The sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912 killed over 1,500 people and pulled the ship and everything inside of it to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.  The remains of the ship and its passengers sit 2.5 miles underneath the surface, and studying the artifacts left behind could lead to understanding what life was like for those on board and answer questions surrounding how the wreck occurred.  Underwater preservation and surveying techniques have allowed archaeologists to go down and investigate the site; that is, as long as they make it to the Titanic before it completely deteriorates.

When the remains of the Titanic were discovered in 1985, ocean archaeology technology was relatively primitive.  Sonar was developed so that deep-sea endeavors would be safer and as technology has improved, underwater archaeology has grown.  In 1985, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) sent an unmanned ship with cameras and a sonar system down to take photographs and videos of the wreck and successfully brought the images back so that the public could see what had happened.

A Titanic passengers’ shoes on the sea floor

The ocean is rough terrain preserve artifacts in. In the 34 years since it was found, rust, salts, microbes, and deep-sea creatures have been slowly destroying the once magnificent ship and have completely consumed any human remains there.  Scientists and archaeologists are afraid that the site of the Titanic will completely vanish within the next few years. An expedition went to the Titanic in August of this year, and the ship is completely broken in half, consumed by ocean life.  The decay was expected and the site was made a priority.  In 2010, ships were sent down to make a complete replica of the site using videos, 3-D imaging, and sonar technology so that there would be a record of the ship before it completely deteriorates.

A rendering of the Titanic after the 2010 expedition

While having a map of the site is great so that there is some kind of record of what happened, it may not be an accurate representation of what the ship was like when it sank.  Because the Titanic sank in international waters, the wreck was under no national jurisdiction until 2012. The company that owned the ship went out of business, so that meant that until the ship became a UNESCO world heritage site, anyone could visit the site and bring back artifacts.  For a shipwreck to be protected under UNESCO, it has to be underwater for 100 years. This meant that between 1985 and 2012, anyone could go down to the Titanic and potentially damage the ship and take its artifacts.  Unwanted visitors have gone down to the ship and left modern trash that has damaged the rapidly deteriorating ship.  We may not know exactly what happened due to looters and vandals, but at least there is a record of what it might have been like before the Titanic returns to its elemental form and vanishes forever.

References:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/8/100818-titanic-3-d-expedition-shipwreck-science-collapsing/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/07/news-rms-titanic-artifacts-shipwrecks-bankruptcy-archaeology/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/08/150901-titanic-shipwreck-discovery-30-anniversary-archaeology-oceans-science/

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/21/science/titanic-shipwreck-archaeology.html

Figures from:

https://www.archaeology.org/exclusives/articles/651-titanic-jean-louis-michel-robert-d-ballard

https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/maritime/titanic/expedition_results.html

Additional Reading:

https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/maritime/titanic/welcome.html

https://www.archaeology.org/exclusives/articles/651-titanic-jean-louis-michel-robert-d-ballard

In modern culture, tattoos are extremely common and popular as both a form of self expression and a permanent reminder of significant life and cultural events. Archaeology can help us understand both how and why tattoos have become such an important part of human identity. 

Tattooing is a practice that has been around for more than 5,000 years. The oldest known human tattoos come from the mummified remains of Otzi the Iceman. Otzi’s tattoos, which appear on his lower back, behind his knee, and around his ankle are believed to be medicinal as they appear to be an early form of acupuncture. Science Magazine reports, “Ötzi was covered with 61 tattoos including dotlike points around joints, which some researchers believe may have been used as pain treatment akin to an early form of acupuncture. ” (Rapp Learn 2018) These tattoos help explain where the practice of tattooing comes from, as they were used medicinally to increase blood flow and relieve tension in a similar manner to modern acupuncture.

A diagram showing the location of Otzi the Iceman’s Tattoos 

In contrast to the very practical uses of Otzi the iceman’s tattoos, 2,000 years later the tattooing practices of the Polynesian cultures were symbolic and ritualistic. Tattoos were reflections of both the individual  and the society’s cultural history as a whole. Tattoo artists were almost exclusively young males who were highly trained in both the art of tattooing and the meanings of different motifs and their placements. It was the job of the tattoo artist to decide what design and placement a person would get, as well as when a person could get a tattoo. Since getting a tattoo was such an important part of Polynesian culture that tattoo artists were regarded in high esteem by all members of society including the nobility. One interesting note about Polynesian tattooing designs is that one of the only surviving designs, the armband, is not actually a traditional Polynesian design. Instead it is actually a “souvenir” that was created in the 1970s for the American Peace Corps workers.

An Example of a Traditional Male Polynesian Tattoo

An Example of a Polynesian Armband “Souvenir” Tattoo

For more than 5,000 years humans have been tattooing their bodies for a variety of reasons. Archaeology has helped us to understand that tattooing developed in several ways around the world, both as a medical practice to stimulate blood flow to areas of pain, as well as a symbolic way of connecting an individual to their community and cultural history.

Further Reading 

Interesting article about a modern woman getting the same tattoos as Otzi the Iceman:

https://www.inkedmag.com/culture/otzi 

For more on the religious significance of tattoos:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/drsarahbond/2016/09/09/ahistoryofreligioustattoos/#63ff8ad072fe 

References:

Rapp Learn, Joshua.

   September 7, 2018   5000-year-old ‘Iceman’ May Have Benefited from a Sophisticated Health Care System. Science Magazine. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/09/5000-year-old-iceman-may-have-benefited-sophisticated-health-care-system, accessed September 14, 2019.

PBS. 

   May 4, 2003   Skin Stories: The Art and Culture of Polynesian Tattoo. PBS, https://www.pbs.org/skinstories/index.html, accessed September 14, 2019.

Images:

Image 1:

http://traditionaltattoosaregood.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html 

Image 2:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/365209/the-story-of-samoan-tattooing 

Image 3:

https://scubetattoology.tumblr.com/post/184054099274/polynesian-pattern-armband-tattoo-tattoo 

One of the most pressing issues in the world today is climate change. According to NASA (2019), temperatures will rise more than they already have, leading to changes in precipitation patterns, more droughts and heat waves, and eventually, the arctic possibly becoming ice free. But climate change might in fact be helping the development of a new discipline of archaeology that makes the location of sites and features much easier to find: Glacial archaeology.

Glacial archaeology has developed due to the melting of mountain ice that has been brought on by climate change. Many of the finds would have decomposed in other environments but have remained preserved in the ice. Yukon, Canada and Oppland, Norway are currently the only two places in the world that have permanent glacial archaeology programs, and the Oppland Glacial Archaeology Program received permanent funding from the Norwegian State in 2011. In Oppland alone, there have been close to 3,000 archaeological finds from 52 different sites, including skis, tunics, and an arrow (Figure 1) (Mukherjee 2019).

Figure 1. A Viking arrowhead recovered from the Glacier Archaeology Program in Norway. Photograph credit to Chinanews.com.

It all started in 1991 when a German couple were hiking in the Alps and discovered a human body that had been frozen there for about 5,000 years. The body later was given the name “Ötzi the Iceman” (Figure 2). He was the first instance of glacial archaeology, and certainly not the last if temperatures continue to rise around the world due to climate change. Scientists are confident that the temperatures will continue to rise largely due to greenhouse gasses produced by human activities (NASA 2019).

Figure 2. Ötzi the Iceman. Photograph credit to Discover Magazine/Kalmbach Media.

Fieldwork in glacial archaeology is much different than other disciplines of archaeology. It involves little to no digging, but it’s not just waiting around for the ice to melt. While some objects only melt out of the ice once, other times objects found have been in and out of the ice multiple times. The degree to which an artifact has been thawed or exposed can affect to what degree is can be rescued or preserved (Mukherjee 2019).

This is not a post saying climate change is a good thing. Continuing to treat the planet like we do can only have catastrophic consequences in the future. But we should take advantage of the things we can learn that we didn’t have access to before. Hopefully humanity can work together to preserve our home but until then is it so bad to look for the upsides?

Further Readings:

Dixon, E. J., William F. Manley, and Craig M. Lee

2005 The Emerging Archaeology of Glaciers and Ice Patches: Examples from Alaska’s      Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. American Antiquity 70:129+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A128672624/AONE?u=nysl_se_vassar&sid=AONE&xid=1925de44

Van, de N.

2011 Conceptualising Climate Change Archaeology. Antiquity 85:1039+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A268601243/AONE?u=nysl_se_vassar&sid=AONE&xid=93dac185

References

Draxler, Breanna

2013 Living Relatives of Ötzi the Iceman Mummy Found in          Austria. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2013/10/16/living-relatives-of-otzi-the-iceman-mummy-found-in-austria/#.XX5-3pNKiqA ed. Vol. 2019, Kalmbach Media,

Lan, Yao

2019 Climate Change-Linked Melting Ice Contributes to finds of Archaeology Team. http://www.ecns.cn/hd/2019-09-11/detail-ifzntuwi2505132.shtml#2 ed. Vol. 2019, Chinanews.com, China.

Mukherjee, Ritoban

2019 Climate Change is Bad for the Planet, but Groundbreaking for Archaeology. https://qz.com/1697545/climate-change-is-giving-life-to-the-study-of-glacial-archaeology/ ed. Vol. 2019, Quartz,

NASA

2019 The Effects of Climate Change. https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/ ed. Vol. 2019, NASA, California.

Like Olive and Kent, my hometown Shenzhen is said to have no history, despite discoveries of Neolithic artifacts. I ask why.

Figure 1. Shenzhen’s Central Business District at sunset. Photograph from China Daily, available at http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201902/28/WS5c7720fda3106c65c34ebd70.html.

Hong Kong’s neighbor and one of China’s fastest-growing cities, Shenzhen (Figure 1) is known by its own residents to have no history. The Reform and Opening-Up Policy of 1980 jump-started the city we know today, which is so densely populated with young elites and world-class IT companies that it seems as fresh as its technology. Allegedly, prior to the Policy, Shenzhen was a nameless, pastless fishing village.

Archaeology proves otherwise. A 2006 excavation at the Xiantouling archaeological site unearthed Neolithic features and artifacts from 7,000 years ago, evincing the existence of a history quite remarkable in scope within city borders (Li & Liu 2007). Located in Longgang District, the sandy hill preserved ancient features such as hearths and stone poles, alongside earthenware like cups (Figure 2), dishes, and vessel-bases and stone tools like stampers. The quantity and quality of features and artifacts indicate that Xiantouling may be the center of contemporary Pearl River Delta settlements. Moreover, shared stylistic features between Xiantouling wares and those discovered in Hunan Province position the site in an even larger cultural background. Subsequently, the site was rated as one of the biggest archaeological discoveries in China in 2006 (China Heritage Project 2007).

Figure 2. White earthen cup discovered at the Xiantouling Neolithic site. Photograph from the article by Hairong Li and Junxiong Liu in Kaogu (2007.7).

However, despite Xiantouling’s monumentality, the tale of no history prevailed. In fact, few of my family and friends know of the site, and none recall the announcement of its discovery. I was never taught of it in school. Famed on paper, Xiantouling is barely recognized by its very own townspeople. 

This lack of local exposure leads me to question Shenzhen’s official propaganda. In a society where the government controls public opinion through information dissemination, people’s perception of history is often molded by the city council and its sanctioned news. If Shenzhen wishes to maintain a youthful city image, such ancient discoveries may be downplayed in mainstream media and city propaganda. Therefore, I infer that Shenzhen has forsaken Xiantouling in exchange for an image of development, youth, and innovation — as a city that chases the future, not the past. To expand its history from a convenient 40 years to a strenuous 7,000 is to murder the spectacle of over-night success. Indeed, even on the city’s official website, its history is only briefly mentioned in a subpage — with the name Xiantouling nowhere to be found — and development projects dominate the rest of the website (Shenzhen Government). Similar to New York City’s Watershed Communities, in my town, archaeology and history are sacrificed for a political agenda. 

Known for information technology, Shenzhen is unaware that 7,000 years ago on the same land lived a people who embodied the same spirit of craftsmanship as they developed the technology of their times. Archaeology is a sacrifice; buried with it is this ancestral bond, a bond between today’s programmers and prehistory’s potters, a bond between the neolithic and modern times.

References

Li, Hairong and Junxiong Liu

  2007  The Xiantouling Neolithic Site at Shenzhen City, Guangdong. Kaogu (7): 9-16. 

http://www.kaogu.cn/uploads/soft/Chinese%20Archaeology/8/The%20Xiantouling%20Neolithic%20Site%20at%20Shenzhen%20City,%20Guangdong.pdf. Accessed Sept 13, 2019.

China Heritage Project

  2007  China’s Archaeological Oscars: The Top Ten Discoveries of 2006. China Heritage Quarterly (11). 

http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/articles.phpsearchterm=011_topten.inc&issue=011. Accessed Sept 13, 2019.

Shenzhen Government

Brief Introduction to Shenzhen. Entering Shenzhen. 

http://www.sz.gov.cn/cn/zjsz/gl/201907/t20190703_18031514.htm. Accessed Sept 13, 2019.

Further Readings

1. Chi, Zhang and Hung Hsiao-Chun, The Neolithic of Southern China–Origin, Development, and Dispersal: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46735009_The_Neolithic_of_Southern_China–Origin_Development_and_Dispersal
2. Chi, Zhang and Hsiao-chun Hung, Later hunter-gatherers in southern China, 18000-3000 BC: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286143979_Later_hunter-gatherers_in_southern_China_18_000-3000_BC

Two years after Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc on Puerto Rico, both the island and its people are still in the midst of recovery. The official death toll was estimated to be around 2,975 people, households went an average of 84 days without electricity, and the damages totaled up to as much as $94.4 billion (Mercy Corps, 2019). Those are the numbers that most mainland Americans heard from the news in the aftermath of the storm, but they are not the only numbers that tell the island’s story. According to Puerto Rico’s Solid Waste Authority, the hurricane also created about “6.2 million cubic yards of waste and debris” (Kennedy, 2017).

The pure quantity of garbage created by the storm was so overwhelming that the island’s pre-existing landfills could not begin to contain it all. As a result, the government was forced to temporarily deposit debris in other places, such as soccer fields (Figure 1) and the grounds of closed public schools (Ocasio, 2018). In addition, some of the larger landfills were often left uncovered and are now overflowing, presenting a risk to the health of nearby residents (Kennedy, 2017).

Figure 1. A soccer field that has been converted into a dump. Photograph by José Jiménez.

If archaeology is the study of humans through what they leave behind, then it is also a study of the legacy of our garbage. Although the hurricane was the catalyst for the current crisis in Puerto Rico, the island’s garbage problems “predated the storm but went unnoticed until trash began to stack up outside people’s homes after Maria,” according to Jessica Seiglie of Basuro Cero, “a community organization that seeks alternatives for managing waste.” (Ocasio, 2018). One of the primary problems was that many of the dumps that weren’t regularly maintained found themselves flooded from the downpour, which prevented them from being used for weeks after the hurricane. (Ocasio, 2018). As it turns out, during assessments that began in 2002, the EPA anticipated this problem and ordered 12 of Puerto Rico’s 29 landfills (Figure 2) to close. However, “as of December 2016, the EPA reported that only Aguadilla had closed completely” (U.S. PIRG, 2017).

Figure 2. The landfill in Toa Baja. The active part of this dump was often left uncovered during the cleanup efforts after Hurricane Maria, posing a threat to the health of nearby residents. Photograph by José Jiménez

Unfortunately, closing a landfill costs approximately $200,000 per acre, and Puerto Rico is currently more than $120 billion in debt. With that said, can the island itself really be blamed for this particular problem? After all, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló requested a funding extension from FEMA for “recovery efforts including trash removal,” but the request was still being processed as of a year after the storm. (Ocasio, 2018). Since so many past mistakes and injustices led to the present catastrophe, many people have their sights set on the future. As engineer Ferdinand Quiñones put it when asked about the flooded dumps, “‘This is a legacy that we’re leaving for future generations… in 100 years or 75 years we have to start worrying about rehabilitating those sites’” (Ocasio, 2018).

Additional Reading:

For more on long-term solutions and how you can help: https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2018/12/one-year-after-hurricane-maria#

For more on clean-up efforts in Puerto Rico: https://www.waste360.com/waste-reduction/one-year-later-puerto-rico-s-hurricane-recovery-efforts-continue

References:

Kennedy, Merrit, and Migaki, Lauren.

   December 24, 2017   After Maria, Puerto Rico Struggles Under The Weight Of Its Own Garbage. National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/14/570927809/after-maria-puerto-rico-struggles-under-the-weight-of-its-own-garbage, accessed September 14, 2019.

Mercy Corps. 

   August 28, 2019   Quick Facts: Hurricane Maria’s Effect on Puerto Rico. Mercy Corps, https://www.mercycorps.org/articles/united-states/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico, accessed September 14, 2019

Ocasio, Bianca Padró, and Rosa, Alejandra. 

   September 21, 2018   A Year Later, Hurricane Maria Debris a Lingering Concern in Puerto Rico. Orlando Sentinel. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/weather/hurricane/puerto-rico-hurricane-recovery/os-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-year-debris-20180921-story.html, accessed September 14, 2019.

U.S. PIRG Education Fund, and Frontier Group. 

   October 25, 2017   Solid Waste in the Aftermath of Hurricane Maria. U.S. PIRG. https://uspirgedfund.org/sites/pirg/files/resources/Solid Waste – Hurricane Maria – USPIRG.pdf, accessed September 14, 2019.