There is a swath across the map of Minnesota that runs northwest to southeast across the state, separating the major biomes of the eastern two thirds of the country, and for complicated reasons. North, it is colder, south warmer. Much of the moister in the region, especially in the summer, comes from the Gulf of Mexico, directly to the south, whence air masses move north and swerve east. So, there is a west to east gradient of increased rainfall, and a south to north gradient of decreased rainfall. However, the cooler conditions to the north mean that what rain does fall counts for more, as there is less evaporation. There are other factors. Ultimately, the complex interaction between continental westerly, southerly gulf air masses with their storms, moisture gradients, and temperature gradients means that to the west of a certain line prairie (grasslands) is more likely to thrive, while woodland and forest should predominate to the east. And, north of a certain line, evergreen forest is more likely to thrive than deciduous. The exact mix of trees that thrive in each area depends on historical contingency, so each interglacial can have a different dominant species. In the present era, we see white pine in the north and oak with hickory in the south, but that changes even as we speak and various species grow back to replace the wanton, out of control lumbering of the 19th and early 20th century.
Continue reading To Jeffers with Jaf: A trip across time, space, and culture.
Tag Archives: Archaeology
How did the victims of the Plinean Eruption of Vesuvius die?
Even at the most extreme edges of the flow of stuff out of the volcano Pompeii, at the far edge of the mud and ash that came from the volcano’s explosion, the heat was sufficient to instantly kill everyone, even those inside their homes.
And that is how the people at Pompeii, who’s remains were found trapped and partly preserved within ghostly body-shaped tombs within that pyroclastic flow, died. They did not suffocate. They did not get blown apart by force. They did not die of gas poisoning. They simply cooked. Instantly.
Continue reading How did the victims of the Plinean Eruption of Vesuvius die?
Australian cave painting could be 40 kya, depicts megafauna
This just in from OZ:
Scientists say an Aboriginal rock art depiction of an extinct giant bird could be Australia’s oldest painting.
The red ochre painting, which depicts two emu-like birds with their necks outstretched, could date back to the earliest days of settlement on the continent.
It was rediscovered at the centre of the Arnhem Land plateau about two years ago, but archaeologists first visited the site a fortnight ago.
A palaeontologist has confirmed the animals depicted are the megafauna species Genyornis.
Archaeologist Ben Gunn said the giant birds became extinct more than 40,000 years ago.
Hat Tip: Iain Davidson
Framing the Pacific Garbage Patch
Various environmental organizations have been using imagery of dead baby birds with toothbrushes in their guts and solid floating masses of garbage to describe and raise alarm about what has become known as the North Pacific Central Garbage Patch. Yet, the small but important amount of research that has been done there shows that the NPCGP consists of many (alarmingly many) pieces of plastic that are very small, the largest being “about the size of the fingernail on your pinkey.”
Albatross may or may not be affected by garbage, but it is not likely that the garbage shown in the guts of the baby birds in these particular media comes from the NPCGP. Yes, the plastic in the NPCGP and elsewhere may have a negative environmental effect, but the pictures of floating garbage, which are all from coastal estuarine regions down river from major “third world” population centers, are NOT of the NPCGP and thus constitute bald faced lies. Bald faced lies by organizations like Green Peace is the fuel that right wing anti-environmental pro-business neo conservative yahoos run on.
But the situation is even worse than that because of what appear to be the misguided efforts of a British Billionaire who has managed to frighten those best in a position to criticize him into remaining silent. In fact, I’m a little nervous writing this blog post.
Great Moments in Human Evolution: The Invention of Chipped Stone Tools
Oscar J. Polaco has died
From his colleague, Eduardo Corona-M, via the Zooarch list server:
He was a great researcher at the Instituto Nacional de AntropologÃa e Historia and taught zoology at Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas in the Instituto Politécnico Nacional. In 2006 he received the Fryxel Award by the Society of American Archaeology. For many year he promotes the archaeozoological studies in Mexico and Latin America, he was part of ICAZ Comitee and one of the organizers of the 10th ICAZ Meeting in Mexico. Rest in peace Se comunica a ustedes el lamentable deceso del Profesor Ã?scar J. Polaco, destacado investigador del Instituto Nacional de AntropologÃa e Historia, Profesor de la Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas del IPN. Premio Fryxel 2006 de la Society of American Archaeology por su trayectoria. Por muchos años el promovió los estudios arqueozoológicosen México y Latinoamérica, el fromó parte del Comite de ICAZ y fue uno de los organizadores del 10o. Meeting de ICAZ. Descanse en paz
Cultural Preservation: The Blue Shield
Corine Wegener interviewed by Scott Lohman
Oldest Wall Painting
A very early example of painting inside a built structure is being reported from Syria.
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Tuberculosis Detected in Bones from 9 kya Israeli Neolithic Site
A team of archaeologists working offshore from Haifa, Israel in the Mediterranean has discovered both direct and indirect evidence of human tuberculosis. This is important because, if confirmed, the TB cases date to 3,000 years earlier than expected: The disease should not be in skeletons this old. Also, this research seems to indicate that Tuberculosis did not originally arise in cattle to be later transmitted to humans, but rather, the other way around.
Continue reading Tuberculosis Detected in Bones from 9 kya Israeli Neolithic Site
Primitive Cultures are Simple, Civilization is Complex (A falsehood) III
This is the third of three parts of this particular falsehood. (Here is the previous part)
Continue reading Primitive Cultures are Simple, Civilization is Complex (A falsehood) III
Explaining the Spread of Agriculture into Europe
The practice of growing food and keeping livestock was invented numerous times throughout the world. One ‘center’ of agriculture is said to be the Middle East. Despite the fact that calling the Middle East a “center” in this context is a gross oversimplification, it is true that agriculture was practiced in Anatolia and the Levant for quite some time before it was practiced in Europe, and it seems that the practice more or less spread from the middle east across Europe over a fairly long period of time.
Continue reading Explaining the Spread of Agriculture into Europe
The Four Stone Hearth Blog Carnival
Four Stone Hearth is the Anthropology Blog Carnival. The main page for the carnival is here. The previous carnival was held at A Hot Cup of Joe, and the next edition will be at Natures/Cultures blog.
The current edition of the Four Stone Hearth Anthropology Blog Carnival is ….. HERE, below the fold. Please visit all the sites and enjoy. We are heavy on linguistics this edition, by the way…
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The Origins of the Evil Eye and Horticultural Fertility Cults?
It has become axiomatic that the use of adornment by humans is some sort of symbolic act, and thus is linked to the human symbolic and linguistic mind. The human symbolic and linguistic mind is the trait that we axiomatically believe to be the derived human feature … the cladistic apomorphy that makes us human (as opposed to other-ape). Therefore, the use of adornment is seen by early 21st century archaeologists as evidence of modern human behavior.
Some artifacts from early archaeological sties might be adornment, or they might be ‘art’ (or at least “arty”) and they might be related to ritual, and archaeologists will argue eternally over the meaning of lumps of red ochre or rocks with grooves or scratches in them. But a manufactured bead is unambiguous. A roundish or even blob shaped pretty rock with a hole purposefully drilled through it is a bead, and even the most skeptical wet-blanket yielding taphonomist will accept that as an object of adornment, and thus the outcome of symbolic behavior, and thus evidence of the activities of a cultural and/or linguistic mind, and thus the presence at the time and place specified by the contextual analysis of the artifact of a con-specific.
I feel sorry for all those hominids who did not like beads and thus will never be part of the club. I also feel sorry for the archaeologists who are going to read this and say “Hey, wait a minute, a bead COULD be natural, how can you ever really be sure…?” But that discussion is for another time.
Now, we want to ask: What about the more specific behaviors, rituals, and beliefs that emerged within the historical and geographical range of modern human-ness? The paper at hand, by Dani Bar-Yosef Mayer and Naomi Porat, makes the bold assertion that the use of certain beads in West Asia is directly related to the beginning of ritual associated with the origins of agriculture, the use of objects to enhance ‘fertility’ (of humans, of the land) and to ward off the Evil Eye.
Continue reading The Origins of the Evil Eye and Horticultural Fertility Cults?
A True Ghost Story Part 5: The Grave on the Hill
One of the main reasons we were staying in Kimberley at all was to assist the museum staff with a particular, and rather singular, survey and excavation. The location and circumstances of this field project were quite remarkable.
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A true ghost story. Part I: A City of Death and Misery
Everything I’m about to tell you in this story is true.1 This is a long story, so it may span more than one blog post. You might not want to read this story while you are alone or while sitting in the dark.2
Continue reading A true ghost story. Part I: A City of Death and Misery