Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Archaeology Magazine Publicizes Unprovenanced Jewish Tombstone
Archaeology Magazine, the official organ of the Archaeological Institute of America, has publicized a wonderful story of how students from Yeshiva University helped decipher an unprovenanced Jewish Tombstone from what was a Christian city in Jordan. Yes, we can learn a lot from unprovenanced artifacts, despite what hard-liners in the AIA and archaeological blogosphere might say.
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5 comments:
"Yes, we can learn a lot from unprovenanced artifacts, despite what hard-liners in the AIA and archaeological blogosphere might say
Artefact or text?
A few days ago I asked what numismatics could do with the Acre St Christopher coin coin, while ignoring its archaeological context. So far there have not been any enthusiasts. Maybe you or another ACCG officer would like to have a go, show us the numismatic methodology at work?
http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2013/12/come-on-coiney-researchers-show-us-what.html
Arthur Houghton asked me to post this:
"I believe the AIA prohibits "first publication" of unprovenanced material. This story appeared in the NY Times a few days ago, but Archaeology seems to have jumped the gun. Good for them. There is a hair-tearing argument going on in archaeological circles focused on whether there should be such a criterion for publication or not, which an increasing number of scholars insisting that academic integrity demands exposure and not willful ignorance of material that may be germane, or even essential, to scholarly analysis and discussion. The view seems to be growing view that integrity demands exposure, not concealment. As I say, good for Archaeology for doing the right thing. Of course, any scholar who deliberately chooses to deliberately ignore important unprovenanced material in their work should be summarily dismissed from their position and taken out whipped like a cur"
It's no secret that the rank and file of archaeology are not in lock step with the Ivy League leadership. It is only a matter of time before the pendulum swings back to rationalism rather than mindless idealism.
Wayne G. Sayles
For Mr. Barford, I'll leave your challenge for someone more knowledgeable about Medieval coinage. As I mentioned, I do not see myself as that person. I do have a small collection of Hungarian medieval coins, but don't know as much about them as I would like-- most of the literature is either in German or Hungarian and I'm afraid I'm not able to follow it for that reason.
Maybe Mr. Welsh could help the gentleman from Warsaw?
http://classicalcoins.blogspot.com/
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