A while back Steve said we should do more food-blogging, doubtless inspired by the good things our blog-sister Roseann Hanson puts up at Three Martini Lunch. So I wanted to pull my weight in that regard, though not to short myself, a few weeks ago I did post a coot recipe that Rebecca O’Connor told …
Category: Uncategorized
Archaeologist in New Orleans
This article in today’s New York Times about an archaeologist working with FEMA on Hurricane Katrina reconstruction is interesting as far as it goes, but leaves a lot out concerning the role that cultural resources (archaeology and history) play in those Federally-funded efforts. Much of the work that FEMA sponsors is considered Federal undertakings, and …
The New Middle Ages
I don’t agree with everything Eric Jager says in his LA Times op-ed piece, but I will second his strike at “presentism” or our predisposition to view contemporary times as the summit of knowledge and enlightenment looming above the ignorance and intolerance of past ages. I find this particularly irritating when public figures in past …
Photos from Turkey
Steve continues to experience computer problems that make it impractical to load posts into Blogger, but he does have e-mail. He was able to send me these dog and bird photos from his trip that I have loaded below. The dog photos were taken in rural Kurdish areas and the pictures of birds are from …
The Alligator at Machado Lake
Matt first posted back in August on the story of an 8-foot alligator that was found in Lake Machado in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles. It was obviously a released pet, and was a two-week media sensation in the city. People came out to the 54 acre lake to try to see the …
Attack Chihuahuas
A police officer in Fremont, CA was attacked by a pack of vicious chihuahuas while making an arrest. He was taken to the hospital, treated for ankle-bites, and released. It’s tough out there!
William W. Howells, RIP
William Howells, a giant in physical anthropology, has died at 97. He was a stalwart of the “second generation” of anthropologists in this country. Anthropology as a modern social science was founded in America by Franz Boas, a German immigrant, who established a department at Columbia University in the 1890s. He trained the first generation …
Seasons Change
Here in Southern California seasonal changes are a lot more subtle than most of you are used to – certainly much more than I was growing up in Tennessee. I have joked to Steve and Matt that I sometimes have to check the latest Cabela’s catalog to see what season I’m in. One of the …
The Bible in Gullah
Gullah is a Creole English dialect spoken by the descendants of slaves in the Sea Islands of Georgia and in low coastal areas of Georgia and South Carolina. I remember learning about this dialect (called Gullah in South Carolina and Geechee in Georgia) when I took intro linguistics at Tulane. This tells the story of …
Beale Street Bordellos
Having grown up in Memphis, I was intrigued by this account of historic archaeologists uncovering the remains of houses of prostitution off Beale Street there. These date from around 1900-1915, when Beale Street was a cultural and entertainment center for blacks in Memphis and the Mississippi Delta. It played a key role in the development …