Amazon Archaeology



Date: Thu, 23 May 1996
From: Linda Grant De Pauw, H-MINERVA
Reply-To: H-NET List for Discussion of Women & the Military and Women in WarH-MINERVA@h-net.msu.edu
Subject: QUERY: Amazon Archaeology

Subj: Re: FYI: Showing of "Johanna d'Arc of Mongolia"
Date: 96-05-23 09:35:45 EDT
From: Val Eads

Marilyn, would you be so kind as to post a bit of bib on the archeology of the Amazon? I realize that a lot of this might be in Russian which I don't have, but there is always a student who can read whatever I can find. And if there are pictures of the find it doesn't matter if no one can read the text. Any roundup articles in English (French, German, Ital)? Thanks a lot. Val Eads


Date: Thu, 23 May 1996
From: Linda Grant De Pauw, H-MINERVA
Reply-To: H-NET List for Discussion of Women & the Military and Women in War H-MINERVA@h-net.msu.edu
Subject: COMMENT: Amazon Archaeology

Earlier this year, I found a notice on-line from The Center for the Study of the Eurasian Nomads (CSEN) calling for volunteers. Sorry some of it is garbled -- it had to go through the scanner. I did clean up the bibliography at the end and the contact address is correct.
--Linda Grant De Pauw

Archaeological Fieldwork Opportunity with the Center for the Study of Eurasian Nomads



Location: South Russia, on the Kazakh Russian border, 120 kilometers south of Orenburg
Period of Occupation; Early Iron Age, 6th-2nd century B.C. Sauromatian and Sanmatian nornadic cultures

Volunteers: for excavation needed: Session 1; July 4 through July 25; Session 2: July 25 through August 17 (dates could vary slightly)

Application deadline: April 1, 1996. Interested applicants should contact the director for further information as soon as possible.

Minimum age: 18

Experience required: Mcbaeological fieldwork (especially excavation of burials) is welcome but not required. Willingness and ability to get along with others in unusual settings and camping environment is an essential.

Skills preferred: Experience in excavations of burials, arcbacological illustration,

Cost: Tax deductible donation for 3-week session, $1750 or $29506 week session covers lodging, meals, and local commute from Moscow to site and return. Travel to Russia and insurance not included.

Director Sponsor and Contact:

Jeannine Davis-Kimbal
Executive Director
Kazakh/American Rusearch Project
1607 Walnut Street
Berkeley CA 94709 U.S.A

Tele:(510)549-3708 FAX: (510)849-3137
or send email to ikimball@garrnet.berkeley.edu

Description of Program:
This is the fifth season of collaborative Russian-American excavations of Sauro~Sarmatian kurgans (burial mounds) located on the Kaakh steppes in Russia (see 1995 Excavation Rwort).

Map of the Eurasian Steppes

The Sauro-Sarmatians were nomads, culturally similar to the Scythian and Saka who inhabited the steppes from southern Russia east into southern Siberia and Mongolia. Excavations since 1991 have revealed female warrior burials with large quantities of both bronze and iron weapons and many imported IWaLFY items. These burials can be compared with male burials in the sarne kurgan which contained almost no grave artifltcts, and other male burials with iron swords, daggers, and arrowheads. Gold and bronze belt plaques, gsass eye beads, and wheel- turned pottery indicate that these tribes were involved in long distance trade with the Achaemenid Empire, the Greeks north of the Black Sea, and tribes to the southeast in the Ordos desert.

Participants will be met in Moscow and accompany Russian team members by taain (36 hrs) to the town of Sol lletsk. As an option participants can fly form Moscow to Orenburg (2 hrs). There may be a slight fee for the increased cost of the alrfare. From Sol llets1: the trip to the Pokrovka site is about 1~5 hours by truck, from Orenburg 2.5 hours. Return to Moscow is by train or plane from Orenburg which allows the participants to see this city which boasts the bridge that divides Europe and Asia.

The Pokrovka archaeological camp is located on the banks of the Khobda river where participants enjoy swimming and batiting.

Cam at Pokrovka

Russian and Americans share the camp areas and open-air dining facilities. Participant must be able to enjoy the rigors of outdoor camping and unexpected weather conditions as temperatures can vary from 43-100 degrees Fahrenheit. Fieldwork takes place from 7:00 am to 2:00 pm and the afternoons ares spent reconstructing pottery and doing other laboratory related tasks. Inexperienced team members are assigned to archaeologists experienced in excavating kurgan burials.

Bibliography:

Nomads of the Eurasian Stevoes in the Early Iron Age. Jeannine Davis-Kmball, V. Bashilov, and L.T. Yablonsky, eds., Zinat Press, Berkeley, 1944.

Jeutaine Davis-Kimball and leonid Yablonsky. Kurgans on the Left Bank of the Ilek:: Excavations at Pokrovka 1990-1992. Zinnt Press, 1996.

Renate Rolle. The World of the Scythians, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Asgeles, 1989.

Kemal Akishev. The Ancient Gold of Kamakhstan Alma Ata, Kazakhstan, 1983. Herodotus, J. Enoch Powell, tr. Claredon Press, Cxford, 1949.

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