Tech Note: Our Crappy Computers
Category: Tech
I find it a bit infuriating the way old computers become unpredictable.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 18 Comments •
Aardvarchaeology
Martin Rundkvist's blog. Archaeology, skepticism, Sweden. And books and music and stuff.
Profile
Dr. Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, public speaker, skeptic, atheist, lefty liberal, bookworm, and father of two.
Search
Recent Posts
- Anthro Blog Carnival
- Archaeological Namesakes
- The Rundkvists Have Taken Their Swine Flu Shots
- Dating the Looting of Ancient Tombs
- Runological Report on the Hogganvik Rune Stone
- I Got A Prime Time Spot
- Not Resting Place of the First Finns
- Danes Run Entire Urn Burials Through CT Scanner
- 11th Nordic Bronze Age Symposium, Day 1
- Only Certain Humans Ever Have Sex To Reproduce
Recent Comments
- Claude Mariottini on Archaeological Namesakes
- Pierre on Archaeological Namesakes
- DianaGainer on The Rundkvists Have Taken Their Swine Flu Shots
- Martin R on Not Resting Place of the First Finns
- Johan on Not Resting Place of the First Finns
- Martin R on The Rundkvists Have Taken Their Swine Flu Shots
- Tree on The Rundkvists Have Taken Their Swine Flu Shots
- Martin R on The Rundkvists Have Taken Their Swine Flu Shots
- Sigmund on The Rundkvists Have Taken Their Swine Flu Shots
- Martin R on Runological Report on the Hogganvik Rune Stone
Archives
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
Blogroll
Good Blog Carnivals
June 30, 2009
June 29, 2009
Primate Diaries Join Sb
Category: Blogging
Afarensis left to go solo, but starting today we can instead enjoy the evolutionary anthro goodness of The Primate Diaries right here on Sb! Pop on over and give Eric some of that bonobo group-cohesion-reinforcing lovin'....
Posted by Martin R at 3:34 PM • 2 Comments •
North European Natural Caffeine Source?
Category: Biology
Most psychoactive substances only occur in a small group of closely related plants. But caffeine pops up in widely divergent branches of the floral kingdom.
Posted by Martin R at 9:53 AM • 7 Comments •
Current Archaeology 232
Category: Archaeology
Current Archaeology's July issue offers a lot of good reading, of which I particularly like the stories on human origins (see below) and garden archaeology at Kenilworth Castle.
Posted by Martin R at 8:21 AM • 7 Comments •
Four Stone Hearth: Call for Submissions
Category: Archaeology
The 71th Four Stone Hearth blog carnival will run at Afarensis on Wednesday. Submit your best recent stuff to the bloggin' australopithecine. Anything anthro or archaeo goes!...
Posted by Martin R at 4:52 AM • 0 Comments •
June 28, 2009
Weekend Fun
Category: Having Fun
It's been one of the warmest and sunniest weeks in a long time. Saturday I invited friends old and new over: we played a game of Tigris & Euphrates, two games of kubb (no, it is not an old Viking...
Posted by Martin R at 12:05 PM • 12 Comments •
June 26, 2009
New Entry Categories
Category: Blogging
As you may know, Dear Reader, this blog can be perused selectively by theme if you click "Archives" in the menu bar up top. For a long time I've been tagging entries straying from the blog's main themes "NOIBN", Not...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 0 Comments •
June 25, 2009
11th Century Viking Silver Hoard Found
Category: Archaeology
Dating from the 11th century and consisting mainly of about 1000 German and English coins, it also has some Islamic ones, one from Sigtuna and even one from India, a very rare occurrence.
Posted by Martin R at 10:03 AM • 5 Comments •
June 24, 2009
Computing My Caffeine Habit
Category: Health
My system is used to going without caffeine for over 40 hours at a time -- counted from afternoon tea on a Monday to morning tea on a Wednesday for instance.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 24 Comments •
June 23, 2009
Never Mind the Burkas
Category: Politics
If president Sarkozy really believes that Muslim women are subservient to male members of their families, then he shouldn't try to regulate their clothing. He should draw the full consequences of his beliefs and forbid Muslim women to vote in...
Posted by Martin R at 5:22 PM • 9 Comments •
Beowulf Saves the Royal Pub
Category: Archaeology
The conflict that drives the first two thirds of the long poem is centred upon certain problems King Hrothgar of the Danes has with his mead-hall "The Hart".
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 8 Comments •
June 22, 2009
Open Source Dendrochronology
Category: Archaeology
Dendrochronology has a serious organisational problem that impedes its development as a scientific discipline and tends to compromise its results. This is the problem of proprietary data.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 8 Comments •
Weekend Fun
Category: Having Fun
The Rundkvist family right before we went in and apprehended the extraterrestrial. Photo F. Gilljam. Friday was Mid-summer's Eve. Cycled with the kids to the local maypole celebration. Back home, I assembled the first barbecue I've ever owned and...
Posted by Martin R at 4:40 AM • 6 Comments •
June 19, 2009
Swedish Atheist Ad Campaign
Category: Skepticism
It may seem a little gratuitous in a country where few people are religious any more, but the ads make the point that there's a lot of quiet Christian influence still around in society.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 7 Comments •
June 18, 2009
17th Century Coin Forgery
Category: Archaeology
It appears to be a forged gold coin, consisting of a soft grey metal (tin?) with a thin coating of a yellow metal.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 14 Comments •
Anthro Blog Carnival
Category: Archaeology
The sixty-ninth Four Stone Hearth blog carnival is on-line at Wanna Be An Anthropologist. Catch the best recent blogging on archaeology and anthropology! Submissions for the next carnival will be sent to me. The next open hosting slot is on...
Posted by Martin R at 2:50 AM • 0 Comments •
June 17, 2009
Centenarian Open Access Archaeology Journal
Category: Archaeology
Fornvännen appears on-line for free with a six-month delay (due to concerns that the on-line version might otherwise undermine the print version).
Posted by Martin R at 9:03 AM • 1 Comments •
June 16, 2009
Four Stone Hearth: Call for Submissions
Category: Archaeology
The 70th Four Stone Hearth blog carnival will run at Wanna Be An Anthropologist on Wednesday. Submit your best recent stuff to Paul. Anything anthro or archaeo goes!...
Posted by Martin R at 3:53 AM • 0 Comments •
June 15, 2009
Energy is Good, Calories are Bad
Category: Skepticism
What newagers, health nuts and alties seem to be completely ignorant of is that both words originate in physics and that they refer to the same thing.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 15 Comments •
Weekend Fun
Category: Having Fun
Attended the Where Is the Action rock festival with my wife, heard a lot of good music, much of it new to me. Details here and here. Shopped for presents and spent an hour having cake and reading, all in...
Posted by Martin R at 5:23 AM • 15 Comments •
June 14, 2009
Where The Action Is Rock Festival, Day 2
Category: Music
Second day of a rainy festival. This time I had the best of company: my wife joined me to hear Duffy.
Posted by Martin R at 12:01 AM • 2 Comments •
June 13, 2009
Where The Action Is Rock Festival, Day 1
Category: Music
[More blog entries about wheretheactionis, rockfestival, Sweden, pixies, seasicksteve, missli, musik, rock, pop; musik, rock, pop, rockfestival, wheretheactionis, pixies, missli, seasicksteve.] I spent yesterday afternoon and evening at a rock festival out near the university. I arrived early through pouring...
Posted by Martin R at 5:28 AM • 3 Comments •
June 12, 2009
Vänern Wreck Probably Not a Viking Ship
Category: Archaeology
I received pictures and x-rays of the purported weapons. I am quite sure that they are a) not weapons, and b) not from the Viking Period.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 4 Comments •
June 11, 2009
Cultural Evolution
Category: Archaeology
Cultures that accumulate enough counteradaptive traits will either dwindle and disappear, or change dramatically. In either case, the original culture will no longer be extant.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 22 Comments •
In My Earbuds Lately
Category: Music
Here are some excellent albums I've been listening to lately on my trusty smartphone. If you're into power pop, alternative rock, US folk and psychedelia, then check them out!Brendan Benson. Alternative to Love. 2005. Grand Duchy. Petits Fours. 2009. It's...
Posted by Martin R at 5:17 AM • 0 Comments •
June 10, 2009
Humanities Have No Important Issues
Category: Archaeology
We pursue lines of inquiry that we find fun or trendy or likely to get funded because someone with money deludes themself into seeing them as important.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 12 Comments •
June 9, 2009
No Meaning to Life
Category: Skepticism
Why are we here? Why do we live? What is the meaning of life? These questions are poorly phrased as neither "why" nor "meaning" has a distinct definition. To begin with "why", it can refer either to the cause of...
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 24 Comments •
June 8, 2009
Baroque Lion Mask from the Peerless Palace
Category: Art
North European Baroque is such a weird and lovely style. The wreck of the Vasa is a prime example, and there's a lot of it on the facades of houses in the Old Town too.
Posted by Martin R at 8:20 AM • 2 Comments •
June 7, 2009
Weekend Fun
Category: Having Fun
The way I like to lead my life is basically Epicurean: "Epicurus believed that the greatest good was to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquility and freedom from fear as well as absence of bodily...
Posted by Martin R at 11:13 AM • 35 Comments •
June 5, 2009
Anthro Blog Carnival
Category: Archaeology
The sixty-eighth Four Stone Hearth blog carnival is on-line at Remote Central. Catch the best recent blogging on archaeology and anthropology! Submissions for the next carnival will be sent to me. The next open hosting slot is on 29 July....
Posted by Martin R at 3:53 AM • 0 Comments •
June 3, 2009
Conflict Between Universities and Former State Church of Sweden
Category: Skepticism
One of the evaluation's main findings is that the Church of Sweden has too much influence over the universities, and that this influence has grown in recent years.
Posted by Martin R at 3:20 PM • 9 Comments •
June 2, 2009
Tom Lehrer Got It From Agnes
Category: Humour
From 1980, a television appearance by the brilliant Tom Lehrer, where he performs a song that never made it onto any of his records back in the day. (I hear it's on the CD re-issue, though.) Via David Nessle....
Posted by Martin R at 4:23 PM • 6 Comments •
June 1, 2009
Silence is the Enemy: But What is Wrong With Those Men!?
Category: Children
In the long run, Darwinian selection acts upon cultures. But us in the world at large can't wait for that to make the current cultures of Liberia and Congo go extinct.
Posted by Martin R at 1:40 PM • 51 Comments •
