Castles and Coprolites

I was alerted to a blog post a few weeks ago with the (deliberately I'm sure) provocative title Archaeology is just an expensive way of finding out what historians already know... Of course I immediately felt the need to...actually I didn't. The post does have a point. Archaeology is indeed usually more expensive than historical research. I don't think the central criticism of the article is specific to archaeology. What is actually being complained about here is poorly designed research, without a clear objective. Though it is not clear whether this is because the actual excavation being discussed (a battle field) does not have clear objectives, or that the main source linked to is a Telegraph article. Saying that archaeology just shows what historians already know is a narrow view of the aims of both history and archaeology. Whilst the contribution of archaeology to (in this case) a 200 year old battle that is extensively documented, may be more limited, there are alway...

Rolling hills and jagged peaks, bubbling brooks and flowing creeks, Vast swathes of trees turn green to gold, with hues that shift in ebbs and flows, Ten thousand bricks in reds and browns, transforming clays from cliffs to towns; And here between the sea and land, the speckled straw expanse of sand, Gleaming towers, slate grey tiles and tarmac trails extend for miles, Twinkling stars and harbour lights, to sodium glare transforming nights, Shades and dancing shadows bright, creating shifting city sights; And there beyond the winding road, stand stones with tales from long ago, What tales perhaps we’ll never know, symbolic meanings come and go, In landscape then and now align, a layered view of place and time.

I found out this weekend that my application to take part in an exciting art/science collaborative project was successful! It was only by chance that I found out about the project, through some random browsing around Twitter. Joining Twitter was one of the best things I ever did, so many opportunities and connections to be made that I would never get the chance to see otherwise. The project I am joining is ASCUS/TNS Engage project. ASCUS is a non-profit organisation that supports collaboration between arts and sciences, and builds connections between different organisations, institutions, individuals and the public. TNS is The Number Shop , an art studio and gallery. Artists from the studio will be developing new work based on dialogues with scientists, as part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival . Some of the work will actually be produced during Open Studios during the festival, so that the public can come and experience the work being produced. The idea is to bring the ...

These micrographs show grass awn phytoliths, on the left the spiky hair part is still attached to the rest of the awn, the one on the right shows a hair that has become detached. Awns are hair or bristle type structure which are particularly common on grasses. In some species, such as emmer wheat, the awns contribute to seed dispersal, by hooking into the soil. Changes in humidity cause the awns to expand and contract, acting like a ratchet to propel the seed into the ground. Not to be confused with trichomes, which are another 'hair-like' structure, but a much finer growth of hairs on the surface of the epidermis, and can also produce distinctive phytoliths. Both of these examples are from the same sample, extracted from ashy deposits in an external area at Sheik-e Abad, an early pre-pottery Neolithic site in Iran. The site was excavated as part of the Central Zagros Archaeological Project . I worked there for 2 months after submitting my PhD in 2008, one of the most fascinat...