Wednesday Rojak #28

New museums, Hobbit commentaries and views of some of Southeast Asia’s archaeological sites – all this for today’s edition of rojak!

photo credit: kurvenalbn

• After last week’s controversial claim that the Hobbit had been to the dentist (see here, here and here), John Hawks weighs in on the weaknesses of the claim
• One of the most influential scientific works of all time are online – check out the Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online
• Jiewa writes about the Majapahit Heritage Trail in Trowulan (in Indonesian)
• With Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opening next month, this podcast looks at the cultural effects of our favourite archaeologist-adventurer on the field of archaeology. Check out Indiana Jones: Saving History or Stealing It?
• Anyone interested in Silat, or the Malay form of martial arts might be interested in Silat Mekayu The Blog
• Steven Vincent poses the question, Do antique dealers preserve the past or steal it?
• There’s a new museum in Singapore – The Peranakan Museum opened last weekend and is dedicated to a special Southeast Asian subculture called the Peranakans, who were descended from the early Chinese settlers who married with local Malays and created a unique synthesis of both cultures. Eastcoastlife blogs about the ongoing opening festival
• On an official trip for the Networking of ASEAN Cultural Heritage, Walter visits the Sukhothai Historic Park
• The Preah Vihear dispute between Cambodia and Thailand has been getting a lot of news lately, and Khmer blogger Sovannaphume shows us some old photos of Preah Vihear and how the border has been affected
• Richard Barrow blogs about the new Museum of Siam