About the Blogger

Geometric Carving on Stone at Newgrange - 3,200 BC
 image source - http://home.earthlink.net/~laurieyoung/newgrange.html

As a third year undergraduate student of anthropology, specifically interested in archaeology with a background in history and art history, I am currently taking the university course Archaeology of Death and Burial to understand how archaeologists interpret preserved remains recovered from burial sites. A few of my particular archaeological interests include geometric signs found at burial sites in the Neolithic United Kingdom and Ireland, the development of civilisation, sites related to the beginning of perceived "civilisation" such as Catalhoyuk, the development of subsistence technologies in the Palaeolithic, Palaeolithic Art, and possible Homo Sapien Neanderthalensis assimilation.  In college, I began as a history student, unaware of anthropology, and was frustrated by the narrowness of the subject. After taking a few anthropology courses I was hooked by the holistic analysation of human culture and its application to the distant past. As for my interest in archaeology, I started reading Archaeology Magazine when I was twelve, going on to enjoy Current World Archaeology, Biblical Archaeology, and Minerva magazines, fascinated by first hand discovery of the past, the handling of artefacts, and the sharing of humankind's history with the world.  Digging in dirt has always been an enjoyable pastime of mine and have had periods of my life where I've dug ditches, post holes, and pits. There is no smell quite as wonderful as freshly broken moist earth. I enthusiastically await my first archaeological field school in the coming year, hopefully in Orkney, Scotland.