Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, back in his college days, had occasion to hang out with a few people who were big into archaeology. Indeed, at your Maximum Leader’s school taught one of the foremost experts on pre-Columbian Virginia. Many of his students were friends of your Maximum Leader. During his time at school, and after, he learned much about archaeology - without having to spend all those tedious hours in the sun and dirt looking for clay chards, rubbish pits, and arrowheads. So while his knowledge of archaeology is all academic, he does have an interest in archaeology.
Recently there were two tidbits on the news wire that bear note. The first is that what might be the first furnace in the English colonies has been discovered. According to this piece some amateur archaeologists have stumbled onto what might be the remains of a 1619 furnace used for making iron ore.
Not far from your Maximum Leader is the site of George Washington’s father’s furnace. At some point your Maximum Leader seems to remember reading that Washington’s father, Augustine, thought that he could make as much money off his furnace as he could as a planter. Your Maximum Leader also seems to remember that Augustine Washington’s furnace burned down a few times and was thus abandoned. Perhaps this is lucky for us. Young George might have grown up a smithy and not a surveyor. Who knows where that would have led us?
The other news from the world of archaeology is from Rome. New research in and around Rome’s Palatine hill are discovering all sorts of interesting sites - and showing that the Palatine area needs stabilization and preservation. According to the article, rainwater is one of the primary contributors to decay of the Palatine sites. One expects that to be the case as there can’t be a lot of development in the area. Your Maximum Leader didn’t realize that only about 40% of the 67 acres of the Palatine area are open to the public - and most of that space is around the Flavian Amphitheatre.
Your Maximum Leader would love to get on a plane right now and head to Rome… But it is not in the cards…
Carry on.
