About the Old Stones website


Purpose
Old Stones is dedicated to art history, and especially to the art and archaeology of ancient civilizations. Its organization reflects a mixture of synchronic and diachronic approaches. Beginning in the middle 1980's as my personal travel diary, it continues in that role into the present day.

Biography
Mike Gunther was born in 1948, grew up in Valparaiso, Indiana, and studied mathematics at Indiana University (1969), Cambridge University (1970), and Stanford (1974). Mike joined IBM in 1974, where he held a variety of management and technical positions before retiring in 2003. His interests include travel photography, music, poetry, and the study of ancient art and architecture.

Citation
When referring to material from this website, please cite: "Michael D. Gunther / www.art-and-archaeology.com"

Copyright
This website is copyright © Michael D. Gunther. Its original material (images and text) may be used without charge under the terms of the
Creative Commons Share-Alike 3.0 License. You do not have to write me for permission, just cite the material as above and follow the rules of the license. This blanket permission is intended to cover normal situations like classroom use, magazine or book publication, libraries, and archives. If you have a special situation, or any questions about the license, please contact me at the address below.

Contact Address
webmaster@art-and-archaeology.com

Feedback
Old Stones is actively maintained. I welcome correspondence, and especially solicit peer review in the form of notification of broken links, corrections, and comments about anything on the website.

Thanks for visiting, and best wishes to you!

Mike Gunther

[last updated: October 13, 2024]


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Synchronic history is the study of cross-cultural comparisons at approximately the same time. For example, one could study the development of the Iron Age (c. 1500 bc) in various parts of the world, or compare the civilizations of China and Europe during the Age of Exploration (c. l500 ad).

Diachronic history is the study of one culture (such as Egypt, Greece, etc.) as it develops over time. Because cultures interact, it is necessary to supplement the study of diachronic history with the study of synchronic history in order to achieve a balanced view.