www.mud-brick.com

I'd like to announce the launch of www.mud-brick.com, a multi- authored, general issue archaeology blog aimed at starting a

conversation with the general public. It was developed by archaeology graduate students from universities in New York City. Mud-brick’s mission is to provide people who are interested in archaeology with

informed perspectives from professional archaeologists, facilitating

an ongoing discussion on current archaeological issues. Check it out!

If you're interested in contributing, email adam.green@nyu.edu

Thanks!

The Mud-brick.com team

Action in Castanheiro do Vento - July 2009

Castanheiro do Vento - First images of 2009's campaign of excavations

"Zeitgeist" in archaeology

Dear colleagues,

Katharina Rebay-Salisbury (University of Leicester) and I are organising a
session on "Zeitgeist" in archaeology at the Annual Meeting of the EAA in
Riva di Garda, Italy, 15-20 September 2009, http://www.eaaitaly2009.com/.

We warmly invite contributions. The session abstract is pasted below.
Deadline for abstract submission is 31 May 09.

Best wishes,
Susanne


Zeitgeist

Session organized by Katharina Rebay-Salisbury and Susanne Hakenbeck
Zeitgeist, 'the spirit of the age', refers to trends and worldviews as well
as to the dominant intellectual, cultural, ethical and political climate of
an era. In archaeology, we encounter large scale, broadly contemporaneous
phenomena that are shared beyond cultural or regional boundaries. Zeitgeist
phenomena cut across trajectories of cultural change or evolutionary
developments and can be implemented in a variety of cultural settings.

Differently from, for instance, the spread of agriculture or metallurgy,
Zeitgeist phenomena do not have an obvious point of origin and do not
appear to be transmitted in a linear way. Yet they are shared across long
distances. They cannot be interpreted with the conventional archaeological
language of chronological or evolutionary change, the spread of peoples or
culture groups, or the diffusion of ideas. Instead, they appear to be
expressions of deeply-running ideological shifts - the Zeitgeist of an era.

Typically, we observe such phenomena archaeologically in two domains, as
particular aspects of human practice and in the widespread occurrence of
particular aesthetic styles. Examples from the sphere of practice include
European megalithic architecture in the fourth millennium BC and the
practice of building barrows in the Middle Bronze Age. Examples from the
realm of 'fashion' or aesthetics are the revival of human representations
around 800 to 600 BC and the distribution of early medieval animal style on
metalwork. We propose that the concept of Zeitgeist in archaeology may
provide a new way of understanding these complex phenomena, distinct from
other theoretical models of shared cultural traits. We invite papers that
not only describe Zeitgeist phenomena in various periods but also make an
attempt at explaining underlying ideas, causes and possible forms of
transmission.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr Susanne Hakenbeck, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research,
University of Cambridge, Downing Street, CB2 3ER, UK

Tel.: (++44) (0)1223 339 326

seh43@cam.ac.uk


____________
About this concept (Zeitgeist) see for instance:
http://etext.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv4-74

Civilisations- Mesopotamia [1/6]

Mesopotamia, or 'the country between two rivers', is the oldest civilisation to have flourished at the confluence of two rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Mesopotamians included various peoples, the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Akkadians, who coexisted and succeeded one another, mixing and inter-relating in a Near East with a wide range of racial facets. These different peoples, who once lived along the banks of the two rivers, have left behind an archaeological heritage of inestimable value.How did they flourish in such a hostile environment? Where did their wealth come from? And how did this perfectly structured civilisation finally fade and disappear for ever?

This popular series gives new insights into some of the most influential civilisations to shape the world as we know it. To understand where we are now, it might help to understand where we have been.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc8m9DHxH4E&feature=related

Ancient Mesopotamia

The contributions of the Sumerians, Semites, Babylonians and Assyrians are depicted against authentic locales, including the cities of Babylon, Ur and Nineveh


Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wksHEDgBRnM&feature=related

Welcome to Catalhoyuk

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNZRzKChn84&feature=related

Los Millares, Almeria, Spain - one of the most important archaeological complexes of Western Europe

I reproduce here this flyer made and divulgated by Junta de Andalucía - Consejería de Cultura and by the Ayuntamiento de Santa Fe de Mondujar. It has the intention of stimulating the visit of interested people.

The site was excaveted mainly under the direction of my colleague and friend Prof. Fernando Molina (University of Granada). It is a very impressive site, and in particular for me and my team, because we are studying a sort of "small" Los Millares in the northeast of Portugal (Castanheiro do Vento).
Although my ideas and Fernando's ones about this kind of sites differ in certain aspects (apart from the questions concerning the similarities between the two sites, which are subjected to discussion, of course...) we have a long friendship and I was always gently received by him and his wife in Granada and in Los Millares. He gave me this flyer when me and my wife we visited this site in August 2004 in their extremely kind company.

Click on the images to enlarge and read.