Oriental Institute Research Archives Catalogue Online

The online catalogue of the Oriental Institute Research Archives contains entries for materials catalogued in the library since 1987, and complete analytics (essays, articles and book reviews) for materials catalogued since 1990. The catalogue also includes earlier materials, and retrospective cataloguing of the entire collection will ultimately make all Research Archives materials accessible. At present, the Research Archives on-line catalogue contains well over two hundred thousand entries, searchable through a library database program.



It is an excellent source of bibliographical data for ancient Near Eastern studies

Wilbour Library Catalog Online

Wilbour Library, Brooklyn Museum of Art: Online Catalog has a new interface, a component of Arcade, the catalog for the New York Art Resources Consortium (NYARC).



The Wilbour Library catalogue is an excellent source of bibliographical information on Ancient Egypt.

ETANA in the news

ETANA is the American Library Association's Digital Library of the Week.

The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World

The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) has just released a pdf of its first newsletter:

ISAW Newsletter, 01/08

International Conference on Geoarchaeology & Archaeomineralogy

International Conference on Geoarchaeology & Archaeomineralogy 29-30 October 2008 - Sofia Bulgaria

1. Should archaeomineralogy now follow geoarchaeology into the family of organized scholarly fields? - George (Rip) Rapp


2. Earth sciences and culture: natural and cultural heritage in the International Year of Planet Earth - Ivan Zagorchev


3. Stone raw materials as indicators of human contact during the Stone Age - Maciej Pawlikowski


4. The rock shelter Arkata, Eastern Rhodopes: preliminary archaeological report - Maria Gurova, Stefanka Ivanova


5. Formal Early Neolithic flint toolkits: archaeological and sedimentological aspects - Maria Gurova, Chavdar Nachev


6. Regarding the procurement of lithic materials at the Neolithic site at Limba (Alba County, Romania (sources of local and imported materials - Otis N. Crandell


7. Quarry sources of stone implements from the Azmak Tell near Stara Zagora (South Bulgaria) - Victoria Stoyanova, Kuncho Kunchev


8. Stone tools from the Early Neolithic site Dobroslavsti, Sofia Region - Elka Anastassova


9. Chemical and petrographical characteristics of pottery fragments from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic site Bulgarchevo, Blagoevgrad Region - Dobrinka Stavrakeva


10. The social dimension of distance in prehistory: a jadeite axe case from Bulgaria - Tsoni Tsonev


11. The aesthetics of colour and brilliance – or why were prehistoric persons interested in rocks, minerals, clays and pigments? - Bisserka Gaydarska, John Chapman


12. Complex faceted and other carnelian beads from the Varna Chalcolithic necropolis: archaeogemmological analysis -
    Ruslan I. Kostov, Olga Pelevina


13. Green bone pin from Pietrele: possible evidence for intentional colouration of bone artifacts during the Copper Age in the Balkans - Petar Zidarov


14. Archaeometric investigations of amber from the late Bronze Age and the Iron Age from the territory of present Bulgaria - Silviya Ivanova, Ivelin Kuleff


15. The Bronze Age Indus quarries of the Rohri Hills and Ongar in Sindh (Pakistan) - Paolo Biagi, Elisabetta Starnini


16. Mineralogical peculiarities of the heavy mineral fraction from pottery fragments and the sediments from the archaeological site “Ada Tepe”, Kroumovgrad District - George Ajdanlijsky, George Nehrizov, Elitza Ilieva, Dimitar Zlatanov


17. Household and burial ceramics of Early Iron Age from SW Slovakia: a mineralogical and petrographical study - Miloš Gregor, Radoslav Čambal, Katarína Harmadyová


18. The challenges facing the diamond edge in its contact with the precious stone when engraving gems (intaglios and cameos) - Stephan Lazarov


19. A preliminary provenance study of marble artefacts from Aiani, ancient Upper Macedonia, Greece - Andreas Iordanidis


20. Pottery production in ancient Greece - Christina Dimitrova


21. Provenance analysis of Roman millstones: mapping of trade areas in Roman Europe - Tatjana M. Gluhak, Wolfgang Hofmeister


22. Petrographic study of artefacts from a temple of Sabasius in the village of Porominovo, Kyustendil District, Western Bulgaria - Petia Nenova, Oleg Vitov, Ivanka Staykova, Lydia Staykova-Alexandrova


23. Architectural-decorative details in the Basilica N4 at the town of Sandanski (ancient Parthicopolis), South-West Bulgaria - Svetla Petrova, Peter I. Petrov


24. On the problem of mineral raw materials of architectural monument of the X century: the Desiatinna Virgin Church in the city of Kyiv - Natalia A. Shevchenko, I. A. Cherevko


25. Determination of the provenance of the archaeological monument “Samuilov Kamak” - Lubomira Macheva


26. Preliminary study of the age of the Lanna period by thermoluminescence dating: a case study from the Wiang Kaen ancient site, Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand - Krit Won-in, Pornsawat Wattanakul, Pisutti Dararutana, Sorapong Pongkrapan, Isao Takashima, Narumol Ruangrunsri, Fongsaward S. Singharajwarapan, Thiva Supajanya, Krisanapol Vichapan


27. Ming porcelain from the Santa Clara-a-velha Monastery in Coimbra, Portugal. First results using a portable µ-EDXRF spectrometer - Mathilda Larsson, João Pedro Veiga


28. A study on the origin of emeralds in Mogul objects at the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg - Elisabeth Strack


29. Study of the composition of stone tobacco pipe from the archaeological reserve “Pautalia-Velbuzhd-Kyustendil”, Bulgaria - Rossita Stoyanova, Oleg Vitov, Irina Marinova


30. Geology and petrography of ochres and white clay deposits in Rajasthan State, India - Giovanni Cavallo, Manoj Pandit


31. The rock as a topos of faith. The interactive zone of the rock-cut monuments – from Urartu to Thrace - Valeria Fol


32. Geological and mineralogical background of the megalithic and rock-cut sites in Bulgaria and some other European countries - Ruslan I. Kostov


33. Orientations of dolmens in Bulgaria - Dimitar Kolev, Lyubomir Tsonev, Antonio C. Gonzalez Garcia, Veselina Koleva


34. Observations upon the constructional connections of the dolmens in Bulgaria - Stanislav Iliev


35. The ancient Thracian megalithic sanctuary “Markov Kamak” at Tsarev Peak in Rila Mountain: semantic and functional analysis - Vassil Markov


36. Prehistoric rock sanctuaries in the Eastern Rhodopes and some other mountain regions in Bulgaria - Ana Raduncheva


37. Early human presence and rock-cut structures in the Eastern Rhodopes - Stefanka Ivanova


38. Petrography and geological setting of a Thracian rock-hewn sanctuary to the South of the village of Raven, Momchilgrad District, Eastern Rhodopes - Irina Marinova, Petya Nenova


39. Rock-cut structures in the Eastern Rhodopes and their relation to prehistoric mining - Maria Zlatkova


40. Looking for metals: megalithic monuments between reality and mythology - George Dimitriadis


41. “Special” stones in prehistoric practices: cases from Bulgaria - Maya Avramova


42. Distribution and typology of gold artefacts from the Bronze Age in the alluvial sediments in Bulgaria - Zdravko Tsintsov


43. On the age of some gold artefacts from the Kraishte Region in South-West Bulgaria - Martin Christov


44. Preliminary observations on the gold spirals from the ritual structures near Dubene, Karlovo Region - Martin Christov


45. Métallurgie précieuse dans l’empire d’Orphée - Erik Gonthier


46. Some aspects of prehistoric and protohistoric metallurgy in Liguria (North-West Italy) - Davide Delfino


47. Composition of gold and silver objects from the South Urals burial mounds (XV-II c. BC) - Victor V. Zaykov, Anatolii M. Yuminov, Alexandеr D. Tairov, Dmitrii G. Zdanovich, Eugenii I. Churin, Vasilii A. Kotlyarov, Elisaveta V. Zaykova


48. Genetic interrelation of ores, slags, and nonferrous metals from archaeological monuments of Ukraine - Tatjana Yu. Goshko, Vyacheslav I. Manichev


49. Ancient Georgian iron metallurgy and its ore base - David M. Kuparadze, Dimitri V. Pataridze, Thomas N. Kerestedjian


50. Ancient gold mining at the Southern slopes of the Vitosha and Verila Mountains - Stoyan Avdev, Christian Tsankov


51. Geoarchaeological monuments of ancient mining in Sredna Gora Mountain - Todor Nenov


52. Electrochemical properties of the Kazichene treasure - Dimitar Chilikov, Christo Protochristov


53. Archaeological evidence for the exploitation of gold ore deposits at the villages of Kolyo Marinovo (Sarnena Sredna Gora) and Babyak (Western Rhodopes) in Antiquity - Milena Tonkova


54. Archaeometric study of Iron Age copper alloy artefacts from the South-East Bulgaria - Miglena Vasileva


55. Culture layers as geological objects - Georgi Baltakov


56. The investigation of geoarchaeological layers of Krakow city, Poland - Maciej Pawlikowski, Marta Wardas, Joanna Such


57. The foraminiferal analysis as a method for determination of source material for the pottery fragments from the “Ada Tepe” archaeological site, Kroumovgrad District (Eastern Rhodopes) - George Ajdanlijsky, Boris Valchev, George Nehrizov, Dimitar Zlatanov


58. Real arrows or “darts from heaven”? Some ideas on the interpretation of belemnites from Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites in Bulgaria - Kamen Boyadjiev


59. Palaeoenvironment and archaeology: the use of diatom analysis in archaeology - Nadja Ognjanova-Rumenova


60. Faulting and rock deformations established at the ruins of Perperikon (Eastern Rhodopes) and their relation to recent seismic activity - Nikolai Dobrev


61. Palaeogeographic conditions in the Black Sea area during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic according to archaeological research - Krassimira Apostolova


62. Underwater sites in the area of Cape Shabla (North-East Bulgaria) - Preslav Peev


63. Morphodynamics of the coastal zone of the Nessebar Peninsula (Bulgaria): archaeological and geological benchmarks - Christo Preshlenov


64. Geological aspect of the problem of dating the Great Egyptian Sphinx construction - Vjacheslav I. Manichev, Alexander G. Parkhomenko


65. Geomorphological survey of the area of archaeological site Bosilkovo (Banite municipality), South Bulgaria - Rossitsa Kenderova


66. Geomorphological research of the paleoenvironment in the area of ancient villa “Armira” (I-IV century AD) near Ivaylovgrad, South-East Bulgaria (preliminary results) - Ahinora Baltakova


67. Potential and limitations of the archaeo-geophysical techniques - Yavor Shopov, Diana Stoykova, Antoniya Petrova, Valentin Vasilev, Ludmil Tsankov


68. Resistivity survey of Thracian burial mounds - Nikola Tonkov


69. Geophysical survey of the Thracian site at Halka Bunar locality in the area of the Chirpan Heights - Nikola Tonkov


70. Reconstruction of buried objects by implementation of ground penetrating radar technique: example on Roman tomb in Brestovik (Serbia) - Milena Cukavac, Goran Klemčić, Časlav Lazović


71. Specific magnetic mineralogy of baked clay archaeological artefacts. Archaeomagnetic dating -Mary Kovacheva


72. Archaeoseismology in Bulgaria - Boyko Ranguelov, Anelia Bojkova


73. The archaeological site – possible evidence about multihazard ancient events - Boyko Ranguelov, Elina Mircheva, Igor Lazarenko, Radostina Encheva


74. Research methods and methodological problems during restoration of prehistorical pottery. Part I - Dimcho Radev, Alexander Sultanov


75. A new rock feature – cryptic structure (frustumation): possible implication to conservation and preservation of rock-made artefacts - Mikhail Povarennykh


76. Geoenvironmental problems for world cultural heritage in North-East Bulgaria -Margarita Matova


77. Geoarchaeological studies in the Sboryanovo National Reserve (North-East Bulgaria) -Diana Gergova


78. Archaeology and geophysics in the Sboryanovo National Reserve (North-East Bulgaria) - Diana Gergova, Ilijan Katevski


79. The Big Mound and ancient villa Armira – archaeological data on earthquakes in the Eastern Rhodopes - Gergana Kabakchieva


80. Monitoring of cracks affecting the “Madara Horseman” rock bas-relief, North-East Bulgaria -Nikolai Dobrev, Elka Avramova-Tacheva, Blahoslav Košťák

Brooklyn Museum Image Collections

On January 8th 2009 the Brooklyn Museum issued more than 4000 new images from their Libraries and Archives Department to the web. These join the 5700+ works of art and the nearly 10,000 views of past exhibitions they have already published online.

Among the images they've published is a selection, almost all of Egypt, from their collection of 11,710 glass lantern slides:

In 1849, the Philadelphia daguerreotypists William and Frederick Langenheim introduced the lantern slide: a transparent image on glass that could be projected, in magnified form, onto a surface using a "magic lantern," or sciopticon. This new technology expanded the uses of photography, allowing photographic images to be viewed by a large audience. With lantern slides, Museum curators and educators could illustrate their lectures, letting audience members see detailed studies of objects and sites from around the world.

The Brooklyn Museum's lantern slide collection was started by the Museum's curator of fine arts, William Henry Goodyear, in the late nineteenth century. With the assistance of the photographers Joseph Hawkes and John McKecknie, Goodyear reproduced images of archaeological and architectural sites in Europe as well as images of the Paris Exposition, which Hawkes often hand-colored for more realistic effect. The lantern slide collection also developed through the efforts of the curator of ethnology, Stewart Culin, and his successor Herbert Spinden, who created and purchased images of objects and sites. Historical images of Museum galleries, New York City scenes, and buildings also became part of the collection. In 1921, a significant addition of 118 boxes of slides, originally the property of Franklin Hooper, Director of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, was consigned to the Museum, the Children's Museum, and the Botanic Garden.

With the introduction of smaller transparencies in the 1950s, the use of lantern slides declined. The glass slides have remained quite valuable, however, because they depict scenes, people, and events from an earlier time, as well as sites and objects that simply no longer exist.

The Museum's Library now holds 11,710 glass lantern slides, which were selected from the extensive lantern slide collection in 1990. At that time, archives staff conducted an initial evaluation and sorting project identifying several categories to be excluded from the collection. Among the excluded categories were reproductions from books, non-Brooklyn Museum objects, and items from natural history and general history. Ten years later, the Goodyear lantern slides were cataloged and scanned as part of the Goodyear Archival Collection. In 2005, archives staff produced a detailed content and condition survey of the balance of the lantern slide collection.

Of the original collection of 11,710 glass lantern slides, 3,093 have already been catalogued and scanned as part of the Goodyear Archival Collection. The non-Goodyear slides have been surveyed and described in the current project. Some of the slides were commercially produced; others appear to have been made by Museum or Brooklyn Institute staff. Some were hand-colored. The images have been organized into several broad sections or series, including "Brooklyn Museum," "Native Americans," and "Views." The two largest series of images are "Views: Objects, Egypt" and "Views: Italy."

They have also released a selection of photographs by Alfred P. Maudslay, 1883-1890:

English archaeologist and photographer Alfred Percival Maudslay (1850–1931) first visited Central America in 1872 after being inspired by the images he saw in Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan by John Lloyd Stephens. The "unexpected magnificence of the monuments" in the tropical forests captivated Maudslay, who then dedicated his life to documenting ruins found in Mexico and Central America. Maudslay played a crucial role in exploring and documenting ancient Mayan ruins found in several sites including Palenque, Copan, and Chichen Itza. Between 1881 and 1894, he conducted arduous explorations in remote areas, carrying his photographic equipment, casting plaster, and other supplies to make careful photographic records and plaster casts of architectural ruins. When he returned to England he published his findings in a multi-volume set entitled Biologia Centrali-Americana and made exhibition prints from his glass plate negatives that were shown at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. It was in Chicago that Brooklyn Museum founding curators Stewart Culin and William Henry Goodyear saw the prints and arranged to purchase them, along with the Biologia for the Brooklyn Museum. The photographs and the multi-volume book remain an essential foundation for Maya studies, offering thorough views of the architectural ruins along with details of hieroglyphs carved into the monuments. In the face of wide-scale looting that has imperiled the historical record, researchers have turned to Maudslay's photographs, his plaster casts, and his books to better understand Mayan writing and architecture.

The Brooklyn Museum permits users to tag photographs they have online. I encourage readers to join in and assist in documenting these collections. And it is not just old photographs you can tag, but every object they have made available online

Emerging forms of communication in the academy: podcasts

On Saturday 10 January 2009 there was a panel: "Podcasting and the Classics". This is the first experiment by the American Philological Assocation and the Archaeological Institute of America to podcast a session at their joint Annual Meeting.

You can listen to the presentations and get access to supplementary material at the Podcasting and the Classics blog. Contents include:

Introduction: Chris Ann Matteo
Stone Bridge High School, Ashburn VA & Smart's Mill Middle School, Leesburg VA

Patrick Hunt: Tracking Hannibal with Imagination Instead of Images--Podcasting Satellite Maps to a Real Audience
Stanford University

Henry Bender: To Pod or Not to Pod--Podcasting AP Vergil and Latin Literature
The Hill School, St. Joseph's University, and Villanova University

Bret Mulligan: Using the Ear to Train the Eye--Experiments in Podcasting Latin
Haverford College

Jennifer Sheridan Moss: Present Imperfect--Perhaps Future Perfect?
Wayne State University