All posts in April 2015

  • Apr
    2015
    13
    2015 / Apr / 13

    Why Not Protect (Native) American History at Home Too?

    So last week’s episode was clearly a response to tons of queries that Katie and I have gotten about why we started ArchaeoVenturers. This week, we shift the focus of the rest of the season to more substantive topics.

    One thing I am sure that is apparent, either from our blogs, posts and/or videos, is that Katie and I are pretty geeky. We love comic books, cartoons, fantasy, video games, swords- you name it. So as a result, you may see reference to some of our favorite TV cult shows. This is because we tend to assume that if we enjoy something, then everyone must be enjoying it but often that turns out not to be the case. So up front, if you don’t understand references to shows like Family Guy or Futurama, we send our apologies but you’re missing out! But like all of our popular culture episodes, we get into grounded facts very quickly so hopefully everyone continues to enjoy these!
    ——–

    What we wanted to come from this episode was a realization that while we have so many artifacts and clues from ancient history in this country (USA), there doesn’t seem to be a common collective to rally behind protecting these links to Native American and Prehistoric culture. We’re so worried about sites being destroyed abroad, by terrorist groups like ISIS (and rightfully so), but there still needs to be a push here at home by the general public, to have an investment in this irreplaceable culture being destroyed by ignorance and greed. Plenty of organizations, both government (National Park Service, Army Corps of Engineers, etc) and non-profit (Native American Heritage Association), and legislation, (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA)), are deeply dedicated to these issues. Yet, why are we constantly reading about (what should be considered criminal) acts of ignorance and stupidity against culture? Various examples include:

    Also, why is one of the oddest threats to American cultural sites from drug addicts?!

    And the Keystone Pipeline controversy, which we discuss in this video, although constantly in the news, has yet to be reconciled or even discussed at length with all interested and affected parties…
    It seems insane that we can rally so strongly for destruction in other parts of the world, but when it comes to the history and culture of this land, that we can so easily take advantage of and disregard cultures, both tangible and intangible, that had existed for millennia.

    FYI if you’re interested in reading the original Manhattan purchase document, and the modern conversion; see below:

    “This letter from Peter Schaghen, written in 1626, makes the earliest known reference to the company’s purchase of Manhattan Island from the Lenape Indians for 60 guilders. Schaghen was the liaison between the Dutch government and the Dutch West India Company.”

    [ ] 5
    Rcvd. 7 November 1626

    High and Mighty Lords,
    Yesterday the ship the Arms of Amsterdam arrived here. It sailed from New Netherland out of the River Mauritius on the 23d of September. They report that our people are in good spirit and live in peace. The women also have borne some children there. They have purchased the Island Manhattes from the Indians for the value of 60 guilders. It is 11,000 morgens in size [about 22,000 acres]. They had all their grain sowed by the middle of May, and reaped by the middle of August They sent samples of these summer grains: wheat, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, canary seed, beans and flax. The cargo of the aforesaid ship is:

    7246 Beaver skins
    178½ Otter skins
    675 Otter skins
    48 Mink skins
    36 Lynx skins
    33 Minks
    34 Muskrat skins

    Many oak timbers and nut wood. Herewith, High and Mighty Lords, be commended to the mercy of the Almighty,

    In Amsterdam, the 5th of November anno 1626.

    Your High and Mightinesses’ obedient, P. Schaghen

    Further Reading:

    27 Native American Heritage Sites (PHOTOS)

  • Apr
    2015
    06
    2015 / Apr / 06

    Why ArchaeoVenturers? Why #AVProject?

    The first episode of Season Three in the ArchaeoVenturers Project is about why The Digger and Diver started ArchaeoVenturers in the first place. What was the incentive behind this endeavor? With all that they have going on in the ‘real world’, why take on another project of this magnitude? It’s not like they had any experience in the virtual-social world beyond using Facebook to post pictures of their dogs, so what made #AVProject so important?

    The Diver :

    Katie and I have known each other since graduate school and something we started to talk about more over the years was how we engage a different audience for our archaeological pursuits. Her work at the Capitol Archaeological Institute at GWU fueled her need to find creative ways to make archaeological lectures more appealing and then when we started to work directly together, we tried throwing archaeologically-oriented events that would reach a broader audience. This in part was because of our friendship with the founder of Thirst DC who did exactly that- only more heavy on the science and with bigger audiences. We decided that in order to engage the current generation in their digital world , being active on social media would be only the tip of the iceberg. When a sample of today’s generation was asked if they preferred to watch a YouTube video or read a blog, 9 out of 10 hands raised their hands for video, and yet the average length of time they watch videos averages on 30 seconds- so that’s why we decided that videos were clearly the avenue to pursue but they needed to be short and concise – the blogs are for folks who are likely our age and older, people who are still interested in gathering supplemental information via the written word.

    So, for me at least, and luckily Katie shared the same view- we just wanted to engage a more general audience than just our colleagues, and it seemed like the logical thing to do would be to follow these growing online trends. I’ve learned that pursuing archaeology doesn’t mean much to me if there is no one to interact with, whether that’s a descendent community member, a student diver in Youth Diving With a Purpose, or someone who just found ArchaeoVenturers online randomly. We need to be sharing it with more people, or we are going to be outgunned by those who do make it more interesting. On it’s own, even without the glamorous pull of lost treasure, archaeology can be fantastically exciting and I think that as a rule, we should be doing all that we can to captivate our audiences.

     

    The Digger:


    For years my family silently suffered behind their smiles and nods as I would go on – and on – and on about archaeology, anthropology, the Middle East, or whatever it was that I was working on or researching that week. The problem is – the details I found fascinating were not quite as fascinating to those around me – except for Justine, of course! We realized that there are so many important and amazing topics in history, science, and global affairs that would be interesting to so many – if only we could change, and shorten, our discussion of them. We developed the ArchaeoVenturers Project to break down all of the awesome stuff and put it into a more easily digestible format for those both in and outside of the field.

    What you see as available on television for the characterizations of a scientist, archaeologist or engineer, always seems to fit people into these little boxes – and women even more so. One of the amazing things about my family and Justine’s – aside from their putting up with our constant drawn out discussions of science and history – is that they never told us that we couldn’t do something. Being women never once hindered the way we conducted ourselves as school, in the field – or in fashion. Only when I got older did I realize the obstacles women faced in one field or another. I love digging in the field, getting dirty, and working outside in 100-degree weather – I enjoy getting entrenched in academic research and examining new ways of looking at the world. Both of these are commonplace for someone in a social science or humanity – but what I later learned wasn’t so commonplace were some of my extra circulars – namely, being a cheerleader in college – and for those who know the cheerleading lingo, I was a flyer. I had no idea these two roles in my life were considered mutually exclusive by many. I never liked the idea of women needing to fit into these little boxes – you often hear about a renaissance man – but less often a renaissance woman. 

    ——
    The #AVProject was developed for all of the renaissance women, men, girls and boys out there – the people that are breaking stereotypes on their way through into the field. #LetYourAVflagFly
  • Apr
    2015
    28
    2015 / Apr / 28

    Breaking Gender Boundaries in the Middle East: It takes Balls, Brains, & Bravery

    The past month in the US has proven big in gender and LGBT issues – Bruce Jenner’s transgender interview changed the way America sees trans individuals, the supreme court makes a decision on proposition 8 regarding same sex marriage, and the nation faces the potential of its first woman president with Hillary’s bid to run.  And though there are still major strides to be made, America seems to be accepting change at an increasingly accelerated pace.

    What do changes in social gender norms mean in nations outside of American boundaries?  Change is in the air in the post-Arab Spring Middle East as well.

    As parts of the MENA region face increasing oppression under fierce dictators and the rule of terror groups like ISIS – there are young people in areas outside of terror control that are breaking the gender boundaries such Islamist groups seek to maintain.

    During the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, women were pivotal in leading the cause to advance their rights and place in Egyptian society.  But even as laws change in a few short years, social fabric can often take a generation.  In Egypt, women have been taking this into their own hands. Recently, Egypt awarded a mother, Sisa Abu Daooh, who dressed like a man for more than 40 years in order to provide for her family.  Illiterate and widowed, she was forced to find work to support her children – being a woman in Egypt can be dangerous, being a woman in the work force equally so, but she courageously worked to do so – albeit dressed like a man.

    However, there are women of a younger generation that are trying to break traditional work barriers without the gender-bending cloak and veil.  Mennatullah El-Husseiny sought to break taboos of women’s place in the public social fabric of Egypt by doing jobs considered to be “only for men.”

    Turkish male belly-dancer (zenne) performing. Photo Credit: Al Monitor

    Turkish male belly-dancer (zenne) performing.
    Photo Credit: Al Monitor

    Women are not the only ones who are trying to crack the glass ceiling they face in the Middle East – in Turkey, young men are brining back an age-old art – the Ottoman tradition of male belly dancing.

    Known in Turkish as zennes, rakkas, or koceks, the art died out during the Ataturk era and has only recently resurfaced, but in the current political atmosphere is considered part of a homosexual culture in Turkey – a sentiment that while still considered taboo in many parts of Turkey, is becoming more accepted in its modern and increasingly globalizing society.  And although the zenne scene in Turkey is becoming more accepted, one of the male dancers interviewed in an al-Monitor last December still declines to have his name and photo revealed – cracking the glass ceiling can still come with a price…

  • Photo Source: Minhaj.org
    Apr
    2015
    20
    2015 / Apr / 20

    Time to Change the Digital Dialogue on Religion and Violence

    In preparation for writing this blog I scanned the Internet looking for images – and came across the horrific news of the Ethiopian Christians killed by ISIS in a newly released video.

    Photo Source: Minhaj.org

    Photo Source: Minhaj.org

    As I struggled to digest the recent news from ISIS, I tried to determine what I wanted to emphasize most in this new blog – and although history seems to continue to repeat itself, one thing that is left out is the reality of the situations – religion does not justify the killing of others.Throughout history we have seen the repeated loss of innocent lives in the name of one religion or another – during the crusades, many Muslims lost their lives at the hands of Christians.  Yet at no point in time have these values of death in the name of god held to the true message of religion – peace, alms for the poor, and understanding of the plight of others.

    Photo Source: Women News Network

    Photo Source: Women News Network

    Baghdad was once known as the ‘City of Peace’ (Madinat al-Salam) – but that was in another lifetime. And today, even with the trillions of images that exist online, one would be hard pressed to find any images representing Baghdad and peace.Our media perpetuates so much information about the Islamist terrorists whose campaigns are sweeping the Middle East and North Africa – but what is often left out of the media is the distinction between Islamism and Islam.  One of the first things that is important to understand about the Jihadi Salafist ideology that is sweeping the world today is that this is NOT true Islam.

    In an effort to illustrate that Islam is at its core a religion of peace, I attempted to find images to display this for my blog – I was truly shocked at the dearth of imagery available to illustrate this point.  One of the few stories available in the “recent memory” of the Internet that truly illuminated Islam and the peaceful nature of the religion came out of a period of turmoil – the Arab Spring. During the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, while Egyptians rallied together,Muslims stood guard to protect the Coptic Christians from violence during prayer – and the Copts did the same.

     

    Viral Photo Shows Muslims Protecting Church in Egypt as Congregants Attend Mass Amid Threat of Attack Photo Source: TWITTER/JAMES MARTIN SJ SCREEN SHOT - CHRISTIAN POST

    Viral Photo Shows Muslims Protecting Church in Egypt as Congregants
    Attend Mass Amid Threat of Attack
    Photo Source: TWITTER/JAMES MARTIN SJ SCREEN
    SHOT – CHRISTIAN POST

    Every time an image of a group like ISIS or Ansar Al Sharia is reproduced, or clicked on, it only feeds the propaganda machine these groups are trying to proliferate.  As they bastardize religion by using it as a justification for violence, they are at the same time killing the true peaceful nature of that religion in the minds of those outside of it – feeding the Islamaphobia beast – and furthering their cause against those for hating Islam.

     

    Let’s stop giving them free propaganda.  Send the ArchaeoVenturers Project your images of how Islam represents peace.  Let’s change the dialogue together. 

  • Apr
    2015
    13
    2015 / Apr / 13

    Why Not Protect (Native) American History at Home Too?

    So last week’s episode was clearly a response to tons of queries that Katie and I have gotten about why we started ArchaeoVenturers. This week, we shift the focus of the rest of the season to more substantive topics.

    One thing I am sure that is apparent, either from our blogs, posts and/or videos, is that Katie and I are pretty geeky. We love comic books, cartoons, fantasy, video games, swords- you name it. So as a result, you may see reference to some of our favorite TV cult shows. This is because we tend to assume that if we enjoy something, then everyone must be enjoying it but often that turns out not to be the case. So up front, if you don’t understand references to shows like Family Guy or Futurama, we send our apologies but you’re missing out! But like all of our popular culture episodes, we get into grounded facts very quickly so hopefully everyone continues to enjoy these!
    ——–What we wanted to come from this episode was a realization that while we have so many artifacts and clues from ancient history in this country (USA), there doesn’t seem to be a common collective to rally behind protecting these links to Native American and Prehistoric culture. We’re so worried about sites being destroyed abroad, by terrorist groups like ISIS (and rightfully so), but there still needs to be a push here at home by the general public, to have an investment in this irreplaceable culture being destroyed by ignorance and greed. Plenty of organizations, both government (National Park Service, Army Corps of Engineers, etc) and non-profit (Native American Heritage Association), and legislation, (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA)), are deeply dedicated to these issues. Yet, why are we constantly reading about (what should be considered criminal) acts of ignorance and stupidity against culture? Various examples include:

    Also, why is one of the oddest threats to American cultural sites from drug addicts?!

    And the Keystone Pipeline controversy, which we discuss in this video, although constantly in the news, has yet to be reconciled or even discussed at length with all interested and affected parties…

    It seems insane that we can rally so strongly for destruction in other parts of the world, but when it comes to the history and culture of this land, that we can so easily take advantage of and disregard cultures, both tangible and intangible, that had existed for millennia.

    FYI if you’re interested in reading the original Manhattan purchase document, and the modern conversion; see below:

    “This letter from Peter Schaghen, written in 1626, makes the earliest known reference to the company’s purchase of Manhattan Island from the Lenape Indians for 60 guilders. Schaghen was the liaison between the Dutch government and the Dutch West India Company.”

    [ ] 5
    Rcvd. 7 November 1626    High and Mighty Lords,
    Yesterday the ship the Arms of Amsterdam arrived here. It sailed from New Netherland out of the River Mauritius on the 23d of September. They report that our people are in good spirit and live in peace. The women also have borne some children there. They have purchased the Island Manhattes from the Indians for the value of 60 guilders. It is 11,000 morgens in size [about 22,000 acres]. They had all their grain sowed by the middle of May, and reaped by the middle of August They sent samples of these summer grains: wheat, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, canary seed, beans and flax. The cargo of the aforesaid ship is:7246 Beaver skins
    178½ Otter skins
    675 Otter skins
    48 Mink skins
    36 Lynx skins
    33 Minks
    34 Muskrat skins

    Many oak timbers and nut wood. Herewith, High and Mighty Lords, be commended to the mercy of the Almighty,

    In Amsterdam, the 5th of November anno 1626.

    Your High and Mightinesses’ obedient, P. Schaghen

    Further Reading:

    27 Native American Heritage Sites (PHOTOS)

     

  • unnamed
    Apr
    2015
    06
    2015 / Apr / 06

    Why We Developed the ArchaeoVenturers Project?

    The first episode of Season Three in the ArchaeoVenturers Project is about why The Digger and Diver started ArchaeoVenturers in the first place. What was the incentive behind this endeavor? With all that they have going on in the ‘real world’, why take on another project of this magnitude? It’s not like they had any experience in the virtual-social world beyond using Facebook to post pictures of their dogs, so what made #AVProject so important?

    The Digger:

    For years my family silently suffered behind their smiles and nods as I would go on – and on – and on about archaeology, anthropology, the Middle East, or whatever it was that I was working on or researching that week. The problem is – the details I found fascinating were not quite as fascinating to those around me – except for Justine, of course! We realized that there are so many important and amazing topics in history, science, and global affairs that would be interesting to so many – if only we could change, and shorten, our discussion of them. We developed the ArchaeoVenturers Project to break down all of the awesome stuff and put it into a more easily digestible format for those both in and outside of the field.

    What you see as available on television for the characterizations of a scientist, archaeologist or engineer, always seems to fit people into these little boxes – and women even more so. One of the amazing things about my family and Justine’s – aside from their putting up with our constant drawn out discussions of science and history – is that they never told us that we couldn’t do something. Being women never once hindered the way we conducted ourselves as school, in the field – or in fashion. Only when I got older did I realize the obstacles women faced in one field or another. I love digging in the field, getting dirty, and working outside in 100-degree weather – I enjoy getting entrenched in academic research and examining new ways of looking at the world. Both of these are commonplace for someone in a social science or humanity – but what I later learned wasn’t so commonplace were some of my extra circulars – namely, being a cheerleader in college – and for those who know the cheerleading lingo, I was a flyer. I had no idea these two roles in my life were considered mutually exclusive by many. I never liked the idea of women needing to fit into these little boxes – you often hear about a renaissance man – but less often a renaissance woman.

    Katie when she was a Sports Illustrated ‘College Cheerleader of the Week’ while at Miami University. Check out Katie’s SI interview HERE and the photo gallery HERE Photo Credit: Peter Schlitt, Sports Illustrated

    Photo Credit: Eric H. Cline and Biblical Archaeology Review

    The Diver:

    Katie and I have known each other since graduate school and something we started to talk about more over the years was how we engage a different audience for our archaeological pursuits. Her work at the Capitol Archaeological Institute at GWU fueled her need to find creative ways to make archaeological lectures more appealing and then when we started to work directly together, we tried throwing archaeologically-oriented events that would reach a broader audience. This in part was because of our friendship with the founder of Thirst DC who did exactly that- only more heavy on the science and with bigger audiences. We decided that in order to engage the current generation in their digital world , being active on social media would be only the tip of the iceberg.. When over a billion viewers watch YouTube each month and yet the average length of time they watch videos averages on 30 seconds- so that’s why we decided that videos were clearly the avenue to pursue but they needed to be short and concise – the blogs are for folks who are likely our age and older, people who are still interested in gathering supplemental information via the written word.

    So, for me at least, and luckily Katie shared the same view- we just wanted to engage a more general audience than just our colleagues, and it seemed like the logical thing to do would be to follow these growing online trends. I’ve learned that pursuing archaeology doesn’t mean much to me if there is no one to interact with, whether that’s a descendent community member, a student diver in Youth Diving With a Purpose, or someone who just found ArchaeoVenturers online randomly. We need to be sharing it with more people, or we are going to be outgunned by those who do make it more interesting. On it’s own, even without the glamorous pull of lost treasure, archaeology can be fantastically exciting and I think that as a rule, we should be doing all that we can to captivate our audiences.

    Check out Justine’s BBC Radio interview on ‘The Conversation’ HERE.

    ——
    The #AVProject was developed for all of the renaissance women, men, girls and boys out there – the people that are breaking stereotypes on their way into the field. #LetYourAVflagFly
  • Untitled
    Apr
    2015
    06
    2015 / Apr / 06

    Why We Developed the ArchaeoVenturers Project?

    The first episode of Season Three in the ArchaeoVenturers Project is about why The Digger and Diver started ArchaeoVenturers in the first place. What was the incentive behind this endeavor? With all that they have going on in the ‘real world’, why take on another project of this magnitude? It’s not like they had any experience in the virtual-social world beyond using Facebook to post pictures of their dogs, so what made #AVProject so important?

    The Diver :

    Katie and I have known each other since graduate school and something we started to talk about more over the years was how we engage a different audience for our archaeological pursuits. Her work at the Capitol Archaeological Institute at GWU fueled her need to find creative ways to make archaeological lectures more appealing and then when we started to work directly together, we tried throwing archaeologically-oriented events that would reach a broader audience. This in part was because of our friendship with the founder of Thirst DC who did exactly that- only more heavy on the science and with bigger audiences. We decided that in order to engage the current generation in their digital world , being active on social media would be only the tip of the iceberg. When over a billion viewers watch YouTube each month and yet the average length of time they watch videos averages on 30 seconds- so that’s why we decided that videos were clearly the avenue to pursue but they needed to be short and concise – the blogs are for folks who are likely our age and older, people who are still interested in gathering supplemental information via the written word.

    So, for me at least, and luckily Katie shared the same view- we just wanted to engage a more general audience than just our colleagues, and it seemed like the logical thing to do would be to follow these growing online trends. I’ve learned that pursuing archaeology doesn’t mean much to me if there is no one to interact with, whether that’s a descendent community member, a student diver in Youth Diving With a Purpose, or someone who just found ArchaeoVenturers online randomly. We need to be sharing it with more people, or we are going to be outgunned by those who do make it more interesting. On it’s own, even without the glamorous pull of lost treasure, archaeology can be fantastically exciting and I think that as a rule, we should be doing all that we can to captivate our audiences.

    Check out Justine’s BBC Radio interview on ‘The Conversation’ HERE.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The Digger:

    For years my family silently suffered behind their smiles and nods as I would go on – and on – and on about archaeology, anthropology, the Middle East, or whatever it was that I was working on or researching that week. The problem is – the details I found fascinating were not quite as fascinating to those around me – except for Justine, of course! We realized that there are so many important and amazing topics in history, science, and global affairs that would be interesting to so many – if only we could change, and shorten, our discussion of them. We developed the ArchaeoVenturers Project to break down all of the awesome stuff and put it into a more easily digestible format for those both in and outside of the field.

    What you see as available on television for the characterizations of a scientist, archaeologist or engineer, always seems to fit people into these little boxes – and women even more so. One of the amazing things about my family and Justine’s – aside from their putting up with our constant drawn out discussions of science and history – is that they never told us that we couldn’t do something. Being women never once hindered the way we conducted ourselves as school, in the field – or in fashion. Only when I got older did I realize the obstacles women faced in one field or another. I love digging in the field, getting dirty, and working outside in 100-degree weather – I enjoy getting entrenched in academic research and examining new ways of looking at the world. Both of these are commonplace for someone in a social science or humanity – but what I later learned wasn’t so commonplace were some of my extra circulars – namely, being a cheerleader in college – and for those who know the cheerleading lingo, I was a flyer. I had no idea these two roles in my life were considered mutually exclusive by many. I never liked the idea of women needing to fit into these little boxes – you often hear about a renaissance man – but less often a renaissance woman.

    Katie when she was a Sports Illustrated ‘College Cheerleader of the Week’ while at Miami University. Check out Katie’s SI interview HERE and the photo gallery HERE Photo Credit: Peter Schlitt, Sports Illustrated

    Photo Credit: Eric H. Cline and Biblical Archaeology Review

    ——
    The #AVProject was developed for all of the renaissance women, men, girls and boys out there – the people that are breaking stereotypes on their way into the field. #LetYourAVflagFly