Syrian government selling its heritage

The president of Syria has hit a new low, exchanging culture for guns

As I have said on numerous occasions, antiquity selling on the black market is a huge problem that endangers peoples’ heritage and culture.  People often loot sites in order to make a profit when times are chaotic.  Some of these people are contract looters, while others are the poor and hungry who see few other options.  War is my other pet peeve, resulting in the destruction of some of the greatest pieces of our past as people suppress opposing ideas or these sites get caught in the crossfire.  While Syria undergoes its present civil uprising, it has become a free-for-all for both forms of destruction, with President Bashar al-Assad at the root of the problem.

The country of Syria is one of the oldest areas of human occupation and has more history than most places in the world.  Now that there is a war, black marketeers are taking advantage by getting good deals on artifacts, selling them to collectors and then buying weapons to sell back to the Syrian government at a premium.  The president, instead of following the country’s previous policies of imposing a 15-year prison sentence for those caught looting is now actively organizing digs so that he can find more artifacts to pawn off on the black market.

This has to be one of the first cases that I’ve heard of where the government of a country it literally selling its heritage to buy weapons.  Most leaders have a vested interest in preserving their country’s past.  Even fascist states look to their past as a means to justify what they do in the present.  The Syrian president seems to have interest only in maintaining his limited power at all costs.  What’s worse is that each artifact sold and each gun bought extends the conflict even longer, leading to more deaths.

In addition to the wholesale marketing of artifacts, all six of Syria’s World Heritage Sites have been seriously damaged by weapons fire in the last few months.  Even should al-Assad make it through this conflict on the winning side, the people of the world will never see him in the same light again, especially those in Syria who happen to learn the truth.  When the need for war overtakes the need to know your peoples’ identity, then you have already failed as a leader.  The history books will remember al-Assad as one of the worst, for the tyrannical treatment of his people and his blatant disregard for his own culture.

Scientists Use DNA to Link Three Species of Men

Digging deeper into the past to discover the true origins of man

Figuring out whether humans and Neandertals have some common genetic connection is one of the great puzzle games in the field of paleoanthropology.  The evidence has been conflicting, with a general tendency for scientists to believe that interbreeding of ancient humans Neandertals did not happen.  Still, the puzzle is more complex than that.  A fairly recent discovery in Siberia of what is labeled the Denisovan man added just one more piece in the form of a 41,000-year-old finger bone.  By using DNA, scientists are now trying to connect humans, Neandertals and the Denisovan.

The discovery that was made is that the Denisovan DNA appears to be closely related to both Neandertals and humans.  There is also evidence that all three species lived in the same area of Siberia during the same time period.  By tracking similarities, it was found that the Denisovan DNA had more in common with certain modern groups, particularly native peoples in areas just as Australia, Melanesia, Papua New Guinea and South America.  Apparently, these people ended up traveling a long way from home.

The next step it to look further into the DNA and track how these species are connected to the universal origin point in Africa and how they managed to get out to the rest of the world.  The goal is to find out if migration patterns are similar between Neandertals and Denisovans as well as figuring out where the three species connect in one origin species.

Deciphering such puzzles may seem like nothing more than the idle curiosity of scientists, but finding out why species such as Neandertals and Denisovans died out while human beings managed to continue and thrive can reveal quite a bit about the rise of modern man.  The clues to who we are today rest in this unrecorded past.

Mexican citizens protest government use of archaeological sites

Is Mexico’s culture worth turning into a spectacle?

I’ve been writing a bit lately about the benefits of using tourism and marketing to fund archaeology and the search for the past.  There is a point, however, when things go too far and the protection of sites becomes more important than the making of money, even if it does fund other projects.  This particular violation is happening in Mexico right now, as the government seeks to make additions to sites that are designed to bring in more people.  This is upsetting citizens who think that this is an insult to their heritage and archaeologists who are worried that the sites will suffer major damage.

The most recent of these attempts to cash in on the past is at the Fort of Guadalupe in the town of Puebla.  The government wishes to put up a glass-and-steel façade on part of the fort so that they can have a Mexican Independence Day celebration there.  They have also been using sites to hold concerts and make presentations, such as the Mayan light show, that have little to do with the history of the location.

Mexico is home to many historic and cultural remains, from Mayan and Aztec temples to churches, forts, residences and many others.  All these are glimpses into the country’s past and many people identify with them on a personal level.  People visit the sites all the time to satisfy their tourist curiosity, creating large flows of traffic and often forcing those who oversee the sites to shut parts of them off to the public in order to keep them safe.

To voice their discontent over the present situation of money over history, people have been carrying banners, circulating petitions and blasting their message via megaphones.  Archaeologists and anthropologists have been hanging out at museums and other sites and informing visitors about what’s been going on.  They are particularly worried about the coming of December 21st, the end of the Mayan calendar that some mistakenly believe to mark the end of the world.  The government is going to look to this unique event as huge tourist potential and may disregard the integrity of Mayan sites in order to make money.

It’s good that people are standing up against the government for what they believe.  The preservation of history is much more important than raking in tourist dollars from those who will come to see light shows and concerts at a Mayan ruin instead of just coming to enjoy the ruins themselves.  Gawking and ignorant tourists further complicate the matter by feeding into what the Mexican government wants.  Without people fighting back, Mexico’s history might quickly become lost due to exploitation and a great piece of the past taken from the world forever.

Google Maps helping map the past by promoting tourism

Exclusive views of remote places around the world

The latest exciting news to the world of archaeology and education comes in the recent quest by Google Maps to use their program to allow people from all over the world access, at least visually, to some of the greatest wonders in South America.  Just like the normal “street view” offered by Google Maps, people will be able to go to ground level and take a 3-D interactive look at old ruins throughout various South American countries.

Reasons that Google has decided to undertake such an ambitious projects are many, though the main motivation is none other than money.  Google, along with the countries being included in the project, are hoping that access to the ancient sites will draw tourists in to visit them in person.

The nobler side-effect of the project is that anyone in the world who happens to have access to the Internet can peruse the sites at any time.  This promotes knowledge and learning by using a commercial venture as a base.  As those who have read some of my previous posts know, this seems to be a trend increasing in popularity, giving much-needed funding to many wonderful explorations into the past all over the world.

Mapping began two years ago and so far 30 of the sites have been put into the system for people to view.  Their plans are to have another 50 up by the end of the year and eventually finish up a total of 189 target sites.  Some of the more famous ones that can be explored now are places like Teotihuacan, Chichen Itza, Palenque and Uxmal.

Once more, marketing gimmicks turn into money for archaeological projects.  By encouraging these sorts of undertakings progress into understanding our world’s history may speed up a little more.  The only worry, of course, is the potential for those investing their money to use legal means to assume some sort of control over the sites - a pessimistic prediction that will hopefully never come to pass.

The Emperor Qin’s tomb

Digging further into China’s past

The army of terracotta warriors in Xi’an, China is by far one of the most well-known of archaeological sites in the world.  This amazing thousands-strong army is testament to the greatness and glory of the man known as China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang.  But even though the statues are being excavated, the one most important part of the site still remains a mystery.  Qin Shi Huang’s tomb has yet to be opened or explored in any way.

The main problem with the lack of activity on the tomb is that the government of China and scientists alike feel that the technology just isn’t ready for such an undertaking.  The risk of losing valuable archaeological evidence is too great just to satisfy the curiosity of historians.  If tales are to be believed, the tomb contains a scale model of the emperor’s capital, complete with a river made of mercury and pearls embedded in the ceiling to represent the night sky.

Another problem with potential excavation comes in the form of said mercury.  Testing has shown that the tales are likely true to some extent, as very high levels of mercury have been detected it the soil.  This mercury can be quite dangerous if the proper precautions aren’t taken.  And so the tomb sits, more than 35 years unopened with no likely exploration to be made in the near future.

When the technology does arrive, however, a great many answers will come with the tomb’s opening.  There is the question of whether the tales of the opulence of the tomb are correct, as well as questions regarding the intactness of the tomb.  Though it looks to be unlikely, there is always the chance that grave robbers struck the tomb sometime in the past.  The terracotta warrior site is known to have been pillaged and set on fire for political reasons, and it is possible that something similar happened to the tomb.

The best likely solution to the problem will be to conduct some sort of remote survey of the interior using emerging micro-robotic technology.  Similar techniques are being used in other sites.  Still, how the interior of the tomb would react when exposed to modern-day air, even just a small bit of it, remains a gamble.

As of now, the Tomb of Qin must remain locked away.  Hopefully, sometime in the near future (and with any luck, in my lifetime) the necessary precautions can be taken to both answer these important historic question as well as keep the tomb’s contents preserved for future generations.

Antakya, Turkey: Funding archaeology through tourism

The small city of Antakya in southern Turkey may not seem like the most exciting place in the world to many.  This location, however, was once home to the famed city of Antioch.  One of the largest and more glorious cities in this region’s past, Antioch has seen influences from the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans and others.  Little did one entrepreneur know that when he went to build a hotel in Antakya he would stumble upon one of the biggest archaeological finds in recent history.

While digging out what would eventually become the basement of the new hotel, ancient remains were found.  It appeared that the hotel idea was scrapped.  Nearly 8 months went by while a team of more than 100 people worked on digging up the site.  Among what they found beneath the earth are one of the largest still-intact mosaic floors in the world and remains of buildings that stretch back more than 2000 years.  The above-mentioned hotel-builder thought his dream was done for sure.

Instead of giving up, however, he decided to get clever.  Archaeology is always an underfunded pursuit, so he negotiated with the necessary powers to keep building the hotel as long as the site remained undisturbed.  As part of the deal, he will be assisting in funding the dig and building a museum into the hotel.

Once again commercial interests and the recovery of history go hand-in-hand.  Business continues as usual, except now the world will be getting on of the most unique hotels ever made.  People will be able to enjoy their stay at the high-class accommodation and take a stroll to see a piece of Turkey’s ancient history without even removing their bath slippers.

After months of working out the structural details, construction is now underway with the full support of the archaeological community.  It’s good to see that the hotel project wasn’t just abandoned in favor of a new location.  By spending a bit of extra money and time, the result will be a preservation of history that will bring visitors from around the world to this remarkable hotel.

Captain Morgan: Rum and history go hand-in-hand

Anyone who even marginally shares the current pirate fetish knows who the famous Captain Morgan was.  Aside from having a brand of rum named after him, he played a key role in shaping the history of the Caribbean, Panama in particular.  He commanded the largest privateer fleet ever assembled in the region until the fateful day when his ships sank beneath the surface of the water.  Now, it looks like underwater archaeologists have found the old sea dog’s belongings.  After a three-year search, weapons, cannons and chests of other artifacts have been discovered that look like they used to belong to the Captain.

Archaeologists have been following a trail for several years now, starting with a set of cannons found off the coast of Panama, where his fleet was sunk.  They stumbled upon some more ship remains in Lajas Reef with inscriptions marking them as Spanish and most likely victims of Morgan’s attacks.  Eventually, they found what they believe to be the lost remains of Morgan’s ship and are currently working on bringing them to the surface.

Naturally, this is going to be a long process.  Anything that comes from underwater is in danger of rapid degradation should it not be preserved properly.  When the team does manage to get the artifacts up safely, they will be put on display in Panama, telling the story of Captain Morgan’s last expedition.  Morgan has quite a few legends attached to him, both historic and fictional.  These artifacts will help to narrow down exactly what is fact and what are just tales that have grown up over the last 300 years.

What makes the discovery even better (at least for me personally) is that both the expedition and the preservation of the artifacts is being funded by the Captain Morgan brand of rum.  Sure, they have admitted that it’s all part of a marketing campaign, so they’re just trying to sell more bottles of rum, but it still helps those involved to continue their quest for knowledge.  If only more brands were named after lost bits of history, we might have all sorts of interesting archaeological expeditions going on right now.

So remember to buy yourself a bottle of rum and celebrate this amazing discovery.  If not for drunk people everywhere, this small piece of the past might have remained hidden for years or decades longer, or possibly never discovered at all.

New Amazing Mayan Discovery in Guatemala

"Currently, archaeologists are hard at work uncovering the rest of the temple."

 

Archaeologists have made yet another discovery that gives clues to the history and beliefs of the once great Mayan civilization.  The Mayans left behind countless numbers of sites as remnants of their history, though many have been swallowed by the jungle over the passage of centuries.  This latest find, dubbed the Temple of the Night Sun, dates back 1600 years to the Mayan Early Classic Age.

 

The temple was discovered while archaeologists worked to excavate another nearby ruin called the Diablo Pyramid.  This 45-foot tall structure is topped with a royal palace and a tomb and is thought to contain the remains of El Zotz, a dynastic founder.  The Temple of the Sun being so close would seem to confirm this theory.  Thinking it just another ruin, archaeologists did not expect to find what they did - a unique temple that portrays the Mayan sun god in a way that has not been seen elsewhere.

 

Adorning the temple are five-foot tall masks that show the sun god in his many forms, each representing a phase in the movement of the sun.  These types of decorations have been found at many sites, but none so far have included all of the sun god’s faces in one location.

Though long since faded, the temple would have at one time been painted red, creating quite the spectacle, particularly during dawn and dusk.  Researchers estimate that when the jungle was not present the temple would have been visible up to 15 miles away.

 

The structures at the site, however, were left unfinished.  Despite being the apparent start of a new dynasty, something happened to halt workers before they were done.  It is believed that other nearby kingdoms may have overrun this one, absorbing it and finishing the dynasty for good.

 

Currently, archaeologists are hard at work uncovering the rest of the temple.  Only about 30% has been excavated so far and no doubt many more clues to the Mayans and their religious beliefs await discovery.

Scottish mummies reveal ritualistic mysteries

A recent discovery in Scotland is bringing to light some very odd rituals that were practiced 3000 years ago in the region.  Some bodies were found more than a decade ago that few people thought anything about.  They were preserved by a peat bog and reburied, to be discovered by archaeologists in our modern times.  This practice isn’t too unusual for the time, but what is strange is the fact that these two bodies were composed of parts from six different people.

Some scientists thought the bodies looked a little odd to begin with, but DNA testing finally confirmed it.  There was one male and one female body, assembled from spare parts.  Further, the testing showed that none of the parts on the bodies were related by birth.  They appeared to have been placed in a peat bog to preserve them and then removed.  The skeletons that were found were reburied even later in the timeline.  It appeared to be some ritual that took place over several centuries.

But this is where it gets really bizarre.  While the female skeleton was assembled with its various parts all at the same time, the male skeleton was made from parts that differed in age of preservation by hundreds of years.

Theories about what actually happened are purely speculative at the time.  Some suggest that there were pieces missing from the original bodies and they were replaced to make the bodies whole - a practice that has been noted elsewhere in the world.  Others suggest that the act was symbolic in one way, linking many different people together in one form to create a common ancestor of sorts.  Either way, these appear to be the earliest known Frankenstein’s monsters.

Scientists believe that there will be other examples of this practice to be found.  They think that by scouring the same region they may find more or that by looking back at bog bodies already found they may notice something previously overlooked.  They seek to confirm that further instances of this event did take place and to pin down a time frame for this rather peculiar practice.

More destruction of history in Timbuktu

A few months back, I wrote about the travesty that was occurring in the historically and culturally rich city of Timbuktu, Mali.  Islamic extremists at that point had only just begun their takeover of the country, but now hold more than two-thirds of its territory.  And with their coup comes the destruction that seems to follow in the wake of extremist Islamic groups.  The victim this week is Timbuktu.

These extremists, who are said to belong to the Ansar Dine faction of Islam (and closely related to al-Qaeda), have been defiling Sufi mausoleums and tombs in an effort to rid the land of all non-Islamic influences.  Now they have even taken so far as to cause serious damage to a mosque - one of the holy places of their own religion.

They excuse themselves with religious rhetoric, saying that the mosque was not constructed in proper Islamic fashion.  They also make more blatantly political statements for their actions, claiming that they destroy these monuments because they want the rest of the world to see what they are capable of.  Capable of mindless destruction?  Yes, we see that very clearly.

Once again, extreme views of religion prove to be destructive to the history of a country.  The extremist Islamic groups have already trashed the Great Buddha in Afghanistan and now they seek to enact the same level of damage on Timbuktu.  The whole affair seems like something out of the medieval ages, where one conquering country would destroy the important monuments of their new territory in order to cleanse the people of their attachments to the regional culture.

While the loss of human lives and rights is certainly the more important issue when it comes to the politics in Mali, the loss of history is nothing short of tragedy.  Will we ever live in a world where people don’t try to impose their beliefs to the point of destruction?  Will religion ever evolve to a state where it tries to build instead of destroy?

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