Abstract This paper discusses the explorations and discoveries made at Copan in Honduras. Long thought of as the greatest example of ancient Mayan culture, Copan has been a wellspring of discoveries for archaeologists. The paper shows that not only did archaeologists find the longest line of Mayan text on the Hieroglyphic Stairway, but they also found a temple buried under a newer temple that is still completely intact. Several tombs were discovered, telling the lineage of the Copanecan dynasty.
From the Paper "The fascination with the Mayan civilization seems to grow greater as time goes on. Their ancient civilization seems far more advanced than what we today would expect of a people of that primitive time in history. Although there are many Mayan sites and cities spread throughout Central America, one of the most exciting cities to explore and discover the nature of the Mayan civilization is Copan. Copan serves as a great resource of Mayan information to both the scholar and the everyday fan of Mayan life."
Abstract The paper examines arguments about the origins of the Dead Seas Scrolls. It asks whether or not the the scribes were Essene in origin and if the site of Qumran was where the scrolls were written.
From the Paper "The Dead Sea Scrolls, after more than fifty years of intense investigative research, remain a much-debated enigma among theologians and manuscript scholars. The most argued points of contention include who produced the works and where the manuscripts originated. Scholars have also raised speculation as to the extent in which the documents connect with both Jewish and early Christian doctrines. Due to the overwhelming amount of material involved, this paper will focus examination on the prevalent arguments regarding the origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls."
Abstract This paper discusses The Kroisos, from Anavysos, Greece whose composition is dated before or around 530 BCE. This dating locates the Kroisos period of composition far before the more commonly known classical period of ancient Greek sculpture. It examines the style, form and the creative intention of the sculptor and compares them to early Egyptian and Roman sculpture. It argues how, at first glances, the plainess of the Kroisos is disappointing, but if the gazer is willing to look beyond initial impressions, he or she may very well see the beginnings of what would become one of the most influential and moving periods in the depiction of the human frame.
From the Paper "The Kroisos is a young man, with long hair. His hair is curled in texture, and almost seems like a string of stone beads rather than an actual individuated head of hair. His nose is rather flat. He appears to be smiling about something. However, rather than a depiction of joy, his smile has a uniform, generic quality to it. He smiles but unlike the ?Mona Lisa,? his smile does not seem directed at the gazer, nor about something in his line of vision, much less an important thought perplexing his mind. The sculpture's tone of commonality of representation rather than individuation of representation, is further emphasized by the smooth, almost lidded expression to the Kroisos? eyes."
From the Paper "One of the common problems faced by historians, geologists, archaeologists and anthropologists is the estimation of the age of particular specimens. Historians are interested in such things as the age of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Anthropologists are interested in the age of jaw bones which were found at Olduvai Gorge in Tanganyika. Archaeologists are interested in the date of Ptolemy's sarcophagus. And geologists are interested in the age of the Earth. The answers for a long time evaded people. The best that geologists could do was come up with som sort of ordinal distinction: for example, they knew that the origin of the earth was an older event than the origin of the first rock and that the first rock was older than were the Rocky Mountains. Likewise, anthropologists could determine that Neanderthal man preceded Cro-Magnon, but still the exact age of these events ... "
From the Paper "This paper will examine paleolithic art, and the insights it affords to man's earliest cultures, and to the basics of his own today.There is much to be learned from paleolithic art.There is an interesting history to the discovery of the cave paintings. Don Marcelino de Santinola discovered them. His findings were denied and judged false.... "
From the Paper " Four hundred thousand to two hundred thousand years ago, Homo erectus disappeared from the face of the earth and in his place was left archaic Homo sapiens, also known as Homo sapien neandertalensis or Neandertal man. Neandertal man had spread throughout Europe, the Near East, and Asia before one hundred thousand years ago. Then, quite suddenly, anatomically modern humans appeared throughout the Old World, replacing Neandertal man completely by about thirty-five thousand years ago (Fagan, 1989).
The question that arises is whether Neandertal man evolved to become modern man, or if modern humans migrated into the areas that were inhabited by the Neandertals and eventually replaced (...)"
From the Paper "Derivation and Use of Seals in China
This research reviews the derivation and use of seals in China. Included in this review are the historical development and use of seals, materials used in making seals, seal design, the function of seals, and techniques required in the application of seals.
The Historical Development of Seals
Until the decade of the 1920s, "it was archaeological heresy to suggest that China had borrowed anything from the west …" (Sutherland, 1965, p. 60). In 1923, however, a stamp seal was found in an archaeological dig in Elam in the mountains of northeast Sumer (Eisen, 1940). This seal dated to the fourth-millennium-BC. Prior to this find, stamp seals of this type had never been found outside of China. From 1928 through 1937..."
From the Paper "The study of human skeletal remains recovered from archeological sites provides a valuable source of information about prehistory from many different perspectives due mainly to the fact that bone is a living organism that continuously responds to environmental stresses. Osteologists and physical anthropologists have the ability to detect both cultural and physical interactions of prehistoric man through what the bones tell them with regards to growth, diseases, nutrition and wear and tear on the skeleton. Studied in conjunction with archeological data, we can now answer many questions about early man as well as isolate bits of data that can be pertinent to the human population today.
The purpose of this paper will be to discuss the study of prehistoric man's bones, including a quick look at the history of..."
An examination of the ancient Egyptian cross symbolizing the creative energies of the male and female in context of the history of Egyptian art and heiroglyphic symbology.
1,350 words (approx. 5.4 pages), 7 sources, 1994, $ 47.95
From the Paper "The ankh (crux ansata) was an ancient Egyptian T.shaped cross surmounted with a loop. It symbolized the creative energies of the male and female and - most importantly to a civilization obsessed with the afterlife - the essence of life. In this paper, the ankh will be examined in terms of its general place in the history of art and symbols and as it fit in specifically with the art and hieroglyphic symbology of the ancient Egyptians.
As noted above, the ankh has the essential form of a cross. The cross is among the oldest and most universal of symbols. In preliterate societies it often represented a conjunction of dualities, or - as the symbol would quite frequently be viewed literally - as an intersection of two worlds: the human and the divine. These symbols could be quite elaborate, but basically..."
From the Paper "Artistic expression in any given age always develops from works, styles, and themes produced in earlier eras. The further back into history we go, the more difficult it may be to ascertain the source of a given culture and the art it produces. The wonders of Egypt have long fascinated archaeologists, historians, and art experts. This art did not develop out of whole cloth but instead had antecedents which can be discerned elsewhere on the continent of Africa, specifically the rock art of Africa which can be seen as a precursor of the Egyptian civilization that would develop to the north.
The connections between the different cultures of Africa can be seen now as extending back to the beginning of humankind, for recent research seems to indicate that human beings first emerged on the African continent. Cultural development in the area can..."
This paper discusses the Israelite conquest of Canaan: Historical, Biblical, military, cultural and archaeological aspects of the 14th Century B.C. conquest and its significance.
2,475 words (approx. 9.9 pages), 7 sources, 1994, $ 87.95
From the Paper "The period of the Israelite Conquest, the conquest of Canaan, was important as the beginning of the Israelites as a people with roots, with a physical place they could call home. This was not to last as they were driven out of this home and taken into slavery, but Jewish history ever since was intent on the idea of the return, of the revival of Israel as a state, based on the belief that Palestine was inherently the territory of the Israelites and rightfully theirs to be reclaimed. In this century, there has been considerable archaeological evidence to support aspects of the biblical story of the conquest and its aftermath, all offering support for the hypothesis that the Hebrew people possessed Palestine long before those claiming it in more recent history. Yet, the issue remains complex and controversial, as an examination of scholarship on this issue ... "
This paper examines the social science methodology of Foucault: Techniques and theories used to analyze social structure, philosophy of differences, archeology and genealogy, social forms and power relationships.
2,475 words (approx. 9.9 pages), 3 sources, 1994, $ 87.95
From the Paper "The purpose of this research is to examine the social science methodology of Foucault. The plan of the research will be to set forth the general constituents of his method, and then to discuss its details and praxis, including his use of the terms archeology and genealogy, the results of his conception of the relationship between these terms and social structure, and an indication of how one can evaluate their efficacy.
The methodology Foucault uses to analyze social structure can be characterized as oppositional. In the term the philosophy of difference is enclosed the general approach to challenging the traditional understanding of social history and the realities of social structure that the notion of difference implies. Two related concepts that are associated with Foucault's approach to social structure are archeology and genealogy."
Abstract This paper examines the origins of the Christian tradition of reliquaries, more commonly known as capsellas. It shows how these religious relics usually hold the remains of people considered holy to the religion, such as saints, or they hold what is believed to be pieces of the original Cross, traces of holy blood, etc. The paper traces the history of capsellas from the time of the Wandering Jew, through the middle ages until contemporary times. The paper also shows how miracles within communities are attributed to these reliquaries.
From the Paper "Perhaps the most impressive reliquary still existing is known as The Shrine of the Three Kings, which is located now at the Cologne Cathedral. When Milan was taken in1162, the proclaimed relics of the Magi were brought to Cologne, where they were housed in a body sized finely worked silver casket. In form it appears to imitate the architecture of a church. Another from another date with stonework is supposedly connected to the name of Charlemagne. Charlemagne, himself was a great believer in relics. He wanted the talisman, not for their aesthetic value, but to tap into the power of the relic to help his military campaigns."
Abstract This paper attempts to understand the Scarab of Wah through examination and by comparison to the Heart Scarab of Hatnofer which are both currently housed in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. It discusses how both scarabs are likenesses of the scarab beetle and how these likenesses are found in abundance in Egyptian archaeology and in ancient myths and cultures.
Table of contents: The History of The Scarab in Ancient pre-Egyptian Cultures
The Scarab in Mythology
Symbolism of the Scarab in Egypt
An Overview of Scarab ArtifactsThe Scarab of Wah
The Heart Scarab of Hatnofer
Discussion
Endnotes
Bibliography
From the Paper "In the culture of he Chaco Indians, in South America, they believe that the scarab modeled man and Woman from Clay [4]. The scarab is known as the "potter" for this reason. This same symbolism is found in Egyptian culture as well. Ancient Greek legends say that the beetle plunged down into the original liquid "chaos" and brought back life to the surface. This myth is also prevalent among people from India and Southeast Asia [5].The Sumatran Toba believed that the big beetle brought a ball of matter from the sky and formed the world. The Egyptian and Greeks believed that the dung beetle could fly while carrying a dung ball. However this is physically impossible in reality."
Tags: beetle, egyptian, Maya, Metropolitan, Museum, of, Art
Abstract This paper provides a brief discussion of Greek history and Cretan art. The paper examines the phenomenon of looters and theft from Greek archaeological sites. The on-going battle against looting and smuggling antiquities is described, including an overview of international laws.
From the Paper "Looters can be dated as far back as 134 B.C. when the Romans originally stole from the Greeks. Only during the last century did countries such as Greece become concerned about their cultures, since the high prices of the artifacts have lead to more of their treasures being stolen. In the 1960?s, the popularity of marble statues encouraged thieves to loot the Aegean Islands for statues produced by the Cycladic culture during the Bronze Age. The looters destroyed over 12,000 graves in the course of their thefts. While many of these statues are in private collections, few have been recovered by archaeologists."
