PREHISTORY: Ancient Mediterranean and Levant - RESEARCH and OUTREACH
SONG OF AN ANCIENT EARTH
OTSF aims to broaden scholarly exchange and cement a framework through which archaeological knowledge and contemporary human research in addiction studies can be translated into living public remedial initiatives adaptable by museums, educational institutions, cultural organizations, and communities worldwide. This event will be monumental.
200-word abstract, a title or position paper are all welcome at this time. Submit below.
WORLD CONGRESS
“SONG OF AN ANCIENT EARTH”
An unprecedented international multi-disciplinary conference exploring the Genetic and Behavioral Human Legacy of the Neolithic Transition
25-28 March 2027
to be confirmed
Mediterranean Island of Malta
to be confirmed
We live in an age of extraordinary achievement. Never before has humanity possessed such vast stores of knowledge, such powerful technologies, or such remarkable scientific understanding. Yet alongside these accomplishments, many people in "advanced" society are facing serious issues with:
* Belonging vs isolation
* Participation vs consumption
* Relationship vs acceleration
* Meaning vs metrics
* Enough vs insatiability
This paradox invites a fundamental question: Is there an explanation for this deterioration?
Yes, there is. And there are positive things we can do about it.
Song of an Ancient Earth
is assembling a multi-disciplinary examination of the scientific evidence and consideration of a plan for remedial action.
At a time when societies face growing challenges related to isolation, mistrust, fragmentation, and declining community connection, questions about the human past are no longer only historical questions. They are questions about the future.
New evidence begs to be examined by anyone interested in the enduring question of how we came to be who we are.
We will be taking a hard look at an uncomfortable situation that is currently being played out in U.S. courtrooms. There are brilliant researchers studying problematic internet use, gaming disorder, social-media addiction, behavioral addiction, reward systems, compulsive behavior, adolescent development, attention, and digital-media effects.
What happens when powerful technologies are designed around exploiting characteristics of human psychology?
Why are modern technologies so effective at capturing human attention and producing compulsive behavior?
Why are some human beings more susceptible to compulsive reward-seeking than others?
These questions become more intelligible when we understand the human environment in which those vulnerabilities evolved.
Bolstered by the findings of the archaeological record, we recognize the importance of:
human evolutionary history and
Inherited/biological vulnerability
in the modern technological environment
Proceedings will be published, along with anticipated suggested models for public outreach.
Ancestral people on the brink of civilization solved problems that needed solving, but in solving them they may have weakened or obscured certain human capacities that evolved under prehistoric conditions.
Archaeological discoveries in Anatolia have expanded our understanding of a critically important period in the story of humankind. The experience of radical change in lifestyle and world view begs to be carefully examined.
The science of Genetics is a key component in this exploration. Yet, Geneticists cannot reconstruct the human environment of 10,000–50,000 years ago. Conversely, archaeologists are not equipped to determine the genetic consequences of those environments. We must put our heads together.
We did not always have all these compartments of knowledge.
In the Neolithic mind, responsible for the most consequential changes in human development, everything was connected. If we apply the same principle to specific questions, together, we will more deeply understand the path to western civilization as it is today; we will come away with a model for prototype pilot programs that translate interdisciplinary knowledge into meaningful public initiatives.
LIVE INTERGENERATIONAL PROGRAM
"Wise Guides"
A formatted 90-120 minute interactive experience bringing together seniors, children and families delivers an impactful taste of a world where the human relationship with the planet --with climate and with nature – was very different from what we highly civilized folks know.
Ancient wisdom (old-fashioned common sense) connecting generations through story, rhythm, creativity, and conversation
LIVE PRESENTATION for PUBLIC
“Before Western Civilization”
Unparalleled Discovery-Level Interpretive News -- presented by the person who found it!
Prehistoric developments and the people of prehistory as you have never considered them before. Audio, unpublished visuals, discussion points, Q&A and more uncover the biggest story in human development. Limited Engagements.
CLASSROOM LEARNING TOOLS
A whole international body of audio/visual archaeological storytelling, framed as classroom lessons.
In these pieces, we offer important information by way of sensory immersive storytelling that holds attention while the message is quietly delivered.
BOOK
“Within Ancient Stone Walls”
35,000 words along so far !
Here is the evidence with references and lines drawn, written for the general public and all pulled together neatly in one place.
Gloriously illustrated, of course
MORE FEATURE ARTICLES and PUBLICATIONS
to be determined
Gloriously illustrated, of course
Studio-based Media Mini-Series
Visits in the Stone Age
Location-based Feature Documentary Film
“Song of an Ancient Earth”
Ongoing Expansion
more lessons, more exhibition events, more fun
We have loads of ideas and unexpected resources.
Have you ever wondered what it was like to be human on the brink of civilization?
There is never a bad time for a NAP: Narrative Anthropology Pause