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Grotto Point (Sydney, Australia)
 
Kur-ing-gai Chase National Park (Sydney, Australia)


Thailand

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The Timeline of Humankind

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It is part of human nature to differentiate between "us" and "them", and it is through this differentiation that humans define the groups that they belong to, including cultural, ethnic and language groups. This is how we form aspects of our identity.  But if we take a moment to search beyond the differences between us and look into the past, we can see that we all have common origins. The timeline below is a brief summary of some key moments since the evolution of humans that have defined how we have developed as a species.  This timeline is definitely not to scale, but rather an approximate representation of the history of humans. The left side of the timeline starts about 200 000 BCE when homo sapiens evolved, and as we progress towards the right, the scale becomes smaller and smaller, meaning that the distance between two events in human history are closer together in time. What is BCE and CE?  BCE = Before Common Era CE = Common Era BCE and CE
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Digital Archaeology: for some fun while you're stuck inside

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In this time of uncertainty, in the midst of a global health crisis, and with the critical need for social distancing, it is not possible to travel to archaeological sites around the world, or even within your own city as we are all urged to #staysafestayhome . I had some exciting travel planned to share with you that unfortunately could not go ahead and am among many thousands of people who have had to cancel travel plans. Even though we find ourselves at home at the moment and into at least the short term future, archaeological exploration can still be done digitally from your couch, bed or garden. I touched on this briefly in my Accessibility in Archaeology article . Here are some websites that you can explore for a bit of entertainment and learning from the comfort of your own home. Virtual Excavations There are a few virtual excavation games or activities that I came across online. The age range they are targetted towards does vary, but they cover some of the basic archaeol
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The New Year: the organisation of time

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The concept of the New Year is something that exists cross-culturally, originating in ancient and possibly even prehistoric times, and continuing into the present day where the first day of the year is celebrated around the world. The new year is observed through the tracking of time in calendars, which can be organised by different principles. Given the passing of days as marked by sunrise and sunset, ancient practices of timekeeping were based on this regular occurrence.   Lunar Calendar Lunar calendars are based on the cycle of the Moon, measured by lunar (also known as synodic) months which cover the phases of the Moon including new, full, gibbous and crescent moons. The appearance of the Moon from Earth is determined by the position of the Moon in relation to the Sun and Earth, with the naming of the Moon phases referring to the portion of the Moon that is illuminated by the Sun at a point in time. This cycle covers about 29.5 days with small variations. Eight phases of the Moon,
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