chaotic-archaeologist - Tumblr blog

[chaotic-archaeologist]

We've worked out an agreement where we're sharing (mostly)

I am to have stolen my dad's heating pad AND his blanket, heehoo!

[chaotic-archaeologist]

The saga continues: he made a big fuss like he usually does when he's out of food/water or needs to go out, but when I got up to see what he needed the little stinker IMMEDIATELY went and sat down on my cozy setup

I am to have stolen my dad's heating pad AND his blanket, heehoo!

[chaotic-archaeologist]

Items from The Galloway Hoard (circa 900CE), including beads and metalware, The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh

[chaotic-archaeologist]

public library save me

[chaotic-archaeologist]

I survey my kingdom (the dog park) from my wolf den (the picnic table)

[chaotic-archaeologist]

JOB ALERT: MSCA-PF Joint application at the University of Granada (Spain) Department of Prehistory and Archaeology

If anyone is interested in a two-year Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Granada within the field of late antique archaeology, please check this link with the basic information.

[chaotic-archaeologist]

I would like everyone to know that I MADE that blanket and that he has his own heating pad...

I am to have stolen my dad's heating pad AND his blanket, heehoo!

[chaotic-archaeologist]

Yo I feel like the idea that the only historical women who counted are the ones who defied society and took on the traditionally male roles is… not actually that feminist. It IS important that women throughout history were warriors and strategists and politicians and businesswomen, but so many of us were “lowly” weavers and bakers and wives and mothers and I feel like dismissing THOSE roles dismisses so many of our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers and the shit they did to support our civilization with so little thanks or recognition.

[chaotic-archaeologist]

If you don't see me in the lab at Los Guachimontones the next few days it is because I am going to New Orleans to present a paper at the annual Society for American Archaeology conference. But instead of presenting a paper on West Mexico, my paper is on archaeology and video game preservation. Specifically, how archaeology can help save historic video games from being lost forever. I'll be back on Friday!

[chaotic-archaeologist]

While we’re on the subject of names, is there an explanation for how traditional nicknames came about that are seemingly unrelated to, or have little in common with, the original name?

ie- John/Jack, Richard/Dick, Henry/Harry/Hank, Charles/Chuck, Margaret/Peggy/Daisy, Sarah/Sally, Mary/Molly, Anne/Nan, etc

I am actually over a week into researching a huge follow-up post (probably more than one if I’m being honest) about the history of nickname usage, so I will be going into this in much, much more detail at a hopefully not-so-later date - if I have not lost my mind. (Two days ago I spent three hours chasing down a source lead that turned out to be a typographical error from 1727 that was then quoted in source after source for the next 150 years.)

As a preview though, here’s some info about the names you mentioned:

The origins of a good portion of common English nicknames come down to the simple fact that people really, really like rhyming things. Will 🠞Bill, Rob🠞Bob, Rick🠞Dick, Meg🠞Peg.

It may seem like a weird reason, but how many of you have known an Anna/Hannah-Banana? I exclusively refer to my Mom’s cat as Toes even though her name is Moe (Moesie-Toesies 🠞 Toesies 🠞 Toes).

Jack likely evolved from the use of the Middle English diminutive suffix “-chen” - pronounced (and often spelled) “-kyn” or “kin”. The use of -chen as a diminutive suffix still endures in modern German - as in “liebchen” = sweetheart (lieb “love” + -chen).

John (Jan) 🠞 Jankin 🠞 Jackin 🠞 Jack.

Hank was also originally a nickname for John from the same source. I and J were not distinct letters in English until the 17th Century. “Iankin” would have been nearly indistinguishable in pronunciation from “Hankin” due to H-dropping. It’s believed to have switched over to being a nickname for Henry in early Colonial America due to the English being exposed to the Dutch nickname for Henrik - “Henk”.

Harry is thought to be a remnant of how Henry was pronounced up until the early modern era. The name was introduced to England during the Norman conquest as the French Henri (On-REE). The already muted nasal n was dropped in the English pronunciation. With a lack of standardized spelling, the two names were used interchangeably in records throughout the middle ages. So all the early English King Henrys would have written their name Henry and pronounced it Harry.

Sally and Molly likely developed simply because little kids can’t say R’s or L’s. Mary 🠞 Mawy 🠞 Molly. Sary 🠞 Sawy 🠞 Sally.

Daisy became a nickname for Margaret because in French garden daisies are called marguerites.

Nan for Anne is an example of a very cool linguistic process called rebracketing, where two words that are often said/written together transfer letters/morphemes over time. The English use of “an” instead of “a” before words beginning with vowels is a common cause of rebracketing. For example: the Middle English “an eute” became “a newt”, and “a napron” became “an apron”. In the case of nicknames the use of the archaic possessive “mine” is often the culprit. “Mine Anne” over time became “My Nan” as “mine” fell out of use. Ned and Nell have the same origin.

Oddly enough the word “nickname” is itself a result of rebracketing, from the Middle English “an eke (meaning additional) name”.

I realized earlier this week that my cat (Toe’s sister) also has a rebracketing nickname. Her name is Mina, but I call her Nom Nom - formed by me being very annoying and saying her name a bunch of time in a row - miNAMiNAMiNAM.

Chuck is a very modern (20th century) nickname which I’ll have to get back to you on as I started my research in the 16th century and am only up to the 1810s so far lol.

[chaotic-archaeologist]

I cooks for himb! And by cooks I mean trim off the tops around the stem of the strawberries and add them to his kibble. Llelo has decided this is worthy of four Michelin stars.

Um please please please you to put the strawberries down where I can reach them

[chaotic-archaeologist]

hey very stupid question coming up

but god im genuinely so stressed out about this. i wanna do a phd and i have ideas for a dissertation and i checked and yes as far as i can tell its a genuine research gap. but. how do i know that someone else is not already writing/planning to write the same topic for their dissertation at a completely different university on the other side of the world? and we just dont know about each other?? like what if two years into my program i found out someone else is doing this what the fuck do i do then????

[chaotic-archaeologist]

Well that's absolutely the most succinct explanation anyone could have given. There you go. Hit the showers everyone, we're done.

hey very stupid question coming up

but god im genuinely so stressed out about this. i wanna do a phd and i have ideas for a dissertation and i checked and yes as far as i can tell its a genuine research gap. but. how do i know that someone else is not already writing/planning to write the same topic for their dissertation at a completely different university on the other side of the world? and we just dont know about each other?? like what if two years into my program i found out someone else is doing this what the fuck do i do then????

[chaotic-archaeologist]

I don't think this is a stupid question at all—in fact, I'd be willing to bet that every single academic has had this exact same worry at least once. I know I have.

The thing about your dissertation is that yes, it's supposed to be new research that will contribute to a gap in your field. But like Aud said, even if you have the same (or a similar) research question as somebody else, your project itself is still going to be different because your exact research process and methods will be different. (Unless you steal someone's data. But the good news is that it is incredibly east to just Not Do That.)

The other thing about your dissertation is that while you're working on it, the only people who really know about it in detail are you and the professors on your committee. And your committee are the ones who get to decide if you get that doctorate or not. If you came up with the idea on your own and did your own research, which is methodologically sound, that's all you need.

The place where you might run into issues with having the same/very similar idea to someone else is in publishing, and even then it's not a situation where they are going to point their fingers at you and yell fraud and kick you out of academia forever. Stuff like this has happened before, and it'll happen again (although it still happens less than you'd probably imagine).

You are your own unique person, which means that nobody thinks quite like you, and therefor nobody researches quite like you. Take a deep breath and try trusting in the fact that you seem to have done your due diligence and in your capability to come up with new and exciting ideas.

-Reid

hey very stupid question coming up

but god im genuinely so stressed out about this. i wanna do a phd and i have ideas for a dissertation and i checked and yes as far as i can tell its a genuine research gap. but. how do i know that someone else is not already writing/planning to write the same topic for their dissertation at a completely different university on the other side of the world? and we just dont know about each other?? like what if two years into my program i found out someone else is doing this what the fuck do i do then????

[chaotic-archaeologist]

DOG SAINT MONDAY

It's time for another

DOG SAINT MONDAY

[chaotic-archaeologist]

love archaeology-posting with photos because then i get to see everyones sieving setups. Yours looks way more convenient than ours hahaha

Oooh then perhaps I can interest you in these pictures involving the wet screening setup at the dig I did in 2021...

Left: My service dog, Llywelyn, sits on the boardwalk behind the wet screening area. There is also a yellow (kitty litter) bucket full of yet to be screened dirt.

Center: My hand in the foreground, palm up, holding a deer tooth that was caught in the wet screening process. In the background is the mesh of the screen, covered with dirt and debris that have yet to be washed through.

Right: My hand in the foreground, palm up, holding a clap pipe stem. In the background is the boardwalk behind the wet screening area with a green hose lying across the boards.

And this one from 2022:

My service dog, Llywelyn, lounges on a pile of dirt beneath a dry shifter.

-Reid