Time Sifters Archaeology Society Newsletter October 2018

OCTOBER-2018Dear Member:Thank you Sherry for over 11 years as Time Sifters President!! WOW that is going to be hard to follow! But Iwill try, with your help, to continue the tradition of making Time Sifters one of the BEST archaeological societies inFlorida.With that in mind, this season we are introducing a new program in conjunction with the Osher LifelongLearning Institute at Ringling College: The In-Depth Series. The first of these presentations will be on the“Dead Sea Scrolls” by Dr. Steven Derfler. This day long presentation, with lunch, will dive deep into thissubject including the discovery, the politics of ownership and the contents of the scrolls. Please join usJanuary 25. Information on how to register will be available soon. We are looking into other topics for TheIn-Depth Series including “Archaeology for Beginners”.This month our speaker is Dr. Laura Harrison of USF (Time Sifters Treasurer) talking about “The BronzeAge Archaeology of Seyitömer Mound in Turkey”. Please join us on Wednesday the 17th of October.We are always open for compliments and suggestions.Thank you for being a member of Time Sifters.Darwin “Smitty” Smith, President [email protected] 17, 6:00 PM Selby Library, 1331 First St., Sarasota The Bronze Age Archaeology of Seyitömer Mound in Turkey Dr. Laura Harrison Director of Access 3D Lab Research Assistant Professor University of South FloridaWe can trace forerunners of the is located within an active coal Laura K. Harrison is the directorcontemporary world back to the mine and faces imminent of Access 3D Lab and a researchBronze Age (ca. 3000-2000 B.C.E.), at destruction. Recent research assistant professor at the University ofwhich time Turkey was both a focuses on creating 3D reconstruc- South Florida. Her researchcrossroads between neighboring tions of destroyed archaeological focuses on digital heritage insocieties in the Aegean and contexts, to facilitate future archaeology and museums, publicMesopotamia, and an independent study, and increase public access archaeology, and the Bronze Agecenter in its own right. Archaeological to this endangered heritage. eastern Mediterranean.remains from Seyitömer reveal how thestandardization of pottery technology,the quest for luxury goods, and acataclysmic earthquake trans-formed daily life in this BronzeAge village. While Seyitömer is awellspring of information aboutancient Turkey, it is also relevantto contemporary discussionsabout heritage at risk, because it

Archaeologists You Should Know By Steven Derfler, Time Sifters Board Member Sir William Flinders Petrie The Pioneer of Systematic Methodology in Archaeology & Preservation of Artifacts. Commonly known offer up better finds in context. when turned over, revealed an in- as Flinders Petrie, After funding ran out for a short scription of Merenptah recording his Sir William Flinders time in Egypt, in 1890, Petrie triumphs over the Libyans and thePetrie was an English Egyptologist made the first of his many Peoples of the Sea; and near theand a pioneer of systematic excavations in Palestine, leading end of the text was a puzzlingmethodology in archaeology and to even more important name, that of a people or tribepreservation of artifacts. He was archaeological work: his six-week whom Merenptah had victoriouslyborn on the 3rd of June 1853 in excavation of Tell el-Hesi. It smitten-\"I.si.ri.ar?\" It was PetrieCharlton, London, England. He represented the first scientific whose quick imaginative mindheld the first chair of Egyptology excavation of an archaeological solved it: \"Israel is laid waste, herin the United Kingdom, and excavated site in the Holy Land. seed is no more!\"many of the most important He introduced into Palestine the In 1923, Petrie was knighted forarchaeological sites in Egypt in concept that a tell is a manmade services to British archaeologyconjunction with his wife, mound of successive, superimposed and Egyptology. The focus of hisHilda Petrie. “cities”. He established the dating work shifted permanently toHis father had corresponded with of these “cities” by means of their Palestine in 1926.Piazzi Smyth about his theories of associated ceramic assemblage In 1933, on retiring from histhe Great Pyramid and Petrie and of the cross-dating of these professorship, he movedtravelled to Egypt in early 1880 to assemblages with reference to permanently to Jerusalem, wheremake an accurate survey of Giza, similar finds made in Egyptian he lived with Lady Petrie at themaking him the first to properly contexts. British School of Archaeology.investigate how they were Returning to Egypt, from 1891, he He wrote: \"I believe the true line ofconstructed (many theories had worked on the temple of Aten at research lies in the noting andbeen advanced on this, and Petrie Tell-el-Amarna, discovering a comparison of the smallest details.\" Byread them all, but none were 300-square-foot New Kingdom linking styles of pottery with periods,based on first hand observation orlogic). painted pavement of garden and he was the first to use seriation inAt the end of 1880, Petrie animals and hunting scenes. Egyptology, a new method forwrote a number of articles Petrie's excavations revealed establishing the chronology of aand then met Amelia additional cuneiform tablets, the site. Flinders Petrie was alsoEdwards, journalist and remains of several glass factories, responsible for mentoring andpatron of the Egypt Exploration and a great quantity of discarded training a whole generation ofFund (now the Egypt faience. Egyptologists, includingExploration Society), who In early 1896, Petrie and his Howard Carter.became his strong supporter archaeological team were conducting He passed away at the age of 89and later appointed him as excavations on a temple in Petrie's on the 28th of July 1942 in Jerusalem,Professor at her Egyptology area of concession at Luxor. It Mandatory Palestine.chair at University College was discovered to have been builtLondon. The university was by Merneptah, the 13th son andimpressed by his scientific successor of Ramesses II. A stela,approach to excavation.In November 1884, Petrie arrivedin Egypt to begin his excavations.He first went to a New Kingdomsite at Tanis, with 170 workmen.He would take total control of theexcavation, cutting out the mid-levelmanagers and directly workingwith the laborers. This was innovativefor its time. This removed pressurefrom foremen to find antiquities,and the discovery process,although more deliberate, did

News & Events Saturday, October 13th, 1:00—3:00 Woman the Toolmaker: Reconsidering Feminine Knowledge & Skill with Dr. Kathy Weedman Arthur, USF St. PetersburgAcross The Straits to Cuba in Pursuit of Historical Archaeological Sites, Colonial Architecture, and Contemporary ArtTuesday, February 12 - Wednesday, February 27, 201916 days (Possibility of returning on day 11) Angerona Coffee Plantation (ruins)For more information or to join this once-only expedition from Havana to Mayabeque, Matanzas, Camaguey, Holguin, Santiago,and Baracoa, CLICK HERE or contact Soledad at: [email protected] or call 904 806 1400.World Heritage Site #86The Giza Plateau, just on the pyramids of Cheops,western edge of the Nile Valley, Chephren and Mycerinus.opposite Cairo, became a World But in addition are lesserHeritage Site in 1979. This pyramids, mastabas, andcomplex was only used in the a funeral boat found in aIVth Dynasty(2610-2450 BCE). buried boat pit. SeveralIts an enormous complex, Time Sifter members willhighlighted by the three great be traveling there in December, 2018. Photos by: Steven Derfler WikipediaOfficers: Board of Directors Copyright © 2018Darwin \"Smitty\" Smith, President Time SiftersArchaeologySociety,Inc.,Sherry Svekis, Vice President Directors: Steven Derfler All rights reserved.Bernice Jones, Secretary Robert Bopp Evelyn Mangie We send newsletters to peopleLaura Harrison, Treasurer Dorothy Cascio Sharon McConnell who have attended or expressedKaren Jensen, Membership Glenn Cooper interestin our lecturesand given us their email address.

Membership Speakers & Events CalendarLifetime: $350 All to be held at 6:00 PMIndividual: $25 Selby Library, 1331 First St., Sarasota 34236Family: $35Student: $10 October 17 The Bronze Age Archaeology of Seyitömer MoundPay online at: in TurkeyWWW.TimeSifters.org Dr. Laura HarrisonOr mail checks to:Time Sifters, Inc. November 14PO Box 5283 The Rosewood MassacreSarasota, FL. 34277 Dr. Edward González-Tennant November 27 Holiday Party Fun for All!! Time Sifters Archaeology Society A Chapter of the Florida Anthropological Society http://timesifters.org/Time Sifters Archaeology SocietyP. O. Box 5283, Sarasota, FL 34277