Free Republic

In southern Spain’s Cave of the Bats, starting almost 10,000 years ago, people buried their dead with stunningly crafted baskets that wouldn’t shame the finest arts and crafts markets today.Armed with elaborate baskets made of the tough local grass, the first to bury their loved ones at Cueva de los Murciélagos were hunter-gatherers in the Mesolithic (at the tail end of the Ice Age). That activity then ceased for about 2,000 years, at which point a new population appeared in the cave: early farmers of the Neolithic, who interred their dead with a different type of woven-ware – and sandals...

La Marmotta was first discovered in 1989 beneath the waters of Lake Bracciano, a Circum-Alpine Lake of volcanic origin in the Italian region of Lazio. The lake owes its origin to intense volcanic and tectonic activity, resulting in the collapse of the magma chamber that created a depressed area now occupied by the lake.During the Early Neolithic Period, a lakeshore settlement was established which today lies approximately 300 metres from the modern shoreline, submerged at a depth of 11 metres.Underwater surveys of the settlement have documented several thousand wooden piles or support posts on the lakebed; the spatial distribution of...

There are two reasons, according to Jim Adovasio, we don’t think of baskets or textiles when we think of the Stone Age. One is that stones and bones, being far more durable, are far more common at archeological sites than artifacts made of fiber... And yet it has been around a long time, as four small pieces of clay described by Adovasio this past year make clear. Found at a site called Pavlov in the Czech Republic, they are 27,000 years old--and impressed with patterns that could only have been created by woven fibers. These artifacts push back the date...

Best part of the show, I swear, is Louie Anderson. Subtle undertow of funny, he pulls it off. He has got to be channeling his mom and grandma.

Baskets Series Premiere Recap: Bakersfield Blues By Andrew Lapin Feel that dry heat in the air? Alt comedians are having a moment with Bakersfield, California. Situated midway between L.A. and the Bay Area, the inland desert region is the setting for Rick Alverson's Entertainment, a horrifying feature that follows an obnoxious comic as he performs his gimmicky stand-up act to indifferent crowds. (I liked it, but it isn't an easy sit.) Now the new FX series Baskets charts a similar character — a pretentious aspiring clown who takes a job entertaining indifferent crowds at the local rodeo. Not since Five...

Longaberger Co. revealed plans Monday to put 650 employees on work leave for six weeks. The announcement comes a week after the company cut 215 administrative jobs.The workers, who make baskets, wood crafts and basket handles at a plant in Frazeysburg, will continue to receive benefits during the furlough. Employees won't receive pay, but will be eligible for government unemployment benefits. The Newark-based basket maker said it needs to reduce its inventory, and plans to recall the workers after the six weeks. "As we begin building products to support the expected strong holiday selling period and 2005 business, we'll be...