Friday Varia and Quick Hits

The countdown to fieldwork has begun in earnest, I’m trying my best to keep my priorities in order despite a trip to Boston (which will be fun), unseasonably warm weather (which has been great), and a few pressing deadlines (which I’m working through).

These pressures, however, come with the territory and won’t keep me from posting and you from enjoying a little list of quick hits and varia:

• A long article in Archaeology on the excavations at Gournia on Crete (my third favorite Mediterranean island).

• A New York Times article about an illegal excavation in Lecce, Italy has captured the world’s attention.

• Text, tattoos, and pilgrimage in the Early Christian World.

• An interview with Gavin Lucas and Victor Buchli on the origins of archaeology of the contemporary world.

• Some more on the B-movie pageantry of ISIS Iconoclasm. 

• Byzantine inscriptions … for free.

• A Byzantine cemetery in Istanbul.

• Greek Easter Rocket War!

• Every ring-tab beer can might now be an antiquity (well, not really). I expect a vigorous and illegal trade in this artifacts to begin.

• The Museum of Modern Art’s digital vault.

• Nicholas Feltron on photography and data visualization.

• Another review of Atari: Game Over and an interview with Jim Heller, the mastermind of the Atari dump.

• If you don’t understand kerning, you can’t be President. Biden presents particular kerning issues, but easy to meme.

• Things out of place.

• DANGER ZONE.

• Modernist gas stations.

• What I’m reading: William L. Rathje, Michael Shanks, and Christopher Witmore, Archaeology in the Making: Conversations through a Discipline. London: Routledge 2013.

• What I’m listening to: Some local music: Mandalynne Panic, I Sense Harm.