As President Obama urges world leaders to tackle climate change in Paris for COP21, members from the 124 nation group of the International Union of Architects plan to present to the Paris summit the Caral Letter, a letter celebrating the ancient city of Caral-Supe in Peru as a model for sustainable living in the twenty-first century.  This initiative is an example of how archaeology can be used to engage the problems our society currently faces by studying the past for ways to plan for a better future.   

The city of Caral overlooking the Supe river valley.

The city of Caral-Supe was home to the Notre Chico people and can be traced back to the Late Archaic period of the Central Andes and is also the oldest center of civilization in the Americas.  Caral is 5000 years old and 626 hectares, situated on a dry desert terrace overlooking the green valley of the Supe river.

Caral is famous for the ways its engineers developed the complex city using basic tools, representing inspiration to current world leaders and engineers trying to tackle climate change.  The city incorporates sunken amphitheaters, pyramids, and underground ducts that once channeled winds to keep fires burning (globalpost.com).  Moreover, Caral is situated in a seismically active area, and engineers of Caral innovated the use of flexible foundations called “shicras” to stabilize structures in the city.  

A picture of one of the structures in the city of Caral.

The city also epitomizes a message about how our society should respect the environment.  “This society was very interested in developing in harmony with nature. They never occupied the valley, they didn’t settle on productive land. Fertile fields were deities,” said Peruvian archaeologist Ruth Shady, who conducted the first excavations at Caral in 1996 and brought the site to world attention (globalpost.com).  The city of Caral-Supe is an admirable example for architects to present to the climate summit not only because it serves to inspire current world leaders and engineers with the extraordinary tasks people accomplished with only basic tools, but also because the people of Caral intimately respected their environment – a pertinent message for world leaders looking to solve climate change.

The city of Caral-Supe shows that archaeology can be a means of tackling the problems our society faces today by providing examples about how we faced – and overcame – similar challenges posed in the past.  

“We turn to the past to see how civilization was organized 5,000 years ago, thinking about their commitment to nature, their cosmic vision,” said Jose Arispe, one of Peru’s leading architects and an adviser with the International Union of Architects. (globalpost.com)

References

http://www.globalpost.com/article/6685210/2015/11/10/perus-ancient-city-caral-inspires-modern-architects

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1269

http://www.peruthisweek.com/news-ancient-citadel-of-caral-inspires-modern-builders-108134

Photo 1 http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/02/26/caral_2-6202c5022d4f3a304ac051b478a0acb728860ab7-s900-c85.jpeg

Photo 2 http://www.ancient-wisdom.com/Images/countries/American%20pics/caralpyramidmayor.jpg

Further Reading

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/27/world/archaeological-site-in-peru-is-called-oldest-city-in-americas.html

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/The-mother-of-all-civilisations/articleshow/2625053.cms?referral=PM

Gigapan of Caral-Supe http://gigapan.com/gigapans/163382

Archaeology has been thought of a discipline filled with old men who dig bones, observe soil, and freak out when they find the smallest fragment of anything; however, archaeology is becoming a  into a branch that now attempts to extend itself to the public, by giving back information and artifacts to groups and by using archaeology to combat current issues. Today, artifacts are being destroyed by ISIS in Syria, and archaeologists are attempting to protect antiquities for future generations to come.

To achieve their political goals, ISIS is destroying culturally significant objects to, in a sense, change the history of the region. Syria is an extremely archaeological rich area, containing artifacts from the earliest known civilization, Mesopotamia. Syria has some of the oldest Sumerian writing tablets, as well as sex UNESCO World Heritage sites. Entire museums are left in rubble as objects are destroyed. Artifacts are, too, taken and sold on the black market to finance this militant group’s political agendas. The Islamic State has destroyed other culturally significant pieces, such as burning thousands of rare documents and books.

ISIS militant destroying a 3000 year old Assyrian Winged Bull

Activist archaeologists are attempting to right the wrongs done in Syria, and there are similar but different approaches. One group of activists are secretly documenting the destroyed artifacts, taking photographs to show the true damages as well as writing descriptions of the lost relics. These activists send their information to Al-Azm, a former researcher for the Syrian government, who sends this information to international law enforcement agencies to help stop the black market sales of Syrian cultural items.  Similarly to Al-Azm, European archaeologists have created the Association for the Protection of Syrian Archaeology, which attempts to create a record of the losses in Syria. This movement is based on the internet, utilizing social media such as Twitter and YouTube to educate the international community on the significant losses. Some researchers, like Ms. Hanna of the American University in Cairo, has begun to focus on activism instead of academic publication. She has testified to the United States’ Congress, attempting to put more restrictions on imports of artifacts to America. One of the most interesting way of preserving Syrian archaeological treasures is through 3D modeling. Bassel Kartabil, using photographs as a basis, created 3D Models of Palmyra, an ancient Semitic city that has been controlled by ISIS since March of 2015. The project attempts to recreate destroyed buildings and monuments through 3D reconstruction. Bassel Kartabil has since been imprisoned for his work on the project.

3D Structure created by the New Palmyra Project

The efforts and work to preserve the history of region is noteworthy. Through proper cataloging and reconstruction, the archaeological community hopes that these relics will not be lost to humanity forever.

WORKS USED:

http://www.wired.com/2015/10/jailed-activist-bassel-khartabil-3d-models-could-save-syrian-history-from-isis/#slide-6

https://gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com/2015/02/27/assessing-the-damage-at-the-mosul-museum-part-1-the-assyrian-artifacts/

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/02/how-isis-cashes-illegal-antiquities-trade

FURTHER READING:

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/israel-middle-east/isil-has-blown-up-palmyras-ancient-baalshamin-temple-syrian-activists-say

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/25/world/middleeast/academics-and-archaeologists-fight-to-save-syrias-artifacts.html

Cidade Velha, former capital of the Cabo Verde Islands off the coast of West Africa, is home to a 500-year-old secret—a church, buried and left in ruins for hundreds of years, has been recently excavated and recognized as “the oldest formal European colonial building” discovered in sub-Saharan Africa to date (Cambridge). However, the mystery surrounding it is rooted in something much darker.

Colonized by Portuguese settlers, Cidade Velha was once a booming port city that owed its success to the slave trade, functioning for over 300 years as a holding point before slaves were sent to Portugal and the Americas (Phys.org). The previously mentioned Portuguese church, upon its excavation by a team from Cambridge University, was discovered alongside a massive cemetery of about 1,000 bodies. Interestingly enough, at least half of these bodies buried in Christian tradition were African, and presumed slaves (Discovery). These graves give rise to evidence of religious conversion of locals by the Portuguese settlers, and begin to raise important questions about Cabo Verde’s history that haven’t yet been addressed. The teeth and bodies of the dead have the potential to be examined in order to provide a deeper context of slaves’ diets and living conditions, as well as provide an objective truth about what life was really like in Cabo Verde in the 1500s as a result of colonization.

Excavated tombstones in Cidade Velha (Cambridge)

The excavation of this church in particular was an effort by Cambridge University that successfully began to rewrite the story of the Cabo Verde Islands and clarify a national history long-shrouded by the lingering remains of colonialism, slavery, and religious conversion. It is important to note that archaeologists from Cambridge collaborated with local workers on the excavation, making it a truly community effort. The digs were also made public and generated an immense amount of interest and support from locals.

Local children at excavation site (Cambridge)

The stories of Cabo Verde are now being claimed by the Cabo Verdeans, and rightfully so. Archaeological excavations such as this slowly but surely strip colonialism of its power over history’s narratives and let us remember history as it was, not as a dominant power structure wanted us to believe. This is a long-overdue reclamation of power, and it gives depth to local heritage, culture, and pride. “It’s a profound social and political story to which these new archaeological investigations are making an invaluable contribution,” says Marie Louis Stig Sørensen of Cambridge, and she’s absolutely correct—through archaeology, a local community can reclaim the ability to tell their own stories, and that is undeniably powerful.

Further Reading:

500-Year-Old Church Found in Slave Trade Settlement

Earliest church in the tropics unearthed in former heart of Atlantic slave trade – phys.org

Earliest church in the tropics unearthed in former heart of Atlantic slave trade – Cambridge

Uncovering the first European church in the tropics – YouTube

The Mayan people, who are indigenous to Mexico and Central America, are publicly perceived as being one the most influential cultures of the Archeological world. While their culture may not be as mysterious as the public imagination believes, it’s slowly being altered by a big issue plaguing archeological sites, looting. As early as 1970, the Mayan city of Xultún , located in northern Guatemala, has been plundered by looters referred to locally as “huechoros”. These huechoros craved tunnels into many of the pyramids adorning the Mayan city and used the tunnels to access the artifacts stored inside. From there the artifacts are takened and placed on the black market to be sold illegally to the affluent for personal want or for display in institutions like  museums. The looted materials included stone figurines and statues, hieroglyphic panels, ceramic pottery, and jade jewelry. Though the amount of looting has decreased in the passed years, archeologists are still trying to fully grasp the damage incurred by the huechoros.

Re-excavation of one of the many tunnels created by the huechoros in an Xultun pyramid

Huechoros, who are often just individuals desperate for money, have inflicted grave harm on not only culture of the Mayans but ultimately their extensive history. The city of Xultún was once a major metropolitan center filled with the rich art, culture, and religion that have contributed to the Mayans identity. For example, stone tablets known as Stelae have been frequent favorites of the looters. These tablets describe the deeds of the Mayan Kings and were seen as very valuable to buyers, so looters would divide the tall stones into small pieces. With the destruction of those tablets came the destruction of Mayan history. No longer are archeologists able to visit sites within Xultan pyramids without the telltale signs of looters being present. Not only aren’t artifacts not being found but the tunnels have allowed for rainwater to travel into the structures damaging the remaining artifacts. These looters aren’t just stealing artifacts but also the existence of the people who left them behind.

A  Mayan Stelae of unknown origins

One of many recovered looted artifacts, a limestone panel

The government, in conjunction with archeologists, has enacted several measures to halt the looting of the pyramids. Since a majority of the looting is due to financial strife resulting from Guatemala’s Civil War in the 1960’s, the government has enacted new stable avenues of commerce for communities in the jungle. They have also stationed Guatemalan military officials to patrol the city of Xultún on a 24/7 schedule. Archeologists, on the other hand, are now re-excavating the tunnels left behind by the heuchoros in order to find new artifacts for preservation and future reference. There has even been talk of Guatemala arguing for repatriation of stolen artifacts now displayed in American and European museums and galleries. Though many may only view the stolen artifacts as souvenirs to the Mayans once thriving civilization, they also represent the rich history of a prevalent culture. Archeologists are striving to rediscover and preserve the identity of a people whose culture served as a prime example for the modern civilizations we call home today.

Guatemalan soldier patrolling the border surrounding the Mayan city Xultun

Links:

National Geographic

BBC News

http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/town/article21.html

Further Reading:

Looted or Legal?

Stolen Mayan Artifacts Returned

Los Arboles structure under excavation in Xultun

          Looting is supported by the act of fetishizing the past. This worldwide archaeological con oddly proves beneficial to the economy. Although a functioning economy is desired, this trend of owning such unique and historical artifacts robs it’s the knowledge of the culture that lays behind it. Artifacts are the keys left behind for the world to use to unlock the story of its culture. Looting steals this “key” and makes the knowledge that is “locked up” inaccessible. Because this injustice is such a common occurrence, more and more action has been put into play. Pre-existing looting laws are finally being held to a greater importance.
This movement against looting can be exemplified locally in California’s own “Lake County,” enforcing looting laws for what may be the first time in that area. One reason as to why action has finally occurred is that a drought in the area has created an advantage for looters. The dry land and lower water levels has made it easier to find Native artifacts, making the presence of looting even more noticeable.

Obsidian spears and arrowheads are the most common artifacts put on the black market from Lake County.

The Native American Historic Resource Protection Act exists in California to punish the unlawful disruption of Native American sites. Sadly, this county only began to really acknowledge it when the looting became evident to everyone. This finally led to local authorities being trained in how to put this law into action on the field.
Artifacts stolen from modern-day Native Americans, like many other civilizations, had connected their descendants to their ancestors. Even to those who are not connected to specific artifacts, we all learn what occurred in specific areas hundreds to thousands of years ago, from them. In giving respect to these ancient artifacts, we attempt to heal a part of the past by rescuing their physical history.
Crusades against the horrid of looting have not only occurred locally, but world-wide. As early as World War II, the time of the Nazis, the Monuments Men has taken action in trying to protect artifacts against looters. With the most recent warfare, monuments and ancient artifacts have suffered many causalities. It is known that ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria), has destroyed many historic sites and receive funds

Historical and archaeological sites, in Syria and Iraq, that have been looted and destroyed by ISIS.

from the “not so” secret world of looting. As a part of the modern world, archaeologists have more resources than they did decades ago, in going against looting: technology and the internet. In the summer of 2014, a team for the Institute of Digital Archaeology helped create a database- the Million Image Database- that digitally documents ancient architecture and artifacts. One of its features is the GPS function, which gives investigators “the time and location-stamped images to see if the artifacts had previously been in one of the documented locations.” During August 2014, the FBI alerted art dealers in high looting countries of the search for stolen artifacts and the importance in going against looting.
The movement against looting has become more widespread due to the accessibility of technology and changing times. Although this is not a new issue that the world is facing, it is finally under the spotlight; change is occurring.

Sources: (Including Pictures)
http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/09/21/lake-county-cracks-down-on-looting-of-native-american-artifacts

www.newsweek.com/2015/11/20/institute-digital-archaeology-preserves-cultural-heritage-middle-east-392732.html

Further Reading: 
http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=fd0866b0-1c4e-4927-a335-64ca1eca0271

http://www.saa.org/AbouttheSociety/Publications/ArchaeologyandYou/Chapter5ArchaeologyandtheLaw/tabid/1011/Default.aspx

http://artlawjournal.com/using-drones-to-combat-archaeological-looting/

When Europeans arrived in the early 1500s, the Aztecs had one of the largest empires at the time with a population over 200,000. With a massive size and impressive organization and cleanliness, the Aztec empire could be considered one of the more sustainable empires in history. The Aztecs maintained systems of organization of resources that would be admired in today’s society.

The foundation of their sustainability comes down to their use of small, artificial islands that they built to accommodate the growing population, known as chinampas. The Aztec chinampas covered over 12 square kilometers and were highly productive due to the high amount of water and sunlight in the area. The productivity was further increased by the recycling of nutrients. The Aztecs had a method for disposing organic wastes that would fertilize the crops. Human excrement was used often and highly valued in the Aztec society. Urine was usually stored and sold. Reusing excrement prevented it from being released into the environment, preventing the pollution of the lakes surrounding the chinampas.

Chinampa farming

Littering and dumping waste was highly frowned upon in Aztec society. Wastefulness was not tolerated at all and in some cases individuals would be sentenced to death for being wasteful. They even had a system for recovering recyclable waste. They also maximized recycling by burning certain materials and then disposing the remainder in chinampas, which helped fertilize the soil.

The Aztec empire had managed to create and maintain, what we would consider today a sustainable materials management system, which is considered the most ideal method for managing waste, conserving resources and protecting the environment.

Although they had an ideal system of sustainability, the empire did not survive the militant conquest of the Spaniards. After conquering the Aztecs, the Spaniards dismantled the waste management system, drained all of the lakes, and built Mexico City over the land.

Overview of the grid-like layout of the chinampas

This begs the question, how long would the Aztecs have survived had they survived the Spanish conquest? With their constant reuse and recycling of organic materials, they minimized their impact on the environment. Because their waste was also considered resources, they showed no signs of exhausting these resources, which is a major issue in the topic in sustainability of today’s society.

With sustainability being a prominent issue today, applying some of the theories and viewpoints that the Aztec empire used as far as waste, adaptability, and resources could help reduce the massive effect that modern society has on the environment.

Resources:

http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/the-aztecs-of-mexico-a-zero-waste-society

http://geo-mexico.com/?p=1657

Further Reading:

http://blogs.plos.org/publichealth/2013/07/30/guest-post-what-killed-the-aztecs/

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2009/06/the-aztec-solution/

The Piltdown Man skull, partially original (dark) and partially theoretical (beige).

The “missing link” in human evolution? Well, that’s what English archaeologists believed for many years had been discovered when a skull with both human and ape characteristics was revealed by an amateur archaeologist, Charles Dawson. Unfortunately, for decades this hoax would confuse scientists’ insight into the course of human evolution.

In 1912, Dawson announced that he had pieced together parts of a skull found near Piltdown village; while it had an ape-like jaw and teeth, the brain cavity of the skull was large, similar in size to that of a modern human. This seemed to fit perfectly with the idea of humankind’s intelligence pushing forward its evolution. In addition to the skull, the Piltdown site produced animal bones and primitive tools (as well as an artifact that looked suspiciously like a cricket bat), adding to its apparent validity. Many years after Dawson’s death however, scientists working at the Natural History Museum in London proved that the skull was faked; not only were the bones more recent than initially believe, but while the skull fragments were human, the jaw bone had probably belonged to an orangutan. These scientists also found scrape marks on the teeth, suggesting that someone had filed the teeth to give them a more human appearance.

Piltdown Man’s Jaw and Teeth

The trust in this hoax created a false understanding of human evolution, demonstrating the danger of fraudulent archaeology. British scientists may have been particularly accepting of the new discovery, since they had not yet found any significant prehistoric human remains, unlike their European counterparts; not only that, the new discovery seemed the closest link to modern man yet. Their belief was strong enough that when a scientist in Africa discovered a radically different early human skull, some scientists failed to acknowledge that true step on humankind’s evolutionary path. Until the skull was proved a fake in 1949, this hoax represented one of the biggest anomalies of the evolutionary sequence, hindering scientists trying to comprehend humankind’s past.

Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of this entire story is that the true perpetrator or perpetrators of this hoax have never been definitively identified. Dawson almost certainly was involved, as many of his other “discoveries” have also since been proven fraudulent; however, any number of other leading scientists and philosophers may have had a hand in the deception. Regardless of whether their intentions where to deceive or merely to play a practical joke on the scientific community, this hoax shaped and disrupted understanding of human evolution for nearly forty years, signifying the true menace of archaeological hoaxes.

Bibliography

http://www.britannica.com/topic/Piltdown-man

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/departments-and-staff/library-and-archives/collections/piltdown-man.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/archaeology/piltdown_man_01.shtml

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/archaeology/9747160/New-study-promises-to-lay-mystery-of-Piltdown-man-to-rest.htmlwd

Image Credits

Piltdown Skull: http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/results.asp?image=039916&itemw=4&itemf=0001&itemstep=1&itemx=2

Piltdown Man’s Jaw and Teeth: http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/results.asp?image=040480&itemw=4&itemf=0001&itemstep=1&itemx=22

Interesting Links
This link contains details on a number of the suspects, including Dawson and Arthur Conan Doyle: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/feb/05/piltdown-man-archaeologys-greatest-hoax

A somewhat over-dramatic BBC documentary about the Piltdown Man, focusing primarily on the later discovery of the fraud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOn97lU21L4

Radical archaeology uses artifacts and sites to disprove contemporary social systems and acts against “class and gender oppression, racism, and discrimination,” according to Elizabeth Brumfiel, an American radical archaeologist and professor and at one point president of the American Anthropological Association. Radical archaeologists’ findings can show alternative ways of life from our current views.

Gender roles are something we see ingrained in everyday life – such as gender-specific bathrooms and more stay-at-home moms than stay-at-home dads. However, these modern American gender roles aren’t the only gender roles possible. Different societies have different ways of thinking about the similarities and differences between the genders, as specifically evidenced in Aztec archaeological findings.

Statue of Aztec earth goddess Cihuacoatl

Gender complementarity was a prominent aspect of Aztec culture – considering women and men to be different but equally important to the whole of society. Both genders could hold authoritative position within the market – as evidenced by artwork showing women as specialized retailers administrators who controlled wealth and assets. Deities were not exclusively male. Women were depicted as goddesses in sculpture and artwork as well.

Archaeological artifacts also support gender roles in terms of childcare. Women raised the girls, and men raised the boys. From this came a strong binary in the gender roles – although considered complementary, boys and girls were taught different tasks. Spindle whorls, for example, were found in areas in homes where women and girls primarily resided, emphasizing their roles are spinners and weavers.

Radical archaeologists take this information and analyze it to question our own society today – connecting the lives of the ancient past to our cultures today. Did the Aztecs live with exactly the same gender roles as we do today? No. So are gender roles at least partly socially constructed? Yes. Although there was sexism in Aztec gender roles as there is today (women doing indoor work, men doing outdoor), the differences in child-rearing, power structures, and deities are important to note as they are shown to be socially constructed in both contexts.

Ceramic spindle whorl buried with an Aztec woman’s body

With this we can question and potentially bring about change in our current social structures. We can ask ourselves about whether what we determine “feminine” and “masculine” are biologically or socially constructed, and then adjust our societies to be more accepting and open. Radical archaeology’s creative and thoughtful analysis takes (somewhat) objective findings about cultures common in post-processual archaeology and works on using that information to aim to create a world with less discrimination.

Links for Further Reading on Aztec gender roles and Radical archaeology:

https://umdearborn.edu/casl/fileadmin/template/casl/files/MeetingOfMinds/files/MOM_2012/Medieval/White_paper_-_mr7.pdf

http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/theresa-kintz-radical-archaeology-as-dissent

References:

http://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/doaks-online-publications/gender/asking-about-aztec-gender-the-historical-and-archaeological-evidence

http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/home/aztec-women