For nearly half a century, Erich von Däniken has been developing his account of human history. The fantastic thesis he has been suggesting is that extraterrestrials have been visiting our planet during various periods in the past. And that there is evidence, often archaeological evidence, to prove it. Whereas most academic archaeologist tend to write…
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THE VAN – Archaeology in transition
Figure 1 – The van during excavation Figure 2 – Evidence of a well-maintained vehicle In late July 2006, archaeologists from the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Bristol with involvement also from Atkins Heritage, embarked on a contemporary archaeology project with a difference. They have been ‘excavating’ an old Ford Transit…
An Archaeolog for all archaeologists!
Archaeolog is a collective weblog dealing in all things archaeological. It is open to the wider archaeological community and cognate fields from academics to field practitioners, from professors to students. We are inclusive and have no agenda other than to foster debate. We are community driven and we wish to provide a place for archaeology…
Collective memory and the uses of the past
Earlier this month, I went to a fascinating, interdisciplinary conference on “Collective memory and the uses of the past”, organised by a team around Andy Wood at the School of History, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. The full programme is available here (text file). I was one of only a handful of archaeologists there….
Deprivation through ‘dialectics’: Why some archaeologist’s are hamstrung by things and why things are hamstrung by some archaeologists
Over the last few weeks I have been causally reading through the various chapters in a recent book edited by Elizabeth DeMarrais, Chris Gosden and Colin Renfrew entitled Rethinking materiality: The engagement of mind with the material world (2004). The book, the material product of a symposium with the same title held in March 2003…
Alpine Roman Roads: Stanford Alpine Archaeology Project
Fig. 1 Grand-St-Bernard Pass: Roman rock-cut road (Survey crew: Brian Daniels, Mike Smith and E. Wang) Fig. 1 & Fig 2 Grand St. Bernard Pass, Plan de Jupiter: Roman rock cut road, summit (Italy, 8200′, 2460 m) In 1994 the Stanford Alpine Archaeology Project began research to examine Alpine Roman Roads in the Grand-St-Bernard pass…