Inca Ice Princess

Here comes another blog about how social media has contributed to my knowledge of archaeology around the world. My friends are constantly sending me articles or pictures of archaeology related topics, whether they think I would find it interesting or not (but I always appreciate their support in my career path). Recently, a friend sent me a picture taken by the National Geographic via Instagram. The photo has 1,26,299 likes to date, with good reason. The post is of the famous Inca Ice princess that was discovered in 1995, and is amazingly well preserved. The princess, known as Juanita, was found by explorer Johan Reinhard, in a 19,000 ft. crater as he descended Mt. Ampato. Juanita was around 11-15 years old and was probably a victim of human sacrifice. Along with the body, objects presumably offered to the gods, was found on the slope. Scientific analysis has been able to determine what she ate before her death, which illnesses she suffered from in life, and who she shares DNA with. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummy_Juanita This is unrelated to Juanita, but another archaeological thing that a friend sent me recently was this joke: Why was the archaeologist sad? Because her career was in ruins. .. a corny joke with a disconcerting message.

Forensic Archaeology

A couple of weeks ago we had a guest speaker that really sparked my interest. Usually with guest lecturers who are really captivating speakers, they will grasp my attention for a few hours, or maybe even a couple days after the talk, but I have been thinking about this talk for a few weeks now. Our guest was a forensic archaeologist who works in South America. His work includes the excavation and identification of remains in mass burials, and the recording of evidence that proves war crimes happened in that country. What interested me most about his work was the incorporation of cultural anthropology with archaeology. Much of his work involved talking with local families about their experience of losing a loved one. I have always had a passion for archaeology, but after hearing this talk, I realized the impact you can make on someones life by using archaeological skills. Helping families reunite with deceased individuals seems like the most rewarding area of archaeology; much better than the satisfaction of writing a well received paper or getting your PhD. Forensic archaeology is something I would be really interested in pursuing, and I'm going to start by taking an osteology course next semester. However, this isn't a career path that I think anyone should jump into. It requires a lot of emotional discipline. Dealing with families that have suffered through wars and the death of their loved ones will not be an easy task, and just as difficult as digging up the remains and coming face to face with violent deaths of the recently deceased. The topic of genocide has never been one that I've studied extensively. I'm aware that it has happened and is happening, but never took into the consideration what that actually means. People, like me, are being killed because they are perceived as a threat. They may have done nothing wrong, nothing to deserve their fate. Forensic archaeology seems totally different than what I am used to. The dig I have been on was very low risk. We went into the trench knowing the worst thing that could happen is getting a little heat stroke, and you learned about the history of what you were digging along the way. Our guest's work could not be more different. The danger that surrounds him and his workers everyday is something I cannot imagine, and before going into these sites, you must have a knowledge of what you are doing there, and what has happened there. Upon talking to him after class, he informed me that volunteers must participate in workshops before starting work. He said that they must question your ability to deal with emotions. I'm sure he thought, looking at me, that I've never felt real pain in my life, and to the extend of the work he deals with, he would be absolutely right. I have no idea how I would react to being in a trench beside a deceased individual, while hearing their family members praying on the ground above me. If I try to picture it now, I'm sure I would be balling my eyes out. But I think I would be able to remind myself that I was there for a reason, and that is to give these families closure. Being there to help them does not include weighing anyone down with my own emotions, and I think by remembering that fact, I'd be able to pick myself up again and continue with the work that I went there to do. Forensic archaeology is a field that requires a lot of learning. You must learn about the country and people that you will be involved with, and I think you would learn a lot about yourself along the way.

Photo from SFU Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology http://www.sfu.museum/forensics/eng/pg_media-media_pg/archaeologie-archaeology/photo/85/

Grading blogs

Our group is doing our project on ossuaries. One blog I found about it was titled "Global Ossuaries: Seven Creepy Wonders of the (Un)dead World". I found this article interesting because it mentioned some of the sites that we will be talking about, including the Seldec ossuary in Czech Republic, and the Santa Maria della Concezione in Rome. Using our marking rubric, it checks quite a few boxes that we thought there important for a blog. It has a neat layout and is user friendly. It uses quite a few pictures and is styled in a way that is easy to read for those who may have no previous knowledge of ossuaries. However, it does not provide any citations, which we thought is important. I would give the page a 20/25. http://weburbanist.com/2009/10/30/7-wonders-of-the-undead-world-global-ossuaries/

The Gay Caveman

Czech archaeologists are still trying to make sense of an unordinary grave found a few years ago in Prague. The body was of a male belonging to the the Corded Ware culture in the Copper Age. Grave goods can tell us a lot about a culture and their way of dealing with death and identity, which is why this grave was so unusual. The man was buried with an eastern orientation and surrounded by domestic jugs, a burial commonly reserved for women. The most reasonable assumption provided so far is that this man was of a different sexual orientation. Of course, this claim has been very exciting for a generation and society that is currently fighting so hard for gay rights and for the realization that homosexuality has a biological basis. Of course I would love this case to prove without any doubt that sexual orientation was an acknowledged and accepted part of life that can be traced back to our earlier ancestors. However, the skeptical archaeologist in me needs more proof. One example of a female burial of a male body is not enough to prove that people living in 2,900 BC understood their gender, or that there was a third one. These claims have been blown out of proportion, particularly because the man was not a caveman at all, but a farmer from the Corded Ware Culture. The fact that he may or may not have been gay is not groundbreaking either, since homosexuality has been recorded in many ancient texts, as pointed out by John Hawks from the University of Wisconsin in the National Post article "Gay Caveman probably not Gay or a Caveman."

Living among the dead

In his lecture, Darcy talked about how many First Nations communities describe the dead as their witness, peaking in and observing their lives. I started thinking about which other cultures share this belief. Coincidently, this week my roommate brought to my attention that there is a community in Egypt that live among the dead. The City of the Dead is in Cairo, and is Egypt's largest populated slum. It is a 4 mile long cemetery where over half a million Egyptian's live and work among ancient and new tombs and mausoleums. Some families live here so they can be close to decreased relatives, while others are forced into the city due to Egypt's crippling economy. Those who are forced into this housing may or may not believe in the importance of a close relationship between the living and dead, but I think it is a fair assumption that if you are living in a mausoleum, you will probably feel some connection with the dead.

Ross Bay Field Work

The best thing about studying anthropology is that most topics you cover are bound to be interesting and unique. Archaeology of Death is no exception. This month we've been working on a group project that I can confidently say is one of the weirdest projects I've ever done. "Monument Analysis" sounded straight forward and relatively boring, until I read the description. What it actually entailed was going to a cemetery and collecting data on monuments of choice. I had never been to Ross Bay cemetery, but heard it was the final resting place of a few famous Canadians, such as Emily Carr and Sir James Douglas. I love Emily Carr, and the thought of visiting her grave had occurred to me in the past, but going to a cemetery leisurely never sounded like a great pastime. When I finally did get there, I was pleasantly surprised with my surroundings. Fortunately, we went on a sunny (although freezing) day. I walked down the pathways surrounded by trees towards the ocean. It was nothing like the cemetery I had visited back home when I was younger, but that probably had more to do with the fact that I had no family members buried in Ross Bay. As the morning went on, we noticed joggers making their way through the cemetery, and children and dogs playing and laughing. All this struck me as odd. These people didn't seem to notice that this was a cemetery, or it just didn't phase them. Then I realized that others probably feel the same disconnection to the place as I did, since I didn't have any family ties there. It could be that the cemetery is quite old, and many grievers of these deceased individuals may not be around anymore. The project itself was interesting. We walked around for quite a while trying to figure out what we should do our analysis on, then finally decided on the most prominent landmarks: the mausoleums. The first one we saw was quite grand, with fresh flowers present. A few were like this, while a few were really erie. I enjoyed studying mausoleums and seeing which family groups were wealthy enough to afford these tombs, and which ones cared so much about their final resting spot that they felt it was important to build a shrine for themselves or their family members. I would definitely do this project again, or something like it. The only change I would make is conducting the study on a warmer day.. or wear thicker socks.

Burying Ally

Upon considering what I would want to be buried with if I should die tomorrow, I realized that it wouldn't be my choice to die tomorrow, and therefore I get no say in what I would be buried with. From here, I decided to ask the people who would be deciding on the objects surrounding me in my final resting place: my friends. As I had expected from my friends, a topic this morbid was not given the seriousness that it probably deserves. I was given some pretty funny answers to the question, and learnt a lot about how my friends identify me. These are the comments I received: "your teddy!" (my childhood toy I've never been able to part with) "your glasses, although I don't know if they will fit in the casket" (I have big, goofy glasses), "a baby kangaroo", "bangers and mash, tea and your favourite Christmas movies", "a mirror with an inscription describing you so that future archaeologists will know that their beauty will never compare to yours", "a beer or wine bottle", "can awkwardness fit in a grave?", "a trowel and a beer", "your art" and, "things that make you happy". I was honestly not expecting that many people to comment on this Facebook status, but I am very pleased and appreciative. There are few objects here that will actually preserve for future archaeologists, so as far as they will be able to tell, I was a female in her twenties, who was possibly vain on account of the mirror, used a trowel, enjoyed the occasional libation, made art (depending on how well it preserves), and for some reason, was buried along side a baby kangaroo. The making of this blog has been pretty fun, being able to see what my friends think are important to me, or what reminds them of me. But to seriously consider this, I realized that to not know exactly what I want to be buried with is an indication that I need many many more years of life. When the time finally comes, I will hopefully be buried with a lifetime of objects that made me happy, an indication that I fulfilled a maternal role, be near the remains of my loved ones, and have the skeleton of an old lady.