Intangible Cultural Heritage, as defined by the UNESCO Convention, consists of non-physical characteristics, practices, representations, expressions as well as knowledge and skills that identify and define a group or civilization.

This category includes the following cultural manifestations:

    * oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage;
    * music, dance, drama and other performing arts
    * social practices, rituals and festive events;
    * knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe;
    * foods and clothing
    * and traditional craftsmanship

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Archaeology

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech/discourse) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes.

The goals of archaeology are to document and explain the origins and development of human culture, understand culture history, chronicle cultural evolution, and study human behavior and ecology, for both prehistoric and historic societies. It is considered in North America to be one of the four sub-fields of anthropology.

Roman theater, Alexandria, Egypt

Usage

As with words such as encyclop(a)edia and gyn(a)ecology, archaeology traditionally has an ae combination; however, unlike many other words, the ae is still widely retained. Contrary to popular belief in other parts of the world, the spelling archeology is not predominant in United States dictionaries, though it is the spelling used by the United States government organizations involved in the field. The traditional spelling, archaeology, continues to be the most common form in everyday writing throughout the world, including the U.S.A.

Mission San Luis

National Endowment for the Humanities: Mission San Luis was awarded a grant of $1 million dollars as part of NEH’s We the People initiative ; of 36 challenge grant applicants from around the country, Mission San Luis was one of only 6 projects funded. We received the full amount request, and have 4 years to raise 3 million in matching funds for our endowment.

Apalachee Council House Reconstruction, August 2004

Building Reconstructions: Progress is being made on the reconstruction of the Apalachee Council House and the repairs to the Church. By the time of the FHC meeting thatching should have begun on the Council House. Plans are underway for repairs to the Convento & Cocina, reconstruction of the Apalachee Chief’s House, and construction of the fort complex.

Underwater Archaeology Program

1733 Shipwreck Study: The bureau’ s Underwater Archaeology Program has received a grant administered by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for research and interpretation of the shipwrecks of the Spanish 1733 fleet, located in the Florida Keys.

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CODE OF ETHICS UTAH PROFESSIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL COUNCIL
(Adopted July 24, 1982)

Archaeology is a profession, and the privilege of professional practice requires professional morality and professional responsibility, as well as professional competence, on the part of each practitioner.

The archaeologist also has a responsibility to attempt to design and conduct projects that will add to our understanding of past cultures and/or that will develop better theories, methods, or techniques for interpreting the archaeological record, while causing minimal attrition of the archaeological resource base.

Archaeological research involving collections of original field data and/or acquisition of specimens requires adequate facilities and support services for its successful conduct, and for proper permanent maintenance, security, and accessibility of the resulting collections and records.

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by Velikovsky

Pylos in Messenia, in the western Peloponnese, had a rather brief existence—according to tradition, no more than four kings were its rulers from its founding to its destruction. It was Neleus, the father of Nestor, who built the city, having come from Iolcus when his brother Peleus expelled him, and settled there a mixed population of his own followers.1

Neleus brought great renown to Pylos; but later in his reign, when his sons were still only young men, some unexplained disaster overtook the city, remembered in tradition as the destruction of Pylos by Heracles.2 A large part of the population perished: of Neleus’ twelve sons Nestor only survived; but the people of Pylos rebuilt the city on an even grander scale, including a spatious palace for Nestor, who followed Neleus on the throne. Afterwards the city became involved in bitter warfare with neighboring Elis, and Nestor distinguished himself at the head of the Pylian forces.3 But by the time of the Achaean expedition against Troy Nestor’ s age no longer permitted him to lead his warriors in battle. Homer tells in the Iliad that this king of Pylos had seen two generations of men pass—“those who had grown up with him, and they who were born to these in sacred Pylos, and he was king in the third age.”4 From this we can judge that some four or five decades separated the time of the disaster which overtook Pylos in Nestor’s youth from the siege of Troy. Of those who came to Troy with Agamemnon, Nestor’s was one of the few safe returns; once again he seated himself upon the marble bench in his palace, “scepter in hand, a Warden of the Achaean race.”5 Homer describes the visit of Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, to Nestor at Pylos, ten years after Troy’s fall—the prince from Ithaka found a prosperous city at the head of a peaceful realm, unruffled by any whiff of danger. Yet it is worth noting that Nestor took care to placate Poseidon the “earthshaker” with frequent sacrifices.6 (more…)

Archaeology Validates the Bible!

If the Bible is true, then we should expect archaeology to confirm it. This article reveals exciting discoveries of such confirmations—and why most scholars and news media outlets oppose them.

A s the Bible continues to be validated by new archaeological evidence, one would expect the public to take note with wonder.

Consider the 1983 discovery by Israeli scholar Adam Zertal, who unearthed a huge sacrificial altar on Mount Ebal, north of Jericho. Its construction perfectly matches the specifications described in Deuteronomy 27:4-8, which was later built by Joshua (Josh. 8:30-35).

Yet, as amazing as Dr. Zertal’s discovery was, it received a less than enthusiastic response from his academic colleagues. They claimed that he was probably politically motivated, linking his finding to the support of Jewish settlements in the region of Nablus (ancient Shechem), where Mount Ebal is located.

“It’s bad for business to find things from the Bible these days,” his peers observed. “It makes us look like unsophisticated messianic fanatics” (“Reclaiming Biblical Jerusalem,” aish.com).

Questioning the validity of the Bible has become fashionable for the academic elite. Weaned on evolutionary theory and molded by years of political correctness, most scholars equate any attempts to validate the Bible as promoting Zionism—a term that advocates of political correctness vigorously reject.

J. I. (Hans) Bakker

Introduction

In order to understand better the nineteenth-century history of Java we must attempt to examine all available sources of information, including the extensive records left by the Dutch colonial government. However, in doing so we must be wary of the danger of Euro-centric bias attached to the use of colonial administrative documents. This is especially true if we are concerned with the question: "In what specific ways did
Dutch colonial policy and administration contribute to the ‘development’ and ‘underdevelopment’ of Java?" The danger inherent in using the documents left by the colonial "exploiters" themselves is apparent. That danger becomes obvious, even to someone not trained in historiographic methods, when we attempt to use the administrations of the governor-generals as a "mirror" of nineteenth-century Dutch colonial policy and administration. Why study the governor-generals? Why not study the Javanese instead?

If it were a question of either/or then it would indeed be better to concentrate on Indonesian materials. The contributions to our knowledge which that approach has provided are evident in the work by Carey (1974), Hoadley (1975), and Sutherland (1975), to mention only a few leading scholars. However, it is not a matter of choosing either one approach or another. A division of tasks is possible. Several writers have shown that the use of exclusively Dutch colonial sources
does not necessarily lead to a Euro-centric bias. We have learned a great deal from Wright (1952), Reinsma (1959b), Wertheim and Wertheim (1968), Reid (1969), Knight (1975) and Fasseur (1975). The scholarly contributions by Robert Van Niel are especially well known.