SoA Forums

Quote from: RichT on April 07, 2025, 06:35:50 PMThis has ended up being a bit of rant - I just find things like this, the silly hype, and the massive exposure it gets, irritate me. "For the first time, we are looking into the face of a woman from a kingdom associated with Helen of Troy". Pish and, indeed, pshaw.

Exactly.  For the first time... except of course for the odd Mycenaean or Minoan fresco depicting women...

I also noted with despair the comments about women and military equipment.  I realise I am probably forty years out of date on the archaeology, but am unaware of any significant finds linking Aegean women with military gear, as opposed to modern archaeologists being afraid of committing cultural crimes by assuming that weapons=blokes, ignoring the whole point of the Amazon myths as being something distinctly "Other".

I think the most disappointing thing for me is the book author/image commissioner can express her surprise how "modern" the reconstructed face looks.  This shows such a lack of understanding both of the reconstructive process and what makes a person look "in period", it's concerning an academic could be so deceived.

The subject is, in biological terms, a modern European. Dress her in the right clothes, do her hair in a modern style, give her modern cosmetics and she will look contemporary. Dress her in Mycenean clothes, do her hair Mycenean style and give her a period cosmetics and she will look "historical".

Incidentally just for fun I asked ChatGPT for an image of a Mycenean royal woman in her mid thirties and it came up with the attached. Which I think is a lot better (but probably wouldn't sell as many books).

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending how you look at it) image AIs are generally hopeless at generating historically accurate clothing and equipment so won't be replacing human artists for reconstructions any time soon (at least not for a few months...)

 

No wonder the Roman Empire fell - it was going to the dogs for years.

 

Certainly intriguing. I wonder what else is going to come out now we have so many more tests

https://phys-org.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/phys.org/news/2025-04-ireland-neolithic-passage-tombs-burial.amp?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQGsAEggAID#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17440906193005&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fphys.org%2Fnews%2F2025-04-ireland-neolithic-passage-tombs-burial.html

Fascinating

https://www.gbnews.com/science/archaeology-breakthrough-roman-ruins-sacrificed-dog-belgium

Poor fido....

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025/04/04/remarkable-find-eighth-century-brooch-pin-discovered-during-excavation-work-on-adare-bypass/

Very nice find...

Rant away....