Tag: anthropology
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Preserving Play: Video Games as Digital Artefacts and the Status of Games Preservation
Archaeology and video games have been a hot topic in the past few years – not only is it a growing sub-discipline of its own (for more information, check out archaeogaming.com or the new Archaeogaming book that has come out of that website), but we also seem to talk about video games and archaeology a
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What is Old is New Again: Altars, Today and Yesterday
If you peruse a few Paganism for Beginners-type books, you’ll find that nearly all of them start with the act of assembling one’s altar. This isn’t surprising – altars are arguably, in some form or another, a ubiquitous element across religious and spiritual practices. It is a centre for activity, a focal point for
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Not For You: Cultural Appropriation in Neo-Paganism and How Archaeology Plays a Role
Issues of cultural appropriation in “New Age” and holistic circles isn’t breaking news – over the past decade, there has been much in the media and news discussing appropriation of ritual garb, sacred herbs, and practices, often by white spiritual leaders who make financial gain through their appropriative acts without providing anything in return to
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Studies in Skyrim: Lessons in Typologies, from Dwarven Fortresses to Nord Ruins (Part II)
Today’s blog post is the second part of our discussion of archaeological typologies as seen in Skyrim. Last week we started off the conversation with an example of using typology to differentiate between ancient Nord and Dwemer ruins in Blackreach (you can read Part One here!). For today, we’ll be continuing this conversation by looking
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Werewolf? Therewolf! Lycanthropy in Skyrim (and Real Life!)
Content Warning: Photo of human remains included in this post. “Legends can take a life of their own, particularly when there are grains of truth, as here we have the very real threat of werewolves” – Lycanthropic Legends of Skyrim, Lentulus Invenitus In the world of Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios 2011), werewolves (and other lyncanthropes
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No One Knows Who They Were or What They Were Doing: The Many Stonehenges of the United States
In ancient times, Hundreds of years before the dawn of history Lived a strange race of people, the Druids No one knows who they were or what they were doing But their legacy remains Hewn into the living rock, of Stonehenge – Stonehenge, This is Spinal Tap Stonehenge is arguably one of the most iconic
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Pseudoarchaeology and Neo-Paganism: A Tricky Situation
In his book Green Man: the Archetype of Our Oneness with the Earth (1990), William Anderson makes a point to say that neo-pagans want “every tradition to be as ancient as possible”. Contrary to what some may believe, however, we do not see a lineage of witch religion historically or archaeologically that can be traced
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Written in Stone: Standing Stones in Skyrim (and in Real Life!)
In Skyrim, one of the first game mechanics you’re introduced to after the initial tutorial quest is the Standing Stone. By using a Standing Stone, the player character gains bonuses to certain traits and/or extra abilities. However, a player character can only receive one “blessing” at a time – if another Standing Stone is chosen,
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Reinventing the “King” in Fallout: New Vegas
Recreating the past is a common thread in Fallout: New Vegas (Obsidian Entertainment 2008) – previously on the blog, we took a look at how the Legion, the main antagonistic force of the game, based their entire structure and aesthetics on the Roman Empire. This is the case of many of the Factions (or “tribes”, as
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The Archaeology of Narrative in the World of Pandora
In the spring of 2017, Walt Disney World officially opened up the newest addition to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, FL. It was called “Pandora: the World of Avatar” and was based on the James Cameron film of the same name from 2009. The conceit of this additional “land” is that it takes place a
Animal Archaeology 