Visiting The Past

Modernity is rarely associated with ruins. In our everyday comprehension ruins rather bring to mind ancient and enchanted monumental structures; an archaeological dream world featuring celebrities such as Machu Picchu, Pompeii and Angkor Wat. Yet never have so many ruins been produced; so many things been victimized and made redundant, so many sites been abandoned. Closed shopping malls, abandoned military sites, industrial wastelands, derelict mining towns, empty apartment houses, withering capitalist and communist monuments. A ghostly world of decaying modern debris mostly left out of academic concerns and conventional histories - and also considered too recent, too grim and repulsive to be embraced as heritage. Though the situation of neglect may be claimed to have changed, as reflected in the growing field of the archaeology of the contemporary past, in the broader popular, artistic and scholarly interest in decay and ruination, and lately even in heritage discourses, modern ruins still play a very marginal role in the political economy of both the past and the present.

A major Mayan Monument had been bulldozed for roadfill aggregate. 7news went to Orange Walk District, near the northern district boundary to find out that Noh Mul – or at least a large part of it – is no more. Jules Vasquez reports.

Scotsman (blog) Pony-inspired Shetland knitting tours planned Scotsman (blog) The programme being lined up will also feature a visit to museums to see some of the oldest surviving knitware equipment, shopping tours, knitting workshops and an...

Each year the streets of the capital become a stage for troupes of actors dressed as denizens of the ancient city, as they mark the legendary foundation of the Birth of Rome - the Eternal City.

A traditional walk in which the mayors of London’s boroughs parade through the capital on the same route taken by Dick Whittington more than 600 years ago took place on Sunday.

The Ancient China Sex Culture Museum, at 1133 Wuding Road, Shanghai, is the only private museum of the kind in China. It has been a point of controversy ever since its establishment in September 1999. Some people are opposed to its exhibits, considering them distasteful and unhealthy, while others believe that they form part of ancient Chinese civilization, and reflect objectively humankind¡¯s attitude towards sex. For a time the museum seemed likely to close down, but as people are now more aware of the cultural value of ancient sexual practices, the museum has fortunately met with development opportunities, and a branch has opened in Zhejiang¡¯s Hangzhou.

Lawmakers are considering a bill that would create a Connecticut Antiques Trail, an effort to highlight the state's numerous antique shops.

Archaeologists have recently unearthed Pluto's ancient gate to the underworld from ruins in southwestern Turkey.

Tourists have collected travel kitsch since the Crusaders plundered their way through the Holy Land.  Postcards, pennants, shot glasses, spoons, as well as,  a plethora of other items have topped the list of must haves from exotic and pastoral locales. These items are readily available at estate sales as they lose their meaning once their purchaser has passed. I have a different take on souvenir purchases; I try to find an antique or vintage piece that I can use and enjoy in my home decor.

As the first African-American superintendent of a national park Young led a distinguished military career in war and peace to usher in a new era of racial equality and wilderness preservation.

By presidential proclamation on March 25, 2013 Barack Obama designated the home of Charles Young in Xenia, Ohio as a national monument to honor his great work along with the men that served as members of the all-African-American 9th and 10th Cavalry divisions known as the Buffalo Soldiers.

Panels from a seaside mansion at Herculaneum, which like Pompeii was overwhelmed by Vesuvius in AD79, go on display

The Egyptian antiquities ministry has rejected a proposal by the finance ministry to rent out the country's major archaeological sites to international tourism companies in an attempt to reduce the government's budget deficit.

Some archaeologists have called the proposal 'insulting' and 'humiliating.'