PGRAS 2013 Begins
May 23, 2013
by Matthew Harrison via Postgraduate Research Archaeology Symposium
PGRAS 2013 has begun! PGR coordinator Jo Sofaer is now introducing the event. Drop by throughout the day to see presentations from the archaeology PGR community.
In the mouth of Quetzalcoatl
by Rodrigo Pacheco Ruiz via Postgraduate Research Archaeology Symposium
Going back to Teotihuacan for me is like travelling back in time. ‘In the mouth of Quetzalcoatl’ shows a snapshot of how Mexican archaeology is and has been in the last decades. It shows the wrinkles of time through the people and places involved in understanding a disappeared past. The history of Mexican archaeology is ...
Neanderthal culture: Old masters
by Alistair Pike
Nature have published a News Feature on our work on dating cave art in Spain and the debate surrounding the symbolic capabilities of Neanderthals.
Last October Nature Journalist Tim Appenzeller accompanied me and my collaborators from Spain on a sampling trip to El Castillo cave in Cantabria, Northern Spain. We were collecting samples from calcite that has formed on top of the hundreds of ice-age paintings in the cave. The date of formation of this calcite, formed by the same process that creates stalagmites and stalactite in caves can be determined by the uranium-thorium method (based on the radioactive decay of uranium) and so provides a minimum age for the art. Samples retrieved on previous expeditions showed some of the art to beat least 40,000 years old, at least 10-15000 years older than previously thought. This dates them at least to the time of the arrival of the first modern humans to the area, and the time of the disappearance of Neanderthals. If these new samples date to significantly before 40,000 then it will show the art was done by Neanderthals. The News Feature discusses the possibility that Neanderthals painted caves and exhibited other forms of symbolic behaviour, and reveals a highly polarized debate. Hopefully our dating programme will help resolve this debate in the near future.
- Neanderthal culture: Old masters (Courtesy of Nature)
- Podcast (Courtesy of Nature)
Museums and Heritage Show
by Matthew Tyler-Jones via The Interpretation Game
I went to the Museums and Heritage show on Wednesday. They claimed it was the biggest ever, and it was in a new venue, the West Hall, Olympia. When I used to exhibit, it was at the Royal Horticultural Society … Continue reading →
PGRAS Charity Book & Cake Sale
May 17, 2013
by Matthew Harrison via Postgraduate Research Archaeology Symposium
Every year the Post-graduate Research Archaeology Symposium (23rd-24th May) has a second-hand book sale and cake sale to raise money for charity. In the last three years, we have commemorated loved ones by raising a total of £750 for Glencoe Mountain Rescue, the Mexican Association for the Fight Against Cancer, and Action on Addiction. This ...
Clive Gamble and others at ‘Question time; The Brain and Society’ at #MDRWeek
by Graeme Earl
More than 120 people attended ‘Question Time: The Brain & Society’, (incl. 40 6th Formers) during this year’s fabulous Multidisciplinary Research Week.
Really fascinating series of short talks followed by debate. Including contributions by Professor Alex Neill, Professor Hazel Biggs, Professor Tom Lynch, Professor Paul Roderick, Professor Clive Gamble and Dr Cheryl Hawkes.
Digital Boat Recording: The Latest Technologies
by Scott Tucker via Centre for Maritime Archaeology
Digital Boat Recording: The Latest Technologies The University of Southampton Centre for Maritime Archaeology and Archaeological Computing Research Group, with the support of the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute, are pleased to announce a workshop on ‘Digital Boat Recording: the latest technologies’, that will be held at the University of Southampton, Faculty of Humanities, Lecture ...
Secret streets of Britain’s Atlantis are revealed
May 14, 2013
by Kristian Strutt via Kristian Strutt
Reblogged from University of Southampton's Noticeboard: In a project led by Professor David Sear of Geography and Environment, the most detailed analysis ever undertaken has been carried out looking at the archaeological remains of the lost medieval town of Dunwich, dubbed … Continue reading →
My musical Friday
by Matthew Tyler-Jones via The Interpretation Game
I had such an interesting day last Friday but I haven’t had a chance to write it up until now. I kicked off by meeting Ben Mawson at The Cowheards, a pub on the common close to Southampton University. Ben introduced … Continue reading →
Pulling spaces out of narrative
by Matthew Tyler-Jones via The Interpretation Game
While I’m looking at (broadly) how narratives can be told across space, I gatecrashed an interesting seminar today looking at how spaces (thats places, not the space between the words) can be pulled out of narratives and mapped. Its all … Continue reading →