Andy was right about the photo of Libby a bit below, but didn’t guess the place. The photo was taken in 1966, when she was digging on the important early American Hell Gap archaeological site in southeastern Wyoming, east of Guernsey, under the leadership of the legendary Cynthia Irwin- Williams. Libby got her degree, and …
Tag: Archaeology
Arabia Steamboat Museum
… which may be the most unusual museum I have ever seen, not just in KC. The Arabia was a commercial Missouri river two- paddle steamer (its wheels, one restored and running, were 28 feet high, its length 130 feet; despite its topheavy overloaded superstructure it could float in two feet of water when empty, …
“New” Petroglyph
… from none other than Andrey Kovalenko— see below. Andrey says: “This rock art is located in (تیمره) Golpaygan, Isfahan in the central part of Iran. GP Location is: 33° 38′ 31.43″ N 50° 19′ 27.30″ E. There have not been any scientific examination (Magnetic Polarity Chronology, Uranium Thorium, Carbon 14 HL) to date the …
Altai Roads
Or Central Asian roads in general, are not like western roads. The highway from Ulan Bataaar to Olgii is over six hundred miles long, but it is not paved. It is studded with old car parts and camel bones; sometimes, when the land is flat, its ruts seem to stretch a quarter mile wide and …
More Ink
My New Hampshire friend Dr Hypercube, who is a blogger, falconer, Steampunk dandy, fine shotgun nut*, breeder of tropical frogs, and fellow aficionado of Central Asian art, sent me another great tattoo, a tiger, from Rudenko’s Frozen Tombs of Siberia (anyone know where to get an affordable copy?) If I ever get a tattoo at …
Ruins 2
As readers may know, we are Forest Service “Guardians” to a little pre and post- Columbian (400- 1700?) pueblo near town. Mostly we just visit and document any changes, whether caused by natural erosion or “intruders” from kangaroo and pack rats to blundering cows and teenaged Navajo partiers. Today we joined FS Archaeologist Matt Basham …
Ruins
Libby and I participate in a Forest Service program as “site guardians” for a known archaeological site, a rather large pueblo of perhaps 200-some dwellings. From any distance, despite its size, it is almost invisible– which in these days of thoughtless looting and vandalism, is probably A Good Thing. Peculiar has some things to say …
Tamgaly Rock Art
Whether because of (quite plausible) shared ancestry or (more I would think) the “Darwinian” demands of environment, climate, and materials, both rock art and vernacular architecture resemble each other in central Asia and the dry west. Compare Reid’s images below to these from Tamgaly, in the dry steppes a couple of hours north of Almaty …
My other side
I was asked by email if I knew anything about the history on my Italian side. Not from books is my answer. Bodios (and my grandmother on that side, Sylvia Arzeni) came most recently from Ispra on the east shore of Lake Maggiore a few miles south of the Swiss border; a village called Bodio …