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Archaeology, disasters, and hope
Apr. 5th, 2004 01:33 pmSci Fi Channel is bringing back "Farscape" in a four hour mini-series. Someday I will catch up with that series. I lost track after the first couple of seasons and never quite saw enough of the episodes.
The most recent "Deep Sea Detectives" followed a recent case, the sinking of the ferry Estonia off the Swedish coast in 1994. With the loss of nearly 900 lives, it was the worst maritime disaster in Scandinavia. The investigations were plagued with problems, prompting several independent ones. The officials believed that the visor ripped off the ship, causing it to take in water. Other divers noticed differing details. They also described a rather sickening sight of bodies littered on the Baltic floor. (I did cringe, though, when they described DNA forensic work and showed the WTC footage. It's still too soon for me clearly.)
Spanish archaeologists have pieced together a full frontal portrait of a Egyptian pharaoh in a courtyard in Luxor. Traditionally Egyptians have done portraits of Egyptians in profile, limiting full shots to foreigners, gods and mythological characters. Some have hypothesized that this portrait is a sketch for a statue or perhaps a student piece. The archaeologists believe it dates from 1400 BC and may show either pharaoh Tuthmosis III or his mother Hatshepsut.
Meanwhile in Wrexham, Wales, metal detectors are also coming up golden, finding a fresh new hoard of Bronze Age jewelry and pottery. The same area yielded the gold cape discovered in Mold in 1833. The cape is apparently something of a bone of contention with the Welsh locals, since it was given to the British Museum because they don't have a secure enough museum in their area.
The most recent "Deep Sea Detectives" followed a recent case, the sinking of the ferry Estonia off the Swedish coast in 1994. With the loss of nearly 900 lives, it was the worst maritime disaster in Scandinavia. The investigations were plagued with problems, prompting several independent ones. The officials believed that the visor ripped off the ship, causing it to take in water. Other divers noticed differing details. They also described a rather sickening sight of bodies littered on the Baltic floor. (I did cringe, though, when they described DNA forensic work and showed the WTC footage. It's still too soon for me clearly.)
Spanish archaeologists have pieced together a full frontal portrait of a Egyptian pharaoh in a courtyard in Luxor. Traditionally Egyptians have done portraits of Egyptians in profile, limiting full shots to foreigners, gods and mythological characters. Some have hypothesized that this portrait is a sketch for a statue or perhaps a student piece. The archaeologists believe it dates from 1400 BC and may show either pharaoh Tuthmosis III or his mother Hatshepsut.
Meanwhile in Wrexham, Wales, metal detectors are also coming up golden, finding a fresh new hoard of Bronze Age jewelry and pottery. The same area yielded the gold cape discovered in Mold in 1833. The cape is apparently something of a bone of contention with the Welsh locals, since it was given to the British Museum because they don't have a secure enough museum in their area.
