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May 24thEaster Island head.
“Those statues which are the most photographed are standing in the quarry. They’re buried up to mid-torso level. So it’s understandable that the general public didn’t have a clue that those statues had bodies”
Jo Anne Van Tilburg, director of the Easter Island Statue Project
I love seeing photos of these - does anyone know whether you can see the bodies of the statues if you’re visiting the island?(via lostinhistory)
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Lost in History: blueandbluer: ladonnapietra: supersoygrrrl: joiesdevivre:...
shoshannastiglitz | cornerof5thandvermouth | muetbelette:
WHY DO RELIGIOUS FIGURES HAVE SUCH TINY WEENIES???
caravaggio’s angel’s weewee…
(Source: dumbweasel)
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Am not dead!
Well, I kind of am in an internet sense. I’ve moved into a new flat which we aren’t able to get a broadband connection into until 8th June (!) because someone actually has to drill through the wall to install it (downside of flat being recently renovated…).
However, I am loving my new job! It’s great to finally have a real paid job in the heritage sector, and feel like I’m building up me skills by getting real experience, rather than just reading about theory all the time. I’m like, actually DOING it man, and getting paid (let’s be honest, interning is great, but even museum and heritage geeks have bills to pay).
Plus, let’s face it, it’s pretty damn cool that my office is in a 17th-century mansion.
So, here’s a video from the project I’m working on - it’s a contemporary art project aimed at taking a new and fresh look at the garden here at Ham House. As part of our community interaction programme students from LCC have produced a series of animations. This one is probably my favourite at the moment. You can watch the rest here.
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May 3rdYou know, when an online applications system makes me create an account, then presents me with a form I need to spend ages putting all my details into (we’re talking over an hour here - employment history details all in separate boxes etc.) and then ask me to click SAVE at the end, I EXPECT to be able to come back the next evening and just FINISH OFF.
Y U NOT SAVE NETHING. I HATES YOU.
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May 3rd -
The Dump Site III
First, I am so pleased to announce we passed 1,000 followers this weekend (now at 1,067 and counting!). I was not at all anticipating this blog would blow up like this, but am glad it did, and I think it’s amazing there are so many folks out there who share this common interest and love with me! What is better than being able to share what you love with the rest of the world?! Nothing, so I’m glad you all are here to help!
This Saturday, our Vertebrate Osteology class packed up and took a field trip to the “Dump Site” outside of Missoula. This area is a popular spot for hunters to discard of their carcasses after cleaning, and we also have come across multiple cat and dog remains as well as the random beaver or bear bone. The point of this endeavor is so the students may get field experience locating and identifying faunal remains. After we locate some remains, we attempt to identify the species, age, potential cause of death, and determe if there are taphonomic evidences, pathologies, or traumas. The skeletal remains were abundant this year so there was no lack of interesting things to look at and pick apart. I was very excited to find the right mandible of an antelope that suffered from “lumpy jaw” (more on that later!)
This field trip is the highlight of our semester, as it is the opportunity for our students to apply their new accumulated knowledge of faunal analysis in a practical setting. Plus, hiking around a beautiful pine forest in Montana during the budding Spring months is always high on my priority list!
What an awesome field trip! The closet illustrator in me REALLY wants to go there and draw things.
The closet illustrator doesn’t get out much.
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May 1stWhen I first heard the news that paleontologists had discovered a giant, fuzzy tyrannosaur, I was giddy with excitement. The dinosaur, dubbed Yutyrannus, was a confirmation of an idea that researchers and artists had been cautiously exploring for years. While most of the feathered dinosaurs discovered so far have been very small and often quite bird-like animals, Yutyrannus was a roughly 30-foot-long bruiser which showed that even huge predators might have sported fluffy plumage. And if an imposing predator like Yutyrannus sported a fuzzy coat, the same might be true for the theropod’s notorious cousin,Tyrannosaurus rex. The tyrant king may not have been the wholly scaly monstrosity I grew up knowing, but an apex predator decorated by patches of simple protofeathers.
Not everyone shared my enthusiasm. “Tyrannosaurs were supposed to be scaly,” came the cantankerous cry from die-hard fans of more reptilian dinosaurs. Why are paleontologists so committed to destroying the fantastic imagery Jurassic Park embedded in our cultural landscape? Across the web, tyrannosaur traditionalists registered their displeasure. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen!” mourned one WIRED commenter, and elsewhere, Yutyrannus was presented as a “fuzzball” and “chicken from hell.” And while the outrage was not as great as when people mistakenly believed that paleontologists were trying to kill Triceratops, at least some dinosaur fans lamented the increasingly avian aspect of tyrannosaurs.
It’s a great article to read, everyone, but I wanted to add some commentary myself to this growing trend. I’ve seen it a lot on the web and in real life towards our new discoveries. Ever since the days we first found our ancient friends, we’ve seen them as these big scaly creatures who just mucked about at a slow pace, but then the Dinosaur Renaissance came into play during John Ostrom’s time. Just like nature, our perspective and continuous study of dinosaurs is forever evolving into more accurate depictions.
I think many are displeased with newer discoveries because it does radically change the view many of us grew up with. Yes, during the Jurassic Park age of books and films, we had established these were not like what we see at the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, but at the same time as well we were still discovering new things and beginning to work our way into knowing these creatures better. There is so much that’s been discovered since the Jurassic Park films, but again, I feel some are reluctant to believe in fuzzy dinosaurs because they rather see these big, monstrous reptiles. Jurassic Park as well really captured the imagination of children and adults alike. They were so believable when the films came out (and are to this day!), which I feel hits home harder for most to see some of them a bit more… fuzzy these days.
Let’s face it though. Whether or not Tyrannosaurus rex was covered in protofeathers, I’m pretty sure you’d be screaming your lungs out if it was chasing you. Have you seen those teeth?! I have a replica of SUE’s tooth, and it is HUGE. Yes, two thirds of it was in her jaw (measures out to be 11 inches in total length), but that’s a massive root connected to a massive jaw on a massive theropod! Maybe some look at these new discoveries and think they aren’t as scary now, but I sure do not.
Personally, I love our new discoveries. I love that we’re finding out more about this extinct era and all that inhabited it. When it comes to feathers, this makes you begin to ponder what colours they were, how they lay on the animal, etc. We’ve been able to confirm feather hues for other Mesozoic animals, so how amazing is it that we may find more discoveries and evidence in the future to what these dinosaurs truly looked like?
I feel most detest towards these new discoveries and examinations is mainly just a breach of comfort zones. Jurassic Park’s Velociraptor? Nope, not like the real thing. Many people still have trouble looking at a true Velociraptor and accepting its size, and the same goes for many discoveries towards protofeathers as well or even the cancellation of what we thought were valid species. In many ways, it’s as if all Polar Bears changed colours one day to - let’s say - black. Everyone would go, “But they’re supposed to be white!” A sudden change to what you grew up understanding can be quite a shock, but that’s science and discovery for you. It’s always evolving as we better ourselves in understanding the universe we live in.
Overall for me, bring on the new information, protofeathers, studies, dinosaurs, and everything else related to it! I can’t wait to see what we unearth next or crack the code to!
How anyone can hate on a fuzzy tyrannosaur is beyond me.
(via lostinhistory)
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Apr 27thI have a job! A proper one! Thought I should update.
I did, of course, already have a job. I had 4 jobs, actually. 2 internships and 2 part-time jobs which made up a 6-day week. Less than fun, let me tell you. That had been the state of affairs since the start of February.
As of tomorrow I am moving on from one of my internships (working for free: totally worth it in this sector) to start a contract on the National Trust’s Garden of Reason project at Ham House and Garden!
An actual, proper job. In the sector I want to work in. Working with really actual visitors, online marketing, and - wait for it - with management responsibilities.
I cannot tell you how excited I am.
Now I just need to find a flat within reasonable commuting distance…
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Apr 24thThis is a mule disguised as a library. He brings books and literacy to children in remote Venezuelan villages. Mules like him are called Bibiliomulas and they are perfect.
I am loving all the mobile libraries I have seen on my dash in the past couple of days.
Bibliomulas is my new favorite word.
(via lostinhistory)
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We already introduced you to Garden of Reason artist, Alexandre da Cunha - check out these amazing installation shots of his recent exhibition, Kentucky Pied de Poule.
The pieces shown here appropriate found objects and materials, which are playfully manipulated to create new forms and meanings, much like the work Alexandre is currently installing at Ham House and Garden.
Kentucky Pied de Poule was on view at CRG Gallery, New York, this February and March.
Images courtesy the artist and CRG Gallery.
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