89 years ago today

Remember the Golden Age of Egyptian archaeology?  Before everything came stamped with the face of Zahi Hawass?  If you do, you might be aware that today is the anniversary of the opening of Tutankhamen's tomb.

On Feb. 16, 1923, the burial chamber of King Tutankhamen’s recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in Egypt. The New York Times called it “perhaps, the most extraordinary day in the whole history of Egyptian excavation.”

King Tutankhamen’s tomb is situated in the Valley of the Kings, east of the Nile River in Egypt. In 1907, the English archaeologist Edward Russell Ayrton uncovered a pit in the area containing pots, dishes and other objects belonging to Tutankhamun, then a relatively unknown 14th-century B.C. pharaoh. Mr. Ayrton’s sponsor, the American Theodore M. Davis, proclaimed that he had discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb and donated some of the objects to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. After years of study, Herbert Winlock, a curator at the Met, determined that the objects were left over from the embalming process and funeral, and that the pit was not actually Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Mr. Winlock theorized that Tutankhamun was likely buried nearby. The English archaeologist Howard Carter corresponded with Mr. Winlock and decided to search for the tomb. Funded by Lord Carnarvon, he began excavating the area in 1914 and found nothing for seven years. Lord Carnarvon considered giving up.

On Nov. 4, 1922, Mr. Carter finally uncovered the door of Tutankhamun’s tomb. After three weeks of removing stone and rubble from a corridor behind the door, Mr. Carter reached a second sealed door. With Lord Carnarvon watching, Mr. Carter opened the door slightly and held up a candle that revealed gold statues, beds and hundreds of other objects in the room behind the door.

Mr. Carter and his team spent nearly three months cataloging and removing objects from the tomb before he was able to reach the burial tomb. On Feb. 16, he began taking down the door to the burial tomb. “It finally ended in a wonderful revelation,” The Times wrote, “for before the spectators was the resplendent mausoleum of the king, a spacious and beautifully decorated chamber completely occupied by an immense shrine covered with gold inlaid with brilliant blue faience. This beautiful wooden construction towers nearly to the ceiling and fills the great sepulchral hall within a short span of its four walls. Its sides are adorned with magnificent religious texts and fearful symbols of the dead.”

Tutankhamun’s tomb was and remains the best preserved royal tomb ever discovered. Mr. Carter spent the next eight years removing objects from the tomb, most of which are now held at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo or displayed on tours. He opened Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus in February 1924, revealing the pharaoh’s mummy for the first time. His mummy remained in the tomb until 2007, when it was removed from the sarcophagus, placed in a climate-controlled box and displayed at a museum in Luxor, Egypt. The mummy has since been returned to the tomb, where it is displayed on tours.

The Federal Research Public Access Act - What it is and why Sexy Archaeology supports it

The Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) is a hot topic in the news.  For those of you who have been living under a rock, or have just missed the bullet, allow me to provide a quick summary of this bill.

Straight from the Bill:

FRPAA would mandate that each Federal agency with extramural research expenditures of over $100,000,000 shall develop a Federal research public access policy that is consistent with and advances purposes of the Federal agency.

In layman's terms, each year, the federal government funds billions of dollars in basic and applied research. Most of this funding is concentrated within 11 departments/agencies. The research results typically are reported in articles published in a wide variety of academic journals. FRPAA proposes to make manuscripts reporting on federally funded research publicly available within 6 months of publication in a journal.

You should be anxious to support this bill if you believe that you as a taxpayer are entitled to open access to peer-reviewed scientific articles on research funded by the U.S. Government.  It is no secret that widespread public access to the information contained in these articles is an essential component of our nation's investment in science.  This and other scientific information should be shared in cost-effective ways that take advantage of the Internet, stimulate further discovery and innovation, and advance the translation of this knowledge into public benefits.  Passage of this bill would result in enhanced access to information by millions of scientists, professionals, and individuals, and will deliver an accelerated return on the taxpayers' investment.

So far, there has been an incredible roll out of support for this bill by individuals across the country.  In our own archaeoblogosphere, there has been excellent commentary on Doug's Archaeology, Savage Minds, and John Hawks blog.  But would you believe the American Anthropology Association this week took a public stand on open access?  Yup, it seems AAA is in full support of the initiative to stop taxpayers from viewing what they paid for.  Fortunately, members aren't happy.  In fact, several members have quit over AAA's announcement.

Open access needs the support of sexy archaeologists across the US.  You can help promote FRPAA by taking these steps:

1) Contact Congress now to express your support for public access to taxpayer-funded research and for this bill.

2) Issue a public statement of support from your organization and share it widely with members, colleagues, and the media.

3) Join the Alliance for Taxpayer Access to support the continued advancement of public access to research in the U.S. Institutional.  Membership is FREE.

4) Spread the word on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.  Use creative hashtags like #PassFRPAA, #SupportOpenAccess or #AAAFail .

Or take it a step further by following in the footsteps of Jeremy Trombley who announced on his blog this week he is willing to put his career on the line in support of this bill by only publishing in open access journals.  Whatever you do, don't stand idly by when science needs you.

A Statement by Professor Mick Aston

The following was posted on the Time Team Facebook page tonight.  Seeing as I hate leaving things unsorted, or loose ends blowing in the wind, I figured I'd post Prof. Mick's words.  If you've been following any of this, it is important you read:

A Statement by Professor Mick Aston. (13 Feb 2012)

As a result of my interview in British Archaeology there have been many comments and articles which misinterpret completely the points I was trying to make, which were about aspects of the television production side.

There is nothing that I have said in the interview with Mike Pitts that is in anyway to do with the archaeological side of Time Team.

Nobody should draw any conclusion from what I have been quoted as saying that I am at all unhappy with the standard of archaeological work that has been carried out over the last few series including last year.

I think the archaeology that was done this year, including the sites I was not on, was really, really good and this has been the case for several years now. 

I have complete confidence in colleagues like Francis, John, Jacqui, and the digging team.  People like Jim in development and Tim Taylor, as well as the post excavation work done by Wessex Archaeology, and these people will make sure that the archaeology is done properly, whatever happens on the TV production side.

--

I don't think there has ever been a doubt that the archaeological work (the science and proceedure) performed on this series is anything less than exemplary.  Again, I think a lot of people have been up in arms about the way the program has been structured as of late and the very forboading words that network wants to "cut down the informative stuff about the archaeology."  While I certainly think that Prof. Mick's words offer a degree of clarification and take him out of the fray, I feel an aura of uncertainity still hangs about the show.

So if that's settled, then the ball is in the series court now.  If quality televisions continues to flow from Channel 4, this will be nothing more than a footnote in the legacy of a legendary series.  But if the viewership continues to vent qualms about the current and future incarnation, this could be apex of a mighty terrible bell curve.

Time will tell.

This is not DNA

This is not DNA.  This was not painted by technologically advanced Neanderthals, ancient aliens, Lumerians, or the ghost of Whitney Houston (too soon?).

I'm explaining this because a vast majority of the individuals who see this photo may be inclined to draw connections between it and the double helix of deoxyribonucleic acid.

What scientists believe this to be is the oldest cave paintings yet found.  On top of that, it was most likely created by Neanderthals.  Scientists believe the above image (seen in full here) depicts local seals that the Neanderthal's in that area likely hunted.  This beautiful painting has been radiocarbon dated to between 43,500 and 42,300 years old.

So if you see this image popping up on conspiracy theory websites (not that you'd ever check those), please keep a logical mind about you.

German soldiers preserved in World War I shelter discovered after nearly 100 years

Twenty-one German soldiers entombed in a perfectly preserved World War One shelter have been discovered 94 years after they were killed.

The men were part of a larger group of 34 who were buried alive when an Allied shell exploded above the tunnel in 1918 causing it to cave in.

Thirteen bodies were recovered from the underground shelter but the remaining men had to be left under a mountain of mud as it was too dangerous to retrieve them.

Nearly a century later French archaeologists stumbled upon the mass grave on the former Western Front during excavation work for a road building project.

Many of the skeletal remains were found in the same positions the men had been in at the time of the collapse, prompting experts to liken the scene to Pompeii.

A number of the soldiers were discovered sitting upright on a bench, one was lying in his bed and another was in the foetal position having been thrown down a flight of stairs.

As well as the bodies, poignant personal effects such as boots, helmets, weapons, wine bottles, spectacles, wallets, pipes, cigarette cases and pocket books were also found.

Even the skeleton of a goat was found, assumed to be a source of fresh milk for the soldiers.

Archaeologists believe the items were so well preserved because hardly any air, water or lights had penetrated the trench.

The 300ft long tunnel was located 18ft beneath the surface near the small town of Carspach in the Alsace region in France.

Michael Landolt, the archaeologist leading the dig, said: "It's a bit like Pompeii.

"Everything collapsed in seconds and is just the way it was at the time.

"Here, as in Pompeii, we found the bodies as they were at the moment of their death.

"Some of the men were found in sitting positions on a bench, others lying down. One was projected down a flight of wooden stairs and was found in a foetal position.

"The collapsed shelter was filled with soil. The items were very well preserved because of the absence of air and light and water.

"Metal objects were rusty, wood was in good condition and we found some pages of newspapers that were still readable.

"Leather was in good condition as well, still supple.

"The items will be taken to a laboratory, cleaned and examined."

Archaeologists also uncovered the wooden sides, floors and stairways of the shelter that

The dead soldiers were part of the 6th Company, 94th Reserve Infantry Regiment.

Their names are all known. They include Musketeer Martin Heidrich, 20, Private Harry Bierkamp, 22, and Lieutenant August Hutten, 37.

Their names are inscribed on a memorial in the nearby German war cemetery of Illfurth.

The bodies have been handed over to the German War Graves Commission but unless relatives can be found and they request the remains to be repatriated, it is planned that the men will be buried at Illfurth.

The underground tunnel was big enough to shelter 500 men and had 16 exits.

It would have been equipped with heating, telephone connections, electricity, beds and a pipe to pump out water.

The French attacked the shelter on March 18, 1918 with aerial mines that penetrated the ground and blasted in the side wall of the shelter in two points.

It is estimated that over 165,000 Commonwealth soldiers are still unaccounted for on the Western Front.