Archaeology Magazine - November/December 1979 - 59

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Ancient Ships in Britain
the deep bluesea withits hidden
Exploring
sites is well-nighimpossible
archaeological
for travelers,even most professionalarchaeologists.Butif underwaterexcavation
is clearlyofflimits,examiningthose ancient
oceanichullscan be accomplishedat one
of GreaterLondon'sless-knownmuseums.
Threeof the most importantships ever excavatedin Britainare on displayin life-size
reconstructionat the ArchaeologicalGallery of the NationalMaritimeMuseumat
Greenwich.
Byfarthe earliestis a BronzeAgevessel
withits uniquesewn constructionthat was
discoveredin Ferriby.Nearbystands the
legendarySuttonHoo,a curiousshipburial
unearthed in 1939 under a nine-foot
mound.Eventhoughthewoodenframehad
completelyrotted away,ttfe ship's outline
couldstillbe decipheredin the sand. Because of its enormouslength of 80 feet,
excavatorsat firstbelievedthiswas a Viking
ship.Itprovedto be a giganticrowboatthat
had been buriedduringthe Anglo-Saxon
period.Thegravegoodsthat layinsideare
amongthe richestjewelryartifactsever excavatedinEngland.Nowthe frontquarterof
the SuttonHoocan be seen at the National
MaritimeMuseum.Althoughthis section
was actuallyneverfound,a cast was made
fromthe impressionleftin the sand and a
positiveor copy has been constructedin
fiber glass. The remarkablegrave goods
are displayedin the BritishMuseum.
The most spectacular reconstruction
shows the Graveneyboat, dating to the
tenthcenturyafterChrist,seen justas itwas
discovered.The boat sits on a bed of reallookingmudmade of fiberglass, whilethe
steep wallsof the HammondDrainrise behindit. Smallerdisplayson archaeological
techniquesand methods of conservation
are particularly noteworthy; the archaeologicaldepartment here is known
throughoutthe worldforits largeconservationfacilitiesforwater-loggedwood.Alsoof
interestin other galleriesare exhibitscovering various aspects of boats and their
history.The NationalMaritimeMuseumis
located in Greenwich,just 20 minutesby
train from downtownLondon. It is open
Mondaythrough Friday 10-5, Saturday
10-6and Sunday2:30-6.

forthese magnificentsculpturesis stillcontroversial,butthe majorSan Agustínperiod
can be ascribedto a.D. 1-500.
Todayone ofthe mostbreathtakingsites
is Bosquede las Estatuasor the Forestof
the Statues.Locatedtwokilometersoutside
of San Agustín,it contains 65 distinctive
statues. Numeroustombs can be visited
furtheron in the park; many were reconstructed in situ after excavation.In one
spectacular tomb, for example, an enorThe Monolithic Statues of
mous face of a sun god is carved on a
San Agustín, Colombia
triangularrockwhilenearbya carvingof an
In the remote mountainsof southernCol- eagle can be seen witha serpentdangling
ombiastretchesa vast zone knownas San from its claws. Anotherpark monument,
Park. Here at sev- Fuente de Lavapatasor the Footwashing
AgustínArchaeological
eraldozensites scatteredaroundthe small Fountaincovers over 550 square feet. It
townof San Agustín,archaeologistshave was probablydedicatedto watergods and
unearthed nearly 500 monolithicstatues. used for sacrificialceremonies.The trickSome of these intricatelycarvedstone fig- ling water meanders over carvings of
ures are up to 8 feet tall.Mostwerediscov- lizards,salamandersand monkeysas well
ered beneath large burial mounds. They as humanfigures.
To reach the many other sacred locaclearlyrepresent a huge ceremonialcomplex of some ancient Indianculture.Who tions, followthe tributariesof the Magthese people were, however, remains a dalena Riverthroughthe picturesquecanvalleys.So richis
mystery. The San Agustín civilization yons and waterfall-lined
seems to have vanishedcompletely,leav- the San Agustínregionthat all of its mysing no traces or ties to other knownSouth teries have yet to be unraveled. Until
AmericanIndians.Even the name of this recently San Agustínwas practicallyingroup was given by archaeologists,who accesible;nowtourscan be arrangedfrom
thoughtthe distinctiveropeknotcarved on Bogotá.For more informationcontactthe
the statues resembled the knotted rope Colombian Government Tourist Office,
sash worn by Augustiniánfriars.The date 140 East57thStreet,NewYork,NY10022.

Archaeology

in the Connecticut

Woods

In the tranquilwoodlandsof Washington,
Connecticut,an ambitiousarchaeological
center is bustlingwithactivity.The American IndianArchaeologicalInstitute(AIAI),
whichbeganonlyfouryears ago, is rapidly
becomingan importantresource for the
studyof NativeAmericansinsouthernNew
England.In 1977as partof the fieldschool
for "Earthwatch,"AIAIarchaeologistsdiscoveredthe earliest Indiansite ever excavatedinNewEngland.Itliesinthe Shepaug
Valley,which means "rockyriver" in the
Algonquinlanguage,and dates to 10,190
years ago. Todaymanyof these Palaeoindianfindsare partof the over half-a-million
artifactsin the AIAIcollection;several are
on display in the Exhibit Center.
The AmericanIndianArchaeologicalInstituteis far morethan a museum.Its pur-

pose is not onlyto discoverand preserve
aboutthe earliestpeoplesbutto
information
make the prehistoryof NativeAmericans
known.Visitorscan explore a simulated
archaeologicalsite next to the mainbuilding. But most fascinatingof all is the inprogress constructionof a HabitatTraH,
where all the differentenvironmentsthe
Indiansinhabitedare beingfaithfully
duplicated. Nativeplants grown in the region
duringthe 10,000years of habitationhave
been placed alongthe trail;driedsamples
are preservedin the herbariumcollection.
An encampmentarea typifiesprehistoric
settlements, while a farm demonstrates
past and present Indianlife.
For information contact AIAIVisitor
Center,P.O. Box260, CurtisRoad,Washington,CT 06793,(203)868-0518.
1979
November/December

59
Archaeology Magazine - November/December 1979

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - November/December 1979
