ArchaeoWitch

Vikings, Looters, and the Ness of Brodgar

noreply@blogger.com (Shana Leslie) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:24:00 +0000

I started this morning all Gung ho about writing a new post. My (Gregorian) New Year's resolution to Janus included more frequent posting here at the ArchaeoWitch. So I opened my newsreader and email and began reading headlines, looking for just the right topic that every Pagan on the Internet would want to read.

The top runners included an article about searching for Vikings in Sherwood Forest. Vikings AND Robin Hood? Cool. But I'll keep looking.

Hmm, maybe a rant about looters, like those who destroyed a Roman mosaic of Bacchus in Spain over the holidays, or the ones who are bulldozing and dynamiting tombs in China. Too depressing. And my angry typing just might kill my keyboard.

Maybe a post about the 2012 doomsday supposedly predicted by the ancient Maya. (Trust me - lots more on that at a later date, once I stop laughing.)

Then I came across this gem: "Stone Age temple found in Orkney is 800 years older than Stonehenge - and may be more important." Oooh, bingo. I am an early Neolithic nut, after all.

I like to do some real reading before I post on finds like these. I try to limit the time I spend on this part of the process, or I'll disappear into a completely non-productive (though thoroughly satisfying) days-long bout of blissful research.

I already know quite a bit about the area and the era. Think northern Scotland 5,000 years ago. No one escapes archaeological training without some knowledge of the Neolithic Revolution, Skara Brae, and Maes Howe.

Three hours later, I'm still overwhelmed by the significance of the finds. I'm still reading through four years of blog posts, straight from the excavation diary of the Ness of Brodgar. I was also lucky enough to catch BBC2's hour-long program, "A History of Ancient Britain Special: Orkney's Stone Age Temple."

The end result is that I realize that story is going to take about five blog posts to cover. So that's what I'm going to do. Over the next week I'll be doing a multi-parter, a series of posts about the site, what we're learning from it, and why it's significant for modern Pagans.

So stay tuned for the upcoming Part 1 of the Ness of Brodgar series. You're gonna love it! And if you don't, remember: I know how to bury things so they won't be found for thousands of years.

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Janus as the Patron of Archaeology, and a Resolution

noreply@blogger.com (Shana Leslie) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:35:00 +0000

Janus is the Roman God of beginnings and endings, a deity of transition. He is usually depicted with two faces – one that looks backward and one that looks forward. In many ways, Janus would serve as a perfect patron deity for modern archaeology.

In the past, archaeologists were little more than glorified tomb robbers and treasure hunters. Today’s archaeology is more concerned with understanding the processes of human behavior.

We’re not as interested in what we find than in what our finds tell us – about how cultures behave and interact, how they use and distribute resources, and how they impacted the environments in which they lived.

Archaeology is just beginning to realize what Pagans have known all along: there’s wisdom to be gained from our ancient ancestors.

After all, the major issues plaguing mankind have never changed – disease, war, climate change, resource use, and yes, even trash disposal. We just deal with them on a much larger scale.

Understanding how people of the past dealt with these issues can go a long way to helping us deal with them today and in the future. That’s not to say that people of the past had all the answers. They were just people after all, just like you and I. But we can learn from their mistakes as well as their successes. Sometimes looking back is the best way to look forward.

With the New Year upon us, I’d like to take this lesson to heart and apply it on a personal level. Looking back, I realize that I’ve done very little to further my writing career. I want to be able to support myself with my writing, but non-stop Hulu and Netflix and checking Twitter every ten minutes are unlikely to get me there.

In the last year, I’ve only sent out a handful of queries and I’ve only written a handful of blog posts. Hardly the makings of a professional writer. This year I resolve to:

Post at least twice each week
Send a minimum of two queries or submissions per week
To write every single day.

Janus, help me!

Do you have a resolution? What did you do (or didn't you do) over the past year that you want to change? And what are you going to do differently in 2012?

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Pagan Archaeo Roundup: Dec 6, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Shana Leslie) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:30:00 +0000

Hi folks!

I considered using all of these stories for individual posts. But because I dug up so many great stories this past week, I decided to give you a roundup list.

A 6th century BC Temple of Aphrodite is being threatened by urban development in Greece. More info can be found at the Temple of Venus site.

An analysis of images of women in ancient Roman mosaics shows they were regularly depicted as the cause of war and other misfortunes. Proof of ancient Roman misogyny rears its head again.

The UK's first fully intact Viking boat burial discovered in the Scottish Highlands.

Two more enclosures found at Knowth, one of Ireland's many passage grave sites. The 5,000 year old site continues to impress archaeologists with its complexity and size.

A dig in West Meon, Hampshire, England has uncovered the final resting grounds of 30 Pagan Saxons. The burials date from 600 - 700 CE, a time that saw the earliest efforts to christianize those crazy heathens.

Experimental archaeologists at Butser Ancient Farm will be demonstrating how ancient Pagans celebrated the Winter Solstice. If you aren't familiar with it, I highly recommend you visit their site here.

Iron Age Celts really knew how to party! Researchers have finally uncovered the process used to make vast quantities of malted barlet, millet, and emmer wheat beer in Celtic Gaul (France).

Stonehenge Before the Stones

noreply@blogger.com (Shana Leslie) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 20:47:00 +0000

The news feeds are abuzz with the newest find from Stonehenge!

Archaeologists have discovered two pits flanking the eastern and western sides of the Neolithic Cursus pathway - a narrow, oval shaped track that lies about 500 meters (roughly 1/3 mile) north of Stonehenge itself.

The pathway and pits are aligned to the Heel Stone of the monument, and to the Solstices, and they predate the placement of any of Stonehenge's megaliths by at least 500 years.

Researchers hypothesize that if a person started at the eastern pit, facing the rising Summer Solstice sun, then proceed along the pathway, they would basically be following the path of the sun throughout the day, ending up at the western pit as the sun set.

We're not certain what the pits were used for. They were discovered via virtual excavation, using a variety of geophysical imaging techniques that allow archaeologists to "see" beneath the surface of the ground without ever picking up a trowel. Some ideas are that they contained standing stones, posts, or even massive bonfires.

What's so exciting about this find? It offers a rare glimpse into the ritual behavior of the Pagans that lived in the area more than 5,000 years ago. Most believe the Cursus was a path for a ritual procession.

It also adds another piece to the puzzle that is the Stonehenge ritual complex. As impressive as Stonehenge is, it is only one of many ritual sites in the area. Over the years we've come to understand that the entire area around the mega-monument is densely packed with other sites that include henges, pathways, and shrines.

Stonehenge never existed as a discrete, lonely sacred space. It is but one piece of a highly complicated ritual landscape that we're just beginning to uncover and understand. For a wonderful aerial view of the area around Stonehenge and its related satellite sites, check out this satellite image of the Stonehenge sacred landscape.

Here are a couple of links to other articles detailing the find. (Links open a new tab or window)

The find comes to us as a result of The Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project, begun in 2010. You can find out more about the project, including some truly awesome magnetometer imaging, at the Heritage Key site.

The original announcement about the find is from this University of Birmingham press release.

Feedback Anywitch?

noreply@blogger.com (Shana Leslie) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:53:00 +0000

Hey there all you witchy archaeology fans!

This is just a quick update to let you know that I'm spending the day scouring my news feeds, email, and various super-secret sources to find fodder for my next full-length post. Expect that to appear sometime in the next few days!

In the meantime, I'd love to get some feedback. And yes, I'm talking to YOU!

So do me a favor and let me know what interests you most.

Are you dying to know more about the archaeology of the Celts and Druids? Native Americans? Classical Greece and Rome? Posts about dogs, cats, or aurochs? Or something else entirely?

Perhaps you really don't care, and will devour anything I throw your way. If that's the case then tell me that too.

It's easy. Just click on "comments" below, or if you see a comment box already then write something in it!

While you do that, I'm going to dive back into my hunt for some Pagan relevant archaeologica. I can't wait to hear from you guys! And you'll be hearing more from me soon.

In the meantime, keep your trowels sharp and your corners salted!

Viking Crystal Compasses?

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:31:00 +0000

The weather was thick and stormy... The king looked around and, seeing no blue sky, took the sunstone and held it up. He saw where the sun beamed from the stone.

- From Hrafns Saga, c. 1230, describing an act of King Olaf (997-1030)

Iceland Spar
(Image: Arni Ein, CC)

We know the Vikings were expert sailors and navigators. What we don’t know is exactly how they did it.

It takes more than a keen understanding of wave patterns, bird behavior, and astronomy to traverse the waters that the Vikings most commonly called home. With mist, fog, a sky of wool-thick clouds and no compass, how does one reckon east, much less latitude?

One of the great mysteries of Viking seamanship was the use of the sunstone. Allusions to these enigmatic tools are found in the literature sprinkled throughout early recorded lore, as in the passage above.

What exactly is a sunstone, and how does it work? People have been asking those questions for a very long time, and we've finally got a few answers (we think). And those answer come from a decidedly non-Viking place.

A Sunstone Discovered?

A 16th century English galleon,
similar to Alderney Wreck vessel
(Image: Public Domain)

In 1977 a shipwreck was found off the coast of Alderney, the northernmost of the Channel Islands group. Drowned by storms and treacherous waters in 1592, this ship carried dispatches bound for Queen Elizabeth's Chief Minister, Lord Burghley. It also carried, what some are calling, a sunstone.

Amid pewter pots, cannonballs and cast-iron muzzle loaders divers found a piece of Iceland spar, a type of calcite crystal. Its existence among all the Elizabethan gear was something of a mystery, until it was proposed that it may have been used as a sunstone.

Why would sailors of the 16th century need a sunstone when magnetic compasses were introduced to the North Atlantic in the 13th century? Experiments have shown that the presence of a single cannon on board was enough to throw off an early ship's compass.

Researchers found that if you cut a hole in a piece of cloth or similar material, then hold an Iceland spar in the light passing through the hole, the crystal splits the light into two separate beams. When the crystal is rotated, the two beams vary in intensity depending on the angle of the sun and the individual crystal's properties.

A Viking could "calibrate" his crystal when skies were sunny and sun direction and angle were known. Over time and in different conditions, he (or she) would learn the exact patterns the two beams of light made when the sunlight hit the crystal at varying angles and directions.

After multiple trials, the scientists say they were able to locate the sun to within 5 degrees of accuracy every time they used their "sunstone," even on days with thick cloud cover or fog.

And you thought your crystals were useful!

More Information:

Findings were published online on 2 Nov. 2011, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A., as "A depolarizer as a possible precise sunstone for Viking navigation by polarized skylight" by Guy Ropars, et. al.: doi:10.1098/rspa.2011.0369

If you want, you can visit the Alderney Elizabethan Wreck website.

More than Man's Best Friend

noreply@blogger.com (RampantWriter) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:30:00 +0000

I forgot to include this link with my last post about dogs in history and myth. Doink! That was me flicking myself in the forehead.

Here's the link to the full text of Jarrett Lobell and Eric Powell's Archaeology article, "More than Man's Best Friend."

Enjoy, fellow ArchaeoFreaks!

Cerberus, Anubis, Coyote, Oh My!

noreply@blogger.com (RampantWriter) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:18:00 +0000

A dog mosaic from Pompeii, mid-first century
The accompanying sign read "Cave canem," Beware of Dog

A few days ago I got the Sep/Oct issue of Archaeology magazine. When I saw the cover, "Dogs in the Ancient World" I almost peed my pants with excitement. Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit but you get the idea. I am a true canophile - lover of all things dog, that is.

Most animals were domesticated between 10,000 and 5,000 years ago - that includes goats, sheep, cattle, pigs horses, etc. But the dog? The dog was clearly domesticated by at least 20,000 years ago, and some researchers say it's more like 35,000 years ago!

In other words we've been living side by side with dogs for at least twice as long as with any other animal (not counting lice and other vermin, of course).

Sometime between 12,000 and 9,000 years ago (depending upon region) people began settling down in one place and started farming. Slowly, over time they domesticated goats and cattle and other yummy critters. But they did it with the help of dogs. Dog was man's best friend before there was even another option.

But tell me, what better option was there? Dogs helped us hunt by finding and running down prey, they could lead hunters home in the dark, they warned of danger and protected the group, they could keep you from freezing on a winter's night, and from starving when times were too lean. And they did all of these things for thousand of years before any other animal was put "under man's thumb."

They still do all of these things, but now they do so much more. Since we've domesticated other animals the duties of a dog have extended to herding and protecting those animals as well. Without dogs, one wonders if humans would have populated the New World as quickly, or been able to domesticate other animals as quickly. Just how much do people owe to dogs anyway?

Of course, they've gotten a great deal out of the bargain as well. In terms of evolution, sheer numbers and reproduction are what matters. Well, humans are doing pretty well with almost 7 billion of us. Dogs? No one's sure, but most estimates are around 300 million, with 3,000 more born every hour. Dogs and people = a win-win relationship, at least in terms of "survival of the fittest."

It's no wonder that the dog, or some related canine, features prominently in the mythologies of nearly every culture in the world. Interestingly, dogs appear in similar roles in widespread cultures. Dogs are guardians, watchers, and guides. They protect and heal us in this life, then guide us lovingly into the next world.

Dogs are often associated with Death and the Otherworld. The Greeks have Cerberus. In Hindu myth the God of Death, Yama, has two large dogs that travel as his messengers. The Welsh Annwn, Lord of the Underworld, was usually accompanied by a pack of white hounds. And who can forget Anubis?

On the other hand, dogs are also seen as healers and protectors. One of the three main deities of the Sumerian pantheon was Bau, the dog-headed Goddess of healing and life. The Celtic Goddess Aveta and Sirona, both patronesses of healing and childbirth, are depicted with dogs. The ancient Greek had healing temples where dogs sacred to Asclepius would lick one's wounds clean.

1st millenium BCE, cylinder seal from Tel Halaf, Syria. A healing ritual taking place in a reed hut with the healing goddess's dog on the roof along with other deity symbols.

And of course, no list of canine associations would be complete without dogs as companions. Deities from the Old World and the New claim dog or wolf companions: Inanna, Bel Merodach, Bhairava, Khandoba, Dattatreya, Yama, Indra, Artemis, Hecate, Diana, Woden, and too many more to name. In Homer's Odyssey, it was Odysseus's dog Argos that first recognized him at his homecoming. Dogs have been praised as companions around the world, from Peru to Tibet and back again.

I'm delighted to see that Archaeology has decided to dedicate an issue to dogs. It's high time that their significance, both archaeologically and culturally, is recognized.

It's also time for Wiccans and Pagans to recognize the deep spiritual significance of Dog. Look no further that your furry friend for profound insight and wisdom!

Your Local Environment

noreply@blogger.com (RampantWriter) — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 06:27:00 +0000

I was born in Portland, Oregon, but my mom moved us to her home state of Mississippi when I was just nine. As a result the Pacific Northwest has always held a special place in my heart. I remember it in the context of a happy childhood - as a dreamy, magical place with majestic fairytale forests full of man-sized ferns and delicate, exotic flowers.

Two years ago I moved back to the PacNW, the northern Oregon coast to be exact. After a decade in southern Arizona, we moved to Tillamook Bay, just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean. A few miles in the other direction is the Tillamook State Forest with 364,000 acres of magnificent, mountainous trees, trails and rivers.

As a Pagan and an archaeologist I've always been interested in getting to know my local environment. A region's climate, geography, and ecology have always played a massively important role in the creation of a culture's worldview, myths, and religious ideas.

Would Cernunnos and the Wild Hunt, and all the depth and symbolism that goes with them, even exist among the Celts if Europe had been a desert instead of mostly temperate forests? Of course not.

People need to have a sense of belonging in, and understanding of, the world in which they live - for the most basic psychological reasons. Most of us have become so detached from our immediate environments that we've lost this sense of belonging, understanding, and respect for nature. We rely on grocery stores and Mac trucks to give us the things we need to survive, instead of looking outside the window.

The native peoples of the Pacific Northwest were incredible rare in one major respect. They were sedentary hunter-gatherers (Or better, sedentary gatherer-fisher-hunters). This is almost unheard of in the entire archaeological record.

In most parts of the world, if people wanted to stay in one place year in and year out, then some kind of agriculture was a necessity. Very few regions have the richness and biodiversity to sustain large human populations year-round.

I am blessed to live in one of the most biologically rich areas on the planet! Now it's time to begin my education of the local ecology.

Surrounded by Sacred Sites

noreply@blogger.com (RampantWriter) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:58:00 +0000

When Google Street View recently expanded to include roads in the United Kingdom, archaeologists took advantage. It only took a month for volunteer shovelbums to identify more than 1,000 ancient sites visible from a passing car. The best part? They’re sharing what they’ve found on the Megalithic Portal website. The site is also working on collecting the same kind of information for other countries, with 36 sites so far listed for the United States.

A look at the image to the right gives you an idea of the number of sites listed in the UK. A Cardiff native named Amanda Gough, one of the volunteers, said:

“This really gives you an idea of just how many ancient sites are still around and visible… It’s amazing to think that out there beside our busy roads is thousands of years of history just waiting to be discovered.”

And it’s true. Of all the archaeological sites in the world, a nearly insignificant fraction have been discovered. Of those even fewer have been excavated. And of those that have been excavated, only a small portion of each site has actually been dug up and analyzed. If all the lessons that archaeology has to teach us were compressed into a textbook, we’re still working through the first paragraph of the first page. I, for one, find this absolutely stimulating!

Besides our very selves, the ancient sites that surround us are all that physically remains of our Pagan ancestors. Through understanding their daily lives, their cultural traits, and their social structures, we get a window into their worldview – a Pre-Christian worldview that lies at the heart of our modern Pagan renaissance. Just think what discoveries and wisdom await us, all around us, lying under our very feet, or on the other side of your car’s window.

Roman Sculptures Painted with Light

noreply@blogger.com (RampantWriter) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:08:00 +0000

When you think of Roman sculpture chances are you picture cool white marble, or intricately carved, but otherwise bland, gray stone. But if you could have walked through any Agora of ancient Rome, the first thing you would notice is the color. Our image of ancient Greek and Roman temples and monumental architecture is usually of a stark building, its angles cutting against the sky in shades of gray.

Classical friezes and sculptures were colorfully painted

It's easy to forget that these temples and friezes were brilliantly colored. ThePagans of the classical world were in love with color. Canary yellow, azure blue, crimson red, orange, green, purple - color was used to imbue movement and life to imagery.

Ancient art wasn't just pretty. And it didn't just make the work's sponsors look good. Ancient Rome's literacy rate is estimated at just 15%. So the main purpose of statuary and the sculptural elements on architecture were to inform, to educate, and to commemorate important events. Even an illiterate slave could "read" accounts of ancient battles and important events, in the buildings themselves. Like an "old-school cartoon strip," vibrant colors attracted the eye, and likely helped distinguish between layers and elements in the often intricate carvings.

To help us better envision how these colorful images looked, restoration experts have developed a way to "paint" sculpture with light. This is an exciting technology because it allows us to analyze ancient pigments, and then recreate their color in a way that doesn't alter or damage the original artifact in any way. Implications for future applications are also exciting!

A video at Discovery.com shows how archaeologists are painting the Trajan column with light.

1,400 Year old Teotihuacan Murals Restored

noreply@blogger.com (RampantWriter) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:20:00 +0000

Restoration reveals new elements in Tetitla's pre-Columbian murals.
Where: Tetitla Palace, Teotihuacan Complex, Central Mexico
When: 600 - 700 CE

The Great Goddess of Teotihuacan

Seventy years ago, in the ruins of the central Mexican metropolis Teotihuacan, archaeologists discovered a series of murals. The Tepitlan and Tetitla compounds were palatial housing structures, believed to have been occupied by Teotihuacano elite.

When first documented in the 1940s, the deities and supernatural beings in the murals were interpreted as being depictions of Tlaloc, god of rain and war.

Reexamination in the 1970s showed the main figure to be a goddess - the Great Goddess to be exact. This goddess figure, sometimes called the "Teotihuacan Spider Woman," is the embodiment of creation itself - replete with birth, death, fertility, and underworld imagery.

Tetitla's Murals Restored
In late 2007 Mexico's National Institute of Anthroplogy and History (INAH) began restoration of these murals, a project that is now complete! To restore these fascinating murals to their former glory, archaeologists combined ultraviolet pigment analysis with the perusal of historical descriptions. These techniques resulted in the discovery of previously unknown colors and artistic elements in the murals. Artdaily.org covers the story briefy in their article Teotihuacan Mural Paintings Recover Splendor.

Recovery of the black pigment of Las Aguilas mural was achieved, which was no longer perceived by the naked eye. “The mural presented eagle’s heads painted in red, floating on a white space”. “After analyzing it, we found rests of black lines that united the heads. We restored the black feathers described in archaeological reports of the 1940’s decade”. At the Green Goddesses mural, blue pigment was recovered. “Female characters richly adorned seem to throw aquatic elements with their hands”.

Here's hoping these new techniques and artistic recoveries will lend some insight into the culture and worldview of these ancient peoples.

Birth of the ArchaeoWitch

noreply@blogger.com (RampantWriter) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:19:00 +0000

Hello. My name is Lauren and I'm an archaeologist and a witch. Unfortunately a degenerative spinal condition, called spondylolisthesis, prevents me from actively practicing archaeology. To prevent my degree going to complete waste, I've decided to blog about it.

As a practicing Celtic hedge witch (non-Wiccan), I know that the Wiccan, Heathen, and Pagan community at large is very interested in all things archaeological - for good reason. For neo-Pagans the worldviews, myths, lifestyles, and interactions among our ancestors inform our own ideas and perspectives.

Recently I've noted a need in the Pagan community; it's lacking an archaeologist's voice. So here I am! The ArchaeoWitch is born. I will be covering basic archaeological principles, and posting archaeology news items, all intended for the Pagan and Wiccan audience.