Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Abu Hureyra (Syria)

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Abu Hureyra (Syria) Oct 1st 2011, 10:02 Abu Hureyra is the ruins of an ancient settlement, located on the south side of the Euphrates valley of northern Syria, and on an abandoned channel of that famous river. Occupied from ~13,000 to 6,000 years ago, before, during and after the introduction of agriculture in the region. Abu Hureyra is remarkable for its excellent faunal and floral preservation--that is, the bones of animals and seeds of plants were found in very good condition there. The tell at Abu Hureyra covers an area of some 11.5 hectares, and has occupations which archaeologists call Late Epipaleolithic to Pre-Pottery Neolithic B. The cultural period during this long occupation is for Pre-Pottery Neolithic A, during which time apparently the site was abandoned. Living at Abu Hureyra I The earliest occupation at Abu Hureyra, ca. 13,000-12,000 years ago, was a permanent, year-round settlement of hunter-gatherers, who gathered over 100 species of edible seeds and fruits from the Euphrates valley and nearby regions. They also had access to an abundance of animals, particularly gazelles. The Abu Hureyra I people lived in a cluster of semi-subterranean pit houses (semi-subterranean meaning, the dwellings were partially dug into the ground). Beginning ~11,000 RCYBP, the people experienced environmental changes to a cold, dry conditions associated with the Younger Dryas period. Many of the wild plants the people had relied on disappeared. The earliest cultivated species at Abu Hureyra appears to have been rye (Secale cereale) and lentils and possibly wheat. During the latter part of Abu Hureyra I (~10,000-9400 RCYBP), and after the original dwelling pits were filled in with debris, the people built above-ground huts of perishable materials, and grew rye, lentils and einkorn wheat. Abu Hureyra II The fully Neolithic Abu Hureyra II (~9400-7000 RCYBP) was composed of a collection of rectangular, multi-roomed family dwellings built of mud brick. This village grew to a maximum population of between 4000 and 6000 people, and the people grew crops including rye, lentils, and einkorn wheat, but added emmer wheat, barley, chickpeas and field beans, all of the latter probably domesticated elsewhere. Abu Hureyra Excavations Abu Hureyra was excavated in the 1970s by Andrew Moore and colleagues as a salvage operation prior to construction of the Tabqa Dam, which flooded this part of the Euphrates Valley and created Lake Assad. Excavation results from the Abu Hureyra site were reported by A.M.T. Moore, G.C. Hillman, and A.J. Legge, recently published by Oxford University Press. Sources This glossary entry is a part of the Guides to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and Plant Domestication, and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Colledge S, and Conolly J. 2010. Reassessing the evidence for the cultivation of wild crops during the Younger Dryas at Tell Abu Hureyra, Syria. Environmental Archaeology 15:124-138. Doebley, John F., Brandon S. Gaut, and Bruce D. Smith. 2006. The molecular genetics of crop domestication. Cell 127: 1309-1321. Hillman G, Hedges R, Moore A, Colledge S, and Pettitt P. 2001. New evidence of Lateglacial cereal cultivation at Abu Hureyra on the Euphrates. The Holocene 11(4):383-393. Moore, A.M.T., G.C. Hillman, and A.J. Legge. 2000. Villages on the Euphrates: The Excavation of Abu Hureyra. Oxford University Press, London.

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Eridu (Iraq)

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Eridu (Iraq) Oct 1st 2011, 10:02 Definition: The Mesopotamian city of Eridu (now called Tell Abu Shahrain) is located about 22 kilometers south of Nasiriya in Iraq, and it was occupied between about 5000 and 2000 BC, during the Ubaid through Ur periods of southern Mesopotamia. Eridu is the oldest Sumerian city known, a capital of the Early Dynastic Period, and, according to Sumerian tradition was the city that belonged to the god Enki. Eridu is best known for its temples, called ziggurats. The earliest temple, dated to the Ubaid period about 5570 BC, consisted of a small room with a possible cult niche and an offering table. After a break, there are ever-larger temples built and rebuilt on this site throughout its history. Each of these temples was built with classical early Mesopotamian format of tripartite plan, with a buttressed facade and a long central room with an altar. The Ziggurat of Enki was built for the Third Dynasty of Ur, 3,000 years after the city's founding. In addition to the temples, Eridu had a village (12 hectares), and a cemetery with nearly 1,000 interments, little of which to date have evidence of social stratification. Tell Abu Shahrain was excavated in the 1940s by Fuad Safar and his British colleague Seton Lloyd. Sources This glossary entry is part of the Guide to Mesopotamia and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Armstrong, James F. 1996. Mesopotamia: The Rise of Urban Culture. in Brian Fagan (ed). 1996. The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Hole, Frank. 1966. Investigating the Origins of Mesopotamian Civilization. Science 153(3736):605-611. Nichols, Deborah L., R. A. Covey, and Kamyar Abdia. 2008 Rise of civilization and urbanism. Pp. 1003-1015 in Encyclopedia of Archaeology, Deborah M. Pearsall, editor. Elsevier: London. Also Known As: Tell Abu Shahrain (also spelled Abu Shahrein)

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Ardipithecus Ramidus

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Ardipithecus Ramidus Sep 30th 2011, 10:01 An Introduction to Ardipithecus ramidus Ardipithecus ramidus is an ancient hominin first discovered in 1994; over 110 specimens have been recovered from several different sites in the Afar rift of Ethiopia since that time. The 4.4 million year old creature was a tall, tree-climbing and bipedal fellow with a predominantly plant-based diet. They lived in a woodland environment and while they were certainly not fully human, neither did they exhibit climbing and walking strategies of modern chimpanzees or gorillas. A. ramidus is tentatively believed to be ancestral to Australopithecus: but it is a million years older than Australopithecus afarensis (ca. 3.7 million years ago) and older than Australopithecus anamensis (3.9-4.2 million years ago). They were not tool makersâ€"even Australopithecus didn't get into that until 2.5 mya, but Ardipithecus does have some traits carried on into Australopithecus. But most surprisingly, A. ramidus walked upright on two legs while on the ground (called bipedal locomotion), and climbed on all fours along the branches of trees. That's surprising, because researchers had surmised that our ancestor would have more chimpanzee or gorilla-like characteristicsâ€"that it would spend most of its time swinging and hanging from tree branches. Ardipithecus ramidus got a star treatment in Science magazine, with 11 separate articles written by nearly 50 scholars. This photos essay is a little taste of what was reported. Sources and Further Information White, Tim D., et al. 2009 Ardipithecus ramidus and the Paleobiology of Early Hominids. Science 326:75-86. Ardipithecus ramidus, the blog post, which has links to recent news stories Lucy, famous Australopithecus afarensis Hominin Aramis, Ethiopia Bipedal locomotion

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Machu Picchu

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Machu Picchu Sep 30th 2011, 10:01 Machu Picchu is the name of the residential palace of the Inca Empire. The name means "Old Mountain", and it refers to one of two mountains on which Machu Picchu liesâ€"the other is Huayna Picchu (Young Mountain), located 3,000 feet above the Urubamba Valley in Peru. Machu Picchu lies on a perennially cloud-draped ridge between the two peaks, part of the royal estate of the Inca king Pachacuti [AD 1438-1471]. The site is made up of single buildings arranged in groups, along streets, adjacent to plazas and terraces. Most of the buildings are residences, some of white granite masonry such as that seen in the city of Cuzco. Some of the buildings, which must have been built for special purposes, are partly carved into the bedrock and partly built from finely cut white granite. Machu Picchu and Empire Building While Machu Picchu is mostly known for its architectural beauty and its near inaccessibility, it is the empire-building career of its builder which provides a great deal of the site's importance. The Inca empire had its foundations around 1200 AD. It remained small, one of several competing regional polities, until late in the reign of the eighth Inca king, Viracocha, about 1438 AD. At that time, the Inca capital at Cuzco was attacked by the Chancas, a powerful group who lived to the north. Viracocha fled, but his son, Inca Yupanqui, refused to cede and fought his way to victory. Machu Picchu and Pachacuti's Cataclysm After his victory, Inca Yupanqui took the name Pachacuti (which means "cataclysm"), and began the empire building for which the Inca are renowned. His campaign of conquest and diplomacy extended Inca control out over the Central and Southern Highlands of Peru. Over the next 55 years, Pachacuti and his son Topa Inca conquered major portions of the southern coast of Peru, the northern half of Chile, northwest Argentina, and eastern Bolivia. It was Pachacuti who began the fabulous white granite constructions in Cuzco itself as well as at Machu Picchu that are known as Inca architecture. Inca architecture, as seen in Cuzco, Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu, is characterized by cut masonry without mortar. The faces of the stone are cut so finely that you can't insert a needle between them. Machu Picchu 'Discovered' The "discovery" of the site is usually ascribed to Hiram Bingham, adventurer/explorer/archaeologist/military man/state senator, who first visited the ruins in 1911; but it is pretty clear that the site was never really "lost." Bingham got a lot wrong in his book on Machu Picchu, but there is no doubt that his work in Peru brought the world's attention to the ancient culture of the Inca. Sources See the Walking Tour of Machu Picchu for more details about this amazing site. This glossary entry is part of the Guide to the Inca Empire and the Dictionary of Archaeology. A Walking Tour of Machu Picchu has been assembled for this project. Berger, K. and et al. 1988 Radiocarbon dating Machu Picchu, Peru. Antiquity 62:707-710. Cuadra, C., M. B. Karkee, and K. Tokeshi 2008 Earthquake risk to Inca’s historical constructions in Machupicchu. Advances in Engineering Software 39(4):336-345. Gordon, Robert and Robert Knopf 2007 Late horizon silver, copper, and tin from Machu Picchu, Peru. Journal of Archaeological Science 34:38-47. Shinoda, Ken-ichi, Noboru Adachi, Sonia Guillen, and Izumi Shimada 2006 Mitochondrial DNA Analysis of Ancient Peruvian Highlanders. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 131(1):98-107. Turner, Bethany L., George D. Kamenov, John D. Kingston, and George J. Armelagos 2009 Insights into immigration and social class at Machu Picchu, Peru based on oxygen, strontium, and lead isotopic analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 36(2):317-332. Wright, Kenneth R., Alfredo Valencia Zegarra, and William L. Lorah 1999 Ancient Machu Picchu Drainage Engineering. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering 125(6):360-369.

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Archaeology Subfields

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Archaeology Subfields Sep 30th 2011, 10:01 Archaeology has many subfields--including both ways of thinking about archaeology and ways of studying archaeology Battlefield Archaeology Mr. T in DC Battlefield archaeology is an area of specialization among historical archaeologists. Archaeologists study battlefields of many different centuries, eras, and cultures, to document what historians cannot. Biblical Archaeology Dead Sea Scrolls Document 4Q325. Israel Antiquities Authority/Tsila Sagiv Traditionally, biblical archaeology is the name given to the study of the archaeological aspects of the history of the Jewish and Christian churches as provided in the Judeo-Christian bible. Classical Archaeology Greek Vase, Heraklion Museum. by A Pastafarian Classical archaeology is the study of the ancient Mediterranean, including ancient Greece and Rome and their immediate forebears Minoans and Mycenaeans. The study is often found in ancient history or art departments in graduate schools, and in general is a broad, culture-based study. Cognitive Archaeology For the Love of God, Damien Hirst. Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd / Getty Images Archaeologists who practice cognitive archaeology are interested in the material expression of human ways of thinking about things, such as gender, class, status, kinship. Commercial Archaeology Crossroads Plaza in Palmyra, Diane Jabi Commercial archaeology is not, as you might think, the buying and selling of artifacts, but rather archaeology which focuses on the material culture aspects of commerce and transportation. Cultural Resource Management Save Pasargad and Persepolis. Ebad Hashemi Cultural Resource Management, also called Heritage Management in some countries, is the way cultural resources including archaeology are managed at the governmental level. When it works best, CRM is a process, in which all the interested parties are allowed to have some input into the decision about what to do about endangered resources on public property. Economic Archaeology Karl Marx's Gravestone, London. 13bobby Economic archaeologists are concerned with how people control their economic resources, most particularly but not entirely, their food supply. Many economic archaeologists are Marxists, in that they are interested in who controls food supply, and how. Environmental Archaeology Huge tree in Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Marco Lo Vullo Environmental archaeology is the subdiscipline of archaeology that focuses on the impacts of a given culture on the environment, as well as the impact of the environment on that culture. Ethnoarchaeology John Atherton Ethnoarchaeology is the science of applying archaeological methods to living groups, in part to understand how the processes of how various cultures create archaeological sites, what they leave behind and what kind of patterns can be seen in modern rubbish. Experimental Archaeology Flint Knapper at Work. Travis Shinabarger Experimental archaeology is a branch of archaeological study that replicates or attempts to replicate past processes to understand how the deposits came about. Experimental archaeoloy includes everything from the recreation of a stone tool through flintknapping to reconstruction of an entire village into a living history farm.

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Jaguar Throne

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Jaguar Throne Sep 30th 2011, 10:01 One frequently identified object at Chichén Itzá is a jaguar throne, a seat shaped like a jaguar presumably made for some of the rulers. This one is the only one left at the site open to the public; the remainder are in museums, because they are often richly painted with inlaid shell, jade and crystal features. Jaguar thrones were found in the Castillo and in the Nunnery Annex; they are often found illustrated on murals and pottery as well.

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Oasis Theory

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Oasis Theory Sep 29th 2011, 10:00 Definition: The Oasis Theory (or Propinquity Theory) is a core concept in archaeology, referring to one of the main hypotheses about the origins of agriculture. First put forward by V.G. Childe in his 1928 book, "The Most Ancient Near-East", the oasis theory argues that the reason people starting living in settlements was because during a dry spell, the only livable place was near oases. The enforced clustering of humans, animals, and plants led to the domestication of all three, or so the theory goes. Another important scholar for this discussion was Robert Braidwood, who introduced the Fertile Crescent as a location of this enormous step forward (or backward, depending on your point of view). More Information Lots of details on the domestication of various animals and plants have been collected here. Braidwood, Robert J., et al. 1974 Beginnings of Village-Farming Communities in Southeastern Turkey--1972. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 71(2):568-572. Free download Childe, V.G. 1969 New Light on the Most Ancient East. Norton & Company. The second edition, which can be had for a song these days. Pluciennik, Mark and Marek Zvelbil. 2007. pp. 467-486 in Handbook of Archaeological Theories, R. Alexander Bentley, Herbert D.G. Maschner and Christopher Chippindale, eds. Altamira Press, Lanham, Maryland. A great resource for modern concepts of the origins of agriculture. This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst. Also Known As: Propinquity Theory

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Emperor Qin's Terracotta Army

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Emperor Qin's Terracotta Army Sep 29th 2011, 10:00 Each of the pits discovered at Shihuangdi's tomb were excavated by the emperor's workers, who first placed a brick floor, and then built a sequence of rammed earth partitions and tunnels. The floors of the tunnels were covered with mats, the life-sized statuary was placed erect on the mats and the tunnels were covered with logs. Finally each pit was buried. In the largest pit (14,000 square meters), the infantry was placed in rows four deep. Read more on Emperor Qin's Tomb Try the Trivia Quiz on Emperor Qin's Tomb Read more on the Qin Dynasty

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Archaeology: Most Popular Articles: Map of the Dead Sea Caves

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Map of the Dead Sea Caves Sep 29th 2011, 10:13 The location of the caves where the scrolls were found is within the rugged cliffs on the western shore of the salty Dead Sea. In the midst of the caves is the archaeological site of Qumran, thought by most scholars to be a settlement for the Jewish religious sect who wrote and kept the Dead Sea Scrolls. The site of Qumran was first visited by Europeans in 1851, when a Flemish explorer named Louis-Felicien Caignart de Saulcy took an expedition to the Dead Sea, and visited Ein Feshkha, and Khirbet Qumran. The site is built of mud brick and cut and uncut stone, a cemetery containing about 1,000 graves. The name Qumran is from the nearby riverbed, called Wadi Qumran, and may be derived from the Arabic word for 'moonlight'. Qumran's ancient name was Secacah, one of six desert towns mentioned in the Old Testament book of Joshua. In the mid 1940s, bedouin pastoralists discovered a cache of scrolls in what was to be later named Cave 1, located about a half mile from the site of Qumran. Additional caves were identified throughout the 1950s, with the last cave (Cave 11) discovered in 1956. Some of the scrolls had been stored in jars within the caves--these scrolls are in the best shape. Others were apparently stored on wooden shelves and these have been badly fragmented over time. Primary Source Jodi Magness, 2002. The Archaeology of the Dead Sea Scrolls. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, Grand Rapids, Michigan. For More Information Archaeology of the Dead Sea Scrolls Pacific Science Center The Israeli Antiquities Authority

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Archaeology: Viking Houses

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Viking Houses Sep 28th 2011, 09:16 The Vikings, or as they were known outside of their Scandinavian homes, the Norse or those rotten bums, were aggressive colonizers, who murdered and raided their way across Europe and as far west as Canada--but you couldn't call them imperialists. They weren't primarily interested in acquiring land and power. Reading Viking histories, you get the impression that the Northerners seem to have been restless, adventurous, irritable young men who left Norway and Sweden to find treasure and excitement, to explore different places, and if they could pillage and burn in the meantime, well, so much the better. Reconstructed Viking Longhouse, St�ng, Iceland. Photo by Thomas Ormston But a weird thing happened after these young men arrived in their various places. They settled down. At �th Cliath in Ireland, the Norse simply parked their boat, converted it into living quarters, and eventually founded the town of Dublin. Even if their settlements weren't such a great success, like in the Eastern Settlement of Greenland where climate change and stubbornness eventually conspired against them, the descendants of the violent murderous Norse became farmers and traders and lived quiet productive lives. More of that you can learn from studies of Viking houses: Hofsta�ir, Iceland Gar�ar, Greenland Beginish Island, Ireland �th Cliath, Ireland Eastern Settlement, Greenland Viking Settlements

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Bog Bodies

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Bog Bodies Sep 28th 2011, 10:01 Definition: The term bog bodies (or bog people) is used to refer to human burials, some likely sacrificed, placed within peat bogs of Denmark, Germany, Holland, Britain, and Ireland and naturally mummified. The highly acidic peat acts as a remarkable preservative, leaving the clothing and skin intact, and creating poignant and memorable images of people of the past. The reason that bogs permit a high level of preservation is because they are both acidic and anaerobic (oxygen-poor). When a body is thrown into a bog, the cold water will hinder putrefaction and insect activity. Sphagnum mosses and the presence of tannin add to the preservation by having anti-bacterial properties. The total number of bodies pulled from European bogs is unknown, partly because they were were first rediscovered in the 17th century and records are shaky. Estimates range wildly between about 200 to 700. The oldest bog body is Koelbjerg Woman, recovered from a peat bog in Denmark. the most recent dates to about 1000 AD. Most of the bodies were placed in the bogs during the European Iron Age and Roman period, between about 800 BC and AD 200. Bog Bodies Denmark: Grauballe Man, Tollund Man, Huldre Fen Woman, Egtved Girl, Trundholm Sun Chariot (not a body, but from a Danish bog all the same) Germany: Kayhausen Boy UK: Lindow Man Ireland: Gallagh Man Don't forget to try your hand at the Bog Body Quiz Sources and Recommended Reading This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Coles, Byrony and Coles, John. 1989. People of the Wetlands: Bogs, Bodies and Lake-Dwellers. London, Thames and Hudson. Glob, Peter Vilhelm. 2004[1965]. The Bog People: Iron-Age Man Preserved. New York Review of Books, New York. Lynnerup, Niels 2007 Mummies. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 50:162-190. Sanders, Karin. 2009. Bodies in the Bog and the Archaeological Imagination. University of Chicago Press: Chicago. ISBN 13:978-0-226-73404-0 (cloth). 233 pages, plus 82 pages of notes, bibliography and index; 63 black and white photographs.

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Burnum (Croatia)

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Burnum (Croatia) Sep 28th 2011, 10:01 Burnum is the Roman name of a settlement and fortified camp on the Krka River in the Sibenik-Knin district of central Croatia, in the hinterland across the Adriatic Sea from Italy. Burnum is called locally "Hollow Church", Šuplja Crkva), but its location on the ancient border between Liburnia and Dalmatia made it a significant military outpost between the pre-Roman and Late Roman periods. The area was first conquered by the Roman legions during the Illyrian campaigns of the emperor Octavian, sometime between 72-32 BC. Burnum was one of five legionary fortresses established in Illyricum; the others are Tilurium, Siscia, Poetovio and Carnuntum. A military camp was built first at Burnum during the first century, and, under Hadrian's rule, Burnum attained the status of a city. Burnum was on the Roman Road through Dalmatia. According to Tacitus, garrisons established at Burnum included XX under Augustus, quartered there briefly between battles in AD 9 and XI (AD 33-34), "not too distant to be summoned, should Italy require them"; and, under Claudius, XI Claudia pia Fidelis (AD 42-67) and IV Flavia Felix (AD 56-57). The municipality of Burnum held a forum, town gates and an amphitheatre. Burnum remained an important center in Roman Dalmatia until it was burned and abandoned at the beginning of the Gothic-Byzantine War of AD 535-554. Roman Buildings at Burnum The site of Burnum (sometimes Ivoševci) has not been reoccupied since the sixth century and it is currently an agricultural field. Still extant at the site are elements of the Roman city, including evidence that the site had a square plan, a fortification ditch and a plaza/forum. Two stone arches from the basilica are still present (shown in the photo) out of the original five and a large amphitheater has been recently excavated and restored by the University of Zadar and the Museum of Drniš. An aqueduct flows underground throughout the city, some 30 kilometers in length. Geophysical investigations, including satellite and aerial imagery, magnetometer survey, electrical resistivity and ground penetrating radar supporting topographic mapping of the Roman features. The investigations led to the discovery that there are significant remaining elements of Burnum buried beneath the surface of the site, including significant portions of the second century AD municipality. These elements include internal roads, public areas and structural complexes, perhaps military barracks and residences. Read more about Remote Sensing techniques Archaeology at Burnum Burnum was first described during the mid-1770s by the Venetian abbot Alberto Fortis. Fortis reported that the standing stone arches were what the locals referred to as the Hollow Church or Trajan's castle. Arthur Evans included a report of Burnum in his 1885 book Ancient Illyria, but did not apparently visit the site. The Austrian Archaeological Institute of Vienna excavated at the site in the early 20th century and again in the 1970s. Since 2005, Burnum has been under investigation by the Burnum Project, an international project between at the University of Zadar, the Civic Archaeological Museum of Drniš and the Department of Archaeology of Bologna University, under the direction of the Centro Studi per l’Archeologia dell’Adriatico in Ravenna, Italy. Sources This glossary entry is a part of the guide to Ruins of the Roman Empire, and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Boschi F. 2011. Geophysical Survey of the Burnum Archaeological Site, Croatia. Archaeological Prospection 18(2):117-126. Campell DB. 2006. Roman Legionary Fortresses 27 BC-AD 378. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. Evans A, and Destani BD. 1885 [2006]. Ancient Illyria: An archaeological exploration. London: I.B. Tauris and Co. Popovic I. 2010. Silver jewelry of autochthonous style from south and south-east parts of roman province Dalmatia. Starinar 60:95-110. Zunino A, Benvenuto F, Armadillo E, Bertero M, and Bozzo E. 2009. Iterative deconvolution and semiblind deconvolution methods in magnetic archaeological prospecting. Geophysics 74(4):L43-L51.

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Archaeology: Most Popular Articles: Amelia Earhart's Fate

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Amelia Earhart's Fate Sep 28th 2011, 10:15 What "the Toms"â€"Willi and Gannonâ€"pointed out to Ric Gillespie back in the '80s was that to a celestial navigator, that last radio message, about flying 157-337, had a very specific meaning. A line from 157 to 337 degrees on the compass is a line perpendicular to the sunrise on the morning of July 2. It's a line that, following standard navigational practice of the day, Noonan would have laid out when he shot the sunrise with his navigational instruments and fixed their position. He then would have advanced that lineâ€"alled the "line of position" or LOP--by dead reckoning along their line of flight until he calculated that they should be within sight of Howland Island. If they couldn't see the island, then they'd simply fly up and down the line until they did see it, or got in contact with the Itasca. And if they didn’t see Howland, didn't contact the cutter? Then there was another bigger island, much more visible than Howland, a couple of hours flying time right down the LOPâ€"an uninhabited island in the Phoenix Island group, at the time called Gardner Island, now called Nikumaroro. That, the Toms proposed, was where Earhart and Noonan had wound up. Nikumaroro today is part of the Republic of Kiribati, pronounced "Kiribas". In Earhart’s day it was part of the British Crown Colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. Ric and Pat raised the several hundred thousand dollars necessary to get a team to Nikumaroro, and in 1989 we undertook our first archaeological survey. We've been back to the island five times in the last 16 years, and have done research on other islands in the vicinity as well as in Fiji, Tarawa, Funafuti, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, the Solomon Islands, and even--to gain comparative data from Lockheed Electra crash sites--in Idaho and Alaska. We haven’t proved the hypothesis to be correct, but we have quite a bit of evidence pointing that way. A lot of that evidence is archaeological. Evidence From the Village In 1938, Nikumaroro was colonized as part of the Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme (yes, the PISS)--an effort to bleed off surplus population from the southern Gilbert Islands into economically self-sufficient coconut plantations in the mostly uninhabited Phoenix group. A village was established near the north end of the island, and in 1940 the colonial administrator, Gerald B. Gallagher, set up his headquarters there. Gallagher died and was buried on the island in 1941, but the colony lasted until 1963 when it succumbed to drought conditions. The village is a rather ghostly place today. Through the rampant vegetation--coconut, pandanus, a really nasty shrub called Scaevola--you can still see the neat coral-slab curbs that line the dead-straight, seven-meter-wide streets, and the remains of the big flagstaff can still be seen in the middle of the graveled parade ground, next to Gallagher’s grave. Public buildings stood on concrete platforms, which today loom out of the foliage, and the ground is littered with the artifacts of daily life--cans, bottles, dishpans, a bicycle here, a sewing machine there--poking up through the rotting coconuts and palm fronds. We didn’t plan to do archaeology in the village--an unlikely place to find a big Lockheed Electra or a couple of lost flyers--but as it’s turned out, we've done a bit of work there, and found a lot. To put it simply, the place is crazy with aircraft aluminum, most of it cut into small pieces for use in handicrafts--made into hair combs, used as inlay in woodwork. The colonists were apparently "quarrying" the aluminum somewhere and bringing it to the village. In surveys of specific house sites and in more general walkabouts, we’ve found several dozen little pieces, and a few bigger ones. Where were they quarrying it? Some of the aluminum is from a B-24; it's got part numbers that match B-24 specifications. A B-24 crashed on Kanton Island, northeast of Nikumaroro, and there was some travel between the islands during and after the War, so the source of these pieces is easily nailed down. But much of the aluminum, especially the small, cut-up pieces, doesn't appear to be military. No serial numbers, no zinc chromate paint. And some pieces have rivets that match those in Earhart's Electra. Four pieces, all from the same part of the village, represent some kind of interior fixture that was nailed to a wooden deck. Until recently we thought they were “dados”--used along the edges of an airplane’s deck to give it a finished look and cover up control cables, but we now think they may be insulating devices, perhaps used to insulate fuel tanks from nearby heater ducts. But we still don't know where any of the apparently non-military aluminum came from.

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