archaeology https://scienceblogs.com/ en Jes Wienberg Shot Down My Habilitation https://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2017/10/03/jes-wienberg-shot-down-my-habilitation <span>Jes Wienberg Shot Down My Habilitation</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Habilitation, <i>docentur</i>, is a symbolic upgrade to your PhD found in Scandinavia and other countries with a strong element of German academic traditions. You can think of it as a boy-scout badge. It confers no salary, but it opens certain doors including that of supervising doctoral candidates. Though formally handed out by the faculty, it's impossible to get without support from your department, as I learned from my <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2010/06/07/inhabilitated/">abortive attempt</a> at the University of Stockholm in 2010. If on the other hand you do have the support of your department, it's impossible to avoid getting your habilitation – a mere formality. Almost impossible to avoid.</p> <p>After heading freshman archaeology for two years in Umeå, in February of 2015 I applied for habilitation there with the kind support of the department's <i>ämnesansvarige</i>, professor Thomas B. Larsson. He asked me, as is customary, to suggest a few names for the external reviewer. Trying to be shrewd about it, I picked two people who had written enthusiastically about my work in evaluations for jobs, and then I tried to think of a third person. Somebody senior, somebody impartial, yet vaguely friendly. And I thought of Jes Wienberg.</p> <p>Wienberg is a professor of Historical Archaeology in Lund. We've only met once and have never collaborated. He owed me nothing and I owed him nothing, but we had corresponded amicably for about 15 years. My first memory of contact with him is from 2001/02 when I got his permission to re-print a really good article of his in the skeptical pop-sci journal <i>Folkvett</i> that I co-edited at the time. In 2004/05 he helpfully commented on the manuscript of a pugnacious debate piece of mine that appeared in the journal <em>META</em>, published at his department. He went on to publish in the scholarly journal I co-edit and was always helpful with recommendations when I needed a good reviewer for some new book on Medieval matters. Wienberg was never a big presence in my professional life, but he was a friendly one. Until he accepted the task of reviewing my habilitation application. And delivered his verdict.</p> <p>The process took more than a year. I wasn't directed to send my publications to the external reviewer until May 2016. I mailed the hefty stack to Wienberg on 24 May, and then I got the whole thing back on 8 June. Right at the end of the spring semester, when there are so many exams to correct, grades to set and bits of admin to finish, Wienberg spent less than two weeks getting familiar with 846 pages of research into prehistoric archaeology, a field he is not active in. And his verdict was roughly this:</p> <blockquote><p>Rundkvist fulfils all formal criteria for habilitation. But I don't like his methods of research. So I refuse to give him my recommendation.</p></blockquote> <p>Those who read Scandy can <a href="/files/aardvarchaeology/files/2017/10/Utl%C3%A5tandeDocenturRundkvist3Juni2016.pdf">check here</a> whether the above is a fair summary of <a href="/files/aardvarchaeology/files/2017/10/Utl%C3%A5tandeDocenturRundkvist3Juni2016.pdf">Wienberg's evaluation</a>.</p> <p>Wienberg's behaviour caused much consternation at the faculty in Umeå. Nobody ever does this. Habilitation is a ceremonial act. If you're asked to review work that you absolutely loathe, then you just don't accept the job. “Sorry, I'm too busy right now.” And Wienberg's value judgement of my stuff was completely beside the point, because those publications had already passed peer review and been published in high-profile venues. He wasn't just questioning my work, he was questioning the insight of among others Thomas B. Larsson and two fellow professors at his own department in Lund who had accepted reams of my writing for publication.</p> <p>But anyway, I never did get habilitated. A friendly old Umeå professor from a neighbouring discipline did his best at the faculty to effect a re-submission opportunity for me, but it came to nothing. Due to flagging student numbers I no longer worked in Umeå, and my support from the departmental staff was lackadaisical. One guy wrote me explicitly that the question of my habilitation was linked to what the playing field would look like the next time a professorship became vacant in Umeå. We climb over each other to reach the top.</p> <p>And so I learned yet again that a career in academia is never about the formal rules for how stuff should work, never really about qualifications. It's a tribal system of social patronage. I also learned, belatedly, not to trust Jes Wienberg.</p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a></span> <span>Tue, 10/03/2017 - 05:41</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/academia" hreflang="en">Academia</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817810" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507027747"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Not familiar with the process, but that seems to me to be an uncalled for piece of treachery, for no evident reason.</p> <p>I'm no archaeologist, but I do understand research methods, and I have edited two of your books - OK, just for form of presentation, not content, on which I am not competent, but to do that I needed to understand what you had done and why. I could see nothing wrong whatever with your research methods. On the contrary, you seem to me to be commendably thorough and careful, documenting everything based on empirical evidence.</p> <p>People who smile to your face but then stab you in the back like that, totally unexpectedly, are snakes. There is usually another reason, one he is not admitting to, but digging deep enough to try to figure out what it is can be a futile exercise. The guy just had it in for you, for whatever strange reason, and when he got the chance to screw you, he did it. Heaven knows why, but I'm willing to bet that it was not for the reason he stated.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817810&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="K7cbMYdA-z9MdQUMDKqGFmAiFVcZzJhHfUMCXU4zNTo"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 03 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817810">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1817811" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507028397"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Thank you John!</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817811&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="nt3fayii-yzFYMyylof6xbyx6neQjwEuJElMxzrwqoE"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 03 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817811">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817812" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507038311"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Cheer up: Once you write a best-selling popular science book about archaeology, you will have a splendid opportunity to mention the anecdote..</p> <p>Your namesake, the illustrator and comic book author Martin Kellerman cheerfully takes a revenge on assholes he has met by including them in his much-read stories.<br /> People who behave badly assume that just because they cannot be formally reprimanded, their relative anonymity will allow them to get off scot free, with no censure.<br /> This is the reasoning of online trolls, who then get shocked when a TV reporter turns up to hold them to account (Swedish TV reporter Robert Ashberg based a whole TV concept on this).<br /> -- -- -- --<br /> SMBC has a reference to unsatisfying jobs<br /> <a href="http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/unfinished-business">http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/unfinished-business</a></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817812&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="aMT6_-XmVeBK1LiCVoZIXVQfPZOBPbhaKru19woFMew"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">BirgerJohansson (not verified)</span> on 03 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817812">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817813" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507038764"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Re @3 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWo_3CIcTBQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWo_3CIcTBQ</a></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817813&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="aV0sFWcYCfCQKvBW7F6unigW2mxKoQiygv-wUk8LsP4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">BirgerJohansson (not verified)</span> on 03 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817813">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817814" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507102976"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>In Wienbergs conclusion he argued that Rundkvist' "uphold a categoric methodic approach that hindered any qualitative exchange and recess". This conclusion is stated several times in Wienbergs response. There are also comments arguing that the publication was missing critical reflections and new perspectives and that Rundkvist in some cases added more to the research material than it could carry (prejustice). These statements are found in Wienbergs rejection argumentation, as any who can read Swedish can see.</p> <p>Given these criticisms I cannot agree in the summary given by Rundkvist : "Rundkvist fulfils all formal criteria for habilitation. But I don’t like his methods of research. So I refuse to give him my recommendation." - This is simply not sufficient!</p> <p>Wienberg gives reasons why the publication cannot be accepted as a habilitation and his reasons are pointed at what a scientist is expected to do. The formality (hours of teaching, former publications etc.) is OK, but that is formality. This is expected to be fullfilled. However, it seems that the publication is violation the deper layers of what a scientific habilitation must cover and so it must be rejected.</p> <p>Rundkvist do not address these issues in this blog. That would have been most interesting, IMHO.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817814&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="BSnhS5dqAYGuSqAStn2putZSMlxaQ23otq2ppfNhYQg"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Normann Aa. Nielsen (not verified)</span> on 04 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817814">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817815" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507104808"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>@5 - What you have said in English just comes across as gibberish. Sorry, but it does. Either your English sucks, or Wienberg's original conclusion in Swedish was already pseudo-academic gobbledegook. I can't tell which, although "violation the deper layers" suggests that it is your English that is not really up to the job.</p> <p>And you could try being polite while you are at it, given that you are a guest on someone else's Blog.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817815&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="Jdscv6VJlNkMAD4RVwpEqkD0qqIX5GCVJY7nhyJwZMM"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 04 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817815">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817816" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507112539"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>@6 Sorry that you was not able to see thru some of my spelling errors. I would have written "violation of the deepers layers", but the article in question disappeared. I thought that English speaking readers of a certain level was able to let that pass, but of course I was wrong - my error.</p> <p>However, you are correct in the assumption that I am not a native English speaker. I am Danish and as such I can read what Wienberg wrote. Without google translate, let me add. As Rundkvist added the link to Wienbergs evaluation I read it and thus my comments. They still stand. Runekvist did not in this blog address the issues raised, instead he summarized Wienbergs evaluation into an inprecise one-liner. It is his right, but I would have liked to see Runekvist' argumentation against the critisism raised.</p> <p>As for politeness on a moderated blog, let that be the problem of the moderator.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817816&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="QOLaCnW7uw4g81w99NdHLiPlRh6zugvdU87l2BPUWt8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Normann Aa. Nielsen (not verified)</span> on 04 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817816">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817817" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507113511"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>No, as Martin's long time friend, I take your rudeness in referring to him as "Rundkvist" (or in one case as "Runekvist") personally, and I state a personal objection to it. If Martin thinks I am out of line, he will no doubt redact my comments, as is his right. </p> <p>And you might not want to try to tell me what to do or how to conduct myself. It does not, shall we say, bring out my nicer side.</p> <p>I am not going to rely on Google Translate to try to understand Wienberg's evaluation. If you are not able to state it in intelligible English, you might want to stay away from stating it in gibberish on an English language blog.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817817&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="VDe-jLAp9JARByoXUYVYx2vYXjkQ4bzvFyUNm6WHt8s"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 04 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817817">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817818" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507119402"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I find Normanns posts perfectly understandable, and I agree with his conclusion - that Martin's summary is not completely fair. (Which doesn't mean that Weinberg's conclusions or behaviour are fair, either.)</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817818&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="p-XtLeLFLH_YSc9NP_S_tAesRE4h9EmvirH9bqylxaU"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Olof Öberg (not verified)</span> on 04 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817818">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817819" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507120402"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>@8 OK, I wrote "Runekvist" instead of "Rundkvist". My apology. However, how can it be rude to use the last name of a person that you do not know? Is it more rude to do that than pick on a persons skill of language?</p> <p>For Scandinavian readers the following may be clearer than my English:<br /> Jeg kender ingen af parterne, hverken hr. Rundkvist eller hr. Wienberg. Mit indlæg er baseret på den foreliggende blog, og på den anmeldelse, som hr. Wienberg skrev i forbindelse med hr. Rundkvist habil. Jeg tillader mig at rejse den kritik, at hr. Rundkvist ikke adresserer substansen i kritikken, nemlig det kvalitative aspekt. Det er min pointe.</p> <p>Google translate does a fair job in translating this, if need...</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817819&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="fO9RN2s63N454-Fn50h5xnKGxYWo23OtpHugRpKvX1s"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Normann Aa. Nielsen (not verified)</span> on 04 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817819">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817820" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507120455"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Your comprehension of written English must be better than mine, then. That's pretty commendable for a Swede who can't write English correctly himself.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817820&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="CnlsORTQdWQxtgMG6MwR1RGY9dq5rCDn48xSs48bSHI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 04 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817820">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817821" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507120732"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>@10 - It's rude just to refer to him by surname, particularly as you don't know him. The English do it to address people with whom they are on fairly but not very friendly terms, but I am not English and also consider that rude. You are not English either, obviously.</p> <p>Try Dr Rundkvist.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817821&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="XV7Z6CK7yxMgn5MF-MjndOEHpOC0j0lh6pLXt1PNkMk"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 04 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817821">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817822" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507120909"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>@12 No, I am Danish. I wrote that already in @7.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817822&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="AQ9ZKdjTVfOuEw5WbRq4wl0gxtzkno66pxQZ14KHSnI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Normann Aa. Nielsen (not verified)</span> on 04 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817822">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817823" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507121421"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>@13 - Yes, thanks, you have mentioned several times now that you are Danish, as if that absolves you from anything. </p> <p>Have you ever wondered why the population of Denmark is so remarkably genetically homogeneous? If you were Japanese, people would call you xenophobic. There are other, less polite, words for that.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817823&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="eEtiU7b1ess1t9lQLBnRO6AOJt5hDjW_CTpa5RZut8I"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 04 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817823">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817824" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507121939"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>@14 Interesting how your defence of your friend becomes a personal attack on other peoples nationality, country, language skills and more. With friends like this, Dr Rundkvist does not need any more support, I am sure.</p> <p>Good job, mr. Massey! You get what you want: I rest my case.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817824&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="DaB76Y8UiYgidExFe--DaKyiSpwdtH427w30pukdaCc"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Normann Aa. Nielsen (not verified)</span> on 04 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817824">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817825" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507415535"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>John, mate, you're out of line. Play the ball not the man. </p> <p>Yes, Normann's English is awkward, it's not his first language. Deal with it, or ask for clarification if need be. You cope with broken English on Martin's FB page, at least when you generally agree with the comment. In 3 1/2 paragraphs there is one phrase that had me pulling faces trying to work it out. The rest is understandable.</p> <p>Referring to Martin as "Rundkvist" jars a little but it's not uncommon. Surnames were used often at the boys' school my brother went to in Melbourne, both by the teachers and amongst the boys themselves. You hear it on sports fields all the time.</p> <p>I have no idea whether Normann is a friend of Martin's, a chance drop-in, or even a friend of Jes Wienberg's, but he has bothered to give us a translation of the commentary. The only reason to attack Normann is if you have reason to believe he is not giving a fair translation. Could we please discuss the actual content, not the manner of it's presentation.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817825&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="3CUif76YG0A8oH5jJlD_e7czsHtwBQ0bJ8TbAAHN-kI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Fiona Anderson (not verified)</span> on 07 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817825">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817826" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507452622"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Fiona, I was deliberately being unpleasant, and deliberately playing the man, as you put it. I would have thought that was obvious. </p> <p>Come on, I live in a community where I am an ethnic minority of one - you think I can't handle a bit of wonky English? I spend a lot of my work time editing very technical reports written by people for whom English is a second or even third language. I fix the English at the same time that I correct the technical errors. My Chinese boss has made me the gate-keeper of our technical reports because he is so appreciative of my ability to turn gibberish into what he calls my "beautiful English". I live in a home where my wife and daughter converse in Cantonese, or Mandarin, or English, depending on what they feel like at the time. Often they will switch language mid-discussion, sometimes mid-sentence. Do you seriously think I can't handle that?</p> <p>I disagree with you on the surname thing - I find it rude and offensive, and I always will. The teachers at the boys' school I attended spoke to me that way and I accepted it as part of the student/teacher relationship (except for my English teacher in my final year, who always addressed me as Mr Massey - he was previously an instructor at Duntroon, and he was far and away the best teacher I ever had) but I will not accept it from anyone else. It costs nothing to treat other people politely.</p> <p>No, Nielsen has not given us a translation of the commentary. If you care to look at the commentary, it is long and detailed. I don't accept Nielsen's brief summary of it, which I maintain does not make sense. If he had attempted to give an English translation of the whole of Wienberg's criticism, I might have felt more accommodating, but he didn't. He made up his own garbled brief summary. If that made sense to you, and you thought it was justified, bloody good luck to you. I don't care what you think.</p> <p>And in any case, I see no reason why Martin should have to give a point by point rebuttal of Wienberg's criticism at this point. It's his Blog, he can do and say what he likes. He was making a general point - Wienberg was a snake who didn't play by the normally accepted rules. I thought that much was blindingly obvious from what Martin wrote. Whether Wienberg had any grounds in his detailed criticism, I don't know, and don't much care.</p> <p>I read Nielsen as a troll who was trying to get a rise out of Martin, and Öberg as another one, and I will be as unpleasant to such people as I like, whether you happen to approve of my behaviour or not. The arbiter of behaviour here is the Blog master, and that's not you.</p> <p>And don't tell me what to do, or you will get some of my less nice side too. Either that or I will just ignore you, depending on how I feel at the time and whether I have anything more diverting or valuable to do with my time.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817826&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="wpfuzk0CGblKzotqCDy5D82ew4qiotPtwsdqyPe40hg"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 08 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817826">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817827" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507468840"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Fiona is right. I understand Martin's point very well. However, I usually tend to heard both sides.<br /> My English ist far from being perfect, but I can understand the point well enough. Assuming that being an ethnic minority prevents one from being being unfair to second language issue is logically not correct. It's like assuming that a woman can't be rassistic or antifeministic because she is part of a discriminated group herself. You see the point I think.^^<br /> Besides, Nielsen is obviously Danish or at least he writes Danish, not Swedish. Google Translator would have told you if you don't believe him... If you assume that refering to someone's last name is rude, what is it to refer to a Dane as a Swede? </p> <p>1) Adressing someone by the last name is standard in German academia, especially when talking about a person's writing. You just have to look at a single review in a German journal. I can't say if it is standard in Scandinavia.</p> <p>2) a) Nielsen critiseses that Martin does not name the main critic, and is far as I get it, there are some critic points that might be true.<br /> b) Nielsen makes clear he knows neither Martin Rundkvist not Jes Wienberg, as he stated in #10 ("Jeg kender ingen af parterne, hverken hr. Rundkvist eller hr. Wienberg").<br /> c) I am pretty slow in reading Swedish, but as far as I can tell, there are some points that Wienberg says to be missing in Martin Rundkvistis works. I cannot judge that without having read the publication and other publications on that topic for I lack the qualification for Scandinavian archaeology.</p> <p>3) In Germany, there is a different appraoch to habilitations. But for other projects/jobs/scholarships you need other professionals evaluations. In Germany it is not uncommon to get a negative evaluation for such things. I, however, believe Martin Rundkvist's point that it is not common in Sweden to get a negative evaluation.</p> <p>And yes, I know that like Archaeology in Germany, who gets jobs is hardly ever fair or based on objective criteria. I believe that Martin Rundkvist has not been treated fairly in his career. But that does not justify personal attacks on other people's arguments, especially if these arguments have a point.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817827&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="OQw8l_7ITikSYfGXvsuT7kH69AWWwOyBHUpnOVd7g4w"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Julia (not verified)</span> on 08 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817827">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817828" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507472587"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>My point about being an ethnic minority was to make clear that I have no problem understanding people writing/speaking imperfect English. Take my word for it, Cantonese and written Chinese are a lot more distant from English than Danish is.</p> <p>I didn't say Nielsen is a Swede, I guessed that Öberg is.</p> <p>I don't care what is standard in German academia. It is irrelevant.</p> <p>I believe that Nielsen and Öberg were trolling; trying to put in a hit. In any case, what I said is no reflection on Martin. If you are expressing disapproval of me, I couldn't care less what you think. Clear?</p> <p>Any other points of logic that you need to have cleared up?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817828&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="SLz-ivqKFMHJOvbH6PfJjPKZjU7MbJL676wCampXFfE"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 08 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817828">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817829" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507477351"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I know how different Standardchinese- though not Cantonese- is like compared to the Indoeuropean languages. (Wo shuo Hanyu.)</p> <p>They are not trolling, they just argue on base of the evaluation document that you have not read. You say you cannot read it or use Google translator. (Which, btw, works well for Swedish-English, but not so well for Swedish-German.) I would say, try to read the evaluation first before you say something about the argumentation based on a document before you have read it? (I don't feel confident enough to translate two (foreign languages Swedish to English), but there is maybe a Native Speaker who can read Swedish?)<br /> I have read it partially and I say there might be a point in it. So did Öberg and Nielsen. I am a prehistoric archaeologist, but no specialist for Scandinavia, so I cannot judge how valid the named points are. But it is a valid point to say that Martin Rundkvist might have said something about the argumentation given in the evaluation. Of course, it is his right to do so in a personal blog. This, however, makes it hard to evaluate it even for me. Yes, I do understand very well why Martin Rundkvist is so angry about all that. But for a fact based argumentation, I would also like to know what he or maybe another Scandinavian archaeologist says to the mentioned points. And this is why those wo guys have a point and are not trolling, but discussing.</p> <p>Well, yes, there is one follow-up question on the logic. If you don't care what other people think or argue, why are you so eager on commenting?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817829&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="Nu2K2V7TaYmBoP8_i45RAKdfaTqi8GjUxq8MbMg6Svs"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Julia (not verified)</span> on 08 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817829">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817830" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507509170"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>846 pages of research, evaluated in less than two weeks.</p> <p>I have an IQ of 140+ and excellent reading comprehension, and I spend a lot of my working life reading and correcting complex technical reports. I have read Martin's PhD thesis, given a very close reading to two of his books prior to publication, and have read some of his other work. I understand all of it. But I'm damned if I could come anywhere close to evaluating 846 pages of his work in less than two weeks.</p> <p>I think you need to read Martin's post again. You are missing the point.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817830&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="-1SXCrse-eA1P6LlmqqTyPILMq009RRV-eN0qbHIVno"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 08 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817830">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817831" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507515265"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>As for your last question: "If you don’t care what other people think or argue, why are you so eager on commenting?", now you are using wording intended to provoke, which makes you a troll too.</p> <p>Unless you have understood the points that Martin has made in his post, and have studied at least as much of his work, tracked through the references, etc. as I have, you cannot possibly be in a position to know whether Wienberg's criticisms were valid or not. I doubt whether you, Nielsen, Öberg and Anderson have done that, which means you are all just trying to provoke, without knowing what you are talking about. (Of course, you could quote some of Martin's work to illustrate the validity of Wienberg's criticisms, but it is noticeable that not one of you has even attempted to do that.)</p> <p>So I am defending my friend, for whom I have a lot of respect, having carefully studied a lot of his work, against people who are just trying to needle; i.e. trolls, or airheads, pseuds and poseurs, who are just as bad. As for what you think of me, I really don't care.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817831&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="d2deT1k740lsdrM_I8hXiaSjnZiCruttQkC-helHXbo"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 08 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817831">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817832" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507598797"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Well, John (you will notice I don't call you Massey, as I said, I don't like it), it is you who has admitted to going out of your way to be rude and obnoxious. Having seen your comments over many years I used to think you were a reasonably decent bloke, but not any more.</p> <p>I also am a friend of Martin's, but I am not an archaeologist, far less a Scandi one, and have only read his social media work, not his academic. I therefore did not and can not comment on what Jes Wienberg's reasoning or ulterior motives may be. I am not trolling, I'm merely trying to see what happened through a language barrier.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817832&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="jiDBqu4O1SVo1G9DaJd90TGZm5OM4u0qz9EpS_QCR5Y"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Fiona Anderson (not verified)</span> on 09 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817832">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> Tue, 03 Oct 2017 09:41:10 +0000 aardvarchaeology 56315 at https://scienceblogs.com Three Fortunate Young Oslovians https://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2017/10/02/three-fortunate-young-oslovians <span>Three Fortunate Young Oslovians</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Oslo colleagues have asked me to give a fuller account of the spring 2017 hiring that I called the most egregious case I’ve seen. This is not because they're trying to make the <a href="http://www.khm.uio.no/english/">University of Oslo's Museum of Cultural History</a> look good, but because they feel that I unfairly singled out a single hire, when in fact there were three. I'm happy to oblige. For one thing, I hadn't even noticed that one of the three has no PhD.</p> <p>Some background. Norway has a strong tradition of research performed at museums. Bergen's museum, for instance, was doing major science long before there was a university in town. The <i>førsteamanuensis</i> positions at the Oslo museum that I'm discussing here have 40% research time built into them. Hear that, academics everywhere? A full-time, lifetime job with 40% research time. 20 people applied for those three jobs.</p> <p>I've kept stats on who has gotten lectureships and <i>førsteamanuensis</i> positions in Scandy archaeology for the past 14 years. The median age of the hires is 43. Half of the hires are between 40 and 46. The youngest person to get one of these jobs since I started counting in 2003 was 32, at Uni Oslo's Museum of Cultural History, this past spring.</p> <p>But yes, there were three hires. They're 32, 35 and 39, that is, all three are exceptionally young. One worked at the museum when the jobs were advertised, another had worked there previously, and one of these two hasn't got a PhD! A third one had a post-doc position at Uni Oslo's main campus just across town, where this person had done their PhD (post-doc at your home department, huh!?). This one is also a long-term collaborator on two projects of the hiring committee's chairman, who is a professor at the museum in accordance with the fine Norwegian rules for these things.</p> <p>I believe that by the time they reach 45, two of these people will have strongly competitive CVs. (They're getting paid to do research at 40% of full time, after all, and all three certainly seem bright enough.) My point in bringing them up is that in 2017 none of the three have this. There is nobody under the age of 40 in Scandinavian academic archaeology who can compete in front of a fair and impartial hiring committee with people who have published research voluminously for a quarter century. Because nobody starts publishing research at age 15. So it's pretty damn egregious the whole thing.</p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a></span> <span>Mon, 10/02/2017 - 02:25</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/norway" hreflang="en">norway</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/academia" hreflang="en">Academia</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/norway" hreflang="en">norway</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817805" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506929634"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I can't speak about the qualifications here, but rather raise a more general point.</p> <p>One can argue that the best qualified person should get the job. This might mean, as you claim here, that it goes to someone who did research for decades with no permanent position. Wouldn't it be better for science, though, if people got permanent jobs earlier? Surely you could have done more research if you had a permanent job at 30, right? So, assuming that the people are smart enough (which, in my experience, one knows even after the first degree), isn't it better to give them a permanent job now, rather than risk them being less productive than they could be, perhaps even leaving the field, due to lack of job security?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817805&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="ojKVNSt-w-niNZI6bZe2IxV12GJQqnKV-1ZlwIp4XF8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Phillip Helbig (not verified)</span> on 02 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817805">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1817806" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506931387"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>No, because archaeology PhDs are a dime a dozen in Scandinavia. There is no need to nurture individual ones. Tomorrow there will be ten new ones to choose from.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817806&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="r98o3gePxEPpiibjP4uiybHuYJcvxSQE2PuSVfw1Ix4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 02 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817806">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817807" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506936592"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Cynic or reaslist? :-|</p> <p>Surely the best strategy is to give the best people permanent jobs as soon as you are reasonably confident that they are the best.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817807&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="pz_daJxUXRSkhxmoqnf3mZ03yMr3VnV4wHoZ5134HUw"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Phillip Helbig (not verified)</span> on 02 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817807">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817808" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506944384"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>FUUUUUCK!<br /> (OT) Las Vegas shooting: death toll rises to 50 as police name suspect – latest updates <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2017/oct/02/las-vegas-two-dead-in-mandalay-bay-casino-shooting-latest-updates">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2017/oct/02/las-vegas-two-dead…</a></p> <p>Predicted outcome: NRA will say this had nothing to do with guns.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817808&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="nDOlJX9jYzwJhfCDePYccbCgMcALNZCdHXJDkdEwk1c"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">BirgerJohansson (not verified)</span> on 02 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817808">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817809" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506944698"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>...Also, the media is naturally calling him a “lone wolf”, since he’s white and so can’t possibly be a terrorist fed conspiracy theories.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817809&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="K2L6Kk_enVpvPHMVbHDbF_UqN5utrirPi19924210Q8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">BirgerJohansson (not verified)</span> on 02 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817809">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> Mon, 02 Oct 2017 06:25:58 +0000 aardvarchaeology 56314 at https://scienceblogs.com Yeah, Screw You Too, Academia https://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2017/09/29/yeah-screw-you-too-academia <span>Yeah, Screw You Too, Academia</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I recently received a long-awaited verdict on an official complaint I had filed: there was in fact nothing formally wrong with the decision by the <a href="http://historiskastudier.gu.se/">Dept of Historical Studies in Gothenburg</a> to hire Zeppo Begonia. Since the verdict didn't go my way, as planned I am now turning my back on academic archaeology. The reason is that qualifications don't count in Scandyland.</p> <p>Being friends with people inside, and preferably being a local product, is what gets you academic jobs here. I need to cut my losses and move on. I would call this post a burning of bridges if there were any to burn, but there are none. Fourteen years on this joke of a job “market” have demonstrated that it doesn't matter whom I piss off now: there won't be a steady job for me either way.</p> <p>I've been applying for academic jobs all over Scandinavia since 2003. The longest employment I've been able to secure was a 6-month temp lectureship at 55% of full time – during one of three happy years when I headed freshman archaeology in remote Umeå. But time and time again, I've seen jobs given to dramatically less qualified colleagues.</p> <p>Norwegian university recruitment is particularly ugly. There, rules stipulate that the “external” hiring committee has to be chaired by a senior faculty member from the hiring department itself – with predictable results. The most egregious case I've seen was not long ago at the University of Oslo's archaeological museum, where a [uniquely young] recent [University of Oslo] PhD with hardly any publications at all got a steady research lectureship. She had been working closely with a professor at the museum. Who chaired the hiring committee. And who was once, prior to this, super angry with me when I complained about the Norwegian system on Facebook, haha! I've seen the same thing at the Oslo uni department and at NTNU in Trondheim recently. Local people with poor qualifications who could never compete anywhere else get permanent positions.</p> <p>Denmark's system is completely non-transparent. You don't get a list of who applied and you don't get to read their evaluations, like you do in Sweden and Norway. What tends to happen in my experience is that you get a glowingly enthusiastic evaluation, which feels super nice, and then they hire some Dane. The country has only two archaeology departments that produce these strangely employable Danes.</p> <p>Finland's university humanities used to be poorly funded. To boot they have recently been radically de-funded from that prior low level. The Finns understandably never advertise any jobs at all.</p> <p>Sweden is no better than its neighbours. Our hiring committees for <i>steady</i> jobs are fully external, so that's good. But you get steady jobs on the strength of your temping experience. And temp teachers are hired with no external involvement at all, like in the recent case of Zeppo Begonia in Gothenburg. This was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. The Faculty of Humanities at this university, let me remind you, was <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/swedish-academia-is-no-meritocracy">severely censured</a> by the Swedish Higher Education Authority back in May for many years of gross misconduct in their hiring practices. Local favouritism is the deal here.</p> <p>There are quite a few people in Scandy academic archaeology whom I'd like to see driving a bus for a living. Zeppo Begonia is not one of them. He is a solid empiricist prehistorian of Central European origin whose work I respect and admire. If you ask me who should get research funding, I will reply “Zeppo Begonia”. I would like to see many more Zeppoes in my discipline. I think we should import them to replace some of our own shoddy products. But look at our respective qualifications for this measly one-year temp lectureship at 60%.</p> <ul> <li>The ad specified that you needed solid knowledge of Scandy archaeology to do the job. I'm 45 and I've worked full time in Scandy archaeology for 25 years. Zeppo is 39 and started working and publishing here four years ago.</li> <li>I have published five academic books. Zeppo has published one.</li> <li>I have published 45 journal papers and book chapters in a wide range of respected outlets. Zeppo has published 23.</li> <li>Zeppo and I have both been temp teachers for some percentage of four academic years.</li> <li>I have published 29 pieces of pop-sci, including one book, plus eleven years of this blog. Zeppo has published no pop-sci.</li> <li>Out of Zeppo's research output, little deals with Scandy archaeology, but several of these pieces are co-authored with senior figures in archaeology at the University of Gothenburg. Hint, hint.</li> </ul> <p>This, as you can see, is just ridiculous. And there is no legal recourse unless you are discriminated against on grounds of race, gender etc. The appeals board has proved to ignore qualification issues. Believe me, I've tried.</p> <p>To finish off, a few words for my colleagues at Scandinavian archaeology departments. Have you published five academic books and 45 journal papers? Are you extremely popular with the students? Have you worked in Scandinavian archaeology for at least 25 years? Have you got other heavy qualifications, like an 18-year stint as managing editor of a major journal and 11 years of keeping one of the world's biggest archaeology blogs? If your answer to any of these questions is no, then I would have your job if Scandy academic archaeology were a meritocracy.</p> <p><i>The head of department, Helène Whittaker, has declined to comment on the case of Zeppo Begonia. I use this pseudonym for him to emphasise that he has done nothing wrong. He just applied for a job.</i></p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a></span> <span>Fri, 09/29/2017 - 02:27</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/denmark" hreflang="en">Denmark</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/noibn" hreflang="en">NOIBN</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/norway" hreflang="en">norway</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/sweden" hreflang="en">sweden</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/academia" hreflang="en">Academia</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/scandinavia" hreflang="en">scandinavia</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/denmark" hreflang="en">Denmark</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/norway" hreflang="en">norway</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817784" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506668241"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>If it helps, I've found life outside academia to be very agreeable. Less stress, greater security, and, actually, more freedom to plan and implement my job than when I was staff scientist.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817784&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="eOQh3eicTBBbKs4NTJRJefOX2Aj6cNqQ2s3ymian6FA"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Janne (not verified)</span> on 29 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817784">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817785" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506670047"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Desperately unjust and disheartening. I am no stranger to such unjust treatment, towards the latter part of my previous career. A lot of people sympathised and expressed to me their sympathy and sense that I had been treated unfairly - I was grateful for their sentiments, but they actually did nothing to help. The bitterness it engendered in me hurt no one but myself. Carried too long, the bitterness can translate into real serious physical illness.</p> <p>In financial circles there is a thing called the 'sunk cost fallacy':<br /> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalation_of_commitment">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalation_of_commitment</a></p> <p>The term also applies in military conflicts.</p> <p>The rational actor accepts that the 'sunk cost' has turned out to be a bad investment, despite showing early promise, and determines not to throw any more resources in after it, but instead pursues a different and more promising direction. The sooner that the rational actor comes to this decision, the better off he will be.</p> <p>Cutting your losses and moving on without a backward glance, and if possible without harbouring feelings of bitterness (difficult, I know) is the very best thing you can do for yourself, and will cause you the least harm.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817785&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="-rV8IzWIirVreJkutKiu8ZROT2uuikeZ8n9_WgLsVJU"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 29 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817785">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817786" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506680156"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Academia in 'Merca: "Facing poverty, academics turn to sex work and sleeping in cars" <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/28/adjunct-professors-homeless-sex-work-academia-poverty">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/28/adjunct-professors-home…</a></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817786&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="dhEjiwJ_os0qhe2Jd0sehVfRPDQpIJMpln06wzkGKAw"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">BirgerJohansson (not verified)</span> on 29 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817786">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817787" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506681956"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I'm so sorry that things didn't work out, Martin. So... you've got qualifications, you're a good communicator and you have an internet audience. What's your next step in life?<br /> PS, if it's sex work, please don't post videos...</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817787&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="8xx_xnMXswrOxeh5fXX3ITDpHkrJ2k9Ff2Ep0Rg8yW0"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Jim Sweeney (not verified)</span> on 29 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817787">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817788" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506684365"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Not to downgrade "Scandy" problems, but here at the University of Washington in Seattle WA USA the Regents violate the Washington State Open Meetings Act; they carved out a special, phony, high-paying job for a Seattle mayoral candidate who recently had to resign as Mayor of Seattle in the face of numerous allegations of past criminal behavior; and they have partnered with the student-murdering government of China to open up a "Global Innovation Exchange" near Microsoft. My alma mater University of Washington has become a corrupt, money-chasing elite club of country-club types and corporate whores who care not one whit about student lives or student welfare. <b>Remember the Tiananmen Massacre!</b></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817788&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="zn7HjvsQ8kHm66bjSr8fnvk8eWc5NWTRJuO2QANXJaE"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" content="Mentifex (Arthur T. Murray)">Mentifex (Arth… (not verified)</span> on 29 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817788">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817789" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506693314"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Archaeology is shitty.<br /> "No. 2 if by sea: Outhouse tied to Paul Revere is excavated" <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-09-sea-outhouse-tied-paul-revere.html">https://phys.org/news/2017-09-sea-outhouse-tied-paul-revere.html</a></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817789&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="e8-QP-ua0Aks5kUZrIbbSWB0BRYnCUWpY04fCHQbfpg"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">BirgerJohansson (not verified)</span> on 29 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817789">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817790" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506693610"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>PhDs are grossly overproduced so that very fine academics, such as yourself, have little hope of getting tenure-track positions. All of us employed outside or inside academia should be sympathetic. </p> <p>Here in the U.S., collegiality, attitude, "fit", and predicted future productivity are all taken into account in hiring. It is not enough to say "X has more publications than Y, therefore X must be hired" (or, if Y is already employed there, that Y's job should be given to X). After all, that doesn't even take into account the quality of publications; it's only a bean count. </p> <p>As for pop-sci and blogging, some departments may love that, but if too much time is spent on that, others will view it as a distraction from "real" scholarship. You have shown that you can be productive in both areas at once, but departments may still see the former as a time-waster. Maybe not fair, but the reality of academia.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817790&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="YmdPjUxwJxrjx6ClH6p7_VUcXKMSnl9SK6_v0l3Y5p4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">jane (not verified)</span> on 29 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817790">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817791" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506711162"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I'm sorry to hear about your situation as well. I'm not an academic, but I'm having similar issues as an older lawyer without what we call "portable business" in the US. What do you plan to do next?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817791&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="jpIPraFrFysC6OnqIOKBaYHlYBP-ziT0gyYkPdAxIf8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Catherine Raymond (not verified)</span> on 29 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817791">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817792" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506718515"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Martin, why was Scandinavia the only option? In the fields I know better, its pretty much expected that you will apply for jobs around the world if you are serious about a teaching career (even though that weighs the scales against those with spouses, dependents, or health problems). Canada has a larger population than the five Scandy countries put together, but that is still not a large academic job market. </p> <p>The Assyriologists in Finland seem to have a bit of money this decade, but I think I am going to google that "radically de-funded" bit.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817792&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="ilUlwVaSRf7kJyWDbtDHT82sDfslhcTkqqZ7gZddneo"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Sean M (not verified)</span> on 29 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817792">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1817793" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506748024"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Thank you everyone for your kind words!</p> <p>John, you are absolutely right, this is a time to remember the sunk cost fallacy.</p> <p>Catherine, I have begun asking around for work in contract archaeology. This non-academic business offers the great majority of jobs in my field, and has to do with land development.</p> <p>Sean, archaeology is strongly regional. My knowledge of archaeological finds and structures is useless in southern Europe, not to mention other continents. I've applied for numerous jobs in the UK on the strength of the Viking connection, with no result.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817793&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="_mJd5wo_yXY5LdzXFDWv1DXbtUD4e2UVR3fIJzWCisc"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 30 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817793">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817794" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506751394"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>You got that right! All the best and good luck!</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817794&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="mTvvWbsvPo11osmEL4UuoXYy0aArWc0SyAtmsQi-Tz0"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Mads Møller Nielsen (not verified)</span> on 30 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817794">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <div class="indented"> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1817795" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506753376"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Thank you Mads!</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817795&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="rhKiMGFas5OPquBfedC9Qk8NhPVov7wha3weseXpLtQ"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 30 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817795">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> <p class="visually-hidden">In reply to <a href="/comment/1817794#comment-1817794" class="permalink" rel="bookmark" hreflang="en"></a> by <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Mads Møller Nielsen (not verified)</span></p> </footer> </article> </div> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817796" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506848747"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Work to live, not live to work..but keep on chasing rainbows Martin.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817796&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="n4ZxyWNJszznIJY1wUS13bKzGbob-BjE4FwkwrGiaNE"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">David Huggins (not verified)</span> on 01 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817796">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817797" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507039907"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>To my experience the ONLY thing counting in academia is publishing in high profile peer-review journals. </p> <p>That is:<br /> Books: "What is this?" - 0 points<br /> Book chapters: "Oh, pleeze..." - 0 points<br /> Articles in non peer-review journals (like FV): "Give me a break!" - 0 points<br /> Popular science: "HAHAHAHA!"</p> <p>So, how was the stand between you and Zeppo with this system in mind?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817797&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="Ao-M_ohaF1k7mLgfxEFESUoEOWt00crWUpE1oDe-GMc"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Jens Heimdahl (not verified)</span> on 03 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817797">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <div class="indented"> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1817798" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507040871"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I still beat him, but not by as large an amount.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817798&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="fgqSBn7_kbsY8_U2LseqvMlFzXo-l1zeZ93SlILLO14"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 03 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817798">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> <p class="visually-hidden">In reply to <a href="/comment/1817797#comment-1817797" class="permalink" rel="bookmark" hreflang="en"></a> by <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Jens Heimdahl (not verified)</span></p> </footer> </article> </div> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817799" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507086360"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Looking in from the outside, for a discipline like Archaeology, active involvement in field work seems like it should be an important component. Actually, essential, I would have thought.</p> <p>For my own specialist discipline, Geotechnical Engineering, going to site is an essential component. There is no place for 'desk jockeys'. I have sacked Geotechnical Engineers who declined to engage in field work (or who pretended they were going to site when they weren't - spending whole days on site in rough terrain wearing a three piece woollen pin-striped suit and polished leather shoes? In the middle of a tropical Hong Kong summer? Not once, but frequently? Really? See that door over there? Walk through it and don't come back.)</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817799&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="PeZCg6AIeQLuFKqGVWh7ERkweD67z8z24G8b94-zCCE"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 03 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817799">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817800" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507121082"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>At <a href="http://www.dailyuw.com/eclipse_services_classifieds">http://www.dailyuw.com/eclipse_services_classifieds</a> there is now a campaign to break up the nefarious relationship between the University of Washington in pursuit of greedy revenues and the student-murdering government of China.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817800&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="KY49v6yJykkad6jpS-UcEaXlllVkrR0AfV0W4JoY8aU"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" content="Mentifex (Arthur T. Murray)">Mentifex (Arth… (not verified)</span> on 04 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817800">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817801" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507551651"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>The US academic market is worse in most respects than what you have been dealing with in Scandinavia. Hiring committees are always comprised of professors in the hiring department. Rumor mill sites exist (at least in physics), but you can never officially know who else is applying, other than the person who ultimately accepts the job. And it's not unusual to see applicant numbers in the triple digits for a single position, so the committee often must weed out qualified applicants even before the interview stage.</p> <p>The US actually does have laws against discrimination on the basis of age (as long as you are between 18 and 70). I understand that is unusual, and that many countries are free to consider you "over the hill" because you have passed your 40th birthday.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817801&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="SmuFuRfC4g9C_XWyJSPXhbhOiAvWLUMrom7-4V_3Wzo"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span> on 09 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817801">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <div class="indented"> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1817802" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507554529"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Eric, I believe US hiring committees rarely pick a locally educated applicant, though.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817802&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="YqtoX4pmHZwqImXfas7Xz220ms7noGRFZAVJ5MTDGkQ"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 09 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817802">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> <p class="visually-hidden">In reply to <a href="/comment/1817801#comment-1817801" class="permalink" rel="bookmark" hreflang="en"></a> by <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span></p> </footer> </article> </div> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817803" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507560796"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Martin, that depends strongly on the institution and department. In some fields, most especially chemistry, it is expected that faculty will have undergraduate degrees, Ph.D.s, and postdocs at three different institutions, none of which is the hiring institution. Physics, especially in large departments, is somewhat more forgiving: while such cases are rare, I do know of people who came to their institution as first-year students and never left. And while there is plenty of demand for both entry-level researchers and top level people, mobility for mid-career types like me is just about nil. Many physics departments will follow chemistry's example in insisting on hiring outsiders as faculty, but that is not always the case.</p> <p>I have no direct knowledge of what the situation is in the humanities, other than that we, like everybody else, are overproducing Ph.D.s. But you would almost certainly be having difficulties in the US system, because the chances of getting a tenure-track position are vanishingly small for anybody whose degree is from one of the top-ranked (between 10 and 20) US universities. For example, a local construction contractor who has done some work on my house has a Ph.D. in history with a specialty in Colonial era music. In his case it was a hobby that he was serious enough about to pursue a Ph.D. When I first met him, he was a student, and he was doing construction work to pay the bills. He continues to do construction work because it pays far better than any job he could get with his Ph.D. Our history program has historically been one of our top-ranked Ph.D. programs, but it is definitely not in the top 20.</p> <p>One scam that is routine in the US is the overly specific job advertisement (this is not limited to academia; you see it in the private sector as well). Sometimes the hiring department knows in advance exactly whom they want to hire, and write the job description such that the preferred candidate is the only one who qualifies. I don't waste my time applying for those jobs because I know they are looking for somebody else.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817803&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="IC0LYR4Gxgb3IDHmUNPiZ21WxMd-j3x8hpeQepQSkow"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span> on 09 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817803">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <div class="indented"> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1817804" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1507561259"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I think there's a "not" missing from "the chances of getting a tenure-track position are vanishingly small for anybody whose degree is from one of the top-ranked (between 10 and 20) US universities".</p> <p>The overly specific job ad is well known in Scandyland too. We call it the "shoe size ad".</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817804&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="JIDhCmiH3KpijdohCJgNsE744FcayXEEQKNcrH5WF-Y"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 09 Oct 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817804">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> <p class="visually-hidden">In reply to <a href="/comment/1817803#comment-1817803" class="permalink" rel="bookmark" hreflang="en"></a> by <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span></p> </footer> </article> </div> </section> Fri, 29 Sep 2017 06:27:20 +0000 aardvarchaeology 56313 at https://scienceblogs.com A Female Viking Warrior Interred at Birka https://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2017/09/12/a-female-viking-warrior-interred-at-birka <span>A Female Viking Warrior Interred at Birka</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p lang="en-GB" xml:lang="en-GB">In archaeology, we distinguish osteological sex from artefact gender. Osteo-sex is with very few exceptions (odd chromosomal setups) the same thing as what your genitals are like. Artefact gender is the material correlate of a role you play according to the conventions of your time: e.g. whether you keep your genitals in Y-fronts or lacy knickers. We judge these two parameters from separate source materials. Your skeleton can't tell us anything about your gender, and your grave goods can't tell us anything about your osteo-sex. They are in principle able to vary independently.</p> <p lang="en-GB" xml:lang="en-GB">Nevertheless, 1st millennium Scandinavians seem to have been quite conventional about this: mismatches between osteo-sex and artefact gender are extremely rare. The graves are clearly divided into osteo-female jewellery graves and osteo-male weapon graves. If you exclude cremated bones and poorly preserved inhumations that can cause misdeterminations, the number of mismatches shrinks even more. And when you do see a mismatch it's typically partial: e.g. a male skeleton buried with a full set of weaponry and horse gear, plus a single ladylike brooch. I was until recently not aware of any well-preserved and richly furnished Scandy inhumation of the 1st millennium with a complete mismatch between osteo-sex and artefact gender. But now we have one.</p> <p lang="en-GB" xml:lang="en-GB">Birka's grave 581 is one of the famous chamber inhumation graves where this Swedish Viking town's 10th century elite buried their dead. It has loads of high-quality weaponry and two horses. It has no hint of any female attire. And it has the skeleton of a person whose funny bent position suggests that, like in many other chamber graves, the individual was buried sitting on a chair and then keeled over inside the chamber.</p> <p lang="en-GB" xml:lang="en-GB">In the 1970s, the skeleton had become disassociated from the artefact finds, and an osteologist (sadly uncredited in the paper discussed below) quietly identified it as female. In 2014 osteologist Anna Kjellström identified the bones as belonging to Bj 581, the famous weapon burial, and agreed that the skeleton is female. Certain archaeologists have replied that they don't believe this because of the weapons. Others have suggested more diplomatically that maybe the bones represent two individuals, or that a male body was removed while still articulated. Others again have simply dismissed the whole issue with reference to 19th century sloppiness in keeping the Birka bones correctly labelled grave by grave.</p> <p lang="en-GB" xml:lang="en-GB">Now a team of researchers, of whom I am proud to count half as my professional buddies, have sequenced the genomes of the bones. Yes, plural. To test if the skull and one arm are from the same person. There is only one person there, and just as Kjellström said, she's biologically a woman. I am extremely happy with this investigation, because it gives us our first real female Viking, and it shows that osteologists can indeed judge osteo-sex correctly on well-preserved ancient skeletons. Very commendably, the paper is <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.23308/epdf">available online in full for free</a>: Open Access.</p> <p lang="en-GB" xml:lang="en-GB">Here's a few notes.</p> <ul> <li lang="en-GB" xml:lang="en-GB">The grave was selected for analysis because of the controversy over its osteo-sex. It is not a randomly chosen weapon burial that happened to prove female. If you pick a random Birka inhumation, this is not the result you are likely to get.</li> <li lang="en-GB" xml:lang="en-GB">Assuming that burial furnishings speak directly about a person's role in life (which is always debatable), we don't know if the dead person was perceived as a cross-dressing woman, or just as a man. In other words, we have no way to tell if she was “out”. There are examples of both from later centuries, where for instance Joan of Arc never tried to pass as a man despite wearing armour and commanding an army.</li> <li lang="en-GB" xml:lang="en-GB">The plan of the grave shows which bones were well preserved. This should be enough to counter the charge that maybe the skeleton currently labelled Bj 581 is not in fact the one found in this weapon grave. This the authors should have written a few sentences about. I take their silence to mean that having already published her arguments about this elsewhere, Kjellström considers the issue uncontroversial.</li> <li lang="en-GB" xml:lang="en-GB">We still can't rule out the early removal of an articulated male body. But such an argument ex silentio would demand that we place similar female bodies in all other weapon graves as well. We can't just create the bodies we want in order for the material to look neat.</li> </ul> <p lang="en-GB" xml:lang="en-GB">The “Discussion” section hasn't been properly copy-edited.</p> <ul> <li lang="en-GB" xml:lang="en-GB">I don't know what “The archaeological material provides a reference for the Viking Age” means.</li> <li lang="en-GB" xml:lang="en-GB">Because of the odd phrasing, I don't know what the authors are trying to say about earlier scholarship here: “Although not possible to rule out, previous arguments have likely neglected intersectional perspectives where the social status of the individual was considered of greater importance than biological sex. This type of reasoning takes away the agency of the buried female.”</li> <li lang="en-GB" xml:lang="en-GB">“Grave Bj 581 is one of three known examples where *the* individual has been treated in accordance with prevailing warrior ideals lacking all associations with the female gender” : “The” here should be “a female”.</li> </ul> <p>Hedenstierna-Jonson, Charlotte et al. 2017. A female Viking warrior confirmed by genomics. <em>American Journal of Physical Anthropology</em> 2017. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23308</p> <p><i>I <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2013/07/29/shield-maidens-true-or-false/">discussed the issue of shield maidens</a> in 2013, the year before Anna Kjellström went public with her identification of the female skeleton with Bj 581.</i></p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a></span> <span>Tue, 09/12/2017 - 08:20</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/gender" hreflang="en">gender</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/vikings" hreflang="en">vikings</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817661" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1505306797"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p><a href="http://norseandviking.blogspot.hk/2017/09/lets-debate-female-viking-warriors-yet.html?m=1">http://norseandviking.blogspot.hk/2017/09/lets-debate-female-viking-war…</a></p> <p>I read that, but can't say that I (a) particularly enjoyed it or (b) am much the wiser for it. OK, I get the point, actually already had it, that there were not dozens or hundreds of fierce shield maidens terrorising various parts of Europe during the Viking Period. But, from what you say, there are three known examples of females buried with all of the accoutrements and trappings of war, and lacking any grave goods normally associated with females; so, rare, but not unique or unknown.</p> <p>So, Bj 581 is not unique, which tends to puncture the "mixed up remains" idea at least somewhat.</p> <p>I am still fixated on the remains themselves, which are now clearly demonstrated to be unequivocally female, the DNA confirming the osteology, and that they are of a single individual.</p> <p> A quick online check (which I should have made earlier) suggests that she was about the same height as the average male Viking - so, for a woman, she would have been considered to be quite strikingly tall; well above the mean for Viking females. I had assumed that the mean height of Viking males in their prime years would have been taller, but evidently not.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817661&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="LSBeQV1o8AqOqB7hPj6zS22Db-p2BW3PeIruM7LJgKI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 13 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817661">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817662" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1505557442"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Is this interesting comment by Fedir Androshchuk really not worth mentioning?<br /> <a href="https://www.academia.edu/34564381/FEMALE_VIKING_REVISED?campaign=upload_email">https://www.academia.edu/34564381/FEMALE_VIKING_REVISED?campaign=upload…</a></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817662&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="HLhctPJH9wM_iZCpNkyuSSS_cWhdjTUlAW5qJYPN5Os"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" content="Vilhjálmur Örn Vilhjálmsson">Vilhjálmur Örn… (not verified)</span> on 16 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817662">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817663" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1505560012"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>... and not to forget Judith Jesch's important contribution, might it not now be in order to ask for a second opinion with a thorough revision of the material used for the DNA sequencing of Bj 581? See <a href="http://norseandviking.blogspot.dk/2017/09/lets-debate-female-viking-warriors-yet.html#links">http://norseandviking.blogspot.dk/2017/09/lets-debate-female-viking-war…</a> </p> <p>DNA-scientists' despect for everything except DNA is not a new problem. Because of bad statistics in connection with DNA studies, Icelanders are now allegedly descendants exclusively by "Celtic" women (females from the British isles) and Norse men, although this cannot be detected in traditional osteology, indexing of limb proportions, etc.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817663&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="FBun0xDf69nDk_tFRGmFHOZ-CU0Q1zoU_K1Iq3SCjCg"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" content="Vilhjálmur Örn Vilhjálmsson">Vilhjálmur Örn… (not verified)</span> on 16 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817663">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817664" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1505565584"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Vilhjálmur@3 - To be fair, in this case the DNA testing was done simply to cross-check and confirm the osteological findings. And determining an XX individual from an XY individual is about the simplest DNA determination there is - no statistics required. But then, the osteology should be pretty clear also. Whether the remains of the individual tested are properly associated with the grave goods in grave 581 is not something I can comment on with any knowledge.</p> <p>I share the frustration with the sensationalising of the finding, extending into hyperbole, but unfortunately there are always people who will do that. </p> <p>In the case of Icelanders that you refer to, those DNA studies sound very dodgy to me, because geneticists cannot differentiate 'Celtic' from others. My understanding is that 'Celts' were never a genetically distinct population, and certainly there is no reference population of 'Celtic people' that geneticists can refer to - not as such. They can differentiate post-Roman British inhabitants from Anglo-Saxons, pretty well, but that is about all.</p> <p>They can differentiate "British/Irish" as a single population (they cannot separate those two populations) from "Scandinavians" as a separate population. They cannot differentiate between French and German as two distinct populations, so my Prussian great grandfather whose mother was actually half French and half Spanish just shows up in my ancestry as "French/German" (one group) and "Iberian" (another group).</p> <p>So you are right to be dismissive of those studies of Icelanders, in my opinion - they definitely sound very suspicious to me.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817664&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="SKeQDh8Mc8_LUss75ig02cfXnur1ETfISZEdi1CHd4s"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 16 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817664">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817665" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1505577025"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>John Massey, thank you very much for your comment. I should have added that the studies of the maternity of first settlers in Iceland bases solely on the mitochondrial DNA in modern Icelanders, as studied by Iceland-based genetic-enterprise deCode (Íslensk Erfðagreining). No ancient DNA was studied. The DNA researchers didn't bother to mention the results of the most resent results of metric studies on human bones from Icelandic Viking Age burials. The main responsible researcher knew them well. Such a study was initiated by me and Human biologist Dr. Hans Christian Petersen of Odense University (University of Southern Denmark) in the first part of the 1990s. H.C. Petersens' results clearly indicated a British / Insular influx in the first Icelandic population, while the bulk of the first settlers, whose bones were measured, showed the closest relationship to values measured on Norwegian Iron Age and Medieval populations. The settlers, who matched best the British / Insular indexes were about 15 % of the measured individuals. 10 to 15 % of the individuals showed values and traits similar to Saami ones. Thus, Petersens' results didn't contradict the information which possibly can be extracted from the Landnámabók and other written sources of the 12th century about the origins of the first settlers in Iceland. Thus, the British Isles / Celtic / Insular origin of the Landnam-women of Iceland claimed by DNA-sequencing of modern Icelanders lacks all support from osteological observations of the bones of the first settlers themselves.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817665&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="_KDGkWCkc-sxuwBNwlLbJchvGnRZWAEP4uN8KZi5tTk"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" content="Vilhjálmur Örn Vilhjálmsson">Vilhjálmur Örn… (not verified)</span> on 16 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817665">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817666" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1505637510"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Vilhjálmur - Thanks.</p> <p>Just using the mtDNA to identify origin of first settlers is questionable, because they are not identified uniquely with any particular population.</p> <p>To use an example, my mtDNA is from a female associated with Pleistocene hunter-gatherers in Europe, which is pretty rare among modern European populations, occurring at a frequency of only about 5%. But I cannot tell anything at all about where in Europe that ancient ancestor might have been located. She might have been Saami, for all I know, but there is simply no way to tell.</p> <p>From my brief reading of Icelandic history, it seems the first settlers did take some 'Gaelic' people with them (as serfs or slaves or whatever), but Gaelic is a language group, not a genetic population, and I have never seen mtDNA haplogroups uniquely assigned to any Gaelic ethno-linguistic group. It seems very unlikely to me that *all* modern Icelanders would be descended from Gaelic-speaking women, even if the mtDNA of such women could be uniquely identified.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817666&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="jbSR3_Dayt9WumvWc78R-hPkMBCxZ06EJXRV9uNvQGg"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 17 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817666">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817667" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1505661696"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I don' t really see why so many get worked up about warriors/soldiers. I mean, they exist in all agricultural societies, and sometimes women got work as archers.<br /> But there was nothing remotely romantic about it, not then and not today.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817667&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="9-dAjfku6HqmVGmmftwNAMLxE8pQ-tXQBRGhJkYMxec"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 17 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817667">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817668" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1505706295"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>90% boredom and 10% terror, for normative soldiers.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817668&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="k9jFV6dTWR2ncDpffvHaKPW-ygpU-KD7adQ-CgS5B8g"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 17 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817668">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1817669" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1505706495"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>90% girls and 10% boys, for heteronormative soldiers. :-D</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817669&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="YMohzyIIGfdi5FaJVJTmx09r1Q5rAV4X2CbF7YgUd5g"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 17 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817669">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817670" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1506223676"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Native Americans sometimes had women fighters, at least according to contemporary documents post contact. The translated term was "second soul". Women who had such a soul would live as men and get all the rights men had including the right to take wives. It wouldn't be shocking to find this kind of gender crossing in other societies.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817670&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="ioTRMBApDf5ykYJHXCWEI2WJIxEm3OK-8BH7RXScXM0"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Kaleberg (not verified)</span> on 23 Sep 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817670">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> Tue, 12 Sep 2017 12:20:18 +0000 aardvarchaeology 56311 at https://scienceblogs.com The Director General Responds https://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2017/07/21/the-director-general-responds <span>The Director General Responds</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>It seems that my comments yesterday on the small issue of signage at Ales stenar touched a nerve regarding something bigger, having to do with the National Heritage Board's overall societal role in relationship to archaeology and public outreach. Lars Amréus is the Board's Director General, an archaeologist and Qaisar Mahmood's boss. He has kindly written a guest entry in response to mine. My comments will follow in a later entry.</p> <p>-----</p> <p>I’m a regular follower of Dr. Rundkvist's blog. I often find it both interesting and engaging. Above all, I appreciate that Dr. Rundkvist is an ardent advocate for knowledge, fact and scientific method, which I believe is hugely important in our times of “fake news” and “fact resistance”.<br /> Therefore, I was surprised to read Dr. Rundkvist's blog entry about the archaeological site Ales stenar, since it contains several errors, some of which could easily have been avoided with some simple googling.<br /> The entry has been written out of the assumption that the Swedish National Heritage Board (RAÄ) owns or manages the site. This is not true. For some time now, this has been the responsibility of the Swedish National Property Board, a government agency whose primary purpose is to manage and disseminate information about historic buildings, landscapes and ancient monuments of Swedish national importance. Consequently, there is no RAÄ staff working at the site, and RAÄ is not responsible for the information presented at the site.<br /> The County Administrative Board of Skåne has decided that a sign presenting what might be described as “alternative facts” about the site should be allowed to be displayed. Dr. Rundkvist criticizes RAÄ for not appealing this decision to court. However, the fact of the matter is that there is simply no legal ground for RAÄ to appeal.<br /> As an archaeologist, it is sometimes frustrating to see how archaeological sites are used for various purposes: political, personal and otherwise. But perhaps we need to remind ourselves that in the other end of the scales lays Freedom of Speech. In an open and democratic society people do have the right to say many things; even incorrect, stupid or repulsive.<br /> Some of us may be surprised, and perhaps even saddened, by the decision of the County Administrative Board to allow “alternative facts” to be presented at Ales stenar. But until proven otherwise, it must be considered as a decision that rests on Swedish law.<br /> Regardless of what some may believe, it is not the responsibility of RAÄ to be the judge of which interpretations are correct, incorrect or perhaps partly correct when it comes to archaeological sites in general. The information presented at each site is the responsibility of the owner/site-manager, in practice often in co-operation with the County Administrative Board. As far as I know, there is no formal way of bringing on-site information to scrutiny by a national expert authority.<br /> The wider discussion of the interpretation of archaeological sites lies, of course, with the scientific community as a whole. It would be highly inappropriate, and indeed impossible, for a government agency such as RAÄ to act as a judge in matters of academia.<br /> Finally, I strongly resent that Dr. Rundkvist implies that decisions at RAÄ are made (by a named official) based on (his claimed – not proven) political preferences. RAÄ is an agency under the Swedish government and by the rule of Swedish law. Dr. Rundkvist presents no evidence to suggest decisions have been made outside the mandate given to the Board. Given the main purpose of his blog, he should stay clear of presenting such theories without evidence to support it.</p> <p>Lars Amréus<br /> Director-General<br /> Swedish National Heritage Board</p> <p> </p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a></span> <span>Fri, 07/21/2017 - 07:03</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/bob-lind" hreflang="en">Bob Lind</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817165" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1500649294"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Dear Mr Amréus,<br /> Let me ask you: what about my right, as a citizen who cares to be well-informed, to have signs at our heritage sites display what is accepted scholarly consensus or the current state of discussion, where there is no such consensus? Surely I have a right not to be mislead by official-looking signs into believing a local amateur's theory, which is in no way proven or even accepted by experts? Does not the state and its agents have any responsibility on this subject, or is the aim to present multiple theories, in the interest of free speech, and let us try to find out on our own which ones to believe?<br /> Best regards,<br /> Kristina Hildebrand (Dr)</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817165&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="P7yLGq6MPT4MdN_xuns3k1e4vSm7v6oMWepFYomtoQY"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Kristina (not verified)</span> on 21 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817165">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817166" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1500650538"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Dear Dr. Hildebrand,<br /> RAÄ has no involvement in this matter. We don't manage the site. We are not responsible for allowing the signs. I've tried to put the decision of the County Administrative Board into context, I haven't defended it. Maybe your question should be directed to the County Administrative Board? Or perhaps to your politician of choice, in case you find the present legislation on these matters to be unsatisfactory.<br /> Sincerely,<br /> Lars Amréus</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817166&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="tImcinW8BjQULvCxhV5MJMxlVwUH9Zw-Or0yZypTDAQ"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Lars Amreus (not verified)</span> on 21 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817166">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817167" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1500656473"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Dear Mr Amréus,<br /> I have contacted them with this question. Yet I would like to point out that your argument concerning freedom of speech does, indeed, read like defending the decision to post the sign. This might be due to an unfortunate choice of words, but is, nevertheless, the impression it leaves.<br /> Best regards,<br /> Kristina Hildebrand</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817167&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="pe6lYBXsgV5stBAHRn5LOHf2SKry-vPkS-EURLHOIcc"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Kristina (not verified)</span> on 21 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817167">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817168" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1500710561"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Dear Dr. Hildebrand,<br /> I think you may have misinterpreted me. But your'e quite right, of course. Freedom of speech does come with limitations. I was surprised by the decision to allow the sign. Ales stenar is a significant monument. It's owned by the State and has hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Naturally, I would prefer for all information presented at the site to be as informative and scientifically correct as possible.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817168&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="jdxBOdP_3A4AqO7R3s9bprQ7uYCkf4cSIJMVr9ToCYQ"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Lars Amreus (not verified)</span> on 22 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817168">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="comment-forbidden"><a href="/user/login?destination=/aardvarchaeology/2017/07/21/the-director-general-responds%23comment-form">Log in</a> to post comments</li></ul> Fri, 21 Jul 2017 11:03:03 +0000 aardvarchaeology 56302 at https://scienceblogs.com National Heritage Board Abdicates Again At Ales Stenar https://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2017/07/20/national-heritage-board-abdicates-again-at-ales-stenar <span>National Heritage Board Abdicates Again At Ales Stenar</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Bob Lind has yet again managed to get the National Heritage Board to abdicate its responsibility at Ales Stenar, a beautiful 7th century AD burial monument near Ystad in southern Sweden. Bob has self-published odd interpretations of the site that have found no traction among professional archaeologists. He has kept vigil at Ales stenar for decades, lecturing to visitors, ranting at the municipal guides and occasionally attacking them. He has a very large sign on site, next to the National Heritage Board's, with permission from the County Archaeologist. My colleague Björn Wallebom has criticised this, and the local paper ran <a href="https://unvis.it/ystadsallehanda.se/ystad/arkeologer-kraver-att-alternativ-skylt-tas-bort">a critical article</a> yesterday, quoting myself and others.</p> <p>In 2007 the National Heritage Board's representative Ewa Bergdahl <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2007/07/24/swedish-heritage-board-we-have-1/">said on this subject</a>,</p> <blockquote><p>There isn’t just one single truth. This place is so incredibly more complex than previously believed, … You have no privileged position with us just because you do research at a university</p></blockquote> <p>And this tiresome old post-modernist anti-science relativism persists at the Board. This time it's Qaisar Mahmood, my buddy from Leftie and refugee volunteering circles, who says stupid things to the press without the benefit of any archaeological training.</p> <blockquote><p>Our responsibility is to present the image we think is right. It would be wrong if we took measures to exclude other images. … We have seen no reason to file a complaint against the County Archaeologist's decision. We take responsibility for what is ours. Just because we don't file a complaint it doesn't mean that we support or open the door to other versions.</p> <p>-----</p> <p>Vårt ansvar ligger i att ge den bild vi tycker är rätt. Det är fel om vi skulle gå in och utesluta andra bilder. … Vi har inte sett något behov att överklaga länsstyrelsens beslut. Vi tar ansvar för det som är vårt. Bara för att vi inte överklagar betyder det inte att vi står bakom eller släpper fram andra versioner.</p></blockquote> <p>1. The National Heritage Board's responsibility is to present the image that scientific consensus thinks is right. Nobody else's. Certainly not its non-archaeological office staff's.</p> <p>2. The Board owns this property. Its staff are not taking responsibility for what is theirs.</p> <p>3. The fact that the Board doesn't file a complaint does mean that it supports and opens the door to other versions.</p> <p>4. If someone wanted to post an equally pseudo-scientific sign about Odin that contained hints of extreme-right propaganda, then the Board would not allow it.</p> <p>5. When the National Heritage Board allows a sign with a discredited interpretation at a high-profile archaeological site that it owns, then it is equivalent to public hospitals allowing faith healers to roam the corridors, tending to patients.</p> <p>Qaisar, archaeology is a science. I do not get to speak for medicine, Latvian studies or meteorology. You do not get to speak for archaeology. Scholarly consensus is the arbiter of truth in these matters.</p> <p><strong>Update same day:</strong> Qaisar Mahmood and the Board's Custodian Lars Amreus have responded briefly on Facebook and Twitter to my criticism. If I understand them correctly, their line is that the Board of National Antiquities does not in fact own Ales stenar, they recently handed it over to the National Property Board. This organisation has never made any claim to archaeological authority. And it creates the question, why then does Qaisar Mahmood of National Heritage talk to the press about Ales stenar? As I said, this is an abdication of responsibility.</p> <p><strong>And another update:</strong> Qaisar has given me a long public reply on Fb, and I'll try to summarise it fairly here. He's saying that my expectations of what role the National Heritage Board is supposed to play in Swedish archaeology are no longer supported by its directives from the Ministry of Culture. The Board has in fact not abdicated from any position of archaeological authority in the case of Ales stenar. It can't abdicate, because it no longer makes any claim to such a position. Those are not its orders from our elected officials. I'm sure Qaisar knows what he's talking about. I just shake my head and wonder, will the real Board of National Antiquities please stand up?</p> <div style="width: 560px;display:block;margin:0 auto;"><img class="size-full wp-image-5168" src="/files/aardvarchaeology/files/2017/07/k%C3%A5seberga.png" alt="" width="550" height="365" /> Signage at Ales stenar. Left: two copies of a sign from Ystad municipality and the National Heritage Board. Right: Bob Lind's signs. </div> <p><em>My blogging about Bob's antics has grown voluminous over the years. <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/category/bob-lind/">Read it all here</a> with a new category tag.</em></p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a></span> <span>Thu, 07/20/2017 - 05:30</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/bob-lind" hreflang="en">Bob Lind</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/skepticism" hreflang="en">Skepticism</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/uncategorized" hreflang="en">Uncategorized</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/post-modernism" hreflang="en">post-modernism</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/skepticism" hreflang="en">Skepticism</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817153" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1500550804"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><blockquote><p>When the National Heritage Board allows a sign with a discredited interpretation at a high-profile archaeological site that it owns, then it is equivalent to public hospitals allowing faith healers to roam the corridors, tending to patients.</p></blockquote> <p>I'm afraid I have <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/?s=faith+healers+in+hospitals">some bad news for you</a>.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817153&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="nemeQOpAr3gyp10a8RQRGC9CREhD-SOryXJ5YbeZiLU"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span> on 20 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817153">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817154" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1500580446"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/daniellanghammer/fWR0m2">https://www.flickr.com/gp/daniellanghammer/fWR0m2</a></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817154&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="Dy4U6Yz3kY93qNCVLVnL3iAgKxG6HvajDTYIbd4mIhc"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Daniel Langhammer (not verified)</span> on 20 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817154">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817155" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1500590798"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>If the Board of National Antiquities claims it's not their job to decide things about archaeological sites, then what's to stop someone else for putting up a sign that says "This is all rubbish, my granddad put it up in the 1920's"?<br /> Or "This is the property of my ancestors based on [gibberish] and therefore I will turn it into a swimming pool."?</p> <p>I'm guessing that if someone else tried to claim it they would fight good and hard, but "controversy" makes it look exciting. Blegh.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817155&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="2fnjQkcljJ13O7PmX3w431OWE6LAZ48iyCSbOVX2QJE"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">JustaTech (not verified)</span> on 20 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817155">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <div class="indented"> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1817156" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1500613444"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>The central decision making was devolved to the counties in the 70s. Someone on the county level, possibly the person in charge of nature preserves rather than archaeological sites, gave Bob permission to put that sign up. And that's where the National Heritage Board should have put down their foot, in my opinion.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817156&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="4ejeQ4GYRzAa4sg3cTxZ3gfwP-98NmPvZu4ThmnuPNs"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 21 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817156">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> <p class="visually-hidden">In reply to <a href="/comment/1817155#comment-1817155" class="permalink" rel="bookmark" hreflang="en"></a> by <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">JustaTech (not verified)</span></p> </footer> </article> </div> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817157" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1500614234"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sujay_Rao_Mandavilli/publications">https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sujay_Rao_Mandavilli/publications</a></p> <p>You are invited to go through my papers</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817157&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="qAKdKij9eUJtBIJtFcU5CNo7KclUxfkq4i9JxVsoimE"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Sujay Rao Mandavilli (not verified)</span> on 21 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817157">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817158" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1500614454"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>"There isn’t just one single truth."</p> <p>Sometimes I just want to claw my own eyes out.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817158&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="KkbexDukAwIMTpauJODLJARSKQI-s2QF9Asod6NgNHU"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 21 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817158">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817159" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1500623831"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>The sign I will put there:<br /> "The stones were put there by aliens. For just $ 2000 I will mail you a genuine magic space rock from the site. It can cure cancer and make you younger."</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817159&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="6Zq45nNaeXwW2cK6tc7WSjof7IGnWOLaDrop4Iu3oHI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 21 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817159">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817160" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1500625274"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>OK, well let me make my own totally uninformed and uneducated assessment of what it is, just from having seen photographs of such things (although this is a particularly fine and intact one, from the range of such things that I have seen pictures of).</p> <p>It's one of these: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_ship">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_ship</a></p> <p>Now, if an ignorant Australian civil engineer who has never seen one of these in real life can immediately guess correctly what it is, what possible excuse do the National Whoevers have for not abiding by the blindingly obvious? Or the County Archaeologist, for that matter, but I am assuming her problem (default gender assumption) is that Lind would simply not stop pestering her until she gave in, so she did, just to get him to go away and leave her alone, because she did not have the time and resources to keep fighting him off all by herself. He might even have been physically intimidating about it.</p> <p>I have some sympathy for the County Archaeologist in that position - I have had occasions during my career when I had to deal with similar obsessive loonies, and unfortunately when you are a public official, you can't just tell them to f*ck off and stop being so stupid. What she needs is the backing of the National Whoevers to help her get him off her back, and they are playing the cowardly bureaucrat's game (something I am also fully familiar with) by just talking bureaucratic double speak and ducking the issue, so they don't have to deal with him.</p> <p>Well, shame on them, and call them for what they are: cowardly know-nothings who are failing in their public duty.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817160&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="t8H96DQjBVHgFNMxbtlC2j6HpwXETL24GjZoyLQEFl4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 21 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817160">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817161" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1500671632"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>John @6:<br /> “There isn’t just one single truth.”<br /> OK, if there isn't one single truth you'll be fine with exiting via the 35th floor window? No? Whyever not?<br /> (Stolen from a much smarter person whose name I've forgotten.)</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817161&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="yUrmPXOm6dmTMYRcbL_oYjhZEMAUhnOosNNExK46gmo"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">JustaTech (not verified)</span> on 21 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817161">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817162" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1501084840"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I've been there a couple of times. Can you briefly summarize the standard and the (presumably) crackpot interpretations?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817162&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="7oFopr88ZhC0QMD9xlmIRzuBL2a-miUKMq-h1LgBeyY"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Phillip Helbig (not verified)</span> on 26 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817162">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1817163" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1501090637"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Scientific consensus: Ales stenar belongs to a fairly common class of Late Iron Age elite burial monument and dates from c. AD 600.</p> <p>Bob Lind: Ales stenar is a unique Bronze Age observatory built for the purpose of accurate calendar keeping and dating from c. 1000 BC.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817163&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="1EqsXO4NfHE0OgeN-KyfzITmYgQ8HrAQATdRABOfJGk"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 26 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817163">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1817164" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1501112352"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>JT@9 - I'm trying to think of any commenter I have seen who is much smarter than you. I haven't been able to think of one yet.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1817164&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="4o75X-28EtvCBjRtu2bybxN1Sh73KZkiZOiXFUgyOEI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 26 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1817164">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="comment-forbidden"><a href="/user/login?destination=/aardvarchaeology/2017/07/20/national-heritage-board-abdicates-again-at-ales-stenar%23comment-form">Log in</a> to post comments</li></ul> Thu, 20 Jul 2017 09:30:31 +0000 aardvarchaeology 56301 at https://scienceblogs.com June Pieces Of My Mind #1 https://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2017/06/10/june-pieces-of-my-mind-1-4 <span>June Pieces Of My Mind #1</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><div style="width: 260px;float:right;"><img src="/files/aardvarchaeology/files/2017/06/vallmo.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="450" class="size-full wp-image-5134" /> Poppies along our fence </div> <ul> <li>My wife receives her second university degree today. In addition to her 15 years in journalism, she is now also a trained psychologist. Go YuSie!!!</li> <li>I assume 45's lawyers cleared the covfefe tweet?</li> <li>Small but very satisfying discovery. In 1902 a Medieval coin is found at Skällvik Castle. The finder makes a detailed drawing of the coin and sends coin &amp; drawing to the authorities, who promptly lose track of the coin. Gone. In 1954 a list is drawn up of twelve Medieval coins found at nearby Stegeborg Castle. In 1983 the list is published -- and suddenly there are thirteen coins on it. And the additional coin has a completely unexpected date, for Stegeborg, which was ruinous at the time. And the coin looks identical to the one that went missing in 1902...</li> <li>Chinese prime minister offers voice of reason on climate, unlike POTUS. Yay, Republicans. Go you. /-:</li> <li>Jrette comes home from first pop gig without parents. Describes ace female guitarist+bassist.</li> <li>Whew, a final close call. The Johan &amp; Jakob Söderberg Foundation comes through and saves my bacon for the last seven months that I plan to subsist on grants. Ample time to finish my castles book. Ask for me a year from now, and you shall most likely find me a contract archaeology man.</li> <li>18th anniversary with YuSie! And tea, and sunshine!</li> <li>The HPV vaccine is already <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-37211349?SThisFB">putting a big dent</a> in the cancer statistics! And remember: here's something young men can do to improve the health of future grandmothers. And to keep their penises wart-free.</li> <li>In Jrette's opinion, I'm pretty frenetic.</li> <li>Almost bought Turkish bulgur. Then I remembered Erdogan and his rural power base. "Too bad, politically deluded durum wheat farmers", said I, and bought wheat from Västergötland instead.</li> <li>I like novellas, 120-150 pp. Very few multihundredpage novels are worth the time.</li> <li>Cousin E beat me big at Patchwork again. Seems that with the summer approaching, the threat of having to sleep in the yard is no longer very effective.</li> <li>I think it's pretty neat that the designer of a game is often not a particularly strong player of that game. Inventing something with emergent properties that others discover.</li> <li>The Wow Signal: <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-06-wow-mystery-space.html">it was a comet</a> that hadn't been discovered at the time.</li> <li>"Squamous" means "scaly".</li> <li>"Rugose" means "has a folded/wrinkled surface" and is cognate with "corrugated".</li> <li>"Gibbous" describes the moon when it's between half and full, and descends from the Latin word for hump.</li> <li>Sorry to see the Tories get ahead of Labour in the UK elections. Right now it's 47 to 40%. Some consolation though that UKIP has been wiped out entirely.</li> <li>Someone plz explain how the UK election result represents any diminished Tory ability to get stuff through Parliament! *confused*</li> <li>Haha, now I get it. Brits are super confused to have what us Swedes call "a normal coalition government".</li> <li>Before coming into a song, a bass player will often do this little slide along a string, "bwoing", to announce her presence. What's that called?</li> <li>Here's a piece of good news. During the past three summers' fieldwork at Medieval castles, we dry-screened the dirt through 4 mm mesh. We also collected soil samples, a selection of which palaeobotanist Jennie Andersson has checked for carbonised plant remains. Jennie also found lots of tiny bones in the soil samples. Now osteologist Lena Nilsson has analysed the bones that Jennie found. And good news, as I said: no new animal species. If we had wet-screened the dirt through sub-4-mm mesh, we would certainly have found a greater number of bone fragments. But it would have been enormously costly in terms of money and labour. And it seems likely that we would not have identified additional animal species.</li> <li>I found my hair! It's currently on my chest, below my navel and in an amazing profusion on the small of my back. Really been wondering where it had gone to.</li> <li>Listening attentively to the Stones' "Gimme Shelter" for the first time. What a strange &amp; interesting production! It's so dense and distant, kind of indistinct with no air in it. Like you're underwater. Or nodding off on heroin, I imagine.</li> </ul> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a></span> <span>Sat, 06/10/2017 - 09:44</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/castles" hreflang="en">Castles</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/pieces-mind" hreflang="en">Pieces of Mind</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816871" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497108120"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Please give Mrs Rundkvist my congratulations on her achievement. I won't mention which one. All of them, really.</p> <p>It's an important difference for people who get skin cancers to understand - squamous cell carcinomas can, given time, metastasise through the lymphatic system and result in carcinomas in the lungs, liver and other internal organs that are difficult to live without - consequently it is important to have them cut out, with enough margin of healthy tissue to ensure all of the cancer cells have been removed. And they can grow in unexpected places, not necessarily places which have had the most sun exposure - I had to have quite a large one cut out of the back of my knee a few years ago, very close to the lymph node. Whereas basal cell carcinomas carry very low metastatic risk - disfiguring, but much less likely to prove deadly. A few weeks ago I needed to get an actinic keratosis cut out of my top lip that would have ended up as a basal cell carcinoma if not removed - no big deal, I'm not a movie star.</p> <p>If you grew up being subjected to really excessive amounts of solar radiation like I did, you get to know all about this stuff. Or die prematurely if you don't.</p> <p>I was friends for a long time with an old Croatian man who grew beautiful opium poppies in his flower garden. He said a little bit of the sap was great for quieting crying babies and getting them to go to sleep. I can imagine. He is now deceased, so I can safely tell that story without getting him into trouble with the authorities. What impressed me was that my own father identified them on sight as opium poppies and asked the old Croat about them, and I don't know how my Dad could tell the difference. I couldn't, not then - I can now, and yours are not.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816871&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="3kSFOocMiejXHrz__IqG6fIl-HQZTBLdvtLQSwOprNo"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 10 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816871">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1816872" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497109123"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Thank you for kind words to Y!</p> <p>In rural Zhejiang I saw little garden patches of opium. People cook pig trotters with it.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816872&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="egSzl1469dh0TnU9U1lk6stM57ATh-0EFw6dEypOrhY"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 10 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816872">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816873" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497185673"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Regarding the UK elections, I will remind you that they use a first-past-the-post system, so it is unusual for them to have coalition governments (even though this is the second one in the last decade). In this particular case, Ms. May called the election in the expectation that the Tories would mop the floor with Labour. Several leftish minor parties decided not to contest certain swing constituencies to give the Labour candidate a better chance of winning, and it seems to have worked in some cases.</p> <p>As for Dolt 45's tweets, I can't be sure about any particular one, but in general I think his lawyers don't approve of his tweeting. From a legal standpoint, he often makes his position less tenable with his tweets. For instance, his repeated insistence via Twitter that the immigration executive order is a Muslim ban undermines the arguments his lawyers are making in court defending the EO against challenges. While the President has broad authority when it comes to regulating immigration, he cannot legally enforce a policy which is intended to discriminate on the basis of religion. That is why the courts have thus far blocked the EO.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816873&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="ABoLJhr0xUjMpkWcrdR7ohn5_e7DaNvEHCq9UCdSGBE"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span> on 11 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816873">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816874" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497194640"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>When communicating with american friends I have to resort to comic book/cartoon caracters when describing how I perceive 45.<br /> He is not competent enough to be Montgomery Burns or even the corrupt mayor of Springfield.<br /> He is sleazy like Peter Griffin</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816874&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="G367daHDjI_XaBOqxfGJn5utsBJ88gC9Xp55vn9Dj0o"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 11 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816874">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816875" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497195034"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>....but even that dumb bastard has some vestigal conscience.<br /> 45 is MORE two-dimensional than a cartoon caracter.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816875&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="FHT7VLYz2Lagr84ciX9bWjxkGCobeih4oOcrMggof8I"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 11 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816875">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816876" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497196426"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Go, JJS foundation.<br /> In France, Macron' s party is doing well.<br /> DUP is an extension of long- dead Ian Paisly. Not even ordinary tories lite them.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816876&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="Uye1ehJLf5AXNKObF0SLynCgNQz6ZCFYxNo9UzqTclk"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 11 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816876">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816877" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497209709"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Sweden is reeling after the latest bad news; 76 cows have escaped a farm near Vindeln.</p> <p>Seeing that a new Blade Runner is in the works, I wonder; would glitches in the language circuits (covfefe) be a simpler detection tool than the Vought-Kampff test?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816877&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="-K46emnleFYZd_AU0iuRyalupz0NjK9Lp-ALY4ubg40"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 11 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816877">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816878" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497230781"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Birger@5: In the DC Comics Superman universe, when Lex Luthor became President, he sold LexCorp. Which means that Dolt 45 is literally less ethical than a comic book villain.</p> <p>And yes, I have my doubts as to whether he would pass a Turing test. Smarter people than he have been known to flub it, e.g., Marco Rubio in one of the presidential primary debates. OK, Rubio isn't that smart, but compared to the guy who won the nomination....</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816878&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="OzyGyPdM4LTjkEfeOceeBYiRhaRrD7eyc9W8E9RZs-8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span> on 11 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816878">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816879" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497252084"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Miscellaneous: "Algorithm eliminates blurred images caused by shaky footage" <a href="https://techxplore.com/news/2017-06-algorithm-blurred-images-shaky-footage.html">https://techxplore.com/news/2017-06-algorithm-blurred-images-shaky-foot…</a><br /> -So, when docmenting the general condition of a site, even the most ham-fisted photographer can get a detailed image?<br /> -- -- -- -- --<br /> Re. the crisis in Qatar:<br /> "The embargo brings its own risks for Saudi Arabia. As Qatar’s foreign minister, Sheik Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, has toured foreign capitals, the tiny emirate has garnered increasing international sympathy despite Trump and his senior officials striking a wildly different tone about the crisis.</p> <p>More serious still, say some observers, is that far from distancing Qatar from Iran and Turkey, the blockade could push the emirate ever closer to them."</p> <p>45 and the feudal chump ruling Saudi share a talent for total fiasco.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816879&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="_HL2H-x6_wACgio71yui0HxS0PAlUQKwHxo9im7qEvc"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 12 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816879">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816880" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497253901"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p><i>"Regarding the UK elections, I will remind you that they use a first-past-the-post system"</i></p> <p>Right; they don't understand democracy.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816880&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="u5Idu1GiPDclGWHFYEikFmVuelbj-14bPn31x2ZIxts"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Phillip Helbig (not verified)</span> on 12 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816880">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816881" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497266042"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>In France there is also a first-past-the-post system in the sense that the candidate with the absolute majority gets elected and other votes don't count, but at least there is a runoff if no-one has an absolute majority. In the UK there isn't even a runoff.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816881&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="vaUMW5GqinvZBKQW29OqMUe-H4oNHD9kqttBIhEv1LY"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Phillip Helbig (not verified)</span> on 12 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816881">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816882" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497266395"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I have to agree with Le Pen though in her criticism of the electoral system. PR is better because more democratic. Yes, it would mean more seats for the Front National, but it is a greater evil to have a less democratic system. “Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right” in the words of Salvor Hardin.</p> <p>I am really annoyed when rules are used, or, worse, changed, to prevent some party from being represented. Even worse is when the reason for keeping or changing the rule allegedly has nothing to do with disadvantaging a particular party.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816882&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="POA2rXxQkRTvUoU0ffYM0-T96ST8wMBzK2BTnXbSLtk"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Phillip Helbig (not verified)</span> on 12 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816882">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816883" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497266513"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Svante Pääbo should get crackng on this immediately. And start cloning!<br /> "Naracoorte, where a half-million years of biodiversity and climate history are trapped in caves" <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-06-naracoorte-half-million-years-biodiversity-climate.html">https://phys.org/news/2017-06-naracoorte-half-million-years-biodiversit…</a><br /> -- -- -- --<br /> -People born 1889 were really keen to destroy the world!<br /> “Inventor hero was a one-man environmental disaster” <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23431290-800-inventor-hero-was-a-oneman-environmental-disaster/">https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23431290-800-inventor-hero-was-a…</a><br /> -- -- -- --<br /> Miscellaneous: Increasingly disturbed May trying to forge alliance with squirrels<br /> Watch The Handmaid's Tale and get back to us, DUP tells PM</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816883&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="rqjgaqGn4fPN21KxDcr5WNMWiYSeWwD1BQfteh5pZW0"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 12 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816883">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816884" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497268157"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><blockquote><p>45 and the feudal chump ruling Saudi share a talent for total fiasco.</p></blockquote> <p>One of the points of contention is that in Syria, Saudi Arabia backs the Peoples' Front of Judea^H^H^H^H^H Syria while Qatar backs the Judean^H^H^H^H^H^H Syrian Peoples' Front. I'm simplifying here, but only slightly.</p> <p>Dolt 45 doesn't seem to realize that there is a major American air base in Qatar. The difference between him and Milo Minderbinder is that the latter was aware that he had made a deal to bomb his own air base. But then Milo is a competent dealmaker, unlike this "POTUS".</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816884&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="upB6NZ6x0HCvqTK86feCvxAJm4F0C3kQhqIvEWdzCo4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span> on 12 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816884">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816885" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497319487"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>re: Birger Johansson's first item</p> <p>We visited the Naracoote caves a few years back. They're near Coonawara which is great wine country with all the limestone soil. We spent a whole day at the caves taking all of the guided tours. We were there on an off season weekday, so we had the place to ourselves. They have a lot of stuff on display in the caves, and some of the fossils - giant skulls, femurs - were pretty amazing. </p> <p>Their bat cave was also pretty amazing. There's a huge colony there. You can't actually get into the cave, but they have bat-cams so you can watch everyday life in bat-town. The big entrance to the Blanche Cave in the article was a popular spot in the Victorian era for folks to plant garden and house plants. The Victorians loved to improve things, just as we often remove things in search of "authenticity". So, in addition to some neat limestone formations, you can learn a bit about historical tastes in house and garden plants.</p> <p>All that and some great wines. It's a less traveled part of Australia, a bit south of the main wheat belt. I'll bet you didn't even know that Australia had a wheat belt. It's worth a detour from the main road from Adelaide to Melbourne.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816885&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="x5IpUyYM0AY9ii6HafPtnrKeJDIJMEU4Cp4FDg900x4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Kaleberg (not verified)</span> on 12 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816885">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816886" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497419547"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Australia has more than one wheat belt.</p> <p>Naracoorte is kind of famous because they are (kind of) accessible to the public, but Australia has numerous sites where megafaunal remains have been found, where public access is not welcomed/encouraged, out of concern for preservation.</p> <p>If you scroll down to the map in this article, you can see some of them marked. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-06-14/giant-brush-turkeys-roamed-the-australian-landscape/8613944?section=science">http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-06-14/giant-brush-turkeys-roame…</a></p> <p>So far as I know, the exact location of the Thylacoleo Caves (so named for self-evident reasons) in WA has never been made public, to prevent people from getting in there, messing things up and taking away remains. Besides, access is hazardous, involving being lowered through a small hole in the roof on ropes, and then a long trip to the floor.</p> <p>But in the next comment I will post a link that talks about another cave system in WA not marked on that map, that has yielded a lot of information about the behaviour of Thylacoleo carnifex, which is like the scary superstar of Australian Pleistocene megafauna.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816886&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="IiGg0PF1HJCjRIFFQpCCmY3S1c8S6ae1J0a2wunoBfg"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 14 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816886">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816887" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497420417"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>It's this one, Witchcliffe, down very close to where I was born, in the far south-west corner of Australia.</p> <p>The information it has yielded on T. carnifex behaviour is obvious in the article, so I won't belabour it with my own explanation. Some of the theories expounded by 'scientists' that were doing the rounds when I was a kid were hilarious, like the one that said that T. carnifex's teeth demonstrated that it was not a predator, and that it probably lived on wild melons. Yeah, right. You don't need a bite more powerful than an African lion to eat melons, nor do you need an array of razor sharp carnassial teeth.</p> <p>I used to stand looking at the T. carnifex skeleton mounted in the WA Museum when I was, like, 10 years old and think "If that thing ate melons, I'm a Dutchman."</p> <p><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3449131/Don-t-look-Giant-marsupial-lion-ambushed-prey-climbing-trees-allowing-kill-animals-size-rhinos.html">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3449131/Don-t-look-Giant…</a></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816887&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="pLa4WzMoh2PYodSUBJx7RSzHyRdAgLc85f2CqvRKUBQ"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 14 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816887">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816888" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497526722"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Multispectral imaging reveals ancient Hebrew inscription undetected for over 50 years <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-06-multispectral-imaging-reveals-ancient-hebrew.html">https://phys.org/news/2017-06-multispectral-imaging-reveals-ancient-heb…</a> </p> <p>Also; “If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine”, claims Jeremy Corbyn.</p> <p>“The Queen's speech will be delayed while Democratic Unionists and Tories debate whether cats help witches cast spells against Christians.”</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816888&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="aAEL5IIOlzWiXDtMvuDgJRboSHdk-vGDSPF9S1S_tyY"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 15 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816888">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816889" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497528084"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Shooting: Trevor Noah and Stephen Colbert urge Americans to ‘unite under the banner of human’ after baseball rampage <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/2017/06/trevor-noah-and-stephen-colbert-urge-americans-to-unite-under-the-banner-of-human-after-baseball-rampage/">http://www.rawstory.com/2017/06/trevor-noah-and-stephen-colbert-urge-am…</a> </p> <p>I did not see this one coming:<br /> “GOP lawmaker: Trump ‘partially to blame for demons’ making Americans act ‘weird and different’ <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/2017/06/gop-lawmaker-trump-partially-to-blame-for-demons-making-americans-act-weird-and-different/">http://www.rawstory.com/2017/06/gop-lawmaker-trump-partially-to-blame-f…</a><br /> Trump is connected with the devil! -My first question is “Does he look like Peter Stormare or Max von Sydow?*” (Both have played the character. When people think of the devil, they apparently think of some Swedish guy...)</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816889&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="lFNqiDSEppF_T9zcYPUAf3LZgkWPcjAat-2ghPu9DRc"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 15 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816889">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816890" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497535971"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>The people who most need to hear that message from Mr. Noah and Mr. Colbert are the least likely to hear it.</p> <p>Assassination and attempted assassination are not valid political tools in a functioning democratic state. That said, there is a certain amount of "sow the wind, reap the whirlwind" here. Many Republicans like to repeat the Thomas Jefferson quote about needing to water the tree of liberty of liberty with the blood of tyrants. They forget that if you are part of the government, people might conclude, reasonably or otherwise, that you are one of the tyrants in question.</p> <p>What we know of the shooter is typical of people who do this sort of thing. History of domestic violence, life spiraling out of control (a recent business failure in this guy's case), and all too easy access to military grade rifles. Any society will have outliers who match the first two criteria, but the last is specifically a problem in the US.</p> <p>As for Birger's last question, I would envision the devil as resembling Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Mr. Putin is, as Mick Jagger put it, a man of wealth and taste. Unlike Mr. Trump.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816890&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="jWddoU5U1Wfh2sjRN5O5xKE7CwjscGlBrkDM8CudTo0"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span> on 15 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816890">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816891" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497548313"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>The British journalists who want to talk about their election in terms of one winner and one loser, not half a dozen parties (and many individuals and factions) strengthening or weakening their position and several hundred individual races make me sad.</p> <p>The story about the coins sounds a bit like what happened with Persepolis: Ernst Hertzfeld was not happy that by the end of 1933 the Persian government did not want a German heading the excavation any more, so lots of things were either never published or written up by his American collaborators. One of those things which was not properly published is a site with a coin hoard on the plain.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816891&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="56plldZDFtcil4qUjNMe0sMwBDCubiLrZQ0vMfZjb7g"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Sean M (not verified)</span> on 15 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816891">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816892" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497559352"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>BTW, Sting and Wayne Shorter received the Polar Music Prize today. I am illiterate when it comes to names of artists, but the event was as artist-rich as a Norwegian Nobel ceremony.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816892&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="dIRkS2lWyw3LvT7eL-Qs7Y3Hy6gJOmBwll9jqhSLXxg"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 15 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816892">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816893" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497668148"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Some good news: weed-free wheat; no herbicides required.</p> <p><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-17/australian-farmers-invention-draws-world-interest/8619826">http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-17/australian-farmers-invention-draw…</a></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816893&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="RLivtJt4xBOyrnfB53bkBTJ5HSIWw-gM1-e2ky6ksUU"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 16 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816893">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1816894" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497680429"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Good stuff! I didn't know that combined harvesters shot weed seeds out the back.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816894&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="jizcS5APDPBkhz0R9spNbsXRGyBOWQO82sojhhDTViY"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 17 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816894">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816895" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497694945"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Combine harvesters are so called because they perform the three 'combined' actions of reaping, threshing and winnowing. They shoot out the 'chaff' after the grain is winnowed out by the harvester, and that gets ploughed back into the soil when the next seeding season comes around. That's fine, it helps to improve the soil, but ordinarily that chaff contains a whole load of weed seeds, which get ploughed in and germinate along with the next crop and inhibit growth of the crop, unless they are got rid of. </p> <p>Australia has a pretty proud record in this field - the first commercially successful combine harvester was invented in Australia in 1885. But then, they had the motivation - huge areas of Australia are used for grain production.</p> <p>This old guy has come up with a way of destroying the weed seeds while they are still in the harvester so that 95% of them will not be able to germinate, so no need for (increasingly ineffective) chemical herbicides. He deserves a Nobel Prize. Predictably, he won't get one, but he deserves one.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816895&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="7VxEhMpKY4za7Ey0kJ9jXXQS-cNZjxXawFFORaXJpyI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 17 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816895">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816896" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497695197"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>(Sorry - afterthought) - And this will become a process of favourable diminishing returns - the fewer weed seeds that survive and germinate, the fewer the weeds that will be picked up by the harvester the next time around, so the germinating weeds should become progressively fewer with each growing season. It's brilliant.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816896&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="87OjBFi2JMj4mROScDY2g_rHo5grEwHWqX8aiwMBslo"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 17 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816896">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816897" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497707664"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>The Nobel Prize mandarins have always looked down on engineering and other not quite "pure" sciences. The creator of modern meteorology was not awarded any prize despite the immense benefits from it.<br /> The one time they were prepared to compromise was after Sputnik, when they wanted to give the Soviet space chief engineer the prize, but Chrustjev chose to keep Korolev's name secret.<br /> -- -- --<br /> Sting: Nils Landgren performs If you love somebody at the Polar Music Prize 2017 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfpLEE1U3e4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfpLEE1U3e4</a><br /> -- -- --<br /> Wayne Shorter receives the Polar Music Prize 2017 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5mMgD4mI-o">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5mMgD4mI-o</a> with Esperanza Spaulding</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816897&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="PWxnqjqIH2L5vy7Qves1WogKjW_MJssZZPKxDRzS4JE"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 17 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816897">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816898" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497708590"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Students, read this!<br /> Maths website stops you being ripped off by your flatmates <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2137642-maths-website-stops-you-being-ripped-off-by-your-flatmates/">https://www.newscientist.com/article/2137642-maths-website-stops-you-be…</a></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816898&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="0kPQP6kJTH-nxFkXbWiB_0z6GyrzirueKxrqRrNAGfM"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 17 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816898">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816899" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497753156"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Somewhat ironic, given that Alfred Nobel was himself an engineer and applied scientist.</p> <p>Meanwhile, what Eric has been saying about coal is shaping up to be true. All the more concerning that giant Indian company Adani is about to open the world's largest coal mine in Australia, under the guise of bringing electricity to India's poor, when it is clearly predictable that India's coal fired power plants will fairly soon all be redundant:<br /> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-15/solar-power-will-kill-coal-sooner-than-you-think">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-15/solar-power-will-kil…</a></p> <p>45 can try all he likes to boost coal, but he can't change the future.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816899&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="GzsPIpsqUPqSBet-HSbVa9vUD4FsrSmdqV7Lh8mloLM"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 17 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816899">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816900" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497786069"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>BTW, I saw the 2007 film "There Will Be Blood" starring the ever-reliable Daniel Day-Lewis (who received an Academy Award for his performance) available on Netflix. I had recently seen the film touted as one of the best 25 films so far of the 21st Century, so I watched it.</p> <p>Yeah, worth it, although it would probably mean more to an American. Day-Lewis' performance alone makes it worth watching.</p> <p>Whether it deserves to be regarded as one of the greatest films of the current era - I think that's maybe a bit overdone. It's good, no question, and powerful. Great? A bit questionable. Eminently believable, though, so in that respect it deserves a lot of credit.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816900&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="9ehKhjlAfRJXYV1aY7WzyMAWLx_zDMdOHtJr7rgrPgc"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 18 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816900">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816901" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497810547"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>A current issue of "Science" has the details of how powerplants can be made 25-30 % more efficient by switching from steam to supercritical carbon dioxide as medium to power turbines in powerplants (this is BTW not the carbon dioxide created by combustion in the plant, the supercritical fluid is separate).<br /> So even coal powerplants will need less of the stuff (until batteries get cheaper, coal power is needed for when sun and windpower is down).</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816901&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="bZSOkokBm3-C87Xq3CStIAlqsb_zxqsI46EPL6TBUGI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 18 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816901">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816902" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497874399"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Already there, Birger - Tesla and many other companies are already marketing commercially viable batteries that can be installed in people's homes, or in banks installed by power companies, to complement solar and/or wind power.</p> <p>I read a report in Bloomberg Business News recently that said the Indian Government is having to reconsider the planned construction of new coal burning power stations because they will be completely obsolete within 10 to 15 years.</p> <p>In any case, reserves of natural gas are very large, and LNG is a much cleaner fossil fuel than coal. Eric has made the point at least a couple of times on this Blog that coal is no longer commercially viable. From everything I have seen recently, he is right.</p> <p>So why then is the Indian company Adani forging ahead with plans to open a massive new coal mine in Australia that will require an investment of A$1.5 billion? And they want the Australian Government to lend them the $15 billion to do it.</p> <p>Something doesn't add up. I think I smell a rat - a rat called Adani. And either a stupid or complicit Australian Government.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816902&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="y6XvmlgvDjWHPnx76TD47e8AfBw8l5qyDqz0OOT-vEI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 19 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816902">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816903" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497876129"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>John@32: Grifters gotta grift.</p> <p>As for the Australian Government, it might be that they think the plan will bring jobs to a critical constituency or two (I don't even know what part of Australia they are looking at, let alone the political proclivities of the people who live there), or that they think they want to be able to brag about how many jobs they have created (the Republicans in the US are playing this game).<br /> I expect that, even if the coal mine opens, the Government will be disappointed in what happens. I don't know whether coal mining companies in Australia strip mine, as many American coal mining companies do, or even resort to mountaintop removal, as is often done in the parts of West Virginia and Kentucky where coal is mined. Either way, a coal mine doesn't employ as many miners as it once would have for a given production level.</p> <p>It might be better for the locals if this project never gets off the ground. Any employment would be temporary at best, and leave an ugly hole in the ground.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816903&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="IYl-FIkovNQ5GGcVGRxAEZHPd0ZfswB4bMcgkwtwsd4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span> on 19 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816903">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816904" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497881497"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Skeletal tests suggest sacrificial victims during Shang Dynasty were held for a time <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-06-skeletal-sacrificial-victims-shang-dynasty.html">https://phys.org/news/2017-06-skeletal-sacrificial-victims-shang-dynast…</a> POWs used as slaves, then killed as human sacrifices.<br /> -- -- -- --<br /> Try Catch Throw –graphic novel –a “Futures” story from Nature <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v537/n7619/pdf/537259a.pdf">http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v537/n7619/pdf/537259a.pdf</a></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816904&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="iiQb4ZlwzPo_T6D077ovqVB1KsY-jdvMXGN0UQKS77Q"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 19 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816904">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816905" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497881955"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Ancient city (town?) found in Ethiopia sheds new light on country's history <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-06-ancient-city-ethiopia-country-history.html">https://phys.org/news/2017-06-ancient-city-ethiopia-country-history.html</a><br /> -Not very big, it is the mixture of influences that makes it interesting.<br /> (But still no sign of Prester John ! :-)</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816905&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="rjw1_mpG_DCnXkMMgHZMTL-YVw6GrWDCzKBVJMUUYWM"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 19 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816905">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816906" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497884513"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><blockquote><p>But still no sign of Prester John !</p></blockquote> <p>IIUC you wouldn't expect to find him in Ethiopia. He was supposed to be the leader of a group of early Christians who had migrated to the Indian subcontinent. Christian Crusaders in the Jerusalem area heard rumors of somebody from the east conquering a bunch of cities not as far to the east, and assumed it was Prester John coming to their aid. They were quite mistaken: the conquerors in question were actually the Mongols under Genghis Khan. I am not aware of any lasting evidence of Christian settlements in India or Pakistan until the Portuguese arrived in the late 15th century.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816906&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="qc7tuzi6GrwS2mBG2X-rdbMPNrMn-1ZXGS88wKxVB8A"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span> on 19 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816906">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816907" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497892865"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Nordic whiners <a href="https://satwcomic.com/whiners">https://satwcomic.com/whiners</a></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816907&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="hf6yI8DwCjhkYWrN12ETE6InmFQLRXC4uIgIstJ-PAM"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 19 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816907">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816908" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497907875"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Right now, Skellefteå has a nerd festival, Nordsken.<br /> Board games, cosplay, LAN, the works.<br /> And a big statue of Jabba the Hut.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816908&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="qT6smF9XIklO6Jh-QArRJvFviUxCCSjZvGf2CUXw4tU"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 19 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816908">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816909" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497915904"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Birger@34 - Well spotted! I am fascinated by anything to do with the Shang Dynasty, and particularly the female military leader Fu Hao; she started out as just one of the king's many concubines, but managed to elevate her own standing to the point that she was permitted to (1) lead the Shang army and conduct military campaigns, and (2) preside over human sacrifices. The Shang Dynasty is one of those cautionary tales in archaeo - it was widely regarded as mythical, until archaeological evidence proved conclusively that it was very real, and had left detailed written records, on oracle bones and bronze vessels. </p> <p>Eric@33 - Yeah, strip mining. And yes, the Prime Minister and Adani were both claiming that the mine would create 10,000 new jobs, until closer scrutiny revealed it would actually only be 1,500. The latest employment figures for Australia are very good, so 1,500 temporary jobs are no incentive to the voters at all. </p> <p>All of the locals are dead against it and trying to prevent it, including the local Aboriginal people, who are now the last line of defence against it. In fact, the large majority of the whole Australian population seems to be against it, but the Government is not listening. We desperately need our good mates the Abos to help us get out of this one. In exchange, they can have all the land rights they want, as far as I am concerned.</p> <p>My theory is that the Government of the day knows that Australia has huge untapped reserves of dirty coal, and is very keen to sell as much of it as possible as quickly as possible to get some money from it to help with its huge budget deficit, before coal becomes completely obsolete and worthless.</p> <p>As for Adani, I can only guess at what their motivation is. But in my experience, power companies often like big write-downs on capital outlay for taxation-avoidance purposes, or so they can justify big increases in the price of electricity. IOW, they seem to me to be playing for a big financial loss on this, which makes no sense to a rational, honest person. But no one is saying they are rational or honest.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816909&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="KhpcPQW6SnIorD0_IlVDLws1KYSECfvEUkhxcEdwwa4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 19 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816909">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816910" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497917559"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Meanwhile, this: <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-20/new-solar-battery-storage-project-for-nowingi/8632628">http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-20/new-solar-battery-storage-project…</a></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816910&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="kBJlc4RbCgkhgTxpaBTzAi8-mmuVSM2tTqqPc6FhXG4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 19 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816910">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816911" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497934829"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>From the daily financial newsletter that I get every morning:</p> <p>"For example, battery storage technology is getting to the stage where electricity generation will be the next industry to face ‘disruption’. As the Financial Review reports today, Lyon Group, a private company, has made or announced nearly $2 billion worth of renewable energy and battery storage investments in Australia recently.</p> <p>The paper quoted partner David Green as saying</p> <p>‘"These things are happening despite governments, not because of them…the private demand for renewable energy can't be denied."</p> <p>‘He said the weight of private capital coming to renewable energy had shifted the momentum in the sector, despite the political uncertainty over energy and climate policy in Canberra.’</p> <p>It’s a good point. Political dysfunction in Canberra is not a new story. It’s been going on now for a decade or so. But the market is getting on with it. Advances will occur with or without government policy support."</p> <p>People need to get this message loud and clear - they need to stop waiting for governments to address climate change and energy supply, and just go ahead by themselves and do it. And now the technology is available (maybe not in Sweden, which does not get enough solar radiation, but certainly in Australia and India), people can do exactly that, and are doing it.</p> <p>If I was building a house in Australia now, I know exactly how I would design and build it - the whole roof would comprise Tesla's solar cell roof tiles, I would install a Tesla Powerwall battery in the house, and I would have a fully electric car parked in the garage, being charged up from my home battery. And then I would kiss the power and oil companies goodbye forever.</p> <p>I would also install a wind turbine in the back yard if I could, but the local council would not permit me to do that.</p> <p>With power costing me zero, after the initial capital investment, I would design the walls and ceiling to be fully insulated, and the windows all double-glazed, and I would install central reverse-cycle heating and cooling. To make that as efficient as possible, I would make the house as small as possible, the individual rooms as small as possible, and avoid large open 'living areas' - in other words, the opposite of the houses that everyone in Australia is building now.</p> <p>It doesn't matter if the house looks like a little rectangular box from the outside - you don't sit looking at the outside of your house. What matters is what it is like inside, and how comfortable it is to live in. If you can't efficiently and affordably heat and cool your house in Australia, for large parts of the year, the house is going to be either uncomfortably hot or uncomfortably cold. But if energy is costing you zero to consume, and if the house is designed to be energy-efficient, that won't be a problem.</p> <p>Plus think of all the money I would save on gas to run the car, which is a very major expense item in all Australian cities, which are all hopeless vast urban sprawls with pathetic, unusable public transport.</p> <p>Forget governments and politicians - they are just useless obstacles that get in the way and try to prevent you from doing the stuff you need to do in order to do the right thing.</p> <p>If we wait for governments to take decisive, effective action on climate change, the world will go to hell while we are waiting.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816911&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="m9kyXIiAVByFbYxKFdU2uIsI1R7chFCj4rGUkKF8y_8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 20 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816911">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816912" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497946043"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p><i>"Australia has a pretty proud record in this field – the first commercially successful combine harvester was invented in Australia in 1885."</i></p> <p>Pun intended?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816912&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="hzYoUvSv8_GUb9858wKvxWTFICFVKN7Vl3oliKmTWVI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Phillip Helbig (not verified)</span> on 20 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816912">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816913" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497951120"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>The shaded area underneath the solar panels might become a refugium for plants that normally live on the forest floor. And the vegetation cover would in turn protect birds and small land animals from predation.<br /> -Set aside a small amount of electricity to desalinate deep groundwater (desalination is also getting new technologies, malkng it more efficient) and the solar "farm" might became a small wildlife sanctum.<br /> -- -- -- -- --<br /> Make your monsters unique: Lizzie Borden vs. Lovecraftian horrors<br /> <a href="https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2017/06/19/make-your-monsters-unique-lizzie-borden-vs-lovecraftian-horrors/">https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2017/06/19/make-your-monsters-u…</a><br /> Books: Boneshaker<br /> Maplecroft: The Borden Dispatches<br /> Lovecraft Country</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816913&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="WDg6_lwcwBDgAgHk-ND_ZYAgKAZbsoY61bjeNL2DCHg"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 20 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816913">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816914" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497957963"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Jerusalem tower younger than thought <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-06-jerusalem-tower-younger-thought.html">https://phys.org/news/2017-06-jerusalem-tower-younger-thought.html</a><br /> Lowest layer from around 800-900 BCE. It ties in with the suspicion that the alleged big kingdom of David was a later fabrication, with Jerusalem inhabited from ca 900 BCE onward.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816914&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="2hvcRLPWSotCx8SzNlr23rjjXV1QAJHZCHwD6uA4IZI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 20 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816914">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816915" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497958278"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>NB I have no beef with jews or christians per se, but a fact is a fact.<br /> 500 years ago, Swedish nationalists spread the claim that Sweden had been the site of Eden to boost the national prestige, and I have no sympathy for *that* bogus claim either.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816915&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="cioYXAIDDNiwsKMaC_W655zlhyYm5kGN5ikDpjWcFL0"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Birger Johansson (not verified)</span> on 20 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816915">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816917" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497961198"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><blockquote><p>To make that as efficient as possible, I would make the house as small as possible, the individual rooms as small as possible, and avoid large open ‘living areas’ – in other words, the opposite of the houses that everyone in Australia is building now.</p></blockquote> <p>There was a fashion in the US for big houses with large open living areas, too, although I think the bursting of the real estate bubble has significantly reduced the demand for such houses. My own house is not that small--about 180 m^2 of finished living space, which doesn't include the basement[1]--but my bid was successful in part because a potential rival bidder decided it wasn't big enough. The houses that were being built in the 90s and 00s frequently had 300 m^2 or more of gross living area, but many such houses were so inefficiently laid out that actual usable living space wasn't any more than what I have. And of course these McMansions or starter castles, as they are often called, tend to have ludicrously high HVAC bills. Not to mention maintenance costs: needlessly complicated roof lines, water leaks due to poor quality construction, needing special tools to change the light bulbs in cathedral ceilings, etc.</p> <p>[1]Yes, that's more than I really need, but the tradeoff I made is living within walking distance of work, a rarity in the US. I have been driving the same car for more than 20 years now, because I don't need to drive it that much--for me the greenest car option is to keep the car I have.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816917&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="wps8llossn2MfXa72zq8tXPTxLw9oityOJ_saG8SvRA"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span> on 20 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816917">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1816918" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1497962268"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>An important reason that a single air-based heat pump works to heat our 1974 house (114 sqm) is that it's a single floor and mostly open plan.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816918&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="B4CNu2mm1CMgSKHqsea2hnWhyBPd_0E2fOCO9ITr9Q8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 20 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816918">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816919" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1498010697"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Speak of the devil: <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-21/daniel-day-lewis-quits-acting-in-shock-private-decision/8637040?section=arts-culture">http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-21/daniel-day-lewis-quits-acting-in-…</a></p> <p>I read that one of his other great loves is wood working. Maybe he has quit to become a carpenter.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816919&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="BkbXGZkMT3UHZ_ER3dqtlD1ZzZq2LBeA-Or0SPc1E_g"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 20 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816919">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816920" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1498014372"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Phillip@42 - No, no pun intended. In Australia, a farm 'field' is almost always called a 'paddock'. This is different from usage of the word paddock in England and America. No idea why, but Wikipedia tells me that this word usage in Australia dates back to at least 1807.</p> <p>If you talked to an Australian farmer about his 'fields' he would probably look at you strangely while he tried to figure out what you were talking about.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816920&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="5arN8q91jMUo4ssolSqIYn1RtIRnJx8wGWmOHpBGxsY"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 20 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816920">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816921" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1498016505"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>If you simply can't help yourself and absolutely have to watch a zombie movie, then you should watch the 2016 British film "The Girl With All the Gifts". The young girl who plays the part of the eponymous Girl has some gruesomely humorous deadpan quips, all subtly understated - listen carefully or you could miss them. There is one joke I absolutely love, and I would dearly like to tell it, but it would plot-spoil completely.</p> <p>I'm not sure why the Brits can make a good film for 4 million quid, but the Yanks need to spend squillions to churn out rubbish. At no time during this film do you get the sense that you are watching a low budget production. Critical reviews have generally been favourable, which I think is about right.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816921&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="A-m0wUs3CKJCsGKel5d2ZRQkytQFbxEwVAUKs-56ek0"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 20 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816921">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1816922" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1498021980"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>The book is also very good. Birger turned me onto Mike Carey, originally by means of his urban fantasy series about the flute-playing exorcist Felix Castor. The understated humour that you mention, John, is one of the reasons that I like Carey so much.</p> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Carey_(writer)">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Carey_(writer)</a></p> <p>There's an independent sequel to Girl/Gifts, The Boy On The Bridge, about which I hear good things.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816922&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="wk1toY-bNdGnm-aic3jIRfar8yIJuCLAXqsls0YcXMM"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 21 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816922">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816923" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1498024155"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Martin, your house is not that much bigger than the flat where we live in Hong Kong - perfectly adequate for three adults, all of whom spend a lot of time outside of the home (normal HK lifestyle). Cooling it adequately in summer is not difficult or unaffordable, using individually mounted air-conditioners in separate rooms. Heating in winter is a problem - no central heating. </p> <p>When we went back to Australia to live in July 2009, the house I bought was a monstrosity - 270 sqm, not counting the two car lock-up garage, but it was just average for modern Australian houses. It had 4 ridiculously oversized bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, which could all be closed off, but also a 'formal' living room (which we used to house my daughter's piano - she was the only one who ever used the room, when she was playing the piano), a 'family' room (where my wife and daughter spent their time huddled over a large gas heater in winter), dining area, large kitchen, 'games' room (which I used as my home gym and to watch Australian football on TV to keep my disabled nephew entertained whenever he came to visit), an open alcove which I screened off with a portable Chinese screen to use as a study, and a laundry - and all of that grossly under-utilised 'living space' was open plan and interconnected, so keeping it adequately heated or cooled was simply impossible. We had central evaporative air conditioning, which functioned perfectly well when the outside maximum shade temperature was around 33 to 35 Celsius (in which case we didn't need the air conditioning anyway), but was totally unable to cope when the maximum temperature climbed to 42 Celsius, which it did regularly in summer for days on end - so on those days we just languished in almost unbearable heat.</p> <p>The house was clearly excessive for the three of us, ridiculously so, but I bought it because the owners were in a hurry to sell it (they needed the money very quickly to help pay for an even bigger house they had built in the next street - in the meantime, they were paying off two large mortgages at once, which was rapidly sending them bankrupt), so I squeezed them unmercifully and got it for a bargain price. When I sold it again, when we left at the end of 2010, I was able to sell it for a profit, despite the real estate market having dropped in the interim. Even I have to get lucky occasionally.</p> <p>People might classify such a house as 'luxurious', but living in it was a nightmare and anything but luxurious, most of the vast open and interconnected 'living space' was unusable and impossible to make comfortable, and I would never buy a house like that again.</p> <p>But the thing is, that is what house buyers in Australia are looking for. If you built a much smaller, more practical and more comfortable house, and then tried to sell it, no one would want it.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816923&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="cBZpYJ0pBk897HI7OEGKx1OFc6bLC_kYiMRI174GDmo"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 21 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816923">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1816924" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1498024439"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>The only problem we've had with our house's size and layout is that two of three bedrooms are near the kitchen and meal area, which is not great when someone is trying to have a nap or when teenagers want to eat in the middle of the night.</p> <p>On the other hand, I do the vacuuming, so I certainly don't wan't more floor space.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816924&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="X1chPvtspITy00csEV8P4On4gmQtQKqgXzyzn3BhFj4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 21 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816924">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816925" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1498027233"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Yeah, that was the other thing - try keeping 270 sqm of floor clean, let alone dusting all of the furniture you need to fill it, plus all of the other housework. While my wife was constantly struggling womanfully with that, I was outside struggling manfully (I mean, I really did work very hard at it) but largely in vain to make a visible and useful difference to the large garden - that's when I wasn't spending 4-6 hours every day driving my daughter to and from university because it was totally impractical for her to try to commute by public transport.</p> <p>The 'Australian dream'. No thanks - town planning (or total lack of) madness.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816925&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="2NenR32ZC8pHTJx92Q4OPcI9i36XcPaCQ9Tl-mfQEso"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">John Massey (not verified)</span> on 21 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816925">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816926" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1498035589"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p><i></i></p> <p>Phillip@42 – No, no pun intended. In Australia, a farm ‘field’ is almost always called a ‘paddock’. This is different from usage of the word paddock in England and America. No idea why, but Wikipedia tells me that this word usage in Australia dates back to at least 1807.</p> <p>If you talked to an Australian farmer about his ‘fields’ he would probably look at you strangely while he tried to figure out what you were talking about.</p> <p>Interesting. Note that <i>Magnetic Fields</i> by Jean-Michel Jarre is a pun in French, but not in English (chapms/chants---same pronunciation)<br /> .</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816926&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="D51Wi1pf2XJivtyq6fOWdxFn3OhyFE8E85s75Y4Fh5Q"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Phillip Helbig (not verified)</span> on 21 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816926">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816927" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1498062205"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><blockquote><p>The ‘Australian dream’. No thanks – town planning (or total lack of) madness.</p></blockquote> <p>American suburbia have many of the same issues. To the extent that things are planned in many places, they are planned by developers who don't expect to actually live in the neighborhoods they are building. You often (even in my town, but luckily not my specific neighborhood) see subdivisions that have only a single access road, or in a minor variant, two access points off the same main road. Which means you must use said main road to go anywhere outside your neighborhood. If your goal is to maximize traffic congestion, this is one of the ways it's done. Contrast with well-designed cities where you have a network that can distribute the load, so that if an accident or fallen tree limb blocks the main road there is a nearby alternate route you can use.</p> <p>There is at least one example in the US of houses with adjacent back gardens where the drive between the two is 11 km. That is an extreme case, but the saying, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIJBUZm1HoY">"You can't get there from here,"</a> is becoming true of much of the suburban US, not just rural New England where the saying originated.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816927&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="JdHZWK3tX1ZTfGuPMyRa317zx3qnVsLdHm2sfWJRmwc"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span> on 21 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816927">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="comment-forbidden"><a href="/user/login?destination=/aardvarchaeology/2017/06/10/june-pieces-of-my-mind-1-4%23comment-form">Log in</a> to post comments</li></ul> Sat, 10 Jun 2017 13:44:29 +0000 aardvarchaeology 56294 at https://scienceblogs.com The Oldest Human Bones, Jebel Irhoud, Morocco https://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2017/06/07/the-oldest-human-bones-jebel-irhoud-morocco <span>The Oldest Human Bones, Jebel Irhoud, Morocco</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>You've heard to story. I'm here to give you a little context.</p> <div style="width: 235px;float:right;"><a href="/files/gregladen/files/2017/06/download.jpeg"><img src="/files/gregladen/files/2017/06/download.jpeg" alt="" width="225" height="225" class="size-full wp-image-24198" /></a> A pretty typical early handaxe, made by a Homo erectus. This was a big flake made from a bigger rock. The big flake was subsequently flaked to make this handaxe. The word "handaxe" can be spelled about nine different ways. </div> <p>But in case you haven't heard the story, this is from the <a href="https://www.mpg.de/11322481/oldest-homo-sapiens-fossils-at-jebel-irhoud-morocco">press release</a> which is, so far, the only information generally available:</p> <blockquote><p>New finds of fossils and stone tools from the archaeological site of Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, push back the origins of our species by one hundred thousand years and show that by about 300 thousand years ago important changes in our biology and behaviour had taken place across most of Africa.</p></blockquote> <p>In order to understand the significance of this research, and it is indeed very significant, you need to have a detailed history of archaeological research in Europe, the Near East, and Africa. But since there isn't time for that I'll give you the following bullet points. Each of these bullet points reflects the general understanding of prehistory at a certain point in time, in order from oldest to newest.</p> <div style="width: 620px;float:right;"><a href="/files/gregladen/files/2017/06/Tabelbala.jpg"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/files/2017/06/Tabelbala-610x375.jpg" alt="" width="610" height="375" class="size-large wp-image-24199" /></a> This shows the Victoria West technique, used during the Fauersmith though this particular rock may be later). See the extra small flaking along one part of the rock? That was done to prepare the platform for the controlled detachment of a flake. </div> <p>In the 70s and before, we thought this:</p> <p>As humans evolved they went through stages where the morphology would change, usually involving an enlargement of the brain, along with the behavior, usually indicated by changes in stone tools. So, <em>Homo erectus</em> used acheulean tools (hand axes), Neanderthals used Mousterian tools (Levallois technology) with prepared platforms, and modern humans ("Cro Magnon") used upper paleolithic technology and they had nice art too. The transition from Neanderthal times to Modern Human times happened 40,000 years ago.</p> <div style="width: 310px;float:right;"><a href="/files/gregladen/files/2017/06/levallois.jpg"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/files/2017/06/levallois-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" class="size-medium wp-image-24200" /></a> The levallois technique. this involved shaping a rock to look like a turtle. Then, you shape one end of the turtle to look like the old fashioned hat of a French policeman. Then you hit the policeman on the hat just right, and a perfect flake comes off. In Africa, this was usually used to make blades and triangular points, but sometimes ovals. </div> <p>In the 80s we realized that there was no association whatsoever between the various "industries" and the various "hominids" mainly because a lot of research in the Middle East kept finding Neanderthals and Modern Humans randomly associated with various technologies. This caused a disturbance in the force, so the whole idea of linking morphology (i.e, different species or subspecies) with different levels or modes of technological activity was tossed out the window. </p> <p>Also in the 1980s and continuing into the early 1990s, African archaeologists realized something. Well, they realized two things. Most of us realized that at a certain point of time, which Sally McBreardy and Allison Brooks estimated to be about 250,000 years ago or a bit earlier, a "middle paleolithic" world with a lot of handaxes and some other bifaces (Sangoan-Lupemban technologies, that sort of thing) gave way to a "Middle Stone Age" technology. This MSA technology was essentially the same as but somewhat more advanced than what the Europeans called "Middle Plaeolithic" based on the Levallois technique, a prepared platform technology.</p> <div style="width: 310px;float:right;"><a href="/files/gregladen/files/2017/06/ishango_bone.jpg"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/files/2017/06/ishango_bone-300x134.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="134" class="size-medium wp-image-24201" /></a> Eventually, very advanced technologies and very advanced modes of thinking, such as exemplified by this possible calendar object from the Semliki Valley in the Congo, emerged. </div> <p>Notice that I keep mentioning that term ... prepared platform technology. Put a pin in that.</p> <p>The second thing we all knew about but not every body liked was an idea by Peter Beaumont, which is that a certain technology had emerged earlier than the Acheulean-MSA transition of 250K, which was called Fauersmith. This was a ... wait for it ... prepared platform technology of sorts.</p> <p>Classically, the handaxe based technology of the early stone age was replaced with the prepared platform technology. This meant throwing the handaxes one last time and moving on to blades and points made with the levallois technique. But in the Fauersmith, an industry found mainly in the Cape Province of South Africa and nearby areas (I think I've seen it in Namibia), uses ... wait for it ... prepared platform technology to make handaxes! This industry is thought to be just older than the MSA, so just older than 250K, going back maybe to 350K, or maybe 400K or even 500K, no one is sure.</p> <p><a href="/files/gregladen/files/2017/06/Great-Zimbabwe-Ruins.jpg"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/files/2017/06/Great-Zimbabwe-Ruins-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-24202" /></a>The Africanists also realized that the Europeans were pretty messed up in their thinking. The species/subspecies link to technology never went away in Africa. While such a thing is never expected to be perfect, it seemed to hold there. The reason the Europeans were confused is this: When it comes to new species and new technologies, Africa is the donor and Eurasia the occasional recipient. </p> <p>I liken it to figuring out the chronology and technology of trade beads, those little glass beads, still in use, that were carried by Dutch and English (and other) ships around the world mainly in the early 17th century, to trade with the locals and buy things like, say, Manhattan Island. If you look at the trade beads found here and there on colonial sites around the world, and I've personally done this, you can figure out a chronology of style and design of those beads that we assume reflects realty in the two or three places they were consistently made. But only by going to the factory neighborhoods in the Netherlands and Italy, and South Asia, can you actually figure out what was going on. </p> <p>Putting it another way, trying to describe human evolution, substantively, by observing only Europe and West Asia and ignoring Africa is like, oh hell, I don't know what the heck, why would you ever do that? </p> <p>Anyway, here's what many of us have been thinking all along, following the insights of folks like Peter Beaumont and Alison Brooks. Once upon a time there were these <em>Homo erectus</em> doods, and they have some moderate game in the brain department but were definitely not humans. They may have lacked some serious human mind tricks, though they were capable of making and using fire, and their handaxes were very nice, when they wanted them to be. They were also very tough and strong and probably somewhat dangerous. Oddly, the most common cause of death, when we can estimate cause of death, is that they ate something that killed them. So, there is some kind of deficit or something behind that.</p> <p>Then, some time after about a half million years ago, a subset of these guys, and I know where they lived because I have sat on the exact rock chairs they themselves sat on while making their tools, added something to their hand ax technology. They had probably added other things to their culture, and/or their brains, and this hand ax technology thing merely reflected this, but it also opened the opportunity for developing this technology further, and that may have been actually contributory to the subsequent evolutionary process. Anyway, they added this thing where instead of just whacking a flake off a big rock, with the intention of then flaking that big flake into a handaxe, they would make a few smaller specially and carefully done flakes on the big rock, literally a giant piece of bedrock in some cases, that made the prot-handaxe flake they were about to produce more predictable (and, actually, larger in many cases, I think). </p> <p>The prepared platform. It made making hand axes better. But, taken to the next step, which seems to have happened in this region probably before the Great Transition in 250K, it actually allowed the production of stone tool doohickies never before seen, never before possible. this eventually developed into the full on prepared platform technique that eventually became common all across Africa, Europe and West Asia. </p> <p>Now, let me tell you a little story you won't hear, likely, from somewhere else. I was once visiting my friend Peter Beaumont, and he showed me a skull, that was unfortunately unprovenienced, i.e., no one could be sure of where it came from, that looks a lot like the Jebe Irhoud skull and others of that general form and age range. He did have it dated using a technique that, without knowing more about the context of the skull (it has been collected in antiquity by a farmer, supposedly, in the region) could not be fully reliable, but the date was somewhere between 300K and 400K, closer to the latter, if I recall correctly.</p> <div style="width: 310px;float:right;"><a href="/files/gregladen/files/2017/06/camouflaged_cell_towers-4.jpg"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/files/2017/06/camouflaged_cell_towers-4-300x384.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="384" class="size-medium wp-image-24203" /></a> For completeness, this is a modern South African cell phone tower. </div> <p>Here's the thing. Assume for a minute, and this is a major oversimplification but I'll defend it if necessary, that there is some sort of reasonable association between species or subspecies and technology. I've already described, just now, how that is messy. The late<em> Homo erectus</em> of the Cape, if I've got my story right, were using MSA technology before they were "early modern humans" for example. But that is expected. Just assume that there is a general correlation, for the purpose of a though experiment.</p> <p>Now, go out in that thought experiment landscape and imagine looking for both artifacts and diagnostic skull bits, so you can put the story together of a few different hominins over time, one evolving into the other, and their material culture, especially their stone tool technology. </p> <p>You will figure out the boundaries in time and space of the technologies long before you verify the species or subspecies by the remains of their actual heads. the reason for that should be obvious, but if it isn't, just go around the city and look at all the litter you find. Look carefully at all the litter. Cal me as soon as one of the pieces of litter is a human head. Actually, call 911 first, then me. </p> <p>This new find is a head butting, perhaps, against the early time range for this species, previously expected from the Fauersmith theory.</p> <p>I fully expect the key points in the article to be ignored and for Sub Saharan Africa to be broken off from the rest of Africa so that this find can be European/West Asian in stead of Africa, but to address that I'll quickly tell you this; The Sahara may not have even existed then, so there may not have been a Sub Saharan Africa. Just an Africa. Where modern humans arose. </p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/author/gregladen" lang="" about="/author/gregladen" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">gregladen</a></span> <span>Wed, 06/07/2017 - 10:33</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/africa" hreflang="en">Africa</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/holocene-africa" hreflang="en">Holocene Africa</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/south-africa" hreflang="en">South africa</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/stone" hreflang="en">Stone</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/human-evolution" hreflang="en">Human Evolution</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/jebel-irhoud" hreflang="en">Jebel Irhoud</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/new-early-huma-find" hreflang="en">New early huma find</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-categories field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Categories</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/channel/brain-and-behavior" hreflang="en">Brain and Behavior</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1482659" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496850826"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>When I see discussions of ancient technology, I don't usually see a mention of the material used. Might not the methods be forced to change depending upon the type of stone available in any given area?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1482659&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="qgUbtXxJABR1IH6BaKvqTaIXpwRJjJd9_OtEHg7firs"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Ann K (not verified)</span> on 07 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1482659">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1482660" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496891810"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>You were right, Greg :-)</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1482660&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="6MloYK00bpiGMtxEUR2vtzqngVoI6rd9nhpNdmk0OFY"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">BBD (not verified)</span> on 07 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1482660">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1482661" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496893558"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Your example would be better done as "Count up all the knives and forks and other implements in your home, then count the number of heads you have".</p> <p>We try to bury our dead. This makes finding skulls out in the open harder, unless you're going to walk into a cemetary, in which case your argument falls down because you find a lot of skulls there but not a lot of tools, or even just any junk.</p> <p>But you find humans and their tools in the kitchen. So count 'em up.</p> <p>NOTE: The UK had a kids program called "Educating Henry" where aliens came to earth to talk to the dominant life form on the planet and presumed that this was furniture, given their massively greater numbers, so one of them came down to converse with these lifeforms and took on the likeness of one of the species: a dinner chair.</p> <p>Humans have many more chairs than bums.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1482661&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="ZRr8drLs71dGPsUGs7-IjyzDd_Xixgn9U3TT-swlGl4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Wow (not verified)</span> on 07 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1482661">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="31" id="comment-1482662" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496928939"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Anne, good question, and many PhD theses and other research have come out of that question!</p> <p>The short answer is, remarkably, no. The various main lithic technologies, across the world, and across time, all seem to be applied in roughly the same way no matter what the material is.</p> <p>Having said that, the material does end up mattering in ways that overlay that fundamental pattern. There are super fancy things made in some more recent cultures that are made only on some materials. The clovis people seem to have been special snowflakes when it came to clovis points, eschewing local materials very often, while other folks in other places bent crappy local materials to their will. </p> <p>So, at a medium to fine cultural level, and in certain specific areas, it mattered, but much, much less than one would ever have expected. </p> <p>Wow, that is a good example. However, I'm not sure if burial of the dead is the key feature here, but it could matter. </p> <p>Count the number of glass drinking glasses and relate that to the mass of the food eaten at all the meals the drinking glasses were used at, and relate that to the bodies of the people who all had those meals.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1482662&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="qzjNUgp4gC_oKwzjY5ujphWI7TgEDtW1P0EXlv827LU"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/gregladen" lang="" about="/author/gregladen" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">gregladen</a> on 08 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1482662">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/gregladen"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/gregladen" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/HumanEvolutionIcon350-120x120.jpg?itok=Tg7drSR8" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user gregladen" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1482663" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496930697"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Burial is why your example was poor in today's arena. Because we don't see bodies lying around much. But we do put them in specific places and they preclude "junk" from those areas, unlike in days before when junk was called "grave goods". So your proportion of junk to skulls depends highly today on where you look.</p> <p>The point of your quest was to indicate how many more artifacts there are per person, however. And I think that's a lot easier to make funny and apparent by such things as "how many knives in the kitchen compared to your number of heads?".</p> <p>But drinking glasses and mouths work just as well.</p> <p>Something that indicates starkly how many more "things" a person has than their one person would indicate numerically.</p> <p>Therefore you see vastly more artifacts, and those artifacts would also be less disturbed by scavengers, unless the rats were REALLY smart and worked out how to use an arrowhead to mug the cats, so you would see the "speciation" of tools used far earlier than the speciation by body parts left behind.</p> <p>Triply so because not only are there more of them, but that they also don't get scattered as much, and lastly that they tend to be more durable. We don't use skulls to bash other people's heads in because stones are harder and work better for that use.</p> <p>So skulls may be found every thousand years of speciation in good enough condition to tell the morphology of the species, but you'll see the speciation of tools left behind on a number-of-decades-scale. Most of the time, therefore, the tools predate the skulls of the hominid species that made them.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1482663&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="m5aer1kysz62arry2X74jlsgpBdV51EhrdFm4FT5THs"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Wow (not verified)</span> on 08 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1482663">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="comment-forbidden"><a href="/user/login?destination=/gregladen/2017/06/07/the-oldest-human-bones-jebel-irhoud-morocco%23comment-form">Log in</a> to post comments</li></ul> Wed, 07 Jun 2017 14:33:44 +0000 gregladen 34420 at https://scienceblogs.com Paleobotany Of Four Medieval Strongholds https://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2017/06/03/paleobotany-of-four-medieval-strongholds <span>Paleobotany Of Four Medieval Strongholds</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Palaeobotanist Jennie Andersson has analysed four soil samples for me, all from floor layers inside buildings at Medieval strongholds that me and my team have excavated in recent years. There's one each from Stensö, Landsjö, Skällvik and Birgittas udde. Results were sadly not very informative.</p> <p>Comments Jennie:</p> <p>"Overall the fossil and carbonised botanical material in the samples, as well as the recent unburnt material, is meagre … No carbonised cereals were found. Three of the four samples did however contain rather large amounts of unburnt bones and scales from fish plus <i>jurpa</i>, a blanket term för amorphous burnt organic material which may represent bread, burnt food, cooking waste or animal fat. Both the fish bones and the cooking waste probably originate in household cooking and waste management … The presence of burnt weeds such as goosefoot, bedstraw, smartweed and clover (<i>Chenopodium album, Galium spp., Persicaria lapathifolia, Trifolium spp.</i>), all of which thrive on nutrient-rich, sometimes slightly damp and open ground and around farms, tally well with what we may imagine would have been common in a castle bailey or around a farm yard where livestock and people tread about every day and share space."</p> <p><a href="/files/aardvarchaeology/files/2017/06/Paleobotaniska-analyser-borgar-2015-16-Jennie-Andersson-2017.pdf">Report in Swedish here.</a></p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a></span> <span>Sat, 06/03/2017 - 08:20</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/biology" hreflang="en">biology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/castles" hreflang="en">Castles</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/botany" hreflang="en">botany</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/paleobotany" hreflang="en">paleobotany</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816869" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496848720"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Jurpa!<br /> It doesn't seem to be an acronym - is it a portmanteau? Despite being a native Swede I can't begin to decipher it.</p> <p>Is there a paleobotanyetymologist in the house?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816869&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="8rlO50vPZS2zqzzLWG9eg7U_EFPKQ_fETmnKVsfo_gk"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Anders M (not verified)</span> on 07 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816869">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1816870" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496849130"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I've never heard this word before I received the report. Sounds like <i>guck</i>, <i>jox</i> or <i>kladd</i> to me.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816870&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="Z9ViThlBwlULBAJNSQyNMYOjHsTg0CTUhDUAy2U-6vc"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 07 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816870">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="comment-forbidden"><a href="/user/login?destination=/aardvarchaeology/2017/06/03/paleobotany-of-four-medieval-strongholds%23comment-form">Log in</a> to post comments</li></ul> Sat, 03 Jun 2017 12:20:38 +0000 aardvarchaeology 56293 at https://scienceblogs.com Swedish Academia Is No Meritocracy https://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2017/06/02/swedish-academia-is-no-meritocracy <span>Swedish Academia Is No Meritocracy</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>After almost 14 mostly dismal years on the academic job market, I find it a consolation to read an opinion piece in <i>Times Higher Education</i> under the headline "<a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/swedish-academia-is-no-meritocracy">Swedish Academia Is No Meritocracy</a>". In my experience this is also true for Denmark, Norway and Finland. In Norway, for instance, the referee board that evaluates job applications isn't external to the department: it is headed by a senior employee of the department itself. With predictable results.</p> <p>At Scandinavian universities, people who didn't get their jobs in fair competition are often handing out jobs to their buddies without any fair competition. But I see encouraging signs that the PR disaster that recently befell Gothenburg University's philosophy department may have put a scare into the whole sad business. At least temporarily. Meanwhile, I'm finishing my sixth archaeological monograph. Never having had a longer contract than 28% of one academic year.</p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a></span> <span>Fri, 06/02/2017 - 08:20</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/noibn" hreflang="en">NOIBN</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/academia" hreflang="en">Academia</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archaeology" hreflang="en">archaeology</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816853" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496414199"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>True report! You will not find diversity and Merit at all in Swedish Universities. They select near and dear ones shamelessly! Many are EIC in known journals and promote and publish their peer papers! Shameless and Corrupt and preach fairness and transparency to the World</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816853&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="udE2Dxh64Aq7K2TalWMShxiJyZ4CiYNfuJsmNEdSY7w"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">NEAR AND DEARS (not verified)</span> on 02 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816853">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816854" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496417657"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>To be honest, no academic area is immune to this. And beyond that, just do a quick search for "Bro culture" to realise this selective evaluation is endemic to any business area. </p> <p>Basically, either suck it up, or take your ball and leave, pretty much.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816854&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="l7gn6IbdlZ1kuPiQuEmoPhX1u0eUiSQ1AalGks3wpn4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">janne (not verified)</span> on 02 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816854">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816855" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496418875"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p><i>"In Norway, for instance, the referee board that evaluates job applications isn’t external to the department: it is headed by a senior employee of the department itself. With predictable results."</i></p> <p>OK, but realize that Sweden is an exception here in that there are external referees for job searches; in most countries there aren't.</p> <p>On the whole, the process in Scandinavia and Finland is probably better than elsewhere. I'm not disagreeing with you, merely pointing out that elsewhere it is worse.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816855&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="OM_kdCkKKMjXaVR1vGg0-V6912KzZ-iD58s_v3HQgoA"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Phillip Helbig (not verified)</span> on 02 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816855">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816856" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496419951"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><blockquote><p>In Norway, for instance, the referee board that evaluates job applications isn’t external to the department: it is headed by a senior employee of the department itself.</p></blockquote> <p>This is considered normal in the US as well. Most of the members of the committee will be in the subfield in which the department is looking to hire (at least in physical science departments; I know essentially nothing about faculty searches in humanities and social science departments). There may be somebody in a different field there to keep the other search committee members reasonably honest.</p> <p>This committee does not, in general, make the final hiring decision; that is typically done by the department as a whole and the choice approved by the relevant dean. What the committee does do is select the short list (typically four or five candidates, but I have seen as few as two and as many as six) of candidates who are brought to campus for in-person interviews.</p> <p>Things do often get tricky with trailing spouses. It is common, at least in the US, for women with Ph.D.'s in the physical sciences to be married to men who have Ph.D.'s in the physical sciences, leading to the infamous "two-body problem". The trailing spouse won't necessarily be offered a tenure track job, but there will be some effort to ensure that (s)he can find employment in the same metropolitan area. A tenure-track position for the trailing spouse becomes more likely as the level of the hire increases, approaching certainty for hires at the dean level or higher.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816856&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="wS9wr9CjNT4WSKX8wnZc7xT9gfCsTaGj7GpFAeMInj0"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span> on 02 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816856">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1816857" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496422035"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I don't know what it's like outside Scandyland. But Swedish academia certainly doesn't work as advertised.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816857&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="Qc5d2TKpQJUA_GfSbT-PP4Rmxw_EZuzUkMeM17LmcMk"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 02 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816857">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816858" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496605158"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>How true! Swedish universities are soaked in nepotism and mafia activities. With my experience from Denmark, Finland, Germany and the US, I can only conclude that the Swedish system is the worst: corrupt through and through. Department heads hire friends or even former PhD students, who can go on to become department heads themselves and hire their friends or people who can do the work for them. And that does not stop a career which can move on to more imortant posts.<br /> Laws may require public announcements and external experts etc, but if you break the law it is accepted as long as you don't appear in the news.<br /> And the result is predictable: in spite of the largest per capita investments in public funded science in the world, Sweden shows slowly but consistently falling grades in science when measured with internationally recognized metrics.<br /> The latest idea is to completely abandon inclusion of the scientist's qualifications when proposal time comes around. Seriously!<br /> But of course, that certainly makes it easier to move the goalposts.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816858&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="RlcOxVb-c_MLRZlG_zCSW0u8Xwi4ohN_xfMXn0xnM3c"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Klavs Hansen (not verified)</span> on 04 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816858">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <div class="indented"> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1816859" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496607753"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p><i>The latest idea is to completely abandon inclusion of the scientist’s qualifications when proposal time comes around.</i></p> <p>Huh? Please elaborate!</p> <p>60% of Swedish university professors (that is, the tier above lecturer) are employed at the department where they did their PhDs.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816859&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="9FQq14Auy3CvKsJRTp1m-ERSS30y5Jb7xJPXWI2N_DI"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 04 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816859">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> <p class="visually-hidden">In reply to <a href="/comment/1816858#comment-1816858" class="permalink" rel="bookmark" hreflang="en"></a> by <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Klavs Hansen (not verified)</span></p> </footer> </article> </div> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816860" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496663616"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>'The latest idea is to completely abandon inclusion of the scientist’s qualifications when proposal time comes around.'</p> <p>This is according to the latest newsletter from VR. Happily only a suggestion, but there is no guarantee this will not be implemented.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816860&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="rZGUoiWTjwIKHf8ID3WRLcbQshHayKv0fKf-1qFHP2U"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Klavs Hansen (not verified)</span> on 05 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816860">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1816861" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496663996"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>You mean they might evaluate project proposals without knowledge of the applicant's qualifications? If this can be done blindly, without knowing anything else about the person either, it would actually be effective against nepotism.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816861&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="sMQzcrm9GMcGMuNFaaLHK0-ePT07fLZuPB5ckrX9vKA"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 05 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816861">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816862" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496677133"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I don't see any reasonable way to evaluate somebody's publication record without having some idea who the person is. If you list the publications (whether they are monographs or journal articles or conference proceedings--whichever the field in question typically uses to evaluate this), then it's kind of obvious who the person is. If you don't, then it becomes a counting game, and you encourage the submission of Least Publishable Units. Not to mention that there is no way under this method to distinguish a crank publication from a legitimate publication.</p> <p>If the field is small enough, then a truly double blind review becomes impossible, because everybody knows everybody else, and the reviewers can deduce who the authors are. The reverse, authors deducing who the supposedly anonymous reviewers are, is already a problem in my field; it is a common game to "guess the reviewer".</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816862&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="8_cKWnIV2NRChASDs6VKhruHQFKVeYYEfMh5RfPqLHc"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span> on 05 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816862">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <div class="indented"> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1816864" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496698855"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Eric, it sounds like Klavs might be suggesting that they evaluate the proposals without reference to anyone's publication record. Which would of course cause insurmountable problems with blinding, given that everyone in a field knows who usually does what.</p> <p>J.A.T., a major personal problem of mine with the Swedish inbreeding system is that I didn't get along with the powers that were the department when I did my PhD. Which has left me out in the cold.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816864&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="7hkLEdiNR2FjeK03Ou8th8wVbebwDG2yd07HyOCyyjs"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 05 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816864">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> <p class="visually-hidden">In reply to <a href="/comment/1816862#comment-1816862" class="permalink" rel="bookmark" hreflang="en"></a> by <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span></p> </footer> </article> </div> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816863" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496695525"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I'm not in academia, but from my friends who are, in the US there is a cultural thing that you don't go to grad school where you did your undergrad, and you don't post-doc where you did your doc.<br /> I do know people who are tenure-track at the institution where they got their PhDs, but it's very unusual. (Physical sciences)</p> <p>I don't think it's any kind of rule, just one of those cultural things, but it might help a smidge with reducing the "I'll just hire my student" thing.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816863&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="vBJgS6D52sk_0-8y0dxVOt6_yNAwnZQwROtOwRhMmuQ"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">JustaTech (not verified)</span> on 05 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816863">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816865" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496857649"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p><i>"Things do often get tricky with trailing spouses."</i></p> <p>As much as I sympathize with their predicament (and I did work in academia four years abroad while the family were living in another country, so I know what I am talking about), offering the trailing spouse a job <i>they would otherwise not get</i> is completely wrong. In any other context, getting a job because one has a sexual relationship with the "right" person is considered morally wrong (not because of the sexual relationship, but because employment should not be based on it).</p> <p>The justifications are bad, really bad. "Oh, it's not a permanent job, it's just a five-year fellowship until I can find something else." Yeah, right, many struggling junior scientists would like one of those. "I'm not taking a job away from anyone since the position was created especially for me." The money had to come from somewhere. "It is difficult for my spouse to find a job nearby." Not compared to other people's spouses who perhaps cannot even work at all at the new location.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816865&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="2jwrdXWnJLTU3dU4leAofLtLWol764x9v0gm4_f_Hkk"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Phillip Helbig (not verified)</span> on 07 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816865">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="63" id="comment-1816866" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496858545"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Seems to me that there is more wrong about academic recruitment practices than is right.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816866&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="fyKhTu_WnChkvQ2j6yNJ-63zJWJoAdAWigLlifQGiw8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a title="View user profile." href="/author/aardvarchaeology" lang="" about="/author/aardvarchaeology" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">aardvarchaeology</a> on 07 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816866">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/author/aardvarchaeology"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/author/aardvarchaeology" hreflang="en"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/pictures/mr120428-120x120.jpg?itok=x1s8ddf6" width="100" height="100" alt="Profile picture for user aardvarchaeology" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816867" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1496860415"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>For trailing spouse hires in the physical sciences in the US, there is at least the option of a research faculty position. This means the position is entirely funded by grant money, and would typically be equivalent to the position (s)he had at the previous institution. The funding agencies typically don't care whether the work is done in Berkeley, California, or East Podunk, Vermont. The hosting institution is expected to supply an office. Overhead from the grants will typically cover that expense. So that scenario is at worst break-even for the hiring institution.</p> <p>Universities are not immune to the prestige factor, either. This is why it may be in their interest to have Mrs. (or Mr., as the case may be) Dr. Bigshot on their payroll along with newly hired Prof. Bigshot. The US system also tends to favor superstars, which also tends to encourage such hiring since superstars can credibly threaten to go somewhere else that will satisfy their demands. Not that this is necessarily defensible, but I do expect institutions to act in what they perceive to be their interest.</p> <p>I do know that administrative hires at the dean level or higher invariably include a tenured professorship in the appropriate department for external hires (internal hires will of course already have this). Even when trailing spouses are not an issue, this has been the case. It's rare for a former administrator to go back into teaching, but I have seen it happen.</p> <p>Incidentally, the highest paid state official in every US state works for a state university. Most often it's either the (American) football coach or the men's basketball coach; some of these are paid even more than the President of the US. (Which gives you an idea of how warped priorities are in the US, since the legislature can in principle refuse to appropriate money for such salaries.) In some states it's a university president, or dean of the medical or law school. Private universities also tend to pay their presidents and revenue-sport coaches very well.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816867&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="h1lQGCO1ErHsgV80GE4VgMMHzAmWfaJoLmItz_WJNNY"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Eric Lund (not verified)</span> on 07 Jun 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816867">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-1816868" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1500654229"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>At Scandinavian universities, people who didn’t get their jobs in fair competition are often handing out jobs to their buddies without any fair competition.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=1816868&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="W56g5yYEqfuOFX2vPRHkaS385j1cPYmCDYCJTBG4z3o"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" content="Academic Corruption in Nordic Countries">Academic Corru… (not verified)</span> on 21 Jul 2017 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/4451/feed#comment-1816868">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="comment-forbidden"><a href="/user/login?destination=/aardvarchaeology/2017/06/02/swedish-academia-is-no-meritocracy%23comment-form">Log in</a> to post comments</li></ul> Fri, 02 Jun 2017 12:20:32 +0000 aardvarchaeology 56292 at https://scienceblogs.com