August 15, 2005
Week in Review 1(10) - Commemorative Hiatus Edition
NT Week in Review
Vol. I, Issue 9
Well, I'm putting the Week in Review series on hiatus indefinitely as it comes down to the final days before I start graduate school. As it gets closer to G-Day I'm slowly realizing that I'll have virtually no time for compiling articles and offering any sort of worthwhile commentary. The compiling part takes no time but sitting down to format and write about the stories is a job in itself. And if you know me, I refuse to do anything half-assed! I'll still blog about news and events that I find interesting throughout the week and most prominently, about my experiences as a first-year graduate student at U. of South Florida. The latest: I leave for Tampa this Friday!
Anyone really into archaeology news probably already knows about these sites, but if you don't they've been invaluable to me for keeping up:
Archaeologica - the granddaddy of archaeology news
ArchaeoBlog - a steady stream of headlines and commentary presented in an entertaining fashion.
Topix.net Archaeology News - where I get most of my news from; updated several times a day
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The Nomadic Thoughts Week in Review Series presented the "best of" from the anthropology, philosophy, religion, and science news feeds that make up a part of Will's blogroll. It was published every Sunday night/Monday morning over nine weeks.
Posted by Will at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)
August 07, 2005
Week in Review 1(9)
NT Week in Review
Vol. I, Issue 9
From UC Berkeley News, two scholars are challenging current archaeological orthodoxy regarding Polynesian contact on the West Coast:
In a recently published article, they claim to have found new linguistic and archaeological evidence that Polynesians landed in Southern California between 400 and 800 A.D. and shared their advanced boat-building techniques with the region's Chumash and Gabrielino Indians
If you think going to the dentist for a cleaning is annoyingly tedious, at least you have the ability to tell them what you eat:
Researchers have used new microscopic technology to reconstruct the diets of two extinct human species that lived in what is now South Africa.
The technique involves scanning the tooth surfaces in extreme detail to learn what a species ate. Reconstructing the diet of extinct human species can help shed light on our evolutionary history.
Dental microwear analysis investigates the microscopic scratches and pits that form on a tooth's surface as a result of its use.
The conclusion?
"Diet is a direct link between an animal and its environment," he added. "It is the single most important factor underlying behavioral differences among living primates, and the same was probably true of early hominins. After all, you are what you eat."
Read the whole article from National Geographic News here.
A nice story about spreading the significance and pure fun of archaeological research, this time in the form of a kid's camp. One girl is going to make a fine archaeologist one day:
The camp has definitely made an impression on 12-year-old Hannah Kalichman. As she worked to sift through soil during Thursday's dig, her clothes were covered in dirt. But she explained that it was important to find everything she could.
"If we threw away one piece of coal," she said, "it would be like throwing away history."
A "mummy" that duped archaeologists and nearly sparked a diplomatic row between Pakistan and Iran is finally being laid to rest.
From New Scientist, Creationism rift opens within The Vatican:
The Vatican’s chief astronomer, George Coyne, has rebuffed controversial comments made by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn in The New York Times on 7 July that evolution is incompatible with a belief in God.
In his article, Schönborn dismissed as “rather vague and unimportant” a statement made by Pope John Paul II in 1996 which seemed to indicate the church’s acceptance of evolution. “Any system of thought that denies or seeks to explain away the overwhelming evidence for design in biology is ideology, not science,” Schönborn wrote.
"Buddah wuz here":
Kolkata, Aug 7 (IANS) New excavations in Orissa have revealed that Lord Buddha more than 2,500 years ago had visited the state and preached there, say archaeologists, belying earlier theories that the founder of Buddhism had never been there.
The discovery of three stupas (edicts), put up by Emperor Asoka after he converted to Buddhism, at Tarapur, Kayama and Deuli in Jajpur district to mark the places where the Buddha had preached in the state point towards a Buddha trail in his lifetime.
That camel footprint would look marvelous next to my looted Aztec burial goods: Ancient camel footprints chiseled off desert rock I think I've found a new pet cause for Brad Pitt: "Save the Camel Footprints."
Remains of Ancient Church Found in Egypt
CAIRO, Egypt - The remains of an ancient church and monks' retreats that date back to the early years of monasticism have been discovered in a Coptic Christian monastery in the Red Sea area, officials said Saturday.
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The Nomadic Thoughts Week in Review Series presents the "best of" from the anthropology, philosophy, religion, and science news feeds that make up a part of Will's blogroll. It is published every Sunday night/Monday morning.
Posted by Will at 04:11 PM | Comments (0)
July 31, 2005
Week in Review 1(8)
NT Week in Review
Vol. I, Issue 8
Welcome to number eight. I've decided to start doing only news and review links because there are so many great anthropology material out there that I've found myself linking the same writers week after week. If it's on my blogroll (the list to the left) then it's good writing and opinion, so check it out. I still may quote an blog post here and there if it's of particular interest, otherwise they'll get their own post throughout the week. In the meantime, I'll concentrate more on commenting on various news stories and other links that catch my attention.
A neat story from the Guardian about an Iron age village that has been constructed based on archaeologial evidence. Visitors can come and live for a week or a weekend like a "real" Iron Age villager. Awesome... Read Village will take visitors back to the Iron Age.
The darker side of archaeology: From USAToday, Mexican archaeologists have uncovered a rare Aztec sacrifice at Templo Mayor in Mexico City (also at IOL here):
Priests propped the child — apparently already dead, since the sand around him showed no sign of movement — in a sitting position and workers packed earth around his body, which was then covered beneath a flight of stone temple steps.
On a similar note, a brief news report from the 21st Congress of the International Association for Caribbean Archaeology at which the president gave a message that Archaeology (is) more than just dead things.
Here is a review from Scientific American of The Looting of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad, a book that everyone with an interest in ancient history should buy (myself included).
An interesting story from National Geographic News, Race Affects How We Learn to Fear Others, Study Says:
"We'll more readily associate somebody of a group that's not our own with something negative, and that fear isn't changed by new information as readily as [it is] with somebody in our own social group," said Liz Phelps, a professor of psychology and neural science at New York University and a co-author of the study.
Phelps and colleagues say that the persistence of fear toward members of another race is a product of both evolutionary factors and cultural learning.
Also from NatGeo, a report that newfound insects have the ability to combine and create a third species. Furthermore, the article describes how humans may be playing a role in this process:
Among cichlids this process likely takes thousands of years. The Lonicera fly's evolution, however, has occurred only in the 250 years since its honeysuckle host plant arrived in North America.
The introduction, via humans, of non-native species makes speciation through hybridization more likely, says Schwarz, the Penn State ecologist.
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The Nomadic Thoughts Week in Review Series presents the "best of" from the anthropology, philosophy, religion, and science news feeds that make up a part of Will's blogroll. It is published every Sunday night/Monday morning.
Posted by Will at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)
July 24, 2005
Week in Review 1(7)
NT Week in Review
Vol. I, Issue 7
Apologies for the hastiness of this week's issue. Links away...
From the blogs:
Tad at FieldNotes explores the differences between environmental anthropologists and environmentalists.
John Hawks reports and opines on the story that scientists are using robots to research the bipedality of A. afarensis.
Newsies:
First, a very cool news story about the recent discovery of a quipu at an ancient site in Peru:
LIMA, Peru - Archaeologists in Peru have found a “quipu” on the site of the oldest city in the Americas, indicating that the device, a sophisticated arrangement of knots and strings used to convey detailed information, was in use thousands of years earlier than previously believed.
Spirit tales reveal ancient landslides
A study of Native American tales of a two-headed serpent spirit has hinted at the potential impact of a fault that lies directly beneath Seattle.
Archaeologists Unveil Pompeii Treasure
ROME - Decorated cups and fine silver platters were once again polished and on display Monday as archaeologists unveiled an ancient Roman dining set that lay hidden for two millennia in the volcanic ash of Pompeii. (here too).
9,000-Year-Old Beer Re-Created From Chinese Recipe
A Delaware brewer with a penchant for exotic drinks recently concocted a beer similar to one brewed in China some 9,000 years ago.
Seven New World Heritage Natural Sites Named by UN
The UN this week designated seven natural landmarks as new World Heritage sites—places the World Heritage Committee considers to be of outstanding value to all humanity.
3,000-year-old settlement found in Fiji
Fiji archaeologists have found and unearthed 16 human skeletons at a burial site of Bourewa on the South Pacific island of Fiji believing the site was a 3,000- year-old settlement, according to reports from Suva Tuesday.
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The Nomadic Thoughts Week in Review Series presents the "best of" from the roughly three dozen anthropology, philosophy, religion, and science news feeds that make up a part of Will's blogroll. It is published every Sunday night/Monday morning.
Posted by Will at 04:19 PM | Comments (0)
July 17, 2005
Week in Review 1(6)
NT Week in Review
Vol. I, Issue 6
This week's list will be pretty bare-bones as I've been away from the computer for a while and don't have many links as a result. Lots of good stuff out there nevertheless:
From the blogs:
In the wake of my obsession with the Guns, Germs, and Steel special on PBS this month, Alun writes about good and bad television documentaries:
Based on my limited experience of talking to a handful of companies I can see two inter-connected issues which could make the difference between a good show and a bad show. One is poor communication between the TV people and the archaeologists - that’s both sides fault. The other is when the TV producer comes in with a fixed idea of exactly what he wants to do even if the archaeologists show that concept is wrong, trivial or irrelevant. When that happens it’s the archaeologist’s fault.
Pharyngula appeals to the great Steven Jay Gould for his opinion on evolutionary psychology.
Pharyngula also gives us one of the most humorous posts of the week, characteristically responding to the "three sins of evolutionists."
Savage Minds writer Tak discusses the globalization of anthropology.
Leiter reports that maybe there is some money in philosophy afterall.
From UTI, a blog I've just started reading, comes an entertaining post about the evolution of whales and "creationist lies":
They are the Whales, the cetaceans, our fellow mammals. And they are magnificent illustrations of megafauna and evolutionary biology alike. If you'd like a short break from the intensity of politics, let us talk of the Whale's Evolutionary Tale and Creationist lies ...
News stories:
PHOENIX -- Archaeologists working at a proposed development site in Mesa say they have unearthed one of the largest integrated canal systems the Hohokam Indians ever built in the Phoenix area.
The pirate Blackbeard's flagship may finally be yielding its identity after nearly 300 years on the ocean floor. Though researchers have yet to find definitive proof, evidence continues to surface off the coast of North Carolina that wreckage there was once the vessel known as Queen Anne's Revenge.
The conviction in Britain of three Angolans for the abuse of a girl they accused of being a witch has turned the spotlight on customs in Angola.
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The Nomadic Thoughts Week in Review Series presents the "best of" from the roughly three dozen anthropology, philosophy, religion, and science news feeds that make up a part of Will's blogroll. It is published every Sunday night/Monday morning.
Posted by Will at 06:43 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2005
Week in Review 1(5)
NT Week in Review
Vol. I, Issue 5
The 80th anniversary of the Scopes trial was this week so needless to say, the anthropological and biological blogosphere was abuzz with opinions on evolution, those curiously knat-like "Intelligent Design" theorists, and the future of the whole debate (hopefully it doesn't have one). I only highlight one blog post and one news story about evolution/creation, but only because I got antsy wading through all the ones I had clipped, intending to include them here. Trust me, they're out there in force. Nevertheless, here we go again. Let's hit the links...
From the blogs:
First off, a link I saw in many blogs I read this past week was to Science magazine's 125 questions not yet answered by science, which will eventually be whittled down to twenty five questions. National Geographic News has highlights.
One of my faves, Brian Leiter, has a mind-numbing (in a good way) yet fascinating post. The title says it all: "On Rhetoric, "Persuasion," and Tone...or Knowing the Difference Between Hard and Easy Questions."
Alun writes on the problem of religion and humanity from an astronomy perspective.
Oneman at Savage Minds briefly noted this LA Times piece that raised the question (aimed at Intelligent Design theorists) if we and the universe were indeed designed by a supreme creator, why are human bodies clearly not designed for optimal performance?
We have bad backs, weak knees, prostates that have older men leaning against a wall for half an hour trying to take a leak, and birth canals routed through skeletal structures barely (and often not even barely) wide enough to fit a baby through.
News, news, news:
For the Evolution/Creation news story, New Scientist has a special piece with some good background about the Creationism vs. Evolution debate. The 80th anniversary of the historic Scopes trial was July 10th.
The Toronto Star has an author profile/book review that catapulted said book to the top of my "to read" list:
A Stanford University philosophy graduate and now a doctoral student in neuroscience, [Sam] Harris has delivered a 323-page jeremiad against religion entitled The End of Faith (W.W. Norton), a bracing, unsubtle yet eloquent plea — more like a clarion call — for a stop to dogmatic religion as we know it, and the start of an age of reason that will render religious faith as archaic as the worship of Odin.
An article about the ever-important topic of historic preservation. This time it's Panam Nagar, the former capital of the state of Bengal:
The New York-based World Monument Fund included Panam Nagar, located some 30 kilometres northeast of the capital, in its 2006 World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites.
The heritage conservation group says structures in the former capital of Bengal will be totally ruined and lost to posterity unless preservation measures are taken immediately. ‘Threats to the site include vandalism, unauthorised occupation, illegal development, poor maintenance, flooding and vulnerability to earthquakes.’
From National Geographic News: Early Australians to Blame for Mass Extinctions, Study Finds:
Roughly 60 species of the continent's large mammals and some bird species became extinct around 45,000 to 50,000 years, as a result of a change in the ecosystem brought on by massive fires set by the early settlers.
The exact purpose of the fires is unclear; the settlers may have been clearing land, signaling other tribes, or hunting. What is clear is that the fires changed the landscape from a mosaic of forests and grasses to the fire-adapted shrubs and spinifix (a grass) found today.
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The Nomadic Thoughts Week in Review Series presents the "best of" from the roughly three dozen anthropology, philosophy, religion, and science news feeds that make up a part of Will's blogroll. It is published every Sunday night/Monday morning.
Posted by Will at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)
July 03, 2005
Week in Review 1(4)
NT Week in Review
Vol. I, Issue 4
Despite working my posterior off at the yacht club over the past couple of days (and the 4th isn't even until tomorrow!), I have a quality list of blog posts and news stories to include in this week's edition. Let's get to it:
From the blogs:
If you read anything from this week's edition, read this Savage Minds post about morality and anthropology. Oneman charges head on into the difficult question of what is anthropology's "moral core?":
My concern is with the moral values and principles that are put into practice or embedded in the practice of anthropology itself. How do we justify our own existence? On what are our claims to authority premised? What do we hope to accomplish with our work? Obviously, there’s some grey areas between this sense and the sense I outlined above, but in many ways anthropology is a study of grey areas and I don’t find this overlap too disturbing.
Heavy questions and some that anyone in the field should think about.
Adam at In the Agora writes about his dismay at the media's coverage of the Dennis Rader (the "BTK Killer") murder story. Not so much the coverage of the story itself but how the news channels are airing Rader's graphic descriptions of his murders. As the first comment states, it's all about ratings.
Paul attacks again, this time Conservative commentator Dennis Prager's rejection of a humanist worldview, accusing it of "reducing the status of humans to that of a dolphin" and that "Without God, man is another part of the ecosystem, and a lousy one at that." Would it be correct to assume that such a point of view says alot about one's confidence of life? I believe that man is just another part of the ecosystem, but I'm pretty darn happy with my position.
The news, NT style:
This is cool:
PORTLAND, Ore. - After nearly a decade of court battles, scientists plan to begin studying the 9,300-year-old skeleton known as Kennewick Man next week.
A team of scientists plans to examine the bones at the University of Washington's Burke Museum in Seattle beginning July 6, according to their attorney, Alan Schneider.
How far will technology go? New Scientist has a great article about a proposed technological "dark age" that is looming just around the temporal corner. When will it happen? According to Jonathan Huebner, a physicist at the Pentagon, I'll be 42 when it happens (2024). Skepticism of his claim seems to be reasonable and I'll reserve judgment for now on whether or not we'll stop getting cool stuff, like smaller iPods and thinner televisions (thanks Dienekes).
The Woodstock of Evolution: Scientific American has a thorough article on the World Summit on Evolution, held in the Galapagos. Besides discussing the conference, you can read a bit about the history and opinions of evolutionary theory.
Finally, The tyranny of therapism: haven't read all of this yet but it seems interesting/enlightening. Homework assignment: read it and write a 10-page report summarizing and elaborating on the main points:)
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The Nomadic Thoughts Week in Review Series presents the "best of" from the roughly three dozen anthropology, philosophy, religion, and science news feeds that make up a part of Will's blogroll. It is published every Sunday night/Monday morning.
Posted by Will at 06:57 PM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2005
Week in Review 1(3)
NT Week in Review
Vol. I, Issue 3
Not much time for commentary (see previous post), but here are some good links:
From the blogs:
Tak at Savage Minds discusses the implications of racial stereotyping in regards to Gwen Stefani's latest image, which includes Harajuku girls.
John Hawks explains some anteaters were knuckle walkers too...weird.
Dr. Pretorius on religion and science, again (hilarious as always).
Another post from Savage Minds related to the "Indiana Jones syndrome" I discussed in an earlier post.
Some news:
Archaeologists are fighting to save important sites in Iraq.
Graffiti archaeology?
ACLU is at it again...this time about the Bush administration attack on free scientific inquiry.
The reconstruction of Mission San Luis de Apalachee in Tallahassee, FL continues to attract loads of tourists.
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The Nomadic Thoughts Week in Review Series presents the "best of" from the roughly three dozen anthropology, philosophy, religion, and science news feeds that make up a part of Will's blogroll. It is published every Sunday night/Monday morning.
Posted by Will at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)
June 19, 2005
Week in Review 1(2)
NT Week in Review
Vol. I, Issue 2
Welcome to the second issue of NT Week in Review. This is the first full week of reviews so we have plenty of blog posts and news stories to discuss. Enjoy!
From the blogs:
The Evolution-Creationism debate rages on over at The Panda's Thumb. PZ Myers hits hard, criticizing their methodology and agenda.
Brian Leiter links to a website about grade inflation over the past several years. The site itself is pretty much raw data but it was made as a result of an interesting Washington Post op-ed piece about the same topic.
Read this from John Hawks and see if you are as confused as we are.
Also from John Hawks (and a little more easy to read), cats may carry a parasite that can actually alter the personality of people they come in contact with.
Kerim at Savage Minds (an excellent group blog, by the way) has a great post about the varying degrees of interest in the subject of anthropology. Personally, I've heard people who think an anthropology course is the worst possible form of academic torture while freaks like me end of with a degree (hopefully two or three) in it.
News to me: In the Agora blogs about President Bush's stance on stem cell research. The news: he's not anti-stem cell research just opposed to using public tax dollars to fund it. A step in the right direction, but not far enough IMO.
Is That Legal (written by a law prof from North Carolina) discusses plagiarism, academic honesty, and the role of blogging.
The Panda's Thumb has the official statement from the annual meeting of American Association of University Professors on the teaching of evolution. Nothing surprising, as the AAUP opposes any form of creationism being taught at public institutions.
Some headlines:
In a seemingly contradictory dilemma, researchers are trying to "save" a 5,000-year-old ice mummy, Oetzi, from bacterial contamination that has resulted in small bubbles to form in his bones.
A dig in London has uncovered artifacts that predate Christ. The 2,500-year-old piece of flint was found in association with the Iron Age Hill Fort.
The Sun Times reports that researchers have found the burial site of the 400-year sister of one of the founders of the Jamestown colony. As I wrote about in the last edition of Week in Review, the researchers hope to confirm the identity of Capt. Bartholemew Gosnold, who was excavated in Virginia.
Egypt may be home to one of the first glass-making sites:
Evidence at Qantir-Piramesses indicates that glass was made there out of raw materials as early as 1250 B.C., researchers from England and Germany report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
Tom and Katie Watch: Looks like his religion and her conversion to it are "raising the profile of Scientology."
More opinion:
For a crash course in the history of the "civilization" of society, read Glenn Harlan Reynolds' piece at Tech Central Station. He raises the (sometimes scary) question of what the future holds for us as technology continues to change and shape our lives.
Also from TCS, Nima Sanandaji, an Iranian refugee to Sweden writes about her experience in an alien economic system which is characterized by a vast gap in work ethic and mentality. A must-read for anyone wondering what it's like for immigrants/refugees not coming to the United States.
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The Nomadic Thoughts Week in Review Series presents the "best of" from the roughly three dozen anthropology, philosophy, religion, and science news feeds that make up a part of Will's blogroll. It is published every Sunday night/Monday morning.
Posted by Will at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)
June 13, 2005
Week in Review
Over the weekend I had a thought that it might be nice for Nomadic Thoughts to have a gimmick of sorts, so I present the very first installment of the Nomadic Thoughts Week in Review series. Nothing unique in the concept itself but I'm hoping the material presented will be of interest to the readership out there and keep you coming back at least once a week.
The premise is simple: academic blogs and science news feeds make up about three dozen of the sites I read on a regular basis. These are linked in the left sidebar as my ever-expanding blogroll. Throughout the week I will clip posts and news stories that stand out and that are particularly interesting to me. I will link to the posts and perhaps provide some commentary. As always, your own comments are welcome (and much appreciated) on any of what I link to or have to say about it. Enjoy!
NT Week in Review
Vol. I, Issue 1
From the blogs:
Jason at Evolutionblog has an insightful post about "cosmological fine-tuning" and the implications of a theory of multiple universes in the evolution/creationism debate. A good one to sit down to with a cup of coffee and a couple of aspirin to swallow afterwards.
The Panda's Thumb has a great linked-filled post here about a series of legal briefs that have been filed related to the Cobb Co., GA court case in which labels were placed in biology textbooks kindly reminding students that evolution is "a theory, not a fact."
At Philosophy Now, Tim Madigan writes about the basis of morality. He tackles the age-old question of whether the basis for morality is divinely inspired and thus inseparable from religion or rather linked to our nature as humans. Madigan considers the field of evolutionary ethics and the possibility of finding the answer outside our own species.
Headlines from Inside Higher Ed:
Some technicalities have resulted in Bryan Leonard's Ph.D. dissertation defense, which questions evolution, being cancelled last week. As always, Panda's Thumb was on top of the story and provides some good background.
Some good news from Stanford U.: they have cut ties with four corporations that conduct business in Sudan that apparently indirectly support the genocidal government there.
An opinion piece by David Galef that made me laugh. Think of it as the "dumbest criminals" of the university system.
And some other headlines:
Excavations have begun in the fascinating archaeological quest to confirm the origins of one of America's founders at a church in the UK. UVA archaeologists believe that the identity of Bartholomew Gosnold, who founded the first English-speaking colony in Virginia in 1607 and whose remains were recently uncovered in Virginia, can be confirmed by DNA comparison with his sister's remains in Suffolk. An additional story here from the Telegraph.
Also from Virginia and UVA: archaeologists have found two graves that likely belonged to 19th century free blacks. The graves were found in association with a cemetery that was uncovered back in '93 during parking lot expansion project.
The world can't get enough of King Tut.
More glorious discoveries in the Maya world. In Guatemala archaeologists have entered a tomb with the remains of two women. The context of the remains suggests the powerful status of Maya women 1600 years ago. There is a great photo set with this story.
An interview with the director of the Iraq Museum. As you can imagine, they've been having a few problems regarding looting.
Finally, a moron gets his due for carving his and others' initials on a stone wall at an archaeological site in South Dakota.
Posted by Will at 01:22 AM | Comments (0)