A new website, Giza 3D, has launched on which you can explore the Giza Pyramids online in 3D. The project was launched by engineering firm Dassault Systèmes under direction of Harvard University and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
What makes the website and project unique is that it is not simply a 3D rendition of the pyramids, but rather incorporates up to date archaeological and historical data into its mapping as well as allows users to explore art work, writings, and architecture in high resolution detail. Users can explore finds (that are now in museums) in their original positioning and have interactive access to research.
To learn more about this project, visit the Giza 3D website and read the in depth article at Discovery News.
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Tags: 3D, 3D rendering, 3D software, Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Egypt, Egyptology, Giza, Pyramid
Stanford has just launched Orbis, a self described: “Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World reconstructs the time cost and financial expense associated with a wide range of different types of travel in antiquity.”
Scholars, laymen, educators, and students can use this tool to made traveling networks (by land and sea) for more than 751 ancient sites in the ancient world and are able to examine mileage distance, travel difficulty, and estimated time for traveling by foot or boat.
This is an amazing and innovative tool for those working in the ancient world. It is easy to navigate and quick to adapt. I highly recommend playing around – try to figure out how long it would take to get from Londinium to Antioch as a civilian or a soldier, by land or by sea.
To play around with the site, check it out at Stanford’s Orbis Website or following them on twitter @orbis_stanford
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Tags: ancient maps, Ancient Rome, ancient travel, cartography, Classics, Education, Educational Technology, History, maps, orbs, Rome, Stanford, Travel
The domestication of dogs is one of the few universal domestication events – everywhere that you find humans, you find dogs. Human beings have inarguably benefited from the domesticated of canines. Dogs are used as: hunting aids, herding animals, guards, pest control, beasts of burden, companionship, and even food. However, it looks like it hasn’t been only humans that have benefited from the relationship. Apparently, domesticated dogs (as opposed to their wild, wolf counter-parts) use human beings as beneficial tools.
Human beings provide their canine companions with food, shelter, and even socialization. After generations of selective breeding, dogs have developed a keen eye to observe human body language – especially the practice of “pointing.” Domesticated dogs will begin to follow human pointing gestures as early as four weeks. Wolves, even those raised by humans, never develop this skill. Additionally, when presented with a need to overcome a problem to reach a goal (usually food), dogs will ‘give up’ and look to humans for aid fairly quickly.
To learn more about the research, see the article in Scientific American.
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Tags: Anthropology, Archaeology, dogs, Domestication, History
One of the most famous love stories of history, that of Antony and Kleopatra, has had a new piece to the puzzle added with the discovery of a new statue that archaeologists believe depict their children: Alexander Helios (the Sun) and Kleopatra Selene II (the Moon). The children, twins, were Kleopatra’s second and third child (having already given birth to Caesarion, the son of Julius Caesar). They would have a third child later, Ptolemy Philadelphus.
Caesarion, a potential and dangerous heir to rival Augustus, was put to death. However, the children of Antony and Kleopatra were actually given to Augustus’s sister, Octavia (the Roman legal wife of Mark Antony) to raise and educate. Reportedly, she loved them deeply and grieved the loss of her adopted sons. Years later, the sons of Antony would disappear from history, but the daughter, Kleopatra Selene, was married off to King Juba II (a prominent Eastern King) and seemed to serve as co-regent.
To learn more about the discovery, see the article in Discovery News.
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Tags: Archaeology, Classics, Ancient Rome, Classical Archaeology, Rome, Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Octavian, Kleopatra, Mark Antony, Marcus Antonius
Archaeologists have recently uncovered the statue of a topless, female warrior that they believe represents the likeness of a female gladiator. Female gladiators, termed a Gladiatrix, are well documented in Roman history and archaeology (although somehow left out of popular Hollywood films). They often portrayed mythical figures like Amazon Warriors.
While the figure is depicted topless, wearing only a loin clothe, real female gladiators would have been geared with protective armor and helmet. This statue represents only the second such discovery of a female gladiator (meaning she was likely a popular star of the arena).
To learn more about the discovery, see the article in Life Science.
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Tags: Archaeology, Gladiator, Gladiatrix, History, Rome
This month’s Archaeology Magazine highlights the history of the archaeology of the RMS Titanic, the famed “unsinkable” luxury liner that sank after striking an iceberg on April 15 1912. The Titanic has been subject of romance and scholarly inquiry – especially after its rediscovery in 1985.
Archaeology Magazine highlights the history of the search for the ship (multiple failed attempts by various recovery teams preceded the Franco-American expedition that discovered its remains). Learn about the search, the ships recovery, and the complicated conservation that went into preserving the artifacts and burying the remains of those who died at sea that Arctic Night.
Read the full featured article here: “Archaeology of the Titanic”.
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Tags: Archaeology, History, Marine Archaeology, Nautical Archaeology, RMS Titanic, Titanic
Archaeologists in Skye have uncovered the remnants of a lyre on the Isle of Skye. The artifacts looks to be around 2,300 years old and served as a bridge to the musical instrument. While lyre’s existed in the Eastern World more than 5,000 years ago, this piece represents the earliest example uncovered in the Western World. This find is especially rare, considering the material from which it is made:
“Stringed instruments, being usually made of wood, rarely survive in the archaeological record, but they are referred to in the very earliest literature, and, in various forms, were to feature on many stone carvings in Scotland and Ireland, and to become emblematic in both countries.”
To lean more about this find, see the article in BBC News.
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Tags: Anthropology, Archaeology, Isle of Skye, Musical Instruments, Scotland
Construction workers laying ground for a new hotel in the region of Roman Bath hit upon the largest hoard of Roman coins ever uncovered in England. The hoard contains more than 30,000 silver pieces dating to around 270 CE. This time period coincides with withdrawal of the Roman Empire from the frontier and waves of “barbarian” invasions on the island. In a time before banks, rapid burials of ones personal assets was common (and if the owner didn’t return for some reason, they are regularly found by construction workers and treasure hunters with metal detectors).
The coins at some point were exposed to extreme heat and are fused together – making precise dating and identification difficult.
“Conservators at the British Museum are taking a whole year to do the work. There are believed to be more than 30,000 coins, making this one of the fifth largest hoards ever found in Britain and the largest from a Roman town,”
To learn more about the discovery and its significance, read the blog post on Discovery News.
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Tags: Ancient Rome, Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, Classics, Numismatics, Roman Britain
There is no doubt that Google Earth is one of the great, innovative, and creative educational resources of the decade… no, the century. If you have followed the history of archaeology, for example, you will see what Google Earth has accomplished in less than a decade what survey archaeologists could not do with decades of attempts!
A new release of Google Earth expands on its 3D capabilities and provides new tours of exotic locations – expanding on its already thorough project (Rome 3D created by my old graduate school Professor Bernie Frischer is my favorite).
To learn more about the advances and these tools, see the great blog article at “Free Tech for Teachers – 3D Buildings & Tours of the Amazon on Google Earth.” And while you’re there, subscribe to this innovative blog!
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Tags: Ancient Rome, Google, google earth, Google Earth Bernard Frischer, Rome 3D, Technology, Technology for Teachers
© Science Daily
During the Iron-Age, ‘competitive feasting’ (essentially throwing the biggest, best, and most exciting party) was a key element in developing political and social connections. Archaeologists working Germany for the past ten years have uncovered key feasting elements in graves dating to 2,600 BP (Before Present). The contents of the grave emphasize not only ‘feasting’ but drinking – large cauldrons used to hold alcoholic beverages.
To the upper-class, the quantity of alcohol consumed was as important as the quality. Arnold excavated at least one fully intact cauldron used for serving alcoholic beverages in one of the graves at Heuneburg. But it’s hard to top the recovery of nine drinking horns — including one that held 10 pints — at a single chieftain’s grave in nearby Hochdorf in the 1970s.
The burial pits excavated contain objects belonging to men, women, and even children. To learn more about the excavations and these finds, feet the article in Science Daily.
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Tags: Alcohol, Anthropology, Archaeology, Beer, Celtic, Feasting, mead, Viking, Wine
A new website, Giza 3D, has launched on which you can explore the Giza Pyramids online in 3D. The project was launched by engineering firm Dassault Systèmes under direction of Harvard University and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
