[SunkenCiv]

Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #196 Saturday, April 12, 2008
Ronnie, We Heartily Knew You
Oh, that big 1982 Siberian explosion?
	02/03/2004 9:13:42 PM PST · by Valin · 49 replies · 3,264+ views Fort Worth Star-Telegram / The New York Times | 2/3/04 | William Safire Intelligence shortcomings, as we see, have a thousand fathers; secret intelligence triumphs are orphans. Here is the unremarked story of "the Farewell dossier": how a CIA campaign of computer sabotage resulting in a huge explosion in Siberia -- all engineered by a mild-mannered economist named Gus Weiss -- helped us win the Cold War. Weiss worked down the hall from me in the Nixon administration. In early 1974, he wrote a report on Soviet advances in technology through purchasing and copying that led the beleaguered president -- detente notwithstanding -- to place restrictions on the export of computers...
Prehistory and Origins
Archaeology: Bones, Isles And Videotape
	04/16/2008 8:06:27 PM PDT · by blam · 4 replies · 247+ views Nature | Rex Dalton Old human remains found on the Pacific islands of Palau are caught in the crossfire between entertainment and science. Rex Dalton reports. The Palauan caves lie in the 'rock islands' of the archipelago.R. DALTONCircled by a protective coral reef, the 300-island archipelago of Palau is one of the Pacific Ocean's most biodiverse ecosystems. The first intrepid voyagers who arrived here, more than 3,000 years ago, would have found lush plants and waters teeming with fish and crustaceans. By 2,500 years ago the Palauans were even practising sophisticated agriculture, creating terraces on the archipelago's largest island on...
Neanderthal / Neandertal
Neanderthals Speak Out After 30,000 Years
	04/15/2008 6:35:51 PM PDT · by blam · 58 replies · 1,352+ views New Scientist | 4-15-2008 | Ewen Callaway Reconstruction of a Neanderthal child's face (Image: Anthropological Institute, University of Z¸rich) Talk about a long silence -- no one has heard their voices for 30,000 years. Now the long-extinct Neanderthals are speaking up -- or at least a computer synthesiser is doing so on their behalf. Robert McCarthy, an anthropologist at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton has used new reconstructions of Neanderthal vocal tracts to simulate the voice. He says the ancient human's speech lacked the "quantal vowel" sounds that underlie modern speech....
Grunt work: Scientists make Neanderthals speak again
	04/17/2008 5:03:10 PM PDT · by Renfield · 13 replies · 186+ views AFP (via Yahoo News) | 4-16-08 After a nearly 30,000-year silence, Neanderthals are speaking once more, thanks to researchers who have modelled the hominids' larynx to replicate the possible sounds they would have made, New Scientist says. The work, led by Robert McCarthy, an anthropologist at Florida Atlantic University at Boca Raton, is based on Neanderthal fossils found in France, the British journal said on its website on Wednesday. The item includes an audio snippet in which a computer synthesiser replicates how a Neanderthal would say an "e" and compares this with the same sound as made by modern humans. A study published...
Ancient Autopsies
Alpine Guardians Try To Put Treasures On Ice
	04/17/2008 2:09:56 PM PDT · by blam · 8 replies · 418+ views The Times Online | 4-17-2008 | Richard Owen Prehistoric treasures unearthed in the Alps as melting glaciers recede are under threat from looters who are removing many of them. Such is the concern for the newly revealed objects - which include weapons, clothing and tools - that a task force of archaeologists, anthropologists, mountain climbers and Alpine rescue teams has been formed in an attempt to salvage them. Franco Nicolis, an archaeologist from Trento, said: "We must be ready to intervene as if we were dealing with a public calamity." He said that mountain climbers and...
Epigraphy and Language
Achaemenid Inscription Names Uncle Of Darius In Old Persian For First Time
	04/12/2008 5:47:46 PM PDT · by blam · 10 replies · 442+ views Tehran Times | 4-11-2008 The name of Farnaka, who was the uncle of Darius I, has been identified in a newly discovered Old Persian Achaemenid inscription for the first time. Written in cuneiform, the stone inscription bears the names of Darius the Great and his uncle, Farnaka, the Persian service of CHN reported on Friday. His name had previously only been found in historical texts written in other languages. Greek texts refer to him as Pharnaces and Elamite texts call him Parnaka. "Sometime ago, I discovered...
Egypt
Pharaoh Seti I's Tomb Bigger Than Thought
	04/17/2008 2:24:57 PM PDT · by blam · 11 replies · 550+ views National Geographic News | 4-17-2008 | Andrew Bossone Egyptian archaeologists have discovered that the tomb of the powerful pharaoh Seti I -- the largest tomb in the Valley of the Kings -- is bigger than originally believed. During a recent excavation, the team found that the crypt is actually 446 feet (136 meters) in length. Giovanni Battista Belzoni, who discovered the tomb in 1817, had noted the tomb at 328 feet (100 meters). "[This is] the largest tomb and this is longest tunnel that's ever found in any place in the Valley of the Kings,"...
Africa
Cray Supercomputer... Discover Origin Of Mysterious Glass Found In King Tut's Tomb
	08/02/2007 10:47:08 AM PDT · by blam · 37 replies · 1,895+ views Macroworld Investor | 7-31-2007 Global supercomputer leader Cray Inc. today announced that researchers running simulations on the Cray supercomputer at Sandia National Laboratories have re-created what could have happened 29 million years ago when an asteroid explosion turned Saharan sand into glass. The greenish natural glass, which can still be found scattered across remote stretches of the desert, was used by an artisan in ancient Egypt to carve a scarab that decorates one of the bejeweled breastplates buried...
Rome and Italy
Rare statue of Roman emperor found
	04/12/2008 1:57:14 PM PDT · by kiriath_jearim · 5 replies · 253+ views Seattle Post-Intelligencer/AP | 4/11/08 | ARIEL DAVID Italian police have recovered a rare statue of a Roman emperor who co-ruled alongside Marcus Aurelius and was known for his reluctance to sit for portraits. Police said Friday that the marble head of Lucius Verus was the most spectacular find among more than a dozen looted ancient artifacts hidden in a boat garage near Rome. The bearded visage of Lucius Verus is believed to have been secretly unearthed at a site in the Naples area and was probably destined for the international market, said Capt. Massimo Rossi of a special police unit that hunts down archaeological thieves....
British Isles
Pytheas Visited The Isle Of Man In 300BC - Claim
	04/14/2008 11:08:44 AM PDT · by blam · 20 replies · 641+ views IOM Today | 4-8-2008 | ADRIAN DARBYSHIRE An Ancient Greek explorer's extraordinary voyage took him to the Isle of Man 300 years before the birth of Christ, new research claims. Scientist and geographer Pytheas (pronounced Puth-e-as) is now believed to have visited the Island in about 325BC to take sun measurements during a three-year voyage -- the first recorded circumnavigation of the British Isles. Pytheas was born in the Greek settlement of Massalia, now Marseille, about 360BC and was a contemporary of Alexander the Great (356-323BC). Marseille at that...
Megaliths and Archaeoastronomy
Is Stonehenge Roman?
	04/14/2008 3:35:15 PM PDT · by blam · 31 replies · 931+ views Current Archaeology | 4-14-2008 | Current Archaeology Geoffrey Wainwright, the co-Director of the excavations. Geoffrey's friends will be glad to note that he has now recovered from his hip replacement, though he can still not get down the deep holes After a gap of some forty four years, Stonehenge is once again being excavated. Admittedly, this time it is only a very small hole, and is only being dug for a fortnight, but it is a very important hole, and on April the 9th, we were invited down to Stonehenge to inspect it. It was a wonderful trip, not least because the weather was...
Helix, Make Mine a Double
Old Cellulose [and DNA] Found in NM Salt Crystals
	04/15/2008 5:52:45 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 38 replies · 882+ views www.physorg.com | 04/15/2008 | By MATT MYGATT This photo provided by Jack Griffith, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, shows Waste Isolation Pilot Plant staff member Sam Dominguez using a core drill to extract salt crystal samples from a salt wall at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. in December 2006. Griffith and his team found cellulose dating back 253 million years _ along with some possible ancient DNA _ in salt crystals from the underground nuclear waste dump. The crystals were taken from newly mined areas 2,000 feet below WIPP's desert surface last fall...
Catastrophism and Astronomy
Unearthing Clues Of Catastrophic Earthquakes 'An Inviting Tale Of Destruction' (Archaeoseismology)
	04/16/2008 8:19:19 PM PDT · by blam · 5 replies · 402+ views Eureka Alert | 4-16-2008 | Seismological Society of America The destruction and disappearance of ancient cultures mark the history of human civilization, making for fascinating stories and cautionary tales. The longevity of today's societies may depend upon separating fact from fiction, and archeologists and seismologists are figuring out how to join forces to do just that with respect to ancient earthquakes, as detailed in new studies presented at the international conference of the Seismological Society of America. "It's an idea whose time has come, "...
PreColumbian, Clovis, and PreClovis
Finding Pre-Clovis Humans in the Oregon High Desert
	04/15/2008 6:50:32 PM PDT · by blam · 30 replies · 691+ views The Archaeology Channel | Dennis jenkins An interview with Dennis Jenkins -- In this interview, conducted at Paisley Five Mile Point Caves on June 13, 2007, by Rick Pettigrew of ALI, Dr. Dennis Jenkins describes the remarkable discovery of human DNA in coprolites dated between 14,000 and 15,000 calibrated years ago. This evidence, reported in the 3 April 2008, issue of the journal Science, strongly supports the proposition that human migrants to North America arrived at least 1000 years before the widespread Clovis complex appeared. The data also support the conclusion that the first...
Fabric of Society
Analysis of Rare Textiles From Honduras Ruins Suggests Mayans Produced Fine Fabrics
	04/16/2008 8:10:53 PM PDT · by blam · 11 replies · 247+ views Newswise | 4-16-2008 An analysis of textile fragments excavated from a 5th century Mayan tomb in Honduras, some of the few surviving textiles from the Mayan civilization, revealed high quality fabrics produced by highly skilled spinners and weavers. Newswise -- Very few textiles from the Mayan culture have survived, so the treasure trove of fabrics excavated from a tomb at the Cop·n ruins in Honduras since the 1990s has generated considerable excitement. Textiles conservator Margaret Ordonez, a professor at the University of Rhode Island, spent a month at the site in...
Mayans
Mayan Apocalypse, 2012
	04/15/2008 7:28:01 PM PDT · by blam · 58 replies · 1,703+ views ABC Science News | 4-14-2008 | By Karl S. Kruszelnicki If you observe the ancient Mayan calendar, then your time's running out. Dr Karl has been rummaging through ancient Mayan scribblings that are said to indicate an apocalyptic end by 2012. By Karl S. Kruszelnicki Villagers and tourists celebrate next to the Kukulkan pyramid at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula(Source: Victor Ruiz/Reuters) The driver was taking me from Melbourne airport into the city. As we chatted, it came out that he was deeply worried. He had a wife and child, and a new baby on the way - but what was the...
Faith and Philosophy
'Ben-Hur' headed for TV miniseries remake (taking out religous aspect)
	04/10/2008 9:52:55 PM PDT · by Bommer · 7 replies · 233+ views UPI/AP | 04/10/2008 The son of the man who directed the 1959 Hollywood film classic "Ben-Hur" said he is producing a new version of the story as a $30 million TV miniseries. David Wyler, son of director William Wyler, is producing the remake with Alchemy TV, Variety.com reported Thursday...
Australia and the Pacific
Ancient Burial Cave Discovered[Philippines]
	04/12/2008 5:30:29 PM PDT · by BGHater · 8 replies · 348+ views Arab News | 11 Apr 2008 | Al Jacinto An ancient burial cave was discovered in the Philippine island of Mindanao, south of Manila, and officials have sealed the site to prevent looting of artifacts, many of them jars made from clay. It was not immediately known whether there are other treasures in the cave which was accidentally discovered by quarry diggers yesterday in Maitum town in Sarangani province. The latest discovery in the village of Pinol was near another ancient burial site discovered in 1991 where burial jars, shaped in different human forms, had been recovered inside Ayub cave. Lingling Jabel, owner of the quarry site, informed local...
Biology and Cryptobiology
"Extinct" Plants Found in Remote Australia
	04/12/2008 8:42:58 PM PDT · by Pyro7480 · 21 replies · 727+ views Yahoo! News (Reuters) | 4/11/2008 | n/a Two plants that were thought to have been extinct since the late 1800s have been rediscovered in far northern Australia, according to an official report released on Saturday. The Queensland state government's State of the Environment report said the two species were found on Cape York, in tropical far north Queensland. "The Rhaphidospora cavernarum, which is a large herb that stands about one and a half meters high, has reappeared," state climate change minister Andrew McNamara told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio. "It hasn't been seen in Queensland since 1873," he said. He said the second plant that...
Middle Ages and Renaissance
Trading Across Medieval Europe Revealed In Cod Bones
	04/14/2008 4:46:43 PM PDT · by blam · 13 replies · 385+ views The Times Online | 4-14-2008 | Norman Hammond The catastrophic decline of North Sea cod as the result of over fishing has had an impact on all our menus, from the poshest restaurants to the corner chippie: the fish left are few and small, compared with those of less than a century ago. Cod more than a metre in length are rare these days, whereas archaeological remains show that fish several times that size were common. A new study shows that cod were exploited in the Middle Ages from many, often distant, fishing grounds, with an...
Navigation
In Weak Rivets, a Possible Key to Titanic's Doom
	04/15/2008 5:17:12 AM PDT · by Pharmboy · 68 replies · 1,868+ views NY Times | April 15, 2008 | WILLIAM J. BROAD Titanic, left, and Olympic sat next to one another in a double gantry in the last photo of the two together, weeks before Olympic set sail Researchers have discovered that the builder of the Titanic struggled for years to obtain enough good rivets and riveters and ultimately settled on faulty materials that doomed the ship, which sank 96 years ago Tuesday. The builder's own archives, two scientists say, harbor evidence of a deadly mix of low quality rivets and lofty ambition as the builder labored to construct the three biggest ships in the world at once -- the Titanic...
Oh So Mysterioso
Legend Of The Crystal Skulls
	04/15/2008 7:22:32 PM PDT · by blam · 18 replies · 1,204+ views Archaeology Magazine | May/June 2008 | Jane MacLaren Walsh Along with superstars like Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, and Shia LaBeouf, the newest Indiana Jones movie promises to showcase one of the most enigmatic classes of artifacts known to archaeologists, crystal skulls that first surfaced in the 19th century and that specialists attributed to various "ancient Mesoamerican" cultures. In this article, Smithsonian anthropologist Jane MacLaren Walsh shares her own adventures analyzing the artifacts that inspired Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (in theaters May 22), and details her efforts tracking down a...
Thoroughly Modern Miscellany
AP Exclusive: On Manson's trail, forensic testing suggests possible new grave sites
	03/15/2008 2:47:22 PM PDT · by kellynla · 40 replies · 2,232+ views International Herald Tribune | March 15, 2008 | staff Bone-white stretches of salt, leached up from the lifeless soil, lay like a shroud over the high desert where a paranoid Charles Manson holed up after an orgy of murder nearly four decades ago. Now, as then, few venture into this alkaline wilderness -- gold-diggers, outlaws, loners content to live and let live. But a determined group of outsiders recently made the trek. They were leading forensic investigators searching for new evidence of death -- clues pointing to possible decades-old clandestine graves. And the results of just-completed followup tests suggest bodies could indeed be lying...
end of digest #196 20080419

[SunkenCiv]

Gods Graves Glyphs Digest #196 20080419 · Saturday, April 19, 2008 · 23 topics · 2003182 to 1999899 · 685 members ·
	Saturday Apr 19 2008 v 4 n 40 view this issue	Welcome to the 196th issue, and a public welcome to our new members. Who knew when I took over the pinging duties for the existing Gods, Graves, Glyphs ping list that I'd still be at it four years later? Many thanks to all who have made this possible through participation at all levels, and of course, particularly to blam who posts most of the topics. Renfield has been FReepmailing links of interest for some months, and many others have done that or posted topics of interest. All of you have my wholehearted thanks. There's nothing going on, it just seemed like a good time to do that. For one thing, don't let the smaller than usual number of topics fool you, it was a smokin' week for GGG. The recent changes to the FR software broke the cool little embedded subject in FReepmail links, which I learned from Swordmaker. Somebody help me. The embedded multi-FReeper addressing still works, and I'm grateful for that. Remember, it's the quarterly FReep-a-thon, although at this rate it won't be for long. :') I need a new job. Visit the Free Republic Memorial Wall -- a history-related feature of FR. Defeat Hillary -- first for the White House, then for reelection to the Senate. It begins to look like the beeotch is toast, but as Richard Poe wrote, the fat lady hasn't sung yet. Okay, yes, he didn't really put it like that...
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[SunkenCiv]

Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #197 Saturday, April 26, 2008
Macedonia
Alexander the Great's "Crown," Shield Discovered?
	04/25/2008 7:11:55 PM PDT · by blam · 16 replies · 605+ views National Geographic News | 4-23-2008 | Sara Goudarzi An ancient Greek tomb thought to have held the body of Alexander the Great's father is actually that of Alexander's half brother, researchers say. This may mean that some of the artifacts found in the tomb -- including a helmet, shield, and silver "crown" -- originally belonged to Alexander the Great himself. Alexander's half brother is thought to have claimed these royal trappings after Alexander's death. The tomb was one of three royal Macedonian burials excavated in 1977 by archaeologists working in the northern Greek village of Vergina (see map of...
Egypt
Egypt: Tomb Of Cleopatra And Lover To Be Uncovered
	04/25/2008 7:44:34 PM PDT · by blam · 35 replies · 578+ views Adnkronos | 4-24-2008 Archaeologists have revealed plans to uncover the 2000 year-old tomb of ancient Egypt's most famous lovers, Cleopatra and the Roman general Mark Antony later this year. Zahi Hawass, prominent archaeologist and director of Egypt's superior council for antiquities announced a proposal to test the theory that the couple were buried together. He discussed the project in Cairo at a media conference about the ancient pharaohs. Hawass said that the remains of the legendary Egyptian queen and her Roman lover, Mark Antony, were inside a temple called Tabusiris...
Ancient Autopsies
Berkshire Museum Puts A Face On Its Mummy
	04/20/2008 7:46:15 PM PDT · by blam · 19 replies · 605+ views Berkshire Eagle The mummy has returned. And he has new tales to tell. One of the county's most beloved relics -- the nearly 2,300-year-old corpse of the ancient priest Pahat -- is back on view at the Berkshire Museum's recently reopened Ancient Civilizations gallery. But now, thanks to modern forensic science and technology, specialists have been able to put flesh to his bones, creating a three-dimensional reconstruction of Pahat's head. Further research has also revealed that Pahat...
Rome and Italy
Integration: a centuries-old issue (Where all roads lead)
	04/23/2008 9:48:34 AM PDT · by decimon · 6 replies · 205+ views The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research | April 3, 2008 | Unknown When can a person be regarded as a full and equal citizen of a country? Is a double nationality possible and what advantages does it offer a newcomer? These questions were already contemplated in ancient Rome. The Italian allies of Rome were keen on obtaining the Roman citizenship. Dutch researcher Roel van Dooren investigated why.At first sight, the Social War appears to be an old problem that is only interesting for historians. However, this war provides surprising insights into current societal issues. Even the ancient state of Rome struggled with integration and immigration problems and an understanding of this provides...
Elam, Persia, Parthia, Iran
Exhibit Shows Ancient Links Between Persia And Korea
	04/24/2008 7:53:38 AM PDT · by blam · 9 replies · 255+ views Chosun.com | 4-24-2008 | Arirang News Cultural exchange between Korea and Persia goes back more than a thousand years. Some historians say through the Silk Road, Muslim traders put the name, Shilla, Korea's ancient dynasty, on the world map. To open a window into this intriguing past, the National Museum of Korea is hosting an exhibit of Persian artifacts. "Glory of Persia" showcases the history of Persia over a span of twelve centuries when it was one of the world's biggest empires. Shilla-period artifacts such as pottery and daggers show Persian influences in the form of artistic techniques...
Anatolia
Turkish Site A Neolithic 'Supernova'
	04/21/2008 3:24:52 PM PDT · by blam · 20 replies · 807+ views Washington Times | 4-21-2008 | Nicholas Birch Archaeologist Klaus Schmidt was among the first to realize the significance of the Gobekli Tepe site, which is 7,000 years older than Stonehenge. URFA, Turkey - As a child, Klaus Schmidt used to grub around in caves in his native Germany in the hope of finding prehistoric paintings. Thirty years later, as a member of the German Archaeological Institute, he found something infinitely more important: a temple complex almost twice as old as anything comparable. "This place is a supernova," said Mr. Schmidt, standing under a lone tree on...
Neanderthal / Neandertal
Neanderthals At Mealtime: Pass The Meat
	04/25/2008 6:58:54 PM PDT · by blam · 15 replies · 477+ views Discovery News | 4-23-2008 | Jennifer Viegas Neanderthals living in southwestern France 55,000 to 40,000 years ago mostly ate red meat from extinct ancestors of modern bison, cattle and horses, according to a new study on a large, worn Neanderthal tooth. The extinct hominids were not above eating every edible bit of an animal, since they were dining for survival, explained Teresa Steele, one of the study's co-authors. While a steak dinner "is probably the closest modern comparison," Steele said, "remember too that they were consuming all parts of...
Origins
Humans re-united to fight extinction
	04/25/2008 11:04:35 AM PDT · by CarrotAndStick · 52 replies · 778+ views AFP via. The Times of India | 25 Apr 2008, 1932 hrs IST | AFP Human beings for 100,000 years lived in tiny, separate groups, facing harsh conditions that brought them to the brink of extinction, before they reunited and populated the world, genetic researchers in a study said on Thursday. "Who would have thought that as recently as 70,000 years ago, extremes of climate had reduced our population to such small numbers that we were on the very edge of extinction," said paleontologist Meave Leakey, of Stony Brook University, New York. The genetic study examined for the first time the evolution of our species from its origins with "mitochondrial Eve," a female hominid...
Helix, Make Mine a Double
Study: Humans Almost Went Extinct 70,000 Years Ago
	04/24/2008 12:07:36 PM PDT · by Sopater · 66 replies · 1,364+ views Fox News | Thursday, April 24, 2008 | AP Human beings may have had a brush with extinction 70,000 years ago, an extensive genetic study suggests. The human population at that time was reduced to small isolated groups in Africa, apparently because of drought, according to an analysis released Thursday. The report notes that a separate study by researchers at Stanford University estimated the number of early humans may have shrunk as low as 2,000 before numbers began to expand again in the early Stone Age.
Study Says Near Extinction Threatened People
	04/24/2008 2:05:33 PM PDT · by blam · 52 replies · 751+ views Physorg | 4-24-2008 | RANDOLPH E. SCHMID Human beings may have had a brush with extinction 70,000 years ago, an extensive genetic study suggests. The human population at that time was reduced to small isolated groups in Africa, apparently because of drought, according to an analysis released Thursday. The report notes that a separate study by researchers at Stanford University estimated the number of early humans may have shrunk as low as 2,000 before numbers began to expand again in the early Stone Age. "This study illustrates the extraordinary power of genetics...
Prehistory and Origins
Did The Flores Hobbit Have A Root Canal?
	04/20/2008 7:35:51 PM PDT · by blam · 25 replies · 830+ views Scientific American | 4-18-2008 | Kate Wong The lower left first molar of the hobbit is claimed to have a filling -- an observation that other hobbit researchers say is refuted by this photograph. PETER BROWN University of New England And you thought Frodo had it hard. In what is shaping up to be a battle of Tolkienian proportions, the tiny remains from Flores, Indonesia -- paleoanthropology's hobbit -- have once again come under attack. Most paleoanthropologists believe that the hobbit belongs to a new species of human, Homo floresiensis. But now comes...
Baby I Hate Your Weight
Early Parents Didn't Stand For Weighty Kids
	04/23/2008 1:30:31 PM PDT · by blam · 19 replies · 462+ views Physorg | University of Manchester A volunteer carrying baby mannequin on the hip has her energy consumption measured. Credit: University of Manchester Scientists investigating the reasons why early humans -- the so-called hominins -- began walking upright say it's unlikely that the need to carry children was a factor, as has previously been suggested. Carrying babies that could no longer use their feet to cling to their parents in the way that young apes can has long been thought to be at least one explanation as to why humans became bipedal. But University of Manchester researchers investigating...
British Isles
Germanic Invaders May Not Have Ruled By Apartheid
	04/23/2008 2:49:29 PM PDT · by blam · 15 replies · 544+ views New Scientist | 4-23-2008 | Emma Young When a strong Germanic signal was discovered in the Y-chromosome of British men, geneticists at University College London suggested that enslavement and apartheid imposed by Saxon invaders was responsible. It was an idea that, given 20th-century European history, had a particular resonance. The argument is, that from AD 430 to 730, the Germanic conquerors of Britain formed an elite, with a servant underclass of native Britons. Inter-marriage was restricted, and the invaders and their genes flourished. "But it is just not necessary to...
Welcome to Sherwood!
Anglo-Saxon Mound Found In Sherwood Forest
	04/25/2008 6:26:52 PM PDT · by blam · 7 replies · 424+ views thisisnottingham.co.uk A Mysterious mound in Notts that was once thought to mark the boundary of two Anglo-Saxon kingdoms is to be investigated by historians, the Forestry Commission has said. Known as Thynghowe, the hillock was only discovered three years ago in the Birklands area of Sherwood Forest by former teacher Lynda Mallet and her husband Stuart Reddish. With their friend John Wood, the couple used an original 19th Century perambulation document to find Thynghowe, which is believed to be an ancient meeting place dating back to Viking times. Experts think...
Middle Ages and Renaissance
Viking Acquitted In 100-Year-Old Murder Mystery
	04/25/2008 4:08:07 PM PDT · by blam · 17 replies · 446+ views Yahoo News | 4-25-2008 | Alister Doyle Photo: Archaeological conservationist Brynjar Sandvoll and his co-worker Ragnar Lochen (R) study the bones of a... OSLO (Reuters) - Tests of the bones of two Viking women found in a buried longboat have dispelled 100-year-old suspicions that one was a maid sacrificed to accompany her queen into the afterlife, experts said on Friday. The bones indicated that a broken collarbone on the younger woman had been healing for several weeks -- meaning the break was not part of a ritual execution as suspected since the...
PreColumbian, Clovis, and PreClovis
How Deep Should We look For evidence Of First Americans
	04/20/2008 7:20:42 PM PDT · by blam · 21 replies · 908+ views Corsicana Daily Sun | 4-20-2008 | Bill Young Three sites in Texas have been discovered and at least partially excavated in the past 15 years yielding evidence of at least one culture older than Clovis. Most of the Clovis sites have been firmly dated to around 12,500 to 13,000 years ago. Not only did these Clovis sites yield projectile points of the very distinct Clovis type, the sites also yielded true blades and very large well- made thin preforms diagnostic of only the Clovis people. The archeologists who have worked at some of these Clovis...
Fossil Feces Push Back Earliest Date of Humans in Americas
	04/04/2008 7:47:46 AM PDT · by Malone LaVeigh · 21 replies · 660+ views Foxnews.com | April 04, 2008 New evidence shows humans lived in North America more than 14,000 years ago, 1,000 years earlier than had previously been known. Discovered in a cave in Oregon, fossil feces yielded DNA indicating these early residents were related to people living in Siberia and East Asia, according to a report in Thursday's online edition of the journal Science. "This is the first time we have been able to get dates that are undeniably human, and they are 1,000 years before Clovis," said Dennis L. Jenkins, a University of Oregon archaeologist, referring to the Clovis culture, well known for its unique spear-points...
Agriculture and Animal Husbandry
Buried Dogs Were Divine "Escorts" for Ancient Americans
	04/25/2008 7:30:07 PM PDT · by blam · 8 replies · 192+ views National Geographic News | 4-23-2008 | Anne Casselman Hundreds of prehistoric dogs found buried throughout the southwestern United States show that canines played a key role in the spiritual beliefs of ancient Americans, new research suggests. Throughout the region, dogs have been found buried with jewelry, alongside adults and children, carefully stacked in groups, or in positions that relate to important structures, said Dody Fugate, an assistant curator at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Fugate has conducted an ongoing survey of known dog burials in the...
Peru
Bandurria Is Oldest Peruvian Archaeological Site, Say Expert
	04/20/2008 7:28:12 PM PDT · by blam · 8 replies · 362+ views Andina | 4-16-2008 | Alejandro Chu The archaelogical site of Bandurria dating back 3200 BC (located in the province of Huaura, Lima) is considered the origin of ancient American civilization, said archaeologist Alejandro Chu Barrera, director of the Archaeological Project of Bandurria. "Several radiocarbon datings done in the United states confirmed that Bandurria dates back from 3200 B.C., while Caral dates from 2900", said the archaeologist. The expert mentioned that the main reason for the development of highly organized cultures along the Peruvian coast is...
Central Asia
Synchrotron Light Unveils Oil In Ancient Buddhist Paintings From Bamiyan
	04/22/2008 1:37:21 PM PDT · by blam · 5 replies · 557+ views Physorg | 4-2-2008 | European Synchrotron Radiation Facility A cross-section of the sample, where the different layers are visible. Credit: National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo (Japan) The world was in shock when in 2001 the Talibans destroyed two ancient colossal Buddha statues in the Afghan region of Bamiyan. Behind those statues, there are caves decorated with precious paintings from 5th to 9th century A.D. The caves also suffered from Taliban destruction, as well as from a severe natural environment, but today they have become the source of a major discovery. Scientists have proved, thanks to experiments...
China
Terracotta Army Has Egg On Its Face
	04/21/2008 10:04:15 PM PDT · by blam · 33 replies · 874+ views ABC News - Discovery News | 4-21-1008 | Jennifer Viegas Soldiers of China's terracotta army were once brightly painted, then preserved with an egg coating (Source: Reuters/Philippe Wojazer) China's terracotta army, a collection of 7000 soldier and horse figures in the mausoleum of the country's first emperor, was covered with beaten egg when it was made, scientists say. According to German and Italian chemists who have analysed samples from several figurines, the egg was as a binder for colourful paints, which went over a layer of lacquer. "Egg paint is normally very stable, and not...
Australia and the Pacific
Fiji Jewellery Box Find Stuns Archaeologists (Lapita People)
	04/22/2008 2:59:43 PM PDT · by blam · 14 replies · 899+ views Fiji Live | 4-22-2008 Archeologists have discovered a 3000-year-old pot in Fiji containing jewellery believed to have been made by the South Pacific's original settlers -- the Lapita people. The discovery was made by an excavation party from the Fiji-based University of the South Pacific and the Fiji Museum at Bourewa in Natadola on the Coral Coast. The dig at Bourewa, which is the earliest human settlement in Fiji, unearthed the pot and a thick piece of "exquisitely decorated pottery". The Lapita people were the first colonists of Pacific Island groups, including the eastern Solomon...
Paleontology
Tests Confirm T. Rex Kinship With Birds
	04/24/2008 11:04:30 PM PDT · by Soliton · 37 replies · 339+ views NYT | April 25, 2008 | JOHN NOBLE WILFORD In the first analysis of proteins extracted from dinosaur bones, scientists say they have established more firmly than ever that the closest living relatives of the mighty predator Tyrannosaurus rex are modern birds.
Faith and Philosophy
Film Director: Jesus Was Son of a Roman Rapist
	04/23/2008 10:36:19 PM PDT · by Aussie Dasher · 25 replies · 564+ views Newsbusters.org | 24 April 2008 | Warner Todd Huston According to The Hollywood Reporter, film director Paul Verhoeven is soon to release a book that is claimed to be a new "biography" of Jesus Christ. In this new publication, Verhoeven feels that he successfully proves that Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, was raped by a Roman soldier during the Jewish uprising in Galilee and the boy Jesus was the result of that attack. No virgin birth for Christ, but instead a rape. Verhoeven is best known as the director of the films "Basic Instinct," the Arnold Schwarzenegger film "Total Recall," as well as the spectacular flop "Showgirls." The...
Catastrophism and Astronomy
1600 Eruption Caused Global Disruption (Peruvian eruption)
	04/23/2008 11:46:31 AM PDT · by decimon · 20 replies · 655+ views UC Davis | April 23, 2008 | Unknown The 1600 eruption of Huaynaputina in Peru had a global impact on human society, according to a new study of contemporary records by geologists at UC Davis. The eruption is known to have put a large amount of sulfur into the atmosphere, and tree ring studies show that 1601 was a cold year, but no one had looked at the agricultural and social impacts, said Ken Verosub, professor of geology at UC Davis. "We knew it was a big eruption, we knew it was a cold year, and that's all we knew," Verosub said. Sulfur reacts with water in the...
Africa
Slowly-Developing Primates Definitely Not Dim-Witted
	04/21/2008 8:49:33 AM PDT · by RightWhale · 5 replies · 217+ views SPX | 21 Apr 08 | staff Some primates have evolved big brains because their extra brainpower helps them live and reproduce longer, an advantage that outweighs the demands of extra years of growth and development they spend reaching adulthood, anthropologists from Duke University and the University of Zurich have concluded in a new study. The four investigators compared key benchmarks in the development of 28 different primate species, ranging from humans living free of modern trappings in South American jungles to lemurs living in wild settings in Madagascar. "This research focused specifically on the balance between the costs and benefits...
Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles
New TB threat: Global ties bring an ancient disease to Silicon Valley
	04/20/2008 9:20:48 AM PDT · by Technoman · 33 replies · 759+ views San Jose Mercury News | 4-18-08 | Mike Swift Call it one price of globalism. Last year, tuberculosis increased in four of the Bay Area's five largest counties, and the San Jose area in 2006 had the highest TB rate of any large American metro area, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health. San Francisco, after an outbreak of TB among Latino day workers in the Mission district, has the highest TB rate of any...
Civil War
On this Day April 20: Republicans outlawed the Ku Klux Klan
	04/20/2008 5:42:38 AM PDT · by paltz · 6 replies · 312+ views GRAND OLD PARTISAN | 4/20/08 | Michael Zak For decades after the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan was the terrorist wing of the Democratic Party. Klansmen murdered hundreds of Republican activists and office-holders, including U.S. Representative James Hinds (R-Arkansas). On this day in 1871, the Republican-controlled 42nd Congress passed and the Republican President, Ulysses Grant, signed into law the Ku Klux Klan Act. The law banned the KKK and other Democrat terrorist organizations. President Grant then deployed federal troops to crush a Klan uprising in South Carolina. Eleven years later, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned most provisions of the Act. Though legalized, this original version of the...
World War Eleven
Gay Paris? Photos of Paris under Nazi occupation draw fire
	04/23/2008 7:52:53 AM PDT · by Tolkien · 42 replies · 1,699+ views Breitbart.com | 4/23/08 | Breitbart.com Photos of carefree Parisians lazing in cafes, flocking to cinemas or enjoying a day at the races during the Nazi occupation have sparked outrage in Paris and calls for the exhibit to be shut down.
Oh So Mysterioso
New footage of JFK in Dallas released
	02/19/2007 5:52:35 PM PST · by Mr. Brightside · 65 replies · 3,012+ views Yahoo | 2/19/07 Previously unreleased footage of John F. Kennedy's fateful motorcade in Dallas moments before he was gunned down was released on Monday, a surprising new detail in a saga that has gripped the United States for four decades. The silent 8mm film shows a beaming Jacqueline Kennedy close up in vivid color waving to the crowd. A group of excited bystanders -- women sporting big 1960s hairstyles -- waves to the cameraman shortly before the motorcade sweeps past. The president's coat is...
Thoroughly Modern Miscellany
5th-grader finds mistake at Smithsonian
	04/02/2008 6:12:07 PM PDT · by Hildy · 91 replies · 2,874+ views Yahoo News Is fifth-grader Kenton Stufflebeam smarter than the Smithsonian? The 11-year-old boy, who lives in Allegan but attends Alamo Elementary School near Kalamazoo, went with his family during winter break to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington.Since it opened in 1981, millions of people have paraded past the museum's Tower of Time, a display involving prehistoric time. Not one visitor had reported anything amiss with the exhibit until Kenton noticed that a notation, in bold lettering, identified the Precambrian as an era.Kenton knew that was wrong. His fifth-grade teacher, John Chapman, had nearly made the same mistake...
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