In July, a black granite sarcophagus was found in Alexandria, Egypt. The inevitable social media circus of meme humour speculating about the contents of the ‘mysterious’ sarcophagus erupted, and this reached a crescendo once it was opened.
Category: Archaeology
Stranger Things Have Happened
On Friday the 27th of October the second season of Stranger Things was released on Netflix. Set almost a year after the events of the last season in 1983, it follows inhabitants in the fictional town of Hawkins dealing with both the aftermath of previous supernatural threats as well as new ones. After marathoning through… Continue reading Stranger Things Have Happened
Fidget Spinners as Immaterial Culture
It’s midnight and the room is humid. My thoughts are muddled, suddenly coalescing and then scattering like a flock of pigeons. I need to find a reprieve from the endless carousel of thoughts, because it feels like my head is…spinning. Reaching for my phone is a nervous tic, so inevitably I find myself swiping the… Continue reading Fidget Spinners as Immaterial Culture
An Archaeology of Fidget Spinners
Ah, fidget spinners, the ubiquitous and dividing product of our times. I don't know when I first became aware of their existence, but I am very aware of that existence now. You've probably seen them; if not being played with by idle hands then in one of the many articles bemoaning their questionable mental health… Continue reading An Archaeology of Fidget Spinners
The Archaeologist: a ‘citizen of nowhere’
Theresa May, British Prime Minister, AKA Margaret Thatcher 2.0, recently gave a ‘lesson’ on the definition of citizenship at the Tory Party Conference. According to May: “[I]f you believe you’re a citizen of the world you’re a citizen of nowhere. You don’t understand what the very word ‘citizenship’ means.” For many of us,… Continue reading The Archaeologist: a ‘citizen of nowhere’
The embodied experience of the archaeologist
It’s 5:30am. You stumble out of bed, almost trip over your work boots in the dark and stagger to the bathroom. The ‘clean’ t-shirt you slip on was washed by hand and your work trousers have a few mysterious marks on them you hope no one will notice. Before leaving for a day of fieldwork,… Continue reading The embodied experience of the archaeologist
World-building in archaeology: from the ‘Yard’ or the ‘Heavens’
Henry VIII. Augustus. Napoléon Bonaparte. What do these three individuals have in common? They are synonymous with certain periods of history in Western Europe. They are also all white male rulers. Such historical figures are frequently used as touchstones when attempting to construct an impression of the past, and there are several good reasons for… Continue reading World-building in archaeology: from the ‘Yard’ or the ‘Heavens’
The memories that #Remain
I could write a long essay about why we should all vote tomorrow to stay in the EU, but I doubt you'd read it. Instead, I've 'curated' a collection of photographs I've taken over the years during holidays and time working abroad in the EU. These constitute but mere fragments of unfathomable memories that I… Continue reading The memories that #Remain
Sunken Cities: the submerged review
Image: 'Sun through kelp' by Benjamin Hollis (CC BY 2.0) Last Saturday, I was lucky enough to visit the British Museum’s latest blockbuster exhibition: Sunken Cities: Egypt’s Lost Worlds. A tale of two cities, it explores the underwater discovery of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus, likely to have been founded in the 7th century BC but then… Continue reading Sunken Cities: the submerged review
Worldbuilding in archaeology
Image: Maze #3 by Robson# (CC BY 2.0) Whether you’re writing high fantasy or hard science fiction, you’d better be sure you have the kinks of your world ironed out (or alternatively, emphasised to their full lurid potential), otherwise the reader will soon cease to suspend their disbelief. It’s no good having your protagonist discover… Continue reading Worldbuilding in archaeology
