Archaeology Odyssey

In the lost-wax method, a model of the object to be cast is made in wax and then covered with clay. When baked, the wax runs out, leaving a clay mold for molten metal.

Su Nuraxi was excavated in the 1940s and 1950s by the so-called father of Sardinian archaeology, Giovanni Lilliu.

In constructing a corbeled wall, each course of stones juts out slightly toward the center of the structure, eventually forming a partial interior dome.

See Denise Schmandt-Besserat, “Signs of Life,” Origins, AO 05:01.

The earliest standing stones in the Near East, found in the Negev and southern Jordan deserts, date to the 11th millennium B.C. See Uzi Avner, “Sacred Stones in the Desert,” BAR 27:03.

Neither the medical nor the necromantic texts indicate what skulls were to be used. Presumably, they were anonymous.

See Tzvi Abusch, “Gilgamesh: Hero, King, God and Striving Man,” AO 03:04.

For more information on the skull as a seat of power during the Neolithic period, see Gary O. Rollefson, “Invoking the Spirit: Prehistoric Religion at Ain Ghazal,” AO 01:01.

See Hershel Shanks, “How to Stop Looting—A Modest Proposal,” AO 02:04.