Ancient Digger

"It's good to know where you come from in order to know where you are going." This is an old Irish saying. It basically means that your ancestors are part of who you are. In the world of nature there are people who study the past. These are the archaeologists and anthropologists. They find remnants of times past, study them, and tell us where we came from.


Ancient Digger is written by Lauren Axelrod, an anthropology student who is studying for her PhD in archaeology. She believes that anyone can appreciate the significance of history and archaeology. She is also available to answer any questions you might have.

Four ancient temples were discovered near the Suez Canal at the edge of Egypt. One of them is the largest mud-brick temple discovered so far on the Sinai Peninsula. Inside is a 3,000 year old carving depicting Ramses II offering gifts to Geb, god of earth.

The Ohio Decalogue Stone is also known as the Ten Commandment Stone. In 1860 archaeologists were excavating a cairn in Ohio. They discovered a casket with a skeleton inside. When the casket was opened the skeleton disintegrated immediately from age. With the skeleton was a sealed container. When it was opened, the archaeologists found a stone. Some of the Hebrew engravings on it are of the Ten Commandments. Experts differ on exactly what the stone represents. There is an excellent video that will give a little more insight.

A crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a church. It is usually used as a burial chamber or a chapel. Four types of crypts are catacombs, tombs, ossuary, and mausoleum. Crypts are found all over the world. Many of them contain whole or partial mummies, skeletons, bones, and artifacts left with the dead. Lauren shows pictures of each type of crypt with an explanation of the site and what can be found there. There is even an amusing video. Unfortunately I could no longer get sound on the video after about 2/3 of the way. I found this to be a most interesting article.

Lauren reports archaeological news too. One day the news was that a fragment of reed skirt believed to be 5,900 years old was discovered in Armenia. In Lexington, Massachusetts, The Rev. John Hancock's house was moved to its original site. The 263 year house old had many historical relics that were rescued before the move. It was believed to have been the childhood home of President John Adams. The Silbury Hill is a mysterious mound. A new book deals with why it might have been built. There is a link to a good slide show. Other things in the news are: the Pyramids, the tomb of the first emperor of China, and Shakers.

The 14 Wonders of the World. I am not going to list them here. Lauren does a much better job of describing them than I can. Take a look and see if your favorite is there. Maybe you would like to see how many you can guess before you go.

Ancient Digger is full of information. There are links to other fascinating sites. Lauren has videos. The history of our wildlife and people is wrapped in the past. As we learn more about the past, we learn more about why things are the way they are now. Please visit Lauren at the link provided below. I would say look all around, but it is hard to keep from further exploring the first topic you see. When you are ready to leave, please leave a nice comment and tell her Emma sent you.

Ancient Digger

Do you write a nature website or blog, or know of one, that you would like to introduce to our readers? Send me the information and I might feature it in one of my next reviews. Click here to find out how: Feature My Nature Site.

Comments

  1. Ancient Digger is one of my favourite blogs! :-) Lauren somehow manages to discover and share some incredibly interesting history that I'd otherwise never hear about.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds like a very interesting blog. I do a lot of genealogy and have a strong interest in archaeology. I'll have to explore Lauren's blog.

    Hope you had a great holiday weekend Emma.
    Judy

    ReplyDelete
  3. To John: It has certainly become one of my favorites too. Lauren has an easy style of writing and makes her subjects compelling.

    To SquirrelQueen: You will be glad you visited. There is a lot of information to be had.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi everyone,

    Thanks so much for featuring my site Emma. I know I mentioned to you on one of the comments on Ancient Digger, that I want readers to understand and enjoy history. If someone taught me years ago in a way that was understandable and relateable, I would have probably appreciated it more.

    Most of my readers are actually people interested in archaeology, but not archaeologists. Well, I do have several archaeologists reading, but I'm sure most of the content they have heard before, except the new discoveries.

    I've never admitted to being a professional writer so I do make mistakes, which I'm still correcting from the old archives. My goal was to explain the topic in a way in which children, academics, history enthusiasts, etc, could understand.

    @John

    Well that certainly means I'm doing my job. There are hundreds of heritage sites that I haven't been able to find on the internet. Information I mean. I try to share those with readers. I'm glad you are finding it enjoyable and entertaining.

    @SquirrelQueen

    I have a little something for everyone. Prehistory, military, Classic archaeology, etc. I try, and I stress try with my lack of time, to touch on all areas of archaeology. It's a tough blog to maintain, but it keeps me grounded and focused.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lauren, thank you for commenting. I know everyone who stops to see you will enjoy your site. You do present an easy and interesting way to look at the past.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks Emma. I try to make it as understandable and enjoyable as possible. There are few in depth pieces that make your head spin, but I have to throw a bone to everyone.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for recommending this Emma, I love archaeology and will be sure to check this out. How can we know where we are going if we don't know where we came from!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wild_Bill, I am glad you like Lauren's site. I look at every new post and they are all excellent. Thank you for your comment.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comments are good. Comments are fun.
You'll be glad if you leave us one.