Archives for February, 2012
Fornvännen’s Summer Issue On-Line
Posted by Martin R on February 27, 2012 Shortly after Fornvännen 2012:1 reached subscribers on paper, issue 2011:2 has now been published on-line. Get thee there, Dear Reader, and read for free (not dearly)! Joakim Wehlin on why some of Gotland’s mightiest Bronze Age monuments were built next to the island’s single megalithic tomb of the Early Neolithic. Karl-Magnus Melin on ancient wells.…
He’s Not Annoying
Posted by Martin R on February 24, 2012 Juniorette: “So Thomas had his semla cream bun and he said he liked it, but later he threw up.” Me: “Thomas? Is he a new boy in your class? Haven’t heard of him before?” Juniorette: “No, he’s not annoying. Not very.”
My Recent Mead-halls Book Available On Open Access
Posted by Martin R on February 23, 2012 The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities is over 250 years old and consists almost entirely of professors of the humanities and social sciences. But don’t let that fool you into thinking that it’s a sleepy organisation. For one thing, the Academy is a signatory of the 2003 Berlin Declaration on Open Access…
Boardgame Review: Pergamon
Posted by Martin R on February 20, 2012 There are some good archaeology-themed boardgames out there. None depict archaeology as an activity directed towards the gaining of knowledge. Let’s look at the top three on Boardgame Geek. Tikal has a pretty absurd premise. A number of archaeological expeditions reach an area of jungle-covered ruins in the Yucatan peninsula at the same time and…
Great Sesame Street Song
Posted by Martin R on February 17, 2012 Somehow I suddenly remembered the Sesame Street album I loved when I was a kid, 1977′s Signs!. And sure enough, all the songs are on YouTube now!
Birds Prophesying Spring
Posted by Martin R on February 16, 2012 For the past two weeks I’ve been hearing more and more birdsong. The bullfinch is singing his characteristic snowmelt ditty, and the woodpecker is making territorial drumrolls. Some other species of small bird is having these noisy cocktail parties where they fill a tree and chatter for hours. But the winter is far from over…
Great Spotted Woodpecker At My Window
Posted by Martin R on February 15, 2012 Oldest Human-Made Object in Space
Posted by Martin R on February 14, 2012 The recent launch of the Curiosity Mars rover has quietly broken the record for oldest human-made object in space, and instantly pulled numismatics, the study of coinage, into the Space Age. Prior to the launch, the oldest human-made object in space was the Vanguard 1 satellite, which was launched in 1958 and operated until 1964.…
17th Century Pastoral Novel
Posted by Martin R on February 8, 2012 As a schoolboy I read the first original play performed publically written in Swedish, Urban Hiärne‘s Rosimunda (1665). Me and my friend Tor loved the absurd spelling, the odd changes that had occurred in the sense of many words and some of the comical one-liners. Recently I learned that about the same time Hiärne also…
My Autumn’s And Winter’s Work
Posted by Martin R on February 6, 2012 Dear Reader Fiona asked me to write more about archaeology, which reminded me that I haven’t said much about what I’ve been doing in my study these past months. I find that the last time was actually in late August when I dug in the cave with Margareta and Magdalena. So, what have I been…
