Connie and I had been threatening to get back into the horse business for some time. Recently we bought a three year-old Warmblood/Holsteiner mare. Above you can see a girl and her horse. Her official name is South Beach GES, but we’ve given her the barn name of Sophie. Buckskin Warmbloods are not common. She …
Author: Reid Farmer
Residues and Residues
It has become increasingly common in archaeology to test the working edges of excavated artifacts for the presence of blood or protein residue. In some cases we can determine the species of animal was impaled or cut by the tool. Several years ago I posted about the Mahaffy Cache, a cache of Clovis tools discovered …
Homo erectus Shell Engraving
Earlier in the week in that post on Neanderthal jewelry I indulged myself in a little rant on how important discoveries can be made while reanalyzing collections from old excavations. I’d forgotten another recent example. The Trinil site on the island of Java in Indonesia, was excavated in the early 1890s by Eugene Dubois. The site …
Neanderthal Jewelry
The more we learn about Neanderthals, the more like us they seem to appear. Researchers examining artifacts in a museum collection from a cave excavation in Croatia have discovered this 130,000 year-old necklace or bracelet made of eagle talons. The excavations at the cave of Krapina were conducted a hundred years ago, and recovered both Neanderthal …
Prodigal Dog
The last week of last month, Connie in I were in California visiting the kids. Connie’s sister Paulette was house sitting/dog sitting for us while we were gone. I have mentioned a number of times before that we have an “invisible fence” system that works pretty effectively to pin them in and lets the dogs roam …
The Santa Lampoon
I just ran across this, and am very sorry I didn’t find it closer to Christmas. I will have to leave myself a note to post it in December to add to the spirit of the Christmas season.
A First
Back in November, granddaughter Bella was able to participate in her first horse show, at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Griffith Park. Only 4, she has started to learn to ride, but she was in a lead-line class, where her trainer led the horse around the arena. Sure enough, in the best family tradition, …
Wading Bird
One day back before Christmas, I was surprised to see a Red-tailed Hawk land on top of the retaining wall on the north side of the house. Luckily the dogs were in the house so they weren’t out to disturb him (her? knowledgeable people, please opine). He stayed still long enough that I could get …
Poem
Hawk Roosting I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed. Inaction, no falsifying dream Between my hooked head and hooked feet: Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat. The convenience of the high trees! The air’s buoyancy and the sun’s ray Are of advantage to me; And the earth’s face upward …
Book Note
I believe that some of you might enjoy Marilyn Johnson’s new book, Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble. It’s a book written by an objective outsider looking in at archaeologists, their interests, motivations, and careers. Johnson has written two previous books on other “odd” professions, This Book is Overdue! about librarians …