Day: May 15, 2010

Roman Warm Period Redux

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

An item from the Sydney Morning Herald caught my eye at some point this week … here’s the incipit:

TONY ABBOTT is under pressure to justify telling students it was considerably warmer when Jesus was alive after leading scientists said his claim was wrong.

He urged year 5 and 6 pupils at an Adelaide school to be sceptical about the human contribution to climate change, saying it was an open question.

In a question-and-answer session on Friday, the Opposition Leader said it was warmer “at the time of Julius Caesar and Jesus of Nazareth” than now.

Leading scientists said there was no evidence to suggest it was hotter 2000 years ago. […]

via Climate scientists cross with Abbott for taking Christ’s name in vain.

… back when rogueclassicism was young, we mentioned a study in CO2 Science on the so-called Roman Warm Period, which ran roughly from 250 B.C. to 450 A.D.. A more recent study (which didn’t get any press attention, near as I can tell, but is all over the interwebs) uses mollusk evidence to suggest the period was actually warmer than the present day. Interesting implications about the Romans’ activities rarely, if ever, seem to be mentioned in connection with the RWP (cf., e.g., claims of Roman pollution found in Iceland). Seems to be some sort of  ‘elephant in the room’ situation …

UPDATE (05/22/10): The study seems to be filtering to the editorial pages, e.g.:

Alexander the Great’s Tunnel?

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Interesting question over at Ask MetaFilter:

I can’t find much info about it online, the only information I can find is that he supposedly tunneled through Rosh Hanikra after having conquered Tyre, and the tunnel was large enough for him to march his entire army through.

But why is it that can no one find the tunnel? Rosh Hanikra’s site isn’t that sprawling, so wouldn’t there be some sign of it? There were apparently three tunnels that were dug centuries (and millennia later,) but if there was already an existing tunnel, why would anyone need to make new ones? (I’m obviously missing something here– could Alexander’s tunnel have filled up with debris or eroded into nothingness?)

Also where was this event first referenced as having happened?

via Alexander the Great’s lost tunnel | Ask MetaFilter.

… a couple of the responses at MetaFilter suggest they’ve never heard of this purported tunnel, and I haven’t either; links to assorted websites mentioned aren’t really useful either. Have any of rogueclassicism’s learned readers heard of this thing?

CFP: “Minoan Archaeology. Challenges and Perspectives for the 21st Century”

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 2 Comments
Logo of the University of Heidelberg converted...
Image via Wikipedia

Seen on Aegeanet (please send any responses to the people/institution mentioned in the post, not to rogueclassicism!)

CONFERENCE
MINOAN ARCHAEOLOGY. CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES FOR THE 21st CENTURY, 23-27 March 2011, Institute of Classical Archaeology, University of Heidelberg

SCOPE OF CONFERENCE
The archaeology of Minoan Crete can now look back on more than 100 years of intensive research in which this field of scientific enquiry has experienced many changes and developments in quite different academic traditions. The turn of the new century which coincided with the completion of 100 years of archaeological research on the island has triggered several retrospective and prospective looks at the objectives, methods, deficits and potentials of our discipline. We would like to take the occasion of the 625th anniversary of the University of Heidelberg as an opportunity for organising an international conference for early career researchers which shall provide an innovative platform for discussing the past, the present and above all the future of Minoan Archaeology.

The main objective of this meeting will be to provide a common basis for future discussion by consenting to the precise meaning of some important theoretical terms and by identifying collective concerns in an attempt to approach new agendas for future research. Young researchers which will represent the main body of the conference participants shall be given the opportunity to present papers and engage themselves in an intellectual dialogue with some of the most distinguished senior colleagues of our discipline who will be invited to attend the conference as keynote speakers. Approaches focusing on comprehensive objectives, grounded on innovative and promising theoretical and methodological concepts shall be presented with the aim to reflect on the scopes of current research and set forth the trajectories for future Minoan Archaeology.

SUGGESTED THEMES
The topics of the conference focus on theoretical and methodological approaches. The design of the sessions is deliberately not based on material categories. Instead, the focus is on questions/issues pertaining to recent concerns of social and cultural studies. Thus, a de-contextualised approach to the different object groups shall be avoided and a re-integration of the respective objects into their original context is prompted. The key issues include but are not limited to materiality, practices, and discourses and shall be explored within the following fields:

Social Interaction/Communication: pictorial media, written media, administration, rituals, feasts, spaces/places of communal practice, self-representation, ideology, religion
Social Structures: gender, social boundaries, political institutions, households, social stratification
Cultural Processes: diachronic development of palatial society, emergence of palatial Institutions, influence of foreign cultures
Foreign Contacts: cultural interaction, emulation, trade, travel, diplomatic relationships, economic expansion
Environment/Living space: architecture, settlements, landscapes, seascapes, natural resources, geomorphology, climate, natural disasters
Economic Strategies: modes of production, modes of exchange, subsistence, storage
Technologies: lithic industries, metallurgy, ceramic production, processing of raw materials, mining, tools
Legacy of Minoan Culture: antiquity, modern times

CONFERENCE FORMAT
The conference addresses young researchers (Post-Docs and PhD candidates at an advanced stage of their dissertation) who will have the opportunity to present and discuss perspectives and methodical approaches applied in their own work in an international setting. Each paper will be allotted a 30 minute time slot: 20 minutes for reading the paper and 10 minutes dedicated to discussion. For the last day a final discussion in the form of a round table will be organised. Conference language is English.

It is intended to make the conference also accessible as a live-stream on the web. More information on this will follow soon on:
http://www.propylaeum.de/klassische-archaeologie/fachservice/MinArch2011.html

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
The conference will invite keynote speakers to give an introductory lecture to each session and chair the Round Table discussion. Information about invited speakers will be available soon.

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
We are intending to prepare an edited volume of conference papers for publication, within one year after the conference. Thus, participants are strongly encouraged to submit their publication-ready version of their paper already during the conference (March 2011). The ultimate deadline is 31 May 2011. Guidelines for publication will be made available soon on our conference website:
http://www.propylaeum.de/klassische-archaeologie/fachservice/MinArch2011.html

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
Please submit the application form and paper proposal of 300 words to MinArch AT zaw.uni-heidelberg.de until 15 July 2010. If you do not plan to give a paper, but would like to register your interest, please get in touch! For further questions or comments regarding the conference, please contact us at the same address.

FEES AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Participation in the conference is free. Accommodation expenses will be covered. Travel expenses cannot be covered.

ORGANISERS
Prof. Dr. Diamantis Panagiotopoulos, Sarah Cappel, Ute Günkel-Maschek, Torben Keßler, Yasemin Leylek, Noach Vander Beken, Eva Wacha

CONTACT
Ute Günkel-Maschek, M.A. & Sarah Cappel, M.A.
Institut für Klassische Archäologie
Universität Heidelberg
Marstallhof 4
69117 Heidelberg
Email: MinArch AT zaw.uni-heidelberg.de

CFP: International Plutarch Society 2011 Conference

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Seen on Classicists (please send any responses to the people/institution mentioned in the post, not to rogueclassicism!)

IX International Meeting of the IPS (International Plutarch Society)
Ravello, Villa Rufolo, September 29 – October 1, 2011

Plutarch’s writings:
transmission, translation, reception, commentary

Organized by Paola Volpe Cacciatore, University of Salerno

The aim of the Meeting is to examine Plutarch’s works from different
viewpoints. We welcome papers on the following topics:
a)Plutarch’s text, manuscript tradition, ecdotic questions;
b)Latin translations of Plutarch’s writings;
c)Methodologies of commentary and interpretation of the Plutarchean text;
d)Plutarch as reader of ancient texts

Titles and Abstracts (minimum 80 / maximum 350 words), planned for
papers that have to take no more than 20 minutes to deliver, should be
sent electronically to the official Meeting e-mail address
(ipsmeeting2011 AT unisa.it); the deadline is September 30, 2010. The
same e-mail address can be used for all requests about the Meeting.

The Scientific Commettee (made up by Prof. Frederick Brenk, Angelo Casanova,
Pierluigi Donini, Gennaro D’Ippolito, Franco Ferrari, Anna Maria
Ioppolo, Giuseppe Lozza, Paola Volpe) will give preference to papers
that shed light on original matters. The fee for the conference
participation is 120 euros (80 euros for students)

We would appreciate if you could diffuse the above-mentioned
informations about the
meeting among the different national sections’ members.

Dr. Marianna Vigorito
Organising commettee member of the IX International Meeting of the IPS.

ED: Ancient Greek in the Park – starting 12th June in East Oxford

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Seen on Classicists (please send any responses to the people/institution mentioned in the post, not to rogueclassicism!)

Dear Classicists,
As previously stated, The Iris Project will be starting up a new series of free lessons for adults and families this spring and summer.

These sessions will be starting on 12th June in East Oxford and will run every Saturday for ten weeks. As with the ‘Latin in the Park’ series, Ancient Greek in the Parkwill involve a series of free hour-long weekly sessions introducing the ancient Greek language to adults and families.

Latin in the park was set up to help promote access to Classics amongst adults in local communities, and has been running since April 2008. Classics is often viewed as an elite area of study only accessible to the very educated, and this can be daunting or off-putting, so the intention is to encourage people from all walks of life and backgrounds in these communities to have a go at picking up a bit of Latin and now ancient Greek over lunch in a relaxed setting!

While we are not currently looking for extra volunteers to help with the teaching, we are, however, looking for volunteers to help with other aspects of its organisation, so if you are interested in helping, please get in touch by replying to this email or through our website www.irismagazine.org.

If you would like to offer financial support for the outreach work of The Iris Project in schools and local communities, you can do so here http://www.irismagazine.org/support.htm.