In
your hands you are holding the very rst issue of Artifact magazine! Having started as a joke on a study trip we are very proud to see it progress to a full length magazine with so many enthusiastic people involved. We have come together from the departments of archaeology and anthropology to bond the two disciplines and develop a lasting relationship between them. We hope Artifact will help facilitate this relationship, so to this end we have included articles which we hope both archaeologists and anthropologists will nd interesting. Between these sheets we have an interview with an eminent archaeologist, an article on Druidism, a guide to coee and even an academic paper ... and of course much more. But enough of this: read on and enjoy! e Artifact Team
CREATORS Eugenia Ellanskaya Laurie Hutchence SECRETARY Dawid Kotur DESIGN/LAYOUT Dexter Findley EDITORS Ashley Kruger Monica Smith Lewis Glynn Eugenia Ellanskaya Laurie Hutchence Dexter Findley CONTRIBUTORS Maryann Kontonicolas Alison Lewis Irrum Ali Laurie Huchence Holly Brentnall Dexter Findley Eugenia Ellanskaya Lewis Glynn Ashley Kruger Daniel Secker PHOTOGRAPHER Dawid Kotur
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ILLUSTRATORS Tabitha Paterson Josie Mills
artifact
magazine
what’s inside... INTERVIEW WITH A DRUID ARTIFACT talks to Arthur Pendragon. Yes, you read that right...
TALES FROM THE FIELD In every issue a look at a more extreme situation archaeologists have been in.
THE ‘TREE OF LIFE’ SCULPTURE A discussion on innovative Mozambique peace sculptures.
THE BM’S BOOK OF THE DEAD EXHIBITION REVIEW ARTIFACT visits the BM’s latest exhibit: but does it deliver the goods?
REVIEW OF THE FILM 10,000 BC Our resident critic turns her scathing gaze on to another historically innacurate Hollywood prodution.
AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL GUIDE TO COFFEE Do you really need it that badly?
INTERVIEW WITH MARK ROBERTS We have a chat with Mr. Boxgrove.
5 PLACES TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE ARTIFACT gives you a serious case of wanderlust.
ORIGINAL PAPER: SINGLETON’S LATE SAXON CHURCH TOWER What gives us our credibility: an actual archaeological paper!
ARCHIE THE ARCHAEOLOGIST Meet your new favourite Enid Blyton-style superhero.
ANCIENT HONEY MEAD RECIPE Get pissed, Sumerian-style.
GAMES PAGE
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LIVING LEGENDS
tonehenge in mid-June 2010 is as bustling with visitors as it could have been for a fertility festival in 2010 BC. Only now people rarely visit for reasons of faith. Today however, is one exception. At the entrance I am confronted by a bearded gure garbed entirely in white and wielding a bucket of home-made badges. “Help return the ancestral ashes to their rightful resting place” is his passionate cry, drawing bemused glances from a passing OAP with ice cream smeared grand-children. But for me this apparent odd-bod is an object of fascination. He is a representative of the earliest recorded spirituality of Britain and Europe, a druid. I approach him and am only more appeased when he introduces himself as none other than the Head of the Druid order, Arthur Pendragon. And what genuine a privilege it is. For it is down to Arthur Pendragon and his bands of new age protestors of the 1989 ‘Battle of the Bean elds’ that we can as yet attend the psychedelic mêlée that is the annual Stonehenge summer solstice festival. He tells me with great gusto of how in protest of its closure he wedged his sword named Excalibur in a stone (ring any bells?), refusing to extract it until they pulled down the barbed wire boundary around Stonehenge and withdrew the patrols of policemen who had been preventing access to the stones. Athur’s demonstration combined with more violent acts of resistance from somewhat stoned ranks in painted VW camper vans; the druid’s plan worked and the next year the Solstice festival was resumed. Now Arthur Pendragon is petitioning again, but this time for the return of the ashes of who he claims to be his ancestors; to the Aubrey holes, small pits dotted amongst the stones of the henge. e ashes have been taken away by scientists for carbon dating; and the druid’s dissatisfaction at events exempli es how people’s sentimentality can
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act as a frictional force on the process of research. In Christopher Chippindale’s highly acclaimed book, “Stonehenge Complete” the title alone of the chapter apportioned to druidism; “ e Delusion of the Druids,” summarises general archaeological opinion of Druidism; the delusion being that druids were the builders of Stonehenge. At least this was the conclusion made by the 17th C antiquarian john Aubrey, before archaeological dating methods were developed. In fact Druidism only came into existence around 300BC, over 1500 years after the completion of Stonehenge. Anthropologist and National Geographic photographer Martin Gray has photographed over 100 sites in over 100 different countries. He discards the notion of Druids as the builders of Stonehenge as “an unquestioned belief of popular culture.” However, academics do see eye to eye with the druids on the basis of peoples’ rights to interact with their heritage. In her book ‘Stonehenge-Making Space’ Barbara Bender (UCL Professor of Heritage Archaeology) endorses the shared importance of Stonehenge between different social groups; druids as well as tourists, academics, local residents, custodians and other neo-pagan religions. From an outsider’s perspective is easy to warm to the romantic idea of druids, gathering for rituals in forest clearings. Arthur intimates to me that it is true, they do indeed conduct some ceremonies in the wild out-doors, “reconnecting with nature,” however, they are just as likely to be found down the pub where it’s warm and dry. As if to reiterate this contradiction my interview is brought to an abrupt close as the ritualistic man makes the gruff excuse of needing a cigarette and with a swish of his white robe is over the fence and lighting up in the next eld. By Holly Brentnall
TALES FRoM THE FiELD “DEATHSTALKER” subject: Maryann kontonicolas
Location: qubur al walayah, israel So. We hear you got stung by the infamous ‘Deathstalker’ scorpion while on a dig in Israel this summer. How did it happen? It was the end of the day, we’d just packed up our equipment and we were all ready to go home. I put on my backpack and felt a sharp stabbing pain in my le shoulder - I asked a friend if she could see anything on my back, and the reply was “Dont freak out, but... there’s a yellow scorpion on your shoulder” So naturally I freaked out, and the pain set in.
Wikipedia says the venon is a neurotoxin. Did you experience any trippy sideeffects? Despite being nervous I was going to die/go blind/ become a vegetable, I was in perfectly sound mind.
Did you ever think you’d get into such a situation when you rst applied to UCL? To be honest we all signed up in the hope of leading an Indiana Jones lifestyle, so I’m not complaining. Having said that, Indy never got stung...
How much did it hurt? I wanted to chop my le arm off. It hurt bad.
How well did the Israeli medical service deal with the incident? Well I had to run around the hospital looking for someone who could speak English, and when I did nd someone they lost my EKG scan. Twice. All in all it was pre y bad.
On a scale of 1-10 how badass did you feel? -2. I cried like a baby.
So apart om the whole Deathstalker thing, how did you nd the rest of the dig? Absolutely amazing. e archaeology was very interesting and the weekend trips were fantastic, especially the one to Petra. Waking up at 4am every morning got somewhat tiresome... but all in all it was an incredible experience.
MaryAnn was interviewed by Dexter Findley
W
hen my baby brother of three starts to manoeuvre around my room, exhibiting cunning attempts to get me to play with him, which are of course highly tempting for a student of any age, it is most predictably going to revolve around pretend-guns and bazookas. It is just an axiom that a boy and a gun would inevitably come together in a fanatical embrace; and it doesn’t matter that your gun is only a vuvuzela or a toy brick. From my mini-interview, which lasted no more than a few seconds, I have found that the little rebel does indeed realise what the guns are for – ‘killing of anything you need to get killed!’ However in places like Mozambique, where children and their families used to sleep embracing real AK-47s, a youngster’s imitation of gun play would be seen as no tri e, coming to represent a big boys’ game with killing machines. It has been a major concern of the local authorities to disarm thousands of households, which have accumulated weapons in the course of the Civil war of 1976-1992.
sive art. However in my next chance encounter with the Tree of Life and the rone of Guns, which I now see as indubitably spectacular, I was lead by the wiser and more sensitive mind of a member of museum personal, who shed tears as he spoke of the meaningfulness of this art of peace. It was when I found out about the rst brave man to give up his weapon for TAE, knowing that he is surrounded by thousands of armed households who can take advantage of his act of faith, that the exhibition suddenly became enveloped in meaning.
It is important to bear in mind the mental and social struggles and transformations, which are so alien to a modern European mind, and which stand behind the making of these art objects. e objects themselves, in fact, capture this strenuous stage of transfer from one mentality to the other. It is the idea that the tools of death paradoxically serve as elements of a symbol of life, a tree, which awakens emotions in an observer. For Mozambicans however it also serves as a reminder of the temporary under-tree schools and hospitals, which existed in the war. Today It was under the initiative of Bishop Dinis Sengulane and Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world, Christian Council of Mozambique that the project of with daily earnings as little as $2. Such stringent conditions Transforming Arms into Tools (Transformaçõ de Armas along with years of inherited Civil war ideology provide a em Enxadas or TAE) took place in 1995. It was an act of fertile soil for crime and con ict. Although with the end of peace aer 16 years of Civil war, heated up by the apartheid regime in South Africa. e project was based around the war in 1992 people were prepared to part with North exchange of weapons for agricultural tools, bicycles, sewing Korean, Russian and Portuguese guns and ammunition, machines and, in one case, a tractor – all given to the villag- it was only with commercial purposes in mind. e crime potential environment was however turned to a course of ers in exchange for an appalling total of 600,000 collected a different kind. With emergence of the Nucleo de Arte weapons. e decommissioned guns were then cut up and fantastically transformed into art pieces, some of which can workshop, the elimination of weapons took on a new purpose – transformation of crime and death into culture and be seen on display in the British museum (the Sainsbury art, celebrating peace, making itself known far outside the galleries: Africa, Room 25). borders of Mozambique. It is not only the originality of the material used, which seduces the observer towards admiraTo be honest my rst acquaintance with the art pieces was accompanied by a certain disinterest and chill. I knew noth- tion, but also the complex transformation from the state of war of all against all to a state of trust and faith, which stand ing of their background and to me they appeared merely behind and in these art objects. as yet another set of contemporary art objects – frequently overestimated and clamorous about their status as progres- By Eugenia Ellanskaya
“Let’s not play guns anymore”
e ‘Gun rone’ , the companion piece of the ‘Tree of Life’ on the front cover. 6
Students £10 Adults £12 Members FREE Running until March 2011
WELCOME TO THE AFTERLIFE
Upon entering the British Museum, I am still gripped with the very same anticipation, excitement and wonder that captivated my childhood. e loud and busy streets of London are left behind and I am thrust into a glimpse of the ancient world; human life over its multiplethousand year history. Usually I would spend whole days wandering the mass of corridors and galleries, exploring the vast exhibitions of the many past societies on offer. However, my arrival on this wet and windy ursday afternoon heralded the beginning of my official visit to the Book of the Dead Exhibition. e Reading Room sits alone in the centre of the vast Great Court, like a beacon in the extensive whiteness. Inside its mysterious walls sits the main exhibition chamber containing the wonder of the Egyptian afterlife. e stark whiteness is stolen from my eyes and my vision is thrown into the lingering darkness. e Book of e Dead is in fact not a book; it is a culmination of spells that were designed to grant safe passage in the afterlife. For any of the elite of Egyptian society, they would possess their own Book of the Dead which would document their life and passage into the afterlife. In terms of its’ place in Egyptian History, the Book of e Dead is the final of the three main “magical” texts that have been discovered. e predecessors of this were the Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom and the Coffin Texts of the Middle Kingdom, with the Book of the Dead appearing in the New Kingdom all the way to the Late Period and Ptolemaic times.
Adjusting to the new-born darkness takes a minute, but soon I find myself in a small dimly lit passageway. e atmosphere inside the exhibition is eerie and mysterious; the synthesis of the darkness and the faint background music picked up by the ears creates the perfect backdrop to the journey through the afterlife. e theme of “the journey” is emphasised greatly throughout the exhibition; the only pathway that can be taken follows the journey of a soul from death to the afterlife, following the various practices, procedures and spells. Each section provides a personal account of the methods involved, and gives material evidence in the form of excerpts from surviving parts of the book of the dead as well as stelae, shabtis, coffins and various other funerary objects. My voyage begins with “Preparation for Afterlife”, the initial stages of death and the detailed process of mummification, both symbolic and methodological. Delving further in, “e Day of Burial” focuses upon the transition from the land of the living to the land of the dead.” e
Landscape of the Hereafter” resurrected the voyage through the depths of the underworld, battling and conquering the various demons with the help of the deities in which you have given tribute to in your tomb. “e Transformation” alters the soul of the dead to give further protection on its long dangerous passage. Finally and most importantly, the soul is judged by Anubis at the “Weighing of the Heart” ceremony. Only when the soul has passed this final test can it enter the Perfect Afterlife, in the Field of Reeds. e Field Of Reeds is an adaptation of what we would call heaven, and is probably what influenced the Greek concept of the Elysian Fields. e final part of the exhibition contained more of a scientific analysis, showing how Egyptologists have gone about deciphering and interpreting the Book of the Dead. roughout the exhibition I was nothing but impressed with the production of the material which it was presenting. e use of modern technology, accentuated the enormous body of knowledge available from the exhibition, such as the changing of the lights, the computerised sections of the scrolls and the voluntary headsets which give you an animated narrative of your journey.
However there were some aspects of the overall exhibition which disappointed me as a student of Egyptian Archaeology. Much of the material is highly vague and only touches upon the superficial aspects of the Egyptian afterlife. In this simplification some facts are misrepresented, which objectively, portrays a negative result to the public. e displays show a high amount of scrolls, but considerably less artefacts, and I believe with the huge amount stored within the museum, they could afford with integrating more into the exhibition. Furthermore, I believe there should be a limit on the amount of people allowed into the exhibition at one time. e mass of tourists and school children take away that precious feeling of mystery and wonder that the exhibition creates so well and replaces this with the stressful mumblings of a person unable to actually read and understand the displays. So my advice to all of you would be to find the quietest time possible so as to maximise your own enjoyment. What I have provided for you is my personal review of the Book of the Dead Exhibition at the British Museum. I deeply urge everyone to visit this attraction, which resurrects one of the most famous elements of Ancient Egyptian culture, presenting it in a modern fashion that is both fun and accessible for all audiences. e few faults that I have brought forward are not significant enough to subtract from the awesome power this exhibition empowers you with. In a perfect world, the vault of Egyptology should be opened fully, encapsulating audiences with more than just the religion of this great civilisation. - Lewis Glynn
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WHITEHALL, LONDON, 1904
The Critic’s Response with Her Eminence Alison Lewis 10, 000 ings Wrong with 10,000 BC I will assume many archaeologists are familiar with the basic plot of the cinematic travesty known as ’10,000 BC’, having subjected themselves to it either through peer pressure, unbridled masochism or for the purpose of reviewing it (a’la yours truly). For those who haven’t seen it, fear not! I can catch you up in a single sentence: men with bad dreadlocks and silly names traipse around a highly varied prehistoric landscape, bring an advanced civilisation to its knees and interact with some CGI megafauna. is could have made for some fantastic trashy fun had Roland Emmerich decided to at least try to keep things prehistorically believable. Unfortunately he didn’t, and so this archaeological review was born… Firstly, I must address our friends the ‘Yaghal’ tribe. Aside from having a name reminiscent of a sound one might make while choking (back tears of disappointment and rage while viewing this lm) they also suffer from a case of Serious Historical Inaccuracy and Transgression, or SHIT. Try as I might to suspend disbelief, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something about these hunter gatherers wasn’t quite right, and it wasn’t just Emmerich’s overenthusiastic use of unrealistic ‘stone age’ dreadlocks (no doubt employed to ensure we never forget that the main characters are indeed stone age humans, since combing hair is apparently a skill we didn’t learn until the Neolithic). It seemed ‘what wasn’t quite right’ turned out to be many things. So here’s a quick glimpse at what was missing from the Yaghal ‘stone age hunter gatherer’ inventory: GATHERING, stone tools, spear throwers, spears that don’t look like they were made on Primtech, sensible ice age clothing, egalitarian social organization, effective hunting techniques that won’t get everyone killed, the ability to cope with change… I could go on. Granted I did appreciate the mammoth bone houses (one of the only aspects of the tribe not symptomatic of SHIT) and the abundance of animal bones, but sadly a Palaeolithic site so rich in faunal diversity has yet to be uncovered. I would also like to point out that Old Mother’s necklace appears to be made out of domesticated chicken bones, but that’s a zooarchaeological rant for another time and place. e cases of SHIT do not end at the Yaghal, because we then meet yet another group of people eking out their existence in an ancient desert, just a short walk away from the Yaghal’s desolate tundra home. At rst glance I could have sworn the ‘Naku’ were African pastoralists, already a few thousand years too early, but as the movie progressed it was revealed they were in fact sabre-tooth tiger worshipping agriculturalists with an incredible aptitude for learning foreign languages. Not only this, but the plants they cultivated were beans and corn, both of which were not domesticated until between 7,000 and 3,000 years ago on another continent. Of all the hundreds of Old World crops to choose from – I mean its 10,000BC, as far as we know, NOTHING was domesticated then anyway (except perhaps the bottle gourd, but I digress…) – Emmerich just had to snatch some from across the Atlantic. at is assuming of course that the dog’s breakfast of geographical localities was intended to be in an Old World setting, I could be wrong. It is after meeting the Naku and journeying across the desert that we reach the pinnacle of the SHIT suffered by this lm. Earlier on these strange people appeared as ‘four legged demons’ kidnapping the Yaghal. Oh how quaint of our hunter gatherer friends not to know what a horse is! But the Yaghal were probably right to fear and misunderstand of these creatures, for they must clearly have travelled there in a time machine from somewhere post-4000 BC, when horses are believed to have been domesticated and ridden by humans. e pseudo-Egyptian civilisation in possession of these horses trots even further down the road of SHIT offences by building the Egyptian pyramids 7,500 years too early.
With mammoths. Need I really say more? I think I will actually, because mammoths deserve a little more discussion here. Not only were they totally not domesticated, and would never have been domesticated, like, ever, they physiologically lacked the ability to gallop and were most likely matriarchal like today’s elephants. I do hope this is information that isn’t too hard for someone to access by perhaps typing ‘mammoths’ into google, but it seems Emmerich ignored better judgement and instead got his CGI team to put together a herd of speedy galloping pachyderms with a ‘lead bull’ that can easily be chained up and forced to haul large blocks of stone for a megalomaniacal Atlantean leader. I should also point out that the vast, duned desert we see the pyramids being constructed in did not yet exist in the year 10,000BC. Today’s Sahara was once a lush, well-watered savannah until the Holocene got into full swing somewhat later and dried the place up. is is of course only the tip of the iceberg consisting of the 10,000 things wrong with 10,000BC. Yes, it is ction and artistic license can be granted. Emmerich, however, took this artistic license so far he forgot to cast the lm with real actors who can actually act, which left only the husk of visual spectacle to keep the movie’s entertainment value a oat. Unfortunately this husk was not enough to detract from the glaring symptoms of Serious Historical Inaccuracy and Transgression, which even more unfortunately may well be the only image some people get of prehistoric life. Overall it is simply a deeply disappointing reminder of how popular culture views our ingenious ancestors, the accurate depictions of whom I personally believe would make a far more exciting movie than the ctional ones Emmerich created for us.
ARTIFACT had no idea all Stone Age peoples were Rastas.
‘Dancing Megafauna’, or something. I...no. Seriously, wtf.
Rating: 1 trowel, awarded solely for the slight tingling of delight I felt upon seeing so many animal bones on a single screen. ARTIFACT Verdict: Pure Poppycock.
The Man’s b AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL
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best friend GUIDE TO COFFEE “I need coffee”. How oen have you heard that wellknown phrase uttered with desperation? Usually by someone who’s ran in late to the Monday 9am lecture as they look enviously at the thirty sensible students who managed to get up early enough to stop off at Bloomsbury Cafe. Ok so you probably haven’t (maybe because it’s usually you) but either way it’s hard to go into a lecture and not see at least a good deal of your fellow students sipping from some sort of hot drinks container. And it’s not just us kids that are hooked. If queues in Starbucks are anything to go by, morning commuters seem to consider grabbing a latte as necessary to starting the day right as checking emails on the ol’ Blackberry. It’s now one of the most highly traded commodities in the world. But how did the multi-billion pound coffee industry go from near bankruptcy way back in the 70’s to earning a place as an essential part of our daily routines? And what does that say about us?
help of marketing and advertising it is the reason we’re all drinking coffee today; all thanks to the massive rebranding operation that took place in the 1980’s. Even at that time, the vision was there: hectic and career-focussed lifestyles mean juggling a busy way of life but the desire to maintain a sense of self is still strong in an age where it is all about the individual. So coffee would ll that market: personalised coffee for everyone. Hooray. And the industry really did go for it. We’re now faced with a Willy Wonka style choice of products: avoured coffee, instant coffee, gourmet coffee, decaf coffee, you name it. An emphasis on the quality and image of coffee has led to it almost being the symbol of an aspirational lifestyle. We can see coffee everywhere in the media: celebrities are regularly snapped clutching their favourite Frappuccino, or maybe advertising their favourite coffee machine. Or even lmed over and over again socialising in their favourite coffeehouse. Central Perk, anyone?
So we end up where we are today. Coffee, they say, is a stimulant which will help us all to be alert and function properly in the morning with our busy lifestyles. But don’t worry, individuality is not lost and choice is still there. ey’ve thought of everything: Coffee houses allow it to be enjoyed on the go or if you want to relax and take A similar story of popularity can be traced back to Yemen your time, the cafe itself can provide the environment. in the 11th century, ongoing until the 13th where it was For those who need that x in their own time, so much championed by Muslims in the Arab world. Here we choice is offered in any convenience store you wish to have arty depictions of coffee houses, as well as accounts, visit. So if you want a coffee that has the taste you like, which indicate that it was a wide-spread and popular sold by a brand you like, that’s made the way you prefer institution- most oen a social meeting point where then it’s possible. It really is up to you. It’s your choice. Or political ideas and debates could be heard over a cup of is it? the good stuff. But it was in the 16th century that it truly became universal: spreading from its roots in Arabia to Americano Macchiato Venice and then Europe. In the 19th century, when it – single espresso made up with – double espresso with a small eventually reached America, it had reached global domihot water for a long black amount of steamed milk nation with coffee being traded and consumed on so Cafe latte Mocha many continents. – single espresso with milk
But the decline in America, one of the places with the highest consumption rate, came about in the 1950’s where it was falling out of favour with most. It had ended up with a bad image and bad reputation but for good reason. It had become a grim-tasting and cheap beverage; it was the kind of instant drink you’d nd in your Grandparents cupboard. e preferred group of 20-29 year olds dismissed it. Not even the retro kids wanted to know. Eventually, with less drinkers and price increases, coffee was on the way out. But like the protagonist in your favourite generic Hollywood blockbuster, the hero found itself again. With the - Irrum Ali
Cappuccino – double espresso with half milk and half steamed milk/foam Espresso (single or double) – a shot (or two) of strong black coffee Frappe – ice cubes and instant coffee blitzed together (for a foam like consistency)
– a mix of coffee and chocolate in the style of cappuccino or latte Soy skinny double caramel macchiato with extra shot – extra pretentious points if you can order with a straight face whilst asking if the beans are fair-trade and the cup is eco-friendly.
As director of the West Dean excavation, fan of e Vibrators, and unlimited fountain of banter, Mark Roberts is a memorable face to many at the Institute. Most rst-years will (hopefully) recognise him as the current Field Methods and Techniques lecturer. Born and raised in Sussex, and former undergraduate at the IoA, he is best known in the archaeology community as discovering and excavating the Palaeolithic site of Boxgrove in southern England: which claims a huge quantity of well-preserved animal bones, numerous int artefacts, and hominid bones which are all among some of the most ancient yet found in Europe, and Mark discusses in his book Fairweather Eden. Second years MaryAnn Kontonicolas and Irrum Ali sat down with his eminence and asked him a few questions ranging from his archaeological research interests to his sexiest experience (!) on a dig.
DISCO IN BOXROVE For those who don’t know you, describe yourself in 3 words. Fair, caring, competitive. What are your archaeological interests? I seem to have come full circle as my interests have become broader with age and similar to those I had when I started in the discipline. Obviously, the Palaeolithic is my main centre of interest and at present I am particularly intrigued by Neanderthal/modern human contact and interaction; along with the study of early diet in north-west Europe. My work on Bow Hill has also taken me back to the Bronze Age and allowed me to re-examine parts of the discipline that are absent from the Early Palaeolithic, such as ritual use of landscape. I am also becoming more interested in early Mediaeval history and archaeology. 12
What made you decide to be an archaeologist? I enjoyed it and was good at it. What are your hobbies outside of archaeology? Fly shing, shooting, rugby, cricket, and cooking. I also enjoy reading novels; more so as this pastime has become a luxury of late. Tell us which digs you’ve been involved in. I have worked on sites of every period from the Early Palaeolithic to the Industrial Revolution. My favourite sites are Blackpatch, Bury Hill, Blackden and Boxgrove. Tell us about Boxgrove, your most famous excavation. Ah, Boxgrove, a ckle mistress indeed, it is sometimes difficult to know who is running whom; I gave all of my early and early middle adulthood to Boxgrove and al-
though I wouldn’t change this, it extracted a very heavy price: a price that I am only just at the point of paying the nal instalment on. When I think of Boxgrove I oen nd myself humming the old Special’s song “Too much too young.” Having said that, the experiences gained and friendships forged were without equal. Boxgrove is simply one of the great Early Palaeolithic/Middle Pleistocene sites in the world, this statement has nothing to do with ego or anything else personal to myself – it just is. e quality of preservation, the range and depth of its myriad lines of multidisciplinary evidence are beyond nearly all other sites. Although other sites can of course be important they mostly don’t bear comparison: to read the editor of British Archaeology write that Pake eld was more important than Boxgrove was, in essence, simply risible. What was your sexiest experience on an excavation? is question highlights the changing use of language that I only keep up with so that I can understand my students. If you mean sexiest in the old fashioned sense of the word, then I am only going to say that I am as human as anyone else and that excavation has afforded me with the opportunity to indulge in many pleasurable experiences. If you mean in the modern sense, then I would say that making the Horizon documentary on Boxgrove. Who is your favourite staff member? José Oliver and one lady who will know who she is and I am far too old fashioned to name. You were an undergraduate at the Institute. Tell us about your undergraduate experience. Any funny stories? In my day the Institute was redolent of a club, student and staff numbers were far lower than today and there was an air of genteel scholarship. In the morning but never before ten, we would sit on leather chairs and sofas in the area between G6 and reception and read the papers, Punch, Private Eye etc. all provided for our edi cation and education by the Institute. We had a common room that ran the whole length of the basement where we would hold our own parties. In my third year myself and six others, who all bar one work in archaeology today but only one of whom would now get in to UCL with their A level results, used to religiously go to the Marlborough Arms every Friday lunchtime and then sleep all aernoon in the library. I also missed more essay deadlines than Sam Rixon. ere were no handouts, web, PCs, laptops, registers or feedback forms, and excessive swotting was regarded as rather vulgar; it was all in all a gentler age. I played rugby for UCL 1st XV in my rst year and captained the side in my second year, winning full colours both years: I would like to say I stopped for my studies in my third year but the truth is signed for Finchley RFC instead. I was caught sleeping rough in the Institute by the Director’s secretary; up before the beak for some act of vandalism perpetrated by my fellow players in ULU; thrown out of the UCL un-
ion bar for a one man rendition of a lewd and sexist song; reprimanded for carving and planting a Chalk phallus in the trench of a particularly difficult excavator; and various other crimes which should be taken into consideration.
Who was your mentor when you were an undergrad, and how has your mentor in uenced you? ere were no student mentors in my day, although I was inducted into UCL’s Social and Suicide Club at the end of my Freshers’ week. Who were your heroes while growing up? As a kid my heroes were George Best, Bobby Charlton, Jeff Astle (footballers) and Alf Tupper (tough of the track). As I grew older it became the likes of Colin Deans (Scottish rugby player), Gordon Greenidge and Clive Lloyd (West Indian cricketers). What’s your favourite thing about students at the Institute? I like the way you are adept at diligent study whilst still having a good time. I enjoy watching you grow intellectually and socially over your time at the Institute. Any advice for rst-year students coming to West Dean? Work hard and have fun. Appreciate that this eldwork is a real excavation with proper research agendas. Get the proper kit together at an early stage and not the last minute, having the correct kit will make a huge difference to your stay. What is one rule and tool every archaeologist should have? Always have your trowel about your person. Plus, never run; when I see people running about on Time Team it makes me want to reach for a large calibre handgun. Tell us one fact no one knows about Mark Roberts. I have a penchant for rose and violet cream chocolates and eat an inordinate number over the Christmas holiday. What is your motto/ philosophy in life? Try as hard as you can to be honest with yourself.
What should be a quote for your students to live by? Too much is not enough. Any last thing you’d like to say to your fans? Anything inspirational? is question is a little American for me but here goes. Ascertain what is important to you, then guard it and nurture it. As for a last word, I would like to say a genuine thank you to all the students, who over the last couple of years, have been the inspiration I needed to rediscover my passion for archaeology.
Hadrian’s wall.
“HAD WE BUT WORLD ENOUGH, AND ally as uniformed as the original plan it is still a testament to the great Roman engineering. Large parts of the wall have since disappeared, but if you follow its trail eastwards from Carlisle you are treated to a truly Roman landscape. e path is littered with the remains of impressive wall forts (Corbridge, Chesters, Vindolanda and Housesteds), question many of us ponder over. With limited means and a huge fascinating world out there to explore, the choice milecastles, vallum (ditches which ran parallel to the wall), even small temples dedicated to the Mithraeum cult. It is a of where to visit oen proves to be more arduous than the great sight that truly deserves a visit: you don’t take a trip to actual journey. So where are the best archaeological sites Hadrian’s Wall, you embark on a journey. and why see them at all?
Where would I find myself?
A
We live on a planet with a diameter of 7926.41 miles, a land mass of 148 million sq km, 192 recognised countries and countless cultures who have lived for over 126 000 years of human history. With this in mind it seems a colossal task choosing from a large array of beautiful archaeological sites. In order to make such a choice easier we have decided to choose from monumental sites which have imprinted their identity upon the world and le us all in awe. So here are our January top 5 places to see before you die...
Mausoleum of the first Emperor Qin Location: China, city of Xi’an in the province of Shaanxi Date: 209 BC
There is very little le of the Mausoleum itself, an impres-
sive structure of 2100x975 meters which housed a map carved into the stone oor encircled by rivers of mercury, the site better known as the resting place of the Terracotta Army. 600 meters east of the main tomb placed into three Location: Great Britain, Cumbria separate pits are an estimated 7000 terracotta gures, only Date: 122 AD (the last phase of building) a 1000 of which have been fully excavated. is impressive complex was built for Shihuangdi, China’s rst Emperor, the man who is known for the uni cation of China through a e have decided to include this little gem close to home bloody conquest. All 7000 of the terracotta gures, which as it can be reached with a relatively small budget, offering an unparalleled insight into Roman Britain. Built during the include soldiers, chariots, cavalry and acrobats, are individreign of Emperor Hadrian aer failed campaigns to include ually carved with varying heights and appearance. e site the Pictish lands of the north into the empire, the site stands portrays the uni cation of China in a physical and symbolic sense and depicts the birth of the nation. To see the army as a monument to Roman world and de nes the northern stretched out before you would indeed be an experience borders of the Empire. Originally the wall stretched from Carlisle in the west to Newcastle in the east (73miles), stood that can only be identical to being in the city of the dead. 3 metres tall and 10 feet deep. Although the wall is not actu-
Hadrian’s Wall W
D TIME...” Pyramids at Giza
Location: Egypt, Giza Plateau in the outskirts of Cairo Date: apx. 2560 BC (e Great Pyramid)
The Giza Plateau is a place that has inspired many to learn
about Egyptian civilisation’s great history. It contains a truly astonishing amount of archaeological elements including the Sphinx, the Pyramids of the Queens, various temples, cemeteries and pyramids of the pharaohs. Much can be said about the entire necropolis complex, yet for the purpose of this small review we will focus on the Great Pyramid of Khufu. e only surviving member of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Great Pyramid was built as the nal resting place for the Pharaoh Khufu of the fourth dynasty who died before its completion. e pyramid was built over a 20 year period, covers a 9 acre area at its base and reaches to a height equivalent to a 50 story building. Built to shepherd the pharaoh to the aerlife, the structure portrays the importance of such a concept to Egyptians. is is de nitely a place to visit, being constructed for the purpose of death, the pyramid embodies the elegance and beauty of life.
Angkor Wat
Location: Cambodia, 5km north of Siem Reap Date: mid 12th Century
Built to depict heaven on earth, this site offers a truly
breathtaking experience. Angkor Wat is the main temple complex of the ancient city of Angkor, administrative centre of the vast Khmer Empire which stretched from Vietnam and China to the Bay of Bengal. Angkor was one of the largest cities of its time, but aer the death of King Suryavarman the temple was plundered by the civilisation’s enemies,
Pompeii.
the Chams (1177AD) and le to be consumed by the jungle in which it was built. e complex is surrounded by moats on all sides and its outer walls enclose a space of 203 acres. Accompanying its impressive architecture, the complex contains thousands of inspirational sandstone carvings. Much of the city has since disappeared but the 100+ stone temples that remain pay homage to the artisans of this once great civilisation. Angkor Wat truly seems the celestial city it was built to replicate, described by many as a ‘blissful paradise’.
The City of Pompeii Location: Italy, near the city of Napoli Date: Built in the 7th century BC, Destroyed on the 24th August 79AD
There is no other place like Pompeii, a true gi to archae-
ology. is site is an entire city uniquely preserved like no other on earth. As the city was being rebuilt aer the damage caused by an earthquake years earlier, the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried the city under 6 meters of ash, bringing the occupation of Pompeii to an abrupt end. e site is best known for the casts taken of voids in the ground which revealed the gures of the citizens of Pompeii at the exact moment of their deaths. e most famous are the bodies of adults and children found cowered in the “Garden of Victims” located in one of the city’s vineyards. is city offers us a moment in time. ere are few words that could describe the feeling of walking down the market street surrounded by ancient shops and restaurants, visiting lavishly decorated houses of the upper class or even reading, as the Romans did, the political propaganda painted on the walls of the town. Frozen in time Pompeii is a true treasure of the archaeological world. - Ashley Kruger
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Archie is about to embark on an unexpected Archaeological adventure in which he finds out things about our human past that History cannot reveal! Archie is a young boy who is extremely curious about what happened before History began. However, it is hard for him to access this knowledge. All he has learnt in school so far has started with the Romans and perhaps the Egyptians if he is lucky. Archie knows that humans did not begin with the Romans and, although an impressive period in human history, wants to know what his education has failed to teach him. However, as a young boy, the books that would help to quench his thirst for knowledge are mainly out of reach being restricted to university libraries and being expensive to buy. erefore, Archie has been hindered in his pursuit ... until NOW!
bright! And who were these people, brave enough to chase a rhino? In fact what kind of people are they? ey didn’t look like people he’d ever seen.ey didn’t wear many clothes, and the few clothes that they were wearing just looked like rags! where was he? e landscape and the way the chanting men communicated or seemed very foreign to Archie.
Suddenly, Archie was diverted from his thoughts by an almighty thump. What could have made such a noise? A raucous cheer then followed. e only thing heavy enough to make such a thud was a boulder or a giant rhino and as Archie has just witnessed a rhino running towards the cliff edge could it be that the chanting men had succeeded in their attempt to drive the animal to its death! Archie looked over his shoulder and he could see the animal in pain. What were they going to do this to him? he peered over the rock to make sure the chanting men hadn’t heard him, but one of them had noticed his head, pointed Archie visited his uncle (a retired ‘traveller’) and discovered and starting charging towards where he lay. a curious looking machine at the back of the room he was staying in. Archie had never seen anything like it before. It e rest followed and Soon they were all gathered round. looked ancient with copious amounts of dust covering it, ‘uh oh’ Archie exclaimed! he was was cornered! He looked but its design looked futuristic somehow! Whatever could over his shoulder again and saw the sharp pointy rocks . it be? He thought of one less thing that could kill him, “Hi” he Archie got his answer soon enough and with a random said softly. “ bbbbruuugggggh” one of them said. Archie pressing of buttons accidentally unlocked the machine (a laughed because he thought that the man sounded funny sort of miniature ‘Tardis’) and was sent flying back in time but the confused man was not amused. “bbbbruuuughh” to the last period his uncle had visited before he retired ... still confused. Archie’s face remained blank. he was far Britain around half a million years ago! However, Archie too scared to be brave enough to say anything else. Archie has no idea what is going on! tried vaguely to communicate with them by making actions about him going back in time but the men were far Archie was sucked into a swirling vortex of brilliant colour too focused on what he was! he finally got their attention and, what seemed about three seconds later, was then spat by making exuberant hand gestures. e men exchanged out onto the edge of a sheer cliff ! Inches from falling off confused glances at one another. ... Archie turns quickly to see a rhino, although seemingly much bigger than a normal rhino, stampeding towards him. Behind the beast came two lines of chanting men carrying spears and flaming timber, urging the frightened creature towards its inevitable death over the edge of the cliff ! Unable to understand what had happened in the last ten seconds, Archie quickly dived for cover out of the way of the oncoming stampede. Now in relative safety, Archie heard the thunderous footsteps crash by and started asking questions about the events of the last thirty seconds. How had his uncle built such a machine? He never seemed that 20
Finally, one started to giggle, in a most un-scary manner! e giggle was infectious, and soon they were all rolling around on the floor in hysterics, because of course they, like him, had no idea what the other was saying. en one of them shouted,” bla bl heg it blo blo!!”, and pointed, grinning manically at Archie. e Others all burst out laughing. Apparently, this outburst meant something to them. Suddenly, the man who seemed to do the talking picked up Archie as if he was a leaf, and flung him over his shoulder. e group plus Archie quickly scampered down to the bottom of the cliff to where the rhino lay.
protected from all sides by the men. Archie knew his fate was not the same as the rhino’s. When the men were sure the cat was tucking into the rhino, they turned round and started up the hill. On the way back to camp, Archie was amazed at all the creatures he saw: hippo’s; gigantic deer and humungous bears. None of the men seemed that fussed and quickly arrived back at camp. At camp, a woman confronted Archie and began talking to him. Clearly, Archie could not understand her and stayed silent. He did not want to make a fool of himself again. e woman was not discouraged by Archie’s silence. She beckoned another female over who, amazingly, was carrying his uncle’s time-machine thing. e woman smiled at Archie and then exclaimed something highly unexpected: ‘Mark’. e woman said his uncle’s name!
e men seemed very hurried and anxious, always looking over their shoulder. On the way a few men picked up some flint and on the way napped bits off. When they got to the beast the men with the flint took what they made and started butchering the animal, while the other men stood guard. But why? ere were no other people in sight. en Archie, looking up from watching the amazingly skillful butchery, saw why the men were so alert. On a rocky ledge e female handed him his uncle’s contraption along with was a big cat like nothing he had seen before: in a zoo or a beautiful piece of worked flint, and invited him to eat. on TV. However, Archie was not a big fan of rhino steaks and therefore took this as an opportunity to leave. He thanked the men who looked after him and thanked the women for returning his journey home, and with random pressing of buttons was hurled back in his room, only to see his uncle sitting on his bed with a somewhat mischievous grin.
e butchers were working even faster now, and the men standing guard surrounded the carcass and prepared their spears. e cat came forward, off the ledge, and started towards them with a snarl. Archie did not know what to do with himself, he was petrified. e butchers realised that the complete butchery of an animal so big with predators around was not possible, so frantically collected the meat they had processed and called out to the men on guard. e men understanding it was time to go, slowly and carefully retreated back behind the rhino keeping spears pointed all the time at the cat. Archie, in the middle, was
to be continued...
As the
rst alcoholic beverage ever brewed, honey mead has passed the lips of some of the most famous peoples in history; including Vikings, Celts, Romans and Greeks. Likewise, this syrupy drink was a favoured drink of the Gods, who oen endowed it with special properties. For example, in Homer’s Iliad it was honey mead with which Hera “cleansed all de lement from her lovely esh” and as well as which Athena prepared for Penelope so that when she appeared for the nal time before her suitors, “they were in amed with passion at the sight of her.” In Valhalla, heaven of Viking warriors, new-comers were welcomed with a dra of mead; and in Celtic heaven there ran a mead river.
roughout many cultures, birds also have a signi cant role in the process of mead making. Doves brought nectar to the Gods on Olympus and in the Vedas - the sacred book of the Hindus (1500-200BC) - Indra’s eagle steals honey from heaven. Similarly, by following the call of the Honey Guide Bird the present-day Akie tribes people of Northern Tanzania are lead to bees nests built in baobab trees. Try making your own honey mead by following this ancient Sumerian recipe, copied from clay tablets found in Mesopotamia:
Honey Mead Recipe “You are the one who handles the dough with a big shovel, Mixing in a pit, the bappir with sweet aromatics, Ninkasi, you are the one who handles the dough with a big shovel, Mixing in a pit, the bappir with honey, You are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven, Puts in order the piles of hulled grains, Ninkasi, you are the one who waters the malt set on the ground, The noble dogs keep away even the potentates, You are the one who soaks the malt in a jar, The waves rise, the waves fall. You are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats, Coolness overcomes, You are the one who holds with both hands the great sweet wort, The filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound, You place appropriately on a large collector vat. Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat, Like the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.”
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Not so much a search for a likely baobab tree but more nding the right supermarket shelf, honey hunting in London is best done in Morrisons. Otherwise I have heard that the LSE Pass eld Hall of residence in Endsleigh Place has their own beehive. Perhaps they would be willing to negotiate a price. - Holly Brentnall
the games page.
Every magazine seems to have a trashy back-section where all the time-wasting stuff is put. This is ours, but being an arch&anth magazine we try to keep things on-topic...
ARCHAEOLOGICAL CROSSWORD by Alison Lewis ACROSS 2 Lots of this in preservation, leans to one side (4) 4 Dug up as sherds of marijuana (7) 7 Reconstruct this, and you’ve found the inventor of men (11) 9 e Neolithic Revolution was his offspring (6) 10 An Antiquarian’s favourite river (4) 13 Cranial bone (5) 16 An outward vacation? Go on a dig (10) 17 Its rings contain a chronology (4) 18 Bone dry ‘yodeling tomes’? I’d rather study dirt (13) 19 A vain old gorge of great impor tance to palaeoanthropology (7) giving false hope since 1966...
FUNNy stuff on the
internet
3 4 5 6 8 11 12 14 15
[ah, youtube...] http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=WiloZd1H4ow [not funny, but awe-inspiring...] http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY
with
Aquarius Being an Aquarian myself I am especially attuned to the cosmic atulations at this time of the year, and can attest the following: Jupiter is in Saturn and M31 is in Andromeda, so this is clearly is going to be a wonderfully fruitful month for all Aquarians. Expect pregnancy, wanted or unwanted. If you are male: bad luck. Just keep on pushing and hope it isn’t a big’un.
Pisces
Make as many words as you can from the following letters. e person with the most will win a prize... email dexter ndley@googlemail.com with your answers.
N, A, S, A, N, B, E, R, W
Ah, the shes. Was there ever a more noble star sign? Even our good lord himself, Jesus H. Christ, chose to put the sh symbol on bumper stickers for all to remember him by. Well, the naysayers claim that the stars do not rise and set for us, but I hope they’re wrong; cos this month all you Pisceans are in for a treat! ...I don’t know exactly what, but it WILL involve your love life. Guaranteed.
irrelevant stuff by Dexter Findley neanderthals, 6 re, 7 environment, 8 osteology, 9 Childe, 10 Nile,
1
DOWN Marks on bones caused by this action (3) Mesoamerican civilisation on the fringes of technological pizzazz (5) Processing the usual scienti c data (10) Our closest cousins were neat handlers (11) e hot topic of our early hominid an cestors, great for cooking (4) Don’t let the bones get lost inside our analogy (9) Your very best pal, ancient stone (10) Completely mental animals, e.g. rats (10) A Scottish isle, Bin it before it drives you crazy (5, 7) Second of three ages (6)
[good to keep it on topic:] http://www.cracked.com/funny138-archaeology/
HOROSCOPES Mystic Smeg
Cover photo Copyright 2010 Dawid Kotur Backpage photo Copyright 2010 Maryann Kontonicolas