Artist Katharine Morling is creating animal sculptures based upon the zoomorphic designs that decorate the Staffordshire Hoard. The seventh-century Anglo-Saxon weapons were discovered by a metal detector enthusiast in a farmer’s field in 2009. “I took the tiny images from the Hoard and transformed them into mythological god figures, brought to life in a kingdom of ceramic animal gods. These deities embody the power of the decorative depictions that were originally worn on the battlefield,” she said.

Hairpins fashioned from animal bone are a common discovery at Assos, an ancient town located on Turkey’s western coast. They are especially plentiful in the town’s agora, where they may have been crafted and sold 2,200 years ago. “Dresses [for free women and slaves] were the same, but we know that servants had short hair and free women had long hair. We also know that hair [styles] were different in every century. When dating sculptures and coins, we sometimes look at their hair [styles]. In this way, have a chance to make a dating,” said Nurettin Arslan of Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University.

Google is now offering “Street View” tours of 30 archaeological sites in Mexico, including Teotihuacan, Chichen Itza, and Palenque. The National Institute of Anthropology and History plans to have all of its sites ready for street view tours by the end of the year.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Monday, August 27, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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