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Focus on Archaeology

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Focus on Archaeology » El Salvador’s pre-Columbian past

Columns, September 2009 issue
Focus on Archaeology » El Salvador’s pre-Columbian past
by Julie Skurdenis (Second of two parts) Early in our January ’09 trip to El Salvador, my husband, Paul, and I visited four of the country’s major archaeological sites: Joya de Cerén, San Andrés, Tazumal and Casa Blanca. We saved Cihuatán for last. Cihuatán is special in many ways. It is El Salvador’s largest archaeological site, spreading ...

Focus on Archaeology » Vikings in the Faroe Islands

Columns, June 2009 issue
Focus on Archaeology » Vikings in the Faroe Islands
Over the many years I’ve been traveling, I’ve visited hundreds of archaeological sites around the world, but it was only when I visited the Faroe Islands in August that the archaeological site — a thousand-year-old Viking farm — was close enough to be my neighbor. ...

Focus on Archaeology » Into Albania’s past

Columns, February 2009 issue
Focus on Archaeology » Into Albania’s past
Not many archaeological sites can claim they were founded by survivors from the Trojan War or that they were visited by Aeneas. Butrint can claim both. Butrint, located in southern Albania close to the Greek border, is the country’s best-known archaeological site. It also is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Legend ascribes Butrint’s ...

Focus on Archaeology » Lothal: remnant of ancient India

Columns, December 2008 issue
Focus on Archaeology » Lothal: remnant of ancient India
Its name means “mound of the dead,” but in its time Lothal was anything but moribund. It was a thriving seaport, part of one of the world’s oldest civilizations. In the same way that Egyptian civilization developed along the Nile, Mesopotamian on the Tigris-Euphrates rivers and Chinese along the Yangtze, there arose a civilization in the ...

Focus on Archaeology » Vilnius: a royal palace reborn

Columns, September 2008 issue
Focus on Archaeology » Vilnius: a royal palace reborn
by Julie Skurdenis Lithuania is revving up for a grand celebration. The year 2009 will mark the 1,000th anniversary of this Baltic nation. It was in 1009 that the country was first mentioned in a written source, a German manuscript called the Quedlinburg Chronicle (in Latin, Annales Quedlinburgenses). July 6th is celebrated in Lithuania as Coronation Day, ...

Focus on Archaeology » The Plain of Jars in Laos

Columns, November 2007 issue
Focus on Archaeology » The Plain of Jars in Laos
I stood on a hill overlooking a wintry landscape of dry fields stretching as far as the eye could see. All around me were stone jars. Enormous stone jars. Some stood six feet high. Some were no longer upright but tilted precariously. Others lay flat on the ground. My husband, Paul, moved from one jar ...

Focus on Archaeology » Rapa Nui: the navel of the world

Columns, August 2007 issue
Focus on Archaeology » Rapa Nui: the navel of the world
by Julie Skurdenis Its first inhabitants called it “Te Pito o Te Henua,” or “The Navel of the World.” Nowadays we call it Rapa Nui, Isla de Pascua or Easter Island. It’s one of the most remote and isolated places on Earth. Situated in the Pacific Ocean, Easter Island is almost exactly equidistant from South America and ...

Focus on Archaeology » Not just Machu Picchu

Columns, June 2007 issue
Focus on Archaeology » Not just Machu Picchu
I can’t deny I was excited about visiting Machu Picchu. Twenty-five years had passed since my first visit. Then, torrential rains had washed away portions of the train tracks between Cuzco and the archaeological site, canceling our excursion. It took almost a week before train service was restored, and when we finally reached the site ...

Focus on Archaeology » Where Salome shed her veils

Columns, March 2007 issue
Focus on Archaeology » Where Salome shed her veils
by Julie Skurdenis To me, it’s always been one of the most vivid passages in the New Testament. It’s Herod Antipas’ birthday celebration. Salome, his stepdaughter, dances for him. Herod, entranced, swears he will give her anything she asks for. Salome, prompted by her mother, Herodias, who hates John the Baptist because he has denounced her marriage ...

Focus on Archaeology — Pula, a Roman treasure in Croatia

Columns, January 2007 issue
Focus on Archaeology — Pula, a Roman treasure in Croatia
by Julie Skurdenis “You’ve come at just the right time,” commented the cheerful young woman in the Tourist Information Office. “If you look just outside our front door, you’ll see the archaeologists excavating the Roman Forum. They just started six weeks ago.” My husband, Paul, and I were in the Croatian town of Pula at the tip ...
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