October 2006 Archives
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October 31, 2006
Neandertals Again
The other day I told of a couple studies of Neandertal DNA, one of which suggests that "modern humans and Neandertals' most recent common ancestor probably perished about 400,000 years ago." Now National Geographic reports on another study "that suggests...Read all of "Neandertals Again"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:04 PM
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October 30, 2006
A Broom for a Horse or a Coat for a Goddess?
A little free association with a point My mother used to sing a little song that was a parody on something; I'm not sure what. The only lines I can remember went something like this. Now the captain, of course,...Read all of "A Broom for a Horse or a Coat for a Goddess?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:49 PM
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October 29, 2006
Thoughts on Richard Dawkins at Cal Tech
Two items to set the stage: First, calling someone wicked or foolish or telling them directly or indirectly that they are deserving of eternal punishment by perpetual torment or claiming that their heart is hard or absent or that they...Read all of "Thoughts on Richard Dawkins at Cal Tech"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:19 PM
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October 28, 2006
Our DNA, Their DNA and our Common DNA
National Geographic online has an update on the ongoing efforts to sequence the Neandertal (aka Neanderthal) genome. There are two ongoing projects. One, led by James Noonan at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, focuses on those sequences that can be compares...Read all of "Our DNA, Their DNA and our Common DNA"
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:00 AM
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At Least this Seems Possible
Hunter-gather footprints found in Mexico are said to be between 10,000 and 15,000 years old. A trail of 13 fossilized footprints running through a valley in a desert in northern Mexico could be among the oldest in the Americas, Mexican...Read all of "At Least this Seems Possible"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:01 AM
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October 27, 2006
Friday Pot Blogging
Today I decided to look at a pot, or better a type of pot, that is not represented in the study collection although I wish it were: the collar rim jar. If you know anything about the archaeology of the...Read all of "Friday Pot Blogging"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:31 PM
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October 26, 2006
Welcome Four Stone Hearth
The first edition of the Four Stone Hearth (aka 4SH) is up and running at Anthropology.net. This is "The Anthropology Blog Carnival" and it has a very nice group of submissions for its first outing. There are several good posts...Read all of "Welcome Four Stone Hearth"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:57 AM
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October 25, 2006
Aristotle and His Aquiline Nose
I normally don't dabble in classical studies. It's not that I lack interest in such things. It's that there is so much background work and so much to know that my ability to say anything meaningful is nearly zero. In...Read all of "Aristotle and His Aquiline Nose"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:27 PM
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October 24, 2006
Archaeology and Horse Manure
Dienekes at Dienekes' Anthropology Blog directs us to an interesting article on the domestication of horses. The Eurekalert piece outlines an indirect method for determining the presents of domesticated horses. It works like this. Identify circular patterns of post moulds...Read all of "Archaeology and Horse Manure"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:51 AM
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The Mazar Festchrift Again, It's a Bargain
Back in August, I complained about the cost of a book that was on sale at Eisenbrauns, one that I would like to have in my library but I just couldn't bring myself to buy at about 24 cents a...Read all of "The Mazar Festchrift Again, It's a Bargain"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:24 AM
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October 23, 2006
The Mazar Festchrift, One Paper Down, 54 More to Go
While Paul James Cowie of Ancient Near East.net and Jim West are talking about the Ami Mazar Festchrift, I Will Speak the Riddle of Ancient Times, my two volumes actually arrived today. I've only read one paper, "A Provenance Study...Read all of "The Mazar Festchrift, One Paper Down, 54 More to Go"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:34 PM
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October 22, 2006
If Lies Don't Work Try the Truth
I hate to be so cynical but it's hard to get past the history of misinformation to see a very satisfying context for senior U.S. State Department official Alberto Fernandez' remarks on Al Jazeera. We tried to do our best...Read all of "If Lies Don't Work Try the Truth"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:13 AM
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October 21, 2006
The Blog Tag
Beep Beep It's Me took up the challenge from The Atheist Jew and offers a virtual tag to anyone who wants to be tagged. I accept the virtual tag, answer the questions and pass it on to anyone who is...
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:17 AM
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October 20, 2006
Friday Pot Blogging
Today's pot is another small bowl. This one is from the late Iron II period and comes from the south of Palestine. This bowl is 11.4 cm in diameter at the rim. Typical of the period it has a wheel...Read all of "Friday Pot Blogging"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:38 PM
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October 19, 2006
Still in Good Company
There's an interesting quiz at Common Good that attempts to discover the participants worldview in terms of science and the progress of mankind. Like all these quizzes, it has its own point of view that is more or less transparent....Read all of "Still in Good Company"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:30 PM
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The Garden of Eden You Say
The transition from hunter-gatherer cultures to agricultural cultures is an intensely interesting subject. Such a transition may have only had lasting consequences two or three places in the world. One of those places may have been in Kurdish Turkey near...Read all of "The Garden of Eden You Say"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:21 AM
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October 18, 2006
On The Gezer Calendar
Last week, as part of my preparation for the next installment of the series "How to Identify a Scribal School," I reviewed the ‘Izbet Sartah Sherd. This week I will attempt to define the place of the Gezer Calendar in...Read all of "On The Gezer Calendar"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:26 PM
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October 17, 2006
The Problem in a Nutshell
Here a paragraph from The Washington Post's review of David Kuo's new book, Tempting Faith. "Some in the press would later 'expose' that we in the White House had doled out grants to friends. They were technically wrong," he writes....Read all of "The Problem in a Nutshell"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:42 PM
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October 16, 2006
Branding the Other Guy
John McKay at Archi interacts with Ed Brayton and some of his readers at Dispatches from the Culture Wars on the question of the use of "Darwinism" and "Darwinist" by creationists. John is exactly correct, By abandoning their own "-ism"...Read all of "Branding the Other Guy"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:59 PM
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October 15, 2006
Nuclear Proliferation and Policy
Simply put, there is a relationship between nuclear proliferation and major power policy. Joseph Cirincione, Senior Vice President for National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress, has an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times that...Read all of "Nuclear Proliferation and Policy"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:37 AM
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October 13, 2006
Friday Pot Blogging
This week's pot is a small rather delicate bowl. This bowl is very similar to the Iron Age I bowl from Megiddo Stratum VIB that Amiran, 109 #11, illustrates. It is somewhat smaller but the more of less straight sides,...Read all of "Friday Pot Blogging"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:40 PM
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China Drafts New Labor Rule Proposal
The New York Times tells how American companies are reacting to the proposed new labor rules in China. The move, which underscores the government’s growing concern about the widening income gap and threats of social unrest, is setting off a...Read all of "China Drafts New Labor Rule Proposal"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:34 AM
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October 11, 2006
New English
Aydin Örstan has a hilarious post at Snail Tails on the decision of the EU to adopt English rather than German as the "accepted language for European communications."...
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:18 AM
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October 10, 2006
On the ‘Izbet Sartah Sherd
As I said yesterday, I will be publishing, on approximately a weekly basis, comments on several texts and artifacts that have a bearing on the possibility of scribal schools in Canaan during the end of the Bronze age and the...Read all of "On the ‘Izbet Sartah Sherd"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:07 PM
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Homo floresiensis Update
Carl Zimmer at the Loom has a very good discussion of the waxing and waning of opinion in the Paleoanthropology community with regard to Homo floresiensis, the small hominid from the island of Flores in Indonesia. I say Homo floresiensis,...Read all of "Homo floresiensis Update"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:21 AM
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October 9, 2006
Getting Hung Up on a Preposition
I've been working my way through dozens of texts in Ugaritic, Byblian, Hebrew and related West Semitic languages that use a very simple formula. That formula is the proposition l meaning "to, for, or belonging to" plus a name, title...Read all of "Getting Hung Up on a Preposition"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:11 PM
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The Tell Zayit Inscription to Be Published Soon
Professor Ron Tappy informs me that the editio princeps of the Tell Zayit Inscription will appear in the next month's edition of the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (BASOR). I thank Professor Tappy for giving me permission...Read all of "The Tell Zayit Inscription to Be Published Soon"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:34 AM
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October 8, 2006
We Preferred the Dead Guy
Last night Shirley and I went to the season opener of the Pomona College Orchestra concert series. These performances are always great entertainment at a very low price - free. The orchestra is about 70 strong and made up of...Read all of "We Preferred the Dead Guy"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:15 AM
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October 7, 2006
Tools of the Trade
Jim West and Noah Tutak are having an amazing discussion. It concerns the need for what I see as basic scholarly tools. On this issue, I side with Jim. A scholar must have the necessary tools. Perhaps I should have...Read all of "Tools of the Trade"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:49 AM
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October 6, 2006
Friday Stone Blogging
Rather than pot blogging this Friday, I thought I'd just talk about getting stoned. Pictured below is what at first glance looks like any other rock. But on closer inspection, one can see that it was made more or less...Read all of "Friday Stone Blogging"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:33 PM
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October 5, 2006
When God Came to My Classroom
Monday I made a couple of snarky comments concerning part of Brian Rohrbough's misguided remarks on the CBS News Free Speech segment. There is another issue that Mr. Rorbough raised that I think needs more attention. In the course of...Read all of "When God Came to My Classroom"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:24 PM
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October 4, 2006
There is No Horror that Someone Can't Make Worse
CSB News is reporting that Westboro Baptist Church, which Jim West says is not Baptist, plans to picket the funerals of the Amish girls who were so tragically killed the other day. "Why?" you ask. Well here is what they...Read all of "There is No Horror that Someone Can't Make Worse"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:48 AM
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October 3, 2006
On Becoming Literate
Today I had lunch with two women who are native speakers of Mandarin Chinese. The only thing unusual about this is that there were not three of them for our usual lunch on Tuesdays. Normally we talk about our families,...Read all of "On Becoming Literate"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:52 PM
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October 2, 2006
A "Church Going Man" Shoots Amish School Children.
Normally I'd cut a father who lost a child to a horrible school shooting a lot of slack. And perhaps I should cut Brian Rohrbough who lost a son at Columbine High School a lot of slack too, but in...Read all of "A "Church Going Man" Shoots Amish School Children."
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:07 PM
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Biblical Studies in Proper Context
Phil Harland at Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean has "Biblical Studies Carnival X" up and running. I think this month's carnival is particularly rich in academic content. I especially like the section headings that Phil chose: "Hebrew Bible and The...Read all of "Biblical Studies in Proper Context"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:54 AM
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October 1, 2006
An Abundance of Evidence
Over at The Panda's Thumb, Nick Matzke has been showing us some interesting results by working with a database he developed from the appendix to a paper by De Miguel and Henneberg. That paper contained some 602 measurements and metadata...Read all of "An Abundance of Evidence"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:56 PM
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New to Me
Two items came to my attention this week that others may want to know about. First Charles Halton of Awilum linked to The Digital Orient. He noted the articles by Dominique Charpin that can be found there. Charles is correct...
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:24 AM
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