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explorator 5.29 November 17, 2002
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Editor's note: Depending on your mail software, some urls may
wrap (especially those from the Telegraph) which will require
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found', check to see if the url wrapped on you. Most urls should
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For your computer's protection, Explorator is sent in plain text
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Thanks to Arthur Shippee, Janice Siegel, John Coates, Richard Heli,
Dave Sowdon, Steve Rankin, Rick Pettigrew, Michael Ruggeri, John Hill,
John McChesney-Young, Maurice O'Sullivan, Bill Kennedy, Stephen Balbach,
John McMahon, Trevor Watkins, Croman mac Nessa, Donna Hurst, George
Peseley, Reid Wilson, W. Richard Frahm, 'alesmonetos', and Sally
Winchester for headses upses this week (a.a.h.i.h.l.n.o.o.)
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AFRICA, EUROPE, AND ASIA
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Something which we'll probably hear more about: scientists have used
a new technique to successfuly extract protein from a 55,000 b.p.
fossil:
... and another way to use DNA to track human migrations (which
sounds a lot like the way stemma of manuscripts are put together):
Latest theory about Oetzi ... he was killed by his own people:
A BBC documentary finds natural explanations for the parting of
the Red Sea and other events in Exodus:
Al-Ahram has a piece on the rules foreign archaeological missions to
Egypt have to obey (etc.):
A Sim City-type simulation is being used to figure out
why civilization developed in southern Mesopotamia, but not
northern (in the third millennium B.C./B.C.E):
A pre-conference sort of thing on finds at Qumran:
,0,1154138.story?coll=hc-headlines-newsat3
A large horde of Philistine ritual objects is being excavated:
The remains of Augustus' (Octavian's?) victory monument at
Actium has been found (wow):
,,61-481590,00.html
A reconstructed Roman villa will be a tourist attraction in
Shropshire:
An item on an upcoming auction of Roman coins has some good
info:
Ages ago we mentioned that there was going to be a study of why
Hagia Sophia seemed so earthquake resistant ... turns out it's made
of special cement:
A Byzantine monastery in Jerusalem is revealing its secrets:
The latest in the Parthenon/Elgin Marbles saga (these are all rather
different ... see also the 'On the Web' section, below):
,3604,837468,00.html
,3604,838718,00.html
A massive temple has been found beneath the Hill of Tara in County
Meath:
A Bronze Age village (and later artifacts as well) has been found
near Belfast:
Some terracotta warriors have been found in a Han dynasty tomb:
A project is afoot to find the roots of Chinese civilization:
A sixth-century clay artifact from Japan suggests a belief in an
afterlife:
A number of Ming dynasty letters fetched quite a hefty price at
auction:
The oldest (silk) map of continental Africa has gone on display:
The Turin Shroud is once again being dated to the Middle Ages:
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THE AMERICAS
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Archaeologists have found a 'lost city' south of Managua:
A sort of overview of the lure of underwater archaeology, with a mostly
North American focus:
Spanish mines in Mexico still pose a health threat:
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ALSO OF INTEREST
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A fresco of St. Christopher has been found, along with an image that
looks an awful lot like Mickey Mouse (surely something is being
lost in translation here):
The hype is beginning for Ballard's next expedition to the Mediterranean
and Black Sea:
An update on Mel Gibson's Jesus production (one wonders about some
of the names of the people in this one):
A restored medieval mosque has reopened in Cairo:
An Italian priest is appealing to Britain to help restore some
medieval frescoes damaged during WWII:
,,3-481719,00.html
A piece on who destroyed the library of Alexandria:
Jeffrey St. Clair, "The Totem Thieves":
They're sending a pile of archaeologists to see if there's evidence
of that UFO crash near Roswell:
Teaching the ancient world to the younger set (all different):
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ON THE WEB
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If you can understand modern Greek, the Canadian Greek community
has made a documentary (in windows media format) on efforts to
have the Parthenon/Elgin Marbles returned ... you can view a low
res or a high res version at:
A huge number of artifacts relating to the Silk Road are now
on display on the web ... the first link is to a BBC article on
it; the others to the relevant websites (which are a bit slow
to load, but they do):
The 'Archaeological Collage' site presents views of Portland, Oregon
in a way which might get some of you thinking of similar
presentations (requires Shockwave):
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ON THE ARCHAEOLOGY CHANNEL
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Pathways to Archaeology:
On the same page, the Archaeology Channel is featuring a 30-minute
multicast on Arizona's Tonto Basin (it has a rather high bandwidth
requirement).
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CRIME BEAT
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A Greek farmer with a pile of ancient coins and other artifacts
was arrested this week:
A nice article on the difficulties of dealing with antiquities
theft on the West Bank:
A first edition of Isaac Newton's Principia has been purloined:
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REVIEWS
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Ricky Jay, *Dice*:
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PERFORMANCES
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Beowulf (Pittsburgh):
Big Love (based on 'Suppliant Maidens' -- Salt Lake City):
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DON'T EAT THAT ELMER
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Even the CIA was involved (sort of) in the search for Noah's Ark:
That 'lost civilization' off the coast of Cuba is back in the news:
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EXHIBITIONS
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Aztecs (London):
,,1-47-478016,00.html
Jade: The Ultimate Treasure of Ancient China (Ottawa):
{E9D57036-34D1-44B0-9E24-9AB4E353190F}
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CLASSICIST'S CORNER
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What to do with a Classics degree:
Another 'why take Latin' piece:
Classicist Andrew Riggsby was out and about recently:
Another feature on Classcist Robert Edgeworth:
Lots of ClassCon at the Frankfurt Book Fair:
... and at the Einstein Forum (sort of):
A piece on the trend towards having 'multiple majors' might have
strategic value:
There are some more 'classical influences' mentioned in regard to
the latest Harry Potter flick:
A tongue-in-cheek editorial on the benefits of Latin:
Work on the Archimedes Palimpsest suggests the Greeks understood
the concept of infinity:
A nice piece on the popularity and versions of 'Medea':
Someone has finally figured out what ancient Greek long jumpers
did with those weights (halteres) in their hands:
,,1-2-479500,00.html
,3604,839440,00.html
Etymologies:
(hydra)
(ad litem)
Peter Jones in the Spectator:
... and Dot Wordsworth:
Radio Finland's Nuntii Latini
Radio Bremen's Der Monatsrckblick - auf Latein
U.S. Weather in Latin:
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OBITUARIES
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Rene Thom (Catastrophe theorist):
,3604,839406,00.html
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FOLLOWUPS
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Antinous Temple:
James Ossuary:
Jack the Ripper:
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