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· Saturday, October 30, 2010 · 27 topics · 2617667 to 2613045 · 756 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 328th issue. Last week's issue may have had the incorrect date on it, should have been 10-23 rather than 10-22. |
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Posted on 07/16/2004 11:27:10 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
(Excerpt) Read more at freerepublic.com ...
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #328 Saturday, October 30, 2010 |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Paradise Lost -- And Found (Jerusalem - irrigated gardens) |
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· 10/28/2010 8:04:10 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 3 replies · · Tel Aviv University · · October 28, 2010 · · Unknown · |
TAU researchers unearth ancient water secrets at royal garden dig -- Ancient gardens are the stuff of legend, from the Garden of Eden to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with Heidelberg University in Germany, have uncovered an ancient royal garden at the site of Ramat Rachel near Jerusalem, and are leading the first full-scale excavation of this type of archaeological site anywhere in the pre-Hellenistic Levant. According to Prof. Oded Lipschits and graduate student Boaz Gross of Tel Aviv University's Department of Archaeology, this dig is an unparalleled look into the structure and function... |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Carthage unveils 'Young Man of Byrsa' |
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· 10/28/2010 9:22:49 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 15 replies · · Magharebia · · Thursday, October 21, 2010 · · Mona Yahia · |
A corpse buried on Byrsa Hill, above the Gulf of Tunis, is at the heart of a groundbreaking exhibit that opened Friday (October 15th) at the Carthage Museum... French archaeologist Jean-Paul Morel and other researchers determined that the skeleton buried five metres deep on the grounds of the Carthage Museum was that of a young man in the prime of life, aged between 19 and 24 years old. His bones were more than 2,500 years old. He died sometime in the 6th century BC... The re-building process lasted 16 years... Ziad, an employee in the Ministry of Culture, said: "I... |
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| The Phoenicians | |
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| Replica Phoenician ship ends round-Africa journey (Video) |
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· 10/24/2010 2:39:43 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 23 replies · · BBC · · October 24, 2010 · · Lina Sinjab · |
The replica of a Phoenician ship from 600BC has arrived home in western Syria after a two-year voyage circumnavigating the coast of Africa. |
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| Epigraphy & Language | |
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| Hunting for the Dawn of Writing, When Prehistory Became History |
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· 10/30/2010 7:17:25 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · · New York Times · · October 19, 2010 · · Geraldine Fabrikant · |
One of the stars of the Oriental Institute's new show, "Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond," is a clay tablet that dates from around 3200 B.C. On it, written in cuneiform, the script language of ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia, is a list of professions, described in small, repetitive impressed characters that look more like wedge-shape footprints than what we recognize as writing. In fact "it is among the earliest examples of writings that we know of so far," according to the institute's director, Gil J. Stein, and it provides insights into the life of... |
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| Africa | |
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| Papyrus Research Provides Insights into the "Modern Concerns' of the Ancient World |
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· 10/29/2010 7:14:34 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 6 replies · · University of Cincinnati · · October 29, 2010 · · M.B. Reilly · |
A University of Cincinnati-based journal devoted to research on papyri is due out Nov. 1. That research sheds light on an ancient world with surprisingly modern concerns: including hoped-for medical cures, religious confusion and the need for financial safeguards. What's old is new again. That's the lesson that can be taken from the University of Cincinnati-based journal, "Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists," due out Nov. 1. The annually produced journal, edited since 2006 by Peter van Minnen, UC associate professor of classics, features the most prestigious global research on papyri, a field of study known as papyrology. (Papyrology... |
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| Prehistory and Origins | |
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| Bulgarian Archaeologists Stumble Upon 8000-Year-Old Skeleton |
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· 10/28/2010 4:39:00 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 9 replies · · Novinite · · October 24, 2010 · · Unknown · |
Bulgarian archaeologists clearing a plot for highway construction have come across a Neolithic home and a skeleton date back to 6000 BC. The Neolithic Age home was discovered close to the village of Krum in the Haskovo District by the team of archaeologist Boris Borisov, who are excavating a plot designated for the construction of the Maritsa Highway going to the Turkish border. |
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| Anatolia | |
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| Armenian archeologists: 5,900-year-old skirt found |
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· 10/28/2010 9:13:30 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 25 replies · · Washington Post · · Tuesday, October 26, 2010 · · Associated Press · |
YEREVAN, Armenia -- An Armenian archaeologist says that scientists have discovered a skirt that could be 5,900-year-old. Pavel Avetisian, the head of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography in Yerevan, said a fragment of skirt made of reed was found during recent digging in the Areni-1 cave in southeastern Armenia. Avetisian told Tuesday's news conference in the Armenian capital that the find could be one of the world's oldest piece of reed clothing. Earlier excavation in the same location has produced what researchers believe is a 5,500-year-old shoe, making it the oldest piece of leather footwear known to researchers. Boris... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| U of Fla research provides new understanding of bizarre extinct mammal |
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· 10/27/2010 4:45:47 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 27 replies · · EurekAlert · · Monday, October 11, 2010 · · Ben Norman · |
University of Florida researchers presenting new fossil evidence of an exceptionally well-preserved 55-million-year-old North American mammal have found it shares a common ancestor with rodents and primates, including humans. The study published today in the online edition of the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, describes the cranial anatomy of the extinct mammal, Labidolemur kayi. High resolution CT scans of the specimens allowed researchers to study minute details in the skull, including bone structures smaller than one-tenth of a millimeter. Similarities in bone features with other mammals show L. kayi's living relatives are rodents, rabbits, flying lemurs, tree shrews and primates.... |
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| Biochemistry | |
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| Phosphorus identified as the missing link in evolution of animals |
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· 10/28/2010 3:32:11 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 32 replies · · University of Alberta · · October 28, 2010 · · Unknown · |
A University of Alberta geomicrobiologist and his PhD student are part of a research team that has identified phosphorus as the mystery ingredient that pushed oxygen levels in the oceans high enough to establish the first animals on Earth 750 million years ago. By examining ancient-ocean sediments, Kurt Konhauser, student Stefan Lalonde and other colleagues discovered that as the last glacier to encircle Earth receded, leaving behind glacial debris containing phosphorus that washed into the oceans. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient that promoted the growth of cyanobacteria, or blue-green-algae, and its metabolic byproduct is oxygen. The new, higher oxygen levels... |
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| Neandertal / Neanderthal | |
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| Neanderthal Children Were Large, Sturdy |
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· 10/25/2010 8:16:27 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 21 replies · · Discovery News 'blogs · · Tuesday, October 19, 2010 · · Jennifer Viegas · |
The remains of this infant -- a lower jaw and teeth unearthed in a Belgian cave -- are the youngest Neanderthal ever found in northwest Europe, according to a study that will appear in the Journal of Human Evolution. Since the remains of two adults were also previously discovered in the cave, the fossil collection may represent a Neanderthal family. If the trio said "cheese" for a family portrait, their smiles would have been hard to miss, since Neanderthal front teeth were larger than those for modern humans. When the infant died, "he already possessed Neanderthal characteristics, notably a strong... |
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| Multiregionalism | |
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| Modern humans emerged far earlier than previously thought (China) |
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· 10/25/2010 2:06:23 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 22 replies · · Washington U in St. Louis · · October 25, 2010 · · Unknown · |
An international team of researchers based at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, including a physical anthropology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, has discovered well-dated human fossils in southern China that markedly change anthropologists perceptions of the emergence of modern humans in the eastern Old World. The research was published Oct. 25 in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The discovery of early modern human fossil remains in the Zhirendong (Zhiren Cave) in south China that are at least 100,000 years old provides the earliest evidence for the... |
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| Primacy | |
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| Libyan find suggests earlier ancestors came from Asia |
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· 10/27/2010 1:15:20 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 38 replies · · AFP · · October 27, 2010 · · Unknown · |
PARIS (AFP) -- Ancient fossilized teeth of small anthropoid monkeys discovered in Libya suggest our earliest ancestors may have migrated from Asia to Africa, research published Wednesday showed. The origin of anthropoids -- primates including monkeys, apes and humans -- has long been a source of hot debate among palaeontologists. Experts have long argued anthropoids first appeared in Africa -- but recent studies suggest an earlier Asian origin, dating 55 million years ago. Now new fossils, dating 38 to 39 million years ago and discovered in Dur At-Talah in central Libya, further complicate the debate. They reveal the existence of... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Wild Scottish sheep could help explain differences in immunity |
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· 10/28/2010 5:32:18 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 17 replies · · Princeton University · · October 28, 2010 · · Kitta MacPherson · |
Strong immunity may play a key role in determining long life, but may do so at the expense of reduced fertility, a Princeton University study has concluded. An 11-year study of a population of wild sheep located on a remote island off the coast of Scotland that gauged the animals' susceptibility to infection may give new insight into why some people get sicker than others when exposed to the same illness. The answer to this medical puzzle may lie in deep-rooted differences in how animals survive and reproduce in the wild, according to the study, which was led by Princeton... |
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| Scotland Yet | |
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| Secret of Scotland's Shrinking Sheep Solved |
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· 07/04/2009 2:18:03 PM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 41 replies · 2,487+ views · · ScienceNOW Daily News · · 2 July 2009 · · Nayanah Siva · |
Slimming down. Sheep on the remote Scottish isle of Hirta have been getting smaller.Credit: A. Ozgul/Science Call it the case of the shrinking sheep. On the remote Scottish island of Hirta, sheep have been getting smaller, shrinking an average of 5% over the last 24 years. Don't blame evolution, though. Researchers say climate change is the real culprit. The Hirta sheep belong to a breed known as Soay, after the remote Scottish island where they arose. One of the most primitive forms of domestic sheep, Soays first came to Hirta in 1932. Because Hirta is a remote island,... |
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| Climate | |
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| Climate change shrinks wild sheep: scientists |
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· 07/02/2009 4:12:57 PM PDT · · Posted by NormsRevenge · · 36 replies · 986+ views · · AFP on Yahoo · · 7/2/09 · |
PARIS (AFP) -- Climate change has caused a flock of wild sheep on a remote northern Scottish island to become smaller, according to an unusual investigation published on Thursday. The study explains a mystery that has bedevilled scientists for the past two years. The wild Soay sheep live on Hirta, in the St. Kilda archipelago in the storm-battered Outer Hebrides, and have been closely studied for nearly a quarter of a century. The law of evolutionary theory says the brown, thick-coated ungulates should have got progressively bigger. Tough winters mean that bigger sheep have a better chance of survival and... |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| Smithsonian does not dispute authenticity of archaeological find in Vero Beach [13K old] |
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· 10/26/2010 8:40:44 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 25 replies · · Indian River County · · Wednesday, October 20, 2010 · · Elliott Jones · |
The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., has found no reason to dispute the authenticity of an one-of-a-kind archaeological discovery that might help confirm a human presence here up to 13,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age. In early 2009, local fossil collector James Kennedy cleaned off an old bone he found two years earlier and noticed some lines on it -- lines that turned out to be a clear etching of a walking mammoth with tusks. The location where he found it hasn't been disclosed, except that it came from an area north of Vero Beach.... |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis & PreClovis | |
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| PBS Special Last Night |
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· 10/26/2010 5:30:22 AM PDT · · Posted by SMARTY · · 34 replies · · 10-26 10 · · Me · |
Was anyone else able to catch the PBS program last night about the history of Indian wars in the American and Midwest? I missed a lot of it, but saw enough to make some observations. The art direction was spectacular!! However, the program was grinding the same old ax. America is awful and has no right to exist. Period. I mean, it was a perfect laundry list of all the evils of civilization! Of course, Native Americans were entirely blameless and the unqualified textbook image of the noble savage... far above the crude brutality of white settlers and the military.... |
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| Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles | |
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| Scientists: Columbus Did Not Introduce Syphilis to Europe |
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· 10/26/2010 3:54:58 PM PDT · · Posted by MinorityRepublican · · 25 replies · · AOL · |
(Oct. 26) -- Christopher Columbus has been blamed for instituting slavery in the New World and setting the stage for centuries of bloody conquest. But new evidence might help clear his name in at least one way: Researchers say they now have proof that the famed explorer didn't introduce syphilis to Europe. After making landfall on a number of Caribbean islands -- and changing the course of history in the process -- Columbus and his crew returned to Spain in 1493. Two years later, the first documented case of syphilis was reported in Europe, leading some experts to hypothesize that... |
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| Skeleton dating clears Columbus of importing syphilis to Europe |
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· 10/25/2010 5:12:35 AM PDT · · Posted by Palter · · 17 replies · · The Australian · · 25 Oct 2010 · · Jack Malvern · |
The question of whether Christopher Columbus and his crew were responsible for bringing syphilis to Europe from the Americas appears to have been answered by the discovery of a collection of knobbly skeletons in a London cemetery. A popular theory among experts in tropical diseases is that outbreaks of syphilis in the mid-1490s were a direct result of Columbus and his randy crew returning from their first voyage across the Atlantic in 1492-93. However, the largest excavation of skeletons undertaken in Britain has unearthed seven that suggest the disease was known in England up to two centuries before that. Archaeologists... |
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| Pages | |
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| Famous style of Jane Austen may not be hers after all |
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· 10/26/2010 8:50:39 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 22 replies · · PhysOrg · · Monday, October 25, 2010 · · Oxford University · |
The polished prose of Emma and Persuasion was the product of an interventionist editor, an Oxford University academic has found. Professor Kathryn Sutherland of the Faculty of English Language and Literature made the discovery while studying a collection of 1,100 original handwritten pages of Austen's unpublished writings for the Jane Austen Fiction Manuscripts Digital Edition. The project, led by Professor Sutherland in collaboration with the Bodleian Libraries, King's College London and the British Library with funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council has reunited in a free-to-access online archive all Jane Austen's handwritten fiction manuscripts for the very first... |
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| Middle Ages & Renaissance | |
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| Royal Blood May Be Hidden Inside Decorated Gourd |
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· 10/26/2010 9:07:27 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 21 replies · · Discovery News · · Monday, October 25, 2010 · · Jennifer Viegas · |
The gourd, originally used to store gunpowder, was extensively decorated on the outside with a flame tool. Burned into its surface is the text: "Maximilien Bourdaloue on January 21st, dipped his handkerchief in the blood of Louis XVI after his beheading. It is described in contemporaneous accounts that there was a lot of blood in the scaffold after the beheading and that, in fact, many people went there to dip their handkerchiefs in the blood," Carles Lalueza-Fox, lead author of the study and a researcher at Spain's Institute of Evolutionary Biology, told Discovery News. The handkerchief is now missing from... |
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| The Revolution | |
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| Today in History October 26th 1774 Minute Men organized in the American colonies |
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· 10/26/2010 5:38:55 PM PDT · · Posted by mdittmar · · 7 replies · · Minute Man National Historical Park · · October 26th 2010 · · nps.gov · |
Why were the colonial soldiers called†minute men? According to Massachusetts colonial law, all able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 60 were required to keep a serviceable firearm and serve in a part-time citizen army called the militia. Their†duty was to defend the colony against her enemies; chiefly the Indians and the French. The colonial militia sometimes fought side by side with British soldiers, particularly during the last French and Indian War in the 1750's and early 60's. However, as a result of the mounting tensions between Great Britain and her American colonies, that would soon change. In October... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| Extraordinary X-rays show how 150-year-old dolls were used to smuggle drugs during U.S. Civil War |
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· 10/28/2010 10:28:43 AM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 24 replies · · dailymail. · · 28th October 2010 · |
Two 150-year-old dolls have been x-rayed in a bid to discover if they were used by Confederate soldiers to smuggle medical supplies past Union blockades during the U.S. Civil War. It is thought the large dolls - Nina and Lucy Ann - had their hollowed out papier-mache heads stuffed with quinine or morphine for wounded and malaria-stricken Confederate troops. The Union blockade lasted from 1861 until 1865 and was intended to thwart the delivery of weapons, soldiers and supplies such as medicine to the South.... |
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| This Day in Civil War History October 23rd, 1864 Battle of Westport, Missouri |
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· 10/23/2010 5:12:50 AM PDT · · Posted by mainepatsfan · · 7 replies · · History.com · |
Oct 23, 1864: Battle of Westport, Missouri Confederate General Sterling Price's raid on Missouri nearly turns into disaster when his army is pinned between two Union forces at Westport, near Kansas City. Although outnumbered two to one, Price managed to slip safely away after the Battle of Westport, which was the biggest battle west of the Mississippi River. Price's six-week raid on Missouri was intended to capture a state that had been firmly in Union hands during much of the war. Price hoped to divert attention from the East, where Confederate armies had not done well in the late summer... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| The 'Green' Economy of the Third Reich |
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· 10/28/2010 1:45:44 PM PDT · · Posted by Olympiad Fisherman · · 30 replies · · Accuracy in Media · · 10/28/2010 · · Mark Musser · |
The Nazis, of course, needed money to fund their national regeneration program. With a very fragile German economy to draw from, they were thus forced to make some important concessions to big business and industry that many Nazis considered a betrayal of their values. Moreover, the Nazi economy was flying by the seat of its pants throughout the 1930's and 40's. Nazi hatred for international Jewish capitalism placed them on a suicidal path of national autarky, economic isolation and destruction. Weighed down with war reparations, a weak economy, and lacking natural resources that had to be imported from abroad, the... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Researcher: US Planned "New Finland" for Refugees in Alaska |
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· 10/23/2010 9:32:31 AM PDT · · Posted by Viiksitimali · · 18 replies · · Yle News · · 23.10.2010 · · Yle · |
In 1940, the United States considered the possibility of settling Finnish refugees from the Winter War in Alaska, according to Lecturer Henry Oinas-Kukkonen of the University of Oulu. Finnish children being evacuated during the Winter War. Image: Museovirasto Speaking at a historical research conference in Jyväskylä on Friday, Oinas-Kukkonen said that the proposal was intended to be carried out if the Soviet Union had conquered Finland. In early 1940, he says, US officials were preparing to set up an "American Finland" in the northernmost state. The US Department of the Interior drew up several proposals to allow Finnish refugees to... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| Mysterious 'Time Traveler' Spotted in Charlie Chaplin Film |
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· 10/27/2010 2:22:23 PM PDT · · Posted by fishtank · · 239 replies · · Fox 43 · · fishtank · |
HOLLYWOOD -- 33 years after his death, a 1928 film clip from a Charlie Chaplin movie premier that appears to show a woman talking on a cell phone is sparking debate and controversy. .... more at link |
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| end of digest #328 20101030 | |
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· Saturday, October 30, 2010 · 27 topics · 2617667 to 2613045 · 756 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 328th issue. Last week's issue may have had the incorrect date on it, should have been 10-23 rather than 10-22. |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #329 Saturday, November 6, 2010 |
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| Agriculture & Animal Husbandry | |
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| Historical find at Leighton Buzzard golf course |
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· 11/05/2010 7:01:42 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 12 replies · · BBC · · Thursday, November 4, 2010 · · unattributed · |
An archaeological treasure has been unearthed on a golf course in Bedfordshire. A quern stone was found by greenkeepers at Leighton Buzzard golf course as they dug out a new tee... Quern stones were used for grinding corn before the introduction of mill stones, but despite this, it's not actually that common to find one. "Apparently only three have ever been discovered in the south of England so it is quite rare" said Mr Bagshawe, "and even rarer to find one that is completely intact. "It's in very good condition" he added. "You can still see the marks that... |
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| Roman Empire | |
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| Pompeii's Mystery Horse Is a Donkey |
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· 11/03/2010 8:28:09 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 12 replies · · Softpedia · · Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010 · · Smaranda Biliuti · |
Back in 2004, when academics unearthed skeletons found at a house in the ancient Roman town that was covered in ashes in 79 AD, they thought it belonged to an extinct breed of horse... What happened really was that there seems to have been a mix-up in the lab, which led to horse DNA being combined with donkey DNA, creating an artificial hybrid that actually never existed. Six years ago, the skeletons of equids having belonged to a rich Roman household in Pompeii were analyzed. There were found in the stables of a probably wealthy politician, and all five of... |
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| Rome Will Kick Your Butt--TV Series |
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· 11/04/2010 3:02:22 PM PDT · · Posted by BruceDeitrickPrice · · 35 replies · · American Chronicle · · Oct 30, 2010 · · Bruce Deitrick Price · |
(Television series proposal, submitted to History Channel, Discovery Channel, A&E, Learning Channel, Disney, et al, by Word-Wise Productions.) Marketing context: American public education has been dumbed down, neutered, rendered dull and boring. Little is taught. One thing especially is not taught. History. There is thus an unfed hunger for History real, raw, and revelatory. Everything that makes children and adults love History has been eliminated from History. Starting in the 1920s, progressive educators used a gimmick called Social Studies to constrict the teaching of History. Less was taught, and taught in a less interesting way. Throughout the 20th century History... |
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| Tooltime | |
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| Stone Age DIY: How Neolithic man decorated his house with homemade paint |
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· 10/30/2010 8:58:38 PM PDT · · Posted by fightinJAG · · 21 replies · · Daily Mail (U.K.) · · Oct. 30, 2010 · · Staff · |
Neolithic men were house-proud people who enjoyed doing DIY, new research has revealed. Archaeologists have unearthed evidence that shows our ancestors from 5,000 years ago painted the insides of their Stone Age homes to brighten the place up. As well as |
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| How 5000 yr old Neolithic men painted their homes |
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· 11/01/2010 10:04:51 AM PDT · · Posted by Cardhu · · 14 replies · · archaeology daily · · Oct 31st 2010 · · Staff · |
New Kerala A new research has revealed that our ancestors from 5,000 years ago painted their homes to brighten up their places too. They used red, yellow and orange pigments from ground-up minerals and bound it with animal fat and eggs to make their paint, the new study from a Stone Age settlement on the island of Orkney revealed. Several stones used to form the buildings painted and decorated by the locals in about 3,000 BC, most probably to to enhance important buildings and may have been found in entranceways or areas of the building, which had particular significance. "We... |
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| Scotland Yet | |
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| Digger finds Neolithic tomb complex (Orkney Islands) |
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· 10/31/2010 7:12:56 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 22 replies · · BBC · · October 31, 2010 · · Unknown · |
Archaeologists on Orkney are investigating what is thought to be a 5,000-year-old tomb complex. A local man stumbled on the site while using a mechanical digger for landscaping. It appears to contain a central passageway and multiple chambers excavated from rock. There is a large neolithic burial complex nearby called The Tomb of the Eagles where over 300 bodies were found. "Potentially these skeletons could tell us so much about Neolithic people," said Orkney Islands Council archaeologist Julie Gibson. "Not only in relation to their deaths, but their lives." |
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| British Isles | |
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| Bronze Age hoard found intact in Essex field |
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· 10/31/2010 7:07:59 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 13 replies · · BBC · · October 31, 2010 · · Unknown · |
Archaeologists have unearthed a collection of Bronze Age axe heads, spear tips and other 3,000-year-old metal objects buried in an Essex field.The items include an intact pottery container with heavy contents which has been removed undisturbed. The materials are now at a local museum where archaeologists hope to uncover new insights into Bronze Age Britain. "This is a really exciting find," said local archaeologist Laura McLean. "To find a hoard still located in its Bronze Age context, below the level of ploughed soil, is very rare. The fact that there is pottery involved makes the find even more unusual." The... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| Archaeologists find pre-historic migrants |
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· 11/02/2010 8:32:39 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 3 replies · · Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard · · Thursday, October 28, 2010 · · Jeff Berliner · |
Expert analysis has shed new light on the history of Cirencester. Scientists have examined the teeth of human remains found during an archeological dig. They believe the people were not local, but had travelled here from the far south-west -- probably Devon or Cornwall. Also, they lived here before the Romans arrived in the early first century BC. "This is of great regional significance, and it will generate national interest", said Edward Biddulph, senior project manager with Oxford Archaeology which conducted the dig. Mr Biddulph gave details of his find in a talk o Cirencester Archaeological and Historical Society at... |
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| Anatolia | |
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| Ancient settlements discovered in Azerbaijan's Shaki and Gakh |
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· 10/31/2010 7:44:51 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 9 replies · · Azerbaijan News · · Tuesday, October 19, 2010 · · APA · |
A group of archeologists discovered five ancient settlements. A group of archeologists of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences discovered five ancient settlements in the territory of Shaki and Gakh regions of Azerbaijan, head of the archeological expedition Nasib Mukhtarov said. He said the winter settlements discovered in Shaki and Gakh were allegedly founded in the period from 2nd millennium AC until 3rd century AD. Traces of the Gakh settlements were discovered in the territory of a former collective farm. Ceramics and potteries were found there. The archeologists also found ruins of a stone building in one of settlements.... |
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| The Phoenicians | |
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| Ancient tombs discovered on school construction site |
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· 11/02/2010 8:07:04 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 5 replies · · Times of Malta · · Saturday, October 30, 2010 · · Kurt Sansone · |
A group of ancient tombs dating back to the Punic period were discovered during excavation works for the construction of a new primary school at the Archbishop's Seminary in Tal-Virtù... According to Nathaniel Cutajar from the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, the discovery is of "great scientific interest" and "confirms the archaeological importance" of the Tal-Virtù area in Rabat. The superintendence is responsible for all scientific investigation of cultural assets, including archaeological excavations. An investigation of the discovery is under way by its team of archaeologists. The Archbishop's Seminary has a planning permit to build a primary school extension to its... |
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| Sardinia | |
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| Neolithic necropolis under threat in Sardinia |
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· 10/31/2010 7:56:43 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 4 replies · · StonePages · · Saturday, October 30, 2010 · · unattributed · |
Based on a recent site visit by an international team of specialists, including rock-art expert George Nash from the Dept.of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol, and conservation archaeologist Jayne Pilkington, it was clear that certain basic protocols enshrined into the Valetta Convention have been violated by Italian authorities. Furthermore, nothing had been considered for the long-term conservation of this and other nearby Neolithic burial-ritual sites, including Tomb No.3 (Tomb of the Spirals) at the Necropolis of Sa Pala Larga which was in an advanced state of deterioration. In addition to in-filling the entrance of the main tomb, the Italian... |
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| Cyprus | |
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| Archaeologists uncover early Neolithic activity on Cyprus |
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· 11/02/2010 8:57:57 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 5 replies · · Cornell Chronicle · · Wednesday, October 20, 2010 · · Daniel Aloi · |
Cornell archaeologists are helping to rewrite the early prehistory of human civilization on Cyprus, with evidence that hunter-gatherers began to form agricultural settlements on the island half a millennium earlier than previously believed... professor of classics Sturt Manning, director of Cornell's archaeology program... "Up until two decades ago, nobody thought anybody had gone to Cyprus before about 8,000 years ago, and the island was treated as irrelevant to the development of the Neolithic in the Near East," Manning said. "Then Alan Simmons (now at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas) discovered a couple of sites that seemed to suggest Epipaleolithic... |
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| Chinese Neolithic | |
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| The Reappearance of Yangshao? Reflections on unmourned artifacts |
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· 11/01/2010 7:17:10 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 5 replies · · China Heritage Quarterly · · September 2010 · · Magnus Fiskesjo · |
The first excavations of Yangshao cultural remains in the 1920s inaugurated the modern discipline of archaeology in China. The recent documentary film Cutting Through the Fog of History: The Re-appearance of the Yangshao Cultural Relics[1] is one of the first Chinese attempts in many years to address the mysterious disappearance, possibly during World War II, of many of the artifacts uncovered in the course of these excavations. In comparison with the seemingly never-ending flood of both science and fiction writings on the lost Peking Man remains, which also vanished during China's war with Japan,[2] it is curious that comparatively little... |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, & PreClovis | |
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| Ancient Inca tomb found in Kuelap |
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· 11/02/2010 8:37:09 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 2 replies · · Andina (Peru) · · Thursday, October 28, 2010 · · VVS/JOT/PSY/RMB · |
A large tomb dating from ancient Inca times was found in the southern sector of Pueblo Alto of Kuelap fortress, located in the department of Amazonas, director of restoration and conservation Alfredo Narvaez announced. He told Andina that in the vicinity of the tomb, of which excavation ended on Monday, fine ceramic offerings from the Tahuantinsuyo (Inca Empire) were also found, which apparently were taken there from Cusco. "This tomb has an unusual dimension and was sealed by a thick stuffing. As we were cleaning, we run into materials that we had never found before in other structures of... |
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| Archaeologists Hunt Grave Robbers In AZ Backcountry |
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· 11/05/2010 11:53:54 AM PDT · · Posted by nickcarraway · · 20 replies · · KPHO · · November 5, 2010 · · Morgan Loew · |
Looters Increase Activity During Bad Economy Grave robbers are looting Arizona's historic ruins at an alarming rate, according to archaeologists and investigators with the Tonto National Forest. "What they're doing out here is disrupting and in most cases destroying human remains while they're seeking out pots to sell," said Scott Wood, an archaeologist for the Tonto National Forest. Wood brought a CBS 5 News team to the scene of one of the most recent lootings. The site is known as Mud Springs Ruins and was inhabited by the people known as the Hohokam 700 years ago. At the center of... |
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| Egypt | |
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| Amenhotep III & sun god Re-Horakhti statue unearthed at pharaoh's funerary temple in Luxor |
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· 11/05/2010 7:21:59 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 1 replies · · Heritage Key · · Thursday, November 4, 2010 · · Ann Wuyts · |
Archaeologists today discovered the upper portion of a statue of Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III at Luxor, Egypt. The find -- part of a double statue featuring King Amenhotep III with the falcon-headed sun god Re-Horakhti -- was made at the pharaoh's funerary temple, located on the west bank of the Nile. In a press statement, Egypt's Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosny said that the discovery was made during routine excavations at Amenhotep III's mortuary temple carried out by the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA)... Previously, the SCA mission already unearthed a double statue of the pharoah and the god Amun,... |
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| Primacy | |
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| Early humans 'more promiscuous and competitive' than modern-day man |
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· 11/03/2010 5:02:12 PM PDT · · Posted by Cardhu · · 77 replies · · Daily Mail · · October 3rd 2010 · · David Derbyshire · |
They are rarely held up as examples of refined, gentle behaviour. Now scientists have found evidence that cavemen really were the violent and competitive knuckleheads depicted in movies and cartoons. A study of fossilised remains suggests that our ancient ancestors had far higher levels of the male sex hormone testosterone than people living today. If the findings are confirmed, it means they were more aggressive and promiscuous than modern men - and that tens of thousands of years of evolution have had a civilising influence on the human race. The study was carried out by British and Canadian scientists who... |
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| Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles | |
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| New study re-examines bacterial vaccine studies conducted during 1918 influenza pandemic |
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· 11/02/2010 9:03:47 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 3 replies · · NIH · · November 2, 2010 · · Unknown · |
WHAT: Secondary infections with bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, which causes pneumonia, were a major cause of death during the 1918 flu pandemic and may be important in modern pandemics as well, according to a new article in the Journal of Infectious Diseases co-authored by David M. Morens, M.D., senior advisor to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. The researchers examined 13 studies published between 1918 and 1920. During this time, many scientists erroneously believed that influenza was caused by bacteria, not a virus. As a result, researchers... |
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| Climate | |
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| Atlantic Ocean's Waters Reversed Direction, Study Finds |
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· 11/03/2010 4:57:50 PM PDT · · Posted by NormsRevenge · · 31 replies · · LiveScience.com · · 11/3/10 · · Charles Q. Choi · |
Although it's said that still waters run deep, now scientists find that deep waters aren't still - in fact, the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean seem to have reversed their direction of flow since the last time ice dominated the Earth. Instead of heading southward as they do now, these abyssal waters once flowed northward roughly 20,000 years ago, back when the world saw ice sheets more than a mile high, a new study suggests. The change in flow could have accompanied profound changes in climate, researchers explained. Climate connection In the Atlantic, the Gulf Stream brings warm surface... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| Scientist describes toothy microfossils |
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· 11/01/2010 5:09:52 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 13 replies · · PhysOrg · · October 29, 2010 · · Unknown · |
They had rows of sharp, interlocking conical teeth that, while not affixed to a jaw like we know, would rake prey into their mouths kind of like the creature in the movie "Alien." Though scientists have long known about conodonts from their fossilized teeth, Texas Tech University graduate student Nicole Peavey said only recently have scientists begun to understand these enigmatic and relatively successful creatures. She will discuss them and how recent findings may require new names for different species at a poster session Monday (Nov. 1) at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver. "Conodonts... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| DNA reveals identity of Passenger Pigeon |
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· 10/31/2010 5:11:44 AM PDT · · Posted by Palter · · 47 replies · · Birdwatch · · 30 Oct 2010 · · Birdwatch · |
The extinct Passenger Pigeon, once the most numerous bird species in the world, has had its closest living relatives identified by DNA extracted from museum specimens.The Passenger Pigeon was a forest nomad, breeding in vast colonies and following sporadic crops of acorns and chestnuts around the dense deciduous forests of the eastern and central United States. the forests were once so vast that they could support tens of millions of the birds, which were known to form flocks so huge that they darkened the sky when dispersing. This made them easy prey for hunters' guns, and the greed and over-exploitation... |
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| Middle Ages & Renaissance | |
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| Remember, Remember the 5th of November ... |
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· 11/05/2010 10:46:48 AM PDT · · Posted by NEWwoman · · 8 replies · · smithsk.blogspot.com · · November 2, 2010 · · S K Smith · |
REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER Remember, remember the fifth of November Gunpowder, treason and plot I see no reason why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot .... (Traditional English Rhyme - 17th Century) Okay. What is this all about? For starters - "Remember Remember" refers to Guy Fawkes from 17th century English history. On the night of November 4, 1605, Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament with several dozen barrels of gunpowder. If this Gunpowder Plot had succeeded, King James I could have been assassinated as well as many in the House of... |
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| The Revolution | |
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| US 9th Rep. Steve Cohen: George Washington & Thomas Jefferson Were Career Politicians |
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· 10/31/2010 11:28:59 AM PDT · · Posted by GailA · · 53 replies · · wreg · · 10/30/10 · · N/A · |
Steve Cohen, who greeted voters at a Democratic event several blocks away in Midtown, said that he had in fact been a part of historic bills to give people tax breaks, not tax hikes. "We voted on the largest tax breaks in United States history in the 111th Congress. In fact, the stimulus bill was 40 percent tax breaks. There have been more tax breaks for 95 percent of the citizens of the middle class," Cohen said. Cohen is not knocking on doors this weekend, but is still passing out his signature buttons that he said he likes to collect.... |
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| Early Java | |
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| Archaeologist creates a field guide to coffee cans |
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· 11/04/2010 6:47:13 AM PDT · · Posted by skeptoid · · 16 replies · · University of Alaska Fairbanks · · Nov 2, 2010 · · Ned Rozell · |
The year is 1905. You are a prospector in Alaska relaxing in your cabin after a chilly day of working the tailings pile. Craving a cup of joe, you pull a tin of coffee off the shelf. Though you can't imagine it, that distinctive red can, the one you will later use for your precious supply of nails, will long outlive you. And it will give an archaeologist a good idea of when you made your Alaska home. The coffee was Hills Bros. The can was vacuum-sealed. |
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| The General | |
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| Today In History, November 2,1783 General George Washington bids farewell to his army |
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· 11/02/2010 1:50:25 PM PDT · · Posted by mdittmar · · 3 replies · · Papers of George Washington · · November 2,2010 · · General George Washington · |
Genll Washington's Farewell Orders issued to the Armies of the United States of America the 2d day of Novr 1783--Rocky Hill, near Princeton, The United States in Congress assembled, after giving the most honorable testimony to the Merits of the Federal Armies, and presenting them with the thanks of their Country for their long, eminent and faithful Services, having thought proper, by their Proclamation bearing date the 18th day of October last, to discharge such part of the Troops as were engaged for the War, and to permit the Officers on Furlough to retire from Service from and after tomorrow,... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| Professor Exposes Federally Funded Revisionist History Conference |
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· 11/01/2010 6:22:43 PM PDT · · Posted by combat_boots · · 38 replies · · The Blaze · · 1 Nov 2010 · · Meredith Jessup · |
In July, the (NEH) sponsored a workshop on "History and Commemoration: The Legacies of the Pacific War in WWII" for college professors in Hawaii. Professor Penelope Blake, a veteran professor of Humanities at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Ill., was one of 25 American scholars chosen to attend the workshop, but was reportedly disheartened to find the conference "driven by an overt political bias and a blatant anti-American agenda." Professor Blake is now reportedly calling on Congress to implement better oversight over the NEH. In a letter addressed directly to her Illinois congressman, Rep. Don Manzullo, Blake documents conference details... |
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| Pages | |
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| History and its woes: How Stalin and Hitler enabled each other's crimes (Review of "Bloodlands") |
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· 11/05/2010 12:44:33 PM PDT · · Posted by mojito · · 11 replies · · The Economist · · 10/14/2010 · · Unattributed · |
Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. By Timothy Snyder. Basic Books; 524 pages. IN THE middle of the 20th century Europe's two totalitarian empires, Nazi Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union, killed 14m non-combatants, in peacetime and in war. The who, why, when, where and how of these mass murders is the subject of a gripping and comprehensive new book by Timothy Snyder of Yale University. The term coined in the book's title encapsulates the thesis. The "bloodlands" are the stretch of territory from the Baltic to the Black Sea where Europe's most murderous regimes did their most murderous work. The... |
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| Do Students Care About History? |
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· 11/05/2010 4:29:13 PM PDT · · Posted by combat_boots · · 14 replies · · History News Network · · 2001 · · By Anders Henriksson · |
Mr. Henriksson is Professor of History at Shepherd College and author of Non Campus Mentis: 569 Mangled Moments of Western Civilization from Today's "Brightest" College Kids (New York: Workman, 2001). Civilization woozed out of the Nile about 300,000 years ago...Old Testament profits include Moses, Amy, and Confucius...Plato invented reality...During the Dark Ages it was mostly dark...Machiavelli wrote The Prince to get a job with Richard Nixon...Spinning Jenny was a young girl forced to work more than 40 hours a day...Westward expansion ended at Custard's Last Stand...Few were surprised when the National League failed to prevent another world war....Hitler, who had... |
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| Not-So-Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Book paints escape-artist Houdini as spy |
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· 10/28/2006 2:42:26 PM PDT · · Posted by NormsRevenge · · 19 replies · 828+ views · · AP on Yahoo · · 10/28/06 · · Larry McShane - ap · |
NEW YORK - Eighty years after his death, the name Harry Houdini remains synonymous with escape under the most dire circumstances. But Houdini, the immigrants' son whose death-defying career made him one of the world's biggest stars, was more than a mere entertainer. A new biography of the legendary performer suggests that Houdini worked as a spy for Scotland Yard, monitored Russian anarchists and chased counterfeiters for the U.S. Secret Service -- all before he was possibly murdered. "The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero" will be released on Halloween -- the anniversary of Houdini's untimely... |
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| Houdini Poisoned? Kin Wants Exhumation |
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· 03/23/2007 8:58:25 AM PDT · · Posted by stylecouncilor · · 11 replies · 261+ views · · msn.com · · March 23, 2007 · · AP · |
Houdini Poisoned? Kin Wants Exhumation Mar 23, 7:36 AM EST The Associated Press NEW YORK -- The circumstances surrounding Harry Houdini's sudden death were as murky as the rivers where he often performed death-defying stunts. Despite a medical explanation, rumors that the escape artist was murdered have persisted for decades. Eighty-one years after Houdini died on Halloween 1926, his great-nephew wants to exhume the magician's body to determine if enemies poisoned him for debunking their bogus claims of contact with the dead. "His death shocked the entire nation, if not the world. Now, maybe it's time to take a second... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Freeper BnBlFlag's Obituary (FR Mentioned) |
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· 11/02/2010 6:47:54 PM PDT · · Posted by American72 · · 93 replies · · Tributes.com · |
James Edward "Jack" Sheffield, 66, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, died November 1, 2010. He was a resident of Mont Belvieu, TX. Jack was born in Beaumont, TX July 6, 1944 to James and Louise Sheffield. Following his father's death in 1966, his mother married L.C. Horn, who became a surrogate father to him and his brother, and grandfather to his and his brother's children. He graduated from Beaumont High School in 1962 and Lamar University in 1968. He started his banking career in 1969 at American National Bank in Beaumont. He moved to Houston in 1972 to work at First National Bank, where he stayed for 12 years. Jack continued to work at many banks over the years, but settled at Lone Star Bank in North Shore, which later became Sterling Bank. He was Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending there for 16 years. He finished his almost 40-year career at Crosby State Bank. Over the years as he changed banks, his loyal customers would follow him. He was known as the "kind and gentle banker," helping many small business owners realize their dreams. Jack had many interests, and was a proud member of the Marine Reserves, the Optimist Club, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and as an avid gun enthusiast, the National Rifle Association. He was very proud of his Southern heritage and his fascination of genealogy led him to trace his family history back almost 400 years, finding ancestors from both the American Revolution and the Civil War. Jack was very passionate about his interests, one of which was the medical field. He trained to become an EMT when he was in his 40s. Jack especially enjoyed lively discussions of history and politics. A staunch conservative and Tea Party supporter, he spent a lot of time posting on the political website freerepublic.com. He also enjoyed telling stories of his youth to family and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and stepfather. Survivors include his wife Linda Sheffield, daughter Michelle Pustejovsky and husband Clint and grandchildren Charles and Rebecca Pustejovsky; son Jason Sheffield and wife Summer and grandchildren Trever Turnbough and Bryce and Hayden Sheffield; brother Robert and wife Kathy, beloved nephews Robert and James Sheffield, and beloved niece Elizabeth Wenner; and numerous other nieces, nephews, and friends. Visitation will be held at San Jacinto Funeral Home 14659 East Freeway, Houston, TX 77015 on Wednesday, November 3, from 6-8 pm and the funeral will be at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, 13125 Indianapolis St, Houston, TX 77015, The Rev. James E. Hamilton officiating, on Thursday, November 4 at 10 am. Private interment for family members will be in Beaumont. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the American Diabetes Association, Memorial and Honor Program, P.O. Box11454, Alexandria, VA. 22312. |
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| end of digest #329 20101106 | |
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· Saturday, November 6, 2010 · 31 topics · 2622478 to 2618314 · 755 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 329th issue, Neolithic week. :') Stuff that doesn't necessarily make it to GGG here on FR gets shared here: The ballot doesn't need to be stronger than the bullet, but it helps. |
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I love this list.
Thanks LC!
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #330 Saturday, November 13, 2010 |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, & PreClovis | |
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| Stone age etchings found in Amazon basin as river levels fall |
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· 11/11/2010 4:47:55 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 43 replies · · Guardian (UK) · · Wednesday, November 10, 2010 · · Tom Phillips · |
A series of ancient underwater etchings has been uncovered near the jungle city of Manaus, following a drought in the Brazilian Amazon. The previously submerged images -- engraved on rocks and possibly up to 7,000 years old -- were reportedly discovered by a fisherman after the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Amazon river, fell to its lowest level in more than 100 years last month... Though water levels are now rising again, partly covering the apparently stone age etchings, local researchers photographed them before they began to disappear under the river's dark waters. Archaeologists who have studied the photographs... |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| Darwin's theory of gradual evolution not supported by geological history, scientist concludes |
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· 11/12/2010 8:17:58 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 17 replies · · PhysOrg · · November 9, 2010 · · New York University · |
Charles Darwin's theory of gradual evolution is not supported by geological history, New York University Geologist Michael Rampino concludes in an essay in the journal Historical Biology. In fact, Rampino notes that a more accurate theory of gradual evolution, positing that long periods of evolutionary stability are disrupted by catastrophic mass extinctions of life, was put forth by Scottish horticulturalist Patrick Matthew prior to Darwin's published work on the topic... When Darwin published his Origin of Species nearly three decades later, he explicitly rejected the role of catastrophic change in natural selection: "The old notion of all the inhabitants of... |
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| Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles | |
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| Early Cities Spurred Evolution of Immune System? [ "Amazing" DNA results show benefits ] |
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· 11/12/2010 9:03:42 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 27 replies · · National Geographic News · · November 8, 2010 · · Matt Kaplan · |
As in cities today, the earliest towns helped expose their inhabitants to inordinate opportunities for infection -- and today their descendants are stronger for it, a new study says. "If cities increase the amount of disease people are exposed to, shouldn't they also, over time, make them natural places for disease resistance to evolve?" asked study co-author Mark Thomas, a biologist at University College London... study co-author Ian Barnes, a molecular paleobiologist at University College London, screened DNA samples from 17 groups long associated with particular regions of Europe, Asia, and Africa -- for example Anatolian Turks and the southern... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| Archeological Findings back to 10th Millennium B.C. [ Syria ] |
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· 11/12/2010 8:08:52 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 18 replies · · DayPress · · 11/11/2010 · · SANA · |
According to the head of the national archeological mission working at the site Thayer Yerta, carved panels and archeological findings dating back to the beginning of the agricultural revolution in the 10th Millennium B.C. were unearthed at Tel al-Abar 3 site, left bank of the Euphrates River, the panels are made from chlorites (green precious stone) with different engravings and figures. He added that "one of these panels portrayed an eagle with wings spread wide and snake-form sculptures on the two sides. Another panel has an abstract sculpture of three eagle sculptures spreading their wings behind which the sun appears."... |
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| Agriculture & Animal Husbandry | |
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| Beer Lubricated the Rise of Civilization, Study Suggests |
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· 11/08/2010 7:53:56 AM PST · · Posted by Hotlanta Mike · · 48 replies · · LiveScience · · November 08, 2010 · · Charles Q. Choi · |
Could beer have helped lead to the rise of civilization? It's a possibility, some archaeologists say. Their argument is that Stone Age farmers were domesticating cereals not so much to fill their stomachs but to lighten their heads, by turning the grains into beer. That has been their take for more than 50 years, and now one archaeologist says the evidence is getting stronger. |
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| Diet & Cuisine | |
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| 3,800-year-old Babylonian tablets contain recipe! |
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· 11/16/2001 1:21:02 PM PST · · Posted by Libloather · · 38 replies · 910+ views · · Yahoo News · · 11/12/01 · |
Monday November 12 10:18 AM ET Ancient Tablets Offer Beer Primer DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - A Syrian-Belgian-British archaeological mission unearthed 3,800-year-old Babylonian beer-making instructions on cuneiform tablets at a dig in northern Syria. Abdel-Massih Baghdo, director of the Hassakeh Archaeological Department, told The Associated Press in a telephone call that the 92 tablets were found in the 14th layer of Tell Shagher, a site just north of Hassakeh. He said the tablets showed beer-making methods and tallied quantities of beer produced and distributed in the region.'' Hassakeh, 400 miles northeast of Damascus, is known these days for its wheat production. ... |
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| Epigraphy & Language | |
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| Pharaonic inscription found in Saudi Arabia |
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· 11/13/2010 6:10:38 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 3 replies · · Arab News · · Sunday, November 7, 2010 · · Rodolfo C. Estimo Jr. · |
Saudi archaeologists have discovered an ancient hieroglyphic inscription mentioning an Egyptian pharaoh on a rock near the ancient oasis of Tayma, Tabuk province. The discovery, about 400 km north of Madinah and northeast of the ancient Nabatean site Madain Saleh, marks the first confirmed hieroglyphic inscription discovered in the Kingdom. "The rock was bearing an inscription of King Ramses III, one of the kings who ruled ancient Egypt from 1192 B.C.to 1160 B.C.," said SCTA Vice President for Antiquities and Museums Ali Ibrahim Al-Ghabban at a news conference on Sunday at the Commission on National Museum. Al-Ghabban said the discovery... |
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| Mummy Told Me There'd Be Days Like This | |
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| Archaeologists Uncover Three Coffins, With a Bead-Covered Mummy, Behind a Secret Door |
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· 03/02/2005 8:34:22 AM PST · · Posted by aculeus · · 51 replies · 2,182+ views · · Tampa Bay On Line (AP) · · March 2, 2005 · · Jamie Tarabay, AP · |
SAQQARA, Egypt (AP) - Archaeologists uncovered three coffins and a remarkably well-preserved mummy in a 2,500-year old tomb discovered by accident - after opening a secret door hidden behind a statue in a separate burial chamber, Egypt's chief archaeologist said Wednesday. The Australian team was exploring a much older tomb - dating back 4,200 years - belonging to a man believed to have been a tutor to the 6th Dynasty King Pepi II, when they moved a pair of statues and discovered the door, said Zahi Hawass, Egypt's top antiquities official. Inside, they found a tomb from the 26th Dynasty... |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| King Tut suffered 'massive' chest injury, new research reveals |
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· 11/12/2010 8:50:37 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 30 replies · · Heritage Key · · Friday, November 5, 2010 · · Owen Jarus · |
One possibility that Dr. Harer ruled out is that of a chariot accident. "If he fell from a speeding chariot going at top speed you would have what we call a tumbling injury -- he'd go head over heels. He would break his neck. His back. His arms, legs. It wouldn't gouge a chunk out of his chest." Instead, at his Toronto lecture, Harer brought up another, more exotic possibility -- that Tut was killed by a hippo. It's not as far out an idea as it sounds, hippos are aggressive, quick and territorial animals, and there is an artefact... |
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| Egypt | |
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| King Tut's Chariots Marvels of Engineering |
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· 11/09/2010 7:10:27 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 32 replies · · Discovery News · · Tuesday, August 3, 2010 · · Rossella Lorenzi · |
King Tutankhamun, the pharaoh who ruled Egypt more than 3,300 years ago, rode full speed over the desert dunes on a Formula One-like chariot, according to new investigations into the technical features of the boy king's vehicle collection. Discovered in pieces by British archaeologist Howard Carter when he entered King Tut's treasure-packed tomb in 1922, the collection consisted of two large ceremonial chariots, a smaller highly decorated one, and three others that were lighter and made for daily use. "They were the Ferrari of antiquity. They boasted an elegant design and an extremely sophisticated and astonishingly modern technology," Alberto Rovetta,... |
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| Roman Empire | |
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| Pompeii's House of Gladiators collapses |
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· 11/07/2010 4:00:26 PM PST · · Posted by Islander7 · · 24 replies · · BBC · · Nov 7, 2010 · · BBC · |
A house in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii has collapsed, raising concerns about Italy's state support for its archaeological heritage. |
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| Pompeii ruin collapses amid claims site mismanaged (House of the Gladiators) |
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· 11/11/2010 10:43:45 AM PST · · Posted by NYer · · 9 replies · · Telegraph · · November 7, 2010 · · Nick Pisa · |
The stone house, known as Schola Armaturarum Juventus Pompeiani, crumbled into a pile of rubble and dust in the early hours of Saturday morning before visitors were allowed in. Although the house is closed to the public, it was a popular site in the city ‚Ä" buried by an eruption from nearby Mt Vesuvius in AD79 ‚Ä" because of its beautiful gladiator frescoes painted on the outside walls. Pompeii, south of Naples is a unique historical site and is on the UNESCO World Heritage list but for decades it has been allowed to fall into ruin and disrepair. Today more... |
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| Religion of Pieces | |
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| Rachel's Tomb, a Jewish Holy Place, Was Never a Mosque |
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· 11/09/2010 3:58:33 AM PST · · Posted by JCPA-JerusalemCenter · · 13 replies · · The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs · · Nov. 2010 · · Nadav Shragai · |
* UNESCO has declared that Rachel's Tomb near Jerusalem is the Bilal ibn Rabah mosque - endorsing a Palestinian claim that first surfaced only in 1996 and which ignores centuries of Muslim tradition. * As opposed to the Temple Mount and the Cave of the Patriarchs which also serve as the location of mosques, Rachel's Tomb never served as a mosque for the Muslims. The Muslim connection to the site derives from its relation to Rachel and has no connection to Bilal ibn Rabah, Mohammed's first muezzin. * Rachel's Tomb, located some 460 meters south of Jerusalem's municipal boundary, has... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Iraq: "Give us back the Torah' Iraq demand Israel return antique Torah scroll. |
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· 08/30/2010 2:34:36 PM PDT · · Posted by TaraP · · 18 replies · · Jewish Journal · · August 30th, 2010 · · David Miller · |
Iraq is demanding Israeli authorities return an antique Torah scroll smuggled into Israel in the early 1950s. Israel's Arutz Sheva reported that the ancient scroll, written in the early twentieth century, was extracted from Iraq after the Gabbai family in the Iraqi city of Al-Hila bribed a local official. The family patriarch, Moshe Gabbai, worked in the town's synagogue. The scroll was then donated by the family to the Center for the Heritage of Babylon Jewry in the Israeli city of Or-Yehuda. "This scroll is part of Iraq's cultural heritage, just like the heritage of other countries in the world,"... |
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| Age of Sail | |
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| 1572 Parish Church Found [St. Augustine, FL] |
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· 11/09/2010 6:31:11 AM PST · · Posted by marshmallow · · 19 replies · · St. Augustine Record · · 11/8/10 · · Marcia Lane · |
When St Augustine officials decided to remove parking on what is probably one of the nation's oldest streets, it opened up an opportunity for the city's archaeology department to find out more about the history of the Oldest City. What they found was solid evidence of a church dating from 1572 -- evidence of the location of the first parish church of St. Augustine. It's the first physical evidence of Nuestra Senora de Los Remedios (Our Lady of the Remedies), according to City Archaeologist Carl Halbirt. His voice still carries a bit of the excitement and wonder when talking about... |
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| Middle Ages & Renaissance | |
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| Painting of Henry VIII's 'Lost' Palace For Sale |
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· 11/09/2010 6:45:40 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 9 replies · · Discovery News · · Thursday, November 4, 2010 · · unattributed · |
It was among Henry VIII's grandest undertakings: a castle to outshine the castle of his rival, King Francois I of France. And so it was named "Nonsuch," as in no other palace could ever equal its magnificence. But, after taking eight years to construct, the Nonsuch Palace would end up standing for less than 150 years. In the 1680s, the grand estate fell into disrepair and was lost to history. This is why this 1572 watercolor by the Flemish painter Joris Hoefnagel, the earliest known image of the palace, is estimated to fetch around $1.9 million. According to Christie's auction... |
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| Neandertal / Neanderthal | |
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| Differences in human and Neanderthal brains set in just after birth |
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· 11/09/2010 6:06:56 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 47 replies · · Eurekalert · · Monday, November 8, 2010 · · Elisabeth N. Lyons · |
The findings are based on comparisons of virtual imprints of the developing brain and surrounding structures (known as endocasts) derived from the skulls of modern and fossilized humans, including that of a newborn Neanderthal... "In modern humans, the connections between diverse brain regions that are established in the first years of life are important for higher-order social, emotional, and communication functions," Gunz said. "It is therefore unlikely that Neanderthals saw the world as we do." ...In fact, the elongated overall shape of the braincase hasn't changed much in the course of more than two million years of human evolution, despite... |
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| Scotland Yet | |
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| Skeletons halt work on clinic |
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· 11/09/2010 6:57:31 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 47 replies · · Edinburgh Evening News · · October 28, 2010 · · Adam Morris · |
It is a major public sector building project which has been delayed, causing headaches for bosses and the public. But it is decapitated skeletons and 2000-year-old forts rather than red tape and swelling costs that have caused the hold-up for the new health centre in Musselburgh... significant Roman remains were discovered... human remains, the bones of horses and weapons and culinary tools. Archeologists there said the "unique" finds, among the most impressive ever discovered in Scotland from that period, will help build a picture not only of Roman activity in Musselburgh from 140AD, but improve the wider understanding of life... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| Triceratops 'Never Existed' -- Three-horned fossils are actually juvenile torosauruses |
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· 11/09/2010 7:32:29 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 66 replies · · Newser · · August 3, 2010 · · Rob Quinn · |
One of the best-known dinosaur species may not have really been a dinosaur species at all, according to new research. Scientists compared triceratops skulls to those of a lesser-known species, the torosaurus, and concluded that the triceratops were actually young torosauruses, New Scientist reports. They believe the three-horned dinosaur's skull changed shape as it aged. Researchers say the bones of the horns and neck frill in the young dinosaurs remained spongy until they became full adults. "Even in the most mature specimens that we've examined, there is evidence that the skull was still undergoing dramatic changes at the time of... |
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| The Revolution | |
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| Tory tales: America's first civil war revealed |
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· 11/10/2010 9:54:47 AM PST · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 20 replies · · Local Monty Co. MD Gazette · · Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010 · · Brooke Kenny · |
Photo from Edie Allen Tom Allen has written dozens of books and contributes frequently to both National Geographic and Smithsonian Magazine. If the title of Bethesda author Tom Allen's new book requires a double-take, you're probably not alone. After all, it mentions America's "First Civil War," which might leave you wondering when we suffered through a civil war other than the one that ended in 1865. As Allen thoroughly addresses in "Tories: Fighting for the King in America's First Civil War," the Revolutionary War was about more than the battle to win freedom from Great Britain. Although many colonists wanted... |
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| Early America | |
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| Happy Birthday, Devildogs (11/10/1775)! |
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· 11/10/2010 7:48:24 AM PST · · Posted by greatdefender · · 11 replies · · YouTube · |
On this date... 11/10/1775 On November 10, 1775, the Continental Congress passed a resolution stating that "two battalions of Marines be raised" for service as landing forces with the fleet. This established the Continental Marines and marked the birth of the United States Marine Corps. A special birthday to those Few & Proud. My father was in the Corp in the early 70's (went to Saigon afterwards). I salute to those serve proudly. The following video is a tribute to all those WHO ARE MARINES(remeber: once a Marine, always a Marine)OOH-RAH! |
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| Happy Birthday Marines! |
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· 11/10/2010 2:05:23 PM PST · · Posted by Michael Barnes · · 22 replies · · 235 Years ago. · · Today · · Me · |
Neat Story; definitely esprit de corps. (NEWSER) -- Two former Marines will demonstrate their solidarity in this weekend's Marine Corps Marathon, where Bryan Purcell will act as the "legs" of Eddie Ryan, an Iraq veteran who was paralyzed in combat, AOL News reports. Ryan, 26 was shot twice in the head in 2005, and while he's recovered far more than doctors expected, he can't yet walk on his own. HBO featured him in a show about vets, and the segment touched Purcell, who was inspired by Ryan's goal to run a marathon. "As soon as I saw that... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| Old West Point applicant letters being put online |
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· 11/10/2010 9:10:48 AM PST · · Posted by DFG · · 12 replies · · Yahoo ia AP · · 11/10/10 · · Chris Carola · |
Years before leading his vastly outnumbered troops to their doom at Little Bighorn, a young George Armstrong Custer was described as accurate in math. Nearly 30 years before his March to the Sea laid waste to a large swath of Georgia, William Tecumseh Sherman was deemed a "fine energetic boy." And two decades before he would earn the nickname "Stonewall," Thomas J. Jackson's dreams of a military career got a boost from a man who would help start the Civil War. |
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| The Great War | |
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| Vanity: The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki (Book - Project Gutenberg) |
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· 11/11/2010 10:45:49 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 9 replies · · Project Gutenberg · · November 11, 2010 · · Me · |
Public domain so free download: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22523 Interesting narrative by a captain and two lieutenants who were there. Gives insight to a murky and little known campaign. And there are pictures. |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| Mississippi aviator to be honored with life-size bust |
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· 11/09/2010 9:48:48 PM PST · · Posted by Islander7 · · 9 replies · · Sun Herald · · Nov 10, 2010 · · Pam Firmin · |
GULFPORT -- A life-size bronze bust of Mississippi aviator John C. Robinson, aka the Brown Condor, will be unveiled and dedicated at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport. The bust is by sculptor Edward Shumper and was commissioned by the John C. Robinson Brown Condor Association in honor of the Gulfport aviation pioneer. It is the first of several planned busts of Mississippi Aviators and "is dedicated to the inspiration of our youth," said James Smith, president of the Brown Condor group. [snip] Robinson was an African-American aviator who grew up in Gulfport during the 1920s... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| A "Secret" Subway Stop |
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· 11/10/2010 7:52:00 AM PST · · Posted by iowamark · · 18 replies · · Yahoo News · · Tue Nov. 9, 2010 · · Mike Krumboltz · |
Hidden deep under New York City, a "secret" subway stop is drawing visitors. The Big Apple's City Hall station, a beautiful structure that opened in 1904, but has been out of use for decades, can be seen by riders ... if they know how to make the journey. Check out these photos below, courtesy of John-Paul Palescandolo.... So why was the station closed so many years ago? Motobullet explains that the station's curved tracks played a part in its closure. When subway cars moved their doors to the center, it "created an dangerous gap between the exit point on the... |
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| end of digest #330 20101113 | |
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· Saturday, November 13, 2010 · 26 topics · 2626593 to 2623246 · 756 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 330th issue, an anemic week in terms of quantity, and a good bit is modern or nearly so -- but the quality is outstanding. And if I get off my duff, next week will see the impressive backlog of stuff so far unused. Decimon and others have been spoiling me by posting so much great stuff. |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #331 Saturday, November 20, 2010 |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| Life is found in deepest layer of Earth's crust |
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· 11/19/2010 1:25:40 PM PST · · Posted by Fractal Trader · · 102 replies · · The New Scientist · · 18 November 2010 · · Michael Marshall · |
IT'S crawling with life down there. A remote expedition to the deepest layer of the Earth's oceanic crust has revealed a new ecosystem living over a kilometre beneath our feet. It is the first time that life has been found in the crust's deepest layer, and an analysis of the new biosphere suggests life could exist lower still. On a hypothetical journey to the centre of the Earth starting at the sea floor, you would travel through sediment, a layer of basalt, and then hit the gabbroic layer, which lies directly above the mantle. Drilling expeditions have reached this layer... |
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| Africa | |
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| Oldest tool-use claim challenged |
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· 11/16/2010 1:51:09 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 14 replies · · BBC · · November 16, 2010 · · Jonathan Amos · |
The idea that human ancestors were using stone tools about 3.4 million years ago has been challenged by a Spanish-led team of researchers.The original claim was based on what were purported to be butchery marks on animal bones found in Ethiopia. It pushed back the earliest known tool-use and meat-eating in our ancestors by some 800,000 years. But Manuel Dominguez-Rodrigo and his team tell PNAS journal that the marks are more likely to be animal scratches. "A mark made with a stone tool could be morphologically similar to a mark that is accidentally made by an animal trampling on a... |
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| Rock Around the Atomic Clock | |
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| Archaeologists Date Tool Discarded 4,500 Years Ago |
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· 11/27/2001 8:30:21 PM PST · · Posted by blam · · 45 replies · 933+ views · · The Guardian (UK) · · 11-22-2001 · · Maev Kennedy · |
A scrap of antler has proved that Silbury Hill, the largest man-made mound in Europe, was completed around 4,500 years ago. The first scientific evidence for the date of one of the most puzzling of our ancient monuments is one of two antlers found at the summit of the 128ft hill. It was discovered as archaeologists agonised over how to fill a gaping hole which had threatened the collapse of the Wiltshire monument. The fragments are the broken tips of the ... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| New Archeological Device to Determine Origin of Ancient Samples |
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· 11/20/2010 6:52:25 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 3 replies · · AZoM · · November 2010 · · Duke University PR · |
The ability to tell the difference between crystals that formed naturally and those formed by human activity can be important to archaeologists in the field. This can be a crucial bit of information in determining the ancient activities that took place at a site, yet archaeologists often wait for months for the results of laboratory tests. Now, however, an international team of physicists, archaeologists and materials scientists has developed a process that can tell in a matter of minutes the origin of samples thousands of years old. The new device is easily portable and works by "lifting off" the spectral... |
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| Agriculture & Animal Husbandry | |
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| Migrants from the Near East 'brought farming to Europe' |
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· 11/14/2010 1:55:35 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 72 replies · · BBC · · November 10, 2010 · · Katia Moskvitch · |
Farming in Europe did not just spread by word-of-mouth, but was introduced by migrants from the ancient Near East, a study suggests.Scientists analysed DNA from the 8,000 year-old remains of early farmers found at an ancient graveyard in Germany. They compared the genetic signatures to those of modern populations and found similarities with the DNA of people living in today's Turkey and Iraq. The study appears in the journal PLoS Biology. Wolfgang Haak of the University of Adelaide in Australia led the team of international researchers from Germany, Russia and Australia. Up until now, many scientists believed that the concept... |
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| Overlapping Genetic And Archaeological Evidence Suggests Neolithic Migration |
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· 09/13/2002 3:18:34 PM PDT · · Posted by scouse · · 11 replies · 214+ views · · Science Daily · · 9-11-02 · · Someone at Stanford U. · |
For the first time, Stanford researchers have compared genetic patterns with archeological findings to discover that genetics can help predict with a high degree of accuracy the presence of certain artifacts. And they say the strength of this link adds credence to theories that prehistoric people migrated from the Middle East to Europe, taking both their ideas and their way of life with them. "The recovery of history is really a jigsaw puzzle," said Peter Underhill, PhD, senior research scientist... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| David and Solomon |
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· 11/15/2010 8:25:23 AM PST · · Posted by Palter · · 8 replies · · National Geographic Magazine · · December 2010 · · Robert Draper · |
Kings of Controversy Was the Kingdom of David and Solomon a glorious empire -- or just a little cow town? It depends on which archaeologist you ask. The woman sitting on a bench in the Old City of Jerusalem, round-faced and bundled up against the autumn chill, chews on an apple while studying the building that has brought her both fame and aggravation. It doesn't really look like a building -- just some low stone walls abutting an ancient terraced retaining wall 60 feet high. But because the woman is an archaeologist, and because this is her discovery, her eyes see what others might... |
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| Egypt | |
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| Ancient Egyptians Were Jokesters |
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· 06/03/2004 2:48:31 PM PDT · · Posted by blam · · 71 replies · 1,755+ views · · Discovery News · · 6-2-2004 · · Jennifer Viegas · |
Ancient Egyptians Were Jokesters By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News Humor Alleviates the Hum-Drum June 2, 2004 -- A recent series of lectures on ancient Egyptian humor given by a leading historian reveals that people thousands of years ago enjoyed bawdy jokes, political satire, parodies and cartoon-like art. Related evidence found in texts, sketches, paintings, and even in temples and tombs, suggests that humor provided a social outlet and comic relief for the ancient Egyptians, particularly commoners who labored in the working classes. The evidence was presented by Carol Andrews, a lecturer in Egyptology at Birbeck College, University of London, and former... |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Amenhotep I -- the undiscovered tomb [ 18th Dynasty Egypt ] |
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· 11/14/2010 1:32:46 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 31 replies · · News from the Valley of the Kings 'blog · · Thursday, June 26, 2008 · · Kate Phizackerley · |
The first announcement of a new tomb in the Valley of the Kings came in August 2005 when the Egyptian State Information Service announced that an Egyptian Polish team had been given to excavate the tomb of the New Kingdom Pharaoh Amenhotep I in the Valley of the Kings. As I describe below, unfortunately this was mis-reported by the press how announced the stunning find of an intact tomb. Amenhotep I was the second pharaoh (1526-1506 BC) of the 18th Dynasty. His tomb was mentioned in the Abbott Papyrus, one of the highlights of the British Museum. The papyrus dates... |
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| Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles | |
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| Cancer was rare but...DID occur in ancient Egypt, Manchester Uni Egyptologist refutes Nature article |
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· 11/19/2010 7:13:14 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 14 replies · · Archnews · · November 17, 2010 · · Jane · |
In direct contradiction to the recent Manchester University article in Nature stating cancer is 'man made' Paula Veiga strongly argues the case for the existence of cancer in Ancient Egyptians. Citing both her own research during her time at Manchester and Professor Zimmerman she questions Prof Davids conclusions. "It seems Dr. Zimmerman's work from 1995, my own research in 2007-08 and reputed scientists' work (Strouhal, Zink, Nerlich, Capasso and others) were not enough to convince Prof. Rosalie David. " |
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| Megaliths & Archaeoastronomy | |
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| 'Unique' astronomical object reveals Ancient Egyptians kept close tabs on the Big Dipper |
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· 11/14/2010 8:31:22 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 63 replies · · Heritage Key · · Tuesday, November 9, 2010 · · Owen Jarus · |
New research on a 2,400 year old star table shows that the Ancient Egyptians kept close tabs on the Big Dipper, monitoring changes in the constellation's orientation throughout the course of an entire year... Ancient Egyptians represented it as an ox's foreleg... Professor Sarah Symons, of McMaster University in Hamilton Canada, carried out the new research. She presented her results on Sunday at an Egyptology symposium in Toronto. The star table she analyzed is located inside the lid of a 2,400 year old granite sarcophagus, constructed in the shape of a bull, which is now in the Egyptian Museum. The... |
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| Epigraphy & Language | |
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| Ancient Tablets Reveal Mathematical Achievements of Ancient Babylonian Culture |
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· 11/20/2010 6:43:57 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 5 replies · · ArtDaily · · Friday, November 19, 2010 · · unattributed · |
An illuminating exhibition of thirteen ancient Babylonian tablets, along with supplemental documentary material, opens at New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) on November 12, 2010. Before Pythagoras: The Culture of Old Babylonian Mathematics reveals the highly sophisticated mathematical practice and education that flourished in Babylonia -- present-day Iraq -- more than 1,000 years before the time of the Greek sages Thales and Pythagoras, with whom mathematics is traditionally said to have begun. The tablets in the exhibition, at once beautiful and enlightening, date from the Old Babylonian Period (ca. 1900-1700 BCE). They have been... |
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| Central Asia | |
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| Copper load of this! Company digging mine in Afghanistan unearths 2,600-year-old Buddhist monastery |
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· 11/17/2010 7:57:14 PM PST · · Posted by Islander7 · · 33 replies · · Daily Mail · · Nov 18, 2010 · · By Daily Mail Reporter · |
A Chinese company digging an unexploited copper mine in Afghanistan has unearthed ancient statues of Buddha in a sprawling 2,600-year-old Buddhist monastery. Archaeologists are rushing to salvage what they can from a major 7th century B.C. religious site along the famed Silk Road connecting Asia and the Middle East. |
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| Diet & Cuisine | |
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| Chinese Noodle Dinner Buried for 2,500 Years |
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· 11/19/2010 7:03:54 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 28 replies · · Discovery News · · November 19, 2010 · · Jennifer Viegas · |
Noodles, moon cakes and other foods dating to 2,500 years ago were recently unearthed in a Chinese cemetery. Noodles, cakes, porridge, and meat bones dating to around 2,500 years ago were recently unearthed at a Chinese cemetery, according to a paper that will appear in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Since the cakes were cooked in an oven-like hearth, the findings suggest that the Chinese may have been among the world's first bakers. Prior research determined the ancient Egyptians were also baking bread at around the same time, but this latest discovery indicates that individuals in northern China were skillful... |
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| Roman Empire | |
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| Roman settlement unearthed in Syon Park, west London |
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· 11/17/2010 12:51:02 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 16 replies · · BBC · · November 17, 2010 · · Unknown · |
A Roman settlement filled with ancient artefacts and human remains has been found on a west London building site. Archaeologists excavating the listed Syon Park site made the discovery of more than 11,000 Roman items just half a metre below the ground. They were digging on the land ahead of the construction of a new hotel on the outskirts of the historical Syon Park Estate, near Brentford. Part of one of Roman Britain's most important roads was also found. |
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| British Isles | |
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| 16th Century gold treasure found (pendant - Essex, UK) |
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· 11/18/2010 5:12:28 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 21 replies · · BBC · · November 17, 2010 · · Unknown · |
A four-year-old boy from Essex has unearthed a gold pendant believed to date from the 16th Century, using a metal detector. |
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| The Vikings | |
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| First American in Europe 'was native woman kidnapped by Vikings and hauled back to Iceland...' |
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· 11/17/2010 8:33:00 AM PST · · Posted by Albion Wilde · · 84 replies · · Daily Mail Online (UK) · · November 17, 2010 · · Niall Firth · |
A native woman kidnapped by the Vikings may have been the first American to arrive in Europe around 1,000 years ago, according to a startling new study. The discovery of a gene found in just 80 Icelanders links them with early Americans who may have been brought back to Iceland by Viking raiders. The discovery means that the female slave was in Europe five centuries before Christopher Columbus first paraded American Indians through the streets in Spain after his epic voyage of discovery in 1492... |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, & PreClovis | |
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| Prehispanic Decapitated Ballgame Player Sculpture Discovered by Archaeologists in Mexico |
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· 11/19/2010 3:43:54 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 42 replies · · ArtDaily · · Friday, November 19, 2010 · · unattributed · |
A Prehispanic sculpture that represents a beheaded ballgame player was discovered by archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) at El Teul Archaeological Zone, in Zacatecas, one of the few Mesoamerican sites continuously occupied for 18 centuries... The quarry dates from 900-1100 of the Common Era and evidence determines that the sculpture was created beheaded, maybe to serve as a pedestal for the heads of sacrificed players of the ritual ballgame. The cylindrical sculpture with a 52 centimeter diameter is 1.97 meters high and weighs nearly a ton, and was located in the southeast area of the... |
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| Misunderstanding The Prehistoric Southwest: What Happened At Chaco? |
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· 02/18/2003 12:51:48 PM PST · · Posted by blam · · 57 replies · 510+ views · · AScribe · · 2-17-2003 · |
Two University of Colorado at Boulder researchers have developed intriguing theories on the mysterious demise of the Chaco Canyon Pueblo people and the larger Chaco region that governed an area in the Southwest about the size of Ohio before it collapsed about 1125. Steve Lekson, curator of anthropology at the CU Museum, believes a powerful political system centered at Chaco Canyon in northern New Mexico may have kept other Pueblo peoples under its thumb from about 1000 to 1125.... |
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| Paleontology | |
| Eggs with the oldest known embryos of a dinosaur found |
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· 11/13/2010 8:11:07 AM PST · · Posted by Hotlanta Mike · · 16 replies · · BBC News · · 12 November 2010 · · Katia Moskvitch · |
Palaeontologists have identified the oldest known dinosaur embryos, belonging to a species that lived some 190 million years ago. The eggs of Massospondylus, containing well-perserved embryos, were unearthed in South Africa back in 1976. The creature appears to be an ancestor of the family that includes the long-necked dino once known as Brontosaurus. The study in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology also sheds light on the dinosaurs' early development. |
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| T. rex's big tail was its key to speed and hunting prowess |
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· 11/15/2010 2:37:19 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 26 replies · · University of Alberta · · November 15, 2010 · · Unknown · |
Tyrannosaurus rex was far from a plodding Cretaceous era scavenger whose long tail only served to counterbalance the up-front weight of its freakishly big headTyrannosaurus rex was far from a plodding Cretaceous era scavenger whose long tail only served to counterbalance the up-front weight of its freakishly big head. T. rex's athleticism (and its rear end) has been given a makeover by University of Alberta graduate student Scott Persons. His extensive research shows that powerful tail muscles made the giant carnivore one of the fastest moving hunters of its time. As Persons says, "contrary to earlier theories, T. rex had... |
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| Pterosaur reptile used "pole vault" trick for take-off |
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· 11/15/2010 4:05:35 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 13 replies · · BBC · · November 15, 2010 · · Unknown · |
A new study claims that the ancient winged reptiles known as pterosaurs used a "pole-vaulting" action to take to the air.They say the creatures took off using all four of their limbs. The reptiles vaulted over their wings, pushing off first with their hind limbs and then thrusting themselves upwards with their powerful arm muscles - not dissimilar to some modern bats. The research is published in the open-access journal Plos One. Pterosaurs lived at the same time as the dinosaurs, but belonged to a different group of reptiles. They existed from the Triassic Period until the end of the... |
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| Naturally Selective | |
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| Story of evolution can be seen as comedy of errors (The Ancient Hiccup, Male Hernias, and more) |
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· 04/27/2008 2:42:03 AM PDT · · Posted by canuck_conservative · · 240 replies · 257+ views · · Philadephia Enquirer via Houston Chronicle · · Saturday, April 26, 2008 · · Faye Flam · |
"Oh what a piece of work is man," wrote Shakespeare, long before Darwin suggested just how little work went into us. Somehow, that same process that gave us reason, language and art also left us with hernias, flatulence and hiccups. One argument scientists often make against so-called intelligent design -- the idea that evolution cannot by itself explain life -- is that on closer inspection, we look like we've been put together by someone who didn't read the manual, or at least did a somewhat sloppy job of things. Viewed as products of evolution, however, our anatomical quirks start to... |
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| The Revolution | |
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| Rare 'Declaration of Independence' Copy Sold In Boston For $380K |
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· 11/16/2010 6:38:22 AM PST · · Posted by Libloather · · 6 replies · · The Boston Channel · · 11/14/10 · |
Broadside Copies Were Printed To Spread Word -- A rare copy of the Declaration of Independence sold at auction in Boston Sunday for $380,000. The rare historical document, a broadside, had originally belonged to the family prominent New Hampshire man who was a judge at the time the Declaration was signed in 1776. Broadsides were large sheets of paper on which notices and proclamations were printed in the 18th century. They were intended to alert townspeople of important events and were posted in various meeting... |
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| Kathleen Parker Falsely Claims Alexander Hamilton was an Illegal Immigrant |
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· 11/19/2010 1:12:45 PM PST · · Posted by Pyro7480 · · 160 replies · · NewsBusters.org · · 11/19/2010 · · Matthew Balan · |
On Thursday's Parker-Spitzer, CNN's Kathleen Parker bizarrely and inaccurately claimed that Alexander Hamilton came to the United States illegally and drafted the Constitution: "Let's remember...a lot of Americans did come through the back door such as Alexander Hamilton. He got off the boat from the West Indies, and all he did was write the Constitution and become the first Secretary of the Treasury." Parker raised this false history during a discussion of Pedro Ramirez, Fresno State University's student body president, who was outed as an illegal immigrant by a student newspaper. After playing clips from Ramirez and his opponent during... |
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| The General | |
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| George Washington and His Maps |
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· 11/18/2010 12:03:25 PM PST · · Posted by Palter · · 26 replies · · Smithsonian Magazine · · 16 Nov 2010 · · John Hanc · |
In his journey from surveyor to soldier to leader, our first president used cartography to get a feel for the young nation (The Granger Collection, New York) First in war. First in peace.First to look at a map whenever he had a question about waging the former and sustaining the latter.It's not how we typically picture George Washington: bent over a map by candlelight, scrutinizing, measuring and in some cases actually drawing the topographical details that would help conquer a wilderness, win a war, create a republic. But as historian Barnet Schecter shows us in his illustrated new history, George... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| Study Begins on Confederate Warship |
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· 11/01/2002 6:42:37 AM PST · · Posted by stainlessbanner · · 153 replies · 520+ views · · Herald Tribune · · November 01. 2002 · · The Associated Press · |
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun an investigation of how to save the remains of the sunken confederate warship CSS Georgia.What is left of the boat now lies in the path of a planned $200 million expansion of Savannah Harbor. The cost of excavating its remains, salvage artifacts and stabilize whatever archaeologists leave on the bottom of the Savannah River could run as high as $13.4 million.The wreck lies in 35 feet of water downstream from Savannah. Sonar readings have shown the ironclad is collapsing and might be slowly sliding into the ship channel."Basically,... |
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| Divers Uncover Secrets of a Confederate Vessel |
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· 07/27/2003 7:55:35 PM PDT · · Posted by stainlessbanner · · 19 replies · 295+ views · · WTVM · · 27 July 2003 · |
Scuba divers may soon uncover the secrets of the CSS Georgia, a mysterious ship buried off the coast of Georgia since the Civil War. The divers are exploring the CSS Georgia as the US. Army Corps of Engineers studies for a proposed river-deepening project.The project could result in discoveries about the CSS Georgia, one of the Confederacy's earliest ironclad naval vessels.Divers will continue their work over the next five or six weeks. The ship is largely unknown even to experts.No one can say for sure exactly how long it was. No formal building plans have survived. Extensive searches of historical... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| Ethnomasochism - The Musical! |
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· 11/12/2010 5:22:36 PM PST · · Posted by Billy the Mountain · · 23 replies · · Taki's Magazine · · November 10, 2010 · · John Derbyshire · |
Well, not really a musical, nor even the lyrics to a musical. The piece under discussion is, though, definitely not plain prose; so musical-wise, we have the beginnings of a start here. I am referring to Tim Wise's furious rant on Daily Kos the other day under the title "An Open Letter to the White Right, On the Occasion of Your Recent, Successful Temper Tantrum." Mr. Wise -- "Uncle Tim" to us race-realists -- let loose on the old white reactionaries who, according to him, were responsible for so many Republican victories in the elections. You can read the whole thing here. Uncle Tim's... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| The secrets of Britain's abandoned villages |
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· 11/18/2010 4:40:57 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 60 replies · · BBC · · November 18, 2010 · · Tom Geoghegan · |
The ghosts of thousands of long-forgotten villages haunt Britain, inhabitations suddenly deserted and left to ruin. As a new campaign begins to shed further light on these forgotten histories, the Magazine asks - what happened and why? Albert Nash, blacksmith for 44 years in the village of Imber, Wiltshire, was found by his wife Martha slumped over the anvil in his forge. He was, in her words, crying like a baby. It was the beginning of November 1943, a day or two after Mr Nash and the rest of the villagers had been told by the War Office they had 47... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| King Kong in Kerala? (29 inch humanoid footprint found) |
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· 01/09/2006 7:05:00 PM PST · · Posted by voletti · · 18 replies · 1,272+ views · · Times of India · · 1/9/06 · · TS Raghavan · |
KARALMANNA (Palakkad): Peter Jackson's King Kong is set on a mysterious, uncharted island. He might as well have shot it in Kerala. Or so it would seem, if -- and that's literally a big if -- claims by a team of amateur anthropologists are proved true. The team claims to have discovered footprints of a "giant-man" who had a shoe size of 29 inches, lived in a shelter 50 metres high and weighed well over 400 kg. Going by the footprint size, the creature may have been as tall as 17 feet, which would make it easily the "largest human... |
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| end of digest #331 20101120 | |
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· Saturday, November 20, 2010 · 31 topics · 2630441 to 846194 · 758 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 331st issue, big thanks to decimon and all others for posting so much great stuff. |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #332 Saturday, November 27, 2010 |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Researchers kick-start ancient DNA |
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· 11/22/2010 5:13:52 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 14 replies · · Binghamton University · · November 22, 2010 · · Unknown · |
BINGHAMTON, NY -- Binghamton University researchers recently revived ancient bacteria trapped for thousands of years in water droplets embedded in salt crystals. For decades, geologists have looked at these water droplets -- called fluid inclusions -- and wondered whether microbes could be extracted from them. Fluid inclusions have been found inside salt crystals ranging in age from thousands to hundreds of millions years old. But there has always been a question about whether the organisms cultured from salt crystals are genuinely ancient material or whether they are modern-day contaminants, said Tim Lowenstein, professor of geological sciences and environmental studies at... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| 20,000 years artificially drilled specimen found in Henan |
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· 11/24/2010 6:19:53 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 30 replies · · People's Daily Online · · Monday, November 22, 2010 · · unattributed · |
On Nov. 21, the archeological team from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage discovered two ostrich eggshells with stone-drilled holes that date back 20,000 years ago at the Xuchang primitive ruins.Experts from the team said that the two ostrich eggshells were the earliest artificially stone-drilled specimens that were ever found in Henan Province and the best-preserved specimens found in China over the age of 10,000 years, which showed that the primitive craftsmanship had developed to a quite high level even at that time. (Photo by Yufen/Chinanews.com) |
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| Roman Empire | |
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| Anthropologists looking for Roman legion in China |
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· 11/22/2010 4:06:21 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 31 replies · · Newstrack India · · Sunday, November 21, 2010 · · ANI · |
Experts at the newly established Italian Studies Center at Lanzhou University in Gansu province are looking into the possibility that some European-looking Chinese in Northwest China are the descendants of a lost army from the Roman Empire. They will conduct excavations on a section of the Silk Road, a 7,000-kilometer trade route that linked Asia and Europe more than 2,000 years ago, to see if a legion of Roman soldiers settled in China, said Yuan Honggeng, head of the center, reports China Daily... Before Marco Polo's travels to China in the 13th century, the only known contact between the two... |
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| Chinese villagers 'descended from Roman soldiers' |
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· 11/24/2010 2:29:16 PM PST · · Posted by markomalley · · 34 replies · · The Telegraph · · 11/23/2010 · · NIck Squires · |
Cai Junnian's green eyes give a hint he may be a descendant of Roman mercenaries who allegedly fought the Han Chinese 2,000 years ago Genetic testing of villagers in a remote part of China has shown that nearly two thirds of their DNA is of Caucasian origin, lending support to the theory that they may be descended from a 'lost legion' of Roman soldiers. Tests found that the DNA of some villagers in Liqian, on the fringes of the Gobi Desert in north-western China, was 56 per cent Caucasian in origin. Many of the villagers have blue or green... |
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| Chinese villagers 'descended from Roman soldiers' |
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· 11/27/2010 2:33:35 AM PST · · Posted by the scotsman · · 39 replies · · Daily Telegraph · · 27th November 2010 · · Nick Squires · |
'Genetic testing of villagers in a remote part of China has shown that nearly two thirds of their DNA is of Caucasian origin, lending support to the theory that they may be descended from a 'lost legion' of Roman soldiers.' |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Ancient Roman bathhouse discovered in Jerusalem |
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· 11/22/2010 5:05:49 AM PST · · Posted by SJackson · · 27 replies · · Jerusalem Post · · 11/22/2010 · · JONAH MANDEL · |
1,800-year-old Roman bathing pool uncovered in Jewish Quarter sheds light on Aelia Capitolina, city founded on Second Temple ruins. A 1,800-year-old Roman bathing pool was recently uncovered in archaeological excavations in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem ahead of the construction of a ritual bath for men (miqve). The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), who conducted the excavations at the initiative of the Jerusalem Municipality and the Moriah Company for the Development of Jerusalem, say that the bathing pool was probably part of a bathhouse used by the Tenth Legion -- the very same Roman soldiers who destroyed the Second Temple The... |
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| Epigraphy & Language | |
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| UCSD professor reveals evidence about King Solomon's mines |
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· 11/25/2010 8:49:58 AM PST · · Posted by smokingfrog · · 28 replies · · sandiegonewsroom · · 23 Nov 2010 · · Claire Harlin · |
LA JOLLA -- The existence of King Solomon has been a topic of debate and intrigue for countless treasure-seekers and researchers, and an anthropologist at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has uncovered evidence suggesting that the ancient king's splendid, copper- and gold-adorned palaces -- as described in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) -- may very well have existed. Thomas Levy, a UCSD professor of anthropology and Judaic studies, has pioneered three highly sophisticated digging excavations in an area called Khirbat en-Nahas, located in southern Jordan, attracting the attention of NOVA/National Geographic Television, which sent a crew to Jordan... |
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| Religion of Pieces | |
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| PA Declares Western Wall Was not Jewish' until 16th Century AD |
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· 11/22/2010 11:07:45 AM PST · · Posted by Nachum · · 13 replies · · inn · · 11/22/10 · · Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu · |
The Palestinian Authority's rewriting of the Bible has reached a new peak or -- low -- with a "scientific study" claiming that Jews did not begin to claim a connection to the Western Wall (Kotel) until 500 years ago. The Western Wall, also known in pre-State times as the "Wailing Wall," is the outer wall of the Second Temple compound and has been a symbol of the deepest connection between most of the Jewish world, both religious and secular, and Judaism for two thousand years following the destruction of the Second Temple. "Jews did not worship at the Wailing Wall... |
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| Jews have no right to Western Wall, PA 'study' says |
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· 11/22/2010 3:15:47 PM PST · · Posted by HearMe · · 42 replies · · Jerusalem Post · · 11/22/2010 · · KHALED ABU TOAMEH · |
"Muslim tolerance allowed the Jews to stand in front of it and weep,' says Information Ministry official. The Western Wall belongs to Muslims and is an integral part of Al-Aksa Mosque and Haram al-Sharif (the Islamic term for the Temple Mount complex, meaning the Noble Sanctuary), according to an official paper published on Monday by the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information in Ramallah. The paper, which has been presented as a "study," was prepared by Al-Mutawakel Taha, a senior official with the ministry, to "refute" Jews' claims to the Western Wall. In the past, PA leaders and officials have also... |
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| Climate | |
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| Drilling under the Dead Sea through four Ice Ages [ 500K years ] |
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· 11/24/2010 6:45:44 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 27 replies · · Jerusalem Post · · Wednesday, November 24, 2010 · · Ehud Zion Waldoks · |
An int'l research team at urging of TAU, Hebrew U. professors will drill half a kilometer to study year-by-year climate change from 500,000 years ago... The International Continental Scientific Drilling Program chose the Dead Sea as the site of its next drilling at the urging of Tel Aviv University's Prof. Zvi Ben-Avraham and the Israel Geological Survey's Dr. Mordechai Stein... sponsored by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities... "We will be taking out a vertical piece about half a kilometer long which will allow us to get a picture of climate change on a year-by-year basis going back 500,000... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| Grand Mufti Muhammad Haj Amin al-Husseini in photos: Islamofascism, Arab-Islamic Nazism, Arab racism |
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· 11/21/2010 4:42:25 PM PST · · Posted by PRePublic · · 16 replies · · Google Books · |
Despite Hitler and Nazis' contempt for the "inferior" Arab and all Middle-Easterners' race, who have been considered 'half-apes.' -- Nazi Arabs managed to "rise" above humiliation for the sake of the 'greater common evil' AKA: anti-Semitism [anti-Jew-ism]. Highlights about the infamous Arab Muslim leader from Palestine Jihad on the west During the 1920 and 1930s. Haj Amin al-Husseini was one of the first radical Islamic leaders to issue fatwas, or religious rulings, calling for jihad, or holy war, against Great Britain, the United States, the Jews, and the West. Since World War I, during which al-Husseini served as an officer... |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Burnt City woman's face reconstructed |
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· 11/22/2010 9:34:20 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 25 replies · · Press TV · · Sunday, November 21, 2010 · · TE/AKM/MMN · |
The reconstructed version of the 5,000-year-old skeleton was unveiled during a ceremony attended by head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Hamid Baqaei and Iran's ambassador to Italy Seyyed Mohammad-Ali Hosseini. The woman, whose face has been reconstructed by a group of Iranian and Italian researchers, is famous for carrying the first prosthesis to have been used by man, ISNA reported. This is a great scientific achievement which shows that Persians used innovative medical equipment 5,000 years ago, Baqaei said during the opening ceremony of the exhibition. The unique discovery was the result of excavations in the Burnt... |
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| Megaliths & Archaeoastronomy | |
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| Ancient astronomy: Mechanical inspiration |
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· 11/25/2010 2:11:38 AM PST · · Posted by Palter · · 31 replies · · Nature · · 24 Nov 2010 · · Jo Marchant · |
The ancient Greeks' vision of a geometrical Universe seemed to come out of nowhere. Could their ideas have come from the internal gearing of an ancient mechanism? Two thousand years ago, a Greek mechanic set out to build a machine that would model the workings of the known Universe. The result was a complex clockwork mechanism that displayed the motions of the Sun, Moon and planets on precisely marked dials. By turning a handle, the creator could watch his tiny celestial bodies trace their undulating paths through the sky.The mechanic's name is now lost. But his machine, dubbed the Antikythera... |
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| Navigation | |
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| Ancient Cossack vessel raised from bottom of Dnipro at Khortytsia [ 18th c AD ] |
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· 11/24/2010 6:09:41 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 20 replies · · Kyiv Post · · Monday, November 22, 2010 · · Interfax-Ukraine · |
Marine archeologists of the Khortytsia National Reserve in Zaporizhia have raised an ancient Cossack warship, a Cossack oak vessel, which had been lying beneath the waters of the reserve for some three centuries. Director of the Pivdenhidroarkheolohia State Enterprise Valeriy Nefedov told Interfax-Ukraine that the 18-meter long Cossack "oak"-type vessel is a "veteran" of the Russian-Turkish war of 1735-1739. "The ancient vessel was discovered in waters near Khortytsia Island in 1999. But it was impossible to lift it due to the lack of assets. Over this time the unique archeological find, which remained lying at a depth of six meters... |
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| Scotland Yet | |
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| Giant Wave Hit Ancient Scotland |
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· 09/07/2001 5:34:41 PM PDT · · Posted by blam · · 61 replies · 1,480+ views · · BBC · · 9-7-2001 · · Helen Briggs · |
Friday, 7 September, 2001, 18:28 GMT 19:28 UK Giant wave hit ancient Scotland By BBC News Online's Helen Briggs A giant wave flooded Scotland about 7,000 years ago, a scientist revealed on Friday. The tsunami left a trail of destruction along what is now the eastern coast of the country. It looks as if those people were happily sitting in their camp when this wave from the sea hit the camp Professor David Smith, Coventry University Scientists believe a landslide on the ocean floor off Storegga, south-west Norway, triggered the wave. Speaking at the British Association Festival of Science in ... |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| Dozer Driver Makes Fossil Discovery of the Century |
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· 11/23/2010 9:21:20 AM PST · · Posted by Squidpup · · 63 replies · · FoxNews · · November 20, 2010 · · Loren Grush · |
An accidental discovery by a bulldozer driver has led to what may be the find of the century: an ice-age burial ground that could rival the famed La Brea tar pits. After two weeks of excavating ancient fossils at the Ziegler Reservoir near Snowmass Village, Colorado, scientists from the Denver Museum of Natural Science returned home Wednesday with their unearthed treasures in tow -- a wide array of fossils, insects and plant life that they say give a stunningly realistic view of what life was like when ancient, giant beasts lumbered across the Earth. Since the team's arrival in mid-October,... |
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| Naturally Selective | |
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| Dino Demise Led to Evolutionary Explosion of Huge Mammals |
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· 11/25/2010 11:56:18 AM PST · · Posted by Racehorse · · 37 replies · · LiveScience · · 25 November 2010 · · Janelle Weaver · |
Mammals around the world exploded in size after the major extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago, filling environmental niches left vacant by the loss of dinosaurs, according to a new study published today (Nov. 25) in the journal Science. The maximum size of mammals leveled off about 25 million years later, or 40 million years ago, because of external limits set by temperature and land area, reported an international team led by paleoecologist Felisa Smith of the University of New Mexico. "For the first 140 million years of their evolutionary history, mammals were basically... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| 100-million-year-old crocodile species discovered (Thailand) |
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· 11/25/2010 7:17:25 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 10 replies · · Associated Press · · November 25, 2010 · · Unknown · |
BANGKOK -- A new species of crocodile that lived 100 million years ago has been identified from a fossil found in Thailand, researchers said Thursday. Komsorn Lauprasert, a scientist at Mahasarakham University, said the species had longer legs than modern-day crocodiles and probably fed on fish, based on the characteristics of its teeth. |
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| Peerless Pterosaur Could Fly Long-Distance For Days |
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· 11/25/2010 4:47:02 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 25 replies · · NPR · · November 22, 2010 · · Reid R. Frazier · |
> The pterosaur's wingspan and size have spawned comparisons to dragons. But recently some scientists wondered whether the creature was too big to fly. A pair of papers recently asserted that the biggest pterosaurs may have been too heavy to get off the ground. That seemed implausible to Habib. After all, the biggest birds often have the longest flight range. And Quetzalcoatlus, with its 35-foot wingspan, certainly fits the bill for gigantic. So Habib teamed up with Mark Witton, a British paleontologist, to plug in factors like wingspan, weight and aerodynamics into a computer model. The results, which they presented... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| Russia finally admits Stalin did order massacre of Polish officers |
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· 11/26/2010 8:59:16 AM PST · · Posted by Bringbackthedraft · · 13 replies · · AFP · · 11/27/10 · · NS · |
THE Russian parliament agreed in principle a declaration that Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin personally ordered the Katyn massacre of Polish officers in World War II. The lower house, the State Duma, agreed a text that breaks several years of official reluctance to admit that Stalin and the Soviet leadership ordered the killing of thousands of Polish officers in 1940. |
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| The Revolution | |
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| The Framers of the Constitution |
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· 11/26/2010 12:59:37 PM PST · · Posted by Eddie01 · · 21 replies · · usconstitution.net · · June 1778 · · Framers · |
The Framers of the Constitution William Pierce, of Georgia, spoke very little at the Constitutional Convention, but his contributions to what we know of the other delegates to the Convention are invaluable. He wrote short character sketches of each of the delegates; he himself had to leave the Convention early for business reasons. He died two years later; his sketches were published in the Savannah Georgian in 1828. Pierce wrote his sketches in order of state; they are reproduced here in alphabetical order. The Library of Congress has the sketches in their original order as reported in Farrand's Records, Volume... |
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| end of digest #332 20101127 | |
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· Saturday, November 27, 2010 · 21 topics · 2633355 to 2631013 · 758 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 332nd issue, another big thanks to decimon and all others for posting some great stuff. If it seems like it was a slow week, it's because there are only 21 topics and I was quite remiss. I didn't get to waste *all* my spare time on FR these past seven days due to work, shopping, and eating too much. |
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That tickled!
:’)
Hunky Sunky: Words escape me! However, other things are there for the Duration!
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #333 Saturday, December 04, 2010 |
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| Censers & Sensors | |
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| Coca leaves first chewed 8,000 years ago, says research |
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· 12/01/2010 6:51:18 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 19 replies · · BBC · · December 1, 2010 · |
Peruvian foraging societies were already chewing coca leaves 8,000 years ago, archaeological evidence has shown. Ruins beneath house floors in the northwestern Peru showed evidence of chewed coca and calcium-rich rocks. Such rocks would have been burned to create lime, chewed with coca to release more of its active chemicals. Writing in the journal Antiquity, an international team said the discovery pushed back the first known coca use by at least 3,000 years. Coca leaves contain a range of chemical compounds known as alkaloids. In modern times, the most notable among them is cocaine, extracted and purified by complex chemical... |
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| Agriculture... | |
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| Farmers slowed down by hunter-gatherers: Our ancestors' fight for space |
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· 12/03/2010 4:23:39 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 14 replies · · Institute of Physics · · December 3, 2010 · · Unknown · |
Agricultural -- or Neolithic -- economics replaced the Mesolithic social model of hunter-gathering in the Near East about 10,000 years ago. One of the most important socioeconomic changes in human history, this socioeconomic shift, known as the Neolithic transition, spread gradually across Europe until it slowed down when more northern latitudes were reached. Research published today, Friday, 3 December 2010, in New Journal of Physics (co-owned by the Institute of Physics and the German Physical Society), details a physical model, which can potentially explain how the spreading of Neolithic farmers was slowed down by the population density of hunter-gatherers. The... |
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| ... & Animal Husbandry | |
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| Ancient Lambayeque civilizations domesticated cats 3500 years ago |
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· 11/30/2010 4:17:10 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 15 replies · · en Peru · · November 24, 2010 · · Stuart Starrs et al · |
Recent finds at the Ventarrón archaeological site have revealed some of the oldest examples of ancient Peruvian domestication of animals. The Ventarrón site, belonging to one of the oldest civilizations in the Americas, has already given up a number of amazing discoveries. This latest gives us a look at early animal domestication. Work at the site, under the leadership of Ignacio Alva, son of famous Peruvian archaeologist Walter Alva, has revealed a huge collection of animal bones, mostly felines from the Peruvian Amazon on the other side of the Andes mountains. With such a large number of bones, the archaeologists... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Tribes angry, Everglades projects halt after workers dig up major burial ground but don't tell |
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· 11/26/2010 9:15:31 PM PST · · Posted by ApplegateRanch · · 54 replies · · The Palm Beach Post · · Nov. 25, 2010 · · Christine Stapleton · |
In May 2008, archaeologists began the tedious task of exhuming the remains of Native Americans at a remote site south of Lake Okeechobee and reburying them at another remote site, to make way for a man-made wetland needed to restore the Everglades. [snip] But the more the archaeologists dug, the more they found. After nearly two years, the tribes learned that what they'd been told were some teeth and bones turned out to be partial remains of 56 men, women and children moved from an ancient burial ground so significant that it would have been eligible for listing on the... |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, & PreClovis | |
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| Cahokia's Woodhenge: a surprising implication |
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· 11/29/2010 8:19:23 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 32 replies · · Examiner.com · · Friday, November 26th, 2010 · · Richard Thornton · |
Today we travel to southern Illinois, where just across the Mississippi River is located the Cahokia Archaeological Zone. Cahokia was the largest known Native American city north of Mexico. At its peak population around 1250 AD, it was larger that London, England. Of course, Cahokia was not its real name. No one knows its real name. Unlike the ancient towns in the Southeast, where direct descendants of the original occupants still live, no one even knows yet what happened to the population of Cahokia, after it was abandoned. There was an indigenous village in the vicinity of Cahokia as early... |
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| Megaliths & Archaeoastronomy | |
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| Standing stone cup marks may represent star constellations |
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· 11/29/2010 8:11:46 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 17 replies · · Past Horizons · · Sunday, November 28, 2010 · · George Nash · |
A recent excavation programme at a standing stone known as Trefael, near Newport in southwest Wales has revealed at least two unique episodes in its early history; firstly as a portal dolmen and secondly as a standing stone, probably used as a ritual marker to guide communities through a sacred landscape. This solitary stone, standing in a wind-swept field has been designated a Scheduled Monument and has over 75 cupmarks gouged onto its upper surface. Following the complete exposure of the capstone through excavation, it is now considered by several astronomers that the distribution of the cupmarks may represent a... |
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| Star of the East | |
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| Did You Know About the Relics of the Three Wise Men? |
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· 01/04/2010 10:43:57 AM PST · · Posted by GonzoII · · 90 replies · 1,881+ views · · cantuar.blogspot.com · · Sunday, January 03, 2010 · · Taylor Marshall · |
When I was in college, I journeyed to Cologne, Germany and visited the city's glorious cathedral. I was a Protestant at the time, but I remember being amazed that people had been building this cathedral for so many centuries. It is one of the greatest Gothic churches of all time. |
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| An Astronomer's Explanation For The Star Of Bethlehem |
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· 12/25/2008 9:15:43 AM PST · · Posted by CE2949BB · · 42 replies · 2,376+ views · · Scientific Blogging · · December 25th 2008 · |
According to the Bible, when Jesus was born three Magi saw a star in the East that signaled the birth of a new king. But just what was it, from an astronomical point or view, that the Magi actually saw? Fred Grosse, a professor of physics and astronomy at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa., says there are several popular theories that may answer this question. |
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| Star of Bethlehem |
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· 12/24/2007 7:41:21 PM PST · · Posted by ZULU · · 12 replies · 118+ views · · Michael R. Molnar · · 1997 · · Michael R. Molnar · |
Could the purchase of an ancient coin have led to an important clue about the Star of Bethlehem? The above illustration is a Roman coin from Antioch, Syria which shows the zodiacal sign, Aries the Ram. In trying to understand the meaning behind this coin, I found that Aries was the sign of the Jews. Realizing that this is where ancient stargazers would have watched for the Star of Bethlehem, I embarked on searching for the celestial event that signified the birth of the Messiah in Judea. Superposed on the photograph of the coin is what I found: Jupiter underwent... |
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| Three wise men leading us astray? |
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· 12/20/2007 1:14:02 PM PST · · Posted by Sub-Driver · · 27 replies · 411+ views · · The Australian · |
Could the devil be in the detail of the Christmas story? That's what the leader of the world's Anglicans, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, has implied in a BBC interview. The story of the three wise men following the star to Bethlehem is a legend -- stars don't behave like that, he said -- it is unlikely Jesus was born in December and you can take or leave the virgin birth. He says he believes in it but that's not a pre-condition for... |
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| Date Of The Birth Of Christ (The Star that Astonished the World) |
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· 12/15/2007 6:05:34 AM PST · · Posted by NYer · · 22 replies · 231+ views · · EWTN · · E. L. Martin · |
(Summarized from E. L. Martin, "The Star that Astonished the World," ASK Publications, Box 25000, Portland Or. 1991) The date of the birth of Christ hinges on just one thing, the statement of Josephus (Antiquities 17.6-8) that Herod died shortly after an eclipse of the moon. Astronomers supply the dates for such eclipses around those years: None in 7 or 6 BC. In 5 BC, March 23, 29 days to Passover. Also in 5 BC. Sept. 15,7 months to Passover. In 4 B.C. March 13, 29 days to Passover. 3 and 2 B.C. no eclipses. In 1 BC. January... |
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| The Star of Bethlehem [Bristol Astronomical Society] |
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· 12/19/2006 9:31:25 AM PST · · Posted by Alex Murphy · · 7 replies · 442+ views · · Bath Royal Literary & Scientific · · Rod Jenkins · |
The Star of Bethlehem Meeting chaired by Richard Phillips Rod Jenkins Bristol Astronomical Society 7 January 2005 This talk was originally scheduled for 3 December 2004 -- just before the speaker's paper was published in the Journal of the British Astronomical Association vol. 114 No. 6. A full account with references appears in that publication on pp. 336-341. According to Giotto, the Star of Bethlehem is shown in his painting The Adoration of the Magi as a comet -- presumably Halley's as it appeared during his lifetime. For this reason the space probe sent to study Halley's comet in 1986... |
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| The Christmas Star [re-post] |
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· 11/30/2006 7:59:42 AM PST · · Posted by truthfinder9 · · 4 replies · 681+ views · · Reasons.org · · Dr. Hugh Ross · |
For centuries scholars and laymen alike have speculated on the nature of the star that led the wise men from the east to seek out the Messiah that had come to the Jews. The only reliable account of this event is found in Matthew 2 of the Bible. Three controversial questions arise out of a study of this text: 1. Were the wise men led by astrology? Some people have used the story of the advent of Jesus Christ, specifically the Matthew 2 portion, to suggest that astrology might be okay, at least... |
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| Seeing and believing in the Star of Bethlehem |
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· 12/29/2005 4:21:23 PM PST · · Posted by NYer · · 26 replies · 1,043+ views · · Explorer · · December 29, 2005 · · Renee Schafer Horton · |
Dec. 28, 2005 -- "... during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.'" -- Matthew 2:1-2 They are requisite figures in every nativity scene: Three elegantly dressed exotic men, camels in tow, weighed down with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are always a few steps removed, seeming to defer to the farm animals surrounding the young mother and her newborn. Accuracy is not a hallmark... |
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| Why December 25? The origin of Christmas had nothing to do with paganism |
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· 12/07/2005 2:36:38 PM PST · · Posted by Charles Henrickson · · 408 replies · 6,651+ views · · WORLD Magazine · · Dec 10, 2005 · · Gene Edward Veith · |
According to conventional wisdom, Christmas had its origin in a pagan winter solstice festival, which the church co-opted to promote the new religion. In doing so, many of the old pagan customs crept into the Christian celebration. But this view is apparently a historical myth -- like the stories of a church council debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, or that medieval folks believed the earth is flat -- often repeated, even in classrooms, but not true. William J. Tighe, a history professor at Muhlenberg College, gives a different account in his article "Calculating Christmas," published in the... |
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| What Was The Star? |
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· 12/23/2004 11:21:04 AM PST · · Posted by GLDNGUN · · 61 replies · 1,601+ views · · BethlehemStar.net · |
Scholars debate whether the Star of Bethlehem is a legend manufactured by the early church or a miracle which marked the advent of Christ. But if the Star was a real astronomical event, what could it have been? It's an astronomical mystery. A strange star is claimed to have appeared at the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. This site is an investigation of the story found in the Biblical Gospel of Matthew, a story often called the 'Star of Bethlehem.' It brings the words of Roman and Jewish historians alongside the visions of ancient prophets. It mixes "modern" mathematicians with... |
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| Should Christians be celebrating Christmas at all? |
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· 12/06/2004 4:59:08 PM PST · · Posted by Perdogg · · 31 replies · 532+ views · · 12/06/04 · · Perdogg · |
I am a Christian, I believe in Christ. However, why do Christians knowing that Christ was born in the summer time (northern Hemisphere, celebrate Christmas in December? I know that December 25th was a holiday during the Roman Empire. It would make sense if some astronomer could calculate when Christ was born. Also, I am sure other religions have records on when the astological event took place when Christ was Born. I think that God intended Christmas to be treated somewhat differently than Easter. For some reason it seems in the telling of the birth of Christ, there is a... |
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| Were the Magi who visited Jesus -- Persian? |
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· 12/23/2003 10:55:46 PM PST · · Posted by freedom44 · · 38 replies · 4,391+ views · · Christian Farsinet · · 12/23/03 · · Christian Farsinet · |
Magi (Majusian) From old Persian language, a priest of Zarathustra (Zoroaster). The Bible gives us the direction, East and the legend states that the wise men were from Persia (Iran) -- Balthasar, Melchior, Caspar -- thus being priests of Zarathustra religion, the mages. Obviously the pilgrimage had some religious significance for these men, otherwise they would not have taken the trouble and risk of travelling so far. But what was it? An astrological phenomenon, the Star? Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, was erected in 329 by Queen Helena in the area it was believed to be where Jesus was born.... |
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| The Christmas Star |
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· 12/04/2003 8:11:10 AM PST · · Posted by truthfinder9 · · 1 replies · 84+ views · · Reasons.org · · 12/02/2003 · · Dr. Hugh Ross · |
For centuries scholars and laymen alike have speculated on the nature of the star that led the wise men from the east to seek out the Messiah that had come to the Jews. The only reliable account of this event is found in Matthew 2 of the Bible. Three controversial questions arise out of a study of this text... |
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| Epigraphy & Language | |
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| A case of Slander, Lies and the Dead Sea Scrolls |
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· 11/30/2010 8:59:07 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 35 replies · · Archaeology News · · Wednesday, November 24, 2010 · · Jewish Journal · |
...Using sophisticated computer programs, Cargill built what he described as "a fully reconstructed, three-dimensional, real time, interactive model of Khirbet Qumran." Taking the building's excavated remains as a blueprint, the model "visualized" that the structure was originally designed as a fortress, then abandoned, and later expanded and repurposed by a group... According to the model, the new inhabitants built an elaborate water system, as well as a scriptorium, where the scrolls were written. The building was destroyed in 70 C.E., or shortly thereafter, by the conquering Roman legions, a view now widely accepted... In early 2007, Cargill was nearing completion... |
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| Facts on the Ground | |
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| Chemists help archaeologists to probe biblical history |
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· 12/01/2010 1:45:37 AM PST · · Posted by 2ndDivisionVet · · 8 replies · · Nature · · November 30, 2010 · · Haim Watzman · |
TEL MEGIDDO -- Fabled as a site of biblical battles and spectacular palaces, Tel Megiddo today is a dusty mound overlooking Israel's Jezreel valley. It is also host to one of the hottest debates in archaeology -- a controversy over the historical truth of the Bible's account of the first united Kingdom of Israel. Ancient Megiddo is said to have been a key administrative and military centre in the kingdom ruled by King David and his son Solomon during the eleventh and tenth centuries BC. But the biblical narrative is challenged by archaeologists such as Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Jewish Presence Near Rachel's Tomb |
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· 09/29/2003 9:28:45 AM PDT · · Posted by Alouette · · 9 replies · 193+ views · · Israel National News (Arutz 7) · · Sept. 29, 2003 · |
Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz allowed, only hours before the onset of the Rosh HaShanah holiday, a Jewish group to move in to property adjacent to Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem. Forty people, including students of the Rachel's Tomb yeshiva and other students and their families, spent the two-day holiday there. Even more dramatically, two families hope to move in permanently in the course of the next two weeks -- - the first Jews to live in the city in several decades. Appropriate security measures such as bullet-proof windows have been installed, but the army has required the new occupants to implement... |
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| Court okays Jerusalem-Rachel's Tomb road |
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· 02/03/2005 10:05:30 AM PST · · Posted by Alouette · · 12 replies · 396+ views · · Jerusalem Post · · Feb. 3, 2005 · · Dan Izenberg · |
The High Court of Justice on Thursday rejected a petition filed by the Bethlehem municipality against construction of a bypass road from Jerusalem to Rachel's Tomb and rejected the accusation that the road annexed the tomb, which is located in Palestinian territory. According to the ruling handed down by Justice Dorit Beinisch, "the solution devised by the [state] guarantees freedom of worship to those who come to pray without causing substantial damage to the petitioners' freedom of movement and right to ownership of property. Therefore, we did not find that the solution that was devised at the end of the... |
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| Routing for Rahel [Rachel's Tomb] |
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· 02/12/2005 5:22:05 PM PST · · Posted by Alouette · · 27 replies · 4,018+ views · · Jerusalem Post · · Feb. 12, 2005 · · Dave Bender · |
We've succeeded in saving Rahel's Tomb," says Kever Rahel Fund founder and director Miriam Adani. Adani was responding to the decision by the High Court of Justice last week to dismiss petitions by 18 local Palestinians, together with the Bethlehem and Beit Jala municipalities, against construction of a bypass road leading to the compound. The new route will annex Rahel's Tomb to Jerusalem's municipal boundaries and place it within a segment of the planned "envelope" barrier being constructed along the city's southern perimeter. Adani, who established the Kever Rahel fund in 1999, reveals that for her and her supporters, the... |
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| Climate | |
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| Shuttle images reveal Egypt's lost great lake |
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· 12/03/2010 4:09:49 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 26 replies · · Science News · · Wednesday, November 24th, 2010 · · Alexandra Witze · |
Radar images taken from the space shuttle confirm that a lake broader than Lake Erie once sprawled a few hundred kilometers west of the Nile, researchers report in the December issue of Geology. Since the lake first appeared around 250,000 years ago, it would have ballooned and shrunk until finally petering out around 80,000 years ago... Since then, desert winds have eroded and sands have buried much of the region's landscape, says Maxine Kleindienst, an anthropologist at the University of Toronto. But during next summer's field season, she and her colleagues will be checking for ancient shorelines at the elevations... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| Graptolite fauna indicates the beginning of the Kwangsian Orogeny |
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· 12/03/2010 7:34:12 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 35 replies · · Science in China Press · · December 3, 2010 · · Unknown · |
Our research at the State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, has shown, based on a refined division and correlation of the graptolite-bearing strata in southern Jiangxi, China, that the Kwangsian Orogeny commenced in the early Katian Age of the Late Ordovician. Because of its significant research value, this study is published in Issue 11 of Science China Earth Sciences. An angular unconformity separating the Lower-Middle Devonian and underlying strata is widespread in the Zhujiang region of South China, and occurs across most of Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces. This angular unconformity indicates... |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| 2,000-year-old intact female skeleton with gray hair unearthed in Hubei |
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· 12/02/2010 6:00:47 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 19 replies · · People's Daily Online · · ovember 23, 2010 · · unattributed · |
A 2,000-year-old intact skeleton of an elderly woman was unearthed from a tomb from the early Western Han dynasty at the construction site of an industrial park in the north of Zhuchengjie, a satellite city of Wuhan, capital of east-central China's Hubei Province... The archaeological team said that when exploring the tomb numbered M6 from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Nov. 19, they found a nearly intact outer coffin and almost no water had leaked into it. More surprisingly, there was a well-preserved dark brown skeleton inside the inner coffin, with a lot of gray hair still on the... |
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| Central Asia | |
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| The golden haul of Afghanistan: Priceless 2,000 year old collapsible crown on display in Britain |
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· 11/30/2010 7:46:52 PM PST · · Posted by Pan_Yan · · 21 replies · · Daily Mail (UK) · · 7:29 PM on 30th November 2010 · · Daily Mail Reporter · |
A gold crown -- said to be one of the 'world's most beautiful and priceless objects' -- is set to be the star attraction at a British Museum exhibition of treasures from Afghanistan. More than 200 objects, many of which were hidden away for 25 years, are being loaned from the National Museum of Afghanistan. The 'collapsible' crown was discovered by Soviet archaeologists in 1978 in an elite nomadic cemetery and has never been shown in Britain before. Other objects showing ancient Afghanistan's links through trade with other cultures include classical sculptures, gold ornaments and jewellery, carved ivory attached to... |
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| India | |
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| Burial urn dating to Megalithic period unearthed |
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· 12/02/2010 5:23:16 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 14 replies · · MSN · · Friday, November 25, 2010 · · PTI COR APR · |
A five feet high burial urn dating to the Megalithic period (300 BC to 100 AD) and containing teeth and some other articles was unearthed by construction workers at a village near here today. The urn was found at a depth of about eight feet at the backyard of a house at Thillayadi village and contained pieces of teeth and some articles commonly used by soldiers, officials said. Speaking to reporters after visiting the spot, Tarangambadi Archaeological Curator Muthusamy said the urn was four feet wide, with a 2.5 foot diameter mouth. Two small pots, black and red in colour,... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| Tombs Dating Back to 5th Millennium BC Unearthed in Syria |
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· 11/29/2010 8:02:36 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · · Global Arab Network · · Thursday, November 25, 2010 · · H. Zain · |
The dolmen means "stone table" or the "holy cemeteries". It represents the beginning of human architectural art as the findings indicate that man used this kind of tombs for burial 5,000 years ago. Archaeologist Yasser Abu Noktah said that the discovered dolmens at al-Maysara Spring consist of roofs with huge flagstones, on which animals' drawings are carved, adding that a number of stone and flint tools were also unearthed at the site. Al-Maysara site is one of the most important Syrian sites which date back to the Neolithic Age between 7,000 to 4,500 BC. Abu Noktah added the archaeological expeditions... |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| Masters of Math, From Old Babylon |
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· 11/27/2010 12:09:10 PM PST · · Posted by pillut48 · · 30 replies · · NYT · · November 26, 2010 · · Edward Rothstein · |
If the cost of digging a trench is 9 gin, and the trench has a length of 5 ninda and is one-half ninda deep, and if a worker's daily load of earth costs 10 gin to move, and his daily wages are 6 se of silver, then how wide is the canal? Or, a better question: if you were a tutor of Babylonian scribes some 4,000 years ago, holding a clay tablet on which this problem was incised with cuneiform indentations -- the very tablet that can now be seen with 12 others from that Middle Eastern civilization at the... |
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| The Greeks | |
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| Archaeologists to embark on quest for 2,500-year-old lost Greek theatre |
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· 11/29/2010 7:55:28 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 9 replies · · Telegraph UK · · Monday, November 29, 2010 · · Nick Squires · |
Alexander Hardcastle spent a decade searching for the fabled theatre, which is said to be buried beneath the remains of Akragas, a city established by Greek colonists six centuries before Christ on the southern coast of Sicily... Hardcastle, a former soldier who had served with the Royal Engineers in the Boer War, believed that remains of the stone-built theatre had survived, despite Akragas being shaken by earthquakes, sacked by the Carthaginians and plundered for its stone. The Harrow-educated gentleman scholar, who was born in Belgravia, spent a fortune on the quest between 1920 and 1930, but lost all his money... |
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| Hear Music, but There's No One There | |
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| 3,000- Year-Old Musical Instrument Unearthed In Vietnam |
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· 11/30/2010 4:19:42 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 8 replies · · Bernama · · November 19, 2010 · · unattributed · |
BINH THUAN, Nov 19 (Bernama) -- A set of stone musical instrument dating from 3,000 years ago was unearthed by a farmer in Da Kai commune, Duc Linh district, when he dug holes for planting coffee trees, according to Vietnam news agency on Friday. The music instrument comprises of five slabs of black blue stone, which when arranged from small to big form a trapezoid. This is a typical character of ancient lithophone, different from new lithophones or sounding stone slabs. The instrument has been handed over to the Binh Thuan museum. Earlier, the Binh Thuan museum in coordination with... |
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| Navigation | |
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| Mystery shipwreck found in central Stockholm |
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· 11/30/2010 4:26:07 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 21 replies · · The Local · · Thanksgiving Day 2010 · · TT/AFP · |
The remains of a ship dating from the 1600s have been discovered outside the Grand Hotel in central Stockholm. The vessel was built with an almost completely unknown technology, delighting archaeologists. The planks of the ship are not nailed down, but sewn together with rope. The discovery was made by labourers close to the royal palace and in front of Stockholm's Grand Hotel during renovation works to a quay. "The discovery of the wreck is extremely interesting given the place where it was made. There was a naval shipyard on this spot until the start of the 17th century," Maritime... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Was Christopher Columbus Polish? |
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· 11/30/2010 3:45:13 PM PST · · Posted by Coleus · · 59 replies · · wbj · · 29th November 2010 · · Andrew Shale · |
A Portuguese historian believes he has solved the age-old mystery surrounding the nationality of Christopher Columbus. According to Manuel Rosa, a lecturer at Duke University, North Carolina, the explorer was in fact the son of Polish King Wladyslaw III. It has always been thought that King Wladyslaw III fell in battle against the forces of the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Varna in 1444. According to Mr Rosa, however, the king managed to survive the battle unscathed and fled to the Portuguese island of Madeira where he lived out the rest of his life as a hermit and married... |
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| Middle Ages & Renaissance | |
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| Identifying Eadgyth [granddaughter of Alfred the Great] |
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· 12/02/2010 6:09:52 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 12 replies · · PhysOrg · · November 26, 2010 · · University of Bristol · |
Eadgyth was the granddaughter of Alfred the Great and the half-sister of Athelstan, the first acknowledged King of England. She was sent to marry Otto, King of Saxony, in AD 929, and bore him at least two children, before her death, at around the age of 36, in AD 946. Buried in the monastery of St Maurice in Magdeburg, historical records state that her bones were moved on at least three occasions before being interred in an elaborate tomb in Magdeburg Cathedral in 1510. It was long assumed that this tomb was empty, so, when German archaeologists opened it in... |
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| The Revolution | |
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| Today in History November 29th 1775, Sir James Jay invents invisible ink |
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· 11/29/2010 4:43:44 PM PST · · Posted by mdittmar · · 8 replies · · various · · November 29th 2010 · · various · |
During the Revolutionary War, founding father John Jay's brother, Sir James Jay, invented a method for the Patriots to communicate with each other that could not be intercepted by the British. Washington called Jay's invention "sympathetic stain" or "white ink." We would call it invisible ink. |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| A History of the World [in 100 Objects] |
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· 12/04/2010 7:00:17 AM PST · · Posted by AndyJackson · · 26 replies · · British Museum and the BBC · · various · |
This is a website providing access to an online web and video presentation of the history of the world shown through 100 objects that are in the British museaum. Of the 100 British Museum Objects , objects 1-10 are: 1: Mummy of Hornedjitef. 2: Olduvai stone chopping tool. 3: Olduvai handaxe. 4: Swimming reindeer 5: Clovis spear point. 6: Bird-shaped pestle. 7: Ain Sakhri lovers figurine. 8: Egyptian clay model of cattle. 9: Maya maize god statue. 10: Jomon pot. |
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| end of digest #333 20101204 | |
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· Saturday, December 04, 2010 · 38 topics · 2636764 to 2633779 · 759 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 333rd issue, another big thanks to decimon and all others for posting such great stuff. I've got a busy social life today, which is unusual, and have to get going. The plan (as I type this) is to back this up onto the spare external drive I got many months ago and had to open up during this week. This issue will be edited elsewhere -- which as that cartoonist noted, has always been one of my favorite places. |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #334 Saturday, December 11, 2010 |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Israel in Canaan (Long) Before Pharaoh Merenptah? A Fresh Look at Berlin Statue Pedestal Relief... |
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· 12/07/2010 6:48:32 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 39 replies · · J of Anc Egyptian Intercon · · 2010, v 2:4 · · van der Veen, Theis, & Görg · |
...As for the name rings on the slab no. 21687, three names can be discerned. The first on the left reads... "Ashkelon." A similar writing (but with a vowel marker) is attested on Merenptah's Israel Stele... The name in the central ring reads... "Canaan." This form of the name is well attested during the Eighteenth Dynasty, and finds close parallels under Amenhotep II... Görg derives the name "Canaan"... translating it as "low land"... and suggests that the... ending reflects an Amorite name pattern. This too would underscore the antiquity of the name... As discussed above, evidence of early orthography is... |
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| All Is Number | |
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| Math Puzzles' Oldest Ancestors Took Form on Egyptian Papyrus |
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· 12/08/2010 5:21:59 AM PST · · Posted by Palter · · 26 replies · · The New York Times · · 06 Dec 2010 · · Pam Belluck · |
"As I was going to St. Ives I met a man with seven wives.." You may know this singsong quiz, But what you might not know is this: That it began with ancient Egypt's Early math-filled manuscripts. It's true. That very British-sounding St. Ives conundrum (the one where the seven wives each have seven sacks containing seven cats who each have seven kits, and you have to figure out how many are going to St. Ives) has a decidedly archaic antecedent. An Egyptian document more than 3,600 years old, the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, contains a puzzle of sevens that bears... |
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| Middle Ages & Renaissance | |
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| Battle of Towton, the birth of modern warfare and the killing of 1% of the population |
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· 12/06/2010 7:45:21 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 29 replies · · Archaeology News (UK) · · November 25, 2010 · · Stephen · |
The Battle of Towton was one of the bloodiest battle to ever take place on English soil, with nearly 1% of the English population of the time killed during the battle. New finds on the site has produced the earliest evidence of the use of guns on the battle field. The Battle of Towton took place on a snowy 29 March 1461 on high ground between the villages of Towton and Saxton in Yorkshire (about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of York and about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Tadcaster). The battle was one of the key battles of... |
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| An amazing find of an Elizabethan 'visard mask |
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· 12/09/2010 8:59:41 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 11 replies · · Arch News · · Monday, December 6, 2010 · · Stephen · |
An excerpt from Phillip Stubbes Anatomie of Abuses, published in 1583, he wrote: "When they use to ride abrod, they have invisories, or masks, visors made of velvet, wherwith they cover all their faces, having holes made in them against their eyes, whereout they look. So that if a man, that knew not their guise before, should chaunce to meet one of them, he would think hee met a monster or a devil; for face hee can see none, but two brode holes against her eyes with glasses in them". Another Elizabethan scholar, Randle Holme, wrote: "A mask . .... |
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| Was Medieval England more Merrie than thought? |
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· 12/06/2010 1:36:58 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 100 replies · · Reuters · · December 6, 2010 · · Reporting by Stephen Addison; Editing by Michael Holden · |
LONDON (Reuters) -- Maybe being a serf or a villein in the Middle Ages was not such a grim existence as it seems. Medieval England was not only far more prosperous than previously believed, it also actually boasted an average income that would be more than double the average per capita income of the world's poorest nations today, according to new research. Living standards in medieval England were far above the "bare bones subsistence" experience of people in many of today's poor countries, a study says. "The majority of the British population in medieval times could afford to consume what... |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| The Medieval Warm Period hit west Antarctica |
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· 12/06/2010 11:29:09 AM PST · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 23 replies · · JoNova · · December 6th, 2010 · · Joanne · |
What do you know? The Medieval Warm Period, which either "didn't exist" or "only happened in Europe", also hit Western Antarctica.Booth Island and Mount Scott are also on the Antarctic Peninsula. Photo: Stan Shebs. The climate models don't know why the world was warmer 1000 years ago. They don't know why it cooled into the Little Ice Age either. The models don't do regional projections well, and they don't do seasonal projections with any skill, and they (in the last ten years) don't work on short decadal timeframes either, but surely when it comes to big global temperature changes the... |
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| Global Sea-Level Rise at the End of the Last Ice Age Interrupted by Rapid 'Jumps' |
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· 12/09/2010 8:21:18 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 17 replies · · Science News · · Saturday, December 4, 2010 · · National Oceanography Centre · |
Global sea level rose by a total of more than 120 metres as the vast ice sheets of the last Ice Age melted back. This melt-back lasted from about 19,000 to about 6,000 years ago, meaning that the average rate of sea-level rise was roughly 1 metre per century. Previous studies of sea-level change at individual locations have suggested that the gradual rise may have been marked by abrupt 'jumps' of sea-level rise at rates that approached 5 metres per century. These estimates were based on analyses of the distribution of fossil corals around Barbados and coastal drowning along the... |
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| Lost civilization under Persian Gulf? |
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· 12/08/2010 12:58:03 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 35 replies · · University of Chicago Press Journals · · December 8, 2010 · · Unknown · |
A once fertile landmass now submerged beneath the Persian Gulf may have been home to some of the earliest human populations outside Africa, according to an article published today in Current Anthropology. Jeffrey Rose, an archaeologist and researcher with the University of Birmingham in the U.K., says that the area in and around this "Persian Gulf Oasis" may have been host to humans for over 100,000 years before it was swallowed up by the Indian Ocean around 8,000 years ago. Rose's hypothesis introduces a "new and substantial cast of characters" to the human history of the Near East, and suggests... |
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| Lost Civilization May Have Existed Beneath the Persian Gulf |
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· 12/10/2010 1:18:44 PM PST · · Posted by 2ndDivisionVet · · 19 replies · · Yahoo! News / Live Science · · December 10, 2010 · · Jeanna Bryner, Managing Editor · |
Veiled beneath the Persian Gulf, a once-fertile landmass may have supported some of the earliest humans outside Africa some 75,000 to 100,000 years ago, a new review of research suggests. At its peak, the floodplain now below the Gulf would have been about the size of Great Britain, and then shrank as water began to flood the area. Then, about 8,000 years ago, the land would have been swallowed up by the Indian Ocean, the review scientist said. The study, which is detailed in the December issue of the journal Current Anthropology, has broad implications for aspects of human history.... |
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| Climate | |
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| Changes in solar activity affect local climate (however...) |
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· 12/08/2010 2:38:34 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 8 replies · · Lund University · · December 8, 2010 · · Unknown · |
Raimund Muscheler is a researcher at the Department of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences at Lund University in Sweden. In the latest issue of the journal Science, he and his colleagues have described how the surface water temperature in the tropical parts of the eastern Pacific varied with the sun's activity between 7 000 and 11 000 years ago (early Holocene). Contrary to what one might intuitively believe, high solar activity had a cooling effect in this region. "It is perhaps a similar phenomenon that we are seeing here today", says Raimund Muscheler. "Last year's cold winter in Sweden could intuitively... |
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| Epigraphy & Language | |
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| Canadian scientists using ancient coins to map trading routes |
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· 12/09/2010 4:14:21 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · · Montreal Gazette · · December 7, 2010 · · Randy Boswell · |
Canadian scientists probing the metal content of coins exchanged thousands of years ago in Mediterranean Europe have discovered a new way to map ancient trade patterns, to retrace economic ups and downs at the dawn of Western Civilization and even to shed new light on the collapse of the Roman Empire. Researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton have launched a research project in which nuclear radiation is used to identify changes in metal content among ancient Greek and Roman coins held in a world-class collection amassed at the university since the 1940s... A joint project between the university's classics department... |
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| Navigation | |
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| Warring Greeks Find Peace in Ancient Egypt |
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· 12/06/2010 10:19:06 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 6 replies · · American Friends of Tel Aviv U · · December 6, 2010 · · Unknown · |
TAU researcher uncovers origins of Greek trade city in Egypt's Nile delta region -- Naukrtis, a Greek trade emporium on Egyptian soil, has long captured the imagination of archaeologists and historians. Not only is the presence of a Greek trading settlement in Egypt during the 7th and 6th century B.C.E. surprising, but the Greeks that lived there in harmony hailed from several Greek states which traditionally warred amongst themselves. Dr. Alexander Fantalkin of Tel Aviv University's Department of Archaeology is delving deeper into this unique piece of ancient history to come up with a new explanation for how Naukrtis developed, and how... |
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| Egypt | |
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| The Bombshell: Our Cleopatra Moment [ review of "Cleopatra: A Life" ] |
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· 12/08/2010 6:31:06 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 29 replies · · Bookslut · · December 2010 · · Jenny McPhee · |
We are in a Cleopatra moment. Three books featuring the notorious Egyptian queen have been published in the past few months of which Cleopatra: A Life by Pulitzer-Prize winning biographer Stacy Schiff is generating bombshell-size buzz. Michiko Kakutani gave Schiff's book a rave in The New York Times, the biography was fodder for Maureen Dowd's op-ed column (NYT), on NPR Tina Brown declared Schiff's book a "must-read" on the subject of women and power, Judith Thurman's round-up (The New Yorker) of the goddess' most recent chroniclers conferred upon Schiff's opus alone the honorific "a work of literature." But the mega-buzz... |
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| The Greeks | |
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| Lego Antikythera Mechanism |
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· 12/10/2010 9:22:04 AM PST · · Posted by Ro_Thunder · · 15 replies · · YouTube · · 09 Dec 2010 · · NatureVideoChannel · |
Cool video of the Antikythera Mechanism rebuilt in Lego, and how it works. |
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| Faith & Philosophy | |
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| Lebanon dig yields spiritual plate [ Greek language blessing / curse ] |
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· 12/10/2010 9:40:27 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 3 replies · · Japan Times · · Thursday, December 9, 2010 · · unattributed · |
An excavation team from Kyoto University working in Lebanon has found a lead plate believed to date from between the second and fourth centuries that was apparently used to invoke the spirits of the dead. The 6-cm-wide, 14.7-cm-long plate, discovered near the entrance of an underground grave, is adorned with ancient Greek text that reads "May the unjust be removed from them" and "May signs of a gag and shame, and disgrace be given to them," along with the names of four people, the team said Tuesday. Hiroshima University associate professor Hiroshi Maeno said, "Common people in a weak... |
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| Anatolia | |
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| Tumulus skeleton found with arrow tip in spine [ 6,500 BC ] |
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· 12/10/2010 9:16:05 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 12 replies · · Today's Zaman · · Thursday, December 9, 2010 · · unattributed · |
"This tomb of a man in his 30s from the early Chalcolithic period did not seem unusual at first glance. He was buried in accordance with the burial traditions of the period. ... On closer examination of the skeleton, we discovered a deep arrow wound in the bottom of his spine," paleoanthropologist Song¸l Alpaslan Roodenberg from the excavation team told the Anatolia news agency. "The arrow tip explained the cause of this Aktopraklik man's death almost precisely," she said... Adding that it is very probable that the man died quickly due to excessive bleeding, the paleoanthropologist said: "it seems that... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| 5000 year old footprints found on Formby beach [ UK ] |
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· 12/10/2010 9:35:34 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 3 replies · · Champion Newspapers · · Thursday, December 9, 2010 · · David Raven · |
Archaeologists today dubbed the discovery 'sensational', claiming it is one of the most significant historic footprint finds the country has seen... Mysterious footprints have been found in the area since the 1950s but the latest finds also shows that deer, six foot cattle and birds from the Bronze Age once roamed the area... The first person to take an active role in studying the footprints was ex-Harrington Road resident Gordon Roberts back in 1989. Now 81-years-old, the former head of languages at Formby High, devised his own system of monitoring and tracking the prints by location... He said: "Formby prides... |
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| Australia & the Pacific | |
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| First Australians did not boost fire activity |
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· 12/08/2010 7:23:50 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 12 replies · · PhysOrg · · Monday, December 6, 2010 · · Bob Beale · |
The arrival of the first people in Australia about 50,000 years ago did not result in significantly greater fire activity, according to a landmark new research report on the continent's fire history going back 70,000 years. Despite a widely held belief that the frequent use of fire by Aboriginal people resulted in vegetation change and other environmental impacts in prehistoric times, the most comprehensive study of Australian charcoal records has found they had no major impact on fire regimes... On large time scales, overall fire activity in Australia predominantly reflects prevailing climate, with less activity in colder glacial periods and... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| Giant fossil bird found on 'hobbit' island of Flores |
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· 12/07/2010 2:39:20 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 29 replies · · BBC · · December 7, 2010 · · Emma Brennand · |
A giant marabou stork has been discovered on an island once home to human-like 'hobbits'.Fossils of the bird were discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores, a place previously famed for the discovery of Homo floresiensis, a small hominin species closely related to modern humans. The stork may have been capable of hunting and eating juvenile members of this hominin species, say researchers who made the discovery, though there is no direct evidence the birds did so. The finding, reported in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, also helps explain how prehistoric wildlife adapted to living on islands. |
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| Dinosaurs | |
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| Scientists Discover 'Koreaceratops': First Horned Dino From Korea |
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· 12/08/2010 2:18:55 PM PST · · Posted by EveningStar · · 10 replies · · FoxNews · · December 6, 2010 · |
Triceratops has a new cousin -- one from a distant continent, that is. Scientists from South Korea, the United States and Japan just announced the discovery of a new horned dinosaur, based on an analysis of fossil evidence found in South Korea. Dubbed "Koreaceratops" after its country of origin, the new dinosaur fossil was found in 2008 in a block of rock along the Tando Basin reservoir. |
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| Teaching Guides | |
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| Drawing the Lessons of History, Poster-Size |
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· 12/07/2010 10:05:45 AM PST · · Posted by reaganaut1 · · 16 replies · · New York Times · · December 6, 2010 · · Mitchell Trinka · |
It was Dec. 7, 1991, the 50th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Mr. Robyn asked his son if he had learned about the event in class. He was surprised when his son said no. "My father served in World War II, and it was very important to him," Mr. Robyn said. "That day should have been remembered." Fifteen years later, Mr. Robyn, 53, said he was obligated to do something about Americans' indifference to their own history. He sold a landscaping business, which operated out of Wilton, Conn., reached the limits on his credit cards and spent... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| Victor Davis Hanson: The Destiny of Cities |
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· 12/09/2010 11:58:41 AM PST · · Posted by neverdem · · 19 replies · · City Journal · · Autumn 2010 · · Victor Davis Hanson · |
Throughout history, forces both natural and human have made cities rise and fall.As the world steadily grows more urbanized, with 50 percent of its population no longer rural, it is more important than ever to ask how cities either perish or manage to survive. The question can be hard to answer. Why, following centuries of periodic depopulation and neglect, are Rome and Athens once again capitals, while Leptis Magna and Ephesus -- once-thriving imperial powerhouses on the coasts of Libya and Turkey, respectively -- are long deserted? Was it climate, or location, or a larger cultural tradition of resilience that eventually brought Rome and... |
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| Proper Study of Man is Mankind | |
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| Anthropology A Science? The Experts Disagree |
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· 12/09/2010 6:30:08 PM PST · · Posted by Palter · · 36 replies · · The New York Times · · 09 Dec 2010 · · Nicholas Wade · |
Anthropologists have been thrown into turmoil about the nature and future of their profession after a decision by the American Anthropological Association at its recent annual meeting to strip the word "science" from a statement of its long-range plan.The decision has reopened a long-simmering tension between researchers in science-based anthropological disciplines -- including archaeologists, physical anthropologists and some cultural anthropologists -- and members of the profession who study race, ethnicity and gender and see themselves as advocates for native peoples or human rights. During the last 10 years the two factions have been through a phase of bitter tribal warfare... |
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| Pages | |
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| Sun Tzu's 2,500-Year-Old 'Art of War' Guides China's Strategy Today |
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· 09/10/2006 9:20:42 AM PDT · · Posted by Korvac · · 59 replies · 1,500+ views · · newsmax.com · · Friday, Sept. 8, 2006 · · Lev Navrozov · |
Sun Tzu's 2,500-Year-Old 'Art of War' Guides China's Strategy Today Lev Navrozov Friday, Sept. 8, 2006 On June 19, the Daily of the Chinese People's Liberation Army reported that "in the past few days" the Seventh (!) Symposium on Sun Tzu's "Art of War" was held. The report said: "Sun Tzu's "Art of War' advocates winning "without fighting.'" Hitler, the last major Western European conqueror, and his top officers, some of whom had fought World War I for four years without winning, had possibly never read Sun Tzu's "Art of War." Many Westerners still regard themselves as supermen (the word... |
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| China | |
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| Prehistoric cobbled road found in Jiangxi |
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· 12/10/2010 9:49:28 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 8 replies · · People's Daily Online · · Thursday, December 09, 2010 · · Ye Xin · |
A prehistoric archeological site with an area of about 600 square meters has been under excavation in Jin'an County, China's Jiangxi Province since October 2009. More than 1,000 cultural relics have been unearthed. On Dec. 3, 2010, a cobbled road 4 meters in length and 90 centimeters wide was found at the archeological site. The road paved with cobblestones dates back to prehistoric times. Evidence shows that it is the earliest road in Jiangxi. A prehistoric cobbled road is found in Jiangxi. (photo:jxnews.com.cn) |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, & PreClovis | |
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| Archaeologists Discover Two More Human Skeletons Accompanied by a Rich Offering at Chiapa de Corzo |
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· 12/09/2010 8:52:39 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · · ArtDaily · · Tuesday, December 7, 2010 · · E Gallaga & B Bachand (?) · |
After discovering a 2,700 year old tomb, probably the earliest in Mesoamerica, the team of specialists of the Chiapa de Corzo Archaeological Project discovered another multiple burial that probably dates from 500 BC, which was accompanied by an offering where a necklace with an Olmeca-style pendant stands out. Also found at Mound 11 of Chiapa de Corzo Archaeological Zone, this second discovery consists in 2 osseous remains of male adults, located in a corner of the excavation area of the hill... The general characteristics of the multiple burial and its offering, as pointed out by the experts, confirms the early... |
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| Agriculture & Animal Husbandry | |
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| Mayans converted wetlands to farmland |
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· 12/09/2010 8:01:31 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 18 replies · · Nature · · November 5, 2010 · · Amanda Mascarelli · |
Using new techniques and extensive excavations, researchers have found that the Maya coped with tough environmental conditions by developing ingenious methods to grow crops in wetland areas. "The work shows that this intensive agriculture is more complicated and on a par with these other areas of intellectual development," says Timothy Beach, a physical geographer at Georgetown University in Washington DC, who presented his findings on Wednesday at the Geological Society of America (GSA) meeting in Denver, Colorado. The Maya civilization, considered one of the most advanced ancient societies, lived in sprawling and densely populated pockets from the Yucatán Peninsula in... |
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| Peru & the Andes | |
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| Peru: 'sensational' Inca find for British team in Andes [ ancestor stones ] |
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· 12/09/2010 8:08:14 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 21 replies · · The Observer · · Sunday, December 5, 2010 · · Dalya Alberge · |
A British team of archaeologists on expedition in the Peruvian Andes has hailed as "sensational" the discovery of some of the most sacred objects in the Inca civilisation -- three "ancestor stones", which were once believed to form a precious link between the heavens and the underworld... Dr Frank Meddens, research associate of Royal Holloway, who was also on the expedition, said they had "danced a little jig on top of the mountain" after discovering the objects that they had only read about in 16th-century Spanish documents. |
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| Inequality drove ancient Peruvians to child sacrifice |
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· 12/06/2010 1:07:46 PM PST · · Posted by La Lydia · · 32 replies · · New Scientist · · December 3, 2010 · · Sonia Van Gilder Cook · |
Sacrifice is an age-old ritual, but the inhabitants of 10th-century Peru brought sinister novelty to their rites by slaughtering children. In the Lambayeque valley on the north coast, the earliest definitive evidence of ritual child sacrifice uncovered.... "The scale and sheer complexity of the blood sacrifice of children appears to be something completely new," said Haagen Klaus of Utah Valley University in Orem... To investigate the role of ritual sacrifice in the Middle Sic·n period, researchers examined 81 skeletons at the site, probing their teeth and bones to determine who they were and why they'd been killed. ... 70 per... |
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| Darwinners & Losers | |
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| Sexual Selection: Hunkier Than Thou |
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· 12/09/2010 5:26:05 PM PST · · Posted by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · · 46 replies · · The Economist · · December 9, 2010 · · The Economist · |
WHEN it comes to partners, men often find women's taste fickle and unfathomable. But ladies may not be entirely to blame. A growing body of research suggests that their preference for certain types of male physiognomy may be swayed by things beyond their conscious control -- like prevalence of disease or crime -- and in predictable ways. Masculine features -- a big jaw, say, or a prominent brow -- tend to reflect physical and behavioural traits, such as strength and aggression. They are also closely linked to physiological ones, like virility and a sturdy immune system. The obverse of these desirable characteristics looks less appealing. Aggression is fine... |
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| Biology & Cryptobiology | |
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| Crocs dispel 'living fossil' myth |
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· 12/08/2010 7:57:19 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 13 replies · · BBC · · December 8, 2010 · · Ella Davies · |
Crocodiles can no longer be referred to as "living fossils", according to scientists.Members of the crocodilian family have previously been thought to have changed little since prehistoric times. However, new fossil analyses suggests that modern crocodilians actually evolved from a very diverse group. Recently discovered ancient ancestors include small cat-like specimens, giant "supercrocs" and a pug-nosed vegetarian species. Body structureModern crocodilians are adapted to aquatic environments with long snouts, strong tails and powerful jaws. Yet contrary to popular belief, scientists now suggest that the basic body structure of crocodiles, alligators and ghariels evolved from a diverse group of prehistoric reptiles... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Human genetic variation: The first 50 dimensions |
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· 12/04/2010 1:43:15 PM PST · · Posted by Palter · · 12 replies · · Dienekes' Anthropology Blog · · 01 Dec 2010 · · Dienekes Pontikos · |
Here is a huge data dump for anyone interested in human variation. Part of the reason I started the Dodecad Project was to be able to analyze data on my own, rather than having to squint to make sense of a plot, to speculate about what might show up at higher dimensions, or with more clusters, to wonder how the inclusion of additional populations would affect the results, and so on. The following dataset represents the culmination (so far), of my efforts. Number of SNP markers: ~177,000 as in here Populations: 139 Individuals: 2,230 In the RAR file (~11MB) you... |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Britain's oldest brain [ 300 BC or before ] |
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· 12/05/2010 8:49:37 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 33 replies · · Past Horizons · · Friday, November 26, 2010 · · unattributed · |
The oldest surviving human brain in Britain, dating back at least 2000 years to the Iron Age, was unearthed during excavations on the site of the University of York's campus expansion at Heslington East in 2008. Archaeologists from York Archaeological Trust, commissioned by the University to carry out the exploratory dig, made the discovery in an area of extensive prehistoric farming landscape of fields, trackways and buildings dating back to at least 300 BC, and they believe the skull, which was found on its own in a muddy pit, may have been a ritual offering. The man had been hanged... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| Piecing Together the Ark |
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· 12/07/2010 7:57:43 PM PST · · Posted by Walt Griffith · · 43 replies · · The Arc Encounter · · December 1, 2010 · · The Arc Encounter Admin. · |
As the account of Noah's Ark and the Flood continues to capture the imagination of all sectors in America, nearly every culture boasts well-known accounts of a massive flood that has elements very similar to the biblical Flood (going back even to the time of the Babylonians). In November, 2009, a CBS News survey revealed the finding that the remains of Noah's Ark would be the greatest archaeological discovery of our day. CBS News stated: "CBS' 60 Minutes news program, in conjunction with Vanity Fair magazine, recently conducted a web survey asking which archaeological discovery people would most want to... |
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| Rock-solid Proof? (Man and Dinosaur Walked the Earth Together?) |
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· 07/31/2008 6:20:38 PM PDT · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 183 replies · 2,181+ views · · mineralwellsindex.com · · July 28, 2008 · · David May · |
A slab of North Texas limestone is on track to rock the world, with its two imbedded footprints poised to make a huge impression in scientific and religious circles. The estimated 140-pound stone was recovered in July 2000 from the bank of a creek that feeds the Paluxy River near Glen Rose, Texas, located about 53 miles south of Fort Worth. The find was made just outside Dinosaur Valley State Park, a popular destination for tourists known for its well-preserved dinosaur tracks and other fossils. The limestone contains two distinct prints -- one of a human footprint and one belonging... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Rare window into life of tsarist Russia (many letters to Swiss tutor) |
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· 12/05/2010 6:45:55 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 20 replies · · BBC · · December 5, 2010 · · Imogen Foulkes · |
A rare window into life in imperial Russia is due to open on Monday, when hundreds of letters, postcards, photographs and even menus from the court of Tsar Alexander III are put up for auction in Geneva.The documents were all sent by Alexander's children, Nicholas (who later became Nicholas II), George, Michael, Olga and Xenia to their Swiss tutor Ferdinand Thormeyer. Mr Thormeyer was born and brought up in Geneva, but emigrated to Russia as a young man where - in 1886 - he became a tutor of French language and literature to the imperial children. Throughout his time with... |
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| The Revolution | |
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| The 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence Proved Freedom is not Free |
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· 07/01/2009 9:48:59 AM PDT · · Posted by Son House · · 31 replies · 2,479+ views · · The Forest Lake Times · · 01 July 2009 · · Rev. John C. Blackford · |
It all began on July 4, 1776 in the city of Philadelphia when a small group of men, suffering under the restraints of a European power 3000 miles away, and acting as the Second Continental Congress, declared their 13 colonies to be free and independent of Great Britain. Knowing their proclamation would bring difficulties, they committed themselves and their constituents to what they believed was their "unalienable right" -- freedom from tyranny. The Revolutionary War resulted from their declaration. It was a time of tremendous hardship for the new nation, but it ushered in a new era for the world.... |
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| end of digest #334 20101211 | |
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· Saturday, December 11, 2010 · 37 topics · 2640848 to 2637478 · 758 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 334th issue, and I hope to bang this out in fifteen minutes, now that I've finally started in earnest. Hope you enjoy it, the articles available this week, as in recent weeks, have been great. The emphasis this week, for maybe the second time in GGG Digest history, is archaeology in the Americas. But there is a ton of good stuff. |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #335 Saturday, December 18, 2010 |
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| Biology & Cryptobiology | |
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| Life's Building Blocks Found on Surprising Meteorite |
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· 12/16/2010 5:53:58 AM PST · · Posted by FatherofFive · · 47 replies · · Space.com · · Wed Dec 15, 6:15 pm · · SPACE.com Staff · |
Scientists have discovered amino acids, the building blocks of life in a meteorite where none were expected. The finding adds evidence to the idea that some of life's key ingredients could have formed in space, and then been delivered to Earth long ago by meteorite impacts. The meteorite in question was born in a violent crash, and eventually crashed into northern Sudan |
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| Agriculture & Animal Husbandry | |
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| Thanksgiving Meat May Promote Caveman Behaviors [ this is a problem? ] |
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· 12/12/2010 7:50:16 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 73 replies · · Discovery News · · Thursday, November 25, 2010 · · Jennifer Viegas · |
The sight of meat, such as a juicy roasted turkey on the Thanksgiving table, may promote caveman behavioral traits, according to new research recently presented at a McGill University undergraduate science symposium. The study adds to the growing body of research on priming and aggression, which holds that looking at an object possibly learned to be associated with aggression, such as a gun, can make someone more likely to behave a certain way. "I theorized that meat would elicit an aggressive response because it would be beneficial to our ancestor's adaptation in that it would place our ancestors in a... |
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| Neandertal / Neanderthal | |
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| Neanderthals: how needles and skins gave us the edge on our kissing cousins |
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· 12/12/2010 12:19:16 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 35 replies · · The Observer · · Sunday, December 5, 2010 · · Robin McKie · |
Many treasures compete for attention, but there is one sample, kept in a small plywood box, that deserves especial interest: the Swanscombe skull. Found near Gravesend last century, it is made up of three pieces of the brain case of a 400,000-year-old female and is one of only half-a-dozen bits of skeleton that can be traced to men and women who lived in Britain before the end of the last ice age. Human remains do not get more precious than this. However, the Swanscombe find is important for another, crucial reason: the skull is that of a Neanderthal, that race... |
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| Neanderthals Fashioned Earliest Tool Made From Human Bone |
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· 12/16/2010 12:41:36 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 37 replies · · LiveScience · · Wednesday, December 15, 2010 · · Charles Q. Choi · |
Until now, the first evidence that human bones were used either symbolically or as tools were 30,000-to 34,000-year-old perforated human teeth found at excavations in southwest France. These were apparently used as ornaments. Now scientists have identified a human skull fragment dating back at least 50,000 years that bears signs it was used as a sharpener. It was found in a Neanderthal deposit -- the first time our relatives were discovered making tools from human bone. (Neanderthals are an extinct kind of human that were anatomically distinct from us modern humans.) The bone was first unearthed in 1926 at the... |
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| Faith & Philosophy | |
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| Archaeology: 8000 year-old Sun temple found in Bulgaria |
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· 12/16/2010 9:42:30 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 11 replies · · Sofia Echo · · Wednesday, December 15, 2010 · · staff · |
The oldest temple of the Sun has been discovered in northwest Bulgaria, near the town of Vratsa, aged at more then 8000 years, the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported on December 15 2010. The Bulgarian 'Stonehenge' is hence about 3000 years older than its illustrious English counterpart. But unlike its more renowned English cousin, the Bulgarian sun temple was not on the surface, rather it was dug out from under tons of earth and is shaped in the form of a horse shoe, the report said. The temple was found near the village of Ohoden. According to archaeologists, the prehistoric... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| Oldest Salt Mine Known to Date Located in Azerbaijan |
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· 12/12/2010 11:12:07 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 6 replies · · ScienceDaily · · November 27, 2010 · · CNRS via AlphaGalileo · |
Another remarkable fact is that the abundance of artifacts dating from the early Bronze Age suggests that the Duzdagi mine was intensively exploited from as early as the 4th millennium BC. Hundreds of stone picks and hammers have in fact been found near the entrances of collapsed tunnels. The frequent presence nearby of ceramic pottery fragments specific to the culture known as "Kuro-Araxes" has made it possible to date these archeological artifacts. Their spatial and chronological distribution was analyzed by a geographic information system, combining satellite photos (Spot 5), aerial photos taken from a kite and the plotting of artifacts... |
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| Africa | |
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| Team hopes to unlock mysteries of Cameroon's granite strongholds! |
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· 08/17/2002 9:23:34 AM PDT · · Posted by vannrox · · 19 replies · 478+ views · · University of Calgary · · August 15, 2002 · · Greg Harris, Media Relations · |
Centuries-old African structures have never been excavated · U of C-led team hopes to unlock mysteries of Cameroon's granite strongholds · A University of Calgary archaeologist is leading the first expedition to excavate the so-called Strongholds of Cameroon, which are some of the most remarkable stone-built structures anywhere in Africa.Located in the Mandara Mountains of northern Cameroon, the strongholds range in size from small standalone structures, to complex, castle-sized fortresses with platforms, terraces and covered passageways. The curving walls on some of the... |
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| Australia & the Pacific | |
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| Early settlers rapidly transformed Kiwi forests with fire |
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· 12/16/2010 8:45:15 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 21 replies · · Sify · · Tuesday, December 14, 2010 · · ANI · |
Charcoal recovered from lakebed sediment cores has shown that just a few large fires within 200 years of initial colonization destroyed much of the South Island's lowland forest. Dave McWethy and Cathy Whitlock from Montana State University led the international team that carried out the study. Previous research by co-authors Matt McGlone and Janet Wilmshurst at Landcare Research in New Zealand showed that closed forests covered 85-90 percent of New Zealand prior to the arrival of Polynesians (Maori ) 700-800 years ago, but by the time Europeans settled in the mid 19th century, grass and shrubs had replaced over 40... |
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| Proper Study of Man is Mankind | |
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| Think multitasking is new? Our prehistoric ancestors invented it, UCLA book argues |
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· 12/12/2010 9:37:08 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 18 replies · · Eurekalert · · Tuesday, December 7, 2010 · · Meg Sullivan, UCLA · |
Answering e-mail while toggling between telephone conversations. Monitoring social networking sites while working. Supervising the kids' homework while listening to the news and cooking dinner. The abundance of contemporary distractions offers many reasons to curse multitasking. But a UCLA anthropologist refuses to join the chorus. In a new book that explores the long history of multitasking, Monica L. Smith maintains that human beings should appreciate their ability to sequence many activities and to remember to return to a task once it has been interrupted, possibly even with new ideas on how to improve the activity... Smith, an associate professor of... |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| A 7.0 earthquake in the Midwest? Planning for the "maximum-of-maximums" |
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· 12/16/2010 9:34:08 AM PST · · Posted by FromLori · · 40 replies · · FEMA · · 12/16/2010 · · Tim Manning · |
It's the stuff legends are made of. On this day 199 years ago, the first in a series of catastrophic earthquakes rocked the Midwest along the New Madrid seismic zone. Although the epicenter of the December 16th quake was in northeast Arkansas, the magnitude of the quake reportedly caused church bells to ring along the East coast. As the graphic above shows, an major earthquake in the New Madrid zone (of magnitude 6.0 or more) would severely affect Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Several other states would be affected, ranging from Minnesota to Florida. It's hard to... |
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| Sunken Civilizations | |
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| Russian And Jordan Dive To Find Sodom And Gomorrah |
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· 12/16/2010 11:47:45 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 25 replies · · Arch News · · Tuesday, December 14, 2010 · · Stephen · |
Arabic news media reported over the weekend... a Russian company has agreed to conduct the search in cooperation with Jordanian authorities, picking up all costs -- in exchange for exclusive rights to film a documentary of the search... The Russian company that was chosen as a partner for the search has special underwater exploration equipment that can stand up to the extreme salinity of the Dead Sea, the reports said. Biblical archaeologists have several theories as to where the Sodom and its associated cities were located. According to the Torah, God overturned Sodom, Gomorrah, and three other cities because of... |
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| Religion of Pieces | |
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| Archaeologists Challenge Barnard Professor's Claim |
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· 10/22/2007 3:16:31 PM PDT · · Posted by blam · · 9 replies · 96+ views · · The Jewish Daily Forward · · 10-17-2007 · · Marissa Brostoff · |
Amid charges of mud-slinging, a group of archaeologists turned to dirt-digging -- literally -- in their fight against a controversial fellow academic. On Monday night, Columbia University's pro-Israel student group played host to the latest installment in a lecture series aimed, at least partially, at rebutting Nadia Abu El-Haj, whose work has been critical of the traditional narratives of Israeli archeology. Abu El-Haj, an assistant professor of anthropology at Barnard since 2002, first gained notice with her 2001 book "Facts on the Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Joshua's Tomb vandalized with Arabic graffiti |
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· 12/17/2010 2:00:29 AM PST · · Posted by rdl6989 · · 17 replies · · Jerusalem Post · · 12/17/2010 · |
Jewish worshippers discover Samaria site spray-painted with graffiti calling for martyrdom; Mesika calls act "barbaric." Palestinians vandalized Joshua's Tomb in Samaria's Timnat Heres with Arabic graffiti overnight Thursday. Hundreds of Jewish worshippers, escorted by the IDF, arrived at the site which is located between Barak and Ariel, and discovered graffiti on surrounding walls which advocated martyrdom. |
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| Dead Sea Scrolls | |
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| What's inside? Sealed jar discovered at Qumran |
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· 12/11/2010 8:43:36 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 31 replies · · Unreported Heritage News · · Friday, December 10, 2010 · · Owen Jarus · |
An intact, sealed, jar has been discovered at Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in nearby caves. A multinational team of scientists have been analyzing the jar and their findings are set to be published in the journal Archaeometry. If you have a subscription (or access to a library with one) you can already see the article on the publication's website... Altogether nine scientists are credited in the paper. Kaare Lund Rasmussen, of the University of Southern Denmark, is listed at the lead author. The jar itself was excavated in 2004. It was found about 50... |
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| Roman Empire | |
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| Gales unearth Roman-era statue on Israel's coast |
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· 12/16/2010 12:09:22 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · · Reuters UK · · Wednesday, December 15, 2010 · · Dan Williams · |
A Roman statue that had been buried for centuries has been unearthed by the winter gales that have raked Israel's coast. The white-marble figure of a woman in toga and sandals was found in the remains of a cliff that crumbled under the force of winds, waves and rain at the ancient port of Ashkelon, the Israel Antiquities Authority said on Tuesday. "The sea gave us this amazing statue," said Yigal Israeli, a researcher with the authority. He said the statue, which lacks a head and arms, is about 1.2 meters (4 feet) tall, weighs 200 kg (440 pounds) and... |
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| Wonder in Israel as ancient Roman statue buried for centuries is uncovered by powerful winter storm |
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· 12/16/2010 12:09:51 PM PST · · Posted by Red Badger · · 49 replies · · Daily Mail · · 12-16-2010 · · Staff · |
A long-lost Roman statue buried for thousands of years has been unearthed by massive winter storms that have lashed the coast of Israel this week. The mysterious white-marble figure of a woman in toga and 'beautifully detailed' sandals was found in the remains of a cliff that crumbled under the force of 60mph winds and enormous 40ft waves. The statue, which lacks a head and arms, is about 4ft tall and weighs 440lbs. It was found at the ancient port of Ashkelon, around 20 miles south of Tel Aviv. |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Murder beneath the Yorkshire Museum may reveal location of Eboracum's amphitheatre? |
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· 12/12/2010 7:02:07 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 15 replies · · Past Horizons · · December 9, 2010 · · Unknown · |
The skeleton of a huge Roman who was stabbed to death could be a clue in the search for York's Roman amphitheatre. Experts have revealed the skeleton found beneath the Yorkshire Museum during its refurbishment is that of a powerful, athletic male who was stabbed at least six times in a fatal attack, including a powerful sword blow to the back of the head. The location where he was found has long been thought to be one of the prime locations for a Roman amphitheatre, which would most certainly have been built when York was the Roman capital of the... |
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| Epigraphy & Language | |
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| Why Frome is still cashing in on the Romans |
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· 12/13/2010 1:54:43 AM PST · · Posted by Islander7 · · 5 replies · · Guardian · · Dec 12, 2010 · · Maev Kennedy · |
Dave Crisp found treasure on a soggy ridge outside the Somerset town of Frome last April, and helped rewrite history. On a bitter winter afternoon, as he walks the frosty field again, he recalls one of the most heart-stoppingly exciting moments of his life. The 63-year-old ex-army man had discovered a scattering of Roman silver coins in the field. He came back a few days later with his detector, bought secondhand on eBay, to round up any remaining broken pieces. The signals were faint and confusing. |
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| Middle Ages & Renaissance | |
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| Medieval Mystery From The UK [Creswell Crags, Nine Men's Morris] |
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· 12/16/2010 11:26:35 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · · Arch News · · Monday, December 13, 2010 · · Stephen · |
Creswell Crags located in Worsop, UK, represents one site among a significant cluster of cave sites inhabited during the last Ice Age in Britain. Archaeological and environmental evidence excavated from the caves show how the area witnessed dramatic changes in climate at the edge of the northern ice sheets and was populated by Ice Age animals such as hyenas, mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, and migrating herds of reindeer, horse and bison. Archaeology investigations at the caves have uncovered stone, bone and ivory tools which date occupation to the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic era. In, addition archaeology have discovered 13000 year old... |
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| Abbots Bromley Horn Dance |
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· 07/08/2007 9:48:26 PM PDT · · Posted by blam · · 11 replies · 352+ views · · Whatonwhen · |
When:10 Sep 2007 (annual) · Where: St Nicholas Church · Cost:Free Opening · Hours: Starts 7.45am; dance continues from 8am-8pm · The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is one of the oldest ritual dances still performed in England. Ostensibly held to commemorate the acquisition of hunting rights by the villagers of Abbots Bromley to the nearby Needwood Forest, the dance consists of six men carrying sets of reindeer horns around the surrounding villages. The horned men are accompanied on their travels by a hobby horse, a fool, a Robin-Hood figure (who carries a bow and arrow) and a Maid Marion. At 7.45am they turn up... |
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| 'Robin Hood's Escape Tunnel Found' |
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· 08/16/2002 3:34:58 PM PDT · · Posted by blam · · 51 replies · 819+ views · · Ananova · · 8-16-2002 · |
Experts believe they've found a tunnel that allowed Robin Hood to escape from the Sheriff of Nottingham. The secret passageway found under the Galleries of Justice museum in Nottingham is eight feet below street level. Archaeologists excavating 14th-century manmade caves beneath the museum stumbled upon it accidentally when they broke through a rotten wood floor. The museum's curator Louise Connell says the tunnel leads towards St Mary's Church, where ancient documents say Robin sought sanctuary from the Sheriff 's men. The Evening Post says it's believed he used the tunnel to escape from the church,... |
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| Navigation | |
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| Humans helped vultures colonize the Canary Islands |
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· 12/12/2010 6:29:46 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 10 replies · · BioMed Central · · December 12, 2010 · · Unknown · |
The Egyptian vulture population of the Canary Islands was established following the arrival of the first human settlers who brought livestock to the islands. A genetic comparison of Iberian and Canarian birds, published in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, found that the Egyptian vulture population in the Canary Islands was likely established around 2500 years ago -- around the same time as humans began to colonise the islands. Rosa Agudo worked with a team of researchers from the Doñana Biological Station, Seville, Spain, to investigate genetic and morphological changes between 143 Iberian birds and 242 from Fuerteventura, one... |
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| Egypt | |
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| Cleopatra Not First Female Pharoah of Her Line: Queen Arsinoë II, an Olympian medalist... |
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· 12/12/2010 8:29:43 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 34 replies · · Discovery News · · Thursday, December 2, 2010 · · Rossella Lorenzi · |
Cleopatra may not have been ancient Egypt's only female pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty -- Queen Arsinoë II, a woman who competed in and won Olympic events, came first, some 200 years earlier, according to a new study into a unique Egyptian crown. After analyzing details and symbols of the crown worn by Arsinoë and reinterpreting Egyptian reliefs, Swedish researchers... suggest that Queen Arsinoë II (316-270 B.C.) was the first female pharaoh belonging to Ptolemy's family -- the dynasty that ruled Egypt for some 300 years until the Roman conquest of 30 B.C. While researchers largely agree on Arsinoë's prominence... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Scientists ID Head of France's King Henry IV |
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· 12/15/2010 2:19:47 PM PST · · Posted by billorites · · 31 replies · · CBS.com · · December 14, 2010 · |
After nine months of tests, researchers in France have identified the head of France's King Henry IV, who was assassinated in 1610 aged 57. The scientific tests helped identify the late monarch's embalmed head, which was shuffled between private collections ever since it disappeared during the French Revolution in 1793. The results of the research identifying Henry IV's head were published online Wednesday in the medical journal, BMJ. Henry IV was buried in the Basilica of Saint Denis near Paris, but during the frenzy of the French Revolution, the royal graves were dug up and revolutionaries chopped off Henry's head,... |
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| Tests show head of France's King Henri IV 'genuine' |
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· 12/16/2010 1:28:46 AM PST · · Posted by thecodont · · 27 replies · · BBC News · · 14 December 2010 · · BBC Staff · |
Scientists say they have identified an embalmed head as belonging to King Henri IV of France, who was assassinated in 1610 at the age of 57. The head was lost after revolutionaries ransacked the royal chapel at Saint Denis, near Paris, in 1793. A head, presumed to be that of Henri IV, has passed between private collectors since then. A team of scientists used the latest forensic techniques to identify features seen in portraits of the king. A lesion near his nose, a pierced ear and a healed facial wound - from a previous assassination attempt - were among the... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| Mona Lisa painting 'contains hidden code' |
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· 12/12/2010 10:14:30 PM PST · · Posted by bruinbirdman · · 70 replies · · The Telegraph · · 12/12/2010 · · Nick Pisa, Rome · |
Art historians are probing a real life Da Vinci Code style mystery after discovering tiny numbers and letters painted into the eyes of the artist's enigmatic Mona Lisa painting. The numbers and letters are not visible to the human eye but have to be viewed under a microscope Leonardo Da Vinci's 500-year-old Renaissance masterpiece has long been steeped in mystery, and even today the true identity of the woman with the alluring smile still far from certain. Now members of Italy's National Committee for Cultural Heritage have revealed that by magnifying high resolution images of the Mona Lisa's eyes letters... |
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| Archaeoastronomy & Megaliths | |
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| Solstice-eclipse overlap first in 456 years |
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· 12/17/2010 5:47:07 PM PST · · Posted by Renfield · · 29 replies · · Montreal Gazette · · 12-16-2010 · · Rebecca Lindell · |
OTTAWA -- This year's winter solstice -- an event that will occur next Tuesday -- will coincide with a full lunar eclipse in a union that hasn't been seen in 456 years. The celestial eccentricity holds special significance for spiritualities that tap into the energy of the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and a time that is associated with the rebirth of the sun. "It's a ritual of transformation from darkness into light," says Nicole Cooper, a high priestess at Toronto's Wiccan Church of Canada. "It's the idea that when things seem really bleak, (it) is often... |
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| Climate | |
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| Author claims we're in the grip of a mini ice age |
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· 12/07/2010 10:58:33 AM PST · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 58 replies · · The Sunday Sun · · Dec 5 2010 · · Mike Kelly · |
AFTER nearly two weeks of snow and sub zero temperatures rivaling those of Siberia, the old joke about global warming being a good thing has had a new lease of life. So what has happened to doom-laden predictions of the world heating up as glaciers melt? Mike Kelly reports. FIRST the good news. These bitter winters aren't going to last forever. The bad news is that they will go on for the next 30 years as we have entered a mini ice age. So says author Gavin Cooke in his book Frozen Britain. He began writing it in 2008 and it... |
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| US southwest could see 60-year drought: study |
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· 12/13/2010 5:58:35 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 59 replies · · AFP · · December 13, 2010 · · Unknown · |
WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A worst-case scenario devised by US researchers shows that the American southwest could experience a 60-year stretch of heat and drought unseen since the 12th century. Researchers at the University of Arizona examined studies of temperature changes and droughts in the region over the past 1,200 years and used them to project future climate models in the hope that water resource managers could use the information to plan ahead. An examination of the past, through human-kept records but also via rings in the cores of trees that can show periods of wetness or drought, showed that dry... |
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| Darwinners & Losers | |
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| Snails with shells coiling to the left survive snake attacks (w/ Video) |
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· 12/12/2010 1:22:49 PM PST · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 11 replies · · physorg · · December 10, 2010 · · Lin Edwards · |
Snail shells can spiral to the left (sinistral) or to the right (dextral), as determined by a single gene, and a new study has found the advantage of being in the minority sinistral group: they survive predation by snakes much better than dextral snails. The effect of this advantage is so great they could separate into a distinct species. Mating between sinistral and dextral snails is almost impossible because their genitals are on opposite sides of their bodies. In the large Satsuma snails, for example, mating takes place face-to-face. All snails have both male and female reproductive organs, and when... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| Oldest fossils found in Cordillera Bética mountain range |
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· 12/13/2010 10:48:40 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 19 replies · · FECYT · · December 13, 2010 · · Unknown · |
Spanish researchers have found fossils of Ordovician conodonts dating to between 446 and 444 million years ago for the first time in the western Mediterranean. The discovery of these very primitive marine vertebrates has helped scientists to reconstruct the palaeogeography of the Cordillera Bética mountain range. Their study shows that the mountain system in the south of the Iberian Peninsula was located alongside the Alps at that time. In 2006, a group of Andalusian geologists found the oldest fossils in the Cordillera Bética, dating from the late Ordovician period between 446 and 444 million years ago, in the Maláguide Complex... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| The Journey to El Norte |
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· 12/14/2010 6:24:23 PM PST · · Posted by La Lydia · · 9 replies · · Archaeology · · December 14, 2010 · · Heather Pringle · |
In a sweltering June morning, Jason De Leon shrugs off his pack in a rugged gorge in Arizona's Coronado National Forest. He hunches down over a scattering of water bottles, checking for dates, and asks a student to take the site's GPS coordinates. Above his head, along the rock face, travelers have transformed a small, secluded hollow into a shrine lined with offerings: rosaries, crucifixes, candles, scapulars, and small pictures of saints, each bearing a printed prayer in Spanish. "Take care of me in dangerous places," reads one card. "Protect me from thieves and in evil times," entreats another. Nearby,... |
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| Underwater Archaeology | |
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| Ocean science giant Alvin set for upgrade |
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· 12/17/2010 6:11:32 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 18 replies · · BBC · · December 16, 2010 · · Jonathan Amos · |
Few research tools in the history of science can match the achievements of Alvin, the US manned deep-submersible. It was this 46-year-old vessel which discovered the hot volcanic vents on the ocean floor that transformed ideas about where and how life could exist. The sub is also famed for finding an H-bomb lost at sea and for making one of the first surveys of the Titanic. But this veteran of the abyss has been withdrawn from service this week as it gets ready for a major re-fit. Alvin is to undergo a two-phase, $40m (£26m) upgrade that will allow it... |
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| Around the World in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea | |
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| Bones found on island may belong to Amelia Earhart |
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· 12/17/2010 12:46:01 AM PST · · Posted by Jet Jaguar · · 102 replies · · AFP via Breitbart · · December 16, 2010 · · N/A · |
US aircraft history buffs are hopeful that tiny bones along with artefacts from the 1930s found on a remote Pacific island may reveal the fate of pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart. In one of aviation's most enduring mysteries, Earhart took off from Lae, in what is now Papua New Guinea, while attempting to circumnavigate the globe via the equator in 1937 and was never seen again. A massive search at the time failed to find the flyer and her navigator Fred Noonan, who were assumed to have died after ditching their Lockheed Electra aircraft in the ocean, according to the Amelia... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| The 66th Anniversary of the Private War of 1st Lieutenant Eric Fisher Wood |
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· 12/15/2010 12:32:47 AM PST · · Posted by Neil E. Wright · · 9 replies · · Sipsey Street Irregulars · · December 12, 2010 · · Mike Vanderboegh · |
As tomorrow is the 66th Anniversary, I am posting this bit of history. Much to learn from this all American HERO. There is a video embedded in the link, I'll post the link to the video in comments. It is well worth watching. Neil "But for everyone, surely, what we have gone through in this period -- I am addressing myself to the School -- surely from this period of ten months, this is the lesson: Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in, except... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| Library of Congress Posts Civil War Portrait Collection to Flickr |
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· 12/14/2010 9:02:20 AM PST · · Posted by stainlessbanner · · 13 replies · · researchbuzz · · December 14, 2010 · |
The Library of Congress announced last week that it has made a huge collection of Civil War portraits available... almost 700 of them... at Flickr. This collection is all from one place -- the Liljenquist family -- and includes the frames of the pictures as well as the ambrotype and tintype photographs themselves. Many of the pictures are soldiers (including some portraits of African-American soldiers) but there are some civilian pictures here as well. There are also many group pictures, both of civilians and soldiers. Some of the pictures are... |
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| The Revolution | |
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| American Revolution |
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· 12/01/2001 6:06:09 PM PST · · Posted by CRAW · · 93 replies · 4,899+ views · · Me · · December · · Craw · |
Name your three top American Revolution Heroes |
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| Forgetting the Founding Fathers [Michael Barone] |
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· 06/09/2004 8:51:44 AM PDT · · Posted by Salvation · · 36 replies · 587+ views · · Catholic Exchange · · 6-09-04 · · Michael Barone · |
Are our great universities abandoning the study of the American Revolution and the Founding Fathers? It looks like they are. Two of the leaders in colonial- and revolutionary-era scholarship, Bernard Bailyn at Harvard and Gordon Wood at Brown, are being replaced by historians with no apparent interest in the Revolution and the founding. The same happened some years ago at Yale when Edmund Morgan retired. Bailyn, Wood, and Morgan are members of a generation of American historians who have produced a luminous body of scholarship on colonial America,... |
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| The Framers: Alexander Hamilton | |
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| We Worship Jefferson, But We Have Become Hamilton's America |
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· 02/04/2004 12:00:19 PM PST · · Posted by HenryLeeII · · 417 replies · 7,797+ views · · Wall Street Journal · · February 4, 2004 · · Cynthia Crossen · |
Everybody who is anybody was there -- at least among those 750 or so Americans who adore Alexander Hamilton. Representatives of the Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr factions also turned out in force. Two hundred years ago this summer, Hamilton died from a single bullet fired by Burr, then America's vice president, in a duel in Weehawken, N.J. Hamilton's early death, at the age of 47, denied him the opportunity -- or aggravation -- of watching America become a Hamiltonian nation while worshipping the gospel according to Thomas Jefferson. Now, some... |
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| Alexander Hamilton: City Boy |
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· 04/27/2004 11:06:13 PM PDT · · Posted by Clemenza · · 12 replies · 286+ views · · New York Times · · April 25, 2004 · · Ron Chernow · |
In our imagination, the founding fathers are so embedded in their native states - Washington, Jefferson and Madison on their Virginia plantations, John Adams on his New England farm - that Alexander Hamilton can seem the footloose exception. The first treasury secretary prided himself on his broad, continental perspective, and even fervid admirers have been loath to cast him as a New Yorker, lest this tarnish his gleaming national vision. Yet in five years of research, I have found that Hamilton, loaded with brash charm, bottomless energy and worldly cunning, was in fact the classic New Yorker and a quintessential... |
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| Alexander Hamilton's Last Stand |
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· 07/11/2004 7:21:15 AM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 27 replies · 1,724+ views · · NY Times · · Ron Chernow · · July 11, 2004 · |
Two hundred years ago today, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton squared off in a sunrise duel on a wooded ledge in Weehawken, N.J., above the Hudson River. Burr was vice president when he leveled his fatal shot at Hamilton, the former Treasury secretary, who died the next day in what is now the West Village of Manhattan. New Yorkers turned out en masse for Hamilton's funeral, while Burr (rightly or wrongly) was branded an assassin and fled south in anticipation of indictments in New York and New Jersey. To the horror of Hamilton's admirers, the vice president, now... |
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| Alexander the Great (Hamilton) |
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· 07/04/2005 7:29:25 AM PDT · · Posted by kellynla · · 23 replies · 1,301+ views · · Wall Street Journal · · July 4, 2005 · · Richard Brookhiser · |
When I was a boy my family had a Time-Life book on the mind which featured a chart of the presumed IQs of famous dead men. Goethe, as I recall, led the pack, at 210. But the Founding Fathers did very well: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington all scored over 150. As the Fourth of July approaches, we'd do well to remember that the Founders were a smart lot, with few gentleman's C's among them. Yet they didn't know everything. They were strongest in law, political philosophy and history--all essential subjects for revolutionaries and statesmen. But another subject,... |
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| Alexander Hamilton To Be Celebrated on His 250th Birthday |
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· 01/10/2007 10:45:15 AM PST · · Posted by presidio9 · · 277 replies · 2,179+ views · · New York Sun · · January 10, 2007 · · Jay Akasie · |
Before the Long-Term Capital Management collapse nearly paralyzed the world's capital markets, and before the stock market crashes of 1987 and 1929, there was America's first widespread financial crisis: the Panic of 1792. Today it's a little-known footnote to American financial history. But if it weren't for the quick thinking of a New Yorker named Alexander Hamilton, and his actions as America's first central banker, the events surrounding Wall Street's first bona fide crash could have meant doom for the struggling, cash-strapped republic. Descendants of Hamilton, as well as an ambassador, historians, and grateful Wall Street executives, will gather around... |
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| Alexander Hamilton's Relevance for Today |
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· 11/02/2007 6:06:22 AM PDT · · Posted by Publius64 · · 8 replies · 121+ views · · The Forum · · Alexander Hamilton · |
"A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one." -Alexander Hamilton |
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| Founders' Quotes - Jefferson & Hamilton on Duty to be Armed |
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· 12/03/2007 6:42:18 AM PST · · Posted by Loud Mime · · 21 replies · 1,226+ views · · The Patriot Post - Others · · 12/03/2007 · · Thomas Jefferson · |
"The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves in all cases to which they think themselves competent, or they may act by representatives, freely and equally chosen; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; that they are entitled to freedom of person, freedom of religion, freedom of property, and freedom of the press." Thomas Jefferson (letter to John Cartwright, 1824) "If the representatives of the people betray... |
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| Today in History: Burr-Hamilton duel (July 11,1804) |
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· 07/11/2008 8:48:56 AM PDT · · Posted by yankeedame · · 9 replies · 1,158+ views · · Answers.com · |
A contemporary artistic rendering of the July 11, 1804 duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton by J. Mund. · In the early morning hours of July 11, 1804, Burr and Hamilton departed by separate boats from Manhattan and rowed across the Hudson River to a spot known as the Heights of Weehawken in New Jersey, a popular dueling ground below the towering cliffs of the Palisades. Hamilton and Burr agreed to take the duel to Weehawken because dueling had been outlawed in New York (The same site was used for 18 known duels between 1700 and 1845.).In... |
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| Past & Present: Alexander Hamilton and the Start of the National Debt |
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· 09/18/2008 2:27:45 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 116 replies · 942+ views · · US News · · 18 Sep 2008 · · John Steele Gordon · |
Hamilton's big idea is still with us today. John Steele Gordon recalls the history of the debt On Sept. 18, 1789, the new secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton, entered into negotiations for a temporary loan with the Bank of New York and the Bank of North America -- the only two banks in the country at that time. The following February, the deal went through and the government borrowed $19,608.81. It was the start of the American national debt under the new Constitution. The United States was not exactly a good credit risk at that time, so the government was, perhaps,... |
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| Alexander Hamilton, Modern America's Founding Father |
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· 03/01/2009 6:35:25 PM PST · · Posted by neverdem · · 26 replies · 1,102+ views · · City Journal · · Winter 2009 · · Myron Magnet · |
How New York's opportunity society became America's · We New Yorkers imagine our city's history begins in earnest with the Gilded Age and the Great Migration that brought many of our forebears sailing under the Statue of Liberty's torch to supercharge a nascent metropolis with a jolt of new energy. But this summer, when a handful of square-bearded, antique-garbed Pennsylvania German Baptists jacked a yellow clapboard house up over a Harlem church and wheeled it around the corner to a new site in St. Nicholas Park, we recalled that more than a century earlier Gotham took center stage as the nation's first... |
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| Jefferson vs. Hamilton Redux |
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· 08/13/2009 10:03:06 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 5 replies · 748+ views · · TCS Daily · · 13 Aug 2009 · · Alfred G. Cuzán · |
The debate over ObamaCare brings to mind an old dispute exploding national debt brings to mind a defining conflict between two of America's founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Their feud--nicely recounted in John Ferling's A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic--has parallels with today's debate, but with an ironic twist.Hamilton, our first Secretary of the Treasury, was a nationalist who had an expansive view of the powers granted to the nascent federal government under the newly-ratified Constitution. A favorite of President George Washington (in whose staff he served during the war of independence),... |
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| Alexander Hamilton Tried To Warn Us |
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· 04/12/2010 9:34:42 AM PDT · · Posted by CaroleL · · 11 replies · 711+ views · · TalkingSides.com · · 04/12/10 · · CaroleL · |
As the Obama administration continues its plan to usurp the rights of the American people with regard to commerce, energy, immigration and other key issues of our time; we should remember the warning of one of our nation's founders with regard to our rights and the document that was supposed to safeguard them. What many, especially those educated in the "modern" American public school system, may not know is that the founders strongly disagreed on whether or not to include the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution. |
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| The Jefferson-Hamilton Handshake, Bridging the Republican Divide |
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· 05/11/2010 6:58:29 PM PDT · · Posted by grey_whiskers · · 10 replies · 250+ views · · RedState · · May 10, 2010 · · Vassar Bushmills · |
*** (When I make this mark ***, I am noting a place a Blue GOP centrist sub/urbanite is apt to disagree and hang up. Instead, I invite you to comment and/or disagree, or at least reconsider and continue reading. I promise not to say anything petty about your side -- or tell a Mitch joke -- but do try to put your whole mind to this. I'll admit you're my betters if you'll admit you have a real short attention span.) The Hook I was at a party Friday with an old friend and long time Virginia Republican Party insider. A strong conservative when... |
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| America was founded as a protectionist nation |
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· 09/13/2010 10:42:54 AM PDT · · Posted by rmlew · · 72 replies · · The Daily Caller · · 9/13/2010 · · Ian Fletcher · |
Contemporary American politics is conducted in the shadow of historical myths that inform our present-day choices. Unfortunately, these myths sometimes lead us terribly astray. Case in point is the popular idea that America's economic tradition has been economic liberty, laissez faire, and wide-open cowboy capitalism. This notion sounds obvious, and it fits the image of this country held by both the Right, which celebrates this tradition, and the Left, which bemoans it. And it seems to imply, among other things, that free trade is the American Way. Don't Tread On Me or my right to import. It is, in fact,... |
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| James Madison Drinks, and Writes an Article |
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· 11/25/2010 1:05:54 PM PST · · Posted by Publius · · 19 replies · · Publius Essay · · with Jemmy Madison · · 22 December 1792 · · Publius & James Madison · |
Philip Freneau had set the deadline for the December 22nd edition of the National Gazette, and James Madison found himself racing the hourglass. Freneau published the newspaper, dedicated to the positions of Thomas Jefferson's faction within the Congress and the council around His Excellency, while working for the red-haired Secretary of State as a translator. Mr. Jefferson saw neither difficulty nor conflict with this arrangement. Freneau had labeled the men of Alexander Hamilton's faction as Monarchists, Tories, and Anti-Republicans, claiming their role was to reverse the results of 1776. The Secretary of the Treasury... |
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| end of digest #335 20101218 | |
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