Tag Archives: archaeologist

Cotsen researcher finds evidence of ‘unnatural selection’ in popular Panamanian seafood

Caribbean fighting conch used to be harvested with more meat, but evolved to mature at smaller size

Like most residents of Panama’s Isla Colón, UCLA archaeologist Thomas Wake has enjoyed more than a few plates of Caribbean fighting conch in the 11 years he’s operated his field lab on the island’s north shore.

“They’re stigmatized as a poor people’s food, but they’re good,” said Wake, a lab director at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology in UCLA’s College of Letters and Science. “They taste a lot like abalone or calamari.” (more…)

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Oldest European fort in the inland US discovered in Appalachians

ANN ARBOR — The remains of the earliest European fort in the interior of what is now the United States have been discovered by a team of archaeologists, providing new insight into the start of the U.S. colonial era and the all-too-human reasons spoiling Spanish dreams of gold and glory.

Spanish Captain Juan Pardo and his men built Fort San Juan in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in 1567, nearly 20 years before Sir Walter Raleigh’s “lost colony” at Roanoke and 40 years before the Jamestown settlement established England’s presence in the region. (more…)

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Ceramics Tell the Story of an Ancient Southwest Migration

Another look at a nearly 80-year-old pottery collection at the Arizona State Museum is yielding new information about migrants who abandoned the Four Corners region.

Approximately eight centuries ago, people living along the Colorado Plateau in what is now the Four Corners area faced a crisis. Environmental changes that devastated their agricultural practices and likely aggravated social unrest forced significant numbers of these people to move away.

Many of them headed south into central and southern Arizona and western New Mexico, into lands already inhabited by well-established groups.

What is remarkable about this diaspora is that while there is no written record of what happened, much of what archaeologists know is told in the ceramic bowls, plates and figurines that were created and left behind when those civilizations later collapsed. (more…)

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800-Year-Old Farmers Could Teach Us How to Protect The Amazon

In the face of mass deforestation of the Amazon, we could learn from its earliest inhabitants who managed their farmland sustainably.

Research from an international team of archaeologists and paleoecologists, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows for the first time that indigenous people, living in the savannas around the Amazonian forest, farmed without using fire.

Led by the University of Exeter, the research could provide insights into the sustainable use and conservation of these globally-important ecosystems, which are being rapidly destroyed. Pressure on the Amazonian savannas today is intense, with the land being rapidly transformed for industrial agriculture and cattle ranching.

By analysing records of pollen, charcoal and other plant remains like phytoliths spanning more than 2,000 years, the team has created the first detailed picture of land use in the Amazonian savannas in French Guiana. This gives a unique perspective on the land before and after the first Europeans arrived in 1492. (more…)

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New Book Details Archaeological Excavations on San Juan Island

It’s a powerful feeling, says anthropology graduate student Amanda Taylor, to stand where people stood thousands of years back and gaze out at the same water — the same sunsets — that they saw so long ago.

“Maybe you reach down and see an artifact, and they last dropped that artifact a thousand years ago,” she said. “No one has looked at it or touched it, or even thought about it. And when you pick it up and look at it, it’s like you have this instant connection to the person who left it there.” (more…)

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Laborers of Love

*Three volunteers who make a difference*

A murmur runs through the audience as Bob Kriel withdraws his gloved hand from a darkened cage in the front of a small lecture room.

On the glove sits Bubo, a great horned owl. With his piercing eyes and imperial demeanor, this large bird with mottled gray feathers instantly dominates the room.

Kriel, a retired physician who still does clinical research at the University of Minnesota, volunteers weekly at the U’s Raptor Center, where sick and injured birds of prey receive treatment.  (more…)

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Exhibit: She Was an Archaeologist, Arabist, Diplomat and Spy

Gertrude Bell, a colleague of T.E. Lawrence (a.k.a. Lawrence of Arabia) and the diplomat who drew the borders of modern-day Iraq, is the focus of a new exhibition opening Monday, Sept. 26, in the Gallery at the Whitney, located within the Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall St.

The exhibit, titled “Gertrude Bell in Mesopotamia: Archaeologist, Arabist, Diplomat, Spy,” will be on view through Dec. 16. (more…)

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Roman Civilisation Travelled Further than History Books Tell Us

A University of Exeter archaeologist’s research has uncovered the largest Roman settlement ever found in Devon. The discovery could force us to rewrite the history of the Romans in Britain.

The discovery of a large Roman Settlement in Devon was the result of a chance metal detecting coin find.  Danielle Wootton, the Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and archaeologist at the University of Exeter was called on to investigate further. (more…)

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