Four Stone Hearth XXIX @ Remote Central

As the Four Stone Hearth blog carnival hits its 29th edition, it has one eye cast on its approaching 30s, and wondering how life will differ from the glittering days of its fun-packed and reckless 20s - will the barn-storming days of yore give way to something a little more sedate, like rambling down ancient foot-paths trodden deep into the countryside, or maybe mooching moodily round the park of a Monday afternoon? Or will it instead feel the need to go abseiling and para-sailing across the landscape in search of new adventures lying just the other side of as yet unvisited horizons?

To help 4SH through this potentially life-changing time and beyond, please feel free to welcome it into your own life by stepping up to host an edition; details of how to do so will appear at the end of this post.

In the meantime, we're off on a tour of our own across various regions of the world of anthropology, and although many of the following posts deal with archaeology, there is an element of physical and cultural anthropology contained herein as well - not much on the linguistic side of life though. As this is quite a long, inter-continental trek, this 4SH begins and ends at Silbury Hill in Wiltshire - it's just off the A4, you can't miss it - so if you get lost or left behind, just meet us back there at the end of this edition - or make your way up from the bottom post, and we'll probably meet somewhere halfway.

We first encounter Dennis Price, of Eternal Idol, who has details of a tour he took inside Silbury Hill just before restoration work there finished - he was the about the last member of the public to be allowed inside, so step right this way...

Silbury Hill - The Inside Story of Britain's Only Official Pyramid

plus this vaguely related snippet from Variety...

Ridley Scott to Roll With 'Stones'

Discussing mounds which have an altogether more explosive impact on our lives, Carl at Hot Cup of Joe adds a note of caution...

"Humans have always been afflicted by natural catastrophes ranging from tectonic to weather related and, possibly, even impacts from space! But none, perhaps, have found the significance both culturally and destructively, as the volcano. Throughout the history and prehistory of man, volcanoes have erupted, obliterating entire islands, destroying settlements and cities, ruining local crops and affecting climate on a global scale. And, while volcanoes have also long been anthropomorphized to attribute blame or malevolent intent, not a single one ever intended to cause human destruction." - read on...

The Anthropology of Catastrophe: Volcanoes

To begin our wider wanderings, we must first travel to California, where more mounds await...

"The Shellmound at the base of Temescal Creek was at one time roughly 60 feet high and 350 feet in diameter. It, along with five or six smaller adjoining mounds lined the marshy land where the creek, now culverted under the streets of Oakland and Emeryville, meets the Bay." - read more...

Bay Radical: The Shellmound

followed by some related comment from Kambiz...

"Shellmounds are a form of midden. Midden is known as a dump for domestic waste. In archaeology, midden provides a lot of information. I spent two years sorting thru midden from a site in Moss Landing, California. saw how native Americans did not live harmoniously with nature as often glorified in popular culture. These people obliterated populations of norther fur seals to the point of extinction." read on...

NAGPRA and Bay Area Shellmounds

and a further update on the same subject, which raises one or two controversial issues...

Here are some prices that he has charged in the past. He’s quoted the East Bay Regional Park District $58,000 to do his thing on 12 skeletal remains recovered from a regional shoreline park in 2002. In the ’90’s he quoted Stanford University ’several thousand dollars’ to relocate 2 skeletons found on the campus. - read on...

Andrew Galvan’s Control

...and another good one from Kambiz at Anthropology.net, as we leave archaeology for a short while, in which he takes issue with the idea that early humankind may have lived in 'harem societies', as mentioned elsewhere in various mainstream media outlets...

"There is some really ignorant press that confused Paranthropus robustus as a human ancestor, such as this National Geographic News headline, “Early Human Ancestors May Have Had “Harem” Societies.” This headline is not particularly true. True, these australopithecines were bipedal and succeed after Australopithecus afarensis and africanus. A branch off of the Australopithecene lineage most likely gave rise to early Homo, but the current consensus among plaoeanthropology is that the Paranthropus lineage did not. Another separate australopithecine lineage gave rise to the Paranthropus genus." read on...

Sexual Dimorphism And Social Behaviour of Paranthropus robustus...

Whilst Afarensis offers us an insight into the species itself...

"As you may have guessed, I chose Paranthropus robustus for this week's "Know Your Primate" because of the recent Science article. Greg Laden has an excellent post on the subject and since I largely agree with it I won't comment further. Well, strike that, one of the things that is getting some play in the news is the way the number of fossils we have changes the questions we can address. In this case because the researchers used about 35 specimens they were able to ask some pretty sophisticated questions about the variability displayed by Paranthropus robustus. - read on...

Know Your Primate: Paranthropus robustus

Two from Primate Diaries...

"While sexual jealousy is a natural part of such systems, our human predilection is quite extreme and is largely enforced in a completely one-sided, patriarchal form. As I explored in my earlier post, the likely explanation is that religious dogma sought to control female sexuality as if it was the “property” of the male." - read on...

Polyamory and the Evolution of a Jealous God

and...

"The issue boils down to a very simple question: since great apes are known to have the emotionally rich lives and intellectual depth of four-year old human children, is it appropriate to categorize these beings as objects to be bought and sold on the open market." - read on...

Great Ape Rights and Human Rights

and quickly back to Kambiz again, who is patiently awaiting publication of an upcoming paper from PNAS...

"I have been really anticipating the following study. The first press releases came out in March and in October, I introduced it here. It seems like the paper is finally ready to be published, but we still gotta wait until PNAS puts it up on their early edition section. It should be soon but I really can’t wait any more! It is almost torturous how PNAS teases us with press releases for such a long time prior to the actual publication being released. So in the mean time, I’m gonna have to make you suffer thru an extension of my October introduction." read more...

A Faster Rate of Dental Development in the Scladina Neandertal


Back to archaeology again, and the next three entries were submitted by Archaeozoo via the Black Sea...

Highly Allochthonous, 'The Black Sea 'flood' and the rise of European
agriculture'

Ole Nielsen, 'Catastrophic Flooding of the Black Sea and Noah'

Hindered Settling, 'Catastrophic flooding of the Black Sea and the
expansion of agriculture in Europe'


And from the Archaeozoology blog itself we have these two posts, the first of which shows us the richness of the diet as evidenced by animal remains...

"Coptic literature suggests that animal products were not common items in the daily diet of Egyptian monks. Meat, fish, cheese and eggs were restricted foods, so much so that only sick monks were allowed them, and this has led to the assumption that monastic fare was mainly vegetarian.

This has led in turn to the assumption by papyrologists that terms such as garum and taricheion, which elsewhere would refer to ‘fish sauce’ and ‘pickled fish’ respectively, refer in monastic contexts to other preserved comestibles such as pickled herbs or vegetables. However, this was challenged in 2002 by Clackson, who observes that dried and salted fish were found during excavation at the monastery of Bawit. Moreover, some monasteries own herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats, yet again animal products are overlooked by default." - read on...

Monastic Diet In Late Antique Egypt

and another in her continuing and very informative series...

"Avian osteopetrosis has many similarities with human osteopetrosis and infantile cortical hyperostosis, all manifesting distinctive histological features and presenting similar appearances in x-rays. Chemical evidence of disturbance of maturation in avian osteopetrotic bone also accords well with histological evidence of a similar defect in humans with the condition (Biltz and Pellegrino, 1965: 1375).

The study of avian osteopetrosis, therefore, presents an opportunity to not only study such a condition in chickens, but may also be helpful in understanding the disorder in other species (Biltz and Pellegrino, 1965: 1375). Besides humans and birds, the condition has been described in an inbred herd of rabbits, where the condition was caused by an inherited lethal factor that was present at birth (Marks et al., 1986), as well as cattle and rodents (Smith and Ivanyi, 1980: 523), and dinosaurs (Campbell, 1966).

Know Your Pathology: Avian osteopetrosis

Next we venture into the cyber realms of Second Life, specifically to Okapi Island, and an event that took place on November 28th, and which I came across at Archaeolog...

Remixing Çatalhöyük Day

And from Second Life, we look at the Second Amendment, over at Northstate Science...

"I certainly understand the arguments in favor of gun control, but as I have always proposed, let's not limit someone else's freedoms simply because we don't personally agree with it. Instead, use that freedom to your own benefit. Imagine the response if atheists suddenly joined the NRA in droves. Imagine if Muslims, Buddhists and Wiccans joined shooting clubs. And for something really scary:

Imagine if PZ were not just eloquent, educated, atheistic, and outspoken....but also armed!"

Atheists For The Second Amendment?

From there we nip round for a quick visit and a breather to Afarensis, who having arrived home from an earlier engagement describing Paranthropus robustus, we find reviewing the following book, as he politely pours tea and coffee for 300 unexpected visitors...

Evolution: What The Fossils Say And Why It Matters

Suitably refreshed and refuelled, someone in our tour party picks up the phone, dials a number and whoosh! we arrive at Exploring Our Matrix, which asks...

What's So Great About Evolution?

"Gordon J. Glover, who has the blog Beyond the Firmament and a book by the same name, has shared a series of videos offering intelligent, articulate and respectful explanations of evolution aimed at Christians who have heard it blamed for atheism and the evidence supporting it called into question. I am posting the first one here."

And Terry Toohill, guesting here at Remote Central, offers us the following, as part of his ongoing series of essays titled 'In Defence of Human Evolution'...

"Humans are genetically closer to Chimpanzees and Gorillas than they are to any other species (see for example Jones 2000 and Jones 2001). This may indicate all three descend from a single ancestral species or kind. There is a lot of other evidence that, when combined, shows this is extremely likely. Interestingly many Creationists and Intelligent Design supporters seem prepared to accept evolution has led to species as diverse as ducks, geese and swans. Surely then they should have no problem in accepting species as similar as apes and humans have evolved from a common ancestor or kind."

The First Point of the Human Star

A Very Remote Period Indeed states in no uncertain terms...

"To quote one cartoon character… do you know what really grinds my gears? Seeing the word “Acheulean” written as “Acheulian”. There, I said it. The Acheulean, of course, refers to the Lower Paleolithic industry found throughout the Old World and defined by the presence of bifacially worked core-tools commonly labeled ‘handaxes’ (though see Monnier [2006] for a recent reevaluation of the term and its definition). It is one of the most investigated periods of prehistory, yet it is cursed by inconsistent spelling of its name." - read on...

I Say Acheulean, You Say Acheulian

Over at Gene Expression we're walking the front nine with Tiger Woods, as we discuss...

"Several years ago Oprah Winfrey asked Tiger Woods what he would say to people who say that when they look him they see a black man. The issue was that some African Americans objected to Woods' contention that he was multiracial, Cablinasian, which reflected the fact that he was ancestrally 1/2 Asian, 1/4 African, 1/8 European and 1/8 Native American. Woods is also a Therevada Buddhist by religion, taking after his Thai nationality (though mixed-race) mother, so one can argue he is quite Asian culturally."

Mixed Race But Homogenous Appearance?

Bad Archaeology speeds by in one of those golf-buggies, and knows exactly where it's headed, thanks to....

"This week, the Austrian National Library in Vienna displayed the Tabula Peutingeriana, or the Peutinger Table, to the public for one day. Unless you live in Vienna that news may not be of much significance, but it does provide an opportunity to discuss a rare and priceless object."

Ancient Roman Maps

BLDG Blog checks out an extraordinary modern-day site in the making...

A Study In Mass


A quick stroll through some reforested realms, with Testimony of the Spade ..

"The decrees I work with all regards reforesting in areas where there are ancient monuments and are designed to inform the landowner about the whereabouts of and the type of monuments that are on his land"...Office Archaeology

Enjoying a life on the ocean wave, we find Greg Laden, discussing matters maritime...

" The prehistoric cultures involved are from the Neolithic in Taiwan and the Philippines, and the Early Iron age across a much larger area of the South China Sea. Too bad this is not an open access article (at least not yet). The upshot, obviously, is that there is much more exchange, trade, or movement across a fairly large area than previously thought." - read on...

Ancient Jade Exchange in Southeast Asia









...while back on dry land, Martin at Aardvarchaeology has this...

"Fornvännen is one of Scandinavia's main scholarly journals about archaeology, Medieval art and adjacent disciplines. Its first volume appeared in 1906, and for the past several decades it's been issued quarterly. I've been an avid reader since 1990 and one of the journal's editors since 1999.

I'm very proud to announce that the first 100 volumes of Fornvännen are now available freely on the web! Roughly 3000 PDF files including complete scans, illustrations and all, and searchable text! The site has an excellent search & browse engine."

A Century of Fornvännen Free Online

and this...

Royal Furnished Cemetery Found In NE England

From there it's a short hop over the sea to Northern Ireland, where Kris Hirst at About.com Archaeology has pointed us in the direction of Landscapes Unlocked, courtesy of the BBC.

(update) For some reason I completely over-looked Alun at Clioaudio - good to see him back blogging again; anyway, he has this...

A Throne For A Brave Man Found In Herculaneum

Hot Cup of Joe gazes upon the face of King Tut, and shares his thoughts...

Tutankahmen On Display - The Anniversary of the Discovery of His Tomb

John Hawks continues in his excellent series of interviews, this time chatting with Adam Van Arsdale, who has worked at Dmanisi...


"One of the exciting aspects of Paleoanthropology's comparative perspective is that new fossils give us new ways of looking at old fossils. Possibly the most exciting aspect of the Dmanisi fossils is that they provide us a tremendous platform from which to look back at these large samples from East and Southern Africa that we have known about for a long time and reexamine questions which had either previously been unanswerable or whose accepted answers no longer seem so clear." - read on...

An Interview With Adam Van Arsdale

Whilst way up there in Hamline, Old Dirt - New Thoughts informs us the dig has come to an end, and work continues in the somewhat warmer region known as The Great Indoors...

"The field phase of our Methodist church excavation is officially done. Yesterday, Hamline’s Grounds Services hauled back all our excavated dirt and filled in our trench. No backfilling by hand for us. My students will never truly appreciate their luck in missing this traditional part of archaeology." - read on...

Church Archaeology - The Lab Phase

Paddy K meanwhile asks whether Jack of the Beanstalk fame was in fact just a gigolo...

"It’s a strange one, putting aside the obvious problems with plant growth, conservation of matter, structural integrity and the practicality of living in a castle on a cloud. But the glaring problem I thought of was this – why does the giant’s wife invite the young scoundrel into the castle in the first place? She has no obvious reason to do so. And then why, even more bizarrely, does she invite him back after he has proven that he is a thief and, as mentioned, a scoundrel?" - read on...

The Slippery Stalk

The world of international athletics relays us news, via Terrae Antiquae...

Roman Artifacts Found At London's Olympic Site

And looking ahead a few weeks into the future, Orkneyjar has this...

Maeshowe And The Winter Solstice

As promised at the top, we find ourselves back once more at Silbury Hill, where my own essay this time round can be seen here, in which I've commented on the Eternal Idol article at the summit of this post, albeit without discussing the one core topic I wanted to introduce to it - but more of that another time.

That's all for the time being, so thanks to everyone for reading, as well as a big thanks to all those who have submitted, compiled and composed content, with particular thanks to Archaeozoo and Kambiz for their numerous contributions.

The next edition of Four Stone Hearth will appear two weeks from now, on December 19th, over at The Greenbelt.

And if you're still wondering how to apply for a hosting spot of Four Stone Hearth, all you need to do is click this link...

host@fourstonehearth.net

...express your deeply held wishes, hit 'send' and it's as easy as that; from there Martin Rundkvist will be only too happy to advise you further.

image from here