archaeology

The Phnom Penh Post features an unusual form of conservation going on at the Bakong in Angkor – that of 19th and 20th century Buddhhist paintings on the walls of working monasteries.

Restoring history through art
Phnom Penh, 16 July 2010

While almost all of the restoration at the Angkor temples revolves around the ancient Khmer edifices, at Bakong there is also a restoration team working on 20th century buildings in the complex – the “working” monasteries as such.
Some of these monasteries in Cambodia are festooned with dozens of brightly rendered religious wall paintings highlighting often lurid scenes from the life of Buddha and the Jatakas (tales of the previous lives of the Buddha). Often, however, these paintings are overlooked or dismissed as kitsch, unworthy of being classified as serious art. Some of the more gruesome paintings, sort of Bosch-gone-Buddhist renderings, are often rejected as grotesqueries.
But that’s not the viewpoint of Restaurateurs Sans Frontiere, a cultural NGO established in 1981 that began work at the Bakong site in 2007 at the instigation of Dr Vittorio Roveda, co-author of the book Buddhist Painting in Cambodia.

When we’re out on archaeological surveys for ancient monuments and historic remains we sometimes encounters remnants that do not quite meet the criteria, the criteria being permanently abandoned. Such remnants can be abandoned farms and houses still standing and in some cases provided for, at least enough to not fall apart. Sometimes it lies on the border, the two houses, shown below, does not have many years left before they can be registered as historic remains in form of house foundations. Even if they are on the ropes, they still hold a kind of desolate beauty, they are still vital enough to tell tales of their late owners, in and around them are evidence of how their lives.

House number one, from a distance it seems quite ok, but when you get closer you see that it has began to fall apart.
The entrance is more or less overtaken by plants.

You can see the inner construction of the roof through an opening in the wall.

Inside, the ceiling is about to collapse…

…in a corner a bed with the madras is left…

…and on the wall, a picture of a young woman has been left…

…on a nail a couple of old pants have been hung, to dry?
The second house just 20 meters away is closer to a collapse, the roof has fallen in and the walls are well on their way to give up.

These abandoned buildings will be tomorrow’s historic remains in soon future. They are situated just outside of our working area so who knows we might come back in a year or two and find that they have fallen down and register them.
Magnus Reuterdahl

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Giulio Magli was in the news a couple of years ago with his grand plan for Giza, the idea that the three Giza pyramids were arranged to form a line that points to Heliopolis, an important religious center sacred to the sun god.
Last March he was back with an extension of that idea, creating a grid that may indicate the location of the lost pyramid of Userkare at South Saqqara, directly south of Djoser’s Step pyramid.
Now he’s back with “The Cosmic Landscape in the Age of the Pyramids”, which appears in the current issue of the Journal of Cosmology. Here is the abstract:

The pyramids of Egypt are to be counted among the most outstanding works of architecture in the whole of human history. The sites for their construction were chosen in accordance with topographical criteria which, while taking practical needs into account, were also profoundly and intimately connected with Maat, the cosmic order. As a consequence, the pyramid’s fields are criss-crossed by geometrical axes which were – and partially still are – easily perceptible on the ground. In the 4th and the 5th dynasty, such axes ideally connected the monuments with the temple of Heliopolis on the opposite bank of the Nile, while during the 6th dynasty new pyramids were ideally connected with older ones by means of meridian – south to north – alignments. In recent years, the present author attempted to provide a comprehensive analysis of this sacred landscape, and of its astronomical and symbolical interpretation in terms of the “cosmovision” of the ancient Egyptians. The present paper offers a brief but complete overview of the results of this analysis.
Read the full article in the Journal of Cosmology: The Cosmic Landscape in the Age of the Pyramids, by Giulio Magli
Photo from the New York Public Library.

Related posts:Pyramids of Giza: One Grand Plan?
The Search for the Missing Pyramid Texts
Beer & Kites Build Pyramids

I got the Aldiko e-book reader for my Android phone the other day - for free over the net. It came with two apparently random free books in epub format: H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man and Sun Tzu's Art of War. And whenever I like I can get more books for free over the net from within the e-reader: either old ones whose copyright has expired, or newly written ones with a Creative Commons licence. Austen, Doyle, Lovecraft, Twain, you name it! I can also buy copyrighted e-books and put them on my phone. The cost works out to about the same as if I mail-order a used paperback from the UK, the difference being that I don't have to wait and I will have nothing to put on my shelf (which is pretty full already). My next book purchase will probably be an e-book.

Meanwhile, a top-tier literary agent representing a huge number of huge names has made an agreement with Amazon to deliver his author stable's output directly to the on-line book store for e-reader access without the involvement of any publisher. New times! Will we see the high-street print-on-demand booth soon? Or will the paperback novel soon be obsolete?

The cheapest way to get hold of a copyrighted book, though, is still to borrow it from a friend or the library. My local doesn't have much that interests me, but they offer an excellent inter-library loan service. I order over the net, they notify me by SMS when they receive the book, and then I pay €1 to borrow it down at the library. (Local loans carry no such fee.)

[More about books, publishing, ebooks; böcker, e-böcker, förlagsbranschen.] Read the comments on this post...

The other night my wife suddenly hummed a familiar melody line. After some mental searching I identified it as a slightly modified version of French Canadian synth-poppers Trans-X's 1983 hit "Living on Video" that I haven't heard in 20 years or more. But my wife said, "No, it's this Robyn song I heard on a Letterman clip on YouTube". That turned out to be Robyn's 2006 treatment of the Teddybears' 2004 song "Cobrastyle", where she's backed by the Teddybears. The 2006 version introduces the Trans-X line which is not present in the 2004 original. Now I wonder, have Robyn and/or the Teddybears acknowledged the loan from Trans-X? I mean, the 1983 song is hardly an obscure piece of music, having peaked at no 9 on the UK singles chart. Googling robyn +cobrastyle +"living on video" produces nothing useful.

[More about music, synthpop, trans-x, robyn, teddybears; musik, syntpop, trans-x, robyn, teddybears.] Read the comments on this post...

In the past it has been a struggle to keep up to date with which sites are open to visitors and those that are closed. I keep in regular contact with sources in Egypt as well as travellers who have recently visited the sites. I have used news websites, blogs, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and other online social networks and resources to keep the information on Talking Pyramids up to date. It’s not been an easy task.
Over the weekend, for example, I read that more pyramids are opening to the public. According to the report 14 pyramids at Abusir will be opening to the public, an example of how a lot of the information found online is contradictory and misleading. There are not even that many pyramids located at Abusir, and it is unlikely that all of the pyramids at Abusir will be opening to the public in any case.

Other reports state that the Bent Pyramid’s internal chambers will be opened to the public in December this year, something that Zahi Hawass stated was going to happen in June last year but has been delayed several times.
Pyramids of Abusir
One of my contacts on Twitter, Andrew, who recently gave us an update concerning the fence around the pyramid of Khafre, travelled to Abusir and Dahshur and once again, he very kindly responded to my requests for information. It had been a while since I’d received current information on the status of the pyramids at Abusir so it was great to get an update. Andrew explained the the site is technically closed to the public but planned to open in about two years, according to unofficial sources at Abusir.

Pyramids of Niuserre & Neferirkare at Abusir

I was told a similar story when I first visited Abusir in 1997. Other reports claim that the pyramid field at Abusir will be opening to the public as soon as the end of this month.

Entrance to Sahure's pyramid

Andrew reported that currently the descending passage of the pyramid of Sahure is open and descends for about 10 meters but a locked gate at the bottom prevents any further access. The walls of the passage appear to have been recently plastered over, perhaps a part of current restorations being carried out.
The rest of the pyramids at Abusir have their entrances barred with a metal grill.
Andrew adds:

“Both temple complexes near the three main pyramids were open…and they’re doing restoration work there, too. They’ve added a temp wooden roof to one of the hypostyle halls.”

Pyramids of Dahshur
Dahshur was the next stop and Andrew was able to confirm that the Bent pyramid’s chambers are still not open despite the plans to open them in June last year. The date for opening the internal chambers of the Bent has been pushed back a few times and it seems we will have to wait a while longer before they are made accessible. As I mentioned earlier, recent reports state that these chambers will be opening in December.

A new paved walkway now links the Red pyramid with the Bent pyramid

The Red pyramid is still open and all internal chambers can be accessed. The Red and the Bent pyramids are now linked by a paved walkway, as shown in the photo above.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities
I and others have often wondered why the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) doesn’t keep a list of sites that are currently open to the public as this would make planning a trip to Egypt’s ancient sites much easier and would enable travellers to be able to better plan their trip.
Well, that has now changed with the release of the new SCA website! The website is an improvement on the old one which went offline several years ago as it includes a lot of information on the status of Egypt’s archaeological sites.
Travellers can learn about the general rules that should be adhered to when visiting the sites, museums & exhibitions in Egypt as well as lectures, events, programs and much more useful information.
Something that I was surprised to learn is that even those pyramids that are closed to the public can be entered if you are willing to pay the required fee. The pyramid of Unas, for example, which Zahi Hawas is understandably very protective over and has been closed for many years, can be access for US$1000. The Persian Shaft beneath the Step Pyramid of Djoser is also accessible for the same fee.
Visit the Supreme Council of Antiquities website for more information on what sites are open to the public.
Sources:
SCA’s new website
Photo of Abusir by Jon Bodsworth.
Photo of the Red Pyramid by Bulle Plexiglass.

Related posts:More Dashur Pyramids To Open to the Public
Egyptian Pyramids Entry Prices for 2009
Update on the Pyramids from Egypt

The Department of History and Archaeology in Chester is moving from their lovely but run-down Georgian building at the north city gate to the main campus. So I spent most of today helping with the move: shifting finds from a Tudor manor site at Stokenham in Devon and excavation gear. On our way to the excavation site we then stopped to check out the Pontcysyllte aqueduct, an amazing 195-year-old piece of hydraulic engineering where a transportation canal has been made to cross a river 38 metres above its surface. The afternoon's fieldwork was interrupted and finally cut short by torrential rain, but I had the time to metal detect a new trench out in the ploughed field beside the barrow, and found a piece of a line-decorated lead object. Then back to Gwersyllt for some excellent Bengali food delivered to the door and an unsuccessful attempt to find a geocache near the railway station.

Photograph by Akke Monasso from Wikipedia.

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In recent weeks I have been working in the field with an archaeological survey in northern Jämtland, and next week we go again. Nature up here, in the north of Sweden is magnificent and the scenery is grand. The seemingly endless forests and the closeness to the mountains are ever present and so are the marshlands. Small and big the marches runs through the forests between small hills and ridges.

As beautiful as they can be they also poses problems, they are wet and sometimes difficult to pass through and foremost they are the breeding grounds for insects such as mosquitoes, flies and wasps. This year they breed in mass tanks to wet spring and warm summer. Once your out walking these mini-beasts follows you in forms of swarms and when you stop to describe a remain or take a quick break the sky is almost completely blackened by them. As if this isn’t bad enough the eternal buzz they make almost drives you insane, it is never quiet – for those of you who have seen the World Cup in South Africa earlier this summer think vuvuzelas – and you’ll get the idea.

Of course you’ll take the precautions you can, a mosquito jacket helps some as well as different kind of repellents such as oils, deodorants etc.

What do we find? Here as everywhere traces of human activity is everywhere if you know where to look, on the mountain sides the summer pastures where an important complement to the farms, Some are still used and in fine conditions but most have been long been deserted and all we find are the remains, house foundations, traces of cleared areas and fields, clearance cairns, etc. We also find traces of other activities in the forest such as charcoal burning and hunting. Among other things hunting pits such as this. They are often found on small hills and ridges; sometimes there’s only one, sometimes in pair and sometimes in big systems.

This one is ca 4 m in diameter, 1,5 m in depth surrounded by a low earth bank and was probably used for hunting moose (elk) or reindeer. This method of hunting is old and has been used since the Stone Age until1864, it was at least outlawed in 1864 in Sweden.

Magnus Reuterdahl

Professor Nancy Edwards and associates takes stock of the western trench at the end of the day's work.

Today offered much better weather, but due to permit trouble very little metal detecting. Instead I've been "cleaning" with the students, which basically means slow removal of soil using a trowel and a brush. I found a large piece of glazed Buckley ware (19th century), a piece of clay-pipe stem, some quartz and not much more. Somebody found a piece of Roman black burnished pottery that had been partly refashioned into a crude spindlewhorl. But we're still on top of the barrow's capping slate-shingle cairn (put in place by the 18th century antiquarians who re-erected the Pillar of Eliseg?), and it is uncertain whether it will be removed at all this year.

My friend's area in Gwersyllt is kind of close. I like the way those cars seem to be peeping into the sitting-room window.

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I'm in north-east Wales for a few days' work on a Universities of Chester and Bangor dig. We've had a rainy day, which meant that we couldn't work effectively for very long. But I did some metal detecting, finding lead spatters that may have to do with 18th century repairs to the 9th century Pillar of Eliseg, and two 20th century coins, and of course a few aluminium ring-pulls. And I took part in de-turfing and trowel cleaning on the flanks of the barrow and the flat field around it. The weather forecast for the next few days looks somewhat more favourable.

Meanwhile, here at Sb, the crisis set off by Pepsigate has worsened. GrrlScientist and Bora Zivkovic among others have left, mirabile dictu, and Pharyngula is on strike. The latter fact is of critical importance to Sb's future since PZ pulls in more than half of the entire site's traffic. It's no longer about journalistic ethics: bloggers are leaving Sb because SMG doesn't seem to care what they do. This isn't news to me: my blogging situation is no worse now than before Pepsigate. But if Sb loses Pharyngula, then the upheavals we face won't be about SMG selling the site as I suggested recently. It will be about the site no longer being profitable nor sellable at all. Read the comments on this post...

Nhan Dan news reports to separate finds from Vietnam’s Quang Ngai Province.

Sa Huynh artefacts, ancient Cham tower found in central Vietnam
Nhan Dan, 06 July 2010

Thousands of objects belonging to the Sa Huynh culture from 2,500-3,000 years ago have been discovered during excavations in the Ma Vuong Mound in Pho Thach commune, Duc Pho district, Quang Ngai province between June 17 and July 4 this year.
Head of the archaeologist team, Doan Ngoc Khoi, said that his group also found a porcelain Linga among earthen pots, vases, bowls and other porcelain and stone artefacts.