Martin Rundkvist
Dr. Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, public speaker, chairman of the Swedish Skeptics Society, atheist, lefty liberal, board gamer, bookworm, and father of two.
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Posts by this author
February 14, 2012
The recent launch of the Curiosity Mars rover has quietly broken the record for oldest human-made object in space, and instantly pulled numismatics, the study of coinage, into the Space Age.
Prior to the launch, the oldest human-made object in space was the Vanguard 1 satellite, which was launched…
February 8, 2012
As a schoolboy I read the first original play performed publically written in Swedish, Urban Hiärne's Rosimunda (1665). Me and my friend Tor loved the absurd spelling, the odd changes that had occurred in the sense of many words and some of the comical one-liners. Recently I learned that about…
February 6, 2012
Dear Reader Fiona asked me to write more about archaeology, which reminded me that I haven't said much about what I've been doing in my study these past months. I find that the last time was actually in late August when I dug in the cave with Margareta and Magdalena.
So, what have I been up to…
February 3, 2012
I've been following Roy Zimmerman's output of musical satire since his 2004 album Faulty Intelligence, and I was certainly not disappointed by the recent You're Getting Sleepy. The CD's title is shared with the opening song and refers to the hypnosis that must be going on when half of the US…
January 29, 2012
Dungeon: a massive inner tower in a Medieval castle or a dark usually underground prison or vault. Traceable back to Latin dominus, lord.
Dudgeon: a wood used especially for dagger hilts or a fit or state of indignation. Traceable back to Anglo-French digeon.
Gudgeon: a pivot or a small European…
January 27, 2012
British Archaeology #122 (Jan/Feb) has a good feature on the origins of Roman London, presenting and collating evidence from excavations in the 90s and 00s for a military camp immediately post-dating the AD 43 invasion of Britain. The editors have slapped a silly headline on the thing though,…
January 25, 2012
Dear Reader, remember the remote-controlled Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity? How long is it since the last time you thought of them? Opportunity landed on Mars eight Earth calendar years ago today, and it still works fine! Its mate Spirit was mobile on the Red Planet for over five years and…
January 22, 2012
Car question. When I turn on my windshield wipers, the energy for those two step motors comes from the battery. And it comes to the battery from the gas tank via the alternator. This means that if I drive with my wipers on, I will run out of gas sooner. But doesn't the alternator constantly attempt…
January 19, 2012
25-26 February. Blankaholm, Swedish East Coast archaeology conference, speaking about picture stones
7-9 March. Danish Viborg, Bronze Age burial conference
15-17 March. Paris, European Archaeological Council, Annual Meeting
21 March. Stockholm, Senioruniversitetet / ABF, speaking about…
January 17, 2012
It's time we had a de-lurk around this here blog! The last one was a year ago. If you keep returning to this blog but rarely or never comment, you are a lurker, Dear Reader, and a most welcome one too.
Please comment on this entry and tell us something about yourself - like where you are, what your…
January 14, 2012
When I was 16 in 1988 I spent a couple of days in Paris with a language school. I brought the address for a game store, one that advertised in White Dwarf magazine. It was on Rue Poirier de Narcay, which turned out not to be a central location, and so I never went there. But I've wondered off and…
January 7, 2012
I'm on the latest instalment of the Skeptic's Guide podcast talking about the Mora/Orsa electrophobia case and the Obscurantist of the Year anti-award. I also mention a bunch of upcoming European skeptics' conventions, though Steve Novella cut out the bit where I recommended that the skeptical…
January 6, 2012
Saltpetre, potassium nitrate, is added to food to give meat products a nicer colour. One winter in the 70s when we were living in Connecticut, my dad went to a New York drug store to buy saltpetre for our traditional Christmas ham. And the elderly druggist winked at him and said this odd thing.
"…
January 5, 2012
When I was a kid I enjoyed playing the 1984 computer war game Sun Tzu's Ancient Art of War. Last spring I visited Tiger Hill in Suzhou where there is a small temple to the great strategist's memory.
The game is good fun, not least thanks to the scenario editor that was years before its time and…
January 4, 2012
Went to bed with a headache, woke up intermittently during the night to find it still there, and got up in the morning with the same headache or one very similar to it. So I took an aspirin, which stuck in my throat, as pills usually do. I figured it would slide down along with my breakfast. The…
January 1, 2012
The Swedish Skeptics, of whom I am the chairman, have just announced their annual awards for 2011 [a - b].
The Swedish public TV show Hjärnkontoret receives the Enlightener of the Year award,
"...for their excellent science coverage directed towards children. Hjärnkontoret has aired for 16 years…
December 31, 2011
When a buddy of mine learned that I keep stats on the boardgames I play, she said, "If I didn't know you, Martin, I'd say you probably suffered from Asperger's syndrome." But hey, Boardgamegeek.com has a nifty book-keeping function, and I enjoy keeping notes! Here are the ten games I've played the…
December 30, 2011
Here are my best reads in English during 2011. I only read 38 books this year (blame the Internet), which is why the really good ones are fewer than usual.
Bonk. The curious coupling of sex and science. Mary Roach 2008. A charming look at the history of sex research.
The Culture of Fear. Why…
December 29, 2011
I began blogging at Blogspot a bit more than six years ago. And five years ago to the day, Aard went live here on Sb! Blogging and the interaction with you, Dear Reader, are a continuing source of daily enjoyment to me.
But looking at the surroundings, things sure have changed at Sb in five years,…
December 27, 2011
I'm spending this week in a semi-vegetative state: sleeping late, taking walks at noon with my wife & kids, eating chocolate, drinking tea, and reading. Here's my late-2011 selection of reading matter.
Svavelvinter. Erik Granström 2004. Swedish fantasy.
Proggiga barnböcker - därför blev…
December 21, 2011
My current project on the siting of Bronze Age sacrificial sites aims to rediscover some of the the period's landscape rules. In other words, I'm building an heuristic model which might allow archaeologists to search actively for such sites instead of waiting for farmers and drainage workers to…
December 20, 2011
Place is a new Swedish boardgame, the first offering from Spelmakarna i Sverige Ltd who are based near my home. After reading about their product in the local paper, I asked them for a review copy, which they kindly delivered to my doorstep. (No, we're not acquainted.)
It's a geographical trivia…
December 19, 2011
The memory of Herman Lundborg (1868-1943) is insolubly linked to the Swedish State Institute of Eugenics that he headed, and thus lives in infamy. Eugenics was the pseudoscientific belief that human populations deteriorated over time unless care was taken to weed out weak specimens and keep them…
December 17, 2011
The Dear Reader may remember that I recently reported from the hibernation grounds of the local yachting club. Here's a photograph from the same site, taken by my dad. It demonstrates why you might want to weigh the winter cover for your boat down with water tanks like everybody except this one…
December 16, 2011
Today is my sixth birthday as a blogger! Normally these days I would use Twitter and Facebook for such a brief message, but it is after all blog-related.
Here also are the latest pics of an Aard reader wearing one of the blog t-shirts (order here). Andrew Broome is a culinary engineer based in…
December 14, 2011
As an archaeologist I often need to plot coordinates on maps and plans. At every scale, really: from individual finds on the plan of an excavation trench to the distribution of something across Europe. Just dots of varying shapes and colours on various background maps. Most often, it's GPS data…
December 13, 2011
This song is just irresistable. Check out The Kinnardlys' web site. Thanks to the Spiel gaming podcast for the tip-off. Always good tunes between segments there!
December 12, 2011
Been a while since I wrote one of these. Here's what I did for fun this past weekend.
Attended an afternoon scifi mini-convention at the Tech Museum, organised by my dear old Tolkien Society buddy and gaming group regular Carolina Gomez Lagerlöf. I heard good talks by journalist Jörgen Städje,…