I'm getting caught up a little.
Posted on 06/19/2016 5:20:15 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Archaeologists at the University of York have undertaken pioneering scans of the highest prehistoric paintings of animals in Europe.
Studying the rock paintings of Abri Faravel, a rock shelter in the Southern French Alps 2,133m above sea level, archaeologists used car batteries to power laser and white-light scanners in a logistically complex operation.
Producing virtual models of the archaeological landscape, researchers have now published the scans in Internet Archaeology - an online, open-access journal.
Abri Faravel was discovered fortuitously in 2010. The rock shelter has seen phases of human activity from the Mesolithic to the medieval period, with its prehistoric rock paintings known to be the highest painted representations of animals (quadrupeds) in Europe.
The study of Abri Faravel and its paintings is part of a wider collaborative project between the University of York and the Centre Camille Jullian, Aix-en-Provence, France... the long-running study investigates the development of human activity over the last 8,000 years at high altitude in the Southern Alps.
Research conducted so far includes the excavation of a series of stone animal enclosures and human dwellings considered some of the most complex high altitude Bronze Age structures. Artefacts found in Abri Faravel also include Mesolithic and Neolithic flint tools, Iron Age hand-thrown pottery, a Roman fibula and some medieval metalwork.
However, the paintings are the most unique feature of the site, revealing a story of human occupation and activity in one of the world's most challenging environments from the Mesolithic to Post-Medieval period.
(Excerpt) Read more at eurekalert.org ...
The Neandertal Enigma"Frayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]
by James Shreeve
in local libraries
2,100 meters is high altitude?!
6,890 feet. Seems “high”.
I live at 5,600 feet. I would put high altitude at 10k or higher like Machu Pichu.
Machu Pichu is high altitude, but when we visited it some years ago we found out that Cusco is even higher. Had a terrible altitude headache for a day until we went down in altitude by train to Machu Pichu.
Same here. Isn't high to me until you get to 10,000 feet or over which I do on an almost weekly basis.
My first night in Cusco I ate a big steak and got sick as a dog for the next 12 hours... it was miserable!
I had spent the week prior camping in the Amazon, near Iquitos... so who knows, it could have been a combination of the altitude change and the temperature change.
God bless you, dearest SunkenCiv.
A flatlander wrote the piece.
I use Pb-Acid batteries to power some crazy very short term projects and I want to say that they are WAY TOO HEAVY to just drag around all day.
I find that high altitude starts at 8,000ft for me. For others, 5,000 ft.
I live at 8,500 ft elevation, but French alps have a lower tree line due to being farther north.
Thanks!
There are plenty of people even in the US (all west of the Miss.) who live at over a mile altitude; it's not practical for most of the human race, because of water supply, and even food supply. ("And even the government should know you can't farm at 6,000 feet above sealevel!" -- John Wayne, "McLintock!")
The practical limit of year-round 24/7 residency is something less than 8000 feet; part of the frontier between India and Pakistan has garrisoned observation bunkers, and sudden loss of ability to breathe, leading to immediate evac by air, and sometimes a quick demise, isn't all that uncommon.
Whoops, the India-Pakistan frontier is the Siachen Glacier, which is a good deal higher than that — 2.5 to 3 times higher than that, which is wtf up there. To put it into perspective, if memory serves (that’ll be the day), per the FAA pilots of hot air balloons have to be on oxygen at 8000, and all passengers have to be on oxygen at 13000. The Paki bases are around 7000 *meters* and the Indian bases at or above 8000. Holy crap.
To probably 85% or more of the population of the United States, 6400 ft is high altitude...Just because YOU live at 5600 ft doesn’t mean everyone thinks it’s not high altitude....
Anything higher than 7000 feet above sea level makes my heart pound like it is coming out of my chest. I’ll never go to the mountains again, I am a low lander. My home is 50 feet. My husband falls asleep at high elevations, I can’t fall asleep.
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