Time Sifters Archaeology Society Newsletter April 2018

A P R I L-2018 April Program April 18 - at 6:00 PM - Selby Library, 1331 First St., Sarasota 34236Dear Member:April brings two presenters who have done awesome work on two very different and fascinating topics. Listening to studentssupports their future growth as archaeologists and it is also a lot of fun. They bring great energy and enthusiasm, and towin our grant award, they have done top-notch research and crafted an engaging presentation.Are you interested in joining the Time Sifters Board of Directors, or volunteering at events we participate in? Send an emailto me or Smitty ([email protected]) for more information; Board elections are in May.If your membership renewal date is April 2018 or earlier, please renew now. Tired of keeping track of yourmembership? For $250, you can become a lifetime member and never have to renew again. You can renewby credit card online at www.Timesifters.org or with cash or check at the March meeting.Thanks for being part of Time Sifters!Sherry Svekis, President [email protected] April 18th, Selby Library “Can Ecotheatre Interpret Climate Change Heritage?” - Rachel Ceciro “The Hobbit - Homo Floresiensis” - Rebekah NaultRachel Ceciro Rebekah Nault“Can Ecotheatre Interpret Climate “The Hobbit - Homo Floresiensis”Change Heritage?” Rebekah is a mom, a junior at USF,Rachel is a fourth-year student, at New and a custom picture framer byCollege of Florida. Recently, her work trade. Rebekah has always beenhas focused on relief: relief from natural passionate about Anthropology. Herdisaster, relief through resiliency, relief paper is on the discovery of theby work within a community. Rachel’s “Hobbit, Homo Floresiensis, on thepresentation examines ecological theater Indonesian island of Flores.” She willas a method of heritage interpretation, discuss the history of the site, theusing a performance she wrote and team, and what they recovered. Butdirected titled “WAKE: Living With/In that’s just the start of the story.Disaster”. Taking recorded memories Rebekah brings insight and humorand oral histories of past hurricanes, the into the ensuing conflict, the differentperformance aimed to accurately and origin theories of the Hobbit, andrespectfully represent the past and what science has concluded.highlight the social and racial injusticesfaced in the after-math of disaster.

News & EventsDr. Bernice Jones, Time SiftersSecretary, visited Melbourne, Aus-tralia for the opening of her exhibi-tion: Haute Couture in AncientGreece: The Spectacular Costumesof Ariadne & Helen of Troy at theHellenic Museum. Presented as apart of the Virgin Australia Mel-bourne Fashion Festival's ArtsProgram, the exhibition displaysgarments recreated by Bernicethrough her meticulous analysis oftextiles represented in sculpturesand wall paintings of the period. Time Sifters outreach event - March 24th De Soto National Memorial “Five Centuries of Florida History” Time Sifters Travels Karen Jensen was recently in China and met the farmer who discovered the Terra Cotta soldiers. If you buy the book he signs it and you can have a picture taken with him. FAS 2018 May 11 - 13Register nowLucky us! The 2018 FAS AnnualMeeting will be nearby inSt. Petersburg, hosted by Alliancefor Weedon Island ArchaeologicalResearch and Education(AWIARE) and USF St. Petersburg!Hope to see you there! Registernow.www.fasweb.org/annual-conference

Notes from a Time SifterGetting High? By: Evelyn MangieAn interesting article in February’s opiates 7000 years ago where the with an alkaloid similar, but lessissue of Ancient Origins (D. Nemu, poppy plant was used as medicine powerful, to the one from which2/27/18) titled “Getting High (Sullivan and Hagen, Washington LSD is synthesized. The Pythia atwith the Most High: Drugs in State U. Vancouver, 2002). It was Delphi inhaled gasses that had athe Bible” discusses the possibility also cultivated in Egypt during the narcotic effect which certainlythat the high priests of the 18th Dynasty and was a major trade helped her deliver the god’s am-Hebrew Bible were sometimes item with the Minoans and the biguous prophecies (J. Roach, Na-under the influence of psychedelic Phoenicians. Hippocrates (460- tional Geographic, 8/14/01).drugs. He suggests that the 375 B.C.E.) recognized its narcotic The ancient Maya of 300 B.C.E.smoke that appeared when the benefits, Alexander the Great Guatemala used the hallucino-high priest entered the tabernacle introduced it to India in 330 genic mushroom to show the(Leviticus 16.11-28) was the result B.C.E., and the Chinese were transformation of the jaguar godof burning incense made from importing it from Arab traders byentheogenic (hallucinogenic) 400 C.E. (PBS.org, Frontline, Ancient Wisdomplants and oils and that the vapor “Opium Throughout History”). Thefrom the smoke and the consumption Ancient Egyptians also cultivated and likely included the drug inof frankincense put the priests in hemp, specifically for weaving and their religious rituals. Cannabisa divine trance. The Hebrew Bible making rope but the scene from was used in China, India and Africaforbids consulting spirits (Samuel, the Temple of Hathor at Dendera for religious ceremonies as early28: 3-25) so we will probably never may be evidence that the ancient as the 5th century B.C.E., andknow if the priests indulged, but Egyptians also inhaled its vapors the Magi’s gift of Myrrh andwe do know that people of all (B. Hill, Ancient Origins, 5/19/15). Frankincense (Ancient Origins)societies have been using can be classified as tranquilizerspsychedelic drugs for millennia, Most of these mind altering drugs, equal to a mild Valium.probably even before the Neolithic including alcohol, provided comfort All this evidence suggests that,period. and were a major part of the indeed, many high priests every- where were, in fact, high. Wikimedia B. Hill, Ancient Origins Evidence shows that medicines and diet 13,000 years ago people of for many ancient Asia were chewing betel populations, but those that caused(yuko.ca) nuts, a mild stimulant. hallucinations (the entheogens) were used to enhance the spiritualCoca, a strong stimulant, was being experience. Minoan shamansused in the Americas 7,000 years used opioids during religiousago and seeds of another of ceremonies as is shown by thisnature’s hallucinogens, the San Minoan worshipper with a diademPedro Cactus, known as one of of poppy buds slit for the extrac-nature’s strongest along with tion of the poppy sap (Ancient Wis-Peyote, were found among prehistoric dom). The ancient Greek worshipers ofartifacts in caves in Texas and the Eleusinian Mystery cult festivalsNorthern Mexico. were drinking Kykeon, a beverage made with grain that was infectedThe Mesopotamians were usingOfficers: Board of Directors Copyright © 2018Sherry Svekis, President Time SiftersArchaeologySociety,Inc.,Darwin \"Smitty\" Smith, Vice Pres. Directors: Evelyn Mangie All rights reserved.Bernice Jones, Secretary Valerie Jackson Bell Sharon McConnell We send newsletters to peopleLaura Harrison - Treasurer Robert Bopp Saretta Sparer who have attended or expressedKaren Jensen, Membership Glenn Cooper interestin our lecturesand given us their email address.

Membership Speakers & Events CalendarLifetime: $250 All to be held at 6:00 PMIndividual: $25 Selby Library, 1331 First St., Sarasota 34236Family: $35Sustaining: $50 April 18Student: $10 2018 Cornelia Futor Memorial Student Paper Winners Rachel Ceciro - “Can Ecotheatre Interpret Climate ChangePay online at: Heritage?”WWW.TimeSifters.org Rebekah Nault - “The Hobbit - homo Floresiensis”Or mail checks to:Time Sifters, Inc. May 16PO Box 5283 Archaeology and Rising Sea Levels: Global Perspectives andSarasota, FL. 34277 Local Concerns Dr. Uzi Baram, Professor of Anthropology, September 19 Virtualizing World Heritage Sites in Sicily Dr. Davide Tanasi Time Sifters Archaeology Society A Chapter of the Florida Anthropological Society http://timesifters.org/Time Sifters Archaeology SocietyP. O. Box 5283, Sarasota, FL 34277