Archaeologist with a Sonic Screwdriver

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Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:08:05 -1000

themasterscompanion: oldowan: The making of a Levallois...

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:54:37 -1000

themasterscompanion:

oldowan:

The making of a Levallois point.

BEST GIF EVER IN ALL OF CREATION, SPACE, AND TIME!!!

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Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:01:05 -1000

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Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:01:06 -1000

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Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:00:06 -1000

djennetc: Djenne terracotta #082Opaque Rotation Video 3D CT...

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:03:06 -1000

djennetc:

Djenne terracotta #082
Opaque Rotation Video 3D CT Scan — ©2011 Dr. Marc Ghysels, Brussels
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southernscarlett: Temple of Isis Delos, Greece By yours truly.

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:03:05 -1000

southernscarlett:

Temple of Isis

Delos, Greece

By yours truly.

willieforreal: :: From Ongka’s Big Moka which is part of the...

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:20:06 -1000

willieforreal:

:: From Ongka’s Big Moka which is part of the ‘Disappearing World’ series from Shanachie 1974. A classic anthropological documentary film about the Big Men society of the Kawelka of Papua, New Guinea. ::

Because we’ve all seen this so many times I think it’s safe to say Ongka’s Big Moka is a universal anthropology bonding moment.

themasterscompanion: Ugh, THIS THIS THIS! This is why I am a...

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:01:06 -1000

themasterscompanion:

Ugh, THIS THIS THIS!

This is why I am a grumpy archaeologist.

onlyhomosapien: This is amazing.

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 20:08:54 -1000

onlyhomosapien:

This is amazing.

Coolest archaeologist of them all.

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:00:06 -1000

Coolest archaeologist of them all.

theancientworld: Original Greek statues were brightly painted,...

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:19:06 -1000

theancientworld:

Original Greek statues were brightly painted, but after thousands of years, those paints have worn away.

I promise you guys, this blog isn’t dead. I’ve actually sat down to try and work on it...

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:45:00 -1000

I promise you guys, this blog isn’t dead. I’ve actually sat down to try and work on it several times, but I keep getting interrupted with life.

As some of you know, this last little bit of time has been extremely chaotic for me. My partner and I have decided to move and return to North America, which is about the most stressful of moves you can undertake for a variety of reasons. On top of that, we went from zero to plane tickets in a very short amount of time and I’m now left trying to get a full house and four years of our lives (and two dogs) into boxes and shipped to the mainland before we leave in late December.

The good news is that I’ll likely be much more involved with anthropology and archaeology again once I move and plan on applying to graduate school in the next year or so, but until then I’m just trying to keep my head above water and get everything done.

So wish me luck and I’ll try to get back here as soon as I can.

LOOK WHAT I FINALLY GOT TODAY!!!! High honors? Hell yeah.

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:11:00 -1000

LOOK WHAT I FINALLY GOT TODAY!!!!

High honors? Hell yeah.

This, ladies, gentlemen & genderqueers, is why archaeology...

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:00:05 -1000

This, ladies, gentlemen & genderqueers, is why archaeology is beautiful. This fragment from a woman’s ring and a floral button suggest the possibility that women were present at our 1800’s paniolo site.

Now, let’s be careful not to get ahead of ourselves here: There are plenty of other explanations and just these two artifacts alone can’t really be the basis for a solid statement (we are good scientists, after all).

BUT what we do know from written accounts is that there were women paniolo and we have absolutely no evidence to suggest that women were not present otherwise. Therefore, these artifacts suggest that there is the real possibility that women were at our site when it was in use. All in all, very, very cool.

One of my favorite artifacts. Not far away from the musketball...

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:00:05 -1000

One of my favorite artifacts. Not far away from the musketball we recovered this little guy: A Civil War era German “Spitzer” bullet that became common in Germany in the 1860s.

Not only does this give us a really good idea of our site’s date, but it also points to the ethnicity of the people living there.

May I remind you that this is a Hawaiian ranching site? So cool.

The difference between archaeologists and looters? This beauty...

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 08:00:05 -1000

The difference between archaeologists and looters?

This beauty right here.

A looter wouldn’t even look twice and this beat up little sherd: It’s obviously worthless on the black (or gray) market.

To an archaeologist, though, this piece is priceless. During the nineteenth century a ceramic style called “transfer print” was common. If you follow this blog then you’ve seen it numerous times before as we recovered a ton of it from our site this season. The name refers to the blue print that was, quite literally, transferred onto the ceramic, making it possible for a wide variety of designs to be mass produced and made affordable. Cool, but nothing particularly special in and of itself.

But this sherd is special. See the green and pink? That’s paint. Somebody obtained a standard transfer print ceramic and then hand painted an additional design and detail over it.

If ever there was an artifact that speaks to the humanity of an object, here it is. Can’t you just see somebody sitting down and holding this 150 years ago and focusing all their attention into making it beautiful and unique?

Musketball. Puts a pretty good perspective on the time period,...

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 06:00:05 -1000

Musketball. Puts a pretty good perspective on the time period, huh?

Black powder flask cap.

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:00:05 -1000

Black powder flask cap.

Artifacts from our 2011 season at Old Laumai’a.

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 02:00:05 -1000

Artifacts from our 2011 season at Old Laumai’a.