Dear All,
It’s been a long while since I wrote a personal message.
I have to say 2017 was a bizarre and difficult year and just about everyone I know has experienced the same. Unfortunately since 2012 it seems each year gets worse so I’m not particularly optimistic about this one, but I shall keep smiling and keep moving on. Although the world did not end, the Maya clearly predicted a period of turmoil and instability that continues, with weird energies and feelings all around.
My own personal life has been rather stressful and that culminated in the loss of my paid day-to-day job at the end of November. I almost cancelled my trip to Greece because of that but I am so glad I didn’t.
So right now I am jobless but at the same time I know these things happen for a reason. Greece enabled me to do a lot of soul searching and think about what I don’t want, rather than what I do want. Thus some clarity has manifested. It’s time for me to make some drastic changes in my life, move away from where I’ve been living for the last 9 years and start again.
As for Greece itself, my second visit was just as awesome as the first, but this time I managed to visit 54 sites in 14 days, as opposed to the 25 sites in 10 days last time around. It was, on average, 4 sites per day, and this may seem as if I never even bothered to take note of them! However, many places had several sites next to each other, so it was easy to visit several sites a day. That said, I covered more than 2,000 miles in 14 days, travelled the entire Peloponnese, Attica, and Central Greece, and gathered another 4,000 photos to add to the 5,700 from last time. I will be starting the travelogues for these soon, but my website host is mortified how much space nearly 10,000 photos will take up! I also recorded a lot more videos this time around, with more detail of the locations, and these will be uploaded onto my YouTube channel in the coming months.
Naturally the trip contained ups and downs. We (my son was with me this time) got stuck in a snow blizzard in Thebes (Thiva), had to be helped out and damaged the car in the process (losing 100 Euros from my deposit). And on the last night I hit a kerb very hard turning around and the tyre had a blow out (costing me another 100 Euros for a new tyre and recovery). The car was stuck in the next town and we had to get a taxi back to our hotel. However, at all times I knew there was a reason this was happening… If the tyre had not blown we would have driven back to the hotel and gone straight to our room, missing the opportunity to sit downstairs with the new manager of the brand new hotel we were staying in in Marathon. It transpired he is massively into history himself, and after a long conversation he was so impressed with my work I’ve been invited to return to Greece to do lectures!
This project he has planned will start next September, is fully funded and is aimed at the younger generation i.e. school and university students. My flights and everything will be fully paid for, and I will be joining Greek university lecturers on the stage. Imagine that? It’s a very exciting opportunity and I am very much looking forward to it, but first I need to get my miserable life together!
My son and I both agreed on the most incredible part of our journey. On top of a mountain, 3,500 feet (1130 metres) in altitude, sits the mysterious Temple of Apollo Epikourios at Bassae. On this particular day the mountain was covered in mist, and visibility was minimal. Suddenly, out of the mist, the huge tent that covers the temple appeared. It was such a surreal sight to see this massive structure standing on the top of a mountain, as if some bizarre, Indiana Jones-like mystery had been discovered and was being hidden from everyone. But that wasn’t the moment… The moment was when we entered the tent and all was literally complete darkness for a second, and then as our eyes quickly adjusted to the scene this massive temple just appeared in front of us as if it had jumped through time from Atlantis and landed in the present… Yes, it was exactly like that.
The pictures will not do the experience justice, but I hope you can get the idea nonetheless. And you certainly won’t grasp the size of this temple, it’s absolutely huge.
Nigeria
Very little archaeology seems to come out of Africa if one excludes Egypt, so I am happy to report that this and my next report comes from the huge continent. Whether this lack of reporting is due to the lack of archaeology, or whether it’s to do with a lack of interest in Africa from the media is not something I can answer, but it’s nice to see it in the headlines for a change.
Suffice to say I know very little about the history of Sub-Saharan Africa, much to my own shame perhaps, although I am quite versed in the ancient tribal teachings of people like the Dogon and their well-known and astounding (although debated) knowledge of the Sirius star system. And then there’s the British Empire’s rape and genocide of the Zulu and other cultures that we were taught in school, although the lessons were never put like that since, of course, we were fighting barbarian nomads with little intelligence who couldn’t invent anything beyond a spear. All of it was pro-British of course. Shocked? Well, this is pretty much what we were taught in school 35 years ago. Thankfully times have changed, and rapidly too.
Of course, Saharan Africa is full of archaeology, what with the Egyptians, the Carthaginians, and the Romans, to name a few.
Here is an amazing report from Nigeria – almost 13,000 glass beads, dating to a thousand years old. And yet here we have the whitewashing of African history raising its ugly head again – archaeologists first thought the glass beads must have been imported, for our African brothers and sisters were not capable of such artistry, even a thousand years ago. That kind of arrogance and blatant racism should result in fines in the modern world. Perhaps there should be an “Arrogant Archaeologist of the Year” Award. I know quite a few who would qualify.
“Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”, Carl Sagan once said. And how right he was.
https://www.livescience.com/59462-early-glassmaking-west-africa.html
Mongolia
I have recently had a bit of a rest from writing as certain adjustments are being made in my life and, quite frankly, there has been little to report anyway. The new digging season, at least in the northern hemisphere, is just about under way, so soon we should be receiving news of interesting new finds.
A recent find in Mongolia, however, has shown the riches that were traded along the famous and ancient Silk Road. A body has been found covered in silk (the silk trade gives the road its name) and also an incredibly valuable bowl has ancient Greek gods carved into it. Also found were many gold pieces of jewellery. No doubt the individual was extremely wealthy, and the archaeologists believe the body may have been that of an elite family.
Although the digs were carried out between 2012 and 2014, as usual it can take many years for the findings to be released. This is often the result of the time consuming work required to unravel the finds – in this case a coffin – as ancient textiles especially can disintegrate on exposure to the air or by being handled. Also, finds are kept under wraps (another great pun!) until the site has been deemed to be secure to stop grave robbers coming along and destroying the rest of the possible artefacts that may be in the same area.
The grave here dates to around 1,500 years ago, and archaeologists believe this to be a rich burial belonging to the Northern Wei Dynasty, which flourished between 386 to 534 AD. The bowl shows depictions of “Zeus, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite”, according to this report. The body itself is still covered in silk so the archaeologists do not know anything about the occupant, such is the difficulty in removing the silk without damage.
http://www.livescience.com/58630-ancient-cemetery-found-inner-mongolia.html
Scotland
A dig on a construction site in Carnoustie, Angus, has produced a bronze age hoard of weapons, among other items, that dates to between 1000 BC to 800 BC.
A bronze sword and a gold spearhead are the two most valuable items, and I am not referring to their monetary value. Organic materials, namely that of a leather and wooden sheath that covered the sword – the best preserved ever found from the bronze age – and fur skin covering the gold spearhead, are equally as valuable. Items of this nature rarely survive due to climatic conditions, so the preservation of these items makes the findings even more important.
The Celtic tribes that existed in ancient Britain, prior to the many invasions from Europe, consisted of warrior clans in small numbers, most likely farming and hunting communities. Although the druids were not mentioned until at least 400 years after 800 BC, the tribes likely had shamanic priests who were also tribal leaders, soothsayers, and medical and political advisors. The gold spearhead was likely to have been used as a symbolic status symbol, but also may have been used in ritual. In other words these items may have belonged to a very important tribal leader.
On the same site, the largest neolithic hall ever found in Scotland, and dating to 4000 BC, has also been discovered. This was clearly an important settlement that had continuity for at least 3,000 years. To put that into perspective, the neolithic hall is 3,000 years older than the bronze age hoard, and the bronze age hoard is 3,000 years older than today…
