The Marble Map of Rome

Last week, a fascinating new archaeological park opened in Rome, displaying the surviving fragments of the Forma Urbis Romae, a giant map (60 by 43 feet) of the city created around A.D. 200 by order of Emperor Septimius Severus.  No, the Dark Arts had nothing to do with it; it was a bureaucratic production of the city property records office, or so it seems.  Read more about it here or just watch the video below.

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Blitzkrieg on Shooters Hill, London

Happened to run across this 2008 British program, which really brings London's darkest days to life through archaeology of the not-so-distant past. It's what Winston Churchill was talking about when he declared, just after the debacle of Dunkirk:

We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender . . . .

Can You Dig It?

I had no idea that there is a major, ongoing archaeological dig at "Historic Jamestowne," i.e., Jamestown, Virginia, site of the first English colony in North America.  Archeologists have dug up more than 2 million artifacts there - most of them tiny fragments, bits of wood or metal or bone or pottery that you and I wouldn't look twice at, but the experts are able to use them to construct a vivid picture of colonial life.  Check out these short clips of recent finds, and see more of them at the project's website.

Never been there myself, but it would be fascinating to spend a day having a looksee, there and at nearby Williamsburg. The earliest ancestor I've been able to trace in the direct male line was born about 1700 in Surry County, Va., which I believe is just south of there, across the river. Who knows, some of my ancestors may have helped build that colony in its early days.