Old Stones

A catalogue of rocks, stones, tablets, circles, and megaliths of various ritualistic use. Note: none of the pictures are mine unless otherwise stated.

[theoldstone]

*clears dusts and cobwebs, coughs loudly, sees a room full of 4000 people sitting here in the dark* Jesus, what are all you doing here?! I thought this building was abandoned! And by building I mean blog. And by blog I mean thing I used to do at my job 3 years ago when my boss had no projects to give me.

Well, since y’all are here I might as well say something. A lot’s changed in the 3 or 4 years since I’ve posted. For one I changed careers (currently a freelance artist and printmaker, and a profesh DM on the side), so surviving on an artist’s salary has kinda been the focus of late.

But hey, it’s, uh, nice to see y’all. Really good catching up. Maybe I’ll try and make more regular appearances. Heck maybe I’ll give this place a nice paint job, put up some wall paper, try and fix that whole in the roof. By which I mean, post again. Ya know, if y’all are interested

[theoldstone]

Here and there and elsewhere too

Hey rock fans, my accidental quarterly hiatus (that is, a hiatus that both comes at least once a quarter and lasts at least once a quarter) is coming to a close. Got caught up doing some other things. Guess I’m easily distracted or something.

In the meantime: thank you for the stream of likes and reblogs, and hello to the dozens of new followers that joined while I was away! I think y’all will like it here.

Stick around: I got something exciting planned for October

[gogomrbrown]

I learned in a Latin Studies class (with a chill white dude professor) that when the Europeans first saw Aztec cities they were stunned by the grid. The Aztecs had city planning and that there was no rational lay out to European cities at the time. No organization.

[punkrockradio]

When the Spanish first arrived in Tenochtitlan (now downtown mexico city) they thought they were dreaming. They had arrived from incredibly unsanitary medieval Europe to a city five times the size of that century’s london with a working sewage system, artificial “floating gardens” (chinampas), a grid system, and aqueducts providing fresh water. Which wasn’t even for drinking! Water from the aqueducts was used for washing and bathing- they preferred using nearby mountain springs for drinking. Hygiene was a huge part if their culture, most people bathed twice a day while the king bathed at least four times a day. Located on an island in the middle of a lake, they used advanced causeways to allow access to the mainland that could be cut off to let canoes through or to defend the city. The Spanish saw their buildings and towers and thought they were rising out of the water. The city was one of the most advanced societies at the time.

Anyone who thinks that Native Americans were the savages instead of the filthy, disease ridden colonizers who appeared on their land is a damn fool.

[robotsandfrippary]

They’ve also recently discovered a lost Native American city in Kansas called Etzanoa It rivals the size of Cahokia, which was very large as well.

[fullmetalquest-deactivated20211]

Makes me happy to see people learn about the culture of my country :D

[fieldbears]

Also, please remember that the idea of a nomadic or semi-nomadic culture being “less intelligent”, “less civilized” (and please unpack that word) was invented by people who wanted to make a graph where they were on the top.

Societies that functioned without 1) staying exclusively in one location or 2) having to make complicated, difficult-to-construct tools to go about their daily lives… were not somehow less valid than others.

[centuriespast]

A black granite sarcophagus was recently uncovered in the Sidi Gaber district of Alexandria, Egypt, reports Rob Waugh at Yahoo News UK. The most exciting part? A layer of mortar between the lid and the rest of the tomb indicates that the coffin hasn’t been opened in 2,000 years, which is rare in Egypt where looters have picked through tombs and burials for millennia.

[theoldstone]

The Jelling Stones are runestones carved sometime in the 10th century in Jelling, Denmark. The larger of the two stones was raised by Harald Bluetooth to memorialize his parents, celebrate his conquest of Denmark and Norway, and mark his conversion of the Dances to Christianity.

[theoldstone]

Petroglyphs are images carved into the surfaces of rock by removing part of the rock with incisions or abrasions. Sometimes called rock carvings or rock engravings, they are not to be confused with petrographs which are images drawn directly onto the rock face (such as cave paintings). Petroglyphs can be found all across the world, from Australia to North America to Scandinavia and can be tens of thousands of years old.

[egypt-museum-deactivated2021071]

Amulets of the four sons of Horus (faience). Late Period, ca. 664-332 BC.

Four gods in ancient Egyptian religion and personifications of the four canopic jars that accompany mummified bodies; Imsety protected the liver, Duamutef the stomach, Hapi the lungs, and Qebehsenuef the intestines.

[met-africa-oceania]

Pedestal Bowl, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Medium: Marble

Purchase, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1972 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/309901

[met-africa-oceania]

Maize Deity (Chicomecoatl), Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Medium: Basalt

Museum Purchase, 1900 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/307633

[met-africa-oceania]

Hand Hacha, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Medium: Stone

The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/313235

[met-africa-oceania]

Stone Figure Pendant, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Medium: Stone

The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/312899

[met-egyptian-art]

Amulet of the God Bes, Egyptian Art

Medium: Faience

Purchase, Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1926 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/548301

[met-africa-oceania]

Pendant, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Medium: Jadeite

The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/313042

[met-africa-oceania]

Head of a Water Deity (Chalchiuhtlicue), Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Medium: Basalt

Museum Purchase, 1900 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/307640

[met-africa-oceania]

Palma with Skeletal Figure, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Medium: Stone, pigment

The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1963 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/310472

[met-africa-oceania]

Mirror Back, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Medium: Slate

Museum Purchase, 1900 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/307734

[met-africa-oceania]

Openwork Pendant, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Medium: Jade

Gift of Arthur M. Bullowa, 1989 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/316285