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www.sacarcheology.org. January/February - 2009
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“Make 2009 the best ever”
Bronze Age site of Mycenae, Greece
by
Samantha Emmanuel and Kalie Sacco
Saturday, January 24, 2009
2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
at the
Home of Jan & Tom Johansen
505 Cleveland Court Davis, CA 95616
View of the acropolis or high city
Hear about the latest excavations at Mycenae, Greece by Samantha Emmanuel and Kalie Sacco, UC Berkeley students. These 2008 SAS scholarship winners participated in a field school during the summer of 2008. On January 24th they will discuss their adventure excavating a Bronze Age site. Join us at the home of Jan and Tom Johansen at 2:00 pm for this step into the past. Bring a Greek dish to share for an early dinner.
Only scattered sherds from disturbed debris have been found datable to this period, prior to about 3500 BC. The site was inhabited but the stratigraphy has been destroyed by later construction.
It is believed that Mycenae was settled by Indo-Europeans who practiced farming and herding, close to 2000 BC. Scattered sherds have been found from this period, 2100 BC to 1700 BC. At the same time, Minoan Crete developed a very complex civilization that interacted with Mycenae.
The first burials in pits or cist graves began to the west of the acropolis at about 1800-1700 BC. The acropolis was enclosed at least partially by the earliest circuit wall.
Of the cist graves and the Middle Helladic Emily Vermeule said:
"...there is nothing in the Middle Helladic world to prepare us for the furious splendor of the Shaft Graves."
The settlement pattern at Mycenae during the Bronze Age was a fortified hill surrounded by hamlets and estates. Missing is the dense urbanity present on the coast (such as at Argos). Since Mycenae was the capital of a state that ruled, or dominated, much of the eastern Mediterranean world, the rulers must have placed their stronghold in this less populated and more remote region for its defensive value. Since there are few documents on site with datable contents (such as an Egyptian scarab) and since no dendrochronology has yet been performed upon the remains here, the events are listed here according to Helladic period material culture.
Maidu Interpretive Center’s
Cultural Heritage Speaker Series for 2009
Maidu Interpretive Center having a "Cultural Heritage Speaker Series" for 2009. Lectures are held on 2nd Saturdays from 7-8pm and are FREE. Doors open at 6:30 pm with coffee and dessert. Here's the speaker lineup and dates:
Jan. 10 Rick Adams "Secrets of Stone Medicine"
Mar. 14 Dr. Sheri Tatsch "Nisenan Lands and Language"
May 9 Chuck Kritzon "Ice Age Arts and Crafts"
Jul 11 Stan Padilla "Native Art Around the World"
Sept. 12 Judith Larner Lowry "Gardening with Native Plants"
Nov. 14 Chag Lowry "California Indian Veterans"
Maidu Interpretive Center
1960 Johnson Ranch Drive
Roseville, California 95661
www.roseville.ca.us/indianmuseum
The Art and Science of Flintknapping
February 20, 21, and 22, 2009
California Desert Studies Center (ZZYZX)
This is a weekend learning experience for those who want to make stone tools and understand the waste products of the reduction process. This anthropology class is taught by Dr. Jeanne Day Binning and Charles (Chuck) Bouscaren at the California State University Desert Studies Center (ZZYZX) near Baker, California. Students stay in a dormitory setting and five cafeteria-style meals are provided.* The class is $325.00 per person or $610.00 per couple and starts at 7:00 PM on Friday evening and ends early Sunday afternoon. Most of the class time is spent doing hands-on activities; lectures occur on Friday and Saturday evenings. The class is limited to 23 students.
Each participant has the opportunity to haft what he or she manufactures (arrow point, dart point, or knife). Planned activities include heat treatment of silicious rocks, basic percussion biface reduction, basic pressure flaking (including notching), the use of an atlatl, and the use of a single-stave, self bow. Groundstone manufacture is also covered. Rock samples and different types of debitage are available for students to study during the class.
For more information, call 951-827-4105 (University of California, Riverside Extension). Also, potential participants can register for the class online at the UCR Extension website: http://www.extension.ucr.edu.
Dr. Binning can be reached at 559-243-8219 (weekdays) and 559-433-1424 (evenings and weekends), if there are additional questions.
Dillard Flintknapping Workshop
March 20, 21, and 22, 2009
Tim Dillard will be teaching a flintknapping class this March at the Desert Studies Center. The total cost of the class for each person is $225.00. The meals and sleeping accommodations are $98.00. The class itself is $127.00. If you wish to take the class, please send me two checks or money orders. One check or money order for $98.00 should be paid to the order of the Desert Studies Center. The second check or money order for $127.00 should be written to Tim Dillard. I am sorry that neither Tim nor the Center takes credit cards.
The class will start at 7:00 PM on Friday evening, March 20, 2009, with demonstrations by Tim. Students will be flintknapping with Tim all day Saturday and Sunday morning and early afternoon.
The workshop is not affiliated with any institution and no academic credit can be given. The practicum will focus on the knapping of various materials. Obsidian and some chert will be supplied. Although hammerstone use and pressure flaking will be covered, the use of antler-billet percussion to manufacture bifaces will be the primary focus of the class (copper billets will not be used). Hafting, fletching, dart throwing, debitage identification, etc. will not be taught in this class.
Tim likes to teach all stages of percussion reduction. Initial reduction and sectioning/spalling of raw material will be taught. Class members will have the opportunity to work with some heat-treated cherts. Participants are encouraged to bring their own raw materials if they desire materials with certain qualities.
The Desert Studies Center is located in San Bernardino County, California off Interstate 15, southwest of the town of Baker. The freeway off-ramp is Zzyzx Road. To find the Center, drive south on Zzyzx Road four miles until you reach a cluster of buildings. Zzyzx Road is unpaved for most of its length; it is graded and should be driven slowly. The Center is situated on the shore of Soda Dry Lake at an elevation of 237 meters (938 feet) and at the western edge of the Mojave National Preserve.
Each participant should bring pillows and bedclothes or a sleeping bag, since only mattresses are provided by the Center. The bathrooms are separate from the sleeping accommodations. The cafeteria-style meals include a snack on Friday night, breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, bag lunches on Saturday and Sunday, and dinner Saturday evening.
Gloves and pieces of leather or other protective material, to be used for hand protection and lap pads, should be brought for use in the class. Copper pressure flakers will be provided. Also, antler billets for use during the class will be supplied. Long pants and shoes that cover the feet must be worn at all times while flintknapping. The Center has protective glasses that can be used by the class participants.
Please send your checks or money orders to me: Jeanne Binning
1630 E Shea Dr.
Fresno, CA 93720
If you have any questions, please call or email me. My home phone number is 559-433-1424. My work phone number is 559-243-8219. My email address is jeanne_binning@juno.com. Jeanne
********************************************************************************************* Recommended Archaeology-related websites |
Renewal of Annual Memberships
January 1 is the renewal date for all memberships except those who join recently (after September, 2008), please support the society by paying your 2009 dues now.
Annual Dues for 2009 #
Student/Limited Member $15 ____ $_______
Individual Membership $30 ____ $_______
Family Membership $40 ____ $_______
Sponsor $100 ____ $_______
Total enclosed $_______
Please make out your check to “Sacramento Archeological Society, Inc.” and mail it to
Sacramento Archeological Society, Inc. |
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P.O. Box 163287 |
|
Sacramento, CA 95816-9287 |
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Election of 2009 Board of Directors
During the Annual Meeting the 2009 Board of Directors were elected.
2009 Officers and Directors
President April Farnham
Vice President Diane Rosales
Treasurer Roger Peake
Secretary Lydia Peake
Past President Jan Johansen
Member/Large Dennis T. Fenwick
Member/Large Thomas Johansen, MD
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January 10, 2009, Saturday – 7:00 – 8:00 pm "Secrets of Stone Medicine", Rick Adams at Maidu Interpretive Center
January 12, 2009, Monday – 7:00 – 9:00 pm Board Meeting at April Farnham’s home
January 24, 2009, Saturday – 2:00 – 4:00 pm Bronze Age site of Mycenae in Greece Presentation,Samantha Emmanuel and Kalie Sacco, 2008 Scholarship Winners at 505 Cleveland Court, Davis
February 9, 2009, Monday – 7:00 – 9:00 pm Board Meeting, location TBD
February 20-22, 2009 – The Art and Science of Flintknapping, California Desert Studies Center
March 14, 2009 - "Nisenan Lands and Language" Dr. Sheri Tatsch atMaidu Interpretive Center
March 12-15, 2009 – 2009 Society for California Conference in Modesto
March 20- 22, 2009 – Dillard Flintknapping Workshop, California Desert Studies Center
March 28, Saturday - Sutter Buttes Peace Valley State Park hike is tentatively rescheduled
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P.O. Box 163287
Sacramento, CA 95816-9287