo, Gene Barkley,
Joan Griffith, John McMahon, John McChesney-Young, Joseph Lauer,
Kate Brown, Kris Curry, Lampros F. Kallenos, Les Skeates,
Mata Kimasitayo, Mike Ruggeri, Mark Morgan, Richard Campbell,
Richard C. Griffiths, Rochelle Altman, Ross W Sargent,
Bob Heuman, Rick Pettigrew, Toke Lindegaard Knudsen,
Tony Jackson, W. Richard Frahm, and Yonatan Nadelman for headses
upses this week (as always hoping I have left no one out).

Our huge catchup-double issue ... some links may have expired,
but I think I got them all ...
================================================================
EARLY HUMANS
================================================================
The debate over 'Turkana Boy':

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070207/ap_on_sc/kenya_fossil_debate_7
http://tinyurl.com/2whp4o (USA Today)
http://tinyurl.com/2lgy4s (Daily Mail)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7379471
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17029155/

An interview with one of the anthropologists studying the
'hobbits':

http://tinyurl.com/26h9dp (CNET)

cf:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/30/flores_brain_model/

... and the latest claim: homo floresiensis was wiped out by
modern humans:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2007/1836140.htm

... and we might as well blame the extinction of a pile of
animal species on Australia on humans too:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/25/news/fossil.php
================================================================
ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
================================================================
A trio of New/Middle Kingdom sarcophagi from Saqqara:

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/832/eg8.htm
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/02/10/10103261.html
http://tinyurl.com/2ntbw7 (News24)
http://tinyurl.com/2j85sa (USA Today)
http://tinyurl.com/ypnrfd (AFP via Yahoo ... photo)

This Akhenaten era find might be different from the above:

http://tinyurl.com/2fgklu (Reuters)
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/features/?id=19564
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17156100/
http://tercera.cl/medio/articulo/0,0,3255_5726_252088620,00.html

A feature on Zahi Hawass and general Egyptian archaeology:

http://www.thestar.com/Travel/article/181739

Bronze Age remains from Kuwait City:

http://tinyurl.com/yt7z89 (ATimes)

Some criticism of the conclusions being drawn from those
Qumran latrines:

http://www.forward.com/articles/led-astray-by-a-dead-sea-latrine/

Retracing Abraham's travels:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0213/p01s03-wome.html

The exact location of the Second Temple has been pinpointed
(maybe):

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070212113227.htm
http://in.news.yahoo.com/070213/139/6c1w4.html
http://tinyurl.com/yruakg (AlphaGalileo)
http://tinyurl.com/yrb5o4 (JPost)

[I'm trying to give the following the attention it merits, hence
the somewhat strange presentation]

Much ire being raised because of an Israeli dig on Temple Mount:

http://tinyurl.com/2dbgl9 (JPost)
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/02/06/ap3399212.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2007179,00.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070205/ap_on_sc/israel_temple_mount_2
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3361666,00.html

... even the UNESCO folks are concerned:

http://tinyurl.com/348uyq

... and Israeli archaeologists had some accusations of their own:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3362223,00.html

... but the dig might not be necessary:

http://tinyurl.com/ysawwy (JPost)

... but maybe it is:

http://tinyurl.com/yo946s (MFA)

... whatever the case, it has resulted in the installation of a
webcam at the excavation site:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6364467.stm
http://www.antiquities.org.il/home_eng.asp

... but it's further complicated by the discovery of a Byzantine
mosaic and other finds:

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2271661.ece
http://tinyurl.com/39cjn6 (JPost)

... and the two sides are still talking, apparently:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/121404

Why is the dig going on at all?:

http://tinyurl.com/2dwfnj (IV)

Related item on politics and archaeology in Israel:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6347077.stm

... and another 'illegal' dig which will probably play into this
whole scenario at some point:

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=11432

An update on the Oded Golan trial:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/823215.html

Trying to preserve Ur Bilum:

http://tinyurl.com/2vmagv (NPR)

Some 800 b.p. victims of an Iranian earthquake:

http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=6989

Nice feature on Howard Carter:

http://tinyurl.com/3xcvs6 (Morning Call)

... and Lord Carvarvon's doctor:

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/16625468.htm

... and the New York Times replicated the front page of their
edition announcing the opening of the tomb:

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0216.html

More coverage of that ancient Semitic snake spell:

http://tinyurl.com/3cqeb6 (NG)

An upDate (sorry ... can't resist):

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/826167.html

Persepolis Fortification Archive Project:

http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/

Egyptology News Blog:

http://egyptology.blogspot.com/

Egyptology Blog:

http://www.egyptologyblog.co.uk/

Paleojudaica:

http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/

Archaeologist at Large:

http://spaces.msn.com/members/ArchaeologyinEgypt/
================================================================
ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)
================================================================
DNA evidence from cattle seems to be supporting Herodotus'
claims of Etruscan origins:

http://tinyurl.com/2gysfa (Daily India)

... as does human DNA, apparently:

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=65700

... while the Pathans do have some Greek dna in their blood:

http://tinyurl.com/2htyda (Daily Times)

... and we await word on whether some Chinese villagers are
descended from Crassus' legions:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,250297,00.html
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/24/content_3396301.htm

Apparently fitness levels have fallen since the days of ancient
Greece:

http://www.physorg.com/news90153434.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070208100643.htm
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=21793
http://news.com.com/2061-11204_3-6157566.html

For reasons I can't quite comprehend (other than a possible
Valentine's Day connection?) the question of Cleopatra's beauty
was raised again in connection with a coin portrait:

http://tinyurl.com/2na72s (Seattle Times)
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/16699224.htm
http://tinyurl.com/2zwc9v (CNN)
http://tinyurl.com/2c7jxx (USA Today)
http://tinyurl.com/2dwup2 (AFP via Yahoo)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070215/ap_on_sc/britain_cleopatra_coin_6
http://tinyurl.com/2xnqh4 (Times)
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070215-cleopatra.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/tyne/6357311.stm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17157862/
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ciencia/ult306u16004.shtml

Remains of a theatre (possibly that of Acharnae) have been found
in Athens:

http://tinyurl.com/yutqb7 (USA Today)
http://tinyurl.com/2b5fhm (Kathimerini)
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/02/16/greektheater_arc.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17177406/

Items from the Kerameikos will soon be on display:

http://tinyurl.com/2gvvea (IOL)

Plans to save a temple of Isis and Osiris at Brexiza:

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=80105

Big digs are on the way in Pisidia and Karia:

http://tinyurl.com/2932pv (TZ)

Latest video at the Archaeology Channel is about the discovery of
Rome's Catacombs:

http://www.archaeologychannel.org/

A Roman necropolis from Lincolnshire:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lincolnshire/6358023.stm

... and some interesting burials from York:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/north_yorkshire/6338765.stm

Another piece on BYU's efforts in revealing what is really
on some ancient papyri:

http://nn.byu.edu/story.cfm/63063

Interesting gladiator-related finds from Cheshire:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/6370899.stm
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2214843.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article1398041.ece
http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART44027.html
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007070918,00.html
http://tinyurl.com/yrqdar (Telegraph)

Another amphitheatre has been found ... this time in Peterborough:

http://tinyurl.com/2p8yco (Peterborough Today)

300 seems to be a hit:

http://www.variety.com/vstory/VR1117959583.html?categoryid=38&cs=1

Roman Polanski will direct the movie version of Harris' Pompeii:

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/film/story/2007/02/04/polanski-pompeii.html

Recent reviews from BMCR:

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/recent.html

Recent reviews from Scholia:

http://www.classics.und.ac.za/reviews/2006.htm

Visit our blog:

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

Blegen Library News:

http://blegen.blogspot.com/

Mediterranean Archaeology:

http://medarch.blogspot.com/
================================================================
EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
================================================================
A metal detectorist has found what may be the UK's oldest set
of earrings:

http://tinyurl.com/yrzfet (Metro)

A transcript of an interview with one of the archaeologists who
is working on that Stonehenge village:

http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2007/s1850324.htm

Medieval finds beneath a Somerset barn:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/6345647.stm

Pub construction in Coventry has revealed a medieval leper
colony:

http://tinyurl.com/yo5ack (BBC)

Excavations have revealed some 'strange features' at Bodiam
Castle:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/sussex/6330873.stm

Of course there was plenty of Valentinesish coverage of that
discovery of the neolithic 'Romeo and Juliet' burial from
Italy:

http://www.wane.com/global/story.asp?s=6051118
http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=6051118&nav=2KPp2Qjt
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070208/ap_on_sc/italy_prehistoric_love_13
http://tinyurl.com/2q6vhm (USA Today)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6338751.stm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17011786/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17114349/

Archaeology in Europe Blog:

http://www.archaeology.eu.com/weblog/index.html
================================================================
ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
================================================================
Can't remember if we mentioned this study suggesting the Terracotta
Army was made in a couple of different places:

http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1841166.htm?ancient

A 1700 b.p. Buddhist temple from Bihar Dhap:

http://tinyurl.com/2x7rv5 (Daily Star)

Can't believe this hasn't already been done ... they're going
to measure China's Great Wall:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6352239.stm

More coverage of finds from Olympic venues in Beijing:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/05/news/beijing.php

A huge number of ancient Indian manuscripts are going online:

http://tinyurl.com/ytexhb (IBN)

New Zealand Archaeology eNews:

http://www.nzarchaeology.org/netsubnews.htm
================================================================
NORTH AMERICA
================================================================
Still looking for Champlain's grave:

http://tinyurl.com/2xggqc (Gazette)

... and following up on implications of Jefferson's DNA:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6332545.stm

Gold Rush-era human remains from the environs of Sacramento:

http://tinyurl.com/39tmtc (ABC)

A 'mystery excavation' in Baytown (Texas):

http://stories.baytownsun.com/story.lasso?ewcd=4fea2b55b91b2783
http://stories.baytownsun.com/story.lasso?ewcd=28e0b1aa61cca540

Wanna buy a burial mound?:

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/16667799.htm

Big bucks for Mesa Verde:

http://tinyurl.com/34vnay (Cortez Journal)

George Washington and the rules of civility:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7466065
================================================================
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
================================================================
Using looters' trenches to figure out what happened at a site
in Belize:

http://tinyurl.com/2p3en5 (USA Today)

Interesting implications of maize found with an andean mummy:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070211202525.htm

They're going to build a replica of a Maya tomb at Rey Pakal:

http://tercera.cl/medio/articulo/0,0,3255_5726_250429769,00.html
================================================================
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
================================================================
Ulcers have been around for a long time:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6338357.stm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070215134529.htm
http://www.agencia.fapesp.br/boletim_dentro.php?id=6711

African genes in Yorkshire:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/24/yorkshire_y_chromosome/

The Vatican is trying to control overcrowding:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/travel/18journeys.html

The Russian Orthodox Church is angry at an attempt to sell some
relics:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6333085.stm

Did the Vikings use 'sunstones' to help them navigate?:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6338535.stm

History's greatest banquets:

http://tinyurl.com/2gtv2o (Independent)

The ancient history of hot peppers:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17171454/
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/02/15/science-chili.html
http://tinyurl.com/37jfm6
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6367299.stm

What Dan Brown hath spawned:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/16/books/16masl.html

More on the search for the Battle of Anghiari:

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2204088.ece

Using forensic techniques to discern the colours of ancient textiles:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070208100919.htm

The obligatory (for this time of year) history of kissing piece:

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_5209683

The story of some 'slave Robinson Crusoes':

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2237660.ece

The next Indiana Jones flick will be out in May, 2008:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6339983.stm

A time capsule from the rubble of Doctor's Hospital (New York):

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/13/nyregion/13ink.html

Interesting series from NPR on the Sunni-Shia split in Islam:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7346199

I swear that almost everyone I know sent me this Youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRjVeRbhtRU

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Lives of the Week:

http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/lotw/

Arts and Letters Daily:

http://aldaily.com/
================================================================
TOURISTY THINGS
================================================================
Ravenna:

http://tinyurl.com/2lwepa (Post-Gazette)
================================================================
GENERAL MAGAZINES AND JOURNALS
================================================================
CSA Newsletter (Winter 2007):

http://csanet.org/newsletter/#winter07

About.com Archaeology:

http://archaeology.about.com/

Archaeoblog:

http://archaeoblog.blogspot.com/

Archaeology Briefs:

http://archaeologybriefs.blogspot.com/
================================================================
CRIME BEAT
================================================================
The looting of sites in Afghanistan continues:

http://tinyurl.com/2uefay (Detroit News)

A major antiquities bust in Spain:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070207/ap_en_ot/spain_looted_art_2

... and a 'medium' one in Algeria:

http://www.elkhabar.com/FrEn/lire.php?ida=59366&idc=52

... and a smaller one in Egypt:

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2067127,00.html

One of the pioneers of prosecuting looters in the U.S. is
retiring:

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_5210015
================================================================
NUMISMATICA
================================================================
Liberty Seated Collector's Club:

http://www.lsccweb.org/

Hobbyblog:

http://hobbyblog.blogspot.com/

Ancient Coin Collecting:

http://ancientcoincollecting.blogspot.com/

Ancient Coins:

http://classicalcoins.blogspot.com/
================================================================
EXHIBITIONS, AUCTIONS, AND MUSEUM-RELATED
================================================================
Tut:

http://tinyurl.com/37kxdt (Morning Call)

Art of Sassanian Iran:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/16/arts/design/16sasa.html

Turner:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/16/arts/design/16voge.html

Venetian Brass:

http://tinyurl.com/2jorxx (New Yorker)

The Getty is returning two disputed items to Greece:

http://www.fresnobee.com/384/story/28421.html

... while the Louvre has backed down (under pressure from Greece)
from its plans to show the Cleveland Apollo:

http://tinyurl.com/yqpft8 (Plain Dealer)

The Met is about to unveil its new Greek and Roman galleries:

http://www.artdaily.com/section/news/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=19294

... although that Italian village still wants its Etruscan
chariot:

http://tinyurl.com/27uqx7 (Bloomberg)

... and Neil MacGregor apparently isn't headed there:

http://tinyurl.com/yvafmp (Bloomberg)

There's a strike at the Louvre:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/02/15/world/europe/15paris.html

What's up at the Uffizi:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/06/features/uffizi.php

Recent acquisitions by the Nasher Museum:

http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/539873.html
http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2007/02/antiquities.html

Pagans are jumping on the repatriation bandwagon:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,2005983,00.html
================================================================
ON THE WEB
================================================================
Interesting book plate collection site:

http://jvarnoso.com/exlibris/
================================================================
OBITUARIES
================================================================
Bruce Metzger (Biblical Manuscripts Scholar):

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/104-02142007-1299189.html
http://tinyurl.com/yprxpq (Zwire)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20070216-082113-9610r.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/16/obituaries/16metzger.html

Thomas Rosenmeyer (Greek and Comp Lit):

http://tinyurl.com/23sopm (Chronicle)
http://www.dailycal.org/sharticle.php?id=23013

Nicholas Howe (Anglo-Saxon Studies):

http://www.oenewsletter.org/OEN/essays.php?file=essays/liuzza40_1.txt
================================================================
PODCASTS
================================================================
The Book and the Spade:

http://www.radioscribe.com/bknspade.htm

Stone Pages Archaeology News:

http://news.stonepages.com/

Archaeologica Audio News:

http://www.archaeologychannel.org/AudioNews.asp
================================================================
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the labours of 'media research division' of The Atrium. Various
on-line news and magazine sources are scoured for news of the
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game) and every Sunday they are delivered to your mailbox free of
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