Across Atlantic Ice: Clovis Origins
I want to talk about the book Across Atlantic Ice: The Origin of America’s Clovis Culture. It was written by Dennis Stanford and Bruce Bradley, both highly respected archaeologists. The point they make...
View ArticleWhen Are Nomads Not Really Nomads? (Efe Pygmy Ethnoarchaeology)
“First, we’re going to collect our data,” Jack, the archaeologist, was telling me as we slogged down the narrow overgrown path. He seemed annoyed. “Then, we’ll leave. Until we leave, they won’t leave....
View ArticleClimate Science Deniers Are Annoying Because
It is very hard for me to view the world without my Anthropological glasses, since I’ve been one kind of Anthropologist or another since I was 13 years old. Thinking about climate science deniers, I...
View ArticleThe archaeology of some Polish vampires
Apotropaic magic is designed to ward off or control evil. In vampire fiction, as well as in real life in cultures that include a belief in vampires, apotropaic objects might be crucifixes, cloves of...
View ArticleEnd of Nature, First Americans
Book note: There are two books you may want to check out because, for the moment (Tuesday, March 7th is the moment), they are deeply discounted at Amazon: Kindle version for two bucks: The End of...
View ArticleAbout that 130,000 y.o. Human Occupation in California
A claim is being made, in a recent issue of Nature Magazine, that humans were active in the vicinity of San Diego well over 100,000 years before archaeologists think humans were even in the New World....
View ArticleThe Pre-Clovis Debra L. Friedkin site
Butter Milk Creek is a Texas archaeological site and an archaeological complex located rather symbolically a couple of hundred miles downstream from the famous Clovis site in New Mexico. It is the most...
View ArticleWhere is the debris from the Japanse Tsunami?
Almost exactly one year ago, a very large double strength tsunami struck the Pacific Coast of Japan and washed a huge amount of stuff out into the sea. The oceanic born debris of terrestrial origin...
View ArticleThe Personal Benefits of Doing Archaeology: Subversive subsurfaces.
In discussing the relevance of archeology to anything, there is an easy answer provided by my friend Peter Wells, a specialist in Culture Contact and the Central European Iron Age. Peter tells his...
View ArticleSeven Thousand Year Old African Dairy
Pastoralism is the practice of keeping and herding animals such as cattle, goats and sheep, and using the products they produce, including meat, hide, bone, horn and of course, dairy. In the old days,...
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