On June 26the Terracotta Warriors will be coming to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada. Curated by the museums own Dr. Chen Shen,the showincludes 16 human terracotta figures, a terracotta horse and, yes, a terracotta dog (albeit from the Han period). In total there are about 250 artefacts -making it the largest warriors show ever to come to North America. Accompanyingtheexhibitionwill be a lecture series, the details of which the museum has just announced. Therewill be14 lectures in total, allof whichstart at7pm in the Eaton theatre, inside the museum itself. The price for one lecture is $28, going down…
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My generation has grown up almost exclusively exposed to war in the Middle East. Two wars in Iraq, one in Afghanistan and countless battles between neighbouring nations in the region. The Middle East has been a battleground since time began – and now you can see exactly who has conquered it through the ages with mapsofwar.com‘s great-looking 90 second walkthrough. The map begins in 3,000 BC with the invention of the Egyptian Empire – though there’s no mention of the Sumerian states which comprised the Cradle of Civilization – and shows the spread of the Hittites, Israelis, Assyrians and Babylonians…
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An ancient sarcophagus depicting a ‘human-headed dragon’ has been discovered on the Indonesian island of Bali. The 2,000-year-old artefact was found by brick-makers in the village of Blahbatu, in the historical district of Gianyar, last weekend. It is thought to have been uncovered by heavy rains. The sarcophagus was found just 100m from the spot where another similar one was excavated some months ago, which carried a turtle’s head design. Yet the latest find is thought to bear more resemblance to ancient sarcophagi discovered at the neighbouring town of Keramas. Bali’s Gianyar district is rich in ancient history, having been…
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At the end of August the Terracotta Army will visit Sweden, and the soldiers will bring with them the story of China’s birth. In a unique location,the Terracotta Warriors and a collection of never-seen-before objects from simular gravesites will tell the story of how the vast Chinese empire was built on the idea of eternal power. This idea – stretching both space and time – was given shape through momumental burial sites and buildings, and the unification of China. The sophisticated empire that was established would last over two thousand years. A selection of Terracotta Army statues and recent archaeological…
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Today the ‘The Lost World of Old Europe The Danube Valley, 5000-3500BC’ exhibition opens at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. When visiting you can expect to see the famed goddess figurines which have triggered intense debates about women’s roles in Old European society; the oldest major gold treasure found (in the earliest known male elite burial); and more exuberant (and suprisingly ‘modern’) art and pottery from Europe’s first civilisation. Having only previously visited New York, it’s a must-attend exhibition containing objects on loan from over 20 museums in Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova. It’s a chance to learn about a relatively…
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Archaeologists in Mexico have uncovered a tomb inside a pyramid belonging to a king or high priest who died as many as 2,700 years ago. Three other bodies a woman also of high social status, a baby and young male adult were also found in the tomb inside the pyramid in the Chiapa de Corzo archaeological site in Chiapas district in southern Mexico. It is the earliest evidence of a Mesoamerican pyramid used as a tomb, rather than as a temple. The remains of the man, thought to be aged about 50 years and decorated in precious stones, were found…
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By ancient Olympic Games standards, the recent Australian Special Olympics IX National Games, an event held for athletes with an intellectual disability, were relatively small. As the Communications Manager for the games, my job was manic, but fortunately I had a team of volunteers to help coordinate the multitude of print and broadcast media on event as well as updating the Special Olympics Australia website, facebook and twitter at regular intervals throughout the day. Between frantic phone calls, tweets and manically hitting of the send email option, I did ponder for a moment how promoting and communicating results to the…
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Archaeology and Landscape in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia is an ambitious project designed to provide the first ever in-depth survey of the cultural landscape of one of the most remote regions of the world. The Altai Mountains are on the western edge of Mongolia, wedged along the borders of China and Russia, and home to archaeological marvels such as engraved standing stones and rock art. We spoke to project leader Esther Jacobson-Tepfer, a Professor of Asian Art at the University of Oregon, whose first visit to the Altai (or Altay) Mountains in 1994 became the catalyst for the project,…
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Scholars often refer to cultures who used monumental architecture for political purposes as a ‘theater-state’ and boy could the Aztecs put on a good show! When the Spanish conquistadors first glimpsed Tenochtitlan at its zenith in 1519, the Mexica capital and its suburbs surrounding Lake Texcoco was home to over a million inhabitants whose lives were punctuated by numerous festivities centered around amphitheaters and religious shrines scattered across the city. It is no wonder then, that the Spanish, many of whom were natives of Extremadura, a province of western Spain that was once a part of Roman Lusitania and birthplace…
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Attribution: José Manuel Reyes F. Key Dates Thriving between 400 and 900 AD, the Mayan city of Calakmul was rediscovered from the air in 1931. Campeche Mexico Key People The city was rediscovered by biologist Cyrus L. Lundell who was working for the Mexican Exploitation Chicle Company. He reported his findings to Sylvanus Morley of the Carnegie Institute. The largest Mayan city ever to be discovered, Calakmul may once have accommodated a population of 50,000 and held sway over terroritories as far as 150km distant from it. It stands in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, deep in the jungle of the…