Grave Goods

Oh the power of Facebook...

I'm taking a class on mortuary and funerary rituals and our professor has asked us what type of grave goods our friends would put in our grave that would best describe our identity. Sort of morbid... But this might be funny. What would you hope to see on my headstone - quotes, random inside jokes, pictures? What items do you associate with me? I know if I asked this back in 7th grade everyone would respond, "Anything related to a horse..."

I was surprised by the flood of responses. Apparently no one thought it was the least bit morbid. A few people said it was actually kind of fun... What was fun!? To think of me and the things that remind you of me? Or to imagine me dead!?

Anyways, so a few themes materialized. 

Makeup.
Food. 
Horses.

Not neccessarily in order of popularity. However, there were so many food items posted, I'm starting to get a complex. *sucks tummy in*

A few material items that made me laugh in remembering my childhood:

1) Beanie Babies - does anyone remember these? I had a TON of them. They are now all boxed up in the garage but back in the day they were my pride and glory. I must have had over 500 of them. No exaggeration.

2) Grand Champions - "the most beautiful [toy] horses in the world" - I must have had at least 50 of these plastic miniature horses. I even had a custom made barn with all the miniature barn supplies (saddles, feed buckets, brushes, etc.). My best friend and I would get together every weekend to have competitions with our horses. And when I wasn't playing with horses, I was pretending to be one. And when I wasn't pretending to be a horse, I was actually riding a real life horse. You might say I liked horses. 

As for quotes:

"Start the car!" made me laugh the hardest:

The video that started it all...

My mother and I say this any time we wish to express excitement. I think it really encapsulates my relationship with my mom, which is important to me and something I'd like to reflect in my identity. She is very wise woman but can be incredibly silly too. Wow, I'm starting to think that would be a good thing to put on HER headstone. 

Another comment came in simply: #blondegirl

I am a big fan of Instagram and am definitely known to tag my photos with WAY too many hashtags. One that almost always makes its way in is #blondegirl - it gets me a ton of "likes" you know :P

I like this text because it reflects not only my obvious physical identity but also my intellect. I am a smart young lady when it comes to university but in other ways, I can be, well, dumb. Just the other day my friend sent me this meme which perfectly illustrates me outside the academic world.

A friend of mine, who was last to comment, suggested my headstone have the simple image and text as follows:

Grumpy Cat Meme

One final thing...

My stepmom said she would add the picture of me petting a penguin. I have not yet pet a penguin but it is on my bucket list. Of course there are many things I want to do in this life but petting a penguin is of paramount importance. If people remembered me as a person who delivers the perfect penguin pat, I would be okay with that.

Saxe and Goldstein walk into a bar...

I have been working on this article "The Archaeology of Ancestors: The Saxe/Goldstein Hypothesis Revisited" by Ian Morris (1991).

I am by no means an archaeologist, nor is archaeology my focus of my undergrad; however, I am incredibly interested in the treasures and stories that lie beneath our feet.

If you ever wanted to be humbled by text, read this article. The intro alone had me googling terms every other sentence. There is just so much about how the discipline of archaeology came to be that I do not know.

So, when the little light bulb went off I was more than excited. A cheshire grin spread across my face when I finally realized something about this paper. It wasn't exactly a summary of the paper's findings, but rather a simple interjection - it was something I might blurt out at a cocktail party discussion on anthropologists asserting themselves as scientists.

"Why are we looking for a universal truth? Why do the things humans do have to be described as scientific law?"

This article really highlighted for me that the use of ethnography is quite important in aiding interpretation of a site, a burial site more specifically. Of course we don't have ethnographic recounts of cultures buried beside the remains... but it sure would help.

King Herod's Tomb Exhibition

The exhibition being held in evil King Herod's honor would be a neat one to check out! If you're in the Israel area between February and October...

BBC - King Herod's Tomb

Anthropology: Grave Studies

My first anthropology course was forensic anthropology. The first half of the class was on how to catch a serial killer and the second half was introductory osteology. I was hooked on the first lecture. Why had I never heard of anthropology before!?

The following term I enrolled in all the university's introductory anthropology courses. I had never enjoyed writing papers more than I did in that term. I researched the Wari' and their treatment of the dead (cannibalism) in my Cultural Anthropology class and I researched Stonehenge for my Archaeology class.

I wanted to know more about treatment of the dead in the past. I wanted to know more about the dead.

The next term I took a class on Mass Graves and Genocide. Although the burials were not created in a funerary context, they told amazing stories. I really began to appreciate the techniques and methods of the anthropologists that exhume these bodies and discover the story that is left behind in the ground.

Archaeology of Death really excites me because (I'm hoping) the burials we will discuss were created without malicious intent - they were created under the criteria of a culture's beliefs and values.

Beliefs about what happens in the afterlife have always interested me because no one knows what happens to us after we die. We can only guess. Looking at ancient burials can definitely help us learn what others believed!

An interesting book I read about the afterlife:

"Spook" by Mary Roach

I actually recommend all of her books. She's quite funny in a sarcastic and cynical way. Plus, her footnotes are a riot! 

Get To Gnome

When I was young, I spent a lot of time with my aunt Sandy and she was a very magical person, literally. We would go on walks in the forest looking for different plants, animals bones, and bird feathers. She used to tell me about little fairies and gnomes (at age 4, I pronounced it as "know-me") and the ways of the fauna and the forest. I believe this was where my interest in animals and the earth began.

For as long as I can remember I wanted to become a veterinarian. Everyone who knew me growing up knew that I love animals. I began my undergrad with the intentions of completing the veterinary medicine prerequisites but was re-routed when I discovered forensic anthropology. I shunted my life-long dream and pursued this new field of study without a second thought.

I completed 3 years of study at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and then decided to take a break and work for a year. I was hired at an engineering firm as a project coordinator. The money was excellent but the work was dry and monotonous. My fancy office (that many people work their whole lives to get) felt like a prison - and I had a life sentence.

My life was looking rather dismal so I called my family for help. They offered, with delight, to move me back to the island and encouraged the idea of finishing my undergrad. I packed up my apartment, put everything in storage, and moved home.

My first semester back at university was busy and exhausting but I knew I made the right choice, I was so close to finishing - I would be done in the summer of 2013!

Often I get asked what I intend to do with a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Anthropology. And often I don't know what to say. I had this idea of becoming a coroner but the more I researched it, the more dim that future became. I was so close to graduating I decided I would meet with an advisor to discuss where to go after that looming date.

Upon meeting with the advisor, I was presented with a slight kink in my plan. I had overlooked that universities require you to have done at least half of your degree at their institute. I was looking at another year of full-time classes. Slight miscalculation you could say.

The universe whispered, "Remember how badly you wanted to be a veterinarian?"

That's right! I did want to be a vet. What's stopping me now? I have over a year left in my degree and it would be filled with electives anyway. Might as well get back to working on the prerequisites for DVM! Double major! Boo-yah!

So, here I am... At the end of this term I will have completed all the requirements for a major in anthropology. For the remaining time in school I will be working on Biology. Imagine it. In bright neon lights. Caitlin Dawn, the forensic veterinary extraordinaire!?

Stonehenge Connected to Malagasy Megaliths?

On Friday, January 11, my "Archaeology of Death" class was instructed to examine the ideas presented in an interview between journalist Richard Covington and Madagascar native and archaeologist Ramilisonina. They discussed the potential connection between the Madagascar beliefs and Stonehenge, Woodhenge, and the newly discovered Bluestonehenge. The interview can be found by clicking the link below:

http://archive.archaeology.org/1001/etc/conversation.html

A fellow blogger, Brian John, responded to this article with disagreement. The link to his post is below:

http://brian-mountainman.blogspot.ca/2010/11/sacred-stones-and-madagascar.html

Immediately a quote from Sherlock Holmes comes to mind.

“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” -The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1892, p. 163

I must say I agree with Brian John's response on this one. Or perhaps I am misinterpreting Ramilisonina's definition of "connection".

Ramilisonina explains that stones represent the dead in Madagascar beliefs while wood is associated with the living. He goes on to make the connection that the same thing is happening with Stonehenge and Woodhenge, a place for the dead and a place for the living, respectively.

How can he say with such conviction that these two sites are connected? As I said before, perhaps we are reading into the meaning of connection. Maybe Ramilisonina meant to say "coincidence"? I don't think that the Malagasy people are taking queues from the creators of Stonehenge. I think they're both just doing what the aliens told them to do. Just kidding. It was the Chinese, definitely the Chinese. They always seem to know everything (Chinese medicine is, like, so totally old!) before everyone, Okay, semi-kidding again. Let's be serious.

I think that this is mere coincidence. To say wood represents the living is easy - you just look at a tree and know that majestic life-form is onto great things, i.e. delicious air to breath, shade, tree fort foundations, etc. Then you look at stone and know it's going no where fast, much like a human corpse! Bam!

Now, going back to the Sherlock Holmes quote. I believe that Ramilisonina just got a little excited and instead of telling the journalist that these sites and cultures are both very neat-o uses of stones and wood, he implied that there was a direct connection. Maybe a stretch, geographically and contextually.

Greetings and Hallucinations

Ah, my first blog post. Pardon me, that's incorrect. This is my first blog post that might be read by people I know.

Now, what's this blog going to address? Mostly my "Archaeology of Death course - I still haven't read the syllabus (I'll do that next - perhaps I should've done that first?). I am very excited for this class. I've heard great things about Erin and God knows I appreciate a fun professor. I believe they make or break a class, no matter how interesting the material. 

I would say my interest in burials and their meanings first sparked in one of my anthropology intro classes. The professor mentioned the presence of pollen at the Shanidar Neanderthal burial. This find suggested that a funeral had been held. I couldn't believe something so small could tell us so much. I look forward to analyzing these types of details further.

You might have noticed my blog's name is Darkly Dreaming Dawn. I must give credit to my muse: Dexter Morgan. How cheesy(convoluted maybe?) is that that? My muse is a fictional serial killer. The "Dawn" part comes from my middle name. 

I'm not much of a tv person but my sister recently got me hooked on the series - she said it would be right up my alley. Of course I've heard of it before but I just never took the time to sit down and watch it. Needless to say, I'm hooked. I'm only on Season 3 so please no spoilers!