Weekly Roundup- May 27th
VR Pompeiian houses, museums confronting their troubled histories, a severed foot, among many more- Here are our favorites from the past week
Everytown for Gun Safety
We would like to take some space to address the recent events around the country in Buffalo, Laguna Wood, and now Uvalde, TX. Here at Afterlives we are saddened (and enraged) by the news and would like to ask our readers to consider contributing to Everytown for Gun Safety, a foundation committed to gun reform (or any charity of your choice). Remember to vote in your upcoming elections. This cannot keep happening.
Why Archaeologists Virtually Reconstructed an Ancient House in Pompeii
In a recent Antiquity article, researchers have reconstructed a Roman house from Pompeii to test how visitors might have experienced the space. The model was developed from the so-called “House of the Epigrams,” which was laser scanned by the Swedish Pompeii Project.
Users were fitted with eye-tracking technology to see where they looked and experienced the space. Preliminary finding show that the “best decorations, paintings and architecture were reserved for areas of the home that were only accessible to the owner’s closest friends and family.”
How cool would it be to do this with an Egyptian house or temple space! Kara adds:
How cool would it be to do with a coffin set in procession. I’m obsessed with focal points. Where were people looking during a funeral as they made catty comments about what was missing or what was in poor taste? What did they not bother to look at, i.e. which parts of the coffins will show ME all their secrets?? Sounds like some experimental archaeology is in order….
America Turned the Greatest Vehicle of Social Mobility Into a Debt Machine
No one should be making money off someone seeking an education, especially someone without privilege trying to break into a better job and a better life. This article is great and details how college, the once guarantor of social mobility, is now the guarantor of heavy debts and those who benefit from their exorbitant interest rates. It’s structural privilege, plain and simple. Student loan debts should be cancelled wholesale. Your move, President Biden! This excerpt summarizes the article:
The working class so believed in higher education’s promise that they didn’t waver even as tuition prices rose year after year… They believed the financial gurus who told them that theirs was “good debt,” the kind that would pay for itself in guaranteed higher wages from good jobs waiting for them upon graduation.
How many of you are saddled with student loans? *Jordan and Amber raise hands*
Kara and Jordan on Movie's We Dig- Raiders of the Lost Ark
We were invited to be guests of the Movies We Dig podcast to chat about the famous archaeologist, Indiana Jones. See the episode description below:
After much ado, we finally tackle the big question: why did it have to be snakes? We talk real vs. fantasy archaeology and the myths and ideals embraced/propagated by Indiana Jones. We also discuss our own personal Belloqs (re: nemesis), where artifacts do(n’t) belong, the relation between government and archaeology and what creatures we wouldn’t want to find while digging. No artifacts were harmed in the making of this podcast.
We had a great time chatting with Colin, Elijah, and Christie—make sure you check out their other episodes as well!
‘Native Truths’ aims to correct how the Field Museum displays its Native North American collection
So happy to see that the Field Museum has redesigned its Native American section. So many museums should follow suit! The Field Museum recognized that their prior display of their Native American collection was highly problematic, promoting many inaccuracies and misrepresentations. Now, with the help of an advisory board including indigenous stakeholders, the Museum has opened its new gallery looking to how current indigenous people understand their own story.
One of the five truths on the museum walls says: “Museum collecting and exhibition practices have deeply harmed Native communities. This exhibition marks a new beginning.”
Ancient Chinese woman faced brutal 'yue' punishment, had foot cut off, skeleton reveals
The remains of an ancient Chinese woman was uncovered in a 1999 excavation from the site of Zhouyuan showing evidence of having her foot cut off, possibly hinting at the execution of the ‘yue’ punishment. The cut was not clean like one would assume to see from a proper amputation. This form of punishment was performed on people for a variety of offenses, including rebelling, cheating, and stealing. Check out this article for more on ‘yue’ punishment. The woman lived for at least a couple years after losing her leg.
One wonders what the woman did. And while we do, let’s point out that the Americans today trying to steal baby formula will be arrested while those stealing profits from the monopolization of that baby formula will suffer nothing but extraordinary profits. It could be Victor Hugu’s image of Jean Valjean stealing a loaf of bread all over again.
Kara Cooney Lecture at Mountain View
You’ve Heard of Wordle, But Have You Tried “Artle”?
Do you become obsessed with Wordle like the rest of us?! There now is a fun art-version created by National Gallery of Art. Each day you are shown a new artwork and you have to guess the artist. With each guess you get hints to help you along. Definitely seems way harder than Wordle… and how do they deal with ancient works that have no known artist, which is almost all of them?
Google Arts and Culture-Luxury Silver of Ancient Persia
Another fantastic Google Arts and Culture online exhibit. This exhibit was put together by our close friend and colleague, Dr. Sara Cole, assistant curator at the Getty Villa Museum. We had a private tour of the current special exhibit, “Persia: Ancient Iran and the Classical World” last week. It’s a fantastic exhibit looking at the cultural connections and exchanges between ancient Iran, Greece, and Rome. If you are local make sure to check it out—if not this online exhibition focuses on the silver objects in the collection. I am *obsessed* with these rhyta! And the Persian weaponry is to die for!
Patreon- Afterlives with Kara Cooney
Our new Patreon for Afterlives with Kara Cooney is now up! While we are still new to the podcasting game, we are learning a lot and have invested in new sound equipment, software, etc. to improve the quality of our episodes. This Patreon will help support the production costs of the podcast. Click the link and check out the benefits to being a patron of the podcast. Thank you all for any support! We are over twenty episodes in but only just beginning… <3
