Best wishes to you and your loved ones for happy holidays! This is a post I originally published in December 2021, duplicated now with minor edits. Historians and biblical scholars have recorded many stories and traditions related to the Three Magi and the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh they carried to the baby Jesus. The descriptions, which are reflected in the artwork of the time, are intriguing.
Ancient societies constructed remarkable monumental earthworks for millennia. In eastern North America, indigenous people began building enormous earthen mounds and other landscape structures more than 5,000 years ago. Only human muscle and simple hand tools were available, but the ancient ones clearly had a sophisticated understanding of scientific and engineering concepts.
Colorful chert, in varieties known as jasper, flint, agate, chalcedony, and others, have always intrigued me. So, when I recently saw a carpet of dark red jasper covering the surface of a river terrace in a remote corner of Utah, I was amazed. I wanted to learn more about how this chert bed formed and about the indigenous people who had left ancient rock art and storage structures nearby – and I found some fascinating information.
My book, "The Monumental Andes—Geology, Geography, and Ancient Cultures of the Peruvian Andes", is hot off the presses! Hooray! It is one I would have liked to read before traveling in Peru. In this blog post, I summarize a dozen of my published posts about Peru, emphasizing my favorite topics of the ancient Andeans’ construction, metalworking, and artistic achievements.
Oracles—those who speak from worlds unseen—have a long and colorful history. Explanations for their proclamations have puzzled investigators for many years. Now, evidence shows that at least some ancient oracles likely were under the influence of a variety of poisonous substances.
Should we change the name Stone Age to the Wood Age? Ancient wooden artifacts are rarely preserved, but a remarkable exception is a ca. 300,000-year-old collection of hunting weapons that archaeologists have recovered from an open-pit coal mine in Schöningen. Germany.
Rope made from twisted or braided plant fibers can be traced back tens of thousands of years. Preservation is rare, so most artifacts have been lost in the dust of time – but there are hints about rope production, including tools that may have been used to make them. The rope bridges of the Incas were impressive structures that could extend across greater distances than any masonry bridge built in history before that time.
Stone tools work best when made from specific kinds of rock. Careful selection of rock types began early when our human ancestors (hominins) first began using stone tools millions of years ago. Volcanic rocks have been a preferred choice, from hominins to the ancient Andeans. And surprisingly, perhaps, the trail of stone tools continues into the present.
An unusual Christmas nativity scene with characters constructed from water-smoothed pebbles and including the Three Maji, or Wise Men, recently caught my attention. From materials ranging from rocks and paper to wood, ceramics, and beyond, all around the world there are captivating art displays of nativity scenes that represent the birth of Jesus.
Geoglyphs are large designs typically longer than about 13 feet (4 m) and produced on the ground by arranging rocks or soil. They are distinctive elements of the archaeological record along the Pacific coast of the Americas, from California to Chile. The Nazca lines of Peru are famous geoglyphs of animals and geometric shapes, constructed in the arid deserts of south-central coastal Peru between about 500 BCE and 500 CE.
