It’s time we had a de-lurk around this here blog! The last one was a year ago. If you keep returning to this blog but rarely or never comment, you are a lurker, Dear Reader, and a most welcome one too.
Please comment on this entry and tell us something about yourself – like where you are, what your biggest passion is, what you’d like to see more of on the blog. And if you are a long-time lurker who has de-lurked before, re-de-lurks are much encouraged!
Aardvarchaeology - by Dr. Martin Rundkvist 
Longtime reader. Physician, Sweden, 30s. Reading mostly for the archaeo-stuff. Also v. interested in your life as an itenerant scholar and researcher. Was at one point heading into the humanities but chose otgerwise re: job opportunities.
LikeLike
Hey there Simon! Good to have a medical man on board. You know what I say to my students: I want you all to become doctors and lawyers and engineers, and then I want you all to take Fridays off and practice high-quality amateur archaeology. Thanks for the de-lurk!
LikeLike
I’m archaeologist.Visiting your blog time to time:) sorry. Now I’.m very busy with my book (Early Neolithic-Late Neolithic of Eastern Ukraine) but from this moment will read all posts 😉
LikeLike
Interesting stuff! If only your pottery could speak Proto-Indoeuropean! I went to Crimea in 2012.
LikeLike
Oh, and these days also interested in your general posts re: family, kids and bilinguality as my situation may soon be similar to yours in that regard (though i’m the one with the second language and it’s not as exotic as mandarin)
LikeLike
Good news Simon! You guys are also reinforcing the Swedish gene pool?
LikeLike
I’m busing trying to make digitized cultural heritage into linked open data. Man, that takes hella lot of time, mind! But I enjoy dropping in here, onece in a while, being an old Aard-follower. Keep ut the pace!
LikeLike
Lars, you my main man!
LikeLike
Boring civil engineer from boring Hong Kong, currently with a dose of probably either the bird flu or Bubonic Plague, and currently I’m beside myself with excitement watching researchers finding out what modern humans got from introgression of Neanderthal alleles (looks mostly like skin and hair stuff that was adaptive as modern humans moved into higher latitudes – no idea why hair should be adaptive, and I don’t want to make up crack-pot theories about how snow slips more easily off Chinese hair than African hair) and other researchers who are figuring out the waves of modern human migration into Europe, which is pricking a few cherished balloons.
Likewise I am thrilled to announce that inmates and police officers at the Jilin provincial women’s prison last week held a Spring Festival gala that included singing performances, belly dancing and a runway fashion show to celebrate the New Year holiday. Sounds like a really fun performance.
And bursting with national pride (someone else’s nation, I’m just a guest ethnic minority) that China has produced a world beating pole dancing team. If you had told me that during the Cultural Revolution, I would not have believed you. That’s what I call a Great Leap Forward.
What I can tell you is that all of you who are Europeans have slightly under 2% Neanderthal ancestry, but you do not all have the alleles at the same locations, and all of you who are Chinese (yes, you Yusie) are 2.4% Neanderthal ancestry, as does my wife. I happen to know from genotyping that my daugher falls obligingly halfway in between, so she is about 2.2 %, and Jrette is probably about the same.
Oh and erm I’m going to help Martin to edit his new book on Scandy Archaeology when he finishes writing it, and I hope others can help out as well. It’s a labour of love.
LikeLike
John, don’t go around calling my favourite blog regulars boring!
LikeLike
In the sense that I am drilling tunnels, it’s true!
LikeLike
Good lord, how come I of all people attract these punsters!? (-;
LikeLike
My buddy from Seattle just mailed to say that he is snowed and iced in in Mobile, Alabama, so of course I said “Oh, you’re stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again.”
And he confirmed he had just been listening to that song.
LikeLike
I haven’t been here for a while since the old RSS feed reported nothing new. 😦 I must have missed the announcement of the move.
Now that I am back, I am missing prominent links to the previous and next posts.
Who am I? I’ll refrain from quoting Walt Whitman. 🙂 Happily married father of 3 who used to work in cosmology, but this has turned into “merely” a hobby since I had to leave academic employment when I was young and needed the money. I’m also interested in languages, but not as gifted as some in this area. Swedish is my third-best language, though, and I’ve even read a P. O. Enquist novel cover-to-cover. Otherwise music is a big hobby, though mostly passive these days. I prefer usenet to blogs, but not everything is on usenet. On usenet, I post to and follow mostly science and computing groups and blogs and other newfangled stuff are mostly science and music. This reflects not so much my interests but rather where I see that I can contribute something. I’ll start my own blog when I have time.
LikeLike
Aard lost major traffic because of the move, and I know the interlinks are shot. Glad to have you back, Phil! I like all your interests. I used to be active on alt.horror.cthulhu myself.
LikeLike
Well, things seem to be headed that way. We’ll know more in a few months time.
LikeLike
he-he… nope, I think my potteries are too early for proto-indoeuropean problematic.. but who knows. and where you visit Crimea? I excavating mostly in mountain part of Southern Crimea, near the sea and also on high mountains sites (993 m above sae level)
LikeLike
I stayed at Gaspra and visited Mangup. Sounds like your area!
LikeLike
My name is Geir, and I’m a lurker….
Found a link to Aard in Stylegard’s blog (local archaeologist)
shortly after the discovery of a rune-stone in my neighbors garden. Enjoys both archaeo- and skepticism posts
LikeLike
Aha, say hi to Hogganvik for me!
LikeLike
I’m a boring middle-aged housewife who sews and cooks for a hobby… mostly Viking-era clothing and (as close as one can come to it without an extant cookbook) Viking era foods.
LikeLike
Sounds yummy and non-boring to me!
LikeLike
Any lurkers with an interest in electric guitars of the last 60 years? http://www.guitarsthemuseum.com/static/sv/80/
LikeLike
I read you daily, or thereabouts, but i feel as though i’ve commented recently. It was a post related to social skills and Scandanavians, IIRC.
Anyway, i use this handle now since it’s my roller derby name, and i love the way it embodies my professional life (medicinal chemist) with a touch of whimsy. My number is of course, 602.
However, my previous handle and the one i still use in other places on the internet is Yttrai, the origin of which should be reasonably obvious. (In addition to being a chemist, I am half Finn, quarter Swede, and the rest is a mix of German and possibly Sami.)
LikeLike
Hi Martin!
I am Florian, a software engineer and viking reenactor age 35 from Gemany. I am mostly interested in archeology stuff and reading your blog for a long time but did not delurk before. Keep on blogging!
Greetings from Würzburg,
Florian
LikeLike
An ethnically diverse roller derby girl! Awesome! One of my old buddies from the Tolkien Society, Jenny, plays roller derby too.
LikeLike
Würzburg! Go easy on the Gewürztraminer, Florian!
LikeLike
I’m a lurker. Interested in archaeology and classics. Degree in History but work in the arts industry in Belfast. Am also a researcher working on a couple of local World War One projects.
LikeLike
What’s the difference between the arts business and the arts industry?
LikeLike
I’m a lurker, too. I’m an archaeology student from Southern Germany and quite interested in the archaeology of Scandinavia, though (or because?) we do not learn so much about that at university.
I can not remember how I first discovered this blog. But since there are not many scientific archaeology blogs in Germany, I began to read it quite regularly.
LikeLike
Good to have colleagues around! I read an 80s paper by Wolf Kubach today about Bronze Age deposition in Hessen and Obersachsen.
LikeLike
Thanks for calling me a colleague, for I have not even the B.A.-degree yet.
You must have an excellent library service. It is rather difficult to get Swedish archaeology books here.
LikeLike
I’m lucky enough to live 45 mins from one of Northern Europe’s best research libraries for archaeology. It’s the one Montelius used.
LikeLike
I am less a lurker than a returning fan. I haven’t kept up on the blog for a while, but rediscovered it in my bookmarks.
I’m an engineer by day and a writer by night. I’m interested in ancient Germanic and Roman history and hope to gain my PhD in History as a retirement project. Someday.
I have to admit that reading your blog cured me of the desire to enter academia. Thank you and keep up the good work.
LikeLike
Thanks Wayne! Most people who try to enter academia just bounce right out. My griping and groaning over all these years are due to the fact that I’ve managed to stay frozen right before that moment of bounce.
LikeLike
I’m not a lurker, I’m a new arrival, but it all looks fun. I have an academic background in archaeology, never got to work in the field and now I’m a translator.
But a mixture of snark and archaeology – what’s not to like?
@Terri – I’d be interested to see some of your output. Do you have a website? I can use Viking period textile tools like warp weighted looms and drop spindles, but never tried making the cloth up into anything wearable.
LikeLike
Sergei
Have you fond much kurgan/Greek/Scythian items, or is your interest mainly in the paleolithic hunters?
LikeLike
I’m a lurker, maybe more than one since I’m depending on public internet services. Looking for a postdoc position in Bronze Age studies. Now that you’re working on depositions I’ll definitely keep on lurking.
LikeLike
Cool, give us a pointer to your PhD work!
LikeLike
I’m an occasional lurker, archaeologist working in southern Germany. I started getting interested in scandinavian archaeology some years ago while visiting relatives living in Sweden.
LikeLike
My thesis is available here: https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/20130 (on Early Bronze Age Central Italy), but an update is on its way.
LikeLike
Welcome Murmel!
Erik, interesting stuff! In the period you’re studying, Scandinavia just barely has metalworking and stone tools still dominate, so we call it our Late Neolithic. Beautiful flintwork, let me tell you.
LikeLike
I like bronze and did bronze casting on a hobby basis for a number of years. I also did blacksmithing and jewelry making as a hobby. I like ancient metal technology and how it spread across the European and Asian societies. Metal sure changed the world in a rapid manner.
LikeLike
As part of the Swedish diaspora (paternal grandparents), I’ve returned to the Old Country twice. Once visiting family near Sundsvall, and once to violate Swedish folk music customs by playing my English concertina with a Seattle Scandinavian music ensemble touring the festivals. I teach Science to ten-year-olds and have a long fascination with history and archaeology. I keep a blog about my experiences and interests, occasionally releasing old family photographs to the world. I recently posted a marvelous photograph of traditional loggers in their camp, probably in the 1890s. I have a link to this blog on my own.
LikeLike
Hej på dig, Mossbäck!
LikeLike