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ViewMaster Device Archeology has gained many new tools in the last hundred years or so, but none rival the recent use of lasers, 3-D digital copies and other instruments that can be used to create highly accurate digital copies of ancient finds. These finds then become available to the general public who get to see them in all their virtual splendor. When I was a kid we had something called the ViewMaster. You looked into it like a pair of binoculars. It had a round wheel that fitted into a slot on top and the wheel contained dual transparent photos like slides of famous things and it allowed you to see them in 3-D when you held your Viewmaster up to a light source. All you had to do was pull down a lever to see the next scene. As good as that was, it would be nothing by today's standards. Seeing a virtual image on a 3-D television and watching as it turns slowly in front of you is almost like being in the same room with the object. The problem today is just the presence of humans with all their heat and breath wear out our ancient paintings and statues. Viewing virtual images has no effect on these objects, and the originals can be kept safe for posterity. It is beginning to look like all ancient treasures will have virtual 3-D copies made that will be available to everyone. One will no longer have to travel to Egypt to see the wonders of the interior of the Great Pyramid, or of ancient tombs. In China some very beautiful 1,000 year old frescoes have been found. The frescoes picture 12 different animals that represent birth signs. They are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. An expert stated, "Each of the animals wore a long robe, the typical apparel for ancient Chinese," The frescoes also pictured 12 warriors and some men and women. They were in extremely bad condition, because the tomb had been ransacked and left in terrible shape. It took years to restore them to their original state.
Ancient Gold Camel Archaeologists are spending a lot of time looking for evidence to show why the colony on Roanoke Island vanished in 1587. "The Lost Colony is one of the great American mysteries,” said Nick Luccketti, of the First Colony Foundation. Stories about the colony's disappearance have sparked all sorts of tales from Indian attacks to paranormal events. I can't imagine what could be found after all these years, unless they find the corpses of the colonists and find out that disease killed them, or a bunch of arrowheads and spear heads turn up to show that a battle took place. Experts today are not even sure where the exact location of the settlement was, which makes things even harder. One person stated that this might have been a case of alien abduction. Somehow I don't think so, it could have been more of a case of starvation. When we think of Indiana, we usually don't think of archaeological sites, but we would be wrong. Previous digs have uncovered massive prehistoric mammals and evidence that humans were there more than 10,000 years ago. Uindy archeology faculty and students have been very busy lately and to prove it they exhibited a skeleton of a 13,000 year old mastodon. Students and teachers at Boston University are digging through the remains of the oldest timber house on North America and have found quite a bit. They found that other buildings existed, such as a large barn with a cobble stone floor and many old bottles, plates and personal items such as buttons and thimbles. “You scrape your trowel, and something pops up,’’ said Travis Parno, a BU doctoral student who is supervising the digging at the site. If I were to ask someone where is the most unlikely place to conduct archeology where do you think that they would say? I wouldn't think that New York City would be one of those places, would you? Anyway a parking lot in flushing, which is located in the borough of Queens, part of New York City, has become the topic of controversy. Researchers believe that the parking lot which is soon to become a business center, might contain a 17th century Methodist graveyard. It does make one wonder why a society would bury people only to dig them up again in a few hundred years, doesn't it? The researchers believe that digging in the area would yield clues to a little known segment of life that existed in the area hundreds of years ago. They claim that little is know about Flushing and yet settlements there go back for hundreds of years. The site it projected to be turned into condos and stores and $800,000,000 has been allocated for the project. Archeology students have found the legendary settlement that housed African Americans. Remains of the settlement were found on the North Branch of Rancocas Creek in Burlington county, New Jersey. The students are from Temple University. The settlement was believed to have been settled around 1820. These settlers were believed to be newly freed slaves looking for a place to settle in. The settlement was known as Timbuctoo. The remains of several brick structures have been found along with some artifacts. Some children's toys have also been found. The settlement must have lasted for quite a few years since gave markers were found for some of the people that showed that they fought in the Civil War and returned there. Another city has been found in Egypt. A team of Austrian archeologists have used radar to locate an ancient Egyptian city in the Nile Delta. It is believed that this city was controlled by the Hyksos who invaded Egypt and ruled from 1664 to 1569 B.C. Satellite photos affirmed that there was a city there. "The pictures taken during radar show an underground city complete with streets, houses and tombs, which gives a general overview of the urban planning of the city," It is always exciting to find an ancient lost city and who knows what wonders they might find within it? Many experts feel that much in Egypt lays buried under the sands and is just waiting to be discovered. I can't help but feel that way myself.
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