Did I tell you about the souvenir I bought whilst on holiday in the States?
When Oz & Craige travel, they always buy themselves just ONE very special something to give them memories of their big trips... From Africa, it was a hand painted ostrich egg, and a hippopotamus made out of ironstone, or something like that... From South America, it was the most AMAZING and stunning toucan made out of amethyst and stone. It's quite sensational.
So when Craige and myself were at Knott's Berry Farm (along with Luke & George), we came across a Geode Shop called, simply, The Geode Shop at Knott's Berry Farm! They had some amazing stuff inside, from tiny little fossils in rock, to insects in amber, to huge geodes, etc. Out the front of the store was a big tray with rocks of varying sizes, which were unopened geodes. They had ones from Morocco, Mexico and Utah. So Craige picked one from Utah of course, and had it cut open in front of him. So you buy it, and then get a nice surprise. They then tell you all about the contents, and what sort of minerals are in it. I decided to do one myself, as well - and of course, had to pick one from Utah, as this was a memory of the American trip!
It was exciting, and kinda cool to see them cut them open... I just need to get a UV lamp (a cheap LED one would suffice), as they said it should luminesce a nice green colour! I suppose part of the reason why I liked this idea is the fact that I've always had a fascination with geology and geography. If I was the sort of person that could study, and/or go to Uni, I'd probably do an Earth Science. I love volcanoes, unusual land masses, rocks, etc. I'm such a Taurean!
Apparently the mods of Anthropologist have all abandoned the community. I've tried contacting the current mods about the spam and none of them have replied.
Anyone know how to go about getting a new, active mod?
Hi! My name is Kurt and I have been out of school for about 2 years now. I graduated with a BA in Biology and a minor in Anthropology. I then went on to get a Masters in Biology. I have been trying to get into medical school for a while and it's just not panning out for me, and honestly I have lost interest in the path altogether. I've recently been rediscovering the love I had for anthropology back when I was in undergrad, especially medical anthropology. In doing so, I've realized that I can maintain my interest in medicine/biology and combine it with anthropology. I've started to look into graduate programs for medical anthropology and have been talking sporadically with an anthropology professor to get a better idea of where to start when it comes to applying to schools. Since she's so busy this summer, I'm posting some of my questions here to see if maybe some of you could help me out. Sorry this is kind of a lengthy post... Any help at all would be greatly appreciated!!
Going along with my once desire to get into medical school, the idea of working in public health somewhere, perhaps the CDC or WHO, seems to be a place where I would eventually like to work. I like the idea of epidemiology and studying/monitoring/preventing infectious diseases. I'm kind of stuck on where to begin right now. As far as graduate school is concerned, I know that the earliest shot I would have to get in is the fall of 2013. I'm wondering what steps I need to do to ensure acceptance. I've enrolled in some graduate level anthropology classes at a local university this fall to help show current interest and have also been reading articles by professors in schools that I'm interested in. Should I be contacting these professors soon to show them my interest in their work? Are there are other things I can do in the meantime that would impress graduate schools?
I've looked at positions at the CDC that I would be interested in, and it looks like most people who work there with background in Anthropology also have Masters in Public Health. Is this kind of background necessary to be able to work in this field of applied anthropology? Could one work in a similar field without having a MPH degree? If it is necessary to obtain an MPH as well, then would it be best to enter into a PhD/MPH program? Or could I study medical anthropology wherever I find a school that I connect the best with, and work on the MPH later? Or perhaps do the opposite, obtaining the MPH first?
Would you please forward the following field opportunities to your undergraduate and graduate students (poster and research objectives attached):
Since the middle of the first century BC, the Dacians – “the bravest and the fairest of all the Thracians” (Herodotus) – have continuously been a clear and present danger for the Romans. The various encounters between the Roman legions and the Dacian kings ended mostly in Dacian victories, culminating with the great and humiliating Roman defeat in 87AD at the First Battle of Tapae. In 106AD, after two campaigns (102-103AD and 105-106AD), Trajan finally succeeded in conquering the Dacia. Our Daco-Roman field project offers students and volunteers two unique excavation opportunities in Transylvania (Romania): Sarmizegetusa, the Roman Capital of the Dacian Provinces, and Racos, the second most important military and religious center in Dacia:
Excavation: Sarmizegetusa Ulpia Traiana – Roman Capital of the Dacian Provinces, Hunedoara County (Southern Transylvania), Romania Period: Imperial Roman Excavation dates: July 8 - August 7, 2012
Description:
Sarmizegetusa Ulpia Traiana, the Roman Capital of the Dacian Provinces and first Roman city north of the Danube, is situated in the plains north of the majestic Retezat Mountains, commanding several passes across the Carpathians. Its presence in the heartland of the Dacian kingdoms, a few kilometers away from Sarmizegetusa Regia, the civil and religious capital of the defeated Dacians, is a complex statement of Roman colonial strategies. In 2012, our excavation will continue the exploration of the Forum and associated temples as well as identifying domestic living structures outside the public plazzas. We will also survey the city necropolises and possibly start work on a funeral household enclosure.
Excavation: Piatra Detunata - Durduia, Racos Commune, Brasov County (Southern Transylvania), Romania Period: Wietenberg (Bronze Age), Hallstatt, LaTene (Iron Age) Excavation dates: June 3 - July 7, 2012
Description:
The area of the upper Olt River basin between Racos and Augustin, about 12 km in length (jud. Brasov, Romania), has yielded a very complex pattern of settlements, rivaling the Dacian Sarmizegetusa Regia capital complex. Military structures have been identified at Tipia Racosului and Tipia Augustinului. Several other settlements of various sizes have been surveyed on every hill top in the region. The most important feature of the area was the heavily fortified religious and military center of Augustin/Tipia Ormenisului. Our site of Piatra Detunata - Durduia (com. Racos, jud. Brasov, Romania) is situated approximately 4 km from the religious/military center from Augustin/Tipia Ormenisului. The LaTene site is composed by a series of fortified civilian settlements, in very close proximity to one another, spread over a complex and contrasted landscape. The importance of the site also lies in the fact that it was one of the very few that wasn't evacuated as the Roman legions invaded Dacia in 102-106AD. In 2009, we also uncovered several very rich Bronze Age votive shacks, pointing to the presence of a temple complex nearby, adding significant temporal depth to our understanding of the religious landscape.
For more information, see attached poster and objectives description or visit www.archaeotek.org
Does anyone here recommend any QDA software packages? At the AAA this weekend I picked up demos for Provalis, MAXqda, and ATLAS.ti. I primarily work with coding interviews and arranging them in thematic networks, so I'm interested in something that will help me construct good visualizations of networks or semantic maps. I guess I wouldn't mind something that was also good with coding photographs or pictures, but not mandatory.
I've experimented a little bit with an open source package called RQDA, and it's not bad, but I wouldn't mind investing in a licensed package.
To biological anthropologists and archaeologists, how did you get over the...awkward uneasy feeling of working with human bones and remains?
I've been working in a zooarchaeology lab sorting bones of various animals and working my way up to large mammals, but recently I sort of got thrown a bombshell with human bones.
Usually I don't have a problem with human bones, I'm fine handling replicas of skulls and seeing the full skeleton laid out during discussions sessions, but alone in a lab handling a box of human bones, I get this uneasy feeling. Then when I open the box and start to sort them, I feel incredibly guilty and want to apologize to them. I know it's a bit silly right?
I don't know if it's because I'm too sensitive or something, I mean I can still work with bones, it's just that I always feel incredibly apologetic and I handle them with a lot more care than I do with animal bones.
So to people with more experience, how did you like "get over" the guilt or awkward feeling or did you never experience it and I'm just too sensitive an the odd one out?
