Episode 2 - ABCs, Archaeology Porn, and Archaeology News

Into the Dust Archaeology

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSe_TCcTT_I&list=PLcH4-BWqVM6KHP2Ih6UEq4_G1qRq8MgSn&index=7
ABCs of Archaeology – B is for Bioarchaeology

Most people think of the usual archaeological material – weapons, buildings, tombs, etc. Actually, organic remains of all types – human, plant, animal, and others – constitute an important part of the archaeological record. Jason breaks it all down in this episode.

Archaeology Porn - The Nefertiti Bust

Jason traces the journey of this somewhat infamous ancient beauty all the way from Amarna to Berlin. Smuggled(!) or ahem, exported, out of Egypt through dubious means by some shady archaeologists, the bust became of the earliest cases for repatriation, which is all the rage today. Her beauty was such that she even melted Hitler’s heart, and she’s been enchanting audiences ever since. Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak dubbed the queen “Egypt’s greatest ambassador.”

· References:

o https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-enigmatic-nefertiti-came-to-be-locked-away-in-germany

o https://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/new-findings-about-nefertiti-as-berlin-exhibition-opens-a-870731.html

o https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/archaeological-controversy-did-germany-cheat-to-get-bust-of-nefertiti-a-606525.html

Archaeology News

Jason takes a deep dive into three big stories from 2023 coming from Colombia, Spain, and Zambia.

· Treasure Ship

o The San José, a Spanish ship sank by the British in 1708 carrying a cargo reportedly worth as much as $20 Billion, is about to be raised by a Colombian government-sponsored mission. It’s in their territorial waters, so finders keepers (sorta), right? Wrong! It’s a lot more complicated than that…

o References:

§ https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/10/world/americas/san-jose-galleon-shipwreck-treasure.html

§ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12714409/San-Jose-shipwreck-treasure-Colombia-20-billion.html

§ https://www.washingtonian.com/2023/06/23/why-does-a-virginia-court-oversee-the-titanic-shipwreck/

· Drones, drones everywhere! Drones are being used in an increasing number of applications in archaeology. Most recently, they have been used to search for ancient cave art in remote mountains of Spain, where access is difficult and dangerous. Could they discover the next Cosquer Cave deep underwater?

· A site called Kalambo Falls, in a remote area of Zambia, is the gift that keeps on giving. Most recently, archaeologists discovered some obviously worked wood and wood-working tools from…nearly half a MILLION years ago! That is so old, that the carpenter wasn’t even human, but an earlier hominid cousin of ours and the oldest carpenter whose work has ever been discovered.
#archaeology #history #science