Archeological Headache

This is where I will state random archeological facts so that I do not go insane

[captain-bonefish]

My brain tells me “doctor” but my heart tells me “sunburned bum digging in the dirt for bones”

[orisnitsa]

A silver Thracian cosmetic box in the form of a sheel, found in Golyamata Kosmatka mound

Late 4th century BC

[blueiscoool]

Hellenistic Cremation Tomb Found in Istanbul

Tomb is just 2nd Hellenistic structure unearthed in excavations underway around historical train station since 2018.

A brick tomb dating back to the Hellenistic era has been unearthed during the ongoing archaeological excavation at the iconic Haydarpasa Train Station in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district.

What makes the find particularly interesting, according to Rahmi Asal, director of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, is that the tomb was used for cremation.

“This is a very significant discovery. It is the only thing from the Hellenistic period found here, apart from the Hellenistic platform previously dug up,” he told Anadolu Agency.

“This is very valuable. It is one of the oldest finds in this area,” he added.

According to the preliminary analysis, the body was cremated inside the tomb, but the skeleton and other remains survived the blaze and have now been unearthed, Asal explained.

He said a terracotta goblet and a perfume bottle, both of them with visible marks of fire damage, were found with the skeletal remains.

“I have never seen this type of a cremation tomb from the Hellenistic period … Perhaps this will give us many more valuable insights,” he added.

Archeological excavations around the historical Haydarpasa Train Station, located on the Asian side of Istanbul, have unearthed a wealth of historical ruins, all hinting at the rich past of the ancient city of Khalkedon (Kadikoy), also known as the “Land of the Blind.”

The digs, started in 2018 by Turkiye’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and Ministry of Culture and Tourism, have been done with the utmost care over the past four years.

The findings over past years, which include historical structures from the Ottoman, Byzantine, Hellenistic and Classical eras, shed light on the deep roots of Turkiye, a cradle of civilizations.​​​​​​​

[ancienthistoryart]

The Minoan palace of Knossos, Crete, Greece

[ancienthistoryart]

Quetzalcoatl (feathered serpent), detail from Teotihuacán, Mexico.

[potatocatullus]

as a future archeologist I did not watch moonknight to be called out

[historic-meme]

I know the main thing™️ people mourn about in history is the burning of the library of alexandria. And like, yeah that knowledge lost upsets me too.

But i think we should also be equally upset about all the important history and archeology lost in the Great Zimbabwe when a fucking British journalist, who some how was picked as curator, decided to remove any of the “filth and decadence” of the local African population from the structure. He just fucking swept up and threw away areas of three feet to twelve feet of archeological deposits throughout the entire structure.

So yeah fuck you Richard Nicklin Hall and let me mourn all of that lost knowledge and history due to this racist white man not believing the Great Zimbabwe could be created by sub-Saharan Africans.

Also this happened literally only a little over a hundred years ago. In 1902. It makes me what to rip out my hair and scream. I finally get why the ancient greeks and romans mourned like that.

[idohistorysometimes]

How to offend any historian:

I am not wrong. The aggravation this show causes is intersectional. 

[momowho34]

The year is March 29, 1974. You and your fellow archeologists are driving out to a dig site under a local well that villagers found by accident.

“The Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian is a valuable historical text, but it’s still mythologized quite a bit,” one of your teammates says. “I mean, they expected people to believe they created such extravagant structures?”

“That would be virtually impossible,” you chime in. “And besides, it would take forever! I mean, have you heard that one about all those clay warriors? Nobody would actually dedicate so much time and so many resources to something like that.” One of your teammates cracks a joke about the book as you arrive, and you’re still laughing with your friends as you walk into an underground cavern where the dig site is supposed to be. And you’re still laughing when you are greeted with this:

Congratulations, you found the terra-cotta warriors! And its safe to say that upon your discovery, historians everywhere stopped laughing real quick.

Bonus:

I bet Sima Qian was rolling in his grave

[shamanicganja]

[classics-cassandra]

Other archaeologists: will your archaeological technique damage the artefacts?

Heinrich Schliemann:

[art-history-study-guide]

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

Windcatchers are fascinating.

Also called wind towers and wind scoops, windcatchers have been used in North Africa and the Middle East for thousands of years to provide natural ventilation & passive cooling. They fell out of popularity after the introduction of HVAC systems, but are now experiencing a revival because they’re so practical and cost-effective. Here’s how they work:

Not only are they an engineering masterpiece–they’re gorgeous

Windcatchers rely on local weather instead of the electric grid, making them affordable, reliable, and eco-friendly. they’re a terrific example of how vernacular and traditional architecture is often more suited to its environment–and more livable–than modern polite architecture. 

[luntfontanne]

[avgustaoktavia]

The eye of a marble statue from Herculaneum, with surviving paint. Roman before 79 AD.

[weird-ecologies]

I'm late to the paleontology drama but my god this is so funny

[amethystviolist]

[ID: A screenshot of a news article with the headline “A Profanity Filter Banned The Word ‘Bone’ At A Paleontology Conference”. The picture above shows a desert with paleontologist working in the ground. The beginning of the article reads: “Words like ‘bone’, ‘pubic’, and ‘stream’ are frankly ridiculous to ban in a field where we regularly find pubic bones in streams,” one participant said of the filter, which organizers had to thwart.” End ID.]

[i-draws-dinosaurs]

Iconic palaeontology moments of 2020

[i-draws-dinosaurs]

Extra lore from @raptorcivilization​

[aperilousjourney]