Tag: Archaeology
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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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#FolkloreThursday: On High Status Animals, or Imagining Scrooge McDuck’s Vault But Filled With Pigs and Horses
When we think of “high status” in the archaeological record, we usually think about intricate metalwork or elaborate jewellery…but what about animals? If that sounds strange, remember this: we still have animals and animal-based foods that are culturally considered “high status” today! Think of things like caviar, lobster, peacocks, etc…cover them all with some gold
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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
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On the Chopping Block: Decapitation in Archaeology
Content Warning: Photo of human remains included in this post. In Skyrim (Bioware 2011), capital punishment usually consists of a swift beheading – this is seen in the game’s opening, where you watch as a Stormcloak, deemed to be traitorous to the Empire, is beheaded by the Imperial army’s executioner. You luckily manage to escape
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Recreating Romans in Fallout: New Vegas
In Fallout: New Vegas (Obsidian Entertainment 2010), the post-apocalyptic world of Nevada has split up into various factions (sometimes referred to as “tribes” in-game) that are in a constant struggle to regain control of the land, specifically the New Vegas Strip. Arguably the major antagonistic faction (although your player character can choose to join forces
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Returning to the Classics: A Brief Look at My Non-Career as a Classical Archaeologist as a Trip around the Met Museum
For Heritage UX’s blogging carnival on exhibit interactivity and archaeology, I thought it might been fun to highlight artefacts on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. Why? Well, even though I no longer study as a classical archaeologist, there are a few pieces that I spent a lot of my undergrad year
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American Stonehenge, or the Time that My Friends Took Me on Holiday to Watch My Head Explode
I’ve lived in England for nearly three years now, and yet I have never been to Stonehenge. I feel like that’s a bit embarrassing as an archaeologist, but I just never made the time for it so far! That said, I have been to American Stonehenge. Yeah, that’s a thing. According to the owners of
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There is Power in the Past: Sith Archaeology and Propaganda in Star Wars
Unsurprisingly for a fictional universe that takes place “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away”, there is a fair amount of representation for archaeology in the lore of Star Wars. This is especially true for the Expanded Universe (recently made uncanonical with Disney’s acquisition of the franchise, but still canonical in the
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Doctor, Doctor, Gimme the News: Bone Assessments in Zooarchaeology
Today I wanted to give you all a sneak peek into my current work – although I will admit that this is a bit more of a mundane part of my research. But zooarchaeology isn’t always exciting…sometimes it’s playing Bone Doctor and assessing bags and bags and bags and bags of bones! Last week, I’ve
Animal Archaeology 