The History of Archaeology Part 1 - The First Archaeologists

The History of Archaeology Part 1 - The First Archaeologists The history of archaeology as a study of the ancient past has its beginnings at least as early as the Mediterranean Bronze Age. Archaeology as a scientific study is only about 150 years old. Interest in the past, however, is much older than that. If you stretch the definition enough, probably the earliest probe into the past was during New Kingdom Egypt [ca 1550-1070 BC], when the pharaohs excavated and reconstructed the Sphinx, itself originally built during the 4th Dynasty [Old Kingdom, 2575-2134 BC] for the Pharaoh Khafre. There are no written records to support the excavationso we dont know which of the New Kingdom pharaohs asked for the Sphinx to be restoredbut physical evidence of the reconstruction exists, and there are ivory carvings from earlier periods that indicate the Sphinx was buried in sand up to its head and shoulders before the New Kingdom excavations. The First Archaeologist Tradition has it that the first recorded archaeological dig was operated by Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon who ruled between 555-539 BC. Nabonidus contribution to the science of the past is the unearthing of the foundation stone of a building dedicated to Naram-Sin, the grandson of the Akkadian king Sargon the Great. Nabonidus overestimated the age of the building foundation by 1,500 yearsNaram Sim lived about 2250 BC, but, heck, it was the middle of the 6th century BC: there were no radiocarbon dates.  Nabonidus was, frankly, deranged (an object lesson for many an archaeologist of the present), and Babylon was eventually conquered by Cyrus the Great, founder of Persepolis and the Persian empire. Excavating Pompeii and Herculaneum Most of the early excavations were either religious crusades of one sort or another, or treasure hunting by and for elite rulers, pretty consistently right up until the second study of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The original excavations at Herculaneum were simply treasure-hunting, and in the early decades of the 18th century, some of the intact remains covered by nearly 60 feet of volcanic ash and mud 1500 years before were destroyed in an attempt to find the good stuff. But, in 1738, Charles of Bourbon, King of the Two Sicilies and founder of the House of Bourbon, hired antiquarian Marcello Venuti to reopen the shafts at Herculaneum. Venuti supervised the excavations, translated the inscriptions, and proved that the site was indeed, Herculaneum. Charles of Bourbon is also known for his palace, the Palazzo Reale in Caserta. And thus was archaeology born. Sources A bibliography of the history of archaeology has been assembled for this project. History of Archaeology: The Series Part 1: The First Archaeologists  - You are here Part 2: The Effects of the Enlightenment Part 3: Is the Bible Fact or Fiction? Part 4: The Astounding Effects of Orderly Men Part 5: The Five Pillars of Archaeological Method Bibliography

When So Becomes Annoying

When So Becomes Annoying When â€Å"So† Becomes Annoying When â€Å"So† Becomes Annoying By Maeve Maddox The tiny English word so has numerous uses. Merriam-Webster gives it separate entries as adverb, conjunction, adjective, and pronoun. Most of the time, little so goes about its business unnoticed, but one of its functions has been provoking heated discussion on the Web: the use of so as â€Å"a discourse marker.† The term â€Å"discourse marker† was coined in the 1960s to describe â€Å"a word or phrase whose function is to organize discourse into segments and situate a clause, sentence, etc., within a larger context.† Here are some words and phrases commonly used as discourse markers in speech: well you know like now I think you see oh I mean OK actually These are words we all interject into speech for reasons that have nothing to do with grammar. For example: Well, I was a little worried. Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet. You know, not everyone shares your opinion on that. OK, let’s take a vote. I think I’ll go now. These markers serve no grammatical function, but they do advance discourse in various ways. As a discourse marker at the beginning of a sentence, so may do any of the following: initiate discourse So, how was the interview? mark a shift in topic or activity So, what should we do now? begin an explanation So, disconnect the power cord and remove the back panel. preface the response to any question Interviewer: What is the focus of your research? Interview subject: So, I study samples of creek water to track pollution. avoid giving a direct answer Interviewer: Why did you lay off so many workers? Interview subject: So, our sales have been stagnant for some time. The use of so as a sentence-starter has provoked numerous discussions on the Web. Business consultant Hunter Thurman gives three reasons for avoiding the practice of beginning a sentence with so: 1. â€Å"So† insults your audience. 2. â€Å"So undermines your credibility. 3. â€Å"So† demonstrates that you’re not 100% comfortable with what you’re saying. PR consultant Cherry Chapell, on the other hand, sees this use of so as â€Å"a good way of giving yourself time to think.† Linguistics professor Penelope Gardner-Chloros suggests that a speaker who starts an answer with so â€Å"is saying what he wants to say, like a politician- but trying to make it sound like it’s an answer to the question.† Like many linguistic targets of criticism, so as a sentence-starter draws extreme reactions from the general public. I’ve seen comments that question the intelligence of speakers who begin sentences with so and accuse them of defiling the language. I’ve seen other comments that cite the fact that Seamus Heaney translated the opening â€Å"Hwaet† of Beowulf as â€Å"So!† as proof that so must be all right in any context. The reality is that sometimes so is an appropriate sentence-starter, and sometimes it is an irritant. When a speaker habitually begins sentences with so, listeners may react in one of two ways. Some are able to filter out the so’s and concentrate on content. Others, however, are distracted by them and may tune out the content as they count the so’s. When beginning a sentence with so becomes a verbal tic, it has lost its usefulness as a discourse marker. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Mostly Small But Expressive Interjections"Gratitude" or "Gratefulness"?10 Varieties of Syntax to Improve Your Writing