Best Archaeologists Poems
Creatures Of The Flame
Fierce friend or foe...earth element of fire;
In many ways advanced our humankind.
Relentless when unchecked, a beast so dire,
Engulfs and smothers, leaving ash behind.
Fire shaped the path for humans to progress:
provided them with warmth and light at night;
by chance, found cooking meat gave tenderness,
so eating more increased brain power's might.
The flames of fire kept beasts of prey at bay,
so humans slept in caves instead of trees.
Less vigor used to chew and climb paved way
to think, invent, develop skills with ease.
The gift of fire revamped the human game
when we became earth "creatures of the flame."
Sandra M. Haight
~6th Place~
Contest: Elements Part 4: Fire
Sponsor: Brian Davey
Judged: 05/03/2016
Reference: Discover Magazine: Archaeologists Find Earliest Evidence of Humans Cooking With Fire: "The altered anatomy of H. Erectus, Wrangham wrote, indicates that these beings, like us, were creatures of flame."
Categories:
archaeologists, fire, humanity,
Form:
Sonnet
THE CRADLE OF MANKIND.
The archaeologists of this era
Were about to excitedly find
The Cradle of Mankind
Where the origins of humankind
Had been found, the news was about
To be revealed to the whole world
And so the ears of our globe were glued
To their radios in 1947, they heard,
About this mammoth remarkable finding
Painstakingly excavated , it’s evidence binding.
Mrs Ples’s skull was found,
And with carbon dating,
Archaeologists were rewarded
Most certainly worth waiting!
Estimated to be 2.3 million years’ old.
Mrs Ples (as the archaeologists named her)
All this time had been hidden
For many a year
But there is still more to hear!
It is said that she is the missing link,
We may each think what we want to think!
Archaeologists were about to discover
Other unbelievable phenomena,
Which supported the belief of evolution,
And steered many into total confusion!
God is omnipresent, and
The Alpha and Omega, He has been
Looking down on earth for millenniums
From the beginning of time,
He is omniscient, He believes in me,
And I in Him, He is the Divine!
The Sterkfontein caves are now famous,
Planet Earth was listening, this story was big!
In 1998 archaeologists discover
Yet another important find,
This boggled the mind!
They laboriously dug in this one excavation
Over twenty years, Layer upon layer of ground
And thus Little Foot was found!
He, some say it’s a she, was gently assembled,
And lies in a Pretoria museum,
Together with Mrs Ples,
Archaeologists still dig,
They insist, that there are still hidden treasures
And take great measures,
To work carefully and diligently
Excitedly say there is much more to find
Underneath and beyond the Sterkfontein caves,
Patiently, waiting to uncover
Yet another, one of a kind!
I believe with soul, heart and being
In The Almighty, maybe He even lent the
Archaeologists a helping hand, we cannot
Ignore these finds, they are not fantasy but real
Furthermore we were given the gift of logic,
And ultimately the archaeologists will kneel,
And praise and thank God Almighty!
Categories:
archaeologists, god,
Form:
Free verse
Mount Vesuvius erupts in anger
warm air like butterfly wings
flashes against our cheeks
I hold you my final light...
We stand on the edge of the sea
a galaxy of smoke and soot
swirls around us...
My love I wish
I had wings to carry us
all I have is my shoulder
for you to lean on...
Let us press our lips together
in these final moments
perhaps in the future
archaeologists will find us
As lovers preserved in ash...
~ ~
Categories:
archaeologists, dedication, history, love,
Form:
Free verse
he parlayed a condom full of nouns
in bold thrusts of the quill
for the para structuralist cadres
many of them freeway orphans
who won't even read a stoplight
on the other hand
there's a lot of other hand
upon hearing the chimes of midnight
I opened the door
another surprise party
that I knew about all along
arranged by my body building therapist
who was a notorious sadist
requiring humiliation ab astra
went in after my scenario gland
in an act of divine pity
sewed me back up real fast
couldn't handle the pixel rate
the audience shrieked and laughed
it was the great awakening
after the Treaty of Lucky Seven
in which all nations pledged
to honor their accidents and idiocies
as though they were instruments of divination
uh oh here comes my chiropractor
a known mob boss
never found the need to knock
cracked his knuckles at the door
and politely asked may I enter
he spoke 7 languages
and several materialist dialects
and could talk without
moving his lips
many were blamed for
things they never said
a hundred times a day
nothing is uncontained
archaeologists in the city dumps
using a subway map with all the stops
snorted and toiled through Winter
at their historico-revisionist comedy
piecing convex to concave
any idea past its prime is stupid
this is the unfortunate fate of all humanity
nobody really likes change
unless it’s more money
oh I know I’ll never work in this town again
but with a bankroll
the size of a chewed pencil
you get the picture
now buckle up kids
mommy's going to drive a little faster
there's a cop on my ass
and I think I can lose him
From "Engine of Didactic Beauty" available on Amazon
Artist Portfolio: http://walteralter.byethost32.com/
Categories:
archaeologists, crazy, howl, humanity, slam,
Form:
Free verse
The river smells like damp cotton this morning,
the weather has been so complimentary to our exertions
frost invades the nights nicely and soft sunshine comforts our faces in daytime,
we have been averaging 26 miles per day for more than a week
which gives us fat optimism that we'll reach the he Mandan villages before November,
our sense of serenity and ease is abruptly shaken by a suspicious sight,
from the boats we notice , not far inland
a settlement abandoned to arid earth and the whispers of sullen fate,
with a detachment of 12 men
this broken place in paradise is searched
with the circumspection of armed archaeologists,
from wood and rock totems
we have surmised that this village belonged to the Arikaras,
evidently, they systematically left here, or were decimated by some terrible force,
a gutteral roar rips into my ears
as I see the most monstrous beast of my life,
it is the great grizzly bear, wicked in temper and simply petrifying in stature,
about 40 yards away Sheilds stumbles out of an Arikara sod lodge
as the grizzly emerges from it's liar, standing upright like a tower of terror
fangs in the air and claws ready to thrash
Sheilds buries a slug right into it's chest from 10 feet away
sounding like a large stone plunging deep into water
white panic stretches his face while the beast stammers for a moment,
there is no time for him to reload
and he starts running to the canoe faster than a fuse
several of us take aim and unleash a crossfire of lead
pegging the bear every which way halting it's chase
and with the speed of a two horse wagon it's running to the brush,
we forgo the hunt and evacuate to the canoes,
enough has been seen here,
J.A.B.
Categories:
archaeologists, adventure,
Form:
Epic
Different worlds and different races
Sometime many years ago, a catastrophe began
wiping out most civilized, the ones that we call man
Cities were abandoned, inhabitants left the earth
trying hard to save their clans and start a new rebirth
Thousands not so fortunate, the earth had sealed their fate
no where to go, no where to hide, for them it was to late
The cities they abandoned, were marvels of their time
would be unearthed ten thousand past, when earth is in its prime
Scientists, archaeologists, and amateurs combined
all try their best to understand, from what was left behind
Carbon dating, "guesstimates" they still do not agree
that different life from other worlds began externally
They'd been here twenty thousand years as visitors now gone
an oasis, island, resting place for journeys very long
Something happened this we know, they left before we came
the lifetimes did not overlap, we never knew their name
We all grow up enchanted by the stories people tell
does that mean that tunnel vision is alive and well?
Some speculate our ancestors, migrated near and far
and maybe they just could have lived, beyond a distant star?.....
Categories:
archaeologists, earth, imagination, planet, science
Form:
Rhyme
Acoma Pueblo
My city of stone
My people I cry for you
I looked into our land
Nothing remains
broken hope of years.
You did toil the soil,
your life was grand.
But what could you do,
the waters ran away from you?
Where did those clouds roll?
Not here, you, my people cried
It hurt your very soul
Brown crops dying so
My children where,
now this place has died,
can I find you?
There's no need to hide
You now suffer more so
Pollution is to blame?
The world is not the same,
Now moving is the game.
Do you ever learn from me?
Not much that I can see
Till the day you die
My people will not survive
For comes another
This one more hurtful,
than the dry winds
He will scour your lands
Far deeper than the wind
Much broader than the shear
He will rule over you
It will be his laws that will kill
The Clovis culture
We gave the world a puzzle
Yet great we were in American time
Our tools were of another level
The archaeologists found the sign
Buried as we fell there,
to famine drought or fire
In a new land not seen before
Our weapons opened another door
They dated us in pre history time
The sphinx in Egypt
Would have smiled if he knew
That I played with bows and arrows
As he watched over you
But what of those great sailors
Saying they'd found new lands
Did they not see us standing there
With our weapons in our hands
They returned talking of our land,
Something for their empires plan
It would have been better for all,
had we welcome them to our shore
Categories:
archaeologists, native american, world, people,
Form:
Free verse
Dinosaurs Remains
Dinosaurs drink history through straws
Chiseled out rocks and stones through time
Ubiquitous to the past and future
In the good old days before the comets came
They played dinosaurs games of war
Dreamed of making hot dogs and burgers from human remains
And drinking goo through elongated tubes
In the far far future, on special dinosaur holidays
Anthropologically speaking; we are just another meal
Archaeologists dig the truth, through flying dust with brushes
With fine and tiny tools they pick away the layers
Uncover bones born to die
They etch them out as prizes
Rocks wait their turn to bury us, to be discovered later
Some explorer will unearth humans in the distant future
To find out who and what we were
Uncover what the bones might tell them
Shape our remains into dice
Toss them on the ground with magic
Divine that human, an ancient alien species, once lived in cities
And drank through straws
That’s about all
Categories:
archaeologists, absence, age, earth, education,
Form:
Didactic
I smile or frown from joy or pain
Sometimes,the light of love won't dim
My features become beacon itself
And simmered aches my mind won't swell.
But shell and veil of us we see,
Time finds its way with you and me
Archaeologists won't wonder why we die
In circle of light, the pupil is yet alive.
Life is mostly tender light right now
And when midnight comes, I'll know
that, that, too, shall surely pass
Winter, spring, summer, fall is earth's compass.
The weak finds quietude in humility
The strong faces scent of reality
The wise claims compassion for humanity;
Ancient views, and you, your inner eyes will find
Sometimes, melancholy seeps from pores of mine
But I'll smile with delight, though eyes do sigh
For One Unconcealed Light are yours and mine.
*
(c), September 20, 2015)
Categories:
archaeologists,
Form:
Bio
Caves are dark, dank, sinister havens for rising damp
Mere cavities in the ground, veiled from light of day
Yet caves are heralded, admired and cherished
For a swarm of reasons, just mind the bats
Caves are drop inns
Hikers and natives welcome finding a cave
They provide shelter from wind and rain
A great place to stay the night, light a fire
To enjoy the cosy charm of safe seclusion
Caves are art galleries
The walls are dotted with new and ancient graffiti
Hand-prints, paintings, scribbles and scenes
Made by artists with no where else to hang their stuff
Revealed by flickering flames and dim filtered beams of light
Caves are museums and dumps
Visitors leave their junk in caves
Animals topple in and get trapped
Caves are a great place for animals to die
These dumps are bliss to archaeologists
Who drool over skeletons, artefacts and such old-time junk
Caves are cathedrals and awe-catches
Endless aeons of dirty drips yield fabulous
On floor and ceiling displays of
Glistening stalactites and stalagmites
The cavernous space, silence and eerie dankness
Makes visitors gasp with adoration and awe
Highlighted by the uniqueness, isolation and remoteness of caves
So duck-in to a cave when you pass one by
and you'll discover the ins and outs of caves
Caves are awesome and strangely welcoming
Despite their darkness, dampness and malevolence
Categories:
archaeologists, natural disasters, nature,
Form:
Free verse
Images now received by satellite
Show spaceships similar to here
In Tunguska, deepest Russia
The largest seems to appear
Near the Kingdom of Scourie, Scotland
From the Minch it slowly arose
The third of them showed so silently
Highlanders agape, froze
Governments now in communication
Media frenzies gather flow
It takes something out of the ordinary
For dialogue to openly show
A hush captures our attention
Channel 5, Australia News
Ayers Rock sees the fourth of these crafts
Indigenous carvings on the screens we now view
More reports are gathering strength
In Guatemala, near Piedras Negras
"Black stones" I believe in Spanish
Is it coincidence that this is the last
The night to the dawn takes ages to pass
Every hour we look to our skies
Have we awoken what we have always dreamt of
Below us, our eyes could never espy
Not from the depths of outer space
But from the deep from the planet we live
Lying dormant, awoken by archaeologists
We await as many nations, misgive
http://www.thehighlanderspoems.com/fantasy-18.php
Categories:
archaeologists, fantasy
Form:
Quatrain
In an old farmhouse high on the cliffs of Dingli
surrounded by archaeology and mystery
lives Mary, guiding visitors to explore and find
caves and cart ruts, deep tracks seeming mined
that criss cross at Clapham Junction
it’s not easy to guess their function.
Talk to Mary and she will tell you
of times gone by, when there was so few
people who wanted to know and understand
what it was that remains so strange in this land.
Perhaps it will always remain unknown,
since archaeologists have come and gone,
not enough with perseverance and finance,
they come and go and lose allegiance.
Maybe one day an answer will appear
and all will suddenly be clear,
why the cart ruts run under, the house,
where Mary lived with her mother.
Categories:
archaeologists, education, history, life, mystery,
Form:
Free verse
THE ARCHAEOLOGIST’S WIFE
Sorry I cannot say her name, you all know her well
She was my brother’s wife at the Kimmerdale
My brother was an archaeologist
He found a pot in Egypt
In Tutankhamen’s chamber
Believe me it was made of amber.
And my brother’s wife, Karen
Her dad came from Ely Arden
Mom from Billy Budd
Brother Tim from Barracks quad
They all are family Barracuda
They pounced on the pot
Sadly, it smelled the rot
In September, 2004
I was on India tour.
What did my brother do?
He crewed on a ship
Crossed the Mediterranean
And reached Egypt
Met Mr. Hippit
A biologist by profession
After close inspection
He found a predator
Inside the amber
His wife Karen Barracuda Pamber
I heard the story on coming back from India
I gave my brother a Cashmere shawl given by Mr. Scindia
You all know in the year 2013
He married the daughter of Cruise Martin
Sorry, I cannot say her name you know her well
She was from the family of Rapunzel
Her eyes were amber
Elizabeth Rapunzel Pamber.
Copyright: RAJAT KANTI CHAKRABARTY
7th November,2014
Categories:
archaeologists, fun,
Form:
Prose Poetry
(our own) age of reptiles
I remember
it was mainly in the Cretaceous period
of our own age of reptiles
soon to be doomed
by the great collision
we made plans
and thought about things
and things
and so many nice things to do
but they went extinct too soon
lost and not-to-be found again
some of them, though
are being uncovered
from time to time
by the archaeologists of our back door minds
but the only place for them
is the memory museum
where’s always just dust and silence
as we both secretly know
Categories:
archaeologists, lost love, relationship, symbolism,
Form:
Free verse
I
Where, oh where is Virginia Dare*,
No one can find her anywhere.
Her disappearance is the very worst,
I guess that's what comes from being the first.
*Virginia Dare was born on Aug. 18, 1587 in Roanoke Colony, Virginia, the first child born in the New World to English parents. Both the colony and all its inhabitants…80 men, 17 women, and 11 children…disappeared mysteriously, and no traces have ever been found.
II
Amelia Earhart* flew away
And hasn't been seen
To this very day.
Her goal was to make it to Paris in style,
But got only as far as a small desert isle.
*Presumed to have crashed on Howland Island in the Central Pacific Ocean, Amelia disappeared on July 2, 1937. According to a 2015 news article, her remains may have been found and identified.
III
And Jimmy Hoffa*,
Of course it's just hearsay,
Is fertilizing a field
In New York or New Jersey.
The reason for doing him in was excused,
The mob made him an offer,
And Jimmy refused.
*He was heavily involved with the mob-controlled Teamsters Union. He disappeared on July 30, 1975.
IV
The mystery in London
That continues a gripper,
Scotland Yard still doesn't know
Who was Jack the Ripper.*
Was he maybe a royal, a doctor, a rounder?
At least now the prostitutes are all sleeping sounder.
*He terrorized London from 1888-1891. the term "Ripperology" was coined to describe the study and analyses of the Ripper cases. There are over 100 theories about his identity.
V
Another conundrum
Hashed o'er many a snifter,
Concerning Sasquatch, or Bigfoot*,
Is he a myth or a mythter?
It's widely agreed that he's really quite scary,
His general description is big, tall, and hairy.
*We can also add Yeti to the list.
VI
Last, but not least,
There's the Anasazi.*
Did they self-destruct
Like a kamikaze?
Or did they decide to quit stone-age labors
And move to the city like most of their neighbors?
*This is the historical Navajo name meaning "Ancient Ones" who inhabited the 4-Corners region…Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado…up until sometime in the 13th century, archaeologists surmise. Why they abandoned their towns and cities is still a mystery.
Categories:
archaeologists, history, humor,
Form:
Light Verse