BBC item today Bulgaria’s ancient Thracian heritage has been thrust into the spotlight this year with a number of key archaeological discoveries in the so-called “Valley of the Thracian Kings”. The golden treasures are attracting international attention and there is a push to make the Thracian heritage Bulgaria’s trademark abroad in a bid to boost…
archaeology
another unique species?
A BBC article on the new species of homo UK | Magazine | Eton or the zoo? raises some excellent questions. How would the new species be treated? If it is such a close relative, would we give these people the vote? The discovery of homo floresiensis reiterates what anthropologists have been saying for a…
remembering Michael Jameson
A sad occasion this afternoon – a remembrance service for Mike Jameson, my colleague in the Department of Classics here at Stanford. He died in August. It was in Stanford Church – first time I had attended any kind of event there. A good turn out. There were some very nice anecdotes told by friends…
intellectual property and copyrighting the past
I am sitting in a colloquium on Open Knowledge and Social Research Networks at Stanford Humanities Center. On the agenda – more of the issues that I summarized the other day in another colloquium at Stanford. [Link] how does open knowledge work with digital technology in academic institutions? how does collaboration at a distance work?…
Ancient Corinth and the stories archaeologists tell of the past
Ok, it’s quite an obscure source for archaeological news of Europe – NEWS.com.au – but they are running a headline at the moment about the discovery of two large sarcophagi in ancient Corinth. The story is that they are so big that ancient Greeks in 900BCE can’t have done it using only human power but…
archaeology, Classics and contemporary art – the connections
The interest in the decision to cancel a Stanford acquisition of Dennis Oppenheim’s sculpture “Device to root out evil” is growing.[Link] [Link] Yesterday and today the New York Times has been pressing for interviews and comment – Is this censorship? What does the decision say about Stanford’s commitment to the arts? How does the art…