Aardvarchaeology

History is the study of past societies through surviving text and images. I just got back home to Sweden, whose narrative history starts in the 9nd century AD and is even then really patchy for centuries. I have spent the past two weeks in China, where recorded history starts some time in the mid-2nd millennium BC. And what did I find in my long-neglected in-box when I got home? The makings of the 58th History Carnival!

A blog carnival, for those of you who don't already know, is an ambulatory and periodical collection of good blog writing relevant to a certain theme. Here today, somewhere else in a month. I got loads and loads of submissions for this edition, and so I have been selective: submissions that I found non-good and/or non-relevant were dropped as a service to the reader.

To the carnival! Before we dive into the past, just let me plug Cliopatria's History Blogging awards. Mustn't forget them, my preciousss.

Medieval

• Archaeozoo presents a piece on the archaeological evidence for hawking in Medieval England.

Early to Mid-Modern

• Maggie at History of American Women gives us a look at women's rights in the Plymouth Colony.
• Tim at Walking the Berkshires offers a detailed discussion of 17th century witch hunts in New England.
• Jason at Executed Today introduces us to Peter Stubbe, a psycho killer and wannabe werewolf in 16th century Germany.
• Jim at Making Light speaks of the worst defeat under arms ever suffered by the US Army in Retreat Along the Wabash.

19th Century

• Digital Medievalist offers an in-depth discussion of a murder committed in Ireland in 1895 when a man killed his wife because he was convinced that she was a fairy changeling.
• Daisy at Dead Air tells us about anti-slavery crusaderJohn Brown.
• Dave at Progressive Historians tells the tale of the Great Stink in London, 1858.
• My London Your London points us to a UK project to put Victorian photographs on-line that is looking for volunteer staff.

20th century

• Romeo at Providentia describes the stigma attached to Japanese nuke survivors.
• The Old Foodie tells the story of the microwave oven and its historical context. Without airborne warfare, no radar, and without radar, no nuke ovens.
• Greg Laden celebrates Sputnik as "the greatest thing ever to happen to America".
• Jacqueline at Another Old Movie Blog muses about Word War II movies.
• Natalie at Philobiblon tells us about Women pilots in WWII ...
• ... and the history of UK council housing estates.
• Felix at Bay Radical offers an interview with Lesbian activist trailblazer Cathy Cade.
• Orac at Respectful Insolence explores changing medical attitudes to tobacco smoking over the past decades: "What cigarette do you smoke, Doctor?".
• Frumteacher tells us about Nikita Khrushchev and the famous shoe incident.
• The Purloined Letter gives a glimpse of some absurdly violent entertainment in the US.
• Diamond Geezer introduces us to William Willett, the father of Daylight Savings Time.

Metahistory

• Dan at the Digital Humanities Blog reports from a conference about using new technologies to explore cultural heritage.
• Mark at Blog Them Out of the Stone Age asks, is strategy an illusion in military history?
• Jimmy at the Online Education Database presents a commented list of 250+ killer digital libraries and archives. Major time-sink warning!
• Sage at Ragesoss 2.02 reports on two good talks he heard on the theme "What are historians good for?".
• David at presents the Long Eighteenth discusses the historical value of autobiographies.

That's all, folks! The next History Carnival will appear on 1 December at Westminster Wisdom. Submit here.

[More blog entries about history; historia.]