Overview
Remember the protocol:
- The board is a chance for you to express your own opinions and personalities, so you can go off in different directions, as long as you’re clearly responding to the topic.
- You must choose one topic from each module listed (there are always two). For this week, therefore, if your main response is from Module 2, your second (short) response must be from Module 1 (or vice versa). You will lose credit if you don't follow this policy, no matter how well-written your posts are.
- Do NOT attach a separate document with your typed comments. Instead, write/reply directly in the thread.
- Always title your post with the name of the article or a brief summary of its content, so people know at a glance your focus (e.g., "World's oldest calendar," "My reaction to ISIS," etc.). See Module 1 or 2 for the original articles/videos.
- Feel free to post articles, images, etc. I might award extra points to clever and relevant links, and I’ve given a couple of examples in the slides that follow Stonehenge in the slideshow. But please – no tired memes or tweets, and absolutely nothing cruel or off-color.
Grading:
- Before you start writing, you're expected to read all topics, which are testable on the exam.
- You get an initial 5 points for writing a post on-topic (as opposed to chatting about your love life, your favorite bands, etc.). You get a further 10 points for writing a coherent and reflective consideration of that chosen topic. Take it seriously; think of it as a mini-essay. This initial post must be at least 200 words and must include a word count at the end. Once posted, it will allow the board to open and connect you with your peers.
- Then you get 5 points each for a response to a topic from the other module, and one response to a student post on any topic (you're welcome to talk to multiple students too, of course). That way you're always discussing at least two different topics from two different modules. These second and third posts must be at least 50 words each.
- If there's no second topic yet under discussion, be the first and start a new thread!
- You should be sympathetic to and interested in what your peers have to say, and it should be clear from your response that you've read the article(s) in question. Frivolous, dishonest, or obviously undeveloped responses will earn No Credit.
- I want everyone to feel their opinions are respected and equally valid (whether you consider yourself a “good” writer or not), so as long as you do this to my satisfaction, you’ll usually get full credit. However, you'll lose points for any missing, off-topic, or poorly developed elements (initial post/second post/peer response). Therefore, follow the directions and you'll get the points: it's Either/Or!
Let's review:
- Using the questions below as a jump-off point, respond to one of these assigned readings (200 words minimum). Once you've done that, the board will open up and you can see what everyone else has written, including initial comments from me.
- Take your time to absorb what other people have to say, which may help you choose a second topic or focus your thoughts.
- When you're ready, comment on a second topic, chosen from the other module. This can be a new thread that you start or in response to another student's comment on that second topic. Then you must comment on at least one other student post (topic/module open).
- At least 300 words total are expected (be sure to add word count).
- Refer back to the particular module (1 or 2, in this case) for the relevant material.
- REMINDER: all readings are assigned and testable on the exam, whether or not you write on them as your D-Board response.
Module 1 options (choose one):
Option A: How We Grew So Big: What impression does the Lemonick & Walsh article give of the lives of our hunter-gatherer ancestors? How has our technology superseded (outdistanced) our biology in the modern world?Links to an external site.
Option B: Composer's Neanderthal Recreation: What do we learn about the Neanderthals from the BBC article? Cite two key details, at least. What’s your reaction to Simon Thorne’s creation? Remember, it's his modern composition, NOT an authentic piece of music from 30,000 years ago (how could it be?) but is it music to you, and what makes it so -- or not? Is there some kind of story being performed, and what do you think it's conveying? You must also refer to Patrick Burke's follow-up commentary "What Is Music?" (on people having different musical tastes) as part of your discussion as well.
Option C: World’s Oldest Calendar: What exactly is this invention/discovery in question? What circumstances does Vince Gaffney suggest in the interview clips that might have prompted or encouraged the development of such early technology and cooperation? Does it seem plausible to you, and why (or why not)? Explain.
Module 2 options (choose one):
Option D: Mesopotamian Deep Impact! The Kofels site has long mystified geologists and historians alike. Referring to at least two details from either the Nic Fleming or Lester Haines articles, describe what the event was, and which book helped bring it into the public consciousness. State who Mark Hempsell is and what the new explanation is. Then decide whether you find it plausible or implausible, after considering Blue Collar Scientist's rebuttal.
Option E: ISIS may have been vanquished on the battlefield and driven from power (and lost its supreme leadership more than once). Nonetheless, the following news article is one of many to detail the malicious and atavistic campaign ISIS conducted against ancient sites and museums collections in the Middle East (Mosul, Nimrud, Ninevah, Palmyra) whilst in power. One could make a parallel claim (and perhaps we should) for damage done to Baghdad and the Babylon site during the US-led Iraq invasion and occupation -- in particular the capital's celebrated museum, tragically abandoned to looters during the Fall of Baghdad in 2003. Read the Kareem Shaheen article in Module 2 and then discuss the value of ancient art as humanity’s collective cultural heritage, and museums as storehouses of such culture.
Module 1: Cultural Beginnings
Overview:
In this module, you’ll study the earliest examples of human creativity and the rise of permanent communities in the Neolithic Age. By the end of the module, you'll be expected to be completely familiar with all content, which will detail early art and architecture, our ancient ancestors’ diet, and even some speculative music!
Objectives:
- Read the Cunningham-Reich scans and review the slideshow to understand the nature of art, the Six Steps of Civilization, and the overall content of this module.
- Read the Sayre chapter reading (pp. 1-9), which is included here for this first module only.
- Read the three linked essays: Composer's Neanderthal Recreation, and listen to the music; How We Got So Big, at least the section on ancient diet; and World’s Oldest Calendar, and watch the brief Vince Gaffney interview linked/embedded there.
- Join the discussion board on those readings once it becomes available, using the questions posed there for a jump-off point as directed. This includes responding to your peers as well as a module option.
- View the Stonehenge documentary, a serious scholarly explanation presented with a period flair -- and enjoy the comedy links too!
- Take the module exam (offered during the SECOND week of class, exceptionally). Expect questions on all of this material as part of it.
All content and assignments are testable on the module exam.
Outcomes:
After completing this module successfully, you’ll be able to:
- Interpret prehistoric art.
- Describe aspects of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
- Define Paleolithic and Neolithic.
- Understand the difference in dating between BC (BCE) and AD (CE)
- Summarize the Six Steps of Civilization.
- Define megalith, and give a scientific explanation for Stonehenge.
MODULE PROCEDURE RECAP: Following directions, complete all assigned readings and viewings, and by the end of the last day available, do the Discussion Board and the module exam.The various links in the slideshow are also here. Be warned: the great Bill Maher uses some profanity -- but has some smart things to say!
Anthony Perks theory on Stonehenge as female icon (use this if the slideshow link is dead):
https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.390989Links to an external site.
Aberrant decoding (Margaret Abercombie & Umberto Eco):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberrant_decodingLinks to an external site.
http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2047608,00.htmlLinks to an external site.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_ news/wales/7874415.stmLinks to an external site.
Neanderthal by Simon ThorneLinks to an external site.
You can also view the complete 1-hour performance of Simon Thorne's Neanderthal here (not required, but a stimulating challenge!): https://vimeo.com/10229282Links to an external site.
The following link is to a news story about another early human culture:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-23286928Links to an external site.
This news article describes a technological and cultural accomplishment by hunter-gatherers on the cusp of the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages, still nomadic and pre-agricultural but clearly possessing an understanding of astronomy and mathematics that allowed them to design a calculator to follow the lunar month and solar year, a kind of proto-Stonehenge with possible benefit for their food supply and for social interaction. In the BBC story and the Youtube clip, watch the two brief interviews with Dr. Vince Gaffney, who explains the Warren Field (near Crathes Castle) discovery in detail:Warren Field - The Beginning of Time?Links to an external site.
The operation of the pits is shown in this model:
Finally, the pits can also be seen here, in a rather psychedelic presentation that extends the opening of the BBC sequence:The Warren Field Pit Alignment on the Mid Winter Solstice (World's Oldest Calendar)Links to an external site.
Module 2: Mesopotamia
Overview:
In this module, you’ll study the rise of Bronze Age city-building cultures in the ancient Middle East, in what's variously called Mesopotamia, the Fertile Crescent, and the Cradle of Civilization -- geographically, modern Iraq. Prior to the development of archaeology (the scientific study of a past civilization’s physical remains), much historical knowledge was derived from Greek and Roman writers like Herodotus and Pliny, and from accounts in the Old Testament, which is not history per se but rather an account of one people’s memories, experiences, and beliefs – the Hebrews. Nonetheless, the Bible references and describes real locations (most obviously Egypt), so scholars speculated that other Biblical places (Uruk, Babylon) might be real too, went looking and, as this module shows, found a great deal!
By the end of the module you're expected to be completely familiar with all content, which will detail Bronze Age art and architecture, technology, law, and literature, including the first heroic saga, the Epic of Gilgamesh. This module also includes some readings/viewings on the cultural devastation wrought in the Middle East in recent years, which has led to the loss of works of art and architecture only unearthed in the last 150 years and now lost again -- a tragic irony.
Objectives:
- Review the first slideshow to better understand the overall content of the Sayre chapter reading.
- Review the second slideshow and critical notes, and the linked Gilgamesh summary. Besides the Gilgamesh excerpts in the textbook, try to read Maureen Kovacs' scholarly translation, too. That would take you some time, so consider saving that for later and review the excellent Richard Hooker summary instead.
- Once you've reached this point, read/view the linked essays and news video, including a unique museum visit and a tour of recently destroyed Palmyra -- a ruin made a ruin.
- Then join the Discussion Board once it opens. Use the questions posed there for a jump-off point as directed: you'll be commenting on the topics and on each others' responses. Go there using the Discussions tab on the left.
- Take the module exams for 1 and 2 (posted next week for this first round only). Expect questions on all module materials (1 & 2) as part of the tests.
Outcomes:
After completing this module successfully, you’ll be able to:
- Describe aspects of Bronze Age science and technology.
- Summarize the intent of the Code of Hammurabi.
- Interpret Mesopotamian art and architecture.
- Define ziggurat and cuneiform.
- Discuss the merits of the Epic of Gilgamesh
- Have a greater awareness of the cultural destruction recently wrought in the Middle East.
Annoyingly, the Robert O'Connell version mentioned in the slideshow keeps disappearing from the Web, perhaps because of its frank translation: the Mesopotamians were libertine people, evidently, as shown in his version, with its rather adult content. If I can locate it I'll post it again, but until then, here's a variation (with some graphics and, possibly, audio) for those who want to tackle the entire poem.
NOTE: it says FLASH required, but click past that, choose the text tab at bottom, and the poem will open up episode by episode (slide by slide):
http://gilgamesh.psnc.pl/index.html
In the PDF, you'll read an article about devastation of a more ancient vintage, the Mesopotamian Deep Impact. Nic Fleming presents an explanation for a previously undeciphered clay tablet called the Planisphere, unearthed in Ninevah over 150 years by the early archaeologist Austen Henry Layard.
Fleming-Kofels.pdf
Download Fleming-Kofels.pdf
As explained by Lester Haines (see following link), the Kofels event described in both articles may itself have given rise to the Biblical tale of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Greek myth of Phaeton's solar chariot ride, and other ancient accounts of catastrophic environmental destruction -- though that's purely conjecture. (And feel free to enjoy or disregard any unmoderated -- and often entertaining -- comments that may follow the Haines article.)
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/31/kofels_asteroid/Links to an external site.
But as we've seen in The Mystery of Stonehenge, the ancients had at least a rudimentary understanding of astronomy, which may be the purpose of the tablet, at least according to Mark Hempsell's Kofels research -- since archived, so you'll have to read the book!
Hempsell's thesis isn’t scientifically implausible by any means, at least where its math, astronomy, and dating calculations are concerned. However, here's a rebuttal to his claims, by the late great Blue Collar Scientist:
Blue Collar Scientist (Jeffrey Medkeff, who passed away a few years ago, sadly) delivers a solid counter-argument that the hypothetical meteorite or asteroid is the wrong type (density, material) needed to achieve the kind of impact the Kofels site in Austria exhibits. Nonetheless, Bond and Hempsell make a good case in their book for ancient astronomical knowledge, or archaeo-astronomy -- which our study of Stonehenge similarly demonstrates.
To be fair, the Kofels theory is more a case of science meeting science-fiction, especially with its nod to the “historian from Azerbaijan,” Immanuel Velikovsky, the psychoanalyst and catastrophist who believed that wayward planets, possibly Venus and Mars, were responsible for many Old Testament disasters and miracles (as he described in 1950 in his appropriately-titled Worlds In Collision). I’m drawn to these kinds of stories for the same reason that, as a kid, I loved Erich Von Daniken’s Chariots of the Gods (book and film) and still enjoy the wonderful Paul Fishman album inspired by it, In Search of Ancient Gods, instrumental progressive rock (recorded as Absolute Eleswhere) that would appeal to any Pink Floyd fan. I rather enjoy the idea of a meteor blazing over Bronze Age Europe, terrifying the locals like a scene from one of the recent Star Trek films!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ivNUg7UcYLinks to an external site.
The first of two Guardian articles on ancient Nimrud, this piece by Augusta McMahon of Cambridge University describes the luxury of King Ashurnasirpal's court and also, more broadly, of the culture represented by this elegant Assyrian palace complex. Her cogent summary of Assyrian civilization makes the damage caused by ISIS that much more malicious and suggests, if only indirectly, the benefit of great First World museums like the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan in New York, and the British Museum in London as safe havens for such priceless antiquities. In her words, the "destruction by Islamic State militants at Nimrud, following similar destruction at the site of Nineveh and the Mosul Museum, is an attack on the people of Iraq as well as a tragedy for the world's cultural heritage."
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31769164Links to an external site.
In the second Guardian article on Nimrud, Kareem Shaheen summarizes historical information from the McMahon piece and offers an assessment of recent events and relevant opinions, along with a brief video report. ISIS may have been vanquished on the battlefield, but they have left a terrible legacy, as the vandalism and damage there and at Palmyra, Mosul, and elsewhere shows.
The CBS News clip further documents the destruction as it happened:Links to an external site.
The destruction by ISIS of key temples at Palmyra was particularly shameful. In a sad parallel to the Taliban blowing up the Banyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, buildings that had survived thousands of years were wrecked in an instant (the archeological remains in Palmyra date from ancient Mesopotamia up till the Roman Empire). In some good news, a joint Russian-Syrian restoration project has recently begun, focused on the Roman triumphal arch of Severus Caesar (see article). Let's hope that similar international efforts at restoration take place here, and that this kind of large-scale vandalism wreaked doesn't repeat itself elsewhere.
This final article discusses similar cultural vandalism in Afghanistan under the Taliban's original rule in the late 1990s and the determined museum staff who resisted it. With the Taliban taking power once again in 2021, we can only hope that the brave people depicted here will be safe.