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Anthropologists Discover New Research Use for Dental Plaque: Examining Diets of Ancient Peoples
ScienceDaily — While we may brush and floss tirelessly and our dentists may regularly scrape and pick at our teeth to minimize the formation of plaque known as tartar or dental calculus, anthropologists may be rejoicing at the fact that past civilizations were not so careful with their dental hygiene.
University of Nevada, Reno researchers G. Richard Scott and Simon R. Poulson discovered that very small particles of plaque removed from the teeth of ancient populations may provide good clues about their diets. Scott is chair and associate professor of anthropology in the College of Liberal Arts. Poulson is research professor of geological sciences in the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering.
Scott obtained samples of dental calculus from 58 skeletons buried in the Cathedral of Santa Maria in northern Spain dating from the 11th to 19th centuries to conduct research on the diet of this ancient population. Read more.
"The archaeological record contains many levels of meaning. On the surface level, we can discover the dates and designs of things, of who did what and where. That much is easy and needs only techniques, not theories. But to dig below the surface (so to speak), to speculate about why people did what they did—either consciously or as unknowing participants in a never-ending historical/political/ecological process—that requires a tolerance for ambiguity. It also helps to have some humility, to recognize that today’s stunning insights may tomorrow be no more than orange peels on the compost pile of intellectual history."
— Adrian Praetzellis, Death by Theory: A Tale of Mystery and Archaeological Theory (via afewreasonablewords)
Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, which existed from approximately 1100 to 1400 during the country’s Late Iron Age. The monument, which first began to be constructed in the 11th century and which continued to be built until the 14th century, spanned an area of 722 hectares (1,784 acres) and at its peak could have housed up to 18,000 people. Great Zimbabwe acted as a royal palace for the Zimbabwean monarch and would have been used as the seat of their political power. One of its most prominent features were its walls, some of which were over five metres high and which were constructed without mortar. Eventually the city was largely abandoned and fell into ruin.
The ruins were first encountered by Europeans in the late 19th century with investigation of the site starting in 1871. The monument caused great controversy amongst the archaeological world, with political pressure being put upon archaeologists by the government of Rhodesia to deny its African origins. Great Zimbabwe has since been adopted as a national monument by the Zimbabwean government, with the modern state being named after it. The word “Great” distinguishes the site from the many hundreds of small ruins, known as Zimbabwes, spread across the Zimbabwe Highveld.
Unknown language found stamped in ancient clay tablet
In deciphering the tablet seen above, John MacGinnis of the University of Cambridge found that many of the names on the list are not from any currently known ancient language. “One or two are actually Assyrian and a few more may belong to other known languages of the period, such as Luwian or Hurrian,” he says, “but the great majority belong to a previously unidentified language.”
» via New Scientist
Hedgehog
Middle Kingdom, XII-XIII Dynasty, ca. 1938-1700 B.C.E.
Egypt
Brooklyn MuseumWhen food is scarce, hedgehogs retreat into underground dens for long periods, only to re-emerge in times of abundance. The Egyptians associated this behavior with rebirth and thus wore amulets in the form of hedgehogs or left figures such as this one in tombs.
Giza3D is a fine example of archaeology and visualization with a solid mix of interactivity and information. I hope we see more of this for other sites not only for fun, but as teaching and research tools. (via Visit the Pyramids of Giza With This Interactive 3D Site)
