I’m back in the country and back to “regular” work. My research trip gave me reams of material to work with! Here are some links I enjoyed this week from around the web.
A. Creative use of socks. Now a company is stabilizing the oldest step pyramid in Egypt with socks (and a lot of steel supports, I gather). Between falling rocks and revolutions this guy sounds like he has his work cut out for him. I hope he succeeds. Link here
B. This is an archaeologist’s dream, a label on an artifact. Apparently 1,000 or so amulets made by Vikings have caused some debate over the years because the odd shape didn’t really look like a hammer but that’s what they seemed most likely to be. Now one came with runes that say, “This is a hammer.” Debate over. There are a lot of Turkish archaeologists waiting to dig out of their sites a tablet saying, “This is the city called X.” Link here
C. On the Historical Novel Society’s website an article by B.J. Sedlock about websites useful for historical novelists. I found the University of Pennsylvania’s particularly helpful to my focus on the ancient world. I knew they had a huge collection but didn’t realize how thoroughly they’d put it online. Cornell, my alma mater, wins for the most diverse online collections. Historical beekeeping anyone? Link here
D. Reality is as bizarre as fiction: tornadoes, twisted secrets & a looming WWI in Donis Casey’s latest mystery in her Alafair Tucker series set in Oklahoma in 1916. Another great title: Hell with the Lid Blown Off (Link here) And I love Donis’s post on what a farmer housewife would use to keep her house clean in 1916. Link here
E. Janet Rudolph keeps us all informed about mystery happenings. She posts that Death Comes to Pemberley will hit the small screen on Masterpiece Mystery! Not my favorite PD James by any means, but I’ll probably have fun watching it. Link here
F. So many rich details in this news article re a dig on Cyprus: indications of large communal feasting of a commemorative nature, the charcoal & deer bones that have revealed the once pineforest-covered slopes, the evidence that the widespread terracing seen all over Cyprus may have started in the Bronze Age, the deep layers of bone and shard that line the streets & the stone figurine, like the many terra cottas I saw. Interesting that one of the great things about the figurine is that we know its context etc. and thus can learn better what it meant to the people who made and used it. So many of Cyprus’s artifacts were ripped out of the earth by amateurs looking for treasure with no regard to building a coherent historical picture. A great article about the excavations at Politiko-Troullia, Cyprus 2014. Link here
G. Creating light pre-modern world is a fascinating process & Deb Swift gets down to it with precision. I especially like what she does to incorporate the correct light quality in her writing set in the 17th C. and her use of period paintings to assist her thinking. Great post. How aware of lighting are you as a reader and/or writer? Link here
H. Great Read! Blade of Samurai a 16thC mystery set in Japan by Susan Spann. Giveaway & guest post on Teddy Rose’s blog (I’ll have a review of this one up shortly). Link here