Archeology/history
- Thread starter Dizzy
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My dad's a geologist so we used to go fossil hunting all the time here. We find all sorts of cool fossils around Texas. We were underwater a lot of the time so trilobites, ammonites, shells, etc. My favorite fossil is a bone of some sort. I don't know what it is, but it's broken and about four inches long.
Got a picture of the bone?
No one can seem to do our family's genealogy correctly. I've traced it back to the person who came over (we're German descent) in 1884 but I can't find where he departed from. We have some stuff about where the hometown was in Germany, but it no longer exists and we're not even sure if that's the correct place (illegible handwriting). Plus no one in our family speaks German (though I'm trying to learn) so it's a mystery. I think Ancestry.com has the information I need but I'm not paying $100 to find it out. Pretty sure I can find a free source (like LDS) before that.
But on my mother's side, we know where they come from. My mom is 1/8th Cherokee, my grandfather was 1/4, his father was 1/2, and his father was full-blooded Cherokee. So they've been here for a while.
Unfortunately that makes me like, 1/16th. Not enough to qualify for scholarships and what not
No one can seem to do our family's genealogy correctly. I've traced it back to the person who came over (we're German descent) in 1884 but I can't find where he departed from. We have some stuff about where the hometown was in Germany, but it no longer exists and we're not even sure if that's the correct place (illegible handwriting). Plus no one in our family speaks German (though I'm trying to learn) so it's a mystery. I think Ancestry.com has the information I need but I'm not paying $100 to find it out. Pretty sure I can find a free source (like LDS) before that.
But on my mother's side, we know where they come from. My mom is 1/8th Cherokee, my grandfather was 1/4, his father was 1/2, and his father was full-blooded Cherokee. So they've been here for a while.
Unfortunately that makes me like, 1/16th. Not enough to qualify for scholarships and what not
I think the history is fascinating over there in all kinds of places in Europe. My ex is from Prague and that's an old and beautiful city, such gorgeous and interesting archetecture. The archetecture in America, for the most part can't hold a candle to most places in Europe. That is one draw back. But yea....I'll take the space and the raw land any day.
But I would love to visit where my ancestors came from; many from England and Germany, Ireland, Scottland and possibly one person named Costillo from Spain who crashed in the Spanish Armada off the coast of Ireland and mixed with some Irish babe. LOL. I really have a yearning to see Ireland and all over there.
But I think America is fascinating too...so rich in Indian culture. Yes, before what they call the "native Americans," there were the Vikings they think now.
Where did you go to school? Did they leave something out do you think? No history? No old buildings? Are we talking about the same place?:rofl1: America has a very rich and fascinating history. And some very ancient artifacts and buildings.
"The word "Anasazi" is a Navajo word meaning "ancient ones" or "ancient enemies" and is used to describe the ancestors of the current Pueblo peoples of the Four Corners Region. Although the region has been inhabited since Paleoindian times (12000-8000 B.C.), (is that old enough for ya?) the Anasazi probably came into the region somewhere around 700 B.C.,"
GORP - Indian Ruins of the Southwest
This is just a spit in the ocean as to America's history. There is loads of history, ancient and even pre-historic artifacts and buildings.
Do you know that the hillbillies of the mountains of Tennessee and parts of Kentucky....all over that region were from Scottland and Ireland...a very tough, tenacious and industrious lot who brought with them their unique and lively music and many things we enjoy today. Nascar racing, for one. Some of those people were bootleggers and to run from the police had to beef up their vehicles...the engines and the shocks to handle the weight of a booze. LOL. They souped up these cars and headed for the hills to another county to sell their booze. They began having competitions at their neighborhood picnics and this is how Nascar evolved.
There is history everywhere on the planet. The aliens from other planets must be laughing their heads off how we think we have so much history.
But I would love to visit where my ancestors came from; many from England and Germany, Ireland, Scottland and possibly one person named Costillo from Spain who crashed in the Spanish Armada off the coast of Ireland and mixed with some Irish babe. LOL. I really have a yearning to see Ireland and all over there.
But I think America is fascinating too...so rich in Indian culture. Yes, before what they call the "native Americans," there were the Vikings they think now.
Where did you go to school? Did they leave something out do you think? No history? No old buildings? Are we talking about the same place?:rofl1: America has a very rich and fascinating history. And some very ancient artifacts and buildings.
"The word "Anasazi" is a Navajo word meaning "ancient ones" or "ancient enemies" and is used to describe the ancestors of the current Pueblo peoples of the Four Corners Region. Although the region has been inhabited since Paleoindian times (12000-8000 B.C.), (is that old enough for ya?) the Anasazi probably came into the region somewhere around 700 B.C.,"
GORP - Indian Ruins of the Southwest
This is just a spit in the ocean as to America's history. There is loads of history, ancient and even pre-historic artifacts and buildings.
Do you know that the hillbillies of the mountains of Tennessee and parts of Kentucky....all over that region were from Scottland and Ireland...a very tough, tenacious and industrious lot who brought with them their unique and lively music and many things we enjoy today. Nascar racing, for one. Some of those people were bootleggers and to run from the police had to beef up their vehicles...the engines and the shocks to handle the weight of a booze. LOL. They souped up these cars and headed for the hills to another county to sell their booze. They began having competitions at their neighborhood picnics and this is how Nascar evolved.
There is history everywhere on the planet. The aliens from other planets must be laughing their heads off how we think we have so much history.
I have spent quite a lot of time in Pueblo National Park, where there are many remnants of the Anasazi and their rich, complex culture.
Where we live now, in North Jersey, was populated by the Lenni Lenape. As far as I can tell, they lived an enviable lifestyle in which they wintered in the hills, dining on venison and other game, and summered down the shore, dining on lobster and other seafood. This is a lifestyle emulated today by the wealthy in our area.
Where we live now, in North Jersey, was populated by the Lenni Lenape. As far as I can tell, they lived an enviable lifestyle in which they wintered in the hills, dining on venison and other game, and summered down the shore, dining on lobster and other seafood. This is a lifestyle emulated today by the wealthy in our area.
Yum....lobster! Interesting Drmom. Yup...there were Indians all over this country with different customs and different food sources. Yes, salmon from the Pacific northwest, lobster from Maine and around there...they all had an abundance of these food sources where they are now more for the wealthy.
I love the southwest Drmom. Isn't it just so spiritual? I really get a wonderful feeling when exploring that whole area and culture. If I could stand the heat in summer, I'd love one of those adobe houses which blend right in with the hills. That is so me....except I'm a wimp in heat. lol. I'd be inside those insulating walls all day long in summer. I guess that's what people do a lot now. I even looked at real estate down there because I loved it so much. There's always the high country where it's not so hot I guess.
If I had loads of money, I'd still love to see some of those European places that so many of our ancestors are from. But it would be just that, I'm sure....a nice, interesting place to visit, but I would miss the vast open land that we have in America.
I love the southwest Drmom. Isn't it just so spiritual? I really get a wonderful feeling when exploring that whole area and culture. If I could stand the heat in summer, I'd love one of those adobe houses which blend right in with the hills. That is so me....except I'm a wimp in heat. lol. I'd be inside those insulating walls all day long in summer. I guess that's what people do a lot now. I even looked at real estate down there because I loved it so much. There's always the high country where it's not so hot I guess.
If I had loads of money, I'd still love to see some of those European places that so many of our ancestors are from. But it would be just that, I'm sure....a nice, interesting place to visit, but I would miss the vast open land that we have in America.
I took an Archeology class as an elective in college. We had a "dig" we were working about 20 miles from the school. We were excavating an old farm house. A couple hundred years old was the guestimate based on what they had found so far.
I like to visit Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown, too. They are constantly finding new stuff from the 1600's. When we were there last summer, we got treated to an active dig on the grounds at Williamsburg where they were excavating some of the original buildings from the original settlement.
So 400-500 years - that's about as far back as the "US" history goes, to the early European visitors/settlers. Beyond that, it's like was stated - Viking stuff in the north east, Native American artifacts and any pre-history stuff (La Brea tar pits for example in Los Angeles). I visited the tar pits about 10 years ago when I was in LA on business. It was fascinating. No dinosaurs, but lots of stuff like saber tooth tigers and wooly mammoths.
I like to visit Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown, too. They are constantly finding new stuff from the 1600's. When we were there last summer, we got treated to an active dig on the grounds at Williamsburg where they were excavating some of the original buildings from the original settlement.
So 400-500 years - that's about as far back as the "US" history goes, to the early European visitors/settlers. Beyond that, it's like was stated - Viking stuff in the north east, Native American artifacts and any pre-history stuff (La Brea tar pits for example in Los Angeles). I visited the tar pits about 10 years ago when I was in LA on business. It was fascinating. No dinosaurs, but lots of stuff like saber tooth tigers and wooly mammoths.
I don't have a pic of the bone. I went to look for it and can only find boxes of petrified wood. Maybe I'll find it later.
That's how I feel too. I've been all over and appreciated the history and architecture of Europe however there is just something so raw and powerful about the North American wilderness. Of all the places I've been (Caribbean included) the most amazing things I've seen are here.
That's how I feel too. I've been all over and appreciated the history and architecture of Europe however there is just something so raw and powerful about the North American wilderness. Of all the places I've been (Caribbean included) the most amazing things I've seen are here.
No history? There's more to history than jewels and old buildings. There's artifacts and ancient civilizations here too, you just have to look harder. Finding old Row houses, old cooking pits, burial sites, not far from where I grew up lots of burial sites, human and animal remains, hunting and building equipment, the footprints of old structures, even the nomads left behind signs they were there, cave dwellings, ancient art, etc. There's lots of history
ETA: That should say Longhouse, not rowhouse
ETA: That should say Longhouse, not rowhouse
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No history? Urmmm...last time I checked we've had people living here for thousands of years. "Kennewick Man" is supposed to be 8 or 9 thousand years old (his facial reconstruction looks like Patrick Stewart, rofl!) and the archaelogical dig at Ozette village was fascinating, and oh gosh only about 2,000 years old. That's as old as your Roman stuffs.
It's not like we don't have mound builders, or fabulous mayan and aztec temples or anything.
The biggest difference between Europe and America is that the Europeans did everything they could to obliterate the history of the people living here before them, rather than record it like they did with their own ancestors.
It's not like we don't have mound builders, or fabulous mayan and aztec temples or anything.
The biggest difference between Europe and America is that the Europeans did everything they could to obliterate the history of the people living here before them, rather than record it like they did with their own ancestors.
Sorry, just reread the whole thread and I misinterpreted your first post.
To answer the question of what you find, all kinds of stuff. In the northwest archaeologists look for midden heaps, you can find neato tools, like quartz chips from making filet knives and such. There is a museum in Sequim that has the remains of a butchered out mastodon with spearpoints imbedded in bones and tools found laying about. I mean, holy crap! Can you imagine taking on a mastodon with only a freaking spear!?!
The southwest is fabulous and unique because the climate preserves things like fabric and baskets so well. My uncle lives in Tucson and we found a 6 inch spear head, shards of hohokam pottery, and old half buried fire pits in his back yard. There are cliff dwellings near Robert's grandpa's house, but most of the pottery and stuff has been raided out by the locals.
And my dad has several arrow heads. When he was a little kid, around three years old or so, his dad took him to a cave where you had to drop down into a hole in the ground. My dad says there were some human skeletons arrowheads were everywhere. He told me that he filled his pockets with arrowheads, but only has a handful left. He showed them to a museum curator once and the curator said they were clovis points. It would be incredible for archaeologists to excavate that site, but my grandpa died a year later and my dad has no idea where the cave was. They lived in Illinois, but it could have been Ohio because they were right on the river near rock island.
To answer the question of what you find, all kinds of stuff. In the northwest archaeologists look for midden heaps, you can find neato tools, like quartz chips from making filet knives and such. There is a museum in Sequim that has the remains of a butchered out mastodon with spearpoints imbedded in bones and tools found laying about. I mean, holy crap! Can you imagine taking on a mastodon with only a freaking spear!?!
The southwest is fabulous and unique because the climate preserves things like fabric and baskets so well. My uncle lives in Tucson and we found a 6 inch spear head, shards of hohokam pottery, and old half buried fire pits in his back yard. There are cliff dwellings near Robert's grandpa's house, but most of the pottery and stuff has been raided out by the locals.
And my dad has several arrow heads. When he was a little kid, around three years old or so, his dad took him to a cave where you had to drop down into a hole in the ground. My dad says there were some human skeletons arrowheads were everywhere. He told me that he filled his pockets with arrowheads, but only has a handful left. He showed them to a museum curator once and the curator said they were clovis points. It would be incredible for archaeologists to excavate that site, but my grandpa died a year later and my dad has no idea where the cave was. They lived in Illinois, but it could have been Ohio because they were right on the river near rock island.
The they show antiques road show and time team here all the time. I love it. But I'm a complete digging freak. Paleontology is something I could have a total passion for except too much travel overseas would mean I couldn't really have my pets.
I've thought about that aswell though. I'm pretty jelous of all Europes old architecture sometimes. Aboriginals have been here for 40,000 years and we have no old buildings, no statues, none of that. but we do have amazing rock paintings, spear tips, modern corroberee. Couples with a dying culture and a race of extremly unhealthy people, its sad.
But we have this, which makes me laugh so much. It looks like it could have been filmed at my old school.
YouTube - Aboriginal Modern Dance (VERY FUNNY)
I've thought about that aswell though. I'm pretty jelous of all Europes old architecture sometimes. Aboriginals have been here for 40,000 years and we have no old buildings, no statues, none of that. but we do have amazing rock paintings, spear tips, modern corroberee. Couples with a dying culture and a race of extremly unhealthy people, its sad.
But we have this, which makes me laugh so much. It looks like it could have been filmed at my old school.
YouTube - Aboriginal Modern Dance (VERY FUNNY)