A fascinating item today in the Guardian – History of modern man unravels as German scholar is exposed as fraud Flamboyant anthropologist falsified dating of key discoveries Luke Harding in Berlin It appeared to be one of archaeology’s most sensational finds. The skull fragment discovered in a peat bog near Hamburg was more than 36,000…
cultural politics
The Brick Testament
In the light of my recent posts about creationism [Link], contemporary culture and the science wars [Link] and then the Barbie Doll Bronze Age [Link], Cornelius (Holtorf) has put me on to The Brick Testament. Yes – the Bible in lego bricks … The death of Jacob by The Reverend Brendan Powell Smith
surreality – Barbie dolls in Minoan Crete
Stringy Carter has put me on to an extraordinary web site – Minoan Culture, a Discussion by Frederick John Kluth of Kent, Ohio Barbie as prehistoric matriarch He has created a series of scenes from his reading of Minoan Crete using Barbie dolls … not the usual gendered interpretation of Minoan culture and society! But…
creationism, intelligent design and redefinitions of science
Suzanne Goldenberg writes an informative summary today in the Guardian of the latest stage of the creationist debate in the US – Religious right fights science for the heart of America. Classroom confrontations between God and science are under way in 17 states, according to the National Centre for Science Education. In Missouri, state legislators…
Joseph Beuys and the archaeological
Tate Modern London. I am still reading today’s Arts section of the Guardian – this time Adrian Searle’s preview of the Tate Modern’s new exhibition of Joseph Beuys [Link] Beuys wasn’t being mischievous or disingenuous when he said there was nothing to understand (in his work). He may have been wrong to believe everyone could…
Foresight, design studies, the long term, and archaeology
Last Friday Bill Cockayne (Stanford Humanities Lab Assoc. Director) and I (also in my role as co-Director of Stanford Humanities Lab) were at the local office of DaimlerChrysler – RTNA (Research and Technology North America). In response to their request, we were proposing a project to research the future of car culture, with a focus…