07 - Archaeology - Jan Feb 2012

Appalachia: Artifacts, Coal Mining, and Protest
www.archaeology.org A publication of the Archaeological Institute of America July/August 2009

January/February 2012
TOP 10
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2011
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012
VOLUME 65, NUMBER 1
CONTENTS
features
24 Top 10 Discoveries of 2011
ARCHAEOLOGYs editors reveal the
years most compelling findings
32 The Weapon That

Changed History
Evidence of Romes decisive victory
over Carthage is discovered in the
waters off Sicily
BY ANDREW CURRY
38 The Truth Behind

the Tablets
The rush to document thousands of
ancient texts before they are sent
back to Iran, or sold, reveals the
daily workings of the Persian Empire
BY ANDREW LAWLER
43 A Societys Sacrice
Why the Chim people of ancient
Peru offered what was most valuable
to them
BY JARRETT A. LOBELL
48 Mountaintop Rescue
Archaeology, coal, and activism
collide in the Appalachian Mountains
at the site of Americas largest labor
conflict
BY SAMIR S. PATEL
48 Young men work in a West

Virginia coal mine in 1908. Cover: A relief of Persian dignitaries on
Evidence of a 1921 battle between the main stairway of the Council House
striking miners and anti-union in the ancient city of Persepolis in Iran
forces is revising the history of
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC/GETTY IMAGES
the states early labor movement.
vk.com/englishlibrary 1
10
departments
4 Editors Letter
6 From the President
8 Letters
The fossil fuel industrys impact on archaeology,
the site of an early hominids footprints, and has
the Black Deaths DNA mutated over time?
9 From the Trenches

Archaeologists migrate toward pre-Clovis cultures,
mosaics suggest sh have been shrinking, neutron
beams make a better 3-D image, and a Romanian
cave holds early human art.
16
18
22 World Roundup
A volcanic ashcovered Maya road, 100-year-
old bacteria, space archaeology, and a huge
disadvantage at the Battle of Gallipoli.
55 Letter From Ireland

Mystery of the Fulacht Fiadh
68 Artifact
A rare oak carving of a merman from the wreck of
a merchant ship is one of the oldest of its kind.
on the web www.archaeology.org

Interactive Digs Read about the latest discoveries Archaeological News from around the
at the Minoan site of Zominthos in central Crete; at worldupdated by 1 p.m. ET every weekday. And
Johnsons Island, a Civil War site in Ohio; and at El Carrizal sign up for our e-Update so you dont miss a thing.
in Veracruz.
Stay in Touch Visit Facebook to like
ARCHAEOLOGY or follow us on Twitter at
@archaeologymag.
2
vk.com/englishlibrary ARCHAEOLOGY January/February 2012
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EDITORS LETTER
Enjoy the Journey

Editor in Chief
Claudia Valentino
Executive Editor Deputy Editor
Jarrett A. Lobell Samir S. Patel
Senior Editors
Nikhil Swaminathan
Zach Zorich
Editorial Assistant Intern
T
Malin Grunberg Banyasz Jessica Woodard
his issue of ARCHAEOLOGY is packed with stories from every corner of the globe:

Tasmania; Sicily; Predmost, Czech Republic; Blair Mountain, West Virginia; Ard- Creative Director
namurchan, Scotland; Buttermilk Creek, Texas; Xinjiang, China; Blombos Cave, Richard Bleiweiss
South Africa; Arykanda, Turkeyto name just a few. We hope youll find plenty of time
Contributing Editors
to settle in and enjoy them. Roger Atwood, Paul Bahn, Bob Brier,
Andrew Curry, Blake Edgar, Brian Fagan,
Contributing editor Andrew Lawlers The Truth Behind the Tablets (page 38) details David Freidel, Tom Gidwitz,
the legal battle that is currently being waged in the United States over ownership of an Stephen H. Lekson, Jerald T. Milanich,
Jennifer Pinkowski, Heather Pringle,
extensive archive of clay tablets from the ancient city of Persepolis in Iran. Archaeolo- Angela M. H. Schuster, Neil Asher Silberman
gists are now engaged in a rushed effort to digitally archive the tablets and gather the rich
insights they provide into daily life in the Persian Empire, ahead of court decisions that Correspondents
Athens: Yannis N. Stavrakakis
may see them auctioned off, or returned to Iran. Bangkok: Karen Coates
In The Weapon That Changed History (page 32), contributing editor Andrew Curry Islamabad: Massoud Ansari
Israel: Mati Milstein
joins the crew of the RPM Nautical Foundations research vessel, Hercules, to cover work Naples: Marco Merola
being done in the waters off Sicily. There, a team led by archaeologist Jeff Royal has found Paris: Bernadette Arnaud
Rome: Roberto Bartoloni,
evidence of Romes decisive naval victory over Carthage in 242 B.C. by way of a particularly Giovanni Lattanzi
Washington, D.C.: Sandra Scham
telling and lethal artifact.
Executive editor Jarrett A.
Publisher
Lobell, in A Societys Sacrifice Peter Herdrich
(page 43), covers a discovery made Associate Publisher
Kevin Quinlan
this past August by archaeologist Director of Circulation and Fulllment
Oscar Gabriel Prieto of the larg- Kevin Mullen

Vice President of Sales and Marketing
est human and animal sacrifice Meegan Daly
in ancient Peru. Prieto gives an Director of Integrated Sales
Gerry Moss
insightful interpretation of what Inside Sales Representative
sacrifice actually meant for the Karina Casines
West Coast Account Manager
Chim culture and what factors Cynthia Lapporte
lead to their taking this irrevers- Oak Media Group
[email protected]
ible step almost 1,000 years ago. 323-493-2754
Mountaintop Rescue (page Circulation Consultant
Greg Wolfe, Circulation Specialists, Inc.
48), by deputy editor Samir S. Patel, tells the story of the modern fight to save Blair Moun- Newsstand Consultant
tain from mountaintop removal coal mining. The mountain happens to contain not only T.J. Montilli,
Publishers Newstand Outsource, LLC
rich seams of coal, but also what archaeologists and historians now realize is significant Ofce Manager
evidence of an intense battle, in 1921 between striking miners and anti-union forces, in Malin Grunberg Banyasz
For production questions,
what remains the nations largest civil conflict outside of the Civil War. contact [email protected]
And, as we do every year, weve brought together our ever-popular Top 10 Discoveries
Editorial Advisory Board
(page 24). This look back presents some of the most intriguing and notable finds of 2011. James P. Delgado, Ellen Herscher,
We also examine endangered sites in Italy, Spain, and Texas, and survey where archaeology Ronald Hicks, Jean-Jacques Hublin,
Mark Lehner, Roderick J. McIntosh,
standsand may headin the wake of the turmoil associated with Arab Spring. Susan Pollock, Jeremy A. Sablo,
Kenneth B. Tankersley
Happy readingand Happy New Year to all!
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4
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FROM THE PRESIDENT Archaeological
Institute of America
Located at Boston University
Out of Context
OFFICERS
I
MITATION, IT IS SAID, is the sincerest form of flattery. At a replica park in China, for President
Elizabeth Bartman
instance, consumers have lately embraced some of the worlds greatest monuments. At First Vice President
Window of the World, in Shenzhen, visitors can see scale models of everything from Andrew Moore
the Sphinx to Angkor Wat. People there are unlikely to leave China to see the real thing. Vice President for Education and Outreach
Mat Saunders
But what kind of experience do they have, and should those of us who value archaeology
Vice President for Professional Responsibilities
be concerned about its authenticity? Laetitia LaFollette
We know that copies can be useful educational tools, providing access to monuments Vice President for Publications
John Younger
whose distant location or fragility render them off limits. Since 1963, visitors to the caves
Vice President for Societies
at Lascaux in the south of France have not been able to actually visit the prehistoric site, Thomas Morton
but since 1983 have been able to explore a modern simulation of the cave and its paintings. Treasurer
The caves themselves cannot be visited because the mere presence of humans introduces Brian J. Heidtke
heat and humidity that will precipitate the paintings destruction. Chief Executive Officer
Peter Herdrich
In an age of mass tourism, where free entry to the Roman Forum has caused notable Chief Operating Officer
damage to its paving stones in just a few years, it may become necessary to restrict access Kevin Quinlan
to ancient sites if we wish to preserve them for future generations. As a solution, authorities GOVERNING BOARD
in Rome, Venice, and other popular destinations are contemplating offering virtual tours Susan Alcock
experienced while seated in Michael Ambler
Carla Antonaccio
a theater. If it means that we Cathleen Asch
will be extending the life of Barbara Barletta
David Boochever
and actually preserving the Laura Childs
originals, one might ask, Lawrence Coben
Julie Herzig Desnick
who would argue with such Mitchell Eitel
an approach? Harrison Ford
Greg Goggin
The one significant John Hale
Sebastian Heath
objection to the wholesale Lillian Joyce
creation of replicas of antiq- Jeffrey Lamia
Lynne Lancaster
uities is that these iconic Robert Littman
places and artifacts are then Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis
Peter Magee
viewed by the general public Shilpi Mehta
without what archaeology terms context. Context is inextricably linked to a find because Naomi Norman, ex officio
Eleanor Powers
it tells us about the time in which it was created and the people who were responsible for Paul Rissman
making it. Archaeologists argue that without context, sites and artifacts cannot be fully Ann Santen
William Saturno
understood. Without context, artifacts may even be devalued in some way. They may be Glenn Schwartz
seen as merely exotic, or intriguing, or beautiful, but ultimately, devoid of meaning. Chen Shen
Douglas Tilden
Best practices for mounting exhibits with complete information about context, when Claudia Valentino, ex officio
any replica is presented, are importantindeed, essential. Preserving and protecting Shelley Wachsmann
Ashley White
archaeological heritage is no easy matter. We must be custodians not just of the objects John J. Yarmick
and sites themselves, but also of the meaning they carry to us from the past.
Past President
C. Brian Rose
Trustees Emeriti
Norma Kershaw
Charles S. LaFollette
Legal Counsel
Elizabeth Bartman Mitchell Eitel, Esq.
President, Archaeological Institute of America Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP
Archaeological Institute of America

656 Beacon Street Boston, MA 02215-2006
www.archaeological.org
6
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LETTERS
VOYAGES TO Natural Gas Boom and the local newspaper. Companies might
ANTIQUITY Archaeology
I have not seen the natural gas boom
in the eastern United States (Does the
be more likely to cooperate if they see
a benefit for doing so. All could benefit
from a positive approach.
Cruises to Classical
Civilizations 2012 Natural Gas Boom Endanger Archaeol- Gary Anderson
ogy? November/December 2011), but I Fruita, CO
FARES INCLUDE:
live with the oil boom of western North
SHORE EXCURSIONS
Dakota. I can tell you that the oil com- Analysis of Virulence
GRATUITIES panies here operate with complete disre- Recently I read an article online that
EXPERT LECTURE gard for archaeological sites. It used to be details how the modern version of the
PROGRAM WITH that when a road was constructed a sur- plague that caused the Black Death
AIA LECTURERS vey or inventory was conducted. Today, (Yersinia pestis) has remained virtually
PRE- AND/OR the oil companies just dig, bulldoze, and unchanged since the fourteenth century.
POST-CRUISE
HOTEL STAYS obliterate whatever is in the way. This The next day I received ARCHAEOLOGY
WINE WITH country may be sparsely populated now, and found a story (DNA of the Black
DINNER but it has a rich history going back to the Death, November/December 2011)
TRANSFERS Clovis and Folsom peoples thousands of that appears to dispute those findings
years ago. No one seems to care about and states that scientists are still looking
VENICE, DALMATIA itnot a word from any news outlet, not at genetic dierences between plague
& GREEK ISLES
Departs: April 12 a person in the field, not a trench dug. I then and now. So which is it?
12-night cruise VENICE to ISTANBUL have a site on my personal property and Julie Shoecraft
and 2-night hotel stay in Istanbul
from $4,595pp
am told that if the oil company wants it, Houston, TX
they have surface rights.
TURKEY, GREEK ISLES Keith Zahn Deputy editor Samir S. Patel responds:
& CLASSICAL GREECE
Departs: April 22
Williston, ND It can be a challenge to keep up with the rapid
9-night cruise ISTANBUL to ATHENS pace of scientific discovery and we often
and 2-night hotel stays in Istanbul and Regarding the natural gas boom and report on research in progress. In this case,
Athens from $4,450pp
threats to archaeology, Tim Murtha the story in ARCHAEOLOGY reported on a
CLASSICAL GREECE, of Penn State University is probably study that examined a particular plasmid,
& VENETIAN REPUBLIC correct to advocate that archaeologists a certain type of bacterial DNA, to search
Departs: May 13
join forces with conservationists. But for genetic dierences between Y. pestis
10-night cruise ATHENS to VENICE
and 2-night hotel stay in Athens perhaps there is an imaginative way then and now. The researchers found some
from $4,250pp to get the companies working with dierences between the ancient and modern
BOOK BY FEBRUARY 29, 2012 & SAVE archaeologists. For example, American DNA, but not enough to explain why the
troops headed to Iraq were briefed on Black Death was so much more severe than
FREE AIR archaeology. Could something similar modern outbreaks of the disease. After our
from over 60 North American gateways
SPECIAL SINGLE PRICING work here with key company people in article was printed, the same research team
on select departures the field? They might be more likely to released a more complete draft of the Y.
ORDER OUR report findings or avoid sites. Further, Pestis genome that more definitively showed
2012 BROCHURE
TODAY
we have a vast natural gas operation here that there is no genetic reason for the speed
in western Colorado, and the companies and virulence of the Black Death in the
here bend over backward to maintain fourteenth century, settling the question left
a positive public view of their eorts. at the end of our story. They propose there are
So, for example, if a well was able to be other reasonspeople being more susceptible
moved to avoid a site, archaeologists to the disease or the dynamics of the rodents
V OYAGES TO A NTIQUITY could follow up with public thanks in and fleas who spread itfor the severity of
Call 1-877-398-1460 the Black Death.
Visit www.voyagestoantiquity.com
ARCHAEOLOGY welcomes mail from
readers. Please address your comments Correction
to ARCHAEOLOGY, 36-36 33rd Street, In Australopithecus Best Foot Forward
Long Island City, NY 11106, fax 718-472- (November/December 2011), we incor-
Call: 800-748-6262 3051, or e-mail [email protected].
Email: [email protected] Website: aiatours.org
rectly stated that the Laetoli footprints
The editors reserve the right to edit
submitted material. Volume precludes are located in Kenya. They are actually
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8
LATE-BREAKING NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE WORLD OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Migrating Away from Clovis

Archaeologists dig at the Debra L. Friedkin
site at Buttermilk Creek in central Texas.
vasio, an archaeologist at Mercyhurst College

in Erie, Pennsylvania: What youre seeing is
the emergence of ideas that reflect the current
ferment in the field now that we know this old
model doesnt work.
Change is afoot, but its not a unanimous
shift, says David G. Anderson, an archae-
ologist at the University of Tennessee. He
notes that in a survey administered by one
of his graduate students to 200 Paleoindian
researchers, 70 percent acknowledged there
had to be pre-Clovis populations in the Amer-
icas. The problem is, Anderson explains, we
know so little about pre-Clovis that we need
really well documented sites.
Waters other work at the Debra L. Fried-
I
n mid-October 2011 the journal Science published kin site
s on Buttermilk Creek in central Texas, pub-
a reexamination of a mastodon bone originallyy lished
lishe in March 2011, also in Science, fits Andersons
excavated in the late 1970s at the Manis site in north-
th- bill. There,
T in perfect stratigraphical alignment,
western Washington State. Embedded in the bone, one ne of archaeologists
archae found the remains of tools left behind
the mastodons 19 ribs, was the tip of a bone projectile.tile. by different
diff Archaic period hunter-gatherers sitting
Using DNA analysis, a team led by Texas A&M University sity above those of various Paleoindian cultures. The
archaeologist Michael Waters determined that the point oint team believes
b the oldest layer, containing 20,000
was itself fashioned from mastodon bone. pieces made of chert, a sedimentary rockwith
Radiocarbon dating of the rib and projectile indicatecate roughly 100 discernable tools such as blades, chop-
roughl
they are 13,800 years old, predating the so-called Clovis
ovis pers, aand end scrapersdates to 15,500 years ago,
horizon, roughly 11,000 years ago, when the Clovis cul- 2,500 years before Clovis technology.
ture, associated with fluted, stone points shaped like a The assassemblage found at Buttermilk Creek does not
Catholic bishops hat, first emerged in the archaeologi-- resemble thothose at several previously found pre-Clovis sites,
cal record. In the 1930s archaeologists identified thesee such as the 14,5
14,500-year-old tools from Monte Verde in south-
Clovis toolmakers as the original settlers of the Americas. ern Chile. Its incorporation of bifacial and bladelet technol-
These Paleoindians may have crossed the now-submerged ogy does recall Clovis culture, suggesting a lineage between
landmass in the Bering Strait from northeastern Asia. The the two. Theres a logical expectation that somewhere in
Manis mastodon is the latest in more than a decade of find- North America we are going to find something that can be
ings prompting archaeologists to consider that there might called proto-Clovis, says Stuart Fiedel, an archaeologist at
have been earlier migrations of settlers. the Louis Berger Group in Richmond, Virginia.
Weve known theres pre-Clovis for a long time, says Gary The report on Buttermilk Creek, as with other potential
Haynes of the University of Nevada, Reno. Adds James Ado- pre-Clovis discoveries, sparked fierce debate among Paleo-
indian researchers about the accuracy of the findings. Fiedel
A mastodon rib found at the Manis site in Washington State notes the assemblage could be characterized as a fluted point
has a bone projectile lodged in it. away from being a Clovis toolkit. It has similarities to Clo-
www.archaeology.org
FROM THE TRENCHES
vis, says Waters. But its not Clovis C
Chert tools from Buttermilk that interpretation.
in the strict definition. Creek date to 15,500 years ago
C Adovasio explains that American
and some show evidence of
an
Critics slammed Waters on his archaeologists are behind their South
bifacial technology.
bi
dating method, optically stimu- u- American and European colleagues in
lated luminescence, which essen- n- with detr
detractors pointing out that accepting people prior to Clovis being
tially measures when crystals in n the D DNA analysis couldnt in the Americas. He even points to Sci-
surrounding sediment, such as confirm
con the bone projec- encewhich he calls the last bastion of
quartz, were last exposed to tile came from a different conservatism in this arenapublish-
sunlight, as opposed to mea- animal,
an meaning a bone ing Waters reports as an indication
suring the artifacts themselves. fragment
f from the same of the tide turning. Science, he says,
Its as accurate as radiocarbon dating, beast
b may have pierced is about changing your mind when
but less precise, with greater margin its
it own rib. Waters notes confronted with alternative data that
for error. Waters also fielded criti- that
th butcher marks on seems plausible, he says.
cism of the Manis mastodon analysis, the
th mastodon bones refute NIKHIL SWAMINATHAN
Arykanda, in Lycia in southern archaeologist with the University of on a river, where the wood could
Turkey, is an ancient city built on Illinois in Chicago. She compares be sailed down to the sea to be
five large terraces that ascend a Arykanda to the more famous ruins sold. Today, the ruins of the city
steep slope and overlook a of Delphi in Greeceonly bigger climb steeply up the hillside, and
magnificent valley. The city dates and without all the tourists. Tobin, a visitors can ascend the original
back to the seventh century B.C., specialist in the archaeology of stairs. Near the entrance, visitors
but most of its remaining ruins Turkey, was shocked when she first will see the street of tombs, a
date from between the fifth saw Arykanda. When you see the roadway lined with richly decorated
century B.C. and the Roman site, you really feel like a monuments. On the terraces,
period, when the city enjoyed its nineteenth-century traveler who among other structures, are seven
greatest prosperity. After the city just happened upon the site for the bath complexes, an agora where
was severely damaged in an first time, she says. It is a truly the remains of shops can still be
earthquake in the third century magical place. seen, a well-preserved theater, and
A.D., it was largely abandoned an odeon where a frieze bearing
and left untouched for more than The site a portrait of the emperor Hadrian
a thousand years. The level of Arykandas wealth came from was found. Above that is a stadium
preservation is incredible, lumberit was a source for much of with tremendous views of the
according to Jennifer Tobin, an the ancient world and was located valley below. Free of crowds, its
an excellent place for a picnic, says
Tobin.
While you are there

When youre done touring the
siteyoull need at least three
hours to cover it completely, says
Tobinwalk a little bit inland to
see a cascading waterfall, one of
the natural springs that used to
supply the citys water. There, local
farmers and truckers mill about
in the shade, enjoying ice cream,
fruit, nuts, and beverages from
concession stands. The locals will
be thrilled to have you, says Tobin,
and normally offer some of their
food or drink. Arykanda is on the
Finike-Elmali Road. Following its
Elmali signs through the plain
of Finike will bring you to the
riverside Altintas restaurant for
sh and grilled meat. If you plan to
stay overnight, there are hotels in
nearby Antaly, Kemar, or Kosh.
MALIN GRUNBERG BANYASZ
10
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FROM THE TRENCHES
The Incredible Shrinking Grouper

F
ish in the Mediterra-
nean arent what they
used to be. Commer-
cial and recreational fishing
have decreased population
sizes and also made individu-
als smaller, since big fish are
kept and smaller ones
thrown back. To determine
whether protected, no-catch
areas boost fish size and
density, scientists from the
University of Salento in
Lecce, Italy, and Stanford
University have to under-
stand what fish populations
were like in the past. They
found a key source in classi-
cal mosaics (along with
bones and paintings), many
of which are detailed enough
to identify fish, such as the dusky grouper, by species. Some long average. The scientists have found bigger groupers in
mosaics depicting these groupers show them being fished from protected areas, but populations outside the no-catch zones
shallow water, whereas today they are found deeper. Other arent recovering in the same way. Are the days of man-sized
depictions, such as this one from the Bardo Museum in Tunis, groupers in shallow waters gone forever? According to Paolo
indicate that the fish were much, much largerbig enough to Guidetti of Salento, My impression and experience is that if
swallow a fisherman whole. It may be an exaggeration, but it we give nature a chance to recover, nature does!
certainly depicts an animal much bigger than todays two-foot- SAMIR S. PATEL
A New Look with Neutrons

S
cientists from Brown University, beam offers two advantages over X-ray- ing an oil lamp (below), a Roman coin,
Wayne State University, and Oak based imaging technologies such as and a figurine of a dog. The 3-D imag-
Ridge National Laboratory have MRIs and synchrotron light sources. It ing allows us to peel back the layers of
developed an imaging device that uses penetrates metal objects and can make an artifact like an onion, says archae-
a beam of neutrons, a particle found in images of soft organic materials. ologist Krysta Ryzewski of Wayne
the nucleus of most atoms, to make So far, the team has made 3-D State. One object the team imaged,
three-dimensional images images of several bronze found at the site of Petra in Jordan,
of archaeological arti- objects, includ- appeared to be nothing but a lump
facts. The neutron of corroded
metal. But the
neutron beam
revealed that it
had been an ear-
ring. The team hopes to
use this technology to reverse-engi-
neer how these and other artifacts
were made.
ZACH ZORICH
12
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FROM THE TRENCHES
Drawing Paleolithic Romania

R
adiocarbon dates from Coli-
boaia Cave in Romania show
that animal images drawn on
the cave walls are among the oldest
visual art in Europe and further con-
firm that early humans did indeed cre-
ate art. According to cave art expert
Jean Clottes, who visited the cave in
spring 2010, there are about eight
images that appear to have been drawn
with pieces of charcoal, using a tech-
nique similar to one that was used to
create the 35,000-year-old figures on
the walls of Chauvet Cave in south-
western France. The Coliboaia dates
are important because they prove that
from the earliest times of cave art in
Europe, people had the same cultural
practices all over the continent, says
Clottes. This reinforces the overall
unity of Ice Age art. Over the millen- drawings, as well as a piece of charcoal
nia, the drawings have been scratched he found on a ledge below the image. THE PRECIOUS
by bats and, in some cases, a layer of The drawing was dated to about In the medieval period, wearing
sapphires was a privilege reserved
calcite has grown over them, obscuring 32,000 years ago, the charcoal from
for royalty, nobility, and high-
what they were meant to depict. One the ledge to about 35,000. Future ranking clergy. Then, as now,
image clearly shows a rhinoceros research at the site will include tracing sapphires were thought to bring
(below), others may depict horses or the eight drawings and studying an as- good fortune, mental clarity,
bears (top right). To get the radiocar- yet-unknown number of images that and spiritual enlightenment to
the wearer. The intricate gold
bon dates, Clottes removed a tiny have been carved into the cave walls.
beading combined with the use
amount of charcoal from one of the ZACH ZORICH of sapphire on this ring found
in York, England, could date it
to the Viking period (tenth to
eleventh centuries A.D.). However,
the jewelry more likely dates to
between the seventh and ninth
centuries A.D. The use of gold
inlaid with red and blue glass is
typical of jewelry
from Eastst Anglia,
a kingdom
om in
eastern England
rst settled
tled
in the fth
century
A.D. To
make
the ring
more
impressive
ive
and suitable
able for
royalty, a jeweler
j l used d
precious stones instead of red or
blue glass.
JESSICA WOODARD
14
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FROM THE TRENCHES
Convict
Mothers
I
n the first half of the nineteenth
century, 12,000 British female
convicts were sent to the prison
colony in Van Diemens Land, now
known as Tasmania. The island had a
reputation for brutality, though the
women, who were employed in sewing
and textile production, had a variety of
ways to subvert the colonys draconian
Archaeology Travel Adventures

EXCEPTIONAL SCHOLARS A STUDY ABROAD
Enchanting PROGRAM IN GREECE rules, including obtaining alcohol and
Ireland SEMESTER I YEAR I SUMMER tobacco while in solitary confinement
The Archaeology, (Australias Shackled Pioneers, July/
History, and Culture Ancient Greek Studies, August, 2011). One of those rules for-
of the Emerald Isle Byzantine & Modern Greek bade convicts, held in work camps
Explore western Irelands ancient treasures &
contemporary culture with Dr. Samuel Couch. Studies, and European & called factories, to have contact with
Aug. 26Sept. 7, 2012 East Mediterranean Area their babies except for breastfeeding.
Studies But a recent find at the Ross Female
Burma Past and Present Extensive study travel within Greece
Factory shows that they skirted that
Myanmar Discover the art, rule, and may have actively resisted
archaeology, and peoples Classes in English
separation from their children. In the
of this fascinating land Distinguished American and European Faculty
of contrasts with prisons Nursery Ward, Eleanor Conlin
Credit granted by pre-arrangement from Casella of the University of Manches-
Dr. Donald Stadtner and
Moe Aung Lwin. home institution ter uncovered lead seals (above) that
Oct. 29Nov. 10, 2012 University Level Courses were attached to bolts of cloth, along
with fragments of buttons and thim-
bles. These show that convicts were
working with textiles in the nursery,
www.cyathens.org and must have been allowed informal
contact with their young childrenat
CST 2059347-50
North American Office, P.O. Box 390890, Cambridge, MA 02139 least until the children turned three,
Tel. 617 868-8200 Fax. 617 868-8207
E-Mail: [email protected] when they were transferred to a distant
Discover the Past, Share the Adventure orphan school.
800.422.8975 SAMIR S. PATEL
www.crowcanyon.org/travel 5 P L AT E I A S TA D I O U , AT H E N S , G R E E C E
16
FROM THE TRENCHES
Libyas Forgotten History

A
ccording to the fifth-century has proceeded, but because of Qaddafis water extraction systems in the desert
B.C. Greek historian Herodotus, suppression of Libyas pre-Islamic heri- and constructed more than 100 forti-
the Garamantes, a civilization tage, little to none has been published. fied farms and villages, most dating to
who inhabited the far reaches of the Now, however, thanks largely to research the first five centuries A.D. Many of
southwestern Libyan desert, were a conducted by a team led by David Mat- these structures, some of which Mat-
very great nation, colorfully described tingly of the University of Leicester, tingly calls castle-like, are only now
as hunting Ethiopians from chariots and there is new evidence that the Gara- being identified with the aid of satellite
herding backwards-grazing cattle. mantes were a highly sophisticated images combined with on-ground pho-
Modern scholarship on the Garamantes civilization who built state-of-the-art tos and field surveys completed by Mat-
tinglys team.
When the anti-Qaddafi revolt
began, Mattingly was forced to
leave Libya. He plans to return
as soon as the country is safe
and work with colleagues in the
Libyan Department of Antiqui-
ties. At that time, his teams
work will further explore and
record evidence of a civilization
who, according to Mattingly,
were pioneers in establishing
oases and opening up the trans-
Saharan trade and are a crucial
part of Libyas history.
JARRETT A. LOBELL
Researchers are using satellite

images (left) to identify
archaeological features in the
Libyan desert, (top) many of
which are mudbrick and stone
castle-like structures built by the
Garamantes civilization as many
as 2,000 years ago.
18
A Low-Flying
Birds-Eye JOURney into the heart of History
View EGYPT
Since 1983, Far Horizons has been
designing unique itineraries led
With Professor Bob Brier by renowned scholars for small
A
group of researchers at Ghent February 26 - March 11, 2012 groups of sophisticated travelers
University in Belgium has tested who desire a deeper knowledge
a new and inexpensive method MAYA OF THE of both past and living cultures.
of taking low-altitude aerial photographs YUCATAN
and creating 3-D computer models of With Dr. Stanley Guenter
archaeological sites. The team chose to March 24 - 31, 2012
use a remote-controlled drone quadro- ETHIOPIA
With Dr. Cinzia Perlingieri
April 1 - 15, 2012
IRAN
With Dr. Jenny Rose
April 24 - May 10, 2012
SICILY
With Dr. Claire Calcagno
May 12 - 26, 2012
GREECE
With Professor Jennifer Tobin
May 12 - 27, 2012
copter (top) a highly stable helicopter
with four sets of rotors to carry a digi- JORDAN & PETRA
With Professor Gary Rollefson
tal camera over a group of five kurgans
May 19 - 27, 2012 FEATURED
(above), burial mounds built by the Scyth- JOURNEYS
ian culture in central Russia between CYPRUS & MALTA
2,500 and 2,200 years ago. Because With Professor Brett Whalen Bali
researchers kept a precise record of the June 3 - 15, 2012 With Professor Michael Coe
April 28 - May 13, 2012
copters position as it photographed the SUDAN
With Professor Salima Ikram
site, the digital images could later be
November 4 - 18, 2012
COSTA RICA
combined to make a 3-D computer model With Professor John Hoopes
using software developed by Orbit Geo- and much more! March 17 - 25, 2012
Spatial Technologies. The researchers India Cambodia & Laos China
plan to use the model to make more England Inka Trail Silk Road
accurate measurements of the kurgans Bolivia Easter Island Scotland
size and to reconstruct how they looked Belize Turkey
when they were first built. Using a drone
to photograph the site was less expensive
and provided better resolution than
images shot from airplanes or satellites.
ZACH ZORICH 1-800-552-4575 www.farhorizons.com
www.archaeology.org
FROM THE TRENCHES
Stone Age Art Supplies

A
cave in southwestern South Africa was used as a paint Similar paint-making workshops have been found, such
production workshop, where ancient artists made a as the one at Lascaux Cave in France. But, at 100,000 years
liquid ochre pigment. The toolkit of shells, stone, and old, the Blombos toolkit is now the oldest one uncovered. A
bone from Blombos Cave suggests Middle Stone Age humans Middle Stone Age painter has left all his tools for us, says
were capable planners. Francesco dErrico, a University of Bordeaux archaeologist
involved in the excavation, noting the kits complete and
preserved state.
Two abalone shells were found with ochre and mineral
residue in them, along with tools resembling mortars and
pestles made of stone and bone from a variety of animals.
The shells used for storing the powder are caked with both
yellow and red pigments, implying repeated use. The variety
of tools suggests their owner returned to the cave repeatedly
to grind ochre from clay found nearby, using and discarding
tools as needed.
The acquisition of different ingredients and equipment,
as well as evidence of storage, implies planning abilities that
a number of researchers would have not previously granted
to Middle Stone Age populations, explains dErrico. He adds
that the ochre might have been produced for painting and
body decoration.
DAVID HERBERT
20
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WORLD ROUNDUP
CALIFORNIA: Over 7,500 years, NEW YORK: During demolition at what NORWAY: As glaciers recede,
the skulls of the Chumash people was once Bellevue Hospital Medical hundreds of artifacts are
and those of their ancestors College, a 15-pound metal box, sealed discovered each year. One of the
gradually shrank. Scientists think on November 14, 1897, was discovered. latest finds was a mens tunic or
that these people, who inhabited Among student registries and notebooks coat that emerged from a glacier
coastal California for over 10,000 found in the time capsule was a vial in Breheimen National Park. Dating
years, might have suffered a long- containing spores of Clostridium to the 4th century A.D., the wool
term health decline and growth perfringens, bacteria that live in the garmentmade with an advanced
impairment from exposure to intestine. Bacteriologist Edward Dunham technique called diamond twillis
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons included them so future generations one of very few known from this
(PAHs), common pollutants could check if they were still viable. They period in Europe. Without close
found in o oil and coal. The werent, but doctors today might be able attention, many of the artifacts
Chuma
Chumash had extensive to observe that emerge from melting ice will
and iincreasing exposure how bacteria be lostdecomposed or washed
to PPAHs through tar, have changed awaybefore they can be studied.
wh
which they used to since the
se
seal baskets and introduction of
c
canoes, applied antibiotics in
tto the body as the late 1920s.
m
medicine, and even
c
chewed like gum.
EL SALVADOR: Under 17 feet of

volcanic ash at the ancient Maya
LOUISIANA: In the time before city of Ceren, archaeologists have
bridges made the bayou more discovered a raised road called
accessible, small rafts and cable a sacbe. Usually these roads,
ferries were the only path into the connecting temples, plazas, or
swamps and between plantations. towns, were lined with stone, but
Now, in a few tarred wooden this one, which probably led to two
platforms and some rusted ceremonial buildings nearby, was
gearwork, a river guide might have not. In the absence of the stones,
located the remains of Vesters the rapid burial by the eruption of
Crossing, one of the last cable the Loma Caldera volcano helped
ferriesa boat pulled back and keep it intact for identification.
forth via cablein the area. The
site may become part of a heritage
paddle trail. EGYPT: An analysis of 15 mummy hair
samples shows just how important styling was
more than 2,000 years ago. To understand
how the complex hairdos were achieved and
maintained after death, scientists studied
coatings on the hair with electron microscopy
and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
They found that the ancient Egyptians used a
kind of fatty hair gel to keep their hair coiffed in both life and the
afterlife. The absence of embalming materials in the hair suggests
that it was covered during mummification.
22
By Samir S. Patel
Voyages to Antiquity
T
TURKEY: On the SPACE: One of the next frontiers announces
G
Gallipoli battlefield for archaeology is out of this world.
o
of World War I, Scientists in England are attempting
w
where Allied armies, to contact Prospero, a satellite
in
including soldiers launched in 1971, to see how its
ffrom Australia circuits have held up. First, they have
a
and New Zealand had to rummage for the satellites
c
called Anzacs, communications codes and build
w
were defeated custom equipment, and now they
by Ottoman forces, archaeological are attempting to make contact
surveys have revealed some of the by sending a simple signal. NASA
battlefield conditions, which historical has also begun drafting guidelines
sources state were quite dreadful. In to protect three dozen lunar sites,
particular, it appears the Anzacs were including the Apollo 11 and 17 landing
eating canned or stale food, while the sites. The guidelines could include
Turkish forces had frontline kitchens, ground-level boundaries and no-fly
cruise the
orient
suggesting they had access to hot zonesfor when private spaceships
meals. Other artifacts found include (and even tourists) start arriving.
water bottles with bullet holes in
them, fragments of barbed wire, and
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VOYAGES TO ANTIQUITY

STATEROOM
SAVINGS
AUSTRALIA: Hanged for the murder of three policemen 131 years

ago, Ned Kellythe countrys most notorious bushranger and
outlawis considered both folk hero and killer. He robbed banks,
wore homemade armor to his final confrontation with police, and V OYAGES TO A NTIQUITY
reflected the tension between poor Irish settlers and the wealthy
Call 1-877-398-1460
Anglo elite. Following his execution, Kelly was buried in a mass Visit www.voyagestoantiquity.com
grave. Forensic scientists, ending decades of speculation, have Or contact your travel professional
identified his bones by comparing DNA with a descendants. But his
Price is per person, double occupancy, Cat. N. Air add-ons (and transfers) applicable
skull, perhaps separated as a souvenir, remains at large. with cruise-tour purchase only and does not include government taxes, fees and airline
fuel surcharges ($500-$750), which may change at any time. Stateroom savings based
on double occupancy (singles receive 50%) and vary by category. All prices are subject
to change. Ship's registry: Malta
www.archaeology.org
Top 10
Discoveries
of 2011
Years from now, when we look back on 2011, the year will almost certainly
be defined by political and economic upheaval. At the same time that Western
nations were shaken by a global economic slump, people in the Middle East
and North Africa forcefully removed heads of state who had been in power
for decades. Arab Spring, as the various revolutions have collectively been
named, will have far-reaching implications, not just for the societies in which
it took place, but also for archaeology. No year-end review would be complete
without polling archaeological communities in the aected areas to determine
whether sites linked to the worlds oldest civilizations, from Apamea in Syria
to Saqqara in Egypt, are still intact. Our update appears on page 30.
Of course, traditional fieldwork took place in 2011 as well. Archaeologists
uncovered one of the worlds first buildings in Jordan. In Guatemala, a Maya
tomb oered rare evidence of a female ruler, and, in Scotland, a boat was found
with a 1,000-year-old Viking buried inside.
We also witnessed the impact that technology continues to have on archaeol-
ogy. Researchers used a ground-penetrating radar survey of the site of a Roman
gladiator school to create a digital model of what it may once have looked
like. And scientists studying an early hominid have taken their investigation
online by tapping the scientific blogging community. The team is seeking help to
determine if they have actually found a sample of fossilized skin that appears
to be more than 2 million years old. These projects stand as clear evidence that
as cultures around the world undergo sweeping changes, so too does the practice
and process of archaeology. The Editors
24
Viking Boat Burial Ardnamurchan, Scotland
A spectacular Viking boat

burial was uncovered
this year on the coast of Ard-
namurchan, a remote region
of western Scotland, the first
such burial to be found on the
British mainland. The Viking,
who is thought to have per-
ished over 1,000 years ago,
was most likely a high-ranking
warrior. He was buried lying
in a 16-foot-long boat, with
artifacts including a sword
with silver inlay on the hilt,
a shield, a spear, an ax, and a
drinking horn. The level of
preservation of the objects
and the range of grave goods
make this one of the most important Viking burials found in the U.K., says Colleen Batey, a Viking
specialist from the University of Glasgow.
Although the location is isolated today, at the time of the burial, it was right on the main north-
south seafaring route between Ireland and Norway. No Viking dwellings have been found in Ard-
namurchan, but Vikings are known to have inhabited the nearby islands of the Hebrides. We dont
know why they chose this location for the burial, but the Neolithic and Bronze Age burial mounds
there may have made it an important place for them, says Oliver Harris, project co-director from
the University of Leicester. Isotope analysis of the Vikings teeth may eventually help the scientists
pin down where he was from. Kate Ravilious
Archaeologists (top right)

uncover a Viking boat burial
in western Scotland. An
X-ray of a sword with silver
inlay (left) found along with
the high-ranking Viking. An
artists conception (bottom)
shows how the burial may
have originally looked.
www.archaeology.org
Neolithic Community Centers Open Source Australopithecus
Wadi Faynan, Jordan Malapa, South Africa
T he 2.2-million-year-old fossils of Australopithecus sediba

have been providing new insights into human evolu-
tion since they were discovered in South Africas Malapa
Cave in 2010. But now scans of some of the fossils have
revealed a thin layer of minerals that could be the remains
of Australopithecus skin. To determine whether this is the
case, Lee Berger, a paleoanthropologist at the University
of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and lead researcher
on the project, is taking a revolutionary step and making
this research project open source.
Berger has enlisted John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist
and blogger at the University of Wisconsin, to reach out
to the online scientific community for input on how the
research should be designed and to help analyze the skin
samples. Because no one has ever found fossilized early
hominid skin, Hawks says, there are no experts on the
subject.
According to Hawks, the open-source approach will
help the team avoid a common pitfall of early hominid
researchthe sometimes decades-long delay between a
fossils discovery and the publication of scientists analysis
of the find. The team will post project updates online to
inform the community of its progress and address any
issues that might arise before submitting the research to a
T he discovery of the remains of a 4,500-square-foot struc-
ture at the south Jordanian site of Wadi Faynan is helping
redefine the purpose of architecture at the point in history when
peer-reviewed journal.
The project is starting to attract interest worldwide.
roving bands of hunter-gatherers transitioned to sedentary Bergers team is in discussions with Russian anthropologists
societies. Rather than characterizing early Neolithic settlements who suggested comparing the Malapa samples to other
dating to nearly 12,000 years ago as residential clusters tied to specimens of fossilized skin. The team is also working with
the advent of agriculture, structures such as the tower at Jericho a mineralogist from the University of Oslo, in Norway, to
on the West Bank and Gbekli Tepe in southern Turkey suggest find a way to examine the structure of the skin with an
an initial stage of settlement where people coalesced around electron microscope. If the mineral layer does turn out to
communal activities and rituals. be preserved skin, it could provide information about A.
Add to that list the oval-shaped building (above) at Wadi sedibas hair, pigmentation, and sweat glands. If the layer
Faynan, known simply as O75. It dates to 11,700 years ago and, turns out to be something else, paleoanthropology may still
according to Bill Finlayson, director of the Council for British have gained a new approach to research. Zach Zorich
Research in the Levant, who led its excavation, it appears to
have been built by digging a pit and then lining the walls with Mineral deposits
a very strong mud mixture. A floor was constructed from mud found on the
fossiliz
fossilized
plaster and surrounded by two tiers of benches, three feet
remains of
deep and one-and-a-half feet high, recalling an amphitheater. Australopithe
Australopithecus
Postholes indicate that a roof covered a section of the structure. sediba could be
Some finds, including mortars for grinding found in raised early hum
human
platforms at the structures center, suggest people of the time sk
skin.
might have used the building as a venue to collectively process
plants, such as barley and pistachio. O75 may have addition-
ally offered a space for communal gatherings. It could have
been a locale where small groups of people were aggregating
on a periodic basis, says A. Nigel Goring-Morris, a prehistoric
archaeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who was
not involved in the excavation. Nikhil Swaminathan
26
First Domesticated Dogs Predmost,
Czech Republic
R esearchers have, until recently, thought that dog domestication occurred about 14,000
years ago. In 2011, the case for it taking place much earlier received a boost from sites
across Eurasia. Mietje Germonpr, of Belgiums Museum of Natural History, and a team of
One of three skulls of the
earliest domesticated dogs
found in Czech Republic. This
one was buried with a mastodon
researchers published a paper describing three canid skulls that had many of the distinctive bone in its mouth.
traits that separate domesticated dogs from their wolf lf ances-
ances
tors, including a shorter, broader snout and a wider brain
case. The skulls, which date to roughly 31,500 yearss ago,

were part of a collection from the site of Predmost, , in
Czech Republic. In addition, a separate research team am
found a dog skull at Razboinichya Cave in Siberia thatt
was dated to 33,000 years ago. Both finds support
a 2009 research paper published by Germonpr
and her colleagues describing a 36,000-year-old
dog skull found at Goyet in Belgium. Critics could d
write o the single dog skull from Goyet as an aber- r-
ration. When I received the results of the date I was
really disappointed, Germonpr said of the Goyet skull.
I thought no one would believe it. I couldnt believeve it. But
the evidence from all three sites now makes Germonprs
prs case much
stronger. Zach Zorich
Rare Maya Female Ruler Nakum, Guatemala
S urprisingly untouched
by looters, a well-hidden
burial chamber found at the
archaeological site of Nakum
in northeastern Guatemala
may have been the tomb
of a female ruler from the
second or third century A.D.
The eastern-facing tomb
held a 1,300-year-old skel-
eton, a jade pectoral, and a
decorated vessel in the Tikal
Dancer style, among other
items. Through a crack in the
tombs floor, archaeologists
uncovered an even older
tomb with female remains
bearing two vessels atop the
head, along with other, more
precious items. The tombs
quality and location suggest
it was a burial chamber for a
royal lineage that lasted half
a millennium.
Jessica Woodard
www.archaeology.org
Gladiator Gym
Goes Virtual
Carnuntum, Austria
A virtual re-creation
G round-penetrating radar (GPR)

technology has allowed an inter-
national team of researchers from
R)
ter-
rom
(below) of the
gladiator school
found in Austria. A
the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for map (left) created
with ground-
Archaeological Prospection and Vir- penetrating radar
tual Archaeology (LBI-ArchPro) to o both shows the arena
identify a ludus (gladiator school) at the (large brown circle),
Roman city of Carnuntum in Austria ria and baths (in orange),
bring it before the public in an unprec- and training hall
(pink, top right).
edented way. What was once a vibrant ant city
of 50,000 residents is now the site ite of an
immense archaeological park. The newly dis-
covered fourth-century A.D. gladiator or school,
the fourth largest ever found in the he world,
hitheater
located just west of the largest amphitheater
outside of Rome, is a self-enclosed complex
that includes an inner courtyard,, circular
training area, living quarters, and a cemetery.
The high-resolution images collected from
the GPR survey show an under-floor heat-
ing system, bathing area, and walking paths
within the complex. With the improved
GPR technology developed by LBI-ArchPro,
a complete picture of gladiator life is starting
to emerge. Digitally re-created images of the
ludus allow visitors to see how the school fit
into the citys landscape, and its possible to
view them on a smartphone by using the free
Wikitude World Browser software.
Jessica Woodard
Ancient Chinese Takeout

Shaanxi/Xinjiang, China
T oday, dog soup and millet noodles may be meals

only an archaeologist could love. In two tombs
at opposite ends of the country, archaeologists have
found the remains of intriguing dishes, well preserved
in bronze vessels and clay pots and buried with the
dead. In a Warring States tomb in Shaanxi Province,
one team found a soup containing what they believe
to be dog bones. And in Subeixi Cemetery in Xinjiang,
another group of archaeologists found 2,400-year- A researcher samples the worlds
old intact noodles made of millet. With efforts to re- oldest soup, which is cloudy and green
due to the bronze vessel it was stored
create the meals, archaeologists may soon be eating
in for more than 2,000 years.
like the ancients. Lauren Hilgers
28
War Begets State Lake Titicaca, Peru
N ear the northern end of Lake Titicaca in Peru,

a team led by Charles Stanish of the University
of California, Los Angeles, found evidence that
Archaeologists dig at Taraco (left), which they
believe was burned by neighbors from the
nearby settlement of Pukara (pictured here).
warfare may have been critical in the formation of
early states. The main line of evidence is a 38-yard-
long layer of ash and debris in a high-status residential area of a ized settlements, a warrior class, and full-time craft specialists.
settlement called Taraco, one of the two largest political centers Put all that evidence together, and Stanish theorizes that
in the region. The site-wide burn, dated to the first century A.D., Pukara attacked and destroyed its rival Taraco. After two mil-
was so intense it melted adobe walls and carbonized thatched lennia of coexistence, war had come to the Titicaca Basinbut
roofs. instead of snuffing the early spark of civilization, it served as
Taracos fortunes changed drastically after the fire. The tinder. Cooperation between cultures can certainly be a path
production of high-quality pottery and obsidian artifacts plum- to success, but sometimes organized conflict can be a more
meted, and residents shifted from building with fine stone to efficient, logical way to acquire resources.
working in the fields. At the same time, the nearby settlement of The models of state formation that do not see warfare as a
Pukara took off, expanding its territory by at least 60 miles and central key element do not have it right, says Steve LeBlanc of
showing characteristics of state-level societies such as urban- Harvard University. Julian Smith
Atlantic Whaler Found in Pacic French Frigate Shoals, Hawaii
A mericas whaling fleet expanded the countrys global

reach and transformed the economy of the Pacific in
the 1800s. Very few wrecks of these vessels have ever been
found, as they usually went down in deep water, far from shore.
This year, federal marine archaeologists working at French
Frigate Shoals in the Papahnaumokukea Marine National
Monument in Hawaii finally identified oneTwo Brothers, a
Nantucket whaler that sank in 1823. The discovery started
with a 10-foot anchor, and also included three iron trypots in
which blubber was rendered into oil, remnants of the ships
rigging, and another anchor. Two Brothers has a special place in
literary history. It was the second ship led by hard-luck captain
George Pollard Jr. His first was the Essex, which was rammed
and sunk by a sperm whale, providing inspiration for Moby
Dick. Oh, and the Essex crew, including Pollard, resorted to
cannibalism while drifting and starving on the open ocean.
Samir S. Patel
www.archaeology.org
Arab Spring Impacts Archaeology Libya/Egypt/Tunisia/Syria
N o discussion of the year 2011 can be complete without a

reference to whats been termed Arab Spring. The politi-
cal phenomenon has the potential to have an extraordinary
impact on archaeology for years to come.
In Libya, a Russian journalist broadcast that thieves plun-

dered the countrys museums and NATO bombed the ancient
Roman sites of Leptis Magna and Sabratha. At the end of
September, a three-person team from Blue Shield, a nonprofit
organization concerned with the protection of cultural heri-
tage in areas of conflict, traveled to western Libya and found
Leptis Magna untouched. The theater at Sabratha suered
minor bullet damage, but the rest of the site was fine. Rebels
had entered Tripolis National Museum, but only wrecked
Qaddafis old cars on display; museum sta had previously
hidden or moved important artifacts. Overall, the Blue Shield
report said, they found no evidence of organized looting at the and broke into storerooms throughout the country, includ-
museums or archaeological sites they visited. Nevertheless, ing in the delta region, Abydos, Abu Sir, Giza, Dashur, Lisht,
there are still concerns. Saqqara, and Quntara. Thieves also pilfered artifacts from
There is a lot of hearsay, but artifacts have been smuggled Cairos Egyptian Museum, while protests and street battles
out of the country through Egypt, says Ray Bondin, Maltas went on outside in Tahrir Square.
ambassador to UNESCO, who has worked with Libyan heri- Archaeologists in Egypt now say security has returned, but
tage authorities for many years. The sites are not well protect- organization has faltered since the Mubarak regime fell. In
ed and the department of antiquities is still organizing itself. an attempt to stabilize the situation, the Supreme Council of
After rebels drove Qaddafis forces from Benghazi, for Antiquities (SCA) is no longer part of the Culture Ministry,
instance, the so-called Treasure of Benghaziaround 8,000 and instead is part of Prime Minister Essam Sharafs portfolio.
bronze, silver, and gold coins and other artifacts from the The SCA is going through a very painful auditing process,
ancient city of Cyrene near modern-day al-Baydadisappeared says Tamar Teneishvili, a UNESCO specialist in Cairo. And
from a bank vault. the treasury for cultural heritage management, funded by
tourism, is empty.
Egypt appears to have been aected more than its westerly
neighbor. After the revolution erupted in late January, then Tunisia, the first Arab Spring country to evict its dictator,
Minister of State for Antiquities Aairs Zahi Hawass oered appeared to have avoided post-uprising archaeological prob-
assurances that all sites and artifacts were safe. Later, however, lems. Once Ben Ali and his family fled the country, however, an
this proved not to be true. Looters had attacked dozens of sites earlier, state-sponsored looting epidemic was discovered. On
a program on France 2 television, Complment denqute, Fathi
Bejaoui of Tunisias National Heritage Institute was filmed as
he entered Ben Alis daughters abandoned beach mansion.
There they found nearly 200 artifacts used as decoration.
Ancient columns held up a large exhaust hood in the kitchen
and marble friezes were cut to frame the fireplace.
Syria could be the next country to oust a regime, but the govern-
ment has sealed the country to outsiders and information is sparse.
The state-run news agency reported in September 2011 that looters
had hit the Seleucid city Apamea, not far from modern-day Hama,
the seat of opposition to the Assad regime. Mike Elkin
While government officials claimed that no harm had come to

the Egyptian Museum (left), looters did make off with artifacts.
The theater at Sabratha, in Libya (above), on the other hand,
was largely unscathed.
30
Sites Under Threat
Altamira Cave
I n a policy article published in the journal Science in October

2011, Spanish scientists argued against the reopening of
Altamira Cave, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The cave contains
multicolored cave paintings featuring several red bison, dating
back 14,000 years to the Upper Paleolithic. The cave, which was
discovered in 1879, was closed to visitors in 2002 following the
discovery of green bacteria, which scientists said were able to
thrive in the artificial lighting installed in the caves famed Poly-
chrome Hall, a phenomenon also seen at Frances Lascaux Cave.
Since the closing, the bacterial colonization abated. The
Spanish Ministry of Culture has been considering reopening it
to tourists since 2010. The researchers writing in Science claim
that admitting visitors will simply reintroduce conditions that will
further endanger the paintings. Increased temperatures, humidity,
and carbon dioxide levels, among other factors, will all promote
bacterial growth and speed the corrosion of the rock that ancient Pompeii
people used as a canvas. Altamira Cave, they write, although
currently closed, is at real risk. Nikhil Swaminathan
W hile plans are underway for a massive influx of funds
from the European Union that will take a significant step
in preserving the site in the future, the Roman city of Pompeii
remains gravely imperiled. With its thousands of buildings cov-
ering about 160 acres, the 2,000-year-old city is literally falling
down. Over the past year alone, part of one large property, the
so-called House of the Gladiators, as well as several ancient
walls, have crumbled, the most recent being the October 2011
collapse of a small part of the citys exterior wall. The collapses
are largely due to heavy rains, which can destroy ancient mortar
and for which no adequate drainage exists, and a lack of funding
for both preservation and security. A persistent concern is the
low priority placed on saving a site that attracts more than 3
million visitors a year. According to Jennette Papadopoulos, the
sites archaeological superintendent, Pompeii is in a constant
state of emergency. Jarrett A. Lobell
Texas
F rom October 2010 to the end of September 2011, Texas received the
smallest amount of rainfall ever recorded over a 12-month period, accord-
ing to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. One estimate
predicts the drought, which has cost the states agriculture industry more
than $5 billion, could last until 2020.
The receding waters are affecting local archaeology, exposing sites that
have been underwater for decades. The Texas Historical Commission says it
has received one report per month of a newly emerged find, such as several
shipwrecks (including the one at right), and discoveries are becoming more
frequent. Among them is a mid-nineteenth-century cemetery for freed slaves
that lay beneath the Richland Chambers Reservoir in northeastern Texas.
Skeletal remains recovered from the site include a skull and a jaw bone.
Authorities are mum on the cemeterys exact location, fearing it will attract lootersa problem thats plagued another site just south
of Fort Worth. At least 30 people have been fined $1,000 each for disturbing sites at Lake Whitney, where receding waters exposed
submerged caverns holding Native American artifacts and burial remains up to 8,000 years old. Nikhil Swaminathan
www.archaeology.org
Scholars aboard the research
vessel Hercules (above) have
identified the site of the
third-century B.C. Battle of the
Egadi Islands. The key to pin-
pointing the location has been
the discovery of bronze rams
on the ocean floor (right) that
were once attached to a ships
prow and used to cripple an
enemy ship.
32
The Weapon That
Changed History
Evidence of Romes decisive victory over Carthage is discovered
in the waters off Sicily
by ANDREW CURRY
I
N HIS WORK The Histories, the second-century B.C. fighting. The Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barcathe father
Greek historian Polybius chronicles the rise of the of a later adversary of Rome, Hannibalwas pinned down on a
Romans as they battled for control of the Mediter- mountaintop above the city of Drepana, now the Sicilian town
ranean. The central struggle pits the Romans against of Trapani. As the Carthaginians assembled a relief force, the
their archenemies the Carthaginians, a trading super- Romans scraped together the money for a fleet to cut them
power based in North Africa. For 23 years, beginning o. According to Polybius, in March 241 B.C., the two sides
in 264 B.C., the two rivals fought what became known as the met in between the Egadi Islands, a trio of rocky outcrops a
First Punic War. few miles o the coast of Sicily. The clash brought hundreds
As Polybius tells it, the war came to a head in 242 B.C., with of ships and thousands of men together in a battle that helped
both powers exhausted and nearly broke after two decades of shape the course of history.
www.archaeology.org
A
STRING OF DISCOVERIES just a few miles o the coast of mander Lutatius faced a dicult choice. The seas were stormy
western Sicily are now supplying new evidence of that and the wind was against himnot ideal conditions for a naval
war and the battle that brought it to a close. Working assault in the age of sail. But Lutatius knew this was his best
from a well-equipped research vessel, a team from the United chance to intercept the Carthaginians and catch them at a
States and Italy has located what can only be artifacts from disadvantage. He therefore decided not to let the present
what is now known as the Battle of the Egadi Islands. opportunity slip, Polybius writes. An order sent dozens of
Its the first time archaeologists have gone looking for and Roman ships sitting at anchor along the shore of Levanzo,
successfully uncovered evidence of a particular ancient naval the northernmost of the Egadi Islands, surging toward the
battle. While ancient accounts often exaggerate the numbers Carthaginian fleet.
of men or weapons involved in a battle, or are vague about their In the 1970s, divers working for local tuna fisheries told
exact locations, Polybius turns out to have been fairly reliable. Sicilian archaeologist Sebastiano Tusa that fragments of lead
His basic report about the Battle of the Egadi Islands has anchors were a common find along the rocky coast of Levanzo.
been confirmed. Ships met in a battle, and ships sank, says That led Tusa to speculate that the island may have been where
Je Royal, the director of the Florida-based nonprofit RPM Roman ships waited to ambush the Carthaginians. Perhaps,
Nautical Foundation, which is leading the work. he says, the Romans cut their anchors loose as they prepared
In Polybius description, the two sides were wildly to attack. That would have made a ship much lightereach
unmatchednot in numbers, but in terms of battle readiness. anchor weighed 600 pounds, says Tusa, who is now superin-
Traditionally a land power, the Romans had learned a great deal tendent of archaeology for Trapani. Freed of their last loads,
over the course of the war with Carthage. They arrived ready ranks of Roman rowers, moving in carefully practiced concert,
to fight, their new quinquiremesfast warships powered by propelled the sleek wooden ships across the blue water.
rowers during combatstripped for battle. Any extra weight
O
would have been left on shore. The Roman ships were loaded N A WARM DAY in August 2011, RPMs turquoise-
with well-trained troops and no extra stores, Royal says. They and-white painted research vessel floated where the
were ready for business. Romans and the Carthaginians clashed more than
The Carthaginian fleet, on the other hand, was burdened by 2,000 years ago. The ship, dubbed Hercules, used a combina-
supplies and troops intended to relieve the besieged Hamilcar. tion of GPS and computer-controlled thrusters to hover in
For the first time, the shoes on the other foot, Royal says.place. Nearly 300 feet straight down was the evidence the
Polybius is unsparing in his criticism of the Carthaginians. ship was seeking.
Their ships, being loaded, were not in a serviceable condi- As Tusa and local dignitaries watched from the deck and
tion for battle, while the crews were quite untrained, and had wetsuit-clad Italian coast guard divers slid from a nearby
been put on board for the emergency, and their marines were motorboat into the water to film the proceedings, the Hercu-
recent levies whose first experience of the least hardship and les crew used a crane to lower a cage the size of a small car,
danger this was, the historian wrote decades after the battle.containing a remotely operated submersible vehicle (ROV),
As dawn broke on March 22, 241 B.C., the Roman com- into the water. In an air-conditioned control room sandwiched
between the ships galley and the
crews lounge, racks of servers named
after the Greek gods Artemis, Diony-
sius, and Zeus hummed softly.
Lit by a wall of blue-tinted video
screens that display images from the
ROVs camera, the control room is
the heart of RPMs operation. Hercules
is equipped with some of the most
sophisticated sonar imaging equip-
ment in the world, capable of creat-
ing computerized, three-dimensional
relief maps of the ocean floor accu-
rate to within a few feet. The ship
spends months each year sailing back
and forth across the Mediterranean,
mapping out areas that might have
shipwrecks. In the last seven years,
the team has located dozens of ships
o the coasts of Albania and Montene-
Images stream into the Hercules control room from a remotely operated submersible gro (The Adriatics Uncharted Past,
vehicle during the discovery of one of the rams. March/April 2011).
34
Thus far five rams have been recovered and numbered maneuvered the craft to within a few inches of one of the
by the team, including Egadi 4 (top), being examined by rams. The ROVs thrusters sent clouds of sand billowing up,
project leader Jeff Royal in 2011; Egadi 2 (above), being occasionally obscuring the view of the partly buried chunk of
examined by Royal and Sebastiano Tusa in 2008; and Egadi
3 (right), being raised in 2010. bronze. After two tense hours, with RPM founder George
Robb controlling the robots gripper arms and Royal looking
on nervously, the ram was finally hoisted to the surface.
RPM began searching for finds o the Egadi Islands in As it lay dripping on the deck, the rams features were easier
2005, after Royal and Tusa made an educated guess on the to make out. A triple stack of two-foot-wide blades swooped
general location of the battle based on Polybius accounts. back into a fitting that once snugly capped a ships prow. The
Because the flat parts of the seafloor have been so thoroughly ram rode just at the waterline, designed to splinter the planks
disturbed by bottom-dragging nets, the team first mapped of an enemy vessel on impact and cripple it. More like an arrow-
the seafloor to find underwater areas with lots of rocks. They head than a blunt battering ram, weighing in at 600 pounds, it
hoped more artifacts would have been preserved intact in was the pointed end of a larger weaponthe ship itself. With
places the trawl nets couldnt tear up. these, the ship provides 99.9 percent of the mass, and thus the
Once they created an accurate map of the undersea geogra- force, thats coming at you, Royal explains. Without the ram,
phy, they began flying over it with their submersible robot, you could conceivably still hit another ship and sink it. But you
looking for artifacts that had been left behind or lost during could do that only a certain number of times.
the Egadi Islands battle. In 2008, a ships bronze ram was Once the Hercules docked in Trapani, the small Sicilian city
spotted sitting on the seafloor and recovered using an ROV. In that serves as a launching point for ferries to the Egadi Islands,
2010, they located another ram and brought it to the surface. Royal began measuring and cleaning the ram, scooping hand-
A year later, they were back to retrieve yet another artifact, fuls of dark mud from the inside and sealing them in plastic
spotted months earlier. bags for later analysis. Because this ram was the fourth such
With a crowd of local archaeologists looking on, a profes- ram discovered here, Royal dubbed it Egadi 4. Egadi 2 was
sional ROV pilot on loan from a Swedish oil pipeline project recovered in 2008, Egadi 3 in 2010. Both are now in a tuna
www.archaeology.org
plantturnedlocal museum on the island of Favignana. Egadi
1the ram that tipped Tusa o to the possibility that there
might be something worth looking for on the ocean floor
turned up in a dentists oce in Trapani in 2001. Local fisher-
men pulled the ram up in their nets and traded it for dental
care before Italian police seized it and turned it over to Tusa.
B
Y THE TIME Hercules finished its season and headed
to its home port in Malta a few weeks later, Royal and
the RPM team had recovered two more rams, for a
total of six. Before this discovery only four warship rams from
this period had ever been found. Add to that more than half
a dozen helmets and about 200 amphorae, and RPM has
strong evidence that an ancient naval battle took place here.
It sounds plausiblehelmets and rams together say theres
military equipment in the area, says ancient ship expert
Ronald Bockius, a curator at the Roman-Germanic Central
Museum in Mainz. The number of rams is an indication for
me that these artifacts are related to a battle. The more that
are found, the more clear it seems.
Others scholars are less reserved. William Murray, an
archaeologist at the University of South Florida and author
of the new book The Age of Titans: The Rise and Fall of the Great
Hellenistic Navies, calls the finds a technological, methodologi-
cal, and scientific tour de force. For the first time, people went
to find things from a naval battle and actually found them.
Theyve demonstrated without a doubt the location of the last
battle of the First Punic War, says Murray.
The finds promise to do more than just pinpoint the loca-
tion of a battle that took place two millennia ago. Until now,
archaeologists studying ancient warships often had to rely on
artifacts and structures found on land, such as the covered
ship sheds that housed warships in port. Thats like trying
to find out how big the car was by looking at the garage,
Royal says.
There are major holes in archaeologists knowledge of
naval warfare in the classical world. Classicists and historians
are often baed by ancient accounts of naval battles, which
are filled with everything from familiar triremes to the more
exotic-sounding quadriremes, quinqueremes and pentecont-
ers. We know a lot about ancient warship names, but we
know much less about the character of the actual ships,
Murray says. Its like not knowing what a cruise missile or
a drone is. When the battle actually begins and a heptareme
attacks a quinquereme and is sunk by a lembos, what does
that mean?
The Egadi rams may help sort things out. Ancient crafts-
men shaped them using whats called the lost-wax method.
After the ship was built, a complete ram was sculpted out of
beeswax directly on the prow. The wax ram was then care-
fully removed and encased in clay, creating a mold. Molten
bronze was poured into the mold, melting and replacing the
The names of the Roman officials who oversaw the ships wax. When the bronze cooled, the clay was cracked o and
construction are visible on two of the Egadi rams (top and
middle). Both also carry an image of Victoria, the Roman
the bronze rama perfect copy of the wax originalcould be
goddess of victory. Egadi 3 (bottom) came from a mounted on the ship.
Carthaginian ship and carries an inscription in Punic. For archaeologists, each ram is a cast of the business end
36
of an ancient warshipinvaluable information for those who Royal says. If it had failed, it might have meant another five
want to know how naval battles were fought in antiquity. We to ten years of stalemate before Rome could get the resources
can get a sense of where the ships wooden timbers were by together to try again.
looking at the hollow cavity inside the ram, says Murray. That Instead, the Roman fleet was victorious, forcing Carthage
allows you to make certain suppositions about what the physi- to sign a ruinous peace deal with Rome, eectively ending
cal characteristics of the warships were. the longest sea war in Roman history in one day. The battles
impact rippled far beyond the waters of Sicily. As part of the
O
NCE RETRIEVED FROM THE Mediterranean, the rams
are stored in deionized water to remove the salt from
their surface, and are then dried and painstakingly
cleaned with dental picks and drills. The patina (the green film
that makes weathered bronze so distinctive) is left to protect
the metal underneath. Finally, the rams are covered in a wax
coating to seal and protect them.
The rams bear the scars of battle. Dents abound and even
entire fins are sheared o, most likely from head-on collisions
with other rams. As conservators in Trapani clean and restore
the artifacts RPM has found over the last four seasons, new
details about them are being revealed. Egadi 3, which likely
belonged to a Carthaginian ship, bears an inscription in Punic,
the Carthaginians language, dedicated to the god Baal: We
pray to Baal that this ram will go into the enemy ship and
make a big hole.
Just weeks after they were lifted from the sea floor, two of
the rams found in summer 2011, Egadi 4 and 6, yielded iden-
tifying details as well. Both carry images of Victoria, Roman
goddess of victory in battle, in relief on their upper surfaces.
Below the goddesses there are names, perhaps belonging to
Roman quaestors, ocials who oversaw and organized the ships
construction. Because the names on both rams are the same,
its likely this was part of a larger building program, Royal
says. Evidence for this program may also be found in Polybius
account, where he writes that with the Carthaginian army
pinned down on a Sicilian mountaintop in 242 B.C., the Sen-
ate pressed Romes 200 richest families to sponsor warships.
In less than a year, the new fleet was organized and sailors
were trained and equipped. This was their last-ditch eort,
In addition to the rams, the team has also recovered

several Montefortino-type bronze helmets (below, alongside
Egadi 5). At the local maritime archaeology museum, Egadi
3 (right) is displayed on an ancient ship replica.
treaty that Carthage agreed to in the battles aftermath, Rome

gained its first overseas possessions. In one fell swoop, all the
islands of the Mediterranean, from Sicily to Sardinia, were
in Romes hands. They took the shot, rolled the dice, and
won the damn thing, Royal says. It was a huge watershed
moment.
Andrew Curry is a contributing editor at ARCHAEOLOGY.
www.archaeology.org
The Truth Behind
the Tablets
The rush to document thousands of ancient texts
before they are sent back to Iran, or sold, reveals the
daily workings of the Persian Empire
by ANDREW LAWLER
38
T
ENSIONS BETWEEN IRAN AND the United
States have rarely run higher, with both
governments sparring over alleged terror
plots, disputing the nature of Irans nuclear
program, and vying to influence the uprisings
across the Arab world. But in Chicago and
Boston courtrooms, the two countries have found rare com-
mon groundneither wants ancient tablets from the royal
palace of Persepolis in Iran to end up on the auction block.
To the relief of scholars, two recent court rulings may give
them their joint wish, preserving open access to what is the
most significant source of information on the ancient Persian
Empire uncovered to date.
In the early 1930s, during excavations of Persepolis, Uni-
versity of Chicago archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld unearthed
tens of thousands of fragments of fragile clay tablets dating
from about 500 B.C. The fragments were packed into 2,353
cardboard boxes and shipped to the universitys Oriental
Institute. The Iranian government of the day allowed the
export, with the understanding that the tablets would be trans-
lated and then returned. But the task of piecing together and
understanding the vast number of fragments has been under
way for more than seven decades and the majority of the col-
lection remains in Chicago. Now, fearing loss of the archive,
the university has moved into high gear to create thousands
of digital images of the tablets, which record the day-to-day
accounts of the empire during the reign of Darius the Great
(521486 B.C.) and include records of those traveling on behalf
of the king, lists of workers rations, and careful notation of
oerings made to deities.
Researchers hope to have most of this intensive eort
completed within the next two years. To get the job done, the
institute has assembled what Gil Stein, director of the Oriental
Institute, calls a dream team of textual scholars, archaeolo-
gists, and technical experts in digital cataloguing to take images
of the tablets and make them available for public use. Transla-
tions are also being done, though it will take much longer to
complete that daunting task. Whether they are seized for
The palace of Darius

and the large audience
hall in the royal city of
Persepolis (above). Tens
of thousands of clay
tablets and fragments
(right) from Persepolis
are written in cuneiform
to express Elamite, an
ancient language of
western Iran.
www.archaeology.org
sale or the government of Iran demands them m woun
wounded dozens more. The Palestinian orga-
back, the tablets will be out of the building nization Hamas, which has ties to Iran, had
niz
soon. We all understand how important and claimed responsibility, so the plaintis filed
cl
urgent this is, says Stein. suit against Iran. In 2003, a U.S. federal court
su
awarded them $423.5 million in damages,
aw
T
HE SUDDEN RUSH STEMS from a long- including $300 million in punitive damages.
in
running legal battle involving not justt When the defendant, the Islamic Republic of
W
the University of Chicago, but also o Iran, ignored the ruling, the lawyers sought out
Iran
Harvard University and the Museum of Fine ne Iranian assets on U.S. soil. Strachman set his sights
Arts (MFA) in Boston. The trouble began in on other tablets
table from Persepolis and on Iranian artifacts
2004, when Stein returned 300 translated at Harvard and the MFA that could be worth millions
tablets to Tehran in an eort to build trust
with Iranian museum ocials and scholars. Th front of this tablet (top) is inscribed in
The
Media reports of that visit caught the atten- Elamite, while the back (left) has
El
tion of David Strachman, a lawyer for a group p an impression that identifies the seals
a
of Americans suing the Iranian government.. original owner as Cyrus, son of Teipses, an
o
Azanite. Some scholars believe he was the
A
They sought damages from a 1997 bombingg grandfather of Cyrus the Great, who ruled
gr
in Jerusalem that killed five U.S. tourists and d the Persian Empire before Darius.
An elaborate relief, on the Grand

Staircase leading to the Council
House, depicts a lion attacking a bull.
40
of dollars if sold on the antiquities market. Some tablets were written in different scripts to
express languages other than Elamite,
Two bitter, expensive, and complicated legal battles ensued,
including the Semitic language
pitting the plaintis against Chicago, and against Harvard and Aramaic (right) and Greek
the MFA, and forcing the reluctant Iranian and U.S. govern- (below).
ments to become involved. In March 2011, a U.S. court of
appeals in Chicago rejected the plaintis request to seize and have survived thanks to the
sell the Chicago tablets, noting that the Foreign Sovereign collapse of the building that
Immunities Act of 1976 protects foreign assets, except those housed them, likely when Alex-
used for commercial purposes. Strachman argued that the tab- ander the Great burned the royal
lets were commercial property, but the court disagreed. It also compound in 330 B.C.
said that the university could ask for immunity on Irans behalf. For scholars of the ancient Near East, Chicagos PFAP
A lower court had sided with the plaintis, and Iran had hired is providing new insights into the vast empire that ruled the area
a lawyer to argue for protection. When former Iranian Presi- from Egypt to India in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., but
dent Mohammad Khatami met with the Oriental Institutes that has mainly been known through ancient Greek sources and
Stein in 2006 to discuss the situation, Khatami argued that a few more recent archaeological digs. The archive contains an
the tablets do not belong to governments but to the Iranian impressive record of the Persian Empires daily dealings with
nation and the world. The U.S. Department of Justice sided its subjects during a period of about 15 years beginning in the
with the Iranians, and the Department of State twice filed late sixth century B.C. The texts pose a challenge to the hand-
briefs backing the position of Chicago and ful of scholars capable of making sense of the records
the Iranian government. contained in the tablets. In this period, the Semitic
Patty Gerstenblith, a legal expert at tongue Aramaic was the lingua franca across the
DePaul University, predicts that Strachmans Middle East, but a host of other tongues and
clients may ask the U.S. Supreme Court to scripts were also used. Most of the tablets
take the case. In an email, Strachman said use a dialect of Elamite, the ancient language
that he preferred to decline comment on of western Iran, which was inscribed in the
the litigation. A 2002 U.S. law that punishes Mesopotamian cuneiform script. Others are
terrorists might yet give the suit new life, written in Aramaic, and a small number are in
adds Gerstenblith. For now, Stein says hes Greek, Phrygian, and Old Persian. The latter find
relieved that the long and arduous discovery has been particularly surprising. Scholars long believed
phase, when the plaintis requested reams of docu- that Old Persian was only used for monumental purposes, not
ments from Chicago, is over. We went to hell and back trying for practical accounting. This find may indicate that this script
to find all the stu, he recalls. was more versatile than once believed. But Matthew Stolper, an
Meanwhile, in September 2011, in a separate case in Boston, Oriental Institute scholar who has led the Chicago dream team
a federal judge blocked the same plaintis from claiming the since they began work in 2002, cautions that other examples
two other collections of tablets and artifacts. Harvard and the are required to make a case for Old Persian as a widespread
MFA had argued that they own the objects, not Iran, while the writing system.
plaintis had argued they were taken illegally out of the country Many of the tablets were shipped to Persepolis from region-
and therefore are still the property of the Iranian government. al centers where they were carefully transcribed, sorted, and
The court ruled that the collections belong to the institutions, stored. This is exploding an old mythheld by both ancient
not to Iran. Babylonians and modern scholarsthat the Persian rulers
were barbarians civilized by their subjects. Instead, there was
T
HOUGH THE IMMEDIATE THREAT of seizure has passed, a homegrown and capable bureaucracy. Another mistaken
Stein worries that the conclusion of the suit in favor of
the Oriental Institute could prompt Iran to demand the
tablets be returned before another legal challenge surfaces. The
threat of losing them, either through sale or return to Iran, has
galvanized outside groupsamong them, the Mellon Founda-
tion, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the
Parsa Foundationto contribute $3 million to the Persepolis
Fortification Archive Project (PFAP), named for the rooms
of the citys fortification wall where the tablets were found.
Although broken into thousands of fragments, the tablets may
The Elamite text of this tablet (right) records an order

from a high-level official named Farnaka, who was in charge of
the central administration.
www.archaeology.org
belief the tablets expose is that, following a decree of Cyrus the A relief from the main stairway of the Council Hall depicts
Great, slavery was not permitted in the empire. A text written armed Persian guards (above). Between 5,000 and 6,000 of
in Persepolis mentions a slave sale. the tablets lack text, but include seal impressions on the
clay (below).
Because most of the accounts record the distribution of
grain, flour, sheep, goats, wine, and beer, thehe kind of
day-to-day accounting that reveals the empires
mpires for by the royal court. People were moving from
internal workings, the tablets provide a look ook Bactria [in ttodays Afghanistan] to Sardis [in
at a cross section of ancient Persian society, ty, todays Turkey], says Stolper. This was
today
from the royal family to workers. Theree polyglot and multiethnic society.
ap
are no big narratives here. This is the view w In their seemingly humdrum
from the lunchbox, says Stolper. The details, the Persepolis tablets are
d
tablets also give insights into religious both adding new information to our
bot
practices of the day. Scholars still are understanding of the Persian Empire and
under
unclear what role religion played in the revising llong-held notions about the kind of
early empire of the sixth century B.C. Thee society in which the Persians lived. Accord-
Persepolis tablets indicate that the court urt ing to Stolp
Stolper, The Persepolis archive has
distributed food and wine to priests off the fundamentally changed every aspect of the study
ancient Iranian deity Ahura Mazda, a god who of Achaemenid Ir Iranian languages, art, institutions,
later became the focus of a Persian state religion.
eligion. But and history. Even if the tablets go to auction, he hopes
they surprised researchers by showing that oerings were to convince any future ownersor Iranian ocialsto
issued to Elamite and Babylonian gods as well well. With respect wait until the information from each fragment is completely
to food distribution, the tablets say that some female work- digitized before claiming the artifacts. This will ensure that
ers received larger rations than men of comparable status, the archive is available for the future, no matter what course
although it is not clear why. On the other hand, women with the legal case takes.
male children received more food than those with girls. There
are also innumerable notations of travelers expenses paid Andrew Lawler is a contributing editor at ARCHAEOLOGY.
42
A Societys
Sacrifice
Why the Chim people of ancient Peru offered
what was most valuable to them
by Jarrett A. Lobell
E
ach year the technology used by archaeologists to locate sites becomes more
sophisticated. Satellite images, Google Earth, and ground-penetrating radar
are now combined with more traditional methods such as surface surveys
and test trenches to determine how and where archaeologists will excavate.
But sometimes one of the best sources of information about an areaand
The largest human one that is frequently overlookedis the knowledge of the local people
and animal sacrifice
who live there and whose families have been there for generations. Such is the case with
ever found in
Peru was recently a site in the small Peruvian coastal town of Huanchaquito that has come to be referred to
uncovered in a by the locals as Las LlamasThe Llamas. It is a site that has a great deal to tell about the
small fishing village. Andean Chim culture and their religious and sacrificial practices.
www.archaeology.org
Archaeologist Oscar Gabriel Prieto grew up in the town of The site (above) located next to Huanchaquito. (Opposite)
Huanchaco, next to Huanchaquito. There, from the time that Archaeologist Oscar Gabriel Prieto (top), a childs skeleton
he was six years old, he would walk around sites in the area. (bottom left) with a broken ribcage, a llamas remains
(bottom right).
He recently returned to excavate Pampas Gramalote, a small
fishing village dating to between 2000 and 1200 B.C. While
working there one day in August 2011, Prieto was approached a professional illustrator, a zooarchaeologist, and a physical
by a resident of Huanchaquito who asked him if he was an anthropologist, as well as gather the necessary toolswheel-
archaeologist. When Prieto answered yes, the man said, Then barrows, cardboard boxes, shovels, a bit of funding from the
you have to come with me. Only 300 yards from here, there is town, and a tent to cover the site. Over the next two weeks,
another area filled with human bones, including skulls. I know under the watchful eyes of the inhabitants of Huanchaquito,
these things are important. Prieto excavated a total of 43 human and 76 llama skeletons.
Together they walked to the site and there Prieto saw a num- He had uncovered the largest human and animal sacrifice ever
ber of scattered human skulls and animal bones. No one, save found in Peru.
the villages inhabitants, had ever seen or even known about the The find immediately attracted national and international
site before. Strong Peruvian winter winds had blown away the television, newspaper, and Web coverage, which, in turn,
surface sands and exposed the remains. attracted looters who came to the site disguised as tourists.
After calling the local archaeological ocials and enlisting To protect both Prietos team and the excavation, the mayor
the services of several of his students from Pampas Gramalote, of Huanchaco sent the police and local guards to watch over
Prieto quickly got to work. In less than five hours, the team had the site day and night. Peru in August is really cold, windy, and
exposed 20 human bodies and the extremely well-preserved foggy, Prieto says. Im really grateful to them.
remains of 30 camelids, the family that includes llamas and To preserve the remains and protect them from the looters,
alpacas. Right away I realized the magnitude of the discovery, Prieto moved the skeletons to the Chan Chan Museum, where
says Prieto. Shortly thereafter, he was able to add to his team the team began to study them immediately. Thus far, they have
44
www.archaeology.org
analyzed the bones of 15 children between six and eight, and 12 according to Prieto. In 1968, as part of a large survey project
and 15, years old, each of whom had been killed with a strong that first studied the area, archaeologist Christopher Donnan
slash across the sternum. Their broken ribcages suggest that uncovered evidence of a similar event next to the colonial-era
their chests had been opened and their hearts removed. church of Huanchaco. There he found 17 children and 20 lla-
Rather than being repelled by the violent manner of the mas and concluded that they had been deliberately sacrificed
childrens and animals deaths, Prieto believes that it is an and buried together as part of a Chim religious ritual. Accord-
archaeologists job to figure out why things like this happened ing to Prieto, both children and animals had been part of ritual
in the past and what it meant in terms of the political, social, oerings since the very beginnings of complex societies in
and economic situation at the time. There is no doubt in the Central Andes. Although at Las Llamas Prieto has found
my mind, says Prieto, that these children, and the llamas only camelids, at many other sites archaeologists have found
as well, were sacrificed as part of a ritual oering dating to remains of parrots, sea birds, monkeys, guinea pigs, and dogs.
approximately A.D. 1200 to 1400, when the Chim kingdom However, the scale of the Las Llamas find suggests to Prieto
dominated this part of the coast of northern Peru. that the sacrifice was done for some extraordinary purpose.
This was a very costly ritual, says Prieto, and one for
A
T THE HEIGHT OF their culture, the Chim had a which the future of the society was quite literally sacrificed.
sophisticated state that controlled a territory of about Both the children and the llamas, who were also young and
550 square miles between what is now the border of were an important source of food, wool, and transportation
Peru and Ecuador in the north and the Supe Valley on the across the Chims large territory, represent the wealth of this
north-central coast of Peru. The Chim were well known for society. They are the most precious gifts that can be given to
their skill in constructing extensive agricultural fields irrigated nature and the elements in return for the gift of life. Prieto
by complex hydraulic systems, as well as for being masters of believes that the sacrifice was part of a ritual oering made to
metalwork and textile and ceramic manufacture. The capital of the ocean during a climatic crisis that negatively aected the
the ancient Chim kingdom was the city of Chan Chan, which Chim and their economy. I think they were trying to satisfy
was likely the largest city in pre-Hispanic South America and the ocean during a powerful rain event by oering the best
once covered some seven square miles. Chan Chan was located of their civilization. Heavy rains are highly unusual on the
only one-half mile from Huanchaquito. Peruvian coast, and when they do occur, it is considered an
Although the finds at Las Llamas are more extensive than El Nio phenomenon. This cyclical rise in the temperature of
those at any other Andean sacrifice ever identified, this type the oceans surface water might have caused prolonged rains
of ritual event is not unique in the heart of Chim civilization, that could have damaged the fishing and agriculture on which
46
the Chim depended for their way of life. Archaeologists (opposite) work at
Prieto found a thick layer of sediment that Las Llamas. The remains of a sacrificed
makes it clear that heavy rain fell right child and a llama buried together (above)
and a child buried alone (left).
before the sacrifice, as well as during the
ritual. Both Donnan and Prieto believe
that the other sacrificial site, originally presence of alpacas on the Peruvian north
discovered in 1968, is related to the same coast, and alpacas were considered more
event. valuable than llamas. Specialized tests of
the childrens hair will determine whether
P
RIETO IS IN THE process of creating they were poisoned before they were sac-
a digital site map of the orientation, rificed and what type of poison may have
disposition, and distribution of the been used.
children and llamas in order to understand In summer 2012 Prietos team will
how the sacrifice was organized. For exam- return to Las Llamas to look for more
ple, some children were buried together with llamas, some childrens and llamas remains. In the meantime, the site is
with the llamas on top, and some with the llamas underneath. constantly monitored by local guards and the police. And Pri-
In other cases, the llamas were buried separately. Prieto has eto and his team are always walking around the area to keep it
established that the burials were organized along east-west and safe from looters and other dangers.
north-south axes, although the significance of these patterns In so many ways it was fortuitous that Prieto, a local
is not yet clear. In the future, the team will undertake analyses himself, was the archaeologist who was led to the site. I am
of the childrens bones and teeth to determine their gender, always fascinated, he says, by how ancient people reacted to
what kind of diet they had access to, if they belonged to the specific situations and how they tried to explain the cosmos.
same genetic group or even the same family, and if they were The Chim, whose very existence was threatened by forces
local or came here from another region. Prieto would also of nature beyond their control, chose to sacrifice the most
like to know if the llamas were raised locally, or brought in valuable things they had.
from another area, and if the camelids are exclusively llamas,
or if some might be alpacas. There is little evidence for the Jarrett A. Lobell is executive editor at ARCHAEOLOGY.
www.archaeology.org
Mountaintop
Rescue
Archaeology, coal, and activism collide in the
Appalachian Mountains at the site of Americas largest
labor conict
by SAMIR S. PATEL
W
HITE TRACE BRANCH early archaeological study has begun to lead to
is a narrow, wooded a reevaluation of the battle and the success of
valley near the base the miners forces.
of Blair Mountain, However, outside of a few public roads and
50 miles south of paths, such as the one through White Trace
Charleston, West Branch, archaeologists are not allowed to enter
Virginia. Today, only the grind of trucks down- most of the battlefield. And the mountain
shifting on a nearby road breaks its arboreal itself may not survive long enough to provide
hum. But in 1921, that sound was replaced by more answers. Blair Mountain, like many oth-
the rattle of machine guns and the pop-pop of ers here, holds coal. The battlefield lies within
squirrel rifles, when the valley was just one cor- several concessions for the form of surface min-
ner of a battlefield sprawling across 10 miles of ing known as mountaintop removal, in which
ridgeline. In late summer of that year, a force of the peak of a mountain is sheared o to expose
striking coal miners crept through this hollow, the coal beneath and deposited in a neighbor-
dodging fire from anti-union forces stationed ing valley. More productive and profitable than
above. The Battle of Blair Mountain, as it is traditional deep mining, mountaintop removal
called, involved more than 10,000 men and is widely criticized for its impact on the environ-
was the countrys largest civil conflict besides ment and local living conditions. At Blair Moun-
the Civil War. Though the battle is little known tain, it has earned a few more vocal opponents.
outside of union and historian circles, it was a The archaeology on the mountain, and the
key moment for the American labor movement. story it is beginning to tell, has helped bring
Long believed to have been lost to history, together an unusual coalitionincluding the
the remains of the fight, mostly in the form Sierra Club, the United Mine Workers of
of fired bullets and spent shells, are scattered America (UMWA), the National Trust for
around Spruce Fork Ridge (of which Blair Historic Preservation, and a number of local
Mountain is just one peak), barely concealed by organizationsin what some are calling The
90 years of forest litter. These munitions appear Second Battle of Blair Mountain. It is certainly
in telling patternsa concentration here, a trail a fight over historic preservation, but for many
there, like an ant colony winding through places involved, including local archaeologists and
such as White Trace Branch, Baldwin Fork, and historians, the mountain is symbolic of much
Crooked Creek Gap. In one place, five .32-cali- morelabor struggle, the social eects of
ber pistol shells rest together, likely marking the resource extraction industries, and what they see
spot where a striking miner once stood. Details as a century-long class conflict. The mountains
of the fight are sketchythe miners were loss to surface mining, they assert, would be
secretive and the coal companies cageybut personal, a major blow to Appalachian identity.
48
The coal mine at lower right is a mountain-
top removal site, where the peak has been
sheared off to expose coal seams beneath. The
hills adjacent to the mine are part of the Blair
Mountain battlefield, where, in 1921, a force
of 10,000 striking miners faced anti-union
forcesa key moment in American labor his-
tory. The battlefield and the artifacts it holds
are also under threat of mountaintop removal.
www.archaeology.org
C
OAL MINING HAS ALWAYS the August 1921 execution of a
been one of the most dan- pro-union sheri, Sid Hatfield,
gerous and dicult jobs, striking miners planned a march
and the late nineteenth century to force the lifting of the martial
in the southern coalfields saw it law, free imprisoned miners, and
at its worst. There were few safety organize the areas workers. Some
regulations for workersundocu- 10,000 men, armed mostly with
mented European immigrants, g , whatever guns they could
African Americans, dig out of their closets,
and poor Scots-Irish assembled to march 50
hill folkand every miles from the town of
aspect of their lives Marmet, over Blair Moun-
was controlled by their tain, to the courthouse in
employers. They lived Logan, rallying, proselytiz-
in company towns, ing, and fighting along the
bought their own equip- way.
w They were opposed
ment at company stores, by
b the Logan Defenders, a
and listened to compa- private
p army of 3,000 under
ny-approved sermons in the
t leadership of anti-union
company churches. As sheri
sh Don Chafin.
labor movements picked As the miners neared
up elsewhere, even in coal regions to the north, they seemed Chafi
C ns three-mile defen-
to pass the southern coalfields by. sive line along Spruce Fork Ridge, open war broke out.
The UMWA found a charged situation when the organiza- Archaeologists estimate that a million rounds were fired over
tion arrived in 1920. The bitterness that had been simmering the battles five days. It is not known how many people were
boiled over the next year, with a prolonged strike, shootouts, killed, but according to historians, estimates range from 20
guerilla fighting, and the imposition of martial law. Following to 100, which seems oddly low, considering the number of
men involved and the intensity of the fighting. One early
White Trace Branch (top) was the scene of one of the newspaper account stated that the miners were loading their
skirmishes of the Battle of Blair Mountain, where miners dead into boxcars, but said little more about casualties. In
charged the machine gun emplacements of anti-union forces early September, federal troops arrived to end the conflict. The
called the Logan Defenders (center). Coal mining has always
been a dangerous and difficult job (bottom, ca. 1920).
state of West Virginia charged the leaders of the strike with
Prior to unionization in the 1930s, there were few workplace treason, and though none were convicted, the trial exhausted
protections for miners. the UWMAs coers and broke the union there until a dozen
50
years later, when the National Industrial Recovery Act ocially
recognized the right to organize. After that, led by some of the
same men from the march, the southern coalfields of West
Virginia became a stronghold of union sentiment (at least
until more strikebreaking in the 1980s). Union leaders from
Appalachia also helped organize other industrial heartlands.
If you work for a living, if you get unemployment, if you have
minimum wage or better, paid vacation, or health insurance,
you owe it to those folks who stood their ground on Blair
Mountain, says Barbara Rasmussen, a historic preservationist
and president of Friends of Blair Mountain.
I
T WAS ASSUMED THAT the physical evidence of the Battle
of Blair Mountain had been collected, scattered, or dis-
turbedan assumption that seemed to be confirmed by
a coal industryfunded survey in 1991. Around that time, a
history-minded local resident, Kenny King, began explor-
ing the battlefield, collecting artifacts, and teaching himself
about archaeology. Kings grandfather fought with the miners,
and two of his uncles with the defenders. He found widely
dispersed sites, showing that the battlefield was larger than
anyone had thought, and he began working with historic
preservationists to get it listed on the National Register of
Historic Places (NRHP). However, early eorts stalled because
no ocial archaeological work confirmed his finds.
In 2006, King helped enlist Harvard Ayers, a professor
emeritus at Appalachian State University, to conduct a survey
to support a fresh NRHP nomination. They traveled to sites
Surveys of the Blair Mountain battlefield in 2006 (top) have
King knew well and searched for new ones. Then they delin- provided evidence that the striking miners were more suc-
eated the sites, documented the locations of surface artifacts, cessful and tactical than previously thought. Local resident
and collected representative samples. Fourteen of the 15 sites Kenny King and archaeologist Harvard Ayers (above) display
they examined appeared to be largely intact and undisturbed. some of the munitions that were used in the battle.
In some casessuch as the site with the .32-caliber pistol
shellsthey found casings together on the ground that werent Rasmussen. The people who want to blow up that mountain
found anywhere else nearby, suggesting strongly that they had are working hard to make it impossible for this to go forward.
lain in situ since 1921. There doesnt seem to have been much Though certainly symbolic, the NRHP designation doesnt
disturbance up there, which is totally counter to the folklore actually protect anything. What it does mean, however, is that
that everything had been disturbed, says Ayers. the historic value of a site must be considered in state and
On the basis of King and Ayers work, the NRHP listing federal permitting processes. In this case, the West Virginia
was approved in March 2009. Just nine months later, however, Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps
the battlefield was removed from the list. According to Susan of Engineers would determine whether mining could move
Pierce, director of the West Virginia State Historic Preserva- forward, or if some form of mitigation, such as a rescue exca-
tion Oce (WVSHPO), it was removed because landowner vation, would be required. Blair Mountain today is considered
objections had been inadvertently overlooked. Much of the eligible to be listed, which, according to the WVSHPO,
battlefield is owned by Natural Resource Partners, and por- provides it with the same permit oversight as if the mountain
tions of it are leased for mining by companies including Arch had stayed on the list.
Coal and Alpha Natural Resources. Many of the preservation The coal industry shows no apparent sign that it intends to
advocates believe that attorneys representing these compa- spare the mountain. According to Robert McClusky of Jackson
nies were responsible for the challenge to the listing. It was Kelly, a law firm that represents Natural Resource Partners and
a human error of overlooking objections in an addendum to other coal companies in the permitting process, the companies
a document, counters Pierce. Theres no skulduggery. A still expect there to be some kind of mitigation to honor the
group including the Sierra Club, Friends of Blair Mountain, history of the sitean excavation, museum, or film, perhaps.
the National Trust, and other organizations has since sued the In fact, Jackson Kelly has already oered, on behalf of its coal
Keeper of the National Register and the Department of the clients with a stake in Blair Mountain, to fund a three-year res-
Interior for not following procedure during the complex list- cue excavation. Ayers promptly turned the oer down. They
ing and delisting process. Were playing a waiting game, says probably would have paid me handsomely, says Ayers. They
www.archaeology.org
The Battle of Blair Mountain occurred
at a pivotal moment in the history of
firearmsthe transition between black
and smokeless powder. As a result, the
arms and ammunition (left) found on
the battlefield are widely diverse. This
.32-caliber revolver (below) was likely
used by one of the striking miners and
either lost or stashed for retrieval later.
used whatever arms were available. As

a result, the assemblage covers a huge
range of manufactured and homemade
ammunitionnearly everything available
at the time.
Ayers has collaborated with and
turned over the ongoing analysis to Bran-
don Nida, a young archaeologist from
southern West Virginia and a graduate
do this all the time. Money is no problem student at the University of California,
for them. Such a plan presupposes that Berkeley. Nida and Ayers conducted
the mountain would eventually be mined, statistical analyses of the ammunition
which is not an option for its advocates. to distinguish miner sitesthose with a
In my mind, says Rasmussen, blow- diverse range of shellsfrom defender
ing up Blair Mountain is just as violent a sites, where there is more consistency.
social action as the Taliban tearing down At one site, a mile northwest of Crooked
the Bamiyan Buddhas or [the prospect of] Creek Gap, an unusual concentration of
drilling for oil in Gettysburg. spent bullets from both sides of the con-
Opponents of mountaintop removal flict is evidence of close-quarters fight-
have suggested that Blair Mountain could be mined with tra- ing. You kind of come to the conclusion that the attacking
ditional deep mining, which would create more jobs, preserve miners were putting the heat on [the defenders], says Ayers.
the landscape, and honor the deep miners who fought there The proximity of this site to Crooked Creek Gap, where the
90 years ago. But according to McClusky, some coal seamshe defensive line was broken, suggests the miners had advanced
didnt say those in Blair Mountain specificallysimply cant be far, and were attempting a pincer movement to outflank the
mined economically that way. Rasmussen hopes some combi- defenders. Other sites show the miners were coming up five
nation of tax breaks and other incentives might help ease any or six hollows or creeks at once, tactical details that arent
blow to the industrys bottom line. Were trying to be very documented anywhere else. It is possible they were far more
reasonable about it, says Rasmussen. Now what were doing coordinated and successful than previously thought. It would
is trying to work out a business deal. be an archaeologists dream to be able to go up there with all
The NRHP process brought King and Ayers eorts to this good preservation, says Ayers. You could learn so much
wider attention and led the landowners to post no trespass- about the strategic aspects, the much more sophisticated
ing signs and inform the archaeologists that they can no lon- approach the miners had, in terms of coming at [the defenders]
ger enter the property. Consequently, the only archaeological from multiple directions.
remains of the battle available for study are the results of the Nida is both continuing the eort to reconstruct the
2006 surveyand they have already begun to rewrite the his- events of the battle and its social context, and placing himself
tory of the Battle of Blair Mountain. at the center of the movement to protest the mining of Blair
Mountain and mountaintop removal in general. Hes analyz-
R
EPORTS FROM THE TIME of the battle tended to cast ing bullets, reconstructing sight lines (an eort complicated
the miners as a disorganized rabble with little strate- by the variety of the bullets and 90 years of forest growth),
gic acumen. Though it was reported that they broke and seeking evidence of the strikers tent colonies. Hes also
through the defensive line at Crooked Creek Gap, they were started an excavation at the Whipple Store, a fortresslike
portrayed as an unruly mob, saved from annihilation by the company store, that will help flesh out the miners casus belli.
arrival of federal troops. All of his work comes in the context of a community-based,
What we started finding was completely reshaping the activist approach to archaeology. Nida interacts with locals to
narrative of Blair Mountain, says Ayers. It was a transition understand their relationship to the past and uses archaeology
period in the history of firearms, during the changeover as a tool to fortify the mountaintop removal protest move-
from black powder to smokeless powder, and the miners ment. He is also hatching more traditional activist plans, such
52
as organizing protests and establishing a community center in showed some of the artifacts to one of the bosses of a nearby
the town of Blair. mountaintop removal mine run by Arch Coal. The surface
In the United States, theres a history of using archaeol- miner was particularly interested in a 1918 bullet. It just kind
ogy in grassroots activism. At Blair Mountain, the two can of opened up dialogue, Nida says. It takes archaeology out of
seem inextricable, even as the activism sometimes appears the institution, and I think archaeology benefits from being in
to hamper archaeological research. One of the problems as many diverse places as it can be.
we have now is that so much of our time and energy is built Such an approach to activism through archaeology is open
around preserving the mountain and making sure that its not to the criticism that Nidas personal investment in the cause
blasted, that the capacity isnt there for doing a lot of in-depth might compromise archaeological conclusions. The issue
research, says Nida. Am I going to analyze bullets or go to is not whether we politicize it, says McGuire. The issue is
this permit hearing? whether we confront the political nature of what were doing,
are explicit about it, and are self-critical about it. For archae-
I
TS A MONDAY MORNING in June, and Nida is standing on ologists such as McGuire and Nida, all archaeology is inher-
a baseball diamond in the town of Marmet, before a crowd ently political. And when that subtext goes unrecognized and
of about a hundred people and a bank of cameras. unexamined, it can have pernicious eects for the people who
We are Appalachia! Were all getting pushed around, were are stakeholders in that history. For example, Nida says that the
all getting our rights stepped on. It doesnt matter if youre privately conducted 1991 survey that found little archaeologi-
a union member or an environmentalist! Were united in a cal evidence on Blair Mountain was paid for and influenced
common cause, he shouts into a microphone. Our history
is the deep-rooted history! Were the people, and were rising
up! Nida pounds his fist on his chest before he lifts it over his
head. Shutters click in a chorus.
Nida is one of the leaders of a 50-mile protest march fol-
lowing the route from Marmet to Blair that the miners took
in 1921. As the march proceeds, two-by-two along the narrow
edge of twisting, sloping Route 94, one car honks in support
and the next guns its engine in derision. It takes a lot of water
to turn a ship, Nida says.
The work at Blair Mountain and Nidas other activities Archaeologist Brandon Nida speaks before a march to pro-
have their most direct antecedent in the study of the site of test mountaintop removal and preserve Blair Mountain. The
protesters walked the same 50-mile path that the striking
the Ludlow Massacre in southern Colorado. There, Randall
miners did in 1921. As one of the leaders of the march, Nida
McGuire of Binghamton University and Dean Saitta of the has placed himself, and archaeology, at the center of the
University of Denver (Letter from Colorado, November/ protest movement.
December 2004), studied a 19131914 coal mining labor
conflict in which strikebreakers fired into a tent camp, leading by an eager coal industry, even though it was conducted with
to the deaths of 11 women and children. McGuire and Saitta a mantle of objectivity.
excavated there, took exhibits of artifacts to union halls and Theres a whole power structure there built around what
rallies, and published articles on their research in union pub- they call objective archaeology and its killing my people, its
lications. Among the projects goals was to present findings killing the mountains, and its killing my culture, Nida says.
to working-class people, often thought to be left out of the So for me, the idea that what Im doing is activist and what
conversation surrounding archaeology, to strengthen labor theyre doing is objective is absolutely ludicrous.
solidarity and inform the wider public about the period in The Second Battle of Blair Mountain has taken a personal,
history and its importance. You are very forcefully showing emotional tone, audible in every voice. West Virginians, and
that [rights] werent just given to workers, but that workers Appalachians in general, are often subject to stereotypes that
won these things through struggle and enormous sacrifice, cast them as culturally deficient, isolated from American
says McGuire. society by ignorance, feuds, and fear. The jokes leave scars
Following that model, Nida has also begun to present as deep as those of mountaintop removal. To learn, through
his findings to the working class, such as at an event for the archaeology, that the miners were not lawless, but fought with
UMWA Local 1440 in Matewan, southwest of Blair. Hes also justification and skilland that they may have been winning
been using the archaeology of Blair Mountain as both icebreak- is a matter of personal and regional pride. The mountain itself
er and weapon, in direct service to his political goals, which are has come to represent some sense of Appalachian self-worth,
built around the idea that the coal industry and mountaintop separate from the industry that has dominated the regions
removal in particular continue to displace, oppress, and sicken modern history. Reasserting a claim to that past is what Nida
the people of Appalachia. The archaeology helped bring the means when he speaks about rising up.
Sierra Club, National Trust, and UMWA to the same table.
At the rally in Blair that closed the June march, Nida even Samir S. Patel is deputy editor at ARCHAEOLOGY.
www.archaeology.org
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LETTER FROM IRELAND
Mystery of the Fulacht Fiadh

Versions of the same Bronze Age structure pop up all
around Ireland and throughout the United Kingdom. Archaeologists,
however, still have not agreed on their purpose.
by ERIN MULLALLY
O
n a typically misty morning of prehistoric archaeological site in fulacht fiadha horseshoe-shaped
in the west of Ireland, just Ireland. Better known as a burnt mound of soil and rocks surrounding
outside the medieval town of mound in the neighboring United a depression big enough to park a
Athenry, County Galway, archaeolo- Kingdom, where they are also found, small car in. Moore climbs the four-
gist Declan Moore opens the trunk of there are nearly 6,000 recorded and-a-half-foot mound and quickly
his car and invites me to pull on a pair fulacht fiadh sites dotted around wipes away some of the soil to expose
of Wellingtons. Believe me, youll Ireland alone. As we trudge through the layer of stones. He then points
need them, he assures me as we cross the wet and soggy field, Moore points to the depression. If we were to
the parking lot and hop a fence into a out a small stream. They are usu- excavate, wed find a trough dug into
nearby field. ally found near water or in marshy the ground there, he says. It takes us
Moore is taking me to visit an areas, so this is a prime location, he only 15 minutes to fully explore the
unexcavated fulacht fiadh (pronounced explains. still-buried site.
FULL-ahk FEE-add), or fulachta When we arrive at the site, Moore Although commonplace and easy
fia in plural, the most common type shows me the basic features of a to identify, the fulacht fiadh remains
www.archaeology.org
An unexcavated site outside of
Athenry, County Galway, features
the typical large, U-shaped mound
surrounding a noticeable depression,
signs that a fulacht fiadh likely lies
beneath.
enigmatic. There is no consensus

among archaeologists about what they
were primarily used for. Various theo-
riessuch as cooking, textile produc-
tion, bathing, and Moores personal
hypothesis, a type of ancient micro-
breweryhave all been proposed. But
a lack of consistent artifacts associ- Surrounding the troughs are curate. Waddell, for instance, supports
ated with any of these activities at U-shaped mounds made of stones. calling them burnt mounds, as they do
excavated fulacht fiadh sites continues These mounds can reach heights of in the United Kingdom.
to shroud the purpose of the burnt more than six and a half feet, though
U
mounds in mystery. on average they are roughly three ntil recently, the conven-
feet high, and made of sandstone or tional wisdom has been that
F
ulacht fiadh sites typically date limestone. Neither rock type is typi- the fulacht fiadh was used
to the Middle Bronze Age cally found close to fulacht fiadh sites, for cooking. Michael J. OKelly, a
(1800 B.C.). The structures are indicating that the Bronze Age Irish professor of archaeology at Univer-
usually found alone, but have also chose the stones deliberately. sity College Cork, examined fulacht
appeared in groups of two to six, According to Dennehy, the mounds fiadh sites in southwestern Ireland
spaced as close as 16 or so feet from likely cover hearths where the stones, in the 1950s, conducting several
one another, making an archaeologi- which show evidence of heat-cracking, experiments. Among them was add-
cal complex. Most fulacht fiadh sites were fired. The cracking also pro- ing animal meat to boiling water in a
are somewhat isolated, with only a vides strong evidence that after being reconstructed fulacht fiadh.
few having been found as part of a heated, the rocks would be placed in The cooking demonstrations,
permanent settlement, says Emer the troughs to heat water. The stones while lengthy (a single leg of mut-
Dennehy, an Irish archaeologist with that were heated and shattered during ton took nearly four hours to cook),
the Railway Procurement Agency in this process were discarded nearby, prompted the concept of the fulacht
Dublin who studies the fulacht fiadh. Dennehy explains, gradually accumu- fiadh as a cooking site to pass into
Were still unsure if this indicates a lating to form the mound surrounding accepted archaeological theory. But
seasonal use with hunting expeditions the trough. bones and other animal remains are
or if they were used on a regular basis The water in the trough could not consistently found near fulachta
in conjunction with permanent settle- have been brought to a boil by adding fia, which would be surprising for
ments located elsewhere. It was con- fired stones, says Dennehy. Demon- locations where meat would have
venient to locate these sites close to strations on modern-day re-creations been regularly boiled. Some archae-
wet and damp areas, which would not of fulachta fia have shown that inter- ologists also suggest the Bronze Age
have been suitable for habitation. mittently adding one heated rock Irish would have preferred to roast
Choosing wetland areas as locations can keep a steady boil. You can be meat over an open hearth, which
allowed for the characteristic troughs absolutely sure it was used for boiling would have been simpler and more
found at the center of these sites to water, says John Waddell, an emeri- ecient, and would also have resulted
be self-filling, either because they tus professor of archaeology at the in a tastier meal.
were situated below the water table or National University of Ireland, Gal- Another possible use for the
because they were built directly above way. Its the one certain thing about fulacht fiadh might have been textile
a spring. Though they can dier in size the fulacht fiadh. production. We know that dyeing
and shape, most troughs are roughly In Gaelic, fulacht means cav- was practiced in Britain and North-
rectangular in outline and average five ity, though as interpreted through ern Europe at a very early date,
feet in length, four feet in width, and Irish literature it can mean cooking writes Anne-Marie Denvir in her
two feet in depth. Most troughs that site. Fiadh means wild deer. While undergraduate dissertation on the
have been excavated are unlined, but that translation lends support to the fulacht fiadh for Queens University
roughly 30 percent are lined with clay, structures use as a cooking site, many Belfast in Northern Ireland. Denvir
wood, or stone slabs. archaeologists believe the term is inac- constructed a replica fulacht fiadh in
56
Archaeology Adventures
O
which she dyed a sheeps fleece green ne of the interesting facets
using crushed ivy berries. She also of the fulacht fiadh debate Archaeology
washed a fleece using stale urine and is the role that experimental Research
did an experiment involving fulling archaeology can play in investigat- Program
(thickening fabric by heat-shrinking ing the mystery they present, as Excavate alongside
it). As with cooking, though, there is evidenced by OKellys and Denvirs professional
little archaeological evidence in the proof-of-principle demonstrations. archaeologists & study
form of artifacts to support textile Declan Moore and fellow archaeolo- artifacts in the lab.
Sessions in June, July,
production. gist Billy Quinn are the latest to test a August, & October, 2012
Several other excavated fulacht fulacht fiadh theory in practice.
fiadh sites suggest that they may have One morning in 2003, before con-
been used as ancient saunas or sweat- tinuing work on excavating a fulacht Family
houses. Though very rare, these few fiadh in County Galway, a hungover Archaeology
sites include the remains of possible
structures that would have been built
Quinn reflected on his condition and
had an insight: Perhaps the mysteri-
Week
Make your
over the troughs in order to capture ous Irish archaeological structure was family vacation
any escaping steam. Similarly, the an archaeology
Irish archaeologists Billy Quinn adventure! Fun,
fulacht fiadh could have been used for (wearing hat) and Declan Moore brewed hands-on activities.
bathing purposes, but that idea also a Bronze Age-style ale in a homemade Sessions
faces a lack of evidence. fulacht fiadh in Quinns backyard. July 2228, 2012
CARCHAEOLOGICAL
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used as an ancient brewing site. ings of traces of cereal grain and
Historical evidence suggested it wheat near a Bronze Age wooden
was a possibility. Residue analysis trough at a site in Wales in 2009,
from 9,000-year-old pottery found in as further evidence to support their
northern China indicated the vessels theory.
once held a fermented drink of fruit, Ultimately, pottery evidence might
honey, and rice. And evidence for beer be required for Moore and Quinn to
drinking in the Middle East begins to prove their brewing hypothesis. Ves-
appear around 4000 B.C. and includes sels used for fermentation would have
a recipe carved on a Sumerian tablet calcium oxalate residue left behind
dating to 1800 B.C. for brewing in a as wort turned alcoholic. Unfortu-
pit. Its not inconceivable that brew- nately, a lot of pottery investigated
ing was also taking place at the same from the area has been exposed to
time in Bronze Age Europe. the elements, says Patrick McGovern,
Brewing at Irish monasteries an archaeologist at the University
[dating back to the late fifth century of Pennsylvania who specializes in
A.D.] was renowned for its time. The ancient alcoholic drinks. I certainly
knowledge that these monks had believe that the peoples of Ireland
about brewing had to have come Quinn and Moore added malted barley were brewing beer or perhaps a mixed
from an earlier tradition, remarks (top) to water that had been heated in extreme beverage, he explains. But
Moore. The fulacht fiadh could rep- their fulacht fiadh by stones fired on a not enough samples have been tested
resent the point at which man started nearby hearth (above). to give us a definitive answer.
popular brewing eorts in Ireland.
R
After visiting breweries in north- of ale that was copper in color and egardless of whether his
ern Scotland, Belgium, and Germany had a smoky flavor. Not much like and Moores theory is one
to learn ancient techniques and more beers we drink today, the concoction day proved, Quinn says the
modern hot-rock brewing, Moore was closer to a gruit ale, a reference Bronze Age brewing experiment
and Quinn decided to make their own to herbs used to give beer its bitter revived discussion over the uses of
fulacht fiadh brew in August 2007. taste before brewers turned to hops. fulachta fia. While the mystery of
They buried a wooden cattle trough When Moore and Quinn first the burnt mounds will continue, at
that was about five and a half feet published the results of their foray least for the foreseeable future, in
long and a little over two feet wide into experimental archaeology in time archaeologists may move toward
and deep, in Quinns backyard. They the magazine Archaeology Ireland, a consensus that the fulacht fiadh was
filled it with water and heated it to several archaeologists, as well as used in a variety of ways during the
just under 153 degrees Fahrenheit, as home brewers, voiced their support Bronze Age, brewing among them.
advised by brewers theyd consulted, for the work. Members of the Irish Quinn, in fact, believes thats likely
using stones fired in a hearth about 15 Archaeobotany Discussion Group, the case. Overall the fulacht fiadh
feet away. however, expressed doubt in Moore may have indeed been multifunc-
At its simplest, beer consists of and Quinns theory, again pointing tional, something like our modern
malted grain, water, and yeast. Using to a lack of accompanying evidence kitchen sinkused for many dierent
malted barley donated by a local at fulacht fiadh sites. Such large- purposes.
brewer, they stirred it into the hot scale processing of cereals would Dennehy notes that constructing
water. After 45 minutes, the grains leave a regular trace in the archaeo- a fulacht fiadh was clearly a planned
were converted to a sugar syrup called logical record, perhaps in the form and time-intensive undertaking. The
wort, which was transferred into spe- of uncharred, malted grains at water- communities of the time felt a need
cial replicas of Bronze Age pots. Yeast logged sites, the group wrote in a to construct them over and over
was then added, as were elderflower, letter responding to the Archaeology again, she says. Bronze Age people
juniper berries, and yarrow for flavor- Ireland article. had a strong knowledge of their envi-
ing, and the brew was left to ferment Moore and Quinn counter that ronment, and it probably does them
for three days. (Moore and Quinn grain used during the brewing process a disservice to consider the fulacht
note that windblown yeast would could have been used as animal feed. fiadh as simply a run-of-the mill
have triggered natural fermentation The pair also point to the discovery cooking site.
for Bronze Age brewers.) of grinding stones at fulacht fiadh
Moore and Quinn converted near- sites in both Ireland and the United Erin Mullally is an American freelance
ly 80 gallons of water into 30 gallons Kingdom, as well as confirmed find- writer based in Dublin.
58
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DONT MISS THIS 56Courtesy Declan Moore; 57Courtesy Declan
SPECIAL OFFER Materials for the March/April 2012 issue
Moore and Billy Quinn; 58Courtesy Declan Moore
and Billy Quinn (2); 65(clockwise) Ben, Shmulik
Go to www.archaeology.org/gift/ are due January 10, 2012
Almany/Imagelink; 66Kathy K. Neenan, Courtesy
AIA Society Iowa City; 68 Courtesy Jessica Berry
www.archaeology.org
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www.archaeological.org EXCAVATE, EDUCATE, ADVOCATE
First National Archaeology Day a Resounding Success!
O
n October , , the nal discovery of the seventeenth- and
Archaeological Institute of eighteenth-century remains of enslaved
America (AIA), its local societ- Africans at the site. At a presentation
ies, and several leading archaeological on Archaeology Day hosted by the
organizations in the United States National Park Service, physical anthro-
and Canada celebrated the rst pologist Dr. Michael L. Blakey, NEH
National Archaeology Day. Desig- Professor at the College of William and
nated as a day to recogize archaeology, Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and
amazing archaeological discoveries, scientic director of the African Burial
and our shared cultural heritage, it Ground Project, presented a moving
was a resounding success! The AIA, lecture on the history of the site.
its societies, and partnering organiza-
tions presented over 60 archaeological
programs and activities in dozens of Congressional
cities for people of all ages and inter- Proclamation
ests. Programs ranged from large,
family-friendly archaeology fairs to
lm screenings and tours of local
archaeological sites.
While the 22nd was ocially by Boston Universitys Department
National Archaeology Day, events of Archaeology. On October 7 and
were held throughout the month of 8, the fth annual AIA-Museum of
October. The AIA organized several Science Archaeology Fair gave school
events through its Boston oce. The groups, children, and families the
Institute launched the celebrations opportunity to explore the exciting
N
with a program titled The Archaeo- world of archaeology through a vari- ational Archaeology Day
logical Institute of America in the ety of interactive activities and games. was ocially recognized by
Field: A Symposium in Celebration About 20 archaeologists, museum the United States Congress
of Archaeology Day at Boston Uni- specialists, and other experts were in October 2011 when Michael E.
versity, which was jointly sponsored on hand to discuss various aspects Capuano, Congressman from Mas-
of their archaeological work with the sachusetts, entered an ocial procla-
more than 5,600 visitors who attend- mation into the Congressional Record.
ed the event over the two-day period. The proclamation, presented to AIA
On the 22nd, AIA sta members set CEO Peter Herdrich (above), stated:
up an information table on the his- Archaeological contributions are key
toric Boston Common for the general to encouraging greater appreciation of
public. They were able to provide our shared history and cultural heri-
them with a new AIA-created map tage. Congress should do all we can
of archaeological sites around Boston to support these eorts. I am proud
and information about the AIA and to join with communities across the
its activities. country in recognizing October 22 as
In New York City, the African Burial National Archaeology Day. To view
Ground National Monument recog- the complete statement, visit:
nized the 20th anniversary of the origi- nationalarchaeologyday.org.
Virtual Participation
Excavate, Educate, Advocate
T
he AIA realized that not layer displaying popular archaeo- viewer and user of the map, to send
everyone would be able to attend logical sites throughout the United us suggestions for other sites that
a physical event on National States and Canada. To create the map should be included. As we receive
Archaeology Day. To encourage AIA sta contacted archaeolo- suggestions, we will add to the
national (and even international) par- gists in all U.S. states and map. Send yours to sitepreser-
ticipation, the Institute created a spe- Canadian provinces and [email protected].
cial website for National Archaeology requested lists of the most Another virtual par-
Day (nationalarchaeologyday.org) popular, publicly accessible ticipation initiative was a
that included a blog and a calendar archaeological sites in their Global Scavenger Hunt.
of events. Other virtual participation regions. The response to The AIA invited people
opportunities included the creation the request was overwhelm- to join a scavenger hunt
of a new Google Earth layer and an ing, and the result is a map that for archaeological sites. The
online scavenger hunt. hunt began on October 19 and ran

we encourage you to examine and use.

On October 22, 2011, the AIA, in Creating the initial map was the rst through the 22nd. Starting on the
Dispatches from the AIA
conjunction with its partner Google stage of a two-stage process. For the 19th we posted a game or puzzle each
Earth, unveiled a new Google Earth second stage, we are inviting you, the day on the National Archaeology
Day website. People who solved the
puzzles were entered in a daily draw-
Partners and Supporters ing. Eight winners received a free year
of membership in the AIA (includ-
N
ational Archaeology Day was supported by several like-minded ing a subscription to Archaeology
organizations, including the African Burial Ground National Monu- magazine). People who had the
ment, the American Anthropological Association, the American correct answers for all four puzzles
Research Center in Egypt, the American Schools of Oriental Research, the were entered into a grand prize
Bowers Museum, the Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology, the Flor- drawing, with the winner receiving a
ida Public Archaeology Network, the Getty Villa, Google Earth, the Society Kindle Fire e-reader. To view
for American Archaeology, the Society for California Archaeology, the Society the puzzles and try your hand at
for Historical Archaeology, Study Egypt Events, and Uinta-Wasatch-Cache solving our Scavenger Hunt, visit:
National Forest. Many of these organizations sponsored special programs to nationalarchaeologyday.org.
recognize the day. Other organizations publicized National Archaeology Day
and local programs to their members and aliates. There is growing enthusi-
asm for participation in next years event.
Photo Contest
National Archaeology Day and AIA Societies
A
part from national initia-
tives, National Archaeology
Day was an opportunity for
AIA Local Societies to celebrate
archaeology within their communi-
ties. Societies across North America
held special events on Archaeol-
ogy Day. Over 60 events were held
throughout the month of October, An image of classical Sufetula in Sbeitla,
with the majority on the 22nd. Soci- Tunisia, photographed by Clive Vella, was
ety programs included open houses, one of the winners of the Institutes first-
special lectures, ancient technology ever online photo contest. Nearly 100
demonstrations, tours, and even mud- photos were submitted and visitors were
slinging (a stabilization technique asked to vote for their favorite photos in
for earthen structures). Reports and eight categories. In ten days of voting,
over 12,000 votes were cast. Vellas
images from these and other events
winning photograph will be featured on
are available on the National Archae- the cover of the AIA 2012 calendar.
ology Day blog.
66
7KH7ULXPSKRI1HSWXQHPRVDLF%DUGR0XVHXP7XQLV7XQLVLD
Traveling is almost like talking with those of other centuries.

~ Ren Descartes, 1596-1650
Fascinating itineraries with expert lecturers
call: 800-748-6262 web site:vk.com/englishlibrary

www.aiatours.org email: [email protected]
ARTIFACT
B
Y THE LATE sixteenth century, European merchant ships WHAT IS IT?
Ships carving in the
began to replace explorers ships on the form of a merman
DATE
worlds oceans, marking the beginning
ca. 1628
of globalization and modern trade. MATERIAL
Slow-grown oak
Almost 400 years ago, one of these ships owners,
DISCOVERED
possibly the Dutch West India Company, took Swash Channel,
Britain, August 2010
great care that its vessel was built to impress. They
(ship originally
outfitted it not only with all the necessities for its long discovered 1990)
SIZE
intercontinental voyage (including cannons to defend
4.9 feet long by 9.8
against piracy), but also decorated the ships timbers with inches wide
CURRENTLY
elaborate carvings including this merman prominently Undergoing
conservation
displayed on the ships upper rail. But the as-yet-unidentified
ship went down, probably on its maiden voyage. Although some
of the ship and its cargo were salvaged soon after it sank, nearly
half remained on the floor of the Swash Channel where
archaeologists have been working for almost a decade to document,
excavate, and eventually raise it. In addition to the merman,
archaeologists have found several other carvings, all in the early
Baroque style that became popular around 1600, including another
merman, and the moustachioed and laurel-crowned mans face that
once formed the head of the ships rudder. According to underwater
archaeologist Jessica Berry, expensive carvings like this are very rare,
particularly on a mercantile shipthere are only two other
examples from the United Kingdomand are more likely to be
found on state-funded vessels such as warships. The Swash
wrecks carvings are also the oldest of their type known
in the United Kingdom and among the earliest in
the world.
68
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Romaine and Lyon, we will visit some of the Wutaishan and Datong, the Buddhist grottos
best-preserved Roman monuments in the at Yungang and Tianlongshan, Chinas most
world. Our tour also includes an opportunity sacred peaks at Mount Tai and Hangzhous
to walk in the footsteps of Van Gogh and rolling hills, waterways and peaceful temples
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As we travel south from Madrid with
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Explore Maltas immense in-depth Tunisian tour. We begin in Tunis
megalithic temples, Sardinias with Phoenician Carthage and the fabulous
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mysterious cult sites with Prof. Tour highlights include the Roman city of
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Along the way, we will visit at Bulla Regia, Roman Sbeitla, the Islamic
ancient Phoenician ports pilgrimage center of Kairouan and the
and cities built by Romans, remote areas around Tataouine and
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villages. Extraordinary scenery and fine us to picturesque Berber villages, colorful
cuisines add to this exceptional tour. bazaars and lovely beaches.
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Appalachia: Artifacts, Coal Mining, and Protest

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