Submitted by Mary Harrsch on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 12:59
Virtual Çatalhöyük is one of the most well-researched and painstakingly executed ancient world reconstructions in Second Life. But with the rent due, and funding tight, can the researchers keep the environment alive? I spoke to creator Colleen Morgan about the problems of creating reconstructions for high-rent platforms.
Ian Hodder was born in Bristol, England on November 23, 1948. He received a degree in prehistoric archaeology at the University of London in 1971 then went on to the University of Cambridge where he received his doctorate in spatial analysis in archaeology in 1974. He secured a position at the University of Leeds where he lectured from 1974-1977 then returned to Cambridge where he served in a number of positions before being appointed Professor of Archaeology from 1996 to 1999. In 1996 he was also named as a Fellow of the British Academy.
In 1999, he left Cambridge to accept an appointment at the Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology, Stanford University where, in 2002, he was named Dunlevie Family Professor.
Pre-eminent archaeologist of the Neolithic Near East
British archaeologist, James Mellaart, was born in London in 1925. His family moved to Holland where his father worked as an expert in Dutch old master paintings and drawings. At the outbreak of World War II, Mellaart secured a position at the museum in Leiden, where he worked until the war ended. Then he enrolled in University College in London where he studied egyptology. His studies led him to join the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, Turkey.
In the early 1950s, he began an archaeological survey of Anatolia. His first dig at Hacular produced a cache of painted pottery and female figurines that led to speculation about an early culture that worshipped a mother-goddess. Then, in November 1961, he began excavating a 20-meter high mound on the plains of Konya known locally as Çatalhöyük. There, he unearthed thirteen levels of occupation dating back over nine thousand years that contained the remains of a population center housing up to 10,000 people at its zenith.
An article in the most recent issue of Newsweek magazine that basically constitutes an invitation to pause in wonder at the fantastic age of the Göbekli Tepe - or "potbelly hill" - site in southeastern Turkey, believed to be 11,500 years old, is a great reminder that, the further back in time an event occured, the easier it is to talk preposterous rot about it.
Submitted by Meral Crifasi on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 15:24
We have partnered with Turkey holiday specialist HolidayMate to offer you a grand prize - a week's holiday for two in Turkey. One lucky competition participant will win the prize at the end of our 12 week Ancient World in London series. For those of you suffering the grey London weather, here are some details to mull over:
Mithras, also sometimes called Mithra, is a mysterious ancient Persian god, whose popularity resurged amongst Roman soldiers between the 1st and 4th centuries AD. 'Mithraism' is known by historians as a 'mystery cult', because of a lack of clear evidence as to its belief system, traditions and practices. What is known, from surviving records and excavated 'Mithraea' (ie Mithraism places of worship), is that it was a 'closed' religion, available only to male participants who had completed a set of seven initiation ceremonies; that worship involved ritual feasting; and that the most important depiction of Mithras was in the 'Tauroctony' - the killing of a bull. Many other arguments and theories surrounding the religion are largely subject to speculation.
Bergama, Turkey is a city in the west of the country, located near the Bakırçay river and is home to the ruins of the Roman city of Pergamon (or Pergamum), which lie to the north and west of the modern day site. The ancient city is believed to have had a population of around 150,000 people at its peak in the First Century AD. Thanks to GeoEye who have provided a high resolution satellite image of the region, we can see the relationship between the modern city and its ancient past.
We have partnered with Turkey holiday specialist 
