Up from Boonville. An old apple tree. Few are now left. The valley is turning from fruit trees and sheep farming to Pinot Noir. We heard that our friends at Lazy Creek Vineyards, an idyllic spot near Philo, have just been bought by a large Nevada-based corporation. See also a gallery of images at –…
the shape of history
Rob Roy
In the tracks of northern antiquaries, summer 2007 Abbotsford, Scottish borders, home of Walter Scott: armor from the field of Waterloo (1815); the skull of Robert the Bruce (cast, 1734).
Bamburgh, Northumberland UK
Tucson
Davis Monthan Airforce Base – the boneyard of mothballed aircraft.
Neanderthals ’sang and danced’
Steve Mithen of Reading University is in the news again about his forthcoming book – another on cognitive archaeology and evolution. The BBC have picked up on his argument about neanderthals, language and symbolic behavior [Link] Prof Mithen thinks the cave- dwellers would have enjoyed the rhythms and sounds made by rap artists. He said:…
Charles Redman on environmental politics
It has taken me too long to get round to reading Charles Redman’s great book Human Impact on Ancient Environments – Arizona, 1999. I came to the book because of the upcoming exhibition at the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford, of the photographs of Edward Burtynsky – they foreground massive environmental impacts. [Link] We need a…