Fred Dibnah – industrial archaeologist

Fred Dibnah has died [Link] [Picture Link – BBC] Steeple Jack turned uncanny acolyte of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, he knocked down chimney remnants of Victorian industrial England with a style and passion matched only by his love of steam engines. Now industrial archaeology is dogged by rather geekish character types who love brass fittings and…

Jan Assmann and ancient monotheism

A talk and dinner tonight with Jan Assmann, the great Egyptologist – the topic – ancient monotheism. Fascinating. Jan Assmann tonight I am particularly interested in the early genealogy of religion, part of my Origins project. What I came away with was Jan’s distinction between universalist and globalist monotheisms. The first centers upon an inherent…

a new species of homo?

The discovery of remains of another species of homo that lived alongside modern humans only 18 or even 13 thousand years ago is everywhere today – Guardian Unlimited | Life | “From 18,000 years ago, the one metre-tall human that challenges history of evolution” – a new “hobbit” species found on the Indonesian island of…

Guy Sanders on the excavations at Corinth

A few days ago I took Guy Sanders, Director of excavations in Corinth, to task about a recently reported story of enormous sarcophagi at Corinth, complaining that there was so much more to the early city of Corinth than this supposed and amazing technological first [Link] He posted a comment explaining that, as we might…