Kathleen O'Neal Gear & W Michael Gear

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Tag Archives: prehistory

Ancient urban planning. The Mayans were engineers, architects, astronomers…

Sunday, 10 May 2015 09:48
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Archaeologists have known for many years that Mayan civilization was sophisticated, but this new discovery that they built on a grid is exciting.  They designed at least some of their cities to have standardized “blocks.”  Is there a social significance to each block?  Did they have a block for potters and weavers?  A block where Traders set up their wares?  A block where the elite lived?  For metal workers?  Well, more work needs to be done, but we suspect they did.  Like any city planner, Mayan planners probably included utility and status into their designs.    

 

 

Mayan urban planningMaya and climate change

 

 

http://www.livescience.com/50659-early-mayan-city-mapped.html?adbid=z13ahbywfxzwz5nnm23hjlf5zoq3gfgzl04&adbpl=gp&adbpr=101164570444913213957&short_code=2w9o9

Prehistoric temples on Maui reveal origins of First Kingdom. http://westerndigs.org/prehistoric-temples-on-maui-reveal-origins-of-islands-first-kingdom/

Saturday, 09 May 2015 07:12
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hawaiian-temple-sharpA new study of prehistoric temples in Hawaii has set out to discovery when the island’s native peoples first came together under a single ruler.  http://westerndigs.org/prehistoric-temples-on-maui-reveal-origins-of-islands-first-kingdom/

#Archaeology. World’s largest underwater museum…wow.

Friday, 08 May 2015 07:33
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Mexico underwater-museum-1http://www.businessinsider.com/cancun-underwater-museum-museo-subacutico-de-arte-2015-5

Can’t wait to go see this magnificent underwater museum off the coast of Mexico’s Riviera Maya.  Just need to learn to scuba dive…

 

Athenian democracy…you know why it’s different from modern democracy.

Wednesday, 06 May 2015 09:49
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Those who’ve read our PEOPLE OF THE LONGHOUSE quartet of books already know why American democracy–and modern democracies around the world–are different from classical Greek democracy.  People like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin valued and incorporated Iroquoian  democratic principles into the fabric of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  Women, of course, were still excluded from voting.  In Iroquoia everyone voted, women, children, and often prisoners of war were allowed to vote.  

Here’s our question for you:  If you were a voter in ancient Greek society and you voted to go to war, you had to run home, grab you bow and armor, pack some food, and head off to fight.  So…if we were obeying Grecian rules of democracy, and you knew you had to fight if you voted to go to war in Syria, Iraq, or Iran, how would you vote?  http://www.historyextra.com/blog/ancient-greece/ancient-greek-democracy-similar-ours-we-think

Athens Greece  

Bog bodies…an archaeological perspective on the Weerdinge Couple

Tuesday, 05 May 2015 06:26
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Take a careful look at these two bodies.  They are both men and date to around 2,000 years ago.  Do you think they were thrown into the bog and accidentally ended up in these positions?  Or did someone deliberately arrange them?  Why or why not?

http://www.archive.archaeology.org/1005/bogbodies/index.htmlBog Weerdinge Couple two men 

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