Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Picking pebbles out of a drain


(n.b. one word NSFW)

I've posted a video of Will Sheff of the band Okkervil River performing "A Stone" live in Milwaukee. This is a bit beyond our usual purview here at Tria Corda, but there's archaeological imagery throughout the lyrics—unintentional I'm sure—plus I happen to like the song.
"You love white veins, you love hard grey, the heaviest weight, the clumsiest shape, the earthiest smell, the hollowest tone..."
I originally heard "hard grey" as "hard grain," which would have made the description of the stone a bit more scientific; for some reason I imagined the stele of Hammurabi, though its hard-grained, heavy, clumsily-shaped diorite doesn't have white veins in evidence. Nor have I detected any particularly earthy smell about it; if anyone's ever given it a ding, could you let me know how it sounds?
"You love a stone, because it's smooth and it's cold. And you'd love most to be told that it's all your own."
As long as there is a demand for antiquities, looting will continue.
"You're out singing songs, and I'm down shouting names at the flickerless screen..."
Sounds like somebody got stuck doing the GIS work while everybody else nipped off for a drink...
"And I think I believe that, if stones could dream, they'd dream of being laid side-by-side, piece-by-piece, and turned into a castle for some towering queen they're unable to know."
I particularly dig this part: the agency, intentionality of objects; taking their meaning from being grouped into "castle," anyone?

I've posted the lyrics below, because the band's site is in Flash and doesn't allow for direct linking to particular bits...

Hot breath, rough skin, warm laughs and smiling, the loveliest words whispered and meant - you like all these things. But, though you like all these things, you love a stone. You love a stone, because it's smooth and it's cold. And you'd love most to be told that it's all your own. You love white veins, you love hard grey, the heaviest weight, the clumsiest shape, the earthiest smell, the hollowest tone - you love a stone. And I'm found too fast, called too fond of flames, and then I'm phoning my friends, and then I'm shouldering the blame, while you're picking pebbles out of the drain, miles ago. You're out singing songs, and I'm down shouting names at the flickerless screen, going fucking insane. Am I losing my cool, overstating my case? Well, baby, what can I say? You know I never claimed that I was a stone. And you love a stone. You love white veins, you love hard grey, the heaviest weight, the clumsiest shape, the earthiest smell, the hollowest tone - you love a stone. You love a stone, because it's dark, and it's old, and if it could start being alive you'd stop living alone. And I think I believe that, if stones could dream, they'd dream of being laid side-by-side, piece-by-piece, and turned into a castle for some towering queen they're unable to know. And when that queen's daughter came of age, I think she'd be lovely and stubborn and brave, and suitors would journey from kingdoms away to make themselves known. And I think that I know the bitter dismay of a lover who brought fresh bouquets every day when she turned him away to remember some knave who once gave just one rose, one day, years ago.


We now return to our irregularly-scheduled programming...

Monday, March 30, 2009

Snippets for March 30

MiBAC announces the launch of "Cultura Italia," a web portal for Italy's cultural heritage, which looks like it would bear some exploring (available in Italian or English).

Construction on the Museo Nazionale Archeologico di Adria has been completed after seven years; the new Roman section opened on March 28 (IGN/Adnkronos; museum pages).

Stephen Chrisomalis blogs about deciding whether or not to go to grad school in anthropology over at Glossographia... which leads me to a personal aside: I'll be starting work on a PhD in the Interdepartmental Program in Classical Art and Archaeology (IPCAA) at the University of Michigan this fall.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

In the journals...

This is in no way an exhaustive list, but I note some articles relevant to pre-, very pre-, or not-so- pre-Roman Italy in recent periodicals...

C. Bottari et al., "Archaeological evidence for destructive earthquakes in Sicily between 400 B.C. and A.D. 600," Geoarchaeology 24.2 (2009): 147-175.

V. Compare et al., "Three-dimensional Resistivity Probability Tomography at the Prehistoric Site of Grotta Reali (Molise, Italy)," Archaeological Prospection 16 (2009): 53–63.

M. Mariotti Lippi et al., "Comparing seeds/fruits and pollen from a Middle Bronze Age pit in Florence (Italy)," Journal of Archaeological Science 36.5 (May 2009): 1135-1141.

M. Pluciennik, review of M. Fitzjohn (ed.). Uplands of ancient Sicily and Calabria: the archaeology of landscape revisited (Accordia Specialist Studies on Italy Volume 13). (2007), Antiquity 83 (2009): 233–234.

L.V. Rutgers et al., "Stable isotope data from the early Christian catacombs of ancient Rome: new insights into the dietary habits of Rome's early Christians," Journal of Archaeological Science 36.5 (May 2009): 1127-1134.

J.M. Thorn, "The invention of ‘Tarentine’ red-figure," Antiquity 83 (2009): 174–183 (cf. T.H. Carpenter, "Prolegomenon to the Study of Apulian Red-Figure Pottery," AJA 113.1 (2009): 39-56, already commented on here at Tria Corda).

M. Tröster, "Roman Hegemony and Non-State Violence: A Fresh Look at Pompey's Campaign against the Pirates," Greece and Rome 56 (2009): 14-33.


Reviews in The Classical Review 59.1, (April 2009):

- Shane Hawkins reviews Adams, The Regional Diversification of Latin 200 BC–AD 600 (106-109)
- amicus noster Angelo O. Mercado reviews De Melo, The Early Latin Verb System. Archaic Forms in Plautus, Terence, and Beyond (109-111)
-P. J. Davis reviews Rea, Legendary Rome. Myth, Monuments, and Memory on the Palatine and Capitoline (143-144)
-Karl-J. Hölkeskamp reviews Eckstein, Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome (211-214)
-Roman Roth reviews Liébert, Regards sur la truphè étrusque (214-215)
-William E. Klingshirn reviews Engels, Das römische Vorzeichenwesen (753–27 v. Chr.). Quellen, Terminologie, Kommentar, historische Entwicklung (215-218)
-Christoph Reusser reviews Mannino, Vasi attici nei contesti della Messapia (480–350 a.C.) (237-239)
-Cesare Letta reviews Criniti (ed.), ‘Veleiates’. Uomini, luoghi e memoriae dell' Appennino piacentino-parmense (253-255)
-Heather Vincent reviews Clarke, Looking at Laughter. Humor, Power, and Transgression in Roman Visual Culture, 100 B.C.–A.D. 250. (257-260)
-Michael H. Crawford, notice on Marrazzo, Romagnoli, Stazio, & Taliercio (edd.), Presenza e funzioni della moneta nelle chorai delle colonie greche dall' Iberia al Mar Nero. Atti del XII Convegno organizzato dall' Università ‘Federico II’ e dal Centro Internazionale di Studi Numismatici, Napoli, 16–17 giugno 2000 (307)

Sunday, March 22, 2009

News for March 24, 2009: the weekly bric-a-brac

The splendid-looking (anybody been?) exhibit 'Potere e Splendore. Gli antichi Piceni a Matelica,' which opened at Matelica, will be on display at Bologna's Museo Civico from 30 April to 13 September 2009. The exhibit's website is http://www.poteresplendore.it, and details on its manifestazione bolognese are here.

The Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Florence has a new partnership with the Getty, which will bring the Chimera of Arezzo (along with loans from Rome, Naples, Basel, New York, and Boston) to LA for an exhibition opening July 16. Also in the pipeline are exhibits of ancient bronzes and of Etruscan materials from the Florence collection (Artdaily; via the Cranky Professor).

The British Museum has been doing some housekeeping inside a 12th century portable altar, and found relics belonging to 39 different saints, including St. Benedict (Guardian; via Adrian Murdoch).

Greece returned to Italy two 11th c. CE tomb frescoes stolen from the Grotta delle Fornelle at Calvi (ancient Cales) in 1982 (ANSA; comments by David Gill)

Not strictly Italian, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were on its way there when it sank, and it's pretty cool besides: A Greek fisherman pulled up part of a late 2nd c. BCE bronze equestrian statue between Kos and Kalymnos off the coast of Asia Minor and turned it in (AP/New Observer):

The British Museum has been doing some housekeeping inside a 12th century portable altar, and found relics belonging to 39 different saints, including St. Benedict (Guardian; via Adrian Murdoch).

Gratuitous link of the month: "Bizarre Lobster-Sized Creature Was the Monster Predator of the Cambrian"

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

1a Rassegna del Cinema Archeologico a Trinitapoli



If you happen to be in northern Puglia over the next few months, you might stop by Trinitapoli to take in a showing of their archaeological film series... but mostly I'm posting this because I happen to like the poster!
The original poster pdf is here, and the full program with info on the films is here (also a pdf).

Monday, March 16, 2009

Sexing Up the Antiquities Market?

Over the past week or two, a certain antiquities gallery has begun sending out email updates titled "Can YOU find the antiquity?" with a link to an object for sale. The first object to be so treated was this pre-Dynastic Egyptian vessel; the photo showing it next to a pair of shapely female legs has since been removed, presumably to make way for number 2. The conceit, based on the responses provided-- e.g. "I couldn't see the antiquity and I stared at the picture for a good 10 minutes"; "This must be a joke; there is no antiquity in this picture"-- is that we are to be distracted by the other objet d'art present in the photo.

My objection is not to do with any notions of prudishness; the pictures involved are not terribly risqué. Rather, I object to promoting the sale of unprovenanced antiquities (I admit I don't know when the late William Bowmore, O.B.E., collected the piece) through association with attractive women. That's a clumsy way to put it, I know, but it'll have to do for now.

Perhaps it's something to do with the economy, I don't know. Are antiquities no longer sexy enough to sell on their own appeal? Are they slipping relative to fur coats (Carlos Picón wants one) and in need of a makeover?

Sabines and Peuceti(?)

I've been on the road visiting grad schools lately, so I'm a bit behind, but here's some non-Google Earth-related news for a change...

An exhibition titled "I Sabini popolo d'Italia, dalla storia al mito" ('The Sabines, people of Italy, from history to myth') is opening at the Vittoriano on March 20, and will run until April 26. [IGN, Exibart]


A newly-discovered 5th-1st(?) century BCE site at Castellaneta (photo above) near Taranto, Puglia, has been put under the watch of the Guardia di Finanza. The 1600 sq. m site includes both habitation and burial, and has yielded sarcophagi, tombstones, and column fragments. The Soprintendenza area manager Teresa Schojer says there's no money to conduct further excavation. [ANSA, La Repubblica]

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

When on Google Earth, No. 10


Q: What is When on Google Earth? A: It’s a game for archaeologists, or anybody else willing to have a go!

Q: How do you play it? A: Simple, you try to identify the site in the picture.

Q: Who wins? A: The first person to correctly identify the site, including its major period of occupation, wins the game.

Q: What does the winner get? A: The winner gets bragging rights and the chance to host the next When on Google Earth on his/her own blog!















ΠΟΤΕΝΓΟΥΓΕΛΟΓAΙΟΝΙΚΗΣ

#
Host:Victor:Site:Period:
1.Shawn GrahamChuck JonesTakht-i Jamshid / Persepolis terrace
Achaemenid period
2.Chuck JonesPDDChurch of Saint Simeon at Qalat Siman, Syria5th-6th c. AD
2.1.Chuck JonesPaul ZimmermanQal’at al-Bahrain
16th c. AD
3.Paul ZimmermanHeather BakerBaraqish (Yathill), YemenMinaean
4.Heather BakerJason UrMohenjo Daro
ca. 2600-1900 BC
5.Jason UrDan DiffendaleMonte Albán, Oaxaca, Mexico
1st-5th centuries CE
6.Dan DiffendaleClaire of Geevor MineSegontium, Caernarfon, Wales77ish to about 390 AD
7.Claire of Geevor MineIvan CangemiCarn Euny
ca. 500 BCE-100 CE
8.Ivan CangemiSouthie ShamMonks Mound (Cahokia), Illinois USA
fl. 1050-1200
9.Southie ShamDan DiffendaleGergovia
fl. 1st c. BCE
10.Dan Diffendale


Friday, March 06, 2009

When on Google Earth, no. 8


Q: What is When on Google Earth?
A: It’s a game for archaeologists, or anybody else willing to have a go!

Q: How do you play it?
A: Simple, you try to identify the site in the picture.

Q: Who wins?
A: The first person to correctly identify the site, including its major period of occupation, wins the game.

Q: What does the winner get?
A: The winner gets bragging rights and the chance to host the next When on Google Earth on his/her own blog!

Like so much in archaeology, this game comes to us from our methodological cousins in geology. Shawn Graham adopted their game, and modified it for our use at whenonge #1. Chuck Jones had the first correct answer, and then hosted whenonge #2. The mysterious and elusive PDD got #2 right but never claimed his prize, so Chuck struck back with whenonge #2.1. Paul Zimmerman got the correct answer to #2.1 and hosted whenonge # 3. Heather Baker got the correct answer to #3 and hosted whenonge # 4, and Jason Ur won and hosted whenonge # 5. Dan Diffendale won that, and hosted whenonge #6 . Claire at the Geevor Mine won #6 and hosted #7, which was won by Ivan Cangemi. Since Ivan is without a blog of his own, I offered to host it here at Tria Corda. Be the first to correctly identify the site above and its major period of occupation in the comments below and you can host your own!